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