Wednesday, April 06, 2005

2005 1Q Quiz

==THE QUESTIONS==

1.In the Hopman Cup competition in Perth that began the season, Anastasia Myskina went 3-0 in singles, but the heavily-favored Russian team failed to advance to the final because of partner Marat Safin's less-than-stellar play. What was the Russian team's record in singles and doubles matches in which Safin participated?
a.2-4
b.1-5
c.0-6
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2.Martina Hingis made an abbreviated return to the WTA tour in Pattaya in February, losing a 1st Round match to Marlene Weingartner. When Hingis was last on court nearly three years ago, who defeated her in her final match?
a.Anastasia Myskina
b.Elena Dementieva
c.Nadia Petrova
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3.Who was the last player that Hingis defeated?
a.Conchita Martinez
b.Jelena Dokic
c.Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
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4.CHAMPION WORD SCRAMBLE: Rearrange the letters to get the names of three 2005 WTA singles champions.
a.naa vaovcini
b.aikatrna enrtioksb
c.chtoicna tzainmer
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5.An old Backspin Quiz favorite... it's "Russian/Not a Russian!"
a.Alisa Kleybanova
b.Viktoriya Kutuzova
c.Jarmila Gajdosova
d.Lucie Safarova
e.Maria Arkhipova
f.Maria Babich
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6.Match up each of these 2005 Venus Williams losses with the excuse she gave for it:
a.Amelie Mauresmo
b.Silvia Farina Elia
c.Maria Sharapova
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1.fatigue/exhaustion
2.blister on palm
3.stomach muscle
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7.DO YOU REMEMBER...?

a.The name of the Belgian sports minister who announced that a drug test had been failed at an offseason exhibition event?

b.Which team won the Argentina/Slovak Republic final at the Hopman Cup?

c.How many match points Maria Sharapova failed to convert in her Australian Open SF against Serena Williams?

d.How many walkover "wins" Samantha Stosur received on her way to the Sydney final?

e.How many 2004 WTA singles champions have so far defended their titles in 2005?
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8.Fourteen Russians were in action in the 1st Round of the Australian Open's main draw. What was their combined record?
a.7-7
b.13-1
c.14-0
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9.In the Canberra final, qualifier Ana Ivanovic defeated "lucky loser" Melinda Czink. If Czink had won, she'd have become the first "LL" to win a WTA title since when?
a.1975
b.1980
c.1985
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10.Name the location of that event.
a.Atlanta, Georgia
b.Ft.Lauderdale, Florida
c.Sacramento, California
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BONUS: If you can name the player who did it, you get 10 big bonus points.

==THE ANSWERS (2 points each unless noted)==

1.c. 0-6. Safin was 0-3 in singles, then went 0-3 in doubles matches teaming with Myskina, as well. The slow start to his season didn't negatively effect him in Melbourne, though. He won his second grand slam title, becoming the only player to defeat Roger Federer in his last 48 matches. Myskina, though, went a mediocre 8-6 in the 1st Quarter.
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2.b. Hingis lost in straight sets to Dementieva in the 2nd Round in Filderstadt in October 2002.
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3.c. Hingis had beaten Sanchez Vicario in the 1st Round.
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4.(2 points for each of three correct answers) 1.Ana Ivanovic (Canberra); 2.Katarina Srebotnik (Auckland); 3.Conchita Martinez (Pattaya).
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5.(2 points for each of six correct answers) The Russians are A(Kleybanova), E(Arkhipova) and F(Babich). Kutuzova in from the Ukraine, Gajdosova is Slovakian and Safarova is a Czech.
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6.(2 points for each of three correct answers) a-3, b-2, c-1. For the record, Venus' fourth '05 1Q loss, to Alicia Molik in Melbourne, was explained away by Williams' noting that if she'd played "5% better" she would have won easily.
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7.(2 points for each of five correct answers) Claude Eerdekens, Argentina,
3, 2, 1.
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8.c. 14-0
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9.b. 1980
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10.a. Atlanta, Georgia
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BONUS: (10 points) Kay McDaniel was the last "lucky loser" WTA champion.

==THE SCORING==

56-40...You have a tennis future like Sharapova's
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39-23...You have a tennis future like Ivanovic's
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22-6...You have a tennis future like Dokic's
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5-0...You have a tennis future like Kournikova's

All for now.