* !Picby Pete Bodo*
It happens all the time, particularly in women's tennis. When a new kid arrives on the block, the other girls don't necessarily spurn her, but they start riding their bicycles with a little more urgency and add little more ooommph! when they kick the soccer ball.
You can ask Tracy Austin, Monica Seles, or Martina Hingis about that, for they were just three of the prodigies whose arrival stimulated the established stars to ramp up their attention—and try to keep their eyes on the ball, rather than over their shoulders.
Something similar is happening at this Australian Open. It wouldn't take much to convince me that the most if not all of the major talents are Petrafied, aware that Kvitova just may be that new sheriff who imposes order in Dodge City.
It's been chaotic if lively there for some years now, with the women running hog wild and doing as they please. Could that be, at least partly, because they've collectively sensed that nobody is sufficiently committed or healthy or talented or driven to take charge? It's been all worker bees, and no Queens—at least not during those lengthy periods when Serena Williams recused herself or was forced to wait out an injury.
It's a different story at this tournament, what with Kvitova threatening to take that No. 1 ranking away from Caroline Wozniacki, who's had it for two years and appears to have confused Wimbledon with New Haven (she's won in Connecticut four times, but has yet to win a Grand Slam event). Kvitova developed from raw, inconsistent talent into a near-No. 1 in the blink of an eye, which may explain why all the top women are playing as if their homes were on fire.
Former No. 1 and three-time Grand Slam champ Maria Sharapova, the fourth seed, has lost just five games through three rounds of play. Thirteen-time Grand Slam champ and No. 12 seed Serena Williams has lost just 10 games thus far. Victoria Azarenka, No. 3, and the top-seeded Wozniacki have played one more round than those icons; they're in the quarters already, with Azarenka having lost just 16 games and Wozniacki chugging along with the loss of just 19 games. She could lose that many in a single match and still win it, as Francesca Schiavone learned here last year (she lost 24 games in her fourth-round win over Svetlana Kuznetsova).
Wozniacki represents this sudden urgency to win matches. I'm sure her new co-coach Ricardo Sanchez has had something to do with her success this year, but probably she hears the sound of Kvitova's footsteps in her ears along with his sage advice. Woznaicki's 2011 Gand Slam record was mediocre after she got off to a good start in Melbourne (l. to Li Na, semis). She was upset by Daniela Hantuchova in Paris and by Dominika Cibulkova at Wimbledon, and she put up very little resistance against Serena Williams at the U.S. Open, which is the point at which many decided she'd jumped the shark.
It's a new year, though, and Wozniacki—and the others—have gotten the wake-up call. The stop Kvitova movement begain in Sydney, where Li Na eliminated the No. 2 player in the semis; had Kvitova won that title, she would have entered the Australian Open at No. 1. Now the other top women all seem bent on making Kvitova leave the Australian Open still without that ranking. Wozniacki, who has the most to gain from slowing Kvitova, has Clijsters next.
"Kim is a great player. She has won a lot," Wozniacki said after she clubbed Jelena Jankovic, 6-0, 7-5, to make it into the quarters. "She's done a lot through her career. I know it's her last Australian Open, so I'm sure she will give everything. . . I'm excited about it and I'm looking forward to it."
Clijsters herself probably doesn't care much about the order of succession in the WTA, even though she's the defending champ Down Under while seeded a lowly No. 11. She's playing in her last Australian Open, she's said, and who doesn't want to go out a winner? Although she rolled an ankle in her epic win over Li Na, she lost just eight games in her first three rounds. It promises to be a real test for Wozniacki, because Clijsters survived quadruple match-point against Li, and you know how coming back from the dead like that can leave you feeling invincible.
Before Jankovic met Wozniacki in their fourth-rounder, the former year-end No. 1 and No. 13 seed advised everyone to lay off Wozniacki's shortcomings as a Grand Slam under performer, saying: "I think she's gonna win those big tournaments in the future sooner or later."
Vote of confidence or kiss of death from a player about whom the same was said just two years ago? You make the call.