Grand Slam Professional Tennis Predictions and Picks by Nick Bollettieri. US Open, French Open, Wimbledon, Australian Open » Amelia Island

Sharapova wins first clay court title

Nick's Picks — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:13:25 +0000

It’s hard to believe that Maria Sharapova had never won a clay court title before this week. She has had good success on clay in the past (reaching the quarters and semis of the French Open), but never a title. That was until this past weekend. She defeated Dominika Cibulkova 7-6(7), 6-3 in the finals at Amelia Island to claim her third title of the year. She also improved her record to a stunning 22-1 for the season, with that lone loss coming at Indian Wells.

This is a big win for Sharapova, because it not only showed that she can win on clay, but it also proved that she is back and healthy after her two week rest. She got a little lucky in the semis, as Lindsay Davenport pulled out due to a viral illness. Tough break for Davenport, who has now pulled out of two of the last three tournaments she has played in. That was a match I was looking forward to watching, and I am sure you were too.

Let’s talk a little bit about Cibulkova. For starters, this was her first career WTA Tour final. Previously, her best result came at Guangzhou last fall where she reached the semis. She upset three seeds in this tournament (including Anna Chakvetadze), and at the end of the day she improved her ranking to a career high #29 in the world. This is a great showing for the 18-year old Slovakian, and if her recent play is any indication of her potential I will definitely be keeping me eye on her as the year progresses.

Long day at Amelia Island as quarters are set

Nick's Picks — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:40:44 +0000

There were quite a few long matches yesterday at Amelia Island, and now the quarterfinals are all set. The day began with #11 Amelie Mauresmo (2001 champion) upsetting #7 Agnieszka Radwanska 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(6). The two and a half hour match, in which Mauresmo saved a match point, gave the Frenchwoman her 500th career victory. She will now face Dominika Cibulkova, who upset #2 Anna Chakvetadze 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, in the quarterfinals. Cibulkova is an 18-year old from Slovakia who is currently ranked #34 in the world. She has steadily climbed the rankings, and is someone to watch out for in the near future. This should be a good match.

The next long match of the day took place between #1 Maria Sharapova and #15 Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain. What looked like an easy win for Sharapova turned out to be a three-hour and 27 minute marathon. Sharapova won the first set 7-6(3), and the went up 4-2 in the second set before Medina Garrigues found her rhythm and won the second set 7-5. In the third set, Medina Garrigues continued to play very well, going up 3-0 before Sharapova regained her stroke and went up 5-3. Sharapova then had two match points and couldn’t close it out either! The Russian finally won 7-6(3), 5-7, 7-6(1) to reach the quarterfinals. This was a really good test for Sharapova, considering she has been fatigued and hurt as of late. For her to be able to grind out a victory like this, it will only help her down the road. Her quarterfinal opponent will be #10 Alona Bonadrenko.

Bondarenko also needed three sets (surprise, surprise) to upset #6 Dinar Safina 7-6(5), 0-6, 7-5. Interesting scoreline to say the least. Like Sharapova, Bondarenko was also down in the third set before coming back to win. Safina held a 4-1 lead, and had won 10 of the 11 previous games, before Bondarenko prevailed. The last time Sharapova and Bondarenko played was at Indian Wells a couple of weeks ago, and Sharapova won that match in nearly three hours. So both girls could be in for another long day today.

The winner between Sharapova and Bondarenko will face either #8 Agnes Szavay or #16 Lindsay Davenport in the semifinals. Keeping with the theme, both Szavay and Davenport needed three sets to advance to the quarters. Szavay beat #12 Katarina Srebotnik 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 and Davenport eliminated Karolina Sprem 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. This will be the first career meeting between the 19-year old Szavay and the 31-year old Davenport. I would have to think that Davenport would be the favorite hear (especially with the American crowd in her corner). Plus, I am rooting for a potential Davenport/Sharapova semi!

The final quarter will take place between two girls who actually won their matches in straight sets!! What a thought! Thirteenth-seeded Virginie Razzano beat Olga Govortsova 6-2, 6-4. She will now face a fellow Frenchwoman, the very talented younster, Alize Cornet. After upsetting #9 Sybille Bammer in the second round, Cornet defeated Elena Vesnina 6-1, 7-5 to reach the quarters. We got a chance to see Cornet play in person for the first time a couple of weeks ago in Miami, and were very impressed. She moves extremely well, hits the ball solidly from both sides, but still needs to work on her serve. She is only 18-years old, so their is a very bright future hear for her.

What a crazy day in Florida yesterday! We can only hope that today is just as good!

Hantuchova eliminated at Amelia Island

Nick's Picks — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:08:13 +0000

Third-seeded Daniela Hantuchova was the first big player to fall at the Bausch & Lomb Championships at Amelia Island. She lost to Karolina Sprem, who is playing in her first tournament in nearly a year due to elbow surgery. Sprem won the match 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 and will now face Lindsay Davenport in the third round. Davenport easily advanced, defeating fellow American Jill Craybas 6-1, 6-4. Davenport is 4-0 against Sprem, and has yet to lose a set to her in any of those previous matches.

Hantuchova wasn’t the only seeded player to lose, as #5 Patty Schnyder, #9 Sybille Bammer, and #14 Victoria Azarenka all fell.

Top-seeded Maria Sharapova will take the court today for her third round match against #15 Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain. Sharapova and Davenport are still on a crash course to meet in the semifinals, which I am sure the tournament would love. Too bad they weren’t on opposite sides of the draw, because that could have been a very juicy final.

Sharapova enjoys debut on green clay

Nick's Picks — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 18:55:39 +0000

Maria Sharapova won her first career WTA Tour main draw match on green clay (how about that for a stat) last night defeating qualifier Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-1, 6-3 in the second round at Amelia Island. According to the WTA’s website, “Sharapova’s only previous appearance on this surface came in 2003 – when she was still in her mid-teens – with an opening round defeat at the Tier I event in Charleston to now-retired Slovenian Maja Matevzic.”

Sharapova, who did not play in Miami due to her shoulder and fatigue, is now 19-1 on the season with that single loss coming at Indian Wells to Svetlana Kuznetsova. Sharapova is definitely the favorite this week, but a potential semifinal match-up with Lindsay Davenport would be very interesting. Don’t forget that Sharapova and Davenport met in the second round of the Aussie Open and Sharapova blew by her 6-1, 6-3 en route to the title.

Could we see a little bit of revenge for the American?

Davenport makes successful return

Nick's Picks — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 20:24:08 +0000

For the first time since 2005 Lindsay Davenport graced the clay at Amelia Island, trying to recapture the magic that enabled her to win the title there three times (2005, 2004, 1997). She made it a successful return with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over fellow American Vania King, and will now face someone she knows very well in the second round: Jill Craybas. Despite her success there, Davenport can’t be considered the favorite. She hasn’t played a tournament on clay since her return last year and has their is speculation that she won’t play at the French Open.

Clay is definitely not her best surface, as it slows down her powerful groundstrokes and sonic serve and hurts her lateral movement. I am very interested to see how she does on clay this year. She has shown that she can compete on the hard courts, but has yet to win a big title since her return. Her results have been positive for the most part, but her back has been acting up as of late which can’t be a good thing.

There is nothing more that I (and the rest of America for that matter) would like to see than for Lindsay to make a deep run at a Grand Slam. She has the tools, but she needs to stay healthy. No one would question her if she was to step away from the game again (with the baby and all), but the game isn’t the same when she is not around!

Sharapova back in action

Nick's Picks — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:23:16 +0000

Maria Sharapova is scheduled to return to the court today for the first time since her semifinal loss at Indian Wells. Sharapova had skipped Miami because of fatigue and a shoulder injury, but the Russian star seems to be back and ready to roll. She said that the time off gave her a jump-start on the clay court season, as she will be trying to win the French Open for the first time in her career. The French Open is the only Grand Slam title that Sharapova has yet to win.

Today, Sharapova will face Czech qualifier Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (who?) in the second round at the Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia Island, Florida. Sharapova has an 18-1 record on the year, and up until two weeks ago she seemed invincible. It will be interesting to see how she bounces back this week, but she is definitely the favorite to take home the title.

The rest of the field is a bit weakened with Venus Williams, Elena Dementieva, Nicole Vaidisova, Nadia Petrova, and Tatiana Golovin all withdrawing. Still though, there are a couple big names left. Joining Sharapova are Lindsay Davenport, Anna Chakvetadze, Daniela Hantuchova, and others. I will be keeping my eye on Davenport (who has won this tournament three times) to see how she fares on the clay.