Fast Five

I am back! I am sure you missed me. Please, who wouldn't miss me and all that insightful commentary I make? I mean, I LOVE ROGER'S HAIR and MAHUT IS AWESOME are key contributions to the world of tennis, n'est-ce pas?

Right. Let's ease back into things with a few quick stories:

1) Jarmila and Sam Groth are no more. Jarka and the GrothHawk have split up, which is a bit sad. She's back to being Ms Gajdosova now. His hair is presumably still silly. This event is probably most notable, tennis-wise, for her Twitter tirade about how she didn't marry Sam just for citizenship. Personally, I think the fact that people raised that question at all is insulting and ludicrous. Jarka does not need to be married to a man with stupid hair to play for Australia. Glad to have you, Jarka.

2) Fernando Gonzalez is back in town. I had almost forgotten about the existence of Gonzo, but I bet there were people that hadn't, like, oh, the entire nation of Chile. He chose to come back at the Djokovic - I mean, Serbian Open in Belgrade, where he beat Martin Klizan but lost to Feliciano Lopez. Winning your first match back - even if it is against someone I have personally never heard of - is no mean feat, so well done, Gonzo. Keep it up.

3) Someone who does not get a well done ribbon this week is John Isner. Ouch. That is going to hurt, rankings wise.

4) Welcome back Tommy Haas! He played doubles in Munich, his first match back in about 709838 years. He partnered Stepanek and they lost in a match tiebreaker, but it is so good to see Herr Hotness back on the court.

5) Grigor Dimitrov seems to have had something resembling a 'breakthrough', though I would not go counting chickens, you hear me. He beat Marcos Baghdatis, and the way people are talking about it, you'd think he beat Rafa in straight sets in the final of Roland Garros. Of course it's cause to be optimistic, but slow your roll, people, honestly. He's not exactly Milos Raonic yet.

However Many Ice Baths...

So we're finally all caught up on second round matches, and it's third round all the way. What is going to be interesting is how this disruption in play affects people. I definitely think it could come into play in the WTA. The ATP... I think it will be more pronounced, purely because it will affect some people and not others. I don't think Rafa, for example, will be bothered at all - if he can come through that match with Verdasco at the AO last year and still win the final, then he'll be OK. Your Andy Murrays, however...? As many ice baths as he takes, I think it's going to be a dicey thing. Opinions?

But without further ado...

The winners: Roger Federer. He had the funhouse open for business against Julian Reister. That second set, which took eighteen minutes... can anyone remember a quicker set? I can't.

Rafa Nadal also. Obviously.

Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr. Not just because he beat last year's semi finalist Fernando Gonzalez, but because he has one of the best names ever, no exception.

And over in the ladies, you have to go with Serena, who pulverised Julia Goerges. MariKiri, as well, who beat last year's champion Sveta. But I think my fave might beat Chanelle Scheepers, who beat Akgul Amanmuradova. She's into the third round and she has an awesome surname. What more do I need?

The losers: Sveta. Big time. I won't pretend I didn't expect her to lose early on (actually, first round, which is why she's not in the disappointments column) but it's always sad when a defending champ goes out early. I know she hasn't been in form, but I freaking love Sveta when she plays awesome, and I was sort of hoping that she had played herself back into form against Petkovic. But no such luck. And there's a reason MariKiri is in the winners column. I think she just beat Dulko for Upset Queen of the Year.

And it may be a little unfair, but for lack of someone else, I have to mention Fernando Gonzalez. I know he hasn't played in, like, forever, but who is Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr? (Apart from someone with an awesome name?) He can do better.

The disappointments: I'm not going to go with actual losers here, because there were precious few major upsets yesterday (maybe due to rain), but I have to go with people who went the distance unnecessarily. Yanina Wickmayer, for one - I thought she should be able to put away Sybille Bammer relatively easily, but it was not the case. I have big hopes for Yanina, so hopefully she will do better in future.

And I did not think I would be mentioning his name here, but Robin Soderling. He set himself an impossibly high bar in his first two matches by absolutely annihilating his opponents, so I'm raising my eyebrows at the lack of annihilation. Four sets, Yoker? Really? (Yeah, I know, it's not major. But I'm struggling here.)

The scraped-in-by-skin-of-teeth: So maybe it wasn't really skin of teeth, but I want to talk about it, so I will. I never expected Sam Stosur to have so much first set trouble with Rossana de los Rios. She cleaned her up good in the final two sets, but I was scared there for a bit. Well done, Sam, but don't scare me like that again, please. You are my special favourite, after all.

One to watch: Julian Reister. I don't think he's going to be anything epic, but he played some great forehands against the Federmeister, and I think he really might be a bit of something on the Challenger circuit. There, he could really make some waves.

Can You Hear The Drums, Fernandos?

I don't know if you ever see the division of dirtballers from other tennis players any place more than right now, in the gap between the Australian Open and Indian Wells. The next Slam may be the French, but the real focus is very much still on the hard courts right now in the lead up to the massive Indian Wells/Miami double header...

...unless you're playing on the South and Central American swing, where it's all dirtball, all the way.

This little claycourt season isn't anywhere near as superfluous as the one after Wimbledon, which serves absolutely no purpose. But still, I'm not sure why there's so much clay play when Roland Garros is this far off. Actually, to be more specific, I'm not sure why there's so much clay play when there's a grand total of four weeks of grass play in the year. Why does clay get six months odd and why does grass get so little?

Anyway. What I was trying to say is that a lot of the guys playing on clay this week - dudes like Fernando Verdasco and Fernando Gonzalez and all those others (I'm just going to call them the Fernandos) who really should be training for Indian Wells and Miami are playing in Acapulco, and they really shouldn't be.

I mean, it's February. It's a little early to be training for Roland Garros, and I can see no other reason for these guys to be playing on clay. For the real dedicated dirtballers, who really don't have any other way, I guess I get it, but players like the Fernandos have decent chances in the hard court double header and should be playing like it. I'm not sure I understand the rationale behind their decisions to play this tournament.

Godzilla Is A Forehand

Oh, Dinara. Whenever I think you're getting back to something halfway decent, you go and get injured. It's great for MariKiri to get through to the quarters and all, but it's sad that Safina's finals defence had to end with her limping off the court.

Take care of her, Zeljko.

Match of the day yesterday surely has to go to Roddick and Gonzalez, though Henin and Wickmayer come in a close second. Let's talk Belgians, before I get off the subject of women's tennis altogether. I'm very glad Henin won this match, but Wickmayer is swiftly rising up the ranks of the players I like. She's got serious game, but I think her biggest asset is her intensity. She may have dropped off a touch in the third set, but that was coupled with a lift from Henin so obvious it must have been very discouraging indeed. She's made the US semis and now a fourth round here. I wouldn't be surprised to see her go even deeper at Roland Garros. I think her aggressive game would suit clay very well.

The queen of Roland Garros, Justine, was incredibly impressive. I don't know what's in the water in Belgium, but how do they produce these incredible comebacks from women that have been out of the game for such substantial periods of time? JuJu surely has to be one of the favourites to take the title now - but to get the final eight in itself is absolutely massive!

...though I'm sure she'll be measuring herself against the Clijsters yardstick, which is very demanding.

Also through to the quarters is Petrova, who is looking very, very dangerous - she'll face Henin next in a rematch of their Brisbane first round encounter. Petrova will be wanting to turn it around and she'll have the advantage of having played Henin recently, so I think that match is going to be a blockbuster to watch! The other quarter will be MariKiri vs Zheng Jie... so no matter what happens there, we're getting an unseeded surprise semi finalist!

Over to the boys, and we've set up a blockbuster quarter final with Nadal and Murray - though Roddick and Cilic has the potential to be epic as well. I forgot about del Potro/Cilic when I dubbed Roddick/Gonzalez match of the day before, because Delpo/MMC could definitely claim that title. Both these matches went to five sets and both totally could have gone either way - I was convinced that Gonzalez was going to beat Roddick in four, because he was completely zoning throughout the second, third, and most of the fourth sets. But then Roddick lifted his game right where it mattered, deep in the fourth, and after a handful of set points, managed to clinch it. Gonzo was never the same afterwards - he folded pretty badly in the fifth.

It was an interesting match, watching Larry Stefanki's two most recent prodigies going at each other. Roddick's serve frustrating Gonzo, but not as much as Gonzo's forehand bothered A-Rod. Seriously, that thing is Godzilla. It's terrifying. It could destroy Tokyo with one well placed swipe. And it really is the reason that Gonzo's been around so long, because pre-Stefanki, it was really all he had. Stefanki has certainly developed him into a more complete player - he's five times the player he was before - but the destructive power of the forehand... whoa.

But it's to be seen no more this tournament, with Roddick the victor. I actually think he has a real shot at making the final, even though his draw appears sort of nightmarish - at least he doesn't have to make it through JMDP now. Though, to tell the truth, JMDP, injured as he is, might have been an easier task than Marin Cilic, for whom this quarter final has definitely come at the right time in his career. He's shown a real maturity in his game this tournament, wearing down both Bernard 'whinger' Tomic and JMDP in five, and it'll be interesting to see how he plays Roddick now.

Whichever of these dudes win, I reckon they have a shot against the winner of Nadal/Murray. Nadal, by his own admission, is not feeling especially confident, and if Roddick or Cilic zone, I think they are very capable of wearing down Murray, especially if Rafa's been running him around the court for hours. But whatever happens, Rafa/Muzz should be an epic match - and I think it's the last time we'll see them play in the quarters for a loooooooooooong time...

The Tennis Mind

It's interesting the matches that people remember. I was having a conversation about tennis with someone I'd only just met last night - something I find fascinating, because people experience and remember the game so differently it's interesting to see what sticks in their minds.

It's not surprising that the Australian Open dominates the collective mind - we are, after all, in Australia, and this is what we are exposed to. But even so, there are a lot of matches under that umbrella, and I was very interested to note that what this guy remembered best was Fernando Gonzalez - specifically, the match where he beat Nadal by powering him off the court with his draconic forehand.

A-ha, think I, so it is shots you remember! But no... the next match we started talking about was Johansson vs Safin in the final of '02. Then we discussed the minutiae of Gael Monfils' game.

I don't actually have a point to this, to tell the truth. I just find it interesting who and what dominates the tennis minds of other people. For me, it's always been Federer with a healthy dose of Safin on the side, a Nadal jus and, more recently, a Gulbis glaze, but that's certainly not everyone's experience. Defining matches - even if we just stick to Australia - for me include matches like the '06 final, where Federer beat Baghdatis, or the semi in '07, where he pulverised Roddick.

So... what dominates your tennis mind?

Awesome Times Two

He did it! Oh frabjous day, calloo, callay, etc etc! Joy and celebration and a ticker tape parade!

Ernests Gulbis won two matches in a row.

It was pretty much the crappest way to win ever - on a retirement - but still, I am refusing to be downhearted. He played very well to beat Juan Monaco - even an injured Juan Monaco - and backed up his upset of Stepanek nicely. I am very, very happy.

This was after coming up through qualies, and I'm inclined to think playing the qualies was a good thing for him. It meant he had to string a couple of wins together before the tournament even started, which, sure, weren't over the bestest players EVAH, but it gave him a bit of momentum. This is obviously not something he's going to be able to rely on forever, but for now, I think it served him well. And now he's finally in reasonably deep at a tournament! Hurrah!

You know what would reeeeeeeeeeeally make my day, Ernie? If you won the next round as well. Prove it's not a fluke and you're making a late charge. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?!

And in other news, Marat Safin is totally in the third round in Beijing after opening a can of whoop-ass on seventh seed Fernando Gonzalez. I know his heart isn't in the game any more, ra ra ra, but I would dearly love to see him do well in these last few tournaments of his. End it with a bang, Marat. Do it for me.


Today's Results

China Open (Beijing)

Men's Draw

Rafael Nadal def. James Blake, 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 6-3
Robin Soderling def. Tommy Robredo, 6-3 6-3
Marat Safin def. Fernando Gonzalez, 6-3 6-4
Ivan Ljubicic def. Lukasz Kubot, 7-6 (8-6) 4-6 6-4


Women's Draw

Nadia Petrova def. Serena Williams, 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-5)
Vera Zvonareva def. Flavia Pennetta, 6-3 5-7 7-5
Agnieszka Radwanska def. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, 4-6 6-4 6-2
Marion Bartoli def. Zhang Shuai, 6-1 6-4


Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships (Tokyo)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Richard Gasquet, 4-6 6-2 6-2
Mikhail Youzhny def. Gilles Simon, 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (5-7) 6-4
Tomas Berdych def. Andreas Beck, 6-4 6-1
Lleyton Hewitt def. Fabrice Santoro, 3-6 6-3 6-1
Edouard Roger-Vasselin def. Jurgen Melzer, 4-6 6-2 6-3
Ernests Gulbis def. Juan Monaco, 6-3 4-1 retired

A Question Of Consistency

I'd just, for a moment, like to compare the tournament in Kuala Lumpur currently to the one in Tokyo. Look at the semi finalists. In Kuala Lumpur, we have the top four seeds into the semis, wham bam thankyou ma'am - Davydenko, Verdasco, Soderling and Gonzalez. And the top six made it to the quarters, the only 'wild' cards being Youzhny and Gasquet, and, let's face it, they're much higher quality than their rankings would have you believe.

Tokyo has redeemed itself a bit - Jankovic vs Sharapova is a very respectable final - but you've got to think that the tournament organisers are breathing a sigh of relief after the total mess they had earlier in the week. And still, even though it's Jankovic/Sharapova, that's the #7 seed against someone unseeded. That's certainly not top four in the semis.

Not that there's anything wrong with some upsets and unpredictability. But the way the WTA is playing at the moment, the top girls can't win a match. They're almost underdogs when they go into a match - sometimes it feels like the real leaders of the tour are the ones in the #20-#50 range: ie. the ones doing the upsetting. Being in the top ten is almost a curse at the moment, it seems.

The point I am trying to make, I guess, is the hugely different consistency level across the two tours. In the men, the top four in the semis is pretty standard. Sure, it may be a little predictable sometimes, but people are showing they earn their spots. The WTA... the ranking system seems like a bit of a Russian roulette. And I don't know how long this can keep up before we see a complete change of the guard in the top ten.


Today's Results

PTT Pattaya Open (Bangkok)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Marco Chiudinelli, 6-7 (7-9) 6-3 6-4
Gilles Simon def. Evgeny Korolev, 4-6 6-3 6-4
Jurgen Melzer def. Andreas Beck, 6-4 6-2
Viktor Troicki def. John Isner, 7-6 (7-3) 6-2


Proton Malaysian Open (Kuala Lumpur)

Nikolay Davydenko def. Gael Monfils, 6-3 6-3
Fernando Verdasco def. Richard Gasquet, 7-5 6-4
Robin Soderling def. Tomas Berdych, 6-2 6-2
Fernando Gonzalez def. Mikhail Youzhny, 6-3 6-4


Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo)

Jelena Jankovic def. Li Na, 6-4 6-3
Maria Sharapova def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-3 2-6 6-4

Monsters

There is no question about it. Juan Martin del Potro is a monster.

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He's approximately twelve feet tall, has a screaming forehand and a two handed backhand that can only be described as monstrous. He can dominate from the baseline and while he isn't exactly a dab hand at netplay, he moves well up and down. Even his hair is monstrous, and he seems to have turned up at this year's tournament dressed as a jaundiced zebra. Which is scary. The man is a monster.

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Robin Soderling? Monster. Not only is he the player pretty much unanimously voted as 'player most other players wish to stuff in locker', he has the ugliest goddamn forehand in the history of tennis - effective, but dudes, that thing is fugly. And if anyone can knock out Rafa Nadal on clay, they've been dabbling in something inhuman.

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And Fernando Gonzalez. Lovely guy, but with a shade of the monster about him. That forehand is a monster of a thing. You don't say that he 'hits' forehands. He crushes them, destroys them, murders them and burns down a few villages on his way through. You see him on the other side of a net, and even when his forehand is missing, you don't want to get in the way. Yep, monster.

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And then today we had two pretty monstrous matches. The first one - Nadal-slayer vs. one-time-Slam-finalist - was dubbed the battle of the forehand versus the ugly forehand (can't remember who wrote that, but kudos to whomever did: best description ever). And that match was a war of mythological monsters - Gonzalez the dragon, breathing fire with his draconic fiery forehand, smoking them here and there across the court, and with a serve that could kill a small elephant; playing against Soderling the swamp monster, who plays hideous tennis, but which seems to have become suddenly effective. And, in five tough, tortuous sets, the swamp monster came out on top, even though the dragon seemed to have it all down pat at 4-1 in the fifth.

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Actually, maybe Soderling isn't a swamp monster. Maybe he's more like the creature from Alien that bursts out of people's stomachs. He certainly burst out of the collective stomach of the ATP like some parasitic horror this tournament, and longtime Roland Garros heroes Ferrer, Davydenko and Gonzalez have fallen to him, not to mention the indisputed King of Clay Rafa Nadal (who may be injured, as he has pulled out of Queen's and I just found an article saying he might be in doubt for Wimbledon, but still). You have to be some kind of mean green mother from outer space to wreak the kind of havoc he has. This isn't like when Baghdatis made his run to the AO final in '06. This is some kind of otherworldly horror.

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What one needs to defeat such a monster is obviously an Ellen Ripley, and the man who will be stepping up to the plate is Roger Federer. If Soderling is the alien and Gonzalez is a dragon, Federer's opponent del Potro is some kind of ogre, or possibly an abominable snowman. That dude is scary. His play in the first and third sets was lethal, and if Federer hadn't totally owned that second set breaker, I shudder to think what might have happened. Del Potro is deceptively fast for a big man, and he dug out a lot of balls I never would have expected him to get back. This wasn't the guy who got eaten for breakfast in the quarters in Australia. That was a baby ogre, just stumbling into the light. This ogre's all grown up now, and he's ready for some pain.

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I have no doubt in my mind that if Juan Martin del Potro plays like he did in the early part of the match today, he's going to win a Grand Slam. His game on clay is exceptional and we all know he can move on the hard stuff as well - though it will be interesting to see how he goes on grass. I would give him a huge chance of going deep in the US Open - because if the ogre's all grown up now and he continues to improve at this rate, he's going to be a big daddy ogre in no time. Novak Djokovic better watch himself at #4 - JMDP is a-coming!

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But the thing about monsters, in the end, is that, by nature, they are vulnerable to one thing - heroes. And that's what Roger Federer was today, and what he has been to the tennis community for many, many years now. I don't ever recall a tennis tournament when Roger has had to fight so hard. Four sets against Acasuso. Four against Mathieu. Five against Haas, a tight three against Monfils, and now an absolute five set EPIC against del Potro. In nearly all those matches, there has been a moment when it looks like the misrule that has struck down Nadal, Murray and Djokovic will get him too - that this dream is not to be for him. Often that moment has gone on for quite a long time... several sets, in fact.

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But a hero, when all seems lost, fights back.

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And that is what we have seen Roger Federer do this week. This tournament, which might be his most testing to date, has taken the measure of the man and has not found him wanting. The world wants him to do this. He is the white knight riding into this Roland Garros final, and he is wearing the favours of just about every tennis fan in the world on his sleeve. To quote a favourite kids' movie of mine, Labyrinth: 'Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, he has fought his way here to the castle beyond the goblin city.' He has struggled, for it has not been easy. And why should it be easy? This is the pinnacle of our sport, and he is going for history. But he has succeeded where others have failed. He has slain the monsters.

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And now just one monster stands between Roger Federer and the Coupe de Mousquetaires: Robin Soderling, the parasitic alien swamp monster who has lured so many into his pit of despair under the guidance of Magnus Norman. If he could win this, I think it might well be one of the weirdest, most unexpected results in the history of tennis - and I shudder to think about the psychic that won the bracket challenge if that happened.

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But watch out, Robin. There are some things that are scarier than monsters, that make monsters want to hide under the bed. And one of those things is Roger Federer.

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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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Roger Federer def. Juan Martin del Potro, 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 6-1 6-4

Robin Soderling def. Fernando Gonzalez, 6-3 7-5 5-7 4-6 6-4

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

Dinara! The Musical

No real surprises in Rome today - the surprise party is over. We have the three usual suspects through - Nadal, Federer and Djokovic all came through in straights again - and filling the spot left vacant by Murray is Fernando Gonzalez, who is pretty good at dirtballin', so not really surprising either. They're going to be good semis, I think - you'd bet on Rafa to come through for sure, but the other one is up in the air... but yeah. I hope it's Roger. I know it can be Roger. I think it'd be great to have a Roger/Rafa final before Roland Garros.

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That's pretty much all that can be said for Rome today... over to the girls. I said it yesterday and I'll say it again. Being #1 in the world really suits Dinara Safina. She pulverised Agnieszka Radwanska in Stuttgart today, and the war machine just looks like it'll keep on rolling. Please, please let this moment where she snaps out of her funk. That final in Australia really hurt her, I think - she played pretty well to get to that point. But we're around the same time last year that Dinara really burst onto the stage - it was so dramatic that you could probably write a musical about it: 'Dinara! The Musical!' (with supporting role of Marat Safin)... actually, that would be a fun idea. Am tempting myself now.

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Going back to Dinara's opponent, where has Agnieszka Radwanska been this year? Last year she was being touted as a future top-fiver and she made a couple of Slam quarter finals and generally showed promise - she was last year's Azarenka. But this year? She's another member of the Club of Lost Souls, with James Blake, Tomas Berdych, Lucie Safarova and Alize Cornet. I can't remember a single thing she's done this year. I mean, I suppose quarters in Stuttgart aren't bad, but she is capable of doing so much better.

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Speaking of people capable of more than the quarter finals in Stuttgart - Jelena Jankovic belongs to that club. I'm prepared to forgive this one, because she has showed some positive signs lately and Flavia Pennetta, to whom she lost, is wily and wise, especially on clay, but if this trend continues... she really should be looking at claiming her first Slam soon. And though there's been some improvement of late, I don't know if we're quite there yet.

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Today's Results

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Internazionali BNL d'Italia (Rome)

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Rafael Nadal def. Fernando Verdasco, 6-3 6-3

Roger Federer def. Mischa Zverev, 7-6 (7-3) 6-2

Novak Djokovic def. Juan Martin Del Potro, 6-3 6-4

Fernando Gonzalez def. Juan Monaco, 2-6 6-3 6-4

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Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart)

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Dinara Safina def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-4 6-2

Elena Dementieva def. Marion Bartoli, 6-2 4-6 6-3

Flavia Pennetta def. Jelena Jankovic, 2-6 6-4 6-4

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Gisela Dulko, 6-3 6-2

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Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem (Fes)

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Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Melinda Czink, 6-0 retired

Ekaterina Makarova def. Alisa Kleybanova, 6-2 6-1

Toastmaster

Nothing too especially exciting went down in Barcelona overnight - in addition to Rafa, who made his way to the semis courtesy of a David Nalbandian walkover (which was a shame: that would have been an interesting rematch, considering Rafa never looks more vulnerable than when he plays Dave - if he can ever be said to look vulnerable at all!) we have David Ferrer, the resurgent Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Gonzalez who, perhaps surprisingly, took out #2 seed Nando Verdasco.

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Now, I was hoping Nando would go all the way (to the final - I wouldn't be foolish enough to pull against the Rafinator!) so I was a little disappointed, but I think this will be an interesting lineup nonetheless. I confess, however, that I was surprised that Nando was the one of the top four seeds that got upset - I would have thought it much more likely that either Ferrer or Davydenko would be taken down. Ferru was playing Tommy Robredo, who has been playing pretty decently (though he seems to have petered off a bit of late, which is a little disappointing... still, I'm sticking with him as a potential Roland Garros semi-finalist). And Davydenko is just back on the horse, playing against the wily wily Worm, Radek Stepanek.

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Let's talk Kolya for a minute. He's only just back, and he's been playing pretty shiny good tennis for a guy who has had no match play over the past, what, three, four months? He has the personality of a piece of toast, so people pretty much forgot that he was gone, but now he's back... God, it's nice to have him. The bottom half of the top ten - that pack below the leading posse of Rafa, Roger, Novak and Andy - has been so volatile and explosive that it's nice to have a relatively calm influence in there. Kolya was the best of the rest for so long - he was solid in that position. And it was kind of nice to have someone solid and consistent in there - who proved that you could be excellent by dint of hard work, sans flair.

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Not that I don't like flair. I love flair. I'm all about flair. But you have to admire the sheer consistency of players like Kolya. He was out of the game for months, hardly anyone noticed and he still managed to stay in the top ten. That says something about his level of results.

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He'll face Rafa in the next round, so it's going to be bye bye Kolya in the semis this time. But I'd like to see him back on the horse, in the fullness of time, winning the odd tournament here and there. He deserves it.

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Today's Results

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Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell (Barcelona)
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Fernando Gonzalez def. Fernando Verdasco, 6-3 4-6 6-4

Nikolay Davydenko def. Radek Stepanek, 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 6-2

David Ferrer def. Tommy Robredo, 6-3 6-4

Roddinki

So Andy Roddick has picked his new coach - Larry Stefanki. I can't say I know a whole lot about Stefanki, except that he was responsible for that remarkable transformation in Fernando Gonzalez last year when Gonzo made it to the final of the Aussie Open and into the elite eight of the Masters Cup... but then the partnership seemed to go a bit stale. Or maybe that split or something. I'm not really up on the minutiae of Gonzo's career. But wouldn't it be interesting if Stefanki could have a similar effect on Roddick, however short-term?

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There are two matches that stand out for me from Fernando Gonzalez, both in the '07 Australian Open - and I think we can safely say that if he had not been playing Roger Federer in the final (Roger Federer in insane form - remember that semi-final demolition of Roddick?) he would have won that tournament, 400%. He absolutely destroyed Tommy Haas in the semi-finals - and sure, Tommy Haas isn't exactly a world-beater, but this was coming on the back of a straight sets thrashing of Rafa Nadal in the quarters. Whatever Stefanki did to Fernando, it worked big time, and it can be seen nowhere more clearly than in that tournament. His serve became consistent, those huge, massive groundies went in more often than not, and overall, his game just tightened up a notch.

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Thing is, I'm not necessarily sure that's what Andy Roddick needs. He's got a great serve, and while he may not be the most consistent player in the world, he's no Marat Safin. His groundies are fine - to my eye, anyway. What he really needs is a real grass-court coach - specifically, someone that can teach him how to volley. Because the Andy Roddick volley at the moment... well, I use 'volley' in the loosest possible sense of the word. And the sad thing is, it's come on light years from where it once was, and it's still only a 'volley.'

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Now, like I said, I'm no authority on Stefanki. Maybe he can teach Roddick this - looking him up, I see he's coached Tim Henman, and no one would ever doubt the Henman volley. So Roddinki will be an interesting partnership - I'll certainly be watching closely to see how it all turns out.

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Now if only Federer would hurry up and pick his new coach...

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Oh, and Davis Cup! How could I forget to write about that? (Actually, I know exactly how I could forget... I was so excited about the Nadal/Nalbandian clash, only to be thwarted AGAIN!) We're at 1-all, and I think it is going to be veeery interesting... massive kudos to Feliciano Lopez for beating Juan Martin del Potro! If Spain pulls this tie out of the bag, I think Fidgiano just might be the hero - he was an odd choice for that singles rubber, but oh! did he pay off!

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Today's Results

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Davis Cup (Mar del Plata)

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Argentina 1, Spain 1

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David Nalbandian def. David Ferrer, 6-3 6-2 6-3

Feliciano Lopez def. Juan Martin del Potro, 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-4) 6-3

Lose the Spanner, Ana

Remember when Ana Ivanovic used to win matches? I certainly can't remember the last time she did. When was the last time she won a match? Honestly, it isn't even an upset any more when she loses matches. Dominika Cibulkova is a good player, sure, but she's not in Ivanovic's league - at least, not in the league of the old Ivanovic, who was winning things and making it to the final of the Australian and winning the French. So whither Ana? I thought not being #1 would take the pressure off, but this clearly hasn't been the case. I mean, the old Ana would never have lost to Dominika Cibulkova, let alone Julie Coin and the ilk.

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So what is the spanner in the works? What is wrong? I hope to God it's an injury, because if it's all in her head, she is officially the biggest basket case EVER. It must be so upsetting to see Jelena Jankovic winning things all over the place while Ana can't even win a single match. She needs to take time off, even if it means missing Doha and the Australian and hell, all of next season. She needs to get better - to either rehabilitate whatever injury she has, or to move in with her sports psychologist and rehabiliate her mind. She needs to lose the spanner.

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Meanwhile, how 'bout my Stars? Ernests Gulbis lost to Fernando Gonzalez, but he had five match points - I wish he had hung on, but the game is clearly there. Thomaz Bellucci lost a tight three-setter with Jarkko Nieminen, but today's best performer was Jeremy Chardy, who upset Igor Andreev. Allez Jeremy!

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And nice work to my Russian girls, Dinara and Nadia, who both had great wins in Moscow. Davai!

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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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Fabrice Santoro def. Denis Istomin, 6-2 6-4

Jeremy Chardy def. Igor Andreev, 3-6 7-5 6-4

Teimuraz Gabashvili def. Mikhail Youzhny, 7-5 4-6 7-6 (7-1)

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Sergiy Stakhovsky, 6-3 6-2

Mischa Zverev def. Denis Gremelmayr, 6-3 7-6 (9-7)

Igor Kunitsyn def. Mikhail Kukushkin, 6-1 4-6 6-1

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Women's Draw

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Dinara Safina def. Amélie Mauresmo, 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 6-4

Elena Dementieva def. Katarina Srebotnik, 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-2)

Dominika Cibulkova def. Ana Ivanovic, 3-6 6-2 7-6 (7-4)

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Sara Errani, 7-6 (7-0) 6-1

Caroline Wozniacki def. Anna Chakvetadze, 2-6 6-1 6-4

Nadia Petrova def. Anna Lapushchenkova, 6-2 6-1

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If Stockholm Open (Stockholm)

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Rainer Schuettler def. Nicolas Lapentti, 7-6 (8-6) 6-3

Oscar Hernandez def. Jose Acasuso, 2-6 6-3 6-4

Jarkko Nieminen def. Thomaz Bellucci, 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 7-5

Robin Soderling def. Benjamin Becker, 7-5 6-3

Albert Montanes def. Thomas Johansson, 6-3 4-6 6-3

George Bastl def. Frederik Nielsen, 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 7-6 (7-4)

Arnaud Clement def. Bjorn Rehnquist, 6-2 6-1

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Bank Austria Tennis Trophy (Vienna)

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Fernando Gonzalez def. Ernests Gulbis, 4-6 7-6 (13-11) 6-1

Fernando Verdasco def. Guillermo Canas, 6-1 6-2

Philipp Petzschner def. Jan Hernych, 6-3 6-4

Carlos Moya def. Eduardo Schwank, 6-2 6-3

Juan Martin Del Potro def. Martin Fischer, 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-5)

Gael Monfils def. Alexander Peya, 3-6 6-1 6-3

Nothing To Sneeze At

3-2 is definitely nothing to be ashamed of. Well done, Australians. You did good. Your achievement ain't nothing to sneeze at.

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To be fair, there was never a situation where it was 2-2 - Gonzalez beat Guccione and then the last rubber was a dead one, but the team performed much better than I thought they would, and Carsten Ball totally won that last rubber. Good on him. Meanwhile, so much for all that competition for the last spot in the team - Robert Smeets never saw any court time. But we did much better than could be expected. Next year, perhaps, we can make it back into the world group. We certainly dominated the Asia-Oceania division this year - poor Thailand. It's only a matter of time. And you just wait till Bernard Tomic grows up. You just wait.

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My Spain/Argentina final is coming to pass, and I am quite excited about it. Finally, I might have the opportunity to find out what happens when you put Rafael Nadal and David Nalbandian on the court together! You've got to like Spain to win the tie, but when you have GoodDave and the scorching hot del Potro on your team, ain't nobody will gainsay you. It's going to be reeeeeeeally interesting.

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Nalbandian lost his first Davis Cup match of the year, going down to Davydenko. I actually thought he would pull that one out, so I was a bit surprised. What is going on with Headbandian at the moment? He has been playing well below his level all year. He must be nearly out of the running for the Tennis Masters Cup. Del Potro has a better shot than him right now. Silly LameDave.

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And how 'bout that Rafa Nadal? Your decision to skip the Olympics really helped you there, Andy Roddick. This guy won them, and the French, and Wimbledon, and about forty-seven other titles in between, and still had enough energy to kick your arse. Rafa really is... well, he's just good, isn't he? I always forget just how good he is until I watch him. He's got some game. You know, just a bit. Enough to get him to #1 in the world while the best player in the history of the game is still about.

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And then Fidgiano beat Sam Querrey, just to put the nail in the coffin. Alas, poor USA. They never really had a chance. Much like Australia.

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But someone who did have a big chance, and then made good on it, was Dinara Safina, who put an absolute beatdown on Svetlana Kuznetsova. That's three Tier I titles this year. How good is this girl? I am gunning for her bigtime in the Australian Open next year. I was at her first round match this year, where she played awfully and lost to Sabine Lisicki. That player is not the same player as the one we're seeing now. It's only a matter of time before Dinara wins a Grand Slam - and I think Australia might be a great time for it. I would love her to win in Doha this year, and who would bet against her? Who could stop her? Serena, maybe, but I can't see Ivanovic or Jankovic or Dementieva being able to do too much in the face of the Safina freight train. Davai Dinara!

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Today's Results

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Davis Cup Semi Finals

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Argentina 3, Russia 2

Nikolay Davydenko def. David Nalbandian, 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 6-0

Juan Martin del Potro def. Igor Andreev, 6-4 6-2 6-1

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Spain 4, USA 1

Rafael Nadal def. Andy Roddick, 6-4 6-0 6-4

Feliciano Lopez def. Sam Querrey, 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-4)

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Davis Cup Playoffs

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Chile 3, Australia 2

Fernando Gonzalez def. Chris Guccione, 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 6-3

Carsten Ball def. Paul Capdeville, 6-3 7-6 (7-3)

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Austria 3, Great Britain 2

Andy Murray def. Jurgen Melzer, 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-1

Alexander Peya def. Alex Bogdanovic, 2-6 6-4 6-4 6-2

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Switzerland 4, Belgium 1

Stephane Bohli def. Steve Darcis, 6-3 1-6 6-3

Xavier Malisse def. Yves Allegro, 6-3 6-2

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Croatia 4, Brazil 1

Ivo Karlovic def. Thomaz Bellucci, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-4)

Roko Karanusic def. Thiago Alves, 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 7-6 (7-5)

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Israel 4, Peru 1

Dudi Sela def. Luis Horna, 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 6-1 6-2

Noam Okun def. Ivan Miranda, 6-4 5-7 6-3

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Netherlands 3, Korean Republic 2

Hyung-taik Lee def. Jesse Huta Galung, 1-6 6-1 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Thiemo de Bakker def. Woong-jun Sun, 6-2 6-1 6-3

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Romania 4, India 1

Victor Hanescu def. Prakash Amritraj, 6-2 6-3 6-1

Victor Crivoi def. Somdev Devvarman, 4-6 7-5 6-3

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Serbia 4, Slovak Republic 1

Victor Troicki def. Lucas Lacko, 6-3 6-4

Filip Polasek def. Janko Tipsarevic, walkover

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Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo)

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Dinara Safina def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-1 6-3

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TOE Life Ceramics Guangzhou International Women's Open (Guangzhou)

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Vera Zvonareva def. Peng Shuai, 6-7 (4-7) 6-0 6-2

Invisible Men

Well, here we are again. Another Slam is over, and we've entered the monotony of one of those weeks where no one especially important is playing... when the big story of the day is that Nicolas Almagro and Paul-Henri Mathieu got beaten, you know it's a schlep tournament week. Not that schlep tournaments can't have their moments - every Star of the Future starts off playing them - but they are exceptionally dull after the big excitement of a Slam, especially one won by Federer.

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And besides, Ernests Gulbis has already lost, so what am I supposed to talk about?

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But there is one thing that saves us from the boredom, and that is Davis Cup. I've read a lot about the strange selection by the American team, but I'm going to be patriotic for once and talk about the Australian team. I believed I advised them a while ago to play Bernard Tomic, as we're going to lose anyway and it'd be good to blood him on the world stage... and they almost listened. He's part of a six-man squad going to Chile, but he's one of the alternates, along with Brydan Klein. The team proper consists of Chris Guccione, Peter Luczak, Sam Groth and Carsten Ball.

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Now, I don't know about anyone else, but I'd never heard of Carsten Ball before the US Open, where he had a wildcard, and I've never heard of Sam Groth. Not to say that they're not good players, but I have absolutely no idea who they are. Where did they pop up from? Obviously I know about Tomic, because he's Australia's best junior, and I've heard of Brydan Klein as well - I think he made the junior final of the Australian Open last year or the year before - but never these other two. And they're the ones on the team proper. Go figure. Not that I'm saying I know better than John Fitzgerald, because I don't. It's just a bit bizarre, I guess... here's me thinking I knew nearly everything there was to know about Australian tennis! Nice to be proved wrong, I guess... nice to think we have more depth than I thought!

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This is a really young team, which I think is really exciting... and will probably also play to our advantage, because the Chileans probably won't have heard of them either. That said, the Chileans will still eat them alive, especially because they're playing at home on clay, which is definitely not Australia's best surface... but I suppose we did once beat Switzerland on clay at home (Federer wasn't playing, obviously.) Still, Fernando Gonzalez is spearheading their team, and he could probably beat the entire Australian team at once. I suppose Gooch and Mr. Milkshake will be our singles players... though if it gets to dead rubbers, which is highly likely, I'd like to see Fitzy play some young guys.

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Like I said, the youngness of the team is exciting... but you have to spare a thought for players like Joe Sirianni and Robert Smeets. They must be feeling really snubbed right about now. Poor dudes.

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Today's Results

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BCR Open Romania (Bucharest)

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Gilles Simon def. Albert Montanes, 6-3 6-4

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Nicolas Almagro, 6-4 7-5

Carlos Moya def. Pablo Andujar, 6-3 7-6 (8-6)

Florent Serra def. Potito Starace, 7-5 0-6 6-4

Ivan Navarro def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-3

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Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic (Bali)

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Daniela Hantuchova def. Olga Savchuk, 6-1 7-5

Patty Schnyder def. Yuan Meng, 6-2 7-5

Francesca Schiavone def. Akgul Amanmuradova, 6-3 6-2

Marta Domachowska def. Jill Craybas, 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-4

Cyclone Igor

I would love to gloat about how Novak Djokovic got taken to five by Tommy Robredo, who is definitely not one of the king of hard courts, and barely scraped out of it alive, but then, in the interests of my pretended fairness, I would have to say the same thing about Federer, and I don't want to. So I'll say this instead: both Federer and Djokovic got taken to five sets by lower-ranked but dangerous opponents, and both played well to dig themselves out of trouble and asserted themselves when it counted.

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Well, except for Djokovic.

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Let's start with the Federer match. He didn't play his best tennis EVER, but he didn't suck - it wasn't one of those times when the wheels just fall off one of the aspects of his game or anything. Everything was working, firing mostly. Andreev just played really, really well. He has a very high risk game - he rips that ball from the baseline like nobody's business and his serve has major pop on it. He's one of the closest things tennis has to a force of nature - he's Cyclone Igor. If it works, it's deadly. If it doesn't, it's painful to watch. He certainly came out hard, and credit to Federer for hanging with him, because ain't just anyone can do that. Even though Federer got the break back, Andreev really did deserve that first set, so perhaps it was sort of justice that he won it. But good on Roger for hanging tough and doing what he does best. I breathed a sigh of relief when he got that breaker and brought it to one set all.

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The third set had some vintage Fed moments, as did the fifth - the fourth was a bit of an anomaly. However, I don't think that's the fourth set Roger would have played if he were down two sets to one instead of being up. Remember the Tipsarevic match? Federer was down, and then stamped his authority all over the fourth. He eased his foot off the accelerator a bit and paid the price. Against most opponents he could probably afford to do it, but Andreev proved his quality by not being one of those guys.

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The fifth was the real thriller, with all those deuces, but from the get go it had Federer stamped all over it. That game where he got the break to go up 2-0 after was really a microcosm of the match. Andreev was close to him, really, really close, but Roger came through when it counted. Major credit as well for saving all the break points that he did - the story of a match is often told in the break point conversion rate, and Roger's percentage was not brilliant, but it was better than Igor's.

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If I hadn't been so nervous, I think I would have thoroughly enjoyed that match. I was, am and always will be going for Federer, but I like Andreev, and I was glad he could make a good account of himself. Has he ever won a tournament title? If not, he should have. He had a couple of near misses earlier - I think he lost one final to del Potro - but I don't know if he's ever actually won a title. I could go and find out, but that would just be too easy.

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Over to Djokovic, and if it was Federer looking like he is at the moment, I'd be worried. Robredo is a good player and all - he's ranked higher than Andreev is - but hard courts are not his thing, and really, he shouldn't be able to press Djokovic this much. Robredo is clearly in excellent form - Marat Safin and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are not cakewalk matches - but Djokovic is obviously not. He managed to pull the win out of somewhere, but I would be seriously surprised to see him make it through the quarter final if he plays at this level. Matt Cronin said in his pre match analysis that Djokovic should be bouncing Robredo off the walls, and there was nothing like that happening. He's whinging about injuries and being sick, and all those things just spell two sets down and retiring to me.

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He'll meet Roddick in the next round, and disenchanted though I am with A-Rod, I think he'll beat the Djoker. He really surprised me today with his win over Gonzalez - I thought Gonzalez was going to demolish him, but instead it was the other way round. On the men's side, Roddick had by far the easiest win today. Djokovic/Roddick will be an intriguing match, and whoever wins it will provide an intriguing semifinal, which will probably be against Federer - fun and exciting as Gilles Muller's run has been (good on the boy from Luxembourg for taking out Kolya the Whinger!) I don't think it can withstand the Mighty Fed... and besides, his legs have to give out sometime. He's played so many hours of tennis that I'm amazed he can still walk.

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Meanwhile, Jelena Jankovic is looking surprisingly good. I keep waiting for her to injure herself and crash and burn, but it hasn't happened yet, and her win over Sybille Bammer today was very convincing. That said, Sybille Bammer is hardly one of the top players on tour right now, but still, a quarter final is a quarter final, and you don't get there by being a schlep. Jankovic will meet Dementieva in the semi, who took out Schnyder, and that should be a very intriguing match. I'm not sure which way to call it. I'm pretty sure Jankovic is guaranteed to be #1 if she makes the final, and I want Dinara to get it, so I might be going for Dementieva... but Dementieva's serve REALLY ANNOYS ME.

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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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Roger Federer def. Igor Andreev, 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 3-6 6-3

Novak Djokovic def. Tommy Robredo, 4-6 6-2 6-3 57 6-3

Andy Roddick def. Fernando Gonzalez, 6-2 6-4 6-1

Gilles Muller def. Nikolay Davydenko, 6-4 4-6 6-3 7-6 (12-10)

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Women's Draw

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Jelena Jankovic def. Sybille Bammer, 6-1 6-4

Elena Dementieva def. Patty Schnyder, 6-2 6-3

Don't Cry For Me, Miss Safina

I don't want to cast aspersions on Rafa Nadal - he has undoubtedly been the best player on tour this year, whatever my personal preferences may be - but he is just not so hot right now. I thought that he'd played out his early kinks with that good victory ove Troicki in the third round, but then against Querrey today, the kinks were back. I mean, he still won, and won pretty comfortably when it came down to it, but he wasn't the Rafa we've seen over the past six or so months. This wasn't the man who won the French Open and Wimbledon and the Olympics back to back. This man... well, he was a bit tired.

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And I can get why he's tired. I mean, come on, the scheduling is insane. Add to that the Querrey factor - the guy may not be ranked that high, but he's not a pushover, and he was playing at home in front of an adoring crowd - and you can see why Rafa's not playing at his best. But if he wants to win the tournament, he's going to have to lift. While Fish could emulate his countryman Querrey and take a set off Rafa in the quarters, I don't see him doing much more than that - but when Rafa gets to the semis, he's going to face either Juan Martin del Potro or Andy Murray, either or whom will eat him alive if he doesn't pick it up. Murray, I feel, has a real chance - he played pretty damn spectacularly to beat Djokovic and win the Cincincatti. And we know the Scottish kid has what it takes to beat members of the Big Three - I don't know about Rafa himself, but he's certainly beaten Djokovic and Federer in recent times.

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Speaking of Murray, wasn't he in scintillating form today? Sure, lovely Stan Wawrinka did not play to the best of his ability, but Murray was just awesome. I'm not a Murray fan, I have to say, but the kid's got game. I would not be surprised at all to see him make the final. If/when he faces Rafa, I don't think we're going to see a repeat of the Wimbledon match they played. Rafa is not going to be able to have it his own way with Andy. Remember when they played at the Australian Open - I think it was last year? It was a fabulous match that really went the distance - in the end, it pretty much came down to Rafa having the better legs and Murray running out of steam. If they go five sets again, I don't think we'll see Murray's fitness have such a negative impact. He's certainly picked it up - and, unlike Rafa, he hasn't played tennis solidly for six months. I don't want to impugn Rafa's fitness - in fact, I would go so far as to say he is one of the fittest players on the tour, maybe even the fittest - but no one can do that and not feel the effects. And we've seen him feeling the effects. So what can Murray pull out the bag?

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I'm sort of assuming Murray will be the random semi finalist here - with his form, he deserves to be - but that's not to rule out the del Potro possibility. We all know how hot del Potro has been of late. However, he hasn't been 100% sparkling here - a few five set matches here and there - but on the flip side, he's in the frickin' quarters. I don't think he's ever done that before. I shouldn't judge him by Federesque standards - my bad. But I think Murray'll get him. Del Potro is hot right now, but if anyone is due a big showing at a Slam, it's Murray. It's his turn, really.

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And we can't forget Mardy Fish either. Everyone ruled him out at Indian Wells or Miami or wherever it was when he played Federer in the semis, and he came out and won the thing. Best of five sets is a bit of a different story, but with the home crowd behind him and Rafa not playing as Rafa does, maybe Fish can hook a big one. (Sorry for the pun.) This is Fish's best ever showing here - it would be a bit of a fairy tale to see him go the distance.

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Speaking of Americans, one match I am very much looking forward to is the Roddick/Gonzalez match tomorrow. That one is going to be a corker. I know Roddick is the higher seed and has the home crowd support, but I think Gonzalez might just get him. Fernando hasn't been playing quite as well as he did that time at the Australian Open where he made the final, but he's been big in form recently, and it'd be nice to see him put up a good showing. And wouldn't a Djokovic/Gonzalez quarter be an awesome match? I would like that one enormously - mostly because I think Gonzalez would win.

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And going back to fairy tales, I would dearly love to see Gilles Muller make the quarters by taking out Davydenko. Kolya seems to have got a little bit of his mojo back, but that doesn't mean I am any more impressed with him. And I like the guts of this Muller guy. And since when does Luxemborg ever win anything? Go Gilles.

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And obviously I want to see Federer beat Andreev. That should be a good match, actually - Andreev is good enough to test Federer, but I don't know if he's good enough to actually put him in danger. That said, I won't count my chickens - I remember Tipsarevic. Oh, do I remember Tipsarevic. But I like the look of Roger right now. If he can put away Stepanek - someone who he has had trouble with in the past - in easy straights, then he's in pretty decent form.

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Oh, and women. Yay Dinara and being through! Actually, did anyone see the Tennis Australia headline this morning? I ain't got nothing on their bad puns. 'Don't Cry For Me Safina.' Apparently she started crying before her match and couldn't stop until her coach came and calmed her down for some inexplicable reason. Go figure. That article also featured the immortal line 'sobs turn to lobs.' I like a good pun here and there - I went to town with curtain/Kuerten puns (just like everyone else) when Guga retired, but really, isn't there a place where you have to draw the line?

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It's looking like a Williams/Safina semi - though which Williams will be an interesting question. I'm feeling Serena, but honestly, they're pretty interchangeable to me. Whichever one does get through, I'm still picking Dinara to win. Apparently - on the ever constant rankings question - she can become #1 if she wins and Jankovic doesn't reach the semis. Here's hoping Jelena loses. Not that I dislike Jelena or anything, but Dinara deserves it way more than she does right now.

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And yeah, I stole the Safina pun and used it as a title. Puns that awful just cannot be denied. But you will notice, however, that mine scans better. I, at least, understand that 'Argentina' has four syllables. Take that. Ha.

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Small victories. Small, small victories.

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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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Rafael Nadal def. Sam Querrey, 6-2 5-7 7-6 (7-2) 6-3

Andy Murray def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-1 6-3 6-3

Juan Martin del Potro def. Kei Nishikori, 6-3 6-4 6-3

Mardy Fish def. Gael Monfils, 7-5 6-2 6-2

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Women's Draw

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Dinara Safina def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 7-5 6-0

Serena Williams def. Severine Bremond, 6-2 6-2

Venus Williams def. Agineszka Radwanska, 6-1 6-3

Flavia Pennetta def. Amelie Mauresmo, 6-3 6-0

Weaving A Tangled Web

It occurs to me that I never once mentioned that major controversy that happened a couple of days before the end of the tennis event in the Olympics. I got so caught up in the Swiss doubles victory that I forgot about it entirely. So let's talk about it today.

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The story: Fernando Gonzalez and James Blake are facing off in a match. The winner of the match is guaranteed a medal, the loser will have to play off for the bronze. It's getting tight. Third set, the drama, the drama. Blake hits a shot that goes out. Gonzalez is at the net, shies away. The ball goes out. Blake swears it ricocheted off Gonzalez's racquet, Gonzalez said it didn't. The match continues. Blake, unsettled, loses. The drama, the drama.

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Now, I haven't seen the replays or anything, so I have no opinion on whether or not Gonzalez touched the ball. In fact, I might have even described the situation wrong, but it's roughly correct at least. So what do you do in a situation like this?

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Let's put ourselves in Blake's shoes. You want this match, yeah, you want it bad, and you could swear it came off the other guy's racquet. I wouldn't even consider the option that Blake lied - that would just be terrible sportsmanship, and I don't think James Blake is that kind of guy. Could your eyes deceive you? Possibly. But does it happen too quick for you to able to tell? Probably.

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But you might hear it, you might see the ball change direction. I have no idea what level of perception tennis players have out there. How much do they listen, how much do they rely on their eyes? What feasible chance does Blake have to be sure?

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Now, let's consider Fernando Gonzalez. He definitely doesn't want the ball to have hit his racquet. Again, I doubt he would have lied - though his post match comments were certainly a bit dodgier than Blake's, if that makes sense. He said something along the lines of not being 100% sure of what had happened. Now, I'm sure it would be hard to see or hear the ball, with the speed and maybe the crowd and stuff, but surely you'd be able to feel it? Those guys hit the balls like a rocket. How can you be not sure?

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But I'm not fully acquainted with the circumstances, and if Gonzalez says he's not sure, then I'm sure he's not sure. There aren't many players - or any, really - on the circuit that I would ever think capable of full-out lying. I wonder if the fact it was Gonzalez on the other side of the net influenced Blake at all...? I'm not aware of any dislike or anything between them, but imagine if this had happened when Blake had been playing Federer. Blake has come out and talked about his respect for Federer on numerous times. If Roger said he didn't hit the ball, I'm pretty sure Blake would believe that Roger didn't hit the ball. But it was Gonzalez. So was this an influence?

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The upshot of all this is that I have no idea, and in fact, no opinion about what happened. I'd be prepared to take both guys at their word, and I would severely doubt that either one is deliberately lying. But it's interesting. I'm generally impressed with the high level of sportsmanship and lack of gamesmanship on the ATP tour, but they can't all be perfect. Could you live with yourself if you won something under false pretences? A lot of people would go a long way for an Olympic medal. Maybe I'm idealistic, but I just can't believe that either of these guys would deliberately lie about this.

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There is today's tangled moral issue. I am taking my position firmly on the fence. What does everyone else think?

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It's one of those dull weeks of tennis before a major tournament again. The US Open starts next week, which will be big fun and very interesting and stuff, but this week is pretty dull. The only real tournament is New Haven (men and women), and due to the Olympics, none of the big guns is playing. The top seed is Nando Verdasco, and while he's a good player, he's not a world-changer. For the women, it's Anna Chakvetadze (is she not ranked higher than Zvonareva? Why wasn't she at the Olympics? Or did she genuinely not qualify?) So this might be one of those uninspired blog weeks, unless we have some more interesting issues. I suppose I could always talk about McEnroe's exclusion at some point... putting me about a week behind the news!

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Juan Martin del Potro is not playing, although he was originally scheduled to... but I think that's a smart move. You don't want to come into a Slam having played two solid weeks of tennis - because if he was here, he would stand a great chance of winning. And if you had a streak like that, you'd want to take it in to the US Open. If he's in the right part of the draw, he stands a good chance of being the random semi finalist. Actually, I'd like him to be in Djokovic's quarter, so he can pull a Safin. He's currently at #17, so he could potentially meet one of the big guns in the third round... wouldn't that be interesting?

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It occurs to me that del Potro is only twenty, and is totally only at the beginning of his career, though he seems to have been round for a while. I am now officially adopting him into the Tennis From The Backseat Stars of the Future program. Currently, he's my star performer - so Ernests and Marin might need to move over! Or, alternatively, they need to do some serious shining!

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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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Fernando Verdasco def. Dudi Sela, 6-4 6-4

Potito Starace def. Jiri Vanek, 6-2 7-6 (9-7)

Denis Gremelmayr def. Marcos Daniel, 3-6 6-3 6-3

Olivier Rochus def. Evgeny Korolev, 6-4 6-4

Steve Darcis def. Vince Spadea, 7-5 5-0 retired

Fabio Fognini def. Nicolas Lapentti, 6-4 4-4 retired

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Chris Guccione, 7-5 6-3

John Isner def. Igor Kunitsyn, 6-4 6-4

Wayne Odesnik def. Sebastien Grosjean, 7-5 6-4

Luka Gregorc def. Ramon Delgado, 6-2 3-6 6-0

Robby Ginepri def. Luis Horna, 7-6 (7-4) 6-2

Arnaud Clement def. Thomaz Bellucci, 6-4 6-4

Viktor Troicki def. Alex Bogomolov Jr., 7-5 2-6 6-1

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Women's Draw

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Patty Schnyder def. Jill Craybas, 6-4 7-6 (7-2)

Alizé Cornet def. Nicole Vaidisova, 6-3 7-6 (10-8)

Caroline Wozniacki def. Dominika Cibulkova, 7-6 (9-7) retired

Katarina Srebotnik def. María José Martínez Sánchez, 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-2

Casey Dellacqua def. Virginie Razzano, 6-3 6-1

Sorana Cirstea def. Alla Kudryavtseva, 4-6 6-3 7-5

Sara Errani def. Mallory Cecil, 6-2 4-6 7-6 (7-1)

Beating Michael Phelps

Revenge is a dish best served cold. That is all I have to say. Apart from GO ROGER!

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I really, really wish I could have seen this match - though I doubt I would have any fingernails left if I had been... or, hell, fingers. The score might not reflect it, and there was certainly that one loose game at the beginning of the second set where Roger served three double faults (maybe he's under his annual average?) but when I see tennis described as 'sublime' I am very happy. I don't know if it was Supreme God Tennis, but it sounded like NinjaFed - or at least a decent facsimile - turned up. And that is good news. That is SUCH good news!

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There is a gold medal so close that I can almost smell it. Certainly, all Federer has to do is get past Blake to virtually guarantee a podium spot - though you can bet he won't be taking it for granted! One of the first Federer matches I remember was when he was a wee young boy of nineteen in Sydney, when he lost that bronze medal match to Di Pasquale and was just crushed afterwards. But not this time. I have no doubt that he can beat Blake and beat him good, and then go on to beat whoever it is he has to beat after that - and then beat Rafa/Novak FOR GOLD! GOLD! He may lose #1 at the beginning of next week, but I think a gold medal would be a perfect finish to this first Federer Golden Age of tennis... and a good precursor to the second one, which will obviously begin in the near future. He has a mark now - a record to beat. I want to see him go 235 weeks again!

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Team Fedrinka had a good win as well - the Tursunov/Youzhny team is definitely not a pushover, so that victory is really sweet... though I imagine Dmitry isn't too fond of Roger right now. Rafa's hopes of double gold were dashed - the Aussies knocked them out. Even though I'm not a Hewitt fan and I find Guccione a bit boring, I'd like them to do well. Not as well as Team Fedrinka, obviously, but well enough. I'm just hoping this doubles loss doesn't make Rafa super fresh for the singles. That would suck, especially if he plays Roger in the final... Roger is now the only man left with a shot at double gold, I think.

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But what am I saying? Roger trains in Dubai! He can deal with anything. ANYTHING!

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I'm sitting here watching that inane pre-Olympics show that Channel 7 have - 'Yum Cha' by name - and they're talking about Michael Phelps and how he's possibly the greatest sportsman of all time, across all sports. I nearly threw something at the television. One of the anchors said she thought it was between Phelps, Pele and Ali. No mention of Federer. Not even of Tiger Woods. I was outraged.

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You only have to look at the Laureus Awards, for God's sake. I don't want to take away what Phelps has done, because it's pretty outstanding. But to even begin to compare that to the achievements of Federer and Woods? That's just ridiculous. Eight gold medals - which he'll probably get - is amazing. But twelve Slams? 237 weeks at #1? Complete, utter dominance? Phelps has been around for a while, but you cannot - you just absolutely CANNOT - compare him to Federer. Not yet. Maybe not ever. I mean, I have issues with comparing sports anyway, but even so, I think Roger still comes out on top. Four times Laureus Sportsman - and that means beating out the not inconsiderable efforts of his mate Tiger. Phelps is up there, certainly, but the greatest athlete of this decade - and maybe even ever - is Roger Federer. Tiger Woods is a close second. Phelps is back a bit. He's good - excellent, outstanding - but he's not there yet. The cub is not ready to challenge those lions. Though what can you really expect from a show that has Sonia 'Tina Sparkle' Kruger as one of its primary anchors?

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(I would just like to point out that the cheer that Federer got when he entered the Olympic stadium was bigger that most countries. And people forget about him. He is such a class act. Beat that, Michael. You may be re-writing the record books at this Olympics, but Federer has been doing it for four years.)

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Right, back to tennis. The big upset on the men's side was Nalbandian, who went out to Monfils. Monfils is such an unpredictable player. If rankings were done on pure athletic ability, he would be in the top five for sure. You know how the French equivalent of the AIS (the FIS?) does all those crazy tests on their athletes, giving them scores for, oh, bendiness and strength and toughness and their ability to scull champagne and whatever else? Apparently Monfils came out on top, beating any other French athlete ever. And he certainly is a great athlete, but the way he throws himself round the court, doing Kim Clijsters splits and whatever means that he's injured all the time. When he's uninjured - for all of about four seconds a year - he's great to watch. I'm not sure where I stand on him, whether I like him or dislike him, but you can't deny he's got game and he's fun to see play tennis. And I'm not a Nalbandian fan, so I'm glad La Monf got through. I wonder if he won - a definite possibility - or if LameDave showed up? You can just never tell from scores sometimes.

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So our eight quarter-finalists are Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Monfils, Melzer, Mathieu, Gonzalez and Blake. My pick for the podium? Federer gold. Nadal silver. Djokovic bronze. I'm sure of gold, but I wouldn't be surprised if silver and bronze were switched round... much as I don't like Djokovic, he has proved recently that he has the ability to beat Nadal on hard courts. I think I'd like to see Rafa win silver, though - he deserves the higher medal, and I just want to see Federer beat him, to tell the truth. I want Roger to know he can do it. Because he can. He SO can.

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The other person that might end up on the podium is Gonzalez. He's been there before - in doubles and singles - and he absolutely destroyed Rochus yesterday. I think he'll definitely figure in the bronze medal match - he'll beat Mathieu, but lose to Federer - and he's a real danger of taking out Djokovic, if we go on the proviso that Nadal beats Djokovic in that semi. Actually, in the quarters, if Monfils plays well, he is a good chance of upsetting Djokovic. I don't see him getting through Rafa, but he's also someone that could take a bronze.

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But gold is the big one. And it has Roger written ALL OVER IT.

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Oh yeah, the women played too. My girl Dinara is still on song and playing sweetly. I was a bit disappointed to see one of my other favourites, Cornet, go out - but oh! did she give Serena a run for her money! Most of the big guns are still there - Jankovic and both the Williamses are going strong - but Dinara's got what it takes. And I'd love to see her and Sveta win gold in the doubles too. I picked Sveta for gold - it would be nice to be right, even in the wrong event!

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Today's Results

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Games of the XXIX Olympiad (Beijing)

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Men's Draw - Singles

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Roger Federer def. Tomas Berdych, 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

Rafael Nadal def. Igor Andreev, 6-4 6-2

Novak Djokovic def. Mikhail Youzhny, 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

Gael Monfils def. David Nalbandian, 6-4 6-4

James Blake def. Gilles Simon, 6-4 6-2

Fernando Gonzalez def. Olivier Rochus, 6-0 6-3

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Nicolas Kiefer, 6-3 7-5

Jurgen Melzer def. Lu Yen-Hsun, 6-2 6-4

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Women's Draw - Singles

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Jelena Jankovic def. Dominika Cibulkova, 7-5 6-1

Serena Williams def. Alizé Cornet, 3-6 6-3 6-4

Elena Dementieva def. Caroline Wozniacki, 7-6 (7-3) 6-2

Dinara Safina def. Zheng Jie, 6-4 6-3

Venus Williams def. Victoria Azarenka, 6-3 6-2

Vera Zvonareva def. Francesca Schiavone, 7-6 (7-4) 6-4

Sybille Bammer def. Lucie Safarova, 7-5 6-4

Li Na def. Kaia Kanepi, 4-6 6-2 6-0

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Men's Draw - Doubles

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Bryan/Bryan def. Knowle/Melzer, 7-6 (7-2) 6-4

Federer/Wawrinka def. Tursunov/Youzhny, 6-4 6-3

Aspelin/Johansson def. Almagro/Ferrer, 7-6 (8-6) 6-4

Guccione/Hewitt def. Nadal/Robredo, 6-2 7-6 (7-5)

Bhupathi/Paes def. Melo/Sa, 6-4 6-2

Andreev/Davydenko def. Darcis/Rochus, 7-6 (8-6) 6-2

Fyrstenberg/Matkowski def. Damm/Vizner, 1-6 7-6 (7-3) 7-5

Clement/Llodra def. Murray/Murray, 6-1 6-3

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Women's Draw - Doubles

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Kuznetsova/Safina def. Mirza/Rao, 6-4 6-4

Pennetta/Schiavone def. Chan/Chuang, 7-6 (7-1) 1-6 8-6

Davenport/Huber def. Azarenka/Poutchek, 6-4 4-6 6-3

Bondarenko/Bondarenko def. Govortsova/Kustova, 6-1 6-3

Vesnina/Zvonareva def. Dulko/Jozami, 6-2 6-3

Yan/Zheng def. Gagliardi/Schnyder, 6-3 7-6 (7-2)

Medina Garrigues/Ruano Pascual def. Koryttseva/Perebiynis, 6-3 6-4

Morita/Sugiyama def. Arn/Szavay, 6-3 6-3

Stosur/Stubbs def. Kvitova/Safarova, 6-1 6-0

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Legg Mason Tennis Classic (Washington)

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Tommy Haas def. Nicolas Mahut, 7-6 (7-4) 6-3

Alejandro Falla def. Florent Serra, 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (13-11)

John Isner def. Donald Young, 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Andy Roddick def. Ramon Delgado, 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

Eduardo Schwank def. Sebastien Grosjean, 6-3 4-6 6-3

Juan Martin del Potro def. Jesse Levine, 6-2 6-3

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Western and Southern Financial Group Women's Open (Cincinatti)

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Nadia Petrova def. Julie Ditty, 6-1 6-1

Maria Kirilenko def. Stéphanie Dubois, 1-6 6-2 7-5

Sabine Lisicki def. Camille Pin, 6-3 6-4

Lilia Osterloh def. Petra Cetkovska, 6-4 6-1

The Second Golden Age

So how 'bout that Opening Ceremony? Nice to see some familiar tennis faces out and about... not that the Australian media recognised many of them, but to be fair, there were a whole lot of other sports represented too. Much as I would like it to, the Olympics do not revolve around tennis.
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We had two tennis flag bearers, which I suppose isn't a bad representation for the sport... though I thought Rafa got gypped. But Spain is a big place with many different sports, I suppose. I can't remember who carried their flag, but if I were Carlos Sastre, I'd be feeling gypped too. Actually, I was very surprised that we didn't have a tennis flag-bearer from Serbia - but how would you pick between the three of them? There's Djokovic, who (even though I don't like him) has won the Australian and done exceedingly well considering the depth of men's tennis, Ivanovic, who is #1 and won the French, and Jankovic, who'll become #1 next week. Not a lot to split them on, especially the girls.
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But there were two with the flag, in Roger Federer (happy birthday!) and Fernando Gonzalez. It'll be interesting to see how Chile does in the tennis this year, actually, after that stellar performance in Athens, where Massu won gold, Gonzalez won bronze and then they won gold in the doubles. I doubt, somehow, that they can match it, but there'll certainly be some motivation there. Because, you know, the rest of the Olympic teams will obviously be totally unmotivated.
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And we all know where I think (and hope) the gold medal will go. The birthday boy, Mr. Switzerland, Roger Federer. This must be such a bittersweet experience for him, what with the #1 slipping from his grasp. But he said something once which has always resonated with me, and I hope it's true: 'Under pressure I see things very clearly.' He can do this. He can do anything. He just needs to see clearly, to have the right mindset. And I have a good feeling about this, birthday boy. This is the end of the first Golden Age of Roger Federer, but it might well be the beginning of the second.
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Oh, and away from Beijing, Safin lost. Watch me proceed to totally ignore the LA tournament from here on in.
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Today's Results
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Countrywide Classic (Los Angeles)
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Denis Gremelmayr def. Marat Safin, 3-6 6-3 6-2
Mardy Fish def. Florent Serra, 6-4 6-4

Juan Martin del Potro def. Amer Delic, 7-6 (8-6) 6-2

Andy Roddick def. Marc Gicquel, 6-3 6-1