Date: 3/23/2011
Result: Miami R1, Peng Shuai def. Greta Arn 6-1 6-2
Why it matters:
- I speculated what Arn's knee injury in Indian Wells might mean for the rest of her year, and this loss might be a harbinger of things to come. Arn seemed to be following the example of Schiavone, only on a smaller scale. She put together some of her best results late in her career, trying to achieve some career highs before her career finished - she's at her career high rank right now. You hate to see the momentum derailed by injury, but it looks like that's exactly what happened.
- For Peng, she adds a rare routine to her hot streak. She's made (almost) the most of her good form - I think she'd love to have her Australian Open loss to Radwanska back - having gone 23-7 this year so far off the heels of her Asian Games win. But look at the number of impressive, grinding, 3-set wins that she's come through on. For someone who has played so much, and had so much success, she deserved a quick win for a change. She's also had some decent results on clay, so she should look to keep riding the wave for several more months.
Honorable Mentions:
- Miami R1, Kevin Anderson def. Nikolay Davydenko - 64 63 - So I was wrong. I thought Davydenko was almost back, and then he has a tame loss like this to someone he should be beating, especially in a place where he's had great success (2008 champion). But Anderson has done well in Miami, also. As I mentioned in my previous posts, Davydenko can't afford losses now, no matter the variety, but routine losses to anyone not in the top 10 are really unacceptable.
- Miami R1, Varvara Lepchenko def. Coco Vandeweghe - 62 63 - Another routine beat-down head-scratcher. After Coco took down Zvonareva in San Diego , it looked like Coco might start to make her way up the rankings. But losses like this one, to a rare American clay-court specialist (she's a naturalized American - maybe that explains it), really make you wonder.
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