Istanbul
For the second year in a row, Masha Sharapova, because of an injury, has not been able to humanly prepare for Roland Garros. Last year, after Miami and two months of “rest”, Masha immediately went to Paris, and at that moment she decided to check forces in Istanbul at the last moment. The organizers, of course, gave a wild card, and now Masha is getting ready to win her first dirt title in her career.
Of course, winning the title is not a priority right now. The main thing is to get in shape and feel the ground under your feet. But such is Masha - wherever and whyver she comes, the true champion sets herself the goal of winning. “I missed the central court on Sunday,” - as we understand, we are talking about the final.
Will Masha get to the central court on Sunday, while the question is. The first match with Tsvetana Pironkova turned out to be very difficult - 6: 4, 7: 6. Double mistakes have not gone away, and the percentage of hits on the first serve leaves much to be desired. Even if all the rivals were of the same level as Pironkova, it is not a fact that Masha would have won the tournament. Last year, she could not become a three-time champion in Birmingham because she lost to Jamie Jackson, at that time the 81st racket of the world. But it was on your favorite grass.
“I missed the central court on Sunday”
Fortunately, by that time Venus Williams had left the tournament, with whom Masha was to meet in the semifinals. The American lost to the young Frenchwoman Aravan Rezai. Or, perhaps, unfortunately, because the form is recruited precisely on such rivals. Be that as it may, in the quarter finals Masha will play with Agnieszka Radwan, and in the semifinals, perhaps with the same Rezai. Both rivals are able to take on the role of Jamie Jackson. And even if Masha wins, it is not known how much effort it will cost her and in what condition she will reach the finals. A good contingent is tearing towards Sharapova - Alena Bondarenko, Patti Schnyder and Elena Dementieva.
Strasbourg
In Strasbourg, we have to see the fight for 4th place in the ranking on the eve of Roland Garros between the first seeded Amelie Moresmo and the second racket of the tournament Elena Yankovich. After a brilliant performance in Rome, Jankovic shifted Moresmo to 5th position, and now they are separated by some 25 weightless points. But neither one nor the other, for obvious reasons, wants to meet with the current champion Justine Henin at the Roland Garros before the final.
Although, perhaps, the Frenchwoman is more concerned with the search for a game form, because in the last three months she played only 3 matches, 2 of which she lost. Over the past 10 years, Moresmo has never played in the last week before the Roland Garros, but now, apparently, the need forced.
But the appearance in Strasbourg Jankovic cannot be explained by anything other than rating interests. Many are perplexed at how she still stands on her feet. After all, Elena already played this season more than all tournaments - 13, and since the end of April she has been waving her racket without stopping. Maybe in the second half of the season such a busy schedule will make itself felt, but so far, Jankovic seems to bear these loads quite easily. Starting from the tournament in Dubai, she played 8 consecutive weeks, and by the end of the eighth won the first category tournament in Charleston, disappointing, by the way, Venus Williams on the way. Probably, Elena flies on the wings of inspiration from her own successes, because last year she played 10 tournaments before Rome, and in only one of them she managed to get into the second round.
After the victory in Rome, the Serb looks like a favorite in a possible final duel against the operated Moresmo. Although Moresmo leads in personal meetings 5: 1, but two victories were counted as an automatic machine, since Jankovic withdrew from the matches due to poor health. But this year in Sydney, Jankovic defeated Moresmo in two sets - 7: 5, 6: 0. However, the final between them is not yet guaranteed. The Frenchwoman will certainly do her best, but about Yankovitch with complete certainty this can not yet be said.
Having reached the semifinals, the Serbian tennis player will defend her last year's points in Istanbul, and one can only guess about her future plans. In the semifinals, Jankovic may meet Chinese woman Na Lee, a difficult opponent, and Elena, as we know, holds the first place in the women's round in the number of failures during matches due to various ailments or tiredness. We will see what goals Jankovic will set for himself. But if she wants to remain the fourth racket of the world, she needs not only to reach the finals, but also to win. Maybe she will be strengthened by the memory of how last year at the Roland Garros she lost Moresmo in the third round?
Pertschach
Pertsschach is the same tournament that used to take place in St. Poelten. It was in these two Austrian cities with hard-to-pronounce names that our Nikolai Davydenko celebrated the victory for the last two years. And this time, Kohl should go to the finals without any problems - in his half of the net all seeded, including Lyubichich, were killed on the battlefield. But in the final, instead of last year's Novak, the 111th number of the rating, or the year before last Melser, the 47th, there will most likely be Andy Roddick or Lleyton Hewitt themselves. It remains to wait and find out which of the two.
It was Andy Roddick, who received a wild card this year and was seeded second, in his first and until that moment last visit to the tournament in 2003 beat Nikolai Davydenko in the final. And thus he won his first and only soil title in his career. But this year, Andy does not look very good on the ground - in Rome, he beat the very bad Gaston Gaudio, who is considering ending his career, and then lost to Chele 0: 6, 4: 6. And in the quarterfinals, if Andy gets there, he will most likely have a meeting with Hyun-Tyke Lee, who periodically gives trouble to the favorites. It was he who defeated the South in Monte Carlo, and last year he defeated Tursunov, Robredo, Lyubichich and Mathieu.
Lleyton Hewitt, perhaps, looks best in the role of the second finalist and, possibly, the winner of the tournament. Lleyton became the second after Davydenko, who won against Nadal a set on the ground this season. And it was Lleyton who won in three sets did not allow Nikolai to go further in Hamburg beyond the third round.
Dusseldorf
The most extreme way to prepare for the "Roland Garros" - the world championship among men's teams in Dusseldorf. Training in its purest form and no rating points.
Tournament in Dusseldorf - pure training
Last year’s champions, Croats, didn’t come to Dusseldorf: Lyubichich wasn’t interested in mushrooms, and Anchich was still injured. But those who want to combine training and the desire to stand up for the country are still enough. Among them are Berdych, Ferrer, Almagro, Blake, Fish and the brothers Brian, Chela, Caleri, Acasuso, Kolschreiber with Benji Becker, Vligen and Olivier Rochus, Soderling, Fernando Gonzalez and Nicholas Massu.
The tournament is held according to the round robin system, which the organizers are extremely proud of, so the chances of winning a particular team so far are not amenable to analysis, but this does not matter. Just curious to see the results of single meetings on the eve of Roland Garros. James Blake, for example, lost to Fernando Gonzalez for the fifth time in a row. And David Ferrer just vomits and mosques.
Ksenia VITRYAK