Oh Hi, Big Guy

Oh hi, big guy! Welcome back, JMDP!

No one was expecting JMDP to do anything even resembling winning in Thailand, n'cest-ce pas? Even if they did want him to match up against Rafa Nadal (which I, for one, am glad did not happen - can you imagine the humiliation that being smacked down by Rafa would have inflicted on the poor dude?) He lost to wee Olly Rochus in straights - competitive straights, but straights. And he served sixteen aces, which coming off wrist surgery, is pretty impressive.

But basically, I think everyone's just glad he's back.

The tennis world is all right without JMDP in it. He's not one of the key personalities of tennis, even though he did have his Slam run last year. Losing JMDP hasn't been like losing the Djoker or Murray or a player of comparable level. We've managed to forget about him pretty well. But even though the tennis world is all right without him in it, it's better when he's here.

And it'll be even better when he's fully better.

That, of course, is the question. The dude's been out for a long time, and wrist surgery is a big, big thing. That is a mammoth thing to have to recover from, and I'd say that there's a big chance that he'll never be the same player. I think it wouldn't be unreasonable to say that he's a one Slam wonder, in any case.

But you know what? a dude that can smash sixteen aces in his first match back from surgery... he strikes as someone who's going to recover all right.