If A Tree Falls And No One's There...

I have found myself spectacularly uninvolved in the world of tennis this week. I know it should have been the first week that I really cared post-Australian Open, what with the return of my main man Roger, but no. I found this week terribly, terribly dull.

This is not to say that I am not a bit cross with the selfsame Roger Federer for his performance in the Dubai final. Djokovic is playing so well at the moment that even if he had played better I don't know if he would have been able to win, but missing overheads? Dude, seriously? Ferd the turd was out in this match in full force.

So let's not talk about him. Or I will shout. LIKE THIS. Instead, let's talk about Nicolas Almagro, who keeps, like, winning stuff. Like, lots of stuff.

He is in his third straight final, going for his third straight title. I know these are Mickey Mouse clay tournaments, but that is still pretty impressive. Almagro is a fearsome claycourter at the best of times (he is, after all, the Prince of Clay) but this is a good run for him. This is a run I don't think Rafa would be ashamed to have to his name, if Rafa were the kind of dude that played these tournaments.

And now Almagro is going up against another Spanish dude in the in-form David Ferrer. And you've got to think... if you've just played about 2394729387 matches on the trot, David Ferrer is the last dude you want to face. (Ask Rafa.) Because here is the thing - three finals in a row is a great result, but is it the best idea for your body?

As far as I recall, Almagro is not the most injury prone dude. He's no Tsonga, that's for sure. But clay is a demanding surface and even when you're winning pretty comfortably, as he has generally been doing, it's got to take a toll on your body. Again, let's look at Rafa, the clay machine. I think we can all agree that Rafa's fitness is superhuman, that he is lightyears ahead of the field on clay, and that there is quite a high possibility that he is a cyborg. And yet he didn't win those three Masters 1000s on clay until he stopped playing Barcelona.

If Almagro gets good draws - ie. doesn't come up against that selfsame Rafa, or Federer, or Djokovic - he is perfectly capable of going very deep in the important clay tournaments to come. On clay, he is top ten in the world, no doubt. But if he guns it too hard now, when no one's around, then he's going to burn out. And no one will remember these tournament wins here... because, as always, Roland Garros will eclipse everything.

(On Roland Garros - there is a slight possibility I might actually attend for a day or two this year! How cool is that?!)

Disappointments in Dubai

I think I wrote a few weeks ago about how Feliciano Lopez has one really good tournament in him in a year. He won a tournament a few weeks ago... and the theory is holding true, because he lost first round in Dubai to Stefan Koubek. Now, Koubeck isn't the uber-suck - he is Federer's hitting partner of choice, as we all know - but really, Feli? Really?

Another dude is definitely hanging out in Club Disappointment this week is Simone Bolelli. Now, I have watched Bolelli play a few times and I like his game. He's played Hopman Cup before, and that really endears me to a player. He's talented and really pretty and he has some serious game.

So why has he lost fourteen matches in a row? Riddle me that one.

I can't talk about that too much more, because I legitimately have no answer. I don't know if there is any excuse for an ATP player of that calibre to lose that many times in a row. That's just crazy talk. So fix something, Simone. You're a mess right now.

Someone I am not disappointed in, however, is Marcos Baghdatis. Gilles Simon may just be back from injury, but he is ranked up high. This was a great win for Marcos, and I hope he can go further!

Sending A Message

Well, I'm sure Djokovic/Ferrer was not exactly the final that the Dubai tournament organisers were hoping for - it is definitely a poor bastard cousin of Federer/Nadal, which they seemed all set for until a few weeks ago - but it could have been a lot worse for them. And, though I might have pulling for Ferrer, at least their big guy pulled it out and won the tournament for them. But it's going to be very interesting to see what happens with Dubai next year, after the whole Shahar Peer debacle... we saw one political pull-out here this year in the form of Roddick (massive kudos) - but will we see more next year, when players have more time to consider their schedule?

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Guess those appearance fees will have to be jacked up even higher...

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But my real interest at the moment isn't in Dubai - or even Acapulco or Delray Beach. No, it's all about the Maccabi Men's Challenger in East Bentleigh, where a very interesting final has been set up, after Marinko Matosevic blew right past Colin Ebelthite and Bernard Tomic ground it out in straights over Brydan Klein.

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The latter result is probably the most interesting, considering that Davis Cup is coming up. Both Klein and Tomic were on the squad (though did not make the actual team) in Chile last year. Both made it to the second round at the Australian Open this year. But Klein got the call up ahead of Tomic. This is probably purely because he's a bit older, and also he's had some really good results in Challengers lately (remember how he just won two in a row?) but I bet Bernard is a little irritated. I would not be surprised at all if he wanted to prove something with this match, to send a message - a message something along the lines of, 'hey, yeah, remember me? Don't forget me next time, bitches.'

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So it's going to be a good final tomorrow. You've got to pick Tomic on talent - and also because I know virtually nothing about Matosevic except that he has the same birthday as Roger Federer - but you never know what's going to happen in tennis, and that's the beauty of it.

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Today's Results

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Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships (Dubai)

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Novak Djokovic def. David Ferrer, 7-5 6-3

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Abierto Mexicano Telcel (Acapulco)

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Nicolas Almagro def. Martin Vassallo Arguello, 6-4 6-4

Gael Monfils def. Jose Acasuso, 6-3 6-4

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Delray Beach International Tennis Championships (Delray Beach)

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Mardy Fish def. Florent Serra, 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-4)

Evgeny Korolev def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-2 6-2

Tennis and Bushfires

Can I just say THANK YOU to Andy Roddick for winning in Memphis, taking out the Worm. I was beginning to think that Radek had magical powers, and I wasn't so keen on the notion. So thank you, A-Rod.

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Not a lot of play today, except in Dubai, where a very bare looking draw started today. No Federer, no Nadal, no Roddick (the only one of the three who pulled out for specifically political reasons... but I wonder...). The draw is now headlined by Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic - and we've already lost our first seed, Ivo Karlovic, who went down to qualifier Marco Chiudinelli. So I think we might see a pretty anti-climactic Dubai this year...

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But today I mostly want to talk about the Tennis Australia bushfire appeal, which I think is totally wonderful and a very admirable initiative. According to the website, some contributions thus far are:

• A commitment from Tennis Australia and Tennis Victoria to work with government and local communities to ensure all facilities are rebuilt, restocked with equipment and restaffed with coaching and administrative help
• Long term plans for tennis days, coaching days, competitions and clinics to help the morale of the communities and further engage community spirit through the sport
• Dozens of Victorian coaches donating their time and resources to run clinics throughout the year in schools and clubs
• Thousands of dollars of donations of cash, equipment and services at club and community level from players, coaches, fans, officials and staff from everywhere from Kooyong to the Gold Coast.
• Offers of signed paraphernalia for auction from players throughout the world, co-ordinated by the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour and the ATP World Tour officials.
• Donations and offers of help from current players like Bernard Tomic, past players like Geoff Masters, Wayne Arthurs, Alicia Molik, Todd Woodbridge and others
• Lleyton and Bec Hewitt investigating with Tennis Australia the possibility of a fund raising day which will involve past and present players

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It may seem cheesy, but I think it's wonderful to see everyone pulling together to help out after such a tragedy. Hats off, Tennis Australia.

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Today's Results

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Regions Morgan Keenan Championships (Memphis)

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Andy Roddick def. Radek Stepanek, 7-5 7-5

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Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships (Dubai)

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Andy Murray def. Sergiy Stakhovsky, 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 5-3 retired

David Ferrer def. Ivan Ljubicic, 3-6 6-2 6-1

Marin Cilic def. Janko Tipsarevic, 2-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-4

Marco Chiudinelli def. Ivo Karlovic, 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 7-6 (9-7)

Teimuraz Gabashvili def. Laurent Recouderc, 5-7 7-6 (7-4) 6-3

Fabrice Santoro def. Victor Hanescu, 6-4 6-2

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Delray Beach International Tennis Championships (Delray Beach)

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Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Steve Darcis, 6-3 6-3

The Shahar Question

One thing I haven't written about recently is possibly one of the biggest political dramas in recent memory in tennis - Shahar Peer being denied a visa into Dubai. This has provoked a lot of comment and reaction within the tennis world... I can't say I really know enough about the situation to comment. Still, I'm going to now.
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I know that Israel is not exactly the good guy on the world stage right now - but should Shahar's nationality preclude her from competing in her sport? She's not the mastermind behind the whole Israel situation (and neither is Andy Ram, whom I understood also had visa difficulty) but there is precendent for her being barred - not in tennis, necessarily, but in sport, certainly. Anyone else recall the ban put on South Africa for a while there? I particularly remember it in reference to cricket, but I'm pretty sure it spread across the world as a whole. So - is tennis the same? Can Shahar Peer be precluded from playing because of her country's political situation?
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The WTA says no. Dubai says yes. Either way, you have to feel sorry for the girl, because no matter what her nationality, I don't think anyone could say this is her fault. Anyone see the protesters stalking her around Auckland this year? The poor girl looked so scared. And who could blame her?
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Dubai is getting a bit of a bad rep because of this, and I must confess it just struck me... this whole saga comes out, and then Federer pulls out. Now Nadal has pulled out. Coincidence? ...yeah, probably. But the organisers of Dubai must be tearing their hair out, having lost the two best players in the world, and I bet Shahar has allowed herself a quiet chuckle or two over that one.
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Today's Results
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Regions Morgan Keenan Championships (Memphis)
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Men's Draw
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Radek Stepanek def. Stefan Koubek, 6-2 6-4
Igor Kunitsyn def. Philipp Petzschner, 3-6 6-4 6-4
Lleyton Hewitt def. Chris Guccione, 6-2 7-6 (7-4)
Juan Martin del Potro def. Ernests Gulbis, 6-3 6-4
Christophe Rochus def. Mardy Fish, 6-2 6-4
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Women's Draw
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Victoria Azarenka def. Pauline Parmentier, 6-4 6-2
Sabine Lisicki def. Lucie Safarova, 6-3 6-4
Anne Keothavong def. Marina Erakovic, 6-2 1-6 6-2
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Copa Telmex (Buenos Aires)
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Maximo Gonzalez def. Brian Dabul, 6-3 6-1
Juan Monaco def. Martin Vassallo Arguello, 6-4 2-6 6-2
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Open 13 (Marseilles)
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Novak Djokovic def. Jan Hernych, 7-5 6-4
Gilles Simon def. Rainer Schuettler, 6-4 4-6 6-2
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Simone Bolelli, 6-3 6-2
Julien Benneteau def. Georg Bastl, 6-1 2-6 6-1
Michael Llodra def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-3 7-6 (7-1)
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Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships (Dubai)
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Serena Williams def. Ana Ivanovic, 6-4 6-4
Venus Williams def. Elena Dementieva, 6-3 6-3
Virginie Razzano def. Vera Zvonareva, 7-6 (9-7) 7-5
Kaia Kanepi def. Elena Vesnina, 6-3 7-5
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Copa Sony Ericsson Colsanitas (Bogota)
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Mathilde Johansson def. Katalin Marosi, 6-4 6-1
María José Martínez Sánchez def. Arantxa Parra Santonja, 6-4 6-3
Betina Jozami def. Carla Suárez Navarro, 4-0 retired
Gisela Dulko def. Rossana de los Ríos, 5-7 6-1 6-3