Weakened Masters Cup Draw Revealed; Stick a Fork in Clijsters
Posted on November 10, 2005
Jet-lagged Clijsters Throws in Towel at WTA ChampionshipsA sluggish and jet-lagged Kim Clijsters paid the price for flying in to L.A. too late from her homecountry Belgium for the WTA Championships, Wednesday suffering her second round-robin loss with a 6-3, 7-6(4) defeat at the hands of Amelie Mauresmo. The loss likely puts her out of contention for the semifinals and the year-end No. 1 ranking.
"I was not at 100 percent to play my best tennis," said Clijsters, who on Tuesday lost her opening-round match to Mary Pierce. "These last two days, I haven't been hitting the ball very clean or seeing the ball. It's a matter of playing a lot and being a bit tired."
On her website before leaving for L.A., Clijsters almost conceded she was not giving herself enough time to arrive and acclimate for the championships, mentioning yet another injury.
"At 4.30 am on Friday, I'll be embarking upon a long journey," Clijsters wrote. "Three hours by car and thirteen hours by plane to get into Los Angeles. Two days should do to get fully prepared for the last tournament of the year. I can't start my training before Sunday. I have been resting this week, as there was a chance of my shin-bone getting infected...Compared to the American players I'll be feeling the consequences of that long journey. Everybody who has done a similar one, knows that two days is very little time to actually digest a jet lag, but my '05 season has already been a major success."
Clijsters still has a chance to reach the semifinals if she wins her last match Friday, and two other players in her group also finish with a 1-2 record, with the tiebreak then coming down to games won.
But don't count on it.
"My body has had enough," Clijsters said. "I remember at the US Open after I won a really tough match against Venus, I was able to bounce right back physically and mentally the next day. Now I don't feel like that."
After the match the seemingly blase Belgian, who looked ready to book a flight home, was asked if she was disappointed by the loss.
"Of course I'm disappointed," Clijsters said. "I would rather have played better and won but there are a lot of other girls who are good players and maybe it's their time to win this time."
One of those players, the hot-handed Pierce, followed-up her win over Clijsters with a 6-2, 6-3 romp over Russian Elena Dementieva Wednesday.
"That was a great thing to play Kim first," Pierce said. "After playing her, everybody else is going to be easier because Kim is quickest."
The only worry for the Frenchwoman now is a potential shoulder injury that bothered her throughout her match Wednesday.
"It was killing me," Pierce said of her right shoulder. "My shoulder was getting really, really tight and I was having trouble serving. I don't think it's anything serious."
Davenport also raised her record to 2-0 with a 6-3, 7-5 victory against Patty Schnyder, who drops to 0-2 in round robin play.
"I'm in a good position, but you still don't know what can happen," said Davenport who last year failed to advance out of the round robin. "Both of us got a little sloppy in the second set. It felt really tiring. I felt like, 'I've got to win in two sets.'"
The top two players in each group of four advance into Saturday's semifinals.
The standings thus far are:
Green Group: Davenport 2-0, Sharapova 1-0, Petrova 0-1, Schnyder 0-2.
Black Group: Pierce 2-0, Mauresmo 1-0, Dementieva 0-1, Clijsters 0-2.
Numbers: It was the 500th career win for Pierce; Dementieva is 1-9 at the WTA Championships since 2000; Schnyder has yet to post a win in her third Championships appearance; Clijsters has an 0-2 record after winning the title in her last two appearances.
The announced crowd Wednesday at the Staples Center was only 3,911.
On tap for Thursday are Schnyder vs. Petrova, Davenport vs. Sharapova where the American can clinch a semifinal berth, and Mauresmo vs. Dementieva.
Richard Vach is a senior writer for Tennis-X.com
Federer Paired with Ljuby, Argys in Masters Cup Draw
World No. 1 Roger Federer avoided a difficult round robin grouping Wednesday for the drawing of the Masters Cup field when -- well, most of the top talent has already dropped from the formerly-"elite" event.
Former No. 1s Marat Safin (knee), Lleyton Hewitt (groin, toe, baby) and now Andy Roddick (back) have all withdrawn, leaving the year-end championship field with only Federer and Andre Agassi as current or former No. 1s.
Players who otherwise should be golfing but will now fill voids in the field are Argentines Gaston Gaudio and David Nalbandian, and Croat Ivan Ljubicic who benefited from Safin's withdrawal.
Officials in Shanghai are holding their breath over Federer, who is now complaining of pain in his recently-injured ankle.
The top two players from each round robin group will emerge into the semifinals, with the Swiss No. 1 in the Red Group with Argentines Guillermo Coria, Nalbandian, and the explosively-dangerous Croat Ljubicic who has lost to Federer this year in finals at Doha, Rotterdam and Dubai.
Of greater interest will be the Gold Group, featuring the oldest player in the draw in Andre Agassi, the youngest in Rafael Nadal, hardcourt whipping boy Gaston Gaudio, and default top Russian Nikolay Davydenko.
For the doubles the Red Group consists of the American Bryan brothers, another former year-end No. 1 team in Knowles/Nestor, Paes/Zimonjic, and Aussies Arthurs/Hanley, while the Gold Group is Bjorkman/Mirnyi, Zimbabwe's finest Black/Ullyett, Frenchmen Llodra/Santoro, and surprise Wimbledon winners Huss/Moodie.
Singles and doubles play begins Sunday, Nov. 13 in Shanghai.
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
The ATP says Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt and Marat Safin will be fined for missing the year-ending Masters Cup...From SI.com's Jon Wertheim: "The real question, I suppose, is this: Why would Roddick schedule an exhibition in Hershey the week between a Masters Series event and the Masters Cup? Yes, Elton John is a buddy. And yes, the event benefits both World TeamTennis and AIDS research. But for a guy who's been complaining vocally about the length and rigor of the tennis season, playing a November exo in the middle of Pennsylvania isn't exactly the best way to conserve your battery. One of Brad Gilbert's complaints with Roddick was that he over-scheduled. Wonder what he would say about this?"...Peter Bodo blogging for TennisWorld: "Does anybody else think it's truly weird for so many people, including some of the top players, to be so blase about the lackluster [WTA Championships] field? I spoke briefly the other day with a long-time friend from L.A., who told me there's been absolutely no advertising, nor buzz, about this tournament. She said people who live around the block from the venue probably don't even know it's going on, and that WTA CEO Larry Scott ought to be fired for letting things slip to this level."...From the LA Times' Lisa Dillman: "One of [Mary] Pierce's peers, [Lindsay] Davenport, could well appreciate Pierce's longevity and the 500th match victory. "She definitely had a very up and down career for many, many reasons," Davenport said. "And injuries being one of them. I think it is so great she has come back and been so consistent and such a dangerous player. Not many people think 30 years old would necessarily be the case." Pierce and Davenport go all the way back to a 12-and-under tournament in Boca Raton, Fla. Davenport thought she was 10 and Pierce was 11 when they first played. "Her dad was around then and I remember definitely being nervous about that," Davenport said. "He had a temper back then. But she was great. She killed me in the tournament. It was on a claycourt. But she always hit the ball so well. And my sister who took me to that tournament still loves to talk about that to this day." Even in those days, the 11-year-old Pierce had her own, well, special style. "You know, she had her same quirks back then. She took a lot of time or played with her hair," Davenport said."...Roger Federer on the Masters Cup and his ankle injury: "To be honest, I don't know my chances of winning here because of my foot," he told the Shanghai Daily. "I'm here to defend my title but health comes before success. I just hope I can play the first game without any pain."...From PRnewswire: "Former Nike, Inc. marketing executive Ian Hamilton has joined the Nonbox(R) brand to head the company's new sports marketing discipline. In this role, Hamilton will spearhead strategic sports marketing and planning, athlete endorsements, sports event creation and production, and sports media consulting. Founded in 1999 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Nonbox is a strategic communications company capable of executing back-end advertising and trust-building solutions in mass media, sports marketing, publishing, teaching and training." Ouch, Nike to Nonbox...Chris Considine has been named president of Wilson Sporting Goods...Justin Gimelstob posting a blog entry at SI.com to note that most coaches suck: "Here's a novel idea, guys: Open up a book and learn about sports science, physical therapy or sports physiology. If coaches spent more time learning and building the product their services supposedly render, they wouldn't have to worry about being beholden to players' every whim and mood swing. I have always been amazed that coaches don't spend more time at tournament sites watching matches and studying opposing players' tendencies...I really believe it comes down to laziness, arrogance, and indifference. Most tennis coaches believe they know everything they need to about the game. It's common for coaches in other sports to study other programs and other successful coaches -- basketball coaches learning from Bobby Knight or football coaches studying up on Bob Stoops. In tennis, the problem is that coaches' egos are too big. They can't admit that someone who actually cares about real coaching might be better than they are, or that, God forbid, they might not know everything there is to know about the craft."...Neil Harman writing for the Times Online: "And then there were...not quite the eight stars the organizers were longing for. Andy Roddick's decision not to risk his bad back through a week of intense Masters Cup tennis poured further salt into open Chinese wounds yesterday. The world No. 3 chose to pull out of next week's end-of-year extravaganza in Shanghai, and though he offered heartfelt regrets, it was odd that he should have chosen to play in a "Smash Hits" exhibition event in Pennsylvania on Monday night, when he knew that he was suffering from spasms in his back. It could be argued his priorities were a trifle blurred...The first reserve now is Mariano Puerta, the Argentinian (sic) named by a French newspaper as having failed a doping test. The formal result is due and it would put the tin lid on an event that seems cursed with ill-luck if confirmation were to emerge during the week."...John McEnroe speaking to the Houston Chronicle on the Masters Cup move to Shanghai this year from Houston: "I grew up going to the [Madison Square] Garden to watch the Masters. I thought moving it to Frankfort (Germany) was a huge mistake, and it's unbelievable (the ATP) has let it slip away again. As an American, it's hard to accept and somewhat sad. You embrace promoters like Lamar Hunt (who founded the modern tour's precursor, World Championship Tennis, in the early 1970s), and the McIngvales. You don't push them away."