Psychic Tennis

For a change, I'm not going to talk about Roger's match today, and I'm going to talk about something different.

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Okay, that's a lie. I'm going to talk about Roger's match. But not exclusively. And that's a new and exciting step!

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Due to gainful employment, I didn't actually get to see it, but I was following the scores online. In retrospect, it was probably good for me to be following the match in an environment where I can't be too vocal about it - it kind of helps keep the stress under control. (Sort of... not entirely!) Also, there were periods where I couldn't check the score - because, being at work, I had to actually work - and when I came back, on the whole, Roger had broken and was ahead, or was at least on serve. I didn't have any nasty surprises!

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My psychic tennis skills kicked in a little bit - man, if I actually WAS psychic, I'm sure using my skills to hone in on what was going on in a tennis match would be a spectacular waste of them! - and I had a sinking feeling during the first part of the second set... but then it was overridden with calm, because I knew, I KNEW, that Roger would fix it. I think that might be more to do with the fact that he'd won the first set, and thus had a bit of leeway... if he'd been a set and a break down, I would have panicked, psychic skills or no psychic skills! Though it was kind of weird, during the second set breaker... even when Berdych was 3-0, 3-1 ahead, and later, when he had set points, I knew Roger was going to win. I just knew.

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So I'm starting to freak myself out a bit here. But maybe it's because I've matched so many Roger matches that I sort of get the pattern of them, if that makes sense... I don't think I want to lay claim to any sort of paranormal power!

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But a match that I did see and would like to devote some space to was the match between Novak Djokovic and Lleyton Hewitt.

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If we had seen the Djokovic of today playing against the Hewitt of his heyday, 2000-01, I think this would have been a really, really interesting match. As it was, it was pretty interesting. I don't know about the game, necessarily, but I think Hewitt certainly has the temperament to unsettle Djokovic. He's like a terrier. One of the things the Australian media always says about Hewitt is that he's a fighter, and I think it's certainly true. Much as I think he could use a personality transplant off the court, his doggedness on court is certainly an asset.

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So if we'd seen that Hewitt of 2000-01, a Hewitt who'd been able to consolidate and cement those breaks of serve he had in the first two sets, I think this would have been a fabulous, fabulous match - and I think Hewitt would have come out on top.

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Certainly Hewitt provided a sterner test for Djokovic than he's had in his first few rounds. I was gunning for Tursunov to get through - if he had, he would have met Djokovic in the third round, and that would have been very interesting - but alas, it was not to be. It will be really interesting to see how Djokovic fares in the quarters. He's playing Ferrer, who took out Ferrero in four sets. (It looked like a really good match from the stats - I wish they had shown it!) Now, Ferrer had a great year last year - a real breakthrough year, if you ask me. And in that year, Ferrer and Djokovic met four times.

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The result? They split it. Two each.

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They only met once in a Grand Slam - at the US Open, in the semis, where Djokovic won in straight sets. But at their last meeting, at the Tennis Masters Cup, Ferrer won in straight sets, 6-4 6-4.

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Now, in Djokovic's defence, he had a spectacularly awful tournament there. He lost to everyone. I think it's pretty safe to say he played too much tennis in 2007 and he was buggered by the time the Masters came around. But still, that doesnt take away from the significance of the match for Ferrer. Mentally, that should be a huge boost.

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Confidence, for Ferrer, is really the issue, I feel. I haven't seen a great deal of his matches - he's never really made a huge impact at the Australian Open or at Wimbledon, which is basically the extent of the Australian television coverage - but, hey! maybe it's my psychic tennis skills kicking in again. Who knows? This guy once described himself as the worst top 100 player in history. He doesn't strike me as having that Djokovic/Tipsarevic brand of fearlessness. But when facing a higher-ranked player, he cannot be afraid. That is tennis suicide.

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I think Ferrer can win - and win easily - if he is not afraid. Federer once said, 'A man who wins is a man who believes he can,' and David could do worse than to take that advice!

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So vamos, David! I would love to see him continue his great run. He made it to the semis of the US Open and the final of the Masters Cup - it'd be great to see him go through to the semis here. (There, of course, he will have to stop, due to extreme Federer presence, but I'd like to see him there!) And God, I want someone to put Djokovic in his place - or at least give him a scare. I appreciate that's he's a great tennis player, but he's just so... arrogant about it. I was so glad when he got that time violation warning last night. Nadal used to be just as bad in that area - sometimes he still is. Tennis should be about tennis, not about using the situations to your advantage. Like all those pretend injuries Djokovic has. That's not on. And if Federer comes out and says something negative about someone else - like he did about Djokovic and his injuries - then you know it's serious, because he hardly ever does anything like that.

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But if Djokovic does get through to the semis... I hope Roger doesn't just beat him. I hope he spanks him, and spanks him good. Djokovic could be this year what Roddick was last year. Roddick's team were all like, 'yes, well, we're a huge threat,' and then Federer totally demolished him in that semi. So if Djokovic gets through, with all his big talking... I hope Roger flattens him like he did Roddick!

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Australian Open Results - Day 8

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Tomas Berdych, 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 6-3

Novak Djokovic def. Lleyton Hewitt, 7-5 6-3 6-3

David Ferrer def. Juan Carlos Ferrero, 7-5 3-6 6-4 6-1

James Blake def. Marin Cilic, 6-3 6-4 6-4

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Womens Draw

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Venus Williams def. Marta Domachowska, 6-4 6-4

Ana Ivanovic def. Caroline Wozniacki, 6-1 7-6 (7-2)

Daniela Hantuchova def. Maria Kirilenko, 1-6 6-4 6-4

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Nadia Petrova, 1-6 7-5 6-0