It's Her Party And She'll Cry If She Wants To II

Just as Svetlana Kuznetsova did exactly two weeks ago at Wimbledon, Dane Caroline Wozniacki suffered a disappointing loss on her birthday Saturday.

The top-seeded Wozniacki, who turned 19 today, dropped the final of the Swedish Open in Bastad to unseeded Spaniard Maria Jose Sanchez Martinez 7-5, 6-4. It was Martinez's second title of the year (and of her career), with her first coming on the clay courts of Bogota back in February.

Swedes and Danes are extremely close both geographically and culturally, and since there is no WTA event in Denmark this is as close to a home tournament as Wozniacki has. Bastad is only about thirty miles of water away from Denmark, so she had plenty of crowd support from visiting Danes as well as Swedes rooting for a Scandinavian champion.

Wozniacki's loss was disappointing, to be certain, but hardly one to be ashamed of. Martinez Sanchez played phenomenal singles and doubles all this week, using an impressively varied arsenal of slices, lobs, and drop-shots to throw the World #9 Wozniacki off of her baseline-hugging, punching style.

Maria Jose Sanchez Martinez has been the least talked about breakout players of 2009, most likely because her name takes so long to say that it precludes easy conversation. Sanchez Martinez, a rare late bloomer in tennis, will break into the top 40 on Monday for the first time in her career at the ripe old age of 26, after turning pro back in 1996. Sanchez Martinez's ranking has moved up almost fifty spots already this year, and could keep climbing into grand slam seed territory if she keeps up her form the second half of the year.

Martinez Sanchez is the rare Spanish player who is comfortable coming to net, and does so on clay perhaps more than any WTA player. Her aggressive style and deep ground strokes have given even the top players trouble, as she managed to win sets off both Dinara Safina and Serena Williams earlier this year. As evidenced by her two titles and a quarterfinal in Rome, clay is her best surface. She's done well on grass in years past as well, so a strong stint on the fast US hard courts is hardly out of the question.

If you're looking for a dark horse few have heard of to make a nice run at this year's US Open, she's your girl.