Red Tape

Very little to report today, as nothing of interest is really happening... we had some interesting upsets in Metz, with Simon and Almagro falling to Mahut and Schwank respectively, which is news, I suppose. I'm glad to see Schwank doing well, as I was nearly ready to drop him from my Stars fold - since the claycourt season, he has done very little of note, and that is just not good enough for one of my chosen ones! This hardcourt victory gives him a little more leeway. It'll be interesting to see how far he can go. He's one of the oldest of my Stars - in his early twenties - and so I don't think his future is quite as shiny as, say, Gulbis or Cilic, who had the rest of their careers still before them. Still, he's one to keep an eye on!

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Another one of my Stars to keep an eye on this week is, obviously, Kei Nishikori. He's playing in front of a home crowd and he's clearly in killer form. Wouldn't it be great to see him go on and win the title? We know he's capable of winning ATP titles - Delray Beach, anyone - but I'd really like him to prove that wasn't a fluke. Loads of people have won one title. A lot fewer have won two. And Nishikori is such a fun player to watch as well. If he were a bigger guy, one thinks he'd play like Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, but because he's slight, his big weapon is speed... though that's not to say that he doesn't hit the ball hard!

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I was pleased to see that lucky loser Jarmila Gajdosova was able to win her first round match in Tokyo too. She's still playing for Slovakia, but she's sort of Australian, like Anastasia Rodionova... actually, what is going on with that whole thing? Both have expressed their desire to play for Australia - hell, I think both have played for Australia! - so what is the holdup? I have no idea what is going on with that whole situation there. This has been going on for about a year now. What's the deal? Is it citizenship? Visa? When are these two going to be playing for us? You'd think with everyone whinging about how Australian tennis is in a state you'd want it to be soon. Stupid red tape.

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Meanwhile, Marcos Baghdatis showed his face again, only to retire (a set up, too!) against Ivo Karlovic with a back injury. Get well soon, Marcos!

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Today's Results

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Open de Moselle (Metz)

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Ivo Karlovic def. Marcos Baghdatis, 4-6 2-1 retired

Nicolas Mahut def. Gilles Simon, 6-4 3-6 6-1

Eduardo Schwank def. Nicolas Almagro, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Nicolas Devilder, 6-0 6-2

Dmitry Tursunov def. Thierry Ascione, 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 6-4

Victor Hanescu def. Ivan Ljubicic, 6-1 7-6 (7-4)

Marc Gicquel def. Marcel Granollers, 6-3 6-2

Romain Jouan def. Agustin Calleri, 5-7 6-1 6-2

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AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships (Tokyo)

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Men's Draw

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Kei Nishikori def. Robert Kendrick, 7-6 (7-3) 6-7 (5-7) 6-2

Dudi Sela def. Bjorn Phau, 7-5 6-1

Wayne Odesnik def. Kevin Kim, 6-4 6-3

Simon Stadler def. Philipp Petzschner, 6-2 6-4

Flavio Cipolla def. Ivan Navarro, 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-4)

Bobby Reynolds def. Tatsuma Ito, 6-3 6-1

Roko Karanusic def. Hiroki Kondo, 6-2 6-2

Yen-hsun Lu def. Luka Gregorc, 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Joseph Sirianni def. Yuichi Ito, 6-3 6-2

Jesse Levine def. Danai Udomchoke, 4-6 6-1 6-0

Martin Slanar def. Donald Young, 4-6 6-3 6-2

Cecil Mamiit def. Brendan Evans, 3-6 7-5 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Caroline Wozniacki def. Gisela Dulko, 4-6 6-0 6-3

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Zheng Jie, 6-1 6-2

Klara Zakopalova def. Maria Kirilenko, 4-6 6-2 7-5

Shahar Peer def. Kimiko Date Krumm, 6-3 6-1

Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Stéphanie Dubois, 6-1 6-3

Aleksandra Wozniak def. Jill Craybas, 7-5 6-7 (2-7) 6-3

Yanina Wickmayer def. Iveta Benesova, 6-4 3-6 6-3

Camille Pin def. Carla Suárez Navarro, 6-0 7-5

Rika Fujiwara def. Petra Cetkovska, 7-6 (8-6) 6-4

Ryoko Fuda def. Pauline Parmentier, 7-5 6-2

Jarmila Gajdosova def. Mara Santangelo, 6-4 7-6 (7-0)

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Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart)

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Venus Williams def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 6-1 6-2

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Sandra Zahlavova, 6-3 6-2

Marion Bartoli def. Dominika Cibulkova, 6-3 6-1

Victoria Azarenka def. Agnes Szavay, 7-5 6-3

Nadia Petrova def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 6-2 6-2

Tsvetana Pironkova def. Alizé Cornet, 6-2 6-1

Kateryna Bondarenko def. Flavia Pennetta, 4-6 6-2 6-1

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Tashkent Open (Tashkent)

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Peng Shuai def. Arina Rodionova, 6-4 6-1

Ksenia Palkina def. Olga Govortsova, 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 7-5

Sorana Cirstea def. Ekaterina Dzehalevich, 7-6 (7-4) 7-5

Monica Niculescu def. Olga Savchuk, 7-5 0-1 retired

Urszula Radwanska def. Akgul Amanmuradova, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3

Yaroslava Shvedova def. Anastasiya Yakimova, 6-1 6-1

Anna Lapushchenkova def. Nina Bratchikova, 4-6 6-1 7-6 (7-3)

Michelle Larcher de Brito def. Andreja Klepac, 6-0 6-7 (4-7) 6-2

Ioana Raluca Olaru def. Katie O'Brien, 6-2 6-1

Vesna Manasieva def. Nigina Abduraimova, 6-1 6-1

Tatiana Poutchek def. Sariya Khayrova, 6-1 6-0

Alexandra Panova def. Alisa Ogorodova, 6-4 6-0

Argentina Changes It Up

For the first time ever, Argentina is not playing a home Davis Cup tie on clay. Which is very, very smart, though you don't need to be a genius to work that out. They've proposed the indoor stadium at Cordoba, with their alternate offering being another indoor stadium. It's certainly the best way to give themselves a fighting chance.

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Rafa, in past years, has kind of disappeared after Wimbledon, and by the indoor season he's pretty much gone altogether. He certainly didn't disappear after this year's Wimbledon, what with that Olympic gold medal and suchlike, so it will be interesting to see how he handles the indoor season - the season that was absolutely owned by David Nalbandian last year. That is how Headbandian is still in the top ten, yesno - those carryover points from Paris and Madrid last year?

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Nadal has never beaten Nalbandian (I think) and so it will be veeeeeery interesting to see how this tie plays out, on Nalbandian's preferred surface. You still wouldn't bet against Nadal - the guy beat Federer on grass, so you'd think he can do just about anything - but this is a pretty big challenge, at any rate. I suppose it'll be contingent on which Nalbandian shows up. GoodDave usually appears at Davis Cup, but you never know when LameDave will rear his ugly head...

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We have several tournaments going on this week - the ATP is in Metz, the WTA in Stuttgart and Tashkent, and there's a joint tournament in Tokyo. One of my Stars is active in Metz, and he's making a very good account of himself - that would be Ernests Gulbis, who took out Mario Ancic, the eighth seed. All portents of good things - well, maybe not for Ancic, but for Gulbis certainly. Ancic is not necessarily in the best shape ever right now, but a victory is a victory and it's nothing to sneeze at! I would dearly love to see Gulbis make an assault on the title here. Marin Cilic has won his first title - it's Ernests's turn!

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Meanwhile, how rude was it of Andy Roddick not to go to Mardy Fish's wedding? I mean, sure he's a tennis player and he has to play and stuff, but didn't they, like, grow up together? I hope Mardy Fish refuses to attend Roddick's wedding. I would. What I found particularly ironic is that the tournament Roddick played which caused him to miss the wedding was in Beijing. Should have gone to China when everyone else was there for the Olympics, Andy!

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And finally, does anyone know what's going on with Marina Erakovic? She was sailing beautifully for a while there, and now she's losing all the time. What's going on?

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Today's Results

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Open de Moselle (Metz)

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Ernests Gulbis def. Mario Ancic, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4

Jose Acasuso def. Guillermo Canas, 6-3 2-6 6-3

Janko Tipsarevic def. Jeremy Chardy, 7-6 (7-5) 7-5

Carlos Moya def. Albert Montanes, 6-1 4-6 6-4

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AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships (Tokyo)

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Men's Draw

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Ivo Minar def. Mischa Zverev, 7-6 (11-9) 2-6 6-2

Amer Delic def. Go Soeda, 6-4 6-2

Hyung-taik Lee def. Satoshi Iwabuchi, 6-1 6-4

Takao Suzuki def. Yuichi Sugita, 6-3 7-6 (8-6)

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Women's Draw

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Kaia Kanepi def. Lucie Safarova, 4-6 6-3 6-4

Marta Domachowska def. Aiko Nakamura, 6-4 7-5

Ayumi Morita def. Marina Erakovic, 6-1 6-4

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Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart)

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Sybille Bammer def. Tatjana Malek, 4-6 6-2 7-5

Li Na def. Nicole Vaidisova, 6-1 6-2

Alona Bondarenko def. Eleni Daniilidou, 7-6 (7-5) 6-1

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Tashkent Open (Tashkent)

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Sabine Lisicki def. Dilyara Saidkhodjaeva, 6-0 6-1

Magdalena Rybarikova def. Kathrin Woerle, 6-4 6-4

Sofia Shapatava def. Kinnie Laisne, 6-3 4-6 6-4

Horse-Flogging... In The Metaphorical Sense

The Aussie boys finished sixth in junior Davis Cup, beating Hungary but losing to Sweden. Still, this whole week has been nothing to sneeze at. Maverick Banes, James Duckworth and Jarryd Chaplin can all be justifiably proud of what they have achieved. You wait. I don't know if any of them is a future #1, but they're going to grow up great. I'm not exactly sure when I started flogging this horse, but I seem to have started at some point, and so I'm going to stick with it. Australian tennis is going to great... in a while. Just not now.

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Though one thing that I did find troubling is that we either didn't send a team to junior Fed Cup or we didn't qualify. The boys are doing all right - what about the girls? We do have a few good juniors - Jess Moore won her first match in a senior Grand Slam this year - but none under sixteen, apparently. Where are the girls? Though it is well within the realms of possibility that there simply are none - we are a small country, after all. And look at today's generation. We aren't exactly a powerhouse of Australian tennis.

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That said, Sam Stosur was just in a final. Unfortunately, she went down to Maria Kirilenko, but it's a pretty decent achievement anyhow. She's never won a WTA singles title - Stosur, that is - but she's shown she's got the capability. Here's hoping she can go one further sometime in the near future - and get a few more doubles Slams under her belt as well!

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And speaking of winners, how about that Jo-W? Vengeance is sweet! Take that one, Novak! I was praying for someone to beat him this week after that whole Marko incident, and Jo-W did me proud. It was his first ATP title, and I think it's great that he beat Djokovic to do it. Monsieur Tsonga is serving notice. He's back - and he's back bigtime. I would love to see him make a good run at the Aussie Open next year - though obviously, with my proclivities, I want Federer to win it. Jo-W is just such an exciting player to watch. He's explosive, and he's fun, and he's not a complete dickhead, like certain Djokovics I could mention. Here's hoping that the rest of his year is shiny!

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(On the Djokovic subject, how long do you think it'll be before Novak gets his other little brother a wildcard? Spew.)

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Roddick and Jankovic round out our winners this week, taking titles in Japan. I confess I was hoping for Sela to come through with the goods, but Roddick did give a whole stack of his prize money to charity, which earned him extra brownie points. Still, he should have played the Olympics. There is another horse I'm going to flog for as long as it has legs to stand. (How 'bout that metaphor, eh?)

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Today's Results

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Thailand Open (Bangkok)

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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Novak Djokovic, 7-6 (7-4) 6-4

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China Open (Beijing)

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Men's Draw

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Andy Roddick def. Dudi Sela, 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Jelena Jankovic def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-3 6-2

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Hansol Korea Open (Seoul)

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Maria Kirilenko def. Samantha Stosur, 2-6 6-1 6-4

They Are Coming!

Unfortunately the boys in the junior Davis Cup squad were unable to capitalise on their lead against Russia. Oh well. They can still be very proud of themselves. I'm cheering them on!

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I was reading Australian Tennis Magazine yesterday, and it was full of articles about how Australian tennis is dying, falling away, etc, etc, and it was full of contingency plans about what we can do. People were worried we were becoming complacent in the wake of Hewitt, not looking for new stars, etc, etc. I don't know if anyone's considered the fact that maybe we just didn't have very good tennis players there for a few years. The future of Australian tennis is very bright, and it doesn't look like people have noticed. The whole magazine seemed to be devoted to wondering what Tennis Australia and the AIS and co have done wrong, and why no one was coming up through the ranks. I felt like yelling 'THEY ARE COMING!' at the magazine. Surely I can't be the only one that's noticed this brilliant Tomic-led generation coming up? And we're not weak in the girls either - Isabella Holland, Jess Moore and Sally Peers are all already on the way up. Sure, Australian tennis right now is a bit disappointing, but it has to be remembered that we are a small nation. Only 20 million people live here. We can't be producing stars left right and centre all the time, even if our general sporting prowess greatly exceeds our population.

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There endeth the rant.

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Andy Roddick made it to a final! Though he did lose a set to Bjorn Phau there. He'll be playing Dudi Sela in the final, who had a far more comfortable time against Rainer Schuettler. I would laugh SO HARD if Dudi went on and beat Roddick. So skipping the Olympics was a wise move, was it Andy? Was it wise? Feeling good? Feeling fresh? We'll see! The women's final in Beijing looks like it pretty much belongs to Jelena Jankovic - Svetlana Kuznetsova hasn't convinced me of much lately. Still, she did beat Zheng Jie, and we all know she is a bit of a party pooper.

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And major snaps to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who is in the final of Bangkok, where he will play Novak Djokovic - ominous music. I can't think of many people who would watch this match and go for Djokovic. Tsonga is just so much fun and Djokovic really hasn't made many friends with his antics at the US Open. Actually, there was an article in Australian Tennis Magazine called 'Don't Diss The Swiss' about how even mild-mannered Federer was annoyed by Djokovic's pranks - and how that Djokovic's Swiss-dissing certainly didn't earn him any friends, because everyone loves Roger so much. I laughed a little to myself.

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And huge props to Sam Stosur who absolutely ROLLED Jill Craybas in Seoul! She plays Kirilenko in the final, and I would LOVE her to win. I really like her - not just because she's an Aussie, but because she's lovely to watch, and her volleys are amazing - and she really deserves a title, after that awful bout of Lyme disease. Go Sam!
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And in gossipy news... what's this I hear about Ana Ivanovic and Fernando Verdasco? I am sure there are a few men in the ATP who wouldn't mind chatting her up at a party... so is Nando the lucky one? Maybe that's why they both lost early... Ana is not suffering a form slump at all. She just wanted to spend more time with Nando...

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Today's Results

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Thailand Open (Bangkok)

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Novak Djokovic def. Tomas Berdych, 7-5 6-1

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Gael Monfils, 6-0 6-3

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China Open (Beijing)

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Men's Draw

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Andy Roddick def. Bjorn Phau, 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 6-1

Dudi Sela def. Rainer Schuettler, 6-3 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Jelena Jankovic def. Vera Zvonareva, 6-4 2-6 6-4

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Zheng Jie, 7-6 (7-3) 7-5

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Hansol Korea Open (Seoul)

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Maria Kirilenko def. Kaia Kanepi, 6-4 3-6 6-4

Samantha Stosur def. Jill Craybas, 6-0 6-1

Whither Ana?

So I picked Zheng to upset Ivanovic, and hey! guess what! I was right. Yet I am feeling strangely unproud of myself. Who wouldn't you pick to upset Ivanovic now?

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This was a better match from Ivanovic than we've seen of late - she even said after the match that she was pretty happy with the way she played. But she served for that first set twice, before Zheng won it in the breaker. You can talk about injuries all you like, and Ana is certainly claiming a few, but something is just not right in that girl's head. This is not the girl we saw beating Dinara Safina, the hottest player in the world, in the final of the French Open. She certainly isn't playing like a #1 player - which, to be fair, she no longer is.

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But it's just so damn sad. I used to love watching Ivanovic. She was explosive, big-hitting, but she had some really clever shots too. It's hard to believe that she made two Grand Slam finals this year. Where did she go? I want her back. She was good for the game. Men's tennis has too many #1s at the moment, women's tennis not enough. Pick up the ball, Ana. Go see a sports psychiatrist and get back on track.

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Meanwhile, anyone else seriously cheering for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga right now? He's into the semis of Bangkok, and I would love to see him win the title. It's hard to believe that the boy does not have a title to his name - indeed, I think he only has one final, and that's the big one, the Australian Open. Wouldn't it be great to see him bring that buzzsaw tennis that saw him beat Rafa Nadal and use it to chop Novak Djokovic off at the knees? I would seriously dig that. Rematch! Rematch!

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And to conclude, them Aussie boys in Mexico at the junior Davis Cup are doing us proud. Most of the matches got rained out today, but in one that did get completed, wee Maverick Banes upset Russian young gun Richard Muzaev to give the Aussie boys a 1-0 lead. And the Russians are the top seeds. Go you good thing!

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Oh, and speaking of Australian tennis, Sam Stosur is having a great run in Korea, where she is into the semis. Good on you, Sam!

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Today's Results

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Thailand Open (Seoul)

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Novak Djokovic def. Robin Soderling, 6-4 7-5

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Jurgen Melzer, 6-3 6-2

Tomas Berdych def. Nicolas Mahut, 7-6 (8-6) 6-3

Gael Monfils def. Philipp Petzschner, 7-6 (8-6) 6-4

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China Open (Beijing)

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Men's Draw

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Andy Roddick def. Juan Carlos Ferrero, 2-6 6-3 6-4

Bjorn Phau def. Fernando Gonzalez, 6-3 4-6 6-3

Dudi Sela def. Tommy Robredo, 6-4 6-1

Rainer Schuettler def. Richard Gasquet, 4-6 6-3 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Jelena Jankovic def. Daniela Hantuchova, 7-5 6-1

Zheng Jie def. Ana Ivanovic, 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 6-4

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Dominika Cibulkova, 6-2 6-4

Vera Zvonareva def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-0 6-1

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Hansol Korea Open (Seoul)

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Maria Kirilenko def. Pauline Parmentier, 6-3 6-2

Jill Craybas def. Shahar Peer, 6-2 7-5

Kaia Kanepi def. Yanina Wickmayer, 6-1 6-4

Samantha Stosur def. Ekaterina Makarova, 6-3 6-4

Tenacious JC

I am still steaming under the hat after the Djokovic saga of yesterday, but will attempt to put my rage behind me. The older Djokovic won. Spit spit. I was hoping he would crash out in the earliest possible round to vindicate me, but alas, 'twas not to be. But there is still time for him to lose to a player ranked a long way below him! A LONG TIME!

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Let's talk about the junior Davis Cup instead. I don't have much to say, except c'mon Aussie! The boys (being James Duckworth, Maverick Banes and Jarryd Chaplin) slaughtered Peru in their second rubber and will now face top seeds Russia tomorrow. And they can so win. I've said it once, I'll say it again - Australian tennis sucks right now, but when these boys grow up, it's going to rock the socks of the tennis world.

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Onto another sporting nation of greatness, being Spain. They have had some interesting mixed fortunes in Beijing. David Ferrer was the top seed, but he's been knocked out by Dudi Sela - le drama! Ferrer really has gone away a bit towards the end of this season. He had some good results earlier but he's gone off the boil... which is sad, because I find his game interesting. He has to be one of the best returners on the circuit, which means the proportion of rallies in his games is high, and that makes for interesting tennis, even if he does play largely defensively, which can be dull.

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But on the flip side for Spain, Juan Carlos Ferrero scored an upset victory! Sure, it was over Fernando Verdasco, another Spaniard, but still. JC is a funny one. He's a former #1 and he had a bit of mystique for a while there, but it's like no one really takes him seriously any more. It's not like with Safin, where everyone still fears him because they know the potential for his explosive game is still there. No one fears JC any more... and, to be fair, he hasn't really given them reason to. He's certainly capable of excellent play - we must remember that it was he who beat Rafa in Rome, which is no mean feat, even if Rafa did have blisters the size of dinner plates. But he just doesn't bring it much any more. The mighty have fallen. But he's clinging on, JC, clinging on tenaciously.

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Meanwhile, anyone else looking forward to the Ana Ivanovic/Zheng Jie Wimbledon rematch? Put it this way - I would not be betting on Ana...

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Today's Results

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Thailand Open (Bangkok)

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Novak Djokovic def. Simon Stadler, 6-1 6-3

Tomas Berdych def. Simone Bolelli, 7-5 6-1

Nicolas Mahut def. Jarkko Nieminen, 6-4 3-6 6-3

Robin Soderling def. Teimuraz Gabashvili, 6-1 6-3

Jurgen Melzer def. Viktor Troicki, 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Philipp Petzschner def. Mischa Zverev, 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-1

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China Open (Beijing)

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Men's Draw

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Dudi Sela def. David Ferrer, 6-3 6-3

Andy Roddick def. Brendan Evans, 6-4 6-3

Fernando Gonzalez def. Go Soeda, 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-1

Richard Gasquet def. Yen-hsun Lu, 7-5 6-1

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Fernando Verdasco, 7-5 6-4

Tommy Robredo def. Ivo Minar, 6-2 6-3

Rainer Schuettler def. Jean-Claude Scherrer, 6-1 6-4

Bjorn Phau def. Sam Querrey, 5-7 6-3 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Ana Ivanovic def. Alizé Cornet, 6-1 7-6 (7-1)

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-2 6-3

Vera Zvonareva def. Francesca Schiavone, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Dominika Cibulkova def. Anna Chakvetadze, 6-3 6-2

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Agnes Szavay, 6-2 6-2

Zheng Jie def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-1 6-2

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Hansol Korea Open (Seoul)

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Maria Kirilenko def. Lucie Safarova, 6-3 6-3

Kaia Kanepi def. Anastasia Pivovarova, 6-1 6-1

Pauline Parmentier def. Stéphanie Dubois, 6-3 6-2

Yanina Wickmayer def. Chan Yung-Jan, 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 

Blood Privileges

Let's take a reality check for a moment. Do you think there is a chance in hell that Marko Djokovic would have got a wildcard into the Thailand Open if he wasn't Novak's brother?
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Marko is ranked #1734 in the world at the moment. He's made exactly three appearances on the Futures circuit, two echelons below the ATP main circuit. Let's have a look at the players ranked around him. There are a whole stack of people ranked at this number, with exactly one point. Have you ever heard of Patrick Knobloch? Ricardo Azzarita? Jesus Bandres?

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I didn't think so. And can you see any of these players getting wildcarded into a tournament? Hell, look at Bernard Tomic. He is ranked half that, at #811, which means, one would think, he would walk all over Marko Djokovic and assorted cohort. Can you imagine him getting wildcarded into the Thailand Open? The Australian Open, or the Medibank or something maybe, but that would be more on the grounds of him being Australia's most promising junior rather than being ranked #811. In fact, we have three Australians also ranked #1734 - David Bidmeade, Phillip Lang and Alan Poric. In what alternate universe would they get a wildcard into any ATP tournament, even the Australian ones? Hell, we have players ranked in the #300s - like Rameez Junaid, or Matthew Ebden - that will never see an Aussie Open wildcard, let alone one in a country not their own.

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So why should Marko Djokovic be treated any differently? Excuse while I bellow 'NEPOTISM!' at the top of my lungs.

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There are plenty of players that deserve wildcards much more than Marko Djokovic. So why should he get special treatment just because he's Novak's brother? I am not amused.

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What was amusing was that Jarkko Nieminen pounded him into the ground, 6-2 6-0. Nonetheless, there are a lot of players ranked much higher than Marko Djokovic that would kill for the opportunity to be whipped by Jarkko Nieminen. I hope they all frown at him in the locker room - on the Futures circuit. Or the Pro circuit. Or whatever is below the Pro circuit. Nick Lindahl and Monique Adamczak are winning things on the Pro circuit, and they're both ranked in the #200s. Marko Djokovic would be hard-pressed to qualify.

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In happier news, well done to the Australian Junior Davis Cup team! Maverick Banes, James Duckworth and Jarryd Chaplin accounted for Tunisia in fine form, 3-0. We're seeded #7 in the event, but we won last year (Bernard Tomic played on that team, along with Mark Verryth and Alex Sanders) and I reckon we can do it again. Australian tennis is going to be in SUCH a good place in a few years. Tomic will be the spearhead, but we have some other good kids coming up too.

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So why aren't they given wildcards into tournaments lightyears ahead of their playing range, hmmm?

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Today's Results

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Thailand Open (Bangkok)

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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Lukas Dlouhy, 7-6 (11-9) 3-6 7-6 (7-1)

Gael Monfils def. Robert Kendrick, 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Jarkko Nieminen def. Marko Djokovic, 6-2 6-0

Jurgen Melzer def. Donald Young, 6-3 6-3

Viktor Troicki def. Fabrice Santoro, 7-6 (7-4) 6-2

Simone Bolelli def. Thomaz Bellucci, 6-3 6-3

Mischa Zverev def. Robert Smeets, 6-4 6-4

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China Open (Beijing)

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Men's Draw

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Fernando Verdasco def. Bobby Reynolds, 6-3 6-3

Sam Querrey def. Jesse Levine, 1-6 6-2 7-6 (7-4)

Ivo Minar def. Hyung-taik Lee, 6-3 3-6 6-2

Dudi Sela def. Nicolas Devilder, 6-4 6-3

Go Soeda def. Yan Bai, 6-4 7-5

Brendan Evans def. Roko Karanusic, 7-6 (7-5) 1-6 7-6 (12-10)

Jean-Claude Scherrer def. Peng Sun, 6-4 7-6 (9-7)

*

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Women's Draw

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Jelena Jankovic def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 6-3 7-5

Daniela Hantuchova def. Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6-1 0-6 7-5

Zheng Jie def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-2 6-3

*

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Hansol Korea Open (Seoul)

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Shahar Peer def. Ayumi Morita, 6-4 7-5

Ekaterina Makarova def. Klara Zakopalova, 6-3 6-2

Jill Craybas def. Akgul Amanmuradova, 7-6 (7-1) 6-2

Samantha Stosur def. Sabine Lisicki, 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-3

Stuck on 399

Marat, Marat, Marat. What am I going to do with you?

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Every time I see him entered in this little schlep tournament, I get excited. Ah-ha! think I. There is next to no competition! Maybe this will be the tournament where Marat wins again for the first time since 2005! Maybe this will get him back on track!
*

...and then he goes and loses to someone like Philipp 'who?' Petzschner, and we're back to square one again.

*

So, Mr. Safin, answer me this. What is going on with you? I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but why can't you be more like your sister? I don't want to accuse Marat of not trying, but the reason Dinara has been so smokin' hot this season - she's #3 in the world now! - is because you pretty much have to shoot her to get through her. The only vaguely strange loss I can think of that she's taken since Berlin was to Shahar Peer in the third round of Wimbledon, and even that went to 8-6 or something in the third.

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I'm not asking much, Marat. Just a little more commitment. Focus, perhaps. Because I want to see you winning again. You're one of my favourite players, and I don't like to see you losing to schleps in schlep tournaments when you are so much better than that. Had you won this, this would have been your 400th career win - and no one wants to see you stuck on 399.

*

Meanwhile, back to my new favourite subject - Davis Cup. The first round ties for next year have come out and there are some mighty interesting draws. Switzerland vs. USA, for example. I don't know about you, but I think the USA might find themselves playing relegation rounds this time next year... let's look at this. On Team USA, you have Roddick and Blake - two solid singles players - as well as the Bryans, who are one of the best doubles teams ever. So far so good, right? But then look at Team Suisse. You have the greatest player that's ever lived in Roger Federer - and sure, he's lost to both Roddick and Blake in the past, but would you really bet against him? Then you have Stan Wawrinka, also a top ten player. Oh, and in the doubles... guess who knocked the Bryans out in the Olympics and went on to win the gold medal.

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It does seem a little like the Swiss have a two man team while the Americans have four, but when those two men are Federer and Wawrinka, do you really need more?

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The other reeeeeally intriguing tie is Spain/Serbia... I'd pay good money to see Nadal take on Djokovic in a Davis Cup match. Especially since it's presumably going to be on clay. I love it when Djokovic gets his arse kicked.

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Today's Results

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Thailand Open (Bangkok)

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Robin Soderling def. Aisam ul-Haq Qureshi, 6-2 6-4

Philipp Petzschner def, Marat Safin, 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Teimuraz Gabashvili def. Michael Berrer, 6-4 6-3

Nicolas Mahut def. Danai Udomchoke, 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-2

Robert Kendrick def. George Bastl, 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

Simon Stadler def. Julien Benneteau, 7-5 6-1

Lukas Dlouhy def. Benjamin Becker, 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

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China Open (Beijing)

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Men's Draw

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Tommy Robredo def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-4 7-5

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Alexandre Kudryavtsev, 6-4 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Anna Chakvetadze def. Iveta Benesova, 6-4 7-5

Alizé Cornet def. Zhang Shuai, 6-1 3-6 7-6 (9-7)

Francesca Schiavone def. Li Na, 6-1 7-6 (7-4)

Agnes Szavay def. Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-4 6-3

Ai Sugiyama def. Yan Zi, 6-3 6-4

Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Katarina Srebotnik, 6-4 7-5

Aleksandra Wozniak def. Virginie Razzano, 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 6-4

Alla Kudryavtseva def. Peng Shuai, 7-5 6-4

*

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Hansol Korea Open (Seoul)

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Maria Kirilenko def. Lenka Wienerova, 6-2 6-0

Kaia Kanepi def. Rika Fujiwara, 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-0

Klara Zakopalova def. Carla Suárez Navarro, 6-1 6-7 (3-7) 6-4

Samantha Stosur def. Marina Erakovic, 6-2 6-0

Chan Yung-Jan def. Mara Santangelo, 1-6 6-3 6-4

Ekaterina Makarova def. Tamira Paszek, 6-1 6-2

Jill Craybas def. Yuan Meng, 6-0 6-0

Lucie Safarova def. Melanie South, 6-1 3-0 retired

Stéphanie Dubois def. Camille Pin, 6-4 3-6 7-5

Ayumi Morita def. Arantxa Rus, 6-4 6-1

Anastasia Pivovarova def. Lee Ye-Ra, 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 5-3 retired

Moaning Murray

So pretty much nothing is going on in the world of tennis today. Tournaments in Beijing and Seoul, with Bangkok starting tomorrow... it's the Asian swing, I suppose. And that's pretty much all I have to say about that.

*

Back to Davis Cup - yes, I still have more to say about that, even though it's over. I am not happy with Andy Murray this morning. Yeah, sure Britain got relegated and that's bad, and sure, he did his best and won his ties, but how dare he come out and suggest that his teammates weren't trying? This is what he said:

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"If I make a sacrifice I think every single person in the team should be willing to make those sacrifices and say they will give it all they've got... I want them to say they are physically able to play even if they have to play three days of five-set matches. Then I know everyone on the team wants to play as badly as I do."

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What kind of attitude is that? Look, Andy, just because they didn't win didn't mean they didn't want it? Not everyone is #4 in the world. I hope Alex Bogdanovic and Ross Hutchins and his brother Jamie find him down a dark alley sometime and give him a really serious talking to. There's speculation that this means he won't play in Davis Cup next year. If I were a self-respecting British tennis player, I'd refuse to play with him if he's going to have an attitude like that. He has a lot to learn about being a top echelon tennis player. Can you imagine Roger Federer coming out and saying that Stan Wawrinka, Stephane Bohli and Yves Allegro hadn't been trying, had Switzerland lost to Belgium? I thought Andy Murray was improving - I had previous thought of him as a sort of Scottish Lleyton Hewitt - but obviously I was wrong. Grow up, Andy.

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The Australians, on the other hand, have got exactly the right idea, and have come away with just the right message - we might not have won, but we tried, and we have a lot to be encouraged about. John Fitzgerald said it was the most optimistic he had felt about Australian men's tennis in a long time, and I agree with him. We might not have world-beaters at the moment, but the young Aussie kids we have coming up are damn exciting! You just wait, World Group. You just wait.

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Meanwhile, Darren Cahill is apparently the favourite to become Roger Federer's new coach. I'm not quite sure how I feel about that, but I think it would certainly be an interesting combination... let's see what happens!

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Today's Results

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China Open (Beijing)

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Men's Draw

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Rainer Schuettler def. Ivan Navarro, 2-6 6-3 6-4

Yen-hsun Lu def. Juan-chao Xu, 6-4 6-3

Bjorn Phau def. Hyun-woo Nam, 6-1 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Daniela Hantuchova def. Gisela Dulko, 6-3 6-1

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Caroline Wozniacki, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4

Dominika Cibulkova def. Amélie Mauresmo, 3-6 6-4 6-3

*

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Hanson Korea Open (Seoul)

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Shahar Peer def. Petra Cetkovska, 6-3 6-4

Pauline Parmentier def. Han Sung-Hee, 6-1 6-1

Akgul Amanmuradova def. Marta Domachowska, 6-7 (1-7) 6-3 6-3

Sabine Lisicki def. Vera Dushevina, 6-1 6-0

Yanina Wickmayer def. Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-3 7-6 (7-1)

Nothing To Sneeze At

3-2 is definitely nothing to be ashamed of. Well done, Australians. You did good. Your achievement ain't nothing to sneeze at.

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To be fair, there was never a situation where it was 2-2 - Gonzalez beat Guccione and then the last rubber was a dead one, but the team performed much better than I thought they would, and Carsten Ball totally won that last rubber. Good on him. Meanwhile, so much for all that competition for the last spot in the team - Robert Smeets never saw any court time. But we did much better than could be expected. Next year, perhaps, we can make it back into the world group. We certainly dominated the Asia-Oceania division this year - poor Thailand. It's only a matter of time. And you just wait till Bernard Tomic grows up. You just wait.

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My Spain/Argentina final is coming to pass, and I am quite excited about it. Finally, I might have the opportunity to find out what happens when you put Rafael Nadal and David Nalbandian on the court together! You've got to like Spain to win the tie, but when you have GoodDave and the scorching hot del Potro on your team, ain't nobody will gainsay you. It's going to be reeeeeeeally interesting.

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Nalbandian lost his first Davis Cup match of the year, going down to Davydenko. I actually thought he would pull that one out, so I was a bit surprised. What is going on with Headbandian at the moment? He has been playing well below his level all year. He must be nearly out of the running for the Tennis Masters Cup. Del Potro has a better shot than him right now. Silly LameDave.

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And how 'bout that Rafa Nadal? Your decision to skip the Olympics really helped you there, Andy Roddick. This guy won them, and the French, and Wimbledon, and about forty-seven other titles in between, and still had enough energy to kick your arse. Rafa really is... well, he's just good, isn't he? I always forget just how good he is until I watch him. He's got some game. You know, just a bit. Enough to get him to #1 in the world while the best player in the history of the game is still about.

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And then Fidgiano beat Sam Querrey, just to put the nail in the coffin. Alas, poor USA. They never really had a chance. Much like Australia.

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But someone who did have a big chance, and then made good on it, was Dinara Safina, who put an absolute beatdown on Svetlana Kuznetsova. That's three Tier I titles this year. How good is this girl? I am gunning for her bigtime in the Australian Open next year. I was at her first round match this year, where she played awfully and lost to Sabine Lisicki. That player is not the same player as the one we're seeing now. It's only a matter of time before Dinara wins a Grand Slam - and I think Australia might be a great time for it. I would love her to win in Doha this year, and who would bet against her? Who could stop her? Serena, maybe, but I can't see Ivanovic or Jankovic or Dementieva being able to do too much in the face of the Safina freight train. Davai Dinara!

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Today's Results

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Davis Cup Semi Finals

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Argentina 3, Russia 2

Nikolay Davydenko def. David Nalbandian, 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 6-0

Juan Martin del Potro def. Igor Andreev, 6-4 6-2 6-1

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Spain 4, USA 1

Rafael Nadal def. Andy Roddick, 6-4 6-0 6-4

Feliciano Lopez def. Sam Querrey, 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-4)

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Davis Cup Playoffs

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Chile 3, Australia 2

Fernando Gonzalez def. Chris Guccione, 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 6-3

Carsten Ball def. Paul Capdeville, 6-3 7-6 (7-3)

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Austria 3, Great Britain 2

Andy Murray def. Jurgen Melzer, 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-1

Alexander Peya def. Alex Bogdanovic, 2-6 6-4 6-4 6-2

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Switzerland 4, Belgium 1

Stephane Bohli def. Steve Darcis, 6-3 1-6 6-3

Xavier Malisse def. Yves Allegro, 6-3 6-2

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Croatia 4, Brazil 1

Ivo Karlovic def. Thomaz Bellucci, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-4)

Roko Karanusic def. Thiago Alves, 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 7-6 (7-5)

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Israel 4, Peru 1

Dudi Sela def. Luis Horna, 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 6-1 6-2

Noam Okun def. Ivan Miranda, 6-4 5-7 6-3

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Netherlands 3, Korean Republic 2

Hyung-taik Lee def. Jesse Huta Galung, 1-6 6-1 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Thiemo de Bakker def. Woong-jun Sun, 6-2 6-1 6-3

*

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Romania 4, India 1

Victor Hanescu def. Prakash Amritraj, 6-2 6-3 6-1

Victor Crivoi def. Somdev Devvarman, 4-6 7-5 6-3

*

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Serbia 4, Slovak Republic 1

Victor Troicki def. Lucas Lacko, 6-3 6-4

Filip Polasek def. Janko Tipsarevic, walkover

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Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo)

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Dinara Safina def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-1 6-3

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TOE Life Ceramics Guangzhou International Women's Open (Guangzhou)

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Vera Zvonareva def. Peng Shuai, 6-7 (4-7) 6-0 6-2

Miracle Territory

We have a point! A whole one! I don't know if I've ever been so pleased by an Australian tennis result in my life. Trust me to only get behind my country when we have absolutely no chance of winning. But still! a point! A whole, entire point! Yay! Good work, Guccione and Ball!

*

That said, we are still going to lose - I can envision no universe in which Gonzalez loses to Guccione. But Luczak has the capability of beating Massu if he plays well, and 3-2 ain't nothing to be ashamed of. Hell, we avoided being whitewashed 5-0 - there should be dancing in the streets anyway!

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Tennis Australia described the win as 'miraculous' and I do not disagree. We will need a miracle to win this tie - and I don't think it'll be delivered. Nonetheless, we took our first baby steps into miracle territory. Even though we're not very good, I find this Davis Cup team so exciting. Give it a few years, and we are going to rock the tennis house.

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Surprisingly few teams closed out their ties today - Switzerland and Serbia were the only ones. If Federer and Wawrinka commit to playing a full year of Davis Cup next year, I don't know who would gainsay their chances - Spain, maybe, if they played Nadal and Ferrer and it was on clay, would start favourites against them, but I can't think of anyone else.

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Meanwhile, Britain is in big trouble... it'll be sad if they don't claw back into the World Group, because they probably deserve it more than Austria, in that they have a top singles player and a top doubles player. Nonetheless, if they don't win, then they don't deserve to be there. Snaps to Austria.

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Meanwhile, what a match that was in the Argentina/Russia tie! I'm glad Russia won it and kept the tie alive, because it is such an intriguing match up! It'll be really interesting to see which way it goes tomorrow, especially in the Davydenko/Nalbandian match. Del Potro will probably close it out for Argentina, I would imagine, but anything can happen with those crazy Russians. And speaking of crazy, I was obviously a little insane to doubt the ability of Mike Bryan to pair with someone else, as he and Mardy Fish managed quite nicely in their win. Somehow I don't see Andy Roddick beating Rafa Nadal tomorrow, but, like the Aussies, at least they managed to get a point.

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And well done to my girl Dinara Safina, who is in yet another Tier I final! She plays Svetlana Kuznetsova for the Tokyo crown, and somehow I'm feeling Dinara on this one... I wonder why.

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Today's Results

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Davis Cup Semi Finals

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Argentina 2, Russia 1

Kunitsyn/Tursunov def. Canas/Nalbandian, 6-2 6-1 6-7 (9-11) 3-6 8-6

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Spain 2, USA 1

Bryan/Fish def. Lopez/Verdasco, 4-6 6-4 6-3 4-6 6-4

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Davis Cup Playoffs

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Chile 2, Australia 1

Ball/Guccione def. Gonzalez/Massu, 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (10-8) 6-3 5-7 7-5

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Austria 2, Great Britain 1

Knowle/Melzer def. Murray/Hutchins, 6-4 6-3 6-1

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Switzerland 3, Belgium 0

Federer/Wawrinka def. Malisse/Rochus, 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 6-3

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Croatia 2, Brazil 1

Melo/Sa def. Karlovic/Zovko, 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 7-5 6-7 (5-7) 6-3

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Israel 2, Peru 1

Levy/Ram def. Echazu/Silva, 6-1 6-1 6-2

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Netherlands 2, Korean Republic 1

Huta Galung/Wessels def. Jun/Lee, 4-6 6-4 6-4 6-3

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Romania 2, India 1

Bhupathi/Paes def. Cruciat/Tecau, 6-4 7-6 (7-0_ 6-4

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Serbia 3, Slovak Republic 0

Troicki/Zimonjic def. Mertinak/Polasek, 7-6 (10-8) 6-4 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-5)

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Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo)

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Dinara Safina def. Nadia Petrova, 6-1 6-0

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Katarina Srebotnik, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

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TOE Life Ceramics Guangzhou International Women's Open (Guangzhou)

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Vera Zvonareva def. Zheng Jie, 6-3 7-5

Peng Shuai def. Camille Pin, 6-2 6-1

Tennis Without A Stepladder

Well, nothing's out of reach if you've got long arms, but I guess Australia's arms are not all that long at the moment, and we ain't got no stepladder. Oh well. We're trying. Gooch and Looch did their best, but we're still 2-0 down... not that anyone was expecting anything else. I guess all we can hope with is an articulation of the ol' 'give it your best and no one can ask more' adage. Maybe we can scrape a win in one of the dead rubbers. That would be fun.

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Australia isn't the only country down 2-0 this morning - both the USA and Russia are in the same situation. I must confess, though, that although the USA are two rubbers down, they did perform much better than I thought they would, considering this is clay. Who'd ever have thought they'd see Sam Querrey up a set and a break against Rafa Nadal? I didn't see the match - was Querrey playing well or Rafa poorly up to that point? Rafa won, of course - who'd expect anything less from the Spanish conquistador on clay? - but kudos to Querrey for doing so well. Snaps.

*

Meanwhile, who'd ever have thought David Ferrer would be taken to five on clay by A-Rod? Certainly not me. I would have put money on Ferru to win in straights every time. So the USA challenge has been much more spirited than I thought it would be.

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And how 'bout Argentina? Juan Martin del Potro especially! He walked all over Kolya Davydenko, a player who, despite his recent attitude problems, has been ranked in the top ten consistently for, like, ever. Del Potro pulverised him. Nalbandian didn't exactly pulverise Andreev, but he certainly got the job done, and so it looks like the Spain/Argentina final I wanted is imminent. I think Russia'll probably get the doubles, but it's going to be very interesting to see how the reverse singles go - especially the Davydenko/Nalbandian match. That could be smashing.

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And another country up 2-0 is Switzerland. Federer cruised, Wawrinka struggled, but Belgium ain't got no points. Hopp Suisse!

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Today's Results

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Davis Cup - Semi Finals

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Argentina 2, Russia 0

David Nalbandian def. Igor Andreev, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 6-4

Juan Martin del Potro def. Nikolay Davydenko, 6-1 6-4 6-2

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Spain 2, USA 0

Rafael Nadal def. Sam Querrey, 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-3 6-4

David Ferrer def. A Roddick, 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-2 4-6 8-6

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Davis Cup - Playoffs

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Chile 2, Australia 0

Nicolas Massu def. Chris Guccione,7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 7-6 (7-2)

Fernando Gonzalez def. Peter Luczak, 6-2 6-2 6-3

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Great Britain 1, Austria 1

Jurgen Melzer def. Alex Bogdanovic, 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 6-1

Andy Murray def. Alexander Peya, 6-4 6-1 6-3

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Switzerland 2, Belgium 0

Roger Federer def. Kristof Vliegen, 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 6-2

Stanislas Wawrinka def. Steve Darcis, 6-7 (3-7) 6-1 6-3 2-6 6-4

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Croatia 2, Brazil 0

Mario Ancic def. Thomaz Bellucci, 6-2 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-3)

Ivo Karlovic def. Thiago Alves, 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-3) 7-5

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Israel 1, Peru 1

Luis Horna def. Harel Levy, 7-5 5-7 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

Dudi Sela def. Ivan Miranda, 6-2 6-1 3-6 6-4

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Netherlands 1, Korean Republic 1

Hyung-taik Lee def. Thiemmo de Bakker, 6-4 6-3 6-3

Jesse Huta Galung def. Kyu-Tae Im, 6-3 6-3 5-7 6-2

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Romania 2, India 0

Victor Crivoi def. Prakash Amritraj, 7-5 5-7 6-2 6-2

Victor Hanescu def. Somdev Devvarman, 6-3 6-1 6-0

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Serbia 2, Slovak Republic 0

Novak Djokovic def. Dominik Hrbaty, 6-2 6-4 6-3

Janko Tipsarevic def. Lucas Lacko, 6-7 (3-7) 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 8-6

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Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo)

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Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Jelena Jankovic, 2-6 7-5 7-5

Katarina Srebotnik def. Elena Dementieva, 6-3 6-4

Dinara Safina def. Kaia Kanepi, 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-2

Nadia Petrova def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-3 6-0

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TOE Life Ceramics Guangzhou International Women's Open (Guangzhou)

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Vera Zvonareva def. Karin Knapp, 6-1 6-0

Zheng Jie def. Tamira Paszek, 6-2 6-1

Peng Shuai def. Jill Craybas, 6-4 6-1

Camille Pin def. Arantxa Rus, 6-3 6-3

Nothing's Out Of Reach If You've Got Long Arms

If you're sick of talking Davis Cup, stop reading now.

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Let's start with the Argentinians today. They are, I feel, a perpetually underestimated tennis nation, and yet they're always up here in Davis Cup. I can't remember a time they weren't in the last four... that said, my Davis Cup memory is not the best, as I don't normally follow it as closely as normal tour tennis. Nonetheless, this Davis Cup week is pretty interesting, and the performance of the Argentinians is going to be intriguing.

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Nalbandian and del Potro are the singles players, which I think is a very smart move. Argentina has tennis depth, but, unlike Spain, who are arguably the deepest nation in men's tennis at the moment, they don't have any players that are massive superstars. At the moment, that is - Nalbandian has been a superstar, but he hasn't been playing like one this year. Del Potro is well on his way to being a superstar, but he's got a way to go yet. He is only about twelve years old, we must remember.

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The outcome of this tie is going to be very much on Argentina's racquet, I feel - more particularly, on the racquet of David Nalbandian. Despite his otherwise mediocre record this year, he is flawless in Davis Cup. Both Andreev and Davydenko, the singles players for Russia, are capable of beating him. That said, he is more than capable of beating both of them. He is more talented than Davydenko and more refined than Andreev, and if he can pull out a GoodDave, as opposed to a LameDave, performance, then I would put good money on Argentina to win.

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I'd normally go for Russia every time in this equation - the Tursunov factor - but I find myself pulling for Argentina this time, just a bit. Mostly because I think a match up between them and Spain would be incredibly compelling. What happens when you put Nadal and Nalbandian on a court together? WHAT HAPPENS?

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Another tie that is going to be very interesting is Croatia vs. Brazil playoff. You'd have to go with Croatia, who are playing Karlovic, Cilic and Ancic, but Brazil's team might be a dark horse. Presumably they're playing Melo and Sa, their gun doubles team, and probably Thomaz Bellucci too... hey, we could see a Cilic/Bellucci Stars of the Future Showdown! Move over Grapple in the Apple!

*

Meanwhile, Australia has finally named their team, though I suppose they are still capable of pulling a swap - we have up till an hour before we take the court, yesno? Guccione and Luczak are the singles players (Luczak has to play Gonzalez first, poor bugger) and then Smeets and Ball will play the doubles. Groth, Tomic and Klein will have to watch from the sidelines, I guess. Still, Aussie Aussie Aussie!

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There was a great quote from John Fitzgerald today - someone asked him if thought Gooch was going to be able to bear the burden of being team leader, and he said 'he's got big shoulders.' I loved that. Who knows? We'll need a miracle to win this one, but nothing's out of reach if you've got long arms.

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In other, non-Davis Cup news, the nightmare continues for Ana Ivanovic, who got beaten by Nadia Petrova in Tokyo... I thought not being #1 would settle her down a bit, but obviously not....

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Today's Results

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Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo)

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Jelena Jankovic def. Flavia Pennetta, 6-2 6-1

Nadia Petrova def. Ana Ivanovic, 6-1 1-6 6-2

Elena Dementieva def. Alizé Cornet, 6-0 6-3

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Ayumi Morita, 6-1 6-1

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Marion Bartoli, 6-2 6-3

Katarina Srebotnik def. Francesca Schiavone, 6-4 6-3

Kaia Kanepi def. Virginie Razzano, 6-4 6-2

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TOE Life Ceramics Guangzhou International Women's Open

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Vera Zvonareva def. Xu Yi-Fan, 6-1 7-6 (7-4)

Zheng Jie def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 6-4 6-0

Peng Shuai def. Lu Jingjing, 6-3 6-4

Arantxa Rus def. Gisela Dulko, 6-4 6-4

Tamira Paszek def. Pauline Parmentier, 6-2 2-6 6-3

Camille Pin def. Alla Kudryavtseva, 2-6 6-0 6-2

Talking Tomic

Ah, yet another day when I have pretty much nothing to talk about but Davis Cup. In Grand Slams, you get Boring Sunday, where there is no tennis at all, but in Davis Cup that gets stretched out for nearly a whole week. It is very tiresome.

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I suppose I could talk about women's tennis... well done Dinara Safina for making it into the quarter finals of the Tier I event in Tokyo! Wouldn't it be nice to see Dinara add to her swag of Tier I titles? I must say, though, the scheduling is a bit rough - somehow I don't think too many of the men on tour would be too pleased if they had to play a Masters Series event only a week after a Slam. Why should the girls have to do it? Not to mention that in the interim was Fed Cup - if they want to make Fed Cup more prestigious, they are going to have to schedule at a time when all the top players aren't absolutely buggered. Take Safina, for example - she didn't play Fed Cup because of tiredness, and although it didn't hurt her country because there are so many excellent Russian women players, imagine if she'd been playing for Australia. We'd have been screwed.

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...and that leads us back to Davis Cup. Tennis Australia is saying today that Bernard Tomic's form is looking pretty good, which is heartening, because I would dearly love to see him make his debut, as I have probably said about nine hundred times. Mostly I would just love to see him play... it'd probably be his first televised match, albeit at two in the morning. Why must Chile be in such an inconvenient time zone? He is so talented, though, and if he can keep his temper in check, he is going to be something else... and it would be nice if he could, you know, bring that talent forward to now for a bit and win us a rubber or two. He is the youngest player ever to win a junior boys' Slam, and if he plays, he'll be the youngest player ever to represent Australia in Davis Cup... and if he wins, definitely the youngest player ever to win!

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Brydan Klein is apparently looking good too, though I must confess he hasn't really convinced me to jump on his bandwagon... I know he won the boys' Australian Open last year, just like Tomic did this year, and sure he's going to be good, but he hasn't (as yet) shown me the extraordinary ability that Tomic clearly has. Nonetheless, if Klein can make it onto the squad, that will be pretty special... I'd love to see both the young guys make it on!

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Yes, actually, that's my squad pick - Guccione, Luczak, Tomic and Klein. However, I am not in Chile training with them and Smeets, Ball and Groth... Fitzy and Killer know best!

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Today's Results

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Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo)

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Dinara Safina def. Dominika Cibulkova, 6-3 6-4

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Li Na, 6-2 1-6 6-3

Nadia Petrova def. Aravane Rezai, 7-5 6-2

Virginie Razzano def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-3 6-2

Katarina Srebotnik def. Caroline Wozniacki, 6-1 6-2

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TOE Life Ceramics Guangzhou International Women's Open (Guangzhou)

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Jill Craybas def. Olga Govortsova, 6-2 7-5

Karin Knapp def. Mariya Koryttseva, 6-4 6-4

Vera Zvonareva def. Anastasia Rodionova, 6-1 6-2

Peng Shuai def. Mara Santangelo, 6-4 6-2

Tamira Paszek def. Lee Ye-Ra, 6-0 6-4

Camille Pin def. Chen Yanchong, 6-2 6-3

Bryan/...Fish?

The news is all Davis Cup today - probably the biggest news being that America is now well and truly screwed. There was no way either Roddick or Querrey was ever going to beat Rafa Nadal on clay, even if Rafa sleepwalked his way through the match. All their hopes rested on winning the doubles and then snatching a couple of reverse singles rubbers, but I think that's shot now. Bob Bryan is out, Mardy Fish is in and one can imagine both he and Mike Bryan would be a bit at sea.

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I know BryanBryan are the best doubles team in the world, but I have serious doubts about their abilities playing with other partners - and I guess we'll find out if I'm right. Mike Bryan and Mardy Fish will (probably) contest the doubles against Verdasco and Lopez, one would imagine, and though they still have a shot at winning (you wouldn't count them out) their chances are greatly lessened. I don't Patrick McEnroe would be a very pleasant person to be round right now.

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Though it may turn out OK for the US, I guess... if Rafa falls over and breaks his leg. To be honest, I think I'd prefer to see Spain in the final anyway - with the depth they have in men's tennis, they sort of deserve a Davis Cup win! I think Spain/Argentina would be veeeeeeery interesting, especially if Rafa played Nalbandian... I am itching for those two to have a rematch, because I want to know what'll happen, what with Rafa having a losing record against Headbandian, but LameDave keeps turning up and losing and it is, like, so annoying. The four teams still left in the running are all very good and all the potential finals match ups are intriguing, but that'd be my preferred one, I think.

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The two teams I want to see back in the World Group next year are Australia and Switzerland, and Switzerland look pretty sure to make it. The Swiss team is Federer, Wawrinka, Allegro and Bohli, playing the Belgians, Darcis, Vliegen and the Rochus brothers. Forgive me, but I'm feeling the Swiss might just win that one. Not only have you got the Mighty Fed in there, you have the Olympic gold medal winning doubles team... though one would imagine Allegro is in there as a doubles specialist. Nevertheless, hopp Suisse. I'm sure you won't be needing the luck I'm sending you, but I'm sending it anyway.

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Australia, of course, are Belgium to Chile's Switzerland, but I have to say that I'm very impressed with the attitude the team is taking. The fact that there's seven guys competing for four spots seems to be pushing them all to greater heights - I only hope they don't wear themselves out before competition actually starts! I would really, really like to see Tomic make the cut, even if they only play him in dead rubbers - I think it would be really good experience for him. I also think he is the player most likely to pull an upset, because he has the potential for absolute fabulousness and the Chilean guns are going to have pretty much no clue who he is, one imagines. I can't see him beating Gonzalez, but against Massu... who knows?

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The Australian team knows that they have very little shot at winning, but it seems like they're prepared to give it their all - Chris Guccione said this morning:

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“I've had some of my best results in Davis Cup. If I can get a win or two its going to be huge.”

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Oh, Gooch, I'd love to see you get some wins too. I think Johm Fitzgerald and Darren Cahill have taken just the right line on this. Gooch and Luczak, you'd think, would be certs to be part of the four man squad, and there are older players like Sirianni they could have gone with, but going with the youth is perfect. There is pretty much no way we're going to win, no matter who we play - so why not have a go and blood the young guys? And if anyone has any chance, one would think it's the young guys, who are so explosive and unpredictable... I am very impressed indeed. Aussie Aussie Aussie!

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Today's Results

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Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo)

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Agnieszka Radwanska def. Aiko Nakamura, 6-1 6-4

Francesca Schiavone def. Daniela Hantuchova, 6-1 7-5

Kaia Kanepi def. Anna Chakvetadze, 6-4 3-6 6-3

Marion Bartoli def. Maria Kirilenko, 6-2 6-2

Flavia Pennetta def. Shahar Peer, 6-4 6-4

Alizé Cornet def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 4-6 6-3 6-3

Dominika Cibulkova def. Amélie Mauresmo, 0-6 6-1 7-6 (10-8)

Ayumi Morita def. Agnes Szavay, 6-7 (7-9) 7-5 6-4

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TOE Life Ceramics Guangzhou International Women's Open (Guangzhou)

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Zheng Jie def. Sun Tiantian, 6-0 6-1

Gisela Dulko def. Tatiana Poutchek, 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-4

Pauline Parmentier def. Han Xinyun, 6-1 7-5

Jill Craybas def. Anastasia Pivovarova, 6-2 6-4

Arantxa Rus def. Yanina Wickmayer, 6-7 (2-7) 6-2 6-4

Xu Yi-Fan def. Stéphanie Dubois, 6-3 6-1

The Hidden Circuit

One of the lead stories on the Tennis Australia website today is that Monique Adamczak and Nick Lindahl (both young Australian players, for those of you who don't know the names) have won events on the '2008-09 Pro Circuit.' Now, I'm mystified. What on earth is this so-called Pro Circuit?

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Adamczak and Lindahl are not very highly ranked players - Adamczak is somewhere in the late #100s and Lindahl in the #200s, so presumably this Pro Circuit is not especially prestigious. The tournament that they won the men's and women's singles in was in Rockhampton, so it's hardly a travel-around-the-world international affair. Oh, wait - I've found a page on Tennis Australia about it. It says:

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'The tennis Pro Circuit is a series of international entry level events onto the professional tour. These events provide an opportunity for players to earn their first world ranking points, which is a players' livelihood as a professional player. The tennis Pro Circuit is a vital step for all tennis players as they embark on professional careers. Positioned as a bridge between junior events and the elite WTA and ATP tournaments the circuit, it is the breeding ground for future champions.'

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That makes sense, I suppose - but surely Monique Adamczak is a bit past that stage? She's played in Slams - surely she should be playing ITF events... her ranking is high enough to get into most of those, yeah? She's professional, not jumping the gap between the two - though looking at her profile, she hasn't been playing much tennis, either at WTA or ITF level. She's made it to some semi-finals, but that's about it. She was born in 1983 and turned pro in 1998, by the looks of it... she's had some career success on the ITF circuit with four title but not that much recently - and now she's back playing on the Pro Circuit. She was the top seed in Rockhampton.

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That's really a bit demoralising, but well done Monique Adamczak, nonetheless.

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Nick Lindahl is a bit of a different story... I remember him playing in juniors a couple of years back, and he was no Tomic, but he was pretty good. I haven't really seen him since - the ATP has no record of him turning pro, though presumably he did, because he played quarter finals in a Challenger event... do you have to be a professional to play Challengers? Maybe you don't. He was the second seed in the event at Rockhampton.

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It's funny, isn't it, to actually see the evidence of the work that players do to get to the top? You sort of assume they have to work their way up, but I've never really thought about how they did that. It'd be the rare junior that jumped straight onto the ATP or WTA circuit - I suppose, in recent memory, Alize Cornet has done it, and maybe Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, but let's have a look at recent junior Slam winners for boys, and see where they are now. In 2007, Donald Young won the US Open for boys, and in 2006 Thiemo de Bakker won junior Wimbledon, but we have to go back to 2005 before we start getting any really familiar names - the champions that year were Young, Marin Cilic, Jeremy Chardy and Ryan Sweeting. That was 2005, and now we're in 2008, and if we take Cilic as our example case, it has taken him about three years to be a regular on the ATP circuit. He didn't even qualify for the US Open last year.

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So where was Marin in these few years? Playing Challengers and Futures, no doubt, but maybe he was hanging about on the Pro Circuit too. So maybe I should pay more attention to this hitherto unheard-of circuit... perhaps I can claim I saw the next Roger Federer play before he was famous!

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Today's Results

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TOE Life Ceramics Guangzhou International Women's Open (Guangzhou)

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Olga Govortsova def. Yan Zi, 6-3 6-2

Mariya Koryttseva def. Akgul Amanmuradova, 6-4 6-4

Karin Knapp def. Zhang Shuai, 7-6 (8-6) 1-6 6-1

Alla Kudryavtseva def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-4 4-6 6-3

Ioana Raluca Olaru def. Aniko Kapros, 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-1

Lu Jingjing def. Ekaterina Dzehalevich, 7-6 (7-4) 6-2

'Competitive Spice'

Fed Cup is over and done for another year - gee, I am SO SURPRISED that Russia won. Nobody saw that one coming. I discussed the incredible depth of Russian women's tennis the other day, but I think I just need to reiterate it. Their top three players were out, and they still won easily, one hundred percent absolutely no contest. Spain mounted a bit of a challenge in Anabel Medina Garrigue's charge in the singles, but even then, she only got a set off Sveta Kuznetsova. Russia were never going to lose this one.

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Imagine having six players in the top twenty. That's just insane. In the men's, France has something like fifteen players in the top hundred, and I thought that was pretty good - but I doubt more than three of them are in the top twenty. Actually, let's check... they have three, and none of them are in the top ten currently - Gasquet, Simon (who just won Bucharest) and Tsonga. Actually, I hadn't realised how remarkable Spain were - I knew they had a lot in the top hundred, but five of those are in the top twenty. There's Nadal at #1, of course, then Ferrer, Verdasco, Robredo and Almagro. Let's compare that with Australia. We have two players in the top hundred, Hewitt at #59 and Guccione at #80. Then in the next hundred there's Smeets, Sirianni, Luczak and Ball, then down another hundred is Ebelthite (who?), Groth, Klein, Jones (isn't he retired?), Armstrong (again, who?) and Lindahl. Bernard Tomic is at #816. Oh yes. What a strong tennis nation we are right now.

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Speaking of Australian tennis, Robert Smeets has just been added to the Davis Cup team, so that's seven guys we're sending to Chile now. He's not really adding to the age of the team much either - he's twenty-two. So I guess that makes him old, actually, compared to most of the rest of them. Tennis Australia says that:

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"The 147th ranked Smeets will add even more competitive spice to a young squad which will battle it out on the practice courts for a spot in the four man team to take on the highly-fancied Chileans in the World Group Play-off of Davis Cup by BNP Paribas from September 19-21."

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Competitive spice, huh? Because our chances are SO huge. Not that I'm ragging on John Fitzgerald or anything - I think he's awesome that he's trying so hard and that he's pulling out the stops. But I do wish journalists would be a little more realistic about our chances... so if we win, it really will be a huge surprise!

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Today's Results

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BCR Open Romania (Bucharest)

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Gilles Simon def. Carlos Moya, 6-3 6-4

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Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic (Bali)

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Patty Schnyder def. Tamira Paszek, 6-3 6-0