A Win Is A Win

All the headlines this morning are about how Federer had a scare in Basel and how he barely scraped through by the skin of his teeth against Bobby Reynolds, but it didn't look like he gave too bad an account of himself to me. Sure, he could have closed it out earlier - he had a match point in the second set - and sure it went to three, but he never exactly looked like he was going to lose, did he? It's probably good for him to sort of play his way into the tournament.

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Not that I wouldn't have been happier if he had cruised his way through. But a win is a win.

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Speaking of wins, one guy that did not get one was Marin Cilic... he was upset by Mikhail Kukushkin. Still, it's exciting that he has now ranked high enough to be able to upset. You know you're getting somewhere when you're the one getting upset rather than being the upsetter. Even if a win, on the whole, would have been preferable.

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But we did have some Star victories today - Jeremy Chardy pulled an upset over seventh seed Mario Ancic, and very remarkably, Ernests Gulbis stomped all over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. I bet Federer wouldn't have minded having a 6-0 6-2 cruise in Basel instead of a lengthy battle. Maybe this is Ernests's tournament. It has to come sooner or later, right? However, even though seeds like Cilic and Ancic were upset, we still have Davydenkos and Youzhnys and the like milling round... but Ernests can beat them. I know he can. Even if Davydenko has just qualified for the Tennis Masters Cup.

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Today's Results

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Davidoff Swiss Indoors (Basel)

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Roger Federer def. Bobby Reynolds, 6-3 6-7 (6-8) 6-3

David Nalbandian def. Albert Montanes, 6-4 6-2

Juan Martin Del Potro def. George Bastl, 6-2 6-4

Simone Bolelli def. Tomas Berdych, 6-4 7-5

Andreas Beck def. Nicolas Devilder, 6-4 6-4

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Denis Gremelmayr, 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Oscar Hernandez def. Lukas Dlouhy, 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (5-7) 6-1

Stephane Bohli def. Jose Acasuso, 6-3 6-2

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St Petersburg Open (St Petersburg)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Chris Guccione, 6-4 6-4

Fernando Verdasco def. Teimuraz Gabashvili, 1-6 6-4 6-3

Mikhail Youzhny def. Ivan Navarro, 6-2 6-1

Mikhail Kukushkin def. Marin Cilic, 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 7-6 (8-6)

Jeremy Chardy def. Mario Ancic, 6-4 3-6 6-4

Ernests Gulbis def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-0 6-2

Janko Tipsarevic def. Potito Starace, 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

Michail Elgin def. Filippo Volandri, 6-4 6-4

Karlis Lejnieks def. Alexandre Kudryavtsev, 3-6 7-6 (7-1) 6-3

Mischa Zverev def. Florent Serra, 6-4 6-2

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Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon (Lyon)

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Andy Roddick def. Nicolas Mahut, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Richard Gasquet def. Santiago Giraldo, 5-7 6-3 7-6 (7-3)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Marc Gicquel, 7-5 4-6 6-3

Nicolas Lapentti def. Ivo Karlovic, 7-6 (7-4) 6-3

Fabrice Santoro def. Fabio Fognini, 6-4 6-1

Andreas Seppi def. David Guez, 6-2 7-5

Robby Ginepri def. Sebastien Grosjean, 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-4

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Generali Ladies Linz (Linz)

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Nadia Petrova def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 3-6 6-3 6-1

Marion Bartoli def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-4 2-6 7-6 (10-8)

Dominika Cibulkova def. Yvonne Meusburger, 6-4 6-2

Maria Kirilenko def. Olga Savchuk, 6-2 7-5

Alona Bondarenko def. Ekaterina Makarova, 6-3 6-3

Nuria Llagostera Vives def. Samantha Stosur, 2-6 6-4 6-2

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FORTIS Championships Luxembourg (Luxembourg)

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Elena Dementieva def. Tatjana Malek, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Caroline Wozniacki def. Timea Bacsinszky, 6-2 6-3

Sorana Cirstea def. Yuliana Fedak, 4-6 6-2 6-2

Iveta Benesova def. Laura Robson, 1-6 6-2 6-3

Gisela Dulko def. Tathiana Garbin, 6-4 6-2

Mariya Koryttseva def. Tsvetana Pironkova, 3-6 6-3 6-3

Catalina Castaño def. Marta Domachowska, 6-0 6-2

Blaming LA

Tennis in America is a pain, if you ask me. The timezone is all wrong for blogging. I sit here at 9am Australian Eastern Standard Time time, hoping to recap the past day - even though I haven't actually seen any of it, I rely on my ability to deduce and basically make stuff up - but when the tennis is in America, or worse, on the west coast of America, the day has barely begun. Really, LA, catch up. You're behind - timewise, at least. You are inconveniencing me greatly.

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Because I really, really have nothing to talk about. I'm sure Odesnik/Reynolds and Stoppini/Kunitsyn were fascinating in their way, but I can tell you very little about any of those players. I don't think I've even heard of Stoppini. As I write this, Grosjean and Spadea are into a third, as are Vemic and Warburg. Much as I like Sebastien Grosjean, these are hardly world stopping matches... especially when you can't see them.

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And I am not talking about rankings. I am not even thinking about rankings. Oh no.

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Federer moved to a new apartment. Does that count as something? Today, I am afraid, I have nothing to say. I blame LA. They're as good a scapegoat as anyone else.

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Today's Results

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Countrywide Classic (Los Angeles)

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Wayne Odesnik def. Bobby Reynolds, 4-6 6-1 6-4

Andrea Stoppini def. Igor Kunitsyn, 6-1 6-3

Mardy Fish def. Alejandro Falla, 6-2 6-2