Tuesday’s People Don’t Change

Clijsters shared that when she was planning her return to the Tour, she intended to “have fun,” making sure she was relaxed and took time to spend with her family sight-seeing cities hosting tournaments.  But in reality, Clijsters said her “nature stayed the same as at 16,” and that she finds herself focused strictly on tennis the weeks she plays tournaments.

It seems to be a delicate balance for Clijsters, admitting that, on court, she feels guilty for missing time with her daughter Jada, and, at other times, she knows she cannot take too much time away from training and playing tournaments.  Clijsters attempts to solve the issue by playing a selective schedule that excludes frequent travel between continents, to make it easier for her husband and daughter to accompany her. Playing less means that, although she feels she is a better player than before her retirement, lack of match rhythm can affect her game negatively.

Tuesday’s What’s Bugging Dominika Cibulkova?

On an outside court on Tuesday afternoon, 2008 Rogers Cup Runner-up Dominika Cibulkova was taking on World No. 27 Maria Kirilenko. Although the result was a rather one-sided 0-6, 3-6 loss for the Slovak, the match was of interest for many reasons.

We came to the match in hopes of seeing how Cibulkova’s game has been progressing under the tutelage of new coach Zeljko Krajan. Because of Kirilenko’s stellar play and the heavy wind affecting Cibulkova’s serve, we cannot tell yet whether Krajan will be able to bring more confident aggression into Cibulkova’s matches the way he did with his previous pupil, Dinara Safina.

However, some entertainment was provided to the spectators despite a lack of contest.  First, Chair Umpire Mariana Alves gave a time violation warning to Cibulkova for going over the limit while having to catch her ball toss several times in the very windy conditions.  Cibulkova tried to argue the decision, and, distracted, lost the next two points to go down a double break in the first set .

Dominika Cibulkova

As the Slovak was sitting down on the next changeover, there appeared to be a new sponsor patch on Cibulkova’s chest. Yet when she went to serve again to stay in the first set, it became obvious that the sponsor patch was moving.  A very large insect of some sort had settled on the player’s dress, perhaps attracted by Lacoste’s emblem. Cibulkova remained oblivious to the intruder, frustrated with losing another game on her serve.  Before the second set began, the insect flew off, presumably to settle down with someone in a less miserable mood.

Mutant bugs aside, the highlight of the match was Kirilenko’s performance. She played in the beautiful, precise, offensive style that she has shown in the best matches of her career, including en route to the Quarterfinals of this year’s Australian Open. Even though she went on to lose to Victoria Azarenka in straight sets on Wednesday, we want to say Kirilenko will match, and exceed, her previous top ranking (No. 18) in no time; but with her history of injuries and streaky presults, we know not to make predictions about the Russian.

Tuesday’s Shaking Off the Rust

Jelena Jankovic lost her opening match in Montreal to Qualifier Iveta Benesova, 7-6(3), 6-3, on Tuesday night. Jankovic, who has been recovering from an ankle injury, attributed her loss to being rusty, having not been able to practice enough, and lacking match play. She hopes to train hard in the next week and a half to be ready for the US Open.  Jankovic did note Benesova played “very well” and “solid,” however. She also suggested that, having played five matches in Toronto, her opponent was well adjusted to the court surface.

We asked Jankovic if Benesova’s victory, just the second Top 5 defeat of the Czech veteran’s singles career, was an example of the increasing depth of the women’s field, something Chris Evert discussed with the media on Monday, but Jankovic replied that she, “didn’t feel like a Top 5 player” on the court today.

Jelena Jankovic

Tuesday’s Supporting a Famed Czech Export Industry

When Benesova, beaming with joy over the greatest victory of her career, walked into the media room, flood lights (used for TV and video cameras) and the sound system broke down. Joking that it was a great thing the problems did not occur during the match loser Jankovic’s interview minutes earlier, videographers used Benesova’s white shirt to re-adjust the white balance on their cameras.

The player, confused about the goings-on, but hearing talk of her shirt, asked, “Am I wearing the wrong shirt? Do you want me to take it off?”

Tuesday’s Last Day

Tuesday marked the last day of our presence in Canada, and, although Tennis Canada has decided to continue the Coupe Rogers after out departure, we were able to reach two conclusions in our short time in Montreal:

• Most of the women seem fairly relaxed, even though, for many of them, this is the last tournament before the US Open. However, the relaxation note has some exceptions: Victoria Azarenka was her usual harsh self on court in her win against Kateryna Bondarenko, screaming at herself and lamenting her game not working, while she was serving up 6-1, 5-1, 30-15.
• The men’s tournament in Toronto is considerably better attended than the women’s in Montreal, both by spectators and the media. This could be due to a number of factors, but it is hard to deny the general preference of following the ATP World Tour over the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.

Thank you for following our coverage of the Rogers Cup tournaments in Toronto and Montreal!