Crashing Down To Earth

Three from four on my semi final picks, which is not too bad at all, really. Not as impressive as my eight from eight in the Roland Garros quarters, but pretty good nonetheless. We have Ferrer/Gicquel in s'Hertogenbosch and Karlovic/Verdasco in Nottingham. I had picked Cilic over Verdasco, but Fernando got him good in the end. It was an easy victory. But even I can't pick them all... because I'm so qualified to be able to pick them all and stuff.

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Long story short: I'm picking Ferru and Dr Ivo as my winners. Reasons... pretty much what I wrote yesterday.

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Meanwhile, I totally only just realised that Dmitry Tursunov, a favourite of mine, had been playing in Nottingham... but although I didn't remember him losing, he wasn't in the finals. So I did some digging to see what had happened to him, and, lo and behold! excluded. He chucked a hissy fit during his doubles match, stormed off court, and ended up being disqualified in singles.

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This presents me with a dilemma. I do not like this kind of behaviour. I don't condone it. If it had been Djokovic chucking the nana, I would be outraged at his reprehensible conduct. But it's Dima... a player I like, a player who is probably my second favourite after Federer. And my first instinct is to make excuses for him.

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I don't want to do that. That's one of the things I admire about Roger so much - he never makes excuses for himself, even when he has them (glandular fever, anyone?) I don't know the full story about what went on in that doubles match with Haggard, but I don't know if it really matters. Is it ever acceptable for a player to do something like that - to storm off the court, to forcibly halt play?

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I like Marat Safin as well, and it cannot be denied that that figures into his game sometimes. Not one of the more attractive aspects of his game, to be sure, but it's there. My new girl favourite, Dinara (who is in the final in s'Hertogenbosch!) is not adverse to stopping play every once in a while. Hell, look at the amount of time violations Rafa has accumulated in the last few years? But none of them, to my knowledge, have ever stormed off court.

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So how do I, as a fan, reconcile this with a player I like? If it were Djokovic, I would slam him and damn him. That I can say unequivocally. Dima has behaved shockingly - even though I don't know the full situation, I think it is fair for me to make that statement. I don't want to slam him and damn him, but I cannot - will not - make excuses for him either. Dima is a funny guy with an appealing game and a blog that I think has brought a lot ot the tennis world. But how can I allow this to excuse him?

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Dima does not get a free pass from me just because I like him. Much as I would like to justify what he did, I can't - not within my definition of sportsmanship, anyway. So what do I do? How do I, as a fan, deal with this?

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It is tempting to say that I am spoiled as a fan of Federer, who never puts a foot wrong and who has won the annual sportsmanship award about, oh, I don't know, twenty million times or something. Dima is only human. But so is Roger. So is everyone else on the tour. I mean, sure, they're allowed to make mistakes. No one can take that right away from anyone. But this was... it was a pretty big mistake, Dima.

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It's not like I'm going to suddenly demote Dima on my list of favourite players or anything, or suddenly throw him with Djokovic in the cesspit of tennis evil. But this raises issues beyond this case - and even beyond tennis. How do fans cope when their idol puts a foot wrong? What do you do when your hero makes a mistake? How do you reconcile the man in your mind with the evidence of his flaws?

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Of one thing I am very sure. As people should have to face up to their own bad behaviour and not hide behind excuses, so we, as fans, should not make excuses. Personal preference does not accord anyone a get out of jail free card. And so I will be keeping an eye on Dima for the next little while. If nothing else, this incident has made me cautious of who I put my faith in, because you never know when they might come crashing down to earth.

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Today's Results

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Ordina Open (s'Hertogenbosch)

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David Ferrer def. Juan Martin del Potro, 7-6 (7-4) 6-1

Marc Gicquel def. Guillermo Canas, 3-6 6-0 6-4

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Dinara Safina def. Elena Dementieva, 6-3 6-2

Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Alona Bondarenko, 6-2 6-4

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Slazenger Open (Nottingham)

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Ivo Karlovic def. Gael Monfils, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4)

Fernando Verdasco def. Marin Cilic, 6-3 6-1

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International Women's Open (Eastbourne)

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Nadia Petrova def. Samantha Stosur, 6-3 6-3

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Marion Bartoli, 7-5 6-3