The Citi Open at Washington DC is an international event happening next week. It is not part of the US Open series. Although the tournament may seem pretty lackluster with no players in the top 20, there are still some interesting stories to be told here. I hope you take the chance and read on.
Before we go to the interesting stories, I need to do my mandatory top seed analysis of Shahar Peer. Earlier this year, Shahar Peer was one match away from cracking the top 10. For me, that would have been worse than Caroline Wozniacki ascending to the top spot in women's tennis. If I could describe Peer by comparing her to other players, I'd call her a mix of Maria Sharapova and Agniezska Radwanska.
From that description, you'd think she'd be a top player, right? After all, Maria Sharapova is one of the best ball-strikers in the women's game, and Radwanska has some of the best touch and variety in all of tennis. However, Shahar Peer got it wrong. She has the power of Radwanska and the variety and touch of Sharapova. That's why she hasn't made an impact in the WTA.
Now, let's go onto the interesting stories. The Citi Open seems to be full of players who had great potential and are trying to re-grasp some of that talent that got them to the top of the game.
One of those players is Nadia Petrova, who was once ranked number 3 in the world. She is known for having immense talent, but she never had the mental game to support her talent. Although I make it sound like Petrova is now out of the top 100, she didn't have that terrible of a year. However, she has had two first round losses in the past four majors, which is not acceptable for a player of her caliber. She is currently ranked 32 in the world, and she hasn't finished the year ranked out of the top 20 since 2002, a year where she was plagued by injuries and only played one Grand Slam match. If she can get her head even relatively straight, she should definitely finish the year ranked inside the top 20 again.
Petrova has excellent groundstrokes as well as a huge serve. She has a good all court game, and, on clay, she shows variety from time to time in the form of excellently disguised dropshots.
Anna Chakvetadze was a top 5 player who made it to the semis of the US Open in 2007. She was one set away from the finals and a top 3 ranking, but she choked. She had a rough 2010 which resulted in her ending the year ranked number 56. Her 2011 was even worse as she was diagnosed with a disease that caused her to faint when she was playing tennis for extended periods of time. Because of this, she briefly retired from the game and came back shortly before Wimbledon. It is sad to note that she has only won four matches at majors since the 2008 US Open. She hasn't been past the second round of a major since Wimbledon 2008 where she reached the fourth round. However, I do think that she can get back into the top 50 by the end of the year if she can just get her act together.
The third and final comeback player who I will be analyzing is Zheng Jie, former semifinalist at Wimbledon and the Australian Open. Zheng Jie is a counterpuncher who is very fast around the court and hits the ball early to take time away from her opponent. However, her success has been halted by a severe wrist injury which has prevented her from playing her best tennis. However, she is definitely a top 30 caliber player who thrives on grass and, with a good draw, can go deep on hard courts as well. I don't doubt that she will come back from this injury stronger. She was able to come back from an ankle injury that many thought would end her career, and she is too much of a fighter to let this wrist injury prevent her from rising up the ranks.
I think that this tournament is Petrova's to win or lose. I hope she wins, as she is too good to lose to the likes of Shahar Peer and Polona Hercog.
Before we go to the interesting stories, I need to do my mandatory top seed analysis of Shahar Peer. Earlier this year, Shahar Peer was one match away from cracking the top 10. For me, that would have been worse than Caroline Wozniacki ascending to the top spot in women's tennis. If I could describe Peer by comparing her to other players, I'd call her a mix of Maria Sharapova and Agniezska Radwanska.
From that description, you'd think she'd be a top player, right? After all, Maria Sharapova is one of the best ball-strikers in the women's game, and Radwanska has some of the best touch and variety in all of tennis. However, Shahar Peer got it wrong. She has the power of Radwanska and the variety and touch of Sharapova. That's why she hasn't made an impact in the WTA.
Now, let's go onto the interesting stories. The Citi Open seems to be full of players who had great potential and are trying to re-grasp some of that talent that got them to the top of the game.
One of those players is Nadia Petrova, who was once ranked number 3 in the world. She is known for having immense talent, but she never had the mental game to support her talent. Although I make it sound like Petrova is now out of the top 100, she didn't have that terrible of a year. However, she has had two first round losses in the past four majors, which is not acceptable for a player of her caliber. She is currently ranked 32 in the world, and she hasn't finished the year ranked out of the top 20 since 2002, a year where she was plagued by injuries and only played one Grand Slam match. If she can get her head even relatively straight, she should definitely finish the year ranked inside the top 20 again.
Petrova has excellent groundstrokes as well as a huge serve. She has a good all court game, and, on clay, she shows variety from time to time in the form of excellently disguised dropshots.
Anna Chakvetadze was a top 5 player who made it to the semis of the US Open in 2007. She was one set away from the finals and a top 3 ranking, but she choked. She had a rough 2010 which resulted in her ending the year ranked number 56. Her 2011 was even worse as she was diagnosed with a disease that caused her to faint when she was playing tennis for extended periods of time. Because of this, she briefly retired from the game and came back shortly before Wimbledon. It is sad to note that she has only won four matches at majors since the 2008 US Open. She hasn't been past the second round of a major since Wimbledon 2008 where she reached the fourth round. However, I do think that she can get back into the top 50 by the end of the year if she can just get her act together.
The third and final comeback player who I will be analyzing is Zheng Jie, former semifinalist at Wimbledon and the Australian Open. Zheng Jie is a counterpuncher who is very fast around the court and hits the ball early to take time away from her opponent. However, her success has been halted by a severe wrist injury which has prevented her from playing her best tennis. However, she is definitely a top 30 caliber player who thrives on grass and, with a good draw, can go deep on hard courts as well. I don't doubt that she will come back from this injury stronger. She was able to come back from an ankle injury that many thought would end her career, and she is too much of a fighter to let this wrist injury prevent her from rising up the ranks.
I think that this tournament is Petrova's to win or lose. I hope she wins, as she is too good to lose to the likes of Shahar Peer and Polona Hercog.
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