Farewell, Charly

It's been a long time coming... and to tell the truth I thought it had happened already. But it's still a thing.

Carlos Moya has retired. Farewell, Charly.

Ah, Carlos Moya. The love rat of the ATP tour. The Yoda to a once upon a time young Padawan Rafael Nadal. The dude that thought it would be awesome to cheat on Flavia Pennetta (seriously, Carlos?) The dude that was one of the ATP pin ups and who was actually more surprisingly successful than you might think.

One of the first ATP matches I ever remember really watching featured Carlos Moya. It was at the Australian Open in 2001, it went five sets, and Moya beat Hewitt. I didn't know enough about tennis at that stage not to automatically go for the Australian, so I was cheering against Moya, but damn, that was an entertaining match. I will never forget it.

Moya was around so long that I think a lot of us have actually forgotten how incredibly successful he was in the late 90s. He was a multiple Slam finalist and he was also a Slam winner (Roland Garros '98, I do believe) and he was ranked #1 in the world. He was up there with the best of his generation - the Kuertens and Rafters and Agassis and Samprases of the world - and he came off pretty all right, when it all comes down to it.

He obviously continued a lot longer than those guys (maybe Agassi is comparable, but in general). Was this a good idea? I'd say he probably could have gone a little sooner. But let's not forget that it's only been a couple of years since Moya was beating his protege Nadal. And that is no mean feat.

Also, thanks for retiring so I had something to write about today.

Some WTF? Moments

So, for some reason, we're seeing an unusually high number of top guys participating in doubles at Indian Wells. Which is great. Love me some doubles. We've got Rafa with his little friend Marc Lopez, with whom he won a title earlier in the year; Roger and his mate Yves Allegro, who've played together a whole lot; Andy Murray and fellow Brit Ross Hutchins, and... David Nalbandian and Juan Martin del Potro?

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Now, I may have made this up, but don't they hate each other?

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Maybe the Argentine tennis federation is making them play together so they get along better during Davis Cup or something. But it was such a WTF? moment. I'd have sooner picked Federer and Djokovic to play together than these two big Argentinians. Not that they're sucking or anything - they won their match today - but it's just a bit weird.

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Speaking of weird, the upset of the day was clearly over on the women's side - Elena Dementieva, arguably the hottest lady player whose surname is not Williams on the planet right now, went down in straights to a qualifier. I'm sorry, but WTF? Petra Cetkovska has been doing all right this year, but she should be no match for Elegant Elena. I hope this trend doesn't continue over into the men's draw. I'm raring for a showdown with at least some of the Fantastic Four still in place.

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And looks like I spoke to soon about my Stars yesterday - Ernests Gulbis went down pretty tamely to Igor Andreev. But he's not the only Star in the fold - I'm still waving pom-poms for Cilic, Chardy and especially Thomaz Bellucci, with whom I have been very impressed of late. Go boys! (Until you run into Federer...!)

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Oh, and did everyone hear about Carlos Moya - out for an 'indefinite' period of time? I was sad. I like Carlos. Even if he is a love rat who cheated on Flavia Pennetta.

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Today's Results

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BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells)

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Men's Draw

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Andy Murray def. Albert Montanes, 7-5 6-3

Tommy Robredo def. Igor Kunitsyn, 6-1 6-4

Marin Cilic def. Steve Darcis, 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 6-1

Igor Andreev def. Ernests Gulbis, 6-4 6-4

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Potito Starace, 6-4 6-7 (11-13) 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Petra Cetkovska def. Elena Dementieva , 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 6-1

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Samantha Stosur, 3-6 6-3 7-5

Nuria Llagostera Vives def. Dominika Cibulkova, 7-6 (8-6) 6-0

Vera Dushevina def. Zheng Jie, 6-2 6-2

Agnes Szavay def. Edina Gallovits, 6-2 6-2

Karin Knapp def. Sara Errani, 6-2 3-2 retired

Gisela Dulko def. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 6-1 6-3

At Least...

All I want is for Roger Federer to win one Masters Series trophy this year. Just one. Is that so much to ask? He's won four of the bloody things in previous years. Why is it proving so difficult this year?

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At least he lost to Andy Murray, and not to some total schlep, and at least it was close. But still. Can't he just have one? Just one?

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And at least Rafa is out as well - just so it's a Big Three free party. Even if Rafa has clinched the year end #1. I don't want him increasing that lead, if it can be avoided. And Murray vs. Simon should be an interesting match in and of itself. Wouldn't it be great to see Simon get up and grab the trophy? That'd be a real victory for the little guy.

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Let's look at Masters Series events this year. Even though the Fed hasn't won one, it's been a parade of big names. Djokovic. Davydenko. Nadal. Djokovic. Nadal. Nadal. Murray. It'd be nice to see wee Gilles get his name on there. Though I doubt you'd bet against Murray. But I'm gunning for Gilles. That was a nailbiter he rode out against Rafa, and all credit to him.

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And I guess more rest can't hurt Roger. Sigh. And if he's going to win one, Paris might be nice, because he's never won it before, so it'd be a new trophy in his cabinet. (Whatever you need to tell yourself, Jodi.)

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Meanwhile, in Zurich, Ivanovic finally went down - but at least it was to Venus Williams. And it was tight, too. If Ivanovic loses to Williams, that's - well, not okay, because the top players beat everyone - but it's better than losing to Julie Coin. So well done on your semi, Ana. Let it be the sign of big things to come.

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I would not, however, be putting my money on Venus Williams in the final. She's playing Flavia Pennetta, who is not leading their head-to-head 3-1, but is newly single and has a lot of rage to work out. (As anyone would, stumbling on their longtime boyfriend with another woman. You love rat, Carlos, you.) I'm behind Flavia all the way. She deserves this one.

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Today's Results

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Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid (Madrid)

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Andy Murray def. Roger Federer, 3-6 6-3 7-5

Gilles Simon def. Rafael Nadal, 3-6 7-5 7-6 (8-6)

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Tennis.com Zurich Open (Zurich)

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Venus Williams def. Ana Ivanovic, 4-6 6-3 6-4

Flavia Pennetta def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-3 7-6 (8-6)

Head Case Moments

Well, it's all happening in the women's tournaments this week. How about Serena Williams's total collapse against Li Na? She had that match as wrapped up as you could get - 6-0 in the first set - and then she just imploded. It was very un-Serena - she's usually so tough in the head. That's one of the things I really respect about her game - and then it totally went away! I feel harsh for saying this, but if she's going to become a head case, then she doesn't deserve to be #1. That was not a performance worthy of a #1 player. I mean, I suppose all the players have their head case moments and take their early losses - but when was the last time you saw Roger Federer lose early because his head wasn't in it? Or Rafael Nadal? Aspects of their game might break down, but I don't think I've ever seen either player suffer a real mental collapse - not even in the final of the French Open where Rafa absolutely hammered Roger. I thought Serena was one of those players too... but obviously not.

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Wow. That was harsh. It wasn't intended to come out quite like that, but I think I stand by it. If a part of a player's game breaks down, they can compensate, but if the head isn't it, then you can kiss the match goodbye.

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Another very interesting match was the Schnyder/Kuznetsova match. Normally you'd pick Sveta every time, but Patty came out and took it to her, and came away with the match. It wasn't because Sveta had a head case moment - Patty just comprehensively outplayed her. Schnyder isn't a player that often 'outplays' anyone - that word kind of has the connotation of 'outhit' and you wouldn't say that Patty does that to anyone, really. She plays with guile and spin. But on this occasion, even though it was tight, I think we can safely say that Patty owned Sveta. And good on her too. I love watching both these girls play, but I have a special respect for someone that relies on strategy - on, as it were, their head.

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Over to the blokes, where there were far fewer upsets - the top twelve seeds in Tokyo all progressed safely (at the expense, I am sad to say, of Joe Sirianni - but good on him for making it to the second round!) Kei Nishikori is through, and he is, I believe, my final Star remaining this week - Gulbis lost to Tipsarevic in Metz, alas. But still, I have big hopes for Kei. He took out a seed - the sixteenth seed, sure, but a seed nonetheless - and I would love him to go all the way! He plays Gasquet tomorrow - classic head case, as we're discussing it - and I think Kei can take him.

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The major upset was in Metz, where Carlos Moya took out Ivo Karlovic. More power to him, I say. I have great respect for Carlos, and he's certainly much more interesting to watch than Dr Ivo. I know his game is effective, but it's just so damn boring. Unreturnable. Ace. Unreturnable. Percentage play. Dull, dull, dull.

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Oh, and Jarmila Gajdosova, the almost-Aussie, pulled an upset in Tokyo! She took out sixth seed Shahar Peer, the villain in the comeback of Kimiko Date Krumm. Good on you, Jarmila!

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Today's Results

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Open de Moselle (Metz)

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Carlos Moya def. Ivo Karlovic, 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

Dmitry Tursunov def. Jose Acasuso, 6-2 6-2

Janko Tipsarevic def. Ernests Gulbis, 6-4 6-4

Adrian Mannarino def. Andreas Seppi, 6-4 6-2

Radek Stepanek def. Julien Benneteau, 6-3 6-3

Rik de Voest def. Arnaud Clement, 4-6 6-2 7-5

Michael Llodra def. Feliciano Lopez, 7-6 (13-11) 6-7 (6-8) 6-3

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AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships

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Men's Draw

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David Ferrer def. Jesse Levine, 6-4 4-6 6-1

Andy Roddick def. Ivo Minar, 7-6 (13-11) 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-2)

Fernando Gonzalez def. Yen-hsun Lu, 1-6 7-5 6-3

Richard Gasquet def. Martin Slanar, 6-4 6-2

Juan Martin Del Potro def. Dudi Sela, 7-5 6-0

Tommy Robredo def. Joseph Sirianni, 6-2 6-2

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Bobby Reynolds, 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4

Mikhail Youzhny def. Flavio Cipolla, 6-2 6-2

Tomas Berdych def. Roko Karanusic, 6-3 6-4

Jarkko Nieminen def. Cecil Mamiit, 7-6 (9-7) 6-4

Rainer Schuettler def. Hyung-taik Lee, 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-3

Amer Delic def. Sam Querrey, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3

Jurgen Melzer def. Simon Stadler, 6-2 6-3

Takao Suzuki def. Simone Bolelli, 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 7-6 (7-5)

Kei Nishikori def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-4 6-4

Viktor Troicki def. Wayne Odesnik, 6-2 6-1

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Women's Draw

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Kaia Kanepi def. Yanina Wickmayer, 3-6 6-1 6-0

Jarmila Gajdosova def. Shahar Peer, 5-7 6-1 7-6 (11-9)

Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Camille Pin, 6-2 6-2

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Chan Yung-Jan, 3-6 6-3 6-3

Samantha Stosur def. Vania King, 6-2 retired

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Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart)

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Li Na def. Serena Williams, 0-6 6-1 6-4

Elena Dementieva def. Sybille Bammer, 6-1 6-4

Victoria Azarenka def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-1 7-5

Patty Schnyder def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-4 4-6 7-5

Vera Zvonareva def. Daniela Hantuchova, 6-3 6-2

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Tashkent Open (Tashkent)

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Sabine Lisicki def. Alexandra Panova, 7-5 6-1

Magdalena Rybarikova def. Vesna Manasieva, 6-1 7-5

Ioana Raluca Olaru def. Ksenia Palkina, 2-6 6-3 6-2

Urszula Radwanska def. Sofia Shapatava, 7-5 6-2

Arantxa Rus def. Vlada Ekshibarova, 3-6 6-2 6-1

Corruption Monkey

Well, I guess today's big tennis news is that Nikolay Davydenko and Martin Vassallo Arguello have both cleared of allegations of corruption over that match they played in Sopot last year, where Davydenko forfeited and bets were suspended by a major gambling site because the amounts of money being bet on the match were strangely large. (I had no idea people even knew the Sopot tournament existed, let alone bet on it, but there you go.)

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So they're innocent. Good for them. But why on earth did it take the ATP this frigging long to decide that? The Sopot tournament was in June last year. That's nearly fifteen months ago. Can you imagine being a professional tennis player having that hang over your head for that long?

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I suppose it's not too bad for Martin Vassallo Arguello, as no one really knows who he is for a start, and also because he wasn't the one that supposedly threw the match. I know I've been ragging on Kolya for over two months now for being an embarrassment to professional tennis players everywhere what with his poor attitude, but you really have to feel for the guy. If he's innocent - which the ATP has finally decided he is - he's had this monkey on his back for more than a year for no reason. Can you imagine the locker room glares he must have got?

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Actually, that's an interesting issue - what did the players think? Did they assume he was guilty and do some quality shunning? Or did they stand behind him? I haven't been able to find any comments on the subject... surely someone must have asked someone about it in a presser at some stage. I don't get the feeling that Davydenko is one of the locker room's most popular guys... and with the label of 'corruption' hanging over his head, I can't imagine that won him too many new pals either.

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Tennis is supposed to be a gentlemen's game. It's very seldom that you get allegations of match-fixing and stuff like that - even cricket, the other gentlemen's game, has more scandal than tennis does. So I can't imagine Kolya was too pleased to be the one that opened the door. Is this the first match-fixing scandal in tennis? It can't be the only one, surely...

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Oh, and on a happier note, well done to the finalists this weekend! Gilles Simon takes on Carlos Moya in Bucharest, and Tamira Paszek, who upset a few biggish names on the way to the final, takes on Patty Schnyder in Bali. Should be interesting matches both!

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Today's Results

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BCR Open Romania (Bucharest)

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Carlos Moya def. Richard Gasquet, 6-2 6-4

Gilles Simon def. Jose Acasuso, 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4

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Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic (Bali)

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Tamira Paszek def. Daniela Hantuchova, 6-2 5-7 6-4

Patty Schnyder def. Nadia Petrova, 7-5 6-1

Brought To You By The Letter G

That man Marat is doing his thing! He won in straights over Wayne Odesnik, and convincingly too. I have a good feeling about this week for him. This could be it. This could be the tournament of Marat, the first one back since Australia '05.

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And if I can make it happen by sheer force of will...

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As usual, there is not much to talk about except my will for Safin to win a tournament. Juan Martin del Potro is doing well again. Marc Gicquel's doing okay too. Carlos Moya (hopefully) is going to win in a minute over Amer Delic... or maybe not. Ooh! Doubles! Safin and Kunitsyn are in the semis! That's cool!

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It's really all about the Olympics, when it comes down to it. It is the reason LA is not exactly the world's most captivating tournament. I mean, apart from Marat. It's all about going for gold and glory and all the other things that begin with g.

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Meanwhile, how much of a bitch of a first round draw does the Mighty Fed have? Dmitry Tursunov really isn't a match for him, but really - would you like to run into Tursunov in the first round? The Australian media - in what little attention it is paying to tennis, which is not much, as we haven't a prayer of getting a medal - is going on about how Nadal could meet Hewitt in the second round. Personally, with Hewitt in his current state of fitness, I would be very surprised to see him make it through the first round, where he plays Jonas Bjorkman. And if he does make it through to Nadal, whether or not this tiredness Rafa claims is a factor, he will be demolished. Lleyton has no chance next to Rafa. Less than none.

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Our other man, Guccione, faces Blake. So, bye bye Gooch. If we're going to get a medal in the singles, it'll probably be Dellacqua. Not that I think she will get one, but if one of the Aussies is... in doubles, Stosur might do okay - who is she playing with? My favourite sport, and I know next to nothing about what the Aussies are doing. Some patriot I am. But I have never claimed to be one, so that's all right. We all know where my tennis loyalties lie.

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I know the date on this post is the seventh, but it's the morning of the eighth here as I write it - 08/08/08. And that means two things. One, it's the Opening Ceremony. But two, and much more importantly, it is Roger Federer's 27th birthday. Happy (slightly early) birthday, Roger. You will always, always be my favourite.

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Today's Results

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Countrywide Classic (Los Angeles)

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Marat Safin def. Wayne Odesnik, 6-3 6-2

Mardy Fish def. Vince Spadea, 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-0

Marc Gicquel def. Donald Young, 6-3 6-3

Juan Martin del Potro def. Andrea Stoppini, 6-4 6-2

Amer Delic def. Carlos Moya, 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5)

Mmm, Safin

So it's going to be a pretty dull week, tennis-wise, it seems... at least until the Olympics start on Friday. The only men's tournament going on is in LA, and it's a pretty small one - which is as you would expect, I suppose, what with them Olympics. The one player I'll be following is Safin, who seems to be doing okay so far - he and Igor Kunitsyn took out a pretty decent doubles duo in Ker and Soares. So good work, boys... for what it's worth.

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Actually, this might be Marat's big chance. It's pretty awful, but with all the big guys over at the Olympics, he might stand a decent chance of winning his first title since 2005. Wouldn't that be nice? Right after his little sister won the women's US Open series... (which means that if she wins the US Open she'll win an obscene amount of money - something like two and a half million dollars.) So let's have a bit of a look at the LA draw... Marat's a seed! How cool is that!? He's now ranked #38 in the world, which means all he has to do is scrape a few more places and he can be seeded at the US Open. Which means he can't repeat his Wimbledon feat and remove Djokovic early, but I suppose we can't have everything.

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So Marat faces Isner in the first round, which could be a tough one... but I think I have a tendency to overestimate Isner, Kohlschreiber-style. So let's say Marat comes through that... he'll face the winner of Odesnik and Reynolds, then he'd be seeded to meet Lopez in the quarters, then probably Roddick. Heavy on the Americans, this draw.

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Actually, let's look at the seeds. Roddick, who wussed out on the Olympics. Verdasco, whom I presume got edged by the rest of the Spaniards - Nadal, Ferrer, Robredo, et al. Del Potro - why is he not at the Olympics? - then Lopez, who I presume is another Spanish reject. Then Safin, Fish, Moya and Haas. Oh, Carlos... he's finally taken a bit of a slide down the rankings. All the way to #41... which isn't that bad, I suppose. Still, this isn't the best field ever. Though to be fair, it's really not the worst either. I would have pegged a lot of these guys - especially the Spaniards - as Olympic contenders. But when you come from a country with a deep pool, like Spain, I suppose there always have to be sacrifices.

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Though if we're looking at it that way, where are the French guys? We have Serra, Grosjean and Gicquel in the draw, but you'd think there'd be more... though I suppose that with Tsonga out and Gasquet whimpering under the bed, they don't have their top TOP guys at the Olympics, so someone has to pick up the slack.

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And there are no women's tournaments at all, so I can't revert to my old standby there... so we're going to be following LA this week. But I can't promise we'll follow it with much passion. Except for Safin matches. Because, mmm, Safin.

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Today's Results

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Countrywide Classic (Los Angeles)

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Denis Gremelmayr def. Fabio Fognini, 6-4 6-2

Florent Serra def. Andrey Golubev, 6-4 6-1

Marc Gicquel def. Zack Fleishman, 6-3 6-0

Gear Shift

I am very, very glad that I wasn't around watching the scores when Federer played Ginepri. I think I might just have exploded. Roger Federer does NOT lose three times in a row.

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Luckily, he didn't, for anyone who might not have seen the result yet. The first two sets were tie-breakers, Ginepri winning the first, Federer the second, with a big ol' bagel in the third. So the real Roger, the awesome Roger, is clearly still there. The talent hasn't gone away, nor the ability, nor the fitness, nor the anything. He's just having a few issues with his gear shift. And I'm pretty confident he can sort that out.

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And to tell the truth, I'd be worried if he were playing Supreme Almighty God Tennis in the first round anyway. That would be a sure sign of peaking too early.

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He's facing Karlovic in the next round, which I think should be a really good match for him. Karlovic has that huge serve, but otherwise plays reasonably predictable percentage tennis. I think it'll give R-Fed a bit of a chance to work himself out and settle down a bit - before the inevitable glorious future.

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Meanwhile, my bracket is totally shot... as I somehow now seem to have picked Clement to reach the final, as Stan has disappeared mysteriously from the draw. I have this vague sensation that that... oh, I don't know, maybe won't happen? I'm still doing all right at the moment, but Cilic lost, and I picked him to reach the semis. I hope Stan is all right... he is important to Roger and the doubles and Switzerland and stuff! And also he is a nice boy in his own right.

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But seriously, Clement/Cilic disaster aside, I am still doing pretty all right on this bracket thing. I have 22 points - the leaders have 26. That's not too bad. I really am getting better at it! Though I will inevitably lose 90,000 million points when Clement loses. Though it would be pretty neat if he made it to the final. I would look really smart, and it wouldn't even have anything to do with me!

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A good win for our Mr Moya as well, taking out ever-dangerous Tipsarevic - also picked in the Jodi Bracket of Excellence, though perhaps more from wishful thinking than anything else. Still, sometimes wishful thinking does the job done. Carlos doesn't seem to have been doing that well this year, but he's still hanging about in the top thirty, so he must be doing something right. Good on him. I like Carlos. He's my poster boy for thirty-something tennis.

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And Dmitry beat Marat, which was always going to be bittersweet. I had picked Marat, but no one can say Dima didn't deserve it. I would really like to see him make a big run for it at this year's US Open. He is so talented and so good on hard courts that it's almost surprising he hasn't gone hugely deep at the US or the Australian before. But I have a wee feeling... and we know my feelings aren't always to be trusted, as they get mixed up with wishful thinking, but sometimes they're right on the money.

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Oh, and meanwhile, I SO don't believe this. Roddick has just pulled out, to be replaced with Woong-Sun Jun. I bet that American crowd watching those two warm up is super thrilled about that. What's wrong now, Andy? Is this all about US Open preparation too?

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And on a nicer note, congrats to Chris Guccione. I didn't know he was even in the draw, but he totally won his match today. Though speaking of Australians... where's Lleyton? Is he doing that thing he does where he doesn't play any tournaments except Slams? Because I don't like that thing at all.

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Today's Results

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Western and Southern Financial Group Masters (Cincinatti)

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Roger Federer def. Robby Ginepri, 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-0

Jose Acasuso def. Paul Capdeville, 5-7 6-2 6-2

Dmitry Tursunov def. Marat Safin, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Gael Monfils def. Donald Young, 6-1 6-1

Carlos Moya def. Janko Tipsarevic, 7-6 (7-5)

John Isner def. Andrea Stoppini, 7-6 (7-2) 6-3

Richard Gasquet def. Michael Llodra, 3-6 6-1 1-0 retired

Gilles Simon def. Rajeev Ram, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Arnaud Clement def. Thomas Johansson, 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (5-7) 6-3

Simone Bolelli def. Kevin Anderson, 6-3 7-6 (7-1)

Nicolas Lapentti def. Marin Cilic, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Chris Guccione def. Jesse Levine, 6-3 6-4

Fernando Verdasco def. Victor Estrella, 6-3 7-5

Florent Serra def. Benjamin Becker, 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-4

Ivo Karlovic def. Jose Acasuso, 6-3 7-6 (7-3)

Robin Soderling def. Tommy Robredo, 7-6 (8-6) 6-4

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Rogers Cup (Montreal)

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Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-1 1-0 retired

Victoria Azarenka def. Jamea Jackson, 6-1 6-1

Nadia Petrova def. Marie-Ève Pelletier, 6-0 6-1

Maria Kirilenko def. Anne Keothavong, 6-1 7-5

Flavia Pennetta def. Olga Savchuk, 1-6 7-5 6-3

Ai Sugiyama def. Nicole Vaidisova, 6-3 3-6 6-2

Sybille Bammer def. Monique Adamczak, 6-7 (6-8) 6-1 6-2

Alisa Kleybanova def. Ahsha Rolle, 6-4 6-2

Jill Craybas def. Sharon Fichman, 6-4 6-3

Marta Domachowska def. Bethanie Mattek, 7-5 6-2

Melinda Czink def. Julie Ditty, 7-6 (7-4) 6-0

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Nordea Nordic Light Open (Stockholm)

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Agnieszka Radwanska def. Nathalie Dechy, 6-2 6-3

Katarina Srebotnik def. Anna Lapushchenkova, 6-2 6-1

Caroline Wozniacki def. Angelique Kerber, 6-3 6-4

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Sandra Roma, 6-3 6-1

Maria Elena Camerin def. Marina Erakovic, 6-3 6-4

Mariya Koryttseva def. Ekaterina Makarova, 6-3 6-4

Vera Dushevina def. Lucie Safarova, 7-6 (7-4) 6-3

Virginia Ruano Pascual def. María José Martínez Sánchez, 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova def. Petra Cetkovska, 6-4 6-7 (2-7) 6-4

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Ekaterina Bychkova, 6-4 3-6 6-1

Johanna Larsson def. Julia Goerges, 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Bracket Woes

My sucky run at the bracket challenge continues. I got a few more right than I did yesterday, but still nothing to write home about. I'm usually pretty decent at making predictions once we get to the quarter finals, etc, but the first round... well, stands to show it's pretty bad. No major upsets or anything. Just me picking wrong among the little guys.

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Though some of these first round matches were hardly matches of the little guys. How often have you seen Jarkko Nieminen and Tomas Berdych play in the first round of a major event? That might just be to the left side of never. There is real depth in men's tennis when these two can meet in a first round. That one was a tall order.

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Berdych was the one that walked away the victor - obviously, I picked Nieminen. I should just start picking the opposite of who I think is going to win and then maybe I'll do better. I really hope this is the beginning of a return to form for Tomas - who is this week's ATP blogger - because I really think he has an excellent game, even if he is, as discussed here at length, a perennial underwhelmer.

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Meanwhile, what has happened to Carlos Moya? To my eyes, he's had a pretty ordinary year, but he's still floating about at #28, so he can't be doing that badly. But #28 or not, looks like he got a bit pulverised by Tommy Haas. Haas has been looking quite good lately - maybe he's going to make a run for it in this tournament. Let's have a look at his draw... he's up against Davydenko next round. Sensible people would put their money on Kolya, but I could see Haas coming through it if he plays like he did today. Indeed, I have picked him to come through in my bracket... which is probably a sure sign he is going to lose. But let's say that I actually manage to get one right and he does - he would face the winner of Kiefer and Youzhny, which one would think would be Youzhny. That could be an interesting match up indeed...

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Another player impressing me of late - well, of last week - is Gilles Simon, who won in Indy and who won his first round match against Donald Young pretty handily, but I don't see him coming through the second round... he's up against the big man, R-Fed. And we all know how I'm cheering there.

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My semi final pick Soderling made it through, as did Igor Andreev. I also picked the minor upset victory of Feliciano Lopez over Radek Stepanek, which I was pleased about, because we all know Stepanek is kind of weird. One second round match which I think is going to be very intriguing is Tommy Robredo against Marin Cilic... Robredo is a good player and all, but I think I like Cilic to come through this one. He has impressed me a whole lot of late. And considering Ernests Gulbis went out in the first round, I have to have one young gun to follow, and he really is the only one left, as Thomaz Bellucci went out as well. Meanwhile, Philipp Kohlschreiber just lost to Alexandre Kudryavtsev in straight sets. First, I would like to say, who? Is he some relation to Sharapova-slaying tuxedo-hating Alla Kudryavtseva? And secondly, I really need to stop overestimating Philipp Kohlschreiber, as I invariably get disappointed.

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Not a whole lot of doubles action today - actually, they only had one match yesterday and two today. How are they planning to squeeze it all in? Two teams I had talked about as intriguing both went out - the French duo of Gasquet and Mahut to the Murray brothers, which was hardly surprising... oh, I bet Richou loved that. He must hate Andy Murray so much now after Wimbledon. And then Nieminen and Ferrer went out to Mathieu and Youzhny. Quite why Mathieu and Youzhny are playing together is beyond me, but they obviously seem to have something going for them.

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Today's Results

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Rogers Cup (Toronto)

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Feliciano Lopez def. Radek Stepanek, 4-6 6-3 6-4

Andy Roddick def. Nicolas Mahut, 6-1 6-7 (6-8) 6-3

Alexandre Kudryavtsev def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-2 7-6 (9-7)

Fernando Verdasco def. Thomaz Bellucci, 1-6 6-3 6-2

Tomas Berdych def. Jarkko Nieminen, 6-3 6-1

Tommy Haas def. Carlos Moya, 6-3 6-2

Igor Andreev def. Gael Monfils, 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-3)

Gilles Simon def. Donald Young, 6-1 6-3

Marin Cilic def. Lukas Dlouhy, 6-3 4-6 6-3

Jesse Levine def. Peter Polansky, 6-2 6-4

Robin Soderling def. Guillermo Canas, 7-5 6-1

Thomas Johansson def. Andrey Golubev, 7-6 (7-4) 6-1

Jonas Bjorkman def. Arnaud Clement, 6-3 3-6 6-0

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East West Bank Classic (Los Angeles)

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Nadia Petrova def. Alina Jidkova, 6-0 6-4

Flavia Pennetta def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 6-1 6-0

Dominika Cibulkova def. Monica Niculescu, 6-4 6-3

Peng Shuai def. Julie Ditty, 6-4 6-2

Regina Kulikova def. Elena Vesnina, 6-4 4-6 6-2

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Banka Koper Slovenia Open (Portoroz)

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Maria Kirilenko def. Nika Ozegovic, 6-1 6-1

Katarina Srebotnik def. Sanda Mamic, 6-2 6-2

Camille Pin def. Marina Erakovic, 7-5 5-7 6-3

Sara Errani def. Maria Elena Camerin, 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 6-1

Roberta Vinci def. Alberta Brianti, 6-1 6-3

Julia Goerges def. Ekaterina Bychkova, 6-4 6-3

Mara Santangelo def. Yanina Wickmayer, 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4

Karolina Sprem def. Evgeniya Rodina, 4-6 6-3 6-3

Elena Bovina def. Tatiana Perebiynis, 6-3 6-4

Baby Fed

I don't get it. If you're a tennis player, and you're playing Wimbledon next week, and you want to play a tournament this week... why would you go all the way to the Netherlands when you can play in Nottingham?

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I mean, I guess it would be a bit unfair to all the people in s'Hertogenbosch if no one went there and everyone went to Nottingham instead. It just seems like an odd decision. But I guess it's not that far... if Rafa can go home to Mallorca to play golf when he was already right in England, then going to the Netherlands is nothing. Being Australian, I guess I forget about how small Europe is.

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And maybe it's to do with the type of grass or something... like the way Halle is played on the same type of grass as Wimbledon but Queen's on a different type.

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Okay, so I have very, very little to write about today.

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So I'm going to write a tiny bit about Richard Gasquet. He is playing in s'Hertogenbosch, so it's totally relevant and everything! Actually, he was what got me musing about playing in s'Hertogenbosch versus Nottingham... he won Nottingham once (or was it twice?) but he's playing s'Hertogenbosch... I wonder why? At least it's not like last week with Warsaw and the clay... and I'm rambling again.

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So. Richou. I like his grass court game a lot. Actually, I like his game a lot, and he had a good win over Rochus (who, we must remember, once had six match points against Federer at Halle, so he's no slouch on grass.) He's just so intensely disappointing, because he could be so much better if he'd just get his head in the game.

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I don't think there's any doubt that Federer is the most talented player on the circuit, but Richou has got insane amounts of talent too. He needs an epiphany, like Federer had against Squillari back in the day. If he could just sort out his brain, he could be amazing. If he actualised his potential... if he just could... Richou is, when it comes down to it, more talented than Djokovic. But Djokovic has realised his potential, whereas Richou hasn't. I mean, sure, Richou has a few titles and that semi final at Wimbledon last year, but if he lived up to what he was capable of, he could bump off Djokovic easy. He could be challenging Rafa. But he just isn't all there in the head.

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The thing I like about Richou's game is that there is so much of it - game, I mean. He used to be called 'Baby Fed' and I can see why - he has an allcourt game that is not dissimilar to that of the Master. It's just inconsistent. I heard a piece on Radio Roland Garros with Roger Rasheed, who said that he'd like to coach Gasquet and shake him up a bit. I don't know if Rasheed is the right man for the job - we all know what I think of his commentary skills! - but Richou could use a good shake up. In my opinion.

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Richou withdrew from the French Open citing injury. This is totally uneducated, but I think it was mostly in his head. If he does the same thing at Wimbledon - I don't think he will, but if he did - I'd never forgive him. I'd really like to see him defend his semi-final points - and he is totally capable of doing it. If only he can keep his head in the game.

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Sorry about that mostly incoherent ramble... not my best ever entry! But I really would like to see Richou make his breakthrough. Not at the expense of Federer, of course, but if he's on the other side of the draw, I'd totally love him to make the final!

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Speaking of players I like, Carlos Moya is out of Wimbledon, which saddens me. I like Carlos a lot... though if there was one Grand Slam he's not going to do as well at, it's probably Wimbledon... he's not exactly the king of grass. So get well soon, Carlos, and see you on the hard courts!

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And Dinara Safina - who is definitely still in Wimbledon - won her match in s'Hertogenbosch today. Davai Dinara!

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Today's Results

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Ordina Open (s'Hertogenbosch)

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Juan Martin del Potro def. Fabrice Santoro, 6-3 6-1

Guillermo Canas def. Mischa Zverev, 5-7 6-3 6-3

Massimo Dell'acqua def. Fabio Fognini, 7-6 (7-4) 6-2

Arnaud Clement def. Benjamin Becker, 6-3 3-6 6-4

Marcel Granollers def. Kristof Vliegen, 6-0 1-0 retired

Rohan Bopanna def. Martin Verkerk, 6-7 (8-10) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4

Viktor Troicki def. Denis Gremelmayr, 6-3 7-5

Ivan Ljubicic def. Robin Haase, 6-3 7-6 (7-5)

Marc Gicquel def. Matwe Middelkoop, 6-4 6-1

Richard Gasquet def. Olivier Rochus, 6-2 7-6 (7-3)

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Sara Errani def. Anne Keothavong, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Dinara Safina def. Pauline Parmentier, 6-4 6-1

Sania Mirza def. Flavia Pennetta, 6-4 6-3

Michaella Krajicek def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-1 5-7 7-6 (9-7)

Marina Erakovic def. Alexis Gordon, 6-1 6-1

Angelique Kerber def. Klara Zakopalova, 6-4 3-6 6-4

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Slazenger Open (Nottingham)

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Julien Benneteau def. Simone Bolelli, 6-1 6-4

Ivo Karlovic def. Jonas Bjorkman, 6-3 6-4

Sam Querrey def. Alejandro Falla, 6-3 6-4

Bobby Reynolds def. Nicolas Mahut, 7-5 4-6 6-4

Dmitry Tursunov def. Yen-hsun Lu, 7-5 6-4

Marin Cilic def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 1-6 6-4 6-3

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International Women's Open (Eastbourne)

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Samantha Stosur def. Katie O'Brien, 6-4 6-3

Amelie Mauresmo def. Alize Cornet, 6-1 4-6 7-5

Li Na def. Casey Dellacqua, 6-2 6-4

Nadia Petrova def. Shahar Peer, 6-2 6-2

Gisela Dulko def. Tathiana Garbin, 3-6 6-4 6-2

Aravane Rezai def. Victoria Azarenka, 6-2 retired

The Kuerten Falls for Guga, or; the Tennis Pun So Bad It Cannot Be Denied

So much for my weekly roundup of tennis, huh? I guess that was being a little ambitious. After the Australian tennis summer, I'm always subconsciously convinced that the world will realise just how exciting tennis is and everyone will still be into it. But it never happens. Everyone forgets.

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Actually, on a sort of tangent, I realised how little people know about tennis at the Australian Open this year when I was watching Rafael Nadal practice with Carlos Moya. 'Who's that practicing with Nadal?' I heard someone ask. 'It must be his dad,' someone else replied. I cringed. What is the point, I asked myself, of coming to an event like the Open when you recognise two, maybe three of the players? I mean, if it was Jarkko Nieminen or Sam Querrey or Philipp Kohlschreiber or someone practicing and they didn't know who they were, I'd get that - none of them are that famous - but Carlos Moya? Come on. He won a Slam (albeit in 1998, but still), was ranked #1 in the world and is, as one of my friends might say, a stone cold fox.

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Speaking of Carlos, he lost at Roland Garros yesterday. I like him quite a lot, and I was very sad. This brings me back to the reason I've revived the ol' backseat tennis blog - we are, once again, in Grand Slam territory. Roland Garros, the French Open - which is, in many respects, the most interesting Slam of the year - has once again begun.

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And, as I was saying, unfortunately, Carlos Moya, who won this tournament ten years ago, lost in the first round to Eduardo Schwank... who is really an interesting character in and of himself. I'd never heard of him until there was that hotel fire in Paris (that he started, apparently) and his prize winnings from one of the Challengers he'd just won went up in smoke. I must admit, my first thought was that that was a bit dodgy, because who pays in cash? but I suppose Challenger tournaments might have different standards. So yeah, he's never won anything before - this is his first ever Grand Slam match, if you don't include the qualies he played - and suddenly he wins three Challengers in a row. (Cremona, Rome and Bordeaux apparently.) And now he's beating Carlos Moya, who is a great player and seeded at the tournament... maybe he's going to pull a Marcos/Jo-Wilfried. Actually, if Marcel Granollers-Pujol wins his first round match against Michael Berrer, they'll face each other, and that could be interesting - Granollers ain't no slouch on clay, as he showed at the Houston tournament. Schwank is in the Djokovic quarter of the second half of the draw, along with Canas, Blake and Baghdatis... it'll be interesting to see how far he can go.

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Actually, speaking of Challenger events, the whole Schwank story led me to looking at who has been winning the Challengers this year... I'd always assumed it was, like, this lower echelon of players that no one ever hears of, but a lot of them are top hundred - sometimes even top fifty. Ivan Ljubicic won a Challenger this year. Ivan Ljubicic, who used to be #3 in the world not that long ago, and who is seeded at Roland Garros. Seeded #27 or #28 or something, sure, but seeded. Who knew Challengers drew such good players? It makes me wonder what the Futures circuit is like. Are there people there that I've heard of as well? I had this image in my head of Challengers being people ranked down to about #500, and then Futures being #500-#1000ish (not that I ever thought it through). However, the standard is obviously a lot higher. I wonder how many of those top thirty, fifty players ever play a Challenger?

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The real story of the first Sunday of Roland Garros, however, was obviously the emotional retirement of Gustavo Kuerten. (There is a really nice article in this month's DEUCE magazine, which does him much more justice than I can do here.) It was hardly surprising - and really, logistically speaking, everyone knew he wasn't going to get better after his hip surgery, and he really did draw this out A LOT - but it was still very sad. I wasn't really into tennis during the Guga years, but I still remember his three Roland Garros victories... him drawing the heart on the court in 2001 (or was it 2000?) and that great takedown of Sergi Bruguera in 1997. His run to the final that year was very Baghdatis-esque, with one change - Federer took Baghdatis out, much as Djokovic took Tsonga out this year, but Guga took out Bruguera, and he did it EASY. He was one of those instant superstar players that we haven't seen for a while... not since Nadal, really, when he won Roland Garros in 2005. And even then, Rafa was still seeded #6 or something, and I think he'd just won 5 clay court titles in a row, so it wasn't like it was totally unexpected. Guga came pretty much from nowhere. Don't quote me on this, but I think he was the lowest ranked player to win a Slam since Edmondson in Australia in '76. So that's some achievement right there.

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And Guga was a good fun player as well. He was deceptively harmless looking... all thin and lanky, with that mop of funny hair, but if you gave him an inch, he'd wipe you off the court. And he was always so smiley. I like a good smiley tennis player. The more I think about it, Guga really is a prototype for Marcos Baghdatis - except that Guga made it to #1 and stayed there for a while, whereas Marcos made it to the final of the AO '06 and has been drifting round the top 20 ever since, but has hardly made huge waves. Not that anyone would ever expect the Baghdatises of the world to dethrone the Federers, but Guga's success is still proportionately much greater, I think.

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So, farewell, Guga. It is sad to see you go... even if it has been coming for a long time.

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Roland Garros Results - Day One

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Men's Draw

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Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Gustavo Kuerten, 6-3 6-4 6-2

Novak Djokovic def. Denis Gremelmayr, 4-6 6-3 7-5 6-2

David Nalbandian def. Carlos Berlocq, 6-2 6-4 6-1

Andy Murray def. Jonathan Eyserric, 6-2 1-6 4-6 6-0 6-2

James Blake def. Rainer Schuettler, 6-4 6-1 7-6 (7-3)

Nicolas Lapentti def. Janko Tipsarevic, 6-4 4-6 6-1 7-6 (9-7)

Juan Martin Del Potro def. Josselin Ouanna, 6-3 6-2 6-3

Eduardo Schwank def. Carlos Moya, 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 6-7 (1-7) 4-6 6-3

Sebastian Decoud def. Olivier Rochus, 3-6 6-4 6-3 6-7 (8-10) 6-1

Jose Acasuso def. Dominik Hrbaty, 6-4 6-2 6-4

Maximo Gonzalez def. Roko Karanusic, 6-3 7-5 4-6 3-6 6-2

Jeremy Chardy def. Frederico Gil, 6-3 6-2 7-6 (7-1)

Nicolas Almagro def. Boris Pashanski, 6-4 7-5 6-1

Ernests Gulbis def. Simon Greul, 6-4 6-0 6-4

Miguel Angel Lopez Jaen def. Frank Dancevic, 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 7-5 7-6 (7-2)

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Women's Draw

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Alize Cornet def. Julia Vakulenko, 7-5 6-4

Ana Ivanovic def. Sofia Arvidsson, 6-2 7-5

Serena Williams def. Ashley Harkleroad, 6-2 6-1

Klara Zakapalova def. Virginie Razzano, 4-6 6-3 6-2

Mathilde Johansson def. Camille Pin, 6-4 4-6 6-2

Iveta Benesova def. Nicole Vaidisova, 7-6 (7-2) 6-1

Nathalie Dechy def. Julie Ditty, 7-5 7-6 (7-3)

Caroline Wozniacki def. Yvonne Meusburger, 6-0 6-2

Dominika Cibulkova def. Angelique Kerber, 6-2 6-2

Lucie Safarova def. Sandra Kloesel, 6-1 6-1

Anastasiya Yakimova def. Hsieh Su-wei, 6-7 (4-7) 7-5 6-4

Selima Sfar def. Stephanie Dubois, 7-5 6-2

Galina Voskoboeva def. Youlia Fedossova, 6-0 6-7 (4-7) 6-1

Milagros Seguera def. Lilia Osterloh, 7-6 (7-5) 7-5

Ekaterina Makarova def. Catalina Castano, 7-5 6-1