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)