Some Watch-This-Spacers

So Denis Istomin has pretty much sprung from nowhere, huh. The first memory of him I have is him playing - and being destroyed by - Federer at the Australian Open some years ago (like '06 or '07 or some long ago time). And then he just sort of hung around for awhile.

And now he's suddenly all awesome.

I mean, there is a limit to his awesomeness. He hasn't been winning titles or anything (that I can remember, anyway.) But's he's troubling people. He's pulling upsets. He's looking a little bit dangerous. Exhibit a - he took out last week's winner Nico Almagro in straights in Hamburg. That's a little bit cool, you know. He's got some good stuff going on. Watch this space, is all I'm saying where this kid is concerned.

I'd like to say the same thing about Julian Reister, who popped up in about the third round of Wimbledon from seemingly nowhere - literally, I had never heard of him before. He just put put bad-tempered on-the-outs I'm-pretty-sure-everyone-hates-him-right-now Victor Hanescu in straights in Hamburg also - tight straights, but straights. I don't know enough about him to talk coherently about him (same with Istomin) but it's kind of cool that some new people have been making a splash. Even if they have been around forever and I just haven't realised it.

Bad luck continues for Simone Bolelli, though. Dude just can't catch a break right now.