The Rules Around Second Chances

So an interesting thing happened in Doha the other day. I'm a couple of days behind the pace, but... oh well. Mario Ancic's retirement was worth it.

Cautionary note: today I am writing about the WTA. I know I don't do this a lot, so proceed at your own peril. The likelihood of me saying a number of things which are wrong is high.

Okay. So this interesting thing that happened in Doha. Lucie Safarova beat Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets. This was an upset (technically), but is not the interesting thing. No, I'm being all tennis-nerdy and referring to one weird call in particular.

Let me set the scene. The players! Radwanska and Safarova! The umpire! Kader Nouni! The stadium! Mostly empty, because it is Doha! And what happened is this.

Aga and Lucie are rallying, valiantly hitting the ball each to each. Safarova hits the ball to Radwanska. Radwanska has a play on the ball, but does not hit it, on account of the linesperson yelling OUT! Unfortunately for Aga, that linesperson also yelled CORRECTION! a split second later.

No matter, it seems. Aga challenges, hoping that the ball will be out and the point will thus be hers. But the ball is good. A let, it seems, should be played. But no! Kader Nouni awards the point to Safarova. And Aga gets maaaaaaaaaaaaaaad.

This one ended up with the tournament referee coming out to clarify the ruling, something which I think I've only seen once before (and hey, Nico, if you ever read this, do you want to explain the ruling in that match against Troicki to me? because I didn't understand it). The ref came down on Kader's side, which Aga obviously didn't like. And I don't blame her, because I totally understand her point of view.

The situation, as I understand it, was this: because Radwanska challenged the call, she thus forfeited her chance at playing a let, because she couldn't have two chances to win the point. I don't think Kader Nouni explained this particularly well to her - it took me a while to even begin to understand what he was saying. I totally see Aga's perspective on this - she was there, she had a play on the ball, the out call was interference, so it should be a let. And it would have been a let - had she not challenged. But no, because she challenged, the point had to be decided one way or another.

I certainly wasn't aware of this rule, and it doesn't seem like Aga was either. I've heard several criticisms of the interactions of HawkEye with actual umpiring, and it seems like this was one. This is clearly a pretty obscure rule, which doesn't have much call to be used... or does it? It seems like this situation would happen a lot, now that I think about it. Was Kader Nouni upholding the letter of the law where most umpires do not? I've never seen this ruling before and it seems like it would be pretty common - surely players challenge things all the time and lets are played? I can't put my finger on any particular instances of it at the moment, but it must happen. And I don't remember any players being particularly upset at their opponent being given Nouni's 'two chances' to win the point.

Aga clearly wasn't aware of this rule, otherwise it seems unlikely that she would challenge. It seems like a lot of players would be more reticent to challenge if this rule were employed more commonly. So does there need to be a clear delineation of the rules around HawkEye? Should Kader have told Aga before she challenged that if she was wrong she was forfeiting the point? Or should this rule - which obviously exists, because the tournament referee upheld it - be changed, so that Aga would get her let?

Thoughts?

#wildcardformahut and Other Animals

WILDCARD FOR MAHUT WILDCARD FOR MAHUT WILDCARD FOR MAHUT GIVE HIM A WILDCARD NOW WILDCARD FOR MAHUT. #wildcardformahut

...wow, sorry about that. I've been typing #wildcardformahut and various permutations so often for the past couple of days that it has become second nature. It takes a bit of dedication to captain a Twitter campaign to (hopefully) victory. But if anyone with the wildcarding power happens to read this - make my day! make the day of everyone else who wants a wildcard for Mahut! and, most of all, make the day of Nicolas Mahut! WILDCARD FOR MAHUT 2011. It's a thing.

Now, other business.

The Hopman Cup has finished up, with the USA very deserving winners. The John Isner/Ruben Bemelmans match was a bit of a non-event - which is not surprising, given the ranking difference - and it certainly wasn't the best mixed doubles match ever, but the match between Justine Henin and Bethanie Mattek-Sands was as good as I've ever seen.

I kind of love Bethanie Mattek-Sands. I never expected to, and I've laughed my arse off at her crazy fashion over the years, but I've discovered this week I sort of love her. I love her totally aggressive game, and her determination, and I especially love her backhand down the line. She seems pretty chilled out and yet totally focused on tennis all at the same time, and she was a really great addition to this year's Hopman Cup. If she can play in Melbourne like she did in Perth, then she can definitely get to at least the fourth round. It all depends on draw, of course, but there's no reason why she can't put up a great show.

And it was a great performance from Isner as well. He came back well from his shellacking by Murray to play very well against Bemelmans. Good stuff. Well done, USA - this was a very well-deserved win. And well done Belgium, on a well played final. And well done Hopman Cup, for bringing Nicolas Mahut into the spotlight for a week... #wildcardformahut.

Ahem. Back on track.

Petra Kvitova won in Brisbane, which was a great result for her, and she did it in style - she played an absolutely great match. Like Mattek-Sands, if she keeps her head in the game, there is no reason she can't make a tilt at a second week appearance in the Open. She totally dominated Petkovic and if she continues to play like this, well... with the state of the WTA, there is no reason why she couldn't be top ten rather quickly.

And then there was Doha. F^&* YEAH ROGER FEDERER.

It was a good win for Davydenko to beat Nadal - even an ailing Nadal - but Federer showed here today why he really is a worldbeater. He played very aggressive - and accurate - off the return, and it made a huge difference. That banana paddlepop outfit he's rocking is clearly giving him good mojo - and whatever Paul Annacone has been telling him, it's been good. I don't think there's going to be anywhere near the same amount of buzz this year about Davydenko as there was last year - which is a bit sad, in a way, because he is constantly over looked - but that doesn't mean that this wasn't an awesome win over a tough opponent for Federer. I loved every second of it. He played wonderfully. Even if he could do with upping his break point conversion rate.

And you know what else would be wonderful? AN AUSTRALIAN OPEN WILDCARD FOR MAHUT. DO IT. #wildcardformahut 2011! It's a thing.

Disappearing David

I'm never quite sure what this weird Bali tournament the week after Doha is for the women - like, you didn't get into the year ending championships, so nice try, you can be the postscript? - but whatever, I'll roll with it. There's usually some reasonably interesting matches going on there... and it would be hard to be less interesting than Doha turned out to be. Looking forward to watching it, in any case.

Now, over to the dudes.

Daveeeeeeeeed! You are back! You are beating some twobit journeymen again! I had almost totally forgotten you existed! Remember when you were all up there in the favourites for the US Open and then you somehow disappeared off the face of the earth? me too! No more of that! You are a fun guy to watch! You keep on with your badass Jan Hajek-beating self!

...I apologise for all that unnecessary exclamation.

Seriously, though, I had totally forgotten about Nalbandian. I had no idea he was playing in Basel and I'm glad he is. He's been conspicuously absent for a while now and - well, not conspicuous, really. I forgot about him. But now I realise how much I subconsciously missed him.

I hope he has a good run this week - not a title winning run or anything, because, hello, Roger, but maybe a nice semi or something. That could be nice.

Oh, and Marin Cilic won a match. Seems like a long time since that last happened.

Putting 2010 to Bed

Kim Clijsters won the year end championships, just like I said she would. Caro tried her best but when it comes down to it, her game relies on the other person making mistakes, and Kimmie just did not make enough mistakes to make it worth Caro's while.

And you know what? Kim Clijsters may well be the player of 2010 for the women. Even though she didn't have the bestest year of all the years. And that is really saying something about women's tennis.

You can't say it was Serena's year, because even though she did win two Slams, she was out of the mix for nearly the whole thing. You can't say it was Caro's year, because even though she did reach #1, she only made one Slam semi final and mostly won smaller tournaments. That leaves Kimmie by default - she won a Slam, a couple of Premier titles and the year ending championships. That's not a bad haul...

...but it feels like it should be more.

I'm not saying that there should always be someone who has a year like Rafa had this year. But the women's tour has really felt like it's flailing this year, especially in these Serena-less months.

I don't want to naysay what Kim Clijsters has achieved this year, because she's done some awesome stuff. But dominate? there's been none of that. It's really highlighted, this year, just how far above the rest of the game Serena is. She may not be #1 at the moment, but she is very, very obviously the best player around. And that is all that can be said about that.

I'm glad we've put 2010 to bed for the ladies. It was a messy, ugly affair, when all's said and done. Here's to a better 2011.

More Doha Disappointments

Well, Doha goes on, even if Elena Dementieva has gone and retired on us. And the streak of intense disappointment continues.

Seriously, these were not the results I wanted and they were both soft losses. I really had high hopes that Sam Stosur could win this tournament, but once she went down that first set to Clijsters, she just crumbled. It was a good result to get through to the semis, but really, the field was just not that good. She could do better.

But her disappointment has nothing on that perpetrated by Vera Zvonareva. Bepa, who have the ability to absolutely wallop Caro's arse. But you didn't. She lost a set 6-0. SIX LOVE. I am disgusted.

I am fully expecting Kimmie to win this tomorrow, though I think Caro needs it a lot more. But in reality, the match is never on Caro's racquet. If Kimmie plays moderately well, she has this one in the bag. Caro needs it to sort of consolidate her #1 position - if she's going to be #1 she needs to win something - but Kimmie's game is obviously superior. If she brings it.

The Sands Trickle Away

Whoa, whoa, whoa, Lena, is this not a little bit premature?

Sure, Dementieva hasn't had a very good year this year. She's not the youngest by WTA standards, but she's really not that old either. Normally, I feel pretty supportive when players call it quits - even if they do decide to come back, like, five seconds later - but this one just does not feel right.

It feels reactionary. It feels like frustration. It feels like a mental breakdown, and it feels like the Elena Dementieva who has broken down so many times before. It is a very Elena thing to do but I don't think it's the right one.

Elena is at her best when she digs her teeth in and believes in herself. These incidences can be few and far between, but when they happen, they've made for fabulous matches. The greatest matches I can remember Elena playing are losses, actually - her loss against Henin at the Australian Open this year and then again last year at Wimbledon against Serena. They were both awesome matches because she didn't give up, even if she got defeated.

But maybe that's what drove her to it. Always the bridesmaid, never the year. And for most of this year, she hasn't even been the bridesmaid. But this is giving up. She's never going to get that Slam now, and she totally has the ability. She's not going to be able to defend her gold medal or anything of the ilk. This is... I think it's pretty poor form.

I would not be surprised if we see a comeback from Elena. But if we do, I don't anticipate success. The hourglass is trickling down and I think she might be wasting those last grains of sand with this stunt.

Short Statements on Skill

Well, we pretty much have our final four. We have Caro and Kimmie and Sam and Bepa. And really, they didn't have to do so much to get there.

The only really significant match of the round robin stages - that counted anything in terms of psychological winnage, in any case - was Stosur over Wozniacki. And then she had a bit of a comedown when she lost to Lena D, even if it was in a third set breaker.

But let's stay on topic here. This has been a stunningly dull world tour finals, even by WTA standards. It's just been a big fat pile of nothing, really. Looking forward to 2011, I really hope they can lift the standard, because it's really just a whole big pile of not good.

And that is all I have to say about that.

Sam She Is

I just realised that Sveta is not in Doha. I know she didn't have a good enough year to come anywhere close to making it, but it still makes me sad.

You know who is in Doha, though? And doing awesomely? That would be one Sam Stosur, who is kicking arse and taking names. She played the only competitive match of the day yesterday when she beat Francesca Schiavone, and today she pulled a really big coup by beating Caro Wozniacki.

Caro Wozniacki may be the #1 player in the world, but she is completely vulnerable to a zoning player. Well, anyone is vulnerable to a zoning player, I suppose, but she is super-vulnerable. Her game is all based around the fact that everyone else's game is based on risk - if she can keep the ball in play, eventually the coin will comes heads instead of tails, so to speak. But when her opponent is taking the risks and the majority of them are paying off... hello, trouble.

That's what happened today. This isn't the best I've seen Stosur play, but it was pretty damn good. Nearly everything she hit went in and she hit through Caro basically at will. She had the ol' serve forehand combo working like a dream. It was great stuff. And now she has total control over the Maroon Group with only one match left to play... and when you consider that that match is against the emphatically out of form Elena Dementieva, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to see Sammy's path straight into the semis.

Vera Zvonareva is on top of the White Group for now, but Kim Clijsters is also undefeated - you'd have to think that it'll be the winner of that match who wins the group. Jankovic definitely isn't going through and I'm not so hot on Vika's chances either, so you have to think that it'll be Clijsters and Zvonareva going through here. Stosur and Wozniacki have to be the picks in the other group, unless Schiavone pulls out something a bit spesh.

I just realised something. Did Venus not qualify this year? or is she just not playing? What's the deal there? This must be the first Williams-less final in some time!

And The Razzie Goes To...

Are we here already? Is it really already the end of the year?

Well, not for the boys - they still have a few weeks left before the World Tour Finals, in which three spots are still up for grabs - but it's all going on in Doha for the ladies right now. Although 'all going on' might be misleading. The WTA hasn't exactly been known for its great matches of late, and in at least two of the matches today, we had no disappointments. Or big disappointments. I was trying to put a positive spin on it, but yeah... not positive. No way, no how.

Let's start with the least disappointing of the three matches, Stosur vs Schiavone. This wasn't the greatest match ever, but both Sammy and Frankie basically held up their ends of the 'I can play tennis' bargain, and we had a match. Sam got revenge for Roland Garros and some tennis was played. End of that story.

...and then we had Dementieva. Caro Wozniacki may be the #1 player in the world. She may beat people by big scorelines sometimes, but she rarely beats them into the ground. You rarely come away from a Caro match going 'wow, that was a two hoof beatdown.'

That was what today's match looked like. And it wasn't because Caro was playing well, it was because Dementieva was playing awfully. I hear Caro asked her 'are you all right?' at the net, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if there was something messed up in camp Lena D. And I wouldn't be surprised if we see an alternate tossed in.

And they might want to make sure they have a third alternate, because I'm pretty sure the second one will be taking Jelena Jankovic's spot. Awful as Dementieva's performance was, it had nothing on Jankovic's. JJ did manage to take one more game off Bepa than Lena did off Caro, but I'd argue that her quality of tennis was... completely non existent. Yes, I think that's fair.

So, in short, two of the worst matches of the year were played in Doha today, and that's saying something. Congrats to Bepa and Caro, and especially to Sam Stosur, who won the only match which was a match, but dear god I hope the quality is better tomorrow.

Sister Knows Best

It really was only fitting that Serena win Doha - that the #1 player this year come away on a high. I don't really have a whole lot more to say than that, really.

I like that the girl that won won every match. I really, really am not a fan of round robin play. I mean, I see why it works out well for all involved in a year-ending championship capacity, but I'm still not a fan. There's just something not right about someone losing a match and winning a tournament. I guess I've been conditioned to the knock out winner takes all format too much... but there's a reason Etienne de Villiers' round robin experiment was an epic fail.

Okay, so I didn't exactly mean to get on a rant about round robin there, but it is interesting to think what other structures the year ending championship might take. I can definitely see why round robin is the format chosen for now - it means that people who pay for tickets definitely get to see the big guys/girls play. And in a tournament where everyone is elite, there's no such thing as an easy opener.

But still. It's good to see that the person winning wins every match, nonetheless. Congratulations, Serena.

And big, big congratulations to Ivan Ljubicic as well, who won his first ATP title in, like, forever, in Lyon. I'm a big Ljubicic fan - you've got to love a man who is that eloquent! - and so I hope to see more of him deep in tournaments in the near future!


Today's Results

Sony Ericsson Championships (Doha)

Serena Williams def. Venus Williams, 6-2 7-6 (7-4)


St Petersburg Open (St Petersburg)

Sergiy Stakhovsky def. Horacio Zeballos, 2-6 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (9-7)


Bank Austria Tennis Trophy (Vienna)

Jurgen Melzer def. Marin Cilic, 6-4 6-3


Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon (Lyon)

Ivan Ljubicic def. Michael Llodra, 7-5 6-3

The Sisters Take Saturday

Marat Safin lost in three sets in the semis in St Petersburg.

Pout.

Oh well. I shouldn't have looked. And it seems that he may be playing a cashcow exo in Hong Kong next year, so we can pretend he's still around. Sob.

Okay. Over to Doha.

We're all set up for a Serena vs Venus final, and you really have to like Serena to win this one. She's gone undefeated through the week and, to be honest, she really is the better player. And it would be a good way for her to cap off finishing as year-end #1. Though Venus is the defending champion and maybe it'd be nice for her to defend. I don't really mind. I don't really care. Congrats to both sisters on getting this far.

Venus overcame a tenacious Jelena Jankovic who, I may now finally allow, has proved her right to be here. She's played some feisty stuff in her last couple of matches. She really hasn't had the Bestest Year Ever, and I really hope she returns to her glittery best next year, with splits galore. The Jelena of '08 was one of my favourite players to watch - here's hoping she can bring it next year. She's shown she's got guts - here's hoping she doesn't go and pack on kilos upon kilos of muscle again!

But my real favourite this tournament has been C-Woz. It's such a shame that she's been all injured and had to retire against Serena today, because she's shown some real grit. I still think her tennis is vanilla and a little dull, but it's obviously working for her (US Open final, anyone?) and I hope she can bring this newfound steel to the court in 2010.

What I would really, really like to see from Caro in 2010 is... well, less of her. She's played far too much tennis this year, and it's no surprise her body's gone and broken down on her. I think she's been in something like 25 tournaments, 90+ matches... that's just not sustainable. So go and get yourself a lesson at the Roger Federer School of Smart Scheduling, Caro, and let's see you back, uninjured, and ready for the big time!


Today's Results

Sony Ericsson Championships (Doha)

Serena Williams def. Caroline Wozniacki, 6-4 0-1 retired
Venus Williams def. Jelena Jankovic, 5-7 6-3 6-4


St Petersburg Open (St Petersburg)

Sergiy Stakhovsky def. Marat Safin, 6-4 4-6 6-4
Horacio Zeballos def. Igor Kunitsyn, 7-6 (9-7) 6-3


Bank Austria Tennis Trophy (Vienna)

Marin Cilic def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-4 7-6 (7-4)
Jurgen Melzer def. Janko Tipsarevic, 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4


Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon (Lyon)

Michael Llodra def. Gilles Simon, 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-1)
Ivan Ljubicic def. Arnaud Clement, 6-2 6-4

I Don't Know What I Was Expecting, But It Wasn't This

So, um, yeah, not the Doha semi final line up I was expecting. But if you were asking me what I was expecting, I wouldn't be able to tell you. It just wasn't this.

That said, Serena obviously deserves her spot here - she went perfect through the round robin stage - and I'm really liking what I've seen from Caro. She went down tamely to Jankovic today - please, please, please let her not be injured again! - but her match against Azarenka was awesome yesterday. I confess I am pulling for her to win the tournament.

Jankovic I was not expecting, not so much. She had a good win over Caro today, but her other 'win' was over Dinara Safina, which went all of thirteen minutes. If Safina had pulled out before the tournament, things might have been totally different. Or, you know, not, given that Safina's replacement was Zvonareva, who herself got replaced today by Agnieszka Radwanska (who played awesomely to beat Vika - nice one, A-Rad!) So Jelena has technically won two matches, but I remain... yeah, unconvinced.

And then there's Venus. Not that Venus isn't a great player and all, but it just seems strange to me how a player can take two losses and still qualify. I don't know how they calculated the one that went through, but I was feeling Dementieva, maybe.

Like I'm said, I'm pulling for Caro to win the tournament, but you've got to put your money on Serena. I mean, really.

Over to the men, and YAY MARAT! He's in the semis of St Petersburg after a great win (feat. bagel) over Denis Istomin. Not saying anything. Not even daring to hope, daring to dream.

Gulbis lost. Still, he managed to get to the quarters. Things are looking up for the young 'un.

And I have to give a shout out to Arnaud Clement, who had an absolutely fantastic win over Jo-Willy in a barnburner of a match. Made of awesome!


Today's Results

Sony Ericsson Championships (Doha)

Jelena Jankovic def. Caroline Wozniacki, 6-2 6-2
Agnieszka Radwanska def. Victoria Azarenka, 4-6 7-5 4-1 retired
Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Elena Dementieva, 6-3 6-2


St Petersburg Open (St Petersburg)

Igor Kunitsyn def. Victor Hanescu, 6-3 3-6 7-6 (8-6)
Marat Safin def. Denis Istomin, 6-0 7-6 (7-4)
Horacio Zeballos def. Ernests Gulbis, 7-6 (10-8) 6-4
Sergiy Stakhovsky def. Bjorn Phau, 6-2 7-5


Bank Austria Tennis Trophy (Vienna)

Marin Cilic def. Feliciano Lopez, 6-1 6-4
Jurgen Melzer def. Radek Stepanek, 6-2 6-2
Janko Tipsarevic def. Gael Monfils, 6-4 6-7 (8-10) 6-3
Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Nicolas Almagro, 7-5 6-4


Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon (Lyon)

Arnaud Clement def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 5-7 6-4 7-6 (10-8)
Gilles Simon def. Julien Benneteau, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3
Ivan Ljubicic def. Florent Serra, 7-6 (8-6) 6-2
Michael Llodra def. Marc Gicquel, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Hotel California

Svetlana Kuznetsova and Venus Williams are locked at 4-all in the final set as I write this, in what looks like a really awesome match. Serena's already qualified for the finals, I would imagine, by virtue of her perfect score - I'm pretty sure Venus can't qualify, having taken two losses, but Sveta is still in the running if she wins this one. So I have my pom poms out and I'm cheering for her. In other Doha results, Serena beat Elena and Caro beat Zvonareva (surely Caro will qualify from this group?)

Now. Let's talk boys.

Specifically let's go YAAAAAAAAAAAY! Marat Safin is in the quarter finals of St Petersburg.

Sure, he made it there courtesy of Igor Andreev's retirement, but a quarter is a quarter and it is not to be sneezed at. I'm not even going to say that it would be nice if Marat won the tournament, because that goes without saying. All I'm going to say is GO MARAT! - I want to see some crazy Safin brilliance before this career is through.

Speaking of people on the verge of retirement, it was nice to see Dominik Hrbaty playing in Vienna. He lost today to Jurgen Melzer, but he did win a match before that, so good on him. He's always fun to watch (and, may I remind you, he and his partner Dominika Cibulkova won the Hopman Cup this year, so he's still got some game) and it'll be sad when he is no longer a part of our great sport.

Though tennis is a bit like Hotel California - you can check out but you never leave. Even after your retirement, everyone still cares about what you did and what you're doing now... as evidenced by the Agassi crystal meth scandal, which I haven't talked about yet, but I will, when I work out what I want to say.

So yes. Hrbaty. Safin. Yay. Basically.

And Venus just totally beat Sveta. Sigh. So what happens if Sveta beats Dementieva? Everyone except Serena will have taken one win and two losses. Who qualifies then?


Today's Results

Sony Ericsson Championships (Doha)

Caroline Wozniacki def. Vera Zvonareva, 6-0 6-7 (3-7) 6-4
Serena Williams def. Elena Dementieva, 6-2 6-4
Venus Williams def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-2 6-7 (3-7) 6-4


St Petersburg Open (St Petersburg)

Denis Istomin def. Mikhail Youzhny, 6-2 2-1 retired
Marat Safin def. Igor Andreev, 6-3 0-1 retired
Igor Kunitsyn def. Michail Elgin, 6-2 6-3
Sergiy Stakhovsky def. Andrey Kuznetsov, 6-1 6-4


Bank Austria Tennis Trophy (Vienna)

Marin Cilic def. Daniel Brands, 7-6 (9-7) 6-4
Gael Monfils def. Jan Hajek, 6-1 2-6 6-4
Feliciano Lopez def. Daniel Koellerer, 6-3 6-3
Jurgen Melzer def. Dominik Hrbaty, 6-4 7-5
Janko Tipsarevic def. Michael Berrer, 7-6 (7-3) 6-1


Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon (Lyon)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Olivier Rochus, 6-3 6-2
Gilles Simon def. David Guez, 6-1 6-2
Ivan Ljubicic def. Nicolas Kiefer, 6-3 3-6 6-3
Michael Llodra def. Juan Monaco, 6-3 6-4
Marc Gicquel def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-4 6-0
Arnaud Clement def. Benjamin Becker, 6-4 6-3

Wishing Dinara Well

Oh, Dinara.

I want to say 'this hasn't been your year', but you know what? It has been her year. She's reached two Slam finals and become world number #1, which is, really, when you think about it, not too shabby. But the pressure and her own temperament have worked against her, and... perhaps it's better this way. Perhaps it's better that she's injured and doesn't take part rather than suffering more humiliating defeats.

Go away, Dinara. Rest. Recuperate. Heal. Work on your serve. Enjoy your time away from the public eye. Because I want you to defend those damn points you earned in Australia, and I want you to do even better. Because I know you can. Get better, Dina.

In other matches, we won't be seeing any defending champion action, as Serena put paid to Venus's hopes, giving big sister V two losses. Oh well. Serena's got to be the favourite to win this tournament, even with the whole US Open drama still hanging over her head... and she's delivered thus far, with two solid wins.

But the match of the day was the battle of the teen queens, Azarenka and Wozniacki, who duked it out over three epic sets. Though I have to say Azarenka's style of play appeals to me more and I like her grit, I'm glad Wozniacki won, because even though she plays pretty vanilla tennis, I've never seen her throw a tantrum on court like Vika. And I'm not big on tantrums. (Have I harped enough on my dislike for Azarenka?)

I wouldn't be surprised to see these two teen queens be the semi final qualifiers from this group, so it'll be interesting to see what happens if they meet again in this tournament. This rivalry is going to be a very interesting one down the years...

(Oh, and in the men - remember them? - not only did Marat win, but my homeboy Ernests Gulbis upset fourth seed Jeremy Chardy. I'm even more convinced that we're coming to the light at the end of the tunnel there...!)


Today's Results

Sony Ericsson Championships (Doha)

Jelena Jankovic def. Dinara Safina, 1-1 retired
Serena Williams def. Venus Williams, 5-7 6-4 7-6 (7-4)
Caroline Wozniacki def. Victoria Azarenka, 1-6 6-4 7-5


St Petersburg Open (St Petersburg)

Marat Safin def. Richard Gasquet, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4
Mikhail Youzhny def. Andrey Golubev, 6-3 6-2
Igor Kunitsyn def. Pablo Cuevas, 6-4 6-3
Horacio Zeballos def. Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr, 6-3 6-1
Victor Hanescu def. Illya Marchenko, 6-3 6-4
Ernests Gulbis def. Jeremy Chardy, 7-6 (9-7) 6-3
Bjorn Phau def. Andreas Beck, 6-4 2-1 retired


Bank Austria Tennis Trophy (Vienna)

Daniel Koellerer def. Jarkko Nieminen, 6-1 6-2
Gael Monfils def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 7-5 6-4
Janko Tipsarevic def. John Isner, 7-6 (7-4) 6-4
Dominik Hrbaty def. Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, 6-3 6-4
Radek Stepanek def. Frederico Gil, 6-2 6-3
Nicolas Almagro def. Wayne Odesnik, 6-4 6-4
Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Victor Crivoi, 6-2 6-0


Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon (Lyon)

Gilles Simon def. Simone Bolelli, 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-5)
Nicolas Kiefer def. Sebastien Grosjean, 4-6 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-2)
Olivier Rochus def. Vincent Millot, 6-3 602
Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Leonardo Mayer, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2
Julien Benneteau def. Kevin Anderson, 7-5 6-2

Anyone-Can-Win (Because Everyone-Can-Lose)

We've had our first three matches in Doha. In a tournament which is anyone-could-win because everyone is certainly capable of losing, any result is, by nature, interesting. But there was one I thought was especially interesting, and that was Venus being beaten by Dementieva.

In terms of ability, this is hardly surprising. Both Venus and Elena are exceptionally talented, and Elena, when she's firing, can take just about anyone. Look how much trouble Serena - an in-form Serena - had taking her out in Wimbledon: far more trouble than she had taking out Venus, that's for sure. But one always associates the Williams fire with Venus, the desire to win the big ones, plus the fact that she's the defending champion, and Elena is usually classed among the headcases. Because, you know, she is one.

But Elena didn't go all headcase on us today - and, I would like to point out, she fought her way back from the brink of defeat. From one set down, she won the second set breaker eight points to six and then roared away in the third. That shows admirable grit and, given that Elena isn't usually a player one associates with grit, a nice surprise. Well done.

In the other matches, Serena triumphed over Sveta in two close sets and Azarenka pummelled Jankovic into submission. I was really hoping Sveta could pull her match out but I guess Serena probably had a wee score to settle after Roland Garros which might have fired her up a bit. Azarenka making mincemeat of Jankovic is not surprising to me. I really don't think Jankovic belongs here this year. It should be Clijsters, man, it should be Clijsters. (Not that Azarenka has been especially impressive of late either, but she looked good today... all the compliment I'm prepared to pay her).

I'm going to be very interested to see who brings the goods to the table and qualifies for the semis in both groups. Like I said, it's anyone-can-win because everyone-can-lose, so no matter who wins, I think it's going to be a little surprising. What I do hope is that someone, you know, wins the tournament, instead of just not losing. Let's end the WTA year on a high!


Today's Results

Sony Ericsson Championships (Doha)

Victoria Azarenka def. Jelena Jankovic, 6-2 6-3
Serena Williams def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 7-6 (8-6) 7-5
Elena Dementieva def. Venus Williams, 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-2


St Petersburg Open (St Petersburg)

Jeremy Chardy def. Petru-Alexandru Luncanu, 6-2 6-2
Igor Andreev def. Potito Starace, 6-4 6-2
Sergiy Stakhovsky def. Evgeny Korolev, 6-4 6-3
Horacio Zeballos def. Yuri Schukin, 7-6 (11-9) 6-3
Illya Marchenko def. Fabio Fognini, 6-4 6-1
Michail Elgin def. Mikhail Kukushkin, 6-3 6-3
Andrey Kuznetsov def. Marcel Granollers, 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (8-6) 6-4
Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr. def. Robby Ginepri , 6-2 1-0 retired


Bank Austria Tennis Trophy (Vienna)

Radek Stepanek def. Lukasz Kubot, 6-4 6-1
Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Dieter Kindlmann, 6-1 6-3
Feliciano Lopez def. Andreas Haider-Maurer, 6-4 6-4
Jurgen Melzer def. Marco Chiudinelli, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (12-10)
Michael Berrer def. Steve Darcis, 6-3 6-2
Jan Hajek def. Andreas Seppi, 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 6-3
Marin Cilic def. Alejandro Falla, 6-2 6-3


Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon (Lyon)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Kevin Kim, 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-5)
Ivan Ljubicic def. Martin Vassallo Arguello, 6-3 6-4
Benjamin Becker def. Paolo Lorenzi, 6-2 6-3
Albert Montanes def. Fabrice Santoro, 6-4 6-4
Michael Llodra def. Lamine Ouahab, 6-1 6-2
Marc Gicquel def. Jerome Haehnel, 6-1 6-4
Kevin Anderson def. Simon Greul, 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7-3)
David Guez def. Rajeev Ram, 6-2 6-4

Doha And Other Thorny Puzzles

So Doha has not yet started, but can I just say - Dinara Safina may not have been in spectacular form lately, but she was rocking that dress she was wearing at the draw ceremony. She looked gorgeous. I'd dearly love to see her do well - ideally, win - in this tournament, to at least make some of these catcalls of 'worst #1 ever' go away, because despite everything, I still believe in Dinara. So here's looking at you, Dina, in your rockin' dress and awesome shoes - cheering for you!

One group does seem to be a lot stronger than the other - though it might just be because it contains both Williams sisters. We have Dinara, C-Woz, Jankovic and Vika in the White Group, and Serena, Venus, Sveta and Elena D in the Maroon Group. I don't want to go making predictions, and it's mostly because I genuinely don't know who to pick. I wouldn't say any of these ladies has shown especially amazing form lately - Sveta is the only one coming in off a win, and much as I think she's awesome, her headcaseness cannot be denied - and for every good point I can think of for all of them, I can think of a few bad points as well.

For starters, Dinara: she's got the game, she's got the grit, but she's been all over the place since Wimbledon, if not earlier. I certainly believe she can win this tournament, but whether I believe she will or not is another story.

Serena: Hasn't played much lately. Hasn't done much of anything since the infamous semi against Clijsters in New York. This tournament isn't a Slam, and I don't know how much she's going to bring to the table.

Venus: Same deal as Serena when it comes to the tournament not being a Slam - but she did win it last year, and I'm sure she'd be eager to defend. But same as Serena again in not having much done much of anything since New York, though at least she doesn't come in with a monkey on her back like her sister does.

Dementieva: She played awesome at the beginning of the year. She played an awesome match against Serena in Wimbledon, where something resembling a serve was sighted. Unfortunately, it hasn't been seen since, and the odds on it showing up here...?

Wozniacki: I could say something about her being vanilla and boring, but she did make it to the US Open final, an achievement which cannot be discounted, even in a weakened field. However, she retired hurt last week, and injury lurks around her.

Azarenka: I don't like her attitude. And while she started off the year strongly, with that Miami title, she crashed out early in New York and I can't remember her doing a lot before that either. And I don't like her. So there.

Kuznetsova: If she's on song, I would just hand her the trophy now. She can beat anyone when she has her day, and she won a Slam this year, and she's coming in off her win. However, will it be her day, or will Captain Headcase rear his ugly head?

Jankovic: Really shouldn't be here, in my opinion. Hasn't won enough stuff to merit it - crashed out immediately after qualifying for here last week. I don't see her suddenly becoming awesome again and destroying the field. Would have given the spot to Clijsters.

So who's going to win?

...you got me.

I'd like to say Dinara. I think this might give her some confidence and a bit of validation for being back in that #1 spot. However, I'm going to go out on a limb and pick Kuznetsova this time. She is capable of roundly thrashing every player here, if she plays to the best of her ability. So it's not a question of her ability, but whether she can bring it to play. And you know what? I think she can.


Today's Results

St Petersburg Open (St Petersburg)

Karol Beck def. Viktor Troicki, 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 6-4
Bjorn Phau def. Stanislav Vovk, 6-3 6-2
Denis Istomin def. Rainer Schuettler, 6-4 6-4


Bank Austria Tennis Trophy (Vienna)

Nicolas Almagro def. Peter Luczak, 5-7 7-6 (7-3) 6-1
Daniel Brands def. Robert Kendrick, 7-6 (7-5) 7-5
Victor Crivoi def. Jan Hernych, 6-3 6-3
Wayne Odesnik def. Lukas Rosol, 6-2 5-7 7-6 (8-6)
Frederico Gil def. Stefan Koubek, 4-6 6-4 6-4


Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon (Lyon)

Juan Monaco def. Josselin Ouanna, 6-3 6-2
Julien Benneteau def. Alberto Martin, 7-6 (7-1) 6-1
Florent Serra def. Christophe Rochus, 6-3 6-3

Abu Dhabi Derby

Not exactly the start to the year I was hoping from in Abu Dhabi, but at least it's only an exo. And if you are going to lose to someone in three sets, I guess a third set breaker isn't a bad way to go about it - particularly one that finishes up 8-6. I didn't see the match, but if you're playing against Andy Murray and it's that tight, your form can't suck that badly.

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That's what I'll keep telling myself, anyway. And besides, it means he'll be fresher for Doha, a proper tournament, where POINTS WILL BE GAINED, because he didn't play it last year. And I'm not especially keen to see that gap from him to Novak, which is currently ten points, get any smaller. I will remember Kooyong '07, where Federer pretty much let Roddick beat him in the final, and then went on and pounded him into the ground in the semis. My favourite match ever.

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What is with this thing with Murray and three sets, though? I don't think I remember a best-of-three match against Andy that Roger's won. Best-of-five, Roger's all over that. But over three, Murray is becoming a bit of a bugabear.

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Nonetheless, this should make for a very interesting final. Rafa took out Kolya no worries, so we have a Murray/Nadal final. Considering what went down in the finals of the US Open, I think a rematch will be pretty intriguing... while Roger is in Doha, getting ready to bring the brouhaha!

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Today's Results

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Capitala World Tennis Championship (Abu Dhabi)

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Andy Murray def. Roger Federer, 4-6 6-2 7-6 (8-6)

Rafael Nadal def. Nikolay Davydenko, 6-2 6-3

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Josh's Tennis Tips

Focus: Forehand

Today's Tip: Slowing Down Your Shots

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When you play a shot do you rush to the ball and hit it as quickly as possible to get your shot over and done with? Well, maybe that is your problem. To create the best chance of getting your shot where you want it to go you need to slow it down and make the most of every opportunity to get it where you want.

Finally, a Brouhaha in Doha!

The fields for the early tournaments next year are beginning to take shape - and the organisers of the ATP tournament in Doha must be quivering with delight. The women's season-ending championships (why, why did no one think to call it the Brouhaha in Doha? I thought that was hilarious) may have been a bit dull, but the field that's starting to take shape for the Qatar ExxonMobil Open is very exciting. It includes not only the Andies (Murray and Roddick respectively) but now the two biggest guns in tennis, R-Fed and... Rafa ('R-Nad' just doesn't work.)

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Federer's played Doha before, but not for a while - 2006, if memory serves - but I don't remember a field of this high a quality there in years. I remember Ljubicic winning it in recent memory, and possibly Gael Monfils, though maybe he was only a finalist. I can't remember. So what a boost for Doha this will be. Maybe this will be the real Brouhaha in Doha. I invented that pun, and I'm dying for someone to use it - so maybe Roger, Rafa and the Andies will give me reason.

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Sydney, on the other hand, which is close to my heart, because, hello, closest thing I have to a home tournament, is looking... all right, I guess, but not whoa, smash bang fabulous. So far, they've announced Tsonga, Simon, Berdych, Nalbandian, Hewitt, Gasquet, Robredo and most recently Fish and defending champ Tursunov. So not a bad field, but it ain't no Doha. Rafa played there the first year I attended, which was '07 - though to be fair, he only played for about a set before deciding he was injured and throwing in the towel against Chris Guccione. Still, I was there and I saw him, up close and personal (I may be exaggerating slightly there, but in the flesh, nonetheless). It'd be nice for the Sydney folks to see some of the big stars that they might have actually, you know, heard of.

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But we all know the tournament that's closest to my heart is the Hopman Cup, even if it's clear across the other side of the country. Marat Safin promised he'd give the tournament organiser a decision on whether or not he would play in the first week of November, and we're well past that and his name's still on the schedule, so I'm quietly hopeful that we might be seeing Marat on the ATP tour again next year - hurrah!

Kiwi Does Shanghai

And so the first player to the semi-finals is Novak Djokovic. You can imagine how thrilled I am about that one. Overjoyed. I'm sure my ecstasy is transcending the bounds of the screen, so overwhelming is it.

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That was sarcastic, in case no one picked up on it.

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Yes, Djokovic is through after beating Kolya Davydenko, who will fight it out with Juan Martin del Potro for the final berth in the Gold Group. What a disappointing showing from Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - I felt sure he was going to step it up and go through. Oh well. He still has to play Djokovic in the final round robin match, and Djokovic has been Jo-Dub's bunny of late, so hopefully he can smash him like a guitar. Again. Just because it would be funny, and something needs to go right at these year-end championships, damn it!

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I think I'm picking del Potro over Davydenko. He's just been in better form, and even though Kolya seems to have screwed his head on to a degree after his reprehensible spat earlier this year, he's just - and always has been - a terribly uninspiring tennis player. Then tomorrow I'm going with Roger over Roddick (hopefully without the match-points that Roddick had last year which could have turned into a fiasco) and Murray over Simon. Murray really is the one to beat, I think - he's the form player. However, I thought Tsonga was the form player of the Gold Group, and look how that turned out.

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One thing I found really interesting about the Masters Cup - did you know Nicolas Kiefer is one of the alternates? Apparently none of the twenty-five or so players ranked above him wanted to schlep to China, so he got the call up. I found this very bizarre. Look at Doha last week - you had the #9 and #10 players in the race (if you discount the injured Maria Sharapova) more than willing to go. Radwanska and Petrova both got a match too. I can understand not wanting to go all the way to China if you're not going to play, but seriously... when you have to go to the twenty-sixth player on your list, that's a bit dodgy. Why is it so different for the blokes?

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I bet Kiwi will be a very happy guy if someone pulls out... I can just picture him dancing about saying, 'I told you so!'

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Today's Results

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Tennis Masters Cup (Shanghai)

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Gold Group

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Novak Djokovic def. Nikolay Davydenko, 7-6 (7-3) 0-6 7-5

Juan Martin del Potro def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5)

Anticlimax

Today was the last day of Doha (thank God) and the first day of Shanghai (hoping for a better showing than we got from the girls.) Let's start with Doha and get it out of the way, because it really has been spectacularly anticlimactic. It could have been so awesome, and it just wasn't.

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I don't think anyone was really surprised to see Venus take it over Vera - Vera's luck had to run out sometime, I guess (not that I'm attributing all her wins to luck, because she deserved them, but you get what I mean.) It did go three sets, which was good for the tournament, but it certainly had nothing on that titantic Henin/Sharapova clash last year, which has to be one of the best women's matches in recent history. Though the Vera story was great, and kudos to Venus as well, this really hasn't been a very telling tournament, in my opinion. Last year, you knew Henin was the champion. She was the one that dominated the year. You get that in Shanghai as well - just look at Federer's domination there. The season-ending championships is the sort of cherry on the cake tournament, confirming a player at the top. While Venus has been good this year, winning Wimbledon and all, if you asked me who was the dominant, hot player on the WTA circuit this year, I wouldn't pick her. Jankovic, maybe, or Safina, or even Serena, but not Venus. Doha just has not been demonstrative of this year in tennis. It should be like a microcosm of the year, and it hasn't been. The year certainly hasn't been a battle between Venus Williams and Vera Zvonareva for supremacy, that's for sure.

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Over to Shanghai now, where we will hopefully have a much less depressing tournament - though both my opening picks have been wrong. Djokovic beat del Potro (his first ever victory at the Masters Cup) and Davydenko beat Tsonga. Juan M and Jo-W can still go through, but Novak and Kolya will need to do some serious losing. I wouldn't mind Kolya going through - he seems to have picked up his act since the whole 'I hate tennis' incident - but I would love to see Djokovic stuck in round robin again. Because I am mean like that.

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We have Federer/Simon and Roddick/Murray together. I'm picking Federer, obviously - even though Simon did win their last match, I think Roger's in a much better place now, and also he won't like losing twice in a row to the same guy. In the battle of the Andys, you have to go with Murray. I would be very surprised to see Roddick pull it out. And remember, it's China - he will be haunted by the Olympics he never went to. HAUNTED!

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Today's Results

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Tennis Masters Cup (Shanghai)

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Gold Group

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Novak Djokovic def. Juan Martin del Potro, 7-5 6-3

Nikolay Davydenko def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 7-6 (7-0)

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Sony Ericsson Championships 2008 (Doha)

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Venus Williams def. Vera Zvonareva, 6-7 (5-7) 6-0 6-2