Ole!

Eastbourne, June 1972. Andres Gimeno of Spain wins the title. No Spaniard has won a grass court title since.

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..until last week, when Rafa Nadal won Queen's, and now there's seemingly an avalanche of Spanish guys winning on grass.

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I say avalanche. I mean two. We have Rafa at Queen's and now Ferru at s'Hertogenbosch. Even though I haven't actually seen the matches, I have been SO impressed with Ferru this week. He said in his post-match presser that 'of course' clay is still his favourite surface, but I wonder whether or not he should think about revising that. I love Ferrer's game on hard courts - and it's not like he hasn't been successful with it, either. He didn't have to make it to the final of the Tennis Masters Cup last year (which he did) to prove he's got game. And now that he's found his feet and has been so dominant this week on grass, I think we might just have the makings of a spectacular all-round player here.

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I'd be watching my back, if I were Nikolay Davydenko. David's a-coming.

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It'll be interesting to see how Ferru backs this up at Wimbledon. I don't think playing through to the final will affect him in terms of fatigue at all - look at his insane leadup to Roland Garros! The fact does remain, though, that Ferru was the top seed here this week, and it wasn't like Gicquel was really a tough match up for him. Gasquet was the real grass court danger man in the draw, and he got bumped off early... though that said, you can never underestimate Ancic on grass, and Ferru dealt with him with aplomb. But if Ferru can back this up at Wimbledon against top notch quality players, then... watch out. Vamos.

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Let's see whose quarter he's going to be in at Wimbledon... here we are. He has a potential quarter final match up with Federer. I don't see him getting past that one - and we all know who I'd be supporting in any case - but I like his chances of making it that far. He could have maybe Andreev in the second round and Ancic in the third... and perhaps Berdych in the fourth. All difficult matches, but if Ferru plays the way he's been playing, he could take out any of those guys in straight sets.

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I'm going to save my full draw analysis for tomorrow, which is the English tennis summer's equivalent to Australia's Boring Sunday. Think of that as a sneak preview... because my draw analyses are sought after worldwide, and stuff. Oh yeah.

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Meanwhile, I was two from two on finals, because Dr Ivo won over Verdasco in Nottingham, saving a match point along the way. Hey, imagine if Verdasco had won! That would make it THREE Spanish titles! More on that in a minute... back to Dr Ivo. I have this image of him in my head, which I am positive is wrong, of him as this big, sort of dopey guy, all serve and nothing else. In fact, it must be wrong, because serve and serve alone will not let you win a tennis match. And I think that the notion of a dumb professional tennis player is obviously erroneous - tennis is a test of intelligence and psychology as much as anything else.

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Is this the curse of the big server, to be pigeonholed like this? I remember it happened a bit to A-Rod when he first came on the scene. I think it happens to Guccione too. To what extent is it warranted and to what extent is it totally unfair?

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I suppose that's one of those matters that can only be settled on a case by case basis.

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Now to Verdasco. Big kudos to him for making it to (and almost winning) the final. Honestly, these Spanish boys... they're coming from everywhere! What are we going to do with them?

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I suppose the most interesting question is why no Spanish players have been particularly good on grass historically. I guess it's as simple as the fact that these guys grow up on clay and hardly ever play on grass... but hey, so did Federer, and he plays okay on grass. Just okay. Not like, brilliant or anything. It's not like he's the best player EVER on grass or anything like that.

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So why now? Is the Nadal-Ferrer-almost-Verdasco almost trifecta a hint of things to come, or is it a fluke?

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Perhaps we will find out at Wimbledon. Remember how there were five French guys in the round of sixteen at Roland Garros? Somehow, I don't think the Brits are going to repeat the feat... so maybe the Spaniards are the ones to keep an eye on!

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Today's Results

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Ordina Open (s'Hertogenbosch)

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David Ferrer def. Marc Gicquel, 6-4 6-2

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Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Dinara Safina, 7-5 6-3

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Slazenger Open (Nottingham)

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Ivo Karlovic def. Fernando Verdasco, 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (10-8)

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International Women's Open (Eastbourne)

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Agnieszka Radwanska def. Nadia Petrova, 6-4 6-7 (11-13) 6-4