Belgium

The draw for this event is stronger than the Tier I tournament in Tokyo and last week's Tier II event in Paris.

Clijsters is back, sans protected ranking, so she's barely inside of the Top 50. I really don't have any expectations for her here ... she has a winnable match against Kostanic, but even that could be a test since Jelena has a lot of tricky spins and such to test Clijsters' patience.

I like Mauresmo to get to the semifinals, although after that point ... it's a tough call for her to advance further. I like Molik's chances indoors any day of the week, but she may face Maggie in the 2nd round. Heck, even Dechy could be trouble for Alicia. However, I'm going to pick a Molik-Momo semifinal, with Molik advancing to the finals.

In the bottom half, Nastya and Petrova are the higher seeds. I really like Nastya here ... she has a lot to prove after a lackluster tour Down Under. Her draw is challenging every step of the way ... Safina/Golovin in the 2nd and possibly Sprem in the quarterfinals. However, she will be battle-tested for the semifinals, where she'll likely face ... WOW! I didn't notice VENUS WAS HERE! *gasp* Hmmmm ... I like Venus to face Nastya in the semifinals ... although Petrova could surprise ... ARGH! Nastya vs. Molik in the finals, with Nastya winning in straight sets.

Memphis

Vera is here to reclaim her title as queen of the Tier III and lower events. Honestly, I don't see any threats until the semifinals, at the earliest. There are talented players in the her quarter, but I'm not that worried.

C-RU IS BACK! *happy dance* Tough draw for her, with Linetskaya in the first. I actually like Michaela Krajicek to get through this section ... she has a powerful game and she should dominate Sucha if they meet in the 2nd.

The 3rd section is tricky with powerful players like Mashona, Spears, Granville, Me-Sha ... but I'm going with Sromova to advance here. She's been rocking the casbah on the challenger circuit and all of the threatening players are going to face one another in the first. I'd really like Granville to get back on track, *shrug*, but I don't think that she will beat Me-Sha. As for Mashona ... the girl needs to win some matches.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ... The Hee Haw Honey is facing Vaidisova in the first. *sigh* Lindsay Lee-Waters is my new favorite tennis player, but I don't think that she can oust the young Czech. I want Brandi to do well, but she's been slumping lately.

Bottom line ... I'm going with Vera winning the event, beating Vaidisova in the finals.

Bogota

Ugh ... Pelletier is facing the top seed, Zuluaga, in the first round. *shrug* I really like Castano to get through this section ... she has a nice clay court game.

In the next section ... *scratches head* ... not that head, pervs ... I'm going with Sanchez-Lorenzo b/c she's the highest seed.

In the next round, I'm going for Clarisa Fernandez, who's back from injury hiatus.

In the bottom section, I like Strycova to advance ... she's a youngster with a nice game. No astute commentary here since I haven't seen most of the ladies play yet.

I'm guessing Strycova will win the event, ousting Sanchez-Lorenzo in the finals. *shrug*

Nick

Venus HAS to play in Antwerp if she is to have a chance at that DIAMOND-STUDDED RACKET TROPHY!

Remember, the player who wins at least 3 out of the first 5 years wins it? It looked really cool! Venus won the first 2 years, was injured last year, so I bet she's back to try and win it! I think it's value is worth 1 million dollars, chump change to Venus, but it's a cool trophy-that's an understatement!

Who knows how she'll play? I hope she wins the whole thing and gets back on track! Go Venus!

Kim handled Kostanic rather easily, 6-3, 6-2. I actually wouldn't be surprised to see her knock off Petrova as well--back in October she beat Maleeva in straight sets and won the first set off Bovina before retiring.

Other notable results: Anna Chakvetadze picked up another rather good win over Karolina Sprem, Klara Koukalova upset Nathalie Dechy (et sa derriere delicieuse), and Razzano knocked out Ivanovic. Michaella Krajicek won her first round match in Memphis.

Welcome back, Kimmie! I hope her wrist holds up and she's able to make a full return this time. Beat everyone but Amelie, girl! wink

Clijsters and Petrova have a great match going right now. Kim won the first set, 7-5, and it's 5-5 in the second! eek!

C'mon, Kim!!!

Make that 6-5 Clijsters in the second :cool:

Petrova won the second set in a tiebreak. Good stuff!

The online scoring is annoying. It only gives you set scores, not games scores, so it's really dull as you wait for the numbers to tick over.

How long can G4G talk to himself?? This is only breaking the surface my friends ...

Kim is up two breaks in the third, serving now at 4-1!

Kim is victorious. 6-1 in the third!! Woo Hoo. I think she takes on Venus in the next round. That will be a fun match.

No one cares about the Proximus Diamond Games but me!

Some interesting results from round 2:

Alicia Molik d. Maggie Maleeva 4-6, 6-2, 7-6
Amelie Mauresmo d. Mary Pierce 6-4, 6-1

Tatiana Golivan beat Dinara Safina yesterday in three sets and will now face Anastasia Myskina later today. Mauresmo's next opponent is Patty Schnyder, which could be a fun match. But the big deal is Venus vs. Kim.

I care, really I do ... but this week has been hell for following tennis.

I'm really happy that Molik was able to oust Maggie on HER surface, 9-7 in the 3rd set breaker.

I'm surprised that Kimmy has come back in such nice form ... I really expected her to struggle more than she did against Petrova. Venus will be a test and frankly, this match is Venus's to win. She needs to get her confidence back and a somewhat out-of-form Kimbo is her best chance.

Me-Sha is back in form this week. She has been slumping horribly lately, so a semifinal berth, even at a Tier III is a step in the right direction. Vaidisova is also a winner ... I still fancy her getting to the finals and possibly even winning the event.

In Bogota ... Blech. I would LOVE to watch Loit vs. Clarisa Fernandez because their styles of play are rather similar ... Emilie is more slicey and dicey, but both players have great topspin forehands ... and it would be a great clay court match.

Nick

Molik won a routine match, 3 and 4, to get to the semis.

Mauresmo and Schynder are duking it out at 2-2 in the third set right now. Go MoMo!!! We can't allow that awful Patty Schynder to advance any futher!!

G4G: Mauresmo wins, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3!!! HURRAY!!!

G4G: Hey, that's great!

G4G: Thanks for letting us know, G4G.

G4G: You're welcome, guys.

G4G: We love Amelie Mauresmo.

G4G: Yeah, almost as much as we love Gaby Sabatini!

G4G: Stop it. You're embarrassing me. You boys are the best.

Gaga, you're so funny!

Venus and Kim are coming on shortly...I can be on here to chat with you about their match for a while if you want.

I won't be at my desk ... G4G needs a haircut. But I'm very excited. Hopefully, it will be a long one and I'll be back to gossip by the end. I'd love to see Kim pull it off, but of course, am happy for Venus to have a great opportunity to try and win the swanky trophy.

Gaby dear, you know that any discussion on this board must involve some sort of personal attack. In my head the discussion would have went as follows ..

G4G: Mauresmo wins, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3!!! HURRAY!!!

Nick: Thanks for letting us know, G4G.

G4G: You're welcome, guys.

Nick: Jesus f**kING christ, Amélie sucks ... I can't believe she almost choked this match away against Da Frizball.

G4G: Now Nick, that's not very nice.

Nick: She's almost as bad as Gaby Sabatini! I'm surprised that no talent hack ever won a major, let alone a tournament ... and the girl STILL can't dress!

G4G: You're so wise Nick. I should have realized sooner than my obsession with all things Gaby was a waste of time.

Nick: I'm glad that you've finally seen the light dear. Now, let's talk about Nathalie Dechy's buns of steel ...

With lots of love,
Nick

In Bogota, Clarisa Fernandez ousted Emilie Joit in a very tight match; 7-6, 7-5. With Dulko and Suarez, the Argentinian Fed Cup team is looking muy caliente!

Nick

[ February 18, 2005, 10:42 AM: Message edited by: The_Hammerman ]

Ha ha. You're probably right, Nick.

Amelie actually is trying new things in her matches - coming to net much more, supposedly, on advice from Yannick Noah. She's willing to lose some matches in order to improve and learn, which is important, and I hope she sticks to it. That's how Gaby won her Slam. The week before the '90 US Open, Gaby was trying to put net rushing into a real match and lost in the first round to Stephanie Rehe - who was playing her first tourney in a year!!! But a couple weeks later, Gaby was sitting pretty.

See - it's tidbits like this that prove obsessing over Gaby brings light and color to any conversation.

Venus holds to open the match and leads Kim 1-0.

You're so wise Gaby. I should have realized sooner than your obsession with all things Gaby not a waste of time.

The thing about approaching the net is that Momo is great at the net ... but she seems to pull back whenever a match gets tight. *shrug* I'm cautiously optimistic that working with Noah will help her attack the net with more confidence.

Nick

Venus is up 5-2. This match is really more important to her career. A win here would be nice for Kim, but there are no expectations on her first tourney back. I want both these girls to be around for a couple years, so i'm gonna have to pull for Venus. And that pretty racket trophy would be a sweet story.

Meanwhile, i'm watching the live scores on the tourney site and that throbbing "LIVE!" might just cause me to have an epileptic episode.

ps> i've never wanted Katarina Srebotnik to win a match so bad!

[ February 18, 2005, 11:22 AM: Message edited by: curtj ]

Gabriela Sabatini was Srebotnik's WTA mentor. (I'm full of tidbits.)

Good win for Venus, 6-2, 6-3, over Kim. I'm happy that Kim is back and I might even pull for Venus to win this tourney ... at least equally with Amelie. Which is rare. In fact, I like Molik, too ... so alot of players I enjoy are still around!!

Well, the semis in Antwerp are set and both matches should be really interesting. Venus should beat Meanskina if both are playing well, but the Russian won't give Venus much pace to work with. Venus will have to keep her errors way down. Oy. Then we have the uber-talented but mentally unpredictable Mauresmo against a surging young Molik. That match could go either way, but Molik stands a great chance if she can get it to three sets.

I won't jinx anyone by saying who I'm rooting for, but if Meanskina wins this event I'll spit tacks.

YAY VENUS! I'm bummed about Kim, but realistically, this was a golden opportunity for Venus and I'm glad that she was able to capitalize.

As much as I love Nastya, it would be great for Venus's confidence to oust Pouty.

Note: Instead of the Seven Dwarfs, we have the Seven Russians:
Grunty (Sharapova)
Pouty (Myskina)
Weakly (Dementieva)
Bulky (Petrova)
Flighty (Bovina)
Sulky (Zvonareva)
and Butch (Kuznetsova)

Nick

Hope I'm not jinxing my Venus, but she has yet to beat a Top Ten player in a nonexhibition event since Wimbledon 2003. Here's to her getting the monkey offer her back. Nastya appears to be in a mini-slump as of late.

Gaby-

For some reason, I remember Gaby surprising the Wimbledon commentators one year by attacking like crazy during a Wimby match against Navratilova. She then later that season played Graf in the U.S. Open final with the same style....

Am I remembering correctly...pull out the videotapes!!

Venus is really giving it to Pouty today ... 4-0 lead in the first set. Having JUST posted that, Pouty earned back a break, but Venus is still up 4-2 in the 1st.

For Venus's sake, she really needs some confidence and a berth in the finals would have to help her psyche.

Nick

looks like Mauresmo and Molik had a good semifinal with Amelie holding off Alicia.

Now Venus and Myskina are locked at 2-2 in the third. Come ON Venus!

Venus wins 6-3, 3-6, 6-3...

Venus or Amelie, Venus or Amelie?? Could Mauresmo bounce back if she lost the second final in a row after the Aussie Open?? If Venus wins will she have the confidence she needs to take get a Slam??

HECK YEAH! I like Nastya, but this is a great win for Venus. I have to go with her in the final ... that tennis racquet would be the perfect accessory for her wardrobe.

Nick

Mauresmo won 46 75 64 against Venus.
From the score it seems it was a quite close match.

Zvonareva won in Memphis ( 76 62 to Shaughnessy) and Flavia Pennetta won in Bogata (happy for her).

I so wish I had seen the Amelie/Venus match! It sounds like it was really close and well played. Pulling out a win like that (having to come back from being down in the last two sets) must give Amelie tons of confidence. I predict Amelie wins a Slam this year--I'll go with the US Open.

Funny, this afternoon I was online catching up with tennis scores from the past week and saw that Federer was down a set to Ljubicic and Mauresmo was down a set to Venus, in live scoring at the respective sites. As I 'watched' the matches, or rather the scores, it was funny to see both matches go to a tight second set and then mimic each other 'live' in the third--they were both at 3-3 at one point and 4-4 at another point. And then the WTA site froze and I couldn't follow the scores anymore.

Happy to see Amelie with a win of this caliber and under tough conditions. Venus had such motivation to win, but Amelie pulls off the win, moving closer to no. 1 again. But Venus I think will really use this play to set herself for this season's play--I would love her to have a great year.

By the way, in the new Uomo Vogue Sport there is a fantastic layout of Venus in 20s inpsired tennis garb, looking absolutely radiant and beautiful. Her legs are simply the best since Graf. And also in the issue is Hantuchova looking more supermodel than Sharapova could ever muster. If I knew how to post pictures I would, but I haven't a clue.

I am thrilled for Amelie that she won and disappointed for Venus that she didn't take home the cool trophy all at the same time. Is that possible??

You remember correctly. 1990 Wimbledon Semifinals - Martina beat Gaby on her way to winning a record 9th singles title, 6-3, 6-4. Stupid Martina!! She couldn't have let Gaby win and taken no. 9 from Conchita??