The full lineup for the Brisbane International has been announced - hurrah! The closest thing to news we've had in days! And I still have no desire to attend! Brilliant!
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Remember when there used to be tournaments and things to write about? Ah, those halcyon days...
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The men's is headlined by Novak Djokovic (spit spit) but the real highlights for me will be Jo-W Tsonga, Ernests Gulbis (could this be his breakthrough tournament? Please, Ernests! You're a Grand Slam quarter-finalist!), Kei Nishikori (Star power) and Marcos Baghdatis. I'm sorry, but when did Marcos fall to #99? Surely he should have a protected ranking or some such? He was injured, yes - but if his ranking keeps sliding he's going to find himself in qualifying for the Aussie Open, and that's not a place you generally find ex-finalists... though maybe the powers that be at Tennis Australia would have mercy and give him a wildcard. He's been carded into Brisbane, after all...
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...actually, wouldn't it be lovely to see Marcos win? It's been so long - I'd forgotten how much I really do like him. Ah, smiley happy Marcos.
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Though there is the Ernests factor, after all. I'd love to see him win. If only there was a nice girl from Latvia he could play Hopman Cup with... instead of this stupid Brisbane tournament. What was wrong with Adelaide and the Gold Coast? I liked those tournaments, damn it! My home town lost its tournament a few years back (Ana Ivanovic's first ever tour victory was in my city!) - why are the number of tournaments just getting smaller and smaller?
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Speaking of Ana, she's headlining the girls, with Victoria Azarenka, Li Na and Sam Stosur singing back up. I'm being patriotic and backing Sam for this one. It's about time she got a title in the bag after her brush with Lyme disease...
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2 comments:
Hey Jodi,
Pre-Australian Open tournaments are the best. Everyone is excited because it's the start of the season and right before a Grand Slam, plus they're in fun places like down under.
They've anounced the field for the Auckland tournaments too. A couple of your Stars of the Future are coming, including Gulbis, that will be sweet. He's got a busy January. Eduardo Schwank is coming too. And Viktor Troicki, is he one of your official Stars, I can't remember. Kei Nishikori is on the list of alternates so it looks like he'll have to play qualifying, which is kind of frustrating as I really want to see him play the main draw, and what if doesn't make it? Fret. I shouldn't worry, he'll make it right? Hopefully he'll get some jobber Kiwi players in qualifying that he can steamroll through. Yeah.
I love following the pre-Aussie Open tournaments - they can be such a mixed bag! Auckland is sounding awesome... what a great field!
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