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.

Bad Luck for Lady J

So if I were Jelena Jankovic, I would be in a massive snit right now.

I've been pretty critical of JJ in the past, but she really brought it all to the table in Fed Cup at the weekend. She played some stellar matches to beat first Alisa Kleybanova and then, more tellingly, Svetlana Kuznetsova. And, if we are to believe her website, she came within a hair's breadth of pulling out injured and yet she played and won anyway. Quality work for Lady J.

Ana Ivanovic, on the other hand, has no such excuse. She isn't exactly match tired, given as she managed to win a grand total of a set at this year's Australian Open. She isn't injured, as far as anyone's aware. All she seems to do is lope around on golf courses with Adam Scott, though I presume, she, like, trains and stuff. And she contributed absolutely nothing to the Serbian team on the weekend. She got steamrolled by both Kuznetsova and Kleybanova before dragging Jankovic down with her in the doubles. Who else is on the Serbian team? Couldn't Jankovic have played with a different partner?

It is such a shame, because the Serbian Fed Cup team should be, by all rights, awesome. How did the Ana who won Roland Garros in 2008 and reached the final year before turn into this pale shadow of what she was? What exactly went wrong?

Sigh. Alas for them.

You know who I was impressed with, though? (Apart from Lady J, obviously?) Yanina Wickmayer. Belgium could be such a force in Fed Cup this year if they get Kim and Justine back in the side - or even just one of them, because Yanina is seriously awesome. I really like her chances of breaking into the top ten this year. She has some moves. That match she played against Agnesizka Radwanska has to be the match of the weekend. And Kirsten Flipkens definitely did not disappoint either. Imagine Kim, Justine, Yanina and Flipper making up a Fed Cup team. Now that would be sweet.

Something else that could also be sweet is the Russia/USA match up in the next round. What we should be seeing is some combination of Safina/Dementieva/Kuznetsova/Zvonareva/Sharapova taking on the Williams sisters. What I suspect we'll see is Melanie Oudin vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, but I can hope...

The Other Fed in Tennis

I really wish Fed Cup was more awesome. I also wish Davis Cup was more awesome, but it's not struggling with quite the same level of not-awesome as Fed Cup is. It's not that the tennis is any less good (within the normal ATP/WTA parameters anyway, considering that men's tennis is in a golden age and women's tennis is not) but hardly any of the top players seem to have a desire to play Fed Cup, and that is not good.

The Davis Cup is one of those accessories that players like to have, a good trophy to have on the shelf. It's not a Slam or anything, but it is a rare opportunity for players to represent their nations and play as a team, not an individual. Even Federer, a pathological non-player of Davis Cup, has said he would like to win it one day... though this may be because it is the only trophy his decorated mantlepiece is missing. It's played at stupid times and is not well organised, but Davis Cup has prestige.

Whereas Fed Cup... not so much.

Look at Russia, powerhouse of women's tennis. They have Safina, Sharapova, Dementieva, Kuznetsova, Zvonareva... a virtually inexhaustible stream of top women. Yet who is playing? Sveta, sure, after she declared herself available at the last minute, and Alisa Kleybanova, who, while not crappy, is not exactly top ten. They're playing Serbia, who do have two former #1s in Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, but with the form of these two players at the moment, Russia should be crushing them. Instead, it's one-all.

And Belgium! Clijsters and Henin, hello? But no, it's Wickmayer and Flipkens stepping up to the plate. USA? Should be Williams and Williams. But no, it's Oudin and Mattek-Sands. The top women just don't play Fed Cup.

But you know the very first step to making Fed Cup more appetising for these top players? Do not schedule it the week after a Slam. This is not rocket science. Davis Cup is also guilty of this. If you want your top players in there, you have to schedule it at a time wherein they haven't, say, played seven five set matches in a row.

This is not a new rant. But that does not make it any less true. If Davis and Fed Cups are going to become truly awesome, then they need to schedule it better.

Brava Belgium!

If there is one nation on the earth that is tennis-happy right now, it has to be Belgium.

Once upon a time it was pretty normal for Belgium to have two women in the semis of a major, but ever since the retirements, one year apart, of Clijsters and Henin, Belgium has been pretty much reliant on the Rochus brothers and Kristof Vliegen for its tennis jollies... which means it really hasn't been that merry. But would you look at this now - here we are again. Two Belgian women in the final four of a major.

Kim Clijsters is no stranger to the semis, though she hasn't been here for a while, what with that whole baby/retirement thing she had going on. This has got to be the best comeback I've ever seen - I can't think of one better. Martina Hingis, eat your heart out. You've got to think that whoever wins the clash between her and Serena will win the tournament... and you'd pretty much put your money on Serena, but if anyone can give her a run for her money, then it's Kim. She took out one Williams sister. If Serena blinks, you can bet Kim'll pounce.

But I wanted to focus a little more on the other Belgian woman in the semis, someone you don't really hear much about - Yanina Wickmayer. She's come through the draw very quietly, making the best of a quarter that was pretty much totally deseeded by the second round and definitely by the third, and although she hasn't been pulling major upsets, it's because she hasn't had the chance yet. She had a great win over Kateryna Bondarenko today, who was coming off a double bagel, and will go on to face the winner of Oudin/Wozniacki in the semis. Either opponent, you would think, is a winnable match. That side of the draw is so wide open it is not even funny.

Yanina gave a lovely press conference the other day where we got to hear a bit of her life story, and I have to say, her dad sounds like the best tennis dad ever. Her mother died when she was young and Yanina wanted to play tennis, and so her dad packed up their life and let her. Not because he was pressuring her - but because he wanted to make her happy. How lovely is that? Good on you, Mr Wickmayer, and good on you, Yanina, for making it to your first Slam semi final. If we were to see you in the final, then you know what? I think I'd pull for you.

But in conclusion - brava, Belgium. You have two fine ladies in the semis - I hope you are very proud!


Today's Results

US Open (Flushing Meadows)

Men's Draw

Novak Djokovic def. Fernando Verdasco, 7-6 (7-2) 1-6 7-5 6-2


Women's Draw

Yanina Wickmayer def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 7-5 6-4