Foot Fault!

Calling all the lines of professional tennis

Category Archives: Toronto

From The Vault: Monica Seles

3 Comments Posted by on April 30, 2013

Only a few weeks ago I randomly decided re-read Monica Seles’ first auto-biography for the first time since I was barely able to comprehend the contents. So often we criticize athletes and celebrities who toss out books at a young age without actually living life. It was far from the case with Seles, who had been attacked at 19 on a tennis court, suffered depression, an eating disorder, a dreadful court injustice, the wrath of sponsors and the media that eventually turned on her, and then came back from it all in remarkable style.

Rather than posting a video of the attack or a long-ass post, above is simply her speech after her first tournament back at the Canadian Open in 1995. A tournament she won, defeating Po (133) 6-0 6-3, Tauziat (17) 6-2 6-2, Huber (10) 6-3 6-2, Sabatini (8) 6-1 6-0 and Coetzer (27) 6-0 6-1 en-route to the title. Before the stabbing, she was easily on her way to becoming one of the greatest of greats and received universal acclaim for her mental strength, but it goes without saying that her resilience and mental strength in overcoming far worse than some 1-4 third set deficit catapulted her to heights far greater than she could have ever achieved. A legend.

Monica Seles, Toronto, Video Vault

Queen Lakeisha Steals The Show In Toronto

1 Comment Posted by on August 15, 2011

It’s not easy to steal attention from both Serena and Richard Williams, but that’s what Lakeisha Williams, husband to Richard and (three year older) stepmother to Serena, managed to do as she sprinted onto court hollering with joy following Serena’s victory. After grabbing hold of Serena’s dogs and parading them for the crowd to see, she then insisted on getting herself snapped with the champion while holding her trophy. All hail Queen Lakeisha!

Only god is the jurge(((, Serena Williams, Toronto

11 For Serena As She Wins in Toronto

Leave a Comment Posted by on August 14, 2011

Serena Williams continued on her dramatic return to form as she eased past Sam Stosur 6-4 6-4 to capture the Toronto title and extend her winning streak to 11 matches.

Pure brilliance from Serena. It’s still hard to fathom that after 12 months out, two surgeries and one life-threatening illness, all she needed was two tournaments before embarking on an 11 match winning streak. But here she is, and it seems like only the beginning. She hinted in the post-match interview that she wouldn’t be withdrawing from Cincinnati and it seems like this could be the time she finally wins the US Open series.

Regardless of what happens in Cincinnati, she has most likely secured her seeding for the US Open with this result. Watch out, world.

Serena Williams, Toronto

Serena Crosses Another Name Off Her Hit-list

1 Comment Posted by on August 14, 2011

Just a day before Serena Williams made her comeback this year at Eastbourne, I was chatting with a fellow fan in Devonshire Park about who would be Serena’s top 10 scalp as she worked her way back to the top of the game. In no time at all, we had both agreed that Sharapova would be the most likely.

Turns out we were right as Serena did take out Sharapova first in Stanford two weeks ago. But more than that, it’s obvious that her mission is much bigger than that. The mission is clearly to take them all down, and to take all them down as soon as possible. And after Sharapova and Bartoli in Stanford, Serena crossed off yet another top ten name from her list as she strolled through Victoria Azarenka 6-3 6-3 and into the Toronto final, recording her tenth-straight win in the process.

This match saw another step forward for Serena. Her improvement has been so steady, and though there have been numerous dips in form, the way she has always bounced back from them has been so impressive. This is particularly true of this week, as after back-to-back tight three-setters against Zheng Jie and Lucie Safarova, Serena stepped up her form in the semis and completely overwhelmed an Azarenka playing at the top of her game. And the scary thing is that she did so while barely moving and breaking a sweat.

For Azarenka however, it’s a stark reminder that though her game is perfectly suited to demolishing every low-ranked player with max efficiency, she is far too underpowered and lacking in the variety and movement categories to present a particularly big challenge to the bigger hitters in tennis.

But regardless, this victory for Serena will undoubtedly send yet another chilling message to the rest of the tour. And I know that if I was one of those top ten players, right now I would be shaking in my boots at the very mention of her name.

Awaiting Serena in the final is Sam Stosur who defeated Aga Radwanska 6-2 5-7 6-2 earlier on in the day.

Serena Williams, Toronto, Victoria Azarenka

Kim Clijsters Picks Up Another Injury In Toronto. What Happens Now?

Leave a Comment Posted by on August 10, 2011

After ankle and shoulder injuries left her out of action for most of the last 5 months, Kim Clijsters finally made her long-awaited return to action yesterday in Toronto. However she barely even lasted a set, and after winning the first over Zheng Jie 6-3, she was forced to retire early in the second set with a torn abdominal muscle.

Read more of this post

Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams, Toronto

Only Serena.

Leave a Comment Posted by on August 6, 2011

Serena Williams is such a unique character in the tennis world, and there are just so many things that only she would ever say or do. One such Serenaism happened during her press conference following yesterday’s draw ceremony.

Pretty amazing.

Serena Williams, Toronto, WTA off-court

Jelena Jankovic Is ALIVE

Leave a Comment Posted by on August 6, 2011

She turned up to Wimbledon only a couple of days before the tournament even began and has played one match in the best part of ten weeks, spending most of her time at home in Belgrade partying with friends and family. And even though her name is on the drawsheet, it’s quite hard to call her a tennis player when she doesn’t actually play tennis anymore. Thankfully, we can once again as the Rogers Cup youtube page uploaded a video of her (*gasp*) actually hitting a couple of balls over the net. Panic averted.

I’m really intrigued to see how she does in Toronto. After her insufferable moaning about not having any motivation or whatever, she has had a long break and you would expect her to come out refreshed. On paper she has been handed just about the toughest draw you can be handed in the ’10s – providing she even gets past Goerges, she’ll be forced to play against Serena Williams, with the winner most likely facing Kim Clijsters in the third round.

But even so, historically both Williams sisters have always brought out the best in Jankovic’s game, forcing her to play the top class tennis that she’s always capable of. And her impressive record against both Serena and Venus speaks for itself. Could this nightmare draw be the firm kick up her ass she needs to find some inspiration and motivation again? We shall see.

Jelena Jankovic, Toronto

Toronto and Montreal Rogers Cup Draws Released

1 Comment Posted by on August 6, 2011

Yesterday, the long-awaited draws for the Rogers Cup in Montreal (ATP) and Toronto (WTA) were finally released.

There isn’t really much to say about Montreal. It’s all the same ol’, with the projected semifinals Federer-Djokovic and Nadal-Murray for just about the trillionth time in ATP history. However, the projected third round between Djokovic and Del Potro is undeniably mouthwatering. More than anyone, it’s worth keeping an eye on Del Potro for the remainder of this US hardcourt swing. Most of this year has seen him feeling his way back to top form – he won a tournament, he has won the vast majority of matches he should have won and he has taken sets off both Nadal and Djokovic in slams. The fast US hardcourts are his surface, and I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t take a huge step forward over the next three events. This third round against Novak one match into his reign as Number one may just be it.

But the women are a different story altogether. I mean LOOK AT THIS;

and this:

It’s insanity and unbelievable that so many former number ones can be bunched together into two tiny sections. But to use the old cliché – it is what it is. It just means that they all will have to be ready to go from the very second they step onto the court. Any player who arrives in Toronto expecting to get a few easy matches under her belt before the big challenges begin (*ahem* I’m looking at you, Jelena) is in for a rude awakening when they feast their eyes on this monster of a draw.

Montreal, Toronto

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