Miss Sarajevo (go to Indian Wells instead)

Another quick one today! But it won't rhyme and I might actually say something of substance. More substantial than yesterday, at any rate. There really is precious little to write about at the moment, and it might remain that way until Indian Wells starts. But not long now!

Those who aren't trying their luck in Indian Well qualies are mostly in Sarajevo for a Challenger. (A Challenger without a scoreboard, which makes it fiendishly difficult to follow.) Among them is my main man Nicolas Mahut, who has dropped ten places in the rankings (sadface), but is still in the top hundred. He's seeded #3 and he beat Frederik Nielsen in straight sets in a rematch of their third round qualies match at the Australian Open. He's play Roberto Batista-Agut next, whom I clearly know a lot about. He is the next Bogomolov to me, just you wait.

Anyway. The reason Nico dropped those ten ranking places is because he failed to defend his Cherbourg title. (Though he did make the final, so ten places seems a little extreme... but that's just what the mobility level is like once you're out of the top thirty or so, I guess.) The guy that beat him, Grigor Dimitrov, had a typical first round comedown, losing to Karol Beck. This means he gets no points for the tournament as well as no chance to possibly make the main draw in Indian Wells, so I bet he's rueing that decision.

On the other hand, though, if he'd played Indian Wells, he would have had to play a match basically right after stumbling off an intercontinental flight, and that sounds like a pretty tall order. So maybe a week of rest will turn out for the best for Grigor.

If the seeds hold true, the match of the week will be in the semis, when Mahut means Kavcic. I've written a little about Kavcic before - I saw him play at the Australian Open and I was super impressed. I see a big future for him in this sport, and so this match could be an absolute cracker if Mahut brings it. Also lurking in the top half is Dmitry Tursunov, and if nothing else, he is always, always watchable.

The field in Sarajevo is quite good, and looking at Indian Wells, I think all four of these guys - Dimitrov, Kavcic, Mahut and Tursunov - would have had a great shot to qualify. I suppose it's an object lesson that you go where the points are, and you're probably more likely to pick up points by going deep in a Challenger than just making the first round of a Masters tournament, but still... I would have liked to see those dudes there. The top seed in Indian Wells is Daniel Brands, followed by Somdev Devvarman and (the already knocked out) Robert Kendrick. I think any of the top four seeds in Sarajevo would have had a field day with the draws here. Some of the guys through already are Tim Smyczek and Rik de Voest, and... really?

But it's a points game, I suppose. And that's what's going to get you into the main draw all on your lonesome.

(In other news, I've got another blog! Tennis is one of my passions, but theatre is another - you can read my reviews here.)

The Man in the Mask

So, tennis world, I feel like I've missed the memo. Is Gilles Simon awesome again? Did someone forget to tell me?

Seriously, you can't turn around these days without going, 'oh, Simon beat that vaguely competent guy? is he back or something?' Today, the vaguely competent guy is Michael Berrer, but there have been many much more competent dudes that Simon has got the W over lately.

I never had a lot of time for Gilles Simon when he was awesome. Part of this was me being a bitter Federfan - I cannot lie - but then there was that whole deal wherein, you know, he doesn't actually have any weapons. The best demonstration of this I ever saw was when Rafa hammered him at the AO in 2009. I feel like he's really good at pretending to be a good player but sometimes he gets exposed. And that's exactly what happened when he got de-awesomed.

But now he's all winning stuff, so the mask is back. But he did only beat Berrer in a third set breaker, so read into that what you will.

Oh, and Tursunov beat Gasquet. I'm a bit of a Tursunov fan, so yay, but seriously, Richou? Did that seriously just happen?

Comeback, Comedown

One of my favourite, favourite players ever - primarily due to his mad blogging skillz and the fact that he is a really funny dude - is Dmitry Tursunov.

Now, Dima's been off the scene for a while - I assume he's been injured, though I couldn't tell you exactly what the nature of that injury was. But he came back! A little while ago! He used his protected ranking to get into the main draws of Roland Garros and Wimbledon, where he recorded two first round losses - understandable, when you are on the comeback from a year or more out of the game.

But today, in Washington, Dima had a win. And that makes me very happy indeed.

And he didn't just beat some nobody or some punk kid either. It was a tight match, but Dima took out Teimuraz Gabashvili, who has played some very good Roddick-beating tennis of late. I mean, he's not exactly Federer or Nadal, but this is a really, really excellent result for Mr Tursunov. Tennis needs characters like Dima, and man is that guy a character.

Another guy who is a real character in tennis but who is playing appallingly and reaping according results is James Blake. If Dima is the good news story of Washington, Blake is the bad, because there seems to be no end to his woes. I literally cannot remember the last time he won a match - and that's saying something, because I can usually keep track of stuff like that. But Blake is in a downward spiral for sure. He lost to Ryan Sweeting, who is - correct me if I'm wrong - an American junior.

When results like this are not a one off but the norm, there is a problem ahoy, sailor.

The Other Winners

I could continue cooing over Myla and Charlene Federer for quite some days - and probably there will be more baby talk this week, just so you're warned - but it is weekend winners day, so let's take a survey of who won what where. (Even though the biggest win this week clearly went to Roger and Mirka - welcome twins!)

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Let's start with the no surprises winners. Dinara Safina won in Portoroz - if she hadn't won I would have probably been poised to declare an official Dinara slump, considering most of her opponents there were ranked approximately #5000. She cruised through this week and though it was an odd tournament to choose to play, I'm hoping it just gives her that little bit of confidence she might need going into the US Open series. She can win the Open this year - I believe that. But she needs to believe it, or it ain't gonna happen.

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And then in Hamburg, Nikolay Davydenko came out on top. He wasn't the top seed - that was Gilles Simon - but given Simon's play of late he was effectively the top seed, and he played very well all week, including in his tough semi over David Ferrer. Nice work, Kolya. I have no idea why you insist on playing these silly out-of-place clay tournaments, but well done anyway.

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Then we have our two more surprising winners. Andrea Petkovic won in Bad Gastein. Um, who? Alize Cornet was the top seed here, but she's been hanging out with fellow Frenchie Simon too much, or so it would seem from her tennis. I can't comment anything more, really, because I don't know anything else about Petkovic. Which makes her win pretty sweet, even at one of these smaller satellite tournaments. Well done, Andrea.

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And then in Indy, Robby Ginepri overcame Sam Querrey in an all-American final. Ginepri has been flying under the radar for a number of years now and it is always surprising to me when he wins... I'm sort of used to him being in a slump, because he seems to have been there for sometime now. One thing, though - Querrey seems to have made a few finals this year, but I can't remember him winning any. Am I remembering rightly or did I just make this up?

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But my favourite win of the weekend (Federer twins aside) was in Hamburg, where Dmitry Tursunov and Ernests Gulbis won the doubles. Tursunov is a longtime fave of mine and I haven't seen much of him of late, and we all know that Ernests Gulbis is my favourite of the Stars of the Future, even if he hasn't been doing much this year. I'd like to say that this will rejuvenate them both... but I doubt this, really. However, I do like to see them win. They're a couple of my favourite boys!

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Today's Results

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International German Open (Hamburg)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-4 6-2

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Indianapolis Tennis Championships (Indianapolis)

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Robby Ginepri def. Sam Querrey, 6-2 6-4

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Banka Koper Slovenia Open (Portoroz)

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Dinara Safina def. Sara Errani, 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 7-5

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Nurnberger Gastein Ladies (Bad Gastein)

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Andrea Petkovic def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 6-2 6-3

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Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad (Gstaad)

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Mikhail Youzhny def. Gaston Gaudio, 6-3 5-7 6-4

Andreas Beck def. Marco Chiudinelli, 4-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-4

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

Waiting for Fedot

Back at that Internet cafe on Flinders St. This is Jodi reporting to you on Day 2 on the Australian Open - another day when it was UNBELIEVABLY hot. Great tennis - not so good for the skin. But the things we must sacrifice.

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I wanted to see more matches, so I trawled around looking for good ones. I started off by watching the first set of Kei Nishikori and Jurgen Melzer on Court 6, which is a pretty decent sized court, but the stands were PACKED with Japanese fans supporting their man. He played pretty well while I was there - kid has got some serious shots! - but then he fell away a bit and Melzer ended up winning the match in straights, which sucked from a Star perspective.

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I went and trawled the practice courts after that, hunting for the elusive Fed, but he wasn't there, so I caught the second set of Anastastia Pavlyuchenkova and Tathiana Garbin on Court 19. I really like Pavlyuchenkova, and she won that set 6-2, but then she lost the match... so maybe I am cursed or something. It certainly wasn't a match of very high quality, from what I could see... both girls were missing a lot. A LOT. But obviously someone has to win.

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There were rumblings of a Fed practice at one, so I waited around... again, no materialisation. The TV crews said that it'd been rescheduled to four, and the crowds vanished like they'd been evaporated (which, in the heat, entirely possible.) I went and caught the last two sets of Richard Gasquet and Diego Junqueira on Show Court 3 - getting a seat in the shade, which is a rare achievement at Melbourne Park! That was a good match to watch - Gasquet is playing better than I've seen for a while. But then I got very lucky - it finished just in time for me to head over to Court 11 (a TINY back court) and grab a good seat for Ernests Gulbis against Albert Montanes. There was this adorable little Latvian family cheering for their boy - it was great! As well as a woman sitting beside me who was salivating over Gulbis, said he was 'the cutest on the ATP tour' and nearly had an aneurysm when I told her he was only twenty... but that is another story.

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Gulbis looked totally excellent, winning in easy straights. I only caught the first set, because I had to run off to this elusive Fed practice, which, once again, did not materialise. I headed offsite for a quick very early dinner, getting back at just on five, when who decided to start practicing when I was gone? Fed. Typical. Still, I only missed a couple of minutes and managed to worm my way to the fence - my shortness paid off! He spent ages and ages signing autographs, and he was wonderful with his fans. He is such a lovely man.

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That left me with an hour and a bit to kill before the night session started, so I went over and watched Dmitry Tursunov and Flavio Cipolla on Court 10. I caught the first set and a bit - Tursunov was clearly on top in the first, but he was down a double break in the second when I left, and I'm not sure what happened after that - I hope I'm not cursed again!
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I was in nearly the same position in Rod Laver Arena, and as that was a good spot, I was happy. The Stosur/Zakopalova match was a good match, but the crowd seemed a bit ho-hum about Sam, which I was surprised at, given the reception Casey Dellacqua got last night. Maybe Casey is a favourite or maybe it was just a quieter crowd. Who can tell? Anyway, I was glad it was straights, because I was anticipating another long men's match, but Rafa ANNIHILATED Christophe Rochus. The whole crowd got behind Rochus and cheered like crazy people when he won a game, but it no avail. That one was a whitewash, and I was back before midnight.

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Funny story to end on: there were these drunk old women behind me, and you know Rafa's wedgie-picking habit? So he was picking his wedgie, and one of them yells out 'PICK ME INSTEAD!' at the top of her lungs, and the whole stadium heard and cacked themselves at her. Ah, public humiliation...

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Today's Results

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Australian Open

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Men's Draw

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Rafael Nadal def. Christophe Rochus, 6-0 6-2 6-2

Fernando Gonzalez def. Lleyton Hewitt, 5-7 6-2 6-2 3-6 6-3

Andy Murray def. Andrei Pavel, 6-2 3-1 retired

Gilles Simon def. Pablo Andujar, 6-4 6-1 6-1

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Juan Monaco, 6-4 6-4 6-0

Chris Guccione def. Nicolas Devidler, 6-4 6-2 6-2

James Blake def. Frank Dancevic, 6-4 6-3 7-5

Tommy Haas def. Eduardo Schwank, 6-3 6-3 6-4

Gael Monfils def. Martin Vassallo Arguello, 6-1 6-3 7-5

Richard Gasdquet def. Diego Junqueira, 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 6-4

Fernando Verdasco def. Adrian Mannarino, 6-0 6-2 6-2

Densi Istomin def. Vincent Spadea, 6-2 7-5 6-4

Stefan Koubek def. Mikhail Youzhny, 6-3 6-2 6-2

Jurgen Melzer def. Kei Nishikori, 7-5 6-2 6-1

Michael Berrer def. Carsten Ball, 6-2 6-4 6-3

Andreas Beck def. Colin Ebelthite, 7-5 6-1 6-0

Igor Andreev def. Peter Polansky, 5-7 3-6 6-4 6-3 6-4

Nicolas Almagro def. Nicolas Massy, 6-4 6-4 3-6 506 6-3

Flavio Cipolla def. Dmitry Tursunov, 4-6 6-2 7-6 (9-7) 7-5

Marcel Granollers def. Teimuraz Gabashvili, 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 6-0

Sebastien de Chaunac def. Steve Darcis, 2-6 6-3 0-6 6-2 6-2

Ernests Gulbis def. Albert Montanes, 6-3 6-2 6-3

Ivo Karlovic def. Daniel Gimeno-Traver, 6-3 6-4 6-4

Ivan Ljubicic def. Igor Kunitsyn, 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (9-7) 5-7 6-3

Fabio Fognini def. Andrey Golubev, 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 6-2

Arnaud Clement def. Sergiy Stakhovsky, 6-3 2-6 4-6 6-2 6-1

Radek Stepanek def. Nicolas Lapentti, 3-6 6-3 6-4 6-4

Dudi Sela def. Rainer Schuettler, 1-6 6-2 6-4 6-4

Roko Karanusic def. Florent Serra, 6-3 1-6 6-3 3-6 6-3

Mario Ancic def. Wayne Odesnik, 7-5 6-4 4-6 6-2

Guillermo Canas def. Dieter Kindlmann, 3-6 7-5 5-7 6-0 7-5

Victor Hanescu def. Jan Hernych, 3-6 3-6 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-4) 8-6

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Women's Draw

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Serena Williams def. Yuan Meng, 6-3 6-2

Elena Dementieva def. Kristina Barrois, 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 6-1

Venus Williams def. Angelique Kerber, 6-3 6-3

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Anastasia Rodionova, 6-2 3-6 6-3

Kateryna Bondarenko def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 6-1

Flavia Pennetta def. Mara Santangelo, 6-2 5-7 6-2

Victoria Azarenka def. Petra Kvitova, 6-2 6-1

Patty Schnyder def. Kristina Mladenovic, 2-6 6-4 6-2

Dominika Cibulkova def. Chanelle Scheepers, 6-0 6-0

Amélie Mauresmo def. Olga Govortsova, 6-4 6-3

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Isabella Holland, 6-1 7-5

Zheng Jie def. Camille Pin, 6-3 6-3

Peng Shuai def. Francesca Schiavone, 7-6 (7-4) 6-1

Sabine Lisicki def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 6-4 6-3

Alona Bondarenko def. Olivia Rogowska, 5-7 6-3 6-2

María José Martínez Sánchez def. Tamarine Tanasugarn, 7-5 6-3

Iveta Benesova def. Vera Dushevina, 6-4 0-6 6-2

Gisela Dulko def. Anastasiya Yakimova, 6-3 5-7 6-3

Carla Suárez Navarro def. Roberta Vinci, 7-5 6-4

Samantha Stosur def. Klara Zakopalova, 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-0)

Tathiana Garbin def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-4 2-6 7-5

Virginie Razzano def. Jarmila Gajdosova, 6-1 6-7 (2-7) 6-4

Chan Yung-Jan def. Hsieh Su-Wei, 6-3 6-3

Akgul Amanmuradova def. Melanie Oudin, 6-1 6-4

Melinda Czink def. Sorana Cirstea, 6-2 6-2

Lourdes Domínguez Lino def. Ekaterina Bychkova, 6-3 6-0

Julie Coin def. Elena Vesnina, 6-4 4-6 6-1

Severine Brémond def. Nicole Vaidisova, 6-2 6-1

Tatjana Malek def. Ayumi Morita, 7-6 (7-4) 6-2

Elena Baltacha def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 6-1 6-4

Sesil Karatantcheva def. Nuria Llagostera Vives, 2-6 6-1 6-2

Jessica Moore def. Christina McHale, 1-6 6-3 9-7

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

All I Want In January

Only a few days to go now till the Hopman Cup! It's starting a little later this year - it actually started in December last year, if I recall correctly - but I'm sure it's going to be worth the wait. If nothing else, it will hopefully take Australia's collective sporting mind off the current dismal situation in the cricket...
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I'm hoping that Australia's tennis summer will be bigger and better than ever before. January is the best sporting month of the year anyway, and tennis is obviously the best of it. With any luck, we'll see some of the classic matches of the year here right at the beginning - and with any luck, it's all going to come up Jodi.
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What would I like to see? I have two big requests (and a multitude of smaller ones.) #1, I want Roger Federer to regain his Australian Open crown. Let's face it, it's his. It looks weird when someone else holds up the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup. And I want him, as is tradition, to face some totally random opponent in the final. I'd love for one of my Stars to be the Marcos/Gonzo/Jo-W and make the big run. Ernests Gulbis would be ideal, or maybe Marin Cilic, or even Kei Nishikori. Of course, this is all contingent on them being in Rafa's side of the draw... of course a Rafa/Roger showdown would be nice to watch, but the Aussie Open just isn't that type of tournament for me. Rafa/Roger belongs at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. The Aussie and the US is for Roger/Random.
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My second request? That would be Marat Safin and Dinara Safina winning the Hopman Cup. They're effectively the top seeds now - the USA are officially the top seeds, but with Serena out, they're not really. Meghann Shaughnessy is hardly a top echelon replacement (not that she's substandard or anything, but she ain't no Serena.) This could be exactly what Marat needs to get himself back on track - a tournament won with his in-form sister. Australia's been good to him before - and hey, who wouldn't want a diamond encrusted tennis ball on their mantlepiece?
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A good run from Marat at the Aussie Open is another request of mine - I'm gunning for round of sixteen/quarter final. An early loss and crash and burn from Djokovic is not compulsory, but would be nice. I want Monica Wejnert and Isabella Holland to do themselves proud in Brisbane, and Jess Moore to do the same in Hobart. I want Bernard Tomic to have a good summer and take another junior crown. I'd like some classic matches - remember Federer/Safin in '05? I want my Stars to do well. I want Dinara Safina to win the Australian Open and Dmitry Tursunov to defend his Sydney crown.
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But most of all, I just want there to be good tennis - and for Australia not to be too busy watching the cricket to pay attention.

Grow UP, Richou!

God, Richard Gasquet is a little whinger. I used to really like him - I still enjoy his style of play - but I have gone off him altogether. In all my berating of Andy Roddick for not going to the Olympics, I often forget to berate Richou, but he probably deserves it more, truth be told. There was the French Open stunt, the Olympic stunt, the absolutely ridiculous Davis Cup stunt and now this stupid Paris thing. Jesus, Richou, grow up. Even if you don't want to play Paris-Bercy, you don't have to kick up a huge stink about it. What kind of person comes out and says, 'I will be happy once I would be eliminated at the Paris Masters Series.'

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Methinks Richou needs to revamp his attitude and revamp it fast. He's already taken a slide down the rankings this year - no Tennis Masters Cup for him! Is it really necessary to be a complete dickhead while he's doing it?

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Meanwhile, in actual news about matches in which people have played, instead of wussing out like Gasquet, it was very sad to see Dmitry Tursunov's season end with a retirement. He toughed it out for a while but then called it quits in his match against Djokovic with a shoulder injury. See you next year, Dmitry - maybe defend your Sydney title, eh? I'll be there again, watching.

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That, of course, means Djokovic is through... but I wouldn't mind seeing Djokovic doing all right his week, as I don't want him to do well next week. Yes, I am a terrible, horrible person, wishing ill on people, but I just want Roger to win the Masters Cup. Is that so much to ask? He is, after all, the Master. I know Rafa is #1 and all now and he is good and I like him and stuff, but Roger is just special.

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Apparently Marat Safin is thinking about retirement, which is sad. He says he'll keep playing as long as he still enjoys it... and it can't be very fun losing all the time. Still, he has had his best season in a while... and Hopman Cup coming up! It will be rad to play with Dinara - though it must be oddly pressuring to have your baby sister being all awesome while you sort of suck. Still, I guess Dinara has had to live in Marat's shadow for, like, ever - it's her turn to shine. Though Marat has a standby for Hopman Cup - Igor Andreev - all planned out. Much as Andreev is good and stuff, he's not Marat. Don't retire, please!

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Oh, and the seventh Hopman Cup team has been announced. It's not as awesome as I was hoping, but it's still pretty good. It is, of course, the USA, about whom I totally forgot. Actually, it is an awesome team: James Blake and Serena Williams. I guess that sometimes the USA just feel so old hat... and incidentally, where are the Czech Republic this year? I wanted to see Berdych and Safarova make another go of it. There is still one spot remaining, but that is for the winner of the Asian Hopman Cup, so maybe they can come back in 2010...?

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Today's Results

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BNP Paribas Masters (Paris)

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Novak Djokovic def. Dmitry Tursunov, 6-2 4-3 retired

Andy Roddick def. Feliciano Lopez, 6-3 6-4

Juan Martin del Potro def. Mario Ancic, 6-0 6-4

Gael Monfils def. Juan Monaco, 6-4 6-4

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Mikhail Youzhny, 6-1 6-4

Radek Stepanek def. Marc Gicquel, 6-4 3-6 6-4

Robin Soderling def. Josselin Ouanna, 6-3 6-4

Ivan Ljubicic def. Viktor Troicki, 6-3 6-4

Florent Serra def. Guillermo Canas, 4-6 7-5 6-3

Fernando Verdasco def. Tommy Robredo, 6-2 6-7 (6-8) 6-2

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Bell Challenge (Quebec)

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Nadia Petrova def. Maria Mokh, 6-1 6-2

Severine Brémond def. Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6-2 7-6 (7-4)

Galina Voskoboeva def. Sofia Arvidsson, 6-3 6-2

Melinda Czink def. Sabine Lisicki, 6-2 5-7 6-3

Nathalie Dechy def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 6-3 6-1

Varvara Lepchenko def. Rossana de los Ríos, 6-1 6-3

Carly Gullickson def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 7-6 (8-6) 6-1

Yes You Can, Stan!

And the year had been going so well for Stan Wawrinka. He shot up the rankings into the top ten after making the final of Rome, and has stuck around, floating round that #8 to #10 slot. Then there was the gold medal in Beijing, partnering Roger Federer to doubles glory, and then...

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...not so much.

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He was the top seed in Vienna, and he lost to Philipp Petzschner, who was a qualifer. Sure, Petzschner went on to make the final, but I don't think that's really an excuse. And then today, in Basel, he had two match points and wasted them in a loss to Benjamin Becker, also a qualifier. Becker-no-relation is pretty promising - he knocked out Davydenko at one of the Slams this year, though I can't remember which one - but really, he shouldn't be beating Stan Wawrinka, especially when said Stan is playing at his home tournament in Basel.

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I sincerely hope that Stan has not suddenly contracted a case of Ana Ivanovic's disease - getting a taste of the big time and not being able to hack the pressure. Because Stan really is a great player. I love his game. I know he has suffered from nerves in the past - he really got dragged by Federer through those first few matches in Beijing - but he can do it. I know he can. I want to send out a Bob The Builder message to Stan today: Can he fix it? Yes he can!

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Meanwhile, what was the deal with the Tursunov match in St Petersburg? I know that Dominik Hrbaty is one of the three players on tour that has a winning record over Federer, but that doesn't mean he should be going round beating Dmitry Tursunov 6-1 6-1. There's something seriously whack with that.

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Today's Results

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Davidoff Swiss Indoors (Basel)

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Benjamin Becker def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-5)

Igor Andreev def. Jurgen Melzer, 7-6 (7-5) 7-5

Mardy Fish def. Agustin Calleri, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Feliciano Lopez def. Marco Chiudinelli, 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (9-7)

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St Petersburg Open (St Petersburg)

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Dominik Hrbaty def. Dmitry Tursunov, 6-1 6-1

Victor Hanescu def. Evgeny Korolev, 6-1 6-2

Rainer Schuettler def. Igor Kunitsyn, 6-2 6-3

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Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon (Lyon)

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Tommy Robredo def. Michael Llodra, 6-4 6-3

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Sam Querrey, 6-3 7-5

Julien Benneteau def. Arnaud Clement, 6-3 6-2

Steve Darcis def. Radek Stepanek, 6-4 3-6 6-3

Josselin Ouanna def. Ivan Ljubicic, 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

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Generali Ladies Linz (Linz)

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Alizé Cornet def. Zheng Jie, 6-3 6-2

Katarina Srebotnik def. Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6-1 7-5

Kaia Kanepi def. Melanie Klaffner, 6-4 6-0

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FORTIS Championships Luxembourg (Luxembourg)

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Anna Chakvetadze def. Mathilde Johansson, 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Daniela Hantuchova def. Pauline Parmentier, 6-2 7-5

Li Na def. Mandy Minella, 6-2 6-1

Peng Shuai def. Vera Dushevina, 6-1 6-2

Sara Errani def. Marina Erakovic, 4-6 6-2 7-5

Sabine Lisicki def. Sofia Arvidsson, 2-6 6-3 6-4

Good Things To Come

Well, I suppose it was a bit much to hope that wee Ernests Gulbis could steal the match away from the Rafinator, but I have to say that the boy gave a good account of himself. That was a seriously tight match. I think Ernests's real weakness is at crunch time - I wouldn't say he crumbles, but he doesn't exactly step it up, either. Once he has that under control - when he becomes the player you can count on in a pinch - then he's going to be one of the great champions. This kid is going all the way - and even though he didn't win today, I think this match was a sign of good things to come.

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But Rafa is a champ, and so he does deserve his victories. The other champ, my beloved Mr Federer, is playing arguably the creepiest man on the tour tomorrow: Radek 'The Worm' Stepanek. Seriously, that guy is kinda freaky. I fear him. I hope R-Fed isn't rusty or anything coming into tomorrow's match - I hope all that rest works in his favour! He hasn't confirmed anything in the rest of his season yet - he says it'll all be last-minute decisions based on the health of his mind and body. If only Ana Ivanovic would adopt a similar position.

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Marin Cilic had a win, too - a good one, over fifteenth seeded Fernando Verdasco. Go them Stars! Unfortunately, Dmitry Tursunov took a weird loss. Them Russians and their consistency... Mademoiselle Safina aside, obviously. It isn't the same with the girls. But those Russian men... I despair of them.

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Meanwhile, Bernard Tomic looks like he's going to make his senior debut early next year in the new Brisbane tournament. My feelings on this tournament are mixed - it's replacing the Gold Coast and Adelaide events, with which there was nothing wrong, unless you count that flirtation with round robin that Adelaide had a couple of years back - but the field will be good, if nothing else. Djokovic, Tsonga and Baghdatis are all confirmed starters, as are Stosur and Ivanovic. Not that one expects much from Ivanovic these days. But the Tomic debut - should he get the wildcard he is expected to get - will be very exciting. I don't expect him to win or anything, but I think he'll prove an interesting handful. He'll certainly be much more interesting than Marko Djokovic, at any rate.

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Today's Results

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Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid (Madrid)

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Rafael Nadal def. Ernests Gulbis, 7-5 3-6 6-3

Andy Murray def. Simone Bolelli, 6-0 2-1 retired

Gilles Simon def. James Blake, 3-6 6-1 6-4

Marin Cilic def. Fernando Verdasco, 6-2 6-3

Richard Gasquet def. Mardy Fish, 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-3

Gael Monfils def. Fabio Fognini, 6-2 6-4

Marcel Granollers def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-4 6-4

Jarkko Nieminen def. Mikhail Youzhny, 7-5 3-6 6-2

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Carlos Moya, 6-2 6-2

Robby Ginepri def. Michael Llodra, 6-4 6-4

Robin Soderling def. Florent Serra, 6-3 6-4

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

Feliciano Lopez def. Albert Montanes, 7-6 (7-4) 6-3

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Tennis.com Zurich Open (Zurich)

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Agnieszka Radwanska def. Vera Dushevina, 6-4 6-1

Petra Kvitova def. Patty Schnyder, 6-4 3-6 6-4

Monica Niculescu def. Anna Chakvetadze, 3-6 6-3 6-2

Marion Bartoli def. Agnes Szavay, 6-4 6-0

Francesca Schiavone def. Caroline Wozniacki, 7-6 (7-3) 6-2

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Li Na, 6-2 6-4

Why People Should Play Hopman Cup

Well, looks like I'm eating my words. I didn't think Berdych had a prayer against del Potro, but I'm actully pleasantly surprised to see myself proven wrong. Berdych just has so much talent and ability, but he's such a head case, and it's been so sad to see him not doing that well. He has been in the top ten, but now he's #27. I think it would be fabulous to see him make a resurgence. He's played at Hopman Cup a time or too as well, which really endears him to me. Hopman Cup might be my favourite tournament, I think, and it gets no kudos. So kudos to Berdych for winning and for giving kudos to my favourite tournament.

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It's a bit strange, actually, thinking about it - remember when his girlfriend Lucie Safarova was all seeded at Grand Slams at stuff? Now I don't think she's even in the top fifty, and though I can recall her winning a title this year (Forest Hills) it was a Tier IV tournament. Their slides down the rankings have kind of coincided with each other. They didn't break up, did they? That might provide a modicum of an explanation. Or maybe it's just complete coincidence, and I am going all New Idea on them for nothing.

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And Dmitry Tursunov is back winning titles as well! I may have been wrong about Berdych, but I was totally right about Dima being able to beat Paulo. It was three sets, and kind of tight, but the big guy got there in the end. Like Berdych, Dima's Hopman Cup playage has endeared him to me greatly - especially that mixed doubles proset Russia and Spain played in the '07 final. I will remember that forever - I don't know if I've ever laughed so hard. Dmitry Tursunov, Nadia Petrova, Tommy Robredo and Anabel Medina Garrigues have had a special place in my heart ever since.

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Speaking of Nadia Petrova, she unfortunately did not win her final today, going down to Jelena Jankovic (another Hopman Cup aficianado) but how great is it to see her back in finals? I don't think anyone would have put money on her to reach the final of Stuttgart - so top work there, Nadia! She won a title the same week as the Olympics, I remember... maybe she's on the way back up? I certainly hope so. Next to Dinara Safina, she is my favourite Russian!

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I think the real lesson we can learn from Tomas Berdych, Dmitry Tursunov, Jelena Jankovic and Nadia Petrova is that people who play Hopman Cup win stuff. So more people should play Hopman Cup, as it is the best tournament ever. (I know there is no chance of it, but I would love to see Federer and Schnyder play for Switzerland. I think they would be a fabulous mixed doubles team.)

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And congratulations also to Caroline Wozniacki and Sorana Cirstea, who won titles this week, even if I have nothing intelligent to say about them.

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Today's Results

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Open de Moselle (Metz)

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Dmitry Tursunov def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 7-6 (8-6) 1-6 6-4

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AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships (Tokyo)

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Men's Draw

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Tomas Berdych def. Juan Martin Del Potro, 6-1 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Caroline Wozniacki def. Kaia Kanepi, 6-2 3-6 6-1

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Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart)

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Jelena Jankovic def. Nadia Petrova, 6-4 6-3

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Tashkent Open (Tashkent)

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Sorana Cirstea def. Sabine Lisicki, 2-6 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Berdych's Big Break?

Well, well, could Tomas Berdych be going to make something of himself at last? It's probably a stretch to say yes, but at least he's proven that he still deserves to be in the upper echelons of the ATP. He hasn't been very impressive at all this year, but if he can win this title, that might really help him out. He has so much talent and so much promise, and after beating Federer at the Olympics in Athens and winning that Masters shield in 2005, I bet a few people had him on their Stars of the Future list. Largely, he hasn't come through - and it's not like this final in Tokyo changes that. But it is a positive sign.

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That said, it was a pretty tight match. It wasn't like Berdych came out and totally flogged Roddick. It was a third set breaker. But Berdych came away with the win, which is important for him... though I don't like his chances in the final. He's playing Juan Martin del Potro, and we all know how hot that kid is running right now. I certainly wouldn't bet against him, unless he were playing Federer or Nadal or someone. I suppose the real question will be whether or not he can maintain this hot streak. I hope, for his sake, that he isn't a player that has an amazing hot streak and then effectively burns himself out, never to be seen again.

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Meanwhile, I really, really hope that Jelena Jankovic takes some serious time off sometime soon, or I think her limbs might actually start falling off. I don't know if I can remember a tennis player so constantly injured. She had to have painkillers injected to make it through today's marathon match against Venus Williams. This is what she said:

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"When I saw the needles they were going to use ten minutes before the game started, I went white - I hate needles... I was screaming when the doctor put the needle in and I had to hold onto one of the physios, but I had to do it to get through the game."

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Personally, if I was in that much pain, I wouldn't have played. If the remedy is (for Jelena, anyway) worse than the cure, then surely your body might be trying to tell you something? But she knows best, I suppose... I have absolutely no knowledge of anything to do with sports medicine.

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Oh, and davai Dmitry! Tursunov is through to the final in Metz, and I would love to see him win... though unfortunately I can't be present this time, like I was when he won the tournament in Sydney. He faces Paul-Henri Mathieu, and though Paulo is seeded higher (and very cruelly took out the wonderfully named Adrian Mannarino) I think we all know Dmitry can take him.

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And congratulations to Jarmila Gajdosova, who unfortunately couldn't get past Caroline Wozniacki today, but who did make it to the semis nonetheless - nice one!

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Today's Results

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Open de Moselle (Metz)

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Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Adrian Mannarino, 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (7-1)

Dmitry Tursunov def. Radek Stepanek, 6-3 6-4

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AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships (Tokyo)

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Men's Draw

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Juan Martin Del Potro def. Richard Gasquet, 6-3 4-6 7-5

Tomas Berdych def. Andy Roddick, 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 7-6 (7-3)

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Women's Draw

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Caroline Wozniacki def. Jarmila Gajdosova, 6-4 6-3

Kaia Kanepi def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 6-4 6-4

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Porsche Tennis Grand Prix

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Jelena Jankovic def. Venus Williams, 6-7 (8-10) 7-5 6-2

Nadia Petrova def. Victoria Azarenka, 6-4 6-4

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Tashkent Open (Tashkent)

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Sabine Lisicki def. Peng Shuai, 5-7 6-3 6-4

Sorana Cirstea def. Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-3 retired

Our Jarmila

Unfortunately Sam Stosur got stopped today, but how about Jarmila Gajdosova? She's kind of Australian, and she's into the last four in Tokyo. Good on you, Jarmila! (I think I've said that about twelve times in the past couple of days!) Dinara Safina got beaten as well, and we all know she is my special favourite, so it was very nice to have a bright spot.

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So when is this Australian citizenship/playing-for-Australia going to happen for Jarmila, Tennis Australia? You can bet the whole country will be calling her 'our Jarmila' if she wins this tournament. Not that a whole heap of people in Australia would be following it, but the ones that are... and yeah, I guess I include myself in that, though I like to think that I wouldn't have to qualify it with a tournament victory.

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Over in the blokes, and, with the demise of Schwank, all my Stars are gone... except Juan Martin del Potro, but I don't know if I can in all fairness count him as one of my Stars, as that ship had already sailed by the time I jumped on. Who would have picked that? If you'd asked me in May or whatever which young player was most likely to make a huge splash over the summer (if one was going to) I would have said Gulbis or Cilic. Del Potro has been round for a little while, so that you sort of forget how young he is... he must be in a fair way for qualifying for the Tennis Masters Cup. Now no one would have picked that one at the beginning of the year. But no one could say he doesn't deserve it - he just took out David Ferrer to get to the semis, so more power to him.

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And down in Metz, we have a qualifier into the semis. Adrian Mannarino, I know nothing about you, but you have a cool last name, so kudos. I might even be cheering for you... as long as you're not playing Tursunov, because he, like Dinara Safina, is one of my special favourites. But isn't it nice when some little qualifier guy gets up and does well? I've never cheered for him since, but when Steve Darcis won his first title from #297 in the world or whatever it was last year, I was pulling for him.

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Today's Results

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Open de Moselle (Metz)

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Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Janko Tipsarevic, 7-6 (7-4) 6-3

Dmitry Tursunov def. Carlos Moya, 6-3 6-3

Radek Stepanek def. Eduardo Schwank, 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4

Adrian Mannarino def. Marc Gicquel, 6-4 7-6 (7-3)

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AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships (Tokyo)

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Men's Draw

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Juan Martin Del Potro def. David Ferrer, 6-1 7-5

Andy Roddick def. Viktor Troicki, 6-3 6-4

Tomas Berdych def. Fernando Gonzalez, 6-0 6-4

Richard Gasquet def. Rainer Schuettler, 6-3 6-2

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Women's Draw

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Caroline Wozniacki def. Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6-4 6-1

Kaia Kanepi def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-1)

Aleksandra Wozniak def. Samantha Stosur, 7-5 6-3

Jarmila Gajdosova def. Klara Zakopalova, 7-5 7-5

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Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart)

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Jelena Jankovic def. Vera Zvonareva, 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (7-5)

Venus Williams def. Dinara Safina, 6-4 6-2

Victoria Azarenka def. Elena Dementieva, 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 6-1

Nadia Petrova def. Li Na, 6-2 6-3

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Tashkent Open (Tashkent)

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Peng Shuai def. Monica Niculescu, 6-7 (6-8) 6-2 6-4

Sorana Cirstea def. Michelle Larcher de Brito, 6-2 7-6 (7-5)

Sabine Lisicki def. Urszula Radwanska, 3-6 7-5 7-6 (7-4)

Magdalena Rybarikova def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 6-1 6-2

Grapple in the Apple

I promised, I will deliver. US Open draw preview coming right up.

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Let's start at the top, in the Nadal quarter. (Oh! how it hurts to say that!) I think you'd be a fool not to pick Rafa in this quarter to make the semis, with the way he's playing at the moment - though for his sake, I hope that playing all those tournaments hasn't worn him out! One potential quarter-final match that could be very interesting, however, is Rafa vs. LameDave Headbandian - on the proviso that GoodDave, and not LameDave, shows up. Rafa has never beaten Nalbandian - there's something about the Headbandian game that gives him trouble. I think they've only played twice or something though, so I don't know how indicative is of anything... and Rafa is THE form player at the moment, and LameDave doesn't even make the list - he's been very underwhelming this year. Rafa is the quintessential anti-headcase, so I don't know how much effect that record would have on him either... but still. Could be interesting. If Nalbandian makes the quarters, which I personally wouldn't bet on.

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I certainly don't see anyone stopping Rafa on the way to the quarters - the only people with even an outside chance are probably Berdych and maybe Querrey, or, if Rafa breaks his leg, Kohlschreiber. But really, you'd be a moron to bet against Rafa there. In the Nalbandian section, however, there are a couple of potentials. Blake is one. Fish is another. And Monfils, if he isn't injured. I'd like to see Nalbandian make it, because I want to see how Rafa fares against him, but if I were gambling, I think I'd go with Blake.

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Now, the second quarter. This is the really interesting quarter, because it's the one from whence comes the random semi-finalist. Randoms so far this year include Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils and Rainer Schuettler - so who is it to be this time? The seed is Ferrer, and he plays well at the US Open traditionally, so he well could fulfil his seed. I'd like that, actually... and a Rafa/Ferru semi could be interesting, because Ferru has knocked Rafa out of this tournament before. However, there are some other challengers - not least among them being Juan Martin del Potro. There are some good names in this quarter, actually - despite the lack of a member of the Big Three, it's got a lot of really good players. Murray is one, Stan W another. There's the ever-dangerous Canas, Youzhny, Lopez, Monaco and even Star of the Future Bellucci. My quarter final pick is probably Ferrer against Wawrinka - though it could just as easily be del Potro against Murray. It will be between those four that the quarter will be decided, methinks. However, I'm going to stick with the seed and say Ferrer will come through - though not with any conviction.

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Now we come to the Djokovic quarter - ominous music. Personally, I would prefer that Djokovic won the quarter to Roddick winning it, so unimpressed am I with Roddick right now. He should have gone to the Olympics, instead of playing schlep tournaments. In fact, I hope he gets knocked out in the first round. And he's playing Fabrice Santoro, who you should never underestimate, so maybe he will. Allez Fabrice.

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If I were to pick a sentimental semi-finalist here, I would say Safin - and we all know he's capable of it, though whether or not he does it is a whole other story. Jo-Wilfried is back, but because it's his first tournament since, like, twelve years ago, I wouldn't put any money on him to repeat his Australian Open performance. One match that is going to be very interesting is the potential third round of Djokovic versus Cilic - and we all know who I'll be going for. In fact, I'm going to be bold and say Cilic will win it! Go Marin! And should Djokovic come through, he might face Marat... and that will be a real test of his strength of character. A headcase would lose. A not-headcase would not. Simple as that.

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I'm going to stick to my guns and pick Cilic as my quarter finalist here - though Marat would be ideal. And in the other section (the Roddick section) I'm going with my boy Ernests Gulbis. I think Roddick is going to crash and burn - if he doesn't lose to Santoro, Gulbis will get him, mark my words. Kiefer and especially Gonzalez are also possibilities, but I really like Gulbis here. Gulbis versus Cilic quarter final, I say - and though it will be long and hard-fought, I'm going with Gulbis to win it. Go Ernests! (And Marin too... I'm cheering for my Stars!)

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And then the bestest quarter - the Federer quarter. We all know who I'm picking to win. The Fed Express has a pretty decent draw - Stepanek in the third round could be a bit interesting, but I don't see him taking three sets off Roger. Best of five suits the Federer game so much more - I feel like he can sort of relax into it more. Andreev could potentially win a set, and maybe Nando Verdasco, but otherwise, I think Rog has a reasonably smooth ride to the quarters. There, I think he might face Tursunov. Or possibly Haas. This is really not the strongest section ever. Davydenko is the seed, but with his attitude right now, I wouldn't pick him to beat anyone. Even me. Tipsarevic is another possibility, but I wouldn't give Gasquet and Almagro much in the way of a chance - or even Star of the Future Schwank. I'm going to go with Tursunov - mostly for sentimental reasons - but whoever it is, I think Federer will beat them. It'll be pretty disastrous if he loses before then - but he's keyed up for Slams. And I think doubles at the Olympics taught him to love tennis again - he was just having such a blast! Hopefully he can just chill out and play his game.

*

Let's revise those picks for the quarter finals. We have:

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Nadal vs. Blake

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Ferrer vs. Wawrinka

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Cilic vs. Gulbis

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Federer vs. Tursunov

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This would translate to the following semis:

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Nadal vs. Ferrer

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Federer vs. Gulbis

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And to the following final:

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Nadal vs. Federer

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And we all know who I think will win the Grapple in the Apple. Hopp Suisse!

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I haven't really looked at the women's draw, but I can tell you this - Dinara Safina is going to win. No doubt.

*

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No results today!

Kicking Kolya Out Of The Kitchen

One thing I have to say about the Beijing Olympics. Their Opening Ceremony was fantastic, it all seems to be very well organised and running smoothly and all, but their tennis livescoring system is really, really bad. Like, dreadful. It's a pretty sad state of affairs when the 32-draw Legg Mason 'I'm not good enough/too wussy to go to the Olympics' Classic has a better system than the greatest sporting event on earth.

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Other than that, Beijing did a great job of squeezing something like 65 matches into a day, even if it was terribly hard to follow them. Of course, here in Australia, we saw absolutely no tennis, as Australia stands pretty much no chance of doing well and they're hardly going to show anyone else, but I kept up to date what was going on. The most important match from my perspective was, of course, Federer against Tursunov. Not seeing the match, I can't comment adequately on it, but it seems like a pretty decent win for Roger to me. I saw some reports which were all 'vintage Federer!' and others that said that he did enough to win but wasn't that impressive. Still, no matter which way you look at it, a straight sets victory over a talented big-hitter like Tursunov ain't nothing to sneeze at.

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Federer next plays Rafael Arevalo, whom no one has heard of - including Federer, by all reports, who was apparently frantically Googling him to find out some stuff. What I did find out is that Arevalo is ranked something like #447, so you'd think Federer would be a dead cert bet... but we all remember the Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo incident. I don't think Roger will underestimate him, which would probably be the biggest pitfall.

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I'm not sure if Rafa did some underestimating or whether he's just tired, because he'd normally never drop a set to someone like Potito Starace. Still, he came through. I'm sure there'll be some reports of how the pressure of #1 is getting to him, but everyone drops a set now and again. I don't think it's really much to worry about for Team Rafa. Though Team Spain clearly has something to worry about - three of their four guys went out yesterday, which was not so good. And Rafa dropped a set... maybe they all had food poisoning! Or not. Maybe they just got beaten.

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Ferrer lost to Tipsarevic, who looks more and more dangerous every time he plays. Seppi beat Robredo and Monfils beat Almagro. Strange, isn't it, that Spain left all these awesome players behind - players like Nando Verdasco - and then most of them lose. At least you can pretty much always count on Rafa.

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Djokovic had a pretty handy win, but there were a couple of upsets - not just Ferrer, but Murray as well. Yen-hsun Lu played the match of his life there! I remembering watching him play at the Hopman Cup this year, and he really has a lovely playing style, so good word to him. As those hideous cackling commentators on Channel 7 might say, 'onya!' And on the women's side, my gold medal pick Svetlana Kuznetsova went crashing out to Li Na. That means I have to revise my gold medallist, and I'm revising it straight to Dinara Safina. Don't know why I didn't pick her in the first place. She is easily playing better than anyone else right now.

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For a limited time only - ie. the duration of the Olympics - Tennis From The Backseat will also be covering doubles... mostly because I'm really, really excited about Team Fedrinka! I think they stand a great chance! How many other teams boast two top ten players? I know that's not the only consideration for doubles, but I think they could just be fabulous. And they WILL be fabulous!

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They face a Russian team next - Tursunov and Youzhny - who knocked out Gonzalez and Massu, who won the gold medal in Athens, so that was a good win. If you want a tough team, I don't know if you can go further than those boys, so that should be a good match.

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...though speaking of Russians, did anyone else see that article about Davydenko? I was totally disgusted. I think it's on Eurosport, if anyone else wants to look: basically, he was whinging about how he has no motivation, and how he's going to play at the Olympics, but he isn't really going to try and how he doesn't expect to do well and how he just finds it so hard to pick up a racquet.

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If I were Ernests Gulbis, who was knocked out by Davydenko in the first round, I would be feeling so offended right now. What kind of attitude is that for an elite sportsman? For the first time, I think I understand - just a little - why Justine Henin retired. I don't understand WHY she had no motivation, but once she recognised that she did, she was at least respectful to her opponents and stepped aside. Sport is about giving your all. Isn't that, like, the Olympic thing? Faster, higher, stronger, or whatever the motto is? If you're not prepared to try, get out. If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. Kolya, I hope you get destroyed in your next match - because with an attitude like that, you have absolutely no right to be here. None whatsoever.

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Today's Results

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Games of the XXIX Olympiad (Beijing)

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Men's Draw - Singles

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Roger Federer def. Dmitry Tursunov, 6-4 6-2

Rafael Nadal def. Potito Starace, 6-2 3-6 6-2

Novak Djokovic def. Robby Ginepri, 6-4 6-4

Janko Tipsarevic def. David Ferrer, 7-6 (10-8) 6-2

Lu Yen-Hsun def. Andy Murray, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

David Nalbandian def. Zeng Shaoxuan, 6-2 6-1

Stanislas Wawrinka def. Frank Dancevic, 4-6 6-3 6-2

Gilles Simon def. Robin Soderling, 6-4 6-4

Gael Monfils def. Nicolas Almagro, 6-4 3-6 6-3

Mikhail Youzhny def. Jiri Vanek, 6-4 6-1

Nicolas Kiefer def. Max Mirnyi, 6-3 6-1

Michael Llodra def. Radek Stepanek, 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 11-9

Thomas Johansson def. Jarkko Nieminen, 4-6 6-4 6-4

Andreas Seppi def. Tommy Robredo, 6-4 4-6 8-6

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Nicolas Lapentti, 7-6 (7-4) 6-2

Victor Hanescu def. Simone Bolelli, 7-5 3-6 6-4

Olivier Rochus def. Ivo Minar, 6-3 3-6 6-3

Igor Andreev def. Sam Querrey, 6-4 6-4

Dominik Hrbaty def. Thomaz Bellucci, 2-6 6-4 6-2

Marin Cilic def. Juan Monaco, 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-3

Agustin Calleri def. Devin Mullings, 6-1 6-1

Rainer Schuettler def. Kei Nishikori, 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-3

Lleyton Hewitt def. Jonas Bjorkman, 7-5 7-6 (7-2)

Nicolas Massu def. Steve Darcis, 6-4 7-5

Kevin Anderson def. Komlavi Loglo, 6-3 6-2

Rafael Arevalo def. Hyung-Taik Lee, 4-6 6-3 6-4

Jurgen Melzer def. Marcos Daniel, 6-7 (9-11) 6-1 8-6

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Women's Draw - Singles

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Jelena Jankovic def. Cara Black, 6-3 6-3

Li Na def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Serena Williams def. Olga Govortsova, 6-3 6-1

Elena Dementieva def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 6-1 6-4

Dinara Safina def. Mara Santangelo, 6-3 7-6 (7-1)

Venus Williams def. Timea Bacsinszky, 6-3 6-2

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Chan Yung-Jan, 6-1 7-6 (8-6)

Vera Zvonareva def. Yan Zi, 6-2 6-0

Daniela Hantuchova def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-2 7-5

Zheng Jie def. Agnes Szavay, 4-6 6-3 7-5

Victoria Azarenka def. Tatiana Perebiynis, 6-4 5-7 6-4

Patty Schnyder def. Jill Craybas, 6-3 6-2

Kaia Kanepi def. Flavia Pennetta, 6-2 7-6 (8-6)

Alizé Cornet def. Nicole Vaidisova, 4-6 6-1 6-4

Dominika Cibulkova def. Pauline Parmentier, 6-1 7-5

Shahar Peer def. Sorana Cirstea, 6-3 5-7 6-0

Virginie Razzano def. Eleni Daniilidou, 6-3 6-3

Alona Bondarenko def. Milagros Sequera, 3-6 0-1 retired

Sybille Bammer def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-2 4-6 6-4

Casey Dellacqua def. Gisela Dulko, 6-3 6-4

Peng Shuai def. Carla Suárez Navarro, 7-5 7-6 (7-2)

Iveta Benesova def. Sania Mirza, 6-1 2-1 retired

Sofia Arvidsson def. Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6-2 6-1

Lucie Safarova def. Maret Ani, 6-4 6-2

María José Martínez Sánchez def. Alicia Molik, 6-1 6-1

Nuria Llagostera Vives def. Klara Zakopalova, 2-6 6-3 7-5

*

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Men's Draw - Doubles

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Federer/Wawrinka def. Bolelli/Seppi, 7-5 6-1

Almagro/Ferrer def. Anderson/Coetzee, 3-6 6-3 6-4

Nadal/Robredo def. Bjorkman/Soderling, 6-3 6-3

Andreev/Davydenko def. Blake/Querrey, 6-3 6-4

Aspelin/Johansson def. Hanley/Kerr, 7-6 (9-7) 6-3

Murray/Murray def. Nestor/Niemeyer, 4-6 6-3 6-4

Darcis/Rochus def. Canas/Nalbandian, 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3

Tursunov/Youzhny def. Gonzalez/Massu, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Guccione/Hewitt def. Calleri/Monaco, 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 18-16

*

*

Legg Mason Tennis Classic (Washington)

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Tommy Haas def. Rik de Voest, 6-4 4-6 6-1

Dudi Sela def. Vince Spadea, 7-6 (8-6) 6-3

Somdev Devvarman def. Taylor Dent, 7-6 (7-3) 2-6 6-1

Florent Serra def. Uladzimir Ignatik, 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

Bobby Reynolds def. Marc Gicquel, 7-6 (7-2) 3-6 6-4

John Isner def. Marcel Granollers, 6-3 6-7 (6-5) 7-6 (7-1)

*

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Western and Southern Financial Group Women's Open

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Katarina Srebotnik def. Amanda Fink, 6-3 6-3

Sabine Lisicki def. Anna Tatishvili, 5-7 7-5 6-0

Camille Pin def. Ekaterina Makarova, 6-2 6-0

Petra Cetkovska def. Tamira Paszek, 4-6 6-3 4-1 retired

Nathalie Dechy def. Olivia Sanchez, 6-2 6-2

Julie Ditty def. Yuan Meng, 2-6 6-1 6-4

Maria Kirilenko def. Hsieh Su-wei, 6-2 7-5

Stéphanie Dubois def. Evgeniya Rodina, 6-2 7-6 (7-3)

Tennis En Pointe

Well, Juan Martin del Potro beat Mardy Fish. Whoop-di-doo. Andy Roddick will probably beat Denis Gremelmayr. And there is my LA roundup.

*

But the Olympic tennis starts today, which ensures I'll have some interesting stuff to talk about from here on in! I couldn't tell you exactly who's playing today, as I'm having some issues finding an order of play, but I know Federer and Tursunov are first off the rank - and I think Nadal might be playing first in the doubles. Actually, I think Roger has to play twice today - the Olympic debut of the 'Fedrinka' team is later on this evening. And don't we just know how those will work out. I'd be very happy with a singles gold, but I'd love to see him do a Massu and pull double gold out of the bag!

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Speaking of gold, in a vaguely related segue, I was looking around on the Olympic site trying to find an order of play, and I came across this summary for tennis:

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'Today's Olympic tennis players include some of the highest-profile athletes in the world. Accustomed to five-star hotels and high-stakes prize money, at the Olympic Games they will bunk in the Olympic Village and compete for nothing but a gold medal.'

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I think that's awesome. Really, really awesome. Federer has come out and said that a gold medal would mean as much to him as a Wimbledon victory - and when you consider that that's without a pay cheque, that's something else. I mean, it's not like Roger needs the money, but it's great that the gold medal is the prize, and nothing more - and it's still considered such a prize.

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That's the power of the Olympics, I guess. If I were to call up the top sixty four players and say, 'hey guys, come play in my awesome Tournament de Jodi, where I will pay you nothing but you will get my undying love and admiration' I have a feeling that I wouldn't get a lot of takers. But if it were the OLYMPIC Tournament de Jodi...

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...but then, I suppose I don't have a state of art tennis facility at my command. Or a gold medal. If you got desperate for cash, I suppose you could always pawn it.

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(That was a joke.)

*

Apparently, according to the Beijing website, the first ever gold medallist in tennis was an Irish guy called John Boland, who originally went as a spectator. That was in Athens in 1896. Somehow, I can't see a spectator jumping in and winning gold now, but it's still a fun story. I wish it elaborated on exactly how he went from spectator to Olympic athlete to winner. That could totally be an awesome movie.

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Oh, I found a reference! So he was a student of mythology and went for kicks because of that, but his buddy Thrasyvoloas Manaos, who was the secretary on the organisational committee, randomly entered him into the tennis. One can imagine Boland probably said something along the lines of, 'WTF, mate?' but he went ahead and played - and obviously won! - despite wearing leather-soled shoes with heels.

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Leather-soled shoes. Can you imagine any player - maybe even Federer - coming out in leather clogs and still winning? Go Boland! He later went on to be an MP and championed the Irish language. He sounds really cool. I reiterate my 'there should be a movie' sentiment.

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Hey, maybe I should write it! Tennis From The Backseat could totally transition to the screen!

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Today's Results

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Countrywide Classic (Los Angeles)

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Juan Martin del Potro def. Mardy Fish, 6-2 6-1

Andy Roddick def. Denis Gremelmayr, 6-2 6-2

Flying the Gulbis Flag

Well, Arnaud Clement, who somehow accidentally became my pick for the final due to Stan withdrawing and me not realising, has lost. Surprise, surprise. So looks like I won't be winning the bracket challenge this time. I'm still doing pretty well, though - 139th out of 11,000 odd. Go me.

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Of course, the boy Arnaud lost to is one of my favourite Stars of the Future, Ernests Gulbis. I was flying my Cilic flag all last week, but Ernests is getting raised up the Stars flagpole this week, I think. It was a tight match - third set tiebreaker - but Clement is a wily old fox and I'm very proud of Ernests for winning. Even if my bracket is now dead in the water.

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Ernests will meet the winner of the Blake/Simon match... which has been played, and is Blake. So the Simon Streak (tm) has faded away a bit. That should be an interesting match... actually, didn't Gulbis beat Blake at the French Open? That's over five sets, which makes it a bit different, but if the kid can do it once...

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Another player who has been impressive lately is Mr Maria Kirilenko, Igor Andreev. He beat John Isner today - and with the Isner serve, that's not exactly a cakewalk. Andreev has made, what, two finals in the recent future? My bracket has him reaching the semis, and though I got the other half of the draw wrong - Wawrinka/Cilic, which somehow became Clement/Cilic without me noticing - I could get this one right, because I picked Federer/Andreev, and that's a real possibility. Igor will play the winner of Davydenko/Moya, which you'd probably guess would be Davydenko... but Kolya hasn't been that great lately. If Carlos can't take him, I bet Igor will.

*

Meanwhile, Dmitry Tursunov just put a major beatdown on Richard Gasquet. The first set was tight - a breaker, in fact - but the second set was a bagel blowout. I guess Richou will have to go back to whimpering under the bed... for the duration of the whole Olympics, because he's too cool to go.

*

And what is with Gael Monfils retiring? Does he ever play even half of the tournaments he enters? Blink and you miss him, but not because he loses - because he freaking retires. I hate that. Do you know how many times Roger Federer has retired in his career on the ATP circuit? Zero. Not once. That is because he is an EXCELLENT SPORT.

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Speaking of people that retire all the time, Djokovic won his match in two breakers. Ugh.

*

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Today's Results

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Western and Southern Financial Group Masters (Cincinatti)

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Igor Andreev def. Radek Stepanek, 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-3)

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Woong-Sun Jun, 6-2 6-2

Novak Djokovic def. Simone Bolelli, 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-2)

Nicolas Lapentti def. David Ferrer, 7-6 (7-2) 3-6 6-3

James Blake def. Gilles Simon, 6-4 6-3

Andy Murray def. Sam Querrey, 7-6 (7-3) 6-1

Ernests Gulbis def. Arnaud Clement, 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-5)

Tommy Haas def. Gael Monfils, 5-1 retired

Andreas Seppi def. Tomas Berdych, 5-7 7-5 7-5

Igor Andreev def. John Isner, 3-6 7-6 (10-8) 7-5

Dmitry Tursunov def. Richard Gasquet, 7-6 (10-8) 6-0

Fernando Verdasco def. Chris Guccione, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4)

*

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Rogers Cup (Montreal)

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Ana Ivanovic def. Petra Kvitova, 6-3 4-6 6-3

Anna Chakvetadze def. Jill Craybas, 6-2 7-5

Dinara Safina def. Anastasia Rodionova, 6-2 6-4

Patty Schnyder def. Monica Niculescu, 6-1 7-5

Marion Bartoli def. Alisa Kleybanova, walkover

Victoria Azarenka def. Sybille Bammer, 6-2 6-2

Nadia Petrova def. Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6-3 6-2

Stéphanie Dubois def. Maria Kirilenko, 6-2 2-6 7-6 (7-4)

Michelle Larcher de Brito def. Flavia Pennetta, 6-3 0-6 6-3

Ai Sugiyama def. Shahar Peer, 6-2 6-2

Tamira Paszek def. Melinda Czink, 6-4 7-5

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Nordea Nordic Light Open (Stockholm)

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Agnieszka Radwanska def. Mariya Koryttseva, 6-1 6-1

Vera Dushevina def. Agnes Szavay, 6-4 7-6 (8-6)

Katarina Srebotnik def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-3 6-4

Sania Mirza def. Emilie Loit, 6-3 6-2

Gear Shift

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

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

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

*

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Today's Results

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Western and Southern Financial Group Masters (Cincinatti)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*

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Rogers Cup (Montreal)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*

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Nordea Nordic Light Open (Stockholm)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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