The Boss

Was just reading Tennis Australia's little 'Off the Court' article, and at the bottom, there was a little story about how Rafa is planning to play Davis Cup in the first round - to effectively get straight back on the horse after his disappointment about not playing the final last year. All fine and dandy - nice one, Rafa - but what I found very intriguing (aka. what I did not realise) was that Spain are taking on Serbia.

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Now that is going to be a good tie.

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We haven't seen Rafa play Djokovic for a while now, and I really hope we get the opportunity to see it here, because I feel, and have long felt, that Novak sort of forgets about Rafa, even now when he's #1. Sure, there was that battle they had last year where the winner of the match got the #2 spot (Rafa won) but you always feel that Djokovic is focused wholly on overtaking Federer. When Federer was #1, he was all about toppling the king. Now Federer is #2, it's all about sticking it to him. And Rafa? Well... um... hfhweirfhj.

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I hope Rafa sticks it to him. I think he needs to show him who's boss. And that's all I have to say about that.

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Meanwhile, in Fed Cup action, looks like Jelena, Sam, Casey and Stubbsy will be taking on Switzerland for a spot in World Group II. This could be an interesting one. The highest ranked player out there will be Switzerland's Patty Schnyder, with Timea Bacsinszky presumably playing the other singles rubbers. The match up I would really love to see? I want David Taylor and Nicole Bradtke to take a punt and put Casey Dellacqua out there against Schnyder. Dellacqua beat her at the Aussie Open last year, and I think it's primarily because they're both lefties - Schnyder, who relies so heavily on placement, has a lot of advantage taken away. The Swiss girls lost 3-2 to Germany last week, with Schnyder being the 2 and the rest of the team being the everything else, so if the Aussie girls can negate Schnyder...

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Ugh. Look at me talking about tennis like a team sport - especially since I practically am Swiss when it comes to tennis. Shame on me.

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(Oh, and since my post of a couple of days ago, Mikhail Youzhny seems to have found a bit of form, taking out Ferru in Rotterdam. This is all obviously due to me.)

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Today's Results

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ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament (Rotterdam)

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Mikhail Youzhny def. David Ferrer, 6-2 3-6 6-2

Rafael Nadal def. Simone Bolelli, 4-6 6-2 7-5

Gilles Simon def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 7-5 7-6 (7-1)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Jesse Huta Galung, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4)

Mario Ancic def. Rainer Schuettler, 7-5 6-2

Michael Llodra def. Ivo Karlovic, 4-6 6-3 6-4

Marc Gicquel def. Evgeny Korolev, 3-6 6-3 6-2

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Brasil Open (Costa do Sauipe)

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Tommy Robredo def. Thiago Alves, 6-4 6-2

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Albert Montanes, 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 6-2

Jose Acasuso def. Juan Monaco, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4

Nicolas Devilder def. Daniel Silva, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Thomaz Bellucci def. Potito Starace, 6-3 6-4

Brian Dabul def. Paul Capdeville, 6-1 retired

Pablo Cuevas def. Oscar Hernandez, 4-6 6-4 6-1

Rui Machado def. Ivan Navarro, 6-4 6-1

Frederico Gil def. Pablo Andujar, 3-6 6-4 6-3

Fabio Fognini def. Caio Zampieri, 0-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Lukasz Kubot def. Daniel Gimeno-Traver, 7-6 (9-7) 1-6 6-3

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SAP Open (San Jose)

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Radek Stepanek def. Chris Guccione, 6-2 7-6 (7-1)

John Isner def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 7-6 (11-9) 6-4

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Open GDF SUEZ (Paris)

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Emilie Loit def. Kaia Kanepi, 2-6 6-3 6-1

Serena Williams def. Iveta Benesova, 6-1 6-4

Jelena Jankovic def. Francesca Schiavone, 7-5 7-6 (7-2)

Elena Dementieva def. Aravane Rezai, 6-4 6-3

Patty Schnyder def. Alona Bondarenko, 6-4 7-6 (7-3)

Amélie Mauresmo def. Sara Errani, 6-2 6-0

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PTT Pattaya Open (Pattaya City)

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Vera Dushevina def. Sybille Bammer, 6-4 7-5

Peng Shuai def. Galina Voskoboeva, 7-6 (7-4) 6-0

Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Akgul Amanmuradova, 6-2 7-6 (7-4)

Shahar Peer def. Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, 6-1 6-0

Magdalena Rybarikova def. Kimiko Date Krumm, 6-2 4-6 6-4

Vitalia Diatchenko def. Ryoko Fuda, 6-3 1-6 6-3