© 2012
Daily
Tennis News Wire -
Internazionali BNL d'Italia
Rome, Italy
Saturday Women's Tennis Summary
Singles - Semifinal: (2) Maria Sharapova def. (12)
Angelique Kerber 6-3 6-4
This doesn't mean much for Maria Sharapova in the short
term; she remains #2. And yet, if we look at the Top Ten
in clay points earned over the last year, it's a
fascinating list:
1. Li: 2990
2. Sharapova: 2240
3. SWilliams: 1865
4. Azarenka: 1645
5. Schiavone: 1463
6. Errani: 1230
7. Bartoli: 1022
8. Radwanska: 931
9. Medina Garrigues: 915
10. Vinci: 902
Sharapova is now within a thousand points of Victoria
Azarenka in the rankings, and she is healthy and
Azarenka is hurting. Sharapova, based on current clay
form, really and truly looks like the favorite to win
Roland Garros (yes, we're as shocked as you are!), and
if she does, she will not only complete the career Grand
Slam but very possibly take over the #1 ranking.
Who would have guessed it thirteen months ago?
For that matter, who would have guessed where Angelique
Kerber would be? We've been saying she wouldn't hit the
Top Ten. Well, our numbers show her "merely" tied with
Vera Zvonareva, but she will win the tiebreak. So she
should be #10 next week -- another career high, of
course.
Incidentally, Kerber was supposed to play Brussels. She
was supposed to be the #3 seed. But she pulled out
citing a back injury. One suspects she is just tired,
but it's a chance for yet another career high gone.
Singles - Semifinal: (8) Li Na def. (9) Serena Williams
walkover (back)
Serena may yet go undefeated on clay this year, but she
won't win every event she entered. Perhaps she realized
that she couldn't get to #4 and decided to rest up for
Paris. She had a very long run, after all. For Li Na,
this is close to ideal -- she gets finalist points
without too much additional effort. She also rises to
#7, passing Marion Bartoli.
Doubles - Semifinal:
Huber/Raymond don't like clay much, but it is amazing
how well Errani/Vinci have played this clay season. They
won Madrid, and now this. If their nerves don't get to
them, we'd consider them the Roland Garros favorites.
Doubles - Semifinal: Makarova/Vesnina def. Hampton/Tatishvili
6-3 6-3
Back-to-back finals for Makarova/Vesnina -- and both
against Errani/Vinci. Now they just have to win one!
