Mana Games

[Verdasco Fan]

I think these threads are awesome, so I'm starting one. Plus, my signature is not big enough to hold all the stats lol.

Stats:

V Vili (NZL)

Overview:

Pro Since: 1997
Current Rank: 9
Highest Rank: 9
Current Year (2001) W/L: 0-0 (0%)
Career W/L: 212-80 (72.7%)

Playing Style: Power Baseliner
Biggest Strengths: Serve, Groundstrokes
Biggest Weaknesses: Movement, Stamina, Finesse Shots

Career Titles: 4

1999: Tashkent (Tier III/IV; Hard), Zurich (Tier I; Indoor Hard)
2000: Auckland (Tier III/IV; Hard), Doha (Tier II; Hard)

Best Grand Slam Results:

Australian Open: QF (2000)
French Open: 4R (1998)
Wimbledon: 3R (2000)
US Open: QF (1998, 1999, 2000)

The Story So Far: We join New Zealand tennis player Valerie Vili in the fourth year of her career. But first a bit of history. 1997 and some of 1998 saw her slumming it out on the Futures and eventually Challengers circuit, during which she encountered fellow up-and-coming players such as Elena Dementieva. During her time on the Futures and Challengers circuit she won 3 Futures and 2 Challenger titles.

Vili didn't begin to hit her stride until the 1998 clay season. Here, she performed respectively in the lead-up events, and surprisingly reached the fourth round of the first Grand Slam she ever contested, the 1998 French Open. While she was overpowered by Anna Kournikova in the fourth round, it was nonetheless a notable run as she upset two seeded players along the way - the #21 seed Chanda Rubin and the #12 seed Mary Joe Fernandez, both in straight sets.

Following a disappointing grass-season, Vili once again showed promise by reaching the quarterfinals of the US Open, stunning 5th seed and defending champion Jana Novotna in 3 sets in the fourth round.

Her next two years on tour saw her establish herself as a solid top player. In 1999, she won the Tashkent and Zurich tournaments back-to-back on a streak which lasted for 13 matches. Her Zurich run was particularly amazing - she defeated the #4 seed Venus Williams, the #2 seed Monica Seles, and finally the #1 seed Lindsay Davenport in the final. This remains her longest winning streak to date.

2000 saw her win two further titles - her home title in Auckland (beating Rennae Stubbs in the final), and Doha (defeating Aranxta Sanchez Vicario in the final). She also reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the first time, and the quarterfinals of the US Open for the third year in a row. She finished the year ranked world #9.

2000 Year-End Top 5:

1. Venus Williams (USA) 5170
2. Martina Hingis (SUI) 4825
3. Mary Pierce (FRA) 4150
4. Conchita Martinez (ESP) 4040
5. Monica Seles (USA) 4015

9. Valerie Vili (NZL) 2695

Present Day:

Vili enters 2001 with a sharp focus. Beginning the year as defending champion in Auckland, Vili knows that with the women's field as strong as ever (with 5 of the Top 10 being slam champions and another 3 slam finalists), she'll need to step it up like never before to accomplish her goal of attaining the #1 position and winning a Grand Slam.

[Verdasco Fan]

WEEK 1: AUCKLAND


R1: [1]Valerie Vili (NZL) def. Misumi Miyauchi (JPN) 6-0, 6-0
Very straightforward match. Miyauchi was a journeywoman defender with nothing to hurt Vili at all.

R2: [1]Valerie Vili (NZL) def. [WC] Pavlina Nola (NZL) 6-1, 6-3.
Aww, it sucks playing a compatriot and Fed Cup teammate . Credit to Nola for playing some solid points, but it was still a straightforward match in the end. Vili also met and defeated Nola in the same round of Auckland the previous year.

Vili performing a volley against Pavlina Nola in the second round.

rsz_te2009_013.jpg (36.41 KiB) Viewed 1540 times

QF: [1]Valerie Vili (NZL) def. Rita Grande (ITA) 7-6(3), 6-0.
Rita started the match with a 2-0 lead, and had a break point to serve for the set at 3-4. Thankfully Vili was able to take control of the tiebreak and then breeze through the second set.

SF: [3]Elena Dementieva (RUS) def. [1]Valerie Vili (NZL) 5-7, 0-6
. I didn't really deserve a bagel in the second set. My level wasn't that bad, but Elena played out of her mind. She had a bit of a choke serving for the first set at 4-5 but apart from that it was all one-way traffic. Bad matchup for Vili. H2H for Dementieva is now 3-0.

Next up: Australian Open.

[Serena Williams]

i hope u win some slams

[Verdasco Fan]

i hope u win some slams

Thank you. So do I.

[Serena Williams Fan]

I like this please continue on.

[A-Rod]

U have to win a Grand Slam, I give my support , can u get the 24 of Margaret S. Court

[Verdasco Fan]

Week 3: AUSTRALIAN OPEN

R1: [9]Valerie Vili (NZL) def. [Q]Samantha Smith (GBR) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Huge scare for Vili here. Doesn't bode well for Round 2.

R2: Rita Grande (ITA) def. [9]Valerie Vili (NZL) 5-7, 0-6.
Great. I start the story right when Vili's in a slump. Vili's serve hasn't been working so far in the year (only 1 ace and 6 DFs in this match). She beat Grande in Auckland, but clearly Grande was out for revenge this time. Vili will learn from this loss and become stronger. She still feels optimistic about her chances in the other three slams this year. Her ranking drops one place to #10.

In other news:

Australian Open Final: Meghann Shaughnessy (USA) def. [1] Venus Williams (USA) 6-7(2), 6-4, 7-5.
Unseeded world #48 Meghann Shaughnessy, never before a titlist on the tour, has done something unthinkable here by defeating the defending champion and top seed Venus Williams. Rennae Stubbs of Australia won Wimbledon a couple of years back in a similar position - never having won a title before. Well done to Meg but "WTF?" to Venus . Venus remains #1 in the rankings despite this loss.

[Serena Williams Fan]

Bad luck in the Aussie Open btw wth Meghann Shaughnessy (USA) def. [1] Venus Williams LOL!!

[Verdasco Fan]

Bad luck in the Aussie Open btw wth Meghann Shaughnessy (USA) def. [1] Venus Williams LOL!!

Yes, that was a real WTF moment lol. When Rennae Stubbs beat Mary Pierce in the Wimbledon final a few years prior I didn't think something like that would happen again. The only thing I can possibly figure is that Venus must've got injured during the match lol.

I'm experiences technical issues at the moment so I'll just do a partial update.

[Verdasco Fan]

WEEK 5: TOKYO (Surface: Carpet, Level: Tier 1)

R1: [7]Valerie Vili (NZL) def. Magdalena Maleeva 7-6(4), 6-7(4), 6-3.

Finally Vili's serve started working! But Maleeva was serving so well herself that this match could've gone any way. There were times where this resembled a Karlovic VS Roddick match - the first player to have a shaky service game would lose. Thankfully for Vili, this happened for Maleeva in the final set. "It gives me a lot of confidence to come through a tough match like this," said Vili. "My next match will be very interesting. Let's see how it goes ".

R2: [7]Valerie Vili (NZL) def. [9]Chanda Rubin (USA) 6-1, 6-3

"Game set and match Vili", says the chair ump. Vili's response? A fistpump followed by a huge scream. She's delighted! Finally, with this convincing win over the #12 ranked player in the world, she feels like she's finally finding her feet. This, she feels, is where her year has truly begun.

QF: [7]Valerie Vili (NZL) def. [2]Martina Hingis (SUI) 7-6(3), 3-6, 7-5

Epic. This time Vili drops her racket to the ground and falls to her knees. In a state of shock and awe, she forgets to get back up to shake Martina's hand at the net. So Martina has to cross the net to do it.

Yes, perhaps her reaction was a bit OTT. After all this is only Tokyo, not a slam final. But the significance of this win for Vili cannot be underestimated. This is easily the second-best win of her career. The only one to better it so far is stunning world #1 Davenport in the '99 Zurich final, defying a H2H of 5-0. In this case it was a 4-0 H2H, but just as tough a matchup so well done Vili.

2010-02-08.23-34 - V.Vil vs C.Rub 6-1 6-3.dmo

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2010-02-09.00-28 - V.Vil vs M.Hin 7-6 3-6 7-5.dmo

(175.15 KiB) Downloaded 65 times

To be continued.

[Verdasco Fan]

WEEK 5: TOKYO (Continued)

SF: [14]Amelie Mauresmo (FRA) def. [7]Valerie Vili (NZL) 3-6, 4-6.
Vili had so many opportunities in the match, including being up a break in both sets, and three break-back points when Mauresmo led 5-3 in the first set. Oh well.

In other news, [1]V. Williams (USA) def. [14]Mauresmo (FRA) 6-4, 7-5 in the Tokyo final. Recovering from that Australian Open monstrosity is Venus. :p

NEXT TOURNAMENT: ANTWERP (Tier II, Indoor Hard).

[Serena Williams Fan]

Awww you get them next time glad Venus bounced back after that silly lost to Meghan

[Verdasco Fan]

2001; WEEK 7: ANTWERP (Level: Tier II, Surface: Indoor Hard)

R1: BYE

R2: [3]Valerie Vili (NZL) def. [Q]Sandra Kleinkova (CZE) 6-1, 6-3
No fuss here.

QF: [3]Valerie Vili (NZL) def. [Q]Alicia Molik (AUS) 7-6(5), 6-3.
"I was lucky to win ugly, especially in the first set," said Vili. "I'll have to play a lot better in my next round that's for sure."

SF: [7]Elena Dementieva (RUS) def. [3]Valerie Vili (NZL) 2-6, 0-6.
"What can I say?" said Vili in the press conference. "I served like s**t and was totally outgunned. "

Next tournament: DOHA

[Serena Williams]

Dementieva is your weakness

[Sloane Stephens]

Dementieva is your weakness

I agree...she's killing you lolz. What's the H2H?