Weekend Warriors

Polona Hercog successfully defended her title in Bastad after she defeated Mathilde Johansson in the final 0-6, 6-4, 7-5. Going into the tournament, Polona hadn’t won a match in almost 3 months, her last win came at Estoril last April. A nagging back injury had been bothering her for most of the year but she appears to have turned the corner in Switzerland. Hercog notched good wins over Julia Goerges and Mona Barthel en route to her second career WTA title.

Dominika Cibulkova defeated her good friend Marion Bartoli 6-1, 7-5 in the Carlsbad final to win her 2nd WTA career title. She, of course, did not drop a set en route to the title.

Whenever Pome plays, it is never not mentioned how amazing it is that, at her size, she can hit the cover off a ball. She’s been on Tour for 7 years now yet we all still get shocked at the sight of her pouncing on a ball. So, I have concluded that it will forever be a phenomenon.

Thomaz Bellucci upset world No. 8 and top seed Janko Tipsarevic 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-2 in the Gstaad final to win his 3rd career ATP title. It’s a (good) surprise to see Bella beat a top guy in a final. We all know he can do it on a more regular basis but he’s completely oblivious of that fact. Perhaps this can be the start of… errr, I should know better than to finish this statement.

Bella won his first ever career title at the same tournament 3 years ago when he didn’t have a headband tan line. That was a good look.

After a whole week of hard work in Hamburg, Pico was awarded a few bottles of Coronas to celebrate. Tennis: Doing it right since 2010.

In the most physically unattractive final ever, Juan Monaco defeated Tommy Haas 7-5, 6-4 to claim his 3rd ATP title of the year. Pico moves into the Top 10 for the first time in his career with this win.

Andy Roddick says to his fellow Weekend Warriorees: Put all your titles together and it still won’t equal half of how many I got. (I totally made this up.)

Andy won his 32nd ATP career title after he defeated Gilles Muller 1-6, 7-6(2), 6-2 in the Atlanta final. Following a terrible start that included a shoulder injury scare, Andy hung tough (as per) and fought his way through the second set to win it in a tiebreak. He then cruised in the deciding set as his opponent went away completely.

Ahem. No one steals a person’s mojo twi… oh.

Images © AP, Getty

Tennis has jokes… kinda

© REUTERS/Michael Fiala

These are mostly videos I missed (or have bookmarked and forgot to share) while I was having too much fun in Indian Wells.

Who knew Rafa was a prankster?! Also, Muzz, JOHNNY BRAVO??? Really?

Best. Video. Ever.

Grisha and Dolly both want to “hit” the same racket. It’s hilarious…ly awkward.

Caro pulled a (fail) prank on Masha. I think after their quality time in MSG, Caro thought they were buds. Yikes. Sorry, high fives are not available at this time.

Speaking of Masha, do you ever wonder what goes on in her head when she’s posing for photos at her $ponsors’ events? Creep, wonder no more.

Guys, meet Andy Rocket. He says things like, “blah blah blah,” to be funny. I think.

“Want to walk around?”

I’m sure there’s a purpose for this… drill? But Mono being tied to the fence by her father in practice is a mildly disturbing sight.

Pico hitting with his doubles partner Kei. After practice, Kei was hounded for autographs. He looked shocked but tried to sign for every single fan.

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How do you feel about drawing Vika once again?

Put a shirt on, Feli. This is not a very good look for you.

You know, two good lookin’ guys just chillin’.

Aaaaaaaand awkward.

I know, Benny, me too. Me too.

Andy made a rare appearance at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden practice courts.

Practice, practice, practice

Franny showing off her guns. No big deal.

Sabine and Lucie practicing together. After today’s match, clearly Sabine was the one who picked up a few things from this.

Muzz lookin’ like an absolute hottie from this angle.

Sam looking… scared?

Marion checking out the Povs in practice.

That’s just her face.

Finally, some Benoit and Ernests in their respective matches for the ladies.

Not an upset

Serena’s comeback came to a screeching halt today after she was defeated by Marion Bartoli in their 4th round encounter at Wimbledon. After 3 grueling rounds of grand slam tennis for the first time in a year, Serena was understandably not in top form during the match. Mono, on the other hand, has been very consistent in the past few months. She reached the semifinals of Roland Garros 4 weeks ago and won the Wimbledon warm-up event in Eastbourne 2 days before the major started. I really don’t think we can call this one an upset.

Considering everything she’s been through, this was a very good tournament for Serena. She will drop out of the Top 100 next week which means she’ll be taking names and heads of top players in early rounds of all the US Open Series tournaments she enters. It’s gonna be fun!

Images via Getty

Last 8 surprises

Say hello to some of the surprise quarterfinalists in Roland Garros.

Marion Bartoli. Quite shocked that she’s made it this far but it is Mono and I should have already learned my lesson. Playing inspired in front of her home crowd, she found a way to make it past Julia Goerges, who is lower ranked but a better dirt player, in the third round. Then, got a retirement from Gisela Dulko in the fourth round while leading 7-5, 1-0.

Svetlana Kuznetsova. Kinda surprising… not really but definitely glad to see her make it this far. The 2009 champ has picked the perfect time to play well again.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. PAVS!!!!! Hiiiiii! Pavs is in her first ever slam quarterfinal. She defeated Vera Zvonareva in the fourth round to get here. I’m just so excited for her!

Francesca Schiavone. I debated for a second whether or not this should be considered a surprise. Obviously, I have decided that it should be. Ever since last year’s Roland Garros, Fran hasn’t had the results to make us think that she can defend it this year. I even thought Melanie Oudin was going to be tough. (Gosh, what brain farts like that? Sorry, Fran!) Clearly, she has a connection with Paris and she’s able to play her best on La Terre Bateau.

Andrea Petkovic. Not really a surprise after Kim Clijsters couldn’t come through in their quarter but I needed a reason to post these pictures.

Images via Getty

Neighbors win Indian Wells

Caroline Wozniacki and Novak Djokovic are apparently neighbors in Monte Carlo. Huh. Does Jelena live there too? If not, I suggest she move there ASAP. I mean..

I think they do have some special water running through the pipes in that Monte Carlo neighborhood. These two looked pretty solid all tournament long in Indian Wells and both have won the singles titles.

Caro defeated Marion Bartoli in the finals, 6-1, 2-6, 6-3. She was her usual self, being a wall in the back of the court. Marion did a good job to mix it up in the second set and work the angles but couldn’t keep it up in the third. Congrats, Caro. I guess.

Nole extended his winning streak to 18 (20 if you include Davis Cup and 21 if you include Hopman Cup). He defeated Rafael Nadal in the finals, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Pretty great tennis off the ground, especially in the first two sets. Rafa’s serve, however, let him down mid-match. Nole’s serve wasn’t so perfect either so all credit to him for hanging in there and showing his fighting spirit. All odds were against him after he lost that first set. 3 titles for Nole this year and it’s only March!

Images via @CaroWozniacki / Getty Images