!SelaBy TW Contributing Editor, Ed McGrogan
Last Week's Tournaments
Davis Cup (ITF - Men's - Various)
Argentina vs. Netherlands
- Argentina wins 5-0
Czech Republic vs. France
- Czech Republic wins 3-2
United States vs. Switzerland
- United States wins 4-1
Croatia vs. Chile
- Croatia wins 5-0
Sweden vs. Israel
- Israel wins 3-2
Romania vs. Russia
- Russia wins 4-1
Germany vs. Austria
- Germany wins 3-2
Spain vs. Serbia
- Spain wins 4-1
Monterrey Open (WTA - Hard - Monterrey, Mexico)
Singles & Doubles Bracket
- Marion Bartoli def. Na Li
- Nathalie Dechy/Mara Santangelo def. Iveta Benesova/Barbora Zahlavova Strycova
McGrogan's Heroes
ITF (Men) - Dudi Sela
This was a tough call. The Davis Cup resumes of Sela, his Israeli teammate Harel Levy, and Spain's Rafael Nadal were all impressive. But before I get to Sela, let me quickly mention Nadal.
It's true that the world No. 1 was playing in front of his home crowd, and on clay, on which he's nearly unbeatable. But these score lines against Jarko Tipsarevic (say what you want, but he's no slouch at No. 47 in the world) and Novak Djokovic are simply amazing: 6-1, 6-0, 6-2 against Tipsarevic; 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 against Djokovic. If you aren't taken aback by those numbers, you're either a huge fan of the Serbian Davis Cup team, or a Roger Federer fan in serious denial.
As for the Israelis, it's clear that there was more than tennis on their minds this week. And although the lack of an opposition crowd lessened the amount of errant airhorns they had to deal with, I suspect that a sterile arena played with their nerves in an entirely different way. It was certainly an odd situation, made even trickier when their Swedish singles opponents - Thomas Johansson and Andreas Vinciguerra - provided stiff competition early on. Johansson won a five-setter over Levy to open the tie (8-6 in the fifth); Sela needed fifth-set heroics of his own against Vinicguerra, winning the last set 11-9.
After Sweden's doubles team of Simon Aspelin and Robert Lindstedt - both regular doubles players on the ATP tour - won Saturday, Sela and Levy were forced to win both of their singles matches for Israel to advance. Sela kept hope alive after winning in five sets once again, this time with a more pedestrian 6-2 score in the final frame. Now, the pressure was on Levy to do his part. And he did just that, winning in dramatic fashion, 8-6 in the fifth.
I give Sela the weekly award because he won both of his matches, and both were comebacks from two-sets-to-one down. But Levy deserves acknowledgement for his five-set triumph in the deciding rubber, especially since he lost a five-setter just two days earlier.
WTA - Marion Bartoli
The last time we saw Bartoli, she was across the net from Jelena Jankovic at the Australian Open, returning the Serb's serves with tremendous authority and pinpoint accuracy. Bartoli won the match 6-1, 6-4, sending the tournament's top seed home in the fourth round.
I - and probably most of you - didn't catch a second of the Monterrey Open last week, but I'm sure that Bartoli's ferocious return of serve was unleashed once again in Mexico. She won the title, her first since 2006, and defeated a number of strong opponents along the way.
Bartoli's first adversary was a qualifier, but a dangerous one in Michaella Krajicek. Bartoli won in straight sets, and did the same in the second round against wild card Magdalena Rybarikova.
Vania King came next, and although the American won the first set 6-2, Bartoli emerged as the winner of the match. Bartoli's final two wins of the week came against Chinese players: No. 4 Zheng Jie in the semifinals (7-5, 6-3), and unseeded Li Na in the final (6-4, 6-3). Ranked No. 13 in the world coming into Monterrey, Bartoli should get a slight bump up the ladder with this fine result.
Next Week's Tournament
(TV Schedule)
BNP Paribas Open (ATP & WTA - Hard - Indian Wells, United States)
Men's Singles Bracket
Men's Doubles Bracket
Women's Singles & Doubles Brackets
(Main draws to come later in the week.)