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