!Venus [[Most of you know him, simply, as Master Ace, but this Birmingham boy's real name is Patrick Hinton, and his knowledge of tennis is, well, compendious. Anyway, I got wind of some of his speculations in the Comments section of a recent post, and I invited him to post his 10 best matches of the year, WTA and ATP, here on the front page of TennisWorld (instead of burying them in the Comments section).
So with no further ado, here are Master Ace's choices for the 10 best matches of the WTA in 2008. Next week, I'll post his ATP selections (that ought to be a doozy!) and I'd appreciate it if you all would stay on topic for at least 100 comments. Since it would be slightly absurd to run Your Call threads when there isn't any tour-level ATP or WTA event in progress, I'm going to re-institute the Watercooler icon and sensibility. Feel free to discuss all tennis at the Watercooler posts, and you can segue to off-topic issues after we hit the magical 100th comment mark.
Also, I understand that the Twibe is restless, and topical drift is especially inviting when there isn't any significant tennis action or news to discuss. The moderators will be pretty lenient in this, but I've also noticed that when people get a little bored or restless, they tend to start pushing the envelope re. the site rules. Please continue to live up to the high standard of insight (and wit) that y'all have established here.]]*
- Pete*
PS - I'll be around until tomorrow late afternoon, and will have a red-meat post. Then I drift away for the Thanksgiving holiday (more on that tomorrow). On Monday, I'll update you on some of the upcoming features that will keep us busy moving toward the holidays.
*
Master Ace's Top 10 WTA*:
1 - Serena Williams defeated Venus Williams 7-6(6), 7-6(7): United States Open QF: Serena rallied from a break down in each set to win the match in straight tiebreak sets saving 10 set points along the way.
2 - Venus Williams defeated Serena Williams 7-5, 6-4: Wimbledon F:
Venus rallied from a break down in each set to win her 5th Wimbledon title with good defense
3 - Serena Williams defeated Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 7-5: United States Open F:
Jelena enjoyed herself under the bright lights of New York on Sunday night (thanks to Hurricane Ike) by looking at the scoreboard at herself and playing good tennis but when she had set points in the 2nd set, but her reluctance to come to net cost her a chance for a deciding set as Serena rallied late in that set to win her 9th Slam.
4 - Ana Ivanovic defeated Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-4: French Open SF:
This match was a battle for number 1. Ana rallied from a break down in the final set to win the match. Two days later, she validated number 1 by winning her first Slam.
5 - Ana Ivanovic defeated Nathalie Dechy 6-7(2), 7-6(3), 10-8: Wimbledon R64
Nathalie had match point but Ana rallied to win the match after her shot hit the net and bounced over erasing match point. However, Ana could not continue the momentum as she crashed out in the next round to Jie Zheng.
6 - Dinara Safina defeated Maria Sharapova 6-7(6), 7-6(5), 6-2: French Open R16:
Dinara had match point against her before she rallied to win. In the deciding set, Maria started to unravel and the French crowd let her know it.
7 - Venus Williams defeated Jelena Jankovic 6-2, 2-6, 6-3: Sony Ericsson Championships SF:
After their previous encounter in Stuttgart, Jelena’s coach pulled out the stopwatch to suggest that Venus was taking too long between points. Earlier in their rivalry, Jelena quick-served Venus in the 3rd set at 2006 Wimbledon. At that time, that was Jelena’s biggest win. I was surprised by how Venus outworked Jelena in the final set, winning the baseline rallies.
8 - Francesca Schiavone defeated Justine Henin 7-6(3), 7-6(4): Dubai R32:
Although this was just a two-set match, it was of high quality. The win by Francesca was her first (and only) victory over Justine.
9 - Jelena Jankovic defeated Tamira Paszek 2-6, 6-2, 12-10: Australian Open R128:
Tamira had numerous chances to serve out this match. Jelena saved one match point with excellent defense and capped the point off with a cross-court backhand winner. This match pre-figured what would come in the women's season.
10 - Dinara Safina defeated Serena Williams 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(5): Berlin QF:
After Serena took out Justine, I thought Serena she would extend her 17-match win streak, but Dinara battled back, kept her level high, and won the crucial points in the 3rd set tiebreak. The win launched her on a hot streak that lasted all summer - and beyond.
Best of the rest:
Dinara Safina defeated Justine Henin 5-7, 6-3, 6-1: Berlin R32.
Dinara Safina defeated Elena Dementieva 3-6, 6-2, 6-2: Berlin F
Serena Williams defeated Venus Williams 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(4): Bangalore SF
Elena Dementieva defeated Dinara Safina 3-6, 7-5, 6-3: Olympics F