Is women's tennis ready for Sarah Gronert??

Paris is over. Rafael Nadal has taken one more French Open title and one more step to tennis immortality. And China's Li Na has become the first Chinese/ Asian player to win a singles Grand Slam. Women's tennis is ready for the success of a sporting icon in the world's most populous nation.

But how about a female player, born with male and female genitalia, going on to win the women’s singles title at Wimbledon some day? We’re not talking about someone’s weird twisted fantasy here but a possibility, albeit a very remote one, as a 25 year old German took her first steps into the WTA tour in Birmingham on Monday.

Sarah Gronert is a 25 year old German who qualified for her first ever WTA event in Birmingham over the weekend. On Monday, the 297th ranked German upset 19 year old Serb Bojanna Jovanavski 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 for the biggest win of her career. But with more success will come more scrutiny and more criticism for Gronert.

Gronert first made the headlines in 2009, when she won 4 ITF titles. Born with genitalia of both sexes, she had her case was reviewed by the Women’s Tennis Assoication (WTA) which concluded that there was "sufficient independent and verifiable evidence" to show that Gronert was eligible to play women's tennis. Under WTA rules, if there is "any question as to the eligibility" of a player, the WTA has the right to "require a player to submit to gender verification to determine sexual status".

Gronert finished 2009 with a 48-23 record on the ITF circuit, but didn’t progress much further in 2010. She finished last year with a 39-30 record and peaked at no. 195 in the rankings last July. In 2011, Gronert has played only 10 events, winning 1 of them in her native land, but winning only 8 matches in her remaining 9 events, which has seen her ranking dip to no. 297.

Like anyone else outside the strict norms of society, Gronert has had to deal with more than her share of criticism and ridicule. In 2009, the coaches of one of the women she beat said "There is no girl who can hit serves like that, not even Venus Williams” and one is left to wonder how the psychological scars might have affected her development as a player.

And ironic as it maybe, the same people who have made Lady Gaga's BORN THIS WAY the chart-topping smash hit that it is, will probably scoff at the thought of Gronert making further inroads into women's professional tennis. Here is hoping that Gronert believes in the lyrics of Gaga which might very well have been written for her.
"THERE'S NOTHIN WRONG WITH LOVIN WHO YOU ARE"
SHE SAID, "'CAUSE HE MADE YOU PERFECT, BABE"
"SO HOLD YOUR HEAD UP GIRL AND YOU'LL GO FAR,
LISTEN TO ME WHEN I SAY"
I'M BEAUTIFUL IN MY WAY
'CAUSE GOD MAKES NO MISTAKES
I'M ON THE RIGHT TRACK BABY
I WAS BORN THIS WAY
DON'T HIDE YOURSELF IN REGRET
JUST LOVE YOURSELF AND YOU'RE SET
I'M ON THE RIGHT TRACK BABY
I WAS BORN THIS WAY

In other tennis news from today, highly touted British teenager Heather Watson celebrated her debut in the top 100 with a first round victory in Birmingham. Surprisingly, Watson's compatriot and contemporary Laura Robson has chosen to play an ITF event in Nottingham this week and not Birmingham where the organizers would have been more than happy to hand her a wild card. And Croatian veteran Mirjana Lucic, once a teenage prodigy herself, beat 1999 Wimbledon batchmate Alexandra Stevenson (yes she is still playing!!) 6-3, 7-6 in Birmingham.

On the men's side, the youngsters did not have a good introduction to the grass. Kei Nishikori, Ryan Harrison and Grigor Dimitrov all lost in the first round of Queens. Meanwhile, two of their contemporaries are battling in the minor leagues far away from the grass courts of London. Filip Krajinovic, ranked as high as no. 170 last July, is playing only his third event coming back from injury in Italy this week. The Serb is now ranked 378 in the world and was considered a potential future champion until injury struck him last year. And Yuki Bhambri, once a junior world no. 1, is playing an ITF Futures event in Delhi this week. The Indian is ranked outside the top 400 and has struggled to replicate his junior success to the pro circuit.

That's all for today. Come back for more tomorrow!!

Yuki Bhambri wins ITF Futures title in Mumbai

I got a chance to see Yuki Bhambri in live action for the first time yesterday as the 18 year old Indian was in the finals of the $15K ITF Futures event in Mumbai. Bhambri is trying to work his ranking back up after injuries and ill-health ravaged his 2010 season – causing his ranking drop from no. 321 in April 2010 to no. 556 at the end of last year

His opponent in the final was the tall Crotian Roko Karanusic, once ranked as high as no. 88 in 2009 but who has since fallen to no. 483. Karanusic started off well as Bhambri made several errros early on. The Croat's heavy forehand and low backhand slice posed several problems for the Indian, who lost the first set 2-6.

The Croat continued to dominate in the second set but this time Bhambri managed to stay close throughout. Karanusic broke serve 3 times but each time was broken back, including when he served for the match at 5-4 in the second set. The Croat held two matchpoints at 40-15 but Bhambri played agressively when it mattered. He saved the first with a crisp forehand volley. On the second, he appraoched the net and hit a drop volley, which clipped the net and took a few seconds before deciding to fall on the Croat's side of the court. Bhambri broke back and the Croat, who had been muttering to himself in his native language throughout the match, got more agitated. The result from then on never seemed in doubt as the Croat's body language and temperament went downhill from there. Bhambri won the second set 7-5 and also the third set 6-3 to complete the win in 1 hour and 45 minutes.

The title was Bhambri's sixth on the ITF Futures circuit – all of which have come in India – but his first since September 2009. The result will move him to around 430 in the rankings – his highest in 8 months.

Inspite of his six foot frame, Bhambri does not look imposing and will definitely need to get stronger if he is going to be competing with the big boys on the ATP tour. But the good news is that the foundations of his game are well set. The 18 year old can hit a big first serve; can rally off his forehand and backhand side and also hit winners from the backcourt when given the opportunity. His movement on court is pretty efficient and he attacked the net to put away volleys at several times in the match. All this augurs well for Indian tennis fans. At 18, Bhambri has a few critical years to make the transition into the pro tour. He will now move on to Kolkatta for the next ITF Futures and he hopes to continue his winning streak there.