Wednesday, July 16, 2003

2003 2Q Quiz

==THE QUESTIONS==
1.The 2nd Quarter brought us an all-Belgian final at Roland Garros, then another all-Williams final at Wimbledon. When was the last slam singles final that wasn't an all-SOMETHING (Williams, Belgian, American, etc.) affair?
a.2001 Roland Garros
b.2002 Australian Open
c.1999 Wimbledon
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2.True/False. When Nadia Petrova advanced to the Roland Garros SF last month while holding a singles ranking of #76, she became the lowest-ranked RG semifinalist since #99 Brigitte Simon accomplished the feat in 1978.
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BONUS QUESTION #1
Thirteen active singles players (not counting Navratilova) have grasscourt WTA Tour singles titles on their resumes. Of the players on this list, which have and which haven't won grass titles?

Jennifer Capriati...Els Callens
Jelena Dokic........Monica Seles
Eleni Daniilidou....Mary Pierce
Lisa Raymond........Chanda Rubin
Conchita Martinez...Nicole Pratt
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3.Justine Henin-Hardenne's championship at Roland Garros meant that she was the first married woman to win a slam singles title since who?
a.Chris Evert at 1986 Roland Garros
b.Hana Mandlikova at 1985 US Open
c.Tracy Austin at 1981 US Open
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4.Which current Top 20 player had the biggest ranking rise from the beginning to the end of the 2nd Quarter?
a.Conchita Martinez
b.Ai Sugiyama
c.Silvia Farina Elia
d.Vera Zvonareva
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5."I was the only person to play in the Ladies' Qualifying, Main Draw and Junior Girls competitions at this year's Wimbledon." Who am I?
a.Vera Douchevina
b.Barbora Strycova
c.Carly Gullickson
d.Tatiana Golovin
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6.Match the 2nd Quarter quote with the player who said it about one of her opponents:
THE QUOTES
1."I lost the match. She didn't do very much. I was basically playing against myself."
2."There was nothing in particular she did. When I lose it's usually because of how I played."
3.On her opponent's slow serve: "I could almost hit an overhead off of it."

THE PLAYERS
a.Serena Williams
b.Jelena Dokic
c.Bruna Colosio
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7.The three youngest players ranked in the Top 100 at the end of the 2nd Quarter were all Russian. Pick the three, from youngest to oldest.
a.Sharapova,Kuznetsova,Zvonareva
b.Sharapova,Safina,Kuznetsova
c.Sharapova,Safina,Krasnoroutskaya
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8.When Amelie Mauresmo defeated #1 Serena Williams in Rome, she became just the fourth active player with wins in her career over three different players who held the #1 ranking at the time. Who are the other three?
a.S.Williams,V.Williams,Davenport
b.S.Williams,Clijsters,Davenport
c.S.Williams,V.Williams,Seles
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9.Fourteen players are now ranked in the Top 100 who were not there when the 2nd Quarter began. Name the three ranked the highest.
a.Sharapova,Morariu,Morigami
b.Sprem,Sharapova,Morariu
c.Petrova,Sharapova,Sprem
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10.What distinction did Gabriela Volekova, Maria Fernanda Alves and Sunitha Rao share in the 2nd Quarter?

a.they each won 3 ITF Challenger titles, the most in the quarter
b.they're the players Anna Kournikova defeated in a Challenger event
c.they're the players Maria Sharapova defeated en route to her Challenger event title at Sea Island, Georgia
d.they were all defeated 0-6,0-6 in 1r matches at Roland Garros and Wimbledon
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BONUS QUESTION #2
At the end of the 2nd Quarter, seven women aged 30-or-older were ranked in the Top 100. Pick them from this group:
V.Ruano-Pascual.....Ai Sugiyama
Els Callens.........Monica Seles
Silvia Farina Elia..Lisa Raymond
Nicole Pratt........Barbara Rittner
Amy Frazier.........Amanda Coetzer
Gala Leon Garcia....Conchita Martinez


==THE ANSWERS (1 point each unless noted)==
1.B. The 2002 Australian Open final between Jennifer Capriati and Martina Hingis was the last "non-all" slam final. By individual slam, the last "non-all" final came in 2001 for Wimbledon (Venus/Henin), 2001 for Roland Garros (Capriati/Clijsters) and 1999 for the US Open (Serena/Hingis).
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2.False. Petrova was the third lowest-ranked RG semifinalist, but it was only last year when someone ranked even lower did the same thing. #87 Clarisa Fernandez made the RG SF in 2002. Fernandez, by the way, began the 2nd Quarter ranked #26 but, after failing to repeat her career-best slam result in Paris, she ended the quarter ranked #65. Petrova is currently #25.
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BONUS QUESTION #1 (1 point for each correct answer) The six players listed with WTA grasscourt titles are Dokic (2002
Birmingham), Daniilidou (2002 s'Hertogenbosch), Seles (1996 Eastbourne), Raymond (2000 Birmingham), Rubin (2002 & 2003 Eastbourne) and Martinez (1994 Wimbledon).
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3.A. Chris Evert, then known as Chris Evert-Lloyd after her marriage to British tennis player John Lloyd, was the last married women's slam champ. She defeated Martina Navratilova at Roland Garros in 1986 for her record 7th title in Paris. It was the last grand slam crown (she won a total of 18 from 1974-86) of her Hall of Fame career.
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4.D. Zvonareva had the biggest jump amongst all current Top 20 players, improving 18 spots from #33 to #15. The next biggest rise was from Martinez, who moved up 11 spots from #25 to #14.
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5.C. 16-year old American Gullickson was the only participant in all three phases of Ladies singles action at Wimbledon. She was the youngest to win the necessary three matches to qualify, then lost to Iroda Tulyaganova in the 1r of the main draw (on Centre Court, in her grand slam debut). In her third week of Wimbledon action, the #2-seeded Gullickson lost in the QF of the Girls to #11-seed Emma Laine. She entered this week ranked #228 in singles.
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6.1 to B, 2 to A, 3 to C. (1 point for each correct answer) Dokic said it after losing to Conchita Martinez in Rome. Serena said it after losing to Amelie Mauresmo, also in Rome. And Colosio, ranked #384 at the time, directed her comments toward Anna Kournikova's serve after defeating the Russian superstar in a Challenger event at Charlottesville, Virginia.
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7.B. In order, 16-year old Maria Sharapova (#56), 17-year old Dinara Safina (#64) and 18-year old Svetlana Kuznetsova (#28).
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8.B. Mauresmo's win over Serena was added to victories over #1's Hingis & Davenport. Serena's #1 win were over Hingis, Capriati & sister Venus. Clijsters' were over Hingis, Venus & Serena. Davenport earned victories over Graf, Hingis & Capriati.
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9.C. #25 Petrova, #56 Sharapova and #66 Karolina Sprem were the highest-ranked players who rose into the Top 100. None have won WTA singles titles, but Sprem is tied for the most ITF Challenger titles in 2003 with four. By the way, the other 11 players who moved into the Top 100 were #72 Akiko Morigami, #87 Saori Obata, #88 Samantha Reeves, #90 Gala Leon Garcia, #91 Tatiana Perebiynis, #93 Maria Elena Camerin, #94 Martina Sucha, #96 Lubomira Kurhajcova, #97 Ansley Cargill, #98 Zuzana Ondraskova and #99 Arantxa Parra.
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10.B. They're the players Kournikova defeated on her way to a SF at Sea Island, where she lost in a walkover to the tournament's eventual winner Sharapova. The three victories are Kournikova's only wins in 2003 other than her 1r defeat of Henrieta Nagyova at the Australian Open in January.
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BONUS QUESTION #2 (1 point for each correct answer) The seven are Callens (32), Farina Elia (31), Coetzer (31), Martinez (31), Rittner (30), Pratt (30) and Frazier (30). Except for Sugiyama (who's 28), the other four Top 100 women on the list will all turn 30 before the end of 2003.

==SCORING==
25-21...With a little practice, you just might be able to convince Maria Sharapova that you're qualified to be her "grunting coach"

20-12...Congratulations, you've been hired as Daniela Hantuchova's new personal chef (I hear you only have to work 15 minutes a week, but you still get full health insurance coverage)

11-6...You win an all-expenses paid trip to Paris with Serena Williams, but you have to wear an "I Hate the French" t-shirt at all times

0-5...Your assignment is to come up with a list of 10 things to like about Lleyton Hewitt (good luck with such a hopeless endeavor)