Meanwhile, Serena Williams displayed her best form in roughly 18 months in winning at Charleston on green clay earlier this month, then led the U.S. Fed Cup team to a 5-0 sweep on red clay in Ukraine this past weekend, earning the team a berth in the World Group next year.

WSJ: Americans Produce Feats on Clay

Perhaps such hesitation played a part in the red card he received in the 1-0 defeat by Ukraine in World Cup qualifying last October.

BBC: World Cup scouting: goalkeepers

Her parents, Lesia and Peter Matijcio, had steeped their daughter in the customs and language of their homeland, and as she recited (in Ukrainian) an ode to Ukraine's folkloric kalyna plant a slender-branched shrub with lustrous red berries by the poet Taras Shevchenko, the crowd roared, and the little girl took bow after bow.

WSJ: Parental Advice for Actress Nina Arianda

After a 15% contraction in GDP last year, it has recently showed a modest rebound, but Ukraine is still plagued by a large fiscal deficit, unsustainable debt and staggering levels of corruption and red tape.

ECONOMIST: Ukraine's new government: One hundred days of Yanukovich | The