Dinara Gets Krummed

I don't think there's a whole lot more that can be said about Day 3 other than Dinara, Dinara, Dinara. What a compellingly disappointing performance. I don't know whether the break up with Zeljko has been a good thing or not, but Gaston Etlis needs to get Dinara to a sports psych, stat. I've seen a lot of tennis matches in my time - I've seen your Grosjeans and your Gasquets - and that is one of the single chokiest performances I have ever seen.


The winners: Well, Kimiko Date Krumm, obviously. When you're just about forty and playing on one leg and you beat a former world #1, you've got a little sumthin' sumthin' going on.


Other women that I thought were major winners were Maria Sharapova, who has continued her good form from Strasbourg; Justine (obviously); Anastasia Rodionova, who won her first ever Slam match, and Jarmila Groth ('cause she's Australian). However, I thought the winniest winner among the women yesterday was probably Yanina Wickmayer. She's in that year-after-the-breakthrough phase, but I think people ought to watch out for Yanina. She's got quite a nice draw and she could potentially go a long way.


Over in the boys, I thought David Ferrer and Lleyton Hewitt were probably the best performers over all. (Note: I am judging Rafa by a completely different standard. He was obviously the best player yesterday, but by his own admission, it was not his bestest match ever, even though he won comfortably.)


The losers: Dinara Safina. Obviously. She's going to plummet down the rankings Ivanovic-style here, and it's not going to be pretty. A change is clearly what she needs and she has that in the form of Gaston Etlis - I just hope it begins to pay dividends for her. And that she can fix that mess of a serve. It's crazy.


For the dudes, though we lost players like Juan Monaco and Eduardo Schwank, who are good dirtballers, disappointment of the day was clearly Sam Querrey. He really shouldn't be losing to Ginepri, and he knows it - he left Paris in a fit of pique, leaving his doubles partner in the lurch. And he quit Twitter. Not really impressed with Samurai right now.


The disappointments: I think Rafa was a little disappointed in himself, but it would be totally unfair to place him in this category, so I won't.


I do have to put Carla Suarez Navarro here, because I had hoped for a lot from her. I know she's injured so it isn't her fault, but it is disappointing. She's a lovely clay player with a beautiful backhand. Now she and Martinez Sanchez are both out, I think only Medina Garrigues is flying the flag for the Spanish ladies.


Eduardo Schwank was also disappointing. He's got some moves on clay and he went out to a dude I have never heard of (Blaz Kavcic), retiring in the fourth set when down two sets to one. Didn't see the match so I couldn't even tell you what his injury was, but this is a disappointing result for him.


The-scraped-in-by-skin-of-teeth: Why, hello, Andy Roddick. He looked very nonchalant in his five set win over Jarkko Nieminen and he came perilously close to being bundled out. He hasn't played a match on red clay all season so I'm not surprised he's rusty - and let's face it, Roland Garros is not the tournament closest to his heart. That one is coming up in a few weeks.


Horacio Zeballos, also. He only just made it through 8-6 in the fifth over some dude I have never heard of.


One to watch: Gianni Mina. He may have been routed by the raging bull yesterday, but Mina's going to grow up into something a bit cool. I would not be surprised if he surpasses his doppelganger Gael Monfils...

Dropping Eduardo

I'm making it official. I'm dropping someone from my Stars of the Future club. Bye bye, Eduardo Schwank.

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Schwank shot to fame (well, "fame") last year when he won three Challengers on clay in a row and then nearly burned down a hotel and lost all his prize money. He put in the best performance of all the Argentines at Roland Garros, making it to the third round. He had a good couple of months there.

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But he hasn't delivered since then, and the time has come (the walrus said). The other kids in the Stars club have been steadily performing better and better (current concerns re Ernests Gulbis aside). So, bye, Eduardo. Been nice having you.

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Speaking of Challengers, it's always interesting to see who's been winning them, so let's have a look... am glad to see a couple of Aussie boys on the list, with Brydan Klein and Bernard Tomic winning a couple early one (but I did discuss those at the time... ad nauseam, I do believe.) No one is standing out as someone that is winning a whole pile, but Benjamin Becker is one that's popped up a few times (aka Becker-no-relation.) Andreas Beck is on the list as well. And the French wizard, Fabrice Santoro won one last week. Which is nice for him.

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Other overnight winners include the elusive Mikhail Youzhny, who seems to pop up whenever it suits him, and Gaston Gaudio, whom I have not seen around for some time. (What's up with that? I thought he was gone for good.) But we had some bad losses as well... Marat Safin, Guillermo Canas and, yes, Eduardo Schwank, I'm looking at you.

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Today's Results

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Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell (Barcelona)

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David Ferrer def. Mikahil Kukushkin, 6-3 3-6 6-1

Igor Andreev def. Alberto Martin, 6-2 6-2

Radek Stepanek def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-4 2-6 6-4

Robin Soderling def. Teimuraz Gabashvili, 6-1 6-4

Feliciano Lopez def. Jarkko Nieminen, 6-2 6-1

Daniel Gimeno-Traver def. Fabio Fognini, 6-1 6-3

Oscar Hernandez def. Eduardo Schwank, 6-2 6-4

Arnaud Clement def. Guillermo Canas, 7-6 (7-0) 6-3

Gaston Gaudio def. Diego Junqueira, 6-4 3-6 6-4

Juan Monaco def. Marat Safin, 6-4 6-1

Richard Gasquet def. Jan Hernych, 4-6 6-3 6-2

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

Mikhail Youzhny def. Viktor Troicki, 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (8-6) 6-4

Go See Sebastien

One from three on Stars today - Marin Cilic beat Flavio Cipolla, but both Jeremy Chardy and Eduardo Schwank were first round casualties. Not too fussed about Schwank - he was, I think, only a flash in the pan, and is only hanging on to Star status by his teeth. But Chardy... I'm a bit disappointed by his performance over the last couple of weeks. He was the fourth seed in one of the tournaments last week, and I thought he had quite a good shot at winning... but last week was the week of the old guy, I suppose. Here's hoping Jeremy gets back on his feet again soon.

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Speaking of a disappointing performance, Alize, where art thou? She was the top seed in Barcelona, and got absolutely pulverised by Stephanie Cohen-Aloro. If she isn't injured... God, I hope she's injured. This performance is absolutely inexcusable otherwise. Ever since she had those match points against Safina in Australia, she has absolutely crumbled. Perhaps she should go and have a word with countryman Sebastien Grosjean. He knows a thing or two about choking.

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...though he probably couldn't give her many useful points on how to stop.

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But seriously, it is so disappointing! She is a great little player and she's great on clay especially. What's gone on here? This is something that clearly needs to be addressed. I hate to see promising young guns, who should be off conquering tennis Everests with Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniacki and co, succumbing to the paralysis currently sweeping the WTA. I thought it was only the more 'senior' members of the top ten (feels strange to call players like the Serbians senior - they haven't been round that long!) but Alize's caught the disease too.

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Who is going to fix the WTA? That has got to be the biggest question in tennis right now. Where did it go wrong, and who is going to set it right?

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Today's Results

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Monte Carlo Rolex Masters (Monte Carlo)

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Marin Cilic def. Flavio Cipolla, 6-3 6-2

Nicolas Lapentti def. Radek Stepanek, 6-3 1-6 6-3

Oscar Hernandez def. Julien Benneteau, 6-4 6-4

Juan Igancio Chela def. Igor Kunitsyn, 6-4 2-6 7-5

Victor Hanescu def. Alberto Martin, 6-2 6-3

Andreas Seppi def. Jurgen Melzer, 6-2 6-0

Marcel Granollers def. Jose Acasuso, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-2)

Juan Monaco def. Jeremy Chardy, 6-2 7-5

Marc Gicquel def. Eduardo Schwank, 3-6 6-1 7-6 (7-2)

Andreas Beck def. Nicolas Kiefer, 1-6 7-6 (7-1) 6-4

Ivan Ljubicic def. Kristof Vliegen, 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-4

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Family Circle Cup (Charleston)

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Peng Shuai def. Anastasia Pivovarova, 6-0 6-2

Alona Bondarenko def. Anne Kremer, 6-4 6-0

Virginie Razzano def. Mallory Cecil, 6-1 6-2

Vania King def. Olga Govortsova, 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3

Tamira Paszek def. Julia Schruff, 7-5 6-2

Patricia Mayr def. Yan Zi, 6-2 6-2

Rossana de los Ríos def. Carly Gullickson, 6-1 6-4

Varvara Lepchenko def. Galina Voskoboeva, 6-1 6-3

Julie Ditty def. Ayumi Morita, 6-1 6-1

Anastasia Rodionova def. Madison Brengle, 6-2 7-6 (7-4)

Lenka Wienerova def. Alexa Glatch, 6-4 7-5

Melanie Oudin def. Olga Savchuk, 6-4 6-0

Anastasija Sevastova def. Marta Domachowska, 6-1 1-6 6-4

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Barcelona Ladies Open (Barcelona)

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Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro def. Alizé Cornet, 6-0 6-3

Flavia Pennetta def. Petra Kvitova, 6-3 6-3

Sara Errani def. Mathilde Johansson, 2-6 7-5 6-3

Lucie Safarova def. Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-1 3-6 6-0

Magdalena Rybarikova def. Klara Zakopalova, 6-1 7-6 (9-7)

Roberta Vinci def. Pauline Parmentier, 6-4 7-6 (9-7)

Safin's Senior Moment

Well, it's nice to know Marat Safin pays attention to what's going on in his matches. He had his 400th career win today - nice one, Maratski! - which he won by breaking Noam Okun to take the match 6-4 in the third. However, with all that close attention he was paying to the score, he thought it was 6-5 and headed to his chair for a changeover. I bet, for a few seconds, Okun thought that was one hell of a snub. But the chair umpire eventually told Marat what was going on, he was embarassed, and it was all in good fun.

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Is this the week Safin comes close to winning the title? Wouldn't it be nice for him to do it in Moscow, his self-professed favourite place?

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I won't be holding my breath. I'm just hoping Marat can manage another win - you know, to make it two in a row. That's something we haven't seen much of since Wimbledon (who ever thought that'd be a sentence you could say of Marat Safin - that Wimbledon was his best result in a tennis year? I bet Marat himself never dreamed it.)

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Meanwhile, Stan Wawrinka, what happened there? I'm gunning for him to reach Shanghai, but if he loses in the first round of tournaments in which he is the top seed to schlep qualifiers - ie. Vienna, to Philipp 'who?' Petzschner - then he's not going to have a prayer. Sure, it was a third set breaker, but a win is a win, and a loss is a loss, and Stan, I am so not happy with you right now. Get it together and give Roger someone to hang out with at the Masters Cup, would you?

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Two people that did have wins in Vienna today were Eduardo Schwank, who is beginning to edge his way back from Star hanger-on status, and Ernests Gulbis, my special favourite. Schwank took out Gilles Simon, which is no mean feat - Simon was the seventh seed, and we must remember that he's had a hard-court win over Federer this year (outdoor, but still.) Nice one, Eduardo. Ernests took out Filippo Volandri, who is not seeded but still a good player nonetheless, and did it pretty well. Top work there, Swanboy.

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Oh, and nice one to Pim-Pim as well, who had a win. Top stuff.

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Wouldn't it just be the nicest week this week if Safin won in Moscow and Gulbis won in Vienna? I'm ambivalent on Stockholm - I was gunning for Federer, but he's pulled out, and no one has as yet piqued my interest... oh, I know! Nishikori. That's my ideal trifecta this week. Let's see how we go...

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Today's Results

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Kremlin Cup (Moscow)

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Men's Draw

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Florent Serra, 6-1 7-5

Denis Istomin def. Michael Llodra, 7-6 (7-2) 6-3

Janko Tipsarevic def. Alexandre Kudryavtsev, 4-6 6-3 7-6 (8-6)

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

Julien Benneteau def. Harel Levy, 6-4 6-3

Viktor Troicki def. Evgeny Donskoy, 6-1 6-3

Robby Ginepri def. Jiri Vanek, 6-3 6-4

Marat Safin def. Noam Okun, 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-4

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Women's Draw

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

Flavia Pennetta def. Venus Williams, 6-4 2-6 6-4

Vera Zvonareva def. Maria Kirilenko, 6-4 6-4

Daniela Hantuchova def. Francesca Schiavone, 6-3 6-2

Katarina Srebotnik def. Alona Bondarenko, 6-2 6-1

Sara Errani def. Victoria Azarenka, 1-6 6-4 6-3

Ekaterina Makarova def. Elena Vesnina, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-1)

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If Stockholm Open (Stockholm)

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David Nalbandian def. Bobby Reynolds, 6-1 6-1

Mario Ancic def. Olivier Rochus, 7-6 (8-6) 6-2

Rainer Schuettler def. Chris Guccione, 6-0 6-3

Jose Acasuso def. Matthias Bachinger, 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 7-6 (7-4)

Steve Darcis def. Christophe Rochus, 2-6 6-3 6-3

Juan Monaco def. Jonas Bjorkman, 6-2 6-4

Joachim Johansson def. Nicolas Mahut, 7-5 7-6 (7-5)

Oscar Hernandez def. Ivo Minar, 6-4 6-3

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Bank Austria Tennis Trophy (Vienna)
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Philipp Petzschner def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 7-6 (7-5)

Fernando Gonzalez def. Simone Bolelli, 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-2

Eduardo Schwank def. Gilles Simon, 4-6 7-5 7-6 (7-5)

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Marc Gicquel, 6-2 6-2

Radek Stepanek def. Pavel Snobel, 6-4 6-2

Ernests Gulbis def. Filippo Volandri, 6-2 6-3

Santiago Giraldo def. Stefan Koubek, 6-1 6-2

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

The New Garden Square

It's great for Perth to get the Fed Cup tie for next year - the only other tennis event in WA is the Hopman Cup, which gets ignored a lot of the time - but I must admit I am a little disappointed... purely for selfish reasons. WA is much too far away to actually attend.

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I wish Fed Cup had a higher profile. With Stosur back from injury, we might have an okay team now - if she and Dellacqua played singles then Stubbs came in for the doubles, we might stand a good chance of getting back into the World Group. Speaking of Sam, she scored a great win in Tokyo against the second seed, Anabel Medina Garrigues. She made a run to the final last week, but maybe she can go all the way this time...? I'd like to see that.

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Another player to watch in Tokyo is Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. She is about six years old - well, maybe sixteen or seventeen, but very young - but she's making her presence felt. She's of the same generation as Alize Cornet, and although she hasn't made it up as high in the rankings yet, she's definitely going to be up there one day. Just another cog in the Russian tennis machine.

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Unfortunately, Kei Nishikori got unceremoniously booted out of the Tokyo tournament by Richard Gasquet. Maybe he took offence to me calling him a head case? It'd be great if he'd put those ways behind him, but excuse me if I am unconvinced. It takes more than one good win against an in form opponent to silence the doubters... ie. me. But I wouldn't mind it if Richou won a few matches and played himself back into form - although he, like Andy Roddick, should have gone to the Olympics.

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Nishikori's loss means that my only remaining active Star this week is the hanger-on, Eduardo Schwank, who beat Victor Hanescu in Metz. If he can do well this week, then he will officially be re-adopted back into the fold. I mean, I suppose he's already done well, getting this far, but one more round would not hurt anyone...

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Going back to Tokyo, it was a bit sad to see Jo-W Tsonga retire, but I suppose he's done his dues, winning that title last week... apparently he's only one of eight players to win his first title against a top ten opponent. Good on you, Jo-W.

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Actually, speaking of things that are sad, I have a bone to pick with Tennis Australia. They recently ran a competition to rename Garden Square Cafe, which is the player's cafe at Melbourne Park, where they have the Australian Open. Now, I'm sure they had all kinds of entries, and some must have been horrendous, but surely there was something better than the one they chose. The new name of Garden Square Cafe is... drumroll...

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...wait for it...

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'Player Cafe.'

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What genius came up with that one? And, moreover, what genius decided that was the best possible name? 'Player Cafe.' Real expression of creative genius, that one.

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Today's Results

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Open de Moselle (Metz)

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Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Romain Jouan, 6-3 6-3

Radek Stepanek def. Michael Llodra, 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 7-6 (7-0)

Eduardo Schwank def. Victor Hanescu, 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (5-7) 6-3

Adrian Mannarino def. Rik de Voest, 6-4 7-5

Marc Gicquel def. Nicolas Mahut, 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

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AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships (Tokyo)

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Men's Draw

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David Ferrer def. Takao Suzuki, 4-6 6-3 6-2

Andy Roddick def. Jurgen Melzer, 7-6 (7-2) 6-2

Fernando Gonzalez def. Amer Delic, 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Richard Gasquet def. Kei Nishikori, 6-1 6-2

Juan Martin Del Potro def. Jarkko Nieminen, 6-1 6-3

Viktor Troicki def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 5-7 2-1 retired

Tomas Berdych def. Tommy Robredo, 7-6 (8-6) 6-2

Rainer Schuettler def. Mikhail Youzhny, 6-3 6-7 (12-14) 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Caroline Wozniacki def. Ayumi Morita, 6-2 6-1

Samantha Stosur def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-1 7-5

Aleksandra Wozniak def. Ryoko Fuda, 6-1 6-1

Klara Zakopalova def. Marta Domachowska, 6-3 6-0

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Rika Fujiwara, 6-2 6-4

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Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart)

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Jelena Jankovic def. Alona Bondarenko, 6-2 6-0

Dinara Safina def. Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-1 7-6 (8-6)

Venus Williams def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 6-4 6-2

Vera Zvonareva def. Marion Bartoli, 6-2 6-0

Nadia Petrova def. Patty Schnyder, 6-4 6-1

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Tashkent Open (Tashkent)

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Peng Shuai def. Arantxa Rus, 6-1 7-5

Sorana Cirstea def. Anna Lapushchenkova, 6-1 6-4

Monica Niculescu def. Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-3 3-4 retired

Michelle Larcher de Brito def. Tatiana Poutchek, 6-4 6-1

Red Tape

Very little to report today, as nothing of interest is really happening... we had some interesting upsets in Metz, with Simon and Almagro falling to Mahut and Schwank respectively, which is news, I suppose. I'm glad to see Schwank doing well, as I was nearly ready to drop him from my Stars fold - since the claycourt season, he has done very little of note, and that is just not good enough for one of my chosen ones! This hardcourt victory gives him a little more leeway. It'll be interesting to see how far he can go. He's one of the oldest of my Stars - in his early twenties - and so I don't think his future is quite as shiny as, say, Gulbis or Cilic, who had the rest of their careers still before them. Still, he's one to keep an eye on!

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Another one of my Stars to keep an eye on this week is, obviously, Kei Nishikori. He's playing in front of a home crowd and he's clearly in killer form. Wouldn't it be great to see him go on and win the title? We know he's capable of winning ATP titles - Delray Beach, anyone - but I'd really like him to prove that wasn't a fluke. Loads of people have won one title. A lot fewer have won two. And Nishikori is such a fun player to watch as well. If he were a bigger guy, one thinks he'd play like Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, but because he's slight, his big weapon is speed... though that's not to say that he doesn't hit the ball hard!

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I was pleased to see that lucky loser Jarmila Gajdosova was able to win her first round match in Tokyo too. She's still playing for Slovakia, but she's sort of Australian, like Anastasia Rodionova... actually, what is going on with that whole thing? Both have expressed their desire to play for Australia - hell, I think both have played for Australia! - so what is the holdup? I have no idea what is going on with that whole situation there. This has been going on for about a year now. What's the deal? Is it citizenship? Visa? When are these two going to be playing for us? You'd think with everyone whinging about how Australian tennis is in a state you'd want it to be soon. Stupid red tape.

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Meanwhile, Marcos Baghdatis showed his face again, only to retire (a set up, too!) against Ivo Karlovic with a back injury. Get well soon, Marcos!

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Today's Results

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Open de Moselle (Metz)

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Ivo Karlovic def. Marcos Baghdatis, 4-6 2-1 retired

Nicolas Mahut def. Gilles Simon, 6-4 3-6 6-1

Eduardo Schwank def. Nicolas Almagro, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Nicolas Devilder, 6-0 6-2

Dmitry Tursunov def. Thierry Ascione, 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 6-4

Victor Hanescu def. Ivan Ljubicic, 6-1 7-6 (7-4)

Marc Gicquel def. Marcel Granollers, 6-3 6-2

Romain Jouan def. Agustin Calleri, 5-7 6-1 6-2

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AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships (Tokyo)

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Men's Draw

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Kei Nishikori def. Robert Kendrick, 7-6 (7-3) 6-7 (5-7) 6-2

Dudi Sela def. Bjorn Phau, 7-5 6-1

Wayne Odesnik def. Kevin Kim, 6-4 6-3

Simon Stadler def. Philipp Petzschner, 6-2 6-4

Flavio Cipolla def. Ivan Navarro, 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-4)

Bobby Reynolds def. Tatsuma Ito, 6-3 6-1

Roko Karanusic def. Hiroki Kondo, 6-2 6-2

Yen-hsun Lu def. Luka Gregorc, 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Joseph Sirianni def. Yuichi Ito, 6-3 6-2

Jesse Levine def. Danai Udomchoke, 4-6 6-1 6-0

Martin Slanar def. Donald Young, 4-6 6-3 6-2

Cecil Mamiit def. Brendan Evans, 3-6 7-5 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Caroline Wozniacki def. Gisela Dulko, 4-6 6-0 6-3

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Zheng Jie, 6-1 6-2

Klara Zakopalova def. Maria Kirilenko, 4-6 6-2 7-5

Shahar Peer def. Kimiko Date Krumm, 6-3 6-1

Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Stéphanie Dubois, 6-1 6-3

Aleksandra Wozniak def. Jill Craybas, 7-5 6-7 (2-7) 6-3

Yanina Wickmayer def. Iveta Benesova, 6-4 3-6 6-3

Camille Pin def. Carla Suárez Navarro, 6-0 7-5

Rika Fujiwara def. Petra Cetkovska, 7-6 (8-6) 6-4

Ryoko Fuda def. Pauline Parmentier, 7-5 6-2

Jarmila Gajdosova def. Mara Santangelo, 6-4 7-6 (7-0)

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Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart)

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Venus Williams def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 6-1 6-2

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Sandra Zahlavova, 6-3 6-2

Marion Bartoli def. Dominika Cibulkova, 6-3 6-1

Victoria Azarenka def. Agnes Szavay, 7-5 6-3

Nadia Petrova def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 6-2 6-2

Tsvetana Pironkova def. Alizé Cornet, 6-2 6-1

Kateryna Bondarenko def. Flavia Pennetta, 4-6 6-2 6-1

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Tashkent Open (Tashkent)

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Peng Shuai def. Arina Rodionova, 6-4 6-1

Ksenia Palkina def. Olga Govortsova, 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 7-5

Sorana Cirstea def. Ekaterina Dzehalevich, 7-6 (7-4) 7-5

Monica Niculescu def. Olga Savchuk, 7-5 0-1 retired

Urszula Radwanska def. Akgul Amanmuradova, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3

Yaroslava Shvedova def. Anastasiya Yakimova, 6-1 6-1

Anna Lapushchenkova def. Nina Bratchikova, 4-6 6-1 7-6 (7-3)

Michelle Larcher de Brito def. Andreja Klepac, 6-0 6-7 (4-7) 6-2

Ioana Raluca Olaru def. Katie O'Brien, 6-2 6-1

Vesna Manasieva def. Nigina Abduraimova, 6-1 6-1

Tatiana Poutchek def. Sariya Khayrova, 6-1 6-0

Alexandra Panova def. Alisa Ogorodova, 6-4 6-0

Starlight, Starbright

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Today's Results

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US Open (Flushing Meadows)

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Men's Draw

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Women's Draw

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stars, In Your Multitudes

I do believe I said yesterday that one day in the future Ivan Ljubicic would make a fine ATP chairman. Lo and behold! he's been elected to the ATP board as the official representative of Europe. I like to think this is proof that the ATP listen to what I say. Next thing you know, they'll be knocking on my door, asking me to be the next Etienne. You just wait.

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Meanwhile, I really should preview the US Open draw, but I'm going to save that for tomorrow. I have to save up my topics of conversation and ration them out carefully before the US Open, when things get all interesting. I think that today I am going to gloat some more about how good the kids in my Stars of the Future fold are. Especially Marin Cilic.

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When I first added Cilic to my Stars fold, I wasn't expecting him to be quite so spectacular. I thought he'd be one of my secondary stars. But he has had a real career year this year, and I am just counting down the seconds until he's in the top ten. He's seeded at the US Open, which makes him one of my best-performing Stars so far. Go Marin! And he has just made his first career final in New Haven, where he will play Mardy Fish for the title. Can Cilic take Fish? I think that he can - hook, line and sinker.

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I apologise profoundly for that pun. But if your last name is Fish, then I'm sure you'd be used to it. Go Marin!

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I think I better clarify who is actually in my Stars of the Future fold, because otherwise I'm going to end up adopting every stray young 'un that comes along and claiming the glory. Currently, the fold includes the following: Juan Martin del Potro (recent addition - very quickly becoming a Star of the Present!), Marin Cilic, Ernests Gulbis (my favourite!), Eduardo Schwank, Jeremy Chardy and Thomaz Bellucci. And I'm sure there's another one, but I can't remember who right now. But they're my picks. They're the ones that are going to make it big. Except maybe Chardy. I'm not so sold on him any more.

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My special favourite is, of course, Ernests Gulbis, who is one of the most insanely talented young players we have seen in a very long time. I don't know if he's quite at Federer/Safin talent level, but he's pretty damn good. He is officially the only person I have ever seen blow Rafa off the court. (Rafa still came back and won the match, but Swanboy got a set off him. Which is something.) A bit of experience, and he's going to be wonderful. Just give him a while. I think last time I talked about him, I said to give him a year. I might extend that to two, but he is going to be up there, mark my words.

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But my boy Marin... he's the star of his class right now, nonwithstanding new kid Juan Martin del Potro. He is the first of my original stars to reach a final, and I am very proud. Yay Marin!

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Today's Results

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Pilot Pen Tennis (New Haven)

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Men's Draw

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Marin Cilic def. Luka Gregorc, 6-3 6-3

Mardy Fish def. Fernando Verdasco, 6-0 1-6 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Anna Chakvetadze def. Amélie Mauresmo, 6-3 3-6 6-1

Caroline Wozniacki def. Alizé Cornet, 7-5 6-4

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Forest Hills Tennis Classic (Forest Hills)

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Lucie Safarova def. Iveta Benesova, 6-2 6-4

Peng Shuai def. Carla Suárez Navarro, 6-1 6-2

The French Question

And the big story of today is... nothing. It's one of those uniquely boring weeks before a big tournament, where everyone is waiting round with bated breath for it to start. The schleps are playing little schlep tournaments, but that's about it.

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Normally, I might rabbit on about one of my Stars of the Future, but even they've been pretty quiet. Marin Cilic had a win, but it was a retirement after three games, so that's not so exciting. Eduardo Schwank lost to Ivo Minar. I've gone off Eduardo a bit, actually. He has yet to prove himself to me outside the clay arena. Though I suppose there was that tight match with Roddick the other day... if he won, then we'd be talking. But alas - match points, and couldn't convert. He's not being dropped from the fold or anything, but he's certainly not up there with my favourites right now.

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Another player I touted as a Star of the Future was Jeremy Chardy, but I haven't seen him about at all for a few months. Is he injured? Playing Challengers? What's the story? French tennis, Clement and Llodra aside, put up a very poor account of itself at the Olympics. Gasquet whimpering under the bed somewhere, Tsonga injured - actually, is he going to be better soon? I thought I heard US Open as his likely return date. No medals, which for a country with that many great players is a bit of a shame.

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And where were the French women? I know Golovin was injured, but why wasn't Bartoli there? Mauresmo? Did Parmentier play? Women's tennis doesn't have quite the same level of depth for the French, but surely they could have fielded a few. I don't remember seeing any. That is thoroughly disappointing.

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A little bit like today's blog, I guess...!

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Today's Results

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Pilot Pen Tennis (New Haven)

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Men's Draw

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Igor Andreev def. Olivier Rochus, 6-3 6-4

Mischa Zverev def. Juan Monaco, 6-3 6-3

Marin Cilic def. Viktor Troicki, 2-1 retired

Andreas Seppi def. Potito Starace, 4-6 6-4 6-4

Marc Gicquel def. Albert Montanes, 7-5 6-3

Fabio Fognini def. Simone Bolelli, 6-2 5-7 6-4

Jurgen Melzer def. Arnaud Clement, 7-6 (7-1) 7-5

Robby Ginepri def. Agustin Calleri, 6-2 4-6 6-2

Steve Darcis def. Marcel Granollers, 6-2 6-2

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

Ivo Minar def. Eduardo Schwank, 7-5 6-3

Victor Hanescu def. Denis Gremelmayr, 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-3) 6-2

Jesse Levine def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-0 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Flavia Pennetta def. Gisela Dulko, 6-3 6-1

Amélie Mauresmo def. Kaia Kanepi, 6-2 6-7 (3-7) 6-2

Monica Niculescu def. Maria Kirilenko, 6-7 (7-9) 6-2 6-1

Marion Bartoli def. Tsvetana Pironkova, 2-6 6-4 7-5

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Forest Hills Tennis Classic (Forest Hills)

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Iveta Benesova def. Elena Vesnina, 6-1 6-7 (5-7) 7-5

Ekaterina Makarova def. Gail Brodsky, 7-5 6-2

Vera Dushevina def. Sofia Arvidsson, 6-2 6-2

Martina Müller def. Petra Cetkovska, 6-2 6-3

Reconciliation, Double Time

Now, forgive me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi hated each others' guts. But now they're suddenly playing doubles together in Indy. What's with that?

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Maybe India made them reconcile so they can play doubles at the Olympics. But that's naive - you can't just MAKE people reconcile... unless they haven't, and they're just doing this because they've been made to. I would love to know what's gone on behind the scenes there. Are there secret police in the mens' locker room, forcing them to shake hands and talk tennis strategy? Not that I'm suggesting India has secret police. Not that I'm suggesting they don't have them, either.

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Thing is, India has another really good doubles player in Rohan Bopanna. I've never seen him play men's doubles, but I saw him play mixed with Sania Mirza at the Hopman Cup this year, and they were pretty extraordinary. I don't know whether that was just with Sania or whether he's just a good doubles player, but I'm going with the latter. So if the Indian Sporting Federation (or whatever they're called) wants a doubles team for the Olympics, they could partner either Paes or Bhupathi with Bopanna - whichever they preferred. But I suppose that Bopanna probably has a better singles career at the moment than either Bhupathi or Paes, so I guess it wouldn't be fair to cut out either one...

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In which case, the Bhupathi/Paes reconciliation might actually be genuine. Maybe they're both trying to ensure that they get to play in the Olympics - which is a pretty decent motivation. (Cough Roddick cough Gasquet cough.) But surely, if they hated each other as much as I was under the impression that they did, they would be trying to backstab each other and stuff to ensure they got the one spot on offer. Who knows?

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You've got to feel sorry for Rohan Bopanna. No matter what's going on, it's got to be hard for him.

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You never really think of India as a powerhouse of tennis, but they have a few good players coming through now. In the women's game, you obviously have Sania Mirza, but Sunitha Rao is coming up, and she's not half bad. In the men, there are Bhupathi, Paes and Bopanna, and now Prakash Amritraj, who made the Newport final. So on the whole, they're not doing too bad.

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Although, when you consider that approximately one seventh of the earth's population comes from India, you would expect a much higher proportion of good players. I don't think there's any racial disposition that lends itself especially to tennis. So why are there so few Indian tennis players - and Chinese players? I mean, there are a few, but not as many as you would expect.

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The answer, I suppose, is to do with poverty and the lack of opportunity for people in these countries. And it makes you wonder - how much talent is there in the world that goes unrealised, how much potential untapped? Maybe somewhere in the slums of Varanasi or the suburbs of Shanghai, there is someone with talent that could rival Federer - but we will never know, because they have not had the opportunities. Imagine if Roger Federer had somehow never been introduced to the game of tennis. All that talent, all that potential gone to waste. What a tragedy that would have been - except no one would ever, ever know. Not even Roger.

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Kind of makes you question your own life, hey. What box are we not thinking outside of? Maybe you or I or anyone has an amazing talent that we just don't know about. Maybe I could have been, oh, I don't know, the world's best bridge player or aerial skiier, but I'll never know, because I've never tried either. The lesson is, I suppose, to try everything, because you never know what you might be good at.

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Wow. That was deep.

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Today's Results

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Austrian Open (Kitzbuhel)

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Potito Starace def. Daniel Koellerer, 6-4 6-3

Eduardo Schwank def. Daniel Brands, 6-1 6-4

Victor Hanescu def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-2 6-1

Brian Dabul def. Ivo Minar, 6-4 6-3

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Dutch Open Tennis (Amersfoort)

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Marc Gicquel def. Thiemo de Bakker, 7-6 (8-6) 6-3

Steve Darcis def. Alberto Martin, 6-1 7-6 (7-5)

Teimuraz Gabashvili def. Martin Vassallo Arguello, 6-4 6-0

Christophe Rochus def. Philipp Petzschner, 6-3 6-4

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Studena Croatia Open (Umag)

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Fernando Verdasco def. Mathieu Montcourt, 7-6 (7-5) 6-1

Carlos Moya def. Viktor Troicki, 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-5

Fabio Fognini def. Filippo Volandri, 6-4 6-4

Mischa Zverev def. Marcos Daniel, 6-4 6-2

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Indianapolis Tennis Championships (Indianapolis)

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Sam Querrey def. Go Soeda, 6-4 6-4

James Blake def. Dudi Sela, 7-6 (7-2) 6-2

Vince Spadea def. Donald Young, 6-2 6-4

Gilles Simon def. Benjamin Becker, 7-5 3-6 6-0

Dmitry Tursunov def. Wayne Odesnik, walkover

Tommy Haas def. John Isner, 6-3 6-4

Paul Capdeville def. Joseph Sirianni, 6-3 6-4

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Bank of the West Classic (Stanford)

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Anna Chakvetadze def. Shahar Peer, 6-3 6-4

Ai Sugiyama def. Daniela Hantuchova, 6-3 6-1

Dominika Cibulkova def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 6-2 6-3

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Gastein Ladies (Bad Gastein)

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Agnes Szavay def. Viktoriya Kutuzova, 6-4 6-2

Rossana de los Ríos def. Alizé Cornet, 2-6 6-2 3-2 retired

Caroline Wozniacki def. Hsieh Su-Wei, 6-1 6-1

Timea Bacsinszky def. Liana Ungur, 6-3 3-6 6-3

Karolina Sprem def. Vera Dushevina, 6-3 6-4

Mariya Koryttseva def. Tzipora Obziler, 6-2 6-1

Yvonne Meusburger def. Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro, 7-5 6-2

Lucie Hradecka def. Zhang Shuai, 6-3 6-0

Tereza Hladikova def. Nuria Llagostera Vives, 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 7-5

Anna-Lena Groenefeld def. Julia Vakulenko, 6-1 6-1

Patricia Mayr def. Martina Müller, 6-3 6-3

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And today in Stars of the Past, Stars of the Future: Eduardo Schwank.

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Eduardo Schwank won three Challengers on clay in a row coming into Roland Garros, where he defeated Carlos Moya and was the last Argentinean left standing. However, he is perhaps best known for accidentally starting a fire in a hotel in Paris, which saw other players (including the Ratiawana twins and Rik de Voest) fleeing for their lives, and sent Schwank's winnings from the Rome Challenger up in smoke. It was his own fault, one might argue, but one can't help feeling a bit sorry for him. For a player on the satellite circuit, those winnings can be lifeblood.

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But Schwank appears to have left the satellite circuits behind him. His third round finish at the French Open gave him automatic entry into Wimbledon, and although he lost in the first round, it looks like Eduardo Schwank is here to stay. He is seeded this week at the ATP tournament in Kitzbuhel - a far cry from the Challengers. He is back on clay, his favourite surface. He was the Challenger circuit's Rafael Nadal this season, and it will be interesting to see how he will perform on clay next year, when he won't be playing those satellites, one assumes. No, Schwank is playing with the big boys now - and one gets the feeling that he likes it.

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The real test for Schwank will be the upcoming US hard court season. He is virtually untested on hard courts in the main ATP draw, and his performance here could determine whether or not he falls back to playing those Challengers, or whether he continues his rise towards the upper echelons of tennis. Perhaps it will be a test of Eduardo's character rather than his game - getting to the ATP level is one thing. Staying there is quite another.

Ladies' Day

It's very rare that I say this, so listen carefully and note down the day, my friends: the women's tennis was more interesting than the men's today.

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You may have noticed that I follow the ATP much more closely than the WTA. Sure, I know what's going on in the WTA and who the number #1 is at any given week... which didn't used to be difficult, as it was Justine Henin, but with her gone, it might be a bit more difficult to keep track of! On the whole, though, I find the men's game much more compelling, though I couldn't put my finger on it and tell you why.

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Not with today's play, though. How about that Sharapova match? Did anyone else have flashbacks to her match against Camille Pin in the Australian Open in 2007? I certainly did. I'm not a Sharapova fan (actually, perhaps it would be more correct to say that I'm not a fan of her dad - overbearing tennis parents rub me up the wrong way!) I was cheering for Rodina, and it was very disappointing that she didn't manage to get up in the end. But it was a good match, a good contest.

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I don't think it'll do Sharapova any lasting harm. She was in the final that year when she beat Camille Pin 9-7 in the third at the Australian - although she did get pounded by Serena. If anything, it'll be a wakeup call. I think she took Rodina a bit too lightly, played a bit too arrogantly, and nearly paid the price. And can you imagine how wide open that top half of the draw would have been if she'd lost? That one would have been interesting.

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I think Sharapova unquestionably deserves to be #1 at the moment - now that JuJu's gone. Even though I don't like her as a person, I think she stands a good chance of winning the tournament. If she was knocked out, I don't know who I'd tip. Jankovic, maybe? She has a good clay game... when she can manage to stay uninjured.

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And huge congratulations to Casey Dellacqua. What a great win over Marion Bartoli! Granted, Bartoli is injured, and Dellacqua did have that rain delay to help her out, but let's face it: Bartoli is the ninth seed and is playing on home territory - on one of the major arenas, no less. For Dellacqua to come out and start another giant-killing spree outside Australia and on a surface that doesn't suit her is a real achievement. I'm not normally particularly partisan when it comes to tennis - anyone who knows me knows my feelings on Lleyton Hewitt! - but when it comes to Casey, I think I might become all nationalistic. I'm a fan.

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And finally, that Nadal/Bellucci match eventuated! It was hardly a surprise that Nadal won in straights - he is Rafa, after all, and this is Roland Garros! - but I like what I see from Bellucci. He's only young, and he's won four Challengers on clay this year. Now Guga is out of the picture, Brazilian tennis really doesn't have anyone... and I wouldn't be surprised to see Bellucci doing things in the next few years! And speaking of Challengers, Eduardo Schwank took out Marcel Granollers in the second round. He is definitely a player worth keeping an eye on.

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And, funnily enough, the match that followed Nadal/Bellucci on Chatrier, Monfils/Clement, had exactly the same scoreline. Go figure.

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I was very excited that my name got mentioned on Radio Roland Garros last night. It makes me feel like part of the greater tennis world! Roland Garros is the only Slam I really follow on radio - occasionally I'll tune into Radio Wimbledon, but Wimbledon is televised in Australia, so the only time I use it is when TV is showing a boring match (ie. Hewitt) when a more interesting one (ie. Federer) is going on. But, although radio has its limitations, I always enjoy Radio Roland Garros... especially the bits of tennis gossip that get thrown around occasionally. Who knew Igor Andreev and Maria Kirilenko were a longstanding item? Or that Nadal and Soderling don't like each other? (Though after that match at Wimbledon that went for, what, five days? I'm not surprised. Though I didn't know the grudge had lasted.) Or Nadal and Berdych? (Berdych got beaten last night. So much for his crushing of Smeets.)

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If only they published a gossip magazine for tennis... I might be one of the only readers. Although what with the Ashley Harkleroad Playboy shoot, and Nuria Llagostera Vives in some Spanish magazine... maybe the tennis profile is going to get amped up. Though I don't know if I want it to get amped up that way.

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Roland Garros Results - Day #4

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Men's Draw

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Rafael Nadal def. Thomaz Bellucci, 7-5 6-3 6-1

Gael Monfils def. Arnaud Clement, 7-5 6-3 6-1

Radek Stepanek def. Gilles Simon, 6-2 6-4 6-1

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Oscar Hernandez, 2-6 1-6 6-4 6-3 6-2

Marat Safin def. Jean-Rene Lisnard, 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-3 6-2

Lleyton Hewitt def. Nicolas Mahut, 6-4 6-2 6-4

Novak Djokovic def. Miguel Angel Lopez Jaen, 6-1 6-1 6-3

Marc Gicquel def. Viktor Troicki, 6-4 6-3 4-6 7-5

Michael Llodra def. Tomas Berdych, 6-3 4-6 5-7 6-3 6-4

Julien Benneteau def. Vince Spadea, 6-4 6-4 3-6 3-6 6-3

Fabrice Santoro def. Evgeny Korolev, 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 6-4

Andy Murray def. Jose Acasuso, 6-4 6-0 6-4

Diego Jungueira def. Adrian Mannarino, 6-1 6-2 6-2

Jarkko Nieminen def. Marc Lopez, 2-6 6-3 6-4 6-3

Martin Vassallo Arguello def. Feliciano Lopez, 7-6 (6-1) 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-3

Eduardo Schwank def. Marcel Granollers, 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-4 6-4

Marcos Daniel def. Juan Carlos Ferrero, 7-6 (7-5) 2-2 ret.

Wayne Odesnik def. Hyung-taik Lee, 6-2 4-6 6-3 6-2

David Ferrer def. Steve Darcis, 6-3 6-4 6-3

Bobby Reynolds def. Thierry Ascione, 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 6-3 6-3

David Marrero def. Victor Crivoi, 6-3 6-3 5-7 6-4

Luis Horna def. Scoville Jenkins, 6-4 5-7 6-3 6-0

Robby Ginepri def. Donald Young, 6-2 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2

Dmitry Tursunov def. Daniel Brands, 6-2 6-4 7-5

Jurgen Melzer def. Peter Luczak, 6-3 6-2 6-4

Juan Ignacio Chela def. John Isner, 2-6 3-6 7-5 6-3 6-4

Simone Bolelli def. Juan Martin Del Potro, 3-6 7-6 (7-0) 7-5 6-2

Victor Hanescu def. Dudi Sela, 4-6 6-2 4-6 6-4 6-3

Marin Cilic def. Robin Haase, 7-6 (8-6) 6-2 7-6 (7-4)

Jiri Vanek def. Jesse Huta Galung, 6-3 7-5 6-2

Nicolas Almagro def. Sebastian Decoud, 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 6-1

Alejandro Falla def. Ivo Karlovic, 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (8-6) 5-7 6-4

Albert Montanes def. Kristof Vliegen, 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-3)

Igor Andreev def. Potito Starace, 6-1 6-7 (3-7) 6-1 6-4

Mardy Fish def. Agustin Calleri, 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 6-2 6-4

Ivan Ljubicic def. Eric Prodon, 7-5 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-4)

Mikhail Youzhny def. Benjamin Becker, 6-1 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

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Women's Draw

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Maria Sharapova def. Evgeniya Rodina, 6-1 3-6 8-6

Casey Dellacqua def. Marion Bartoli, 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-2

Ana Ivanovic def. Lucie Safarova, 6-1 6-2

Elena Dementieva def. Vera Dushevina, 6-7 (6-8) 6-0 6-2

Nadia Petrova def. Aravane Rezai, 7-6 (7-4) 6-3

Stephanie Cohen-Aloro def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 7-6 (7-4) 6-3

Olga Govortsova def. Yuliana Fedak, 7-5 2-6 6-3

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, 6-3 6-2

Marina Erakovic def. Tathiana Garbin, 6-7 (9-11) 6-3 6-3

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Jelena Pandzic, 6-2 6-0

Maria Kirilenko def. Maria Elena Camerin, 6-1 6-0

Vania King def. Violette Huck, 4-6 6-2 6-1

Shuai Peng def. Anastasia Rodionova, 6-0 2-6 6-3

Anna Chakvetadze def. Nuria Llagostera Vives, 6-3 5-7 6-1

Flavia Pennetta def. Tatiana Perebiynis, 6-3 6-2

Caroline Wozniacki def. Anastasiya Yakimova, 6-0 6-4

Vera Zvonareva def. Stephanie Foretz, 6-2 6-1

Emilie Loit def. Klara Zakapalova, 6-4 6-3

Patty Schnyder def. Timea Bacsinszky, 6-4 4-6 6-1

Jie Zheng def. Mara Santangelo, 4-6 6-3 6-0

Akgul Amanmuradova def. Yanina Wickmayer, 6-2 7-5

Sanda Mamic def. Michaella Krajicek, 6-4 6-3

Marta Domachowska def. Rossana De Los Rios, 3-6 6-3 6-1

Victoria Azarenka def. Edina Gallovits, 6-1 6-3

Aleksandra Wozniak def. Sybille Bammer, 6-0 6-2

Sorana-Mihaela Cirstea def. Anne Kremer, 6-0 3-0 ret.

Bethanie Mattek def. Madison Brengle, 6-3 2-6 6-4

Alisa Kleybanova def. Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6-3 6-0

Petra Kvitova def. Akiko Morigami, 6-4 6-3

Kaia Kanepi def. Meng Yuan, 6-2 6-2

Katarina Srebotnik def. Virginia Ruano Pascual, 6-4 6-2

Magdalena Rybarikova def. Karolina Sprem, 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 8-6

Tsvetana Pironkova def. Yung-Jan Chan, 5-7 6-2 6-0

Francesca Schiavone def. Jill Craybas, 6-3 6-2

Samantha Stosur def. Shahar Peer, 6-2 3-6 6-1

The Kuerten Falls for Guga, or; the Tennis Pun So Bad It Cannot Be Denied

So much for my weekly roundup of tennis, huh? I guess that was being a little ambitious. After the Australian tennis summer, I'm always subconsciously convinced that the world will realise just how exciting tennis is and everyone will still be into it. But it never happens. Everyone forgets.

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Actually, on a sort of tangent, I realised how little people know about tennis at the Australian Open this year when I was watching Rafael Nadal practice with Carlos Moya. 'Who's that practicing with Nadal?' I heard someone ask. 'It must be his dad,' someone else replied. I cringed. What is the point, I asked myself, of coming to an event like the Open when you recognise two, maybe three of the players? I mean, if it was Jarkko Nieminen or Sam Querrey or Philipp Kohlschreiber or someone practicing and they didn't know who they were, I'd get that - none of them are that famous - but Carlos Moya? Come on. He won a Slam (albeit in 1998, but still), was ranked #1 in the world and is, as one of my friends might say, a stone cold fox.

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Speaking of Carlos, he lost at Roland Garros yesterday. I like him quite a lot, and I was very sad. This brings me back to the reason I've revived the ol' backseat tennis blog - we are, once again, in Grand Slam territory. Roland Garros, the French Open - which is, in many respects, the most interesting Slam of the year - has once again begun.

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And, as I was saying, unfortunately, Carlos Moya, who won this tournament ten years ago, lost in the first round to Eduardo Schwank... who is really an interesting character in and of himself. I'd never heard of him until there was that hotel fire in Paris (that he started, apparently) and his prize winnings from one of the Challengers he'd just won went up in smoke. I must admit, my first thought was that that was a bit dodgy, because who pays in cash? but I suppose Challenger tournaments might have different standards. So yeah, he's never won anything before - this is his first ever Grand Slam match, if you don't include the qualies he played - and suddenly he wins three Challengers in a row. (Cremona, Rome and Bordeaux apparently.) And now he's beating Carlos Moya, who is a great player and seeded at the tournament... maybe he's going to pull a Marcos/Jo-Wilfried. Actually, if Marcel Granollers-Pujol wins his first round match against Michael Berrer, they'll face each other, and that could be interesting - Granollers ain't no slouch on clay, as he showed at the Houston tournament. Schwank is in the Djokovic quarter of the second half of the draw, along with Canas, Blake and Baghdatis... it'll be interesting to see how far he can go.

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Actually, speaking of Challenger events, the whole Schwank story led me to looking at who has been winning the Challengers this year... I'd always assumed it was, like, this lower echelon of players that no one ever hears of, but a lot of them are top hundred - sometimes even top fifty. Ivan Ljubicic won a Challenger this year. Ivan Ljubicic, who used to be #3 in the world not that long ago, and who is seeded at Roland Garros. Seeded #27 or #28 or something, sure, but seeded. Who knew Challengers drew such good players? It makes me wonder what the Futures circuit is like. Are there people there that I've heard of as well? I had this image in my head of Challengers being people ranked down to about #500, and then Futures being #500-#1000ish (not that I ever thought it through). However, the standard is obviously a lot higher. I wonder how many of those top thirty, fifty players ever play a Challenger?

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The real story of the first Sunday of Roland Garros, however, was obviously the emotional retirement of Gustavo Kuerten. (There is a really nice article in this month's DEUCE magazine, which does him much more justice than I can do here.) It was hardly surprising - and really, logistically speaking, everyone knew he wasn't going to get better after his hip surgery, and he really did draw this out A LOT - but it was still very sad. I wasn't really into tennis during the Guga years, but I still remember his three Roland Garros victories... him drawing the heart on the court in 2001 (or was it 2000?) and that great takedown of Sergi Bruguera in 1997. His run to the final that year was very Baghdatis-esque, with one change - Federer took Baghdatis out, much as Djokovic took Tsonga out this year, but Guga took out Bruguera, and he did it EASY. He was one of those instant superstar players that we haven't seen for a while... not since Nadal, really, when he won Roland Garros in 2005. And even then, Rafa was still seeded #6 or something, and I think he'd just won 5 clay court titles in a row, so it wasn't like it was totally unexpected. Guga came pretty much from nowhere. Don't quote me on this, but I think he was the lowest ranked player to win a Slam since Edmondson in Australia in '76. So that's some achievement right there.

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And Guga was a good fun player as well. He was deceptively harmless looking... all thin and lanky, with that mop of funny hair, but if you gave him an inch, he'd wipe you off the court. And he was always so smiley. I like a good smiley tennis player. The more I think about it, Guga really is a prototype for Marcos Baghdatis - except that Guga made it to #1 and stayed there for a while, whereas Marcos made it to the final of the AO '06 and has been drifting round the top 20 ever since, but has hardly made huge waves. Not that anyone would ever expect the Baghdatises of the world to dethrone the Federers, but Guga's success is still proportionately much greater, I think.

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So, farewell, Guga. It is sad to see you go... even if it has been coming for a long time.

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Roland Garros Results - Day One

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Men's Draw

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Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Gustavo Kuerten, 6-3 6-4 6-2

Novak Djokovic def. Denis Gremelmayr, 4-6 6-3 7-5 6-2

David Nalbandian def. Carlos Berlocq, 6-2 6-4 6-1

Andy Murray def. Jonathan Eyserric, 6-2 1-6 4-6 6-0 6-2

James Blake def. Rainer Schuettler, 6-4 6-1 7-6 (7-3)

Nicolas Lapentti def. Janko Tipsarevic, 6-4 4-6 6-1 7-6 (9-7)

Juan Martin Del Potro def. Josselin Ouanna, 6-3 6-2 6-3

Eduardo Schwank def. Carlos Moya, 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 6-7 (1-7) 4-6 6-3

Sebastian Decoud def. Olivier Rochus, 3-6 6-4 6-3 6-7 (8-10) 6-1

Jose Acasuso def. Dominik Hrbaty, 6-4 6-2 6-4

Maximo Gonzalez def. Roko Karanusic, 6-3 7-5 4-6 3-6 6-2

Jeremy Chardy def. Frederico Gil, 6-3 6-2 7-6 (7-1)

Nicolas Almagro def. Boris Pashanski, 6-4 7-5 6-1

Ernests Gulbis def. Simon Greul, 6-4 6-0 6-4

Miguel Angel Lopez Jaen def. Frank Dancevic, 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 7-5 7-6 (7-2)

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Women's Draw

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Alize Cornet def. Julia Vakulenko, 7-5 6-4

Ana Ivanovic def. Sofia Arvidsson, 6-2 7-5

Serena Williams def. Ashley Harkleroad, 6-2 6-1

Klara Zakapalova def. Virginie Razzano, 4-6 6-3 6-2

Mathilde Johansson def. Camille Pin, 6-4 4-6 6-2

Iveta Benesova def. Nicole Vaidisova, 7-6 (7-2) 6-1

Nathalie Dechy def. Julie Ditty, 7-5 7-6 (7-3)

Caroline Wozniacki def. Yvonne Meusburger, 6-0 6-2

Dominika Cibulkova def. Angelique Kerber, 6-2 6-2

Lucie Safarova def. Sandra Kloesel, 6-1 6-1

Anastasiya Yakimova def. Hsieh Su-wei, 6-7 (4-7) 7-5 6-4

Selima Sfar def. Stephanie Dubois, 7-5 6-2

Galina Voskoboeva def. Youlia Fedossova, 6-0 6-7 (4-7) 6-1

Milagros Seguera def. Lilia Osterloh, 7-6 (7-5) 7-5

Ekaterina Makarova def. Catalina Castano, 7-5 6-1