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Thursday, June 25, 2009

Wimbledon: Time for the ladies to earn their keep

By John Leicester, AP Sports Columnist

WIMBLEDON, England — Right, Wimbledon ladies, time to earn your keep by playing best-of-five sets like the men.

Not only is it unfair that women, by playing at most three sets, get a better hourly pay rate than the men. More importantly, women are deprived of a format that has provided tennis drama. Given its current state, the women's game could use more of that magic ingredient.

Exhibit A: the men's singles final on Centre Court last year. Widely considered the greatest men's final ever, it would have been a letdown in a shorter format -- Rafael Nadal would have won 6-4, 6-4 in 94 minutes. Fans would have been home, a trifle disappointed, in time for tea.

Instead, Roger Federer staged an almost mythical comeback, taking sets three and four 6-7 (5) and 6-7 (8) to push Nadal into the decider. At 4 hours, 48 minutes, it was the longest men's final in Wimbledon history. No one who saw it can forget Nadal lifting the golden trophy in the quickening gloom after his chewed-fingernail 9-7 final-set win.

We'll never get such a drawn-out epic with women.

"Over five sets, you'd likely see a lot of changes in a player's mental and physical state. I think it could be a bit more interesting," said world No. 16 Zheng Jie after her 6-3, 7-5 second-round defeat to Daniela Hantuchova.

"We could try it for the finals and semifinals."

Exhibit B: On Nov. 18, 1990, for the first time since Bessie Moore beat Myrtle McAteer 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 at the U.S. National Championships in 1901, a women's match goes five sets.

"In a five-set match, I'm not mentally as tired as in a three-set match," Monica Seles said after the 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 defeat of Gabriela Sabatini in the final of the season-ending Virginia Slims Championships. "The longer I keep going, I'm not as tired. It's very strange."

Under pressure from television broadcasters who found such 3-hour, 47-minute marathons too long, best-of-fives were abandoned for the season-ender -- the only women's tournament to have them -- in 1999. But Seles, Sabatini and others had by then shown that women could be as physically resilient as men. That valuable lesson could do with reinforcement -- some seem to have forgotten.

"I don't think a lot of them would last five sets," men's former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt said of women this week.

Exhibit C: There were already empty courts at Wimbledon on Thursday, just four days into the two-week championships. Those lush, unused spaces undermine the argument that five-setters for women are a nonstarter because they could not be packed into tournament schedules.

By Thursday morning, the 79 men's matches at Wimbledon had on average lasted 40 minutes longer than the 80 women's matches. Going off that, one could estimate that allowing women to play five-setters would add about 85 hours of play to the Wimbledon fortnight. That would be a squeeze, especially in bad weather, but impossible?

"It would present all kinds of scheduling issues," said Larry Scott, outgoing head of the women's tour. "But our position has been (that) players are willing to do that."

After decades of lobbying by Billie Jean King and other pioneers of the women's game, tennis' top 10 events now all pay men and women the same. But, in rates of pay, men get a bad bounce. Nadal earned $5,156 per minute last year in winning the final. For women's champion Venus Williams, the rate was $13,376 per minute in her 7-5, 6-4 victory over sister Serena -- one of several absorbing encounters over the years that we gladly would have watched more of.

Now for some downsides.

Longer matches could lead to more injuries and leave women too tired to play doubles, as many of them -- including the Williams sisters -- do now.

Nor does quantity guarantee quality. Last year's Nadal-Federer final was the exception rather than the rule because it was brilliant from first ball to last.

"Men's matches are too long," said 2006 Wimbledon women's champion Amelie Mauresmo. "Eight matches out of 10 aren't worth being played out over five sets. Yes, you do get some fabulous five-setters, with an incredible finish and where everything comes together and is perfect. But for one or two like that, there are many, many, many that are not worth it."

True. But the matches that are worth the extra time etch themselves deep in our memories. Shouldn't women get that opportunity, too?

___

John Leicester is an international sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jleicester(at)ap.org.

American teen Oudin reaches 3rd round at Wimbledon

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — American Melanie Oudin has advanced to the third round in her first appearance at Wimbledon by beating Yaroslava Shvedova 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Oudin became the last woman to make the round of 32 with a victory that ended at twilight Thursday. She benefited from 48 unforced errors by Shvedova.

A native of Marietta, Ga., Oudin will play former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic on Saturday.

Kuznetsova questions court placings at Wimbledon

By Clare Lovell, Associated Press Writer

WIMBLEDON, England — French Open winner Svetlana Kuznetsova certainly played like a champion Thursday in dispatching Pauline Parmentier at Wimbledon. She's just not sure she's being treated like one.

Kuznetsova questioned the court placings at the tournament after winning her second-round match 6-1, 6-3 in 59 minutes playing on Court 3. Despite coming off a victory at Roland Garros, Kuznetsova played her opening-round match Tuesday on Court 14.

The schedule Thursday had top-ranked Dinara Safina playing on Court 2, while the only women's match on Centre Court was ninth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki's win over Maria Kirilenko.

"I'm fine to put me wherever they want," said Kuznetsova, who also won the 2004 U.S. Open. "They don't have to put me Centre Court. But this is a little bit weird. If you look at the schedule, it's not about only me. It's about Dinara playing on Court 2, Venus (Williams) plays on Court 1 and girls who are not very high seeded, they play Centre."

Not that the Russian is unhappy at the All England Club.

"In Wimbledon you have to expect anything," said Kuznetsova, who beat compatriot Dinara Safina in the Paris final. "That's why it's special for everybody. It's special for me, as well. That's why I like it, because it's unpredictable."

Safina also criticized the court assignments.

"Of course it's not fair," Safina said. "Hopefully next match I'll play on bigger court."

Kuznetsova didn't seem bothered by the smaller court during her match, dominating from the start and breaking her opponent twice in each set. She never faced a break point and sealed the win when Parmentier sent a forehand long.

Kuznetsova next plays Sabine Lisicki of Germany. But for now, her attention is more focused on birthday presents -- both for herself and her mother. Kuznetsova turns 24 on Saturday, and she needs to atone for missing her mother's birthday earlier this year.

"I want to go shopping and see London. I need just two, three hours to spend some cash," she said. "This year I was so terrible. ... My mom had a birthday, I didn't buy anything. My good friend had a birthday, I didn't buy. I'm like, 'Yeah, yeah, I'm giving you a present soon. I am working on it.' I look embarrassed, so I need to go and get some presents."

CEO Scott leaving WTA tour in 'strongest position it's been in'

special for USA TODAY

WIMBLEDON, England — With the curtain falling on his six-year tenure overseeing the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, Larry Scott says women's tennis has never been more robust, despite a weak global economy and a widely held perception that the women are lagging behind the men in entertainment value.

"I feel I'm leaving at a great time when the tour is in the strongest position it's been in," said Scott, 44, in a phone interview Wednesday. "We've broken barriers, increased the worldwide popularity of the sport and strengthened the tour's financial position."

He added: "I can't say I have any regrets."

Scott, the CEO since 2003, will step down on June 30 to take over as commissioner of the Pacific-10 conference. He will trade his Florida residence and hectic globetrotting for the San Francisco Bay Area and more time with his wife and three children.

"My longest average trip will be from California to Arizona or to Washington State," he laughed.

Scott's period of leadership will likely be regarded as peaceful and prosperous, despite problems ranging from chronic injury-related absences to Middle East inflexibility.

Under his stewardship, Scott hit a number of financial milestones, including a record $88 million title sponsorship deal with mobile phone company Sony Ericsson (2006-10), $84 million in commitments from Doha and Istanbul to host the tour's year-end championships through 2013, plus more than $700 million in new stadium investment around the world. The $86 million in prize money this year is 34% more than 2008.

"He had many plans when he stepped into the job, and he achieved many of them," said Maria Sharapova, who was upset in the second round by Gisela Dulko Wednesday. "A lot of the money that we're earning and the sponsors that we have, we definitely attribute to him and his help."

Scott, an affable and accessible consensus builder who gamely navigated the sport's often competing interests, presided over a period of growth that saw many Russian stars such as Sharapova emerge, others such as Martina Hingis come back and still others such as the Williams sisters defy the tendency to burn out and fade away.

"I realized how dynamic things have been at top of game," said Scott, who marveled that his first Wimbledon final as CEO featured Venus and Serena Williams, who remain favorites this fortnight.

Scott cited his role in unprecedented innovation in the sport this decade such as electronic line calling, on-court coaching and truncated doubles matches. Those advances made women's tennis a more compelling "entertainment proposition going forward," he said.

Scott said the tour made inroads in gender equality through its partnership with UNESCO and by increasing its foothold in the Middle East and Asia, where it now has an office, a top-tier tournament in Beijing and a development deal with the Chinese government.

Perhaps his biggest legacy is the so-called roadmap. The plan, which began this year, includes a shortened calendar and new player commitments aimed at reducing injuries and ensuring more top players show up at tournaments.

According to tour officials, it has already paid dividends.

Not including Wimbledon, main draw withdrawals are down 28% compared with last year, and top-10 players have met their commitment 86% of the time vs. 78% a year ago.

While the roadmap doesn't "fix things overnight," Scott said, "it's heartening to see withdrawals down in the first year."

Scott, a Harvard-educated former pro who spent 13 years with the ATP Tour, said his proudest achievement from a historical context was helping bring equal prize money to the four majors. Wimbledon was the last to convert, in 2007.

He said he was most caught off guard in February when the authorities in the United Arab Emirates denied Israeli player Shahar Peer a visa to compete at an event in Dubai. The decision created an international firestorm and the following week the UAE allowed a male doubles player, Andy Ram, to compete there.

"It was certainly one of the more surreal weeks I've ever had professionally," he said.

With the Sony Ericsson deal expiring next year and the worldwide economy in tatters, some have the impression Scott is getting out while the going is good.

Scott said that was "not true" and that the tour's revenue streams were more diversified than ever.

He said criticism of Dinara Safina's ascension to No. 1 without winning a Grand Slam is unfair.

"I know the public and media sometimes question it, but it never gets questioned in the locker room," he said.

Another hot-button issue this week at Wimbledon — the noise level of players such as Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal — is getting "a fresh look," he said.

While intense rivalries and Roger Federer's chase for history have added luster to the men's game, Scott said he is bullish on the pipeline of emerging female stars such as Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark and Victoria Azarenka of Belarus. He is also high on Asia.

"I see huge potential in China," he said. "I do think five to 10 years from now it will be one of the powers in tennis."

He is not overly concerned about the dearth of top American stars but recognizes that homegrown stars like the Williams sisters from world's biggest marketplace can breathe life into the sport.

"Tennis does have the benefit, unlike most sports, where there are global superstars like Sharapova and Federer that resonate with Madison Avenue and drive TV ratings," Scott said.

Scott's replacement has not been announced. The WTA has hired global search firm Korn/Ferry to assist with vetting candidates. Scott, who was a member of the search committee, expects his position to be filled in the next few weeks.

"He's done a great job," said No. 2 Serena Williams, who moved into the third round against Roberta Vinci on Wednesday. "He made women's tennis what it should be."

Despite a full plate, Serena wastes little time in reaching third round

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — As usual, Serena Williams is rather busy.

She is writing a treatment for a TV series.

An autobiography is in the works.

Oh, yes, and then there are tennis matches to be played. And won.

Aiming for a third Wimbledon championship and 11th Grand Slam title overall, Williams eased into the third round at Wimbledon with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over 69th-ranked Jarmila Groth of Australia on Wednesday.

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PHOTO GALLERY: Top shots from the All England Club

DAY THREE: Sharapova sent packing by Dulko

"I should have won more than twice here, but I didn't," said Williams, the 2002-03 champion. "And hopefully I can rectify that this year."

She lost two finals at the All England Club, including in 2008 against older sister Venus, and is seeded second this year.

"Wimbledon and Williams are here, and we want to be here this year, next year, and years to come," she said.

There have been those who wondered whether Williams pays enough attention to tennis, given all of her outside interests. But that appears to be a criticism left in the past, considering that Williams has won two of the past three Grand Slam titles and worked her way back up the rankings.

She looked quite good against Groth, breaking serve five times and making only six unforced errors.

Yet here was Williams' postmatch assessment: "For me there's always room for improvement. I could have returned better, came to the net a little bit more. That's exciting — to think that I can do better."

Still, the match lasted all of 57 minutes, leaving the American plenty of time Wednesday for her myriad other pursuits.

An autobiography, which Williams is working on with a ghostwriter, is due out this year.

Then there's her venture into creating a television show. She's familiar with the medium after dabbling in acting: Her credits include "Law & Order."

"I'm writing my script. You'll be excited to know I wrote three parts already. I call it 'my treatment,' so I'm working on 'my treatment' now," the 27-year-old Williams said. "I was going to do it yesterday, but I started watching 'Dexter,' and I got a little sidetracked. You know what? Today's a good day. I can write."

Asked what the TV project is about, Williams said: "It's a mixture between some of my favorite shows, like 'Desperate Housewives,' and 'Sex and the City,' and, actually, 'Family Guy.' It's kind of those put together in one, if you can imagine."

Can you?

Much as Williams might have on her plate, she got a little upset this week about Wimbledon rules that prevented her from eating exactly what she had on her plate in the locker room.

She posted a complaint on her blog that, while snacking before her first-round match Monday, she was told she couldn't eat what she had. There might have been some misunderstanding, because the All England Club bars players from bringing food from outside into the locker rooms.

Here's what bothered Williams: There is food provided for players — fruit, chocolate bars — and so eating anything should be allowed.

"I don't eat in the locker room. They told me not to eat. I try to abide by the rules," Williams said. "I'm just confused as to why do you supply something you consume if there's a sign that says, 'No consuming."'

Betting soars at Wimbledon after commentator's mention of injury

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Wagering on a Wimbledon match soared after a TV commentator pointed out one of the players is injured, an online bookmaker said Wednesday.

The British bookmaker, Betfair, alerted tennis corruption investigators about the unusual betting patterns for the first-round match Tuesday between 109th-ranked Wayne Odesnik of the United States and 30th-ranked Jurgen Melzer of Austria, but does not suspect any wrongdoing, spokesman Mark Davies said.

Davies said Betfair received more than six times as many wagers as it would normally receive for such a match. Melzer's odds "shortened significantly," Davies said, after a TV announcer noted shortly before the match that Odesnik has a thigh injury. Melzer won 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.

DAY THREE: Sharapova stunned by Dulko

Betfair received about 600,000 pounds ($980,000) of wagers on the match, Davies said; the average for a first-round match at Wimbledon is less than 100,000 pounds ($163,000).

"It's being reported as potential corruption, but I don't see it that way at all," Davies told The Associated Press. "I doubt that there was any wrongdoing."

Still, Betfair has reported the heavy betting to the International Tennis Federation's integrity unit.

"Because of the transparency ... we pass that info on to the Tennis Integrity Unit," Davies said. "Then they can make a judgment. But having heard the commentary on the match, I don't suspect that this is going to turn out to be any kind of corruption story."

The All England Club referred all questions about the betting to the ITF, which refused to comment. The ITF's Tennis Integrity Unit never comments on an ongoing investigation.

Tennis increased the attention it pays to allegations of match-fixing and players betting on the sport since Betfair voided all wagers on a 2007 match between fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko and 87th-ranked Martin Vassallo Arguello after suspicious betting patterns emerged. The players were cleared by an ATP investigation.

After Tuesday's betting received widespread coverage in British media, match-fixing was a hot topic again at Wimbledon.

"It has no place in tennis, those kinds of things," Roger Federer said when asked about possible corruption. "But it's hard to control. But I'm sure the ATP and the ITF, we're trying our best to catch those guys, if there are any out there. I think we should have massive bans on those who get caught so they get really scared of doing it."

Day Two: Venus, Roddick and Murray all reach second round

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Five-time champion Venus Williams recovered from an early stumble in her opening match at Wimbledon on Tuesday to beat Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland 6-3, 6-2.

It was Williams' first appearance on Centre Court since the 2008 final, when she beat sister Serena for her second Wimbledon title in a row.

"I really enjoyed being out there," Venus said. "It's a special moment when you walk back as defending champion on that court."

Venus slipped five points into the match, one of several wobbly moments as she began her bid for a three-peat. She double-faulted in the opening game and had to erase two break points. She was passed the first two times she reached the net. She slipped and nearly fell a second time.

"It's grass," she said. "You're going to slip sometimes."

PHOTO GALLERY: The best sights from Wimbledon

SCORES: Men's results

SCORES: Women's results

DAY ONE: Federer, Sharapova tally opening-day victories

Williams found her footing, winning 14 consecutive points to help take a 5-1 lead. She had another spurt in the second set after losing serve for 2-all, and swept the final four games.

"Having won this title multiple times, you get that sense of what it takes to win," she said. "And I definitely have a good grip on that — what it takes to win this title."

Other players also took a tumble — Andy Roddick went down once during his victory, and even a ball boy fell on his face on Centre Court — and the biggest stumble was by Marat Safin. The two-time Grand Slam champion, who plans to retire at the end of the year, lost to qualifier Jesse Levine of the United States, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4.

"Not the way to finish Wimbledon story," Safin said. "But anyway, it's OK. That's life."

Levine, ranked 133rd, earned his first tour-level victory this year and his first win ever over a top-50 player.

"Marat's a great player, and I've watched him play growing up," said Levine, 21. "So it's a pretty surreal experience to be his last match at Wimbledon."

Attendance was 45,955, largest in tournament history.

Roddick followed Williams onto Centre Court and beat Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-3. Roddick, seeded sixth, had only nine unforced errors and hit 47 winners, including 21 aces. He improved to 20-3 in tiebreakers this year.

Roddick was Wimbledon runner-up to Roger Federer in 2004 and 2005, but Andy Murray of Britain is considered the biggest obstacle for Federer this year.

"As far as who's talking about what, I don't really care," Roddick said. "I just want to go out and win matches."

The new retractable roof again worked well, keeping rain away for a second successive day. Play took place on a cloudless afternoon, prompting an official on the club's public-address system to urge that fans use sun block.

"It looks really nice, the roof," Williams said. "We haven't had to use it yet. It's kind of ironic. But I'm very sure it will get some use."

No. 13-seeded Ana Ivanovic, the 2008 French Open champion, saved two match points to beat Lucie Hradecka 5-7, 6-2, 8-6. This year's winner at Roland Garros, Svetlana Kuznetsova, defeated Akiko Morigami 6-3, 7-6 (1).

Top-ranked Dinara Safina opened another bid for her first Grand Slam title by beating Lourdes Dominguez Lino 7-5, 6-3. Safina said she was hampered by a sore left knee that has bothered her for two months, although she reached the French Open final less than three weeks ago.

Former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic beat Julia Goerges 6-4, 7-6 (0). Kimiko Date Krumm, a 38-year-old wild card who came out of retirement last year, lost in her first Wimbledon match since 1996 to No. 9-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1.

No. 17 Amelie Mauresmo, the 2006 champion, defeated Melinda Czink 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.

On the men's side, the third-seeded Murray began his bid to become the first British man to win Wimbledon since 1936 by beating American Robert Kendrick 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-4.

SCORES: Men's results

SCORES: Women's results

Juan Martin del Potro never faced a break point and swept Arnaud Clement 6-3, 6-1, 6-2. No. 12 Nikolay Davydenko beat Daniel Evans 6-2, 6-3, 6-3.

British wild card Alex Bogdanovic's record at Wimbledon fell to 0-8 when he lost to No. 20 Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

Lleyton Hewitt, the 2002 champion, eased by American Robby Ginepri 6-4, 6-1, 6-1. Ginepri was bothered by a neck injury he suffered last week and received treatment from a trainer three times during the match.

The unseeded Hewitt and Federer are the only former champions in the men's draw. Hewitt plays del Potro next.

Williams prepared for Wimbledon as usual on hard courts back home in Florida, and didn't play a grass-court warmup tournament. But after her slow start she looked at home on the lawn.

In one game she smacked a backhand return up the line for a winner, then did the same thing from the other wing. Her second serve was unsteady, but she lost only six points on her first serve while hitting 29 winners and committing only 11 unforced errors.

"On the grass, I think you have the opportunity to make fantastic shots that are very entertaining and great plays," Williams said. "I think the game is more fast-paced. In a lot of ways, it makes it a lot more exciting."

Williams is only 6-4 since early April, but Wimbledon always brings her out of the doldrums. She's 51-4 at the All England Club since 2000, when she won the title for the first time. She's seeded third but the tournament favorite with London bookmakers.