WTA Championships Diary: Grunting issue rears its head as Stosur upsets Sharapova in Istanbul

Tenth time lucky: Sam Stosur defeated Maria Sharapova for the first time in Istanbul

To grunt or not to grunt

Grunting has become the issue of the day once again after Caroline Wozniacki revealed that from her point of view, when opponents grunt, it disguises the way they’ve hit the ball, and how hard they’ve hit it. The WTA is committed to finding a way to tackle the grunting issue, but crucially catching it early when players are still young before it becomes embedded in their style of play.

What do you think? Will that work? Or is it something we're going to have to live with.

Speaking of noise, one of a rather different sort is Petra Kvitova’s who screeches like a swooping eagle every time she wins a point. It’s extraordinary. The Wimbledon champion delivered a topsy turvy performance to beat Zvonareva 6-2, 6-4, afterwards admitting that she was very nervous.

Nobody beats Sam Stosur 10 times in a row…

At least not Maria Sharapova. Stosur produced a true ‘winning ugly’ performance in a way, her strengths nullified by the slower court, to beat the Russian 6-1, 7-5 for the first time in her career. Sharapova produced 30 unforced errors to Stosur’s 18, and is clearly not 100%. But still. It was a big win for the Aussie.  “To win without using your best strengths I think is a big bonus,” Stosur said.

Still on top

Caroline Wozniacki delivered a virtuoso Caroline Wozniacki performance, winning a match she was expected to win, despite looking for most of it like she might lose it during her 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Agnieszka Radwanska. Wozniacki had three set points to win the first set, squandered them, but gritted her way through the next two, urged on by some exuberant on court coaching from father Piotr Wozniacki. Whatever anyone thinks about Wozniacki’s style of play, there’s no denying the girl can fight till she’s flat on the floor.

Winning the numbers game

Both Sharapova and Vera Zvonareva confessed to being “impressed” by the numbers of fans who had flocked to the opening day yesterday. With attendance surpassing 10,000, the fans were not only in their seats, but also fully engaged with what was going on the court, producing tuneful, and some not so tuneful, chants throughout all three matches.

“Pretty incredible,” said Sharapova about the atmosphere. “Yeah, I mean, to see I think it was like about 10,000 people out there, so enthusiastic and you never quite know what to expect when you come to a new place and a new city at an event like this. And I think that the attention that the tournament has got and the respect that the players have received has been really incredible. It's really nice to see.”

Multi-linguals

Credit to the umpires, who may well be dressed rather like air hosts and hostesses, but have seemingly mastered the Turkish language after just one day.

 Coming up…

Sam Stosur v Victoria Azarenka

Another bout of ‘I have never’ for Stosur, who is yet to beat the Belarusian. This is their fifth meeting, all of which have been on hard courts, but they have never played indoors, so perhaps that will make a difference. Stosur should be high on confidence after beating Sharapova yesterday, but will that make it easier or harder for her to pull off a repeat? I think Azarenka might have too much for her.

 Maria Sharapova v Li Na

Sharapova did not look her best by any means yesterday, but the fact that she has still made it to No 2 in the world this year shows that it’s certainly still there. Li on the other hand is the first to admit she hasn’t been hitting a ball in the court lately. So this could be interesting. Sharapova leads the head to head 5-3, and should really make it 6-3.

Caroline Wozniacki v Vera Zvonareva

Tied at 4-4 in their head to head, the last time these two met, Zvonareva came out on top, in the Doha final. But whether she has the weapons to break down Wozniacki remains to be seen. As she proved last night, the Dane can run and run from Europe to Asia and back again, so the smart money would be on her.

Catchphrase

“I think if there is any court that Radwanska likes, that’s slow. So I’m not sure what the complaint is about.”

A gentle dig from Sharapova about Radwanska’s court speed preference. The Pole had said she found the court a bit slow.

The daily click

Highlights from day one…

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WTA Championships Diary: Petra Kvitova the favourite as stars gather in Istanbul for season finale

The stars of the WTA at the official draw ceremony

Action stations

Today marks the first day of the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, the WTA's season ending crown jewel, which brings together the top singles players and doubles teams of the year. Here are a few bits and bobbles in the run-up to the season finale…

Surviving adversity

The preparations for Istanbul's first stint as host of the year-end Championships were dealt a bit of a shudder when the 7.2 earthquake hit the Van region of Eastern Turkey on Sunday morning, as almost 1,000 buildings collapsed killing hundreds. With the players sending their best wishes to all those affected, the official player party and various other promotional activities were cancelled.

Old vs new

The week's field of eight players, seven of whom are from different nations, has quite an eclectic mix of year-end championships' experience. Top of the list is Maria Sharapova, who is making her fifth appearance, and won the whole thing in 2004. Next is Vera Zvonareva, who is on visit number four, then Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka both on number three, Sam Stosur is on appearance number two, and Agnieszka Radwanska is making her first proper visit, although she appeared as an alternate in 2008 and 2009. And there are two total first-timers – Petra Kvitova and Li Na.

Azarenka, Li and Stosur are joined by Sharapova in what is the White group, while Wozniacki, Radwanska, Zvonareva and Kvitova make up the Red group.

Boys in town

The WTA's leading ladies were joined by two sporting gods (forgive the artistic licence) over the weekend in the form of Rory McIlroy, Wozniacki's beau, and Sasha Vujacic, Sharapova's fiancee. Rory's visit was fleeting as he had to disappear back to the golfing world, but Sasha will be a more permanent fixture, which is good news for those wanting fist-pumping tips. He's playing for a Turkish basketball team during the NBA off-season, although is apparently nursing a broken finger.

Breezy in the Bosphorus

Gusty breezes are certainly not lacking in the straights of the Bosphorus, to the extent that Sunday's draw had its very own natural wind machine for the official photos of Sharapova and co. It's just as well the tennis is indoors, as otherwise we'd be seeing a lot of ball tosses.

Turkish people like…

Banks, barber shops and screeching tyres. And meat. Lots of it.

Here to stay

Congratulations to WTA CEO Stacey Allaster, who has signed on for another five years as the proverbial mother hen of women's tennis. May her hard work continue.

Joining up?

The jury still seems to be out on combined events and whether they work or not, but that hasn't stopped Allaster floating the idea that the WTA and ATP could look to hold their season-enders together. How it would work with the calendar, of course, remains to be seen, but it's an interesting proposition, and is all part of the drive towards greater cooperation. She also mentioned that the tours are seeking to align their broadcast rights from 2017.

Today's round robin matches

Petra Kvitova v Vera Zvonareva (Red group)

The honour of opening the very first WTA Championships in Turkey goes to Petra Kvitova, making her season finale debut. The wimbledon champion hasn't exactly been firing on all cylinders since shocking Maria Sharapova to win Wimbledon. But she's dusted off her groundstrokes a bit in recent weeks, and received a huge confidence boost after winning Linz two weeks ago. That, and the way her game works on hard courts, has prompted the bookies to list the 21 year-old, newly invested as world No 3, as the favourite. But she'll have her work cut out against Vera Zvonareva, the epitome of hard court defence. Kvitova should edge it in two close sets to narrow her losing record against the Russian.

Caroline Wozniacki v Agnieszka Radwanska (Red group)

The battle of the Polish-borns. Wozniacki has her sights on that year-end No 1 ranking, but to get there, she'll have to do what she does best – stay solid from the back. She leads the head to head against her good buddy 4-1 but Radwanska is coming off a two-title tear in Tokyo and Beijing, and has lost just one match since the US Open. Still, a well-rested Wozniacki should be able to handle whatever comes out of the Radwanska tool kit.

Maria Sharapova v Samantha Stosur (White group)

As Sam rather cheerily aluded to, the Australian doesn't have the best record against the multi-Grand Slam champ. Stosur is yet to win a set in her nine previous meetings with the Russian, but all eyes will be on Sharapova's ankle, and whether it can stand up to shuttling side to side along the baseline in the face of Stosur's power. If she plays the sort of first-strike tennis that won her the US Open title, the Aussie has a shot. Still, if Sharapova's back in the zone after an extended break since Tokyo, it's likely to go her way.

Catch phrase

"East meets West"

You'll be hearing it a lot.

The daily click

The ebullient Ipek Senoglu takes you on a tour of the tournament..

US Open 2011 Diary: Freaky Friday for Andy Murray in New York

Andy Murray after turning things around against Robin Haase

Friday in New York

It was exhausting…

Agony and ecstasy

It doesn’t get any easier for Andy Murray fans. He’s either sublimely good, or sometimes, sublimely bad, mainly because he’s beating himself up rather than his opponent. Cue a lot of hair-tugging, swiping and swatting, and then, suddenly, big come on’s, fist pumps, even a leap or two in the air.

Which is exactly what happened last night against the curly top Robin Haase. The Dutchman did exactly what we thought he would do – served big and hit bigger from the back of the court. And Murray did, just nothing. Couldn’t get a ball in the court for two sets.

The world No 4 was left staring at the fact that he would have to come back from a two-set deficit for the sixth time in his career, or else head for JFK. And so, he did. Found some energy from I don’t know where, and basically fought himself silly to win 13 games on the trot, survive a Haase fightback, miss two match points (prompting one Italian journalist to yell ‘Ah, idiota!’) and finally come through by the car crash scoreline of 6-7 (5), 2-6, 6-2, 6-0, 6-4.

His reaction at the end – grinning and almost giggling as he pogo-sticked around the court, said it all. Might this just be the making of Andy Murray’s US Open? We shall see. Deliciano Lopez is up next.



If the Brits have it bad…

Try being an Australian. Sam Stosur, she of immense talent, potential and one of the nicest accents around, won the longest US Open women’s match of the Open era as she battled and tussled her way past a bicep-bragging Nadia Petrova, 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (5-7), 7-5 in three hours and 16 minutes. Imagine the ice bath after that.

Amongst all the kerfuffle

Four other British players made it into the third round, albeit of the men’s doubles…Jonnny Marray and Jamie Delgado survived a three-set thriller, and Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins knocked out the No 2 seeds. Fab.

Over and out

Maria Sharapova. Flavia Pennetta played the match of her life to oust the former champion in three sets. Admittedly, Sharapova made it easier for her, producing a staggering 60 unforced errors, but Pennetta still needed to Hold Her Nerve, as we like to say.

“One of best wins of my career,” Pennetta said. “We fight lot, play really good. At 4-1 up started to shake a little. Just tried to focus.”

So what next for Masha? Losing the Wimbledon final, and now this? Thomas had better start practising his pep talks.

Bizarrely, depending on how everyone else does, Sharapova could still end the tournament as the world No 2. Make of that what you will.

Where did that come from?

Donald Young, the jaunty-angled cap-wearing American, with a fondness for a bit of bling,  dumped out the 14th seed, Stanislas Wawrinka, 7-6 (7), 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1) victory in 4 hours, 20 minutes on the new court 17. Like, wow.

Young, a former junior No 1, has been one of these perennial ‘is he ever going to make it?’ sort of players, who, ever since beating Andy Murray mid-slump at Indian Wells, has started to do just that.

His celebrations alone showed just how much it meant to him. And to others as well…

@sloanetweets: “Donald Young did that!!! I’m VERY proud ”

Keep an eye on

Sabine Lisicki. ‘Boom Boom’, as she is becoming known, bagel-sticked Irina Falconi to reach her first ever US Open fourth round. Anticipation is building for a collision with Serena. Which of course means it might not happen. But keep an eye just the same.

More on the sick bed

Nicolas Mahut became the latest player to head to the Billie Jean King infirmary, retiring against Rafael Nadal. One half of a doubles team retired yesterday as well.

Still alive

Andy Roddick, Sam Stosur, Vera Zvonareva, David Ferrer, Juan Martin Del Potro, Rafael Nadal, John Isner.

Tweet of the day

“Bloody nora… @judmoo your lad mad us all a bit twitchy there. Well done @andy_murray amazing match.”

@gaby_logan on being an Andy-fan

Coming up this evening…

Novak Djokovic v Nikolay Davydenko

ND v ND. Present v past. And realistically, it’s only going to end one way.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga v Fernando Verdasco

Hold onto your power tools. This is going to be a big-hitting fest, one which the Frenchman should sneak.

Victoria Azarenka v Serena Williams

It seems very strange to think that it was a full three years ago that Azarenka had the running of Serena in their Australian Open meeting before having to retire. Not a lot has changed – Serena is still the favourite. But this should be her first big test.

Sloane Stephens v Ana Ivanovic

An audience with American for the young Stephens, who will show us if Ana really has the goods to make it back up to the top. Watch out for her serve.

Also in action

Roger Federer v Marin Cilic, Mardy Fish v Kevin Anderson, Tomas Berdych v Janko Tipsarevic, Jelena Jankovic v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

The daily click

The Federer twins. Too cute.

US Open 2011 Diary: Freaky Friday

Andy Murray after turning things around against Robin Haase

Friday in New York

It was exhausting…

Agony and ecstasy

It doesn’t get any easier for Andy Murray fans. He’s either sublimely good, or sometimes, sublimely bad, mainly because he’s beating himself up rather than his opponent. Cue a lot of hair-tugging, swiping and swatting, and then, suddenly, big come on’s, fist pumps, even a leap or two in the air.

Which is exactly what happened last night against the curly top Robin Haase. The Dutchman did exactly what we thought he would do – served big and hit bigger from the back of the court. And Murray did, just nothing. Couldn’t get a ball in the court for two sets.

The world No 4 was left staring at the fact that he would have to come back from a two-set deficit for the sixth time in his career, or else head for JFK. And so, he did. Found some energy from I don’t know where, and basically fought himself silly to win 13 games on the trot, survive a Haase fightback, miss two match points (prompting on Italian journalist to yell ‘Ah, idiota!’) and finally come through by the car crash scoreline of 6-7 (5), 2-6, 6-2, 6-0, 6-4.

His reaction at the end – grinning and almost giggling as he pogo-sticked around the court, said it all. Might this just be the making of Andy Murray’s US Open? We shall see. Deliciano Lopez is up next.

Amongst all the kerfuffle

Four other British players made it into the third round, albeit of the men’s doubles…Jonnny Marray and Jamie Delgado survived a three-set thriller, and Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins knocked out the No 2 seeds. Fab.

Over and out

Maria Sharapova. Flavia Pennetta played the match of her life to oust the former champion in three sets. Admittedly, Sharapova made it easier for her, producing a staggering 60 unforced errors, but Pennetta still needed to Hold Her Nerve, as we like to say.

“One of best wins of my career,” Pennetta said. “We fight lot, play really good. At 4-1 up started to shake a little. Just tried to focus.”

So what next for Masha? Losing the Wimbledon final, and now this? Thomas had better start practising his pep talks.

Bizarrely, depending on how everyone else does, Sharapova could still end the tournament as the world No 2. Make of that what you will.

Where did that come from?

Donald Young, the jaunty-angled cap-wearing American, with a fondness for a bit of bling,  dumped out the 14th seed, Stanislas Wawrinka, 7-6 (7), 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1) victory in 4 hours, 20 minutes on the new court 17. Like, wow.

Young, a former junior No 1, has been one of these perennial ‘is he ever going to make it?’ sort of players, who, ever since beating Andy Murray mid-slump at Indian Wells, has started to do just that.

His celebrations alone showed just how much it meant to him. And to others as well…

@sloanetweets: “Donald Young did that!!! I’m VERY proud ”

Keep an eye on

Sabine Lisicki. ‘Boom Boom’, as she is becoming known, bagel-sticked Irina Falconi to reach her first ever US Open fourth round. Anticipation is building for a collision with Serena. Which of course means it might not happen. But keep an eye just the same.

More on the sick bed

Nicolas Mahut became the latest player to head to the Billie Jean King infirmary, retiring against Rafael Nadal. One half of a doubles team retired yesterday as well.

Still alive

Andy Roddick, Sam Stosur, Vera Zvonareva, David Ferrer, Juan Martin Del Potro, Rafael Nadal, John Isner.

Tweet of the day

“Bloody nora… @judmoo your lad mad us all a bit twitchy there. Well done @andy_murray amazing match.”

@gaby_logan on being an Andy-fan

Coming up this evening…

Novak Djokovic v Nikolay Davydenko

ND v ND. Present v past. And realistically, it’s only going to end one way.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga v Fernando Verdasco

Hold onto your power tools. This is going to be a big-hitting fest, one which the Frenchman should sneak.

Victoria Azarenka v Serena Williams

It seems very strange to think that it was a full three years ago that Azarenka had the running of Serena in their Australian Open meeting before having to retire. Not a lot has changed – Serena is still the favourite. But this should be her first big test.

Sloane Stephens v Ana Ivanovic

An audience with American for the young Stephens, who will show us if Ana really has the goods to make it back up to the top. Watch out for her serve.

Also in action

Roger Federer v Marin Cilic, Mardy Fish v Kevin Anderson, Tomas Berdych v Janko Tipsarevic, Jelena Jankovic v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

U.S. Open: Maria Sharapova survives in first round

Maria Sharapova, seeded third and one of the few women other than Serena Williams given a chance to win this U.S. Open, needed to find her full survival mode Monday in the first round.

Sharapova, 24, needed three sets and 2 hours 34 minutes to oust 19-year-old Heather Watson of  Britain, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. Watson, ranked 104th in the world, was making her U.S. Open debut and it was in Arthur Ashe Stadium. By the final set, fans had embraced Watson's quietly powerful game, chanting "Hea-ther Wat-son," often as a noise counterpunch to Sharapova's achingly loud shrieking.

The last of Sharapova's three major titles was at the 2006 U.S. Open and her seeding here is her highest at a Grand Slam since she was third at the 2008 Wimbledon.

Sharapova overcame 58 unforced errors and eight double faults

This season Sharapova is 12-0 in three-set matches. She said her best explanation for that is, "I guess no matter how tired I am, I keep going for it, keep fighting for it.

"I knew I wasn't playing my best," Sharapova said. "The goal on a day like this is just to get through."

As for her opponent, Sharapova said, "I think she showed some of her best tennis today. She played really smart, especially in the first set when I was making so many errors."

MORE:

Mardy Fish wins, Ryan Harrison loses

Serena Williams on '09 blowup: 'I don't think about'

Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova loses in first round

-- Diane Pucin, reporting from New York

Photo: Maria Sharapova returns a backhand shot to Heather Watson during her first-round match at the U.S. Open on Monday. Credit: Mike Groll / Associated Press

US Open preview: Novak Djokovic and co ready for another grapple in the Apple

Bright lights: Who will come out on top inside the bowels of Arthur Ashe?

August really is a rather strange month. This knocked me on the head the other day as I was taking my morning constitutional in the pouring rush hour rain, running the gauntlet of umbrellas processing solemnly to tube and bus stop. It is a deadwood time, when the majority of folk are either on holiday, or wishing they were on holiday.

For the travelling tennis caravan of players, physios, press, and public who traipse from airport to stadium and back again, August is almost like December. It is a month of build-up, the only really extended period of time when players have a chance to step back, sit down, and start all over again, allowing for tucks and tweaks on and off the court.

In fact, such has been the gap between Wimbledon’s leafy surrounds and the hot dog-infused hard courts of the US Open that we’re entering Flushing Meadows with some intriguing yarns, an earthquake and a hurricane to keep an eye on.

Top of the list is the various machinations of the Big Four. The 125^th Championships ended with a very clear pecking order. Top, the new No 1, Novak Djokovic, an injured (although he claimed not) Rafael Nadal, a resurgent but reflective Andy Murray, and a wounded (in mind) Roger Federer.

Two months on, the four planets have jiggled a bit. Djokovic is still at the top, succumbing to just one more loss, a retirement at that, his 57-2 the best win-loss record since John McEnroe entered New York with 59-2 next to his name in 1984. He’s also the first man ever to lift five Masters Series shields in a season. Yes, he has a shoulder niggle. But is it serious?

Next there’s Murray. After a month lifting weights, modifying his diet, and cutting his hair, it almost looked as if the British No 1 had DeLoreaned his back to March when he slumped his way to a straight sets defeat in Montreal. But, left clutching the ugliest of trophies in Cincinnati a week later, Murray suddenly looked like he had in Australia in January. Focused and fierce and fit. One good week does not a grand slam champion make, of course. But the last time Murray won in Mason, he was in the Flushing Meadows final three weeks later. Fact.

In my view, that leaves the great rivals Federer and Nadal joint third, Roger perhaps a touch ahead because of the hard court conditions. Rafa, who holidayed on a yacht and joined Twitter during July, has also picked up a cold to add to whatever lingering physical issues may or may not have been troubling him. A first-match exit in Montreal was followed by a quarter-final in Cincy, yes, but also a three and a half hour grind against Fernando Verdasco along the way that cannot have helped. Federer, who holidayed on a different yacht, was outplayed by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Montreal, produced some very good goods to beat Juan Martin Del Potro, before allowing himself to be blown off court by Tomas Berdych. But these two are still hungry enough not to do the same in a grand slam situation, one would think.

And then there are the others. At Wimbledon, who was the fifth best player in the world? Tsonga? Feliciano Lopez? David Ferrer? Bernard Tomic? Whoever it was, it’s not him any more. It’s Mardy Fish, the formerly sockless wonder who now tapes his skinny ankles almost up to his equally skinny knees. Fish, the US Open Series champion, reached three finals on the bounce during the American hard court swing, and came credit card-close to making that four against Murray. For a 28 year-old who has only made two grand slam quarter-finals before, that’s pretty damn good.

Jump the gender divide, and instead of the big four, there’s just a big one. Serena Williams. Fleeing SW19 after a fourth-round exit, with an oh-so-lowly world ranking of No 169, and approaching the wrong side of 30, not even Mystic Meg would have tried the Tarot cards. And yet, here she is, US Open Series champion, back-to-back titles in tow, and, yet again, the name at the top of everyone’s favourite sheet. Remarkable.

The USTA have not, unlike Wimbledon, bumped Serena up the seedings, meaning she takes her place in the Flushing Meadows draw as the 28^th seed (one up from her ranking of 29 thanks to the withdrawal of Kim Clijsters). So it won’t be easy. But she is still guaranteed not to run into one of the top eight till the fourth round. By which time the hooped earrings should be flying.

Serena has been helped by the very sad absence of Clijsters, whose dream of a third consecutive New York trophy, fourth in total, was ended by an abdominal tear. The rest of the WTA are in a sort of disarray. World No 1 Caroline Wozniacki coach-less but with a new boyfriend (Hi Rory), the likes of new slam champs Li Na and Petra Kvitova desperately lacking confidence, and many, many others injured. How else could Jelena Jankovic, a self-proclaimed dark horse (before she retracted it), end up in the Cincinnati final?

There is another female with a mission. Maria Sharapova. Who else could serve 13 double faults in a final and still end up winning it? But Sharapova, much like Federer, looks thirsty. Losing the Wimbledon final has been an impetus rather than an impediment. It seems.

Of course, all of this depends on a multitude of things – the draw, the impending weather fronts, the mood of the crowds, and  most crucially, the state of any given player on any given day inside the bowels of Arthur Ashe. There are no second chances.

All in all, it’s set to be another fascinating grapple in the Big Apple.