Tebbutt: And Then There Were Four

There was a Canadian corner Tuesday at Wimbledon, at the intersection of the pathways around courts 6, 7 and 10. Fed Cup captain and head national women’s coach Sylvain Bruneau was entrenched there keeping track of Aleksandra Wozniak (Court 6), Rebecca Marino (Court 7) and Stéphanie Dubois (Court 10).

Bruneau spent his time encouraging his players and doing his best to keep track of three matches at once.

It turned out that the easiest one to follow was Dubois, a lucky loser, as she had a straight-forward 6-2, 6-2 victory over qualifier Irina Falconi of the United States.

Marino’s 6-3, 7-6(5) win over Patricia Mayr-Achleitner of Austria was not without some intrigue – especially when she had to save two set points in the second set – both with bold forehand winners.

But the heartbreaker for Bruneau and Canadian supporters around Court 6 was Aleksandra Wozniak. She held four set points to take a highly-competitive first set that she had trailed 2-5 before finally losing it, and the match, 7-6(7), 6-4 to Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.

The Czech used a remarkable number of drop shots in the windy conditions, and seldom have drop shots nestled more softly into a tennis court – much to Wozniak’s frustration.

“I felt like I couldn’t play the way I wanted to,” said Wozniak, who had been impressive in winning three rounds of qualifying. “It was windy and I also had a tough opponent.”

Of the three Canadian women, Wozniak had the most difficult draw having to face the No. 55-ranked Zahlavova Strycova. Dubois’ opponent Falconi was ranked No. 109 while Marino played the world No. 113 in Mayr-Achleitner. “It’s a draw, you have to be ready to play whoever it is,” Wozniak said. Then, showing she had not lost her sense of humour despite the bitter disappointment of the loss, she added, “you don’t have the option of choosing your opponent.”

Ranked No. 174 as she attempts to come back from a forearm problem that has significantly affected her play for most of the past year, the defeat was a missed opportunity, especially because she has shown solid form of late.

Dubois’ victory over Falconi was the result of mixing in just enough aggressive play, without going to excess. She played a very clean match with only four unforced errors for the match, compared with 17 for Falconi.

In her 11th Grand Slam tournament, Dubois recorded her second main draw singles win. Her first came at the 2009 US Open.

“It’s fun,” the 5-foot-4 Laval, Que., resident said about playing on grass. “You have to be low to the ground and that gives me an advantage.”

Dubois then added something that is probably very true when it comes to playing on grass. “You have to tell yourself that you like it ‘in your head’ because there are a lot of girls who don’t like it.”

Dubois has had some bad luck in the past at Wimbledon, including having three match points on Anna Chakvetadze of Russia in the first round in 2008. Now she will try to reach her first Grand Slam third round, playing No. 11-seed Andrea Petkovic.

Marino (pictured at the top) probably has a better chance to reach the third round as she takes on No. 29-seed Roberta Vinci. The match should be highly entertaining because both players like to play aggressively – Marino mainly from the baseline and with her serve, while the Italian likes to get to the net to finish points with her volleys.

On Tuesday, Marino hit 30 winners (including eight aces) to just 12 for Mayr-Achleitner and showed considerable poise when she saved those two set points in the second set.

The win provided her with a milestone in her young career. In just four Grand Slam event appearances, she has won at least one match at each of tennis’ majors – beginning with a victory over Ksenia Pervak of Russia at the 2010 US Open.

At 6-foot-1, the lanky Vancouverite has to make the same adjustment on grass that Dubois mentioned above. “You have to stay down low, especially for me because it’s a lot further down,” Marino said with a smile. “Because the bounces are lower, you have to force yourself.”

Commenting on winning her first match on the hallowed lawns of Wimbledon, she said, “it’s pretty cool. You see it on TV and it’s where everybody wants to go play. It feels like a big giant country club here. It’s fun, traditional and quaint.”
 
A CRUSHING LOSS FOR DANCEVIC

Things were going along swimmingly about the time that the above picture was taken, although if you look at the scoreboard he had just failed to break serve in the previous game when he had love-40 on the serve of Ricardo Mello of Brazil – a break that would surely have sealed a straight-sets win. Instead, he lost serve at 4-all and the match soon went into a fourth set.

But again, he had his chances and held two match points leading 6-4 in the fourth set tiebreak. A missed forehand into the net and a huge service return at his feet that he could not control on the volley and Mello was on his way to a great escape.

He went on to take the tiebreak and then broke Dancevic, with the help of two double faults, to lead 3-1 in the final set. That proved all he needed to win 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(6), 6-2. It is no surprise that Dancevic, who destroyed his racquet on court after the final point, did not show for his post-match media, whether it was his fault or the fault of Wimbledon media relations personnel.

So, a day that could easily have ended with all four Canadians winning, winds up at 2-2, and sadly Wozniak and Dancevic are headed home with a lot of regrets.
 

HOUSEHOLD HARMONY
 
The parents of Rafael Nadal – Ana Maria and Sebastian – are back together after they separated two years ago. They appeared side by side in the Royal Box for Rafael’s opening-round win on Monday and an impeccable source has confirmed that they have indeed reunited.

Their split before the 2009 French Open, when Rafael was upset by Robin Soderling in the round-of-16, had a devastating effect on him. In fact, a member of his inner circle once claimed that the break-up was a bigger factor in his loss to Soderling than the tendonitis problem he had in both knees, a problem that kept him out of tennis for two months.

The good news can only have a positive effect on the world No. 1’s game going forward.
 

STRAWBERRY OF THE DAY
 
You’re guaranteed a laugh by looking at the London tabloids whenever Andy Murray plays.

On Monday evening, he lost the first set to unheralded Daniel Gimeno-Traver before rallying to win convincingly in four sets.

Here are a pair of priceless headlines:

From the Daily Star: “Andy’s shaken but not stirred.”

From the Daily Mirror: “LAME, SET & MATCH: Murray endures horror start and roars back to raise roof.”