Postcard From Paris

I have to say, I'm really very glad that if my beloved Roger Federer had to go out early in Paris, at least he was joined by another member of the Big Four. Andy Murray fell victim to Radek Stepanek today, after totally destroying him in the first set.

I know Murray won Valencia and all, but I just haven't been so sold on him for a while - especially since the US Open. That loss he took there was - well, not stupid, because Cilic played absolutely lights out - but... unfitting, I guess. Outside the Slams, sure, a loss to Cilic ain't anything much: Mighty Marin could beat just about anyone, given his day. But in the middle of a Slam? Murray should be winning those if he wants to become a legitimate Slam contender.

Wow. So did not mean to derail that into The Trials and Tribulations of Andy Murray and Why He Is Just Not Good Enough Right Now.

The other two members of the Big Four, Nadal and Djokovic, progressed - pretty serenely, in Djokovic's case, not so much in Rafa's. It's really mean of me, but I'm just hanging for Rafa to crash out here... because I'm a Roger girl and after winning the French and Wimbledon, it would seem totally unfair if he didn't get the year end #1. Not that Rafa isn't made of awesome, because he totally is, but this is a Roger year. A Roger year, damn it!

Oh well. Roger can make up some points in London. He crashed out in the round robin stages last year, so... and yeah, of course, Rafa didn't play at all, so there are many, many points he could make up. We'll see, I guess.

Speaking of London, I hear on the grapevine that one Andy Roddick is out injured. This is a huge, huge shame, because he deserves his spot there after his awesome Wimbledon showing. However, what does this mean for the people in Paris at the moment scrambling for a spot - the Verdascos and Soderlings and suchlike? It would likewise be a real shame if Soderling missed out, especially after his good win over Davydenko today...


Today's Results

BNP Paribas Masters (Paris)

Rafael Nadal def. Tommy Robredo, 6-3 3-6 7-5
Novak Djokovic def. Arnaud Clement, 6-2 6-2
Gael Monfils def. Julien Benneteau, 6-46-3
Marin Cilic def. Fernando Verdasco, 3-6 6-3 6-4
Radek Stepanek def. Andy Murray, 1-6 6-3 6-4
Robin Soderling def. Nikolay Davydenko, 6-3 3-6 6-4
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Gilles Simon, 6-2 6-3

We'll Always Have Paris

This is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

Not only did my beloved Roger Federer lose to Julien Benneteau - yes, I had to say that to get it out of my system, because this is positively DYSTOPIC - we have witnessed the very, very last match of one of the truly great characters of tennis.

Marat Safin, we'll always have Paris.

(Yes, I know every blogger in history will be using that title today. Uniqueness is overrated.)

Marat was one of the New Balls generation, the spunky young things who came through at the beginning of the millenium and who were supposed to set tennis on fire. And they totally did set tennis on fire, too. Federer (sob sob sob why Benneteau whhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyy?!?!?!) is the one who is really going to go down in history, but at the beginning, it was all about Lleyton Hewitt and one other man - one Marat Safin. A feisty twenty year old who totally drubbed Pete Sampras in the US Open final and then celebrated with a case of vodka, because God had come to him, patted him on the head, and said 'you will the win the glory'. The Marat that proved that just because you were abrasive and opinionated it didn't stop you from being totally lovable.

Racquet-smashing Marat. Marat of the blontourage. Marat of the poker-faced humorous quips that have made him the darling of the media for many years (probably much to his disdain). Marat who didn't give a flying f*ck about anyone or anything and who did things his way.

Marat who, in the end, really didn't like tennis that much. But that was okay, because tennis liked him. The game will be poorer without him. He's no statesman, no Federer or Nadal or Ljubicic. But he is a character. Even in rankings freefall, he was one of the most popular players ever.

(Of course, it probably didn't hurt at all that he was totally smokin' hot).

It's probably sort of fitting that it was Juan Martin del Potro who defeated him today (though I probably would have found a reason for it to be fitting no matter who defeated him, except possibly Thierry Ascione). JMDP is another young dude who just won his first Slam at the US Open. At the beginning of this next decade, JMDP is going to be one of the guys who takes the game forward. He's part of this generations' New Balls, I guess you could say - and he is making his mark. He has made it today, by ending Marat Safin's career.

I don't think Marat is going to go gently into that good night. I don't think we've heard the last of him. It's not his style. We may not have the privilege of seeing him play any more, but we will, hopefully, get some more of those sardonic press conferences that have made us all chuckle. I, personally, would love to see him come to Australia some time in the future and commentate the Open with Jim Courier. I have a feeling that a match commentated by those two would be a riot, even if the match itself was as dull as dry toast.

So thanks for the memories, Marat. Ain't no one gonna forget you. And, yes, my friend, we will always, always have Paris.


Today's Results

BNP Paribas Masters (Paris)

Julien Benneteau def. Roger Federer, 4-6 6-7 (4-7) 6-4
Rafael Nadal def. Nicolas Almagro, 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-5
Novak Djokovic def. Juan Monaco, 6-3 7-5
Juan Martin del Potro def. Marat Safin, 6-4 5-7 6-4
Robin Soderling def. Ivo Karlovic, 6-4 7-6 (8-6)
Fernando Gonzalez def. John Isner, 7-5 7-6 (7-3)
Marin Cilic def. Lukasz Kubot, 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-2
Tommy Robredo def. Tomas Berdych, 6-4 6-4
Gael Monfils def. David Guez, 6-4 7-5
Arnaud Clement def. Tommy Haas, 5-7 6-3 7-6 (10-8)

The Stan Sitch

You know who really hasn't brought a lot to the table of late, much as it pains me to say it? The second banana Swiss Mister, Stan Wawrinka. I mean, sure he made quarters in Basel last week, but what is this going-out-in-the-first-round nonsense, hmmm? To a qualifier of whom I have never heard? In straight sets?

I think the only appropriate response is a giant WTF?

Maybe he's been a little distracted. His girlfriend is pregnant, after all - and not everyone can be all like, 'oh, wow, I'm going to be a dad... WIN EVERYTHING NOW!' like certain Swiss people we know and love. I don't know if this Stan situation counts as a slump yet but it's certainly heading in the mini-slump direction. Maybe he just needs a good long rest at the end of the season before Australia and the birth of his baby.

With all the hype over Chiudinelli playing so well (although dear Marco also lost this morning... to a much more worthy opponent than Random French Qualifier, however) the fact that Stan has... ahem... not been playing so well has perhaps slipped under the radar a bit. And there is that other Swiss guy as well - you know, whathisface, Federman or something - that kind of detracts from all the others. It must be hard being a Swiss tennis player in the era of Federer sometimes...

...wow, I really did not mean to get into a deep and meaningful ramble about how hard it is to be Swiss when the Ultimate Swissie is playing. Stan's play has, I suspect, nothing to do with the awesomeness of Roger or the resurgence of Chiudinelli. He's just not playing so well right now, and it's a shame, because watching Stan play is awesome. That backhand is sweet as. There should be more like it.

So, Stan, have a good off season. I expect a hearty serve of Backhand Delight next year.


Today's Results

BNP Paribas Masters (Paris)

Nikolay Davydenko def. Benjamin Becker, 6-2 6-1
Fernando Verdasco def. Andreas Seppi, 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-4
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Albert Montanes, 6-1 7-5
Nicolas Almagro def. Marco Chiudinelli, 6-2 6-4
David Guez def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-3 6-4
Juan Monaco def. Jeremy Chardy, 7-6 (8-6) 7-5
Julien Benneteau def. Philipp Petzschner, 4-6 7-5 6-3
Arnaud Clement def. Feliciano Lopez, 6-3 6-1

Farewelling Fabrice

If he's going to go out, he's going to do it with drama. I think everyone in the tennis world would have killed Thierry Ascione if he had managed to squeak out that match against Marat Safin. The world wants as much Marat as possible before we have to let him go.

Three match points. Three match points Marat saved in this match. Three match points between him and the end of his career. I wonder if he was tempted to choke on any of them...? I'm very glad he didn't. It means I can still believe he loves tennis, still believe that maybe there will be a Clijsters/Henin style comeback for him. I know there won't be, but a girl can dream, n'est pas?

However, Marat is not the only person we're farewelling (though not yet! NOT! YET!) Fabrice Santoro has played his last ATP level match and I think it's only fitting it was in Paris, his home country, in front of an adoring crowd. 'Twas James Blake that did the deed... seriously, it's, like, the first match he's won all year, and it has to be ending the career of someone as superb as Santoro.

Santoro never was, I think, one of the greats. He never won a Slam, or any of those major, major titles that put you in contention for Halls of Fame and general tennis immortality. He was, however, special. I don't think there's any player who was quite as unusual as him, with such a quick, quirky style of play, with such soft hands and such creativity. Every time I watched him play - he might not always have won, but still - he came up with some stuff which was really unexpected. He was a constant surprise. And he was different, and we like different here at this blog.

But now it's time to say goodbye to the little wizard. Marat Safin once said that being told he had to play Santoro was like being told he was going to die - such was Santoro's ingenuity and originality on the tennis court. Here's hoping a few kids see some tapes of Santoro and try to factor some of that quirky brilliance into their play - because the tennis world needs some magicians like Fabrice Santoro.


Today's Results

BNP Paribas Masters (Paris)

Andreas Seppi def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-3 6-3
Ivo Karlovic def. Pablo Cuevas, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4
Tomas Berdych def. Vincent Millot, 6-3 7-6 (7-4)
Lukasz Kubot def. Andreas Beck, 6-4 3-6 6-4
Viktor Troicki def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 7-6 (7-4) 3-0 retired
Albert Montanes def. Victor Hanescu, 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-3)
John Isner def. Alejandro Falla, 4-6 7-6 (12-10) 7-5
Marat Safin def. Thierry Ascione, 6-4 4-6 7-6(7-3)


Fed Cup

Italy def. USA, 4-0

Flavia Pennetta def. Alexa Glatch, 6-3 6-1
Francesca Schiavone def. Melanie Oudin, 7-6 (7-2) 6-2
Flavia Pennetta def. Melanie Oudin, 7-5 6-2
Errani/Vinci def. Huber/King, 4-6 6-3 11-9 (match tiebreak)

Basel Dystopia

Yet another reason I Severely Dislike Novak Djokovic - he went and beat my beloved Roger Federer in the final of Basel, the Roginator's home tournament. I am appalled and disgusted and this is a universe gone topsy turvy and if Federer doesn't keep the year end #1 I am going to punch a wall. Or something.

I don't think there's an epic chance of him losing it, but I understand that it is within the realms of possibility, and I don't like that very much. It makes me sad that a tournament that's been so great as Basel ended with what is obviously the wrong result. Hmph. Screw you, Novak.

Yes, I am a paragon of maturity.

Everything came up Muzz in Valencia, which is really hardly surprising. Much as it would have been nice for Youzhny the Make-Himself-Bleed man to pull an upset, it was never really going to happen. Still, great run for Youzhny, and nice title from Muzz, so maybe he can climb back over Djokovic to that #3 spot. Stranger things have happened.

And then, in Bali, Aravane Rezai won the tournament... whatever the hell it was. I still don't understand the point of Bali, but I guess it's nice that she won. It was such a classic WTA match, though... Bartoli has been playing great all this week, and then bam! final! ...

...retire!

An ignominious end to what really has been a pretty ignominious year for the WTA. Kim Clijsters' US Open win aside, I don't think we've seen much amazing stuff there... and I really, really hope next year is better.


Today's Results

Valencia Open 500 (Valencia)

Andy Murray def. Mikhail Youzhny, 6-3 6-2


Davidoff Swiss Indoors Basel (Basel)

Novak Djokovic def. Roger Federer, 6-4 4-6 6-2


Commonwealth Bank Trophy of Champions (Bali)

Aravane Rezai def. Marion Bartoli, 7-5 retired

Battle of the Basel Boys

Well, we got our battle of the Basel boys - what a lovely match it must have been, seeing these two hometown boys having a good match. It's the furthest Marco Chiudinelli has ever been in a tournament, and it's great that it could happen in Basel - and it's lovely that he got the chance to play his bestie Rog.

I really hope Chiudinelli gets the comeback of the year award, because he has just been made of awesome so far. After finishing last year somewhere around #800, to be in the top hundred now and making tour level semis is pretty rad. I'd love to see him put up a good showing in Australia next year, maybe make it to the fourth round or so - he really deserves a great Slam run, after his awesomeness this year.

And speaking of awesome Swiss people, there is nothing that I can say about the awesomeness of Roger Federer that I have not already said. I really wish I had seen this match - because I love me some of the nice Swiss guys. A win for Basel.

Roger will play Djokovic in the final, who came through a good match against Radek Stepanek. That's a quality marquee final - I bet the organisers of Basel are very happy. I don't know how this tournament could have gone better for them.

In Valencia, we're going to see Muzz vs Youzhny - Youzhny's really on a kick these days. I remember writing a 'where are they now?' piece about him a while back, and now suddenly he's in finals all over the place. I don't know how you can not be a fan of a man who, you know, totally accidentally made himself bleed that one time, so I'm looking forward to a good match there.


Today's Results

Valencia Open 500 (Valencia)

Andy Murray def. Fernando Verdasco, 6-3 2-6 6-3
Mikhail Youzhny def. Nikolay Davydenko, 3-6 6-4 6-3


Davidoff Swiss Indoors Basel (Basel)

Roger Federer def. Marco Chiudinelli, 7-6 (9-7) 6-3
Novak Djokovic def. Radek Stepanek, 6-7 (4-7) 7-5 6-2


Commonwealth Bank Trophy of Champions (Bali)

Marion Bartoli def. Kimiko Date Krumm, 6-1 6-3
Aravane Rezi def. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, 6-2 6-3

Computer Problems =/= Crystal Meth

Let's get the actual tennis out of the way for starters. Just about everything came up Swiss in Basel overnight - Novak Djokovic took out Stan Wawrinka, but it's smooth sailing for one Mr R Federer, who made short work of Evgeny Korolev, and for his bestie Marco Chiudinelli the Resurgent, who also made short work of Richard Gasquet. Eminently satisfactory. It looks on track to be a Federer/Djokovic final and that would be pretty fun to watch... though not as fun as watching two childhood mates battle it out! I'm sure a lot of Swiss folks would love to see Roger vs Marco.

Everything fell the way it was supposed to in Valencia, pretty much - Gilles Simon was the only one who fell that, seedtastically speaking, probably shouldn't have, but he was playing Mikhail Youzhny, who has been made of awesome of late, so that's hardly surprising. Murray, Kolya and Nando all live to fight another day. Fun times, fun times.

And Bali is still as WTF? as ever - except for one thing. Vera Dushevina has been brought in as an alternate to replace Yanina Wickmayer. Why? Because the Flemish Doping Authority has banned her for one year, effective immediately. Same with her countryman Malisse.

I confess that the Malisse ban doesn't bother me as much - not because his circumstances were any more or less dodgy or anything, but because he's getting on and the better part of his career is definitely behind him. But Yanina Wickmayer? Title-winning, US Open semifinalist teenager Yanina Wickmayer? This could derail her whole career.

And the reason for the ban? She failed to report her whereabouts for testing three times over eighteen months. She claims this is due to a dodgy password, and technology being what it is, I see no reason why she shouldn't be believed. There's not a whiff of drugs about the girl. And three times over eighteen months? I could understand her getting a warning, or a slap on the wrist, or even a fine - but a one year ban is much, much too harsh. A one month ban, maybe, if you were being really mean - it'd rule her out of Bali but she'd be back by the Aussie Open. But this is frankly ridiculous.

The case of Malisse is also ridiculous - I can't remember what his offence was, but it was something else stupidly minor - but it doesn't tug at my heartstrings the way Yanina's does. She seriously has her whole career ahead of her, and this is not going to help. One can't help but think that is the backlash to the Agassi thing (about which I still have not been able to bring myself to write) and if it is, then that is stupid, reactive and unfair. Just because Yanina Wickmayer had computer problems doesn't mean she was off doing crystal meth somewhere.

Both Wickmayer and Malisse are planning to appeal, and I seriously hope these rubbish bans get overturned. Sure, drugs in sport is a big issue. However, tennis - whatever Andre Agassi might write - is pretty clean now. The biggest scandal we've had of late has been Richard Gasquet, and his poison of choice was cocaine, which isn't exactly performance enhancing. And he got off with, in the end, a slap on the wrist. If Wickmayer and Malisse's bans get upheld when they weren't guilty of anything more than being a bit cavalier with reporting, with no evidence they were actually doing drugs at the this time, then that is absolutely stupid. Slap on the wrist, tell them they were naughty and not to do it again - but you can't destroy someone's career over a password that didn't work.


Today's Results

Valencia Open 500 (Valencia)

Andy Murray def. Albert Montanes, 6-4 6-2
Nikolay Davydenko def. Guillermo Garcia Lopez, 6-4 7-6 (7-3)
Fernando Verdasco def. Tommy Robredo, 6-3 6-2
Mikhail Youzhny def. Gilles Simon, 6-4 6-4


Davidoff Swiss Indoors Basel (Basel)

Roger Federer def. Evgeny Korolev, 6-3 6-2
Novak Djokovic def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2
Marco Chiudinelli def. Richard Gasquet, 6-1 6-3
Radek Stepanek def. Marin Cilic, 4-6 6-3 6-3


Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions (Bali)

Marion Bartoli def. Shahar Peer, 6-3 6-2
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Samantha Stosur, 7-6 (7-4) 7-5
Vera Dushevina def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 2-6 6-1 7-5
Sabine Lisicki def. Melinda Czink, 6-2 6-7 (1-7) 6-4