Getting the Ball Rolling

I'd like to take a day's break from our quest for this year's Juan Martin del Potro to give a massive shoutout to the Aussie participants this week, who are batting well above their weight. Nice to see!

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First, we have Chris Guccione who was definitely in a winning position against Mardy Fish - he had match points, I do believe - before going down in a tight three sets. I have mixed feelings about this match - coming so close, I believe Gooch should have won - but Fish is ranked a long way above him, and so playing him so tight for three sets is an achievement in and off itself. If only Gooch could close out a little better... he has all the tools he needs to be a Karlovic-style menace, I just wish he'd bring it to the court a little more often.

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Then we have Samantha Stosur, who had a tremendous win over Serena in Stanford. That's right, Sam beat Serena. I think this is a bit of revenge for Sydney, where Sam had those match points and failed to convert. No such troubles this time. Stosur has really come into her own this year, ever since she made that semi at Roland Garros. She's making a charge towards the top ten - watch out! We haven't had a really bright star in women's tennis since the retirement of Molik, and I reckon Sam could be that girl. Onya, Sam!

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But then, lastly and most remarkably of all, we have Carsten Ball making the semis in LA. Now, previous to this tournament, I'd have to say I didn't rate Ball at all. I hadn't seen him play singles, but I'd seen him play doubles with Guccione, and I really wasn't that impressed with what I saw. Well, time to eat my words, because Ball clearly has a little somethin' somethin' going on. You don't reach a tour level final without a bit of jazz. Now I am totally prepared to become a Ball fan... even if it is only for the awesome punning opportunities his name affords me! So c'mon Carsten and make it to the final - do it for the puns... and the pundits.

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Yes, I really said that.

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Today's Results

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Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad (Gstaad)

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Igor Andreev def. Jeremy Chardy, 6-3 6-3

Thomaz Bellucci def. Nicolas Kiefer, 3-6 1-0 retired

Andreas Beck def. Victor Crivoi, 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Marcos Daniel def. Florent Serra, 6-4 7-6 (7-1)

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ATP Studena Croatia Open (Umag)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Simone Bolelli, 7-6 (12-10) 6-1

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Maximo Gonzalez, 7-5 6-2

Andreas Seppi def. Nicolas Massu, 6-4 6-4

Jurgen Melzer def. Ivan Ljubicic, 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

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LA Tennis Open (Los Angeles)

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Carsten Ball def. John Isner, 6-4 6-4

Leonardo Mayer def. Mardy Fish, walkover

Sam Querrey def. Dudi Sela, 6-3 7-5

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Bank of the West Classic (Stanford)

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Samantha Stosur def. Serena Williams, 6-2 3-6 6-2

Elena Dementieva def. Daniela Hantuchova, 6-2 6-4

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Istanbul Cup (Istanbul)

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Vera Dushevina def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-1 6-2

Andrea Petkovic def. Olga Govortsova, 6-3 6-3

Lucie Hradecka def. Marta Domachowska, 6-1 5-7 6-4

Timea Bacsinszky def. Urszula Radwanska, 6-0 6-1

Another Pun on 'Yoking'

Well, candidate #2, Marat Safin, has defeated candidate #1, Ernests Gulbis, in LA, after Gulbis was a set and a break up. I'm very glad for Marat, because he clearly didn't go away mentally, but I'm not especially pleased with Ernests Gulbis, who obviously did. I'm not removing Ernests from my list of candidates, but he needs to shape up, clearly.

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And Marat, you need to keep it going.

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Today's candidate is an obvious one - much more obvious than Juan Martin del Potro was last year - because this player has already started his run. I'm interested to see if he can keep it going on the hard courts after a great season on clay. I'm talking, of course, about the Yoker, Robin Soderling.

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There is no reason at all why he cannot tear up the courts this summer. His nemesis has been Roger Federer - well, Roger is everyone's nemesis, really - but with Rafa's dodgy knees, Djokovic's dodgy mind and Andy Murray... well, ain't nothing dodgy about Andy Murray, but that doesn't take away from the fact that Soderling has everything he needs to go on a big run these hardcourt season and propel himself well inside the top ten. He's got the weapons, he's got the mind, he's got the coach and now he's got the confidence. Robin ain't yoking when it comes to tennis.

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I'm not exactly sure which tournaments the Yoker is playing - del Potro's run was so pronounced last year because he played four of those little schlep tournaments in a row and won them all. So if he - or, indeed, anyone - goes on a run, it might not be quite so obvious. But a hot streak is a hot streak... and the Sod's been on one. Who's to say it cannot continue?

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Today's Results

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Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad (Gstaad)

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Thomaz Bellucci def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-4 6-4

Florent Serra def. Victor Hanescu, 6-4 retired

Nicolas Kiefer def. Ivan Navarro, 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-2

Marcos Daniel def. Julien Benneteau, 6-3 7-6 (10-8)

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ATP Studena Croatia Open (Umag)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Alberto Martin, 6-2 6-3

Nicolas Massu def. David Ferrer, 4-6 6-2 6-4

Jurgen Melzer def. Pablo Cuevas, 6-4 6-3

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Potito Starace, 1-6 6-3 6-2

Ivan Ljubicic def. Nicolas Almagro, 7-5 7-6 (7-2)

Andreas Seppi def. Frederico Gil, 7-5 7-6 (7-5)

Simone Bolelli def. Fabio Fognini, 6-3 6-4

Maximo Gonzalez def. Oscar Hernandez, 6-4 6-4

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LA Tennis Open (Los Angeles)
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Dudi Sela def. Robert Kendrick, 6-4 3-6 6-1

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Bank of the West Classic (Stanford)

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Serena Williams def. Melinda Czink, 6-3 7-6 (9-7)

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Istanbul Cup (Istanbul)

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Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Pemra Ozgen, 2-6 6-2 6-0

Lucie Hradecka def. Julia Goerges, 2-6 6-4 6-1

Andrea Petkovic def. Rossana de los Rios, 6-1 6-0

Urszula Radwanska def. Ekaterina Dzehalevich, 7-5 1-6 6-4

Blaze of Glory

Okay, time for candidate #2 in the race for this year's Juan (aka Jodi's adventure in wishful thinking). Time to discuss... Marat Safin.

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I know he's not an up and coming young gun looking for a hot streak to propel him into the top ten. The majority of Marat's career is behind him. But why not go out with a bang? Why not?

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What has Marat got to lose? Nothing. And it would be so, so very Marat, after a lacklustre few years, the only major spot of wow being that Wimbledon semi, to get on a roll and blaze through draws like a bushfire. He's got the ability - I don't think anyone would ever question the sheer ability and talent of the Safinator. It's a question of the mind.

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I'm hoping that that exhibition against Sampras the other day gave Marat a sense of history. His career opened with a spectacular bang in the US - maybe Marat will become motivated to make it end the same way. Though I don't know how much motivation is the question... I don't even know what the question is. But Marat can do this. He can. I want him to.

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Oh, I don't even know what I'm saying - except that I want Marat to do well, and I believe he can do it. Unfortunately, he comes up against our candidate #1, Ernests Gulbis, in the second round... but at least it means one of them will make it to the quarters!

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Today's Results

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Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad (Gstaad)

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Igor Andreev def. Jan Hernych, 6-4 6-1

Jeremy Chardy def. Mikhail Youzhny, 6-3 5-7 6-3

Victor Crivoi def. Teimuraz Gabashvili, 6-4 6-4

Andreas Beck def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 7-6 (7-3) 1-6 7-6 (7-3)

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ATP Studena Croatia Open (Umag)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Daniel Gimeno-Traver, 6-2 6-2

David Ferrer def. Daniel Koellerer, 6-1 6-7 (2-7) 6-3

Maximo Gonzalez def. Viktor Troicki, 6-4 3-6 7-6 (8-6)

Nicolas Almagro def. Marcel Granollers, 6-1 6-3

Oscar Hernandez def. Sergiy Stakhovsky, 7-6 (7-3) 6-1

Ivan Ljubicic def. Filippo Volandri, 6-1 6-4

Alberto Martin def. Martin Klizan, 6-4 6-4

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LA Tennis Open (Los Angeles)

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Carsten Ball def. Dmitry Tursunov, 6-4 0-1 retired

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Bank of the West Classic (Stanford)

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Samantha Stosur def. Monica Niculescu, 6-1 7-5

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Istanbul Cup (Istanbul)

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Marta Domachowska def. Aravane Rezai, 6-3 4-6 6-4

Vera Dushevina def. Maria Elena Camerin, 6-0 6-1

Olga Govortsova def. Angelique Kerber, 6-4 6-7 (7-9) 6-4

Timea Bacsinszky def. Mariya Koryttseva, 6-2 3-6 4-1 retired

Speaking Ernestsly

So who will be this year's Juan Martin del Potro - if, indeed, we get such a figure this year? Are we going to see any young gun blossom out of nowhere and make a tear up the rankings during this US Open series? This was the question I posed yesterday, and if I don't get distracted by something shiny or by the Federer twins, this is the question I'd like to consider this week.

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Today's candidate: Ernests Gulbis.

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Yes, I know he's been playing like crap this year and he hasn't been able to string two wins together. But he says this is because he is still getting used to his increased muscle mass and that he is finding his game again. And he has such beautiful, exquisite talent...

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I know I'm biased towards Gulbis, because he is a special favourite of mine - but I genuinely believe he has the talent to make it big, and why not start now? He's coming off a doubles win with Tursunov last week, and I know doubles wins don't mean much usually, but look what it did for Roger Federer last year, winning that doubles medal? And Gulbis has had a good win in LA today over Yen-hsun Lu, whom we all know is definitely no slouch and has some serious game.

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So why should this not be Gulbis's year to be Juan Martin? He's young and talented, and if he can just get used to his new physique he's got all the tools he needs. Sure, he's unproved - but so was del Potro before his run last year, so unproved the Argentines didn't even take him to the Olympics. There is nothing in Ernests' way but himself... oh yeah, and a few other tennis players, but he has the ability to beat them. I really believe this.

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And then there's the fact that I would love love LOVE Ernests to be this year's Juan and prove me right after I've been bignoting him all this time...

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Today's Results

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Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad (Gstaad)

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Stanislas Wawrinka def. Federico Del Bonis, 6-4 7-5

Victor Hanescu def. Ivo Minar, 6-2 6-2

Jeremy Chardy def. Thierry Ascione, 6-3 6-3

Nicolas Kiefer def. Jose Acasuso, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Marcos Daniel def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (8-6)

Ivan Navarro def. Farrukh Dustov, 7-6 (7-2) 4-6 6-2

Julien Benneteau def. Stephane Bohli, 7-6 (7-4) 7-5

Florent Serra def. Martin Vassallo Arguello, 6-3 6-2

Thomaz Bellucci def. Michael Lammer, 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

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ATP Studena Croatia Open (Umag)

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Jurgen Melzer def. Brian Dabul, 6-3 7-5

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Christophe Rochus, 6-2 6-3

Andreas Seppi def. Juan Igancio Chela, 6-4 2-6 6-3

Fabio Fognini def. Mischa Zverev, 2-6 6-3 6-4

Pablo Cuevas def. Ivan Dodig, 6-3 6-1

Frederico Gil def. Sergio Roitman, 7-5 6-2

Potito Starace def. Grega Zemlja, 6-1 6-3

Simone Bolelli def. Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, 7-6 (9-7) 3-6 6-0

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LA Tennis Open (Los Angeles)

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John Isner def. Benjamin Becker, 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (7-3)

Ernests Gulbis def. Yen-hsun Lu, 7-5 6-2

Carsten Ball def. Marc Gicquel, 6-2 7-6 (10-8)

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Bank of the West Classic (Stanford)

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Samantha Stosur def. Dominika Cibulkova, 6-4 6-3

Marion Bartoli def. Ayumi Morita, 7-6 (8-6) 6-3

Daniela Hantuchova def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 6-4 4-6 7-5

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Istanbul Cup (Istanbul)

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Mariya Koryttseva def. Vera Zvonareva, 6-2 1-6 6-4

Rossana de los Rios def. Patty Schnyder, 7-6 (7-3) 2-6 6-3

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Anastasiya Yakimova, 6-4 6-2

Vera Dushevina def. Yuliana Fedak, 6-1 6-4

Lucie Hradecka def. Cagla Buyukakcay, 4-6 6-3 6-0

Andrea Petkovic def. Sandra Zahlavova, 6-1 6-2

Urszula Radwanska def. Stefanie Voegele, 6-2 7-6 (7-4)

Julia Goerges def. Masa Zec Peskiric, 6-2 6-3

Angelique Kerber def. Alina Jidkova, 6-2 6-3

Ekaterina Dzehalevich def. Darya Kustova, 6-4 7-6 (11-9)

Juan Singular Sensation

Slowly but surely, the post-Wimbledon tennis is going to start to get interesting again - for we are embarking on the US Open series, which, although I think it is a little overmarketed, is always an interesting time. And there's a lot of money involved, which I'm sure makes it interesting for the players as well.

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It's quite easy to write off everything in the tennis year after Wimbledon, except for perhaps the minor blips of the US Open, the Masters Cup and, for those involved, the Davis Cup final. I've been guilty of it myself - but last year, while the rest of the world was off in Beijing playing for Olympic glory and not paying attention to the little US Open series, we saw one of the most remarkable runs of form I can remember from someone not called Roger or Rafa. Juan Martin del Potro won four tournaments on the trot and blazed his way into the quarters of the US Open.

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What was most remarkable about the del Potro run was that he actually came from nowhere. He was ranked somewhere around #60-odd, had been booted out of Wimbledon early and wasn't considered good enough to take on the four man tennis squad from Argentina to the Olympics. Instead, he was left behind to play what were basically the schlep tournaments, devoid of any real talent.

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But even still, winning four of them on the trot is extreme.

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But is it a fluke? people said. No one of any real substance is there. Maybe - oh yeah, there he goes, winning through to the quarters of the US Open. Del Potro made his mark on the game and he has stayed at the top - currently in the best of the rest position at #5. And he is certainly playing well enough to do very well indeed - he has wins over all the top four except Federer, and we saw how close he came at Roland Garros. Del Potro has the ability to go even deeper at the US Open this year, I believe.

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But this didn't start off being about big Juan M. The question I wanted to pose was this - are we going to see another Juan-esque run this year? Is someone suddenly going to find their form and their feet and make a tear to the top of the game? And if so - who do you think it will be?

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Today's Results

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Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad (Gstaad)

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Victor Crivoi def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-4 6-0

Igor Andreev def. Diego Junqueira, 7-5 6-4

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Feliciano Lopez, 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-3

Teimuraz Gabashvili def. Paul Capdeville, 1-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

Jan Hernych def. Flavio Cipolla, 6-1 6-0

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LA Tennis Open (Los Angeles)

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Chris Guccione def. Kevin Kim, 6-1 6-4

Jesse Levine def. Bobby Reynolds, 6-2 6-3

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Bank of the West Classic (Stanford)

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Agnieszka Radwanska def. Sorana Cirstea, 6-0 6-1

Monica Niculescu def. Meghann Shaughnessy, 6-1 6-0

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Istanbul Cup (Istanbul)

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Aravane Rezai def. Viktoriya Kutuzova, 7-6 (7-3) 6-2

Olga Govortsova def. Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-2 5-7 6-4

Timea Bacsinszky def. Polona Hercog, 6-2 6-2

Maria Elena Camerin def. Ipek Senoglu, 6-0 6-2

Marta Domachowska def. Patricia Mayr, 1-6 6-2 6-0

Pemra Ozgen def. Arantxa Rus, 6-3 6-7 (2-7) 6-2

The Other Winners

I could continue cooing over Myla and Charlene Federer for quite some days - and probably there will be more baby talk this week, just so you're warned - but it is weekend winners day, so let's take a survey of who won what where. (Even though the biggest win this week clearly went to Roger and Mirka - welcome twins!)

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Let's start with the no surprises winners. Dinara Safina won in Portoroz - if she hadn't won I would have probably been poised to declare an official Dinara slump, considering most of her opponents there were ranked approximately #5000. She cruised through this week and though it was an odd tournament to choose to play, I'm hoping it just gives her that little bit of confidence she might need going into the US Open series. She can win the Open this year - I believe that. But she needs to believe it, or it ain't gonna happen.

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And then in Hamburg, Nikolay Davydenko came out on top. He wasn't the top seed - that was Gilles Simon - but given Simon's play of late he was effectively the top seed, and he played very well all week, including in his tough semi over David Ferrer. Nice work, Kolya. I have no idea why you insist on playing these silly out-of-place clay tournaments, but well done anyway.

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Then we have our two more surprising winners. Andrea Petkovic won in Bad Gastein. Um, who? Alize Cornet was the top seed here, but she's been hanging out with fellow Frenchie Simon too much, or so it would seem from her tennis. I can't comment anything more, really, because I don't know anything else about Petkovic. Which makes her win pretty sweet, even at one of these smaller satellite tournaments. Well done, Andrea.

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And then in Indy, Robby Ginepri overcame Sam Querrey in an all-American final. Ginepri has been flying under the radar for a number of years now and it is always surprising to me when he wins... I'm sort of used to him being in a slump, because he seems to have been there for sometime now. One thing, though - Querrey seems to have made a few finals this year, but I can't remember him winning any. Am I remembering rightly or did I just make this up?

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But my favourite win of the weekend (Federer twins aside) was in Hamburg, where Dmitry Tursunov and Ernests Gulbis won the doubles. Tursunov is a longtime fave of mine and I haven't seen much of him of late, and we all know that Ernests Gulbis is my favourite of the Stars of the Future, even if he hasn't been doing much this year. I'd like to say that this will rejuvenate them both... but I doubt this, really. However, I do like to see them win. They're a couple of my favourite boys!

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Today's Results

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International German Open (Hamburg)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-4 6-2

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Indianapolis Tennis Championships (Indianapolis)

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Robby Ginepri def. Sam Querrey, 6-2 6-4

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Banka Koper Slovenia Open (Portoroz)

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Dinara Safina def. Sara Errani, 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 7-5

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Nurnberger Gastein Ladies (Bad Gastein)

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Andrea Petkovic def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 6-2 6-3

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Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad (Gstaad)

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Mikhail Youzhny def. Gaston Gaudio, 6-3 5-7 6-4

Andreas Beck def. Marco Chiudinelli, 4-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-4

Baby Talk

The tennis world is still completely gaga over Myla and Charlene Federer - as well they should be, because these are the progeny of Roger Federer, greatest of all time, and Mirka Federer, a very good player in her own right, and they definitely have the genes to grow up and single (well, double) handedly dominate the WTA and take it to another level, like their daddy has for the ATP.

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But while the careers of Charlene and Myla might be brilliant, there's a little while to go before they can, you know, learn to sit up, let alone hold a tennis racquet, and there's another career going on at the moment which is pretty brilliant which we should have a look at - that of Papa Bear, Roger Federer.

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He's scheduled to come back to the tour in Montreal, giving him approximately two weeks before he drags himself and his little family over to North America (Myla and Charlene's first international trip! Won't that be fun for all involved?) I wouldn't be surprised to see him sit out till Cincinatti, but I don't think he's going to take a huge amount of paternity leave - it's not his style, and Mirka has already proved she is an iron woman who can sit through anything... like a 16-14 Wimbledon final while eight and a half months pregnant with twins.

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I think I discussed this a little yesterday, but I'm inclined to think Charlene and Myla will be a positive, rather than a detrimental effect on his career. The question everyone's been posing has been 'what has Roger got left to play for now he's won everything?' and the answer is his two baby girls. Sure, they may give him some sleepless nights early on - I wouldn't be surprised to see some early exits in the pre-US Open tourneys, though who knows? he might be riding so high on pure joy it will overcome sleeplessness. But on the whole, Roger is going to want his girls see him win - to show them that anything is possible, and impossible is nothing.

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Then let us have a quick look at the other great champion of our sport, Rafa Nadal. His middle of the year has been... it has sucked the big one, to put it mildly. He got knocked out of his favourite tournament by Robin Soderling in the fourth round. He's got tendinitis and we don't know how badly this will effect him in the long term. He couldn't defend his Wimbledon crown. One of his best friends of the tour died randomly for no apparent reason. And his parents are getting divorced, splitting his close-knit family on Mallorca in twain.

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His professional life - crappy. His personal life - bites. Whereas Roger now has Roland Garros, Wimbledon, the #1 ranking, a lovely wife and two beautiful daughters. You have to feel sorry for Rafa. The tennis gods have not smiled on him of late, poor guy.

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But there is time yet for Rafa Nadal. He is still young. I wouldn't be surprised to see Shmafa take the court for his first few matches back - but then, just like before, maybe I am wrong. Maybe Rafa will come roaring back like a steam train and it will be game on again between the two heavyweights. One thing is for sure, though - the tour may never be quite the same again.

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Today's Results

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International German Open (Hamburg)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. David Ferrer, 7-5 7-6 (7-2)

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Pablo Cuevas, 4-6 6-3 7-5

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Indianapolis Tennis Championships (Indianapolis)

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Sam Querrey def. Frank Dancevic, 6-4 6-4

Robby Ginepri def. John Isner, 6-4 6-3

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Banka Koper Slovenia Open (Portoroz)

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Dinara Safina def. Alberta Brianti, 6-4 6-3

Sara Errani def. Stefanie Voegele, 6-1 6-2

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Nurnberger Gastein Ladies (Bad Gastein)

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Ioana Raluca Olaru def. Alize Cornet, 3-6 7-5 6-3

Andrea Petkovic def. Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-2 6-1

Wimbledon 2029: The Federer Showdown

It's Wimbledon 2029. Nineteen year old Charlene Federer is facing Myla Federer in the Wimbledon final. They're due to turn twenty in a couple of weeks on July 23 (the same day as their fairy godmother Jodi from Tennis From The Backseat will turn... much older than twenty) and they're going to be playing in the doubles final later that afternoon, but for now, sisterly love is forgotten.

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It's 6-7 (16-18) 7-6 (22-20) 26-26 in the final - the longest women's match in history. Roger Federer is sitting in Charlene's row. Mirka Federer is sitting behind him in Myla's row. Four weeks earlier, their positions had been reversed, when Charlene and Myla played each other in the Roland Garros final. Charlene and Myla's young siblings are scattered between the rows. No one is taking sides, but everyone is biting their nails. The greatest match of the women's game might not even be halfway over yet.

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Yes, this is what we might have to look forward to.

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Late at night in Switzerland, the lovely Mrs Mirka Federer gave birth to twin girls, girls that might grow up to be the future of the WTA tour. Whether they are identical or fraternal we do not know, but one thing we do know about Charlene Riva Federer and Myla Rose Federer is that they will be remarkable. They have some of the best tennis DNA you could possibly imagine, but if they do not choose to follow that path, they have two of the most wonderful parents conceivable.

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I fail to see how Roger and Mirka Federer could have children who did not grow up to be truly amazing.

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And they were born on my birthday. Oh yes they were.

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Whether or not they have a tennis career is, of course, entirely up to the young Charlene and Myla, but even now, when they are about a day old, people are projecting Wimbledon finals for these girls and a rivalry not unlike that of the Williams sisters. Sure, it may be a bit unfair on the girls to project such expectations on them, but can you imagine how marvellous Myla and Charlene might be at our beautiful game? We might be in for one of the greatest rivalries in tennis history. Buckle your seatbelts!
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But tennis aside, what we can be sure of is that these two girls will grow up to be lovely human beings, courtesy of their lovely parents, and that they will change the lives of Roger and Mirka forever. I'm sure Roger is going to want a few Grand Slams in front of his precious girls, and Mirka, Myla and Charlene are going to want to cheer him on! But this is not about tennis right now.

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Congratulations, Roger. Congratulations, Mirka. And welcome to the world, Myla Rose. Welcome to the world, Charlene Riva. You are blessed girls, with such parents (and such a wondrous birthday-sharin' fairy godmother!) May you live glorious and beauteous lives!

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Today's Results

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International German Open (Hamburg)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Victor Hanescu, 6-3 4-6 6-3

David Ferrer def. Simon Greul, 6-2 6-3

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Viktor Troicki, 3-0 retired

Pablo Cuevas def. Nicolas Almagro, 6-2 6-4

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Indianapolis Tennis Championships (Indianapolis)

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Frank Dancevic def. Dmitry Tursunov, 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Sam Querrey def. Marc Gicquel, 6-4 7-5

Robby Ginepri def. Alex Bogomolov Jr., 7-5 6-1

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Banka Koper Slovenia Open (Portoroz)

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Dinara Safina def. Maria Elena Camerin, 6-3 6-0

Sara Errani def. Petra Martic, 6-1 6-1

Stefanie Voegele def. Rossana de los Rios, 6-1 6-1

Alberta Brianti def. Camille Pin, 6-3 6-2

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Nurnberger Gastein Ladies (Bad Gastein)

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Alize Cornet def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 6-4 2-6 6-2

Ioana Raluca Olaru def. Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-4 6-4

Andrea Petkovic def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 6-1

Yaroslava Shvedova def. Yvonne Meusburger, 6-2 6-3

Eternal Bridesmaid

Both our weekend winners were knocked out in Hamburg today - Jeremy Chardy unsurprisingly knocked out by Nikolay Davydenko and Nicolas Almagro (underwhelmer this season) got the better of Robin Soderling, snapping his winning streak against players not named Roger Federer.Both our weekend winners were knocked out in Hamburg today - Jeremy Chardy unsurprisingly knocked out by Nikolay Davydenko and Nicolas Almagro (underwhelmer this season) got the better of Robin Soderling, snapping his winning streak against players not named Roger Federer.
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But I've talked enough about the Yoker in the last week, so I thought we'd talk a little today about Davydenko - who has to be one of the best players and least-discussed around. I mean, I get why - he has the personality of cardboard - but he is certainly one of the most consistent players our game has seen in the last little while.
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And that's something, you know? That's really something.
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He's never reached a Slam final and I don't really think he ever will - he's getting on a bit, now - but he's been a consistent quarterfinalist and an occasional semifinalist. He rarely wins (that Masters Series shield last year aside) but he's always there, challenging the guys that win. It must be tough - playing the eternal bridesmaid... maybe this is why he always plays tournaments like these, out of whack with the natural order of things, because it means that he gets to win for once.
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Kolya's good for the game. And his dull personality has had one advantage - I think everyone's pretty much forgotten that scandal he had a while back with... it was match-fixing, wasn't it? See, I've even forgotten. Obviously scandal = bad, but Kolya on the whole = good, if you ask me... may he continue to be there in the second week (or so to speak) for time to come.
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Today's Results
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International German Open (Hamburg)
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Pablo Cuevas def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-4 7-6 (10-8)
Nicolas Almgaro def. Robin Soderling, 7-5 6-3
Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Daniel Brands, 7-5 7-5
Nikolay Davydenko def. Jeremy Chardy, 6-3 6-3
Simon Greul def. Ivan Navarro, 7-5 7-6 (9-7)
David Ferrer def. Juan Monaco, 4-6 7-5 6-2
Viktor Troicki def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 7-6 (8-6)
Victor Hanescu def. Julien Benneteau, 3-6 6-3 6-3
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Indianapolis Tennis Championships (Indianapolis)
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Alex Bogmolov Jr. def. Dudi Sela, 6-4 7-6 (7-5)
Wayne Odesnik def. Igor Kunitsyn, 2-6 6-1 6-1
Marcos Daniel def. Taylor Dent, 6-2 6-4
Marc Gicquel def. Jesse Levine, 6-2 6-2
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Banka Koper Slovenia Open (Portoroz)
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Sara Errani def. Klara Zakopalova, 6-1 6-1
Camille Pin def. Petra Kvitova, 6-4 6-4
Alberta Brianti def. Olga Govortsova, 6-4 6-1
Petra Martic def. Vesna Manasieva, 6-1 6-3
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Nurnberger Gastein Ladies (Bad Gastein)
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Alize Cornet def. Patricia Mayr, 3-6 6-4 6-1
Ioana Raluca Olaru def. Sybille Bammer, 4-6 6-2 6-1
Andrea Petkovic def. Iveta Benesova, 6-1 retired
Barbora Zahlavova Strycova def. Nuria Llagostera Vives, 6-0 6-3

BabyFed Approaches...

The news has come, or so I hear, that the lovely Mrs Mirka Federer has checked into a hospital in Switzerland in preparation for the birth of BabyFed - and the press have started gathering to take photos of the wee bairn.

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Just for you, Mirka - do you think you could try and have it on July 23? Because that's my birthday and I wouldn't mind sharing a natal day with the spawn of the Federers, kplzthxbai. Just sayin'.

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On a serious note, though, even though this is a baby who probably won't pick up its first racquet for years, this is a major tennis event. This is something that will irrevocably shape the career of the king of our sport. This will make his life different forever.

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There's been a lot of conjecture that maybe the baby will change Federer's focus a lot and that he'll lose his tennis edge, having broken all the records. And sure, maybe he will just want to gallop off into the sunset with Mirka and MiniFed. But seriously, can you imagine Roger wanting to set 'giving up' as an example to his child? I don't think so. I can foresee some distraction, certainly, during the early months of BabyFed's life, but in the long run... I think Daddy is going to want to impress his baby. He's always said that it was Mirka's dream that their child would see him play, and I think he'll make this wish come true.

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Sorry for this incoherent ramble... is it totally obvious that I'm a little uninspired by the tennis going on this week? Bring on the US hardcourt season - let's get off this stupid clay stuff.

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Today's Results

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International German Open (Hamburg)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Philipp Petzschner, 6-3 6-2

Jeremy Chardy def. Andreas Beck, 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (8-6)

Robin Soderling def. Fabio Fognini, 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-3

David Ferrer def. Florian Mayer, 6-3 6-2

Julien Benneteau def. Igor Andreev, 6-4 6-3

Nicolas Almagro def. Marcel Granollers, 4-6 6-3 6-4

Victor Hanescu def. Jan Hernych, 6-2 6-3

Juan Monaco def. Jose Acasuso, 6-1 1-1 retired

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Banka Koper Slovenia Open (Portoroz)

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Dinara Safina def. Ksenia Pervak, 6-1 6-2

Rossana de los Rios def. Roberta Vinci, 6-3 6-4

Stefanie Voegele def. Lucie Safarova, 7-5 2-3 6-3

Maria Elena Camerin def. Vera Dushevina, 4-6 7-5 6-0

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Nurnberger Gastein Ladies (Bad Gastein)

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Magdalena Rybarikova def. Pauline Parmentier, 6-3 4-6 6-4

Anna-Lena Groenefeld def. Tereza Hladikova, 6-3 6-2

Yaroslava Shvedova def. Shahar Peer, 6-2 6-1

Yvonne Meusburger def. Tatjana Malek, 6-2 2-6 6-4

Slipping and Sliding Simon

I said it a few days ago, I'll say it again - what the hell is wrong with Gilles Simon?

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I was talking about how Simon is really one of the sort of mediocre guys who somehow managed to make it big and now doesn't know what to do with himself at the top. However, with the results he's been getting at the moment, mediocre is praise too high. He's losing matches that a guy ranked maybe #80 should be losing. Not a guy ranked #7.

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In a tour which has so much depth and so much talent, how is it that one guy has managed to hang onto this spot when he's getting absolutely no results? Sure, he had some good results at the end of last year and they're pulling him up, but surely the bad has started to outweight the good by now? The Simon Slide has got to start soon - there's no way it can't. I'm just surprised at the fact he's managed to hold on so long.

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Look at who's behind him. Verdasco. Tsonga. Soderling. These are some big names - and look at the consistent results that people like Soderling have managed to put up. It's unfair currently that Simon should be ranked higher than them: if there was a match between Soderling and Simon right now, who would you bet on?

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I know this is a tired old rant, but it's true. Gilles Simon does not deserve his place in the top ten - in fact, I'd say in the top fifty right now. Until he can dust himself off and start playing tennis again, I don't think anyone is going to take him seriously.

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Today's Results

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Indianapolis Tennis Championships (Indianapolis)

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Jesse Levine def. Danai Udomchoke, 6-1 7-6 (12-10)

Benjamin Becker def. Go Soeda, 6-2 6-3

Eduardo Schwank def. Yen-hsun Lu, 4-6 6-3 6-2

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International German Open (Hamburg)

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Ivan Navarro def. Tommy Robredo, 7-5 7-6 (7-2)

Florian Mayer def. Rainer Schuettler, 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-3
Daniel Brands def. Gilles Simon, 3-6 6-4 6-3

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Potito Starace, 6-2 4-6 6-4

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-2 6-4

Viktor Troicki def. Teimuraz Gabashvili, 3-6 6-2 6-4

Pablo Cuevas def. Jurgen Melzer, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3

Julien Benneteau def. Juan Ignacio Chela, 6-4 1-6 6-1

Fabio Fognini def. Ivo Minar, walkover

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Pere Riba, 6-1 2-6 7-6 (7-3)

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Banka Koper Slovenia Open (Portoroz)

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Vesna Manasieva def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-3 1-6 7-5

Roberta Vinci def. Nastja Kolar, 6-2 6-0

Sara Errani def. Arantxa Rus, 6-1 6-0

Vera Dushevina def. Tathiana Garbin, 6-0 6-3

Petra Kvitova def. Galina Voskoboeva, 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-4)
Stefanie Voegele def. Anna Tatishvili, 6-1 4-6 6-3

Maria Elena Camerin def. Sesil Karantcheva, 6-1 6-4

Alberta Brianti def. Polona Hercog, 7-5 6-4

Camille Pin def. Vitalia Diatchenko, 6-3 retired

Ksenia Pervak def. Julia Goerges, 6-4 4-6 6-2

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Nurnberger Gastein Ladies (Bad Gastein)

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Alize Cornet def. Mariana Duque Marino, 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-4

Sybille Bammer def. Nathalie Vierin, 7-5 6-4

Iveta Benesova def. Alexandra Dulgheru, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3

Magdalena Rybarikova def. Mariya Koryttseva, 6-3 6-1

Anna-Lena Groenefeld def. Zuzana Ondraskova, 6-4 6-3

Nuria Llagostera Vives def. Lucie Hradecka, 6-2 6-2

Shahar Peer def. Tina Schiechtl, 6-4 6-3

Yaroslava Shvedova def. Lenka Jurikova, 6-1 6-0

Patricia Mayr def. Lourdes Dominguez Lino, 6-3 6-3

Pauline Parmentier def. Carmen Klaschka, 6-1 6-1

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova def. Sandra Zahlavova, 6-1 2-6 6-4

Tereza Hladikova def. Melani Klaffner, 6-4 2-6 6-4

Yvonne Meusburger def. Sharon Fichman, 6-4 6-3

Consistent Chardy

We talked about weekend winner Robin Soderling yesterday - today I'd like to devote a little space to the winner of Stuttgart. He's a member of the Stars club, a French rising player - Jeremy Chardy.

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The first time I remember hearing about Chardy was Roland Garros last year, when he made that fabulous run to the fourth round, beating Tursunov and Nalbandian and a variety of bigname players. It's not unusual to see random players make deep runs - we've seen it a lot in our sport - but Chardy has maintained his run, and this, I think, is testament to his consistency.

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Consistency is really an underrated quality. We often laugh off players like Davydenko, who consistently makes it deep but rarely wins. That's how Jeremy has been playing for the last year or so - going well, but not winning. But the important thing about consistency is that it pays off, and now it has.

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This is Jeremy's first tour title, but I'm sure it won't be his last. I'm sorry this isn't a more in-depth analysis of the Chardy career, but he's so young that I don't know if analysis is fruitful. Instead, I think we need to applaud him for what he's done very well - he's been consistent - and applaud him for the fruits of that labour. Well done, Jeremy - may this be the first title of many for you!

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Today's Results

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Indianapolis Tennis Championships (Indianapolis)

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Marc Gicquel def. Ernests Gulbis, 6-2 6-3

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International Hamburg Open (Hamburg)

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Teimuraz Gabashvili def. Andreas Seppi, 6-3 6-1

Daniel Brands def. Victor Crivoi, 4-6 6-4 6-1

Pablo Cuevas def. Bjorn Phau, 7-6 (7-0) 6-4

Ivan Navarro def. Steve Darcis, 6-4 6-4

Philipp Petzschner def. Florent Serra, 7-6 (7-3) 6-2

Pere Riba def. Evgeny Korolev, 7-6 (7-3) 6-2

Potito Starace def. Maximo Gonzalez, 5-7 6-4 6-3

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Christophe Rochus, 6-4 6-2

Jan Hernych def. Kevin Krawietz, 6-0 4-6 6-3

Simon Greul def. Janko Tipsarevic, 2-6 6-3 6-3

Marcel Granollers def. Martin Vassallo Arguello, 6-4 6-4

Andreas Beck def. Oscar Hernandez, 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-4

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Banka Koper Slovenia Open (Portoroz)

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Dinara Safina def. Tadeja Majeric, 6-0 6-4

Olga Govortsova def. Kaia Kanepi, 6-1 6-2

Lucie Safarova def. Katie O'Brien, 6-4 6-4

Rossana de los Rios def. Viktoriya Kutuzova, 5-7 6-4 7-6 (8-6)

Klara Zakopalova def. Masa Zec Peskiric, 6-2 6-4

Petra Martic def. Kristina Barrois, 6-3 6-4

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Nurnberger Gastein Ladies (Bad Gastein)

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Tatjana Malek def. Carla Suarez Navarro, 2-6 6-2 6-4

Ioana Raluca Olaru def. Marta Domachowska, 5-7 6-4 6-3

Andrea Petkovic def. Sandra Kloesel, 6-4 6-3

The Yoke's On Us

I know we talked about the Yoker yesterday, but I think he deserves a little more space. His achievements over the last few months have been, as we all know, great. And he's just added to them by winning the title in Bastad, Sweden - his home country.

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Which means he's kept his winning streak of not losing to anyone except the Great One RF alive, which is pretty amazing. When is the last time that someone not named Roger or Rafa had a streak like this? I can't even remember Djokovic or Murray doing it, truth be told. The closest thing to it I can remember, though it's obviously not the same thing, is that big run that Juan Martin del Potro made last year between Wimbledon and the US Open, where he won four tournaments on the trot, propelling him from #60-odd in the world into the top ten.

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I'm not saying that Soderling will necessarily do this, but if he keeps playing the way he is and losing only to that one guy, then he's going to find himself high up in the rankings before you can say 'the yoke's on me'. I know I rabbited on about this yesterday, but it is such a big achievement and such a marked improvement - previously, Soderling was one of the world's Kohlschreibers: a player with buckets of talent who could be dangerous on any given day, but who could also roll over meekly and die. But now we're seeing a lot more of the killer Robin and a lot less of the meek Robin. In fact, the only time I think meek Robin has showed his head was maybe in that first set of the Roland Garros final against Federer, and I think we can excuse him that one, it being his first Slam final and all.

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I'll be very interested to see how long the Yoker can keep this up. With streaks like this, you often think they'll burn out, but we only have to look at Juan Martin del Potro, who has put up pretty consistent results all year, to see that they doesn't necessarily have to be the case. When he signed up with Magnus Norman, it looks like Robin Soderling found his mojo. And it doesn't look like it's going to go away any time soon.

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Today's Results

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Catella Swedish Open (Bastad)

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Robin Soderling def. Juan Monaco, 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

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Mercedes Cup (Stuttgart)

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Jeremy Chardy def. Victor Hanescu, 1-6 6-3 6-4

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Indianapolis Tennis Championships (Indianapolis)

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Rajeev Ram def. Devin Britton, 6-3 7-5

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ECM Prague Open (Prague)

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Sybille Bammer def. Francesca Schiavone, 7-6 (7-4) 6-2

Francesca Schiavone def. Timea Bacsinszky, 6-2 4-6 7-5

Sybille Bammer def. Iveta Benesova, 6-0 7-5

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Internazionali Femminili di Tennis di Palermo (Palermo)

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Flavia Pennetta def. Sara Errani, 6-1 6-2

I Ain't Yokin'

I just realised something: Robin Soderling has not lost a match to someone not named Roger Federer since about May. Now that is pretty whoa-worthy.

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Think about it - Madrid. He loses to the great Roger F, who then goes on to beat Nadal in the final. Then he has his spectacular run at Roland Garros, where he comes back from the jaws of defeat against Gonzalez, pounds Davydenko into the ground and, oh yeah, beats the unbeatable Nadal in four sets on the red clay, before going on to lose to the Swiss Mister in the final. And then Wimbledon - he plays Federer tight for three sets, but the Maestro comes out on top once more.

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Remove Roger Federer from the equation, and Robin Soderling would be tearing up the tour right now.

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He's kept his winning streak alive in Bastad, and this time there is no Federer there to stop him, Roger not playing because a) he's busy rubbing Mirka's feet and waiting to meet BabyFed and b) he's sensible and plays tournaments that are congruous with their place in the tour calendar. Soderling had a solid win over fellow Swede Andreas Vinciguerra in the semis and will face Juan Monaco in the final. Monaco is a solid claycourter who absolutely pummelled Tommy Robredo in the semis, but you have to like Soderling to come through this one and win the title. He doesn't lose to anyone not named Federer, it seems... and he ain't yokin' about this tennis lark.

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It's going to be interesting to see how he goes on hard courts - he performed well on grass, so I see no reason why his run of form can't continue. The yoke might be on the rest of the field... watch out for Robin!

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Today's Results

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Catella Swedish Open (Bastad)

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Robin Soderling def. Andreas Vinciguerra, 6-1 7-6 (8-6)

Juan Monaco def. Tommy Robredo, 6-0 6-2

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Mercedes Cup (Stuttgart)

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Victor Hanescu def. Fabio Fognini, 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-2

Jeremy Chardy def. Nicolas Kiefer, 6-3 7-5

Nicolas Kiefer def. Lukasz Kubot, 6-2 6-1

Jeremy Chardy def. Mischa Zverev, 7-6 (7-4) 6-1

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Internazionali Femminili di Tennis di Palermo (Palermo)

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Flavia Pennetta def. Tathiana Garbin, 6-1 6-1

Sara Errani def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 6-3 4-6 6-1

Fluke?

I know this news is a day old, but I was too preoccupied ranting about the stupid place of some tournaments in the calendar yesterday to write about it - so it's getting today's post, in lieu of a better story.

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Question: why is Gilles Simon in the top ten?

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Because I have no idea. Sure, he made a Masters Series final last year, but that alone cannot be enough to propel someone up in the upper echelons, surely? I know those points still count, but let's just take a brief look at Gilles' 2009. It started all right - he made quarters in Australia, yesno? - but after that? I can't remember him stringing more than two wins together at all. He's completely lost the plot. And it's not like he's losing to big name players, because he's not getting far enough in the tournament to meet them. When was the last time Gilles Simon played someone in the top ten? I can't remember. And it's because he's got the protection of seeding, which means he meets the lower-ranked guys... and he's losing to them.

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All credit to him for doing well last year and breaking into the top ten and making it to the Masters Cup and all, but I have no idea how he's still in the top ten. You ask me to name the major weapon of Gilles Simon and I'm going to come up blank. He plays pretty unremarkable tennis, on the whole - which makes his achievements last year all the more amazing, but it also means that they could be given the unfortunate label of fluke.

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Move over, James Blake. You're no longer the sole president of the Club of Lost Souls. Gilles is coming in as co-president and until one of you manages to dig yourselves out of your respective ruts, you're just going to have to share the job.

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Today's Results

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Catella Swedish Open (Bastad)

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Juan Monaco def. Fernando Verdasco, 6-1 3-1 retired

Robin Soderling def. Nicolas Almagro, 7-5 6-3

Tommy Robredo def. Teimuraz Gabashvili, 6-4 6-0

Andreas Vinciguerra def. Jurgen Melzer, 2-6 6-4 6-3

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Mercedes Cup (Stuttgart)

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Fabio Fognini def. Nikolay Davydenko, 6-1 3-6 7-5

Victor Hanescu def. Alexandre Sidorenko, 7-6 (7-2) 6-4

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ECM Prague Open (Prague)

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Francesca Schiavone def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 6-1 6-1

Sybille Bammer def. Lucie Hradecka, 7-5 5-7 7-5

Iveta Benesova def. Zarina Diyas, 6-4 6-1

Timea Bacsinszky def. Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-4 6-4

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Internazionali Femminili di Tennis di Palermo (Palermo)

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Flavia Pennetta def. Aravane Rezai, 6-4 6-4

Anna-Lena Groenefeld def. Patty Schnyder, 4-3 retired

Sara Errani def. Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-2 7-5

Tathiana Garbin def. Olga Govortsova, 6-2 6-1

Old Rant, New Thoughts

It's that time again - time for that rant I've dragged out at least a hundred times but am still not sick of...

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What is the point of playing clay court tennis after Roland Garros is over? What is the point?
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Maybe I just subscribe to a viewpoint which is too Grand Slam centric, but once Roland Garros is over, there is nothing to work towards by playing clay court tennis. Nothing. Nada. Niente. Except Roland Garros next year, and that's a long way away. I mean, I suppose by this reasoning the calendar year should end with the US Open and people should skip the entire indoor synthetic surface because there isn't a Slam on it... but come on, August to January is hard court season, dudes! What's up with the clay?

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What, in effect, this is doing is contributing to the creation of 'claycourters' as opposed to all round tennis players. In some respects, it's almost a different tour. The way it's set up now, you can go from February to about September playing claycourt tennis if you want, even though the big clay court events are in April and May. So only the claycourters play these random post-RG events, getting rankings points and, in theory, propelling them much higher up the rankings than they ought to be. And they're only playing a select group of opponents - the claycourters.

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I'm not saying that people should be banned from playing claycourt events if they want to... it just seems a bit strange, setting up a sort of alternate tour within the tour. Hardcourts aren't everyone's cup of tea, I respect that... but shouldn't people at least try to diversify their surfaces?

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Today's Results

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Catella Swedish Open (Bastad)

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Fernando Verdasco def. Daniel Koellerer, 6-7 (1-7) 6-2 7-5

Jurgen Melzer def. Daniel Gimeno-Traver, 6-2 6-2

Nicolas Almagro def. Potito Starace, 2-6 6-1 6-1

Andreas Vinciguerra def. Guillermo Canas, 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-4

Juan Monaco def. Victor Crivoi, 6-0 7-6 (7-1)

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Mercedes Cup (Stuttgart)

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Mischa Zverev def. Gilles Simon, 6-4 6-2

Nikolay Davydenko def. Michael Berrer, 6-3 6-3

Lukasz Kubot def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-2 6-4

Fabio Fognini def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-4 4-1 retired

Jeremy Chardy def. Martin Vassallo Arguello, 2-6 6-3 6-1

Nicolas Kiefer def. Simon Greul, 6-3 6-4

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ECM Prague Open (Prague)

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Iveta Benesova def. Monica Niculescu, 7-5 6-4

Zarina Diyas def. Petra Kvitova, 6-4 6-2

Kateryna Bondarenko def. Kristina Barrois, 7-5 7-5

Timea Bacsinszky def. Stefanie Voegele, 6-4 6-1

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Internazionali Femminili di Tennis di Palermo (Palermo)

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Patty Schnyder def. Nuria Llagostera Vives, 6-2 6-2

Sara Errani def. Patricia Mayr, 7-6 (8-6) 6-1

Yaroslava Shvedova def. Alberta Brianti, 6-3 6-2

Anna-Lena Groenefeld def. Arantxa Rus, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3

The Dope Undoped

Well, the verdict is in, the hammer has fallen, and Richard Gasquet has effectively got off his doping charge.

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Kind of, I guess - I don't know if you can call missing Roland Garros and Wimbledon getting off scot-free - there's an inevitable hit in the rankings points that will happen. But the ITF ruled that because Gasquet pulled out of the match for which he provided the sample in Miami, the sample was taken to be 'out of competition' and thus the full twelve month ban did not apply. Instead, he was given a ban of two months and fifteen days, starting on 1 May and continuing to July 15 - so he's already served it.

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The plea that Gasquet entered was 'negligence' and I think that's very apt. He was, in short, a dope. You have to be so careful when you're a sportsperson - doping rules are so tough. I remember a case several years back in Australia where one of our swimmers was ruled out for ages because her coach gave her a cold and flu drug. It's not an arena you can let your guard down in for a second.

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The last I read, Gasquet was blaming his positive result on a woman called Pamela he'd kissed in Miami. Let that be a lesson to you, Richard... parties + sport do not mix. Not that I would wish all the joy to be taken out of the lives of tennis players, but this is proof of just how careful they have to be. Richard was negligent, but I don't think he was criminal. Tentatively, I'm welcoming you back, Monsieur.

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Now I want you to deserve your place. No more headcase. No more stupid. No more negligence. I want to see you glad to be back. You've had to fight for your place on the tour now, you know that it is a privilege, not a right. Now earn it.

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Today's Results

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Catella Swedish Open (Bastad)

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Tommy Robredo def. Peter Luczak, 6-2 6-3

Nicolas Almagro def. Marat Safin, 6-3 7-6 (8-6)

Robin Soderling def. Kristof Vliegen, 6-2 6-3

Daniel Gimeno-Traver def. Frederico Gil, 6-1 6-4

Teimuraz Gabashvili def. Bjorn Phau, 6-3 6-2

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Mercedes Cup (Stuttgart)

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Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Mikhail Youzhny, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4)

Alexandre Sidorenko def. Oscar Hernandez, 2-6 6-4 6-3

Victor Hanescu def. Rainer Schuettler, 6-2 6-1

Martin Vassallo Arguello def. Andrey Golubev, 3-6 6-3 6-0

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ECM Prague Open (Prague)

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Francesca Schiavone def. Polona Hercog, 6-2 6-2

Sybille Bammer def. Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-1 6-1

Carla Suarez Navarro def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 6-1 6-4

Lucie Hradecka def. Karolina Sprem, 6-2 4-6 6-4

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Internazionali Femminili di Tennis di Palermo (Palermo)

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Flavia Pennetta def. Roberta Vinci, 7-5 6-1

Olga Govortsova def. Ekaterina Makarova, 6-2 6-2

Aravane Rezai def. Varvara Lepchenko, 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 6-2

Tathiana Garbin def. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, 6-2 6-3

Patty Schnyder def. Anastasia Pivovarova, 6-4 6-0

The Looch is Loose

Victory!

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Sorry, this is a bit of an overreaction, but Peter Luczak won a tour level match - something I can't remember him doing all year! Victory!

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I really like Peter. He's a genuine nice guy and I think he's had a bit of bad luck with injuries and stuff. He's never going to be a top ten player - he doesn't have that level of talent - but he works hard, and it shows. He's a total trooper, and I have cred for that. And he gets results on clay - how rare is that for an Aussie?

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He may not be a worldbeater, but he's a genuinely lovely guy, and I think it's great for tennis in Australia that we have him. You can never have too many nice guys in sport, and with the badness of rugby league seemingly infecting Aussie tennis via Brydan Klein and his racial sledging case, I think we need people like Peter.

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He beat Alberto Martin in his match, and beat him handily as well - and Martin is a wily old fox, which makes the win even better. And after coming up through qualies - I'm very pleased. The Looch is loose - how far can he go in this tournament? Good on you, Mr Milkshake. Good on you.

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Today's Results

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Catella Swedish Open (Bastad)

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Juan Monaco def. Maximo Gonzalez, 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 6-1

Kristof Vliegen def. Marcel Granollers, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4

Guillermo Canas def. Grigor Dimitrov, 6-3 7-6 (7-2)

Daniel Koellerer def. Steve Darcis, 1-6 6-3 6-4

Potito Starace def. Julien Benneteau, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3

Peter Luczak def. Alberto Martin, 6-2 6-2

Bjorn Phau def. Daniel Berta, 6-3 6-2

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Mercedes Cup (Stuttgart)

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Gilles Simon def. Philipp Petzschner, 6-3 6-4

Nicolas Kiefer def. Tomas Berdych, 6-3 6-3

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Diego Junqueira, 6-3 6-2

Fabio Fognini def. Fabrice Santoro, 5-7 7-6 (7-3) 6-1

Jeremy Chardy def. Jose Acasuso, 6-2 7-6 (7-4)

Alexandre Sidorenko def. Daniel Munoz-De La Nava, 7-6 (7-3) 1-6 6-2

Rainer Schuettler def. Ivo Minar, 2-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4

Simon Greul def. Andreas Beck, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5)

Oscar Hernandez def. Janko Tipsarevic, 6-4 6-4

Mischa Zverev def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-2 6-4

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ECM Prague Open (Prague)

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Iveta Benesova def. Karolina Pliskova, 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-3

Kateryna Bondarenko def. Alona Bondarenko, 6-1 6-3

Timea Bacsinszky def. Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-2 7-6 (7-5)

Lucie Hradecka def. Ksenia Pervak, 6-3 6-2

Petra Kvitova def. Anna Lapushchenkova, 6-1 6-0

Kristina Barrois def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 5-6 6-1 7-5

Monica Niculescu def. Katie O'Brien, 6-3 6-2

Polona Hercog def. Klara Zakopalova, 7-5 6-4

Stefanie Voegele def. Petra Martic, 3-6 6-4 6-3

Alla Kudryavtseva def. Nicole Vaidisova, 7-5 6-2

Karolina Sprem def. Tatjana Malek, 6-3 6-2

Zarina Diyas def. Kristina Mladenovic, 6-4 6-1

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Internazionali Femminili di Tennis di Palermo (Palermo)

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Flavia Pennetta def. Arantxa Parra Santonja, 6-2 6-3

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Alize Cornet, 6-2 6-2

Sara Errani def. Mariya Koryttseva, 6-4 6-4

Ekaterina Makarova def. Jill Craybas, 6-3 6-1

Anna-Lena Groenefeld def. Gisela Dulko, 6-4 6-1

Yaroslava Shvedova def. Nathalie Vierin, 6-3 6-2

Tathiana Garbin def. Edina Gallovits, 6-4 7-5

Patricia Mayr def. Olga Savchuk, 6-4 6-4

Nuria Llagostera Vives def. Masa Zec Peskiric, 3-6 6-4 6-2

Arantxa Rus def. Anna Floris, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4

Rajeev Believes

In all that talk about Davis Cup over the past few days, especially yesterday, I just about forgot to cover one of the other biggish stories of the weekend - Rajeev Ram won the title in Newport after entering the draw as a lucky loser.

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Now doesn't that warm the cockles of your heart?

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I love stories like this (provided they don't come at the expense of my beloved Roger Federer, but he is, as we all know, out on baby watch for the moment, so we don't have to worry about him for a while!) I mean, sure the competition in these little tournaments like Newport isn't massive, but a victory over players ranked a good deal higher than you is a victory. Major kudos to Rajeev Ram.

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I think what I like most about these stories is not so much the rags-to-riches nature of them, but the fact that the little guy, the qualifier or the lucky loser or whoever, believes he can do it. It's like Marcos Baghdatis at the Aussie Open a few years back. It was belief that got him where he went. And I have a lot of credit for that - for believing that no matter how insurmountable the obstacle might seem, anything is possible.

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So well done, Rajeev Ram. Keep believing.

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Today's Results

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Mercedes Cup (Stuttgart)

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Victor Hanescu def. Dominik Meffert, 6-4 7-6 (8-6)

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Catella Swedish Open (Bastad)

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Andreas Vinciguerra def. Florent Serra, 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-4

Victor Crivoi def. Denis Istomin, 6-0 6-4

Teimuraz Gabashvili def. Christophe Rochus, 4-6 6-1 6-0

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ECM Prague Open (Prague)

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Francesca Schiavone def. Shahar Peer, 7-5 6-3

Sybille Bammer def. Tsvetana Pironkova, 2-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-5

Carla Suarez Navarro def. Alexandra Dulgheru, 4-6 6-3 6-3

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova def. Kristina Kucova, 7-5 6-4

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Internazionali Femminili di Tennis di Palermo (Palermo)

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Alberta Brianti def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-3 4-0 retired

Aravane Rezai def. Galina Voskoboeva, 6-2 6-4

Roberta Vinci def. Lourdes Dominguez Lino, 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-3)

Olga Govortsova def. Maria Elena Camerin, 6-3 6-3

Varvara Lepchenko def. Corinna Dentoni, 6-3 6-3

Underrated

What an interesting collection of countries we have in the Davis Cup semi finals - really quite an eclectic group. Israel was the biggest surprise, as we discussed yesterday, but Croatia? And the Czech Republic? Not to mention the upset that Germany nearly pulled? Quite remarkable.

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Let's start with Israel again. Russia managed to get one point on the board in this tie, but it was only because Dudi Sela retired in his match against Andreev, so I don't think poor Igor gets to save any face there. Dudi's retirement also puts the mantle of tie hero quite firmly on the shoulders of Harel Levy - what a weekend for him! First he beats Andreev to make it 2-0, and then he has an absolutely cracking win over Kunitsyn in the dead rubber. I think it would be underestimating things to say he's found his mojo...

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Hero for Croatia probably goes to Marin Cilic, who won both his singles rubbers against the USA, beating Fish and Blake. Fish, I thought, played well, but it looks like James Blake's tenure as president of the Club of Lost Souls is going to continue a little longer. He choked right at the end of his match with Karlovic, and I was really hoping (for his sake) he could do a little more against Cilic. But it was not to be. Oddity of this tie? Bob Bryan winning a singles rubber. Don't see that very often!

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Then we go to the Czech Republic and Argentina, and like I said... I told them it would be smart to play Stepanek in the singles. I understand he has a knee injury but he managed to play through it fine in Wimbledon in his match against David Ferrer and so it was today. And it was a deciding rubber, as well - Juan Martin del Potro tried valiantly to keep Argentina's hopes alive by winning both his matches, but it was nice to see the Czechs come through, I do admit. There will be no final in Mar del Plata this year. And Berdych plus Stepanek... that is a seriously underrated team.

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And then, finally, to what I thought was the most exciting tie, Spain against Germany. I bet you anything that Fernando Verdasco is going to be filthy with himself for letting that match with Kohlschreiber slip between his fingers. It must be very difficult for him to let someone else wear the mantle of hero for Spain when it's belonged to him for quite some time now. But I think we have to say that the hero was an oldie but a goodie, Juan Carlos Ferrero. He was thrown in at the last minute to replace Tommy Robredo in the singles, and he played a lovely match to beat the talented Andreas Beck in straights. Though what would have been really interesting is if Germany had played Kiefer... or if Haas was playing this tie. I'd venture to say that if Haas had played, Spain would have gone down.

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So the semis are set. Davis Cup pick for this year? I'm going to go with the Czechs. Underrated and unappreciated, I reckon they have what it takes...

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Today's Results

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Davis Cup

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Czech Republic 3, Argentina 2

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Juan Martin del Potro def. Tomas Berdych, 6-4 6-4 6-4

Radek Stepanek def. Juan Monaco, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 6-2

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Croatia 3, USA 2

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Marin Cilic def. James Blake, 6-3 6-3 4-6 6-2

Bob Bryan def. Roko Karanusic, 5-7 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

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Israel 4, Russia 1

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Igor Andreev def. Dudi Sela, 4-3 retired

Harel Levy def. Igor Kunitsyn, 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7-2)

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Spain 3, Germany 2

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Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Fernando Verdasco, 6-4 6-2 1-6 2-6 8-6

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Andreas Beck, 6-4 6-4 6-4

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Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships (Newport)

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Rajeev Ram def. Sam Querrey, 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 6-3

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GDF SUEZ Grand Prix (Budapest)

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Agnes Szavay def. Patty Schnyder, 2-6 6-4 6-2

Praise and Blame

Israel beat Russia.

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Israel beat Russia.

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That was not supposed to happen. That was not in the script!

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It was the doubles guys that clinched the win for Israel - the match went five sets with the Russians fighting hard, but the experience of Erlich and Ram won out in the end. However, I think you have to give the hero label that inevitably comes up in this situations to the Israeli singles guys, Dudi Sela and Harel Levy - in particular, Levy, who overcame a deficit of something like a hundred rankings places to beat Andreev (who, according to Safin, was the only fit Russian on the team).

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It'll be interesting to see what happens to Tarpischev now... I mean, sure, the Russians did not have their best team out there. No Davydenko and no Tursunov. But the villain of the piece - for as there is a hero, there is someone who needs to be blamed - will be Andreev, poor guy. Davis Cup must be so hard for players, because it's totally foreign. You lose early in a tournament, and you have no one to blame but yourself and it's only yourself that you've let down, in effect. Lose a bad match in Davis Cup? You've let your nation down. And this is one of the only fora in which tennis players play as a nation. The pressure must be totally immense.

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All other ties are still alive - I'll be interested to see if the Americans can make anything happen against the Croats, but I doubt it. The Croats are looking better than they have since they won the Cup a few years ago. Karlovic and Cilic... there's a team to watch out for!

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Today's Results

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Davis Cup

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Czech Republic 2, Argentina 1

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Berdych/Stepanek def Acasuso/Mayer, 6-1 6-4 6-3

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Croatia 2, USA 1

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Marin Cilic def. Mardy Fish, 4-6 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-1 8-6

Bryan/Bryan def. Karanusic/Zovko, 6-3 6-1 6-3

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Israel 3, Russia 0

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Erlich/Ram def. Kunitsyn/Safin, 6-3 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 4-6 6-4

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Spain 2, Germany 1

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Lopez/Verdasco def. Kiefer/Zverev, 6-3 7-6 (7-1) 6-7 (6-8) 6-3

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Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships (Newport)

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Rajeev Ram def. Olivier Rochus, 6-3 6-4

Sam Querrey def. Fabrice Santoro, 6-3 7-6 (7-2)

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Bastad Swedish Open Women (Bastad)

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Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Caroline Wozniacki, 7-5 6-4

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GDF SUEZ Grand Prix (Budapest)

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Patty Schnyder def. Edina Gallovits, 6-2 6-4

Agnes Szavay def. Alona Bondarenko, 6-1 6-2

Patty Schnyder def. Alisa Kleybanova, 5-7 7-5 6-2