Um, Guys, It's Over

Can I just say one thing? Does it not seem a little pointless having claycourt tournaments AFTER Roland Garros is over? Because it seems pretty damn silly to me.

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I suppose, by that token, you could say having US hard court tournaments in March and April is pretty stupid when the US Open is in September... but hell, that's hardly sensible either. But really... the week after Roland Garros, some fool players are back out on the red stuff.

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...why?

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I mean, what is the point? Let me put myself into the mind of a professional tennis player here. I've just played two, long exhausting months on clay. Wimbledon, a grass court tournament, arguably the most important tournament of the year, is in two weeks. I want to do well. And so I go and play a warmup tournament on... clay?

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Maybe I'm being too naive. Maybe I'm putting myself in the perspective of a Federer or a Nadal, someone so firmly cemented at the top of the rankings that points are kind of irrelevant. Maybe these tournaments are for the claycourters to gain some extra points because they don't like grass, or whatever. That's the only reason for it I can think of. Looking down the list at Warsaw, there seem to be a lot of claycourters... Robredo, Granollers, Monaco, Montanes, Canas. But... Davydenko? Kolya, what are you doing, man? I don't know if he has a favourite surface, but I don't think claycourting is going to help him AT ALL. Why isn't he at Queen's, or in Halle?

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You're going to have to wait a little longer for my proposed human interest stories, as I'm in kind of a hurry today. But tomorrow, I promise you. And I promise you that tomorrow I won't say tomorrow as well.

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Today's Results

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Artois Championships (Queen's Club, London)

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Olivier Patience def. Sam Querrey, 7-5 5-7 6-4

Fernando Gonzalez def. Richard Bloomfield, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3

Mardy Fish def. Eduardo Roger-Vasselin, 6-1 6-4

Andreas Seppi def. Arnaud Clement, 6-3 4-6 6-1

Simone Bolelli def. Frank Dancevic, 2-2 retired

Nicolas Mahut def. Feliciano Lopez, 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-4)

John Isner def. Kevin Anderson, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Xavier Malisse def. Daniel Evans, 6-1 6-1

Ivo Minar def. Bobby Reynolds, 6-1 7-5

Ivo Karlovic def. Joseph Sirianni, 6-3 6-2

Andy Murray def. Sebastien Grosjean, 2-0 retired

Mario Ancic def. Fernando Verdasco, 7-6 (8-6) 6-4

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Marin Cilic, 6-3 3-6 6-4

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Gerry Weber Open (Halle)

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Jan Vacek def. Scott Lipsky, 3-6 6-3 6-2

Fabrice Santoro def. Rainer Schuettler, 7-6 (7-4) 6-4

Marcos Baghdatis def. Jan Hernych, 6-4 7-5

Mikhail Youzhny def. Dmitry Tursunov, 6-3 6-1

Nicolas Kiefer def. Robin Haase, 4-6 6-3 6-2

Steve Darcis def. Olivier Rochus, 6-1 6-4

Michael Llodra def. Ivan Ljubicic, 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-5) 7-5

Tommy Haas def. Radek Stepanek, 6-7 (0-7) 7-6 (7-3) 6-4

James Blake def. Bjorn Phau, 6-4 6-1

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Warsaw Orange Open (Warsaw)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Pablo Cuevas, 6-3 6-2

Christophe Rochus def. Gilles Simon, 6-1 3-6 6-3

Fabio Fognini def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 7-5 0-6 6-4

Santiago Ventura def. Boris Pashanski, 6-4 6-2

Guillermo Canas def. Luis Horna, 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-4

Marcell Granollers def. Michal Mertinak, 7-6 (7-2) 6-4

Juan Monaco def. Jerzy Janowicz, 6-4 6-3

Albert Montanes def. David Skoch, 7-6 (7-4) 6-4

Oscar Hernandez def. Sergio Roitman, 3-6 6-4 6-0

Wayne Odesnik def. Ricardas Berankis, 6-4 6-3

Tommy Robredo def. Michal Przysiezny, 7-5 6-2

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DFS Classic (Birmingham)

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Petra Cetkovska def. Meng Yuan, 6-2 6-1

Marta Domachowska def. Margit Ruutel, 6-4 6-4

Camille Pin def. Anastasia Rodionova, 7-5 7-6 (7-2)

Kateryna Bondarenko def. Anne Keothavong, 6-3 6-2

Samantha Stosur def. Sabine Lisicki, 6-3 6-4

Melinda Czink def. Vania King, 6-2 7-6 (7-4)

Virginia Ruano Pascual def. Milagros Sequera, 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-1

Marina Erakovic def. Stephanie Dubois, 6-4 6-4

Casey Dellacqua def. Julie Ditty, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Nathalie Dechy def. Severine Bremond, 7-5 6-2

Michaella Krajicek def. Tatiana Poutchek, 6-2 6-1

Melanie South def. Sybille Bammer, 6-3 7-5

Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Tamira Paszek, 6-1 6-0

Bethanie Mattek def. Aravane Rezai, 6-1 6-4

Ekaterina Makarova def. Angelique Kerber, 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 7-5

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Campeonatos Internacionales de Tenis Femenino de Espana (Barcelona)

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Sara Errani def. Lourdes Dominguez Lino, 6-3 6-2

Lucie Safarova def. Leticia Costas, 6-2 6-1

Arantxa Parra Santonja def. Maite Gabarrus-Alonso, 6-1 6-3

Ekaterina Ivanova def. Tathiana Garbin, 4-6 7-5 6-3

Maria Kondratieva def. Catalina Castano, 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 6-0

Stephanie Cohen-Aloro def. Dominika Cibulkova, 6-5 retired

Edina Gallovits def. Julia Vakulenko, 6-2 0-6 6-3

Carla Suarez Navarro def. Alicia Molik, 6-2 6-4

Maria Kirilenko def. Lilia Osterloh, 6-0 2-0 retired