Cincinnati Day 1: Around The Grounds

CINCINNATI--Here for my first day of the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Cincinnati, here are some of my impressions on the early matches.

• I've spoken to a few players already here, namely a 1-on-1 with Akgul Amanmuradova (a dominant winner today over Kimiko Date Krumm) and most of the top seeds during All-Access Hour.  More on both of those in a bit.
• Shame Vania King wasn't able to advance in the singles draw.  In a surprisingly tight match between qualifiers, she fell 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 to Nuria Llagostera Vives.  It's something of a moot point now, but cConsidering the players who did get wild cards into the main draw (#161 Jamie Hampton, #205 Coco Vandeweghe), #80 King definitely shouldn't have had to play qualifying.
  
• Watching Dinara Safina play these days is pretty brutal.  The desire is clearly there, but so much of her game is nowhere to be found.  Her serve was all over the place, with first and second serves alike finding the middle of the net despite being hit at only 74 MPH.  She hit fifteen double faults, including three in a row when she had triple match point in 5-4 in the second set.  But Safina recovered, and eventually closed out Roberta Vinci 6-4, 7-5.  Her reward for that victory is an absolutely brutal match in the next round against fourth-seed Kim Clijsters, who she beat here last year in what was the first tournament of Clijsters' comeback.  Safina was the finalist here last year, and has 550 points to defend (she defended 70 of them with her first round win).  If she loses next round, her ranking would plummet all the way from #35 to #70.  For a woman who started the year at #2 and spent most of 2009 at #1, that's pretty rough.
  
• Alona Bondarenko vs. Dominika Cibulkova was definitely the most appealing match-up on the outer courts today, and it lived up to expectations.  The two played offensive tennis throughout, trading winners and momentum constantly.  But it was Bondarenko who held up better in the Ohio heat, as she was able to reel off the final four games of the match as Cibulkova wilted, the final score sitting at 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.  Her second round encounter with Marion Bartoli should be a good one.
• Speaking of Bartoli, she looked incredible out there today, beating Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4, 6-0.  She hit seven aces, 31 winners and only nine errors, numbers made even more impressive by the high number of balls Media Garrigues gets back point after point.  She could definitely make some noise in this tournament with her draw.  Based on current form, I like her chances to take out Wozniacki if she makes it to that match.
• Really bizarre match to start the day on the Grandstand.  Qualifier Monica Niculescu trailed 0-3 against Sabine Lisicki, but then reeled off twelve straight games to take the match 6-3, 6-0.  Lisicki didn't appear to be injured, but something had to have been up there.
• This new facility they have here at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason is undeniably nice.  But it can be a chore navigating it, since stair access is restricted and there is only one elevator.  Getting from the fourth floor (media area) to the ground level can take upwards of five minutes.  The players all seem very happy with the new facility, to be sure, but it seems like certain parts of it could use a little tweaking.
• Big match tonight here between Victoria Azarenka and Ana Ivanovic.  Probably won't be close, but will be dramatic.