Women’s Draw at the French Wide Open

The European summer is upon us and its time once again for the most arduous of Grand Slams. The fashion capital of the world will whiteness a fortnight of battle of attrition between the world’s best. French Open will begin in a few hours and the contenders are few and far between in the men;s section, as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will vie for the coveted crown. There does not seem to be any opposition stopping them from meeting in the summit clash.

But as we look at the women’s section, the scenario is a total contrast. For three seasons there was only one lady which ruled the roost. Justine Henin left little if any hope in the hearts of her competitors for conquering the red clay of Roland Garros. But with the sudden exit of her’s from tennis, the draw at this year’s event is wide open. Last season’s runner up, Ana Ivanovic looks good, but standing right at her heels are Jelena Jankovic and the current number one Maria Sharapova.

The Russian top seed has had a tremendous season with eighteen consecutive wins before bowing out to Svetlana Kuznetsova at Indian Wells. With the Aus open under her belt, she will look to improve her record on clay, on which she won her first career event at Amelia Island. She looks in good form and with the number one tag attached, would look to add this feather in her cap.

One of the players the Siberian siren would be closely watching would be Ana Ivanovic. She has come up in leaps and bounds over the past year, losing to Sharapova at Melbourne. Ivanovic has got the strength to triumph in long baseline duals, she has the stamina to be at the courts for long hours and I feel she definitely has the hunger to lift the trophy and close the gap on Maria for the top rank. She has been playing consistently well over the past six months and being born and brought up in European conditions, the 20 year old would look to go one step better this time around and lift the cup instead of the shield.

Another player who has shown great composure in trying times has been Jelina Jankovic. Being from the same nation as Ivanovic, this tall Serbian has created a niche of her own. She has got strength as well as agility to run around, two of the most important assets needed in order to survive on this demanding surface. After having an indifferent year without a trophy, Jankovic produced the goods just few weeks before at Rome winning her sixth career title. Currently without a professional coach, Jancovic will be hard to beat with the form she is in.

Apart from these players, Williams sisters will always be the dark horses, although on clay there power will be highly diminished. Players of the likes of Dinara Safina, Chakvetadze and Dementieva would look to cash in on there favorite surface. Last but not the least, few words about Svetlana Kuznetsova who has been coming up the ladder without much notice. She looks fit and ready to upset the odds and win the crown hands down.

Its hard to guess the ladies winner for 2008

Author: Asif Islam, A dedicated sports lover since 1989, following closely the various aspects of popular sports worldwide. Writting articles and analytical reports on players and events since 2003.Email - asif2311@rediffmail.com

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Queen of Backhand Bids Farewell

In one of the most surprising disclosures of recent times, Justine Henin quit tennis citing fatigue at her prime.

There were times when sporting personalities use to say that for a player to make debut in any discipline, he needs to have gain a certain amount of experience and for that by the time the player comes on to the world stage, he or she would be in the mid 20s. Cut to 2008, and we see players getting off the boil and many bidding farewell at the same age. Justine Henin, all of 25 yrs, gave a shock to her fans and the tennis fraternity by saying good bye to something she might not imagine a life without. A player who is still touted as the best one when it came to playing on the backhand side, Justine retired from competitive tennis just days before the commencement of the French Open, an event which she could have got a patent for.

May be its fatigue or the personal grind she has gone through all her life, the fact remains that tennis has lost probably its final player of touch and finance. Ever since the Swiss Miss Martina Hingis bid adeu again at 25 in 2007, players of her type are virtually non existent. Justine carried forward the legacy of the likes of Chris Evert, Steffi Graff and offcourse Hingis, but with her bowing out right at the top, tennis lovers will miss the spectacle of watching an artist on court, especially when it comes to women’s game.

So what made the Belgian so special. Since the age of five, she had a dream to fulfill. Even with her average height and a normal built, she practiced long and hard in a country absolutely unheard off when it came to tennis. Making her WTA debut in 1999, Henin grew in stature with every event. She had a passion for the sport, a desire to reach where her icons (Steffi Graff and Martina Navaratilova) were. During the summer of 1992, she was taken to the Roland Garros by her father to watch the final between Graff and Seles. On that day she said that one day she will lift the trophy by winning the French Open. Just a decade later and she was crowned the champion. Now after having won over $ 17 million in prize money ( seven grand slam titles including being unbeaten in paris for the past three events) people will say she had no troubles in life.

But with success comes the bogey of carrying the same. Not everyone is master at it. The talented Belgian had a turmoil period with her marriage and beyond. Her coach became her husband and just a few months back she came back square one, being single. Probably the fact that the ttouring schedule is hectic and to take personal intricacies along with that would certainly be too much for anyone, leave alone a world class player like her. May be a combination of hectic flight schedules between events and the tense personal life lead her to make such an emotional and truly unimaginable decision.
Am sure during the course of time, she will return and give back to the sport which has taken her to the pinnacle of success.

Author: Asif Islam, A dedicated sports lover since 1989, following closely the various aspects of popular sports worldwide. Writting articles and analytical reports on players and events since 2003.Email - asif2311@rediffmail.com

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