Tennis Magazine's photo editor, David Rosenberg, is in Miami for a few days. He was wandering the grounds at Key Biscayne and reported in to the home office here.
Hi Steve,
I'm keeping an eye on the women here. With all the attention on the men's tour today, it's hard to
remember it wasn't that long ago the women had a firm grip on tennis, with powerful American players, a Russian sexpot, a crafty Swiss player nicknamed after a doll who killed people, a comeback player with a mug shot in her past, and a player who had literally been stabbed in the back. It's true: tennis turns in an instant.
I caught a couple of women's matches yesterday between rain drops, nothing too memorable apart from the fact that names seem to be getting even more difficult to pronounce (I'm still working on Larcherde Brito). I managed to catch one set of Michaella Krajicek vs. Anna Tatishvili. Krajicek won the first set by just hanging around and switching sides. Tatishvili made a ton of errors, probably due to the wind and the size of the stadium court, and because she waited around for the match to start and she went for too much, and, oh, about a dozen other reasons.
I had heard some good things about Yaroslava Shvedova (something along the lines of "she's a decent player"), so I went to check out her match against Dominika Cibulkova (both players' names are pronounced as you would expect). Shvedova is another tall, hard-hitting Russian baseliner, but she tried a couple of drop shots (does that make her an "all-court player" on the WTA tour?) and overpowered
Cibulkova, who is as small and muscular as Amanda Coetzer, moves well, but doesn't have the same patience. Anyhow, I didn't have too much time to think before Shvedova (who's pictured above) had wrapped up the match in two quick sets. I like bold predictions so I say she'll be Top 30 within a year.
Later, I walked past a few practice courts with WTA players. Here are a few of the pairings I noticed.
Shahar Peer with Zheng Jie. Jie's coach wore a lot of sunscreen considering there was no sun anywhere. They practiced tons of overheads in the wind. Neither player seemed too serious about it.
Martina Hingis hit with Daniela Hantuchova. Hantuchova served a ton on the deuce and ad court to Martina's forehand. Hingis missed about 50 percent of the returns and sort of shrugged after most shots. They both seemed relaxed.
Justine Henin with Jelena Jankovic. Both women practiced overheads and had difficulty throwing up lobs in the crazy wind. They seemed friendly together, but I wondered if Jankovic still thinks about choking that US Open semi to Henin, and then accusing her of recovering from an injury suspiciously quickly. Henin has got to be the fittest woman on tour.
Svetlana Kuznetsova and Maria Sharapova. Intense practice. They played out points, both of them hugging the baseline and hitting shots right on the lines, so it almost looked like they were hitting rapid half-volleys.
After one scorching return of serve by Kuznetsova that nailed the sideline, Sharapova examined the line, looking for a mark for a good 15 seconds. Was she practicing for instant replay?
David