Week in Review I

This week had the first hardcourt tournament of the summer. The tournament was at Baku and is also the last tournament before the US Open series starts. Read on to see what happened this week.

Midweek Update- Baku

This week, the only WTA tournament is an international tournament held in Baku. The field was highlighted by Vera Zvonareva and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. So far, there have been some interesting stories.

From Bad Gastein to Worse

Yeah... I went there...

Today, Simona Halep lost in three sets to Sybille Bammer. The sixth seed, she was the highest seed left in the Bad Gastein Draw, but her loss was expected. After all, the only seed to advance past the first round was Ksenia Pervak of Russia, the eighth seed. Simona Halep is probably known most for getting breast reduction surgery a couple years ago. Since then, she's risen more than 400 spots in the rankings, and she is close to cracking the top 50. Sybille Bammer is a mother who will be retiring from tennis after Bad Gastein. She reached the quarterfinals of the US Open in 2008, and she peaked at number 19 in the rankings. However, despite these accomplishments, she will probably be remembered most for having a 2:0 head to head record against Serena Williams. Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario is the only other woman in the world with a positive head to head ratio against Serena.

In other news, Flavia Pennetta was brought back from the brink of defeat by Mathilde Johansson. Johansson led 6-4 5-3 before choking away the second set. She also led by 6-4 5-7 5-3 before choking the match away. Johansson is known for choking. In her match against Vitalia Diatchenko at the 2009 French Open, Johansson wasted eight match points before losing 10-8 in the third. She double faulted four of them away.

Bad Tennis in Bad Gastein

I think I'm cursed. Whoever I give my resounding vote of confidence to always forgets how to play tennis. Last week, I said that no one would be able to stop Wozniacki from picking up yet another tournament, but she retired after winning a match. Now, in Bad Gastein, Goerges proved that my predictions hold little water.

Earlier today, Julia Goerges, the defending champion, top seed and clear favorite for the title, lost in three sets to Laura Pous-Tio, a player ranked 75 spots below her, 6-1 2-6 6-1. Pous-Tio still has not won a single match at a grand slam and had only ended the year in the top 100 twice. (2006 and 2005)

Although one could say that Goerges simply tanked the match so that she could get some rest before the US Open series, said person would have trouble explaining what had happened to the rest of the top players at Bad Gastein. At Bad Gastein, the top eight ranked players were given seeds. Out of those eight seeds, only one seed, the relatively unknown 61st ranked eighth seeded Ksenia Pervak, advanced past the first round. Although the sixth seed, Simona Halep has yet to play, those results are pretty embarrassing.

So who's my new pick for the title? Normally, I'd give my pick to Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez as she's a fabulous clay court player who cracked the top 20 when she won Rome in 2010, but because all the favorites are dropping like flies, I'll give my pick to Dia Evtimova who I didn't even know existed until I scanned the Bad Gastein Draw.

In Palermo, however, things look to be going better for the seeds with all eight of them advancing. One notable victory happened yesterday when 2010 Wimbledon Semifinalist and 2011 Wimbledon Quarterfinalist Tsvetana Pironkova beat Anna Tatishvili of Georgia 6-2 7-5. What was so notable about this win? It was one of Pironkova's only wins outside of Wimbledon this year. Maybe she has finally learned how to play tennis outside SW19. One can only hope that she can turn the rest of the year around and live up to her potential so that she won't be forever remembered as the girl who beat Venus Williams three times.