Messrs Sunday

Those crazy boys are at it again. Roger and Rafa, those crazy final kings, are at it again.

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Remember 2005, when there basically wasn't a title that wasn't won by one of those two? Good times, good times. That year was the year of Rafa's ascendancy, his first French Open, when he cemented himself as #2 in the world. And he hasn't looked back.

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Let's start with Rafa, who, even though he is #2 and has won lots of stuff (including the Match We Do Not Speak Of), is still the apprentice Mr Sunday. His match was the harder of the two, obviously, being as he was playing against Novak Djokovic. (A friend and I have started referring to him as Novak, Prince of Lies... just an aside.) This one had the potential to go the distance. Obviously, it didn't, but it wasn't for lack of trying.

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Of course, I haven't actually SEEN this match, so I am going off scores and stats here. This one could have gone either way - actually, no. That's a lie. Rafa was the one who came through when it counted, therefore he deserves it. Tennis really isn't about how many points you win, it's about when you win them. It is totally possible for a player to win more points but then lose the match - think of the Dubai final in 2006! There was only one point separating Rafa and the Djoker at the end of the first set - 50 points to 49 - but it was Rafa who won that point when it counted.

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I am aware that my inner Fedfan should be horrified at the notion of Rafa winning a grass court tournament when he has, for the last two years, been Roger's biggest competition on grass. But I have the faith. There has been a lot of commentary around about how Roger's hold on Wimbledon is slipping and how he won't win it this year. Forgive me if I put my faith in the man who has won 59 straight matches on grass courts, including five Wimbledon titles, and is the greatest tennis player of all time. That doesn't sound unreasonable to me.

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And I like to see Rafa doing well. Quite apart from anything else, I want to see him pulling away from Djokovic in the points race... although not enough to will him to a Wimbledon victory (not over Federer, anyway.) And it's not like Djokovic doesn't have points to defend at Wimbledon. He made the semis last year. And grass court tennis is the most cutthroat of all the surfaces. Lose a few points at the wrong time, and the set is gone. And it only takes three sets to win a match. This is part of what makes Federer's grass court achievement so marvellous.

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Roger was never going to not win that match against Kohlschreiber last night. He was in total control the whole time. He has gone the whole week without dropping a set, and, more impressively, without dropping his serve. This is the best possible week he could have hoped for after the Match We Do Not Speak Of. If a week this brilliant will not shut critics up, then I don't know what will.

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Of course, speaking as a baby amateur critic myself, there is very little that can change you once you form an opinion... it is possible (like my changing attitude to Rafa) but not likely... I can't ever see myself changing my viewpoint on Djokovic. Not unless he like, attains world peace or something. And even then, I'll probably think he stole the idea off Federer.

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So Mr Sunday and his matador apprentice both proved why they are the best players in the world this week. Both backed it up from the Match We Do Not Speak Of, and both thoroughly deserved their wins. I have a feeling that the tennis this coming week will not be half so interesting... neither Rafa nor Roger is playing, but as we know, that has never stopped me talking about them. Bring on Wimbledon! Where, I believe, we will once more see a match between the Messrs Sunday... with the Master coming out on top this time!

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Today's Results

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Artois Championships (Queen's Club, London)

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Rafael Nadal def. Novak Djokovic, 7-6 (8-6) 7-5

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Gerry Weber Open (Halle)

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Roger Federer def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-3 6-4

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Orange Warsaw Open (Warsaw)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Tommy Robredo, 6-3 6-3

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DFS Classic (Birmingham)

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Kateryna Bondarenko def. Yanina Wickmayer, 7-6 (9-7) 3-6 7-6 (7-4)

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Campeonatos Internacionales de Tenis Femenino de Espana (Barcelona)

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Maria Kirilenko def. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, 6-0 6-2

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Ordina Open (s'Hertogenbosch)

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David Ferrer def. Jesse Huta Galung, 6-2 6-3

Steve Darcis def. Florent Serra, 7-5 6-3

Mario Ancic def. Ivo Minar, 6-1 7-6 (7-0)

Rainer Schuettler def. Michael Berrer, 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-4

Igor Andreev def. Grigor Dimitrov, 6-1 6-3

Jurgen Melzer def. Victor Hanescu, 6-7 (11-13) 6-2 6-4

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Camille Pin def. Elena Vesnina, 6-2 6-3

Saturday Night's All Right For Fighting

The top three men in the world all played last night - Federer in Halle, Nadal and Djokovic in Queen's. All three won. All three did it in straight sets. I feel like I should be going somewhere with some sort of comparison between the three of them, but as I haven't seen the matches, I can't really do that, can I?

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So I wrote myself into a bit of a hole there. Let's start again.

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Halle, Germany. Federer roared past Nicolas Kiefer, 6-1 6-4. I was able to see a few points - just a few - on a highlights reel, and from those few points, I'm calling it. My boy is back in town. That forehand down the line he hit from about ninety four kilometres out of court... (the score was 4-1 Federer in the first set, Kiefer serving)... that was, to quote some commentators, a 'sick shot.' That's the kind of god tennis that got Federer where he is today - the sublime movement, the total control, the absolute knowledge of court positioning... it's incredible.

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Whenever I think of Nicolas Kiefer, there are two moments in particular that always spring to mind. One is that rally against Sebastien Grosjean in Australia where he threw his racquet during (I think) a diving volley at the net, which completely put Spaz off, which meant Kiwi won the point, even though it was horrendously unfair. I hesitate to say that Kiefer did it on purpose, but it would have been good sportsmanship to concede the point, at least. With Kiwi off the circuit for a year, I haven't seen him play enough to form a well-rounded opinion of him, but this didn't exactly canonise him in Jodi's Hall of Tennis Saints.

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My second Kiwi memory is from that same tournament - Australian Open 2006, one of my favourite tournaments ever. The semi final, Federer versus Kiefer. Federer hits a first serve, misses. He sits a second serve. It's a kick serve ace. It has so much pop on it that it skids into about Row H. It has widely been recognised as the best second serve of all time. Kiwi had this great bemused look on his face. I laughed mightily.

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Federer might not have hit the best second serve of all time in his match against Kiefer today, but he did serve well. Actually, his service has been rock solid all week - he hasn't been broken once. And that isn't for lack of opportunity. Both Baghdatis and Kiefer have had him at 0-40 down. He's fought back to deuce. Don't quote me on this, but I think both Baghdatis and Kiefer had ad in during those deuce games. Federer has saved every break point against him. And that is pretty swell.

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The French Open final is in the past. Federer has said that in his pressers, and we can see that it is totally true. Federer might not have played one of the Nadals of the world on grass yet, but this is a different player than the one that stepped out onto Philippe Chatrier on Sunday. This is Roger Federer, who has won Wimbledon five times. This is the king.

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Rafa has also been acquitting himself well over in Queen's - not as well as Roger, perhaps, but considering Rafa is the King of Clay and Roger is the King of Grass, the expectations are not quite the same. I know a lot of Federer fans have been praying for him to lose this week in Queen's, but I like to see Rafa doing well. If there is one tennis player in the world who has managed to make me totally change my opinion of him, it is Rafa. He had a very handy win against Andy Roddick. Roddick is an excellent grasscourt player, but I'm beginning to think that the day of Roddick might be beginning to pass. Either that, or that injury is still bugging him. Or he's suffering lack of match play... actually, that is a very credible explanation. He had a bye in the first round, then Fish retired against him after a set, and then Murray didn't even walk onto the court. Not the best Wimbledon preparation that Roddick could have hoped for.

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I feel a bit sorry for Andy, actually. Remember back in '03, when he was the next big thing? He and Federer were racing for the #1 spot. Juan Carlos Ferrero was hanging about then as well, and he had a bit of the mystique that Roger and Rafa have now. Federer won Wimbledon and the Masters Cup, but Roddick won the US Open, and he finished the year #1. But then on February 2, 2004, after winning the Australian Open, Roger Federer became #1, and he has held that ranking every week since.

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Who ever would have thought that that US Open would be the only Slam Roddick would ever win? He's been to the final of a couple more - Wimbledon '04 and '05, and the US Open in '06 - but he has fallen to same man in all three of those finals. Roddick made a charge to be re-recognised at the beginning of '07. He played Federer in the semis of the Australian, and everyone thought it would be this huge barnburning popcorn match. It was a popcorn match (for me!), but in a different way. Federer destroyed Roddick. He put him down like a dog.

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It isn't that Roddick has been playing badly over these last few years. He is still an excellent player, and he has held his spot in the top ten pretty solidly. It's just that everyone else is better. What kind of career might Roddick have had if he had not existed at the same time as Federer? I don't think Nadal and Djokovic as players have had particularly large impacts on his career - certainly not the way Federer has - but their results have relegated Roddick to being #4, #5, #6, #7.

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A lot of people assume I don't for some reason, but I actually quite like Andy Roddick. I think he has a great attitude. He's very funny, he respects Federer (which gets you a lot of bonus points in my book!) and he has an excellent attitude. He can take a loss like a man and doesn't become arrogant when he wins. I feel sorry, for his sake, that he had to exist in such an era as this: the Federer era, the return of a golden age of tennis.

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Looking at it from a Fedfan point of view, though, it is hard to be sorry. Federer's domination of Roddick (and, in particular, the Roddick serve) has been one of the hallmarks of his domination of the game. But I will always wonder: what would have Roddick been like without Federer?

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How on earth did I get onto Roddick? Oh, that's right, Rafa. Rafa beat Roddick last night, and now he is in the final. And oh! how I will be cheering for him to win. Because he is playing the man who bumped off Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Murray as my least favourite tennis players of all time.

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I can't remember the last time I cheered for David Nalbandian in a tennis match. I think it might be just before never. But I was cheering for him last night. We all know my feelings on Novak Djokovic.

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Unfortunately, my cheering didn't work. Djokovic crushed Nalbandian. LameDave totally showed up. But let me put this question out there: if GoodDave had shown up and had gone up 6-1 in the first set and a break in the second, would Novak have suddenly discovered an injury? An ingrown hair on his left shin, maybe? An urge to sneeze? Or perhaps he might retire because this particular match was mussing up his hair.

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Obviously, I exaggerate a little there, but my point still stands. If I asked that question about pretty much any other tennis player, it would be incredibly insulting. About Djokovic, it is perfectly valid. Think of Monte Carlo, the semi against Federer. Djokovic was fine, apart from the fact he was being beaten. So he retires.

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Let us look at his career history of retirement. His ATP career is only a couple of years old. He has retired something like nine times. I can think of at least four off the top of my head - Roland Garros '06 (against Rafa), Wimbledon '07 (against Rafa), Umag '06 (against Wawrinka) and Monte Carlo this year. Now let us look at Federer's career history. He has been around a whole lot longer than Djokovic - his career is three or four times as long. And how many times has he retired?

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Not once.

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'Roger Federer does not retire,' Federer said once (possibly slightly paraphrased.) 'Otherwise he doesn't walk out on the court.' And he has stuck to it.

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Think back to the Masters Cup in 2005 - the final, against David Nalbandian. Nalbandian won a five set thriller. Federer was basically playing on one leg, and yet he still went on, playing five hours, even staging an almost-comeback from 4-0 down in the fifth.

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Now put Djokovic in that position. I think it is safe to say that Djokovic would never have even played the tournament.

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And that is one of the things that is always going to separate these two. Even if Djokovic does become #1 in the future, he is never going to be the champion Federer is, not if he maintains this kind of attitude. To be fair, Federer's zero retirement thing is pretty unusual, and I'd have understood a few. But Djokovic is just out of hand. Guess what, Novak? You can't retire your way to #1.

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Not that Djokovic retired last night, or this discussion has anything to do with Queen's... where Djokovic, unretiring, beat LameDave Nalbandian 6-1 6-0. He will face Rafa Nadal in the final. But his retiring complex is just one of the myriad aspects of his personality that I dislike.

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I don't like Nalbandian very much either, of course... he of the monosyllabic press conferences. But I will say this for him: he provides many opportunities for amusing nicknames! Not only do we have GoodDave and LameDave, but there is also FatDave floating around. (Not that David is fat. I defy anyone to find a fat tennis player. But sometimes certain photographic angles can make him look that way.) Then there is always Dayveeeeed Nalbaaaaaaaandiaaaan... no other tennis player has a name it is so fun to stretch out! My personal favourite at the moment, courtesy of Drew Lilley's Roland Garros blog, is Headbandian... because he wears headbands.

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Well, I think it's funny.

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Two finals tonight. In Halle, Roger Federer vs Philipp Kohlschreiber... who I always find underwhelming. I am hoping tonight to find Federer overwhelming instead. And in Queen's, Rafael Nadal versus Novak Djokovic. #2 against #3.

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I don't think it will come as any surprise to hear that I will be shouting 'Vamos Rafa!' and 'Hopp Roger!' at the top of my lungs!

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Today's Results

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Artois Championships (Queen's Club, London)

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Rafael Nadal def. Andy Roddick, 7-5 6-4

Novak Djokovic def. David Nalbandian, 6-1 6-0

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Gerry Weber Open (Halle)

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Roger Federer def. Nicolas Kiefer, 6-1 6-4

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. James Blake, 6-3 7-5

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Orange Warsaw Open (Warsaw)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Fabio Fognini, 6-2 6-3

Tommy Robredo def. Juan Monaco, 6-4 6-4

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DFS Classic (Birmingham)

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Kateryna Bondarenko def. Marina Erakovic, 6-3 6-2

Yanina Wickmayer def. Bethanie Mattek, 7-5 7-6 (7-2)

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Campeonatos Internacionales de Tenis Femenino de Espana (Barcelona)

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Maria Kirilenko def. Stephanie Cohen-Aloro, 7-5 6-3

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Nuria Llagostera Vives, 2-6 6-3 6-1

By The Numbers

...I lied again.

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Honestly, the moment I start setting myself goals with this blog is the moment it all collapses around my ears... if that four month long lapse between the end of the Australian and the beginning of the French is anything to go by. No more campaign promises. From now on, I'm just going to write about whatever I damn well please.

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Which in this case, means another round of Jodi Judges Tennis by the Stats Because She Hasn't Seen It, with a chaser of Roger Federer is the Best Thing in the World, Ever. There are worse things to write about.

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So, Roger Federer is the best thing in the world, ever, and he had a handy win over Jan Vacek last night. His serve, which was something that worried me during the French Open (especially in the Match We Do Not Speak Of), looked pretty sweet to me. For a man that averages about 65%, 76% is not sneezeworthy. I love watching him serve on grass (not that I was WATCHING him in this match, per se, but I do love his grasscourt serve) because it just seems to come so much more naturally on it. Federer is the second best claycourt player in the world for sure, but he is not a claycourter - that much is evident when he steps onto the lawn and begins gliding around and prancing about like Pan. It's beautiful to watch... and imagine, when you can't watch.

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I was a little more concerned about his return game - not his best stats ever there. Roger isn't necessarily known for his return game, but it's still generally better than everyone else's. Actually, on a tangent, there's a really good quote that describes that particular Federer phenomenon... I think it was Jim Courier that said it... actually, no, it was Andre Agassi. Here it is:

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"There's probably not a department in his game that couldn't be considered the best in that department. You watch him play Hewitt and everybody marvels at Hewitt's speed, as well as myself. And you start to realize, `Is it possible Federer even moves better?' Then you watch him play Andy [Roddick], and you go, `Andy has a big forehand. Is it possible Federer's forehand is the best in the game?' You watch him at the net, you watch him serve-volley somebody that doesn't return so well and you put him up there with the best in every department. You see him play from the ground against those that play from the ground for a living, and argue he does it better than anybody."

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That is so true. He is better than the specialists in the things they specialise at. But that wasn't what I was talking about, was it? What was I... oh, yes. His return game. His percentage wasn't at its best today - 38% - but these things happen, I guess. It's only his second match back on the grass, and Vacek is approximately the height of a three story building, so I can understand how returning would be difficult! What is important is that Roger broke through when it counted and served well himself - I don't know if he ever faced a break point. I don't think he did. If he did, it certainly wasn't very many, and he saved all of them.

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And to tell the truth, I'd be worried if Roger were blowing all his opponents away 6-0 6-0. It's the second round in a minor tournament. He doesn't need to over-exert himself, particularly after the gruelling claycourt season. This is the closest to an r'n'r tournament that you'll ever find on the circuit, methinks. Roger is doing exactly what he needs to in order to win, and no more. And that is fine. I like that he has gears.

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Rafa and the Djoker both had much tougher matches today over in Queen's. To be fair to both of them, both of their opponents were much higher ranked than Jan Vacek, but of the Big Three, it appears to me like Roger's looking the best on the green stuff. It was an all-Serbian matchup between Djokovic and Tipsarevic (who I have not forgiven for that traumatic Australian Open match!) that could have gone either way in the final set... Djokovic held his nerve, I suppose. Rafa played Kei Nishikori, who is one to watch in the future. He's ranked in the nineties somewhere, but he's only a teenager and he's got game. He won a tournament early this year - Delray Beach, I think... or was it Las Vegas? No, I think it was Delray Beach - where he took out James Blake pretty handily in the final. And by the looks of things, he gave Rafa a run for it here... but nerves will out, I suppose, and Rafa knows all about that.

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One match I wish I could have seen was Gasquet vs Ancic. That one sounded like a barnburning match up, and even though Richou won in straights, it looked pretty tight. They're both consummate grasscourters, and it would have been fun to watch. I wouldn't have minded watching Murray vs Gulbis either, but Murray seemed to spend so much of that match injuring himself that it might have been painful. How do you manage to injure yourself three times in one match? Like, how does that work? Andy Murray must have some stupendous bad luck. I really want to cough into my hand and say 'karma!' but I won't, because I am just too nice.

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And can I just say I really like the preview writeup on the Queen's website? Very intelligent assessment of how matches will progress... to my uneducated eyes, anyway! It will interesting to see how many of their picks are right...

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Today's Results

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Artois Championships (Queen's Club, London)

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Rafael Nadal def. Kei Nishikori, 6-4 3-6 6-3

Ivo Karlovic def. Fernando Gonzalez, 6-3 7-5

Andy Roddick def. Mardy Fish, 7-6 (7-5) retired

Andy Murray def. Ernests Gulbis, 5-7 6-1 6-4

Richard Gasquet def. Mario Ancic, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

David Nalbandian def. Nicolas Mahut, 6-4 6-1

Lleyton Hewitt def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-4 6-4

Novak Djokovic def. Janko Tipsarevic, 2-6 6-1 6-4

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Gerry Weber Open (Halle)

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Roger Federer def. Jan Vacek, 7-5 6-3

Marcos Baghdatis def. Fabrice Santoro, 6-4 6-3

Nicolas Kiefer def. Mikhail Youzhny, 6-2 5-7 6-3

Michael Llodra def. Steve Darcis, 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-3)

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Orange Warsaw Open (Warsaw)

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Fabio Fognini def. Christophe Rochus, 5-4 retired

Guillermo Canas def. Santiago Ventura, 6-2 1-6 6-3

Oscar Hernandez def. Albert Montanes, 6-3 6-2

Tommy Robredo def. Wayne Odesnik, 6-4 1-1 retired

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DFS Classic (Birmingham)

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Petra Cetkovska def. Camille Pin, 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-3

Kateryna Bondarenko def. Melinda Czink, 4-6 6-4 7-5

Alona Bondarenko def. Sunitha Rao, 3-6 7-5 6-1

Marina Erakovic def. Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-3 7-5

Yanina Wickmayer def. Michaella Krajicek, 6-3 6-4

Melanie South def. Aiko Nakamura, 2-6 6-4 6-4

Bethanie Mattek def. Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6-4 6-2

Nicole Vaidisova def. Ekaterina Makarova, 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-4

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Campeanatos Internacionales de Tenis Femenino de Espana (Barcelona)

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Lucie Safarova def. Arantxa Parra Santoja, 7-5 4-6 6-3

Ekaterina Ivanova def. Maria Kondratieva, 1-6 6-1 7-5

Edina Gallovits def. Klara Zakopalova, 6-2 6-0

Maria Kirilenko def. Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-1 4-6 6-4

Halleback

Okay, I lied. I'm a bad person. One thing I didn't realise when I promised human interest stories is that you have to research them. I mean, I knew that, but I didn't realise how time consuming that would be. So, because I am in a hurry today, you just get the Musings of Jodi on Tennis She Hasn't Actually Seen. Tomorrow I have a whole day off, though... so I promise you faithfully a player profile. If there's anyone in particular you'd like me to profile, please leave a comment on my blog! I'm trying not to do Federer because I talk about him all the time... but it's always an option!

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Speaking of Federer, he had a great win in Halle last night, taking out Michael Berrer. Berrer is hardly one of the Nadals of this world, but he's a tricky player - another southpaw - and Roger had a very dominating win by the looks of things. I read his presser from after the match, and he said he was feeling comfortable enough up 30-0, 40-0 on his serve to try stuff out - and he never got broken, so some of the stuff must have worked.

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Every time I think I've encompassed the spectrum of Federer, he just gets that little bit better. His attitude after that crushing defeat in Roland Garros was... I don't think he could have a better attitude. Let me see if I can find the quote... it was from his pre-tournament presser in Halle... ah, here we go. “I am already over the loss in Paris. It does not matter if you lose by a big or a small margin. A loss is a loss. After all, I was in the final of the French Open, so I am happy about it.”

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Isn't that just an incredible way to look at things? The world has endless things to learn from the way this man looks at life. Just after that awful loss on Sunday, a journalist asked him if he thought he could still win Roland Garros, and he fired back, "yes," immediately. He backs himself, he trusts himself and he doesn't let things get him down. A lot of people - and I include myself in this - have many lessons to learn from Roger Federer. I'm a member of a Facebook group called 'Roger Federer makes me better-er' and I couldn't believe that statement any more fervently. I swear.

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Onto other guys. Rafa and the Djoker both won their matches in Queen's. Marat lost... but we know how he hates the grass, which he thinks is for cows. I know they're not particularly high ranked players, but I was very surprised at both Isner and Guccione losing in Queen's. Querrey lost the day before. I thought that enormous serve might help them out on the grass... but maybe, if the ball does come back, they don't have the footspeed to keep up with it. They are all about eleven feet tall, after all.

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There's one last player I'd like to talk a bit about, and that's Tomas Berdych. I never to know what to think about him. In some ways, I think he's another Philipp Kohlschreiber to me (Philipp, incidentally, won yesterday.) I think he's better than he is, and so he perpetually underwhelms me. I know Soderling is crazy in form at the moment, but Berdych's game is so well suited to grass! He won Halle last year and was the runner up the year before! He's only young, but Tomas, man, wake up!

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I really like Berdych's game - and time has allowed me to forgive him for beating Roger at the Olympics in 2004 - and so it's disappointing when he doesn't do as well as he should. I'd like to see him make a run to the semis in a slam - to be the other guy along with Roger, Rafa and the Djoker, as they basically seem to be locked into the semis of the Slams. I'd like him to be the random, the Tsonga, the Monfils, the Richou. He has the potential - actualise, Tomas, actualise!

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I don't know if he's playing a tournament next week, but he should - Nottingham or something. A grass court tournament, obviously... still not sure what's going on with Warsaw and Barcelona and the clay. That's just weird.

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Also, before I go, I'd just like to apologise for the horrendous pun in today's title. Not quite as bad as the Kuerten falling for Guga pun, but everyone was using variations on that. This one is all my own... ahahahaha.

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Today's Results

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Artois Championships (Queen's Club, London)

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Rafael Nadal def. Jonas Bjorkman, 6-2 6-2

Kei Nishikori def. Olivier Patience, 7-6 (10-8) 6-3

Fernando Gonzalez def. Marat Safin, 6-3 7-6 (7-3)

Andy Roddick def. Robby Ginepri, 6-7 (6-8) 6-1 6-1

Mardy Fish def. Chris Guccione, 4-6 7-6 (7-0) 6-4

Ernests Gulbis def. Andreas Seppi, 6-3 6-7 (7-9) 6-3

Richard Gasquet def. Simone Bolelli, 6-3 6-3

Nicolas Mahut def. John Isner, 7-5 6-4

David Nalbandian def. Viktor Troicki, 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Lleyton Hewitt def. Xavier Malisse, 6-3 6-2

Janko Tipsarevic def. Ivo Minar, 3-6 6-3 6-4

Novak Djokovic def. Roko Karanusic, 6-2 7-6 (9-7)

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Gerry Weber Open (Halle)

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Roger Federer def. Michael Berrer, 6-4 6-2

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Tommy Haas, 7-5 5-7 7-6 (7-5)

Robin Soderling def. Tomas Berdych, 6-2 7-5

Andreas Beck def. Mischa Zverev, 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-1

James Blake def. Benjamin Becker, 4-6 7-5 6-3

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Warsaw Orange Open (Warsaw)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Jiri Vanek, 4-6 7-5 6-1

Evgeny Korolev def. Potito Starace, 7-5 4-0 retired

Marcel Granollers def. Marcos Daniel, 6-2 6-4

Juan Monaco def. Florent Serra, 7-5 6-3

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DFS Classic (Birmingham)

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Petra Cetkovska def. Marion Bartoli, 5-7 6-4 6-0

Camille Pin def. Marta Domachowska, 6-4 6-2

Kateryna Bondarenko def. Samantha Stosur, 6-3 6-2

Melinda Czink def. Olga Govortsova, 6-3 7-6 (8-6)

Alona Bondarenko def. Virginia Ruano Pascual, 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 7-5

Sunitha Rao def. Naomi Cavaday, 4-6 6-3 6-1

Yaroslava Shvedova def. Katie O'Brien, 7-5 1-6 7-5

Marina Erakovic def. Sania Mirza, 6-3 6-0

Yanina Wickmayer def. Casey Dellacqua, 6-2 3-6 6-3

Aiko Nakamura def. Sorana Cirstea, 6-4 4-6 6-4

Nicole Vaidisova def. Nathalie Dechy, 6-1 6-3

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Campeanatos Internacionales de Tenis Femenino de Espana (Barcelona)

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Nuria Llagostera Vives def. Eloisa Compostizo de Andres, 6-3 6-0

Sara Errani def. Varvara Lepchenko, 6-4 7-5

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Pauline Parmentier, 6-2 6-4

Stephani Cohen-Aloro def. Magdalena Rybarikova, 7-6 (7-3) 6-0

Into The Green

Well, I'm back, to quote Samwise Gamgee. A little older, a little wiser, but I'm back. I don't know if I'm fully recovered from that devastating loss - I am a big enough Federer fan that it will take a while yet - but we're working on it.

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In the future, I intend to profile some players and stuff here before Wimbledon - do a bit of the ol' human interest, if you know what I mean - but for now, it's late, so I'm not going to say too much. Suffice to say that I still love Roger Federer quite a lot... and now the grass court season is here, which is his time to shine.

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The grass court season is strange for we Fedfans. It's great because, hey, our boy never loses on it - his last loss on a grass court was in 2002 in the first round of Wimbledon to Mario Ancic. He was 21- younger than I am. Younger than Rafa is now. But grass is hard as well, because there's so much added pressure. No one really expects Roger to win on clay. That's Rafa's playground. But grass... if he lost there, the fan would fall from the ceiling there'd be so much shit flung at it, if you catch my drift.

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Not that I think Roger will lose on grass, because he is the mighty mighty grass king. But I still remember the palpitations from last year's Wimbledon final. Thanks for that one, Rafa. You might have made me real sad laying that beatdown on Roger in the Roland Garros final a couple of days ago, but you damn near killed me nearly taking him out at SW19 last year.

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Roger's playing Halle this year, which I think is a good thing. He won Wimbledon last year, as he has for the last five years, but he looked less secure than when he had played Halle as a warm up (which he did not do.) Also, strange as this might sound, it gives him an opportunity to lose. I don't want him to, obviously, but if his grass court streak HAD to be broken, I'd far rather it were in Halle that at Wimbledon. It's a win-win situation, in some respects: if Roger wins Halle, he goes into Wimbledon very confident with grass court matchplay, if he loses somewhere in there, he doesn't have the pressure of that insane streak riding above his head. Although if he were to lose... not only would I cry quite a lot, but can you imagine the press? They'd be circling like vultures.

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All this Federer speak and he hasn't even played this week! We have five major tournaments this week - Queen's, Halle, Warsaw, Birmingham and Barcelona. The first three are ATP, the latter two WTA. I have no way of watching any of them, so I don't know how much actual tennis commentary I'll be doing... hence the human interest stories in the lead up to the big ol' Slam. I mentioned a lot of players I liked the look of during my Roland Garros blog - and, indeed, my Australia blog. We're talking Alize Cornet, Ernests Gulbis, Eduardo Schwank... the lot. Let's see what dirt I can dig up on them... and, obviously, expect a heavy Federer focus, because that man is what began it all for me.

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Today's Results

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Artois Championships (Queen's Club, London)

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Jonas Bjorkman def. Igor Kunitsyn, 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 6-4

Kei Nishikori def. Alejandro Falla, 2-6 6-4 6-2

Marat Safin def. James Ward, 4-6 6-1 6-4

Joseph Sirianni def. Alex Bogdanovic, 6-3 6-3

Robby Ginepri def. Vince Spadea, 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Chris Guccione def. Yen-hsun Lu, 604 6-7 (2-7) 7-5

Ernests Gulbis def. Kristof Vliegen, 6-4 7-5

Sebastien Grosjean def. Rik de Voest, 7-6 (8-6) 6-1

Mario Ancic def. Nicolas Lapentti, 7-5 6-3

Fernando Verdasco def. Hyung-taik Lee, 5-3 retired

Viktor Troicki def. Dudi Sela, 6-4 6-4

Marin Cilic def. Jurgen Melzer, 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-5)

Lleyton Hewitt def. Joshua Goodall, 6-4 6-4

Janko Tipsarevic def. Ivan Navarro, 7-6 (7-2) 6-4

Roko Karanusic def. Flavio Cipolla, 6-4 6-3

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Gerry Weber Open (Halle)

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Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Julien Benneteau, 6-4 6-1

Robin Soderling def. Philipp Petzschner, 6-4 4-6 6-4

Tomas Berdych def. Thomas Johansson, 6-3 7-5

Mischa Zverev def. Jarkko Nieminen, 2-6 6-4 6-2

Andreas Beck def. Marc Gicquel, 6-7 (4-7) 7-4 (7-4) 6-3

Benjamin Becker def. Denis Gremelmayr, 6-4 6-2

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Warszawianka Sport Club (Warsaw)

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Jiri Vanek def. Carlos Berlocq, 1-6 6-2 7-6 (7-5)

Evgeny Korolev def. Victor Hanescu, 6-4 6-2

Potito Starace def. Dawid Olejniczak, 6-2 6-3

Marcos Daniel def. Filippo Volandri, 6-3 6-4

Florent Serra def. Guillermo Coria, 6-3 retired

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DFS Classic (Birmingham)

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Sunitha Rao def. Petra Kvitova, 7-6 (10-8) 6-4

Naomi Cavaday def. Jill Craybas, 6-0 6-4

Yaroslava Shvedova def. Akgul Amanmuradova, 6-3 6-1

Katie O'Brien def. Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-0 3-6 7-6 (7-2)

Tatiana Poutchek def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 6-0 7-6 (8-6)

Yanina Wickmayer def. Youlia Fedossova, 6-1 6-4

Aiko Nakamura def. Tzipora Obziler, 7-5 6-3

Sorana Cirstea def. Ayumi Morita, 6-2 6-0

Melanie South def. Anna Fitzpatrick, 6-4 6-4

Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Monica Niculescu, 6-3 6-4

Bethanie Mattek def. Jarmila Gajdosova, 7-6 (7-1) 6-2

Aravane Rezai def. Amanda Elliott, 6-3 2-6 7-6 (10-8)

Ekaterina Makarova def. Elena Baltacha, 7-5 7-6 (7-1)

Angelique Kerber def. Olga Puchkova, 6-4 6-3

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Campeonatos Internacionales de Tenis Femenino de Espana (Barcelona)

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Eloisa Compostizode de Andres def. Emilie Loit, 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Varvara Lepchenko def. Rossana de los Rios, 7-5 6-2

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 6-4 6-1

Pauline Parmentier def. Sanda Mamic, 6-2 3-6 6-2

Magdalena Rybarikova def. Maria Elena Camerin, 6-1 6-2

Klara Zakopalova def. Karolina Sprem, 6-2 6-7 (3-7) 6-2

Nuria Llagostera Vives def. Shahar Peer, 7-5 6-2