Maria is Back!

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After more than three years of draught - a period marked by a career-threatening shoulder injury and a slow, uneven comeback, Maria Sharapova returned to the big stage by reaching the sixth Grand Slam final of her career - and this at Wimbledon, the holy grail of tennis. In the semifinals, the new German wunderkind Sabine Lisicki found no means against a Maria Sharapova on a roll, and this though Sharapova hit countless double faults with her trademark unreliable serve. As a result of this tournament and the semfinals at Roland Garros, Sharapova returns to Ozeki (=Champion), a rank she held almost without interruption 2004-08. Lisicki earned a first-time Komusubi (=Junior Champion II) promotion, well deserved after eliminating Ozeki and French Open Champion Na Li and former Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli earier in the tournament.

This blog's wish, uttered more than two years ago, has therefore come true. Ladies' tennis needs badly the starpower and brilliance Sharapova can produce. And age 24, she may have many years of tennis at the highest level ahead of her.

In the final Sharapova will meet Czech Wimbledon specialist Petra Kvitova. In 2010 Kvitova lost only to Yokozuna (=Grand Champion) Serena Williams in the semifinals. This year she turned things around and won a hard-fought semifinal match over Viktoria Azarenka with impressive power and accuracy. Kvitova will get promoted to Sekiwake (=Junior Champion I) after this tournament - no matter how the final ends. She will share the rank with Marion Bartoli (up from Komusubi) and Vera Zvonareva. Zvonareva gets demoted from Ozeki, following a couple of disappointing slams at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Azarenka will return to Komusubi.

For the Yokozuna Wimbledon was a disappointment. Kim Clisters had to sit the tournament out with an injury, and the Williams sisters both went out in the 4th round, failing to regain form in time after injurites. With no strong result in a year, Serena loses active Yokozuna status for the first time since 2006. Venus will follow suit if she fails to reach the semifinals at the U.S. Open.

The Top 101 of the Open Era: Interim Update

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With two of the four 2011 slams played, it is time to take a look what impact the Australian and the French Open of 2011 had on the top 101 open era ranking. Note: the ranking considers all players with major successes in the open era, but then count their entire careers (thus the prominent ranks for Laver, Court, Rosewall, and King). A full update will be posted after the US Open.

The most notable changes:

• Freshly baken Dai-Yokozuna (=Great Grand Champion) Rafael Nadal overtakes Ivan Lendl and is the mens' new #6, right behind fellow Roland Garros emperor Bjorn Borg



• Kim Clijsters, who got promoted to Yokozuna (=Grand Champion) at the Australian Open, moves up one notch in the ladies' ranking to #14, sandwiched between fellow Yokozuna Hana Mandlikova and Lindsay Davenport



• Long standing Ozeki (=Champion) Novak Djokovic improves from #31 all the way to #19, owing to his triumph at the Australian Open. He is already the fourth strongest male Ozeki of the open era (behind Guillermo Vilas, Arthur Ashe, and Ilie Nastase)



• French Open Champion, Australian Open finalist and new Ozeki Na Li makes an even bigger jump, from #86 at end-2010 to #35, and is now in company of the likes of Mary Joe Fernandez and Wendy Turnbull. Her final opponent, Sekiwake (=Junior Champion I) Francesca Schiavone is not far behind at #40.



• New Ozeki Andy Murray improves from #50 to #45, one behind Yannick Noah and one ahead of Adriano Panatta. It will be difficult for him to raise much further though without winning a major.



• Other notable improvements include: Caroline Wozniacki from #67 to #59, Marion Bartoli from #74 to #71, and David Ferrer enters the top 101 as #98.

Below are the current top 20 (active players in bold). Other active players with top 60 rankings include Svetlana Kuznetsova (#23), Andy Roddick (#27), Ana Ivanovic (#29), Juan Carlos Ferrero (#37), Dinara Safina (#42), Vera Zvonareva (#49), Jelena Jankovic (#51), Juan Martin del Potro (#54), Robin Soderling (#56), and David Nalbandian (#59).

The Top 20 Male and Female Tennis Players of the Open Era

	Male Players	Highest Rank			Female Players	Highest Rank
1	Rod Laver	Dai-Y		1	Margaret Court	Dai-Y
2	Roger Federer	Dai-Y		2	Steffi Graf	Dai-Y
3	Ken Rosewall	Dai-Y		3	Martina Navratilova	Dai-Y
4	Pete Sampras	Dai-Y		4	Chris Evert	Dai-Y
5	Bjorn Borg	Dai-Y		5	Serena Williams	Dai-Y
6	Rafael Nadal	Dai-Y		6	Billie Jean King	Dai-Y
7	Ivan Lendl	Y		7	Monica Seles	Dai-Y
8	Jimmy Connors	Y		8	Evonne Goolagong	Y
9	Andre Agassi	Y		9	Venus Williams	Y
10	John McEnroe	Y		10	Justine Henin	Y
11	Mats Wilander	Y		11	Martina Hingis	Y
12	Stefan Edberg	Y		12	Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario	Y
13	Boris Becker	Y		13	Hana Mandlikova	Y
14	John Newcombe	Y		14	Kim Clijsters	Y
15	Jim Courier	Y		15	Lindsay Davenport	Y
16	Guillermo Vilas	O		16	Jennifer Capriati	Y
17	Arthur Ashe	O		17	Ann Haydon-Jones	O
18	Ilie Nastase	O		18	Maria Sharapova	O
19	Novak Djokovic	O		19	Virginia Wade	O
20	Lleyton Hewitt	O		20	Gabriela Sabatini	O

Great Grand Nadal

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There is a new Dai-Yokozuna (=Great Grand Champion): with the 10th Grand Slam title of his career, Rafael Nadal joined this most exclusive of clubs that, other than himself, counts only Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer among its members on the men's side, and Margaret Court, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, and Serena Williams on the womens'. Fittingly, Nadal acquired access at Roland Garros, the location of his greatest successes, including his first major title in 2005. As fittingly, to get there Nadal had to beat once more his old rival and living legend Roger Federer--as had been the case when Nadal obtained his Ozeki (=Champion) promotion at Roland Garros 2006, and his Yokozuna (=Grand Champion) promotion at Wimbledon 2008.

The final was closer than earlier Nadal-Federer encounters at the French Open. Federer had an excellent start, outplaying Nadal with agressive, variable tennis, and should have won the first set, but gave away a 5-2, 40:30 lead. Thereafter Nadal took command, and at the beginning of the second set it looked as if Federer would once again crumble under the relentless pressure of his running, groaning, fighting, top-spinning opponent. But Federer refused to melt and found a way back into the second set. From then on it was a tight, hard-fought, classy final, which Nadal finally turned in his favor, 7-5, 7-6, 5-7, 6-1.

Federer's 23rd participation in a Grand Slam final (he is 16-7) denied Novak Djokovic the promotion to Yokozuna (see two stories below). The Serb now needs to win Wimbledon to join Nadal and Federer at the highest rank. Until then, he will get company at Ozeki by his buddy Andy Murray, who at last made it to the second-highest rank by putting two good Grand Slam tournaments together back-to-back (final at the AO 2011, semifinal here). Tomas Berdych went out early and goes kadoban--i.e., he needs a quarterfinal at Wimbledon to stay at Ozeki, a rank he had obtained last year with strong results at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

So great is the dominance of Nadal, Federer, Djokovic and Murray that after this tournament there will be no Sekiwake (=Junior Champion I)--there is no player with sufficiently good results over the past three slams. The Komusubi (=Junior Champion II) ranks will be filled by ex-Sekiwake Robin Soderling and by Gael Monfils, who makes a comeback at Komusubi after 3 years.

Here are the men's sanyaku (=championship) ranks following the 2011 French Open:

Men

Career rank 1/	East	Current Rank	West	Career rank 1/
High Sanyaku (Senior Champion Ranks)
Y	Rafael Nadal	Y	Roger Federer	Y
O	Novak Djokovic	O1	Andy Murray	O
O	Tomas Berdych*	O2	-	-
Lower Sanyaku (Junior Champion Ranks)
-	-	S	-	-
S	Robin Soderling	K	Gael Monfils	K

1/ Highest sanyaku rank achieved in a player's career
* Kadoban

Na Li on Top of the World

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Brandnew Ozeki (=Champion) Na Li climbed the tennis olymp today, winning her first Grand Slam tournament on the red clay of Paris at the tender age of 29. Li kept her opponent, defending titlist and Sekiwake (=Junior Champion I) Francesca Schiavone, on her toes for most of the match with precise, powerful, deep ground strokes and outstanding foot speed, giving Schiavone little opportunities to develop her floating, variable game. Except for a short period in the second set, when she seemed to fight with her nerves, Li was in control.

Li's is a compelling story, the daughter of an outstanding Chinese amateur badminton player who came through the state system, joined the tour at age 22 with good but not outstanding success, then in 2008 decided to go her own ways--which prepared the ground for her breakthrough into world class. On and off the court Li is an interesting personality, displaying charm, wits and smarts--exactly what the ladies' game needs, which has been dominated for a long time by the ageing Yokozuna (=Grand Champions) Serena and Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters. The Williamses sat Roland Garros out with injuries--Dai-Yokozuna Serena will lose active Yokozuna status if she does not play Wimbledon and reaches the semifinals--while Clijsters went out early, blaming the exit on insufficient clay court preparation.

Also good news is that glamorous ex-Ozeki Maria Sharapova made it into a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time after her career-threatening shoulder injury in 2008. She rejoins the sanyaku (=championship) ranks as Komusubi (=Junior Champion II), a rank that she will share with the ex-Sekiwake Caroline Wozniacki and Marion Bartoli (who continues to have among the weirdest service motions on the tour) as well as first-time Komusubi Andrea Petkovic.

Schiavone remains Sekiwake, falling just one win short of an Ozeki promotion. A semifinal at Wimbledon is now needed to climb the "big hurdle" (this is what Ozeki means literally in Japanese). Vera Zvonareva--who played so strongly in the past three Grand Slams but failed to make an impression at Roland Garros--stays Ozeki but goes kadoban: i.e., Zvonareva needs a quarterfinal at Wimbledon to defend her prominent rank. Ex-Sekiwake Samantha Stosur and ex-Komusubi Petra Kvitova drop out of the sanyaku ranks.

Here are the ladies' sanyaku ranks following the 2011 French Open:

Women

Career rank 1/	East	Current Rank	West	Career rank 1/
High Sanyaku (Senior Champion Ranks)
Y	Kim Clijsters	Y1	Venus Williams	Y
Y	Serena Williams	Y2	-	-
O	Na Li	O	Vera Zvonareva*	O
Lower Sanyaku (Junior Champion Ranks)
S	Francesca Schiavone	S	-	-
S	Caroline Wozniacki	K1	Maria Sharapova	O
S	Marion Bartoli	K2	Andrea Petkovic	K

1/ Highest sanyaku rank achieved in a player's career
* Kadoban

Federer Stops Djokovic's Yokozuna Run

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In a Roland Garros semifinal that goes down as an immediate classic, Dai-Yokozuna (=great Grand Champion) Roger Federer stopped long standing Ozeki (=Champion) and tournament favorite Novak Djokovic in four sets, 7-6, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6. Except for the second set, when Djokovic fell into a bit of a hole, this match was as intense and classy as they come. Djokovic was often the grittier player from the baseline, creating fabulous angels, while Federer could rely on his serve and, at crucial moments of the game, produced this dose of Federer magic that made the difference once again.

Had Djokovic--who was unbeaten thus far this year--won this match, he would have been a Yokozuna (=Grand Champion) himself, to be precise the 16th male Yokozuna of the Open Era. This loss does not end the Yokozuna run altogether, but now Djokovic needs to win Wimbledon to make it to the highest rank. There can be little doubt that he has Yokozuna potential, but on this evening the grand "old" man from Switzerland denied the brilliant Serb the final step. The loss also cost Djokovic the #1 ATP ranking--for now.

With all the excitement about this epic encounter, once could almost forget that another fine semifinal was also played today. The other current Yokozuna, Rafael Nadal, earned a hard-fought win in three sets over newly promoted Ozeki Andy Murray. One more victory on Sunday and Nadal would have 10 Grand Slam titles under his belt, which would grant him the honorary title of Dai-Yokozuna, as only the sixth player of the open era. The existing five Dai-Yokozuna are Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, and, well, Roger Federer.

So it is up to Federer to keep membership in this most exclusive of clubs down. Against the King of Clay Nadal he will be the clear outsider--but then, he also was that today.

Schiavone Does it Again

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Francesca Schiavone blasted past overmatched Marion Bartoli today to secure her place in yet another Roland Garros final. Whoever saw her today would not be surprised if she were to repeat last year's feat, when she came seemingly from nowhere to grab the French Open title. With a tournament win Schiavone would be promoted to Ozeki (=Champion). Former Wimbledon finalist and ex-Sekiwake (=Junior Champion I) Bartoli returns to the sanyaku ranks as Komusubi (=Junior Champion II).

Schiavone's final opponent will be tough-as-nails Na Li, who has already secured Ozeki promotion (see two articles below). This is Li's second Grand Slam final in a row. However, while she had established herself as a top hard court player in the past couple of years, it comes as some surprise that she got that far on the red clay of Roland Garros. Li may have been helped by the fact that her seminfal opponent, former Ozeki and triple Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova is a straight, hard hitter just like Li herself, rather than the top spin specialist type that tends to do well on clay. Today Li played more accurately and assertive than Sharapova, with better court coverage, which made her take home an impressive win.

Schiavone will be a different matter. Head-to-head Li and Schiavone are 2-2, but Schiavone won their only match thus far on clay: in the third round of last year's French Open, 6-4 6-2.

Sharapova, like Bartoli, will return to Komusubi following the French Open, after having been absent from the sanyaku ranks for more than 2 years. This is good news: womens' tennis needs the star power that Maria Sharapova brings to the game.

Andy Murray is an Ozeki too--Finally

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Andy Murray followed fellow Australian Open finalist Na Li into the semifinals at Roland Garros and therefore earned, like her, a first-time promotion to Ozeki (=Champion)--the second highest sanyaku (=Championship) rank.

While Li seemed a plausible but not inevitable Ozeki candidate before this tournament, Murray had been at the edge of Ozeki since 2008, but failed to get the series of two-to-three strong grand slam tournaments together that is needed for an Ozeki promotion. In the meantime, players like Juan Martin del Potro or Tomas Berdych leapfrogged Murray, although their career achievements to date have arguably not lived up to those of the Scotsman.

But now Murray is there: the 30st male Ozeki of the open era, and the first Brit (among the men--Britain has already three female career-high Ozeki in Ann Haydon-Jones, Virginia Wade, and Sue Barker). And indeed, it makes more sense seeing Murray on a list with the likes of Pat Cash, Patrick Rafter or Andy Roddick--all fellow career-high Ozeki--than with the career-high Sekiwake (=Junior Champion I) Roger Taylor, Greg Rusedski or Arnaud Clement.

Welcome, champ. However, in Ozumo Ozeki are expected to win a major tournament at least once during their careers. So this is what should come next.

Na Li, Ozeki

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Na Li became the 30st female Ozeki (=Champion) of the Open Era today by beating ex-Komusubi (=Junior Champion II) Viktoria Azarenka in straight sets in the French Open quarterfinals. She thus advances to the semifinals, Li's best ever result at Roland Garros. This follows on her memorable Australian Open final loss to Yokozuna (=Grand Champion) Kim Clijsters (who this time went out early).

In the semis, Li will play ex-Ozeki Maria Sharapova, who plays her first grand slam seminfinal since 2008. A tournament victory would propel Sharapova back to her former rank. Sharapova defeated Andrea Petkovic in the quarterfinals, who earned a first-time Komusubi promotion by playing her second grand slam quarterfinal in a row. On a possible Ozeki run is also Sekiwake (=Junior Champion I) and defending titlist Francesca Schiavone if she wins this tournament.

Big titles are are stake in the men's game. If Rafael Nadal wins Roland Garros again this year it would be his 10th Grand Slam title, earning him the title of a Dai-Yokozuna (great Grand champion). Only five male open era players have earned this title thus far (Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, and Roger Federer). Further, Novak Djokovic would become the 16th male Yokozuna of the open era if he reaches the final. In his way is semi-final opponent ad Dai-Yokozuna Roger Federer. Finally, Andy Murray could at long last make it to Ozeki if he would win one more match and make his career-first French Open semifinal. At the moment were this is written, Murray has just won the tie-breaker of the first set over Argentine Juan Igancio Chela.