Feeling Better

It's been great to see that the press have been appreciating the Wimbledon final as a fantastic match, as a clash of titans, rather than the defeat of Federer. I was worried that people were going to treat this as some sort of sign of Federer's demise, and we'd get yet more of the hating-on-Roger press we got after the final of the French. But no. They have been quite fair. The brilliance of the match has transcended the result. And that's what real sport should be like, in the end. One writer described it this way:

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"It also doubled as a four-hour, 48-minute infomercial for everything right and virtuous about tennis…"

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And Yves Allegro apparently says Roger is 'feeling better.' That's what I like to hear. When Toronto/Montreal (where is it this year?) rolls around, I think we're going to see a Fed hungry for a victory. And hey, that tournament's not called the Rogers Masters for nothing.

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One thing that has been really good about the Wimbledon final is that tennis is suddenly all about Roger and Rafa again, with none of this nasty Djokovicing. I have no issue with that at all. It is a comfort to know that if someone does snatch #1 from under Roger's feet (which I don't think will happen, but one must allow for these contingencies) it will be Rafa and not Novak... because it's going to be really interesting to see how Djokovic defends all those points he stacked up last year.

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The man that knocked him out of Wimbledon, Mr Marat Safin, was in action in Bastad today, where he enjoyed a straight sets win over Marc Lopez. One thing I have to ask, though... WHAT IS WITH THE CLAY, GUYS? I don't get it. It makes no sense to me. Less than none. The claycourt season is so far over that it's practically last year. Roland Garros isn't till May, guys! And yet three tournaments this week are clay, and one is grass. Grass I sort of get, though it still seems sort of... well, Wimbledon's over. Shouldn't we be back on the hard stuff?

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I mean, I have no objection to the actual places these tournaments are being held - ain't nothing wrong with Gstaad! a lot of good people come from Switzerland! - and I guess that if you're going to play there, you play on their courts. But it just seems like a really stupid decision from the players. Is it purely a points thing? I suppose we can't all be Federers and Nadals and pick and choose our years in a sensible manner. Safin hasn't played Bastad for many a long year, so any points he gains will be to the positive here. Is that the reason he's playing it?

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Speaking of Safin and points, it's very nice to see him inside the top fifty, where he belongs. He's #40 the moment - another ten or so spots and we'll see Marat Safin, US Open seed! Now wouldn't that be something? Safin, too, has had his sunrises, and will have many more.

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Keep feeling better, Roger. Keep feeling better.

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Today's Results

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Mercedes Cup (Stuttgart)

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Eduardo Schwank def. Guillermo Coria, 0-6 6-1 6-2

Yuri Schukin def. Carlos Berlocq, 4-6 7-5 6-3

Agustin Calleri def. Jurgen Melzer, 7-6 (7-3)

Lukas Rosol def. Martin Fischer, 6-2 6-4

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Allianz Suisse Open (Gstaad)

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Stephane Bohli def. Robin Roshardt, 6-2 4-6 6-4

Victor Hanescu def. Olivier Patience, 7-6 (7-4) 6-2

Jeremy Chardy def. Luis Horna, 7-6 (7-6) 6-7 (6-8) 7-5

Dominik Meffert def. Andreas Seppi, 6-2 5-7 6-4

Nicolas Kiefer def. Gianluca Naso, 6-3 6-2

Flavio Cipolla def. Jiri Vanek, 5-7 6-4 6-4

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Catella Swedish Open (Bastad)

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Olivier Rochus def. Marc Gicquel, 6-3 6-4

Robin Soderling def. Fabio Fognini, 6-1 6-7 (4-7) 7-5

Jonas Bjorkman def. Marcel Granollers, 6-3 6-1

Steve Darcis def. Daniel Koellerer, 7-6 (7-4) 6-0

Potito Starace def. Carlos Moya, 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (8-6) 6-4

Marat Safin def. Marc Lopez, 7-6 (8-6) 7-5

Thomas Johansson def. Filip Prpic, 7-6 (7-4) 6-3

Michael Ryderstedt def. Tim Goransson, 6-1 6-2

Ervin Eleskovic def. Filippo Volandri, 6-4 6-4

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Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships (Newport)

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Prakash Amritraj def. Joseph Sirianni, 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-4

Jesse Levine def. John Isner, 6-3 6-1

Frank Dancevic def. Taylor Dent, 3-6 7-5 6-1

Kevin Anderson def. Gilles Muller, 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-3

Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi def. Benjamin Becker, 7-5 7-6 (7-5)

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Gaz de France Grand Prix (Budapest)

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Andreja Klepac def. Natasa Zoric, 6-4 6-4

Martina Muller def. Veronika Chvojkova, 3-6 6-4 6-1

Petra Kvitova def. Sorana Cirstea, 6-2 6-4

Katalin Marosi def. Anna Lapushchenkova, 6-3 6-1

Karolina Sprem def. Pauline Parmentier, 7-5 6-2

Klara Zakopalova def. Stephanie Cohen-Aloro, 6-3 6-2

Mathilde Johansson def. Lucie Hradecka, 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Zuzana Kucova def. Timea Bacsinszky, 6-3 6-4

Greta Arn def. Iveta Benesova, 6-4 6-4

Magdalena Rybarikova def. Viktoriya Kutuzova, 6-2 6-1