Date: 5/9/2011
Result: Rome R1, Greta Arn def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 3-6 7-6 7-6
Why it matters:
- So your favorite player is Svetlana Kuznetsova. The draw comes out and you notice that she's up against Greta Arn, who is in the best form of her fairly long career, but that best form has never been good enough for a top 15 win. Kuznetsova's game is almost tailor-made for clay courts. She can beat anyone on any day, has won Roland Garros, and has that heavy topspin that gives players fits. And so then she wins a comfortable first set and you think you can maybe relax. But you know Kuznetsova too well to be certain about how this is going to end. And then she loses a tight second where she had plenty of opportunities. Kuznetsova could shake it off and win 6-0, be jaded and lose 0-6, or anything in between could happen. But the worst possible thing happens - she loses a heartbreaker 7-6 in the 3rd and a very tight tiebreak. She's lost an insanely close match already this year and it seemed to stay with her. You know her mental strength is really only a mental weakness. You know her game collapses at the drop of a hat and she just doesn't play with the confidence of a two-time major champion. But when you watch, you can only think of the possibilities - the talent is SO big that you can imagine in an alternate universe she's been #1 for 200 straight weeks - but they almost never pan out. But you're a Kuznetsova fan, so you've resigned yourself to hoping, and accepting the sad procession of disappointments with the rare shining moment.
- For Arn, her first top 15 win is memorable in such an epic match and in an important event. After an impressive run already this year in Auckland, she keeps improving. Her game doesn't seem suited to clay, but on a hot day in Rome, the courts can quicken enough that her power can be devastating. Here's to hoping that Arn can ride this wave and continue to higher and higher career highs. And this seems entirely possible in the new "old" WTA, where the more experienced the player, the better the results they can put together.
Honorable Mentions:
- Rome R1, Gilles Simon def. Andy Roddick - 63 63 - The joke's over, isn't it? I believe that Roddick has been overranked for awhile, but he's not the type of player to lose this many matches in a row, even if the last two were on his least favorite surface. Even his fans could get something out of seeing Andy lose early for a few matches - maybe he would decide to be aggressive and abandon his "pusher" game. But this match he tried to be more aggressive, but did it so purposelessly that he was repeatedly passed by someone as talented as Simon. I believe Roddick has the desire, but if he can't channel it properly (namely, by playing smart aggressive tennis rather than being aggressive in his demeanor against officials, the media and the crowd), then he should just give it up. Simon played incredibly, by the way, and totally deserved to win. He's been underranked for awhile and it'll only be a matter of time before he's back in the top 20.
- Rome R1, Potito Starace def. Alexandr Dolgopolov - 63 63 - Starace put on a great show for the home crowd, comprehensively winning his first match and allowing the Italians to dream big this week. But in the end, it's Dolgopolov who has been so off recently that those lucky enough to show up against him just need to stick to the script to pick up the W. Dolgopolov's game impressed in Australia and his style seemed easily transferable to clay, but it hasn't happened. It seems to slow to match to grass, at least immediately, so look to the US Open Series to see if Dolgopolov was a flash in the pan, is actually a threat, or needs a few years.
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