Something Fishy

Why oh why oh why does Mardy Fish play from so far behind the baseline?

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I'm watching the men's singles rubber of the Hopman Cup final at the mo, and it's crippling him. Djokovic is killing him with the drop shot. In fact, Djokovic could even use the drop shot more. I appreciate that Fish is a baseline slogger, but surely this should be a case of horses for courses. Stand in a little, Mardy. Please.

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Though Fish is holding his own a whole lot better in the second set. Though, to tell the truth, I can't tell if it's a case of Djokovic playing badly or Fish playing well. Djokovic has certainly fatigued in the second set - not physically, I think, but mentally. This is something I think he might have a tendency of doing - the US Open final against Federer comes to mind, where he had set points in the first two sets (five in the first set, I think) and yet Federer took the sets in tie breakers. He's down 4-0 in the second set breaker as I write this. No one can doubt Djokovic's technical prowess as a player. In the first set of this rubber (where he spanked Fish 6-2) he was brilliant. His eye was in, and he has such an unreadable technique - you can't tell if he's hitting crosscourt or down the line until the ball leaves his racquet. More than that, you could see he was determined. He wanted to win. Now... he looks too tired to care. I appreciate that he's doing about 80% of the work for the Serb team at the mo, with Jankovic injured - if he loses this rubber, then Serbia loses the cup - but honestly. He's the Number 3 player in the world. Shouldn't he be able to keep his head in the game just a little better?

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I've never really warmed to Djokovic, to tell the truth, though I'm going for him in this match - more for the sake of Jankovic (and for the detriment of Serena Williams) than anything else. I find him a little arrogant - particularly galling when his mind goes like that. I remember when he played Federer in the fourth round of the Australian Open last year, and he was making all this noise about how he was going to take Federer out. There was an interview I remember really clearly with him that they showed before the match where he said (possibly slightly misquoted), 'I have just three words. He is going down. Oops, that's four.' I think that kind of sums up Djokovic, in a way. He's got all this determination... and then there's something he missed, or he didn't think about.

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(Federer caned him in the match, incidentally. It was beautiful to watch - almost as great as the semi-final where I think he nearly made Andy Roddick cry!)

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Djokovic has just lost the second set, and so we're heading to a third. The trainer is on court, but I somehow find it hard to believe Djokovic is seriously injured. A bit sore, sure, but totally incapacitated...? From watching, I get the feeling that Djokovic plays at hypochondria to give himself time. He does it serving as well - he'll bounce the ball fifteen, twenty, twenty-five times before he throws it up. Dirty tactic, but he's not the only one that pulls stunts like that. Nadal comes to mind, and I can certainly recall an occasion last year when Safin tried to delay! (Third round at the Australian Open against Roddick, if memory serves.) I know that 'everyone' does it, but I wish they wouldn't. It doesn't really seem like sportsmanlike conduct.

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But then, tennis is an individual sport, and I guess that means self-serving to some degree!

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Hopman Cup final wrap tomorrow!

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(Meanwhile, this ongoing match at the Adelaide International between Jarkko Nieminen and Vince Spadea looks like a potboiler. I wish I could see it! They've split two tiebreak sets and it's on serve in the third... will be interesting to see who pulls that one out of the hat!)

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Today's Results

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Hopman Cup (Perth)

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Final

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Serena Williams def. Jelena Jankovic, walkover

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Round Robin

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Serbia def. Argentina, 2-1

Jankovic/Djokovic def. Dulko/Chela, 6-1 3-6 10-4 (match tie break)

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France def. Chinese Taipei, 3-0

Arnaud Clement def. Lu Yen-hsun, 7-6 (7-2) 6-4

Golovin/Clement def. Hsieh/Lu, 6-4 4-6 10-6 (match tie break)

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Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts (Gold Coast)

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Li Na def. Patty Schnyder, 3-6 6-3 7-5

Victoria Azarenka def. Shahar Peer, 6-4 6-2

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ASB Classic (Auckland)

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Lindsay Davenport def. Tamira Paszek, 6-4 6-3

Aravane Rezai def. Marina Erakovic, 6-3 7-5

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Next Generation Adelaide International (Adelaide)

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Michael Llodra def. Benjamin Becker, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Joseph Sirianni def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 1-6 6-1 7-6 (8-6)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Lleyton Hewitt, 6-4 6-2

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Qatar Exxonmobil Open (Doha)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Dmitry Tursunov, 7-5 6-3

Andy Murray def. Thomas Johansson, 7-6 (7-4) 6-0

Ivan Ljubicic def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-3

Stanislas Wawrinka def. Agustin Calleri, 6-3 6-0

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Chennai Open (Chennai)

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Rafael Nadal def. Rajeev Ram, 6-2 6-1

Marin Cilic def. Nicolas Mahut, 6-2 6-4

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Werner Eschauer, 4-6 7-5 7-6 (7-3)

Robin Haase def. Lovro Zovko, 6-1 7-5