Posted by Peter Bodo, TENNIS.com
Welcome to a new episode of The Tennis Twilight Zone, otherwise known as the fall circuit. This is the time of year when you can throw the form chart out the window and, with a few exceptions, watch the perennial journeymen and drifters make last-ditch efforts to boost their rankings and atone for the sins of Grand Slams recently past.
Last week's episode stars Virginie Razzano, who made a few match points disappear -- poof! -- as if she had put to use her own father's skills as a magician (I kid you not; he is apparently an amateur magician). And it was not garden variety match points, held by the likes of cryin' Vera Zvonareva, or even a more high-visibility star like Martina Hingis. Razzano survived Venus Williams, who had three match points in the Japan Open final, then crumbled as Razzano battled back to win, 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4.
Weird enough for you?
Try this as a kicker -- Razzano was almost joined in the winner's circle of this dual gender event by Richard Gasquet, one of tennis' favorite underachievers. The French sweep was narrowly averted when David Ferrer stepped up to take Gasquet in the men's final. Still, two French players (neither named Mauresmo) in the final of a dual gender event? It must be autumn!
Razzano survived the first round at only two majors this year (Australian and U.S. Open), and never lived to see a third match in either. She's a pleasant enough girl, known for her smile, who cites Garbriela Sabatini as her role model in tennis. But what is this with winning tournaments all of a sudden? You may remember she won her first title age 24 at Guangzhou, China -- all of one week ago. Now she's on fire, and because it's the fall, nobody can be bothered rushing up to hose her down and put her back in her place.
This is, admittedly, a little uncharitable -- after all, a win is a win is a win. It isn't Razzano's fault that Williams was not capable of stepping up to douse her flame. These fall days on the WTA and ATP, you make hay when the sun shines -- usually at the expense of all those top-tier players who have baled it up, loaded the wagons and filled the barn by now.
Had Gasquet been able to overcome Ferrer (who won with the loss of just three games, so that was an unlikely scenario), we would have had the first French double-double since -- well, since who knows? Gasquet won in Mumbai last week, while Razzano was doing her damage in Guangzhou.
Unlike Razzano, Gasquet had polished some tournament silver before Mumbai. He's No. 11 in the world, and he beat Andy Roddick to make the Wimbledon semis this year. But Gasquet's failure to seal the deal suggested that even though this is autumn some things never change, the immutable truth in this case being that Richard Gasquet -- that wonderfully gifted kid whom some call "Baby Federer" (wonder what Roger makes of that) -- will always let you down.
Perhaps those Gasquet and New York Yankees fans can get together and commiserate; funny things happen in the fall, especially in tennis.
