Supporting Characters

I wrote - oh, it must have been a couple of months back now - about the mysterious disappearance and re-appearance of Mikhail Youzhny. He went totally AWOL from about the US Open season last year until about Indian Wells-ish, when he began posting all right results again.

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I say all right - it's been pretty quiet for Youzhny, really, when you consider that this is a man who has made a Grand Slam semi and has a couple of victories over Rafa Nadal under his belt. But every so often you see him creeping up through the draw, and - and I don't know where I'm really going with this, but although I can't confess I really noticed when he was gone, I certainly am glad he's back.

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He's like Davydenko in that regard, I suppose - how many people missed Kolya when he was gone? Considering he has the personality of a boiled potato, I'd venture to say not many. But when he came back, it was great to have him. Both he and Youzhny bring a certain sort of... well, it's je ne sais quoi, really. From Kolya it's his dogged consistency. Youshny has a sort of militaristic determination not unlike that of Dinara Safina (though I think Dinara's better at it.) They're not essential to the game - not like, say, Federer is, or Nadal, without whom the game would definitely be less enjoyable - but they're good supporting characters, and it's nice to have them back (even if they could be edited out).

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Speaking of Russians, let us flick over to the women's channel for a while and check on the progress of Maria Sharapova. I'd say she's doing quite well - though that tape on her shoulder is pretty frightening. She totally demolished Darya Kustova in Warsaw - sure, I mean, who on earth is that? but any win is a good win when you're in Maria's position. I've never been a huge Sharapova fan, but she is (unlike Youzhny and Davydenko) a little more than a supporting character, and the game has been a lesser place without her.

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Today's Results

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ARAG ATP World Team Championships (Dusseldorf)

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Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 6-3

Maximo Gonzalez def. Simone Bolelli, 6-3 5-7 6-4

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Interwetten Austrian Open Kitzbuhel (Kitzbuhel)

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Jurgen Melzer def. Agustin Calleri, 6-4 7-5

Victor Hanescu def. Marcel Granollers, 6-1 7-6 (7-2)

Mikhail Youzhny def. Stefan Koubek, 6-2 6-4

Oscar Hernandez def. Andreas Beck, 7-5 6-4

Daniel Koellerer def. Diego Junqueira, 6-1 6-2

Juan Ignacio Chela def. Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, 6-3 6-2

Julien Benneteau def. Nicolas Massu, 6-1 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (9-7)

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Warsaw Open (Warsaw)

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Klara Zakopalova def. Zheng Jie, 6-0 6-4

Alexandra Dulgheru def. Sara Errani, 6-4 6-3

Daniela Hantuchova def. Urszula Radwanska, 6-3 6-1

Alona Bondarenko def. Marta Domachowska, 6-3 6-1

Anne Keothavong def. Jill Craybas, 3-6 6-3 6-1

Galina Voskoboeva def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Ioana Raluca Olaru def. Julia Goerges, 6-3 -6 7-6 (7-3)

Maria Sharapova def. Darya Kustova, 6-2 6-0

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Internationaux de Strasbourg (Strasbourg)

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Kristina Barrois def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-4 retired

Peng Shuai def. Pauline Parmentier, 6-3 7-6 (8-6)

Steohani Cohen-Aloro def. Gisela Dulko, 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Ayumi Morita def. Julie Coin, 4-6 6-0 6-4

Aravane Rezai def. Anastastiya Yakimova, 6-4 6-1

Lucie Hradecki def. Alla Kudryavtseva, 7-5 6-0

Monica Niculescu def. Yuliya Beygelzimer, 5-7 6-0 6-4

Viktoriya Kutuzova def. Stephani Foretz, 3-6 6-3 6-2