Encouraged by her mother, Vera Zvonareva began playing tennis for fun at age six. Her mother, Natalya Bykova, a Russian field hockey player who earned a bronze medal in the 1980 Olympics, enrolled the future star in the famed Russian State Academy of Physical Fitness.
When Samantha Stosur plays tennis, it is poetry in motion. There’s a beautiful, confident competitor with all the snappy trimmings, an up and down storyline with an ending that is inconclusive but on the horizon.
He is mortal, after all. The question is, is the greatest player to ever hold a racket more mortal than ever? For the second week in a row, top seed Roger Federer took an unexpected tumble on Tuesday in Miami.
Even when Robin Soderling let Andy Murray up for air, the troubled Scotsman could not pull himself together to stave off the inevitable defeat on Friday at the BNP Paribas Open.
It is hard to tell if 31-year old Ivan Ljubicic is celebrating his birthday on Friday or celebrating a well-deserved day off as he prepares for his semifinal match with Spanish sharp shooter Rafa Nadal on Saturday. Nadal, fresh off a three set win over John Isner, withstood a late charge by the 19th seeded Czech Tomas Berdych 6-4, 7-6 (4) to win his 20th of 21 matches at Indian Wells. The defending champion looks healthy and fleet afoot.
For a while on Sunday, it looked like Romanian Victor Hanescu looked a party-spoiler for Roger Federer. The 28-year old Swiss star was awarded the ATPWorldTour.com Fans’ Favorite Player of the Year Award after his second round match in the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. Federer also received the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for 2009.
Australian Open and Brisbane finalist Justine Henin could not overcome dangerous Argentine Gisela Dulko who won a see-saw 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 match. The 31st seed was very much in form, while Henin showed a bit of rust from an extended layoff. The serve was the key in this one as Dulko lost all three of her service games in set two only to come up with a key reversal in set three and upset her idol. Henin had won their only previous meeting.
The men swing into action today at the 2010 Paribas BNP Open. All the biggest stars will be there, vying for their share of the more than $3.6 million purse. Indian Wells drew more than 330,000 last year and indications are that this year the turnstiles will keep moving. Why not? This is the crème de la crème of men’s tennis in a great venue with good weather.
In Melbourne, one of the most dominant signs read Just In Time, a tribute to Justine Henin’s return to the tour. The popular 5’ 5 1/2” Belgian dynamo returned to the tour after a nearly an 18 month leave of absence and immediately stormed to the forefront. In her very first event, the unseeded Henin put away Nadia Petrova, the two seed, in the first round at Brisbane and then marched to the finals. She succumbed to Kim Clijsters, another Belgian comeback player, in the finals but clearly staked her claim to the elite level of women’s tennis.
They may call it the tennis tournament in the desert, but Indian Wells is a special event featuring the biggest galleries outside of the four major tournaments. With $4.5 million in prize money and loads of live television coverage, players can gain prestige, riches and exposure at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open from March 10th – 21st. What more could an aspiring tour player want?
