Nil, Nothing

We talked about someone disappointing yesterday, and who am I to buck a trend. There's another inductee into the Club of Lost Souls for 2009 - Tomas Berdych.

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Actually, Berdych could probably be a career inductee. He and his girlfriend Lucie Safarova suffer from the same malady - too much potential, not enough delivery. Both have them have insane amounts of talent packed inside their bodies, but what has it brought them? In the long run, nothing.

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Both have had some excellent runs in Australia - I remember Lucie Safarova pulling a big upset over Mauresmo and then going on to about the quarters a few years back. Tomas Berdych came within a fingerslength of taking out eternal finalist Roger Federer this year. Both have collected the odd minor title, and Berdych won a Masters event in 2005, but beyond that... nothing.

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Tennis is the game of a young person, and while there are late bloomers - Fernando Verdasco's recent run comes to mind - time is running out for Berdych and Safarova to capitalise on the potential they both have. I've held out hope for both of them for years, but hope is slipping away as time runs out. Berdych just took a weak loss in the first round of Rome to Feliciano Lopez, and this really isn't good enough for someone with so much potential packed into a 6'5" frame. I've held out hope for the Czech pair for years... methinks it might be time to let go.

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Today's Results

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Internazionali BNL d'Italia (Rome)

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Tommy Robredo def. Marat Safin, 2-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Simone Bolelli, 4-6 6-1 6-0

Robin Soderling def. Marcel Granollers, 6-3 6-0

Mischa Zverev def. Tomas Berdych, 4-6 6-2 7-5

Feliciano Lopez def. Thomaz Bellucci, 6-4 6-2

Jurgen Melzer def. Julien Benneteau, 3-6 6-2 6-3

Mardy Fish def. Igor Andreev, 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-2)

Andreas Seppi def. Sam Querrey, 3-6 6-4 6-3

Janko Tipsarevic def. Jose Acasuso, 6-3 6-4

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Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart)

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Dinara Safina def. Sara Errani, 6-0 6-1

Elena Dementieva def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 6-4 3-6 6-3

Caroline Wozniacki def. Iveta Benesova, 6-3 7-5

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 7-6 (7-2) 6-0

Marion Bartoli def. Karolina Sprem, 6-3 2-6 6-1

Li Na def. Peng Shuai, 6-2 6-3

Agnes Szavay def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-3 2-6 7-6 (7-4)

Gisela Dulko def. Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-3 6-3

Tsvetana Pironkova def. Alberta Brianti, 0-6 6-4 6-4

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Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem (Fes)

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Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Camille Pin, 6-1 6-1

Alisa Kleybanova def. Corinna Dentoni, 6-2 6-4

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Galina Voskoboeva, 6-1 6-2

Lourdes Domínguez Lino def. Sorana Cirstea, 6-3 6-4

Roberta Vinci def. Mariana Duque Marino, 2-6 6-4 6-1

Shahar Peer def. Aravane Rezai, 6-4 2-6 6-4

Anne Keothavong def. Maret Ani, 6-2 7-6 (7-3)

Melinda Czink def. Nathalie Vierin, 3-6 6-2 6-0

Jarmila Groth def. Paula Fondevila Castro, 6-3 7-5

Lucie Hradecka def. Nadia Lalami, 6-4 6-3

Klara Zakopalova def. Urszula Radwanska, 7-5 6-2

Akiko Morigami def. Fatima Zahrae El Allami, 2-6 5-5 retired

Polona Hercog def. Vitalia Diatchenko, 6-1 6-2

Eva Fernández-Brugues def. Petra Cetkovska, 2-6 6-4 6-2