(April 30th, 2012) The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix ended up being a must-see event from the first serve to yesterday's finals that has more people talking about what happened on the sidelines than on the court. Here's a quick look back at some of the important moments.
The German Enigma
Stuttgart was in some ways a celebration of the fact that Germany now has four top 20 players and has resumed its tradition as a tennis powerhouse. Despite the early loss by defending champion Julia Goerges and the unfortunate injury of Andrea Petkovic, the biggest news was made by young Mona Barthel who came in as an unknown wildcard to some local fans but ended up receiving a standing ovation after she pushed Victoria Azarenka to the brink in their quarterfinal match.
Barthel's ability to hit winners from seemingly impossible parts of the court coupled with her rather enigmatic reactions made her a fun player to watch, unless you were the one trying to defeat her on the other side of the net. It's unclear yet if she can continue her blazing form into Roland Garros, but with Barthel now at a career high ranking of No. 31, a top 32 seeding for Barthel in Paris seems assured.
The Once and Former Queen
Has Caroline Wozniacki become irrelevant? Maybe not yet, but her rather uninspiring loss to Angelique Kerber in the early rounds suggest her clay court season could be a long, dismal grind. For someone who was No. 1 this time last year and the center of discussion, both good but mostly bad, about the women's game, it must feel odd for her to suddenly be no longer talked about that much or considered a factor not just for Roland Garros, but even Wimbledon and the Olympics.
Even though her win in Miami over Serena Williams was called by some a career defining moment, it's been largely forgotten with the onset of the clay court season and her own slow descent down the top 10 rankings. Wozniacki will no doubt work hard to improve her game, but for the moment it seems her view of the WTA crown she once held as its top player for over two years is growing more distant by the minute.
Girls, Set, Scratch
Maria Sharapova played some of the best tennis since her comeback from shoulder surgery to take her first title and first victory over Victoria Azarenka this year. And while plenty of fans are buzzing about this budding "scream" rivalry between the top two ranked women on tour, some in the media commented it was that grazing of shoulders between the pair as they changed ends that could end up driving more interest towards the WTA than anything else that happened all week.
I'm not sure if WTA CEO Stacey Allaster thinks yesterday's "must-see" moment will help bump up television ratings or ticket sales, but she at least has to be aware of the growing cold war between three of the top four. Leaving Petra Kvitova out of this who, at least for the moment, still appears to have cordial relations with her fellow elite WTA quartet members, it's obvious there's no love, like or mutual acquaintance lost between Azarenka, Sharapova and Agnieszka Radwanksa who now have made it a habit to meet each other up at net with their eyes down or looking away as their hands grasp, or at least barely touch, while they make their way to the umpire after a match against each other.
When big money and big titles are on the line, no one expects the elite women to send each other roses after a loss. But with many casual fans already turned off by Azarenka and Sharapova's vocal theatrics, will a perceived chilly rivalry between the top two bring them around to tune in the next time they show up in a final? Add in that the women, fairly or unfairly, will likely be compared to the "big four" of the ATP who routinely give each other hugs and speak terms of endearment to each other after a hard fought battle, and you have the makings of a rather awkward time for the WTA.
After Sharapova's rather dismissive remark during the trophy ceremony about Azarenka being "extremely injured", it's no wonder that during the Russian's celebratory moment of driving around the Stuttgart court in her newly won Porsche, that someone on Twitter described the whole scene as reminiscent of the old 80's T.V. show "Dynasty".
Perhaps an unfair comparison, but it's anybody's guess as to how long fans will want to continue to tune into this potential new soap opera for the rest of the season.