Russian Roulette

I don't think there is a woman in the world who doesn't have a bit of a soft spot for Marat Safin.

*

Understandably.

*

I love watching Marat play, but going for him is certainly a gamble. When Marat is on, then he's on. Marat, at his best, can give Roger Federer a run for his money. They've certainly had some classic matches in the past - the Australian Open final in 2004 and the semi-final in 2005 both come to mind. But Marat when he's off... can be almost painful. Maybe because it's so painful for him. Yesterday's match against Andy Roddick at Kooyong was an example of that. Marat did not play well. And you could tell he knew it.

*

I don't think I would like to meet Marat after a match like that. He was in a foul mood on the court, and I can't imagine he'd be very pleasant to be around afterwards.

*

That's the difference, I think, between Marat and his Russian compatriot Dmitry Tursunov. Dmitry, like Marat, is a hot/cold player. Cheering for Dmitry is a roll of the dice, and you're never quite sure what you're going to get. But Dmitry doesn't seem to get quite so annoyed at himself about it.

*

I would love to see Safin and Tursunov play doubles. They have in the past - Davis Cup for Russia comes to mind. They also played at Estoril in 2006, when Dmitry wrote his now-famous blog, much of which was devoted to paying out Marat, especially because they had to pull out in the semi-final because Marat rolled his ankle walking down the hill to get a haircut. I can imagine that their singles careers get in the way of playing doubles, but if they started training together permanently, I think they could take out the Bryans.

*

(I'd certainly like to think they could take out the Bryans!)

*

Unlike Marat, Dmitry is ON at the moment. He's into the semis at Sydney, where he'll play Fabrice Santoro, and I'm pretty sure he can win. I certainly hope he wins, because I've got tickets to the men's final tomorrow night, and I wouldn't miss that one for anything! The four semi-finalists are actually pretty weird - not who you would have picked. Chris Guccione plays Radek Stepanek and Tursunov plays Santoro. None of them are seeded. When you consider that the four top seeds were Gasquet, Robredo, Blake and Berdych - none of whom are slouches, and all of whom were taken out by these four players - that's a pretty good effort.

*

I'm gunning for a Tursunov/Guccione final, with a Tursunov victory. Not very patriotic, I know, but if you ask me, tennis isn't about nationality. Tennis is about personality - and Dmitry Tursunov sounds like someone I wouldn't mind having a few drinks with!

*

*

Today's Results

_

Medibank International (Sydney)

_

Men's Draw

Chris Guccione def. Tomas Berdych, 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-4

Radek Stepanek def. Agustin Calleri, 6-2 6-4

Dmitry Tursunov def. Sebastien Grosjean, 6-4 6-2

Fabrice Santoro def. Evgeny Korolev, 6-3 6-3

_

Women's Draw

Justine Henin def. Ana Ivanovic, 6-2 2-6 6-4

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Nicole Vaidisova, 7-5 7-6 (7-4)

_

_

AAMI Classic (Kooyong)

_

Andy Murray def. Ivan Ljubicic, 6-7 (7-9) 6-4 6-2

Andy Roddick def. Marat Safin, 6-3 6-3

_

_

Heineken Open (Auckland)

_

Julien Benneteau def. David Ferrer, 6-4 6-0

Juan Monaco def. Michael Llodra, 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-5)

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Nicolas Massu, 4-6 6-3 6-4

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Florian Mayer, 6-3 6-4

_

_

Moorilla Hobart International (Hobart)

*

Vera Zvonareva def. Ashley Harkleroad, 6-2 6-1

Eleni Daniilidou def. Flavia Pennetta, 6-4 6-3