Istanbul Cup, Five Years Later

Most of my readers know that once or twice a year, I will write an in-depth review of a tournament on the ATP or WTA Calendar. Not having done so this year, and finding myself in the beautiful city of Istanbul, Turkey, I had once again the pleasure of attending Istanbul Cup, a WTA Tournament that was added to the WTA calendar for the first time in 2005.

I used the word "again" because, interestingly, I was also there for that first tournament five years ago, and wrote an article related to it on Sports Central. In that article, my tone was optimistic, especially when considering the potential of Istanbul as a city of attractions and as a host of other big sports events (Formula 1 being one example).

Five years later, the tournament had a much different look. The surface and the venue have changed, the organization has become much more professional, and over the course of these years, Istanbul Cup has obviously excelled in many ways, perhaps enough to be considered in one of the factors influencing Istanbul's success in bidding and winning the privilege to host the year-ending WTA Championships for three years, beginning with the year 2011.

When Venus Williams won the inaugural tournament five years ago by defeating Nicole Vaidisova in the finals, the surface was clay and the tournament took place the week before Roland Garros. It remained on clay for the next three years. Big names were not lacking in any of the draws; Anastasia Myskina, Maria Sharapova, and Elena Dementieva came to play in the following years. Previous winners were Venus Williams (who came twice), Shahar Peer, Dementieva (also twice), and in 2008, Agnieszka Radwanska.

This year's tournament was held at a different time in the calendar and at ENKA Arena in ENKA Club, one of Istanbul's more established tennis clubs, also one that has an important place in Turkish tennis. For the first time, the matches were played on hard courts, which made it more attractive to European players who wanted to get a head-start on their preparation for the U.S. Open.

Once again, the Istanbul Cup was not lacking in first-class activities in preparation for the tournament — who can forget, back in 2005, the exhibition tennis display on the Bosphorus bridge with Venus Williams and a Turkish player, a virtual "intercontinental tennis match?" A star-studded pre-tournament cocktail party was held at the wonderful Archeology Museum of Istanbul under the watchful eyes of all international media, accompanied by a concert by Hadise, the fourth-place finisher for Turkey in the acclaimed yearly Eurovision song contest. Players did not forget to praise the tournament; Arezane Rezai, on her WTA blog during the tournament, summed up her feelings in three single words: "I adore Istanbul."

One other big difference from the previous years was the addition of night matches, which allowed the local crowds to arrive after work and watch the feature matches as is the case in many other tournaments. Despite the exit of the top seeds early in the tournament, they were not disappointed with the quality of tennis and the venue. Without a doubt, it helped that for the first time in Istanbul Cup history a Turkish player, Pemra Ozgen, a talented all-court player with a superb touch, won a round in singles draw and played a respectable three-set match against the third seed, Annabel Medina Garrigues, before being ousted from the tournament.

Speaking of the draw, surprisingly none of the top four seeds made it to the semifinals. The top two seeds, Vera Zvonareva and Patty Schnyder, both lost in the first round. The only one to reach the quarterfinal round was Medina Garrigues, losing to the eventual champion Vera Dushevina. The latter was practically unstoppable, losing only 16 games on her way to the title, in one of the most dominating tournament performances ever seen on the WTA Tour.

However, the big winner was Istanbul Cup, proving once again that it has a bright future. With its year-to-year improving standards, experience adding on each year, with its ability to attract top players due to superior hospitality, and with the natural advantage of taking place in one of the world's most bewildering and wonderful cities, the Istanbul Cup continues to look with an optimistic disposition toward next year. As for me, I already can't wait for the 2011 year-ending WTA Championships.