Wimbledon Day 4 Upsets

On the women's side, there were a trio of upsets: 20th-seeded Israeli Shahar Pe'er lost to Chinese player Shuai Peng; 29th seed Tatiana Golovin fell to Australian comer Nicole Pratt in 3, and Frenchwoman Severine Bremond took out Patty Schnyder in a 2 day, 3 set match in the biggest surprise of the day.

None really on the men's side; despite the fall of 2 seeds--Novak Djokovic (News, Blog Posts) saw off 11th seeded Tommy Robredo and Georgian Irakli Labadze took out 16th seed Gaston Gaudio, both of whom are much more at home on clay (though Robredo's powerful game is maybe even more suited to hard courts.)

Wimbledon: Wear Whites or Talk to the Hand

Wimbledon's getting very serious about its dress code: violators will be defaulted. Ouch.

Choice quote:

Andrew Jarrett, the tournament’s new referee, said last week: “There have been various outfits over the years that have caused everything from huge enjoyment to huge outrage, depending on your viewpoint. A lot of people wondered what the reaction would be to Nadal’s pirate shorts last year. We were very relaxed about it. He turned up in a beautiful white pair and they are now part of his persona.

“We have accepted the bare midriff because when virtually every player serves I defy any of them not to show their midriff when they are stretching up."

I defy anyone to deem piratas "beautful," white or otherwise. Read the 'Wimbledon whites' article

ps. Adidas is German? Where have I been.

Wimbledon Draws are Out!: The Women

Here's the women's draw. Venus landed at the bottom of Mauresmo's quarter of the draw and so did 14th seed Dinara Safina. Other trouble spots: a newly brunette Tatiana Golovin and Ana Ivanovic who's already beaten Amelie this year. Michaela Krajicek, who's still having a great week in Nottingham, is a potential 2nd round match up for Mauresmo.

Sharapova's section looks pretty straightforward until Dementieva in the quarters, though Schiavone, Sania Mirza, and Danilidou, who made the semis at the Ordina Open, could add some spice.

Hingis, Hantuchova, Jamea Jackson and Patty Schnyder are in Justine Henin-Hardenne's section of the draw. Will be interesting to see if Hingis can reach the massive roadblock that is Justine.

At the bottom of the draw, there are a few threats between #5 seed Kuznetsova and #2 seed Kim Clijsters: Vaidisova, Na Li and Kirilenko.

News: Petrova's pulled out with her lingering groin injury from the French.

Ace Hot List

Well, the most important tennis rankings are out.

For the men, the Spanish Armada is, of course, well represented in the top 10--  Rafael Nadal, Feliciano Lopez, Juan Carlos Ferrero. And apparently bald is also beautiful, with 2 shiny domes making the cut.

For the women, the top 10 is dominated by the Russians and sort-of Russians: Myskina, Dementieva, Kirilenko, Golovin and Sharapova.

The Women's and Men's Lists

I must say I disagree with the rankings. Ivanovic, Venus, Dementieva and Mirza are IMHO the most beautiful women on tour; and the spaniards should clearly have a lock on the top 4 (Feli first, and where is Moya?), and the absence of Ancic and Nalbandian is obviously poor judgement. (Roddick, top 10? Blasphemy!)

Maria Sharapova and Tatiana Golovin: No Hard Feelings

Maria Sharapova and Tatiana Golovin showed up together at a Miami Heat game just a couple of days after their now somewhat infamous semifinal matchup at the Nasdaq-100.  Note Golovin modeling the lovely pink cast. 

As for whether this was a WTA setup or of their own instigation, your guess is as good as mine.

Am I the only one who wasn't offended by Sharapova's behavior during her match with Golovin?

Golovin to Miss At Least a Month

From the AP: Golovin out at least a month with ankle injury

Tatiana Golovin is expected to be sidelined four to six weeks after injuring her left ankle in her semifinal loss at the Nasdaq-100 Open, the WTA Tour said Friday.

Golovin tore two ligaments and bruised a bone when she twisted her ankle and fell chasing a shot in the third set of her match Thursday night against Maria Sharapova...

Golovin will be in a cast for 10 days, the tour said. She hopes to return for the clay court tournament in Berlin beginning May 8, three weeks before the French Open.

Tatiana Golovin

From the Miami Herald: The semifinalist without a title

Tatiana Golovin, the NASDAQ-100 Open women's semifinalist who fans least likely know, lives a few miles down the road and trains on Stadium Court at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park. She also is the only one who hasn't won a Grand Slam event.

The 18-year-old's opponent in tonight's late semifinal on Stadium Court -- fourth-ranked Maria Sharapova -- won last year's Wimbledon. Top-ranked Amelie Mauresmo, who meets 14th-ranked Svetlana Kuznetsova at 1 p.m. today in the other women's semifinal, won the Australian Open in January, and Kuznetsova won the 2004 U.S. Open.

Golovin is among the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour players who draw attention with their overall package -- good looks, good game, good personality, diverse interests. But she is still seeking her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title. A win against Sharapova would put Golovin one match from that dream.

Hingis to Play Doubles With Golovin

Martina Hingis: "Do you want to play?"

Tatiana Golovin: "Of course."

That, anyway, is how Tatiana Golovin reported she and Martina Hingis came to be the latest doubles tandem at the Australian Hardcourt Championships this week. 

To which I can only say, cool!  Not only will we get to see Martina make her comeback in singles but in doubles as well.  And Hingis does have an eye for doubles partners.  I took a quick look at the entry list and it does indeed look like Golovin is the best of the bunch.

My only surprise after reading the AP article was that 1) it converted Golovin back into a Russian again:)  and 2) Golovin is still only 17. 

But she's one of those Australian Open birthday girls so she'll be turning 18 this month.  All I can say is, I hope she wised-up and hired a coach for this season.  To hear her say she didn't need one as a 17-year-old last season was pretty ridiculous.

At the very least, she needs someone to help her cope with the pressure.  All we heard last year from her was how much tougher it was to play as the favorite instead of the up-and-coming rookie.  Well, yeah... but if she wants to get where her talent can take her she'll have to figure out how to do just that.

 

Underwater Tennis?

In keeping with the women's tennis tradition of strange photo shoots, the WTA has come up with a new one.  Tatiana Golovin has recently completed an underwater photo shoot.  I guess I'm just not artistic enough to understand these things.

Golovin Defeats Venus

From Tennis Week: Golovin Grounds Defending Charleston Champ Venus

Venus Williams wore a long-sleeved shirt in concession to the blustery, cool conditions in Charleston today, but in the end the former No. 1 found herself succumbing to severe exposure. Patiently picking apart Williams' weaker forehand wing, 13th-seeded Tatiana Golovin dressed down Williams from the baseline before dismissing the defending champion, 7-5, 6-4, to advance to the Family Circle Cup quarterfinals.

Golovin Downs Venus at Family Circle Cup

From The State: Venus' title defense goes terribly awry

Although Venus Williams termed her performance “a comedy of errors,” presumably of the unforced variety, there was little doubt about the identity of the better player, at least for a day, on Thursday.

Tatiana Golovin, the No. 13 seed at the Family Circle Cup, upset Williams, the fourth seed and defending champion, in straight sets during Thursday’s round of 16, winning 7-5, 6-4.

Tatiana Golovin

A fun article on Tatiana Golovin in The Telegraph: Golovin hot stuff on and off court

And still Tatiana Golovin waits for some sort of response from Buckingham Palace. It was last summer that she informed Prince William through the morning prints that she wanted to look up from the Centre Court at Wimbledon and see him waving back at her from the Royal Box. "I'll be waiting for him," the would-be princess had purred.

This cheeky approach to the princes was typical of her. Golovin is no joyless tennis machine, more like a Frenchwoman who simply adores all the glitz, glamour, occasional hilarity and the hipster hotpants of being a tennis player.