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.

2004 WTA Quiz

==THE QUESTIONS==

1.The Russian Horde grabbed most of the headlines this season, as three players became the first women from their country to claim grand slam singles titles. Over the course of Russian/Soviet tennis history, though, which woman has the most WTA singles crowns?
a.Anastasia Myskina
b.Olga Morozova
c.Maria Sharapova
d.Natasha Zvereva
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2.Of the players ranked in the season-ending singles Top 20, which climbed the most places since the end of 2003?
a.Alicia Molik
b.Karolina Sprem
c.Svetlana Kuznetsova
d.Maria Sharapova
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3.Russian, Chinese or neither? Match up each of the players listed below with their correct designation:

Ekaterina Kozhokina
Shuai Peng
Yung Jan Chan
Elena Tchalova
Vasilisa Bardina
Chia-Jung Chuang
Lucie Safarova
Nan-Nan Liu
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4."My brother is a former #1 player on the ATP tour, a former grand slam champ and a current Top 5 player. This season, I won a singles title of my own." Who am I?
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5.True/False. Alicia Molik's victory over Maria Sharapova in the Zurich final was uncommon for many reasons. Which of the following statements are true, and which are false?

a.it was the only '04 match that had 3 tie-break sets
b.it's the only pro (ITF/WTA) singles final that Sharapova has ever lost
c.it was the first time Sharapova had lost a set at love
d.it gave Molik her first WTA Tier I title
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6.Eight champions in 2004 were first-time WTA singles titlists. Pick out the ones who fit the description from the list of '04 winners below:

Claudine Schaul
Jelena Jankovic
Martina Sucha
Anabel Medina Garrigues
Nicole Pratt
Elena Likhovtseva
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7.Six Russian women spent time in the singles Top 10 in 2004 (four of them ended the season there). From the list of them below, place them in order from most WTA singles wins to fewest over the course of this past season:

#3 Anastasia Myskina
#4 Maria Sharapova
#5 Svetlana Kuznetsova
#6 Elena Dementieva
#11 Vera Zvonareva
#12 Nadia Petrova
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8.True/False. Emilie Loit won her first two career WTA singles titles in 2004, but managed to actually finish lower in the year-end singles rankings than she did in 2003.
==BONUS==
If true, how many places lower in the rankings did she finish? If false, how many places higher did she finish? (Hint: the answer is in single digits)
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9.From 2000-03, only one player per year managed to defeat both Serena and Venus Williams in the same season. In 2004, despite both missing time with injuries, two players managed to do accomplish the task. Who were they?
a.Lindsay Davenport & Amelie Mauresmo
b.Lindsay Davenport & Anastasia Myskina
c.Lindsay Davenport & Maria Sharapova
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10.Match the Backspin nickname with the player:

a.Penny
b.The Tunisian Tornado
c.The Blue Angel
d.The Czarina
e.The Frussian Pastry
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1.Anastasia Myskina
2.Emma Laine
3.Tatiana Golovin
4.Marlene Weingartner
5.Salima Sfar

==THE ANSWERS (1 point each unless noted)==

1.a & b. (you only get 1 point, though) This was something of a trick question, but one that benefits you. At the moment, both Myskina and Morozova are tied with nine WTA titles apiece (so either answer is correct). Sharapova is third all-time with seven. Zvereva, while she played for the USSR, is from Belarus, not Russia (but she only won four singles titles, anyway).
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2.b. #18 Sprem climbed 41 places (from #59), more than Kuznetsova (31, from #36 to #5), Sharapova (28, from #32 to #4), and Molik (22, from #35 to #13).
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3.If you said Dinara Safina, you're wrong (Marat Safin fits the ATP player description, but Safina didn't win a title in '04 -- though she was RU in the WTA's Luxembourg event). You're also wrong if you said Michaella Krajicek (she won an ITF title but, of course, brother Richard is retired). The correct answer is 21-year old Jaslyn Hewitt, sister of Lleyton, who won her first ITF title this season in Canberra.
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4.(1 point for each of four correct answers) a and c are false. b and d are true. Sharapova, for the record, is now 7-1 in WTA singles finals, and 3-0 on the ITF circuit.
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5.(1 point for each of eight correct answers) The Russians are Kozhokina, Tchalova and Bardina. Pen and Liu are Chinese. Chan and Chuang are from Chinese Taipei, and Safarova is Czech. All eight won ITF singles titles this year.
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6.(1 point for each of three correct answers) Schaul, Pratt and Jankovic won their first career WTA singles titles this season. Sucha and Medina Garrigues won their second career titles, while Likhovtseva won her third (but first since 1997).
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7.(1 point for each placed in correct position) In order, the Russian WTA wins leaders were Kuznetsova (57), Sharapova (55), Zvonareva (52), Myskina (48) and Dementieva & Petrova (both with 40).
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8.True. Loit won two titles, back-to-back weeks in Casablanca and Estoril, but saw her ranking fall from #41 to #45 from the end of 2003 to the end of 2004.

BONUS (1 additional point): so, the answer is four ranking spots.
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9.c. Davenport defeated Serena twice, and Venus three times in 2004. Sharapova knocked off Serena twice, as well, and Venus once.
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10.(1 point for each of five correct matches) a-2, b-5, c-4, d-1, e-3.

==THE SCORING==

32...a perfect score! Maria Sharapova was ranked #32 at the end of 2003, so it looks like you'll be winning Wimbledon next year. Plan accordingly.
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31-21...#27 Tatiana Golovin rose to that position from #345 in 2003, so you'll have to play some tennis in barely-there short-shorts in '05.
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20-10...#16 is in this range (that's how many doubles titles Anna Kournikova won in her career). And thus the Quiz's Anna K. quota has now been filled.
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under 10...Jelena Dokic use to be a Top 10 player, but now she's #125.

All for now.