That Time Again

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

Ahem.

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

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

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

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

The Hopman Privilege

It is so, so good to have tennis back on television - it almost makes you forget how much you love the sport when you don't see it for so long. And for the tennis viewing year to start off with such a tournament as the Hopman Cup... it is truly a privilege, not a chore, to be a blogger then.

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Yesterday we had the first tie of the tournament, France versus Chinese Taipei. France, as one might expect, won the tie - it was a 3-0 whitewash - but Chinese Taipei did not shame themselves. It was the same team as they had last year, and, like last year, I found both of their players very intriguing.

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Let's start with Hsieh Su-Wei, their female player. She is seriously one of the most unusual players to watch, because she plays with two hands off both sides. Seriously, who has a two-handed forehand? I can't think of anyone apart from Seles, and that's going back a while. But that's not to say that Hsieh's game is somehow stunted. Her serve isn't exactly going to rock anyone's world, but one thing I really like is the way she plays at net - she has reactions of steel. She copped a few massive bodyshots from Gilles Simon during the mixed doubles yesterday, and she gave as good as she got. I also really like the way she can just chuck a dropshot into a rally at any given moment... she may not have beaten Alize Cornet yesterday, but she sure made her run - poor Alize, straight off the plane from France, had some thinking to do!

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And Lu Yen-Hsun really gave an excellent account of himself to Gilles Simon, especially in the second set - he is just a lovely player to watch. He had a victory over Andy Murray last year and you can see why: kid's got some serious flair. Simon was just a bit too much for him yesterday, but I think we're definitely going to see Lu come up the rankings a bit more this year. I'm calling top fifty - anyone going to gainsay me?

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But all credit must go to the French team - especially in the mixed doubles, where it was pretty clear they had no idea what they were doing at the beginning, especially Gilles Simon, but they picked it up quick smart. I've always enjoyed watching Alize Cornet play, but despite Simon cracking the top ten, I can't remember ever seeing him play before, and it was a joy. You can see why he posted victories over the three big boys last year - he has a really stylish game. He is really, really quick round the court - he got to some fabulous droppers from Lu Yen-Hsun - and he can crack that ball as well as anyone. I look forward to seeing him play again this week - it was really a pleasure.

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And how 'bout that Andy Murray taking out Rafa in Abu Dhabi? I had my doubts about the whole Big Four thing, but I am seriously coming round. Actually, I'm going to stick to Big Three - I reckon Murray could take Djokovic's spot, and I think the Australian Open is thus going to be very interesting, because Murray has everything to gain (he lost first round last year) whereas Djokovic has everything to lose...

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Today's Results

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Capitala World Tennis Championships (Abu Dhabi)

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Andy Murray def. Rafael Nadal, 6-4 5-7 6-3

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Harry Hopman Cup (Perth)

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France 3, Chinese Taipei 0

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Alize Cornet def. Hsieh Su-Wei, 6-4 6-4

Gilles Simon def. Lu Yen-Hsun, 6-3 7-6 (8-6)

Cornet/Simon def. Hsieh/Lu, 6-4 7-6 (11-9)

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Josh's Tennis Tips

Focus: Forehand

Today's Tip: Following Through and Angling

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When you hit a shot do you hit it as quick as you can? or do follow through and take it slow and calm? Well, you should take it calm and slow: step into the shot, and make the most of it.

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When you hit a shot, you should you angle your shot so you can hit just over the net but not too high. If you are hitting it high and lobbing the ball all the time, you're probably angling your racquet too much. Or you may be coming under the ball too much. To lift the ball, you should follow through as straight as possible.

Power play

My righteous anger over the Serena Williams/Meghann Shaughnessy debacle has abated a little - a bit of research shows that Shaughnessy is off to play the tournament in the Gold Coast next week, and dropped in to cover for Serena as a favour. But still, I think it's extremely poor form of Serena. Mild illness... forgive me, but that's hardly an impressive excuse.
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I actually sat down and watched a match from beginning to end today - the first for the '08 season! Jelena Jankovic versus Hsieh Su-Wei... it was actually really interesting. I like Jankovic and I like the way she plays but I was gunning for Hsieh from the start - not because she's an underdog and I'm wired to go for her (like all good Australians are supposed to be) but because she had this really unusual game that I found really appealing.
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Jankovic is 3 in the world. Hsieh is 157. Hsieh had nothing to lose - and she was really going for it, especially in the first couple of games. She was actually up an early break in the first, but then it was like she got all nervous when she was ahead. I don't think she was the strongest player mentally, but she had some great shots. She went for the corners and created some beautiful angles. And she had a few Clijsters/Jankovic-esque splits moments as well... though I have to say that I always wince whenever I see players doing that. It's like you can almost hear the muscles tearing. Actually, Djokovic did a couple of times in his match and it made my skin crawl. I'm not Djokovic's biggest fan, but it'd be really sad if he were to injure himself and put himself out of the Australian Open.
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But back to Hsieh Su-Wei. She's a tiny person - the commentators were discussing how much bigger and heavier that her Jankovic was, and how it must make such a huge difference in terms of power - and her serve had nothing on it. But she still hung in there really well. It reminded me of a first round match Maria Sharapova played last year - it might have been at the Australian Open, actually. She was playing this tiny little Frenchwoman, Camille Pin, and got taken to something like 8-6 or 9-7 in the third, and it was so obvious that Pin would have won if she had anything even vaguely resembling a serve. If Hsieh had a bigger serve... Jankovic still would have won, I think, but Hsieh would have been able to put her under much more pressure. A great serve combined with that ability to scramble... and she clearly has a decent strategic mind as well. At set point in the first (I think) she was serving, and she just randomly pulled out this serve and volley. It was great - and it caught Jankovic totally off guard. She changed it up really well - she had really soft hands for the finesse shots... a bit of a strange playing style though. Effectively, she had no forehand - her 'forehand' was a really a left-handed backhand. Considering the forehand is generally one of the biggest shots in the arsenal, that's got to be crippling.
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But you don't need to have the most power to be a great tennis player. Look at Martina Hingis.
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I didn't watch the men's match as closely, but it was great to see Lu Yen-hsun take Djokovic to three sets. Good on Chinese Taipei - they did themselves proud. Meanwhile, is it just me, or is Djokovic always injuring himself? I don't think I've ever seen a match where he hasn't called a medical timeout. I wonder if he's a) a hypochondriac, b) accident prone or c) faking it... he wouldn't be the first to do it.
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Today's Results
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Australia def. Czech Republic 2-1

Tomas Berdych def. Peter Luczak, 7-6 (9-7) 6-4
Molik/Luczak def. Safarova/Berdych, 7-5 6-3
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Serbia def. Chinese Taipei 3-0
Jelena Jankovic def. Hsieh Su-wei, 6-4 6-4
Novak Djokovic def. Lu Yen-hsun, 7-5 2-6 6-3
Jankovic/Djokovic def. Hsieh/Lu, 3-6 6-2 7-6 (10-8)
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France vs. Argentina 1-1
Tatiana Golovin def. Gisela Dulko, 6-4 6-3
Juan Ignacio Chela def. Arnaud Clement, 6-3 6-1