Saturday, May 9, 2009

Lucky Lukasz

Something has happened this week that I can't ever remember happening before - I mean, it probably has, but I can't remember it, so it seems pretty special. A lucky loser has made it to the final of an ATP tournament.
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The man is Lukasz Kubot, and I had never, ever heard of him before this week. I still can't tell you anything about him, except that he must have played very, very well in his semi, because he beat Ivo Karlovic - which is something even the big guns have trouble with, as we know. The most remarkable thing about this (in my opinion, anyway) is that he played a tiebreak against Dr Ivo, which he won seven points to love. When was the last time Karlovic ever lost a breaker like that?
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He'll play Novak Djokovic in the final, who survived a scare against Andreas Seppi. I would like nothing better than for Kubot to take this one out. That would just make my week. I don't rate his chances highly - not only is it Djokovic, but it's Djokovic's home tournament - but it would be wonderful if he did. I'll be pulling for Lucky Lukasz, that's for sure! (I wish I knew who he beat in qualifying... I bet they're having a bit of a trippy experience at the moment!)
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Over with the women, Dinara Safina avenged her loss to Svetlana Kuznetsova last week in Stuttgart by making mincemeat of her in the final of Rome. Now this is what I like to see - Dinara has really looked like #1 this week. Still, I worry about her reliance on the on-court coaching system - Zeljko Krajan has done a great job with her, but when push comes to shove, he can't be on court with her. But nonetheless, this is great stuff we're seeing from Dinara now - and I'd love to see her go all the way at Roland Garros!
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Today's Results
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Estoril Open (Estoril)
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Men's Draw
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Albert Montanes def. Paul Capdeville, 6-3 6-4
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Women's Draw
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Yanina Wickmayer def. Ekaterina Makarova, 7-5 6-2
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BMW Open (Munich)
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Tomas Berdych def. Jeremy Chardy, 6-1 5-7 6-2
Mikhail Youzhny def. Daniel Brands, 3-6 6-3 6-4
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Serbia Open (Belgrade)
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Novak Djokovic def. Andreas Seppi, 4-6 6-1 6-2
Lukasz Kubot def. Ivo Karlovic, 7-6 (7-0) 6-2
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Internazionali BNL d'Italia (Rome)
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Dinara Safina def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-3 6-2
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Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open (Madrid)
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Elena Dementieva def. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 6-4 6-1
Nadia Petrova def. Iveta Benesova, 6-0 2-1 retired
Aleksandra Wozniak def. Marion Bartoli, 7-6 (7-2) 6-2
Zheng Jie def. Maria Kirilenko, 6-4 6-4
Anna Chakvetadze def. Virginia Ruano Pascual, 6-4 6-3
Alisa Kleybanova def. Sílvia Soler Espinosa, 6-3 6-4
Virginie Razzano def. Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6-0 4-6 6-3

1 comment:

Beatka said...

Hi Jodi,

Lucky Lukasz is doing history for Polish tennis! He started playing with Oliver Marach of Austria in doubles and it apparently changed many things for him!
Kubot and Marach captured their first ATP World Tour title together in Casablanca last month and were finalists in Acapulco in February.They were in SF in Australian Open this year. They are No. 6 in the ATP Doubles Team Rankings with a 19-6 record on the season.
It has been amazing journey for Kubot, 26 years since Poland had Wojciech Fibak in Final of Basel in 1983!