Jo-W's War

Bold words from Jo-W Tsonga this morning - he's after the #1 ranking and he's thrown down the gauntlet to everyone else. He's not letting himself be intimidated - Jo-W is going for broke. The word 'war' was used and that sounds exactly like what Jo-W intends.

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Do I think Jo-W can get to #1? Probably not. In an era of weaker players, maybe, but we have two of the all-time greats playing at the moment in Federer and Nadal, and though Djokovic and Murray probably don't qualify for that club, they're no slouches. I could see Jo-W overtaking them, however... but #1? Probably not.

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Still, that does not mean I do not wholly applaud the sentiment. That's one of the things I really love about Jo-W - he has this totally fearless attitude. He backs himself totally. Fine, I made it to the final of the Aussie Open last year, he says. This year, I'm going to win. I love that - that undaunted, unafraid attitude. Dominant players are often dominant in part because of fear: it's a battle in the mind, where they seem invincible, so they are invincible. Jo-W doesn't have that. He believes, 100%, that he can win matches. It reminds me a lot of a certain young Mallorcan, actually... and look where that guy is now. Receiving 8 million payouts to be the face of tourism for Mallorca and the Spanish Islands. Maybe Jo-W could be the face of the Riviera or something.

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So kudos to you, Jo-W. I don't think I want you to win your war - we all know my heart lies with Roger Federer - but good on you for not being afraid to try: and if you should happen to knock off Djokovic and Murray on the way, I would not be disappointed.

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Josh's Tennis Tips

Focus: Forehand

Today's Tip: Feet and Legs

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When you follow through with your forehand you should put your front leg out in front of your body. This is to get the most out of your shots and for the best guidance of the ball.

Mallorca: Where The Bloody Hell Are You?

I wish someone wouldpay me 8 million dollars to be the face of tourism for my hometown. Man, life is sweet being a tennis player.

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Rafa Nadal has just made a massive 8 million dollar deal to be the face of Mallorca and tourism for that part of Spain. I could totally be the face of NSW. Hell, I'd be a better face of Australia than Lara 'where the bloody hell are you?' Bingle. Lucky Rafa. I pretty much have nothing else to say about that.

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Tennis starts tomorrow on New Year's Day in Abu Dhabi, with that awesome exo that everyone who's anyone is playing. It seems a very early start to the year, but there you have it. So I'm pretty much hanging out for that, and have nothing better to say than that.

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Here's Jumpin' Josh's second tip!

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Josh's Tennis Tips

Focus: Forehand

Today's Tip: Wrists and Elbows

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It is important that you do not let your wrists go floppy: you should have straight, tight wrists to guide the ball easily. If you do not maintain a tight wrist, your shots can curve and go anywhere off the court and not where you have tried to place it. The same goes for elbow and forearm: keep it straight out and do not attempt to bend it. (Note: you may have to bend your elbow on serves, volleys and spin shots.)

Wild Wild Cards

The wildcard action continues apace, with two more wildcards being awarded to Aussie girls for tournaments this summer: we have Casey Dellacqua carded into Sydney (which is hardly a surprise - actually, I'm surprised that she didn't make it in on her own recognisance. The field must be mighty.) And then we have little-known but recently-impressive Olivia Rogowska making her WTA debut in the Moorilla Hobart International.

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I've said enough about Casey over the last year for her to need no introduction, and doubtlessly I'll say more over the course of the Hopman Cup (which starts on Saturday! Finally, tennis!) but she's a beautiful little player, and I'd love to see her make a big run in Sydney. 'Nough said.

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But Olivia Rogowska... I've never seen her play, but I like the sound of her a lot. She won the very competitive Sorrento International - that was a Pro circuit tournament, yeah, but it was worth $25,000! Man, if you're good at tennis, you must make some pretty sweet dollars. Anyway, she's hardly going to win the Hobart tournament, but it's just so nice to see we have some good female players coming up. Rogowska and Jess Moore both should do well at Hobart - again, my goal is for one of them to win a match. And then with Isabella Holland and Monica Wejnert in Brisbane, I think we can be pretty proud of our girls. It'd be nice if we could have a good run in the juniors at the Aussie Open. The world better watch out for them - perhaps Monica Wejnert especially.

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And today, on Tennis From The Backseat, we are debuting a new segment. I went and played tennis with my brother Josh yesterday, who is twelve and an excellent player, and he smashed me with his topspin (his words, not mine.) He also spent a long time correcting my technique (and lack thereof) and his advice was so sound I thought it deserved a little segment of its own. So here today, I present the first of Jumping 'J-Mac' Josh's Tennis Tips:

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Josh's Tennis Tips

Focus: Forehand

Today's Tip: Gripping A Racquet

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To grip a tennis racquet you will need to create a 'V' shape with your thumb and pointer finger on the top side of the grip. You place your hand at the 'butt' (bottom of the grip) to get the most power in your shots and to reach the ball quicker. This is to prevent any injury in your wrists, forearm, biceps and triceps.

All I Want In January

Only a few days to go now till the Hopman Cup! It's starting a little later this year - it actually started in December last year, if I recall correctly - but I'm sure it's going to be worth the wait. If nothing else, it will hopefully take Australia's collective sporting mind off the current dismal situation in the cricket...
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I'm hoping that Australia's tennis summer will be bigger and better than ever before. January is the best sporting month of the year anyway, and tennis is obviously the best of it. With any luck, we'll see some of the classic matches of the year here right at the beginning - and with any luck, it's all going to come up Jodi.
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What would I like to see? I have two big requests (and a multitude of smaller ones.) #1, I want Roger Federer to regain his Australian Open crown. Let's face it, it's his. It looks weird when someone else holds up the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup. And I want him, as is tradition, to face some totally random opponent in the final. I'd love for one of my Stars to be the Marcos/Gonzo/Jo-W and make the big run. Ernests Gulbis would be ideal, or maybe Marin Cilic, or even Kei Nishikori. Of course, this is all contingent on them being in Rafa's side of the draw... of course a Rafa/Roger showdown would be nice to watch, but the Aussie Open just isn't that type of tournament for me. Rafa/Roger belongs at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. The Aussie and the US is for Roger/Random.
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My second request? That would be Marat Safin and Dinara Safina winning the Hopman Cup. They're effectively the top seeds now - the USA are officially the top seeds, but with Serena out, they're not really. Meghann Shaughnessy is hardly a top echelon replacement (not that she's substandard or anything, but she ain't no Serena.) This could be exactly what Marat needs to get himself back on track - a tournament won with his in-form sister. Australia's been good to him before - and hey, who wouldn't want a diamond encrusted tennis ball on their mantlepiece?
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A good run from Marat at the Aussie Open is another request of mine - I'm gunning for round of sixteen/quarter final. An early loss and crash and burn from Djokovic is not compulsory, but would be nice. I want Monica Wejnert and Isabella Holland to do themselves proud in Brisbane, and Jess Moore to do the same in Hobart. I want Bernard Tomic to have a good summer and take another junior crown. I'd like some classic matches - remember Federer/Safin in '05? I want my Stars to do well. I want Dinara Safina to win the Australian Open and Dmitry Tursunov to defend his Sydney crown.
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But most of all, I just want there to be good tennis - and for Australia not to be too busy watching the cricket to pay attention.

Bella and Miss Monica Make The Cut

I think the organisers of Brisbane have made a very wise decision in allocating their last two wildcards for the women's draw. I am quite excited about it, actually - the wildcards are going to Monica Wejnert and Isabella Holland.

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Neither girls have played a WTA senior event before, but I think they could really go well. Sure, they're both only sixteen, but they've both been so impressive lately. Isabella Holland has been impressive for a while, but Monica Wejnert has really been a standout over the last month. That semi-final of the wildcard playoff when Wejnert defeated Holland could have easily been the final. Sure, Dokic eventually ended up winning the wildcard, but for me, Wejnert/Holland was the real final.

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So do these girls have a chance? In future years, I would not be surprised at all if we were talking a whole lot about Wejnert and Holland. But this year... I would be shocked and awed if they won, but not shocked if they made it a round or two. Both of them are eminently capable of pulling an upset or a couple. I would actually love to see one of them play Ivanovic in the first round. Not only would that give them an idea of where they stand currently against one of the top women in the game, but I think one of them might actually be able to win. Julie Coin, anyone?

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One thing that would be a bit sad is if Wejnert and Holland had to play each other in the first round, but I will be very, very, very happy if one of them makes it to the second round. They may only be sixteen now, but I will not be a bit surprised if these girls are very, very good in the future.

Always Channel-Surfing

The 2009 tennis season is really sneaking up on us. Seriously, the 2008 season ended about four seconds ago, and I thought the off-season was going to seem really long, what with trying to blog through it about effectively nothing - though the December Showdown was big fun - but it's flown by.

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If I were a tennis player, I would want to just lie around for about a year after I retired and not move a muscle. Perhaps this is why I am not a top athlete. But these guys keep coming back. Sure, it's lucrative, but really, if you've been a top tennis player, you're not exactly in the gutter. So I am left to conclude that tennis players really love the sport.

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I wasn't exactly intending to go on a ramble there about the love of tennis... I guess these things happen. What I was going to talk about was the Brisbane International, a tournament which I am opposed to in principle, because there was nothing wrong with the old Gold Coast and Adelaide tournaments, and the tennis love should be spread throughout the states, but which I am a little intrigued by.

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It's going to have an interesting field, if nothing else. I am very much looking forward to seeing how Bernard Tomic fares in the men's main draw - correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is his first ATP level tournament. Only a few months after Marko Djokovic too, despite Tomic being ranked about a thousand places ahead of him. Such a shame that Bernard doesn't have a big brother to buy him into tournaments, like Novak's bought Marko into the one in Thailand and now in Brisbane (though at least Marko's only making a showing in the doubles. But still.) I would dearly love for Bernard Tomic to win a few rounds... so someone keep his dad away from the court, lest we have another scandal. I don't want Bernard to be Jelena Dokic II.

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But one thing that is going to be very intriguing is how much television coverage Brisbane will get. Traditionally, the semis and finals of Gold Coast and Adelaide, but there are heaps more big names in Brisbane... Djokovic (spit spit) and Ivanovic (Anando will be there) among them. So will Channel 7 pull out their collective finger and give me... I mean, Australia, the tennis we deserve?

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Not that I could possibly watch anything except the night sessions, because my loyalty belongs to the Hopman Cup. But there's always channel-surfing.

To Boxing, To Tennis, To Sport

Today is not only Christmas - well, Boxing Day here in Australia - but it is the birthday of Tennis From The Backseat. That's right, this little blog turns one year old today.

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I chose Boxing Day as the day to begin a blog not only because I was bored the day after Christmas and it occurred to me, but because it is pretty much the closest thing we have here to a national sporting holiday. Perhaps Melbourne Cup day (Family and Community Day my foot) could give it a run, but that's one sport. On Boxing Day we have sport all over the shop. The Boxing Day test, the Sydney-to-Hobart... Australia lazes around and works off its Christmas dinner by watching other people work hard.

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Tennis itself doesn't start till January 3 here this year when the Hopman Cup starts, but still, Boxing Day belongs as much to tennis as any other sport. (Except, possibly, boxing... fear my excellent jokes.) It is a day to celebrate sport in all its glory... and to sit around and eat your leftovers, and hit the sales, if you're really adventurous, and go swimming and to the beach and all those other good summer things. If you're in Australia, that is... I imagine that wouldn't be so good overseas.

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But today is for sport, tennis included. And let's face it... tennis is pretty awesome.

The Legendary Mark Philippoussis?

One of the top stories on the Tennis Australia website at the moment - one of the things that is REALLY BIG NEWS - is that Mark Philippoussis is going to play the Legends event at the Australian Open. Me... I have some doubts. To begin... since when is the Poo a Legend?

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Let's face it. No one likes the Poo. Even at the height of his career, no one - not even Australians - really genuinely liked the Poo. I still remember during the Sydney Olympics when there was a big to-do before the Olympics started, because none of the Australian athletes wanted to room with him, because no one liked him. I think Pat Rafter got stuck with the gig in the end, but I'm sure it was made worth his while in some fashion. I mean - he's called the Poo. He may try to plug that Scud card as much as he likes, but no one calls him that. He's the Poo. And that is just not a flattering nickname.

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His tennis career didn't suck. But at the end of the day, his greatest achievement is going to be being the answer to a trivia question no one can answer: who did Roger Federer beat to win his first ever Grand Slam? Or, alternatively, he'll be known as the guy who did a reality TV show, or the guy that cheated on Delta Goodrem with Paris Hilton. None of this really qualifies him as a legend - particularly when, according to this article, he's eyeing a return to the Davis Cup squad.

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So this begs the question - what does one need to do to be a legend? Mark Philippoussis is not one. Henri Leconte, who he'll be playing doubles with, is. So what are the criteria?

Hitting The Streets

So, after writing yesterday about how tennis is in no way Australia's favourite sport, I thought I would hit the streets, so to speak, and see what the public has to say. Well, the public is a bit of a stretch - my two subjects here are my brother Josh, who is twelve and a 'sport freak' and my sister Hayley, who is eighteen and a self-described 'non-sporter.'

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Josh says:

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"No, [tennis is not Australia's favourite sport] yet. It can be, if we get other people... We'd make them interested in the sport... we'd give them a tennis racquet and they'd go 'cool, this is cool!' I got interested in tennis because my friends were playing and Mum ordered me to play - she said, 'Jack and Alexander and all those guys are playing, so why don't you play?' So I went along on Mondays and got hot chips and after that we play tennis and now I do that every Monday."

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Josh, it must be noted, is twelve and not very articulate, but he is interested in tennis - in fact, he's a bit of an idiot savant. He hasn't had a lot of training, but he regularly wins his Saturday competitions. He is, I think, an example of an Australian who is genuinely interested in tennis. His favourite player is Roger Federer (taking after me there) but he plays tennis more like Rafa - he's left-handed and loves topspin. Josh also claims he hits the ball hard like Rafa, but the jury is still out. I'll believe it when I see it. (He just saw this and said, 'I'll play you and I'll smash you! Wanna see my topspin? You just wanna get smashed, don't you? You're just asking for it!')

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Hayley says:

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"Hell no [tennis is not Australia's favourite sport.] It isn't, because - everyone thinks it's all right, no one hates tennis - no one thinks it's a boring sport like golf or cricket and all that terrible... it's instantly entertaining, but no one's into tennis... all of Australia's not INTO tennis. [Dramatic hand gesture.] I enjoyed the tennis when Jodi took me to the final. I'm not into sport at all, but tennis is the one sport I can go and see and enjoy. I don't understand sport, but tennis is fine, because it's simple and enjoyable. There aren't many hardcore tennis fanatics like there are for other sports, though."

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Glowing endorsement for tennis there from Hayley - tennis is fine, but it's no one's favourite (except hers, clearly - my influence, perhaps?) And that really is Australia's view on sport. Tennis is fine enough, but it doesn't really rock many people's socks. So is that enough to get it named Australia's favourite sport?

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Me, Hayley and Josh are in accordance. NO.

Raindrops on Roses, Whiskers on Kittens, and... Tennis?

I just read an article on the ATP website that made the following, very surprising, claim:

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"Despite no Australian male or female player being ranked in the top 50 of the world’s tennis players, tennis retains its position as the sport in which most Australians are interested."

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Bullcrap.

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I wish it were true. But it just isn't. Tennis is nowhere near Australia's favourite sport. (What does 'interested in' mean anyway?) They must have had a very pro-tennis sample, because that is just wrong. As a nation, Australia cares about cricket, about swimming, AFL, rugby league, rugby union, soccer, occasionally horseracing. We might show a brief flicker of interest in basketball or netball occasionally. But tennis? Hell no. Not unless Pat Rafter or Lleyton Hewitt is in the final.

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You can tell every time you open a newspaper. There'll be pages on the various codes of footy, the racing guide, cricket all over the shop. Tennis? Not unless it's a Slam or Bec Cartwright has just given birth. Australians care about tennis in January, and pretty much no other time, unless someone's winning - and even in January, it's a ratings war with the cricket.

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So I wish this was true. I wish tennis was Australia's favourite sport. But in reality? Not a chance.

The Damir Question

And so the wildcards have been decided. In the men's draw, Colin Ebelthite will go through. In the women's, Jelena Dokic.

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Both results are, in their way, surprising - Ebelthite most of all. Thus, let's start with Dokic. She's definitely got the most experience and Grand Slam time under her belt, so it would have been a bit of a slap in the face if she hadn't come through, but how about some of the competition she faced? I cannot speak too highly of Monica Wejnert - she is going to be pretty good one day, mark my words. She really took it to Jelena - the score was 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 6-3, so it was pretty tight the whole way. She needs some experience yet, I suppose, but that's only time... she's only sixteen. So I think she can be pretty proud of herself - and the junior Australian Open had better watch out next year!

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Dokic has been off the Australian sporting radar for some years now, but she's still remembered - more for her father than anything else. Thus, with her back in the main draw instead of losing in qualies where she can be safely ignored, it's going to be very interesting to see how Australia reacts. We are no stranger to generally liking toolface tennis players - look at the BecnLleyton phenomenon - but Damir Dokic was something else. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that more people remember him than Jelena herself. In my understanding, she was a bit of a victim - torn between what her dad wanted her to do and what Tennis Australia wanted her to do and the world and herself, and it was all just nasty and bad.

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So will Damir show at the Australian Open? If so, you can bet that no one will take too kindly to Jelena... but if she shows up independently of him, then we might be cooking with fire...

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And how 'bout Colin Ebelthite, huh? A few days ago it was pretty much assumed that Bernard Tomic would take his place in the knockout portion of the tournament, and here he is winning the whole damn tournament. It was a tough match against Sam Groth - 1-6 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 6-4 - but Ebelthite pulled it out. He's never played in a Slam before, so what an opportunity for him! Nice one, Colin!

The Marvellous Miss Monica

And so we have our finalists in the December showdown. In the men, we have Davis Cup representative Sam 'Scary' Groth against Colin Ebelthite, and in the women, we have young gun Monica Wejnert against old gun Jelena Dokic.

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Groth obviously came through a harder match today than Ebelthite - he beat Joe Sirianni, who won this event last year, and he's had victories over Robert Smeets and Carsten Ball this tournament as well. But you can't knock out Colin. He had that victory against Luczak yesterday - and the milkshake man had to be the favourite - as well as over Tomic (not to be underestimated). He 'only' beat Marinko Matosevic today, but he is totally capable of pulling this one out...

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I have to say that I'm pulling for Sam, though. He might stand a better chance of winning a round or two in the actual Open - he could scare his opponents with his eyebrows.

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And man, am I jumping on the Monica Wejnert train! Jelena Dokic is not one of Australia's better liked sporting personalities, but it's not for that reason I'm pulling against her - I just really, really like what Wejnert is bringing. She beat Isabella Holland today, and I really think Isabella has serious talent... so what will happen? Dokic winning would have the element of a fairy tale, I guess... but just how good is Miss Monica? Wejnert definitely beat the more quality opponent today - no detriment to Emelyn Starr, but she's not on the same level as Holland - and Wejnert beat Dokic earlier this week. AND she's only sixteen. I thought she was eighteen, but nope. Sixteen.

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So, Miss Monica... bring it!

Colin Cruises

Whoa! How 'bout that Colin Ebelthite? Not only is he miraculously healthy, ending Bernard Tomic's chances of a wildcard into the Aussie Open main draw, but now he's knocked out the dude that had to be the odds on favourite, good ol' Mr Milkshake.

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Now that's one that I bet Luczak didn't see coming. It'd be so easy to underestimate someone like Ebelthite - because, seriously, who is he? I hope Pete can find some other way of getting into the main draw, because he's probably a better chance in the long run than Ebelthite, but nonetheless - good job, Colin!

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The other semi-finalists in this wildcard showdown are Sam 'Scary Eyebrows' Groth, Joe Sirianni and surprise packet Marinko Matosevic, who took out Carsten Ball in a bit of a surprising one. Sirianni won the wildcard last year and you have to like his chances again, but wouldn't it be great to see Matosevic, who plays pretty much exclusively on the Pro circuit, come through and grab that card? He is the underdog - so I feel obliged to go for him. No hard feelings, Joe, Colin, Scary. But go Marinko!

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In the women, Jelena Dokic is through, as is Isabella Holland, who is going to meet Monica Wejnert - and what a cracker of a match that could be! That is well worthy of being the final, and I cannot pick it. My tip is that the winner of that match will win the tournament. I don't think Dokic will have a problem beating Emelyn Starr, who is the surprise semi-finalist, but I think she'll succumb to either Holland or Wejnert.

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That said, wouldn't it be something if young Emelyn got the wildcard...?

Up The Duff

Well, well, well. This is an unexpected turn of events in the Lindsay Davenport story. First there's all the talk about retirement, then the baby, then the comeback, then the talk about retirement, then the 'oh no! Australian Open all the way!' ...then there's the pulling out of the Australian Open because, guess what? Lindsay Davenport is, once more, up the duff. Little Jagger's going to have a playmate in the not-too-distant future.

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This is just kind of bizarre - not bad or anything, because, I mean, come on, congratulations are obviously in order! - but it's just not something you ever consider happening, a top female athlete accidentally getting pregnant. In her statement, she said this:

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"Of course this unexpected but exciting surprise now means I will be putting tennis on hold for the foreseeable future."

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Guess it proves that accidents happen to everyone, even elite athletes. Congratulations, Lindsay - but you've got to think that this is the end of her tennis career now? Coming back after one baby was awesome - after two? That would just be something else. Not that she's incapable of it, but... it's horrible to say it, at her age? She's a great age to be a mum - but perhaps for a pro tennis player she's a bit past it.

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Not that she should regret it or anything. The end was obviously already coming for Lindsay. But I guess it just ends the whole career comeback thing pretty abruptly...

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But nevertheless - congratulations, Lindsay!

Some Scary Stuff

Okay, so Sam Groth? Scary looking guy. All right player - he's through to the quarter finals of the December Showdon - but seriously, that guy has one scary mug. Have you seen those eyebrows? They are totally bristling and bushy and frightening.

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Speaking of frightening - brief digression - I am frightened by the name of Bec and Lleyton's new kid. On what planet did they think it was a smart idea to name their kid Cruz? To start with, they are the least Spanish family ever, and secondly, why did they copy la famille de Beckham? That's just un-smart. Not a fan.

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Back to the December Showdown. Peter Luczak is through to the quarters - nice one, Mr Milkshake! - as is Colin Ebelthite. However, he is all injured and stuff, so if he doesn't pass his fitness test, then Bernard Tomic gets his spot... which would suck for Colin, but it'd be probably be more exciting from a tennis perspective to see Bernard play, harsh as that might seem. Bernard went down to Joe Sirianni today pretty easily... but maybe he can up the ante?

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And Jelena Dokic looks like she's through, and Monica Wejnert, and Isabella Holland. So the women are going to be intriguing as well...

December Showdown

The 'December Showdown,' as Tennis Australia have labelled the Open wildcard playoff, has yielded some very interesting results over the first couple of days. It's done in round robin format, which I don't normally like, but for the purposes of this tournament I think it's all right... and the results, for those who know who these Aussie players are, have been very intriguing.

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Let's start with the group containing Colin Ebelthite, Joe Sirianni, Bernard Tomic and Dane Propoggia. Propoggia is pretty much out of the running, but any of the others could pull a win here. Sirianni is currently in the lead, but his match against Tomic will be a very interesting one. Tomic is sixteen, Sirianni is thirty-three... veteran versus rookie. Sirianni has beaten both Ebelthite and Propoggia, whereas Tomic beat Propoggia, but went down to Ebelthite in a third set breaker - it looked like an absolute nailbiter. Sirianni won the wildcard into the event last year, so he has good history here... I totally don't even know who I'm going for.

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Mr Milkshake - Peter Luczak - has got to be the odds-on favourite, and he's been cruising along quite happily, claiming the not inconsiderable scalps of Brendan McKenzie and Brydan Klein. The names might not mean much outside Australia yet, but these boys have got potential... particularly McKenzie, in my humble opinion. Klein has made the final of the boy's Aussie Open and has served on Davis Cup, so he's no slouch either. Sam Groth and Carsten Ball, who have also served Davis Cup time, also had wins yesterday.

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In the women, the big story is Monica Wejnert, eighteen years old, victor over Jelena Dokic. Even if she does nothing else in her career, that is a scalp and a half. Dokic has been in the top five in the world. She may be far fallen, but still - I am liking the look of Miss Monica. Australia needs more women players, especially in the wake left by Molik. We have Stosur and Dellacqua... and the wind whistling through the empty spots behind them. Monica Wejnert and Isabella Holland in particular are looking veeeeeery good...

Conversations on Kooyong

The field for Kooyong has just been announced, and it's not quite as star-studded as in the past: Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Fernando Gonzalez, Marin Cilic, Marat Safin, Carlos Moya, Fernando Verdasco and Marcos Baghdatis. Fun, but where's some of the big names of the past?

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Ernests Gulbis had to pull out after accidentally scheduling to play Auckland at the same time - how he managed that I am not quite sure. He was replaced by Nando... but I think the organisers are more excited about the prospects of Ana Ivanovic in the stands than anything else.

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I like the matches, and I like that R-Fed will get challenged... but not too much. But this event has pulled some huge names in the past. Where's Rafa and Djokovic? This is such a cool event - where is everyone this year?

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Actually, where's Andy Roddick? He traditionally plays this event - where is he?

Playing the Playoff

No, the tennis ain't quite over yet - we have the big Australian playoff starting tomorrow. Playing the playoff (can you say that?) are the winners of the under-18 championships, Marija Mirkovic and Brendan McKenzie. I was a bit sad to see Mirkovic beat Isabella Holland for the spot, but then she got in anyway, so that's all right. And Brendan McKenzie - I like what I am hearing about this kid.

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Let's start with the girls - top seed is Jess Moore, whom one would imagine would find some way or another into the draw whether she does well here or not, what with making the final of the girls' event last year and getting to the second round of the senior event. Another notables (ie. people I have heard of) include Monique Adamczak and Sophie Ferguson, but the really interesting one to watch is going to be Jelena Dokic, she who used to be #4 but who laboured under the shadow of the Damir. She's playing a sixteen year old from Queensland in her first match, and you'd want to hope she could win that one... otherwise I think we could safely say it was curtains for Jelena.

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The men is very interesting - particularly the match between the aforementioned Brendan McKenzie and Peter Luczak. That one could be seriously interesting. Previously, I'd have gone with Mr Milkshake every time, but this Brendan kid is looking seriously dangerous, if one can see that without ever seeing him play. His opponent for the final also made the cut to play the playoff (Dane Propoggia), and McKenzie rolled him 6-2 6-0 or something, so that's making a point. That'll be an intriguing match.

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Bernard Tomic against Colin Ebelthite will also be interesting - Ebelthite may not have the talent of Tomic, but he certainly has some maturity (you'd want to hope - he's 24!) There are some good names in the draw: Joe Sirianni is there, Robert Smeets, Carsten Ball, Sam Groth, Brydan Klein... actually, bar Guccione, the entire Australian Davis Cup team is in this playoff.

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That is frightening.

Daddy Dearest

Remember the other day how I was lambasting Bernard Tomic for his bad attitude? Well, today Daddy Tomic (aka John) has come out and apologised for his actions in Sorrento. The plot thickens...

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I'm not exactly what Daddy Tomic did, but it resulted in Bernard defaulting his match - or so it seems we are to believe. Here is a snippet of what Daddy Tomic said:

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“I apologise to the Perth officials, to Tennis Australia, to our friends, sponsors and tennis fans and especially to my son. I was wrong. I am a father who wants the best in the world for my children. I realise that my actions have actually hurt my son. That hurts me deeply and I want to correct the situation, which is why I am fronting here today to apologise without reservation.”

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Okay, firstly, kudos for having the balls to apologise. That takes chutzpah. But seriously - on what planet did it seem like it was a good idea for Bernard to default a match for no good reason? Was he pissed? That's some serious error in judgment. I've said it in regards to Djokovic numerous times and I will not hesitate to say it again: you cannot retire yourself to #1. Look at Federer, greatest of all time. How many times has he retired on the senior circuit? That would be NONE, bitches! He retired once in juniors - here's hoping that this is Bernard' once.

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But Bernard, seriously... there's all this talk about being a rebellious team and not listening to your hitting partners and suchlike - why did you pick this time to listen to an authority figure? Play your own game, kid - and don't retire unless you have genuinely broken your leg or something. It is just not cricket. Looming in the not-so-distant tennis past of Australia, there is the ultimate evil tennis parent, the Damir. Please, Bernard, don't let yourself become Jelena Dokic mk 2! Sure, Daddy Tomic seems to have more sense than Damir - Damir would never have apologised - but what the hell was he doing getting so involved anyway? If Bernard Tomic is going to become a great champion - and he certainly has the potential - then he needs to do it on his own.

Tertiary Tennis

I graduated from university today - something which has little to do with tennis. (Surprisingly, there are other things than tennis I'm interested in... Renaissance theatre, for one!) But I thought it thus appropriate to talk tennis and university - more specifically, this so-called ATP university.

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Question: does anyone actually know what the hell it is?

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There are tennis players who have earned degrees, and they are thus exceptional - Mario Ancic, for one. But this ATP university is not so much a university as... well, a seminar, really. It's a very misleading name. There was a story on the ATP website the other day about how sixteen players graduated from it. Naturally, I was intrigued, so I went and looked... and on the list of graduates was Thomaz Bellucci and another one of my Stars (can't remember which), who are both VERY young, nonwithstanding them being professional tennis players.

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Turns out all you have to do to graduate from the ATP university is attend a three day seminar about management and some other stuff (unsure of specifics) and probably not burn anything down. As someone who has slaved away earning their degrees for five years and only now comes away with the precious testamur, I think I object to the use of the term 'university...'

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In the same vein, Sania Mirza got given an honorary doctorate the other day. I hate honorary doctorates. I know she's awesome and what she's done for Indian tennis is good and everything, but a doctorate is something you work at, damn it! As someone who is intending to do a PhD, I am always really pissed off when someone gets handed something that I, who am not famous, will have to study for for years and years and years...

Pull Your Head In, Bernard!

You know what makes me sad? When I hear bad things about Australia's great white hope, Bernard Tomic. The kid is good - ain't no one can deny that. But it sounds like he has a bit of an attitude problem.

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Scratch that. A lot of an attitude problem.

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He's been practicing with Mark Draper, who has commented on this - Bernard, it seems, often thinks he's too good for practice and such things, and is a bit... naughty, shall we say. Added to that the current controversy over his retirement a week or so ago, where his dad supposedly signalled to him to retire... dodgy, Bernard, dodgy.

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He is only sixteen. If he were a model of perfect behaviour, that would be seriously weird. Hell, look at Federer at sixteen - smashing racquets and bursting into tears all over the shop, and now look at him: the ice king god of tennis. Bernard is going to do some maturing, that's for sure - but I really, really hope it is not at the expense of his game. What he neglects now might come back to bite him...

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...of course, I am extremely ill-informed about the whole situation. Maybe there are extenuating circumstances. Maybe there are lots of things. But I would hate for Australia's next great tennis player, which is what Bernard Tomic is shaping up to be, to grow up and turn into Lleyton Hewitt - or, worse, Novak Djokovic. Now THAT would make me really sad.

The Last American Hero?

I was reading through Tennis Australia's little Off the Court article that they put out every week (it was very short - clearly they aren't the only ones struggling for something to write about!) and something struck me. There was a story about John McEnroe thinking about retiring from Blackrock after losing so badly in London, and then a story about Pete Sampras saying that there are dark times for American tennis ahead.

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These guys are two of the major figureheads of the US tennis pantheon, yeah? And they are so incredibly different. McEnroe is all racquet-smashing and fire and temper and swearing, whereas Sampras is more gentleman-like -not quite to the epic standards of Federer, but still. He could be accused of being boring sometimes. And yet they're both still beloved - and, I might venture to say, probably disliked by equal amounts of people.

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And now we come to the point - what does US tennis have now?

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Andy Roddick, who probably drew more attention from his engagement to Brooklyn Decker than from his tennis this year, and James Blake, who was a bit of a non-event this year, apart from at the Olympics. Then I suppose there's Fish and Querrey and all that crew, but there is no real American tennis god right now, no McEnroe, no Connors, no Sampras, no Agassi. I guess Australia isn't the only place seemingly in a tennis recession. And Sampras seems to think there are dark times ahead for America - no one coming up, no one coming through. (I still pray at the altar of Tomic for the sake of Australian tennis every day. Go Bernard - though not with your little temper tantrums, please.)

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Tennis is almost wholly European at the moment. Look at the top - a Spanish guy, a Swiss guy, a Serbian guy, a British guy. Europe's got the monopoly on the top. Not that I'm complaining - there's nothing wrong with it. But how on earth did we go so quickly from a USA-USA duopoly in Agassi and Sampras to a Hispano-Suisse one?

Marat In, Serena Out

Excellent news! Amazing news! News that makes me so happy I want to dance round the room!
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Marat Safin is definitely playing Hopman Cup in January!
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I knew all this stuff about retirement was just a pissy rant because he'd been losing so much. I think he and Dinara stand a legitimate chance of winning this thing - especially since the top team, the USA, has just taken a substantial blow: Serena Williams is out. I appreciate that Serena is good to play Hopman Cup and all when she does, but sometimes I don't like her attitude towards it. She sailed on late to it last year, leaving Meghann Shaughnessy to play her match in the first tie, and this year she's suddenly sick or hurt or something. News, Serena - it's in a month! Surely you'll be better by then...?
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But what do I know, I guess. Hopman Cup is my favourite tournament EVER and it makes me sad when high profile people drop out.
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But Marat is IN! How awesome is that! I wish I could afford to schlep across the country to see it, but it really might as well be in New Zealand or Indonesia somewhere - Perth is just so damn far away. Still! Awesomeness! Marat and Dinara! No words!
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Actually, I wonder if Serena's withdrawal means the seeding will be altered... Marat and Dinara could be top seeds! Now that'd be an ego boost for the big guy... even if it was mostly on the recognisance of his kid sister.

Future Future Stars

We move our coverage this week to the Optus Under18 Championships in Melbourne, the age group from whence come a great many of our rising stars. Because they are rising. Oh yes they are. Australian tennis will be great again, mark my words.

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Unfortunately, because they are rising stars, I don't know much about a lot of them. Except Bernard Tomic... but he is the king of the rising stars. What I am hoping for out of the under18 championships this week is to discover a future (or more than one) Star of the Future, if that makes sense.

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So who did we have in action today...? Dane Propoggia had a great win. He reached the quarters of junior Wimbledon this year - he could be my next Ernests. Mark Verryth is a promising looking young gun. But I think my favourite might be Brendan McKenzie - if I can legitimately say that without ever having seen him play. All the match reports I've read are making me think he could be very dangerous indeed when he grows up...

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And in the girls, can you go past Isabella Holland? She totally owned her match today - 6-0 6-1. We haven't had a really good female player since Molik and Dokic. I would love to see young Bella Holland get up there - her and Jess Moore and Sally Peers are doing the nation proud with junior Fed cup and stuff! Unfortunately Monica Wejnert, who we talked about a while ago, went down today, but we cannot have quite everything...

Lucky Star

And so the last, LAST event of the year has finished, with the Pro circuit event in Sorrento wrapping up. I can't say I am too familiar with the people that won - Marinko Matosevic in the men's and Olivia Rogowska in the women's. I don't have too much more to say about that, except that this Matosevic character has apparently won four Pro circuit titles this year... maybe he'll graduate to Futures or even Challengers at some stage. He is exactly four years younger than Roger Federer... I suppose you could say he was thus born under a tennis lucky star.

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And how about Cedric Pioline? Knocking out Pete Sampras - God, I bet that felt sweet, though I'm sure he would have preferred to have done it a little earlier in his career! - then going on to beat Greg Rusedski for his first seniors tour title. I confess I don't follow the seniors tour very much, which I suppose is a shame, because it looks kind of interesting... actually, Jonas Bjorkman said when he retired that he'd played on the regular tour for so long he could go straight on the seniors tour. Ah, Jonas...

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So what is the point of the seniors tour, exactly? Is it just a chance to set up epic grudgematches, like the Sampras/Pioline rematch? How serious is it? Is it just a group of old guys kicking around having fun or do they really get down and dirty?

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I would like to note that I exempt John McEnroe from this question. He would get down and dirty with anyone, anywhere, anytime...

In the Tradition of Middle Earth...

I thought renaming places - even temporarily - was reserved for things like the premiere of the Lord of the Rings movies. (Remember when Wellington got renamed 'Middle Earth' for a week? I thought it was hilarious.) But no - apparently for the duration of the Australian Open next year, Federation Square is going to be called 'Tennis Square.'

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Unimaginative name (right along the lines of Garden Square Cafe getting renamed 'Player Cafe' after A FRIGGING COMPETITION for the best name) but I like the intent. Melbourne in January is going to be the tennis capital of the universe, and I like that there's a huge effort to make tennis cool for the general public and not just the nerds like me. Here's what the Tennis Australia article says:

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"For the duration of the Open, Channel Seven will broadcast tennis on the giant screen and an Australian Open merchandise store and NIKE outlet will be open.

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"Top players will make special appearances, and between Thursday 22 January and Sunday 25 January 2009 Tennis Australia will conduct a variety of free interactive tennis activities, including Aviva Tennis Hot Shots and Talent Search."

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Fun for all the family, basically. Get 'em into tennis while they're young, I say, and then they can grow up fabulous, like me.

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Hmmm. I'm going to be in Melbourne for the first five days of the Open. (Got my tickets yesterday! Am now poor!) Maybe I should swing past this so-called Tennis Square... especially if those star appearances include a certain player whose initials are RF...

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...or MS, for that matter...

Hotel Sorrento

Pete Sampras. Cedric Pioline. Could be epic. Here's hoping it is. I'd like to see Pioline avenge his Slam losses, but I'm backing Pistol Pete on this one. Just a feeling.

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Anyway, we're not talking about Pete and le Ced today. No, it's back to local homegrown Aussie tennis and what is apparently the last Pro circuit event of the year, the tournie in Sorrento. Quality tournament, they say... but that doesn't mean people will have heard of most of the guys. Ah, Aussie tennis.

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What is disturbing me is that at least half of Australia's Davis Cup team is playing this tournament - a tournament on a circuit so low I hadn't even heard of its existence until a few months ago. Top seed and hot favourite is Brydan Klein, then second seed is Sam Groth. Marinko Matosevic defeated Bernard Tomic today, who retired after what one presumes was an injury and hopes wasn't a temper tantrum... I've heard he's prone. There's our Davis Cup team, pretty much. Oh dear.

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That said, here's hoping Brydan or Sam can win this one... though I'm liking the form of our old man Andrew Coelho, who pulled that good win the other week in Perth. Maybe he can join team Davis Cup next year when we play our (next) relegation tie?

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...remember when we used to win Davis Cup?

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Bernard will save us. HE MUST!

Perfect Match

So I'm checking my email today like any normal person would when I come across an email from Tennis Australia. Not unusual - I'm on their mailing list, I get emails from them all the time. But this one was a little... different.

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'Who is your tennis perfect match?' it asked. Intrigued, I clicked, wondering if the trashy title was really some witty cover from an actual tennis story... given as this is my usual technique. But no. It was a link. To a multiple-choice quiz that enabled you to discover which tennis player was your 'perfect match.'

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Questions included things like your reaction to getting fired, which type of guy you would approach at a party, your ideal date, how you'd like a man to dress, a man's most important quality, and your 'dream of a man.' My reaction? I hope to God that this is something someone at Tennis Australia found somewhere - that is, I hope they spent no time or money putting it together. Because they have a friggin' GRAND SLAM to organise.

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Not that I don't appreciate the lighter side of tennis - I love the offcourt segment that Tennis Australia does each week, just like I love the offcourt goss on Down the Line! But this is beyond fun. This is trashy. It's funny, yes... but with the Aussie Open just round the corner, I hope dearly that it's a flip, 'oh, this is amusing!' thing, because if they spent money on that that they could have spent on something good I will be so annoyed. There's already an obscene amount of money being pumped into this ridiculous 'Day on the Baseline' thing. People should not need the encouragement of Gabriella Cilmi and whomever else to come to the tennis. Is not the tennis enough attraction for that? SPEND THE MONEY ON THE TENNIS, DAMN IT!

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Yeah, yeah, I know you're all wondering who my tennis perfect match is. But need you even ask? Do you think it would seriously be anyone other than Roger?

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...though I confess that I did take it a second time and rigged it so I would get Marat...

A Kind of Quiet Confidence

The big man R-Fed has released his schedule for next year, and what everyone's talking about is its lack of clay. 'Only two events!' they say. 'Mon dieu! How will he ever be ready in time for Paris! Ca alors!'

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Me... well, I think back to 2006. That was arguably Roger's best showing at Paris - ie. the tightest final he gave Rafa, possibly in competition with 2007 - and he played exactly two tournaments before Roland Garros: Monte Carlo and Rome. (God, who can forget that Rome final in 2006? That was possibly the most intense tennis match I have ever seen: Roger and Rafa's greatest match up outside Wimbledon this year. And then they made Masters Series finals three sets. Yeah, that was smart. Cough cough.) This year he played a crushing clay season - four tournaments - and got crushed in the final in return. So why not return to the old ways? I think it's terribly clever. Let us not forget that Roger will be looking for his fourteenth - or, probably, his fifteenth - Slam at Roland Garros. I think he's very clever.

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I'd be more worried about Rafa's schedule, to tell the truth. With all his knee problems, will he continue to play four clay tournaments? Kid's gotta cut back, or he'll be retiring before Roger even begins thinking about it.

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And is anyone else thinking that this tournament in Abu Dhabi kind of looks like fun? I'm unsure why so many people have agreed to play it - Roger's pre-Australian Open schedule is looking chockas, what with that and Doha and Kooyong - but it's going to be a cracker of an exhibition tournament. Everyone who's anyone will be there - just what I like to see. Kind of like a mini Masters Cup: only this time I reckon the real Master will come out on top. I have a good feeling about Federer's 2009 - a kind of quiet confidence. Grand Slam ahoy!

Those Halcyon Days

The full lineup for the Brisbane International has been announced - hurrah! The closest thing to news we've had in days! And I still have no desire to attend! Brilliant!

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Remember when there used to be tournaments and things to write about? Ah, those halcyon days...

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The men's is headlined by Novak Djokovic (spit spit) but the real highlights for me will be Jo-W Tsonga, Ernests Gulbis (could this be his breakthrough tournament? Please, Ernests! You're a Grand Slam quarter-finalist!), Kei Nishikori (Star power) and Marcos Baghdatis. I'm sorry, but when did Marcos fall to #99? Surely he should have a protected ranking or some such? He was injured, yes - but if his ranking keeps sliding he's going to find himself in qualifying for the Aussie Open, and that's not a place you generally find ex-finalists... though maybe the powers that be at Tennis Australia would have mercy and give him a wildcard. He's been carded into Brisbane, after all...

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...actually, wouldn't it be lovely to see Marcos win? It's been so long - I'd forgotten how much I really do like him. Ah, smiley happy Marcos.

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Though there is the Ernests factor, after all. I'd love to see him win. If only there was a nice girl from Latvia he could play Hopman Cup with... instead of this stupid Brisbane tournament. What was wrong with Adelaide and the Gold Coast? I liked those tournaments, damn it! My home town lost its tournament a few years back (Ana Ivanovic's first ever tour victory was in my city!) - why are the number of tournaments just getting smaller and smaller?

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Speaking of Ana, she's headlining the girls, with Victoria Azarenka, Li Na and Sam Stosur singing back up. I'm being patriotic and backing Sam for this one. It's about time she got a title in the bag after her brush with Lyme disease...

A Terribly Interesting Topic of Conversation

One of the top stories on the Tennis Australia website at the moment is about the weather for the Australian Open. THE WEATHER.

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It's pretty standard when you have nothing to say to someone to talk about the weather, yeah? But if Tennis Australia is talking about the weather FOR THE END OF JANUARY on the first of December - if that is the sole tennis related thing there is to talk about - then I'm sorry, dear bloggers, but we are screwed.

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Apparently the Australian Open will be mostly sunny, with some rain. What a huge surprise. I am astounded. That sounds totally different to all the other years. Thanks, Bureau of Meteorology. I am so shocked that you can probably feel it rolling off the page. Seriously, the weather? For January? I know that here it's really important to spread the slip slop slap wrap message and stuff, what with, you know, sun and skin cancer and suchlike, but is it really necessary to do that on the first of December.

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Seriously, tennis world. Have we got nothing better to talk about?

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...I clearly haven't. I'm sick of the off-season. I know the players need a holiday, but could they at least do something scandalous I could write about? If I have to write about the weather once more, then badness will ensue!