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.

*

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?

*

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...

*

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!

*

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!

*

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?

*

*

Today's Results

*

Open de Moselle (Metz)

*

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

*

*

AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships (Tokyo)

*

Men's Draw

*

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)

*

*

Women's Draw

*

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

*

*

Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart)

*

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

*

*

Tashkent Open (Tashkent)

*

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