A modern women's claycourter - 4/29/2011

Date: 4/29/2011
Result: Barcelona SF, Roberta Vinci def. Laura Pous-Tio, 4-6 6-4 7-6
Why it matters:
- Three in a row for Vinci.  After winning the title in 2009 and making the finals in 2010, Vinci is back again.  But why?  This is a place where she clearly excels, but her serve and volley game doesn't seem like the traditional tactic on clay.  However, with the near extinction of slice in the women's game, at net is one of the rare places where players try to hit shots that stay particularly low.  And while clay is slow and can really make topspin kick up, it also can help keep slices, or volleys, low.  Of course Vinci isn't at net every point, but she comes in a lot for the WTA, and as Schiavone showed at Roland Garros last year, closing at net with low volleys, or just variety in general, can make a mark in the modern game especially on the red clay.  The clay in different cities can play completely differently, but somehow Vinci's game just works well in Barcelona.  Maybe she can take a lot of heart from her run here - Schiavone won the title last year before winning in Paris, so why not two veteran Italians in a row?
- Pous-Tio has come a long way from her 2nd round loss to Vinci last year.  After missing about 20 months between September 2007 and May 2009, Pous-Tio is trying to resurrect her career, and converting on a lot of opportunities.  This one slipped away, but Pous is looking like she might surpass her former results when she was a young up-and-comer.  For Pous-Tio, the most interesting part of her attempt to comeback is that she's been playing tour level events and trying to qualify a lot, at least a lot more than playing tiny challengers to get her confidence up.  But she must have something going, because if she can put together semifinal runs, then she'll be reaching newfound heights soon enough.

Honorable Mentions:
- Munich QF, Nikolay Davydenko def. Marin Cilic - 75 63 - Nothing too disrespectful losing to a former champion for Cilic, but with Davydenko's track record this year of losing to people less talented than Cilic, the Croat has got to feel like he let one slip.  Cilic, too, is not living up to potential, and there are supposed to be his peak years, where Davydenko is near the end.  I've believed too many times that certain wins by Davydenko would key him on to a recovery year, but I'm not willing to believe it again, at least until he takes a title... maybe in 2 days.
- Estoril QF, Juan Martin del Potro def. Robin Soderling - 64 75 - It happened again.  After taking Soderling down in Miami as part of his comeback, del Potro does it again on clay.  Despite where they grew up, it's arguable that Soderling is the more proficient claycourter of the two, so this is pretty impressive (though indoors would be even more impressive).  Soderling has impressed since his 2009 run to the French Open final, but del Potro is proving, repeatedly, that when it comes to big guys with big groundstrokes, he's the true contender to be a dominant threat.