Queen City Queens

by Bobby Chintapalli

MASON, Ohio – It’s been a long week and a bit of a blur at the Western & Southern Open. Close to Cincinnati, which is nicknamed The Queen City, the tournament has one empty slot on the women’s singles draw – the one marked ‘CHAMPION’ – and both 2010 finalist Maria Sharapova and 2009 winner Jelena Jankovic want it for themselves. The women, who go way back, were both ranked No. 1 for roughly the same number of weeks (Sharapova for 17, Jankovic for 18). Below are a few thoughts and quotes on and from the ladies, who this afternoon will play for that slot and the goodies that come with it.

Maria Sharapova

Novak Djokovic is on the cover of The Cincinnati Enquirer today under the headline ‘A DOUBLE DELIGHT’. But in the picture above his, one that’s twice as big, is the mighty Maria Sharapova. She’s in color on the cover of the Sports section too, above a picture of Vera Zvonareva, and below the headline ‘Maria solves problem’. Jelena Jankovic stars in a rather big picture herself. It’s black and white, inside the Sports section and above yet another picture of – you guessed it – Sharapova. Djokovic can imitate her all he wants, but there’s only one Sharapova.

And that one Sharapova, after being off in the first set of her semifinal against Vera Zvonareva, played more consistently and aggressively in the second and third sets to win the match. Things improved after Sharapova’s coach, Thomas Hogstedt, talked to her after the first set. She said later, in post-match press, that he did most of the talking. It was, from the sound of it, a pep talk. “I think it’s more about energy,” she said. “I’m not really too much of a tactic type of player. You know, I like to play by instinct a little bit more.”

If something made her think the tide was turning in her favor, it was footwork. Recreational players know that’s not the easiest thing to force yourself to improve. She improved it indirectly. As her “mindset” became aggressive, her footwork improved.

She’s an intense woman and, in pressers, practically the opposite of Jankovic, who talks more freely and more, period. They differ on court too. Up 4-1 in the third set Sharapova kept her eyes closed on the changeover. Even if she opened them she wouldn’t have laughed at the long kissers on the kiss cam. That’s neither here nor there, but it’s in contrast to Jankovic. Up 4-1 in the second set Jankovic smiled at the dancing guys on the screen during the changeover. She and her opponent, Andrea Petkovic, sat in their chairs a bit after the chair umpire said “time” and they continued smiling as they walked to their baselines.

Sharapova will rise to No. 4 if she wins today and No. 5 if she doesn’t. A win, which would give her a second title this year and the 24th of her career, would also mean she overtakes Caroline Wozniacki and Petra Kvitova for the top spot in the Year End Championships leaderboard. But there’s work yet.

“We haven’t played against each other for a while, so it’ll be nice to compete against one another,” said Sharapova. “We’ve known each other since we were very young. We grow up in Florida together in the same sort of group. Going back in the juniors, we played a lot of the matches against each other and we had many battles… It’s good to see her back at this stage. She’s a great player. She was No. 1 in the world, so it’s no joke.”

Jelena Jankovic

!JJ

The winner usually does post-match press second, but not late last night. Jelena Jankovic came in first, and she came in fast. She likely came straightaway from TV interviews; she still wore that bright orange dress but had a towel around her shoulders.

The first question came quickly, and it was about the challenge of playing Maria Sharapova. “You’re already [asking] about Maria – I just finished Petkovic,” said Jankovic, who wanted to savor the type of moment she doesn’t get much these days. After all, the woman played like it was 2008 again, when she was No. 1 and all seemed right with her world.

Last night the glitter was missing, but the game was there. Jankovic moved and defended as well as before and possibly volleyed and served better. She's served more aces here than anyone (20, while Sharapova has served 10). “Is that right?” asked Jankovic, who then pointed out that she may also have served more double faults than anyone here. (I need to check the stats, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that's true.)

In other news Jankovic has had former coach Ricardo Sanchez with her here. She said he has business here, that they’re really good friends, and “we’ll see what will happen in the future.” The “we’ll see” sentiment also applies to the blacked-out racquet Jankovic is playing with here. It’s a test racquet she started using before this tournament. “When the time comes, you guys will probably see something, some logo or something,” she said.

Jankovic and Sharapova have a history that goes back to their days at the Bollettieri Tennis Academy and includes a cornucopia of tweetworthy tidbits through the years. But they had nice enough words for each other yesterday. Jankovic said Sharapova’s playing “very well.” Sharapova called Jankovic a “great player” and said “it’s good to see her back at this stage.”

After losing in the first round of her two previous tournaments before and not playing as much as usual this year, Jankovic is looking for her first 2011 title. The woman who was in the Top 10 for a million years is expected to rise to the No. 12 ranking, win or lose.

Despite having a big week at a big tournament – that too as the 13th seed looking for her 13th singles title –Jankovic knows what year it is. She said last night didn’t feel like 2008 again: “I felt like it’s 2011, like it’s my time here.”