Dalek

Again, not much to report. I really am a shallow, shallow fan. Expect me to start rambling like the Queen of Rambling once Wimbledon starts, but for now, these posts probably aren't going to be too long.
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Radek Stepanek, top seed at Nottingham, pulled out of his match because of a rib injury. Somehow, I found it difficult to care. There's something about Radek Stepanek which just sort of weirds me out. I'm not sure what it is, and it's probably totally unjustified. (And yes, it does date from before he beat Federer in the quarters at Rome.) Maybe it's something to do with his string of high profile girlfriends who are much prettier than he is... Martina Hingis... Nicole Vaidisova... despite the fact that he's, well, weird looking. (Or maybe it's because his name sounds like 'dalek.')
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It's kind of weird that I don't like him, because he's a serve-and-volley player, and I love a bit of the ol' serve-and-volley. But his game is... weird. Or maybe it's just him, and that weirdness sort of contaminates his game. I don't get it.
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I know pretty much nothing about Stepanek, beside the serve-and-volley thing and the girlfriend things. So why do I get so weirded out? Maybe it's because I like Martina Hingis and I feel wronged on her behalf. (Though why she was going out with a man so weird looking is beyond me.) They got engaged in November 2006 but split up in August 2007, though they promised to remain good friends. According to Reuters, they were the 'highest profile couple in tennis.' I wonder if that's true?
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Actually, I wonder who is the highest profile couple in tennis? Is it Radek and his new girl, Nicole Vaidisova? Gael Monfils and Dominika Cibulkova? Tomas Berdych and Lucie Safarova? Carlos Moya and Flavia Pennetta? (Are they still together?) Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, obviously, but they're retired now, so I don't know if they really count. My personal favourite is Roger Federer and Mirka Vavrinec - hey, she used to play, they're a couple! It must be a pain for ATP players and WTA players to make it work - they're hardly ever in the same part of the world. I mean, there are a few joint tournaments, but outside the Slams, there really aren't that many - Sydney, Estoril, s'Hertogenbosch, off the top of my head. But not a lot, certainly.

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To tell the truth, I'm more interested in tennis friendships than in relationships. I'd love to know who hangs out with who. I was pretty surprised when I was reading Rafa's blog from Roland Garros in 2007 to find that Rafa and David Nalbandian (Headbandian) are playstation buddies - along with Ferru, subject of yesterday's blog. I wish I knew more about who hung out with who. It would be... interesting.

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(I wonder who hangs out with Stepanek, considering he's so weird and all.)

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Today's Results

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Ordina Open (s'Hertogenbosch)

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Arnaud Clement def. Marcel Granollers, 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 6-3

Juan Martin del Potro def. Rainer Schuettler, 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-5)

Guillermo Canas def. Rohan Bopanna, 6-2 6-4

Viktor Troicki def. Ivan Ljubicic, 5-7 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

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Elena Dementieva def. Sara Errani, 6-3 7-5

Sorana Cirstea def. Mariya Koryttseva, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4

Katerina Srebotnik def. Yung-jan Chan, 6-4 6-3

Michaella Krajicek def. Sania Mirza, 6-2 6-2

Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Ashley Harkleroad, 4-6 6-4 7-5

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Slazenger Open (Nottingham)

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Gael Monfils def. Julien Benneteau, 3-6 6-4 6-2

Ivo Karlovic def. Sam Querrey, 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (16-14)

Andreas Seppi def. Eduardo Schwank, 6-1 4-6 7-6 (9-7)

Gilles Simon def. Samuel Groth, 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 6-4

Fernando Verdasco def. bobby Reynolds, 6-2 6-3

Marin Cilic def. Alex Bogdanovic, 6-4 6-4

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International Women's Open (Eastbourne)

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Caroline Wozniacki def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-2 6-2

Samantha Stosur def. Amelie Mauresmo, 1-2 retired

Ekaterina Makarova def. Vera Zvonareva, 6-3 6-3

Gisela Dulko def. Olga Govortsova, 6-1 6-7 (3-7) 6-2

Alisa Kleybanova def. Aravane Rezai, 6-3 5-7 6-3

Marion Bartoli def. Sybille Bammer, 6-3 6-0