Apologies that this is late! Blogger was doing maintenance last night… enjoy!
Date: 5/11/2011
Result: Rome R2, Yanina Wickmayer def. Ana Ivanovic, 2-6 7-6 6-3
Why it matters:
- Wickmayer needed a win like this. She ground down Li Na back in February, but doesn't have a signature win this year. That's not to say she had any bad losses, either, but for someone as talented as Wickmayer, who looked like she was ready to take the tour by storm in the 2009 US Open. And with Henin gone and Clijsters ready to hit the sidelines again for good, it's Wickmayer's time to step-up. Ivanovic isn't as big of a win as she used to be, but the fight that Wickmayer showed in scraping back from the brink was the impressive part of this match. Ivanovic rolled through the first and looked ready to close, but Wickmayer played smartly aggressive tennis in the tiebreak to take the pressure off. This may be a one off with Wozniacki being Wickmayer's next opponent, but look for Yanina to really put her stamp on the hardcourt season this summer.
- This wouldn't be a terrible loss for Ivanovic if you didn't look at the score. Losing to Wickmayer is completely acceptable, but not when Ivanovic was dominating. That makes two weeks in a row where she played a great first set and couldn't close. This is becoming a disturbing pattern. Frankly, Ivanovic didn't look nervous or really collapse this one away, she just didn't raise her level at the critical points when she needed to perform like a champion. Ivanovic will need to remember how to think and perform like a champion and not rely purely on talent if she wants to make the next push back into the top 10.
Honorable Mentions:
- Rome R2, Rafael Nadal def. Paolo Lorenzi - 67 64 60 - I just don't think this was as big a deal as everyone else. So Rafa lost a set, big whoop. He looked a mess for most of the first two sets, and STILL WON. It's obvious he's upset about the Madrid loss, came from playing 5 matches in different conditions with this bad mindset, and was flat for the first hour of the match. Then, when he realized his position, he shook things off and closed it out in style. It doesn't mean Nadal is done and doesn't mean anything for his prospects either this week or in Paris. What it does mean is that Novak is concerning to him. And if we've learned anything from the Nadal camp over the past few years, its that they will make changes to Rafa's game that are necessary to beat his biggest rivals - and they aren't afraid to sacrifice warm-up event results to make sure things click at the majors.
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