Tennis Trend: Strugglers Still Struggling... But Some Bright Spots
The fascinating fall tennis tour continues across the globe and the results so far are not that surprising. Many of the players who struggled during the summer are still posting disappointing results. For example, Andy Murray and Andy Roddick returned to action in
Asia after their post-U.S. Open breaks and were both upset early, i.e. Murray in straight sets to Ivan Ljubicic and Roddick to Gael Monfils in a third set tiebreaker after having a match point. Wimbledon finalist, Tomas Berdych, followed up his first round loss at the U.S. Open with a disappointing Asian circuit so far, i.e. a loss to David Ferrer and then Michael Berrer in the first round a week later. At the same time, John Isner continued his strong form by upsetting Nikolay Davydenko who has played poorly since returning from a broken wrist during the winter.
On the women’s side, Maria Sharapova ended her season with one of her worse results, i.e. losing to Elena Vesnina in straight sets a week after losing to Kimiko Date Krumm in three sets. Jelena Jankovic continued her slide down from the Number One ranking two years ago by losing to Kaia Kanepi (who also beat her at the U.S. Open) and to 93rd-ranked fellow Serb, Bojana Jovanovski, in successive weeks of the Asian tournament circuit. Svetlana Kuznetsova ended her season early after an illness and upset loss in Asia and plans to rest and prepare for 2011. One bright note is that Ana Ivanovic has shown flashes of her former top form during the summer and fall, amidst some disappointing losses, and perhaps she can build on the positive results with new coach, Heinz Gunthardt, in 2011.
On the women’s side, Maria Sharapova ended her season with one of her worse results, i.e. losing to Elena Vesnina in straight sets a week after losing to Kimiko Date Krumm in three sets. Jelena Jankovic continued her slide down from the Number One ranking two years ago by losing to Kaia Kanepi (who also beat her at the U.S. Open) and to 93rd-ranked fellow Serb, Bojana Jovanovski, in successive weeks of the Asian tournament circuit. Svetlana Kuznetsova ended her season early after an illness and upset loss in Asia and plans to rest and prepare for 2011. One bright note is that Ana Ivanovic has shown flashes of her former top form during the summer and fall, amidst some disappointing losses, and perhaps she can build on the positive results with new coach, Heinz Gunthardt, in 2011.
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