A F%^& YEAH Weekend

There are so many people I want to say F%^& YEAH about today, but first, I have to blow your mind with the last installment of my Cherbourg coverage. It was not good times today - my main man Mahut lost both in the singles final and in the doubles final. But let's take a moment and go, hey, actually, the fact that you were in both of these finals is pretty damn shiny! Then let's holler F^&* YEAH.

My loudest, unconditional and most heartfelt F^&* YEAH, however, has to go out to Jelena Dokic. Lady, you rocked my freaking socks today. How many players are there who can go for eight years without a title and still have the heart to come back? Dokic is a player who has had an awful lot of bad luck in her career - more, I think, than just about anyone else. But one thing she does not lack, especially in this post-Damir world, is heart. And she demonstrated this not just in winning the Kuala Lumpur final, but the way she won it - she was literally a few points from defeat in the second set breaker. She could have gone down tamely in straights, and everyone would have been like, oh well, well done Lucie, what a great week for Jelena.

But no. Jelena Dokic is not having any of that nonsense. She clawed her way out of that breaker and then she pounced. She was a total third set tiger and that got her the trophy. And I don't think it's controversial to say that Jelena has one of the best smiles in tennis. F^&* YEAH JELENA DOKIC!

And then there is Davis Cup.

The Indian boys weren't able to keep the momentum going - they went down 4-1 to Serbia in the end - but I think they deserve a F^&* YEAH anyway, because they have played awesomely this weekend. So too does Jeremy Chardy, who went from not winning a single ATP match all year to being France's Davis Cup hero. I'm not normally a massive Chardy fan, but that kind of heroism (especially from someone stuck so deep in such a big rut) deserves a F^&* YEAH.

But the biggest Davis Cup F^&* YEAH goes to Kazakhstan in general and Andrey Golubev in particular.

I haven't talked much about Andrey this year - largely because his results haven't been that great. (But don't worry, I haven't dumped him for Mahut. I can love them both.) But this match was a powerful reminder of why I love him so much. If he plays well, he is capable not just of beating anyone, but of freaking demolishing them. Doesn't matter where, doesn't matter when, doesn't matter who. If Andrey Golubev has his eye in, he will make you hurt.

Just ask Tomas Berdych.

The Czech crowd were totally stunned. Who was this surprise ranga beating their main man? Berdych was their guaranteed pointmaker for the weekend! He was supposed to win both his singles matches in a snap of his fingers, and just hope that one of the others could pick up another point somewhere. It was supposed to be easy.

But Andrey Golubev was not on board with this idea at all. And four sets later, Tomas Berdych limped off the court, pulverised and broken. And then Mikhail Kukushkin went out there and made history against Jan Hajek.

This was Kazakhstan's first ever appearance in the World Group. If they can continue turning in these kinds of performances, they are going to be a force to be reckoned with. And I, for one, think that deserves a F%^& YEAH.

Second Year Blues

Oh, glorious nation of Kazakhstan, you are making me a bit sad. After your awesomeness last year, you have had some second year blues.

First, we lost Shvedova. She is injured, which maketh me sad, and I hope she gets well soon, because I like her style. She's been replaced by Sesil Karantcheva, who had about four seconds to get acclimatised, and who had to play Justine Henin the second she got off the plane. Unsurprisingly, she lost in straight sets - though she did make a good show of it.

And then Andrey Golubev - my beloved Andrey Golubev! - went and lost to Ruben Bemelmans.

Now, I am very fond of Bemelmans. I wrote a post a few days ago which was all about how much I love him. But Andrey! my Andrey! whom I have adored for this one year past! This was not a good result for him.

This was the match in his group that you would expect him to win. I expected him to put up a good fight against Djokovic, but to lose eventually. I think he has a solid chance against Hewitt. But I expected him to beat Bemelmans. I expected him to do that.

Now, this is a great result for Bemelmans, who is definitely going into my stable of future stars, and on that count, I am very pleased that he just claimed a top thirty scalp when he is ranked so much lower. But did it have to be my beloved Andrey?

Oh yeah, and Serbia totally hammered Australia. The Hewitt/Djokovic match was a lot more competitive than I thought it would be, but it was still straight sets. But it was eminently watchable. Molik/Ivanovic...? not so much.

25 Things I Love About Andrey Golubev

So he didn't beat Novak Djokovic (though he did take a set off him!) Sure, he went off the boil pretty badly there. But I still think Andrey Golubev is the knees of the bees, and he is going to grow up SO AWESOME.

Anyone who follows me on Twitter will have seen this list last night, when I live-tweeted the Djokovic/Golubev match. But I think it's a pretty good list (even if some of it is obviously live-blogged and will have no relevance to someone who didn't see the match!) and so here it is in it's entirety.

25 Things I Love About Andrey Golubev from the Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

1. He doesn't mess around with his serve. Quick and dirty. No epic time wasting.
2. He didn't just hit two double faults in a tow.
3. He always tries to make his opponent play an extra shot. Good tennis brain.
4. He has a very stylish serve-forehand one-two punch. Mmm-mmm. Delish.
5. That backhand up the line he just hit. Sexy, sexy shot.
6. SINGLE. HANDED. BACKHAND.
7. The angles he is getting, particularly on the backhand side. UNF.
8. He is delightfully red-headed.
9. That forehand down the line just then was smokin'. UNF UNF.
10. His aggression, even when it doesn't quite work out.
11. The dude can VOLLEY. Seriously.
12. He is annoying the f%^& out of Bert the Unshaven right now.
13. HE JUST BROKE DJOKOVIC. HELLS TO THE YEAH.
14. Clutch first serve. Not all the time, but it's getting there.
15. Right after losing that game, he's straight back on the aggressive horse.
16. FIRST SET BITCHES! HELL YEAH!
17. He's not afraid to hit the ball, even after some demoralising shanks.
18. He freaking GOES FOR IT on the return.
19. He has the ability to dig himself out of a hole.
20. Even if he is losing this set pretty badly, he has some mad HawkEye skillz.
21. That hectic service break he just made. Even if he loses the set, that rocked.
22. He gives credit where credit is due (i.e. he applauds his opponents).
23. He's not afraid to come to the net.
24. He has mad skillz on the return. Always gives his opponent a good ball.
25. He might have lost, but DAMN, can he play.

So there it is - some of the many things I love about Andrey Golubev. What he does need is a little discipline and a little consistency - he's a bit fragile mentally - but he has no real weaknesses and when he is playing well, he is well nigh unstoppable. I talked about Ruben Bemelmans being this year's Golubev yesterday. I think Golubev might like to be this year's Golubev - thank you very much!

Bow Down Before My Rightness

So there's a big to do in the tennis world about the annual ATP awards and the clash between Roger and Rafa fans and whatnot. Roger won the Fan Favourite, Rafa won the Sportsmanship award, and for some reason, everyone thinks this is some kind of scandalous big deal.

Um, whatevs, dudes. They both deserve their awards - and you could make a case that they each deserve the others' award, and pretty much any case you want. They're both awesome. Chill out.

What I want to talk about is another report, and how incredibly right I am.

Most Improved Player: Andrey Golubev. OH YES.

Who told you? Who has been talking about the awesomeness of Golubev since January - since the Hopman Cup, in fact? Oh yes, that would be me, your tennis prophet. Bow down and worship me, kids. Bow down.

Oh yeah, and worship Andrey too. Because he is awesome and like, deserves his award and stuff. But he couldn't help his awesomeness. I PREDICTED IT. YOU READ IT HERE FIRST. OH YEAH.

Oh, and newcomer of the year was Tobias Kamke. I... don't really remember him. But then, to be fair, I don't remember any real newcomers. So maybe he was the newcomeriest. And stuff.

And you know who really deserved their award? The Indo-Pak express. Rock on, dudes. You are made of 100% pure excellence.

Not So Mighty

Oh, Marin Cilic. You started the year so mightily. And the truth is, that single semi final appearance in Australia was nearly enough to send you in the world tour finals.

But no. And that is how it should be, really - that semi final did not make a year.

Mighty Marin (or not-so-mighty, as he is at the moment) was knocked out of finals contention (and, indeed, the tournament) by David Nalbandian. I mean, sure, David is a pretty tough second round draw, but it was a really tame loss. It wasn't pretty. And much as I applaud this Nalbandian comeback (because Tennis Needs Nalbandian) I wish that Cilic had put up more of a fight. I wish he'd made a match of it.

I don't know what Cilic's problem is - whether he's been injured for a bazillion years or he has mono like everyone else or what - but if I'm him, I'm wrapping up my year now. I'm taking some extra time for R&R and getting myself back on track. He has a bucketload of points to defend in Australia and he will plummet down the rankings like a big rock if he doesn't make at least the quarters (I would imagine - I'm guessing). So he needs to go sort himself out.

His loss, however, has set up a tantalising clash between Nalbandian and Roddick. I can almost forgive Roddick for beating my beloved Andrey Golubev, so intriguing is this match. Roddick is also in finals contention (though I really can't put my finger on anything he's won this year... maybe the memory of Wimbledon last year is still overshadowing everything else in my mind) and Nalbandian is hungry for points. And this is his favourite surface. Should be an absolute screamer!

The Bitter Pill of JMDP

Oh man, Andrey Golubev retired in Beijing. I hope he's all right. Get better, Andrey.

And in another oh man moment, you know who I feel sorry for? Juan Martin del Potro.

I think JMDP is doing exactly the right things at the moment. This season is a write-off for him, but it would be totally moronic for him to come into next year stone cold, so he should play some matches here now to get his hand back in. No pressure, no one expecting him to win, ra ra ra.

Except you know what? There is someone who expects him to win - bet you anything. It's himself. And it must be a bitter pill to swallow to go from winning the US Open one year to being bagelled by Feli Lopez in Tokyo.

The best thing JMDP can do is keep on keeping on. If I'm him, I'm playing as much tennis as I can - conscious of the fact that I have to keep it easy on my wrist and stuff, of course - and just getting some matches under my belt. Training is all very well and stuff, but he needs some match toughness. And you've got to be in to win it - eventually, he's going to start winning again. It's coming.

JMDP is going to be able to put this back together again. But not right away. And that must be so incredibly frustrating for him, poor dude. Keep your chin up, Juan. I'm cheering for you.

More on the Greatness of Golubev

So my beloved Andrey Golubev did not win. He fell at the very last hurdle - and literally, it was the very last - against Mikhail Youzhny. Damn you, third set tiebreaker!

But seriously, can we just reflect momentarily on how incredibly awesome this kid is? Like, seriously, he is the up and comer of the year for me. Can anyone think of anyone else who has made a comparable rankings jump? He was outside the top hundred when I spotted him playing Hopman Cup back in January, when he flipped the switch and became Awesome Andrey.

You know what he's ranked now? #33. Thirty freaking three. That is some jump.

I'm sad he didn't manage to scrape over the line against Headbanger, but a week where you beat Robin Soderling and David Ferrer in back to back matches? That's a good week for anyone, let alone some guy that was ranked outside of the top hundred not that long ago.

Make no mistake, Andrey Golubev is going places. And with what he can do... I don't think there are many players who will be able to stand in his way.

Andrey Time

It's time to talk about Andrey. And by talk, I mean gush.

I told you this kid was awesome! I told you that he was on the way up! And I was right!

Is this an upset of Soderling I see before me, belonging to Andrey? Why yes, it is. The Golubev freight train is picking up steam and it is powering onwards and upwards. Not only has he upset Soderling in convincing straights, but now Ferrer? Kid just doesn't know his place, and I love it.

The first time I ever really watched Golubev play, I was on a plane from Melbourne to Perth. I was flying there for a couple of days of the Hopman Cup, and I was watching one of the night ties on that little plane TV. It was Russia vs Kazakhstan, and Igor Andreev was taking on some kid called Andrey Golubev. Who is this kid?

I found out soon enough, when Golubev prevented Andreev from hitting a single winner for a set and a half. He was a demolition machine that week - that kid is something else. The Hopman Cup is a good place to capture the much-coveted attention of Jodi, and he did it in spades.

It could have just been a good week. But no, ever since he won his first title a couple of months ago, Andrey has been 100% solid awesome. He's improved his ranking by about 70 places since the beginning of the year, and now he's in the finals of Kuala Lumpur, it's only going to go up.

And trust me, if the kid can beat Soderling and Ferrer back to back, he can totally take Youzhny. Watch out, Headbanger!

Frankie, the Potato, and the Glorious Kazakhs

I could talk about the tennis going on in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok and Beijing and whatnot...

...or I could talk about my favourite tournament of the year, and how awesome it's going to be next year.

That's right. More teams have been announced for the Hopman Cup!

Lleyton Hewitt's partner has been announced - it's Alicia Molik. This isn't exactly awe-inspiring stuff - when Australia managed to pull Stosur last year, that was a bit more of a coup - but Molik is likeable enough, so it should be fun. There's no way Australia's getting to the final, of course, but meh, whatevs. It's all about the exciting international teams anyways.

Speaking of which - Italy! yay! We have Potito 'I have an awesome name that only Jack Sock can rival' Starace paired up with Francesca Schiavone - man, is the women's draw going to be awesome at Hopman '11 or what? We have Serena, Juju, Frankie... pure awesomeness. The Italian team has the possibility of doing what Spain did this year, I think - a relatively underwhelming team on the surface that can totally kill the flashy teams with the big names. I would not be at all surprised to see Frankie and the Potato win the thing. It would be awesome.

But you know who I want to win? Kazakhstan.

That's right - Slava Shvedova and my beloved cutie-patootie Andrey Golubev are back for another year, and some arses are going to be kicked. They very-nearly-almost made the final this year - can they go all the way this time? I wouldn't be ruling them out... as Switzerland can well tell you, you can never count Kazakhstan out...

A List of Unrelated Facts

Let's see if I can string together a blog post that doesn't rhyme for the first time in what? four days? Maybe this week will be more interesting. I have to believe it.

Let's do a list of things I think are noteworthy or interesting instead of a poem. And I'll try very hard to make sure it doesn't rhyme. I will, however, be extremely cryptic and not explain what I mean.

1) I used to really like Viktor Troicki. Now I think he is a bit disappointing.

2) Jack Sock is kicking Ryler de Heart's arse when it comes to the best name in American tennis.

3) I really need to watch some of this Thiemo de Bakker dude. Everyone seems to think he's awesome. I've missed it totally. I hate missing bandwagons. It makes me sad.

4) I am on the Yuki Bhambri bandwagon. Mostly because he has a cool name.

5) Being a Svetlana Kuznetsova fan is like repeatedly banging your head into a wall. Sometimes you're so dazed you forget the wall's there, but mostly you're in agony.

6) I'm really glad I'm not a Vika fan. That seems like it would be worse.

7) It would be awesome if Bepa became #1 in the world, even if it was just for a week.

8) Is Kevin Anderson awesome or something now? He seems to be everywhere.

9) Andrey Golubev is definitely awesome.

10) What are your random inane comments?

Davis Cup Dampener

I am a great fan of the tennis nation of Kazakhstan. It might seem cold and corporate to some, but I like the fact that they care enough about their tennis prowess to go and buy players like Golubev and Korolev and Shvedova to play for them. I appreciate that they care that much about tennis.

But I do, I confess, get a little bit upset when they go and take a 2-0 leave in a relegation tie over my beloved Switzerland.

The Big Swissie isn't there, of course - understandably, due to the whole semis in New York thing (see yesterday's rant) - but Stan Wawrinka and Marco Chiudinelli are. I expected Golubev to beat Chiudinelli - we all know that Golubev is a) awesome and b) one of my special favourites, making him even more awesome - but Stan? losing in five sets to Mikhail Kukushkin?

Excuse me while my eyes fall out of my head in surprise.

Stan, following you can be incredibly frustrating. Quite aside from your being second banana to my beloved R-Fed, I like watching you play - your backhand is artistry. If you and Gasquet ever played a backhand exhibition match, I would so be in that. I was super happy when you made the quarters of the US Open - that is genuinely a fantastic result.

But it kind of puts a dampener on it when you go and pull a stunt like this.

Despite the fact that Davis Cup is really, really hard to care about, I'm really genuinely annoyed with this result. And I'm a bit annoyed with R-Fed for not playing. Switzerland should be kicking Kazakhstan's arse in this tie and it's just not happening. The whole missing Roger and brainfarting Stan thing is leading to a real misrepresentation of the tennis prowess of Switzerland, and that is frustrating. (Now, if they changed the scheduling and the format...)

But that, I suppose, is the nature of tennis.

The G-Boys

There's a poll on the ATP website at the moment that is trying to ascertain who is the biggest improver of 2010. Mardy Fish, John Isner and Jurgen Melzer are all on there, as is Aleksandr Dolgopolov Jr, who obviously has improved, even though I don't remember it happening.

But most importantly, two of my favourite young characters are on there. Both have won their first titles this year, and I have hopes of great things for both of them.

Andrey Golubev. Ernests Gulbis. Improved. Still improving.

Finally.

I've talked a lot about my fangirlishness of Golubev lately, so I'll leave him alone for now, but let's talk Gulbis. I have been on his bandwagon for what feels like a thousand years now, waiting for him to break through. Sometimes I thought I was the only one on the bandwagon, though at other times it was quite popular. Though, with injury and whatnot, he hasn't been around much lately, it is really good to know that I was right. Gulbis is going places.

Both Gulbis and Golubev have massive tennis stories left to tell. Both are relatively late bloomers, but so what? So are plenty of players. I don't know if either of them will ever win a Slam - though Gulbis might surprise you! - but there is a lot of success ahead of both of them. I am sure of this.

And I'd also like to point out that Gulbis is leading the poll at the moment, and Golubev is coming second. But the real winner? Me, obviously.

(This is a joke, clearly.)

Kazakhstani Wonderkids

Kazakhstan really knows what they're about with the players they're purchasing. I think it's a little weird that they actually have to buy their tennis players, but whoever's picking them out has a damn good eye.

Yaroslava Shvedova. She's pretty awesome. Just made Slam quarters. Win #1 to the Kazakhstani tennis buyers. Andrey Golubev. Just won his first title. Win #2. Evgeny Korolev. Definitely, I would argue, on his way up. A bit early to call, but I'm going to say win #3.

And now some other Kazakhstani tennis player, of whom I have never heard, has gone and beat Mikhail Youzhny in Gstaad. Yuri Schukin knocked out the top seed in three sets. Now that is a bit all right.

I know nothing about Schukin and so I can't actually say anything about the match or anything, you know, of substance. But I'm beginning to think that whoever is picking out players for Kazakhstan has a SERIOUSLY good eye - and while it's inevitable they'll get some duds, just look at their current stable. And maybe Yuri Schukin is the next Kazakhstani wonderkid.

Oh, and the top three seeds got knocked out in Umag. On the same day. Davydenko got beaten two and one. Now there's someone who needs to lift his game.

Yet More Andrey

So I'm pretty sure when I was all 'blah blah Brad Gilbert' yesterday, I probably should have been talking about Darren Cahill instead. Oops. My bad. But my main point still stands - ain't nothing wrong with Murray's game. Is all in Murray's mind. And he needs a coach who is good at that stuff, n'est-ce pas?

Anyway.

My boy Andrey Golubev lost in Gstaad, but considering he did win Hamburg the week before, I think I can give him a pass on this one. Did you know he jumped about fifty ranking spots and is now in the thirties? That is something fierce, yo. If he plays his cards right, he can totally be seeded at the US Open. Now wouldn't that be something!

But you know what he has to do if he wants to be taken seriously?

Stop playing on freaking clay when the claycourt season is over and it's all about the US. And you too, Nikolay Davydenko - are you listening?

I've ranted about this ad nauseam, so I won't go on about it again - but I mean, come ON, guys. What is the point of playing on clay at this time of the year? I just do not get it - not one little bit!

Oh, and in closing this post of randomness, I would like to give a shout out to my new fave doubles team. Janko Tipsarevic and Feli Lopez, please play doubles together for always, just for the Twitter fun times. You guys are made of pure awesome, covered in a luscious awesome sauce!

Amazing Andrey

Everything I said yesterday about Andrey Golubev I want to say again. But more.

I knew you could do it, Andrey! Who was it that picked you out at the beginning of the year and said 'watch this kid'? It might have been a bunch of people, but one of them was me. This obviously shows tremendous foresight and insight and other kinds of -sight on my behalf.

But enough on how awesome I am. Let's talk about how awesome you are!

Clearly more kids should train on courts that have no room behind the baseline, because I think that has given you some really excellent habits - like the way you take the ball ridiculously early. And I mean ridiculously - when you're on fire, Andrey, and you're hitting the lines, there's just no way to compete with that. You have the capacity to outplay just about anyone, if you have your day. You're just that kind of guy.

I am so, so proud of you for winning your first title. Don't feel that you have to be this year's Juan Martin del Potro and win four on the trot or anything... but if you did that, I wouldn't be miffed. Just keep on winning matches, Andrey. Keep on hitting the lines. Keep on taking the ball early and making everyone really, really scared of you. Because you know what, Andrey? You have the potential to be something else entirely.

Awesome Andrey

Oh my my - who is this handsome young man who has swept into the final of Hamburg like a freight train?

Andrey Golubev, you rock on with your bad self. You are AWESOME. If it was not already abundantly clear, I am your fangirl. Big time.

Andrey has knocked out a bunch of people who should have beaten him this week. Florian Mayer in the semis. Denis Istomin, who I talked about a few days ago as a major up-and-comer suddenly playing awesomely. And, oh yeah, Nikolay Davydenko. How about that?

I've rabbited on and on and on about how impressed I was with him when I saw him play at the Hopman Cup this year. He tailed away after that and although there were flashes of that redline game that saw him beat Andreev, he didn't stay as awesome. But hello, daddy-o, I think the awesome is coming back. This has not been a cakewalk draw to the final, not at all. I repeat - Davydenko. I know Kolya's not exactly the captain of the form squad right now, but DAVYDENKO. C'mon.

And he also had a birthday this week. He might have missed 23 July, tennis's holy day, but he's only one away, and maybe some of that glitter has rubbed off.

You keep your awesome up, Andrey. Because that's what you are - awesome.

A Speck of Nostalgia

I would like to give a shout out to my man Andrey Golubev, who won his second round match in Hamburg against Marcel Granollers in fine style. I am absolutely gagging to see this boy win a title, and if he plays the style of tennis he did at the Hopman Cup, then ain't hardly anyone gonna be able to stop him, because he is fierce (unlike whatever strange dialect I am trying to speak here). So here's hoping he can keep it together a little while longer in Hamburg.

(Mentioning Marcel Granollers, anyone remember that time he won a title, a few years back? Yeah, I hardly remember either. What happened to him? I thought he was on the up and up, but it sounds like he's just cruising along the plateau.)

Interesting match of the day, names-wise, was Jarkko Nieminen and Gilles Simon. That's a match I would sit down and watch, even though I find Simon's brand of weaponless tennis somewhere between weird and soporific. Simon is still the seed - though how he's managed to keep his rankings points up since that year he had in 2008 or whenever is beyond me - but it was Nieminen who came out on top.

Time was that would not be an early round match. But Nieminen's getting a little older, I suppose, and I don't think I would be the first to say that Simon's best year is behind him. But I kind of dig it when two veterans play each other, and this looked like a super tight match. I didn't actually see it so I can't make any, you know, informed comment (please, when do I ever?) but it makes me sort of nostalgic, I suppose...

Speaking of nostalgia, Dent vs Blake in Atlanta. Dent won. Blake is definitely on the way out. Any naysayers?

All Guns... Whimpering?

One of my favourite matches in Wimbledon this year was the third round clash between Rafa Nadal and Philipp Petzschner. (Brief tangent - Petzschner has since also become one of my favourite tweeters, if anyone is interested.) That match was a real clash. Rafa wasn't totally there - it wasn't quite Shmafa playing that match, but it wasn't RafaRafa either - and Petzschner played some of the most wonderful all guns blazing tennis I have seen in a while to grab two sets from the raging bull.

And now here we are, a couple of weeks later. Little tournament in Stuttgart. And Petzschner's going out first round.

C'mon, Petzschny! What are you trying to do to me here?

To be fair, he was playing Albert Montanes, who is seeded and thus ranked higher than him. But Montanes's real pedigree is, let's face it, on clay, and this tournament is in Petzschner's home country! And he was coming off such a good match in Wimbledon too, even if he lost... sigh.

Petzschner is the second player (apart from the usual crowd) who has really stood out to me this year, announced themselves in the tennis stadium in my mind. The first was Andrey Golubev (who actually had a win in Bastad - nice one!) after his absolute demolition of Igor Andreev at the Hopman Cup. Petzschner played that same sort of fearless tennis against Nadal, at least for a couple of sets... I mean, sure he didn't win the match, but he played some fierce stuff.

Let this not be one of those 'not with a bang but a whimper' situations. Because that would be epically disappointing. I want to see more of you, Philipp Petzschner. Don't make my Twitter-fangirling of you be for nothing!

Awesome Andrey

Oh man, my boy Andrey Golubev was SO CLOSE to pulling a big upset in Rotterdam and knocking out sixth seed Mikhail Youzhny. He cantered away with a breadstick in the first but then lost the next two sets in tiebreaks. Clearly he has still got his awesome game going on and it wasn't just an Australian fluke - but he's got to close out these matches instead of coming OMGSOCLOSE. Because I firmly believe that he can skyrocket - and I mean skyrocket - up those rankings. If he keeps playing the way I saw him play in Perth...

...I can't get over how awesome he is and how low his ranking is by comparison. Though he did improve it by about thirty places over the Australian summer - and when you consider that he totally only played the Australian Open, as the Hopman Cup (where he was arguably at his awesomest) has no ranking points attached, that is totally awesome.

If he can only win matches like this one against Youzhny instead of coming agonisingly close, then we will really be cooking with gas. But watch this kid, guys. Andrey Golubev is going places.

Another result from Rotterdam I thought was interesting was Marsel Ilhan's win over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Garcia-Lopez can really ball on the red stuff, so this was a good win. But what I want to know is - where did Ilhan come from? I could swear I had never heard of him before the beginning of this year... or maybe late last year. Point is, he popped up so suddenly. Suddenly Turkey is all about tennis. I noticed the same OMGlookatme! appearance of Horacio Zeballos as well - I'd never seen him before and suddenly he was everywhere.

Goes to show you can write about tennis every day and still things surprise you.

One thing that does not surprise me, however, is Alize Cornet losing in Paris. Seriously, when was the last time she actually won a match? Did losing that match to Safina at AO '09 really do this much damage?

The Good, The Bad and the Frankly Ugly

So, um, the tennis that's going on this week is incredibly, incredibly boring. The one result that interested me (even just the tiniest bit) was in Zagreb, where inked up Austrian bad boy Daniel Koellerer beat cutie-patootie Andrey Golubev in three sets. Andrey had some great wins in the Australian summer and I hope his mojo wasn't as fleeting as tennis down under. Because he was rocking some great stuff down here.

Though what's going on in men's tennis right now is certainly more interesting than women's tennis. It's Fed Cup this week, and it hasn't started yet. Cue yawnfest.

So... guess what we're going to talk about. I do believe that yes, once more, it will be the Australian Open.

I discussed what we had learned yesterday - which was basically that Serena aside, the women's tour was weak, and that Roger Federer was still light years ahead of the men's pack, despite there being some very good boys in there. But let's go in a bit more depth and look at some individuals.

Winners out of this tournament? Roger and Serena, obviously. They totally justified their #1 spots. I've talked about them a heap over the past few days, so for now I'll keep it brief: thumsb up.

Major winners also include Justine Henin, comeback queen, and Marin Cilic, who is proving his worth. Look for both JuJu and Red Hot Cilic Peppers to go deep at tournaments (probably Slams this year). Other winners include, in my opinion, Andy Murray, who may not have gone the distance, but he made the final and played some excellent stuff; Ivo Karlovic and John Isner, who proved they had games beyond massive serves; Nicolas Almagro, for match entertainment value; and Li Na and Zheng Jie, because hello, awesome for Chinese tennis right there. Also epic win - Hit For Haiti. The whole thing.

But now the juicy stuff. Disappointments.

Novak Djokovic. For somehow having an excuse every time he loses a major match. He didn't retire this time, but seriously, he has the constitution of a delicate flower.

Ernests Gulbis: I've been on your bandwagon a long time, dude, and you're giving me nothing here.

Sabine Lisicki: You're so talented, girl - and you went out to Alberta Brianti? What was going on there?

Russian women's tennis: Lena D has been the only one of any consistency in the girls lately, and she ran into the redhot JuJu in round two. Safina was injured, but when the Russian going furthest in the tournament is Maria Kirilenko, something is up.

Maria Sharapova: See above.

Serbian women's tennis: Not even touching this one.

Robin Soderling: Dude, if you throw away your awesome year last year for a string of badnesses, I will be very, very cross. You hear me?

Bernard Tomic: You can play tennis, kid, but SHUT THE HELL UP. And while you're at it...

Bernard Tomic's dad: SHUT THE HELL UP ALSO.

I'm sure there are more - but I have to have something to talk about over the next few days! So fill me in, guys - who were your winners and losers of the Australian summer?