Wednesday shook up the Rome Masters tennis tournament, but Thursday’s action calmed the stormy seas at the rain-plagued event. As a result, the locals in Italy’s magnificent capital have two tremendous quarterfinals to look forward to. When the sun rises on Friday, lucky ticketholders at the Foro Italico will be treated to a pair of matches that are worthy of even greater stature.

In the early afternoon session, fifth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro will take on third-seeded Novak Djokovic, the defending champion at this event. Del Potro won his round-of-16 match on Thursday over Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3. The Argentine has has played deep into most of the year’s important tournaments, and is intent on showing the tennis community that his big, lanky frame can move around the court on clay. The one they call “Delpo” is ripening into form largely because his appetite is exceeding his nerves on the big stage. An encounter with the world No. 3 will give this 6-foot-6 giant a chance to cast a long shadow over his competitors in Italy.

Djokovic made his way into the quarters by crushing 13th-seeded Tommy Robredo, 6-1, 6-1. Djokovic has gained a measure of confidence over the past month by reaching prestigious finals at Miami and Monte Carlo. The Serbian star needed match wins to improve his physical fitness and regain the edge that characterized his rise to prominence in the first half of the 2008 tennis season. Now that he’s bagged a few victories in Rome, the 21-year-old will try to chase another trophy at a Masters event. A lot of baseline slugging is in order as two top 5 titans lock horns at the Stadio Pietrangeli center court.

Later in the day, the No. 1 attraction–literally and figuratively–will take center stage, as top-ranked Rafael Nadal will engage in a rematch of the year’s best tennis duel to date. Back in January at the Australian Open, Nadal’s place as the sport’s premier player was threatened in a seminal semifinal, as up-and-coming Fernando Verdasco nearly upset his more credentialed countryman in a 5-hour, 14-minute war. Verdasco held a love-30 lead on Nadal’s serve at 4-all in the final set, but the ever-resourceful Rafa escaped to hold for 5-4 and break for the match in the next game. This rumble in Rome will mark the first Nadal-Verdasco match since that epic encounter in Melbourne, a fact that lends this quarterfinal a championship-like buzz. Nadal steamrolled Sweden’s Robin Soderling on Thursday night, 6-1 and 6-0, while the sixth-seeded Verdasco fought past France’s Richard Gasquet, 7-5, 6-4, to set up the Spanish centerpiece of quarterfinal Friday in Rome.

There you have it, tennis fans: Delpo-Djokovic feels like a semifinal, and Nadal-Verdasco packs the punch of a final. Two quality quarterfinals will satisfy the Roman appetites of ATP Tour fanatics.

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OTHER THURSDAY SCORES AND NOTES FROM ROME:

(2) Roger Federer d. (16) Radek Stepanek, 6-4, 6-1

Roger Federer avenged a quarterfinal loss to Stepanek at last year’s Rome Masters, punching his own ticket into the final eight. More important than revenge is the fact that this win prevents the second-seeded Swiss from losing a large chunk of rankings points. By defending his quarterfinal showing in Rome, Federer won’t slide closer to world No. 4 Andy Murray, who still has an outside chance of overtaking Federer in the coming weeks for the No. 2 spot and the all-important second seed at the French Open on May 25. Having avoided a significant loss of rankings points, Fed will now try to gain points in his quarterfinal match against qualifier Mischa Zverev.

Mischa Zverev d. (8) Gilles Simon, 6-4, 6-1

While Zverev enjoys a rare appearance in a Masters 1000 quarterfinal, the big news is that Simon’s lost season continues. Simon soared from obscurity to crack the top 10 in 2008, but the early months of 2009 have witnessed steadily declining fortunes for the 24-year-old. A solid quarterfinal showing at the Australian Open has been followed by a lack of impressive results in the year’s first four Masters events. This loss to Zverev means that Simon has failed to register even one quarterfinal appearance at Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, and Rome. Those consistently subpar results won’t cause Simon’s ranking to plummet immediately, but they will force the Frenchman to defend a ton of points in the summer and fall. If Simon doesn’t get going in 2009, he won’t just tumble out of the top 10; he’ll crash out of the top 20.

Juan Monaco d. (15) Marin Cilic, 6-4, 6-4

Monaco reached his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal with this victory. It’s clear that the Argentine is playing with considerable confidence after Wednesday’s takedown of fourth-ranked Andy Murray. Monaco enjoyed a huge 2007 season, climbing from No. 71 to No. 20 in the world rankings, but 2008 set him back. Currently ranked 58th on the tour, Monaco shows signs of returning to prominence in his sport.

(12) Fernando Gonzalez d. Jurgen Melzer, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5

Chile’s best tennis player will take on Monaco in what should be an entertaining quarterfinal. On most days, such a matchup would garner an appreciable amount of publicity, but with Delpo-Djokovic and Nadal-Verdasco filling up the marquee in Rome, this showdown between two South American stars won’t generate a lot of ink or TV time. Nevertheless, Gonzalez–a quarterfinalist at last year’s French Open knows how to move on the red dirt. As long as he can calibrate his groundstrokes and construct points wisely, Gonzalez will be a dangerous claycourt foe against anyone not named Nadal. Speaking of Nadal: If Gonzalez does indeed make it past Monaco, he’ll play the Nadal-Verdasco winner in Saturday’s semis.

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WTA Tour Update – Porsche Tennis Grand Prix - Stuttgart, Germany

Round of 16 Scoreboard (Thursday’s Matches)

(1) Dinara Safina d. Daniela Hantuchova, 6-4, 6-2

(2) Elena Dementieva d. Agnes Szavay, 7-6 (4), 6-1

(3) Jelena Jankovic d. Sabine Lisicki, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3

(5) Svetlana Kuznetsova d. Na Li, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5

Marion Bartoli d. (7) Caroline Wozniacki, 7-6 (6), 6-4

(8) Agnieszka Radwanska d. Tszvetana Pironkova, 6-3, 6-3

Flavia Pennetta d. (6) Nadia Petrova, 6-2, 6-2

Friday’s Quarterfinal Matchups

(1) Safina vs. (8) Radwanska

(3) Jankovic vs. Pennetta

(5) Kuznetsova vs. Gisela Dulko (Dulko defeated No.4 Victoria Azarenka on Wednesday)

Bartoli vs. (2) Dementieva

Andy Murray wasn’t expected to win the Rome Masters this week at the Foro Italico tennis complex. In the same breath, the Scotsman also didn’t figure to bow out in his first match at this venerable claycourt event. One bad day at the office is a fact of professional sports, but Murray’s great misfortune is that his misstep in Rome will likely reverberate through the next month.

Murray, you see, didn’t merely lose his round-of-32 match on Wednesday to Argentina’s Juan Monaco, 1-6, 6-3, 7-5; the No. 4 player in the world missed out on a great chance to secure a coveted prize in the realm of men’s tennis.

Just what did Murray miss when he lost to Monaco, just one month after topping the South American at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami? Murray lost much more than a chance to win a clay title or earn a rematch with Rafael Nadal on the upcoming weekend; the most promising male tennis player without a Grand Slam trophy frittered away an opportunity to gain the No. 2 seed at the French Open, the year’s second major tournament.

Here’s a brief overview of the rankings battle at the top of the ATP Tour, which explains why Murray’s three-set failure in Rome rates as a significant event.

Before reaching the semis at Monte Carlo a week and a half ago, Murray had never gone past the round of 16 at any claycourt tournament. This means that under the ATP’s rankings system, Murray stood to gain a ton of points with a big spring swing on the red dirt of Europe. Under ATP guidelines, the points from one year’s event are added or subtracted based on the following year’s performance at the same tournament. For example, if a player made a 2008 semifinal at a Masters event, and then made the semis at that same tournament in 2009, the distributed point totals would basically stay the same (a slight difference would exist in this particular tennis season only because the ATP made a minor tweak in its point allotments; fundamentally, though, the basic principle remains intact).

Here’s a more precise look at the numbers involved in the rankings chase: This year’s Monte Carlo semifinal result gave Murray 360 rankings points, a 210-point increase over his 150-point (round of 16) showing at the same event in 2008. When Federer–a Monte Carlo finalist in 2008, good for 700 points–crashed out of the 2009 tournament in the round of 16, the world No. 2 registered just 90 points under the ATP’s adjusted numerical formula, which created a net loss of 610 points for Federer. Murray’s big gain and Fed’s far greater forfeiture of points suddenly created an almost-unthinkable reality: Strong showings at Rome and then Madrid (beginning on May 11) would enable Murray to overtake Federer for No. 2.

This loss to Juan Monaco is so damaging for Murray, then, because it put an abrupt halt to the Scot’s pronounced ascendancy. By losing in the round of 32 in Rome, Murray will accumulate just 45 points, a 25-point decline from his 70-point showing last year in Italy. Another semifinal would have allowed Murray to bank an additional 290 points in Rome, but this flameout means that Federer–a quarterfinalist last year (250 points)–can add to his points lead over Murray by making the semis this week at the Foro Italico. With a 6-4, 6-4 win on Wednesday over Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic, Federer punched a ticket into the round of 16, meaning that he’s only two wins from notching a points gain over Murray, and only one win from avoiding an appreciable point loss.

Murray has already announced that his next tournament will come at the Madrid Masters in mid-May. Murray could have opted to play in lower-tier tournaments to accumulate points before the French Open, but by going straight to Madrid, the Scot now has to thread the needle just to have a chance at surpassing Federer for second place on the ATP Tour. The Murray-Federer competition will be easier to dissect once Roger’s run in Rome is over, but one thing can safely be said: Murray will have to outdo Federer by at least one round in Madrid, and probably two, in order to have a realistic chance at No. 2.

Why all the fuss about this topic, you might ask? Isn’t Rafael Nadal the reigning No. 1 in men’s tennis, the man who deserves every accolade at the present time? Isn’t the battle for “Numero Uno” the only thing that matters? Yes, Rafa should be praised from the rooftops, and yes, being the very best is the only way a tennis player gets remembered. With that being said, the fight for No. 1 simply isn’t a source of debate or drama in the tennis community. In the short run, “Who’s Number Two?” is actually a more pressing question, for a surprisingly simple reason: Whoever holds the No. 2 ranking come May 25 of this year will be the second seed at the French Open.

While it’s true that all tennis players aspire to be No. 1, there’s more than a little value to being No. 2 as well. Murray and Federer–like any other male tennis players not named Nadal–desperately want to be the second seed at Roland Garros so they can reside in the other half of the draw and avoid Rafa until the final. The No. 3 player in the world might avoid Nadal in the French semis if the chips fall favorably, but the No. 2 man is guaranteed to miss the Spanish superpower until the final Sunday in Paris. Being No. 2 in tennis is rarely thought of as a huge prize, but in light of the Nadal juggernaut that’s emerged over the past year, it’s worth a lot of dollars (and rankings points) to avoid the mesmerizing Mallorcan until the last match of any tournament, especially a slam.

Andy Murray has been playing the best tennis of anyone other than Nadal over the past several months. Yet, in the course of one awful afternoon, the up-and-comer suddenly saw his path to a French Open final get a lot tougher. Round-of-32 matches at non-slam events are rarely cause for alarmist themes or pronounced emotional reactions, but this is the exception that proves the rule. Barring a Federer collapse, the Swiss legend–once on the precipice–will likely be able to preserve his No. 2 ranking for a few more weeks, and earn the right to avoid Rafa Nadal for as long as possible at the French Open.

OTHER NOTABLE SCORES FROM WEDNESDAY IN ROME:

Jurgen Melzer d. (7) Nikolay Davydenko, 7-5, 7-6 (5)

Richard Gasquet d. (9) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 7-6 (2), 6-4

Paul-Henri Mathieu d. (11) David Ferrer, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2

What is it like to witness a dominant champion operating at the top of his game? From 2004 through 2007, Roger Federer dominated on grass and hardcourts at a level rarely seen in the history of tennis. Today, Rafael Nadal’s conquests of clay represent the most awesome displays of excellence in a sport that’s anything but easy.

Nadal did something on Sunday afternoon that even Bjorn Borg couldn’t manage in his own remarkable career. The top-seeded Spaniard, at just 22 years of age, eclipsed the celebrated Swedish icon by topping third-seeded Novak Djokovic, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1, to win an unprecedented fifth straight championship at the venerable Monte Carlo Rolex Masters. In a tournament that’s been part of tennis since the 19th century, Nadal became the first man to rule the oceanside event for half a decade without interruption. That kind of accomplishment is just one of the reasons why Nadal might very well surpass Borg as the greatest male claycourt player of all time. (A lady named Chris Evert, with seven French Open crowns, can convincingly claim that she’s the most accomplished claycourter of either gender.)

As is the case with Roger Federer’s career, Nadal’s dominance on red dirt is something that can only be fully evaluated when the Mallorcan stops playing competitive tennis on the ATP Tour. Nevertheless, it’s remarkable that Rafa–on the sunshine side of this twentysomething years–has already amassed a career portfolio that can stand up to Borg’s resume on very even terms. Nadal owns just four French Opens compared to Borg’s six, but by winning five straight times in Monte Carlo, Toni Nadal’s prized pupil has collected another poker chip that will come in handy when the fullness of his career is compared to Borg’s.

Just how did Nadal affirm his place in tennis history? Quite frankly, the Mallorcan didn’t play his very best, but like any proven performer, Nadal elevated his game in this title tilt’s most meaningful moments.

Nadal might have lost his first set at this event since 2006, but the world No. 1 was able to shrug off sloppy sequences to take the first and third sets against his skilled Serbian foe. Djokovic consistently bothered Nadal’s serve, and had momentum on his side at the start of the first and third sets, but Nadal found a way to turn the tide. In set one, Nadal responded to a 3-1 deficit by ripping off five straight games to take the early lead. After Djokovic, with a well-calibrated mix of patience and agression, used timely net forays to grab the second set in commanding fashion, Nadal felt under siege. Djokovic earned three break point chances in the first game of the final set, allowing spectators and pundits to think the unthinkable: A loss on clay was genuinely possible for the best player on the planet.

In typical fashion, Nadal would not allow history to slip through his fingers.

Nadal saved all three of those break points at the start of the third set, one of them on a remarkable retrieval of a quality drop shot by Djokovic, to hold for 1-0. Djokovic would break Nadal in the Spaniard’s following service game to stay in the mix, but after that final lapse, Nadal–up 2-1–took the final four games to hit the finish line first. Djokovic acquitted himself quite well and bolstered his hopes of contending for the French Open title, but in the end, the king wasn’t overthrown in a locality he’s ruled for five consecutive years. Djokovic did his level best to stage a revolt, but Nadal had the resources needed to defend his turf, and increase his stature in the annals of men’s tennis.

The big dogs on the men’s tour will now take a break, as the Masters 1000 claycourt series resumes on April 27 in Rome. When the tennis world gathers in that most historic city, men named Djokovic and (Andy) Murray will be even more eager to knock Nadal off his perch. They No. 3 Serb and the No. 4 Scotsman might even think that they’re extremely close to ambushing the Spaniard. But as a gifted fellow named Federer has discovered over the past four years, you have to be incredibly accurate and particularly powerful for an extended period of time to get so much as a whiff of Rafa Nadal on the terre battue of Europe. Contenders will come and go, but there’s simply no legitimate reason to think that this supremely special Spaniard’s reign on crushed red brick will end anytime soon.

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WTA Wrap-Up: Lisicki uses booming serve, powerful groundstrokes to claim first career title in Charleston

When she defeated Venus Williams on Thursday in the second round of the Family Circle Cup, Sabine Lisicki still didn’t command the respect of the women’s tennis world. Four days later, the 19-year-old German has finally made her mark on the WTA Championships Tour, with a powerful game that will make opponents worry on every surface.

Liberated by her early-round breakthrough, Lisicki made the most of her opportunity by capturing her first career WTA Championships title on Sunday in Charleston, S.C. Lisicki defeated Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki, 6-2, 6-4, in the final of the Family Circle Cup. The victory on green Har-Tru clay represents its own milestone for Lisicki, but it carries added meaning beyond the satisfaction of a trophy.

On the basis of this tournament title, Lisicki–ranked 63rd entering  the event–will now climb to No. 43 in the world and surpass Anna-Lena Groenefeld as the highest-ranked woman in Germany. It’s hard to imagine a player achieving more goals in a single week of top-shelf tennis, but Lisicki–the 16th seed in Charleston–managed to stay focused amidst a whirlwind of brand-new situations.

The truly amazing aspect of Lisicki’s championship was that the German managed to maintain a level head after vexing Venus on Thursday. Lots of lower-tier players reveal an occasional flash of brilliance in a single match, only to crash out of the tournament in the following match. Lisicki, however, showed no dips in concentration. After beating the older Williams sister, Lisicki lost only four games to unseeded Elena Vesnina in the quarterfinals, and then did the same thing against sixth-rated Marion Bartoli in Saturday’s semis. In her second WTA final, Lisicki continued to play with confidence and boldness against the fifth-seeded Wozniacki, who looked understandably flat and sluggish after a draining three-hour war the day before against top-seeded Elena Dementieva.

Lisicki dictated every aspect of this match, but the clear key was the German’s nearly untouchable serve. Lisicki consistently bombed in serves of over 120 miles per hour, racking up 9 aces, dozens of service winners, and plenty of cheap points in the process. After cruising through the first set, Lisicki–up 3-2 and 5-4–faced break points that could have changed the trajectory of the match. When the pressure of the moment was at its peak, Lisicki found the serenity needed to find a strong first serve and battle back to deuce. The resilient Wozniacki fended off five match points in the final game, but a few final first serves allowed Lisicki to overcome some late-match nerves and celebrate with a roll in the green clay.

Sabine Lisicki might now become a force in women’s tennis, with a serve most of her competitors would envy. But even if the young German doesn’t become a regular Grand Slam contender, she’ll always remember the week when she finally became a champion on the WTA Tour.

Gambling is one of the many pleasures to be found in the destination city of Monte Carlo. Saturday afternoon at the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters, a king and a joker found a winning hand, and a ticket to Sunday’s championship match.

The king, of course, is Rafael Nadal. The current master of men’s tennis and the undisputed lord of red dirt won yet another straight-set match in Monaco by ousting a valiant Andy Murray, 6-2, 7-6 (4). Nadal, who hasn’t lost a single set at this tournament since the 2006 final against Roger Federer, earned the right to play for an unprecedented fifth consecutive Monte Carlo title. While French Open championships represent the holy grail for claycourt competitors, another piece of Monte Carlo crystal would enable the Mallorcan to gain ground on Bjorn Borg as the best claycourter of all time.

Nadal endured pockets of spotty play against Murray, who acquitted himself well in his first-ever semifinal at a claycourt event. Rafael Nadal led 5-2 in the second set and seemed to have the match fully in command, but Murray unleashed his best stuff to force a tiebreak. On the verge of losing a single set on clay–which, for him, ranks as a mammoth upset in its own right–Nadal battened down the hatches and raised his game in the tiebreak. At 4-3 and 5-4, the Spaniard ended extraordinary rallies with eye-popping winners that reminded the fourth-seeded Scot who was boss. Murray should be extremely encouraged by his performance, which will allow the world No. 4 to become a factor at the upcoming French Open, but when the time came to decide a victor on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, Nadal put his stamp on the proceedings. “El Rey de Clay” received a worthy challenge from a world-class opponent, but the unstoppable Nadal reminded observers why he still holds sway on the terre battue of Europe.

Enough of the king. The joker who will stare down Nadal on Sunday is Novak Djokovic. Serbian diehards prefer the nickname “Nole,” but many other tennis fans–with a little creative license and the use of a silent “d”–find it appealing to view the 21-year-old standout as “the Djoker.” (Who could blame them in light of Djokovic’s YouTube-friendly impersonations of various tennis players on the men’s and women’s tours?) The third seed might play the class clown when he’s not fighting for tournament titles, but between the painted lines, this fiery competitor takes his profession quite seriously. Djokovic used a steely resolve and a smart, patient approach to wear down Stanislas Wawrinka in the day’s other semifinal, beating the 13th-seeded Swiss in three sets, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Djokovic, as has been well documented, is playing at a level well below the form that carried him to tennis heights in the first half of 2008. Nevertheless, this semifinal triumph over Wawrinka indicated that the 2008 Australian Open champion is becoming a little more comfortable and confident on the court. One huge source of encouragement for the Djokovic camp is that the Belgrade native won a match by essentially outlasting an opponent. Djokovic played particularly erratic tennis in set one, but dramatically lowered his error count over the final two sets. Djokovic’s shaky physical fitness has often hampered his ability to compete, but on this day, the Serbian star was not only willing, but happy, to engage in long rallies and force Wawrinka to go for too much on his shots. This is exactly what happened as the match wore on, and as a result, the Swiss–despite a plus-nine margin in terms of winners (24 to 15)–sagged as he neared the finish line. Wawrinka grabbed a 2-0 lead in the final set, but as Djokovic rededicated himself to patience and high-percentage groundstrokes, unforced errors piled up for the underdog. Wawrinka finished with 58 errors to just 32 for Djokovic. Whereas faster surfaces (grass and especially hardcourt) demand a more positive, attacking style, claycourt tennis is usually decided by the ability to limit errors. Djokovic performed that feat, while Wawrinka couldn’t, and that told the tale in a slugfest that lasted roughly two and a half hours.

Briefly turning to Sunday’s final, Djokovic last played Nadal on clay in last year’s French Open, with the Spaniard coming out on top in straight sets. Djokovic played Rafa tougher than anyone else at the most recent edition of Roland Garros (Nadal memorably dismantled Roger Federer in the title match), but the King of Clay still didn’t concede a solitary set. Djokovic will be hard-pressed to win, but much like Murray, he should be able to gain a certain amount of satisfaction from remaining competitive against Nadal. After all, that’s as much as anyone can reasonably hope to attain against the supreme Spaniard these days in the world of claycourt tennis.

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WTA Update – Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina

The second of Saturday’s two semifinals has yet to be completed (Marion Bartoli goes against Sabine Lisicki), but the day’s first semifinal felt like a full day of tennis. Fifth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki outlasted top-seeded Elena Dementieva, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5, in an up-and-down affair that lasted just under three hours.

For much of the afternoon, it appeared that Wozniacki, an impressive 18-year-old who is cementing herself as a dogged competitor, would get off the court without too much extra effort. The Polish-born resident of Denmark–after winning the first set–held a 5-2, double-break lead in the second stanza. With a grumpy Dementieva spraying errors all over the joint, a routine conclusion was expected by everyone in the stadium.

This match, however, turned out to be anything but routine.

Suddenly, shockingly, Wozniacki collapsed when on the verge of victory. The teenager felt the pressure of closing out a high-caliber opponent, failing to serve out the match on two straight occasions. The inability to seal the deal at 5-2 was somewhat understandable, but Wozniacki’s jelly-legged performance at 5-4 represented a classic choke. The No. 5 seed threw in two double faults, one of them on break point, to allow Dementieva to level the set at 5-all. The flow of the match continued to spin out of control for Wozniacki, who lost her serve at 5-6 to give the Russian the second set. The smart money had to rest with Dementieva, who had steadied her game enough to profit from her opponent’s mental frailty.

Once again, the conventional wisdom would prove to be wrong.

As disappointing as her second-set collapse was, Wozniacki blotted out that failure with a notable showcase of psychic strength in the third set. Instead of continuing to tumble, the 18-year-old put the brakes on her slide and fought Dementieva on even terms. After falling behind at 5-4, Wozniacki drew a number of errors from the top seed before drilling a down-the-line forehand passing shot on her fifth match point of the day. It took a lot longer than it should have, but then again, Caroline Wozniacki ultimately did advance to the Family Circle Cup final. Not every women’s tennis player would have conjured up the resilience needed to prevail the way this tenacious teenager did on Saturday.

As the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters heads toward a pair of Saturday semifinals, it’s just as the oddsmakers predicted heading into the tournament: Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray join a Swiss tennis player in the final four.

Oh, wait: Stanislas Wawrinka, not Roger Federer, is the man representing Switzerland as the year’s first clay Masters 1000 event winds toward its conclusion. Nevertheless, attractive tennis should be in the offing when Sunday’s championship matchup is decided.

Because of Thursday’s driving rain, top seed and four-time defending Monte Carlo champion Rafael Nadal had to play two matches on Friday in order to attain a “semi-sweet” accomplishment. That’s exactly what Rafa did, as the world No. 1 spent the late morning hours crushing Nicolas Lapentti, 6-3, 6-0, before polishing off wild card veteran Ivan Ljubicic in the early evening, 3 and 3.

If Nadal was concerned about rust after his sluggish Wednesday win over Juan Ignacio Chela, any worries were dispelled in a pair of convincing Friday thumpings. Nadal’s spiritual home resides on the crushed red brick of Europe, so after playing four low-drama sets in Monaco, Rafa should be primed for a big weekend and a fifth consecutive Monte Carlo crown.

While Nadal is the overwhelming favorite for this and any other claycourt tournament he enters, it’s fair to acknowledge that Andy Murray could put up a good fight in Saturday’s especially sexy semi. Murray played only three sets on Friday, as opposed to Nadal’s four, but the 21-year-old won two matches just the same. Early in the day, Murray won the second set of a suspended match against Fabio Fognini to polish off the Italian qualifier, 7-6 (11), 6-4. Just hours later,  Murray won another 7-6, 6-4 match, this one against eighth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko, who returned to the tour after an injury that sidelined the Russian for the past five months.

Murray will be a formidable foe for Nadal because the world No. 4 knocked off Rafa at the U.S. Open last summer, and fought well against the Spaniard in last month’s Indian Wells final, despite a deceptively lopsided scoreline of 2 and 1. It’s probably asking too much for Murray to take down Nadal on clay, but in the same breath, there’s no question that the fourth-seeded Scot has the ability and the savvy to make Nadal earn everything he gets. Murray is the single biggest object of curiosity (even more than Federer) during the men’s portion of the spring clay season, so an early encounter with Nadal more than a month before the French Open will command the attention of the global tennis community.

On the bottom half of the Monte Carlo bracket, form held in only one of two sections. Novak Djokovic, fresh off an encouraging runner-up showing at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, is holding up his end of the bargain by making the Monte Carlo semis for the second straight year. Novak Djokovic fought into the semifinals by turning aside seventh-seeded Fernando Verdasco, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

It’s undeniably true that Djokovic’s fitness and mental toughness have slightly but noticeably slipped over the past several months, but the talented Serb seems to be regaining not only confidence, but hunger, at this point of the tennis season. Even if he doesn’t win in Monte Carlo, Djokovic would love to get a crack at either Nadal or Murray in a Sunday showdown, gaining some claycourt match experience before making the trek to Roland Garros for the year’s second major.

If Djokovic is to punch a ticket for Sunday’s final, he’ll have to beat a Swiss… but not the man he dispatched in the Miami semifinals two weeks ago. On April 3, Djokovic felled Federer in Florida, but with the ATP Tour now contesting matches on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, the 21-year-old from Belgrade will have to take down Wawrinka. The other half of Switzerland’s Olympic gold medal doubles team advanced to the final four by stopping Germany’s Andreas Beck, 6-2, 6-4.

Wawrinka is playing very efficient and confident tennis, while possessing a forceful backhand that can do a lot of damage when properly calibrated. This encounter does not figure to be a cakewalk for the third-seeded Djokovic, who instructively needed three sets to turn back Wawrinka in last year’s Rome Masters final. Wawrinka knows he can compete on relatively even terms with Djokovic if he brings a solid effort to the stadium; Djokovic, in turn, is quite aware that he can’t try to coast in a misguided attempt to conserve energy before a heavily-hyped matchup with Nadal or Murray.

Everyone’s expecting Nadal to win, while few are expecting Djokovic to lose. Nevertheless, the two Saturday semis at the Monte Carlo Masters should provide compelling action and spirited competition.

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WTA Tour Update – Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina

When the women’s tennis tour competes on clay in the United States, the color of the slow stuff is green, and not red. The slightly faster clay surface rewards baseline power, so if hardcourt performers thrive on American clay, no one should be too surprised.

It came as a big shock, then, that Venus Williams was shown the door in the round of 16. On Thursday, the older Williams sister fell to 16th-seeded Sabine Lisicki, 6-4, 7-6 (5). While that result sent some shock waves through the world of women’s tennis, a lot of WTA watchers had to figure that Lisicki wouldn’t be able to back up that result with more high-quality tennis.

They–and other bearers of well-reasoned conventional wisdom–were wrong.

Lisicki powered her way into the semifinals by winning her quarterfinal match just a day after vanquishing Venus. Lisicki, ranked 63rd in the world, thrashed Elena Vesnina, 6-4, 6-0, to move on to the final four. Lisicki’s Saturday opponent will be sixth-seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli, who pasted Melinda Czink by a 6-4, 6-1 count.

The other semifinal matchup will pit top-seeded Elena Dementieva against No. 5 Caroline Wozniacki. Dementieva advanced into the semis when her opponent, seventh-seeded Dominika Cibulkova, retired early in the second set. Wozniacki cruised through her quarterfinal match, walloping Virginie Razzano, 6-2, 6-0.

The HEAD brand has a new modern positioning. Why, I hear you ask yourselves?

Well, to strengthen their position in the market place, HEAD felt the need to rejuvenate the brand by taking it in a fresh direction, and so a more emotional strategy was devised. To make them more distinctive from their competitors and to capture their customer’s hearts, they have shifted focus away from equipment technology by creating a brand story, and to express this new emotion they have a totally new brand slogan “The Power of You”.

In order to reach a modern, young, brand-savvy target audience a new communications strategy has been devised, focusing on new advertising channels including viral. The Djokovic viral film is the cornerstone of this new consumer-centric direction and HEAD.com hope it will up their cool credentials by getting young people talking about the brand.

In the film we see Novak Djokovic score on and off court. The slow motion action replay shows his finesse as a real player. Between shots he manages to flirt with a young lady in the crowd, charming her with everything from a 90’s boy band dance routine to nipple tassel twirling and even a Navy Seals balancing act! After all, being a male tennis player isn’t just about scoring points, it’s also about scoring with the ladies, watch carefully as Novak gives us a lesson in the art of seduction. It’s all in the game!

No champion tennis player ever wants to lose a match, but if a man of Roger Federer’s stature could ever accept defeat between the painted lines, he would want to bow out of a non-Grand Slam tournament against a close friend and countryman.

On Thursday, that very scenario unfolded at the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters, as Stanislas Wawrinka scored a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Federer in an all-Swiss matchup. The third-round triumph sends the 13th-seeded Wawrinka into Friday’s quarterfinals against qualifier Andreas Beck of Germany, who upset claycourt specialist Juan Monaco in other action on Thursday. Before talking more about the meaning of Wawrinka’s accomplishment, it’s worth explaining why this particular loss shouldn’t alarm Federer or his followers.

There are a number of reasons why today’s result–which prevented the No. 2 player in the world from reaching the Monte Carlo final for the fourth straight year–shouldn’t cause panic in the camp of the newly-married man who has had an emotional rollercoaster of a year thus far. The first aspect of this match that should calm anxieties among Federer’s fan base is simple to understand: Wawrinka teamed with Federer to win an Olympic gold medal for Switzerland in doubles last August.

The 24-year-old has learned much about his craft from the 27-year-old legend with 13 Grand Slam titles. Having gone into battle together at the Beijing Olympics and at numerous Davis Cup events, Wawrinka and Federer not only know the intricacies of each other’s playing styles; they also enjoy a level of mutual respect and emotional comfort that lend a unique dynamic to head-to-head matches. After their shared moment of Olympic glory last summer, Federer and Wawrinka both played well at the U.S. Open in New York, a clear sign that the two men gained a lot of confidence and psychological refreshment from their historic achievement.

If there’s one player on the ATP Tour whom Federer won’t mind losing to in a non-slam event, it’s Wawrinka, hands down.

There are other factors that should also minimize the magnitude of Fed’s failure in Monte Carlo. It has to be noted that Federer initially planned to skip this tournament before accepting a last-minute wild card entry into the event. The lack of long-term commitment to this tournament suggested that Federer wanted to minimize strain on his back, which is still slightly frail after an injury suffered last October in the Paris Masters indoor event. It’s a point of pure speculation, but Federer might have opted to play in the event just to give his wife, Mirka Federer (yes, the former Mirka Vavrinec took her husband’s last name on their April 11 wedding day) a nice honeymoon destination.

The early exit from Monte Carlo will actually give the new husband and expectant father a chance to rest for the Rome Masters in late April. Due to the milestone events that have filled Federer’s life this year–the epic loss to Rafael Nadal in Australia, the announcement of his impending fatherhood, and marriage to his girlfriend of nine years–it’s hardly a crisis for Fed to spend a few more weeks away from the grind of regular competition. In Rome or Madrid, the Swiss superstar will want to make a deep run and gain some match experience on clay.

For now, however, a tournament Federer didn’t even plan to play in until the eleventh hour should not cause additional worries for this tennis titan. Federer already has enough on his mind at the moment. Now, to the significance of this stellar statement by Stan the Man. Wawrinka reveled in a terrific 2008 season that featured not just the Olympic gold medal with Federer, but a successful climb up the charts in the ATP singles rankings. Wawrinka began 2008 with a No. 36 ranking but then shot up to No. 9 in the world before ending the year at No. 12. Propelled by a strong spring on clay, with a semifinal showing in Barcelona and a runner-up result in Rome, Wawrinka raced up the ladder while much of the ATP Tour remained stuck in quicksand. Wawrinka reached the fourth round at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open to cement his status as a top 15 player, a sign to his competitors that a Swiss other than Federer could be formidable in major events. A bigger reason why this particular triumph holds meaning for Wawrinka is that it might allow the second banana in Switzerland to play with a more liberated mental outlook.

Wawrinka conquered his comrade on Thursday by blasting confident forehands and backhands to the corners of the court, causing Federer to scramble for much of the match. While it’s true that Federer struggled with his forehand and serve, Wawrinka genuinely played well… well enough, at any rate, to avoid facing a break point until the second game of the second set, when Wawrinka had already broken Federer twice. Mental toughness is a huge key for Wawrinka, and by winning a tough second set in which Federer had two break points for 6-all and a tiebreak, the No. 13 seed backed up his strong start with a poised fight to the finish line. Wawrinka wavered a bit early in the second set, as Federer found rhythm for a few games, but by holding off his friend in a number of tense situations, Switzerland’s less-heralded ATP veteran has to feel immensely reaffirmed about his ability to compete on the big stage. There’s hardly any guarantee that Wawrinka will carry forward the momentum gained from this huge win, but if he can indeed maintain the level of quality he displayed against Federer, he will be able to go even deeper in Grand Slam events and other tournaments on the men’s tennis calendar. One final note puts this victory in perspective for Wawrinka. Last year’s single most disappointing “Stanis-loss” came on clay at the French Open Wawrinka, ironically enough, was on track for a quarterfinal showdown with Federer, only to blow a two-set lead in the third round against Fernando Gonzalez. After building a 7-5, 6-2 advantage, Stan’s plans unraveled, as his Chilean opponent rallied to take the final three sets, all by 6-4 scores. The past few years have certainly witnessed marked improvements in Wawrinka’s all-around game, but elite-level consistency–which is produced by strength between the ears–has still proved elusive for a man who has yet to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Only time will tell, but if Wawrinka becomes an even bigger force in men’s tennis in 2009 and beyond, this triumph over his Swiss compatriot will likely be remembered as the event that turned the tide, and allowed a solid career to blossom into a tremendous one.

As the claycourt season begins on the ATP Tour, Rafael Nadal can be relied on to deliver the goods. Outside of the King of Clay, however, the world of men’s tennis faces numerous uncertainties on the red dirt of Europe, and the early rounds of the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 event showed why.

Two talented Frenchmen, sixth-seeded Gilles Simon and ninth-rated Gael Monfils, tumbled out of Monaco with straight-set losses on Tuesday. Simon lost in the round of 32 to German qualifier Andreas Beck by a 7-5, 6-1 score, while Monfils bowed to Janko Tipsarevic, 6-3, 6-1, in the round of 64. The clay season might indeed be young, but these two results should concern a pair of performers who will not want to disappoint when the French Open rolls around in late May.

For Simon, a decisive setback against Beck, a not-too-credentialed opponent, has to rate as an alarming development. Simon soared up the rankings list in the second half of 2008 by rolling up big results in the outdoor and indoor portions of the hardcourt season. At the end of Wimbledon, the 24-year-old had a No. 29 ranking, but after winning in Indianapolis and reaching the semifinals of the Masters event in Toronto, this short and unassuming performer began to earn the respect of his peers.

Simon’s jubilant July of 2008 was built on the back of a second-round upset of Roger Federer in Toronto. In October, Simon kept the good times rolling by slaying No. 1 Rafael Nadal to reach the finals of the prestigious Masters tournament in Madrid. By knocking off a mix of unheralded foes and tennis giants, Simon–long confined to the middle of the draw at significant events on the tennis calendar–suddenly surged into the top 10, and gave every indication that a formidable career was about to take off. Any lingering doubts about his legitimacy should have been dispelled when Simon beat Federer again at the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, and then reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal this past January at the 2009 Australian Open. The same man who, one year ago, lived completely off the radar screen had suddenly become the No. 8 player in the world.

What Simon might have lacked in terms of raw firepower, the Frenchman more than made up for with his tireless court coverage and accurate passing shots. Several months of noticeably steady tennis had seemingly transformed Simon’s identity from “plucky mid-level overachiever” to “regular top 10 resident.”

With that background in mind, this loss to Beck in Monte Carlo–the latest in a series of disappointing tournaments–becomes that much more difficult to explain. Simon, who didn’t reach the quarterfinals (let alone the semis or final) at the high-value tour stops in Indian Wells or Miami, now has to wait a couple of weeks until the next claycourt Masters event (at Rome on April 27). Another poor showing there, and Simon won’t have much of a chance to gain match toughness in time for the French Open. The native of Nice, France, will want to impress the home folks as he bears the burden of high expectations, but if Gilles doesn’t gel in the next month before Stade Roland Garros opens its doors, an ascendancy could end just as quickly as it began.

The situation faced by Monfils, Simon’s countryman, might not be quite so dire, but it still merits close examination as the European clay swing develops.

Monfils also began to make a name for himself in 2008, but unlike Simon, the 22-year-old from Paris threw his coming-out party on clay. At the 2008 French Open, Monfils took down highly-regarded dirtballer David Ferrer in the quarterfinals to reach his first-ever Grand Slam semifinal against none other than Federer. After getting obliterated in the first set, Monfils stormed the Bastille, one could say, and took the Swiss superstar deep into the fourth set before falling.

Monfils, serving at 5-6 in the fourth, had 40-love and three chances to force a tiebreak that Federer wanted to avoid. With just a little more consistency, “Gael the Gaul” easily could have taken the match to a fifth set before a racuous home crowd that had turned the match into a Davis Cup style affair. So close to the equivalent of a one-set playoff on home soil, Monfils couldn’t seal the deal, as Federer ran off five straight points to emerge victorious. Despite the agony of his late fade at the French, Gael Monfils had finally fulfilled a measure of his considerable potential.

Monfils, like Simon, possesses tremendous athleticism, but in a manner that’s unique to the ATP Tour. Whereas Simon and many other male tennis players exhibit a no-frills style of play, the rangy and gangly Monfils owns a wingspan and a body that can support a bolder, more attacking form of tennis. Yet, this competitor with the cornrow hairstyle chooses to play defensive tennis well behind the baseline, uncorking creative shots only when pressed by his opponent. Many critics of Monfils have pleaded for a more positive, offense-first approach, but in the style of many a Gallic athlete, the baffling Monfils refuses to tackle tennis in a predictable or efficient manner.

After his Monte Carlo meltdown, Monfils might want to reconsider.

It’s bad enough to lose a first-round match 3 and 1, but it’s worse to drop such a decision to the 56th-ranked player on the planet. Tipsarevic will occasionally show flashes of brilliance, but the Serbian who lives in the shadow of Novak Djokovic has done nothing to warrant considerable acclaim since he took Roger Federer to a 10-8 fifth set in the third round of the 2008 Australian Open. Monfils should devour Tipsarevic without much trouble, but after winning just four games against “Tipsy,” it’s the Frenchman who is wobbling on his way out of Monte Carlo. It’s true that Monfils knows he can perform on the big stage of the French Open, but it would still be advisable for this up-and-down enigma to elevate his performance in the next month. Otherwise, another deep run at Roland Garros won’t be in the cards for the mysterious Mr. Monfils.

Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils have given France some meaningful tennis moments over the past year. However, if these two top-10 talents don’t change the trajectory of their 2009 seasons, the crushed red brick of their home continent will only crush their own hopes of gaining greater glories in the world of men’s tennis.

The spring portion of the 2009 hardcourt season is over, as the tennis world now shifts to the clay of Europe. Before turning our attention to the red dirt of Monte Carlo, Rome, Madrid, and Paris, it’s worth taking a final look at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

The two singles finals in South Florida might have been lacking in drama or quality, but they definitely generated a lot more intrigue for the rest of this season. Two ascendant champions at the Crandon Park Tennis Center might still face a lot of questions on clay, but their competitive chops could enable them to win matches regardless of the obstacles they might face.

On the women’s side, Victoria Azarenka bagged the biggest championship of her young career, as the 19-year-old took down an injured Serena Williams, 6-3, 6-1. While it’s true that Williams had her left thigh heavily wrapped during this 72-minute match, Azarenka still had to play poised tennis under pressure. Some players (think Daniela Hantuchova in the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2007 against a hobbling Serena) can’t concentrate when an opponent is walking wounded, so it was impressive that Azarenka could find focus against an unfit foe. Not every player in the women’s game would have been able to handle the big-event nerves associated with a Miami final.

While Serena failed to win her sixth title at Crandon Park, followers of the WTA Tour shouldn’t be thunderstruck by Azarenka’s latest conquest. The young Belorussian has a 23-2 record in 2009, clearly the best mark of anyone on the WTA Tour. Serena and Venus still figure to be the only ones left standing when Wimbledon and the U.S. Open roll around, but when the French Open comes calling, Azarenka could very well find herself playing late into the second week at Stade Roland Garros. Women’s tennis has been so unpredictable in recent years because few players have managed to display tremendous consistency from week to week; if any woman other than the Williams sisters can develop a killer instinct, that player will become the third prominent contender at any major event. Azarenka now has every chance to become that formidable third wheel in the world of women’s tennis.

In the men’s tournament in Miami, Andy Murray–after reaching the final at Indian Wells two weeks earlier–went one step better and conquered Crandon Park by taking down Novak Djokovic, 6-2, 7-5. Murray showed his mastery of the moment by winning one set in lopsided fashion, and another set by a narrow margin after overcoming a one-break deficit. While Djokovic lamented his continuing inability to physically withstand punishing midday heat, Murray–who has a residence just blocks away from stadium court–was able to summon up his best tennis at the right moments. Health issues might have hampered his efforts at the Australian Open back in January, but outside of that stumble, Murray has been a supremely consistent force on the ATP Tour. The two finals in Indian Wells and Miami represent a substantial achievement, as do Murray’s wins this year over world No. 2 Roger Federer. Murray hasn’t made a deep run at the French Open, but in light of the Scot’s steadily upward trajectory in the men’s tennis cosmos, a strong showing in Paris is hardly out of the question. One needs a great deal of stamina to play at a high level throughout the spring hardcourt season, so when the 21-year-old travels to Europe for several weeks on the red dirt, he should be able to grind out wins against lesser players.

* * *

Here’s a brief look at some of the other stories to emerge from the Sony Ericsson Open:

* Del Potro Power: Rafael Nadal has nothing to be ashamed of. The world No. 1, after winning the title at Indian Wells, endured extended matches in Miami and had little left in the tank as the week continued in South Florida. The biggest story of the men’s event outside of Murray’s mountaintop moment was not Nadal’s loss to Juan Martin Del Potro; no, it was Del Potro’s ability to beat Nadal. A thrilling three-set win, capped in a tense final-set tiebreak, gave the Argentine much more than the fifth spot in the latest ATP rankings; it allowed Del Potro to revel in the biggest win of his career.

It was hardly a secret that “Delpo” needed to increase his fitness level and improve his court coverage in order to become a better player, and against Nadal, those qualities were very much in evidence. Many of the match’s best rallies also came on the most important points, and it was Del Potro, not Rafa, who managed to have the final say on more occasions than not. Criticism of Nadal, after a match laden with drama, is quite misguided; Thursday’s consequential quarterfinal should only serve as cause to praise a rising 20-year-old who is growing with each tournament he plays.

* Wacky Women: There’s a reason why the Williams sisters (and before them, Justine Henin) have towered over everyone else in Grand Slam events other than the French Open, where Americans perpetually struggle: Simply stated, the rest of the WTA Tour involves a fair share of headcases.

One has to remember that, with due respect to the victorious Victoria Azarenka, the Williamses likely would have met in the finals had the draw allowed for such a possibility. The semifinal sister showdown offered the best match of the tournament on the women’s side, all while the other half of the bracket featured volatile and unpredictable tennis.

Azarenka did well to defeat Svetlana Kuznetsova in the other women’s semi, but the Belorussian–for all her talents–still had to fight deep into a third set instead of polishing off her opponent in straights. Kuznetsova, for her part, endured an up-and-down quarterfinal against 18-year-old Caroline Wozniacki. One moment, ”The Kooze” looked like an elite competitor; the next moment, the 23-year-old Russian turned into a shrinking violet with absolutely no mental toughness whatsoever.

The rest of the women’s tournament featured similarly baffling displays from highly-ranked players. Dinara Safina, Jelena Jankovic, Elena Dementieva, and Ana Ivanovic all fell well short of expectations after crashing out in the early rounds. As steady as the best men’s tennis players have proven to be, the upper-tier members of the women’s tour haven’t delivered the goods with any appreciable degree of consistency. If the spring hardcourt season revaled anything about the status of WTA tennis, it’s that Victoria Azarenka is the only woman who is reliably living up to her potential.

Even as she spent the past three months climbing the ladder in the world of women’s tennis, Victoria Azarenka lacked a really big achievement to show for her excellence. Now, another milestone can be crossed off the Belorussian’s checklist.

A promising 2009 season just got better for Azarenka, who showed steely nerves to hold off Svetlana Kuznetsova in the first semifinal of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla. The 11th-seeded Azarenka held off her eighth-seeded Russian opponent, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, in 2 hours and 41 minutes of riveting action at the Crandon Park Tennis Center.

Azarenka has been one of the more impressive performers on the WTA Tour this season. At the Australian Open, she won the first set from Serena Williams before illness forced her to retire with a 6-3, 2-4 lead in that fourth-round match. Newly fresh for the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Azarenka stormed to the semifinals before doubles partner Vera Zvonareva knocked her off. Azarenka cracked the top 10 of the rankings for the first time in her career, but a milestone achievement proved elusive.

Until now.

This piece of semifinal success is meaningful for Azarenka because it gives the teenager the largest single-event paycheck of her young career (just over $300,000), but the value of today’s breakthrough is found in other more significant facts as well.

On an immediate level, Azarenka managed to wipe away the ugly memories created in her last meeting against Kuznetsova at this event. One year ago, Azarenka rolled to a 6-1, 5-2 lead in Miami and had a match point for the round of 16. So close to the finish line, Azarenka succumbed to frail nerves, as the increasingly dispirited 18-year-old watched “The Kooze” reel off 11 straight games to take the third-round encounter, 1-6, 7-5, 6-0.

In this match, Azarenka teetered at times, but never fell off the edge. Having blown a one-set lead with an indifferent display midway through the match, Azarenka regrouped in set three and served for the match at 5-4. Down love-30, she nailed a first serve to the corner of the service box and then played incredible defense to win two pulse-pounding rallies, one of them with a gorgeous running forehand passing shot. Brought to match point, Azarenka found herself in a position similar to a year ago against Kuznetsova, and while the result was indeed different this time around, it took awhile for the Belorussian to defeat her demons.

Kuznetsova saved that first match point with a massive forehand, and then broke for 5-all when Azarenka missed a backhand at deuce and then double-faulted on break point. In a handful of points, a nightmare came rushing to the surface of memory. Azarenka had to regroup when she failed to serve out the match.

Sure enough, that’s exactly what she did.

Azarenka’s groundstrokes stabilized in the eleventh game of the final set, and Kuznetsova lost the momentum she had gained a few minutes before. Azarenka broke for 6-5, and after seeing Kuznetsova save two more match points with terrific shotmaking, Azarenka closed the door by hitting deep shots to the Kuznetsova backhand, which broke down under pressure. As a final off-pace Kuznetsova backhand stuck the middle of the net, Azarenka exulted.

In a moment of profound recognition, a young woman knew that she had not only put away a nemesis in a former house of horrors; Victoria Azarenka also realized that she had reached her first Premier Mandatory (formerly Tier I) final on the WTA Tour, by far the biggest moment of her tennis life to date. In Saturday afternoon’s final, Azarenka–now assured of a No. 8 slot in next week’s WTA rankings–will play the winner of tonight’s Williams sister showdown. Even if she fails to take down Venus or Serena, Azarenka will be able to say that she played in the championship match of a prestigious tournament. With more breakthroughs like this one, an up-and-comer in the women’s game can accumulate the experiences needed to forge a top-flight career.

There are no guarantees for any tennis professional, but the supremely noteworthy element about Victoria Azarenka’s tennis career is that it now has a chance to become great.