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

Out of the Frying Pan...

I'm not sure whose idea it was to put Davis Cup the week after Wimbledon - which is, effectively, the week after the most intense six week period of the year - but it seems to have worked out okay for them. The only person this intense scheduling seems to have really affected is Andy Roddick, who picked up a wee bit of an injury in the Wimbledon final (and who really deserves a rest anyway after that effort). So they got away with it, but it doesn't necessarily mean it was smart...

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The story so far of the tie has to be Israel. What do they think they're doing, taking a 2-0 lead over Russia? That was certainly not in the script. When your team consists of Harel Levy and Dudi Sela, you pretty much expect to get beaten in the first round... maybe you'll win a round courtesy of Dudi and the doubles dudes if you get a good draw, but a whole tie...? Never.

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And that's the way it looks like it's going. I mean, sure, Tarpischev definitely doesn't have the bestest Russian team ever out there, but Youzhny and Andreev, who played the singles matches yesterday, should be able to subordinate the Israelies any day of the week. Now a lot rests on the doubles, and the Israelis have a world-class doubles team in Erlich and Ram. So if Safin and Kunitsyn can't subdue them... we are heading for the biggest Davis Cup upset this year.

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Germany are holding their own against Spain, as well - Andreas Beck very nearly almost took out Nando Verdasco to make it 2-0, but Nando is an iron man in Davis Cup, as we all know. Still, this will be a very interesting tie to follow. There's only so much heroics one man can pull, and I get the feeling that Spain is relying very much on Verdasco right now...

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And over to Argentina and the Czechs... is something up with Radek Stepanek? Because dude, he should be playing singles. He's still listed as playing doubles... is he injured? Because I can't see any other reason the Czechs would have sent Ivo Minar out in singles. That is not very smart. Not that Stepanek would have stood a huge chance over del Potro either, but he would have had A chance. Minar had none.

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Today's Results

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Davis Cup

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Argentina 1, Czech Republic 1

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Tomas Berdych def. Juan Monaco, 6-4 2-6 2-6 6-3 6-2

Juan Martin del Potro def. Ivo Minar, 6-1 6-3 6-3

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Croatia 1, USA 0

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Ivo Karlovic def. James Blake, 6-7 (5-7) 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-3) 7-5

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Israel 2, Russia 0

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Harel Levy def. Igor Andreev, 6-4 6-2 4-6 6-2

Dudi Sela def. Mikhail Youzhny, 3-6 6-1 6-0 7-5

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Spain 1, Germany 1

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Fernando Verdasco def. Andreas Beck, 6-0 3-6 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 6-1

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Tommy Robredo, 6-3 6-4 6-4

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Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships (Newport)

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Sam Querrey def. Kevin Kim, 6-3 6-4

Sam Querrey def. Prakash Amritraj, 6-7 (7-9) 6-3 6-2

Fabrice Santoro def. Taylor Dent, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Nicolas Mahut def. Fabrice Santoro, 4-6 4-6

Jesse Levine def. Philipp Petzschner, 7-6 (7-3) 6-2

Rajeev Ram def. Jesse Levine, 5-7 6-2 7-6 (7-3)

Brendan Evans def. Robby Ginepri, 6-3 6-4

Olivier Rochus def. Brendan Evans, 6-4 6-4

Rajeev Ram def. Sam Groth, 6-4 6-2

Olivier Rochus def. Sergiy Stakhovsky, 5-7 7-6 (7-2) 6-4

Kevin Kim def. Daniel Brands, 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Nicolas Mahut def. Alex Bogomolov jr., 6-2 6-2

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Bastad Swedish Open Women (Bastad)

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Caroline Wozniacki def. Flavia Pennetta, 6-3 4-6 6-2

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Gisela Dulko, 7-5 6-4

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GDF Suez Grand Prix (Budapest)

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Agnes Szavay def. Timea Bacsinszky, 6-2 6-3

Alona Bondarenko def. Shahar Peer, 7-5 6-1

Edina Gallovits def. Petra Martic, 6-3 7-6 (8-6)

Banned

I woke up this morning to the news that Australian tennis player Brydan Klein has been banned for six months for a racial slur.

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To which I have nothing to say but this: good.

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There is no excuse for that kind of behaviour in sport - and it's something we hear so rarely in tennis. Tennis has to be one of the most well-behaved sports, on the whole (this is the impression I get, anyway). It's a sport of gentlemen and ladies - not in the oh let's go and dance at a ball sort of way, but in a polite, respectful way. Look at who we have at the top - Roger and Rafa, who are both some of the most lovely guys you'll ever meet.

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Which is why incidents like the Brydan Klein one are so shocking. And I'm surprised he only got six months, really - this isn't the kind of thing we want in our sport. I have to say - I'm ashamed that someone from my country is responsible for this kind of thing. Because it is not cool, it is not on and it does not belong in tennis.

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Today's Results

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Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships (Newport)

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Sergiy Stakhovsky def. Frank Dancevic, 7-6 (11-9) 2-6 7-5

Olivier Rochus def. Alexander Peya, 6-2 4-6 6-4

Fabrice Santoro def. Flavio Cipolla, 6-3 7-5

Kevin Kim def. Sebastien Grosjean, 4-6 6-3 retired

Rajeev Ram def. Alejandro Falla, 6-4 7-5

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Collector Swedish Open Women (Bastad)

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Caroline Wozniacki def. Maria Kirilenko, 7-5 7-6 (7-4)

Gisela Dulko def. Dominika Cibulkova, 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 7-6 (8-6)

Flavia Pennetta def. Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-4 6-2

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Carla Suarez Navarro, 4-6 6-3 6-0

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GDF Suez Grand Prix (Budapest)

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Patty Schnyder def. Maria Elena Camerin, 6-3 6-2

Agnes Szavay def. Tathiana Garbin, 7-6 (7-2) 5-7 7-5

Alisa Kleybanova def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 4-6 6-4 6-4

Timea Bacsinszky def. Patricia Mayr, 0-6 6-3 6-4

Love Fifteen

So it kind of hit me when I was at work (yes, I was not doing much) - Roger Federer has fifteen Slams.

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I mean, I knew that. The record was fourteen, and he beat the record, and fourteen + one = fifteen. This is not rocket science. But dude! FIFTEEN!

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That is a LOT of Slams.

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I tried to imagine Federer's trophy room. We heard that quip from Serena the other day about how she uses trophies to hold makeup brushes, and she plays a pretty tight schedule. Roger's now won sixty singles titles and has a few of those runner up things as well. I imagined him walking in and stubbing his toe on the US Open trophy from 2005, then rooting through an explosively full cupboard to find his Cincinatti 2007 trophy to give to Baby Fed as a teething ring. Mirka might come in to see why it was taking so long and might fall over the trophy from the Australian Open in 2004, and he might catch her but run into a shelf, causing a few of those swords from Dubai to fall down. And then Baby Fed might crawl in and they might get panicked thinking they've lost it, only to find it nestled asleep inside the replica Coupe de Mousquetaires. They'd be so happy they'd have to make cookies, and Roger would ferret out the runner up plate from Wimbledon in 2008 to serve them on (which he's hidden in the highest cupboard in the house).

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Then think of the trophy room of a one Slam wonder. You can bet that that one Slam trophy is the highlight of his collection. It's the centrepiece, the marvel, the life achievement of which he is most proud. He has special lights shining on it. People are like 'wow... a Slam trophy!'

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In Roger's house? He's got a Wimbledon trophy on the mantlepiece. And five more out the back. And he's got a few spare trophies out in the mountains holding Juliette's feed - you know, from the not-quite-so-important tournaments, like the Masters Cup.

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Fifteen Slams. Fifteen.

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What kind of insane level of consistency is that? Pete Sampras won fourteen Slams over twelve years. Roger's won fifteen over six. That means, of the twenty-five Slams played since (and including) Wimbledon 2003, Federer's won fifteen of them. Leaving ten for everyone else.

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Ten. And when you consider that six of them belong to great champion in his own right Rafa Nadal, that leaves very, very few left. One to Roddick. One to Safin. One to Djokovic. One to Gaudio.

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Think of how many more Slams guys like these would have won, if Roger Federer hadn't hogged them all! He's single-handedly overshadowed the careers of not just a few players, but of a generation.

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And I love it. I love fifteen! Because fifteen Slams couldn't go to a nicer bloke or a man that deserved it more than Roger 'I use my trophies for fruitbowls and to hold my razors and perhaps my firstborn' Federer.

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The rest of the field? Love. Federer? Fifteen.

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Today's Results

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Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships (Newport)

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Philipp Petzschner def. Horacio Zeballos, 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-2

Alex Bogmolov def. Arnaud Clement, 1-6 6-3 6-4

Nicolas Mahut def. Amer Delic, 6-4 6-4

Sam Querrey def. Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, 6-3 6-2

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Collector Swedish Open Women (Bastad)

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Caroline Wozniacki def. Petra Kvitova, 6-4 6-2

Dominika Cibulkova def. Nuria Llagostera Vives, 6-1 6-1

Flavia Pennetta def. Masa Zec Peskiric, 6-1 6-2

Gisela Dulko def. Sorana Cirstea, 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-5)

Maria Kirilenko def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-2 6-3

Carla Suarez Navarro def. Ellen Allgurin, 6-1 6-4

Alla Kudryavtseva def. Iveta Benesova, 6-2 6-4

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Angelique Kerber, 6-3 6-2

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GDF Suez Grand Prix (Budapest)

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Shahar Peer def. Alize Cornet, 6-2 6-0

Edina Gallovits def. Sybille Bammer, 4-6 7-5 6-2

Alona Bondarenko def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 6-4 4-6 6-4

Petra Martic def. Mariya Koryttseva, 6-3 6-2

Patty Schnyder def. Andrea Petkovic, 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

For Mathieu

In the wake of the glory of Wimbledon, we have a tragedy. French tennis player Mathieu Montcourt died overnight, aged 24.

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I can't say I know much about Montcourt. He made it to the second round of this year's Roland Garros where he lost to Stepanek, if I recall correctly. He was ranked just outside the top hundred and was looking to make a charge inside. But even if he is not known that well, he will certainly be missed, and it does not lessen this tragedy at all. He will be missed by the French tennis federation and by the international community. RIP Mathieu.

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There is play going on in three tournaments around the world at the moment - Newport, Bastad and Budapest - but the news is still all Wimbledon, still all Federer, still all history. I think you can tell that by looking at the ATP website and seeing it absolutely covered in Federer - apart from a story about Montcourt and a tiny piece about Grosjean. Andy Roddick is getting some love as well, but it's really all Federer, everywhere.

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I guess that's what happens when you make history! I don't know if we'll ever be able to understand the enormity of his achievements. I don't feel like there's much more I can say - surely I've heaped every superlative I've thought of on him - but I feel like he deserves more words anyway. Hence this rather dull yay Roger spiel - sorry!

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Today's Results

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Collector Swedish Open Women (Bastad)

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Caroline Wozniacki def. Sofia Arvidsson, 6-1 6-3

Dominika Cibukova def. Sandra Roma, 6-3 2-6 6-1

Flavia Pennetta def. Francesca Schiavone, 6-2 7-5

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Kaia Kanepi, 6-1 7-6 (7-1)

Maria Kirilenko def. Irina Buryachok, 6-0 6-4

Petra Kvitova def. Julia Vakulenko, 6-3 4-1 retired

Masa Zed Peskiric def. Michela Johansson, 6-2 6-0

Nuria Llagostera Vives def. Ayumi Morita, 4-6 6-0 6-2

Angelique Kerber def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 7-5 6-4

Ellen Allgurin def. Ksenia Palkina, 6-4 6-4

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GDF Suez Grand Prix (Budapest)

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Alize Cornet def. Galina Voskoboeva, 6-3 6-1

Sybille Bammer def. Klara Zakopalova, 6-2 6-3

Agnes Szavay def. Katalin Marosi, 6-1 6-1

Alisa Kleybanova def. Monica Niculescu, 6-0 6-3

Tomea Bacsinszky def. Sara Errani, 5-7 6-4 6-0

Petra Martic def. Lucie Safarova, 7-6 (7-5) 6-0

Ioana Raluca Olaru def. Greta Arn, 6-2 6-2

Shahar Peer def. Irina Begu, 6-1 4-6 6-4

Tathiana Garbin def. Sharon Fichman, 6-1 6-4

Patricia Mayr def. Margalita Chakhnashvili, 6-0 7-5

Kateryna Bondarenko def. Lenka Jurikova, 6-3 1-6 6-4

Marya Koryttseva def. Anna Lapushchenkova, 6-4 6-4

A Whole New World

The dust is beginning to settle. The Wimbledon website is now beginning to count down to next year's tournament (only 350 days to go before we have to go through it all again!) But I don't know if we will ever be able to appreciate the enormous significance of this match.

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Last year's Wimbledon final has been called the greatest match of all time, and it was certainly one of the most brilliant exhibitions of tennis I have ever seen. But what I think it now lacks - something which it didn't seem to lack at the time - is significance. This match, it was said, represented the changing of the guard - gone were the days of Federer, here were the days of the Spanish prince, the conquistador, and the game would never belong to the Maestro again. And for many months - even after Federer won the US Open - this seemed to be the case. It seemed to be confirmed at the Australian Open final. The age of Federer was over. The age of Nadal had just begun.

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But fast-forward to this year's Wimbledon final. By winning this match, Federer has ensured that his bitter defeat of last year no longer means anything like as much as it did. His second ascension started with Madrid, roared into gear at Roland Garros and exploded at Wimbledon. And suddenly, we are back in Federer's time, where the world belongs to him.

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You know who I feel sorry for - apart from Andy Roddick, for whom I am going to continue to feel for a very long time after that gargantuan effort he put in yesterday? Rafael Nadal.

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None of this is Rafa's fault. He didn't ask to be injured, and he certainly didn't decline to defend his title because he didn't want it badly enough. Anyone who has ever doubted the strength of mind and character of Rafael Nadal has been vamosed into submission some time ago. And he thoroughly deserved the year-odd he spent atop the rankings - a year when he was the best player in the world.

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But sport is cruel. I think we saw an example of this yesterday, when out of two determined, ferocious warriors, only one could win. I'm a massive Federer fan yet I cannot say I wanted Roddick to lose. I just wanted Federer to win more. It is completely cruel that Roddick could not win yesterday, just as it would have been heartbreakingly agonising if Federer had come out the worse. And it is cruel that Rafael Nadal should have suffered these injuries and suffered some tough circumstances in his personal life and suddenly find himself back at square one - or square two, so to speak, with all his work not necessarily undone but overshadowed.

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Rafael Nadal is a great champion, and he will be back, fistpumping and vamosing his way to more than a few titles, mark my words. There are more Slams in his future, more tense tussles with his great rivals, including Roger Federer. Our sport is lucky to have Rafa, and we have missed him this tournament.

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But this is the age of Roger Federer. He has overshadowed Sampras, Laver, Borg, just about anyone you can care to name. And while we must not forget Rafael Nadal, the man who has pushed and pushed and pushed Federer until he could push no more, this moment belongs to the greatest player in our game, who has once more ascended to the pinnacle of our sport. Wimbledon '08 has been overshadowed. Wimbledon '09 has taken its place. Such is the way of sport and such is the way of history - some events, no matter how weight is given to them at the time, can be superceded. Where there was disaster, now there is triumph. The ferociously determined victory of 2009 now takes the place of the heartbreakingly close loss of 2008. And the world has changed.

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Welcome to the Second Golden Age of Roger Federer.

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Today's Results

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Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships (Newport)

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Taylor Dent def. Marcos Daniel, 6-2 6-1

Robby Ginepri def. Santiago Ventura, 6-2 1-6 6-4

Prakash Amritraj def. Danai Udomchoke, 6-1 6-4

Jesse Levine def. Chris Guccione, 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-2)

Brendan Evans def. Benjamin Becker, 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 7-5

Daniel Brands def. Vince Spadea, 6-0 6-4

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Collector Swedish Open Women (Bastad)

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Sorana Cirstea def. Johanna Larsson, 4-6 6-2 7-5

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Jill Craybas, 6-3 3-6 6-3

Carla Suarez Navarro def. Lenka Wienerova, 6-0 7-5

Iveta Benesova def. Urszula Radwanska, 3-6 6-2 6-2

Gisela Dulko def. Marta Domachowska, 6-4 6-0

Alla Kudryavtseva def. Karin Knapp, 6-1 6-1

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GDF Suez Grand Prix (Budapest)

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Alona Bondarenko def. Karolina Sprem, 6-3 6-2

Edina Gallovits def. Tsvetana Pironkova, 7-5 6-2

Maria Elena Camerin def. Lourdes Dominguez Lino, 4-6 6-0 6-1

The King of the Grass Castle

If you can meet with triumph and disaster

And treat those two imposters just the same...

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These are the lines from Rudyard Kipling's poem If that are writ large above the entrance to Centre Court, the last things that the players see before they enter the arena of battle. Two men enter. One man leaves.

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Welcome to Thunderdome.

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And today, no one wanted to leave. For one there was triumph, the other defeat, but it took a mammoth epic to discover who was whom, who would hold up the greatest trophy in tennis and who would suffer an abject, heartbreaking defeat.

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Andy Roddick fought. He fought harder than anyone, including me, believed him capable. He played tennis the likes of which he has not played since - no, scratch that, I have never seen him play like this. What he did out today required not only huge amounts of heart and guts and other visceral organs, but it required cleverness and tactics and a whole lot of skill.

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But destiny would not be denied.

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And Roger Federer had a date with destiny, and he didn't want to be late.

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What a match this was. Last year might have been technically longer in minutes, but the epic of this year cannot be underestimated. The Wimbledon final has produced some excellent finals over the last three years in particular - all five sets, all involving Roger Federer, and all brilliant and heartbeaking all at once. And though last year's match, where Rafael Nadal dethroned the great man, has been called the greatest match of all time, I believe that year's match will take a rightful place beside it.

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For a match to be great, there needs to be two worthy opponents - and I cannot praise the efforts of Andy Roddick highly enough. To take the King of the Grass Castle to five sets, to a fifth set that will be remembered down the ages... I don't have the right words to describe what he has done. What a rejuvenation for his career. I read a great line somewhere today that said that Andy Roddick had found his mojo and found his Mirka, and I can't agree highly enough. Brooklyn Decker has been a wonderful influence on the A-Rod - and one cannot underestimate the effect that the brilliant mind of Larry Stefanki has had. Roddick is a whole new player. He is more than a serve with a forehand attached. His double-handed backhand was unbelievably effective - and I don't know how he fixed his volleys, but he has done it with aplomb. I cannot praise him highly enough.

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But today, in the end, belonged to the King. To the greatest player of all time. To the man that now holds all the records. 15 time Slam winner - 5 US Opens, 3 Australian Opens, 1 hardfought, brilliant Roland Garros and now an incredible 6 Wimbledons. The man who has reached 21 consecutive Slam semi-finals. The man who has played better and more consistently than any man in history. A man who now holds sixty singles titles.

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The Roland Garros and Wimbledon dual champion who has now ascended the pedestal once more and become the #1 player in the world.

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Today belonged to the greatest tennis player the world has ever seen. And it was fitting that so many of the greats were there to watch him. Bjorn Borg, who also won the Roland Garros and Wimbledon titles in a single season. Rod Laver, twice winner of the calendar year Grand Slam. And Pete Sampras, whom Federer has surpassed today as the winner of fifteen career Slams. All these men are great. But Federer has transcended their achievements, has ascended to another level.

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Destiny came calling for Roger Federer today. And with Swiss precision, he answered her call. There was a sense of profound rightness when he held up the trophy - the sense that some kind of order had been restored, that something incredibly, truly right had happened. And so it is with the great champions. Everything they do, they deserve.

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And Roger Federer belongs in their league, as the greatest of the great. Here at Wimbledon, he has experienced both triumph and disaster, and treated those two impostors just the same. He has filled the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run.

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And his is the earth, and everything that's in it - and what's more, what a man he is, my son!

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Today's Results

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The Championships (Wimbledon)

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Andy Roddick, 5-7 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 16-14

Williamsdon

Once Serena won that first set tiebreak, you kind of knew the match was hers.

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The sisters were pretty evenly matched throughout the first set. Did anyone else get the feeling that the match hadn't really caught alight until maybe 5-all-ish, when they had a real crack at each other? It was almost automatic, the way they'd serve out their games to love or 15 or so. But then once the breaker came, it was time for somebody to step up. And it was Serena.

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In a way, I think that fight against Dementieva in the semis gave her an edge. Venus cruised the tournament pretty easily. Sure she faced some big names - Safina and Ivanovic came to mind - but she steamrolled them. Serena had some bigger tussles - Azarenka was tough, and then Dementieva was a friggin' mountain she had to climb - and I think it might have meant she was more in the right frame of mind. Not that one ever wants to question the amount of fight Venus has - she's a Williams, hello! - but I think Serena might just have it over her.

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I was pretty indifferent as to which one of them won - I suppose I might have had a slight preference for Venus, given that this is the one Slam she regularly does very well in whereas Serena does better all round - but I think we can say that the best woman won today. Serena Williams now holds three of the four Slam titles - the only one she missed out on is Roland Garros, and if Svetlana Kuznetsova hadn't got her in the quarters, who knows what might have happened there? I don't know if the legacy that the Williams sisters have left on the game has ever been truly appreciated - they've changed it completely. I used to think that their game was all about power and nothing else, but that's not the case. Just watching these two play... these girls have got some shots. Some serious shots.

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And then they backed it up to win the doubles, just like last year. Once again, the women's draw of Wimbledon was Williamsdon, just as it has been for pretty much the majority of this decade. No matter what one thinks of the sisters, one has to admire them for their sheer consistency over the last decade - particularly here, at this greatest of tournaments.

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Today's Results

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The Championships (Wimbledon)

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Women's Draw

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Serena Williams def. Venus Williams, 7-6 (7-3) 6-2

Haassassination

Roger Federer plays tennis so beautiful it hurts.

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This was just a lovely match. The score makes it look really close, but the reality was that you never, ever felt that Federer was in danger of losing. It felt like he was in the driver's seat for the entire match. And once he had that first set under his belt, even though Haas stayed with him... it was all over, Red Rover.

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Let's start with some gratuitous Tommy praise, because he did good, seriously. He served like a mofo and if he was playing a lesser player I don't reckon he'd have been broken. As it was, with Federer playing some majorly sweet tennis, those two breaks of serve still had to be eked out. And I liked seeing Tommy come into net and serve and volley - and he didn't crumble mentally, which he's done in the past. It was, in a way, better than the match he played against Federer in Paris, because he lost a massive lead there. Here, he struggled gamely but came up ultimately short against a player who is quite simply, amazing.

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And the thing is, that wasn't even close to the Federer Full Throttle (tm). It wasn't his beautiful Ultimate God Mode tennis, but it was incredible nonetheless. It was more to do with the aura of confidence he was radiating than anything else. He looked like he belonged there - and he does. This is his backyard, and he's the king of the castle at the moment.

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And in the final, he'll play... Andy.

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Roddick.

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And who predicted that at the beginning of the tournament?

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Me.

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I'm good. Oh yes I am.

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And what a match that battle of the Andies was! I live-tweeted the whole thing (as anyone who follows me on Twitter will probably have, you know, picked up - and that was a total popcorn match. In fact, I had popcorn. It was so enjoyable and so much fun to watch with some great tennis from both players. And Andy Roddick can... volley! This is a far cry from the player we used to see actively run away from the net. He played a brilliant tactical match today - and Murray, celebrated tactician though he is, could not adjust to what Roddick did.

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And it's just so great to see Roddick through. A Federer/Roddick final... that's old school, you know? That's like it was in the old days. Roddick said after his match that he didn't know if he'd ever have the opportunity to play for another Slam title, and I think Wimbledon is a very fitting title for him to play for, considering the wonderful finals he and Roger have had in the past.

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Make no mistake. I'm all Roger, all the way - and I both want him to and think he will win. But I'm really glad to see Roddick there. After the match he played today - clever, smart, aggressive tennis - he deserves that spot walking out under the celebrated lines of Kipling's If. He's earned his place here, and it will be like a final of days gone by to see these two playing each other.

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And also, who predicted that Federer would beat Haas and Roddick would beat Murray in the semis before a ball of the tournament was even played? That would be me. A little respect over here, please?!

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Today's Results

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The Championships (Wimbledon)

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Tommy Haas, 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 6-3

Andy Roddick def. Andy Murray, 6-4 4-6 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-5)

A Lot To Be Proud Of

Who would have thought Elena Dementieva had so much fight in her?

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Certainly not me. I'm very sorry, Elena, for saying such mean things about you, for calling your draw a cakewalk and for suggesting that you would crumble under the Serena pressure. This was one of the best women's matches I've seen in a long time. 8-6 in the third... you really don't see that often - not at Wimbledon, not if Serena's playing, unless she's playing Venus.

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Venus had a much easier time of it. I predicted that she would steamroll Safina, and she... steamrolled Safina. I didn't see the match - I fell asleep - but a scoreline like that tells a story. Still, I don't know if that result will be anywhere near as disheartening as the French Open final for her. People expected her to win that one - no one expected her to beat Venus.

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And maybe that was part of the problem. No one believed in her - not even herself.

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Clearly not a problem Dementieva had. I'm still a bit gobsmacked about this performance of hers - it totally came out of left field. She went out there, believed she could do it and went for it. Sure, she came up a little short in the end, but that was some performance. That is a lot to be proud of. And yes, another opportunity to get into the final of a Slam went begging, but Elena served warning notice - we can't keep counting her out.

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So even though we have the all family final, Elena for me was the big winner today. She's been raised significantly in my estimation. Well done, Elena!

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Today's Results

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The Championships (Wimbledon)

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Women's Draw

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Serena Williams def. Elena Dementieva, 6-7 (4-7) 7-5 8-6

Venus Williams def. Dinara Safina, 6-1 6-0

Breaking The Giant's Back

I don't know if I have ever, EVER, in my all days of watching tennis, seen three more Ultimate God Mode returns than the three key returns Roger Federer played off Ivo Karlovic's mammoth first serve.

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Two were in the first break of serve, one in the second. (The only two breaks, coincidentally, that Karlovic has suffered in this tournament and in the entire grass court season.) One was forehand, two were backhand. Absolute reflex shots off serves coming down the court at a pace that would make the speed of light feel slow. And they came back pretty much faster than they went down, right in the corner, thank you very much.

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There are no words I can use to describe them. Viewing is necessary. But oh my lordy, they nearly killed me with their insane beauty. I didn't even think that was possible. I don't think Ivo Karlovic thought it was possible. Crazy.

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Federer played a wonderful match today, given his opponent - when he could get the ball back against the Karlovic serve (and when he wasn't hitting returns which are actually physically impossible) he kept it down low at the big guy's shoelaces and Karlovic really had to work to scoop them out. He played a smart match and put on an absolute clinic of serving. He faced no break points, went to deuce only once and served his way out of it immediately. When there were baseline rallies, I would venture to say that he won at least 90% of the time. He actually made more service winners than Karlovic - Dr Ivo had no idea what was going on with the Federer serve by the end of the match and couldn't get the return in more than one time out of every ten - and he made an incredible seven unforced errors for the match. Not for a single set. For the match.

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Crazy.

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Added to which he's through to his twenty freaking first Slam semi in a row, and that is just unheard of. Roger Federer was in god mode today and I am in gush mode. That was crazy. Absolutely insane. Impossible, and amazing.

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And who was it that correctly predicted all four men's semifinalists? Oh yeah, that would be me. We're getting a battle of the Andies in the top half - though Lleyton Hewitt came much closer to knocking out the Andy of the Roddick variety than I expected - and Federer/Haas in the other one. That was a great win Haas had over Djokovic - I'm very glad to see him in the semis! When was the last time he made it this far without a piano falling from the sky and landing on his head or some similar freak accident? Slightly left of never, I would be thinking.

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Today's Results

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The Championships (Wimbledon)

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Ivo Karlovic, 6-3 7-5 7-6 (7-3)

Tommy Haas def. Novak Djokovic, 7-5 7-6 (8-6) 4-6 6-3

Andy Murray def. Juan Carlos Ferrero, 7-5 6-3 6-2

Andy Roddick def. Lleyton Hewitt, 6-3 6-7 (10-12) 7-6 (7-1) 4-6 6-4