Sunday, October 12, 2008

Far Away, So Close

No joy, yet again. Marat, Marat, Marat. If only he could have won the other one of those breakers. Far away, so close. All I want is for to win a title - one little title! Is that so much to ask? But no. Even though he's beaten Igor Kunitsyn three times in recent history, not this time. Not this time, when it really, you know, matters.
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Sigh. One day, Marat will come through for me. One day. And he got to the final, and he beat some quality players on the way. I guess I'll just have to be content with that.
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Igor Kunitsyn was not the only first-time winner this weekend - how 'bout Philipp Petzschner, who pulled a Darcis in Vienna? It's always good fun when a qualifier comes up through the draw and wins it. Much as I did want Safin to win in Moscow, it's nice to see the little guys doing well - sharing the love, I guess. Not that that happened everywhere this week - Nalbandian won in Stockholm, and though Soderling took a set off him, GoodDave (for 'twas he) never really looked like losing. It will be very interesting to see how he goes in Madrid this week, defending his title - are we going to get another late surge? It would certainly shake things up in Davis Cup: and we all know how keen I am to see a Nadal/Nalbandian clash!
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And it's good to see Jelena Jankovic really deserving her position as #1 - she really owned that tournament in Moscow this week. Is she going to be the one to close it out this year? It's been such a roller coaster ride over there!
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Back to the blokes, and I am two for two so far in the bracket challenge for Madrid! The opponents for Roger and Rafa have been decided - Roger will face scary Radek Stepanek, the creepy guy, but, much more interestingly for us here at Tennis From The Backseat, Rafa's playing Ernests Gulbis, who had a good win over Nicolas Kiefer. I've picked Ernests to upset Rafa, which is probably more wishful thinking than anything else: but I can dream! Swanboy is certainly going to beat him one day - so why not this week?
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Today's Results
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Kremlin Cup (Moscow)
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Men's Draw
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Igor Kunitsyn def. Marat Safin, 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (4-7) 6-3
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Women's Draw
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Jelena Jankovic def. Vera Zvonareva, 6-2 6-4
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If Stockholm Open (Stockholm)
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David Nalbandian def. Robin Soderling, 6-2 5-7 6-3
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Bank Austria Tennis Classic (Vienna)
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Philipp Petzschner def. Gael Monfils, 6-4 6-4
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Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid (Madrid)
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Radek Stepanek def. Juan Monaco, 6-1 6-1
Ernests Gulbis def. Nicolas Kiefer, 5-7 6-4 7-5

1 comment:

Naf said...

Ha ha. Picking Gulbis over Nadal? Cold-blooded. Could happen, though.
Far as Safin goes, I believe that if I'd accepted his offer of traveling with him full-time instead of getting married, he'd be dominating tennis right now. Right.