What does Clijsters' win say about Women's Tennis?

In April 2007, Kim Clijsters stepped out onto the red dirt court in Warsaw, Poland, in what was later to be her fair well match on the WTA Tour.

Clijsters, the Belgian former world number one, was in the midst of her swansong season, after already announcing earlier in the year that she would be leaving the tour at the end of the 2007, enabling her to concentrate on her family life.

A shock defeat, though, in the round of 16 to Julia Vakulenko, forced Clijsters to question whether there was much point in waiting till the end of the season to retire. Her heart had well and truly left the game. A week later, Clijsters announced her retirement, with immediate effect.

Two years on, now married to her long term partner, basketball player Brian Lynch, and with a baby daughter, Jada Ellie, born in early 2007, Clijsters decided that take the leap, and come back to tennis.

You would imagine, even for a top player like Clijsters once was, that coming back into the world of professional tennis, after a hiatus of over two years, would, or should, have been a baptism of fire.

That presumption, though, could not have been any further from what was to transpire, as the Belgian returned to the tour to post a couple of respectable showings in the two tour events that she entered (Quarters in Cincinnati, 3rd Round in Toronto), only to then go on and beat both Williams sisters, and finally the 9th seed Caroline Wozniacki in the final at Flushing Meadows, on her way to a second US Open title.

Clijsters' win, while storybook, must raise questions about the state of the women's game.

The fact that someone can just leave and come back two years later and still - not only compete - beat the top women who have spent their entire year striving to achieve what Clijsters achieved in a matter of just a month back on the tour, must raise questions about the state of women's tennis at the moment in time.

Clijsters, in her heyday, was certainly a great player, a deserving number one, but when compared to compatriot Justine Henin, she wasn't exactly prolific when it came to the majors. Only picking up the one grand slam title, again in New York, back in 2005.

Has the game got worse since then or has Clijsters simply just matured and maybe even got better?

She certainly had her fair share of luck on the way. Nowhere more so than in the semi final against defending champion and the self proclaimed 'true number one' Serena Williams.

On Williams' second serve, at 15-30, 5-6, one set to love down, Williams was wrongly foot faulted.

The call prompted the American into a fearsome tirade towards the line judge, who went on to report Williams to the umpire.

After already receiving a code violation for racket abuse at the end of the first set, the match referee ordered the umpire to give another code violation to Williams, which came with a point penalty.

After the foot faulted second serve and the point penalty the match was over without Clijsters having to hit a ball.

The final was straight forward by all accounts. Wozniacki, appearing in her first grand slam final of her young career, was simply outplayed by the wiser, more experienced Clijsters.

In the history of professional sport you will find, dotted through time, fairytale stories. Stories you couldn't make up. Stories that unless you were there or saw them on television you wouldn't believe. Clijsters becoming the only unseeded player to ever win the US Open, was certainly a storybook moment for her and for tennis.

In my opinion, though, this moment could not have been more poorly timed, as the state of women's tennis is consistently coming under question, as it has been ever since the retirement of Henin back in 2008.

Since the retirement of Henin, the WTA tour has been going through transition, with five players holding the number one ranking between May 2008 and September 2009 (Dinara Safina, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic). None of which have been able to make the ranking their own.

The current debate over whether Safina is the worthy number one, considering that Serena Williams, until last night, was the holder of three of the four grand slam titles on offer, was only added to this fortnight just gone, and Clijsters' success is only going to add fuel to the fire for whoever holds the poisoned chalice that is the number one ranking.

Following Clijsters' win at Flushing Meadows there have been rumours circulating that Henin may want to follow in her country women's footsteps and also return to the WTA tour.

The tour organisers would no doubt be delighted with such a star name returning to the game. The players who are there currently, though, might have different ideas after what occurred following the return of Clijsters.

Soon, the WTA tour and its players will come through this transition phase and one day return to be strong, with great depth and aspiring young talents trying to make their name in the game.

For the time being, though, the tour will just have to go along with the old timers, who are either making a mockery of the women's game, or if your a glass half full time of person, an inspiration to every young girl trying to make a name for themselves on the WTA tour.

Let Battle Commence

Yesterday's Community Shield, won by F.A. Cup winner's Chelsea on penalties over English champions Manchester United officially raised the curtain on the new football season, which has been as eagerly anticipated as ever.

Manchester City's summer spending, which has seen the likes of Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure, among others, come through the doors at Eastlands, has raised questions over whether City have to team now that can break the top four monopoly.

On the other side of Manchester, the much publicized departure of Ronaldo to Real Madrid for £80million and the loss of Tevez to their Manchester rivals has sparked questions over whether United can retain the league title for a record fourth time.

The surprise arrival of Michael Owen on a pay as you play deal, may well turn out to be a great piece of business by Sir Alex Ferguson, if he can keep the Englishman fit.

If the Community Shield game, a game I was in attendance for, was anything to go by, this season will certainly be a very memorable one.

The football league season however is already underway with some remarkable results already on the first day of the campaign, most notably Norwich's 7-1 thumping by East Anglia rivals Colchester United at Carrow Road.

Other big wins came from Gillingham and Sven Goran Eriksson's Notts County who both recorded 5-0 drubbings of Swindon and Bradford respectively.

But, in my opinion, the day belonged to Cardiff, who's woeful run at the end of the season, including an embarrassing 6-0 defeat by Preston North End, saw them lose out on a playoff place by one goal.

The Bluebirds opened the new campaign with a handsome 4-0 win over newly promoted Scunthrope in the first competitive game to be played at their new 27,000 all seater stadium, literally a stones throw away from the notorious Ninnian Park.

The season has only just begun and already there is so much to talk about up and down the divisions, and all across Europe, and thank god for the football aye? Kept my eyes well a truly away from Headingly.

Serena: The 'True' Number One...

No!

No, no, no, no, no, no...no!!

This statement, which was made around March of this year, that came from Serena Williams, holder of three of the four grand slam titles, saying that she is the 'true' number one has riled me up beyond comprehension.

Let me explain to those of you reading this, first of all, how the rankings work, in layman's terms, how Serena has come to this conclusion and why I think that her statement is a load of tosh.

OK, in simple terms this is how to tennis world rankings are made up.

Every tournament, from ITF Futures to Grand Slams, have ranking points, per round, which are dependent on the status of the tournament.

The winner of a Grand Slam, for example, will be awarded 2000 ranking points; the winner of a Tier I event (now known as Premier Mandatory...don't ask) will be awarded 1000 ranking points, and so on and so on.

Your overall ranking points are comprised of your results from all four majors (Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, US Open), the four Premier Mandatory events (Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Beijing) and your best other eight results in other tournaments. I never said this would be easy.

The results that are used will be results that have occurred in the last 52 weeks. So, for example, by winning Wimbledon this year Serena Williams increased her ranking points by 700, as last year she was runner up and only gained 1400 points, Venus Williams, obviously, will lose 700 points. Still with me?

So that's how the rankings are worked out, by your performance in the major tournaments and a set of other smaller, less prestigious, tournaments.

Currently the world number one is Dinara Safina, who has been in three grand slam finals and has won none of them, and who was also decimated by Venus Williams in the semi final at Wimbledon on Thursday 6-1 6-0.

Now, Serena believes that as she holds three of the four grand slam titles that there are on offer, that by right she should be the world number one.

You have to admit that she gives a good case, I mean three grand slam titles is no mean feat and she has been convincing throughout, but this is where I ask the following question...what about other tournaments, what has Serena done in them? The ones with less limelight and television coverage, the ones with less ranking points and lesser prize money.

The answer to that question is simply, not a lot.

In 2009 Serena has, so far, only competed in 10 tournaments, winning two, the Australian Open and Wimbledon, and reaching the final of just one other, Miami. She also has notched up three semi finals, one quarter final, and three first round losses (in a row I might add).

Dinara is number one because she has won five tournaments in the last 52 weeks, made five other finals, four semi finals and two quarter finals in the 19 tournaments that she has played a part in, I don't care who the hell you are, that is consistency and that is impressive.

There has always been a question mark, especially so on the women's side, when a player reaches the number one ranking without winning a major. The same question was being asked of Jelena Jankovic not so long ago, who managed to reach the number one ranking without even coming close to reaching a grand slam final, let alone winning one.

The reason I feel that Serena doesn't deserve the number one ranking is because I, personally, feel that they (Venus and Serena) shouldn't just be allowed to turn up to the major tournaments, power their way through, take the prize money, take the glory and go off into the spotlight.

Of the 15 tournaments that Serena has taken part in over the last 52 weeks, about three or four of them have been, what were known as, Tier II or below level tournaments. Tournaments that are short on glamour, prestige and prize money. And even when Serena did play in these lesser tournaments, she often didn't do very well in them.

Yes, Dinara hasn't won a grand slam; winning a Grand Slam is a great achievement and one that can never be argued against or taken away from you, but if you honestly believe that you are the world number one player, prove it, week in week out, not when you please and when the money is right.

It has been a consistent criticism of the Williams sisters that they have, in the past, not been fully focused on their tennis, with other money making schemes going on in the background. More recently however this hasn't been so much the case, with both the sisters looking more focused and determined than ever before.

If you are fully focused on the WTA tour and on tennis, though, Serena, and are so transfixed on the the world number one ranking which you behold as being your own, and are so upset and dismayed as to why you aren't the world number one ranked player...then do something about it, turn up, win tournaments, at ALL levels and let the computer do the rest.

"...theres always Michael Owen!"

No more than 48 hours after those very words were uttered by my lips, in a phone conversation with one of my many University housemates, had my possible 'tempting of fate' occurred; Michael Owen had become a Red Devil.

The conversation that took place began with us discussing our landlord, then onto my desire to purchase a Manchester United season ticket which I couldn't possibly afford, and then we discussed the team itself and the issue of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez heading for the exits, and Antonio Valenica coming in the opposite direction.

In my eyes, even as a Manchester United fan who has on more than one occasion been proven to never doubt Sir Alex Ferguson and his decision making, the idea of Michael Owen, who since the World Cup in 2006 has had uncountable injury problems and not to mention is a former Liverpool icon, signing for United was somewhat of a gamble.

Sir Alex, though, has previous in this sort of area. Look what he done to Eric Cantona, who wasn't a regular at Leeds and had a bit of a reputation as being a tough man to please and contain, became a Old Trafford legend; a name that will live in infamy at the Theatre of Dreams.

On a smaller scale you can also use the example of Henrik Larsson, who, despite coming off the back of a serious injury, made a considerable contribution to United during his three month loan spell.

Both example's were, without any question, gambles; gambles that paid off.

Despite Owen's injury plagued 2008/09 season he still managed to score 10 goals. Not bad for someone who had to battle through a number of injury setbacks, for a team who ultimately were relegated to the Championship.

After his lucrative £110,000 a week (reported) contract had expired, Sir Alex saw the chance of carrying out what could be a very astute piece of business, signing the former Liverpool and Real Madrid star for the pricey sum of nothing, and on a pay as you play contract.

You cannot deny that Owen is a born goalscorer, and as the saying goes 'form is temporary, class is permanent' which he has proven over the years, even during his less than encouraging spell with Newcastle, proving that he still has that killer strikers instinct, something he has shown year in year out for club, and for country.

Owen still harbours hopes of getting back into Fabio Capello's England squad, with the 2010 World Cup in South Africa just one more win away, and where better to be playing at club level than at the home of the English and World Champions, where chances will be created in abundance?

Ever since Ruud Van Nistelrooy left the Old Trafford club United have been trying to find an out and out goal scorer to replace him. Wayne Rooney, Tevez, Ronaldo and more recently Dimitar Berbatov have managed to make this void seem minimal at best, scoring countless goals in United's endless pursuit of silver wear between them.

Owen will, hopefully, fill that void, and will, if fit, hope to be a key member of the United strike force, as they try and replace the 30-40 goals a season that Ronaldo and Tevez provided them.

Despite my original pessimism about the move, I must say that in the days that led up to the signing, and that have now preceded them, I, personally, am more and more upbeat about the possibilities of Rooney and Owen reuniting, in the hope that they can strike up a world beating partnership for club, and maybe for country again.

So far, of the reported £100 million cash pot that United have at their disposal, they have only spent £16 million, all of that on, Ecuadorian, Valencia from Wigan Athletic. United would probably like another striker, another winger and another left back before the season begins against Birmingham City on August 16th, but, so far, have seemingly missed out on their main targets this summer of Tevez, Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema, the latter two, presumably, following Ronaldo to Madrid, and Tevez, presumably, going down the road to Manchester City.

Some might see Owen's signing as a desperate act after missing out on their main targets to Real Madrid's ridiculous millions, but as another one of my housemates at University said to me 'In Fergie we trust'...who am I to argue with a man who has won 23 major domestic and European trophies in 23 years?

The Usual Suspects

There were eight aside, now we have four, and its the usual suspects that make up the semi final lineup at Wimbledon, with all four top seeds making it through on the women's side, while on the men's side, the dream final is still on, but there are a German and an American who always do well on the grass who will do whatever it takes to scupper that dream.

The women step out for the semi finals today, with Venus Williams taking on Dinara Safina, who is making her first appearance in a Wimbledon semi final, and Serena Williams taking on Elena Dementieva.

The women's side has almost had a feeling of 'whats the point' about it since the get go, with everyone presuming that the Williams sisters will make it into the final for the second year in a row, but although the sisters are in scintillating form at present, dismissing their quarter final opponents with consummate ease, this will be their toughest tests as they face the highest seeds they were ever going to face in the lead up to the final.

Dementieva is most likely to upset the apple cart in this one and has a fairly decent record against Serena, albeit a losing record. Safina, despite being world number one, has a public hatred of grass and has to be considerably pleased to have even made it this far having never progressed beyond the 3rd round here before.

I still fully expect an all Williams final, to my distaste, but there is no denying they know better than anyone on the tour how to play the grass and how to dominate like nowhere else in the world.

The men's side is now one step closer to the dream final that the British public, the British press and most of the watching world are hoping for, with Andy Murray making light work of Juan Carlos Ferrero, and Roger Federer having inhuman reactions to Ivo Karlovic's power serve game beating him, also, in straight sets.

The closer we get to the final on Sunday, the more the nerves and anxiousness creep in and unlike the women's side, where everyone sees nothing other than a Williams 1-2 on Saturday, Andy Roddick, who takes on Murray, and Tommy Haas, who takes on Federer, stand in the way of the dream and have more than enough tools to upset a few million people around the world.

Andy Roddick, two time Wimbledon finalist, is one of the usual suspects when it comes to the latter stages of Wimbledon and has the experience that Murray at present doesn't have and is learning by the day.

It was mentioned fleetingly that Murray looked a little tired in his quarter final against Ferrero, so he will more than happy coming through that one in straight sets, expending as little energy as possible as he will need his A game to beat A-Rod, who has markedly improved in recent months.

Haas has always been pretty nifty on the grass. Winner in Halle, beating Novak Djokovic who he subsequently beat in yesterday's quarter final, he can go into his match up against the history making Federer full of confidence. It wasn't much more than a month ago that Haas was two sets to love up against Federer at Roland Garros, the day after Rafael Nadal had been knocked out. How different things could have been.

On the grass, despite this being the surface of choice for both, Federer will always have the edge, you just have to look at the numbers. Five Wimbledons to Zero says it all.

Murray has never been this far at Wimbledon before, and some might think back to his annihilation at the hands of Nadal last year, off the back of another five set thriller against Richard Gasquet, in the Quarter Final.

Following that slam he went on to win back to back Masters titles, and reach the US Open final. There is no one now who can doubt his fitness. Despite Murray being blinkered and giving the usual responses of 'taking one match at a time' and not worrying about what the media are saying and the pressure they are heaping on him, it wouldn't be human if it didn't affect him a little bit, and if Murray can overcome the pressure that plagued Tim Henman in so many Wimbledon semi finals over the years, he can and will come through.

We are at the business end of the championships and the usual names are still on the draw sheet with Venus and Roger looking to make it six championships a piece, Serena hoping to make it three, and Tommy, A-Rod, Elena, Dinara and Murray all hoping to make history of their own and win the most prestigious trophy in tennis.

And then, there were Eight

The second week of Wimbledon is under way and we now know the eight men and eight women who make up the quarter final's and in both the men’s and women’s draw’s there are some intriguing, and some surprising, names in the quarter's.

In the men's draw, former number ones collide as former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt takes on former two time Wimbledon finalist, the number six seed, Andy Roddick. World number three Andy Murray, after his marathon late night match against Stanislas Wawrinka, under the lights and under the new roof, will take on another former number one Juan Carlos Ferrero, who doesn’t normally take well to the grass.

In the bottom half of the draw we see the forgotten man, Novak Djokovic, take on the consistent grass-courter Tommy Haas and, finally, Roger Federer takes on the, somewhat unnerving, task of facing the 6’10” ace machine Ivo Karlovic, who, to date, has served 136 aces and has yet to be broken.

On the women’s side we seem to be heading towards yet another all Williams final, between the sisters Venus and Serena. At the top of the draw, the most under the radar number one seed, Dinara Safina, takes on the up and coming talent of Sabine Lisicki, with the winner of that match taking on the winner of the match between defending champion, Venus Williams, and another young talent Agnieszka Radwanska. On the bottom half surprise quarter finalist Francesca Schiavone takes on Olympic gold medallist Elena Dementieva, while the last eight line up is completed by Williams sister number two, Serena, up against the princess of the grunters Victoria Azarenka.

The women’s draw has, from the get go, had an unerring inevitability about it. The Williams sisters love SW19, with seven titles between them, and with Venus looking for a hat trick of titles, and sister Serena looking for revenge for last years final defeat, it looks like we are set for another family get together come Saturday afternoon.

Out of the other six quarter finalists the person who, in my opinion, is most likely to stop this years final being a repeat of last years is Elena Dementieva. Radwanska, Lisicki and Azarenka are all great, young, talents, but I feel they do not have what it takes, yet, to make it to a grand slam final. Schiavone has more than enough experience but also has never made it this far in a slam before and may not know how to work her way out of the last eight now that she’s there.

Dementieva, however, has two grand slam finals under her belt already, and winning the Olympic Games last summer will have given her great confidence that she can win a major tournament. Her record against Serena, who Dementieva is set to meet in the semi final, is a great cause for further optimism. Despite Serena having a five to three head to head record in her favour, Dementieva has won three of the last four meetings between the two.

Dinara Safina is the world number one, and no one is really backing her to do much at Wimbledon this year at all. That may be in part due to the fact that she was quoted on her official website, in an article titled ‘I Hate Wimbledon’ as saying that “Grass makes me angry. I hope they dig up the grass and replace it with a hard court”.

Safina has shown a lot of improvement on the grass this year, but is still not being talked about at all, and it would have to be considered a major shock if she was to win here, despite being ranked as number one in the world.

So Venus vs Serena it seems on the women’s side, what about the men?

Everyone, who is everyone, wants Sunday’s showpiece to be a match between the best player ever to grace a tennis court, Roger Federer, and Britain’s Andy Murray, as he tries to make history of his own, becoming the first Brit since 1937 to win Wimbledon.

The final eight of the men’s draw however is littered with potential banana skins for both of these men on the road to their ‘destiny’.

Lleyton Hewitt has rolled back the years this week, producing some wonderful tennis, reminiscent of previous glory’s by the former world number one, and he has the experience to come through at SW19 and maybe make a surprise appearance in another Wimbledon final. Andy Roddick stands in his way in his pursuit of a second grand slam title, six years after his one and only success at the US Open. He has also experienced what it is like to be in a Wimbledon final, not once, but twice, both times, though, running into the mercurial Federer.

Murray may have queried the decision to play his 4^th round match up against Stanislas Wawrinka under the roof on Monday night, the first competitive match to be played entirely under it, but it could turn out to be a blessing in disguise. With the match finishing at 10:38pm, without the roof Murray would have had to sacrifice his day off to complete the match, and if you ever needed any proof that carrying a match over is difficult business, just watch some of Tim Henman’s old Wimbledon matches.

He will now, though, have an entire day to rest up before taking on Juan Carlos Ferrero, who he met and defeated quite convincingly on his way to the Queen’s title a fortnight ago.

Federer, despite winning in straight sets against, French Open final counterpart, Robin Soderling, was not at his best, and he has the unenviable task of taking on Ivo Karlovic, in a match where he will have to improve and be at his best when returning, as Karlovic has yet to drop his serve.

The fourth quarter final match up sees Novak Djokovic take on Tommy Haas, who always seems to produce on grass and who beat ‘Nole’ a fortnight ago in Halle, in the final of the tour event in Germany.

Much like no one has been talking about Safina on the women’s side, no one really has said much about Djokovic either, with all the attention being placed on the home favourite Murray, and Federer as he looks to surpass Sampras’ grand slam record.

This could very easily work in Djokovic’s favour as there is no pressure on him and he is free to produce his best tennis with not a lot of expectations, and we have seen in the past that Djokovic is more than capable of beating the people above him in the rankings, and there are only three of them.

There are still bound to be one or two twists and turns in the final days and hours of the 2009 Wimbledon, and who knows maybe we will all be proved wrong and not have a repeat of last years women’s final, and we may all be disappointed to not have the dream final of Murray against Federer come Sunday.

That’s the magic of tennis, that’s the magic of sport in general, you can never really know whats going to happen, but your still glued to it nonetheless. There are a few thousand people that were on Henman Hill at gone 10 in the evening, in the pitch black monday night, that can testify to that statement.

South Africa Making a Point

The Confederations Cup, FIFA's little play thing, that sees the six most recent continental tournament winners - Europe: Spain, South America: Brazil, North America: USA, Asia: Iraq, Oceania: New Zealand and Africa: Egypt - join the World Champions Italy and the host's of the next World Cup South Africa, is meant to be used as a dress rehearsal for the World Cup the following year.

The tournament has never really had much resonance among the nations that compete in it but this was more than just a tournament for the host's South Africa, who had two points to prove; One, that they could host a major footballing event, and two, that they could compete and not embarrass themselves on a world stage, which was looking more and more likely as the weeks rolled towards the summer of 2010.

In the years in the lead up to the World Cup, which is being held in Africa for the first time, the national team's results have been mediocre at best.

In their World Cup Qualifying group, which they still had to compete in because the World Cup qualifying has a direct affect on the qualifying for the African Cup of Nations, they enjoyed just two wins, both against Equatorial Guinea.

South Africa opened the tournament with an unconvincing performance against Iraq, which brought about a dire 0-0 draw, leaving all the doubters still with the view that South Africa wouldn't do themselves justice when the best 31 nations in the world verge on the most southern point in Africa.

After their unbearable opening to this, somewhat, unimportant tournament, the only way, as the saying goes, was up, and a much improved performance in their second group game, albeit against New Zealand, resulted in a 2-0 win for the hosts, which was enough to send them through to the Semi Finals.

This is where South Africa showed their worth and began to prove to the South African public, and the rest of the world, that they were no mugs and maybe aren't destined to become the first host nation to be knocked out in the group stages of a World Cup Finals.

A world class free kick from Dani Alves, three minutes from time, in the Semi Final was all that separated them from Brazil, and, on paper, it wasn't going to get any easier for them in the 3rd place play-off, after the USA shocked the FIFA No'1 ranked team, Spain, in their semi final.

Spain and South Africa played out a scintillating 3-2(AET) match, which went back and forth throughout and took a wonder free kick from Mphela to take into extra time, moments after Spain had scored twice in two minutes to come from 1-0 down, with just a minute of normal time on the clock.

In just 210 minutes of football, South Africa had proved to the world that they could compete with the best, which is the minimum requirement from the South African public who were passionate, loud and fully supportive of their team throughout, but in the back of all their minds must have worried that their worst fears could well have been realised.

The South Africans managed to prove their point. They took the best two teams in the world to the brink, they didn't win, but they came close. That will be more than enough in 12 months time, and performances like the ones against Spain and Brazil will hold the South Africans in good stead against most of the smaller nations come World Cup Finals time.

They also managed to prove that they are capable of holding their own in the hosting department, and although there were only eight nations at this event, compared to the 31 other nations that will join South Africa next year, the signs look good.

It may take some getting used to the weather however, with winter temperatures in South Africa during our 'summer' months, but that will be the least of the nations worries as they compete for the biggest prize in football. South Africa, though, are just happy to be there, happy to host, and happy that they know, and the public now knows, that they wont just be there to make up the numbers.