GI Mikhail

Look, I'm sorry, but I don't understand. I have to ask. What on earth does that weird salute thing that Mikhail Youzhny does mean?

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Every time he's on the front page of the ATP website, that's always the picture they've got of him - his post match salute deal. I've seen him do it after every match I've ever seen him win. And I know players have their little rituals and things - I grew up under the reign of Princess Lleyton Hewitt, 'c'mon' and that weird hand thing he does that makes him look like he's being attacked by an emu. And they all have their little tics and routines - how about Rafa and his water bottles, or that bizarre 'look at my biceps' dance Jo-Wilfried Tsonga took to doing at the Australian Open this year. (How is Jo-W, by the way? I haven't heard much about him since he went in for surgery.) But Youzhny's salute is, well... I just don't get it.

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It's very militaristic. Actually, with that buzz cut, Youzhny himself looks very militaristic. He doesn't look like someone I'd want to run into in a dark alley... though I'm sure he's very lovely and all. He just looks like a scary soldier GI Joe man. And he is not helping himself with his scary 'I'm coming to kill you' salute.

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And you think he'd a bit warier of putting his tennis racquet on his head after that incident earlier this year, what with the hitting of himself over the head and the blood and suchlike. Oh, that was a YouTube moment. Was it Almagro he was playing? I think so. Miami, if memory serves. I've never seen anything like it. It was horrible and hysterical all at the same time. If that had been me, I would have never let my tennis racquet near my head ever again. That said, I probably wouldn't have belted myself over the head with it in the first place.

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Mikhail Youzhny is one of those top ten drifters - he sort of floats about in that area from about #8 or #9 to #15ish. But he doesn't really seem to have a huge fan base. I tried doing a Google search on him just then, and there is a couple of fansites out there - mostly Russian - but not nearly as many as you'd expect for a player of his calibre. I mean, you wouldn't expect him to have as many fans as the Rogers and Rafas of this world, but you'd think there'd be more than a handful. But Mikhail doesn't seem to have as many as he should, with his game.

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Perhaps our Mr Youzhny needs an image makeover. Because I think he's a supremely talented player, and he deserves some more cred. Because otherwise he's just going to be known as the guy that beat himself over the head and caned himself for the rest of his career. So maybe the salute isn't the way to go. Or hell, maybe it is. The salute is obviously his thing. I wouldn't want to take away his personality. Because tennis needs more of that. But people should start appreciating the Mikhail more. And maybe then he'll stop fading into the background... because quite how he can fade into the background is beyond me, as he's so scary looking.

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A gentler, more metro Mikhail? Maybe not. But this man's been to a Grand Slam semi, and still most people wouldn't know him if they fell over him in the street. So what is there to do?

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So I can't remember how I got onto the topic of whether or not Mikhail Youzhny needs an image makeover. He won a match yesterday and is into the quarters of Gstaad, which is good for him - oh, and the picture of him on the ATP website was him saluting. That's how we got here. I'm not sure if I've made any sort of point or not, but hey! who needs a point when you're talking about the guy that caned himself with his own tennis racquet? Are you telling me that had a point?

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Today's Results

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Mercedes Cup (Stuttgart)

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Jan Hernych def. Brian Dabul, 7-6 (7-5) 0-6 7-6 (7-5)

Eduardo Schwank def. Andreas Beck, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Yuri Schukin, 6-3 6-3

Juan Martin del Potro def. Simone Bolelli, 6-3 3-6 6-3

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Allianz Suisse Open (Gstaad)

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Victor Hanescu def. Ivo Karlovic, 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (13-11)

Jeremy Chardy def. Dominik Meffert, 6-7 (1-7) 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-4)

Mikhail Youzhny def. Flavio Cipolla, 6-3 6-2

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Nicolas Kiefer, walkover

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Catella Swedish Open (Bastad)

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David Ferrer def. Boris Pashanski, 7-5 6-1

Robin Soderling def. Olivier Rochus, 6-3 6-3

Tommy Robredo def. Jonas Bjorkman, 6-2 6-3

Jarkko Nieminen def. Steve Darcis, 6-3 6-1

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Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships (Newport)

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Alexander Peya def. Donald Young, 7-6 (7-4) 6-3

Vince Spadea def. Nicolas Mahut, 6-2 6-3

Ivan Navarro def. Kevin Anderson, 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-4

Fabrice Santoro def. Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi, 7-6 (7-4) 6-2

Prakash Amritraj def. Rohan Bopanna, 6-4 6-3

Frank Dancevic def. Igor Kunitsyn, 7-5 6-3

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Gaz de France Grand Prix (Budapest)

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Petra Kvitova def. Martina Muller, 6-2 6-1

Katalin Marosi def. Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-2 7-6 (7-2)

Klara Zakopalova def. Mathilde Johansson, 6-0 6-1

Greta Arn def. Zuzana Kucova, 6-2 6-1