The Other Fed

So. Fed Cup.

I suspect a lot of us would rather not talk about it, especially those of us who are Australian or American. It was not a good time, shall we say. I mean, there were moments, moments where things were great, people who played their hearts out. But in the end... oh dear. Oh dear, dear, dear.

Australia were playing Ukraine, and we managed to embarrass ourselves a lot less than the Americans, so go us. We had match point in the doubles...! We could have taken it...! And Anastasia Rodionova could totally have won that singles match...! And... if wishes were horses, etc.

The Australian press (what little of it there is that covers Fed Cup, anyway) has been pretty mean to Anastasia Rodionova about the whole "losing three rubbers" business... and it certainly is a weekend to forget for her. Not her finest hour. But in reality, she wouldn't normally be the lady that takes the court anyway, so well done to her for stepping up. And a super well done to Jarka Groth, who won both her singles rubbers and was generally awesome all weekend.

But no, on the whole, Australia suffered from a case of Fed Cup malaise. Fed Cup is just not that important to people, in the long run. Ukraine had the same thing - they were sans Bondarenkos. We had no Stosur, no Dokic, and Groth and Rodionova were essentially left as a two woman team. Kudos to them that they did as well as they did...

...and didn't, oh, lose 5-0, like a certain American team I could name.

You have to feel sorry for them. People believe, I think, that the American Fed Cup team is a lot better than it actually is, on account of there have been some Williamses on it before. But to throw McHale, Oudin, King and Huber up against Lisicki, Petkovic, Goerges and Groenefeld? Ouch.

The Germans have an awesome Fed Cup team and I will not be surprised if they win the whole thing in coming years. What they did to the American girls is only the beginning, I think. Let's hope somebody actually notices how awesome these girls are... because if you thought people didn't care about Davis Cup, it's ten times worse for Fed Cup.

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...

One Step Short... Again

I would really, really be lying if I didn't say that I was disappointed.

Belgium was an eminently beatable opponent for Australia. But once again, we proved that we just really don't have the depth. Rochus, Darcis and Bemelmans really does not make a worldbeating Davis Cup team - nowhere close. But apparently Hewitt, Luczak and Ball... well, that's even worse.

It really highlights the dependency of the Australian team on Lleyton Hewitt, which is incredibly dangerous. Even if he'd been able to play, I don't think he would have had much success - he came so close to losing to Bemelmans that I really didn't see him coming through Rochus. But Luczak should have been able to make things happen. And Ball... well, I think people just expect a lot more of him than he's capable of, to tell the truth. He and Guccione make a great doubles team, but I just don't know if he's ever going to be any more than that.

Australia really can't rely on Lleyton. He's been so good for so long, but come on, the dude's been on his way down for years. We can't manufacture talent out of nowhere, but we need to stop pinning all our hopes on one guy so much - it's not fair to him. This is exactly what is going to happen to Bernard Tomic and Jason Kubler, if they ever make good on their respective immense talents - reliance, to the detriment of the squad. And then we're going to end up like the UK, losing to Lithuania.

I suppose there's nothing really you can do. If you don't have the players, you just don't have the players. And I think the venue decision was as smart as it possibly could have been - the hot, steamy conditions of Cairns should really have benefited the Australians. But it just didn't happen. Story of Davis Cup in Australia for a long time now.

Oudinisation

I suppose the match of the day we have to talk about is Sergiy Stakhovsky and Ryan Harrison. And don't get me wrong, this was a good match. Very entertaining stuff.

But... USA, I say this with love. I say it because I am from a country that does exactly the same thing to its sportspeople (hello, Casey Dellacqua?) You do not do your up and comers any favours when you deify them as the next big thing. It is possibly the most spectacularly unhelpful thing you could do for their careers.

It's a horrible process called... Oudinisation. And Ryan Harrison is being Oudinised.

I bet Harrison is kicking himself that he lost that match - any self respecting tennis player would be. But you know what? For the sake of any future career he might have, I reckon it might be a good thing. If he had got to the third round, had gone further, the Oudinisation process would have gone further. He must have become fully Oudinised. And that is not a good thing.

Players that are Oudinised have incredible expectations placed on their shoulders. Tennis is a game where only the toughest survive, and it is only the extremely rare player in whom that toughness is innate (Rafa and Serena come to mind). In most others, it is learned. I would include Roger Federer in this category, so this is not necessary a bad thing - look how he turned out. But the process of Oudinisation does not help.

Look at what happens to British players at Wimbledon. This is an extreme case of Oudinisation which can affect even those who are legitimately the next big thing (hi, Andy Murray). But when you heap the expectations of a nation on the shoulders of someone as young as Ryan Harrison or Beatrice Capra or Melanie Oudin, you are not allowing them that necessary growth period. The time when they can play their way into toughness.

It so happens that sometimes young players have good results. We know this happen. Melanie Oudin had a spectacular run at the US Open, and this cannot be denied. But when players this young have that one run and then get expected to repeat, that is when you open the mental floodgates to the demon. These players can be literally destroyed by hope - the hope of a nation desperate for someone to be the next be thing - and a lot of the time, that second result is going to be a long time in coming. If it ever comes. Oudinisation can mess with your head.

So what I'm saying is that just because one young player had one young result, do not go and make them your Messiah. You may have dodged a bullet when you fluffed those three match points, Ryan Harrison - it might all work out better for you in the long run.

And in other news, Dustin Brown has awesome hair. This is all.

Baby, Remember Their Names

Okay, so there's some grown up tennis going on right now. The annual Juan Martin del Potro string of US hardcourt tournaments has begun, and people are playing in them. And stuff.

Oh, and also, it's the World Junior Tennis Competition final in Prostejov, Czech Republic, and the Aussie kids are KICKING ARSE.

This is an event for the best players aged under 14 in the world, and considering that Rafa Nadal played here once, I think we can safely say it's a good platform for future stars. Both the Aussie teams have had tough draws, but both have come through wonderfully.

Let's start with the girls, because their upset is probably the biggest one. The Aussie girls were unseeded and upset the second seeds Russia in a huge coup. The real star was probably Ash Barty, who had a massive win in her singles before backing it up in doubles, but Isabella Beischer and Lyann Hong also made huge contributions. Look out for these girls in a few years time - I bet they're going to be huge!

The girls won their tie 2-1, but the boys went one better and made a clean sweep. Thanasi Kokkinakis, Li Tu and Blake Mott played absolutely awesomely to secure Australia the win against the home team, the Czech Republic. This is a massive effort and people should be very proud!

I wish I had more to say about this event, because I think it's really worthwhile. For now, I'll just stick with well done, keep it up and congratulations, kids!

Better Than Great Britain

Let's do a tennis feelgood story. Specifically, let's talk about the Australian Davis Cup team. I'm not normally extraordinarily nationalistic when it comes to tennis, but watching the progress of both our national teams this year has made me happy.

Sure, we may only be second tier, but the Australian Davis Cup team has not lost a rubber this year. Sure, we've been facing Chinese Taipei and Japan respectively, who are not exactly known to be tennis powerhouses, but not one single rubber. That seems to me to be pretty impressive. We have had the added advantage of playing at home, but nonetheless. Not one. That's awesome.

And it's not as if we've been a one man show, either. We've had Lleyton Hewitt do some heroics, we've had some from Carsten Ball, Peter Luczak, Bernard Tomic... for the first time in a long time, the Davis Cup team is beginning to attain something that almost looks like depth. And with players like Greg Jones and Nick Lindahl waiting in the wings and players like Jason Kubler and Luke Saville on the rise... the future is looking bright.

Not that I expect the Aussies to win Davis Cup anytime soon or anything. We have a ways to go before we're even in contention - if we get an unfriendly draw, then we'll have zero hopes of being the grown up group next year. But we're edging our way towards something a bit good - and certainly we're doing very respectably.

We're not going the way of Great Britain, that's for sure. Well done, boys, on a fabulous tie over the weekend. And if the world group playoff is in Australia, you can bet I will be there with bells on.

(Back) On Top of the World

It's official: Australia is back in the World Group of Fed Cup.

I know no one really gets excited about Fed Cup any more (or Davis Cup, really - but Fed Cup is worse) but I am really excited that Australia is back in the World Group. We might not look it, but our team is seriously good - and it's only going to get better.

Stosur is, and will continue to be, the lynchpin - she's the one that clinched the deciding victory today and sent Australia through over Ukraine. (And, I would like to point out, Ukraine is not a nation to be sniffed at tennis-wise - I have one word and that word is Bondarenko). But there are a number of others in the squad who have valuable contributions to make. Rodionova was the other star on the weekend - and on debut no less - but we've got some depth going on.

We have Molik, who is on the way back up. The erratically brilliant Dokic. The on-the-comeback Dellacqua. Jarka Groth. And then a number of very promising up and comers like Olivia Rogowska, Isabella Holland, Sally Peers and Monika Wejnert.

Everyone seems to pin all their hopes on Bernard Tomic for the future of Australian tennis. I think it's right here in this Fed Cup team. Aussie girls are on the rise!

Anastasia and Sam On Top

Australia has a damn good Fed Cup team. I don't think anyone can gainsay this now.

I think everyone was expecting Stosur to do well - the win she had in Charleston can only buoy her confidence, and even though she traditionally doesn't do quite as well when everyone's watching her. However, she's really come through big and scored a sweet win for Australia. Yay for Sam.

But the real star and story has to be Anastasia Rodionova. I don't think anyone thought that she'd come through Bondarenko - either of the Bondarenkos. They're both ranked higher than Rodionova and both are very used to having the weight of their nation resting on their shoulders - they're all Ukraine has, really. Whereas Rodionova is on debut.

So this was a really, really great win from Anastasia. I really wish I had had the opportunity to see it - and the Stosur match as well, for that matter - but Australian TV is very lax about televising these things. Which is a whole other issue.

...but back to the point. If the Aussies can come through in doubles tomorrow - which is a reasonable bet - then we're back in the World Group. And in the World Group in 2011, I think Australia can do real damage.

Sam Slams It In Charleston

I hear there is tennis going on in the world that is not in Monte Carlo and does not involve anyone named Rafa or Nole or Daveeeeeeeeeed. You might have heard of it, though I really don't give it as much screen time as I ought. It's called 'women's tennis'.

In all the excitement of Rafa on clay and Murray failing miserably, I just about forgot the ladies existed this week. And this meant that - as she is often wont to do when no one is watching - Sam Stosur is through to the semis in Charleston.

It's very popular to go on and on and on about how Australian tennis players are rubbish on clay, but I don't think the sitch is as dire as it is often made out to be. Our #2 dude, Peter Luczak, is essentially a claycourt specialist, and Sam Stosur? Well, there was that whole bit where she made the semis at Roland Garros last year. And oh look, here we are in Charleston on the red stuff, and Slammin' Sammy has slammed her way into the semis again.

I think a lot of Sam's weapons, particularly her serve, are accentuated on clay. It's not un-Rafalike, the monstrous kick she can get on her kick serve when she serves it right on the clay. And that serve is hard enough to play at the best of times.

I would not be at all surprised if Sam went on to win this tournament - though I'm not going to go and predict it or anything, because we all know Sam does her best work when no one's looking. She looked great in her quarter final match against Shuai Peng and I'm really excited to see how Sam slams it this year on the clay.

Davis Cup Ditties

Okay, so I know there's proper Davis Cup going on at the moment, but let's just talk playoffs at the moment. It's all going swimmingly for Australia - we've won our tie 3-0 going into the final day. Whether or not the final day will be played is moot, given the massive floods in Melbourne at the moment, so it's good we came through in three Bam.

We'll play Japan in the next playoff, and that's another intensely winnable tie. Australia might even end up in the actual Davis Cup next year. Mon dieu. Sacre bleu.

Back to normal Davis Cup, and it all seems very close. There's been a few ties won outright - France, Croatia and the Czech Republic are all through - but the rest are still tight. But I want to talk France now. They're 3-0 up on Germany - and, for once, that is exactly where they should be.

France has got so many excellent players - like, seriously, so many. SO MANY. And yet, in the last few years of Davis Cup, they have been ridiculously disappointing. They should be a guaranteed semi finalist every year with the number of top hundred players they have. I mean, come on, Tsonga, Monfils, Gasquet, Simon, Llodra, Clement, Benneteau... and on and on and on. And yet year after year that enormous streak of mental inconsistency that runs through French tennis gets them.

To be fair, Germany isn't exactly in its bestest tennis place ever at the mo, and they're playing without Tommy Haas. Their lynchpin at the mo is Kohlschreiber, and there's only so much he can do. But they're certainly not a sucky team, so this is a great result for France.

And I also want to shout out to the Czech Republic. They're effectively a two man team, but they brought it solidly at Davis Cup all last year and it looks like they're not going to stop this year. They smashed Belgium like a guitar. Berdych and Stepanek - whatever their flaws in ATP play, they get it done at Davis Cup.

That Time Again

It's that time again... Davis Cup. And why yes, since you asked, it is a really stupid idea to put it right before Indian Wells! What top notch participation that encourages. How clever, scheduling-wise! I bet everyone is so freaking thrilled.

Ahem.

Anyway, we might not be in the world group, but the Australia/Chinese Taipei tie is one I will follow with interest... and if Australia loses, I don't know what words there could possibly be to describe the embarrassment. Australia is without Hewitt - no shocks there - but Chinese Taipei is without its spearhead player also, with Yen-hsun Lu not playing.

Thus, if Australia does not win = humiliation for all!

Our singles players are Peter Luczak and Bernard Tomic, which is pretty respectable... though I can't help thinking that, with Luczak being our big gun, it might have been a good idea to hold the tournament on red clay rather than at Margaret Court Arena. I don't know that any of the players from Chinese Taipei are especially great claycourters and Luczak definitely is. But if you asked me to name even a single clay court in Australia, I would be coming up blank. Melbourne Park is definitely a better venue in that respect.

I do believe that one of the Chinese Taipei-an players is the dude that lost to Tomic in the final of the boys' AO a few years back. Now that could be an interesting grudge match. I don't know anything about him other than that, but Bernard should probably watch his step...

Jodi's Epic Tennis Adventure 1.2 - Eating Humble Paella

One of the problems with Australian tennis - I think, anyway - is our overweening sense of domination, even though we pretty much suck at it currently. It's been clear for a number of years that Lleyton Hewitt is not going to win another Grand Slam, and yet the question asked every time a Slam rolls around is 'what are Hewitt's chances?' No one ever seems to answer 'tiny' despite huge amounts of evidence (and precedent) in that area.

I don't mean to pay out Hewitt here - this is more a comment on the Australian perception of sport. We as a nation are used to being good at sport. Australia is one of the jocks of the world, used to beating up other countries and stuffing them in lockers on the sporting field. But I think the heart of this lies in the fact that Australia is very good at team sports. When it comes to individual sports... not so much. Not at the moment in tennis, anyway. But no one seems to realise this...

...which is why people get so damn cocky about the Hopman Cup every year, and get all disappointed when we don't win. It's 'Australia's Hopman Cup Shame', as I saw one headline read. To be fair, this year we did have a good team who had a good shot, but most years we don't have a prayer and no one seems to realise.

As a fan of tennis the sport, watching as a fan of tennis the sport and not necessarily of Australia, it is supremely uncomfortable to hear the stuff coming out of people's mouths when Australia is not doing well. I noticed this particularly during Samantha Stosur's match against Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. I really enjoyed the match - Stosur didn't play particularly well once MJMS started to read her kicker, but MJMS had a beautiful game and I loved watching her play.

The people around me? Not so much. There was one woman behind me who was convinced that MJMS was somehow cheating and that Stosur should get three goes on serve instead of two because of it. I'm not quite sure exactly how she thought MJMS was cheating, but there you go. Amusingly, she also thought faults were called fouls, so I'm not sure her grip on the rules was too good. Another one labelled MJMS 'grunty' and would oink like a pig every time she got up to serve. (FYI, MJMS does grunt a bit, but I didn't even notice until this woman pointed it out - I think it was only noticeable because Stosur is completely silent. She's certainly no Michelle Larcher de Brito). Sport is pretty much a universal religion in Australia and it made me sad to see that appreciation of good play gave way to sledging and hyper-nationalism. Apparently it can only be good play if it is Australian play.

Look at me, sounding all miserable. I cannot tell you what a good time I had, this first day at the Burswood Dome. The majority of the crowds were not dickheads like those mentioned above and there is, quite simply, nothing quite like watching tennis live. I was viewing the court from above on a diagonal, which was not the best angle, but it was interesting watching tennis from a different perspective.

I also have a newfound respect for Tommy Robredo. This has been compounded by his victory over Andy Murray in the final of the Hopman Cup - I confess I wanted Murray to win so Robson could have her diamond ball, but this was an awesome match for Tommy. I saw him play Hewitt on this Thursday, and one thing you realise in real life that you never quite see on television is how fast he is. Robredo and Hewitt actually have quite similar games. Robredo probably hits the ball a little harder, but they both have great wheels and are dogged, chasing down anything they can find. The scoreline was relatively one-sided, but it was actually a great match, with lots of long points. Even if I wanted to turn around and smack the bogan Lleyton supporters behind me. (Not that all Lleyton supporters are bogan. But these ones, well...)

As a venue, the Burswood Dome is probably not ideal for tennis, but it's certainly unique. I love the ceiling, high and arching, and the fact that it is temperature controlled is excellent, because Perth is very, very hot! And Burswood is not out in the sticks (which, I confess, I thought it was) - it was one short train ride from the city of Perth where I was staying. I fell in love with Perth while I was there and am dying to go back one day. It has to be one of the world's most isolated cities, but it is beautiful. It seems very relaxed and laidback and chilled out... probably something to do with the fact that it is three hours behind the rest of the country and so any news that reaches it is inevitably old. But it is sunny and gorgeous and would be a lovely place to live and has an excellent public transport system and stuff.

But back to the Dome itself. It exists in this strange place between stadium and showcourt. During points, it feels like a stadium. However, when it's a sitdown and play is not in progress, you can actually walk right up to the edge of the plexicushion. There are security guards, but effectively you can be one, two metres away from the players as they have their sitdown. It has this wonderful intimacy but also this feeling that it has been haphazardly thrown together - Court 1 is separated from the central court by a big curtain. It is also really, really hard to get from one side of the stadium to the other. If you come in the wrong door (which I did on this Thursday, not knowing the venue at all) the only way you can get to your seat on the other side of the court is to go through a tunnel. However, this is also the same tunnel that the players use when walking about, so whenever they're coming, they close the tunnel off. Which means you can be stuck for up to about twenty minutes, which is kind of a pain.

The Hopman Cup is going to be at Burswood again next year, but the year after, I understand that they're moving to the new stadium they're building in Perth proper. Which, I noticed, happens to be across the road from my hotel. Perhaps I should book my accommodation now...?

Slamming Down in December

The annual December showdown has started again at Melbourne Park. Nominally, this is the playoff for wildcards for the Australian Open, but I personally like to think of it as 'the thing that keeps Jodi amused in December'. There's precious little else going on and it's always kind of cool to see the up and coming Australian kids...

...though not so up-and-coming in some cases, especially in the women's draw, where we have Alicia Molik and Casey Dellacqua vying for spots. Molik played to her seed today and made short work of Victoria's Jade Hopper, but Dellacqua - who is, somehow, unseeded... colour me WTFed - pulled an upset and beat the top seed, Olivia Rogowska. Now, I think very highly of Rogowska, but I wasn't exactly shocked. There is something serious whack with the seeding system for this tournament if former top 100 player Dellacqua is unseeded.

It'll be interesting to see who comes away with the wildcard out of the girls... I think it's round robin, so Olivia Rogowska is in there, and I'd seriously be keeping my eye on her. When you consider that Jelena Dokic won this playoff last year and then went on to win through to the quarters, this isn't a crapulent tournament by any means. If Molik and Dellacqua ever play, that is also going to be a hell of a battle. Sally Peers, Marija Mirkovic and Isabella Holland are all players to keep your eye on - same with Jess Moore - but the one I'm really looking out for is Monika Wejnert. That girl has game with a capital G.

The women provide more intrigue this year, I think, but the boys are pretty cool too - if Bernard Tomic doesn't win the wildcard, I'll be a bit surprised, but there's going to be some competition. He won his match easily today, but top seed Brydan Klein had no such luck - he lost to handy-dandy up-and-comer James Duckworth, who is definitely one to keep your eye on. Other players to watch include Greg Jones and Matthew Ebden - Tomic is only the fourth seed, wow. How did that happen? He's preceded by Klein, Nick Lindahl and Jones - but if he doesn't win, colour me shocked.

Musings on Entitlement

For the second year running, tennis has apparently been named Australia's favourite sport. Considering the amount of television time given to tennis in Australia (not much, unless it's the Australian Open), which is a country which pretty much reveres sport as a religious experience, then I find this a bit doubtful. Typically, Australian interest in a sport gets greater when we have some big heroes in it, and we're not doing so well at the moment. Considering one of the favourite questions asked by commentators is, 'will Lleyton Hewitt ever win another Slam? We reckon he can!' ...yeah, I'll leave you to ponder on the realism of that.

But then I started thinking about the whole Tiger Woods scandal - on which I have no opinion, by the way - and then I staretd thinking about scandal in sport in general, and something struck me. We have precious, precious little scandal in tennis. I mean, sure, in recent times we've had the whole Agassi palaver, but scandals in tennis are few and far between. It's practically a scandal that Andy Murray broke up with his girlfriend, and that was amicable on all sides.

You only have to look at domestic sport in Australia to know that all sports are not the same. Football players are the worst here - every second week it seems like another rugby league player (or occasionally an AFL player) does something scandalous. The amount of women that have been beaten by football players here because the players felt like they had a right to do so - well, it's a whole other rant, but it's a lot, and it's not good. Being a sporting hero creates a sense of entitlement, I think - a sense that they deserve more than the regular people - and from there, we get scandals like these.

But tennis? Not so much. Even the Agassi scandal didn't play out that way - he certainly acted on privilege when he got the ATP to hush the crystal meth thing up, but the taking of the drugs was more sheer stupidity than anything else. I haven't done a huge survey of scandal in sport or anything, but just looking at the Australian case, it does seem to me to be about entitlement.

So why - as far as we know - does tennis not foster this sense of entitlement?

I'd like to write it off to good leadership from the top - the Federer and Nadal effect - but I don't think that's it. I think they're certainly a good example and a good influence, but this relative lack of scandal in tennis has been going on for a while. There are examples of tennis players who did clearly feel entitled to something more - I feel like I should throw the McEnroe name into the ring here - but in comparison to other sports, it's very minor.

So here's a question. What is tennis doing right? (And I hope it's just not hushing up the scandals better!)

Why Do We Need An Off Season Again?

So now we've entered the toughest time of year for any tennis blogger - the time when hey! guess what?! there's no tennis.

Well, this isn't strictly true. We do have London coming up in a few days, and that will be totally exciting. But for this week, and after that, it's the barren wasteland known as the off season, when we all twiddle our thumbs, look awkwardly at each other and say, 'what now?'

For now, we can talk about London. After that - I remember last year that I talked a lot about Australian tennis and young up and coming players, and that seemed to work out pretty well. I became a total connoisseur of people I'd never really seen play, which was pretty sweet - and that's where I first encountered Olivia Rogowska, who is, as we know, a young Aussie girl coming up through the ranks and who has got a pretty neat game. She's currently best known for very-nearly-almost defeating Dinara Safina in the first round of the US Open this year... but I really hope and really believe that this will not be her biggest claim to fame in the future, because she's got game, and women's tennis in Australia is in better shape right now than it has been for a while and...

...yeah. Can't use up all my best material before December's even started! What would that look like?

But one last parting shot for today - Jason Kubler. There seems to be a lot of buzz around him in Australian tennis at the moment. Who is he? I have no friggin' clue. But I'm going to find out. And I bet your interest is piqued now, hmmm? Don't you want to keep reading just to find out who he is?

...please?

Getting the Ball Rolling

I'd like to take a day's break from our quest for this year's Juan Martin del Potro to give a massive shoutout to the Aussie participants this week, who are batting well above their weight. Nice to see!

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First, we have Chris Guccione who was definitely in a winning position against Mardy Fish - he had match points, I do believe - before going down in a tight three sets. I have mixed feelings about this match - coming so close, I believe Gooch should have won - but Fish is ranked a long way above him, and so playing him so tight for three sets is an achievement in and off itself. If only Gooch could close out a little better... he has all the tools he needs to be a Karlovic-style menace, I just wish he'd bring it to the court a little more often.

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Then we have Samantha Stosur, who had a tremendous win over Serena in Stanford. That's right, Sam beat Serena. I think this is a bit of revenge for Sydney, where Sam had those match points and failed to convert. No such troubles this time. Stosur has really come into her own this year, ever since she made that semi at Roland Garros. She's making a charge towards the top ten - watch out! We haven't had a really bright star in women's tennis since the retirement of Molik, and I reckon Sam could be that girl. Onya, Sam!

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But then, lastly and most remarkably of all, we have Carsten Ball making the semis in LA. Now, previous to this tournament, I'd have to say I didn't rate Ball at all. I hadn't seen him play singles, but I'd seen him play doubles with Guccione, and I really wasn't that impressed with what I saw. Well, time to eat my words, because Ball clearly has a little somethin' somethin' going on. You don't reach a tour level final without a bit of jazz. Now I am totally prepared to become a Ball fan... even if it is only for the awesome punning opportunities his name affords me! So c'mon Carsten and make it to the final - do it for the puns... and the pundits.

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Yes, I really said that.

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Today's Results

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Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad (Gstaad)

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Igor Andreev def. Jeremy Chardy, 6-3 6-3

Thomaz Bellucci def. Nicolas Kiefer, 3-6 1-0 retired

Andreas Beck def. Victor Crivoi, 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Marcos Daniel def. Florent Serra, 6-4 7-6 (7-1)

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ATP Studena Croatia Open (Umag)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Simone Bolelli, 7-6 (12-10) 6-1

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Maximo Gonzalez, 7-5 6-2

Andreas Seppi def. Nicolas Massu, 6-4 6-4

Jurgen Melzer def. Ivan Ljubicic, 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

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LA Tennis Open (Los Angeles)

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Carsten Ball def. John Isner, 6-4 6-4

Leonardo Mayer def. Mardy Fish, walkover

Sam Querrey def. Dudi Sela, 6-3 7-5

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Bank of the West Classic (Stanford)

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Samantha Stosur def. Serena Williams, 6-2 3-6 6-2

Elena Dementieva def. Daniela Hantuchova, 6-2 6-4

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Istanbul Cup (Istanbul)

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Vera Dushevina def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-1 6-2

Andrea Petkovic def. Olga Govortsova, 6-3 6-3

Lucie Hradecka def. Marta Domachowska, 6-1 5-7 6-4

Timea Bacsinszky def. Urszula Radwanska, 6-0 6-1

The Looch is Loose

Victory!

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Sorry, this is a bit of an overreaction, but Peter Luczak won a tour level match - something I can't remember him doing all year! Victory!

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I really like Peter. He's a genuine nice guy and I think he's had a bit of bad luck with injuries and stuff. He's never going to be a top ten player - he doesn't have that level of talent - but he works hard, and it shows. He's a total trooper, and I have cred for that. And he gets results on clay - how rare is that for an Aussie?

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He may not be a worldbeater, but he's a genuinely lovely guy, and I think it's great for tennis in Australia that we have him. You can never have too many nice guys in sport, and with the badness of rugby league seemingly infecting Aussie tennis via Brydan Klein and his racial sledging case, I think we need people like Peter.

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He beat Alberto Martin in his match, and beat him handily as well - and Martin is a wily old fox, which makes the win even better. And after coming up through qualies - I'm very pleased. The Looch is loose - how far can he go in this tournament? Good on you, Mr Milkshake. Good on you.

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Today's Results

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Catella Swedish Open (Bastad)

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Juan Monaco def. Maximo Gonzalez, 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 6-1

Kristof Vliegen def. Marcel Granollers, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4

Guillermo Canas def. Grigor Dimitrov, 6-3 7-6 (7-2)

Daniel Koellerer def. Steve Darcis, 1-6 6-3 6-4

Potito Starace def. Julien Benneteau, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3

Peter Luczak def. Alberto Martin, 6-2 6-2

Bjorn Phau def. Daniel Berta, 6-3 6-2

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Mercedes Cup (Stuttgart)

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Gilles Simon def. Philipp Petzschner, 6-3 6-4

Nicolas Kiefer def. Tomas Berdych, 6-3 6-3

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Diego Junqueira, 6-3 6-2

Fabio Fognini def. Fabrice Santoro, 5-7 7-6 (7-3) 6-1

Jeremy Chardy def. Jose Acasuso, 6-2 7-6 (7-4)

Alexandre Sidorenko def. Daniel Munoz-De La Nava, 7-6 (7-3) 1-6 6-2

Rainer Schuettler def. Ivo Minar, 2-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4

Simon Greul def. Andreas Beck, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5)

Oscar Hernandez def. Janko Tipsarevic, 6-4 6-4

Mischa Zverev def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-2 6-4

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ECM Prague Open (Prague)

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Iveta Benesova def. Karolina Pliskova, 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-3

Kateryna Bondarenko def. Alona Bondarenko, 6-1 6-3

Timea Bacsinszky def. Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-2 7-6 (7-5)

Lucie Hradecka def. Ksenia Pervak, 6-3 6-2

Petra Kvitova def. Anna Lapushchenkova, 6-1 6-0

Kristina Barrois def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 5-6 6-1 7-5

Monica Niculescu def. Katie O'Brien, 6-3 6-2

Polona Hercog def. Klara Zakopalova, 7-5 6-4

Stefanie Voegele def. Petra Martic, 3-6 6-4 6-3

Alla Kudryavtseva def. Nicole Vaidisova, 7-5 6-2

Karolina Sprem def. Tatjana Malek, 6-3 6-2

Zarina Diyas def. Kristina Mladenovic, 6-4 6-1

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Internazionali Femminili di Tennis di Palermo (Palermo)

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Flavia Pennetta def. Arantxa Parra Santonja, 6-2 6-3

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Alize Cornet, 6-2 6-2

Sara Errani def. Mariya Koryttseva, 6-4 6-4

Ekaterina Makarova def. Jill Craybas, 6-3 6-1

Anna-Lena Groenefeld def. Gisela Dulko, 6-4 6-1

Yaroslava Shvedova def. Nathalie Vierin, 6-3 6-2

Tathiana Garbin def. Edina Gallovits, 6-4 7-5

Patricia Mayr def. Olga Savchuk, 6-4 6-4

Nuria Llagostera Vives def. Masa Zec Peskiric, 3-6 6-4 6-2

Arantxa Rus def. Anna Floris, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4

Banned

I woke up this morning to the news that Australian tennis player Brydan Klein has been banned for six months for a racial slur.

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To which I have nothing to say but this: good.

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There is no excuse for that kind of behaviour in sport - and it's something we hear so rarely in tennis. Tennis has to be one of the most well-behaved sports, on the whole (this is the impression I get, anyway). It's a sport of gentlemen and ladies - not in the oh let's go and dance at a ball sort of way, but in a polite, respectful way. Look at who we have at the top - Roger and Rafa, who are both some of the most lovely guys you'll ever meet.

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Which is why incidents like the Brydan Klein one are so shocking. And I'm surprised he only got six months, really - this isn't the kind of thing we want in our sport. I have to say - I'm ashamed that someone from my country is responsible for this kind of thing. Because it is not cool, it is not on and it does not belong in tennis.

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Today's Results

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Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships (Newport)

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Sergiy Stakhovsky def. Frank Dancevic, 7-6 (11-9) 2-6 7-5

Olivier Rochus def. Alexander Peya, 6-2 4-6 6-4

Fabrice Santoro def. Flavio Cipolla, 6-3 7-5

Kevin Kim def. Sebastien Grosjean, 4-6 6-3 retired

Rajeev Ram def. Alejandro Falla, 6-4 7-5

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Collector Swedish Open Women (Bastad)

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Caroline Wozniacki def. Maria Kirilenko, 7-5 7-6 (7-4)

Gisela Dulko def. Dominika Cibulkova, 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 7-6 (8-6)

Flavia Pennetta def. Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-4 6-2

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Carla Suarez Navarro, 4-6 6-3 6-0

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GDF Suez Grand Prix (Budapest)

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Patty Schnyder def. Maria Elena Camerin, 6-3 6-2

Agnes Szavay def. Tathiana Garbin, 7-6 (7-2) 5-7 7-5

Alisa Kleybanova def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 4-6 6-4 6-4

Timea Bacsinszky def. Patricia Mayr, 0-6 6-3 6-4

The Real Loser

All Spanish final in Barcelona. Big surprise. I bet the organisers are happy. Yay Rafa, yay Ferru.

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Okay, enough of that. Now - Fed Cup!

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Well, well, well, Italy. Talk about the little Fed Cup team that could. I would never, ever have picked this one - though I believe Van, of Tennis Talk, Anyone? and VANtage Point fame did, so kudos to him! One upset match is something, but to take a 2-0 lead over a country that is undoubtedly the powerhouse of women's tennis? That is something else.

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To be fair, Russia doesn't have its top, top players - neither Safina nor Dementieva are on the squad - but I don't know what Shamil Tarpischev was thinking, playing Chakvetadze instead of Petrova or even Pavlyuchenkova, who both are on the team and have both played better than Anna has this year. It'll be interesting to see the new moves Russia pulls out today, because you'd want to hope they'd fight back with a vengeance.

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Australia's doing well in Fed Cup too - we're up 2-0 in our tie against Switzerland - but that isn't the real tennis news here right now. Tennis Australia has announced that the Australian Davis Cup team will not go to Chennai to play our tie, due to security concerns - which, given the current Indian political climate, is fair enough. TA has petitioned the ITF to get the tie moved, but this was rejected, which means that Australia forfeits the tie.

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Naturally, there is some anger - both Geoff Pollard (CEO of Tennis Australia) and John Fitzgerald (the team captain) have spoken out against the ITF's decision. I can't say I know enough about the particular circumstances to make a real comment - I studied Indian politics at university, but that about three years back now - but the appeal for the move is not without precedent: the IPL (the cricket league, for those of you unfamiliar) has moved to South Africa because of unrest in India. This was ruled irrelevant in the Davis Cup case, much to the ire of the aforementioned Pollard and Fitzgerald.

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Whether or not the tie should be moved or the team should go or whatever, you have to feel for the players here. After that nailbiter over Thailand, they really deserved the opportunity to play this tie. I love following the Davis Cup team, even though the likelihood we'll win anytime in the near future is minute. Fitzgerald said the following:

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"We have worked so hard to get back in to World Group contention, to have it snatched away like this is gut wrenching."

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Could not agree more. Whatever the political situation, the real loser here is sport.

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Today's Results

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Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell (Barcelona)

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Rafael Nadal def. Nikolay Davydenko, 6-3 6-2

David Ferrer def. Fernando Gonzalez, 2-6 6-2 7-6 (7-5)

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Fed Cup

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Italy 2, Russia 0

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Flavia Pennetta def. Anna Chakvetadze, 6-4 6-0

Francesca Schiavone def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 1-6 6-2 6-3

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USA 1, Czech Republic 1

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Petra Kvitova def. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 6-3 7-6 (7-2)

Alexa Glatch def. Iveta Benesova, 6-1 6-2

The Tight Thai Tie

What a thrilling, down-to-the-wire tie the Australia/Thailand tie turned out to be! I think we've played them at this stage every year for at least the past three years, and we've beaten them 5-0 every time. This time... oh no!

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If there's one person who has consistently stepped up to the plate as far as Davis Cup is concerned, it's Lleyton Hewitt. But he got beaten at his own game today by a young Thai guy who was clearly on fire. Danai Udomchoke, the current world #155, took out Lleyton Hewitt in an epic five set struggle - 2-6 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-1. I don't think there's anyone in the world who would have picked that result - not over Hewitt, not in Davis Cup.

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Much as I am supporting the Aussie boys, hats off to you, Danai Udomchoke. That is a monumental effort and you should be very, very proud!

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That meant one of the other three Aussie boys had to step up and get it done against another fired-up Thai opponent, or risk going home on the losing end of a huge upset. That lot fell to Chris Guccione, and though I always go on about him being a serial underachiever, he really pulled it out. His big lefty serve was lethal and he got the job done in straights, handing the Aussie boys the tie, 3-2. Well done, boys.

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But the day belonged to Danai Udomchoke. I hope the Thai people a very proud of him!

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You know who I am proud of - not that anyone would have expected anything any different? Rafael Nadal, who just handed Novak Djokovic his arse in a sling. I love it when people do that to Djokovic. I find it profoundly hilarious. Because I'm mean like that. But I am sad Switzerland lost. Maybe next year, Roger.

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Today's Results

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Davis Cup

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Argentina 5, Netherlands 0

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Martin Vassallo Arguello def. Matwe Middelkoop, 6-2 6-4

Juan Ignacio Chela def. Thiemo de Bakker, 7-5 6-2

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Czech Republic 3, France 2

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Radek Stepanek def. Gilles Simon, 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 7-6 (7-0)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Jan Hernych, 6-2 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (7-0)

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Russia 4, Romania 1

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Dmitry Tursunov def. Victor Hanescu, 4-6 5-7 6-3 6-4 6-2

Teimuraz Gabashvili def. Victor Crivoi, 6-4 6-2

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Germany 3, Austria 2

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Nicolas Kiefer def. Jurgen Melzer, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 6-4

Stefan Koubek def. Christopher Kas, 6-2 6-3

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Spain 4, Serbia 1

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Rafael Nadal def. Novak Djokovic, 6-4 6-4 6-1

David Ferrer def. Victor Troicki, 6-0 6-3

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Croatia 5, Chile 0

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Roko Karanusic def. Guillermo Hormazabal, 7-5 6-3

Ivo Karlovic def. Hans Podlipnik-Castillo, 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

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Israel 3, Sweden 2

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Dudi Sela def. Thomas Johansson, 3-6 6-1 4-6 6-4 6-2

Harel Levy def. Andreas Vinciguerra, 6-4 4-6 6-4 3-6 8-6

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USA 3, Switzerland 1

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Andy Roddick def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-4 6-4 6-2

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Monterrey Open (Monterrey)

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Marion Bartoli def. Zheng Jie, 7-5 6-3

Li Na def. Iveta Benesova, 6-3 6-3