Tapping the Well in Indian Wells

Well, we've kept Nicolas Mahut (yay!) even though he has come down with some flu-y symptoms that led to him pulling out of doubles in Sarajevo. Here is hoping that he feels better, because if he's not going to play Indian Wells, I want him to win this whole damn tournament. He pulled out the win ove Roberto Batista-Agut today, and here's hoping he can do the same against Jan Hernych tomorrow.

This is especially because we've now lost the top two seeds, leaving Nico, at #3, the highest man standing. Dimitrov went out in the first round and then Kavcic followed him in the second, going down to Martin Fischer. Kavcic had a pretty big weekend of Davis Cup duty - he pretty much led Slovenia to victory - but then, Fischer wasn't exactly a slouch playing for Austria, so go figure. That is tennis. Sometimes you get weird results.

I really, really wish that Nico had gone to play Indian Wells qualies. I think he definitely would have had a great shot at qualifying. But it's all about points, points, points, and considering he dropped ten places last week, I guess I understand.

There are some familiar faces among the dudes that did qualify in Indian Wells, and three of them are Australian, which is a little bit awesome. Matt Ebden beat Izak van der Merwe to qualify, which is a good win, and he'll face Mischa Zverev in the first round, which is not the most unwinnable of matches. Ebden is 23, which seems a little late to be making a major breakthrough, but he has been playing better and better and better consistently over the last year or so. I think he can definitely break into the top hundred and results like these are good ways of getting there.

One dude who has been to the top hundred and is looking to get back is Chris Guccione, who also fought his way into the main draw. He beat a dude of whom I have never heard, but I wish I had, on account of he has an awesome name - Spain's Daniel Munoz-De La Nava (how is that not the name of a volcano or something like that? I love it.) Guccione hit 17 aces, which... wow. If he has that big lefty serve cranking, watch out world. He's drawn James Blake in the first round, which could be a very interesting match up indeed.

The last of the Aussie qualifiers, a man who has all the talent to be in the top hundred but sometimes not the consistency (but that's getting better), is Marinko Matosevic. He beat South African Raven Klaasen (another awesome name - this dude seems to be popping more and more in draws, so he must be on the improve), but has got arguably the toughest first round draw of the Aussie boys - he'll face Dr Ivo Karlovic, just a week after that record-breaking serve. If he can get a read on the serve, he has a chance, if not...

This is a great result for Australian tennis, having these three dudes go through. Also spare a thought for Greg Jones, who fell in the last round of qualies to Somdev Devvarman. None of these dudes are megastars, but they're good, quality players. Australian mens' tennis is not quite in the epic black hole everyone seems to think it is. The well is not as shallow as once it was.

One Step Short... Again

I would really, really be lying if I didn't say that I was disappointed.

Belgium was an eminently beatable opponent for Australia. But once again, we proved that we just really don't have the depth. Rochus, Darcis and Bemelmans really does not make a worldbeating Davis Cup team - nowhere close. But apparently Hewitt, Luczak and Ball... well, that's even worse.

It really highlights the dependency of the Australian team on Lleyton Hewitt, which is incredibly dangerous. Even if he'd been able to play, I don't think he would have had much success - he came so close to losing to Bemelmans that I really didn't see him coming through Rochus. But Luczak should have been able to make things happen. And Ball... well, I think people just expect a lot more of him than he's capable of, to tell the truth. He and Guccione make a great doubles team, but I just don't know if he's ever going to be any more than that.

Australia really can't rely on Lleyton. He's been so good for so long, but come on, the dude's been on his way down for years. We can't manufacture talent out of nowhere, but we need to stop pinning all our hopes on one guy so much - it's not fair to him. This is exactly what is going to happen to Bernard Tomic and Jason Kubler, if they ever make good on their respective immense talents - reliance, to the detriment of the squad. And then we're going to end up like the UK, losing to Lithuania.

I suppose there's nothing really you can do. If you don't have the players, you just don't have the players. And I think the venue decision was as smart as it possibly could have been - the hot, steamy conditions of Cairns should really have benefited the Australians. But it just didn't happen. Story of Davis Cup in Australia for a long time now.

Getting the Ball Rolling

I'd like to take a day's break from our quest for this year's Juan Martin del Potro to give a massive shoutout to the Aussie participants this week, who are batting well above their weight. Nice to see!

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First, we have Chris Guccione who was definitely in a winning position against Mardy Fish - he had match points, I do believe - before going down in a tight three sets. I have mixed feelings about this match - coming so close, I believe Gooch should have won - but Fish is ranked a long way above him, and so playing him so tight for three sets is an achievement in and off itself. If only Gooch could close out a little better... he has all the tools he needs to be a Karlovic-style menace, I just wish he'd bring it to the court a little more often.

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Then we have Samantha Stosur, who had a tremendous win over Serena in Stanford. That's right, Sam beat Serena. I think this is a bit of revenge for Sydney, where Sam had those match points and failed to convert. No such troubles this time. Stosur has really come into her own this year, ever since she made that semi at Roland Garros. She's making a charge towards the top ten - watch out! We haven't had a really bright star in women's tennis since the retirement of Molik, and I reckon Sam could be that girl. Onya, Sam!

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But then, lastly and most remarkably of all, we have Carsten Ball making the semis in LA. Now, previous to this tournament, I'd have to say I didn't rate Ball at all. I hadn't seen him play singles, but I'd seen him play doubles with Guccione, and I really wasn't that impressed with what I saw. Well, time to eat my words, because Ball clearly has a little somethin' somethin' going on. You don't reach a tour level final without a bit of jazz. Now I am totally prepared to become a Ball fan... even if it is only for the awesome punning opportunities his name affords me! So c'mon Carsten and make it to the final - do it for the puns... and the pundits.

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Yes, I really said that.

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Today's Results

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Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad (Gstaad)

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Igor Andreev def. Jeremy Chardy, 6-3 6-3

Thomaz Bellucci def. Nicolas Kiefer, 3-6 1-0 retired

Andreas Beck def. Victor Crivoi, 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Marcos Daniel def. Florent Serra, 6-4 7-6 (7-1)

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ATP Studena Croatia Open (Umag)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Simone Bolelli, 7-6 (12-10) 6-1

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Maximo Gonzalez, 7-5 6-2

Andreas Seppi def. Nicolas Massu, 6-4 6-4

Jurgen Melzer def. Ivan Ljubicic, 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

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LA Tennis Open (Los Angeles)

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Carsten Ball def. John Isner, 6-4 6-4

Leonardo Mayer def. Mardy Fish, walkover

Sam Querrey def. Dudi Sela, 6-3 7-5

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Bank of the West Classic (Stanford)

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Samantha Stosur def. Serena Williams, 6-2 3-6 6-2

Elena Dementieva def. Daniela Hantuchova, 6-2 6-4

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Istanbul Cup (Istanbul)

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Vera Dushevina def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-1 6-2

Andrea Petkovic def. Olga Govortsova, 6-3 6-3

Lucie Hradecka def. Marta Domachowska, 6-1 5-7 6-4

Timea Bacsinszky def. Urszula Radwanska, 6-0 6-1

The Tight Thai Tie

What a thrilling, down-to-the-wire tie the Australia/Thailand tie turned out to be! I think we've played them at this stage every year for at least the past three years, and we've beaten them 5-0 every time. This time... oh no!

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If there's one person who has consistently stepped up to the plate as far as Davis Cup is concerned, it's Lleyton Hewitt. But he got beaten at his own game today by a young Thai guy who was clearly on fire. Danai Udomchoke, the current world #155, took out Lleyton Hewitt in an epic five set struggle - 2-6 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-1. I don't think there's anyone in the world who would have picked that result - not over Hewitt, not in Davis Cup.

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Much as I am supporting the Aussie boys, hats off to you, Danai Udomchoke. That is a monumental effort and you should be very, very proud!

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That meant one of the other three Aussie boys had to step up and get it done against another fired-up Thai opponent, or risk going home on the losing end of a huge upset. That lot fell to Chris Guccione, and though I always go on about him being a serial underachiever, he really pulled it out. His big lefty serve was lethal and he got the job done in straights, handing the Aussie boys the tie, 3-2. Well done, boys.

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But the day belonged to Danai Udomchoke. I hope the Thai people a very proud of him!

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You know who I am proud of - not that anyone would have expected anything any different? Rafael Nadal, who just handed Novak Djokovic his arse in a sling. I love it when people do that to Djokovic. I find it profoundly hilarious. Because I'm mean like that. But I am sad Switzerland lost. Maybe next year, Roger.

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Today's Results

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Davis Cup

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Argentina 5, Netherlands 0

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Martin Vassallo Arguello def. Matwe Middelkoop, 6-2 6-4

Juan Ignacio Chela def. Thiemo de Bakker, 7-5 6-2

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Czech Republic 3, France 2

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Radek Stepanek def. Gilles Simon, 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 7-6 (7-0)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Jan Hernych, 6-2 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (7-0)

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Russia 4, Romania 1

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Dmitry Tursunov def. Victor Hanescu, 4-6 5-7 6-3 6-4 6-2

Teimuraz Gabashvili def. Victor Crivoi, 6-4 6-2

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Germany 3, Austria 2

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Nicolas Kiefer def. Jurgen Melzer, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 6-4

Stefan Koubek def. Christopher Kas, 6-2 6-3

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Spain 4, Serbia 1

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Rafael Nadal def. Novak Djokovic, 6-4 6-4 6-1

David Ferrer def. Victor Troicki, 6-0 6-3

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Croatia 5, Chile 0

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Roko Karanusic def. Guillermo Hormazabal, 7-5 6-3

Ivo Karlovic def. Hans Podlipnik-Castillo, 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

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Israel 3, Sweden 2

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Dudi Sela def. Thomas Johansson, 3-6 6-1 4-6 6-4 6-2

Harel Levy def. Andreas Vinciguerra, 6-4 4-6 6-4 3-6 8-6

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USA 3, Switzerland 1

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Andy Roddick def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-4 6-4 6-2

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Monterrey Open (Monterrey)

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Marion Bartoli def. Zheng Jie, 7-5 6-3

Li Na def. Iveta Benesova, 6-3 6-3

Making The Best

Australia doesn't have the world's best Davis Cup team. No arguments there. There's a reason we're not in the World Group at the moment - we just aren't competing at the right level yet. But my God, I think we make the best of what we've got.

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Team Captain John 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald has just named the lineup for our tie against Thailand - Lleyton Hewitt is going to open up the singles, with Brydan Klein to follow, then Chris Guccione and Carsten Ball are going to play in the doubles. I'm not an expert, but this seems like the best possible decision he could have made, if you ask me - the best possible deployment of resources.

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Guccione is the higher ranked singles player, sure, but he is a long-term underachiever, so I think Fitzy has definitely made the right choice putting Klein in. Not only is Klein pretty hot right now - he's won two Challengers and got to a semi - I think this will be pretty big for his confidence in the future. He opens up against Danai Udomchoke, the current Thai #1, and I think Klein will have his number. There is something to be said about playing and winning for one's country - look at Nando Verdasco! If Klein performs well here, I think it could be a great springboard into the rest of his career.

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Normally Lleyton Hewitt would have to double up and play doubles (Fitzy hailed him as the greatest Davis Cup servant of his generation, and though we all know that I don't really bat for the Lleyton team, I'm hardpressed to prove him wrong), but Guccione and Ball have had a lot of success as a pairing, including that memorable five-set win over the Chileans. Added to which, they'll be fresh. So often, only two or three players on a Davis Cup team actually play. I'm liking the four way deployment of the Aussie boys here. Nice one, Fitzy!

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Today's Results

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Monterrey Open (Monterrey)

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Zheng Jie def. Melinda Czink, 6-3 6-4

Gisela Dulko def. Mariya Koryttseva, 6-2 6-4

Lucie Safarova def. Maria Kirilenko, 6-4 4-1 retired

Li Na def. Petra Cetkovska, 6-3 6-4

Not Pictured

I saw something on Sunrise (Australian breakfast TV, for those of you not in the know) this morning that really demonstrated how much Australia cares about tennis. On the newsbar down the bottom, the following story flashed up: 'Lleyton Hewitt, Chris Guccione, Carsten Ball and Bryan Klein arrive in Bangkok for Davis Cup.'

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I'm sorry, but I've never heard of an Australian tennis player called 'Bryan' Klein.

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You see, this is indicative of how little awareness the average Aussie has of tennis. I bet hardly anyone even noticed. If they'd spelled a cricket player's name wrong, even a relatively minor one - Phil Jaques, for example - you can bet EVERYONE would notice, and I'm sure there'd be admonishing emails to the channel. But how many people do you think have noticed that Brydan Klein has been misnamed? The show's been on for about two hours now and no one seems to have picked it up...

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Sigh. I guess it is a little bit of a dream, hoping that tennis suddenly becomes huge in Australia. Playing it is big, but because we have no top players right now, there is very little knowledge of what's going on on a larger scale, except when the Aussie Open is on. I have a dream wherein the French Open is on free-to-air television. Unfortunately, this isn't looking likely.

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Today's Results

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Delray Beach International Tennis Championships (Delray Beach)

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Mardy Fish def. Evgeny Korolev, 7-5 6-3

The Curious Case of the Dangerous Worm

Whoa. The Worm seems to have it all going on at the moment. He may not have made such a good showing at the Aussie Open, getting crushed four, love and love by Nando Verdasco, but he's been doing well in the subsidiary tournaments. A title in Brisbane and now one in San Jose - defeating two hometown boys, Roddick in the semis and Fish in the final, along the way.

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What is it with the Worm? I've watched him play a number of times and I still can't quite figure out what makes him such a dangerous player. Because he is a dangerous player, as his results will attest - but watching him play, I cannot tell what facet of his game is the one that makes him dangerous. Does he leech off the spirits of his WTA-girlfriends, both of whom have become rubbish since they dated him? Or has he been defeating people with the power of his picnic-blanket shirt? Maybe I will never know.

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Some good results overnight for a) one of my favourite players, Dmitry Tursunov, who won his opener in Marseille (correct me if I'm wrong, but has he won this title before?) and b) an Aussie, Chris Guccione, who qualified for Memphis and then won his first round match, knocking off local Vince Spadea. I'm perpetually disappointed in Guccione so it's nice to have a bit of a change!

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Though speaking of Aussies I am not currently disappointed in, Brydan Klein has made it two from two on the satellite circuit this year - he won a Challenger event last week, and this year has walked away with a Futures title from Mildura. Useful rankings points - watch this space!

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And, because I was too busy writing about how wonderful Rafa is yesterday, I forgot to give a proper shout out to one of my Stars, who had a great week. Thomaz Bellucci lost a close match in the final of Costa do Sauipe to Tommy Robredo - a great showing. As a result, he's jumped twenty places in the rankings. Nice on, Thomaz!

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Now when is Ernests Gulbis going to reach a final, hmm? (No pressure, Ernests.)

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Oh, and nice work to Ana Ivanovic for conquering an Aussie Open demon and beating Alisa Kleybanova. Still a long way to go, but it's nice to see her taking it a step at a time.

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Today's Results

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SAP Open (San Jose)

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Radek Stepanek def. Mardy Fish, 3-6 6-4 6-2

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Regions Morgan Keenan Championships (Memphis)

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Men's Draw

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Chris Guccione def. Vince Spadea, 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-5)

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Women's Draw

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Lucie Safarova def. Melanie South, 6-2 6-2

Sabine Lisicki def. Ekaterina Bychkova, 6-3 6-3

Michaella Krajicek def. Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-1 6-4

Pauline Parmentier def. Julie Coin, 7-6 (8-6) 4-6 6-1

Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro def. Alexa Glatch, 6-3 6-3

Vania King def. Alexandra Stevenson, 6-2 7-6 (7-5)

Michelle Larcher de Brito def. Sofia Arvidsson, 6-2 6-0

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Copa Telmex (Buenos Aires)

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Brian Dabul def. Nicolas Devilder, 5-7 7-5 6-4

Juan Ignacio Chela def. Alberto Martin, 6-3 6-2

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Open 13 (Marseille)

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Dmitry Tursunov def. Teimuraz Gabashvili, 3-6 6-2 6-2

Jan Hernych def. Kristof Vliegen, 6-3 3-6 6-4

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Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships (Dubai)

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Elena Vesnina def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-4 3-6 6-0

Ana Ivanovic def. Alisa Kleybanova, 7-5 6-4

Urszula Radwanska def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-4 6-3

Alizé Cornet def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 6-4 6-1

Marion Bartoli def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-0 4-6 7-6 (8-6)

Dominika Cibulkova def. Sorana Cirstea, 6-4 6-2

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Andreja Klepac, 6-3 6-1

Ayumi Morita def. Anna Chakvetadze, 7-5 6-2

Alona Bondarenko def. Olga Govortsova, 6-4 6-3

Francesca Schiavone def. Casey Dellacqua, 6-1 6-1

Daniela Hantuchova def. Stefanie Voegele, 7-5 6-2

Samantha Stosur def. Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-4 6-3

Monica Niculescu def. Peng Shuai, 3-6 7-5 6-2

Virginie Razzano def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 7-5 6-2

Camille Pin def. Agnes Szavay, 2-6 6-2 6-3

Sania Mirza def. Ekaterina Makarova, 7-5 6-2

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Copa Sony Ericsson Colsanitas (Bogota)

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Edina Gallovits def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 6-2 6-2

Petra Cetkovska def. Sandra Zahlavova, 7-5 6-2

Boys From Oz

Doesn’t take long for the boss to get back on the horse, does it? Only ten days or so after his big win at the Aussie Open, he’s off in Rotterdam beating Bolelli and Dimitrov. Admittedly he’s looking a lot scratchier than he was in Melbourne, but no one can keep that level up. Not even the Rafabot.
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The Aussies, unlike Rafa, are not doing so well. We seem to have sorted out our problem with the Aussie girls – I think we’re looking pretty good with our Dokic/Stosur/Dellacqua assortment – but the boys? Um… Guccione and Hewitt both crashed out in San Jose pretty early. Hewitt has been a champion, but is, let’s face it, on the way out. He’s never going to get back into the top ten. And Guccione is just never going to that good, when it comes down to it. And that’s just the way it is.
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This is why when it comes to men’s tennis in Oz, we have to look to the future, because it looks a bit better. I don’t think anyone would gainsay the talent of Bernard Tomic (though they might gainsay the demeanour of his father… Damir mk. 2). And how about Brydan Klein? We should talk about him for a minute, because unlike our current ATP-level boys, he’s doing quite well. He won a Challenger title in Tassie last week, and now he’s defending his title at a Futures event in Mildura. I don’t think he has the raw ability of Tomic – Tomic could be a #1 player one day, and I doubt Klein will ever get that far – but he could be a bit of all right. That’s for sure.
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And I’d just like to finish with a shout-out to one of my Stars, who is holding his own pretty well this week. Check out Thomaz Bellucci, playing in Costa do Sauipe in his home country of Brazil. Could this be a breakout week for him?
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Today’s Results
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ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament (Rotterdam)
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Rafael Nadal def. Grigor Dimitrov, 7-5 3-6 6-2

Andy Murray def. Andreas Seppi, 7-6 (7-4) 7-5

Mario Ancic def. Gilles Simon, 6-4 3-6 6-3

Gael Monfils def. Michael Llodra, 6-4 6-4

Marc Gicquel def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-4 6-3
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Brasil Open (Costa do Sauipe)
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Nicolas Almagro def. Martin Vassallo Arguello (ARG) 64 64

Tommy Robredo def. Fabio Fognini (ITA) 62 62

Jose Acasuso def. Pablo Cuevas (URU) 63 62

Frederico Gil def. Marcel Granollers (ESP) 75 36 63

Eduardo Schwank def. Rui Machado (POR) 26 76(4) 76(6)

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Brian Dabul (ARG) 61 62

Thomaz Bellucci def. Lukasz Kubot (POL) 57 64 64

Alberto Martin def. Nicolas Devilder (FRA) 62 76(4)
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SAP Open (San Jose)
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Radek Stepanek def. Chris Guccione, 6-2 7-6 (7-1)

Tommy Haas def. Christophe Rochus, 6-2 7-5
Juan Martin Del Potro def. Andrea Stoppini, 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-5)

James Blake def. Vince Spadea, 6-3 6-4

Sam Querrey def. Marcos Baghdatis, 6-3 5-7 7-6 (7-5)

John Isner def. Ramon Delgado, 7-6 (11-9) 6-4
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Open GDF SUEZ (Paris)
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Serena Williams def. Karolina Sprem, 6-1 6-2

Jelena Jankovic def. Li Na, 6-0 3-6 6-2

Elena Dementieva def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-4 6-2

Alizé Cornet def. Daniela Hantuchova, 1-6 6-4 6-2

Amélie Mauresmo def. Monica Niculescu, 6-1 6-2
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PTT Pattaya Open (Pattaya City)
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Vera Zvonareva def. Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-4 6-4

Caroline Wozniacki def. Ksenia Pervak, 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 3-0 retired

Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Neuza Silva, 6-3 6-2

Shahar Peer def. Yuliya Beygelzimer, 6-4 6-1

Magdalena Rybarikova def. Ivana Lisjak, 6-4 2-6 6-2

Sania Mirza def. Vitalia Diatchenko, 6-4 6-0

No Repeat Performances

Well, we're not having a repeat of last year's final at the Medibank International. Chris Guccione is through on the strength of a really quite excellent performance against perennial underachiever Tomas Berdych, but Dmitry Tursunov is out. He didn't exactly get bundled out, but he went down in a tight two-setter to Richard Gasquet, who is looking better than I've seen him for a while. It's going to be interesting to see how that one works out for him.

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On the men's side, it was a good day for Australia - both Gooch and Hewitt are through. That Hewitt match was really good to watch - no matter what one might think of his personality, he's dynamic on court, and you have to admire his chutzpah. Julien Benneteau should be fiercely disappointed to lose that one. Another loser was Radek Stepanek, who did retire, yes, but who was being pummelled by Jeremy Chardy (a Star!) when he called it quits. He cites illness... I have my doubts. Mostly because I don't like him. Which is a fair enough reason. But good on Jeremy!

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Speaking of Stars, Ernests Gulbis is looking pretty decent over in Auckland over a good three-set win over Marcel Granollers, who is no slouch - he has a title to his name, and you don't get that by being a schlep. However, Ernests is going up against the #1 seed today, Juan Martin del Potro... can he upset two #1 seeds in consecutive tournaments? I like to think he can - here's hoping he does!

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And how dangerous is Dinara Safina looking over on the women's side? I wouldn't want to come up against her anytime soon. After pounding on Cirstea yesterday, she turned Vera Dushevina into mincemeat. (Ironically, Cirstea and Dushevina are doubles partners. They can share their woes together.)

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Meanwhile, more wildcards for the Aussie Open have been announced, and I have to say that I like their choices. Discretionary wildcards have been handed to Bernard Tomic, Sam Groth, Brydan Klein and Carsten Ball in the men's, and Monica Wejnert, Isabella Holland, Olivia Rogoswka and Jessica Moore in the women's. All young guns, all with potential. My goal is for one of these eight to win a match - actually, make it ten, we'll include Colin Ebelthite and Jelena Dokic, who won the playoffs. I have a particular feeling about Isabella Holland... she might just make good!

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Today's Results

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Medibank International (Sydney)

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Men's Draw

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Chris Guccione def. Tomas Berdych, 6-3 6-4

Janko Tipsarevic def. Mardy Fish, 6-4 3-6 6-4

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Andreas Seppi, 6-2 2-6 6-3

Lleyton Hewitt def. Julien Benneteau, 5-7 6-2 6-4

Jeremy Chardy def. Radek Stepanek, 6-4 3-0 retired

Richard Gasquet def. Dmitry Tursunov, 7-6 (7-4) 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Serena Williams def. Sara Errani, 6-1 6-2

Dinara Safina def. Vera Dushevina, 6-3 6-0

Elena Dementieva def. Jarmila Gajdosova, 6-2 6-4

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Kaia Kanepi, 6-2 2-6 7-6 (7-3)

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Daniela Hantuchova, 6-3 7-5

Caroline Wozniacki def. Melanie South, 6-2 6-0

Alizé Cornet def. Alisa Kleybanova, 7-6 (7-5) 6-1

Ai Sugiyama def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 2-6 6-1 6-2

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Heineken Open (Auckland)

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Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Dominik Hrbaty, 6-1 6-2

John Isner def. Albert Montanes, 7-6 (7-4) 7-5

Juan Monaco def. Victor Hanescu, 6-3 6-4

Gilles Muller def. Florent Serra, 6-3 6-4

Yen-Hsun Lu def. Steve Darcis, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Ernests Gulbis def. Marcel Granollers, 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-1

Bobby Reynolds def. Oscar Hernandez, 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 6-2

Marc Gicquel def. Agustin Calleri, 3-6 6-4 6-4

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Moorilla Hobart International (Hobart)

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Magdalena Rybarikova def. Flavia Pennetta, 7-5 6-3

Gisela Dulko def. Zheng Jie, 6-3 6-3

Petra Kvitova def. Alona Bondarenko, 6-2 6-1

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Carla Suárez Navarro, 6-4 6-1

Iveta Benesova def. Mara Santangelo, 6-3 6-1

Virginie Razzano def. Anne Keothavong, 4-6 6-0 7-5

Melinda Czink def. Urszula Radwanska, 4-2 retired

Tsvetana Pironkova def. Olga Govortsova, 6-1 6-2

The World Below The Surface

It's rather hard to write about tennis when there's no tennis to write about. I'm going to have to think about how to manage Tennis From The Backseat while we're in the off-season - it seems a little extravagant to write about tennis every day when there's no tennis to write about! But the blog will keep going strong into the New Year, bringing us back to where we started - the Australian tennis summer, my favourite swing of the tour (for obvious reasons.)

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Tennis Australia has also realised the dearth of stuff to write about now everyone's on holiday - but instead of writing about the Davis Cup final like normal people, they've done a list of how the Australians have been doing this week. No one's been playing on any of the major tours, but in Challengers and stuff there've been quite a few active. Let's have a look at the men's singles highlights (this list had no women on it anywhere. Are there just no women's events this week? We don't suck that badly.)

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*Chris Guccione reached the semifinal at the ATP Challenger event in Jersey, Great Britain.

*Carsten Ball was a quarterfinalist at the ATP Challenger event in Champaign, USA.

*Steven Goh qualified and reached the quarterfinal at the ITF Futures event in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

*Zachary Van Min qualified at the ITF Futures event in Queretaro, Mexico.

*Matt Reid reached the quarterfinal at the ITF Futures event in Honolulu, USA.

*Isaac Frost qualified at the ITF Futures event in Honolulu, USA.

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Reading lists like these, it makes you realise just how hard tennis is, particularly for the kids starting out. There's this whole tennis pantheon of celebrities - your Federers and Nadals and Safins and so forth - but underneath it all is this seething mass of people dying for a chance. Chris Guccione is ranked in the top hundred and he's still losing in Challenger events. That top echelon is really pretty damn small, when you think about it. Imagine if you play all your life and you get to about #200. Out of three billion or so people, #200 is pretty damn good - but in tennis terms, that's nothing of anything. Some minor Challenger or Futures victories, maybe... a lifetime on the pro circuit. You're good, but not quite good enough.

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Tennis isn't like music - it's not like lurking down in the #300s is some brilliant player who simply has to be discovered and will shoot straight to #1, winning umpteen Aria awards or whatever along the way. The guys in the top echelon are genuinely the best - because they beat everyone else. If there's one thing you can say about tennis, it's that the people at the top genuinely deserve to be there. (Except maybe Djokovic. Because I don't like him. The last two years have been a massive fluke, mark my words.) It must be so incredibly tough to be one of the little guys, schlepping away in Challengers and Futures, knowing that there is no quick fix. There's only hard work, a lot of it - and even then, you might not still be good enough. The guys ahead of you are just that little bit more talented, have those few extra shots... and though you can get a long way by hard work, sometimes it's just not enough.

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Taking that into consideration, it's amazing that the guys at the top aren't total tosspots with egos the size of Mt Isa (apparently the biggest city in the world in terms of space. Just so my imagery makes sense.) They are the best of the best of the best - because there are a whole lotta tennis players, and they've beaten them all. So congratulations, Roger and Rafa, for being genuinely nice guys.

Nothing To Sneeze At

3-2 is definitely nothing to be ashamed of. Well done, Australians. You did good. Your achievement ain't nothing to sneeze at.

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To be fair, there was never a situation where it was 2-2 - Gonzalez beat Guccione and then the last rubber was a dead one, but the team performed much better than I thought they would, and Carsten Ball totally won that last rubber. Good on him. Meanwhile, so much for all that competition for the last spot in the team - Robert Smeets never saw any court time. But we did much better than could be expected. Next year, perhaps, we can make it back into the world group. We certainly dominated the Asia-Oceania division this year - poor Thailand. It's only a matter of time. And you just wait till Bernard Tomic grows up. You just wait.

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My Spain/Argentina final is coming to pass, and I am quite excited about it. Finally, I might have the opportunity to find out what happens when you put Rafael Nadal and David Nalbandian on the court together! You've got to like Spain to win the tie, but when you have GoodDave and the scorching hot del Potro on your team, ain't nobody will gainsay you. It's going to be reeeeeeeally interesting.

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Nalbandian lost his first Davis Cup match of the year, going down to Davydenko. I actually thought he would pull that one out, so I was a bit surprised. What is going on with Headbandian at the moment? He has been playing well below his level all year. He must be nearly out of the running for the Tennis Masters Cup. Del Potro has a better shot than him right now. Silly LameDave.

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And how 'bout that Rafa Nadal? Your decision to skip the Olympics really helped you there, Andy Roddick. This guy won them, and the French, and Wimbledon, and about forty-seven other titles in between, and still had enough energy to kick your arse. Rafa really is... well, he's just good, isn't he? I always forget just how good he is until I watch him. He's got some game. You know, just a bit. Enough to get him to #1 in the world while the best player in the history of the game is still about.

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And then Fidgiano beat Sam Querrey, just to put the nail in the coffin. Alas, poor USA. They never really had a chance. Much like Australia.

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But someone who did have a big chance, and then made good on it, was Dinara Safina, who put an absolute beatdown on Svetlana Kuznetsova. That's three Tier I titles this year. How good is this girl? I am gunning for her bigtime in the Australian Open next year. I was at her first round match this year, where she played awfully and lost to Sabine Lisicki. That player is not the same player as the one we're seeing now. It's only a matter of time before Dinara wins a Grand Slam - and I think Australia might be a great time for it. I would love her to win in Doha this year, and who would bet against her? Who could stop her? Serena, maybe, but I can't see Ivanovic or Jankovic or Dementieva being able to do too much in the face of the Safina freight train. Davai Dinara!

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Today's Results

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Davis Cup Semi Finals

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Argentina 3, Russia 2

Nikolay Davydenko def. David Nalbandian, 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 6-0

Juan Martin del Potro def. Igor Andreev, 6-4 6-2 6-1

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Spain 4, USA 1

Rafael Nadal def. Andy Roddick, 6-4 6-0 6-4

Feliciano Lopez def. Sam Querrey, 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-4)

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Davis Cup Playoffs

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Chile 3, Australia 2

Fernando Gonzalez def. Chris Guccione, 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 6-3

Carsten Ball def. Paul Capdeville, 6-3 7-6 (7-3)

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Austria 3, Great Britain 2

Andy Murray def. Jurgen Melzer, 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-1

Alexander Peya def. Alex Bogdanovic, 2-6 6-4 6-4 6-2

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Switzerland 4, Belgium 1

Stephane Bohli def. Steve Darcis, 6-3 1-6 6-3

Xavier Malisse def. Yves Allegro, 6-3 6-2

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Croatia 4, Brazil 1

Ivo Karlovic def. Thomaz Bellucci, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-4)

Roko Karanusic def. Thiago Alves, 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 7-6 (7-5)

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Israel 4, Peru 1

Dudi Sela def. Luis Horna, 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 6-1 6-2

Noam Okun def. Ivan Miranda, 6-4 5-7 6-3

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Netherlands 3, Korean Republic 2

Hyung-taik Lee def. Jesse Huta Galung, 1-6 6-1 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Thiemo de Bakker def. Woong-jun Sun, 6-2 6-1 6-3

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Romania 4, India 1

Victor Hanescu def. Prakash Amritraj, 6-2 6-3 6-1

Victor Crivoi def. Somdev Devvarman, 4-6 7-5 6-3

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Serbia 4, Slovak Republic 1

Victor Troicki def. Lucas Lacko, 6-3 6-4

Filip Polasek def. Janko Tipsarevic, walkover

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Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo)

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Dinara Safina def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-1 6-3

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TOE Life Ceramics Guangzhou International Women's Open (Guangzhou)

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Vera Zvonareva def. Peng Shuai, 6-7 (4-7) 6-0 6-2

Miracle Territory

We have a point! A whole one! I don't know if I've ever been so pleased by an Australian tennis result in my life. Trust me to only get behind my country when we have absolutely no chance of winning. But still! a point! A whole, entire point! Yay! Good work, Guccione and Ball!

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That said, we are still going to lose - I can envision no universe in which Gonzalez loses to Guccione. But Luczak has the capability of beating Massu if he plays well, and 3-2 ain't nothing to be ashamed of. Hell, we avoided being whitewashed 5-0 - there should be dancing in the streets anyway!

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Tennis Australia described the win as 'miraculous' and I do not disagree. We will need a miracle to win this tie - and I don't think it'll be delivered. Nonetheless, we took our first baby steps into miracle territory. Even though we're not very good, I find this Davis Cup team so exciting. Give it a few years, and we are going to rock the tennis house.

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Surprisingly few teams closed out their ties today - Switzerland and Serbia were the only ones. If Federer and Wawrinka commit to playing a full year of Davis Cup next year, I don't know who would gainsay their chances - Spain, maybe, if they played Nadal and Ferrer and it was on clay, would start favourites against them, but I can't think of anyone else.

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Meanwhile, Britain is in big trouble... it'll be sad if they don't claw back into the World Group, because they probably deserve it more than Austria, in that they have a top singles player and a top doubles player. Nonetheless, if they don't win, then they don't deserve to be there. Snaps to Austria.

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Meanwhile, what a match that was in the Argentina/Russia tie! I'm glad Russia won it and kept the tie alive, because it is such an intriguing match up! It'll be really interesting to see which way it goes tomorrow, especially in the Davydenko/Nalbandian match. Del Potro will probably close it out for Argentina, I would imagine, but anything can happen with those crazy Russians. And speaking of crazy, I was obviously a little insane to doubt the ability of Mike Bryan to pair with someone else, as he and Mardy Fish managed quite nicely in their win. Somehow I don't see Andy Roddick beating Rafa Nadal tomorrow, but, like the Aussies, at least they managed to get a point.

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And well done to my girl Dinara Safina, who is in yet another Tier I final! She plays Svetlana Kuznetsova for the Tokyo crown, and somehow I'm feeling Dinara on this one... I wonder why.

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Today's Results

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Davis Cup Semi Finals

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Argentina 2, Russia 1

Kunitsyn/Tursunov def. Canas/Nalbandian, 6-2 6-1 6-7 (9-11) 3-6 8-6

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Spain 2, USA 1

Bryan/Fish def. Lopez/Verdasco, 4-6 6-4 6-3 4-6 6-4

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Davis Cup Playoffs

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Chile 2, Australia 1

Ball/Guccione def. Gonzalez/Massu, 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (10-8) 6-3 5-7 7-5

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Austria 2, Great Britain 1

Knowle/Melzer def. Murray/Hutchins, 6-4 6-3 6-1

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Switzerland 3, Belgium 0

Federer/Wawrinka def. Malisse/Rochus, 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 6-3

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Croatia 2, Brazil 1

Melo/Sa def. Karlovic/Zovko, 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 7-5 6-7 (5-7) 6-3

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Israel 2, Peru 1

Levy/Ram def. Echazu/Silva, 6-1 6-1 6-2

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Netherlands 2, Korean Republic 1

Huta Galung/Wessels def. Jun/Lee, 4-6 6-4 6-4 6-3

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Romania 2, India 1

Bhupathi/Paes def. Cruciat/Tecau, 6-4 7-6 (7-0_ 6-4

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Serbia 3, Slovak Republic 0

Troicki/Zimonjic def. Mertinak/Polasek, 7-6 (10-8) 6-4 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-5)

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Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo)

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Dinara Safina def. Nadia Petrova, 6-1 6-0

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Katarina Srebotnik, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

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TOE Life Ceramics Guangzhou International Women's Open (Guangzhou)

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Vera Zvonareva def. Zheng Jie, 6-3 7-5

Peng Shuai def. Camille Pin, 6-2 6-1

Tennis Without A Stepladder

Well, nothing's out of reach if you've got long arms, but I guess Australia's arms are not all that long at the moment, and we ain't got no stepladder. Oh well. We're trying. Gooch and Looch did their best, but we're still 2-0 down... not that anyone was expecting anything else. I guess all we can hope with is an articulation of the ol' 'give it your best and no one can ask more' adage. Maybe we can scrape a win in one of the dead rubbers. That would be fun.

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Australia isn't the only country down 2-0 this morning - both the USA and Russia are in the same situation. I must confess, though, that although the USA are two rubbers down, they did perform much better than I thought they would, considering this is clay. Who'd ever have thought they'd see Sam Querrey up a set and a break against Rafa Nadal? I didn't see the match - was Querrey playing well or Rafa poorly up to that point? Rafa won, of course - who'd expect anything less from the Spanish conquistador on clay? - but kudos to Querrey for doing so well. Snaps.

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Meanwhile, who'd ever have thought David Ferrer would be taken to five on clay by A-Rod? Certainly not me. I would have put money on Ferru to win in straights every time. So the USA challenge has been much more spirited than I thought it would be.

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And how 'bout Argentina? Juan Martin del Potro especially! He walked all over Kolya Davydenko, a player who, despite his recent attitude problems, has been ranked in the top ten consistently for, like, ever. Del Potro pulverised him. Nalbandian didn't exactly pulverise Andreev, but he certainly got the job done, and so it looks like the Spain/Argentina final I wanted is imminent. I think Russia'll probably get the doubles, but it's going to be very interesting to see how the reverse singles go - especially the Davydenko/Nalbandian match. That could be smashing.

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And another country up 2-0 is Switzerland. Federer cruised, Wawrinka struggled, but Belgium ain't got no points. Hopp Suisse!

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Today's Results

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Davis Cup - Semi Finals

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Argentina 2, Russia 0

David Nalbandian def. Igor Andreev, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 6-4

Juan Martin del Potro def. Nikolay Davydenko, 6-1 6-4 6-2

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Spain 2, USA 0

Rafael Nadal def. Sam Querrey, 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-3 6-4

David Ferrer def. A Roddick, 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-2 4-6 8-6

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Davis Cup - Playoffs

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Chile 2, Australia 0

Nicolas Massu def. Chris Guccione,7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 7-6 (7-2)

Fernando Gonzalez def. Peter Luczak, 6-2 6-2 6-3

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Great Britain 1, Austria 1

Jurgen Melzer def. Alex Bogdanovic, 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 6-1

Andy Murray def. Alexander Peya, 6-4 6-1 6-3

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Switzerland 2, Belgium 0

Roger Federer def. Kristof Vliegen, 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 6-2

Stanislas Wawrinka def. Steve Darcis, 6-7 (3-7) 6-1 6-3 2-6 6-4

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Croatia 2, Brazil 0

Mario Ancic def. Thomaz Bellucci, 6-2 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-3)

Ivo Karlovic def. Thiago Alves, 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-3) 7-5

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Israel 1, Peru 1

Luis Horna def. Harel Levy, 7-5 5-7 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

Dudi Sela def. Ivan Miranda, 6-2 6-1 3-6 6-4

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Netherlands 1, Korean Republic 1

Hyung-taik Lee def. Thiemmo de Bakker, 6-4 6-3 6-3

Jesse Huta Galung def. Kyu-Tae Im, 6-3 6-3 5-7 6-2

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Romania 2, India 0

Victor Crivoi def. Prakash Amritraj, 7-5 5-7 6-2 6-2

Victor Hanescu def. Somdev Devvarman, 6-3 6-1 6-0

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Serbia 2, Slovak Republic 0

Novak Djokovic def. Dominik Hrbaty, 6-2 6-4 6-3

Janko Tipsarevic def. Lucas Lacko, 6-7 (3-7) 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 8-6

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Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo)

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Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Jelena Jankovic, 2-6 7-5 7-5

Katarina Srebotnik def. Elena Dementieva, 6-3 6-4

Dinara Safina def. Kaia Kanepi, 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-2

Nadia Petrova def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-3 6-0

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TOE Life Ceramics Guangzhou International Women's Open (Guangzhou)

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Vera Zvonareva def. Karin Knapp, 6-1 6-0

Zheng Jie def. Tamira Paszek, 6-2 6-1

Peng Shuai def. Jill Craybas, 6-4 6-1

Camille Pin def. Arantxa Rus, 6-3 6-3

Nothing's Out Of Reach If You've Got Long Arms

If you're sick of talking Davis Cup, stop reading now.

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Let's start with the Argentinians today. They are, I feel, a perpetually underestimated tennis nation, and yet they're always up here in Davis Cup. I can't remember a time they weren't in the last four... that said, my Davis Cup memory is not the best, as I don't normally follow it as closely as normal tour tennis. Nonetheless, this Davis Cup week is pretty interesting, and the performance of the Argentinians is going to be intriguing.

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Nalbandian and del Potro are the singles players, which I think is a very smart move. Argentina has tennis depth, but, unlike Spain, who are arguably the deepest nation in men's tennis at the moment, they don't have any players that are massive superstars. At the moment, that is - Nalbandian has been a superstar, but he hasn't been playing like one this year. Del Potro is well on his way to being a superstar, but he's got a way to go yet. He is only about twelve years old, we must remember.

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The outcome of this tie is going to be very much on Argentina's racquet, I feel - more particularly, on the racquet of David Nalbandian. Despite his otherwise mediocre record this year, he is flawless in Davis Cup. Both Andreev and Davydenko, the singles players for Russia, are capable of beating him. That said, he is more than capable of beating both of them. He is more talented than Davydenko and more refined than Andreev, and if he can pull out a GoodDave, as opposed to a LameDave, performance, then I would put good money on Argentina to win.

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I'd normally go for Russia every time in this equation - the Tursunov factor - but I find myself pulling for Argentina this time, just a bit. Mostly because I think a match up between them and Spain would be incredibly compelling. What happens when you put Nadal and Nalbandian on a court together? WHAT HAPPENS?

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Another tie that is going to be very interesting is Croatia vs. Brazil playoff. You'd have to go with Croatia, who are playing Karlovic, Cilic and Ancic, but Brazil's team might be a dark horse. Presumably they're playing Melo and Sa, their gun doubles team, and probably Thomaz Bellucci too... hey, we could see a Cilic/Bellucci Stars of the Future Showdown! Move over Grapple in the Apple!

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Meanwhile, Australia has finally named their team, though I suppose they are still capable of pulling a swap - we have up till an hour before we take the court, yesno? Guccione and Luczak are the singles players (Luczak has to play Gonzalez first, poor bugger) and then Smeets and Ball will play the doubles. Groth, Tomic and Klein will have to watch from the sidelines, I guess. Still, Aussie Aussie Aussie!

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There was a great quote from John Fitzgerald today - someone asked him if thought Gooch was going to be able to bear the burden of being team leader, and he said 'he's got big shoulders.' I loved that. Who knows? We'll need a miracle to win this one, but nothing's out of reach if you've got long arms.

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In other, non-Davis Cup news, the nightmare continues for Ana Ivanovic, who got beaten by Nadia Petrova in Tokyo... I thought not being #1 would settle her down a bit, but obviously not....

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Today's Results

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Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo)

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Jelena Jankovic def. Flavia Pennetta, 6-2 6-1

Nadia Petrova def. Ana Ivanovic, 6-1 1-6 6-2

Elena Dementieva def. Alizé Cornet, 6-0 6-3

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Ayumi Morita, 6-1 6-1

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Marion Bartoli, 6-2 6-3

Katarina Srebotnik def. Francesca Schiavone, 6-4 6-3

Kaia Kanepi def. Virginie Razzano, 6-4 6-2

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TOE Life Ceramics Guangzhou International Women's Open

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Vera Zvonareva def. Xu Yi-Fan, 6-1 7-6 (7-4)

Zheng Jie def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 6-4 6-0

Peng Shuai def. Lu Jingjing, 6-3 6-4

Arantxa Rus def. Gisela Dulko, 6-4 6-4

Tamira Paszek def. Pauline Parmentier, 6-2 2-6 6-3

Camille Pin def. Alla Kudryavtseva, 2-6 6-0 6-2

Bryan/...Fish?

The news is all Davis Cup today - probably the biggest news being that America is now well and truly screwed. There was no way either Roddick or Querrey was ever going to beat Rafa Nadal on clay, even if Rafa sleepwalked his way through the match. All their hopes rested on winning the doubles and then snatching a couple of reverse singles rubbers, but I think that's shot now. Bob Bryan is out, Mardy Fish is in and one can imagine both he and Mike Bryan would be a bit at sea.

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I know BryanBryan are the best doubles team in the world, but I have serious doubts about their abilities playing with other partners - and I guess we'll find out if I'm right. Mike Bryan and Mardy Fish will (probably) contest the doubles against Verdasco and Lopez, one would imagine, and though they still have a shot at winning (you wouldn't count them out) their chances are greatly lessened. I don't Patrick McEnroe would be a very pleasant person to be round right now.

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Though it may turn out OK for the US, I guess... if Rafa falls over and breaks his leg. To be honest, I think I'd prefer to see Spain in the final anyway - with the depth they have in men's tennis, they sort of deserve a Davis Cup win! I think Spain/Argentina would be veeeeeeery interesting, especially if Rafa played Nalbandian... I am itching for those two to have a rematch, because I want to know what'll happen, what with Rafa having a losing record against Headbandian, but LameDave keeps turning up and losing and it is, like, so annoying. The four teams still left in the running are all very good and all the potential finals match ups are intriguing, but that'd be my preferred one, I think.

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The two teams I want to see back in the World Group next year are Australia and Switzerland, and Switzerland look pretty sure to make it. The Swiss team is Federer, Wawrinka, Allegro and Bohli, playing the Belgians, Darcis, Vliegen and the Rochus brothers. Forgive me, but I'm feeling the Swiss might just win that one. Not only have you got the Mighty Fed in there, you have the Olympic gold medal winning doubles team... though one would imagine Allegro is in there as a doubles specialist. Nevertheless, hopp Suisse. I'm sure you won't be needing the luck I'm sending you, but I'm sending it anyway.

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Australia, of course, are Belgium to Chile's Switzerland, but I have to say that I'm very impressed with the attitude the team is taking. The fact that there's seven guys competing for four spots seems to be pushing them all to greater heights - I only hope they don't wear themselves out before competition actually starts! I would really, really like to see Tomic make the cut, even if they only play him in dead rubbers - I think it would be really good experience for him. I also think he is the player most likely to pull an upset, because he has the potential for absolute fabulousness and the Chilean guns are going to have pretty much no clue who he is, one imagines. I can't see him beating Gonzalez, but against Massu... who knows?

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The Australian team knows that they have very little shot at winning, but it seems like they're prepared to give it their all - Chris Guccione said this morning:

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“I've had some of my best results in Davis Cup. If I can get a win or two its going to be huge.”

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Oh, Gooch, I'd love to see you get some wins too. I think Johm Fitzgerald and Darren Cahill have taken just the right line on this. Gooch and Luczak, you'd think, would be certs to be part of the four man squad, and there are older players like Sirianni they could have gone with, but going with the youth is perfect. There is pretty much no way we're going to win, no matter who we play - so why not have a go and blood the young guys? And if anyone has any chance, one would think it's the young guys, who are so explosive and unpredictable... I am very impressed indeed. Aussie Aussie Aussie!

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Today's Results

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Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo)

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Agnieszka Radwanska def. Aiko Nakamura, 6-1 6-4

Francesca Schiavone def. Daniela Hantuchova, 6-1 7-5

Kaia Kanepi def. Anna Chakvetadze, 6-4 3-6 6-3

Marion Bartoli def. Maria Kirilenko, 6-2 6-2

Flavia Pennetta def. Shahar Peer, 6-4 6-4

Alizé Cornet def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 4-6 6-3 6-3

Dominika Cibulkova def. Amélie Mauresmo, 0-6 6-1 7-6 (10-8)

Ayumi Morita def. Agnes Szavay, 6-7 (7-9) 7-5 6-4

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TOE Life Ceramics Guangzhou International Women's Open (Guangzhou)

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Zheng Jie def. Sun Tiantian, 6-0 6-1

Gisela Dulko def. Tatiana Poutchek, 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-4

Pauline Parmentier def. Han Xinyun, 6-1 7-5

Jill Craybas def. Anastasia Pivovarova, 6-2 6-4

Arantxa Rus def. Yanina Wickmayer, 6-7 (2-7) 6-2 6-4

Xu Yi-Fan def. Stéphanie Dubois, 6-3 6-1

'Competitive Spice'

Fed Cup is over and done for another year - gee, I am SO SURPRISED that Russia won. Nobody saw that one coming. I discussed the incredible depth of Russian women's tennis the other day, but I think I just need to reiterate it. Their top three players were out, and they still won easily, one hundred percent absolutely no contest. Spain mounted a bit of a challenge in Anabel Medina Garrigue's charge in the singles, but even then, she only got a set off Sveta Kuznetsova. Russia were never going to lose this one.

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Imagine having six players in the top twenty. That's just insane. In the men's, France has something like fifteen players in the top hundred, and I thought that was pretty good - but I doubt more than three of them are in the top twenty. Actually, let's check... they have three, and none of them are in the top ten currently - Gasquet, Simon (who just won Bucharest) and Tsonga. Actually, I hadn't realised how remarkable Spain were - I knew they had a lot in the top hundred, but five of those are in the top twenty. There's Nadal at #1, of course, then Ferrer, Verdasco, Robredo and Almagro. Let's compare that with Australia. We have two players in the top hundred, Hewitt at #59 and Guccione at #80. Then in the next hundred there's Smeets, Sirianni, Luczak and Ball, then down another hundred is Ebelthite (who?), Groth, Klein, Jones (isn't he retired?), Armstrong (again, who?) and Lindahl. Bernard Tomic is at #816. Oh yes. What a strong tennis nation we are right now.

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Speaking of Australian tennis, Robert Smeets has just been added to the Davis Cup team, so that's seven guys we're sending to Chile now. He's not really adding to the age of the team much either - he's twenty-two. So I guess that makes him old, actually, compared to most of the rest of them. Tennis Australia says that:

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"The 147th ranked Smeets will add even more competitive spice to a young squad which will battle it out on the practice courts for a spot in the four man team to take on the highly-fancied Chileans in the World Group Play-off of Davis Cup by BNP Paribas from September 19-21."

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Competitive spice, huh? Because our chances are SO huge. Not that I'm ragging on John Fitzgerald or anything - I think he's awesome that he's trying so hard and that he's pulling out the stops. But I do wish journalists would be a little more realistic about our chances... so if we win, it really will be a huge surprise!

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Today's Results

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BCR Open Romania (Bucharest)

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Gilles Simon def. Carlos Moya, 6-3 6-4

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Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic (Bali)

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Patty Schnyder def. Tamira Paszek, 6-3 6-0

Invisible Men

Well, here we are again. Another Slam is over, and we've entered the monotony of one of those weeks where no one especially important is playing... when the big story of the day is that Nicolas Almagro and Paul-Henri Mathieu got beaten, you know it's a schlep tournament week. Not that schlep tournaments can't have their moments - every Star of the Future starts off playing them - but they are exceptionally dull after the big excitement of a Slam, especially one won by Federer.

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And besides, Ernests Gulbis has already lost, so what am I supposed to talk about?

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But there is one thing that saves us from the boredom, and that is Davis Cup. I've read a lot about the strange selection by the American team, but I'm going to be patriotic for once and talk about the Australian team. I believed I advised them a while ago to play Bernard Tomic, as we're going to lose anyway and it'd be good to blood him on the world stage... and they almost listened. He's part of a six-man squad going to Chile, but he's one of the alternates, along with Brydan Klein. The team proper consists of Chris Guccione, Peter Luczak, Sam Groth and Carsten Ball.

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Now, I don't know about anyone else, but I'd never heard of Carsten Ball before the US Open, where he had a wildcard, and I've never heard of Sam Groth. Not to say that they're not good players, but I have absolutely no idea who they are. Where did they pop up from? Obviously I know about Tomic, because he's Australia's best junior, and I've heard of Brydan Klein as well - I think he made the junior final of the Australian Open last year or the year before - but never these other two. And they're the ones on the team proper. Go figure. Not that I'm saying I know better than John Fitzgerald, because I don't. It's just a bit bizarre, I guess... here's me thinking I knew nearly everything there was to know about Australian tennis! Nice to be proved wrong, I guess... nice to think we have more depth than I thought!

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This is a really young team, which I think is really exciting... and will probably also play to our advantage, because the Chileans probably won't have heard of them either. That said, the Chileans will still eat them alive, especially because they're playing at home on clay, which is definitely not Australia's best surface... but I suppose we did once beat Switzerland on clay at home (Federer wasn't playing, obviously.) Still, Fernando Gonzalez is spearheading their team, and he could probably beat the entire Australian team at once. I suppose Gooch and Mr. Milkshake will be our singles players... though if it gets to dead rubbers, which is highly likely, I'd like to see Fitzy play some young guys.

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Like I said, the youngness of the team is exciting... but you have to spare a thought for players like Joe Sirianni and Robert Smeets. They must be feeling really snubbed right about now. Poor dudes.

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Today's Results

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BCR Open Romania (Bucharest)

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Gilles Simon def. Albert Montanes, 6-3 6-4

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Nicolas Almagro, 6-4 7-5

Carlos Moya def. Pablo Andujar, 6-3 7-6 (8-6)

Florent Serra def. Potito Starace, 7-5 0-6 6-4

Ivan Navarro def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-3

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Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic (Bali)

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Daniela Hantuchova def. Olga Savchuk, 6-1 7-5

Patty Schnyder def. Yuan Meng, 6-2 7-5

Francesca Schiavone def. Akgul Amanmuradova, 6-3 6-2

Marta Domachowska def. Jill Craybas, 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-4

Starlight, Starbright

I must admit, I was very disappointed that Fabrice Santoro couldn't do a bit more in the beating-Andy-Roddick sort of way. I like watching him play (the Harry Potter of men's tennis) and we all know how disenchanted I am with A-Rod right now. But I suppose we can't have it all our own way. If I had my druthers, Clement would have taken out Djokovic as well. But it was not to be. I will have to be satisfied with that crushing Roger victory from yesterday - which was AMAZINGLY satisfactory!

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I caught absolutely no tennis today, so I don't have that much to discuss that doesn't come directly from the scores. One thing I was very satisfied with was the performance of Ernests Gulbis, who took out ever-wily Olympic silver medallist and former Slam champion Thomas Johansson. What really surprised me was that the match was played on Armstrong - surely neither player is high-profile enough for that? I wonder why it was put there - on whose recognisance, I mean. I know Gulbis is good, and he's going to be great, but surely he doesn't have that kind of pulling power yet - and surely Johansson is no longer that high-profile? Nevertheless, it is a match I would have loved to watch, and maybe it's good that the US Open organisers put them there, so more people can start waving little Latvian flags and joining Team Gulbis.

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And another star performer was Mr. Marin Cilic - even though, unlike Ernests, it took him five sets to get past his opponent, one Julien Benneteau. Great as it was to see Marin win that tournament this week, I hope it hasn't worn him out too terribly - five tough sets can hardly be helping! Here's hoping he gets a little time to recover, because I really would like to see him do well. Gulbis has made it to the quarters before - and perhaps can do so again. I'd like to see Marin match him. Indeed, wasn't Ernests vs. Marin one of my quarter final picks? Wouldn't that be a fabulous match to see?! I'd willingly walk dozens of kilometres on the treadmill at the gym if it meant I could watch that one!

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Eduardo Schwank, on the other hand, lost. I'm afraid he might be one of those Stars who only does well on clay. It does occur to me that he is probably the oldest Star in my fold - not that he's past it or anything, but if one of my Stars does make the bigtime, it probably won't be him. Nevertheless, he didn't seem to leave much in the locker room against Tursunov - four tight sets. So nice try, Eduardo. Better luck next time... aka better draw!

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It was a bit sad to see Tipsarevic retire, but nonetheless I found myself breathing a guilty sigh of relief... I would prefer he didn't meet Roger in Slam tennis for a little while, not after what happened in Australia! And speaking of the ol' homeland, there was a good win for Chris Guccione. I completely forgot he was in the draw and thought Jessica Moore was our last hope... not that either of them are great chances of making it to the third round, but still, it's nice to have one or two still there, even if the second week is completely unheard of for Australians these days.

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Oh, and good work to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for winning his first match back. And Kolya Davydenko also won, but I can't say that brought me much pleasure. Stupid Kolya.

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Over in the women's, Jelena Jankovic is not looking so hot. I know she's been #1 and is seeded #2 and all, but I really don't like her chances of making it to her first Slam final. Same goes for her countrywoman Ana Ivanovic, actually. At least one, and maybe both of them is at some point going to run into the chainsaw that is Dinara Safina, and they'll be decimated. Even if everyone else wasn't playing rubbish, I'd still be backing Dinara, and everyone really sort of is. The Serbian girls are shaky. Kuznetsova is a bit unsteady too. Sharapova isn't even there. Dementieva is doing all right, but do you think Dinara's going to let her beat her twice in a row? No, no, I love Dinara's chances - and if she's not the odds on favourite, she should be.

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Oh, and before I go, one match people should keep an eye on tomorrow, if they possibly can - Juan Martin del Potro against Thomaz Bellucci. That would be two of my Stars, and though you'd probably pick del Potro to win it what with his current record, I wouldn't be surprised if Bellucci gave him a little trouble...

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Today's Results

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US Open (Flushing Meadows)

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Men's Draw

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

Novak Djokovic def. Arnaud Clement, 6-3 6-3 6-4

Ernests Gulbis def. Thomas Johansson, 7-5 6-1 7-6 (7-3)

Robby Ginepri def. Amer Delic, 6-1 6-2 7-6 (7-5)

Nikolay Davydenko def. Dudi Sela, 6-3 6-3 6-3

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Santiago Ventura, 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-2 6-3

Robert Kendrick def. Nicolas Mahut, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 5-7 7-5

Marin Cilic def. Julien Benneteau, 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-7 (7-9) 6-2

Agustin Calleri def. Austin Krajicek, 6-2 6-2 6-1

Nicolas Almagro def. Frank Dancevic, 5-3 6-4 7-5

Carlos Moya def. Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi, 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-2) 6-2

Victor Hanescu def. Albert Montanes, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 2-6 6-3

Radek Stepanek def. Potito Starace, 7-5 6-3 6-1

Sam Warburg def. Janko Tipsarevic, 6-2 1-0 retired

Chris Guccione def. Jesse Levine, 6-3 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (8-6)

Dmitry Tursunov def. Eduardo Schwank, 7-5 4-6 7-5 7-6 (7-5)

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Women's Draw

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Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Sorana Cirstea, 7-6 (7-3) 6-1

Lindsay Davenport def. Alisa Kleybanova, 7-5 6-3

Jelena Jankovic def. Sofia Arvidsson, 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 7-5

Elena Dementieva def. Pauline Parmentier, 6-2 6-1

Patty Schnyder def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-3 6-3

Caroline Wozniacki def. Maria Elena Camerin, 6-1 6-2

Katarina Srebotnik def. Yvonne Meusburger, 6-1 6-3

Victoria Azarenka def. Iveta Benesova, 6-2 6-3

Anne Keothavong def. Francesca Schiavone, 6-2 306 6-4

Magdalena Rybarikova def. Tamira Paszek, 6-1 6-2

Ekaterina Makarova def. Ekaterina Bychkova, 3-6 7-5 6-3

Tatiana Perrebiynis def. Vera Zvonareva, 6-3 6-3

Jie Zheng def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-1 6-4

Li Na def. Sara Errani, 4-6 6-2 6-0

Sybille Bammer def. Aravane Rezai, 6-1 7-5

Marion Bartoli def. Virginia Ruano Pascual, 6-4 6-2

Aussie Aussie... Aussie...?

Well, Lleyton Hewitt is out of the US Open. I can't say I have too much sympathy. I mean, sure, it's his hip that's hurting and I don't really know anything about it, but surely he realises that when you play on it all day every day it's just not going to get better? Why on earth did he not go in for surgery earlier?

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We all know I'm not a Hewitt fan, but he really is the only good Australian tennis player out there, so it is very sad to see him falling down the rankings. (Though I will say this for him - at least he has a relatively normal name - cough Kamakazi cough yes it's really spelled that way the moron cough.) Had he played the US Open, he would have been unseeded for the first time in about eighty million years. It means he would have been a Safin-like floater, but unlike Safin, I don't think Hewitt would have stood much of a chance of beating anyone. I remember when he reached the fourth round of Wimbledon and played Federer, and the Australian media was all over it, talking about the possibility/probability of an upset. But look, even if Federer is not in the best form of his life, he'd have to be playing on one leg to lose to Hewitt now. I don't like Lleyton, but I feel sorry for him. He's a dead horse that the Australian media just will not stop flogging until someone else comes along.

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That 'someone else' will be, one thinks, Bernard Tomic, but he's so young that I doubt he'll really burst onto the scene for a few years, if indeed he does some scene-bursting. He's definitely got the talent - he won the junior Australian Open this year, despite being only fifteen, and has been the top seed in every junior event I've seen him play - but from what I hear, he has a troublesome temperament. But that can be channelled... he's young. I would really like to see Tomic do something with his talent. Australian tennis is quiet right now.

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Meanwhile, we are now absolutely screwed for Davis Cup. Well, we were already screwed, but now we're really screwed. We're playing Chile, I think, in a World Group playoff, and unless there is some kind of miracle, we are going to get our collective arse kick. Chile will play Gonzalez and Massu, one thinks... and Gonzalez could pretty much beat the Australian team single-handedly, even with Hewitt in. So I guess we'll play Guccione... Sirianni is the next highest ranked player, then Smeets, then Luczak, who has had a rotten year... Luczak is proven at Davis Cup, but look, we are going to lose anyway. Gooch'll get played, maybe Hanley and Kerr for the doubles, and I guess Sirianni, logically - but hell, play Tomic. Blood him on the world stage. Sure, it'll be a bitchslap for Joe and Robert and Mr Milkshake, but there's no way we're going to win, unless every person in Chile instantly breaks their legs. And maybe wee Bernard can surprise them, eh?

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Before I go, a bit shout-out to world #434 Luka Gregorc, who knocked out Ivo Karlovic in New Haven today. Proof that the little guys can sometimes give the big guys a run for their money... yet another reason to play Tomic at Davis Cup!

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Today's Results

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Pilot Pen Tennis (New Haven)

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Men's Draw

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Fernando Verdasco def. Ivo Minar, 6-3 6-1

Luka Gregorc def. Ivo Karlovic, 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 6-2

Igor Andreev def. Victor Hanescu, 6-4 7-5

Marin Cilic def. Jurgen Melzer, 5-7 6-4 7-5

Andreas Seppi def. Fabio Fognini, 6-4 6-2

Jesse Levine def. Steve Darcis, 2-0 retired

Mischa Zverev def. Robby Ginepri, 1-6 6-3 6-1

Mardy Fish def. Wayne Odesnik, 6-1 4-6 6-1

Luka Gregorc def. Jose Acasuso, 6-4 6-4

Ivo Karlovic def. John Isner, 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Agnes Szavay def. Sara Errani, 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 6-4

Anna Chakvetadze def. Casey Dellacqua, 6-4 6-4

Amélie Mauresmo def. Patty Schnyder, 6-4 3-6 7-6 (8-6)

Sorana Cirstea def. Flavia Pennetta, 3-6 6-4 6-3

Alizé Cornet def. Katarina Srebotnik, 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 6-2

Caroline Wozniacki def. Monica Niculescu, 6-3 6-3

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Forest Hills Tennis Classic (Forest Hills)

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Peng Shuai def. Pauline Parmentier, 6-3 6-2

Jamea Jackson def. Marina Erakovic, 7-6 (7-4) 7-5

Carla Suárez Navarro def. Timea Bacsinszky, 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Lucie Safarova def. Akgul Amanmuradova, 6-7 (11-13) 6-3 6-3

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)