Heartening Losses

There is something very charming about watching a young man play one of the great champions of the game... even when, as in this case, the great champion completely destroys the young man. If the match is played in a good spirit, then it is a beautiful thing to watch.

I like what I see from Devin Britton. I think he's going to be pretty good in the future. I follow him on Twitter, and you can tell that he had a real sense of the occasion and appreciated the experience immensely, even though he got pretty well annihilated by Federer, who sailed through and didn't appear to be concentrating that hard in places. These are the matches which shape a young player's career, when they can see what the game is like at the very top. It gives them, I think, something to aspire to.

And I think we're going to be hearing a lot more from Devin Britton.

The same goes for Alexa Glatch, who got killed by Serena today. I think the USA is going to be very strong in the future, with the likes of she and Britton coming up. She's already been a Fed Cup heroine, and I think we're going to see a lot from her at Slams in the future. Serena destroyed her today, one and one, but just playing the top guns is good for young players. Once they have a real, tangible place to aim for, I think it really helps their game in future. Not necessarily through emulation... but when you've experienced something that good, I don't think it can be forgotten.

For both of them, I feel their losses today were not disheartening, but heartening in the extreme.


Today's Results

US Open (Flushing Meadows)

Men's Draw

Roger Federer def. Devin Britton, 6-1 6-3 7-5
Nikolay Davydenko def. Dieter Kindlmann, 6-3 6-4 7-5
Robin Soderling def. Albert Montanes, 6-1 3-6 6-1 6-4
Tommy Robredo def. Donald Young, 6-4 3-6 6-2 6-3
Tommy Haas def. Alejandro Falla, 7-5 4-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-2
Mikhail Youzhny def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 2-6 7-5 6-0 6-2
John Isner def. Victor Hanescu, 6-1 7-6 (16-14) 7-6 (7-5)
Marco Chiudinelli def. Potito Starace, 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-2) 6-0
Marcel Granollers def. Mischa Zverev, 2-6 7-5 3-6 6-4 6-0
Jan Hernych def. Rainer Schuettler, 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 2-6 6-3
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Peter Polansky, 6-4 6-4 5-7 3-6 6-1
Marsel Ilhan def. Christophe Rochus, 3-6 6-3 3-6 7-5 7-5
Robert Kendrick def. Martin Vassallo Arguello, 6-3 6-2 6-2
Somdev Devvarman def. Frederico Gil, 6-3 6-4 6-3
Olivier Rochus def. Igor Kunitsyn, 6-3 6-0 6-2
Simon Greul def. Giovanni Lapentti, 6-3 4-6 3-6 6-0 7-6 (11-9)
James Blake def. Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, 6-1 6-4 7-5
Lleyton Hewitt def. Thiago Alves, 6-0 6-3 6-4

Women's Draw

Serena Williams def. Alexa Glatch, 6-4 6-1
Vera Zvonareva def. Nuria Llagostera Vives, 6-0 6-4
Victoria Azarenka def. Alexandra Dulgheru, 6-1 6-1
Flavia Pennetta def. Edina Gallovits, 6-0 6-4
Agnieszka Radwanska def. Patricia Mayr, 6-1 6-2
Marion Bartoli def. Rossana de los Rios, 6-1 6-0
Samantha Stosur def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-4 4-6 6-4
Amelie Mauresmo def. Tatjana Malek, 6-3 6-4
Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Gail Brodsky, 6-4 6-4
Chang Kai-Chen def. Kaia Kanepi, 6-0 2-6 6-2
Francesca Schiavone def. Yvonne Meusburger, 6-1 6-2
Aleksandra Wozniak def. Laura Granville, 6-1 7-6 (9-7)
Magdalena Rybarikova def. Valerie Tetreault, 6-3 4-6 6-1
Melinda Czink def. Maria Elena Camerin, 6-3 6-4
Maria Kirilenko def. Mariya Koryttseva, 6-2 6-1
Anna Chakvetadze def. Yurika Sema, 4-6 6-1 6-2
Timea Bacsinszky def. Vesna Manasieva, 6-3 6-4
Sania Mirza def. Olga Govortsova, 6-2 3-6 6-3
Jill Craybas def. Carly Gullickson, 6-3 7-6 (7-5)
Stefanie Voegele def. Alberta Brianti, 6-7 (10-12) 6-1 6-3
Bethanie Mattek-Sands def. Iveta Benesova, 6-3 6-4
Angelique Kerber def. Andrea Petkovic, 6-4 5-7 6-3
Barbora Zahlavova Strycova def. Marta Domachowska, 2-6 6-2 6-3
Vania King def. Anastasiya Yakimova, 2-1 retired
Kim Clijsters def. Viktoriya Kutuzova, 6-1 6-1

Dangerwoman

So, um, Dinara. I bet Anne Keothavong is not so keen on you right now. This isn't a bakery. You don't need to go round hanging out bagels to everyone.
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...though it was very nice that you did.

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Seriously, here's looking at you, kid. If anyone doubted Dinara Safina - including me, because I had some serious reservations about her without the oncourt coaching facility in play - I think she just delivered the smackdown. Unfortunately poor ol' Anne Keothavong got in the way. This is dangerous looking form. The only worry I have for her now is that she's peaked too soon. If she keeps on this way... I can't see anyone beating her.

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Speaking of dangerous, Rafa Nadal looked quite nice in his first round match - though his shirt is dreadful. Fuschia, Rafa? What were you thinking? But the real story of the match for me was his opponent - you have to applaud the effort that Marcos Daniel put in. He broke Rafa a couple of times. That's a small victory in and of itself.

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But we all know where my focus was today, and it was firmly on the Federer match. I was listening to it via Radio Roland Garros, where one of the commentators said that Martin made the perfect first round opponent for Federer, and I have to degree. He's little and scrappy and got a lot of balls back... which Federer duly hit for winners. This is what I like to see and although the match didn't exactly start off to my taste, with the Mighty Fed losing his opening service game, he pulled the lead back quickly and set about the business of winning pretty methodically. Nice one, Roger man!

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We saw no major upsets on the male side - though Stan Wawrinka came close! He was in a huge hole there against Nicolas Devilder, being two sets and a double break down in the fourth. Luckily he seemed to pull himself together, but that Houdini act isn't going to work against the big guys, so he should have a stern talking to himself. Tomas Berdych did go out to wily Italian Simone Bolelli, making he and Karlovic the biggest seeds to fall.

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On the women's side, though, my semi final pick Schnyder crashed out to Bondarenko, so I'm what's colloquially known as 'wrong' there - and my finals pick Wozniacki is at one set apiece with play suspended, so I could be on my way there as well. At least Dinara's looking good...

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...and how about Alexa Glatch putting an absolute beatdown on Flavia Pennetta? I certainly didn't see that one coming. Bet Flavia didn't either! But my favourite women's result of today was Olivia Rogowska beating Maria Kirilenko. That is some excellent Aussie action right there! And Jarmila Groth won as well - so excellent work, girls!

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Today's Results

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Men's Draw

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Rafael Nadal def. Marcos Daniel, 7-5 6-4 6-4

Roger Federer def. Alberto Martin, 6-4 6-3 6-2

Andy Roddicl def. Romain Jouan, 6-2 6-4 6-2
Nikolay Davydenko def. Stefan Koubek, 6-2 6-1 6-4

Stanislas Wawrinka def. Nicolas Devilder, 6-3 5-7 2-6 6-4 6-4
Guillaume Rufin def. Eduardo Schwank, 6-1 6-3 6-3
Jeremy Chardy def. Thiago Alves, 6-2 7-6 (12-10) 6-3

Igor Andreev def. Fabio Fognini, 1-6 6-3 6-1 3-6 7-5
Feliciano Lopez def. Franco Ferreiro, 6-7 (3-7) 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 6-2

Potito Starace def. Mischa Zverev, 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 1-0 retired

Fernando Gonzalez def. Jiri Vanek, 6-3 6-2 6-3
Nicolas Massu def. Daniel Koellerer, 6-3 6-4 1-6 2-6 6-3
Janko Tipsarevic def. Albert Montanes, 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4
Robin Soderling def. Kevin Kim, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4) 6-2

Rui Machado def. Kristof Vliegen, 6-2 6-4 4-6 2-6 6-3
Mikhail Youzhny def. Gilles Muller, 7-6 (7-2) 6-1 6-4

Pablo Andujar def. Robby Ginepri, 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-3)
Nicolas Kiefer def. Ilia Bozoljac, 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 7-5 6-4

Simone Bolelli def. Tomas Berdych, 6-4 6-4 5-7 4-6 6-2
Victor Hanescu def. Steve Darcis, 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-3)

Diego Junqueira def. Paul Capdeville, 3-6 7-5 6-1 6-3
Denis Istomin def. Santiago Giraldo, 6-3 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

Ivo Minar def. Oscar Hernandez, 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-3
Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Laurent Recourderc, 6-4 6-4 6-1

Teimuraz Gabashvili def. Igor Kunitsyn, 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 6-1

Martin Vassallo Arguello def. Thomaz Bellucci, 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 5-5 retired

Jose Acasuso def. Santiago Ventura, 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-0 6-3

Jurgen Melzer def. Sergio Roitman

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Women's Draw

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Dinara Safina def. Anne Keothavong, 6-0 6-0

Venus Williams def. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 6-1 4-6 6-2
Marion Bartoli def. Pauline Parmentier, 3-6 6-1 6-3
Aravane Rezai def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-3 6-2

Lucie Safarova def. Sabine Lisicki, 6-2 1-6 6-1

Maria Sharapova def. Anastasiya Yakimova, 3-6 6-1 6-2

Kateryna Bondarenko def. Patty Schnyder, 6-4 6-3
Jie Zheng def. Stephanie Cohen-Aloro, 6-1 6-3

Alexa Glatch def. Flavia Pennetta, 6-1 6-1

Polona Hercog def. Alisa Kleybanova, 6-2 4-6 6-1

Lucie Hradecka def. Yvonne Meusberger, 6-1 6-2
Michelle Larcher de Brito def. Melanie South, 0-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5
Agnieszka Radwanska def. Rossana de los Rios, 6-3 6-1
Kirsten Flipkens def. Stephanie Foretz, 6-1 4-6 6-4

Carla Suarez Navarro def. Edina Gallovits, 6-1 6-4
Jill Craybas def. Tsvetana Pironkova, 7-5 6-2
Agnes Szavay def. Corinna Dentoni, 6-3 6-4

Mariya Koryttseva def. Patricia Mayr, 6-1 6-1
Jie Zheng def. Stephanie Cohen-Aloro, 6-1 6-3

Jarmila Groth def. Kinnie Laisne, 6-4 6-3
Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Camille Pin, 6-3 5-7 7-5

Tathiana Garbin def. Ayumi Morita, 7-5 7-5

Akgul Amanmuradova def. Irena Pavlovic, 6-3 6-4

Lourdes Dominquez Lino def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 6-1 4-6 8-7

Olivia Rogowska def. Maria Kirilenko, 6-4 6-4

Olga Govortsova def. Katie O'Brien, 6-1 6-1

Mariana Dugue Marino def. Anna Chakvetadze, 3-6 6-4 6-4

Dominika Cibulkova def. Alona Bondarenko, 6-4 2-6 6-4

Heroes and Heroines

Okay, Rafael Nadal. He's not real, yeah?

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Five consecutive Monte Carlo titles. Now five consecutive Barcelona titles. All signs are pointing to five consecutive Roland Garros titles. He isn't real. He can't be real. He's a machine.

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It's going to be interesting to see how he goes at Rome this week - he's played pretty much every day for the last two weeks. Last year, he went out in the opening round to Juan Carlos Ferrero, but he was covered in blisters and could barely move. This year... I can't remember exactly who it is, but he's not facing anyone of the calibre of Ferrero in the opening round. How far can Rafa take this ride? I, for one, don't see anyone beating him soon.

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But I have been wrong before - I certainly did not see Italy beating Russia in the semis of the Fed Cup! To some extent, Russia was the victim of Shamil Tarpischev - personally, I think he could have made some better choices in who to deploy when (seriously - Chakvetadze over Petrova? WTF?) but all credit to the Italian girls, who did fabulously. Francesca Schiavone in particular is the heroine - she had that great win over Svetlana Kuznetsova on Day One, and then fought hard to take out Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (who did fight gamely).

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It's going to be an interesting final - I certainly wouldn't have picked Italy/USA! Full credit to the American girls as well, because the Czech Republic is a powerhouse in women's tennis, with Benesova, Kvitova and Safarova on their team. The word here has to go out to Alexa Glatch, who was absolutely exceptional - I'll be interested to see more of her in the future!

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And Australia, down in the World Group II playoff, had a great win over Switzerland - with Stosur and Dokic on our side, I think we have a pretty sweet chance in the future! If Pennetta and Schiavone can do it, and Glatch and Mattek-Sands... why not Sam and Jelena?

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Today's Results

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Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell (Barcelona)

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Rafael Nadal def. David Ferrer, 6-2 7-5

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Fed Cup

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Italy 4, Russia 1

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Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Flavia Pennetta, 6-0 6-3

Francesca Schiavone def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 6-2

Errani/Vinci def. Petrova/Pavlyuchenkova, 1-6 6-3 6-4

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USA 3, Czech Republic 2

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Lucie Safarova def. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 6-3 6-1

Alexa Glatch def. Petra Kvitova, 6-2 6-1

Mattek-Sands/Huber def. Peschke/Benesova, 2-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-1