100 интересные моменты в теннисе 2011 года - часть 3 - Nasha Masha

Sharapova made six against Petra Kvitova in the Wimbledon final, 10 in the French Open semis against Li Na and seven in a much-anticipated encounter with Serena Williams in Stanford. Yes, she lost each time.

And the number soared to 12 when she was ousted by Flavia Pennetta at the U.S. Open.

Kind of a foreboding statistic moving forward, eh?

59. Dodig dumps Nadal

With veterans Ivo Karlovic and Ivan Ljubicic fading, and Marin Cilic′s slump, Croatian tennis fans had little to cheer about.

However, Ivan Dodig emerged from the woodwork.

Dodig, who possesses a nice all-around game, won his first title in Zagreb, reached another final on grass, made the semis in Barcelona and took the only set off Djokovic at the Australian Open.

Dodig′s 1-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) three-hour win over Rafael Nadal in Montreal, when he rallied from 3-1 down in the second and 5-3 down in the third, though, took the cake.

"He didn′t feel the pressure in the important moments," said Nadal, who was perhaps still reeling from his Wimbledon loss to Djokovic.

58. Harrison′s temper tantrums

Ryan Harrison strung together a solid season, registering some impressive wins and playing the top players tough. His ranking rose by nearly 100 places. The 19-year-old owns a varied, attractive game, too.

But it′s Harrison′s temper that attracts the most attention. Fernando Gonzalez and Marat Safin would be proud of the way he demolishes his racket at times.

Harrison saved his "best" for the French Open, when he flung his racket over a fence and into a tree after losing in qualifying.

57. Czechs win Fed Cup

After winning the year-end championships, Petra Kvitova had one more bit of business: To lead the Czech Republic to the Fed Cup title.

Mission accomplished.

Kvitova won both of her singles matches against Russia -- which was without Vera Zvonareva -- and looked on as Kveta Peschke and Lucie Hradecka teamed to down Maria Kirilenko and Elena Vesnina in the doubles decider.

"Kvitova was the key to their success," Russian captain Shamil Tarpischev said. "She was just phenomenal."

The Czech Republic won its first title since the breakup of Czechoslovakia.

56. Lisicki and that serve at Wimbledon

When healthy, Sabine Lisicki is a force -- as Li Na discovered at Wimbledon.

Surging after winning a grass-court warm-up in Birmingham, Lisicki, a wild card, saved a pair of match points to eliminate the newly crowned French Open champion 3-6, 6-4, 8-6 in the second round. Her mammoth serve garnered the spotlight afterward.

"She is serving like most of the men are serving," said Li′s coach at the time, Michael Mortensen.

Lisicki kept it up, landing in the semifinals, while Li continues to dip.

55. Milos′ move

Rejoice, Canada, you have all the makings of a future Grand Slam winner in Milos Raonic.

Raonic, who is another monstrous server, showed signs of life at the end of 2010, but no one could predict how much progress the 6-foot-5 right-hander would make this year.

Raonic won his first title in San Jose, made the Memphis final the next week and reached the fourth round at the Australian Open as a qualifier.

Had he not had hip surgery in the summer, his ranking would probably be higher than 31.

54. The Rafa-Delpo appetizer

Before Nadal′s thriller against Juan Martin del Potro in the Davis Cup final came their heavyweight fourth-round bout at Wimbledon.

Nadal won in nearly four hours in a contest that will largely be remembered for two things: The Spaniard injuring his foot late in the first set and then taking a medical timeout -- irking del Potro -- immediately prior to the first-set tiebreaker.

"For a moment at the end of the first set, I thought that I had to retire," Nadal said. "I didn′t know what′s going on. After that the pain goes a little bit down and finally I was ready to play."

Del Potro, nonetheless, demonstrated that he could win the tournament in the future.

53. Clijsters skips U.S. Open

Kim Clijsters′ body didn′t cooperate this season.

She entered the French Open with a bum right ankle and missed Wimbledon after reinjuring the ankle at a grass-court warm-up.

But worse was to come. Clijsters, the two-time defending champion, pulled out of the U.S. Open with a stomach injury.

"Obviously I′m very disappointed," she said. "I trained very hard this summer and felt in good shape to play the U.S. Open."

Clijsters didn′t play post-U.S. Open, either.

52. Li′s extended French Open hangover

Of the three first-time Grand Slam winners in 2011, Li struggled the most in the wake of her historic victory.

She went 6-9 after the French Open and ended the campaign with a demoralizing 6-1, 6-0 loss to U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur. Li, bizarrely, cut ties with coach Michael Mortensen and appeared lost on court in the fall.

"Beginning of the year was like fantastic," said Li, also the Australian Open finalist. "And after Roland Garros, I think I didn′t win many matches. I mean, up and down all year, so I wish I could do the same level for next year."

51. Berdych loses one, wins one

It′s not often that a player squanders a match point only to save one in his next encounter. But Tomas Berdych was an exception at the World Tour Finals.

The Czech let one get away against Djokovic, hitting an off-balance forehand into the net to keep the Serb in it. Another Serb, Janko Tipsarevic, erred on a volley when he held match point against Berdych two days later in London.

"I was a bit unlucky against Djokovic, but I got luckier here," Berdych said. Berdych rallied to beat David Ferrer to reach the semifinals.

50. Project 45 accomplished

It wasn′t long after Kei Nishikori hit the pro tennis tour that "Project 45" was born: The goal was to reach No. 45 in the world and thus become the highest-ranked men′s Japanese player, one spot ahead of Shuzo Matsuoka.

Nishikori reached that milestone this year, and with room to spare. "Shuzo Matsuoka has been a great mentor and teacher for me," Nishikori said. "It is an honor to be able to break his record."

Nishikori is now inside the top 25, with Roger Federer recently suggesting -- as Rafael Nadal did years ago -- that he can move up further.

49. Caroline′s love match

Which couple is higher profile: Andy Roddick and actress/model Brooklyn Decker or Caroline Wozniacki and Rory McIlroy, golf′s reigning U.S. Open winner?

Close call.

After initially denying they were boyfriend-girlfriend, McIlroy confirmed they were a pair in August. "Why it′s going so well is that we have so much in common," McIlroy said. "Obviously different sports, but we′re pretty much in the same position at a young age and we can talk about things that probably a lot of 21-, 22-year-olds can′t talk about. It′s nice to have someone that sort of understands what you′re going through."

48. Murray mauls Nadal

Nadal endured some tough losses this year, but no one overmatched him more in a single set than Andy Murray in the final of the Japan Open in October.

Nadal was bageled in the third set, winning a paltry four points.

"I′ve lost a few sets 6-0, of course," Nadal said. "You prefer it doesn′t happen, but he played fantastic, and in the third set he started to play at a really high level. Accept. That′s it." Nadal lost early in Shanghai the next week.

47. Marion ends Serena′s Wimbledon

Marion Bartoli, how dare you prematurely end Serena Williams′ uplifting run at Wimbledon? Williams had only returned to the tour earlier in June following a life-threatening illness and injuries.

A nervy Bartoli, once the Wimbledon finalist, squandered three match points trying to serve it out in the second set at 6-5, and Williams saved another match point in the tiebreaker before succumbing 6-3, 7-6 (6) in the fourth round.

"I obviously would have loved to do better, but considering the condition I was in, considering a lot of things, I really feel I did well," Williams said. Better things were in store at the U.S. Open Series.

46. Venus′ illness

Venus Williams′ injuries were piling up. She had little idea of what was happening to her body. However, the 31-year-old finally received a firm diagnosis at the U.S. Open. She has Sjogren′s Syndrome, an autoimmune disease that, among other things, causes fatigue and joint pain. Williams pulled out of her second-round match in New York and didn′t play another competitive encounter in 2011.

"I′m eating different things and that′s helping," Williams said this month. "I need to try and be stronger for next year."

45. Bernard′s breakthrough

Given where the banged-up Lleyton Hewitt is at in his career, men′s tennis in Australia needed a big lift. Bernard Tomic′s timing, then, was perfect.

The highly touted Tomic, whose game resembles that of Murray, broke out at Wimbledon, becoming the youngest man to reach the quarterfinals since Boris Becker in 1986. Tomic was 18 at the time. "I tell you, a star in the making," Becker told AAP. "I really liked the way he played, his composure." Tomic will be under the spotlight next month in Melbourne.

44. Razzano plays through grief

No one would have blamed Virginie Razzano for skipping her home Slam, the French Open. Her fiancé, Stephane Vidal, who was also her coach, died shortly before the tournament at the age of 32 after being diagnosed years earlier with a brain tumor.

But Razzano, following his wishes, played at Roland Garros, donning a black ribbon in his memory and also wearing a necklace she once gave to him as a Valentine′s Day gift.

The first-round loss didn′t matter. "I tried to pay tribute to Stephane today," Razzano said. "It was almost a mission impossible, but I did my best."

43. Roddick′s Memphis match point

It wasn′t a great year for Roddick. A rash of injuries played a part in a subpar year. But that paled in comparison to the sudden death of his agent and good friend, Ken Meyerson. But there was one shining moment: hitting one of the best shots of the year. It came against Milos Raonic in the Memphis final -- on match point.

Roddick dived to his right and pushed a forehand past a stranded Raonic to collect his lone title of 2011. "That′s the best shot I′ve ever hit in my life, considering the circumstance," Roddick said.

42. Woz can′t put away Li

How would the year have turned out if Wozniacki beat Li Na in the Australian Open semifinals? Would that have propelled her to the title and even more majors in 2011?

We can ponder.

Wozniacki, though, couldn′t take advantage of a match point and was ousted 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in Melbourne. The bubbly Li fended off the match point with a flat forehand down the line to leave Wozniacki flattened. Wozniacki teared up in the locker room minutes after the defeat, according to those who saw her.

41. Fish qualifies for London

When he was in his mid-20s, Mardy Fish probably couldn′t have imagined that he′d one day compete at the year-end championships. He always had the talent, but his fitness and commitment let him down. But by now you know the tale: Fish lost 30 pounds, and he subsequently played his best stuff in 2011 to indeed qualify for the elite eight-man event.

Fish wasn′t overly annoyed that he went 0-3 in the group stage. "I had a great experience just being a part of this," said Fish, who turned 30 on Dec. 9. "It gives you a lot of ammunition to want to come back next year."

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100 интересные моменты в теннисе 2011 года - часть 3

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