Eleni Danilidou, Ελένη Δανηλίδου Options

[hellas719]

Eleni was up 3-1 in the first set!!!! When I started watching on ESPN360 she was up 3-1 but then she lost the next 11 games to lose 6-3 6-0
Still, it was great to see her play and Ana Ivanovic was just on fire and she played one of her best matches of the past two years. There was nothing Eleni could do. Eleni had a nice tournament here and now she's playing a $50,000 challenger in Spain next week where she'll be the top seed! If Eleni keeps up her form there, then she has a GREAT chance at getting back into the top 100 for the first time in 3 years! And she really doesn't have many points to defend until September, so if she can keep this up, she can even get back into the top 75! I won't get too carried away though. First she needs to get back to the top 100 and if she can get back to the top 110 by July 18, she'll be in the main draw of the US Open without having to play qualifying. And right now her ranking well be around 115 so she's really close!

[hellas719]

Eleni vs. Ivanovic:
http://espn.go.com/espn3/player?id=208555&...;size=condensed

[hellas719]

Lena won 7-5 6-2 in the first round of the challenger in Spain. She is the top seed. I saw part of the match. She got injured and rolled over her ankle and looked like she was in pain so it wouldn't surprise me if she loses soon.

[hellas719]

She easily won the tournament without dropping a set and now she's ranked #104!

[hellas719]

Eleni reached the SF of the $75,000 tournament in Vancouver last week, boosting her ranking from 103 to 93, putting her back inside the top 100 for the first time in 3 years!!!

[hellas719]

Eleni qualified for Cincinnati, her first time in a tier 1 event since Indian Wells in March 2010, where she was a wildcard. It's the first time she got into a tier 1 on her own since March 2008 in Miami, where she got injured and that match ruined her career...

Unfortunately today she lost to #10 Sam Stosur from Australia in straight sets, but Stosur just reached the final last week at the tier 1 event in Toronto where she beat players like Na Li and Agnieszka Radwanska and she challenged Serena in the final so it wasn't a bad loss. Later today she will play doubles with Slovenia's Polona Hercog against Germany's Sabine Lisicki and Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova.

[hellas719]

Lost in USO R1 against Krajicek, who was playing really well when I saw her in qualifying. Not a bad loss.

Eleni and Polona Hercog (SLO) upset Wimbledon finalists Sabine Lisicki/Samantha Stosur in doubles! Well done!
But now they play the #3 team and defending champions Vania King/Yaroslava Shvedova

[hellas719]

She got to the QF of Tashkent, her first WTA QF of the year. She is also in the doubles final, her second WTA doubles final of the year.

[hellas719]

Eleni qualified for Beijing, the "5th slam" by beating American hope Vandeweghe and 2011 US Open semifinalist Kerber. She is unlikely to win her R1 against Daniela Hantuchova, the Slovak player who is a former GS finalist and former top 5 player. Eleni is a huge underdog but who expected her to beat Kerber? Amazing that Eleni was able to beat Kerber, who was in a slam semi just 3 weeks ago!

[CHIVAS]

Αποκλεισμός και τέλος η χρονιά για Δανιηλίδου
17/10/2011,

Η ήττα της Λένας Δανιηλίδου από την Ιταλίδα Καρίν Κναπ με 2-0 σετ έμελλε να είναι και το τελευταίο της ματς για την χρονιά. Η Ελληνίδα πρωταθλήτρια αποκλείστηκε από το τουρνουά του Λουξεμβούργου και η σεζόν την βρήκε στο Νο 91 της παγκόσμια κατάταξης.

Χάνοντας με 6-1 και 7-5, η Δανιηλίδου δεν κατάφερε να περάσει από τον Γ’ γύρο των προκριματικών του τουρνουά και δεν προκρίθηκε στο κυρίως ταμπλό.

http://www.sport-fm.gr/article/508673

[hellas719]

^Wells she lost cuz Knapp is really good and even though Eleni is better, Eleni was exhausted and came from Japan to Luxembourg and had to play the next day and the jet lag affected her and she said she was really tired from it and it was hard to adjust.

And her website says it was her last tournament but she entered Poitiers, France which takes place next week...

[hellas719]

Eleni's year-end ranking is ~90. First top 100 finish since 2007. Respect. Eleni has gone through so much shit in her life with pressure of being the hope of Greece at Grand Slams for years and years. She has had more serious injuries and surgeries than anyone after the last one in 2008 she really struggled and now to see her back in the top 100, it is just bittersweet. No one has given her the credit she deserves. With more luck she might have cracked the top 10 (even if it would've been only for a short time). I don't think she can get into the top 20 again, but she still has a few more years in her to compete in Grand Slams and then who knows???? She might be a late bloomer like Schiavone, Stosur, or Li! I don't think she will win a Grand Slam, but if they can all win grand slams and be in the top 5, I see no reason why Eleni can't reach the top 50 again. If all goes well, she should be in the London Olympics, which would be Eleni's 4th Olympics! That is just amazing and she started as a teenager in Sydney and now she's 29. I don't think anyone has competed 4 times in the Olympics in tennis. What an amazing achievement it would be! She would share that record with Venus Williams if they both compete.

Finally, I would like to say that it would be great to have Eleni around for a few more years because soon we will enter the golden age of Greek womens tennis, and she deserves to be a part of it for all that she accomplished . By the way she talks about her career in her blogs, she seems like she has no plans of quitting anytime soon

[hellas719]

Brisbane qualifying:
R1: Eleni d. Pivovarova 76 57 63
R2: Eleni l. to Bratchikova 26 76 16(

[hellas719]

Eleni plays 41yr old Kimiko Date Krumm of Japan in the first round in Melbourne. Date Krumm is a former world number 4 who retired at 26 and came back at 38!!!!!! It isn't the easiest match, but she has a chance to win it so if she can get past her, there is no reason why Eleni can't do well here as she has a kind draw

[hellas719]

Won her first match for her first win here since 2004!!!
Then had to retire in R2. She was crying the whole time and it looked like she had some neck problems
Such a shame because she could've won and then she would've played an easy Oprandi in the third round and then who knows what would've happened!

Get well soon.

[hellas719]

Eleni reached the semis in Malaysia last week. Her first semi at a WTA tournament since January 2008. Unfortunately, she lost in 3 sets thanks to bad scheduling. The girl she played had a walkover in the quarterfinals and Eleni had to play QF and SF back to back on the same day, and both of her matches were the only ones on that day as the other semifinal was played the next day. Stupid scheduling for sure and from what I heard she looked tired after the match. But she went up to 66 in the rankings!

[Isidoros]

Eleni is currently getting bitch slapped all over the court by Sveta Kuznetsova
Not looking good at all

[hellas719]

She lost 6-1 7-5. According to her blog, she led 5-2 in the second set. She said it was the worst tournament of the year for her so far because her back hurt and she had trouble serving and moving...Oh well, I didn't expect her to win anyways.

[hellas719]

Lost in the first round of the French Open to Wozniacki...

[adamosthegreek]

Can't get a favorable draw worth a damn. Good to see her fighting hard still.