There's Something About Milos

I didn't want to. I didn't want to be the person that jumps on every bandwagon I see. I was determined to be the one person in the world who wasn't screaming and shouting OMG MILOS RAONIC FOR EMPEROR OF THE UNIVERSE! I was going to be the lone dissenter, the annoying cynic in the corner, the one that was determined it was all a fluke. In my mind, Milos Raonic was the second coming of Casey Dellacqua.

And then he had to go and win San Jose. Beating a top ten player in the final. (I mean, sure, it was Fernando Verdasco, but still.) And now I have to get on the bandwagon or risk being left behind.

Raonic has a singularly spectacular serve. I think Verdasco described him as having the body of a 12-year old... and then still firing down serves at 240km/h plus. Which is, like, a bit fast and stuff. But there are plenty of players with massive serves and not much else. This is the category I was determined to pigeonhole Raonic in.

But it looks like he's a bit more than that.

Problem is, I can't quite put my finger on it.

I think I'm going to have to watch him play a bit more, because there's obviously a little bit of something something going on with Milos. You don't jump from #156 to #59 in the rankings just like that because you have an enormous serve. I mean, he's obviously had an enormous serve for a while now. He might have grown into a bit, but there's just not enough time for there to be such a massive difference between 2010 and 2011. The off-season isn't long enough. Something's clicked for Milos. Something's suddenly started going right. I just can't work out what it is.

Maybe it's not his game at all. Maybe it's in his mind. Looking at the San Jose final, it certainly seems like Milos has quite a bit going on upstairs. We can't all be blessed with the iron mind of Rafael Nadal, but when you rally from 6-2 down in a breaker to grab a set, you are strong in the head. That's just the way it is. Your opponent can really only make so many mistakes.

And then there's the fact that Milos only dropped serve once in four matches. No matter how good your serve is, it's hard to hold your serve that consistently. Like, mega hard. Ask Isner and Mahut.

But has something come together in his game? What's the magic ingredient that I'm missing? Because it looks to me like the dude was losing a lot and now he's winning a lot... and I can't work out why. I must know the why. Because there is clearly something about Milos.

Sorry. Couldn't resist the wordplay. No matter how bad it is.

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.

(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!

Not So Bad At All

You know, considering the amount of time I spend whinging about Australian tennis (which is very little compared to the Australian media, who seem to view our lack of awesome tennis players as some kind of national tragedy) it often comes as a surprise to me that our Fed Cup team is not so bad.

Think about it. We have Sam Stosur, who, while she has her sketchy days, has one of the best serves on the women's tour, an all-round great gam as well as stellar doubles credentials. Rennae Stubbs, ditto on the doubles credentials. We have Casey Dellacqua, who is not sub-par herself, and Alicia Molik, who is not bad, and Jelena Dokic, she of the sketchy brilliance. And then we have players like Olivia Rogwoska and Shannon Golds and Jess Moore and Monika Wejnert coming up... we are really okay when it comes to the ladies.

The Australian girls are currently one-all against the Spaniards, after Sam Stosur won her singles rubber but Casey Dellacqua lost hers. Apparently David Taylor agonised over who to put in as the second singles player, but I think Dellacqua was as good a choice as any, considering she was the second best performer of the Aussie girls at the Open. She's still not back to where she was but she did okay...

...but I digress. Stosur and Stubbs are looking the goods to take out the doubles and if Stosur can win her singles tomorrow then Australia will take out the tie. The Spanish women aren't exactly the powerhouse that the Spanish men are, but they're tough, and if the Aussie girls can get 'em that will be a real victory.

I know this doesn't say a lot, this here post, but really, I think we spend enough time bitching about the state of Australian tennis. There is my equivalent of fluff and celebration. This is my 'Australian tennis is not so bad' feel good post. Smiley face.

...and the Australians just totally won. Made of awesome!

Jodi's Epic Tennis Adventure 2.7 - Fedgasm

It struck me, as I was walking back to my hotel from Melbourne Park tonight, how very sad the week I spend each year at the Australian Open makes me. It makes me sad that every week of my life is not this great. Is there any felicity in the world superior to being at the heart, feeling the pulse, of one of the things one loves most?

No, I didn't think so.

I think I've become so introspective because I got to witness a Federer match tonight, a match where he was in full flight and it was so incredibly beautiful it was almost painful. Yes, I know I am waxing poetic about a second round match where the opponent wasn't that great, but there is something incredibly special about being there, seeing that ball come off his racquet and knowing that he knows he's going to win.

He was absolutely sublime tonight - fifty two winners to seventeen unforced errors. He made the point himself that his opponent's style - this was Victor Hanescu, for those of you who are unaware - allowed him to play this way, but it didn't make it any less beautiful. After the nerviness of the Andreev match, this was a total breath of fresh air.

And it is always an honour to watch this man play. Even Prince William thought so. (Kudos to the prince, by the way - he was great with the crowd tonight. Though I suppose he's had some practice with crowds).

His post match interview with Jim Courier was also good fun - and Mirka was a very good sport about it as well. And it was just SUCH A FESGASMIC MATCH.

Okay. Federer drooling over now.

There was actually another match in the night session... it just wasn't very interesting. Seriously, the sesh started out with the sublime and ended up with the so-boring-it-was-ridiculous. Seriously, whose fool idea was it to put Dellacqua/Sprem on Rod Laver Arena. That match belongs on Court 11. Or something. Margaret Court Arena, max. But Laver? When there are Williamses and all other kinds of interesting women?

I did stay for the whole match, I confess, but it was more nostalgia than anything else, as it was my last night on Rod Laver Arena. I'll be wandering the grounds again tomorrow, but the night sesh will be viewed from the comfort of my hotel room. If only Kuznetsova were on tonight instead of them! Seriously, Dellacqua/Sprem was the most boring match I have ever witnessed. It was dull in the first half and then WTA-typical (read: no one could hold serve) in the second. Dellacqua won in two tiebreakers. I think. I might have fallen asleep.

I did catch some good tennis around the grounds during the day, however... though I was very, very disappointed in my WTA fave Sabine Lisicki, who I saw crash out in the second round to Alberta Brianti. Seriously, Sabine? I expected so much more of you. I want to take you and Ernests Gulbis and put you on a tennis court with Larry Stefanki and not let you both out again until you stop doing stupid things, like making 3028402834 errors per match.

So that was disappointing - as was Yaroslava Shvedova's loss to Tathiana Garbin. I caught the first set of this, which Shvedova won, but evidently there was a bit of a crashing and burning incident when I left. Iveta Benesova was also disappointing - I expected her to lose to Vera Zvonareva, but I caught some of this match, and Benesova added a lot of losing to Vera's winning.

Oh. Ana Ivanovic. It's impossible for her to disappoint me any more, because I have no expectations. But she did even worse than last year. Yeesh.

In the 'not disappointing' camp, I saw the first two sets of Nikolay Davydenko versus Illya Marchenko, and JMDP was not lying when he said that Kolya plays like Playstation. Seriously, he got so many balls back it was just not funny. And he's developed a really excellent sliding serve which I haven't seen from him before - Marchenko got no play on it at all. I think there's a possible Verdasco/Davydenko fourth round clash, and I would be really interested to see how this turns out. Nando is in pretty decent nick himself, but this is a different Kolya to the one we've seen before...

But match of the day on the outside grounds for me definitely went to Almagro/Becker on Court 8, which Almagro took in five. This was a real battle of different styles (and fans!) and I was sad to see Becker-no-relation lose it, to tell the truth. Almagro on hard courts doesn't really do it for me, and he was no good at all last year. But it was an extraordinarily entertaining match - and that is what tennis is all about!

Oh, and addendum - only interesting thing to come out of the Dellacqua match. Marcos Baghdatis was in Karolina Sprem's box. THEY ARE SO DATING.

Sydney Also Gets Wild

More wildcard news - from Sydney this time, where Casey Dellacqua has been given a wildcard into the Medibank International. She's the second card recipient to be announced after Justine Henin, and it's not exactly surprising - much as I would wish that some of the younger kids would be given opportunities, their time will come. This is a good leg up for Casey on her comeback - and I guess she's lucky coming back around the Australian swing, because she'd find it tough to get this wealth of cards otherwise.

You just wait. You can bet your bottom dollar that the other women's card for Sydney will go to Alicia Molik, the second she expresses any desire to play the event... though she's playing Hobart, now that I think of it, so we'll see someone a little different. You've got to think it will be Olivia Rogowska - though she might get pipped at the post by Yanina Wickmayer, if the tournament director in Sydney is a big softie. Though if I were Rogowska and that was the case, I'd be pissed off. Rogowska definitely deserves a card somewhere, and with Justine Henin sucking up all these wildcards, a lot of her opportunities have disappeared.

But now that I think of it, Rogowska might have been carded into Hobart as well, which means she's out of Sydney, being as they are on the same week. That opens the door for someone like Monika Wejnert or Shannon Golds. That could be fun.

It's the last day before tennis starts - it's New Year's Day here, though not quite in Abu Dhabi yet, where things will kick off with the annual cashcow exo. Bring it on! I am totally sick of the off season.

Getting Wild In Brisvegas

Some more wildcard action - though it's for the Brisbane International this time. It's enough to make me wish I was going to that tournament earlier in the week rather than for the men's semis and the women's final... I love watching young dudes in action.

And Tennis Australia really should be commended for the emphasis they put on youth in their wildcards. Well done - seriously, well done. The Aussie young guns need to be blooded on the big stages, and these cards are definitely the way to do it.

Wildcards in Brisbane have been issued to Carsten Ball, Bernard Tomic and John Millman in the blokes' event, and Casey Dellacqua, Alicia Molik and Justine Henin in the ladies'. You couldn't not give a card to Henin - I mean, really - and with Dellacqua and Molik on the comeback it makes sense, though I really would have liked to see Olivia Rogowska and Monika Wejnert carded into this event.

But total win with the boys - particularly with Millman. He's good enough to play a match or two on the main tour, and I hold out hope that some other Aussie boys can come up through qualies. Ball has been to an ATP final before and is a bit passe, but I'm actively excited to see what Bernard Tomic can bring to the court this year. He's won a round at tour level before and I reckon this year might be the year when he starts to make a wave or two. And why shouldn't that wave start in Brisbane?

Nick and Casey Win Their Way In

We have our winners! After some epic matches at Melbourne Park, Casey Dellacqua and Nick Lindahl are through to the main draw at the Australian Open.

Casey Dellacqua was no surprise, really - but after she went down so hard in the first set to Olivia Rogowska, I thought she was in serious trouble. This is the second time in two days she's gone down and gone down bad in the first set - 2-6 against Peers, 1-6 against Rogowska - and it's something she might want to keep on an eye on. Nonetheless, she is through, and well-deserving - she hasn't lost a match all week and she's looking great. Jelena Dokic won this playoff last year and we all know how that turned out. Here's hoping Casey can do similarly well.

I was a bit disappointed in Bernard Tomic's performance - I really thought he had the cojones to beat Nick Lindahl - but I was equally impressed by Lindahl. This match went five sets, which is no mean feat in and of itself, and when you consider that Lindahl was two sets to one down at one point, that's pretty awesome. There was probably more on the line here for Lindahl than Tomic - Tomic will, I think, get carded in anyway, while I don't think Lindahl is enough of a name to have earned it, even though he was seeded above Tomic in this tournament.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this will be Lindahl's first time in a Slam main draw...? I've never seen him there before, but I might have blinked and missed him. It'll be interesting to see how he performs on the big stage. He's obviously got a little somethin' somethin' going on upstairs, considering his match against the terribly talented Tomic today. So I don't think he's the type to break down under the pressure. I'll be in Melbourne for the first round of the Australian Open (and second and third!!!!) so I'm going to make a point to see some of his match, whosoe'er it may be against. I may have to reevaluate my opinion of him.

Now... there are a whole bunch of discretionary wildcards. Who will get them, I wonder...

Praising Peers

So I sooooooooo was not fair to Sally Peers. I thought she was going to get pulverised by Casey Dellacqua, but at the beginning of the match it was Peers doing the pulverising. When I checked in with the score, Peers was leading 5-0 in the first set. Against Dellacqua, that is something - even for top players.

Peers ended up winning the first set but fading badly in the second two - nevertheless, even with the fade, I am very impressed. I've never had extraordinarily amounts of cred for her before, but I've changed my mind on her now. I'll be keeping an eye on her, that's for sure.

Dellacqua is through, however, and she'll face Rogowska in the final. Rogowska is resurgent for sure after her slow start, but I still don't think she's going to come through Dellacqua. Good on Casey - it's been a hard road back for her, and I'm glad. And if Olivia wins too, good on her. We're going to have a strong wildcard contender in the ladies no matter who wins.

In the blokes, we're having Lindahl and Tomic facing off. (Side note - what happened to Colin Ebelthite, who won here last year? He wasn't even in the draw, as far as I saw). It's no secret that I'm pulling for Tomic here - I think he'll get carded in anyway, but it'd be good for him to really fight for it, really earn it, as it were. The matchplay will make him all tough and stuff and the feeling that he earned it will be really good, I think.

I'll be interested to see what Lindahl brings to the court. Every time I've seen him he's been spectacularly unimpressive, but he must be doing something right...

Marquee Matches in Melbourne

At any other time of the year, I'm sure I would find the wildcard playoff for the Australian Open terribly, terribly dull and hardly worth paying attention to. It is a mark of how bored I am that I find it as fascinating as I do.

But fascinating I do find it, and there are some pretty intriguing match ups in there. The marquee match on the women's side would obviously have to be Alicia Molik and Jess Moore - if anyone, barring Casey Dellacqua, is going to topple Molik, I think Moore has got a good shot. I'll be watching keenly to see how that one goes. Dellacqua should, I think, have a slightly easier time of it with Shannon Golds, even though Golds is seeded above Moore. But then I haven't seen Golds play that much, so I'm basing it on pretty much nothing.

Sally Peers and Marija Mirkovic will also face off, but the match I'm really keen to see is Olivia Rogowska and Monika Wejnert. Wejnert - whom, as we all know, I think is pretty awesome - managed to topple Jelena Dokic here last year, and won the nation under-18s title last week. And Rogowska, top-seeded though she is, hasn't exactly been playing great guns... so there is some serious upset potential there, mark my words.

Over on the blokes side, the marquee match is Bernard Tomic and Greg Jones, no question. I like Tomic to win this tournament, but Jones has been playing awesomely this week - he hasn't dropped a match yet. And he's seeded above Tomic, and... yeah. If anyone's going to be Tomic, Jones is a good shot.

There's a match of pro tour stars in Matthew Ebden and John Millman (Ebden was the guy that took a match off Tomic); Kaden Hensel will play Matt Reid and second seed Nick Lindahl will face off against surprise package James Duckworth. The more I see of this kid (Duckworth, that is) the more I like him. He's only seventeen but he's got game - he's kind of a miniature Murray, in some ways. But awesome, and not annoying, like the Muzz. I look forward to seeing a lot more of him in the future...

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.

USA Fairy Tale

I talked yesterday about the lack of consistency on the WTA tour as opposed to the ATP- all top sixteen men are through to the round of thirty two for the first time in history, whereas eleven of the top twenty women have fallen. Generally, you'd take le tour de bloke any day, given as good opponents = good matches and whatnot, but you know what? There is an upside to this whole WTA scattiness.

It leaves the door open for a fairy tale.

And that's exactly what has happened to Melanie Oudin.

I just realised I sounded like I was suggesting that the fact that the top girls are playing crap has sort of made her win by default, which is not what I mean at all, just to clarify. What she has done is analogous to what Casey Dellacqua did at the Aussie Open in 2008 - knocking off some top players by playing some completely great, out of the blue stuff. And that's what the WTA is allowing room for at the moment - someone to come out of the blue.

This is the second Slam in a row where Oudin has fought her way to the big W against top ten moments. Her Slam scalps now include Jankovic, Dementieva and Sharapova - and can I just say I am very sad to see MaSha go. I was kind of pulling for her to go deep - but how can you resist a fairy tale like Oudin? Hometown girl with a lot of fire... she's such a great story and I think she proves that if she can keep this up, the future of American tennis is in same hands.

One result of hers that hasn't been much talked about is her first round, where she totally demolished Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova - I think it was 6-2 6-1 or something similar. Readers of this blog will know that I think very highly of Pavlyuchenkova. She's very young as well - eighteen, I think - and has about 237048948239 junior Slams under her belt. I think she's going to be very, very good in a few years.

And Oudin, who is her generation, effectively, totally destroyed her. The victories over the top seeds are sending a message to the current field, but I feel like the one over Pavlyuchenkova sent one to the future. Oudin is here, she's here to stay - and she's got her eyes on the top prize. And as no one else seems to want it that much... how about Mel?


Today's Results

US Open (Flushing Meadows)

Men's Draw

Roger Federer def. Lleyton Hewitt, 4-6 6-3 7-5 6-3
Novak Djokovic def. Jesse Witten, 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 6-4
Radek Stepanek def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-3
Nikolay Davydenko def. Marco Chiudinelli, 6-4 7-5 7-5
Robin Soderling def. Sam Querrey, 6-2 7-5 6-7 (6-8) 6-1


Women's Draw

Melanie Oudin def. Maria Sharapova, 3-6 6-4 7-5
Nadia Petrova def. Jie Zheng, 6-4 6-1
Gisela Dulko def. Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-3 6-4

On The Shoulder

Some sad news for Aussie tennis this morning - Casey Dellacqua is out till the middle of the year with a shoulder injury. She's having surgery on Monday and will be out for the French Open, hoping to be back by Wimbledon.

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What that means is that she's out of the Fed Cup playoff in April against Switzerland, and that is very, very sad, because I was gunning for her to get played against Patty Schnyder, because I think their games match up really well, what with the whole lefty thing and whatnot. But obviously it's important for her to get better. It's been pretty clear that she hasn't been playing as well at the moment as she did in her breakout season last year, particularly early on, and so if she can get it fixed, she should. Sad to see you out, Casey - get better soon.

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Not a whole lot more to report today - other than that I really would have liked to see the match between Azarenka and Lisicki in Memphis. Azarenka won it - but it was in a third set breaker, and she got pushed all the way by Sabine, who is, as we know, the first inductee into my Stars of the Future club from the women's side. It's going to be very interesting to watch how her career progresses... she was seeded #6 at the tournament (where she made it to the semis) and I think it's only a matter of time before she gets higher. Nice one, Sabine!

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And I just realised who popped his head up in Marseille, losing in the quarterfinal to Michael Llodra. That would be the scary Russian, Mikhail Youzhny. I wrote a bit last week wondering where he'd been - could this be the beginning of a mini-resurgence?

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And what is with the Worm beating everyone? He just took out big Juan Martin del Potro. Not pleased.

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Today's Results

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Regions Morgan Keenan Championships (Memphis)

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Men's Draw
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Dudi Sela def. Igor Kunitsyn, 4-6 6-4 6-2

Radek Stepanek def. Juan Martin del Potro, 7-6 (9-7) 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Victoria Azarenka def. Sabine Lisicki, 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-1)

Caroline Wozniacki def. Anne Keothavong, 6-1 6-0

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Copa Telmex (Buenos Aires)

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Jose Acasuso def. Oscar Hernandez, 6-1 6-2

Tommy Robredo def. Franco Ferreiro, 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Juan Monaco def. Maximo Gonzalez, 6-2 6-3

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Open 13 (Marseille)

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Novak Djokovic def. Mischa Zverev, 6-3 6-3

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Feliciano Lopez, 6-2 6-7 (1-7) 6-4

Michael Llodra def. Mikhail Youzhny, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-3)

Gilles Simon def. Julien Benneteau, 6-2 6-4

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Barclay Dubai Tennis Championships (Dubai)

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Venus Williams def. Serena Williams, 6-1 2-6 7-6 (7-3)

Virginie Razzano def. Kaia Kanepi, 6-1 6-2

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Copa Sony Ericsson Colsanitas (Bogota)

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Gisela Dulko def. Mathilde Johansson, 6-1 6-2

María José Martínez Sánchez def. Betina Jozami, 6-3 6-7 (6-8) 6-4

Edina Gallovits def. Masa Zec Peskiric, 6-3 6-0

Patricia Mayr def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 6-1 6-2

Big Kev Said It Best...

I have to say it - I'm excited about our Fed Cup team. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Australian women's tennis has got a spring in its step again. I think Sam Stosur puts it best:

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"Right from when we first got here we thought we had a good team ... three of us in the top 100 and Rennae in the doubles and Casey or myself able to play with Stubbsy in the doubles matches. It's a really good combination. Obviously the next tie is going to be tough depending who it's against and where it is, but I think we've got a great chance."

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And she's pretty much right. Three women in the top hundred - when did that happen? Actually, come to think of it, we did have that before, but - well, it's all about Jelena Dokic, really. I think it would be fair to say that this clean sweepage that's been going on this week has been her triumph. I mean, it belongs to Stosur and Dellacqua and Stubbs, but this whole resurgence, this newfound confidence in women's tennis in Oz can almost wholly be credited to Dokic, I think, and that amazing showing she put in at the Aussie Open.

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Now, I don't want to leave Sam Stosur out of this. She has had a fabulous week all week - and she certainly defeated the better player on the New Zealand squad today when she took out Marina Erakovic easily, while Dokic had more of a struggle against unranked Dianne Hollands. And she had that amazing comeback victory against Tamarine Tanasugarn, and she's just come back from that bizarre disease she had last year, and... yeah, this belongs to Sam too. But I think just as far as actual confidence goes, the notion that Australia actually has some real quality strength in women's tennis - I think that one's all Dokic.

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It's not that we weren't strong before. Stosur and Dellacqua are both world class players. But just the injection of the energy that Dokic has brought... it's something special. Dokic mk. 1 was a fabulous player - she got to #4 in the world, the semis of Wimbledon, all kinds of things. But Dokic mk. 2 is a better model, methinks. I don't know whether she'll get to #4 in the world again, but as a tennis player and as a person, I think she is more complete now. And her meteoric rise out of nowhere... that is really, really good for Australian tennis. To use the immortal words of Big Kev, I'm excited!

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Today's Results

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SA Tennis Open (Johannesburg)

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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Frederico Gil, 6-3 6-4

Jeremy Chardy def. David Ferrer, 1-6 7-6 (11-9) 7-6 (7-4)

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Movistar Open (Vina del Mar)

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Fernando Gonzalez def. Juan Monaco, 6-0 6-2

Jose Acasuso def. Tommy Robredo, 5-7 6-2 6-4

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PBZ Zagreb Indoors (Zagreb)

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Marin Cilic def. Viktor Troicki, 6-2 7-5

Mario Ancic def. Jan Hernych, 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 7-6 (11-9)

A Word To Channel 7

Why is Davis Cup so absolutely frickin' massive when Fed Cup is forgotten about totally?

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I don't get it. I really don't get it. There was this big fanfare and pomp and ceremony over Davis Cup last year, and it really made the career of Fernando Verdasco, who seems to have learned a lot about himself and how to play tennis and stuff from the experience. It's right at the end of the season, when the players can't possibly have any other commitments, and even plays who played Shanghai (London now, I suppose) have got a little time to recover. But Fed Cup? No. I can tell you that Russia won last year, but I couldn't tell you who they beat... but I can tell you that pretty much none of their top women played. No Safina, no Sharapova, no Dementieva - I don't even think Kuznetsova was there, though I can't really remember. It just doesn't seem to be such a big deal?

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WHY NOT?

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Seriously, Fed Cup is exciting! I know I go on and on about how tennis is an individual sport and how nation doesn't come into it - but that's what makes competitions like Davis Cup and Fed Cup and the Olympics all the more intense! It's the only time that players do get the opportunity to play for their countries, adding that extra little bit of intensity. You have to be the best in your country to get onto the team, and each country is different in their level of skilled players. Nando Verdasco's motivation in Mar del Plata was wanting to be a hero for Spain. Look what that did for him. Lleyton Hewitt used to light up in Davis Cup matches too. But can you think of a single player whose career has been made by Fed Cup?

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Maybe it just needs better marketing or something. But the fact of the matter remains that Channel 7 will televise Australian Davis Cup ties, but Fed Cup? What's Fed Cup? I mean, sure, men's tennis has been a darn sight more interesting than women's tennis for the last little while, but let's look at Australia's teams here, comparatively. Our Davis Cup squad is spearheaded by the on-the-way-out Lleyton Hewitt, with Chris Guccione, Carsten Ball and assorted others singing backup. Looming ominously in the background is Bernard Tomic, but I think we need to give him a little while before he really becomes a superstar. So, on the whole, it's Lleyton, Gooch and a bunch of 'sorry, who?' players.

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Fed Cup! Dokic! Dellacqua! Stosur! Names, names, names. Should one of them be injured, Gajdosova/Groth/whatever-she-is-now and Rodionova are there, and Jess Moore isn't far behind. Now, wouldn't you rather watch that? I rest my case.

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Our girls did fabulously well yesterday, incidentally - Dokic had the day off to get over that bug that's been troubling her, but it didn't even matter. Dellacqua had a massive win, then Stosur backed it up - between them, they lost five games. Then Stosur and Stubbs teamed up in doubles and hammered the point home. Another 3-0 sweep. Bye bye, Chinese Taipei. Now we're playing New Zealand in the group final - and you've got to think that Marina Erakovic is really the only one who could cause issues there. I think we're on the way, Australia. Maybe next time, you should think about televising the tie.

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Today's Results

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SA Tennis Open (Johannesburg)

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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Kristof Vliegen, 6-4 6-1

David Ferrer def. Marcos Baghdatis, 7-5 6-2

Frederico Gil def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 7-6 (8-6) 6-3

Jeremy Chardy def. Sebastien de Chaunac, 7-6 (7-4) 6-3

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Movistar Open (Vina del Mar)

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Tommy Robredo def. Juan Ignacio Chela, 0-6 6-3 6-4

Jose Acasuso def. Sebastian Decoud, 6-4 6-2

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PBZ Zagreb Indoors (Zagreb)

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Marin Cilic def. Antonio Veic, 6-2 7-6 (8-6)

Jan Hernych def. Mischa Zverev, 5-4 retired

Viktor Troicki def. Sergiy Stakhovsky, 6-3 6-2

To 2011 And Beyond!

Well, well, well, Australian women's tennis. Maybe you are not as hopeless as you have been made out to be in the past. After sweeping Korea on the first day on competition, the girls have just made another clean one of Thailand, with Dokic and Stosur winning the singles and then Dellacqua and Stubbs finishing it off in the doubles. How 'bout that, eh? How 'bout that?

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I mean, of course, Australia is in a really low group right now - the Asia/Oceania group - and we have to win the final to have a chance to get into World Group 2, the group below the World Group proper. The earliest we could compete for the actual Fed Cup is 2011, when one has to think Dokic and Stosur will be a leeeeeetle past their prime. But I suppose we do have players like Isabella Holland, Monica Wejnert and Olivia Rogowska coming up...

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It's just really nice to see the girls doing well. Jelena cruised in her match, winning it 6-1 6-2, but the day belonged to Stosur, who came back from a set and 5-2 down to beat Tamarine Tanasugarn (who is actually ranked higher than she is) to win the tie. She won eleven straight games. Now that's pretty sweet.

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And then, in other Australian tennis news, I think Jarmila Gajdosova is 100% definitely an Australian citizen now - she just got married to Sam Groth. The new Mrs. Groth (who is going by Groth now) really troubled Victoria Azarenka in Brisbane - and actually could be another good addition to the Fed Cup squad one day. And we all know how Scary Sam played Davis Cup for Oz last year against Chile... and I didn't even know they were dating. Guess you learn something new every day.

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Today's Results

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SA Tennis Open (Johannesburg)

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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Denis Istomin, 6-1 6-4

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Leonardo Mayer, 6-4 7-5

Jeremy Chardy def. Marco Chiudinelli. 6-4 6-4

Kristof Vliegen def. Ivo Minar, 6-4 6-1

Frederico Gil def. Rik de Voest, 4-6 7-5 6-4

Sebastien de Chaunac def. Izak Van Der Merwe, 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 7-6 (7-5)

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Movistar Open (Vina del Mar)

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Tommy Robredo def. Brian Dabul, 6-3 7-6 (7-5)

Sebastian Decoud def. Agustin Calleri, 7-6 (7-3) 7-5

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PBZ Zagreb Indoors (Zagreb)

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Sergiy Stakhovsky def. Ivo Karlovic, 6-4 3-6 6-3

Jan Hernych def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-7 (7-9) 6-4 6-2

Mario Ancic def. Teimuraz Gabashvili, 6-1 6-1

Ivan Dodig def. Ernests Gulbis, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4

Mischa Zverev def. Victor Hanescu, 6-4 5-7 7-6 (9-7)

The Casey Case

I'd almost forgotten what it was like to have very little to write about. I mean, I could write about Roger Federer and how wonderful I think he is and how he'll get that fourteenth Slam for days on ends, but I doubt it would make particularly interesting reading. No, no, it is back to the week by week grind of the ATP tour - though I suppose when Fed Cup starts for the women at the end of the week that'll provide some subject matter. But for now...

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Blogging the tennis year kind of makes you realise that the tennis players have a point when they claim about the insanity of their scheduling. We, as serious fans, are obviously a little more educated in this area than your average 'oh, love, the tennis is on but so is the cricket what do we do?' type fan, but even then, we forget that the tennis played in the little tournaments is still tennis, just as gruelling as in the Slams. I mean, sure, it's not five sets, but it ain't no walk in the park.

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Now, I lied. I do have something to talk about. Fed Cup, because I just realised that it has in fact started, contrary to belief - and Australia have totally owned their tie against Korea! Go us! Sam Stosur did pretty well in her match, taking out Lee Ye-Ra 6-2 6-4, but Dokic had to be the real star, totally demolishing Lee Jin-A 6-0 6-3. Don't tell me we're going to see - shock - a resurgence in Australian women's tennis? Mon dieu!

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But tell you what - I feel really sorry for Casey Dellacqua. She would have been growing up when Dokic was in the news all the time with Damir and stuff - a junior, probably. Then, last year, she suddenly became the nation's golden girl with that fourth round run in the Australian Open, which also made her the nation's top singles player. Then what happens over the course of the year? Stosur gets better, overtakes her in the rankings. Dellacqua makes some reasonable showings at Slams but not THAT great. She totally falls to bits at Hopman Cup. Then her Fed Cup singles spot gets given to Dokic, previously one of the nation's most hated sportspeople, who has now usurped that role as tennis's golden girl, because she went one round better at the Open this year than Casey did last year. And Casey? Demoted to doubles duty. Presumably only because Stosur was playing singles.

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So, yeah, you've got to feel for her. Not that Dokic hasn't deserved any of this - or Stosur either - but it must be a bit depressing for our Case.

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Today's Results

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SA Tennis Open

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Sebastien de Chaunac def. Marcel Granollers, 7-5 7-6 (7-3)

Izak Van Der Merwe def. Benjamin Becker, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-3)

Marcos Baghdatis def. Raven Klaasen, 6-3 7-5

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Movistar Open (Vina del Mar)

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Pablo Cuevas def. Albert Montanes, 7-6 (7-2) 6-4

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PBZ Zagreb Indoors (Zagreb)

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Marin Cilic def. Florent Serra, 6-2 7-5

Antonio Veic def. Evgeny Korolev, 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Roko Karanusic, 6-7 (6-8) 6-1 7-6 (7-3)

Victor Hanescu def. Lovro Zovko, 6-3 7-5

What I Did On My Holidays

Well, I'm now returned from my travels in the land of tennis, and I miss it already. I would have given just about anything to get arena seats for tonight, but no cigar, so I changed my flight to this afternoon instead of some ridiculous hour tomorrow morning so I could watch it on TV - and also get some sleep!

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Therefore, I only got in a couple of hours at the tennis today... I got there early and watched Ferrer hit up - until Djokovic turned up to hit with him, at which point I left. I mosied around, took some atmospheric photos, then went and snagged a good seat in Margaret Court Arena, where I watched the Petrova/Voskoboeva match - which was one (one-sided) set, lasting until Voskoboeva retired. I wasn't that disappointed, because the next match up was Cilic/Ferrer, and that meant I got to see more of it. I got to see the first set, as it happens - and man, was I impressed with Cilic's form! He's got game, that boy!

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Then I had to leave to get my plane, which was a good thing, as it happens, because I missed getting caught up in that riot (not by that long - it kind of sends shivers down my spine about how close it could have been.) As far as I know, Australia is the only country in which there have been racial riots at the tennis - we had the infamous pepper spray incident of last year, and now this chair-throwing one. For me - even though I will freely admit to cheering my lungs out for Dokic and Tomic this week - tennis is a global sport, that transcends nationality in many ways... it just makes me so sad that these things happen, and they happen here.

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But the fact that people come out and support their countries, loudly and vocally and sometimes with chairs, is just one thing I have learned by going to the tennis. Sitting next to some screaming Serbians yelling out, 'OOO-OOO, AAH-AAH, SRBIJA, SRBIJA!' is just part and parcel of the tennis experience. People scream, people yell, and sometimes people don't shut up. I've always thought of tennis as a sport with a real etiquette - there are very specific times when you have to shut up - and though there was large amounts of respect for that, the loudness of the fans is incongruous sometimes. It's not bad - it's just not what I was expecting.

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Another thing I learned at the tennis is that if you're going to be serious about it and get the five day ground pass and the arena night tickets, you have to be prepared to sacrifice some sleep - and you also have to be really, really fit if you're going to do it in the Melbourne heat! Because there is no shade (pretty much) at Melbourne Park, and to keep going day after day in 35+ degree heat takes some fitness. Luckily, I have some of that, but nothing can take away the heat and the amount you sweat. But it's all worth it, if you can elbow your way to the front of a Federer practice. It's worth sacrificing any amount of sleep to see the matches that I have seen this week. At night, I saw Dellacqua, Federer, Stosur, Nadal, Dokic, Tomic, Murray and that epic Venus/Suarez Navarro upset. I wouldn't change that for anything. You can bet your bottom dollar I'll be back again next year. I wish I was there now. It must have been amazing to see Dokic pull out that incredible win, and then be treated to a masterclass by the Federer Express.

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Let's talk about those matches, because they were both great in their way. How about Jelena Dokic? There are just not words to describe what a phenomenal comeback this has been. No one seriously considered her a shot to beat Caroline Wozniacki (whom, by the way, the Aussie Open official program speculates is dating Rafa Nadal - first I've heard of that! I bet Xisca's not happy!) and when she lost the first set, I don;t think anyone would have picked it at all. Wozniacki is the eleventh seed - and then Dokic stepped it up and pulled it out. It was triumphant. It was incredible. And it really warmed the cockles of my heart to see how proud her coach and her boyfriend (who are, I believe, brothers) are of her. It's so lovely to see her with a healthy, functional support team - and it can only get better. She offered an apology to Tennis Australia for her past behaviour in her post-match speech, and if there was anything left to forgive, I think it's forgiven now.

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And Jelena is no Casey Dellacqua, who, although she's not a bad player, kind of got to the fourth round on adrenaline and flukish form. Jelena has serious, long-proven skill. There was never any way Casey was going to beat Jankovic last year. Dokic could have beaten her prospective opponent, Ivanovic, in my opinion - but now that Ivanovic is gone (another major upset alert!) her chances of progressing might be even greater. She plays Alisa Kleybanova, the big-hitting Russian. She has nothing to lose. Who says Jelena can't go well, go deeper?

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And then the Federer match. I am very sad Safin is out - he played some lovely tennis, and didn't deserve to be booted so easily - but to see Federer in full flight, winning his third round match with ease, never once facing a break point... after the third round near-fiasco of last year against Tipsarevic, I couldn't ask for more. Except for Marat to be in the other half of the draw, where I could happily cheer for him against anyone.

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Today's Results

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Australian Open

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Marat Safin, 6-3 6-2 7-6 (7-5)

Novak Djokovic def. Amer Delic, 6-2 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

Marin Cilic def. David Ferrer, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 6-4

Andy Roddick def. Fabrice Santoro, 6-3 6-4 6-2

Juan Martin del Potro def. Gilles Muller, 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 6-3 7-5

Tomas Berdych def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 4-6 6-1 6-3 6-4

Tommy Robredo def. Yen-Hsun Lu, 6-1 6-3 6-2

Marcos Baghdatis def. Mardy Fish, 6-2 6-4 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Jelena Jankovic def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-4 6-4

Dinara Safina def. Kaia Kanepi, 6-2 6-2

Alisa Kleybanova def. Ana Ivanovic, 7-5 6-7 (5-7) 6-2

Vera Zvonareva def. Sara Errani, 6-4 6-1

Nadia Petrova def. Galina Voskoboeva, 6-1 retired

Jelena Dokic def. Caroline Wozniacki, 3-6 6-1 6-2

Alizé Cornet def. Daniela Hantuchova, 4-6 6-4 6-2

Marion Bartoli def. Lucie Safarova, 3-6 6-2 6-1

That Electric Feel

Here I am in an Internet cafe in Melbourne, spending my hard-earned money so I can blog about my experiences. I hope you're all grateful!

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I got to Melbourne Park yesterday a little after eleven, so all the matches had just started. Last year I spent a lot of time hanging out round the practice courts trying to catch big names close up, so this year I promised myself I would actually watch some proper matches during the day. So when I got there, I did a quick trawl round all the courts... and, yes, I did stop at courts fifteen and sixteen and watch some practicing, because there were two big names out - Djokovic on court fifteen (whom I only paused to watch so I could take a commemorative photograph... and because Tipsarevic was on court too) and Nadal on court sixteen, whom I watched for a little while. Anyway, then I sat down in Margaret Court Arena and watched the second set of Vera Zvonareva against Magdalena Rybarikova - the set in which Vera bagelled Magdalena. So a real long set.

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Then I got up and left, and I really wish I hadn't, because I tried to get back in to see some of the Tomic/Starace match and there was not a seat to be found! I was very sad - you know how I like ranting on about Tomic. That has to be the big surprise result of yesterday, considering the lack of other upsets - a sixteen year old kid ranked #800 odd winning big over a top #100 player. It'll be interesting to see how Bernard progresses from here... me, I feel sorry for Starace. It must be a bit embarrassing being beaten by a kid who is basically about twelve.

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I wandered round a bit more and caught the second two sets of Stan Wawrinka against Ivo Minar out on court nineteen. This was actually a really good match - Minar played really well, so it took Stan four to beat him. There were a lot of Federer fans there (noticeable by their Fed shirts!) and they were all cheering for Stan a lot, which I thought was sweet... though I don't know if Stan appreciates having fans simply because he comes from the same country as Roger, but what gives, eh? There were also a lot of Swiss people there, and pretty much everyone, except for a devoted five in one corner, was cheering for Stan. It was really nice.

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I wanted to catch the Cilic match after that, but I had to go back into the city and check into my hostel... stupid late check in times. When I got back, there were literally about two hundred people waiting around an empty court sixteen. The Fed Squad was out in full, so I figured they must be waiting for him. And we waited... and waited... and he didn't show. Which was sad.

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And then being in Rod Laver Arena at night was such a special experience! The only other time I've seen an Aussie play was when I saw Guccione against Tursunov in the final of the Medibank last year, and I was pulling against the crowd then. It was really nice this time to be supporting one of our own! It was such an electric ripple that went through the crowd when they announced, 'and, representing Australia, Casey Dellacqua!' It made all the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

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I do confess, however, that when Casey lost a HEARTBREAKING first set tiebreaker, I was kind of pulling for her to lose the second as well, because it was getting late and I wanted to see Federer before I inevitably collapsed of exhaustion. (Did I mention it was really, really hot? I have never sweated so much in my life. And looks like it's going to be worse today...) Hantuchova, thankfully, wrapped it up in two, and there was only a very short hiatus until the Man himself came out - and he was received with exactly the same warmth as Casey Dellacqua. He really is a favourite wherever he goes. He has transcended nationality, in some respects.

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I was really nervous - who wouldn't be? - but Roger put my nerves to rest with a beautiful first set, at which he served at 73% and pulled off what has to be one of the most amazing shots of all time to conclude a very amazing rally - a down the line pass behind his back and above his head. Seppi just couldn't compete with that. The first set took about four seconds, but then Roger reeled it in a bit and the second two were much tighter. Seppi had a couple of chances - he even had a set point in the second set - but he never looked like losing. Federer was never behind in the breaker and then he broke Seppi in the last game of the match to win it.

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It was such a privilege and an honour to see him play. I can't express it any better than that. And he handled the crowd really well - and he's really funny! His post-match interview with Jim Courier was hilarious!

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Anyway, my time runs out - so catch you all tomorrow morning!

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Today's Results

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Australian Open

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Andreas Seppi, 6-1 7-6 (7-4) 7-5

Andy Roddick def. Bjorn Rehnquist, 6-0 6-2 6-2

Novak Djokovic def. Andrea Stoppini, 6-2 6-3 7-5

Juan Martin del Potro def. Mischa Zverev, 6-3 6-4 6-2

Marat Safin def. Ivan Navarro, 6-3 6-3 6-4

David Nalbandian def. Marc Gicquel, 6-1 4-6 6-2 6-3

Bernard Tomic def. Potito Starace, 7-6 (7-5) 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (8-6)

Marcos Baghdatis def. Julien Benneteau, 6-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Evgeny Korolev def. Carlos Moya, 6-3 6-1 7-6 (9-7)

Mardy Fish def. Sam Groth, 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 7-5 6-0

Tomas Berdych def. Robby Ginepri, 6-4 6-4 6-3

Viktor Troicki def. Alberto Martin, 6-3 3-6 6-2 6-4

Janko Tipsarevic def. Oscar Hernandez, 4-6 6-1 6-3 4-6 6-0

Fabrice Santoro def. Juan Carlos Ferrero, 6-3 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-2

Brydan Klein def. Bjorn Phau, 6-4 6-3 4-6 6-3

Gilles Muller def. Feliciano Lopez, 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 4-6 16-14

Philipp Kohlscheiber def. Sam Querrey, 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 6-2

David Ferrer def. Denis Gremelmayr, 6-1 6-7 (6-8) 6-1 6-7 (4-7) 6-4

Amer Delic def. Taylor Dent, 6-4 3-6 406 6-3 6-4

Brian Dabul def. Philipp Petzschner, 6-1 6-2 6-4

Simone Bolelli def. Kristof Vliegen, 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-3) 7-5

Dominik Hrbaty def. John Isner, 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 6-2 7-5

Robin Soderling def. Robert Kendrick, 5-7 6-4 6-4 7-5

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Jarkko Nieminen, 6-2 4-1 retired

Jeremy Chardy def. Marcos Daniel, 6-4 6-4 6-1

Florian Mayer def. Lamine Ouahab, 6-2 6-1 6-2

Tommy Robredo def. Bobby Reynolds, 6-2 7-5 6-1

Yen-Hsun Lu def. Thomaz Bellucci, 6-3 7-5 6-4

Marin Cilic def. Kevin Anderson, 6-3 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 6-3

Stanislas Wawrinka def. Ivo Minar, 6-1 2-6 7-5 7-6 (11-9)

Xavier Malisse def. Michael Llodra, 7-6 (10-8) 6-1 6-1

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Agustin Calleri, 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 6-0

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Women's Draw

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Jelena Jankovic def. Yvonne Meusburger, 6-1 6-3

Dinara Safina def. Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-3 6-4

Ana Ivanovic def. Julia Goerges, 7-5 6-3

Vera Zvonareva def. Magdalena Rybarikova, 7-6 (7-2) 6-0

Nadia Petrova def. Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-3 7 6 (7-3)

Caroline Wozniacki def. Shahar Peer, 6-3 6-2

Alizé Cornet def. Mariya Koryttseva, 6-3 6-4

Marion Bartoli def. Melanie South, 6-2 6-4

Anna Chakvetadze def. Anne Keothavong, 6-1 6-7 (4-7) 6-1

Daniela Hantuchova def. Casey Dellacqua, 7-6 (13-11) 6-4

Galina Voskoboeva def. Agnes Szavay, 6-3 3-6 6-4

Lucie Safarova def. Sybille Bammer, 6-3 6-1

Kaia Kanepi def. Kimiko Date Krumm, 6-4 4-6 8-6

Ai Sugiyama def. Stéphanie Dubois, 6-0 7-6 (7-5)

Sara Errani def. Maria Kirilenko, 6-0 6-4

Alisa Kleybanova def. Sofia Arvidsson, 7-5 7-5

Tsvetana Pironkova def. Karolina Sprem, 6-0 6-4

Ekaterina Makarova def. Aravane Rezai, 1-6 7-5 6-4

Monica Niculescu def. Katie O'Brien, 6-4 6-4

Edina Gallovits def. Maria Elena Camerin, 6-3 2-6 6-3

Karin Knapp def. Monika Wejnert, 7-6 (8-6) 6-4

Mathilde Johansson def. Jill Craybas, 6-2 1-6 7-5

Marina Erakovic def. Petra Cetkovska, 6-4 7-5

Nathalie Dechy def. Viktoriya Kutuzova, 6-3 6-0

Virginia Ruano Pascual def. Mariana Duque Marino, 6-3 6-2

Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 6-3 6-4

Sania Mirza def. Marta Domachowska, 6-1 6-4

Kirsten Flipkens def. Rossana de los Ríos, 6-3 6-2

Patricia Mayr def. Julia Schruff, 6-4 6-1

Andrea Petkovic def. Kathrin Woerle, 5-7 7-6 (7-0) 4-0 retired

Alberta Brianti def. Yanina Wickmayer, 6-4 6-2

Jelena Dokic def. Tamira Paszek, 6-2 3-6 6-4

Swiss Misters

Anyone who was in doubt, doubt no more. Roger Federer is here in Australia, and he means business.

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I only caught the last four games of the Kooyong final yesterday (damn gainful employment!) but that was all I needed to catch to catch the message. He played absolutely beautiful tennis against Stan Wawrinka yesterday - no quarter was asked, no quarter given - and I fail to see how anyone could doubt his ability, or call him washed up and on the way out. Has anyone ever played tennis like he has? He played some shots that were absolutely INSANE - did anyone see that hooking crosscourt forehand winner he made off a Stan serve? He put such work on the ball that it kicked up into about Row F. Stan had no hope of touching it. It was beautiful.

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I know I'm biased - I am a massive Roger fan, after all, and I'm hardly shy about admitting it! - but seriously, he's the best that ever lived. I think people realise that as well - the very fact that they call him finished after a year in which he won four titles, reached three Grand Slam finals and a semi and won Olympic gold shows that. For anyone else, that would be a career year of insane proportions. For Roger, substandard. We are already judging him against a different yardstick than we judge anyone else of the era.

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But we can't leave Stan out either - even though the scoreline belies it, he didn't play bad tennis. He's got some lovely shots, does Little Brother. I love the way he plays into the corners - he can get some real whip. He simply got outplayed yesterday. I very much look forward to seeing another match up between the two Swiss Misters in the fourth round at the Open! It's a bit sad that Stan (and Marat!) are in that section of the draw... normally, I'd be gunning for them to go real deep, but I never pull against the inexorable Federer!

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The schedule of the first day of the Open just came out. Months ago, I bought my tickets - a five day ground pass for the first five days and Rod Laver Arena tickets for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. Guess who is on Rod Laver on Monday night? The opener is Casey Dellacqua against Daniela Hantuchova (which, with the way Casey is playing currently, should take about four seconds... sorry, Casey, but it's true!) followed by Andreas Seppi versus the Great Man. And I'll be there, cheering the Fed Express on!

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Onto another final - one about which I can probably talk more sanely, due to the lack of gushing! The Medibank final was a really good match. The last time Nalbandian and Nieminen met, Dave walked all over Jarkko (2 and 1, I think.) But this one was much tighter - the breaker in the second set was positively nailbiting! Nieminen is in the best form I have seen him in for some time. He could potentially meet Djokovic a few rounds in at the Open, and I would love to see another upset!

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And Nalbandian... look, you can what you like about his personality (though he was very effusive and quite funny in his champion's speech) but the guy is a seriously classy tennis player. You know how some tennis players are good, but not classy? (Federer probably being the epitome of class, if you want a standard to measure it against.) Nalbandian has serious class. He is very interesting to watch play, and he played some lovely balls last night... it's going to be interesting to see how he goes at the Open!

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Oh, and Juan Martin del Potro beat Sam Querrey in Auckland. Quel surprise. And both Peter Luczak and Marija Mirkovic lost in the final round of qualifying... which is actually really sad. This is the first Open Mr Milkshake has missed in seven or eight years. We'll miss you, Pete!

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Today's Results

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AAMI Classic (Kooyong)

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Roger Federer def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-1 6-3

Fernando Verdasco def. Fernando Gonzalez, 6-4 6-3

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Medibank International (Sydney)

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David Nalbandian def. Jarkko Nieminen, 6-3 6-7 (9-11) 6-2

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Heineken Open (Auckland)

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Juan Martin del Potro def. Sam Querrey, 6-4 6-4