The Land of What Might Have Been

So, Taylor Dent, yeah. The first I remember of him is at the Aussie Open '06, when he was seeded about #27, and he was someone's semi-final pick (can't remember whose) in a pre-tournament TV show. He didn't deliver, and he hasn't delivered much of anything ever since. He's been a pretty big non-event for the last three, four years, really - I understand injury is to blame, though I confess I haven't been following the story too closely.

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And now here he is in Miami, a qualifier, beating the recently in-form Tommy Robredo. I wouldn't call this a comeback - far from it - but it must be nice for him to know that he's still got it. Still, I bet the poor guy will come away from his career with a feeling of what might have been.

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What a cheery note to start off with.

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Another cheery note - Dinara Safina continued the crisis of confidence in Miami, going down very, very meekly. She went down to Sam Stosur, so from my perspective, being Australian, it's like, go Sam - but Dinara is really my favourite on the WTA and I am not entirely happy with her right now. The determination that saw her so well through the mid-section of last year seems to have been put on the backburner, and that serve... oh, that serve. Please, Zeljko, help. Please. Please. Don't let Dinara become another inhabitant of the land of what might have been.

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(But meanwhile, go Sam!)

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Ana Ivanovic also went down, though with a bit more of a struggle - Agnes Szavay got her in three. And it was also curtains for Alize Cornet, who has not been playing anything like herself since she held those match points against Safina at the Aussie Open. It's going to be interesting to see who comes out at the best non-Williams this week - I don't think anyone would gainsay Serena in this tournament. And if Serena goes down to anyone, it'd probably be Venus. Sigh. Please, Roger and Mirka, have a little girl, and let her grow up to save the WTA. Please.

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On the subject of Roger, he had a very shiny win over Nicolas Kiefer. Nice one, Rog.

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Today's Results

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Sony Ericsson Open (Miami)

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Nicolas Kiefer, 6-4 6-1

Andy Roddick def. Dmitry Tursunov, 7-6 (11-9) 6-2

Taylor Dent def. Tommy Robredo, 7-5 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Samantha Stosur def. Dinara Safina, 6-1 6-4

Elena Dementieva def. Carla Suárez Navarro, 6-2 6-2

Agnes Szavay def. Ana Ivanovic, 6-4 4-6 6-1

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Nicole Vaidisova, 6-1 6-4

Victoria Azarenka def. Anna Chakvetadze, 6-1 6-4

Caroline Wozniacki def. Patty Schnyder, 6-4 6-4

Zheng Jie def. Alizé Cornet, 6-4 6-0

Alisa Kleybanova def. Anastasiya Yakimova, 6-3 3-6 6-4