Fightings and Blessings

I haven't talked about the WTA on this blog since about, oh, 1875. Primarily because nothing that interesting was going on, and if there was, then, oops, I missed it.

But something interesting DID happen today, so let's WTA it away. That interesting thing? Sabine Lisicki, my favourite of all the ladies on the WTA tour. She's been out with injury, she wasn't given a wildcard into the Australian Open (even though, like Nicolas Mahut, she desperately deserved one), and she's been clawing her way back up the ladder for some months now. And today, she had a great, great victory over Dominika Cibulkova in Stuttgart.

There's obviously still a long way to go for Sabine. Beating Cibulkova is obviously not beating the world. It's not going to send you rocketing to #1. But quite apart from the fact that Cibulkova is a quality opponent - which she is - it's the way that Lisicki won this match that was so impressive. She was presented with about 678 opportunities to choke. It would have been so easy for her to lose the second set and then roll over in the third.

But she didn't.

Lisicki can be erratic and wild - she's one of those hyper-talented players who is almost too talented for their own good - but the scrappiness and fight she showed today will go a long, long way in her fight back to the top. I don't want to go and call her the Lady with the Iron Mind or anything like that right now, but if she can keep up this level of fightingness, the only way is up. I follow her on both Twitter and Facebook and what's really come through for me is her desire to win. She's emotionally involved in her tennis, and while I think this hinders some people, in her case, it's a blessing.

There is room for Sabine Lisicki in the top ten. There is a place for her there if only she can scrape together the points. And if she continues with this attitude, she is going right there. Maybe not tomorrow, but it's calling. And she'll make it.

The Capslock of WTA RAGE

Today, I am spectacularly impressed by the main men in tennis and spectacularly unimpressed with the ladies' side of things. We had EPIC WINNAGE and then EPIC FAILAGE.

Let me elaborate.

First, the good news. Basically, the good news = the dudes. It's very unusual that you'll ever find me putting a Novak Djokovic win in among my good things, but it seems like everyone and his dog was expecting him to lose to Mardy 'Farty Dish' Fish today. Fish was the hot tip, the big pick... and instead, Djokovic coolly dispatched him in straights.

Everyone knows that I'm not Djokovic's biggest fan, but he proved why he is still near the top of the game after all these years. Kudos to you, Novak. Good job.

And then the Sod won, which fills me with frazzly terror but which is good because, hey, I like that Yoker, and Monfils won, which is cool, because I picked him to reach the semis and it makes me look a bit insightful.

Oh, and some Swissie won. Some Swissie looked pretty freaking brilliant as he put Melzer to bet in straights. And I'd like to give full credit to Melzer here, because he played some excellent tennis and never went away in the match. Federer was just awesome. And a 50% break point conversion rate? Given his usual standards, that is made of pure solid gold.

But then there were the women.

This does apply to all. Vera Zvonareva, you get an A+. You are my new favourite on this side of the draw, because you are really cool, Bepa, and you played some sweet sweet stuff against Petkovic today. You played like someone who has made the final of a Slam before and is looking to make their second one should play, and that really impresses me. You've played to your seed and no one can ask more of you than that.

...but I'm going to, because if it comes to it, I'm gonna need you to take out Caro for me. (You're cute, Domi, but I don't see you doing it.)

Caro, you're a sweet kid. You're the #1 seed and you're playing like it. BUT YOU PLAY THE MOST BORING TENNIS IN THE WORLD EVER WHY DID YOU NOT BEAT HER MASHA WHY WHY WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!

Kudos to Caro and all, but I was really disappointed Sharapova did not make more of this. I was hoping of something of the level of Stosur/Dementieva, and I definitely didn't get it. This match was billed so highly it was always going to be a letdown, but it should have been better than that.

Oh, and then there was bit where Wickmayer lost to Kanepi, and, oh yeah, SVETA LOST. Sveta, I wanted you to win so badly I PICKED you to win, and I NEVER pick you. But could you oblige me? NO. You went down in flames to tiny Domi C, and I'mma havin' a hard time forgiving you. Less brainfarts, please?! PLEASE?!

...I'm going to stop writing before the capslock gets stuck on. But come on, Bepa. Win this half for me. I know you have it in you!

Brain Cramp

So about this new cramping rule - which I understand to mean that players can't seek treatment for cramps until the end of a game...

I love it. But if it's just the end of the game, I don't know if that's not still too soft. I'd be thinking change of ends, personally. Isn't that when most people will get that kind of thing treated?

I mean, obviously there are exceptions, otherwise this rule wouldn't have come into play. I don't actually remember the last time I saw a player come down with cramp in the middle of a game and stop play, but evidently it's happened, and consistently enough that the need for this rule was felt. So, I think I probably need to think on it more - and find out what the rule actually is, which might help. But I think this is definitely a Good Thing.

A whole new day, a whole new slew of tournaments. The bigg'un is Moscow. I don't know if he's even playing but oh! how I would love Marat Safin to win this tournament. I know he won't, but oh! how I would love it if he did! I remember him making the final in '06, but I don't know how else he's fared there in the past - surely if there's one tournament he would love to win, this would be it.

One result out of this tournament so far I thought was interesting was on the women's side, where diminutive Dominika Cibulkova went down tamely to Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. Where's Domi been? Has she been injured? She had top five potential written all over her at the beginning of the year, and now she's all... not there. Sigh. Get better, Domi.


Today's Results

Kremlin Cup (Moscow)

Men's Draw

Mikhail Youzhny def. Horacio Zeballos, 6-1 7-6 (7-5)
Pablo Cuevas def. Yen-hsun Lu, 6-4 6-2
Teimuraz Gabashvili def. Karol Beck, 3-6 6-4 6-4
Potito Starace def. Evgeny Donskoy, 6-3 6-3


Women's Draw

Nadia Petrova def. Yana Buchina, 6-2 6-0
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Dominika Cibulkova, 6-2 6-2
Alona Bondarenko def. Anna Chakvetadze, 6-4 603
Lucie Safarova def. Ekaterina Makarova, 6-2 602
Olga Govortsova def. Ksenia Pervak, 6-3 4-6 6-0


If Stockholm Open (Stockholm)

Juan Monaco def. Jan Hernych, 6-2 5-7 7-5
Simon Greul def. Benjamin Becker, 2-6 6-3 7-5
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Alberto Martin, 6-3 6-2
Leonardo Mayer def. Albert Montanes, 6-4 6-3
Joachim Johansson def. Peter Luczak, 7-5 6-2


BGL Luxembourg Open

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Arantxa Parra Santonja, 7-5 6-2
Sabine Lisicki def. Iveta Benesova, 6-1 6-4
Carla Suarez Navarro def. Mandy Minella, 7-5 5-7 6-3

Wimbledictions (For The Ladies)

Wimbledon starts tomorrow! How quickly it has crept up on us! And I, for one, am totally excited - this media saturation it's got going on is totally infectious! So without further ado: we've done our Wimbledictions for the menfolks, let's do it for the ladies:

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The top quarter is the Safina quarter, and I get the feeling she would rather not have been seeded first. The seeding committee was extraordinarily kind to both her and her brother, but I think she'd rather have been seeded a little lower and tried to fly under the radar a bit, after the pressure cooker that was Paris. She could run into Szavay in the third round and that could be a tough one for her if she's feeling under pressure - here's hoping that she's settled a bit.

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She lost in the semis of s'Hertogenbosch, and what was most remarkable about that tournament was that the omnipresent Zeljko was away for a lot of it as his daughter was sick (I think) so she was flying blind. To me, this might have been the best possible thing for her. To not have his face in her box must have been hard, but after those stares that she was delivering during the Roland Garros final I think it's good for her not to have him around sometimes. Here's hoping she delivers at the big W.

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But I'm going to pick teen queen Caro Wozniacki to come through this side. She was impressive in Eastbourne and I see no reason why she can't back it up. All the way to the semis with her, I think - though I'll be cheering for Dinara. I can't help myself.

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The second quarter belongs to Venus. Sure, she's performed pretty rubbish in both Australia and France, but she's a different creature on the grass. I would have made her the top seed and I know I'm not the only one. There is very little doubt in my mind that she will win this quarter, provided she is fully fit. She has both the Serbian girls in here but I don't see either of them pulling a threat - strangely enough, because I never find myself saying this, I think her biggest threats are the Aussie girls. Stosur and Dokic are both in this quarter and they've both performed on the big stage this year. I wouldn't be surprised to see one of them go deep at all. But I don't see anyone coming through Venus.

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The third quarter is probably the most open, and I'm having real trouble picking a semi finalist here. I'm tempted to go with Dominika Cibulkova, because I'm not seeing Dementieva or Zvonareva having a big impact, unless Zvonareva has really come back off injury firing on all cylinders. This is really anyone's quarter.

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So I'm going to go with someone random. I'm going to pick Yanina Wickmayer, who made the final in s'Hertogenbosch, where she went down to tiny Tammy Tanasugarn. She's proven she can play on grass and she's in form, which is more than anyone else has done. But I would like to point out that I am not confident here, and that anyone of the 32 players in this quarter is a potential winner.

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Last quarter = Serena. I don't have any doubts there. Azarenka, Sharapova and Pavlyuchenkova are possible challengers - this is definitely the strongest quarter, in my opinion, but if Serena's firing, I don't see anyone coming through her. End of story.

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So that makes:

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Semis: Venus Williams vs. Caroline Wozniacki, Serena Williams vs. Yanina Wickmayer

Final: Venus Williams vs. Serena Williams

Winner: Miss Williams

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Yeah, I can't pick which Williams I think will win. I'm leaning towards Venus, but you'd be a fool to ever count Serena out...

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Until tomorrow! Until WIMBLEDON!

Russian Derby

One hundred and twenty six women have been knocked out of the tournament and we're left with only two - and I think that they are the two that really deserve to be there. The final on Saturday is going to be an all-Russian derby - Dinara Safina against Svetlana Kuznetsova.

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I was obviously pulling for Sam Stosur in her match against Kuznetsova, and she did herself proud by taking Sveta to three sets, but I think it's probably appropriate to have the two girls that we do in the final. They have been the two who have been the strongest in the whole claycourt season - they made back to back finals in Stutthart and Rome, with Sveta triumphing the first time, Dinara six days later. So who will do it this time?

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Sveta clearly had the harder match - Stosur is ranked lower than Cibulkova, but she really took it to Sveta. Her serve and forehand were not quite as sharp as they had been in previous matches, which definitely hurt her, but she really dug into that match and refused to let go. Samantha Stosur has a hell of a lot to be proud of here - what a good year this has been for women's tennis in Australia, Slam-wise! First we had Jelena Dokic in the quarters of Australia, now Sam in the semis of Roland Garros... it is now clear that Jarmila Groth will make the final of Wimbledon and Casey Dellacqua will win the US Open. Keep the trend going, you know!

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Back to Russian girls, and you have to admire the nerve of Sveta. She was clearly in a great deal of pain with her ankle, especially having played three hours the day before against Serena - I bet another epic was really not what she was hoping for! But she eked it out in the end, despite Stosur staging several mini-comebacks. A really excellent match between two excellent women - and, in my opinion, a very deserving finalist.

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Dinara Safina had a slightly easier time of it against Dominika Cibulkova, but to call it easy would be a lie. Technically, Safina has a 2-0 record over Cibulkova, but Cibulkova did beat her in the final of the Hopman Cup this year, so she's clearly not invulnerable. And little Dominika got off to a flying start, breaking Safina and then holding for a 2-0 lead.

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And what did Dinara do?

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She picked herself up, dusted herself off and won five straight games. There were clearly some nerves at the beginning, but then that iron determination we've seen in her over the last year came into play. If anyone could will themselves to the title this year, it'll be Dinara.

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Both girls would be deserving winners of the French Open - but in my heart, I'm pulling for Dinara. Everyone's been talking about how she's not a proper #1 because she hasn't won a Slam. Make them eat their words, Dinara. It'll be Sveta's ankle against Dinara's nerve - and while either girl would be good, Dinara feels right to me. And she's also following the Ivanovic pattern - beaten finalist one year, winner the next. Hopefully if Dinara wins she won't then transform into a total headcase, but I don't see that happening, somehow... not while Zeljko Krajan is around!

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Today's Results

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French Open (Roland Garros)

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Women's Draw

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Dinara Safina def. Dominika Cibulkova, 6-3 6-3

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Samantha Stosur, 6-4 6-7 (5-7 6-3

Captain Spanner

Whoa, whoa, whoa. I know I am not the only one who would have put good money on Robin Soderling absolutely collapsing into a heap after his monstrous win over Rafael Nadal. What is he about, going and demolishing Nikolay Davydenko in such a manner? I was all geared up for an awesome Kolya/Gonzo semi, and now Soderling has gone and chucked a spanner in the works. Hell, he is the spanner. The captain of spanners. This is epic craziness.

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Nonetheless, this is going to be a very, very interesting semi. If there's one player in the world that Soderling's not going to be able to overpower, I reckon it's Fernando Gonzalez. This could go two ways. Either a) Gonzalez becomes the next feather in Soderling's little Swedish cap, after falling victim to his big flat strokes, or b) Gonzalez smashes Soderling off the court. Prior to the Kolya quarter, I would have put a lot of money on b). Now I am SO not sure.

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Let's talk Gonzo for a moment, because this is clearly his best performance since the Aussie Open '07, when he was just supremely dominant - until he ran into the man who invented dominance in the final. I don't want to say he had similar wins to Soderling here, because it just isn't possible to pull a bigger upset than Rafa on clay, but he also knocked out Rafa and a number of pretty highly seeded players. Murray had no chance against him today - Gonzo pretty much blasted him off the court. But then, Murray is just not a claycourter - not at this stage of his career, at any rate. For him, getting to the quarter finals is a superlative achievement. He made it further than Rafa in Paris, and that is saying something.

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So, Soderling/Gonzalez. Not the semi anyone would have picked at the outset of this tournament. I wonder if anyone is going to be winning the bracket challenge this year.

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Over to the women, and after that first set, I was sure Dinara Safina was going to crumble and collapse. Azarenka, immature whinging little brat as she is, played an excellent first set and she had some fight going in the second as well. The Dinara Safina bakery was certainly closed for business today (though she did manage to rustle up Azarenka a croissant in the third set). Nice as it was for her to be cruising along in Supreme Dominance Land, I think it was probably good for her to have to really grit a match out - particularly in the absence of oncourt coaching, which has helped her through a lot of her tournaments so far. I think this experience will stand her in good stead.

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She'll face Dominika Cibulkova in the semi final. Now, I quite like diminutive Dominika, and, as we all remember, Dominika did beat Dinara in the final of the Hopman Cup. That said, I think this one is Dinara's to win or lose. I don't think Cibulkova is going to be quite as big a test as Azarenka was - and Dinara also has experience here as well. This is Cibulkova's biggest result at a Slam so far. I heard someone say that she might have to lose a semi before she can win one, and I think that's pretty sound.

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That said, she was awesome in her demolition of Sharapova. It's going to be a good match...

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Today's Results

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French Open (Roland Garros)

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Men's Draw

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Fernando Gonzalez def. Andy Murray, 6-3 3-6 6-0 6-4

Robin Soderling def. Nikolay Davydenko, 6-1 6-3 6-1

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Women's Draw

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Dinara Safina def. Victoria Azarenka, 1-6 6-4 6-2

Dominika Cibulkova def. Maria Sharapova, 6-0 6-2

Dethroned

Upsets do not come bigger than this.

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We all know that I am a raging Roger Federer fan, and that this result is presumably going to be to his advantage, but my heart broke for Rafael Nadal today. To go out in a fashion so... well, ignominious would not be too strong a word - to a man whom it is well known that he dislikes. To be dethroned in his kingdom, Court Philippe Chatrier, in such a manner, is truly tragic.

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"This is not a tragedy, losing here in Paris," Rafa said after the match. Personally, I beg to differ. I think it is very sad for the sport to see one of our great champions humbled thus. I know Rafa needs to believe that it is not a tragedy, otherwise what point would there be in fighting on? but as a spectator at the French Open, I feel cheated.

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Rafa didn't really turn up today. He's not as polarised as David Nalbandian, but he does have an alter ego (whom I have christened 'Shmafa'.) Shmafa doesn't suck - he'd still be in the top ten, if such things could be quantified - but on the wrong day, in the wrong conditions... sometimes a Soderling is waiting in the wings.

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Full credit to Soderling. He played incredibly well today - I don't know how he'll ever equal that performance in his career again. It was simply outstanding. But if Rafa had been at his best, I don't know if it would have mattered. Rafa at his best is pretty much untouchable - the only players you would even give the glimpse of a chance are Roger Federer, playing to the utmost of his ability, and maybe the Marat Safin of a few years ago who was totally lethal. Soderling played amazingly, but he's no Rafa. The match was on Rafa's racquet. And he let it fall.

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It's pretty early in the morning here now, but I can't sleep. Rafael Nadal dethroned at Roland Garros - by Robin Soderling. It is as if we have entered the Land of Misrule, when all things are inverted - when the night becomes day, the servant becomes the master, when Soderling beats Nadal. It's just... it sounds like crazy talk.

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I don't even want to talk about the effect this could have on the rest of the draw, because I'm afraid of jinxing it, so let's talk about the women instead. Another '08 Roland Garros champion went out today - Ana Ivanovic, who fell to Victoria Azarenka. Azarenka will now play Safina in the quarters, and what a cracker of a match that should be. Safina was imperious over Rezai today, giving up only one game - making for a grand total of five games surrendered in four matches, which is just stupid. I think Azarenka can get a few more... maybe three. Four if she's really lucky. But it's all Dinara, all the way.

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Props to Maria Sharapova for gritting out a win against Li Na to put herself in the quarter finals, where she'll face little Dominika Cibulkova, which should be a good one. Other winners today include Gonzalez and Murray, who will play another interesting quarter final, and Nikolay Davydenko, who will play Rafa.

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Oh, wait. No he won't.

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In shock. Rafa at Roland Garros is the safest bet in tennis. This is just... there aren't even words. Surreal, perhaps, might come close, but not close enough.

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Today's Results

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French Open (Roland Garros)

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Men's Draw

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Robin Soderling def. Rafael Nadal, 6-2 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 7-6 (7-2)

Fernando Gonzalez def. Victor Hanescu, 6-2 6-4 6-2

Nikolay Davydenko def. Fernando Verdasco, 6-2 6-2 6-4

Andy Murray def. Marin Cilic, 7-5 7-6 (7-4) 6-1

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Women's Draw

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Dinara Safina def. Aravane Rezai, 6-1 6-0

Maria Sharapova def. Na Li, 6-4 0-6 6-4

Victoria Azarenka def. Ana Ivanovic, 6-2 6-3

Dominika Cibukova def. Agnes Szavay, 6-2 6-4

Poor Form in Ponte Vedra Beach

I have to say that I'm a little disappointed. I was really hoping that Dominika Cibulkova would win this week in Ponte Vedra Beach and make me look really clever for talking about her earlier as a real contender in the Roland Garros mix. No such luck. She went out to Elena Vesnina - in three sets, but out nonetheless. I expected a little more.

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I had another one I was watching in this tournament and she also went out. I've been a little intrigued by Tamira Paszek ever since she came so close to knocking out Jelena Jankovic in the first round of the Aussie Open last year. She hasn't had great results, but she's had some good ones, and I keep waiting for her to make a breakthrough, because as soon as she has a decent run, I am fully prepared to admit her to the Stars club with Sabine Lisicki and Anastasia Pavlychenkova. But looks like it won't be this week - she went out to Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada.

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But them's the breaks, I guess.

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Not too much happening over with the blokes... though I think the point about clay being the great leveller was proved over in Houston, where all four of the top seeds have been eliminated. Though that could be a signal of the depth extant in the ATP, unlike the WTA. Who can tell these things?

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Today's Results

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Grand Prix Hassan II (Casablanca)

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Igor Andreev def. Marc Gicquel, 6-1 6-3

Albert Montanes def. Frederico Gil, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Victor Hanescu, 6-3 7-5

Florent Serra def. Teimuraz Gabashvili, 6-0 6-4

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Andalucia Tennis Experience (Marbella)

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Jelena Jankovic def. Roberta Vinci, 3-6 6-3 7-6 (8-6)

Sorana Cirstea def. Kaia Kanepi, 6-4 2-6 7-5

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Sara Errani, 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 7-5

Carla Suárez Navarro def. Klara Zakopalova, 6-1 6-2

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MPS Group Championships (Ponte Vedra Beach)

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Nadia Petrova def. Alona Bondarenko, 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-5)

Elena Vesnina def. Dominika Cibulkova, 7-5 6-7 (5-7) 6-3

Aleksandra Wozniak def. Tamira Paszek, 6-3 3-6 7-6 (9-7)

Club Up-And-Comer

You know who I like watching? I've talked about her before, but not enough, clearly. Dominika Cibulkova. If she doesn't get into the top ten this year - especially considering the WTA is in the state it's in at the moment - I will eat an item of my own clothing.

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It seems the popular up-and-comer to tip as a Slam winner at the moment is Victoria Azarenka - and fair enough, too, because she has been pretty damn solid in a field of flakes and has been the only person to have established something vaguely resembling dominance over Serena this year. (She was winning at the Open until she came down ill, and she took her out conclusively in the Miami final.) I may have objections to Azarenka's personality, founded on an incident that took place in Brisbane where she proved herself to be, for lack of a better phrase, a nasty tempered little bitch, but I don't think anyone would deny her ability.

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But there are a couple of others sitting behind her in Club Up-And-Comer - one is Caroline Wozniacki, of whom I have not seen enough to comment, and the other has to be Dominika Cibulkova. I saw her play live at the Australian Open this year and she is amazing - and I'm not going to forget the masterclass she gave Dinara Safina in the Hopman Cup final. She's tiny, quick and can hit it hard - girl's got skills. I'd been hoping for a bit more from her in the hardcourt season, but that breakthrough might be yet to come. But the clay season... it is going to be really interesting to see which way the cookie crumbles in this season.

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I think Cibulkova's game will translate wonderfully to clay - and probably Azarenka's too. Serena's doesn't, especially... as we can see from her first round loss in Marbella to Klara Zakopalova (though that might have something to do with injury.) Now that the Henin monopoly on Roland Garros is over, it's anyone's game. I wouldn't put much money on Ana Ivanovic defending her title, and with Jankovic looking like Maria Sharapova's 'cow on ice', I wouldn't put much money on her either.

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What I would really like to see is Dinara Safina going all the way. We're nearly up to the part of the season where she began her charge last year, and I would dearly love to see her do it again. So come on, Zeljko, whip her into shape. Far be it from me to offer actual technical advice, but fix her goddamn serve. Dinara's got all the weapons... and she's made two Slam finals now. Time to claim one for her own.

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But the reality is that if Victoria Azarenka or Dominika Cibulkova win it... who would be surprised?

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Today's Results

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Grand Prix Hassan II (Casablanca)

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Albert Montanes def. Santiago Ventura, 5-7 6-3 7-5

Victor Hanescu def. Ivan Navarro, 6-1 6-0

Frederico Gil def. Ivan Ljubicic, 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 6-4

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Potito Starace, 6-4 7-6 (7-1)

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US Men's Clay Court Championships (Houston)

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Wayne Odesnik def. Jurgen Melzer, 6-4 6-0

John Isner def. Paul Capdeville, 4-6 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-5)

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Andalucia Tennis Experience (Marbella)

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Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Virginia Ruano Pascual, 6-2 6-3

Sorana Cirstea def. Andreja Klepac, 4-6 6-1 6-1

Roberta Vinci def. Nicole Vaidisova, 6-3 6-3

Klara Zakopalova def. Serena Williams, 6-4 3-6 6-1

Kaia Kanepi def. Sílvia Soler Espinosa, 6-4 6-2

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MPS Group Championships (Ponte Vedra Beach)

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Dominika Cibulkova def. Anastasia Rodionova, 6-1 6-3

Alona Bondarenko def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 4-6 6-4 6-3

Elena Vesnina def. Patricia Mayr, 1-6 6-3 6-2

Shake It Up, Shake It Down

There can be no doubt about it - the WTA is in crisis. And I'm not talking about the administrative side, though the whole Larry King debacle has been interesting in and of itself. No, no, the WTA is in crisis because there hardly seems to be a WTA any more.

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We lost Dementieva today, another member of what is supposed to be the upper echelon of the WTA. She joins Safina, Zvonareva, Ivanovic, Jankovic and a whole host of others who have crashed out of this tournament. Zvonareva, who won Indian Wells last week, perhaps has a vague sort of excuse with too much match play, but even that is hazy at best. There are very few top ten players left now in the tournament - and given that one of those few is the constantly sketchy Svetlana Kuznetsova, well...

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So what happens now? The Williams sisters are still in, solid as a rock. And the two teen queens, Wozniacki and Azarenka, have lined up ominously behind them. If anyone can exploit the crisis, it should be these two - and maybe Dominika Cibulkova as well. Because despite the fact that the women at the top (Williamses aside) are playing terribly, they're still largely maintaining their position at the top, which pretty much means that the women under them are playing worse. Though the WTA scoring system has always been, ahem, interesting.

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I want to see a reshuffle at the top. The girls there are, frankly, not good enough. There's a lot of talent in the WTA, but I'm not seeing much delivery. So step up to the plate, young up and comers, veterans, those bridesmaids to the brides of the top spots. Shake it up, shake it down. There is no way that women playing the way that the top women are should be at the top. Maybe, if we have a shakeup-shakedown, then there'll be some quality motivation.

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Today's Results

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Sony Ericsson Open (Miami)

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Men's Draw

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Rafael Nadal def. Frederico Gil, 7-5 6-3

Juan Martin del Potro def. Janko Tipsarevic, 6-4 6-1

Viktor Troicki def. Bjorn Phau, 6-4 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Caroline Wozniacki def. Elena Dementieva, 7-5 6-4

Venus Williams def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 4-6 6-1 6-4

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Alisa Kleybanova, 6-2 6-1

Victoria Azarenka def. Agnes Szavay, 6-2 6-4

Samantha Stosur def. Amélie Mauresmo, 6-4 6-4

Yes, Anastasia

Okay, so we all know the WTA tour is in a bit of a shambles right now, yeah? The Williams sisters aside, the women at the top are flaky at best. The two Serbian girls have certainly not been showing their best - Ivanovic especially last year, and Jankovic especially this year. Dementieva started strong but seems to have cooled off. Dinara Safina had a great run at the Aussie Open but her serve has been all over the ballpark. So - short of Roger Federer and Mirka Vavrinec's baby turning out to be a girl who grows up and dominates the WTA tour like her daddy has dominated the ATP - who's going to step in?

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Well, there are a couple of girls I really like the look of. Dominika Cibulkova was one of my early flavours this year - but she succumbed to some classic WTA flakiness and bombed out early here in Indian Wells. I love what I've seen from Sabine Lisicki - she's only a teenager and I think she's going to be great when she grows up. But one that I've been watching for a while and who is absolutely owning at the moment in Indian Wells is the seventeen year old Russian, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

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You look at what she's done in junior Slams and it's hard not to like her. She could probably still be playing in juniors if she wanted, but she's been on the tour proper for a couple of years, where she hasn't done a whole lot yet... but I have a feeling about this young lady and Indian Wells. She started off by destroying Marta Domachowska, then beating Jelena Jankovic, now she's added a solid demolition of Karin Knapp in straights. She's got talent. She's got panache. She'll face either Alisa Kleybanova or Nuria Llagostera Vives in the next round, and one imagines she could beat either of them. She's only the second female inductee into my Stars of the Future fold. She's going to be awesome - and all the tennis commentators internationally are going to curse, as no one can pronounce her name.

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Speaking of people looking dangerous, the sight of Rafa at the other side of the net would make grown men quake. He is fearsome, and his demolition of Berrer yesterday... scary. And seriously, how hard can one man concentrate? I'm always vaguely worried that smoke will start coming out of his ears. He has some epic intensity going on.

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And on the subject of intense people, Marat Safin had quite a good win yesterday over Nicolas Massu. I make no comment on the subject of further rounds. Only it was a nice win, and I liked it.

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Today's Results

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BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells)

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Men's Draw

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Andy Murray def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-3 6-2

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Nicolas Lapentti, 6-2 3-6 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Agnieszka Radwanska def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 6-1 6-4

Flavia Pennetta def. Angela Haynes, 4-6 6-4 6-1

Agnes Szavay def. Kristina Barrois, 6-3 6-4

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Karin Knapp, 6-2 6-4

Domo and Muzza, Me Old Mates

Honestly, some people are soooooo bogan. 'Domo' and 'Muzza' are both tennis players - can you guess who they are? I'm sure if these players heard 'let's go, Domo!' or 'c'arn, Muzza!' shouted at them (which they did on Thursday at the Open!) they wouldn't recognise their own names either... it was pretty funny. But bogan. Hilariously so.

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I started my Thursday at the Aussie Open just before eleven, having a bit of a wander round to see who was hitting up before settling in at Court 19 to watch Dominika 'Domo' Cibulkova play Chan Yung-Jan, which was the most one-sided match I have seen thus far in Melbourne - Domo won her first match in a double bagel, and the first set of this match was a bagel as well. She is really, really good. If she is not top ten by the end of the year I will eat an item of my own clothing. But good as she is, the match was so one-sided it was boring, and I could see Jelena Jankovic practicing over on Court 17, so I left after the first set.

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I watched a bit of Jankovic, but then I heard a very familiar sounding shriek from the next court, so I mosied on over to Court 16 and caught the majority of Dinara Safina's practice - possibly the most unusual practice session I have seen yet. We've all read the stories of how Zeljko Krajan, her coach, has calmed her down and sorted her out on court, and it is my personal belief that he has done this by making her have all her temper tantrums in her practice sessions instead. Seriously, these two scream at each other like nothing else I have ever seen. I think I've commented on how much of a bitch Zeljko was to her during the oncourt coaching in the final of Sydney, and nothing was different here. Okay, so maybe they were a bit calmer, but this relationship has serious fire. If he wasn't wearing a wedding ring, wasn't five hundred years older and a foot shorter than she is, I'd think they were having some kind of clandestine love/hate relationship. But it's certainly working!

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Safina was replaced on Court 16 by Ivanovic, so I watched her hit for a little while before swapping practice courts again to watch Baghdatis, who replaced Jankovic. (He looks so different without his hair!) Then I decided I should probably, you know, watch some actual tennis, so I headed out to Court 8 to watch a bit of Andreas Beck and Jurgen Melzer (is he still dating Domo? She seems to be swap them round a bit - she's been linked to both Monfils and Stakhovsky as well, if memory serves.) This was a good match - I watched the second set, which ended in a breaker, and it was a really tight one. Melzer levelled it at one set all, and it was well worth the watching.

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I headed back out to the practice courts after that (yeah, I have an addiction problem, so sue me.) Djokovic was practicing, and it gave me a great deal of satisfaction to see that although there was a bit of a crowd watching him, it was absolutely NOTHING compared to the mobs that Federer draws. No one else draws that kind of mobs - not Ivanovic or Jankovic or the Williamses, not Hewitt or Murray or Djokovic or even Nadal. Is this the same worldwide? I love the notion of Federer as a universal star. There was a good match on Court 19 so I watched some of that - a very intriguing clash between Fabio Fognini and Nicolas Almagro. Almagro won easily in the end, but it was Fognini that drew my attention - he was bouncing racquets all over themselves, and he also made my favourite non-Federer shot of the tournament: he was at net, Almagro hit a volley at his toes, he dove to get it back over, fell, did a commando roll, and was back up in time to put the next one away for a winner. It was awesome. It was such a shame there are no cameras on that court, because it was a MAD shot.

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But Djokovic was gone and the crowd was a-gathering, and that only ever means one thing - a Fed storm a-brewing! I went down and scouted myself a good spot at the fence of Court 16. At length, he did come out (unlike his Monday no show) - but he headed to Court 17! The crowd was very taken aback and swarmed after him - it was pretty funny! Being alone and also being small and quick, I got myself to an equally good position at the fence and watched the Great Man hit up for about forty-five minutes. It is such a bizarre feeling, being that close to someone that you admire so much - particularly when there is a group of teenage girls shouting propositions to him behind you! (That said, the blokes are just as bad - there was this big, burly guy next to me, and Roger came over to the fence at one point to pick up a ball, and he bellows, 'HEY ROGER! I'M HAVING A BARBIE AT MY PLACE TONIGHT - YOU'RE WELCOME TO COME!' It must be so disconcerting, trying to just have a simple hit up and to get mobbed wherever you go. I guess that's just the price you pay for being fabulous.

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When he was done (after about a thousand years of signing autographs) I went and caught the first set breaker of Ljubicic/Tsonga on the big screen. Even though Jo-W won that match, I was glad to see Ivan putting up such a good fight. He really is one of the great gentlemen of the sport, and I feel he never gets enough respect for that. He is a very lovely man. After that breaker I went and watched some of the all-Croat showdown on Show Court 2, where Ancic and Karlovic were slugging it out. There was seriously nothing between them. Karlovic probably had the ascendancy during the part of the match I watched (mostly the third set) but Ancic ended up winning - but honestly, there was no splitting them. It was good viewing.

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I nipped offsite to eat and then came back to Show Court 2 to wait for Ernests Gulbis, which meant I caught the second set of Shuai Peng and Sesil Karantcheva, which was another seriously one-sided affair. Karantcheva didn't play badly (though she was missing a few) but Peng was on fire. She is a weird player - two-handed on both sides, which always looks weird - but it really worked for her. Karantcheva looks physically stronger than Peng, but the two hands really seemed to lend her some extra power, and she has excellent precision. The set I saw was a bagel, so it wasn't long till Gulbis came out, and that was a much tighter affair. I didn't see very much at all - it started at about seven - but it was a close one. Apparently Andreev won in five... so this tournament won't be Ernests's big break, but watch out, world, watch out.

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Then it was into the arena - and what a women's match it was to start out! The whole crowd got behind Carla Suarez Navarro, especially when she won the second set. The Aussie crowd usually loves an underdog, and this wasn't an exception. And man, Venus did not look happy. You could tell she expected to win that one, and it seemed like she underestimated Carla all the way to the end... it seemed like she was waiting around for Carla to crack, and when Carla didn't... disaster for the sixth seed! But it was such a special moment, being in the crowd for that victory.

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Then there was the Murray match, which was a bit disappointing, really. There were some really good points - a lot of really long ones - but you could tell that Granollers just never, ever believed he could win. Murray was on top the whole way - and because Granollers didn't appear to be fighting that hard, the crowd didn't really get behind him at all. There was some crazy Scots cheering for their man, but on the whole, the match had no fire. However, it did produce the name 'Muzza' - by which Andy Murray will now be known to me forevermore!

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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. Roko Karanusic, 6-2 6-3 6-2

Gilles Simon def. Chris Guccione, 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-1 6-2

Andy Murray def. Marcel Granollers, 6-4 6-2 6-2

Gael Monfils def. Stefan Koubek, 6-4 6-4 3-6 6-2

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Ivan Ljubicic, 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (9-7) 6-2

Fernando Gonzalez def. Guillermo Canas, 7-5 6-3 6-4

James Blake def. Sebastien de Chaunac, 6-3 6-2 6-3

Mario Ancic def. Ivo Karlovic, 5-7 7-5 4-6 6-4 6-3

Igor Andreev def. Ernests Gulbis, 6-4 6-4 5-7 3-6 6-4

Tommy Haas def. Flavio Cipolla, 6-1 6-2 6-1

Richard Gasquet def. Denis Istomin, 6-3 6-4 6-4

Fernando Verdasco def. Arnaud Clement, 6-1 6-1 6-2

Jurgen Melzer def. Andreas Beck, 5-7 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 6-3

Radel Stepanek def. Michael berrer, 6-3 6-2 6-7 (3-7) 7-5

Nicolas Almagro def. Fabio Fognini, 6-2 7-5 6-0

Dudi Sela def. Victor Hanescu, 6-3 6-3 6-2

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Women's Draw

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Carla Suarez Navarro def. Venus Williams, 2-6 6-3 7-5

Samantha Stosur def. Sabine Lisicki, 6-3 6-4

Elena Dementieva def. Iveta Benesova, 6-4 6-1

Serena Williams def. Gisela Dulko, 6-3 7-5

Flavia Pennetta def. Jessica Moore, 6-4 6-1

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Tatjana Malek, 6-2 6-2

Amelie Mauresmo def. Elena Baltacha, 4-6 6-3 6-2

Shuai Peng def. Sesil Karantcheva, 6-4 6-0

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Julie Coin, 6-1 6-4

Virginie Razzano def. Patty Schnyder, 6-3 6-1

Alona Bondarenko def. Severine Bremond, 7-6 (7-1) 1-6 6-2

Jie Zheng def. Melinda Czink, 7-6 (7-0) 5-7 6-3

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Akgul Amanmuradova, 6-2 6-4

Victoria Azarenka def. Tathiana Garbin, 4-1 retired

Dominika Cibulkova def. Yung-Jan Chan, 6-0 6-2

Kateryna Bondarenko def. Lourdes Dominguez Lino, 7-5 7-5

Dominik and Dominika Take The Cup

So it was not a good day, on the whole, to be one of Jodi's special favourites. Federer went down in Doha and the Safin family (aka Russia) went down in the Hopman Cup, which was very sad.

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Let's start with Roger, as I have less to say about that. What exactly is it about Murray that annoys him so much on court? I get why Nadal irritates him (tennis-wise) - Nadal is a pretty unique player, with that big hooking lefty forehand and all that spin, and he also gets a lotta lotta balls back. Murray does that too, but I can't pick out anything especially unique about his game... sure, he's better at his game than just about everyone else, but I can't see why Roger is having so many issues dealing with it. Go figure. It seems like it's all in his head, and that is bad. I would have for two of the big four to be in Roger's head! However, whenever they've played in a final, Roger's won (to my knowledge) and over the best-of-five format, you'd back Roger every time. This is going to be a rivalry to watch, however...

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Now, to the Hopman Cup. It was so, so sad that Marat and Dinara couldn't bring the trophy back for their family trophy cabinet, but all credit to the Slovak Republic. I doubt that anyone was picking them at the beginning of the week to come out on top, but they have rarely looked like losing... and both matches were absolute crackers. I so thought Dinara was going to come back after being 5-1 down in the third, and then getting it back to 5-4 and having break points to get it to 5-5 - it would have had shades of that match against Sharapova at the French, and then the one against Dementieva in the next round. Alas, it was not to be - and how about Dominika Cibulkova? If she is not top ten within the next six months, I will eat an item of my own clothing. She is a joy to watch - so small and quick around the court. Granted, Dinara pretty much gift-wrapped the second set for her when her forehand went totally AWOL, but she wasn't handed the match - she earned it. It was electrifying to watch!

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And if only Marat could have pulled out that final set tiebreaker... that match was also wonderful to watch. Marat is playing as well as I've seen him for a long time now, and it is such a shame that he couldn't scrape through, because who knows what might have happened in the mixed if they'd played? Marat and Dinara raised it against France - maybe that could have raised it against Dominik and Dominika. But it was not to be. Still, this match was an absolute joy - two veterans of the tour having a slugfest, with some beautiful, beautiful shots. I think my favourite was the crosscourt pass Safin came up with to win the first set - that was a beautiful, beautiful shot. And what a match from Hrbaty! Many men would have quailed against the mighty Safin serve (which was beautiful) but he hung tough and ultimately came up trumps.

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What a great tournament the Hopman Cup has been again - certainly a much better final than the half-arsed affair the USA and Serbia put on last year, where they didn't even play the women's singles because Jankovic was injured. My favourite will probably always be Hopman Cup XIX, where Nadia Petrova and Dmitry Tursunov beat Anabel Medina Garrigues and Tommy Robredo in the singles and then went on to play the most hilarious mixed doubles proset in history, but it was just so lovely to see Marat and Dinara play together this week - and there have been some real revelations on the women's side. Cibulkova, certainly, but everyone knew that. Sabine Lisicki is the one you want to watch out for this year!

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And how about Jo-Wilfried Tsonga going down to old mate Richard Gasquet in Brisbane? He was looking so tough after winning the first! The Brisbane organisers must be sobbing even more - I doubt they anticipated a tournament where the semi finalists were Mathieu, Verdasco, Gasquet and the Worm. I'm picking Mathieu to win the title - he's impressed me a lot this week. And in the women, I think you have to go with Azarenka, though I'm pulling for Bartoli... I'd pull for pretty much anyone playing against Azarenka after the disgraceful display she put on against Jarmila Gajdosova.

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And Marin Cilic is still flying the Stars flag high in Chennai, after coming through a real tough one against Janko Tipsarevic. Marin for the title - though how cute would it be if that Indian wildcard guy came through and won it?!

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Today's Results

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Harry Hopman Cup (Perth)

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Slovak Republic 2, Russia 0

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Dominika Cibulkova def. Dinara Safina, 6-7 (3-7) 6-1 6-4

Dominik Hrbaty def. Marat Safin, 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 7-6 (7-3)

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Brisbane International (Brisbane)

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Men's Draw

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Richard Gasquet def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 1-6 6-4 6-2

Radek Stepanek def. Robin Soderling, 2-6 6-4 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Victoria Azarenka def. Sara Errani, 6-3 6-1

Marion Bartoli def. Amélie Mauresmo, 4-0 retired

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Chennai Open (Chennai)

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Marin Cilic def. Janko Tipsarevic, 6-4 0-6 6-4

Somdev Devvarman def. Ivo Karlovic, 7-6 (7-4) 6-4

Rainer Schuettler def. Bjorn Phau, 6-2 7-5

Marcel Granollers def. Lukas Dlouhy, 7-5 2-6 6-4

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Qatar Exxonmobil Open (Doha)

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

Andy Roddick def. Gael Monfils, 7-6 (7-1) 3-6 6-3

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ASB Classic (Auckland)
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Elena Dementieva def. Aravane Rezai, 6-2 6-2

Elena Vesnina def. Anne Keothavong, 6-7 (3-7) 6-1 7-5

Not Exactly Well-Wishing

Well, all joy has pretty much gone out of Cincy for me. I haven't checked my bracket, but I must be, oh, I don't know, last. The semi finalists are Djokovic, Murray, Karlovic and probably Rafa - he's just about to begin his match against Nicolas Lapentti, but I don't see Lapentti stopping him, somehow. The commentators at Wimbledon used 'relentless' as a buzzword when talking about Rafa, and they were damn right. If Rafa wins this one, he will not only become #1, but it will be his sixth tournament on the trot. Now that is just crazy talk.

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Speaking of people trying to become #1, Jelena Jankovic had another chance to take the ranking this week when Ivanovic lost early in Montreal, and has screwed it up again. I don't know if it's choking or if she's injured again, but seriously, Roger Federer ain't the only one who needs to get his head in the game. She lost to Dominika Cibulkova. And that's just not right.

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Though I suppose I can hope that if one #2 doesn't overtake the #1, the same will be true for the other... but no. Am not wishing ill on Rafa Nadal. Deserving #1. Deserving #1.

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Now if it were Djokovic that were making a charge, I would totally have my voodoo doll out. But not for Rafa. He's good. And he deserves this... even though I can't help wishing he doesn't get it.

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At least things are still looking good for me in women's tennis! Dinara Safina is still alive in Montreal, and looking sharp. Her quarter final starts in about twenty minutes, and you can bet I'll be following that instead of the Rafa match. I may not wish ill on Rafa, but it doesn't mean I can bear to watch, either.

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Today's Results

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Western and Southern Financial Group Masters (Cincinatti)

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Ivo Karlovic def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-3)

Andy Murray def. Carlos Moya, 2-6 6-3 6-1

Novak Djokovic def. Ernests Gulbis, 6-3 6-4

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Rogers Cup (Montreal)

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Marion Bartoli def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-2 6-3

Dominika Cibulkova def. Jelena Jankovic, 7-5 6-2

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Nordea Nordic Light Open (Stockholm)

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Agnieszka Radwanska def. Camille Pin, 6-2 1-0 retired

Katarina Srebotnik def. Virginia Ruano Pascual, 6-2 6-0

Caroline Wozniacki def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-1 6-3

Vera Dushevina def. Iveta Benesova, 6-3 6-3