#wildcardformahut and Other Animals

WILDCARD FOR MAHUT WILDCARD FOR MAHUT WILDCARD FOR MAHUT GIVE HIM A WILDCARD NOW WILDCARD FOR MAHUT. #wildcardformahut

...wow, sorry about that. I've been typing #wildcardformahut and various permutations so often for the past couple of days that it has become second nature. It takes a bit of dedication to captain a Twitter campaign to (hopefully) victory. But if anyone with the wildcarding power happens to read this - make my day! make the day of everyone else who wants a wildcard for Mahut! and, most of all, make the day of Nicolas Mahut! WILDCARD FOR MAHUT 2011. It's a thing.

Now, other business.

The Hopman Cup has finished up, with the USA very deserving winners. The John Isner/Ruben Bemelmans match was a bit of a non-event - which is not surprising, given the ranking difference - and it certainly wasn't the best mixed doubles match ever, but the match between Justine Henin and Bethanie Mattek-Sands was as good as I've ever seen.

I kind of love Bethanie Mattek-Sands. I never expected to, and I've laughed my arse off at her crazy fashion over the years, but I've discovered this week I sort of love her. I love her totally aggressive game, and her determination, and I especially love her backhand down the line. She seems pretty chilled out and yet totally focused on tennis all at the same time, and she was a really great addition to this year's Hopman Cup. If she can play in Melbourne like she did in Perth, then she can definitely get to at least the fourth round. It all depends on draw, of course, but there's no reason why she can't put up a great show.

And it was a great performance from Isner as well. He came back well from his shellacking by Murray to play very well against Bemelmans. Good stuff. Well done, USA - this was a very well-deserved win. And well done Belgium, on a well played final. And well done Hopman Cup, for bringing Nicolas Mahut into the spotlight for a week... #wildcardformahut.

Ahem. Back on track.

Petra Kvitova won in Brisbane, which was a great result for her, and she did it in style - she played an absolutely great match. Like Mattek-Sands, if she keeps her head in the game, there is no reason she can't make a tilt at a second week appearance in the Open. She totally dominated Petkovic and if she continues to play like this, well... with the state of the WTA, there is no reason why she couldn't be top ten rather quickly.

And then there was Doha. F^&* YEAH ROGER FEDERER.

It was a good win for Davydenko to beat Nadal - even an ailing Nadal - but Federer showed here today why he really is a worldbeater. He played very aggressive - and accurate - off the return, and it made a huge difference. That banana paddlepop outfit he's rocking is clearly giving him good mojo - and whatever Paul Annacone has been telling him, it's been good. I don't think there's going to be anywhere near the same amount of buzz this year about Davydenko as there was last year - which is a bit sad, in a way, because he is constantly over looked - but that doesn't mean that this wasn't an awesome win over a tough opponent for Federer. I loved every second of it. He played wonderfully. Even if he could do with upping his break point conversion rate.

And you know what else would be wonderful? AN AUSTRALIAN OPEN WILDCARD FOR MAHUT. DO IT. #wildcardformahut 2011! It's a thing.

Wildcard. Mahut. Now. DO IT.

I'm serious, Australian Open. I'm so serious I started a Twitter campaign about it. You may have noticed it. It's grown a lot pretty quickly. The hashtag is #wildcardformahut. And the aim...?

TO GET NICOLAS MAHUT A WILDCARD TO THE 2011 AUSTRALIAN OPEN.

Mahut's already been passed over by his own federation in favour of Benoit Paire (still not entirely sure who that is) so it is up to the Aussies to do right by this guy and give him a wildcard. And he deserves one - more than anyone else I can think of. Let's review:

- He flew all the way to Australia just to play the Hopman Cup.
- He did this to replace someone else, out of the goodness of his heart.
- He has been one of the crowd favourites, if not THE crowd favourite, all week.
- He beat Potito Starace, who is ranked nearly a hundred places above him, in very handy straight sets.
- He gave Andy Murray a very big scare.
- He is a wonderful player to watch - and people WANT to watch him.
- He is all aggression and French flair and dynamic tennis - he plays tennis in the spirit of the game, so to speak.
- He has been inside the top hundred and has the talent, game and desire to get there again - which would be helped by a wildcard.
- He played the longest match ever last year, so it's not like he's some nobody that isn't any kind of drawcard.
- He got absolutely shafted by the US Open last year.
- He got shafted by his own federation, who wildcarded someone else.
- He wore a dress in the mixed doubles at Hopman Cup. Seriously, enough said.
- About a bazillion people want him to get a wildcard (seriously, check Twitter. It's a LOT of people.)
- HE IS AWESOME.

I would write a longer list, but it is two thirty in the morning and even those of us righteously campaigning for the Mahuts of the world to get wildcards need sleep. But please, Australian Open, do right by this guy. He has got the rough end of the stick so many times, and you are in a position to be benevolent. Give Mahut a wildcard. He's not going to win the tournament, but he will play some very stylish, watchable tennis - and people will watch it. They will WANT to watch it. Because Nicolas Mahut is seven kinds of awesome.

The First Awesome Thing To Happen in Australian Sport This Year

I've been focusing on Hopman Cup all week, but let's talk a little about Brisbane. In particular, let's yell out F%^& YEAH MATT EBDEN YOU ARE AWESOME.

Ebden is ranked at about #172, and he took out Denis Istomin, ranked over 130 places higher, at the Brisbane International. He did this by simply playing awesome tennis. Sure, he had a double break in each set and could have won by even more than he did, but at the end of the day, HE WON, and that is an absolutely outstanding achievement.

Ebden is probably my favourite of the young Australians we have hanging around. I really enjoy his game, and although at 23 he might be classified as a late bloomer, it is very obvious that he has talent. If he continues to play like he did against Istomin, then I see no reason why he can't break into the top hundred this year.

He has absolutely nothing to lose against Robin Soderling in his match, so I hope he comes out swinging. I don't think he's quite up to beating-a-member-of-the-top-five level, but I'd really like to see him make a good account of himself. He certainly has the ability to do so!

Over at the Hopman Cup, the Ivanovic/Henin match is one of the best women's matches I have seen in a long time. The commentators have been talking like Ivanovic is 'back' - I think she still has a ways to go before we can say that, but playing in a match like this certainly didn't hurt. But this isn't the Ivanovic story, even though she did play a good match which must be hope-inspiring for her.

It's all about Henin. And if she keeps playing like this... hello, leading contender for the Australian Open.

There is absolutely no reason why Henin cannot win the Open, particularly in the absence of Serena. I know she's been fairly pessimistic about her chances what with coming back after such a long lay off, but if she continues as she has begun at the Hopman Cup, then she has every chance in the world. She wasn't misfiring off any wing, and while her backhand is often lauded as a thing of art, I was in awe of her volleys. Seriously, she has MAD SKILLZ at the net.

Belgium are out of the Hopman Cup after Bemelmans lost to Djokovic (AO organisers, if you find another wildcard under your sofa after you give one to Nicolas Mahut, you could do worse than give it to Ruben Bemelmans), but Henin went undefeated all week and played - well, I can't overstate how impressed I was. Watch out for JuJu in Australia. She could do something incredible.

Give Nicolas Mahut An Australian Open Wildcard. Now.

Seriously, where has Nicolas Mahut been all my life? Even when he loses, he does it very stylishly. And I love a dude with a sense of humour.

Please, Australian Open, if you have a spare wildcard lying around - maybe you left one under the sofa or something - give it to Nicolas Mahut. This dude gets so ripped off all the time, and he plays such awesome tennis. He has MAD SKILLZ. Come on, he's all famous now, after the whole Wimbledon shenanigan. He got shafted by his own federation, who gave the French wildcard to Benoit 'who?' Paire. Have some mercy. Support Nico.

He pushed Andy Murray all the way in the match in Perth tonight. I doubt Andy Murray knew what hit him at some points, to be honest. I know Nicolas is a grass court specialist, but he has some skillz on the hard courts too. He has a good tennis brain, some skillful shots and French flair, which is a wonderful combination - to watch, even if he doesn't always pull it off.

Nico isn't exactly up and coming. He's not the next big thing, he's never going to be in the top ten, he's not going to win a Slam. But he's exactly the kind of player that people like to watch. He has shots and style and he deserves to catch a break. Seriously, he has such extreme bad luck it is not fair. That Wimbledon match? Just the tip of the iceberg.

I meant to actually talk about the match a bit, instead of writing a plea for wildcardishness. Oops. Let's do that now. Whoever thought it would take Andy Murray two tiebreakers to see away Nico? And this match so easily could have gone to three sets... if Nico hadn't missed that shot at 5-all in the breaker in the second set I think it just might have. It was a very close match, and Nico deserved a set... but such is tennis, I suppose.

Watching him play, it makes you wonder how he is not ranked higher. Sure, he is a bit sketchy and has a few problems with execution sometimes, but he has got shots. And his first serve is right up there. There are plenty of players who don't have a serve as good as his. And if you want to know reliable it is, ask John Isner.

I'm glad that Mahut got the chance to play in the Hopman Cup. He is a wonderful character. And I love to watch him play, and I hope I'm not the only one. WILDCARD FOR MAHUT 2011. Spread the word.

Second Year Blues

Oh, glorious nation of Kazakhstan, you are making me a bit sad. After your awesomeness last year, you have had some second year blues.

First, we lost Shvedova. She is injured, which maketh me sad, and I hope she gets well soon, because I like her style. She's been replaced by Sesil Karantcheva, who had about four seconds to get acclimatised, and who had to play Justine Henin the second she got off the plane. Unsurprisingly, she lost in straight sets - though she did make a good show of it.

And then Andrey Golubev - my beloved Andrey Golubev! - went and lost to Ruben Bemelmans.

Now, I am very fond of Bemelmans. I wrote a post a few days ago which was all about how much I love him. But Andrey! my Andrey! whom I have adored for this one year past! This was not a good result for him.

This was the match in his group that you would expect him to win. I expected him to put up a good fight against Djokovic, but to lose eventually. I think he has a solid chance against Hewitt. But I expected him to beat Bemelmans. I expected him to do that.

Now, this is a great result for Bemelmans, who is definitely going into my stable of future stars, and on that count, I am very pleased that he just claimed a top thirty scalp when he is ranked so much lower. But did it have to be my beloved Andrey?

Oh yeah, and Serbia totally hammered Australia. The Hewitt/Djokovic match was a lot more competitive than I thought it would be, but it was still straight sets. But it was eminently watchable. Molik/Ivanovic...? not so much.

Isnut: The Rematch

Well, we needed to have a dooozy of a match, and Mladenovic and Mattek-Sands certainly gave us that. Sure, Mladenovic faded and faded badly towards the end, but this was a match and a half. Is there any better type of tennis than pure aggression meeting pure aggression?

Anyway, I didn't see all of this match, so I don't want to go into it in detail, but this was a quality win for Mattek-Sands. And I also want to see more of Mladenovic in the future. She's a bit cool.

But the real story of the day was always going to be John Isner and Nicolas Mahut: redux.

It was always going to be Isner's match. If these two play off grass, being Mahut's favourite surface, then it is always going to be Isner's match, unless Isner has somehow been handicapped. But that did not mean it was not a little special to see this match - to see the power and wingspan of Isner go head to head with the Gallic flair of Mahut. And with all that history between them... how could that not be special?

I am glad to see these two are such good friends, because honestly, I would not be surprised if they were so totally sick of each other they just wanted to punch themselves whenever someone asked them about that match. In a year where Rafa Nadal achieved a career Slam and essentially made the sport of tennis his bitch, this match still managed to be one of the biggest (if not the biggest) tennis story of the year... and if I were Isner and Mahut, I would want to be over it already. Particularly if I were Isner, with designs on the top ten and second week runs at Slams. I would not want my greatest achievement to be a first round Wimbledon match. Both Isner and Mahut are more than that match.

But that does not mean it is not a bit special to see these two men, who are inexorably linked, play. Even if we are never going to see 70-68 again. And thank you, Hopman Cup, for getting THE REMATCH over and done with in a relatively safe environment, outside the pressure cooker of the tour (or worse, the Slams)!

25 Things I Love About Andrey Golubev

So he didn't beat Novak Djokovic (though he did take a set off him!) Sure, he went off the boil pretty badly there. But I still think Andrey Golubev is the knees of the bees, and he is going to grow up SO AWESOME.

Anyone who follows me on Twitter will have seen this list last night, when I live-tweeted the Djokovic/Golubev match. But I think it's a pretty good list (even if some of it is obviously live-blogged and will have no relevance to someone who didn't see the match!) and so here it is in it's entirety.

25 Things I Love About Andrey Golubev from the Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

1. He doesn't mess around with his serve. Quick and dirty. No epic time wasting.
2. He didn't just hit two double faults in a tow.
3. He always tries to make his opponent play an extra shot. Good tennis brain.
4. He has a very stylish serve-forehand one-two punch. Mmm-mmm. Delish.
5. That backhand up the line he just hit. Sexy, sexy shot.
6. SINGLE. HANDED. BACKHAND.
7. The angles he is getting, particularly on the backhand side. UNF.
8. He is delightfully red-headed.
9. That forehand down the line just then was smokin'. UNF UNF.
10. His aggression, even when it doesn't quite work out.
11. The dude can VOLLEY. Seriously.
12. He is annoying the f%^& out of Bert the Unshaven right now.
13. HE JUST BROKE DJOKOVIC. HELLS TO THE YEAH.
14. Clutch first serve. Not all the time, but it's getting there.
15. Right after losing that game, he's straight back on the aggressive horse.
16. FIRST SET BITCHES! HELL YEAH!
17. He's not afraid to hit the ball, even after some demoralising shanks.
18. He freaking GOES FOR IT on the return.
19. He has the ability to dig himself out of a hole.
20. Even if he is losing this set pretty badly, he has some mad HawkEye skillz.
21. That hectic service break he just made. Even if he loses the set, that rocked.
22. He gives credit where credit is due (i.e. he applauds his opponents).
23. He's not afraid to come to the net.
24. He has mad skillz on the return. Always gives his opponent a good ball.
25. He might have lost, but DAMN, can he play.

So there it is - some of the many things I love about Andrey Golubev. What he does need is a little discipline and a little consistency - he's a bit fragile mentally - but he has no real weaknesses and when he is playing well, he is well nigh unstoppable. I talked about Ruben Bemelmans being this year's Golubev yesterday. I think Golubev might like to be this year's Golubev - thank you very much!

A Love Song To Young Ruben Bemelmans

I'm back! And there's tennis! And it's exciting! Time for exclamation marks!

I could talk about Abu Dhabi, but I didn't actually see it, so well done Rafa, well done Roger, keep it up. Here endeth my Abu Dhabi coverage.

But it's Hopman Cup time, and we are opening the year today with a fresh new star. This is my love song to young Ruben Bemelmans.

I always seem to discover an awesome young star at the Hopman Cup, and this year one has been thrown up in the first day. This year's Andrey Golubev is (well, apart from Golubev himself, who is also in this tournament) is Ruben Bemelmans. Sure, he didn't win his singles match yesterday, and he had a bit of a choke in the mixed doubles, but this boy is quivering with talent.

You heard it here. Ruben Bemelmans is going to grow up AWESOME.

He is hyper aggressive, which means that when he is good he is very very good (and when he is bad he is horrid, but a little experience and discipline should give him some consistency). He goes for the lines and he hits them a reasonable percentage of the time. I really like his volleys. He is a lefty so he gets some crazy angles, and his general game plan is good. All that is letting him down is execution.

He is the type of player who could catch alight and go on an absolute tear, and even though he didn't beat Lleyton today, look for him to give Djokovic a bit of a scare and do the same to Andrey Golubev (even though, as we know, Golubev is pure unadulterated awesome). Keep an eye on him this year. He is going to gain at least a hundred places this year, if not more. And in a couple of years... look for this guy in the top twenty, if not the top ten. He has so much talent he just doesn't know what to do with it.

And another person to keep an eye on, albeit for a different reason - Justine Henin. She seems a little pessimistic about her elbow, and she was a little loose against Molik today, even though she put together a very tidy win, but I was very impressed with her, in the mixed doubles in particular. If that injury doesn't get her too far down, she could put together a massive Aussie Open campaign.

Oh, and even though this is a love song to Belgium, Australia did actually win this tie. Well done. And stuff.

Advent

Hola, my reader friends! As you know, December is a bit of a quiet month in the tennis world - but the December Showdown starts today, and our coverage of it will start tomorrow. Well, when I say 'coverage', I mean, 'me talking about matches I didn't actually see', but I'm sure we can make something out of that.

So yes. This is going to be a short one today, due to lack of content.

But a few quick words on the Hopman Cup - a few months ago, they had such a sweet line up, and now they're dropping like flies. First we lost Serena, who's been replaced by Bethanie Mattek-Sands; then Steve Darcis, who has been replaced by Ruben Bemelmans (he who played Lleyton pretty tight in Davis Cup); and now Gael Monfils has got all injured.

I heartily approve of his replacement, though. Nicolas Mahut and Kristina Mladenovic might not stand a great chance of taking the trophy, but any man who can play a 70-68 fifth set is all right by me. I wonder if Nico has a hair gel endorsement yet...

Andrey Time

It's time to talk about Andrey. And by talk, I mean gush.

I told you this kid was awesome! I told you that he was on the way up! And I was right!

Is this an upset of Soderling I see before me, belonging to Andrey? Why yes, it is. The Golubev freight train is picking up steam and it is powering onwards and upwards. Not only has he upset Soderling in convincing straights, but now Ferrer? Kid just doesn't know his place, and I love it.

The first time I ever really watched Golubev play, I was on a plane from Melbourne to Perth. I was flying there for a couple of days of the Hopman Cup, and I was watching one of the night ties on that little plane TV. It was Russia vs Kazakhstan, and Igor Andreev was taking on some kid called Andrey Golubev. Who is this kid?

I found out soon enough, when Golubev prevented Andreev from hitting a single winner for a set and a half. He was a demolition machine that week - that kid is something else. The Hopman Cup is a good place to capture the much-coveted attention of Jodi, and he did it in spades.

It could have just been a good week. But no, ever since he won his first title a couple of months ago, Andrey has been 100% solid awesome. He's improved his ranking by about 70 places since the beginning of the year, and now he's in the finals of Kuala Lumpur, it's only going to go up.

And trust me, if the kid can beat Soderling and Ferrer back to back, he can totally take Youzhny. Watch out, Headbanger!

Frankie, the Potato, and the Glorious Kazakhs

I could talk about the tennis going on in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok and Beijing and whatnot...

...or I could talk about my favourite tournament of the year, and how awesome it's going to be next year.

That's right. More teams have been announced for the Hopman Cup!

Lleyton Hewitt's partner has been announced - it's Alicia Molik. This isn't exactly awe-inspiring stuff - when Australia managed to pull Stosur last year, that was a bit more of a coup - but Molik is likeable enough, so it should be fun. There's no way Australia's getting to the final, of course, but meh, whatevs. It's all about the exciting international teams anyways.

Speaking of which - Italy! yay! We have Potito 'I have an awesome name that only Jack Sock can rival' Starace paired up with Francesca Schiavone - man, is the women's draw going to be awesome at Hopman '11 or what? We have Serena, Juju, Frankie... pure awesomeness. The Italian team has the possibility of doing what Spain did this year, I think - a relatively underwhelming team on the surface that can totally kill the flashy teams with the big names. I would not be at all surprised to see Frankie and the Potato win the thing. It would be awesome.

But you know who I want to win? Kazakhstan.

That's right - Slava Shvedova and my beloved cutie-patootie Andrey Golubev are back for another year, and some arses are going to be kicked. They very-nearly-almost made the final this year - can they go all the way this time? I wouldn't be ruling them out... as Switzerland can well tell you, you can never count Kazakhstan out...

Hurrah for the Hopman Cup!

As regular readers of this blog will be aware, I embarked on an epic tennis adventure around the nation last year, stopping in at four cities. One of these was Perth, where I paid my first ever visit to Western Australia and the Hopman Cup.

Now, even though I had an absolute blast last year, I was tossing up whether to go to Perth again this year, because when you live in a country as big as Australia, flights clear across the country are expensive. It's like a punch directly to the wallet. But with the announcement of some of the teams, I think my decision's been made for me. I couldn't not go.

John Isner and Serena Williams are the American entry, and they have to be the top seeds for sure. Big Is played there last year (opposite tiny Melanie Oudin) and I think Perth will be very glad to see him back! And Serena, well… pulling a #1 player is a huge coup for an exhibition tournament like Hopman Cup! I'm assuming they pay appearance fees and that their bucket of money is very deep indeed, because they've also got Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic. (I know Ana's ranking is not that high, but I still think she could demand big time fees!)

Oh, and Justine Henin, partnered with Steve Darcis. Minor coup. Pfft.

And then there's the French team! Gael Monfils is going to be very entertaining, and I'm really looking forward to seeing his partner, Kristina Mladenovic, one of the top juniors in the world. And Lleyton Hewitt is back (again), with a yet to be decided partner.

It would be pretty hard to dream up an exho field better than this! This has the two finalists from this year's AO and I for one am gagging to see them play. Perth 2011, here I come!

Viva Voce Victor

Man, I bet Victor Hanescu really appreciated his draw in Monte Carlo. About a day after he got beaten down in the final of Casablanca, he finds himself jetlagged in Monte Carlo... having to face the same dude that beat him down.

I mean, there's an argument, I suppose, that it gave him an immediate chance to wreak revenge. Unfortunately, it didn't work out quite that way and he got beaten down just the same. Stan did not budge an inch, and Hanescu was just as incapable of finding a way around him as he was in Casablanca.

This is largely due to the fact that Stan is awesome, especially on the dirt - just as we have discussed in the last couple of days. However, I can't feel that Hanescu, while he is a very good player, really needs to add something to his game if he's going to progress any further.

I had the opportunity to watch Hanescu play quite a few times on my Epic Tennis Adventure in January. He was injured a bit, so it's probably unfair to base a lot on what I saw, but he played a bit like a poor man's Isner, and when the real Isner was playing (as in Hopman Cup, where I saw Hanescu first) that doesn't do too much. And then I saw him play - and get absolutely demolished - by Federer in the second round in Australia.

I'm inclined to think that Hanescu needs to grow mentally before he can improve his game. Every time I saw him play, there seemed to be a point where he almost threw in the towel - even when that point was a third set breaker, as against Hewitt in the Hopman Cup. Now, I haven't exactly made a study of him over the years, but it's something to keep on. What goes on in the mind of Victor Hanescu?

Jodi's Epic Tennis Adventure 1.3 - Back to the Future

Little Laura Robson is a revelation. Well, I say little - she's probably got a good half a foot on me, if not more. But she is just fifteen, and I find that unbelievable. Instead of whinging about high school, gazing at posters of boys and singing that annoying Taylor Swift song about being fifteen, she is travelling around the world playing tennis.

And she is damn good.

I was lucky enough to be there to see her play Elena Dementieva on Friday at the Hopman Cup after a lovely second night in Perth, and although the second set was a bit of a Dementieva 'no, this is how you hit groundies' clinic, in the first set, Robson seriously troubled her. She managed to break her twice - Dementieva doesn't have the bestest serve ever or anything, but she's #5 in the world, and Robson is fifteen. Fif-frigging-teen.

And then yesterday she beat Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, a match which I didn't see, but which I wish I had. She is going to be epically awesome in a few years. Just you wait.

But back to my day there. I was on the other side of the court this time (non-umpire side) in the lower deck and I had a great view. It was really interesting to analyse the way the Dementieva and Robson games matched up, because Robson is going to grow into a similar player, I think. They're both heavy groundstrokers - Elena has the experience that comes with age and practice and stuff, but Laura (fifteen! fifteen!) definitely held her own. Where I really noticed the difference is where their shots landed in the box. Dementieva hits very deep, and although Robson was clearly trying, some of her shots were more in the service line area, particularly if she was on the defensive. But she has time to work on this. On account of she is fifteen.

Murray was totally clinical in his dismantling of Igor Andreev and it was excellent to watch, even though Andreev is clearly not in form and not looking at all threatening for the Australian Open. (Meanwhile, Muzz, losing to Robredo? WTF?) But the real match of the day was the mixed doubles. I wish there was more of this played, because it is SUCH a good spectator sport. Murray was quite paternalistic towards Robson at the beginning, trying to do everything himself, but she soon proved she was quite capable and he let her alone, to his credit. Robson held her own in forehand rallies with Andreev admirably, and Dementieva's hands at the net were great, and... yeah, this was a really good match.

That said, I kind of wish the Brits had lost, because I would have loved to have seen the scheduled Kazakhstan/Germany match, mostly because of my newfound love for Andrey Golubev. And also because it would have delayed my trip to the airport, where I had to spend a very long time before my plane to Brisbane left. And let me tell you, Perth airport is not an especially interesting place.

All in all, I loved my time in Perth - even the time I spent sitting next to a guy who kept persisting in trying to explain things like let rules to me even though I had already said I was a tennis blogger and that I knew all the rules, thank you very much. (A classic mansplainer - spew.) It's sometimes hard to watch tennis when people around you are talking about tennis to each other, pretending they know what they talk about when they obviously don't.

But there is nothing like watching real live tennis. Nothing at all.

I don't know if I will go back to the Hopman Cup next year - Perth is a long, long way away from everywhere, and is pretty expensive. However, the year after, I am so there. I want to see it in the new stadium!

Jodi's Epic Tennis Adventure 1.2 - Eating Humble Paella

One of the problems with Australian tennis - I think, anyway - is our overweening sense of domination, even though we pretty much suck at it currently. It's been clear for a number of years that Lleyton Hewitt is not going to win another Grand Slam, and yet the question asked every time a Slam rolls around is 'what are Hewitt's chances?' No one ever seems to answer 'tiny' despite huge amounts of evidence (and precedent) in that area.

I don't mean to pay out Hewitt here - this is more a comment on the Australian perception of sport. We as a nation are used to being good at sport. Australia is one of the jocks of the world, used to beating up other countries and stuffing them in lockers on the sporting field. But I think the heart of this lies in the fact that Australia is very good at team sports. When it comes to individual sports... not so much. Not at the moment in tennis, anyway. But no one seems to realise this...

...which is why people get so damn cocky about the Hopman Cup every year, and get all disappointed when we don't win. It's 'Australia's Hopman Cup Shame', as I saw one headline read. To be fair, this year we did have a good team who had a good shot, but most years we don't have a prayer and no one seems to realise.

As a fan of tennis the sport, watching as a fan of tennis the sport and not necessarily of Australia, it is supremely uncomfortable to hear the stuff coming out of people's mouths when Australia is not doing well. I noticed this particularly during Samantha Stosur's match against Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. I really enjoyed the match - Stosur didn't play particularly well once MJMS started to read her kicker, but MJMS had a beautiful game and I loved watching her play.

The people around me? Not so much. There was one woman behind me who was convinced that MJMS was somehow cheating and that Stosur should get three goes on serve instead of two because of it. I'm not quite sure exactly how she thought MJMS was cheating, but there you go. Amusingly, she also thought faults were called fouls, so I'm not sure her grip on the rules was too good. Another one labelled MJMS 'grunty' and would oink like a pig every time she got up to serve. (FYI, MJMS does grunt a bit, but I didn't even notice until this woman pointed it out - I think it was only noticeable because Stosur is completely silent. She's certainly no Michelle Larcher de Brito). Sport is pretty much a universal religion in Australia and it made me sad to see that appreciation of good play gave way to sledging and hyper-nationalism. Apparently it can only be good play if it is Australian play.

Look at me, sounding all miserable. I cannot tell you what a good time I had, this first day at the Burswood Dome. The majority of the crowds were not dickheads like those mentioned above and there is, quite simply, nothing quite like watching tennis live. I was viewing the court from above on a diagonal, which was not the best angle, but it was interesting watching tennis from a different perspective.

I also have a newfound respect for Tommy Robredo. This has been compounded by his victory over Andy Murray in the final of the Hopman Cup - I confess I wanted Murray to win so Robson could have her diamond ball, but this was an awesome match for Tommy. I saw him play Hewitt on this Thursday, and one thing you realise in real life that you never quite see on television is how fast he is. Robredo and Hewitt actually have quite similar games. Robredo probably hits the ball a little harder, but they both have great wheels and are dogged, chasing down anything they can find. The scoreline was relatively one-sided, but it was actually a great match, with lots of long points. Even if I wanted to turn around and smack the bogan Lleyton supporters behind me. (Not that all Lleyton supporters are bogan. But these ones, well...)

As a venue, the Burswood Dome is probably not ideal for tennis, but it's certainly unique. I love the ceiling, high and arching, and the fact that it is temperature controlled is excellent, because Perth is very, very hot! And Burswood is not out in the sticks (which, I confess, I thought it was) - it was one short train ride from the city of Perth where I was staying. I fell in love with Perth while I was there and am dying to go back one day. It has to be one of the world's most isolated cities, but it is beautiful. It seems very relaxed and laidback and chilled out... probably something to do with the fact that it is three hours behind the rest of the country and so any news that reaches it is inevitably old. But it is sunny and gorgeous and would be a lovely place to live and has an excellent public transport system and stuff.

But back to the Dome itself. It exists in this strange place between stadium and showcourt. During points, it feels like a stadium. However, when it's a sitdown and play is not in progress, you can actually walk right up to the edge of the plexicushion. There are security guards, but effectively you can be one, two metres away from the players as they have their sitdown. It has this wonderful intimacy but also this feeling that it has been haphazardly thrown together - Court 1 is separated from the central court by a big curtain. It is also really, really hard to get from one side of the stadium to the other. If you come in the wrong door (which I did on this Thursday, not knowing the venue at all) the only way you can get to your seat on the other side of the court is to go through a tunnel. However, this is also the same tunnel that the players use when walking about, so whenever they're coming, they close the tunnel off. Which means you can be stuck for up to about twenty minutes, which is kind of a pain.

The Hopman Cup is going to be at Burswood again next year, but the year after, I understand that they're moving to the new stadium they're building in Perth proper. Which, I noticed, happens to be across the road from my hotel. Perhaps I should book my accommodation now...?

Jodi's Epic Tennis Adventure 1.1 - Golubev Flying High

Well, I am back from the first leg of my epic tennis adventure! Hence the no blogging for a few days - I've been busy watching tennis instead of writing about it. But I am back now to tell you all about it - for oh! what adventures I have had!

Wednesday night, I left work early to catch a plane to Perth. This is no mean feat, because I live in Canberra, which is pretty much as far away from Perth as you can get. Australia is a very big place and crossing the country is no small thing. But there is very little I will not do in pursuit of tennis, and so eight hours in transit it was, starting with a Canberra to Melbourne leg, waiting around for a bit, and then settling in for the Melbourne to Perth journey.

This is a four and a half hour plane trip, so it had the potential to be very dull. I had a trashy book with me all ready to wile away the lonely hours, but a fortuitous flick through the satellite channels on board led to a wonderful discovery - coverage of the Hopman Cup tie between Russia and Kazakhstan. More particularly, this meant coverage of the match between Andrey Golubev and Igor Andreev.

Andrey, Andrey, where have you been all my life?

I don't know if Golubev is one of those players who just comes alight when representing his country or whether something has clicked for him and he has suddenly become awesome. But that's what he was - on fire and completely, utterly awesome. And it wasn't just this match against Andreev, though he had him tied up in all sorts of knots: can you believe that Andreev struck only three forehand winners for the match, and that he didn't have a single winner - NOT ONE - until about halfway through the second set? Incredible. I had the opportunity to see Golubev play in the flesh on Friday - I caught the second set of his match against Philipp Kohlschreiber on Court 1 under the Burswood Dome - and this doesn't look like a one match fluke. If he can consistently play at this level, look for him to make an excellent run in Australia. His performance completely belied his ranking (#133, fyi.)

Let me expound. This dude dominated Igor 'forehand' Andreev from the baseline. He went backhand to backhand with Philipp 'backhand' Kohlschreiber and came out ahead. And he came into net and demonstrated some incredible volleying skills, both in the singles and particularly the doubles. And I'm not just talking one or two sweet shots. I mean shots so good they were freaking terrifying (and can make a cross-country flight seem as short as anything).

His problem in the past has to have been mental and it has to have had to do with consistency. I have never seen him play before so I don't know for sure, but if he had been playing like this in the past, I would have heard about it. So consistency it was. He was very nervous in his first match against Andy Murray and rolled over pretty easily, but to smack down both Kohlschreiber and Andreev like that was pretty special. So if he has suddenly toughened up mentally... watch out for him. Because he will be a wrecking ball of destruction hammering right through the top fifty, mark my words.

He's twenty-two, so he might be a little old for me to adopt in my Stars of the Future fold. But I'm making him my Late Bloomer for the year. Look out for Andrey Golubev. Because you'll hear his name again. Guaranteed.

My New Homeboy

Matt Ebden is my homeboy.

I didn't know anything about him until he beat Bernard Tomic at the December Showdown this year. Then I got the inkling that he could be a bit of all right, because Tomic is a bit good. And then I followed him through qualies in Brisbane, where, among others, he beat Marinko Matosevic, one of the higher-ranked Aussie players. And I thought he was pretty good.

And then he beat Jurgen Melzer today, ranked several hundred ranking places above him. And that was made of awesome.


He served stupidly awesomely. And to pull a Chris Eaton and win a match like this is pretty awesome. Please, Australian Open, card him in. Give him that last wildcard. If nothing else, let him into qualies. Because he's a total dude.


Speaking of Australian tennis, Stosur and Hewitt managed to win their tie in the Hopman Cup today, even though they let the doubles get away from them in a bad way. It's pretty hard for them to make the final now, and frankly, they don't deserve to. If Spain don't make it, I will be very surprised indeed - they are, as I write this, one rubber up over Romania, with Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez beating Sorana Cirstea in the women's singles.


Carsten Ball is also through to the second round of Brisbane, but Nick Lindahl, Bernard Tomic and Alicia Molik are all out. Molik got absolutely crushed by Kim Clijsters - Kimmie is looking like she is in absolutely dangerous form. Here's hoping she makes the women's final...


...because guess what! I will be there!


Due to this tennis trip, posting here may be a bit scattered over the next few days, but I promise I'll update with all my news when I get back. I'm doing two days at the Hopman Cup and then the men's semis and women's final in Brisbane, and it's going to be MADE OF AWESOME. Catch you on the flip side!




Today's Results

Hopman Cup (Perth)

Australia 2, USA 1

Samantha Stosur def. Melanie Oudin, 6-2 6-4
Lleyton Hewitt def. John Isner, 6-1 7-5
Oudin/Isner def. Stosur/Hewitt, 2-6 6-1 10-4 (match tie break)



Spain 3, Romania 0


Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Sorana Cirstea, 6-4 6-4
Tommy Robredo def. Victor Hanescu, 6-3 retired
Martinez Sanchez/Robredo def. Cirstea/Hanescu, walkover



Brisbane International (Brisbane)


Men's Draw


Gael Monfils def. Taylor Dent, 7-6 (7-1) 6-7 (5-7) 6-2
Carsten Ball def. Mischa Zverev, 7-5 6-1
Matthew Ebden def. Jurgen Melzer, 7-5 6-1
Tomas Berdych def. Nick Lindahl, 6-2 6-4
Marcos Baghdatis def. Mardy Fish, 7-5 7-5
James Blake def. Sam Querrey, 4-6 6-3 6-4
Florent Serra def. Julian Reister, 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-5) 7-5
Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr def. Bernard Tomic, 6-4 6-4



Women's Draw


Kim Clijsters def. Alicia Molik, 6-0 6-3
Andrea Petkovic def. Vania King, 4-6 6-2 6-1
Melinda Czink def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 6-3 2-6 6-1
Ana Ivanovic def. Timea Bacsinszky, 6-2 2-6 6-4



Qatar ExxonMobil Open (Doha)

Roger Federer def. Christophe Rochus, 6-1 6-2
Andreas Seppi def. OScar Hernandez, 6-4 7-5
Nikolay Davydenko def. Mikhail Kukushkin, 6-2 6-0
Lukasz Kubot def. Karim Maamoun, 6-0 6-2
Steve Darcis def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-4 6-1
Younes El Aynaoui def. Ryler DeHeart, 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-4)
Rafael Nadal def. Simone Bolelli, 6-3 6-3


Chennai Open (Chennai)

Robby Ginepri def. Robin Soderling, 6-4 7-5
Lukas Lacko def. Yen-hsun Lu, 6-4 6-3
Kevin Kim def. Daniel Brands, 6-2 6-2
Dudi Sela def. Denis Istomin, 6-1 6-2
Stanislas Wawrinka def. Rohan Bopanna, 6-1 6-4
Michael Russell def. Prakash Amritraj, 6-3 6-1
Stephane Robert def. Louk Sorenson, 6-2 6-1
Michael Berrer def. Santiago Ventura, 6-3 6-2
Robin Haase def. Tsung-hua Yang, 6-4 6-3
Somdev Devvarman def. Rainer Schuettler, 7-5 6-2
Marcel Granollers def. James Ward, 5-7 6-2 6-2


ASB Classic (Auckland)


Carla Suarez Navarro def. Edina Gallovits, 6-4 7-5
Francesca Schiavone def. Stephanie Cohen-Aloro, 6-2 6-3
Sania Mirza def. Stefanie Voegele, 5-7 6-1 7-5
Alize Cornet def. Marina Erakovic, 6-4 6-3
Elena Vesnina def. Alberta Brianti, 6-1 6-4
Virginie Razzano def. Monica Niculescu, 7-5 6-4
Ioana Raluca Olaru def. Elena Baltacha, 6-2 6-2
Shahar Peer def. Polona Hercog, 7-5 6-3
Maria Kirilenko def. Tatjana Malek, 6-2 6-3
Kaia Kanepi def. Na Li, 6-1 6-3

Kind of Loving Tommy

Tommy Robredo is one of those players that I have, without meaning to, somehow conspired to see play a lot. He's not up there on my favourites list or anything, but somehow I always manage to catch a bunch of his matches. And I kind of love him now - a love born of familiarity more than anything else, because I doubt he'd stand out to me otherwise. He's not spectacularly interesting or anything.

But. Yes, I have just been all like, 'I love you, Tommy, but hot damn you are boring,' but when I saw him play John Isner at the Hopman Cup yesterday, I realised there was a reason I kind of loved him, and it's his speed. The way he can run down balls is pretty awesome to watch. They actually did a bit of stats thing on the TV where they showed how often Isner was hitting the ball to Robredo's backhand - something like 71% of the time. However, despite the speed of the Isner groundies, Robredo was running round most of them to hit forehands. Because he could.

And his passing shots! Oh, his passing shots! There is something in the Spanish air which predisposes the Spaniards to hitting beautiful passing shots, and Robredo is no exception. The best tribute I can pay them is silence.

The Isner/Robredo match was a seriously good match. It went 7-6 in the third, with Robredo coming out on top, but it was a titanic struggle - and it looked like it was going to be all Isner until one moment midway through the second set. Robredo had struggled mightily to get it to 30-all on Isner's serve, and then he hit an absolutely inspired forehand to bring up break point. He went on to break Isner - the only break of serve in the match - and run off with the set. And even though the third set went deep, you kind of had the feeling Robredo was going to win.

Spain won the tie 3-0, cleaning up in the women's singles and the mixed as well, and they surely must be favourites to win the group now. Another failed year at Hopman Cup for Australia.

Over in Brisbane, there were quality wins for Alicia Molik and Matt Ebden, which surely must turn Tennis Australia's collective frown upside down. Good stuff.


Today's Results

Hopman Cup (Perth)

Spain 3, USA 0

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Melanie Oudin, 6-4 6-4
Tommy Robredo def. John Isner, 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-4)
Martinez Sanchez/Robredo def. Oudin/Isner, 6-4 7-5


Brisbane International (Brisbane)

Women's Draw

Kim Clijsters def. Tathiana Garbin, 6-2 6-1
Alicia Molik def. Ekaterina Makarova, 6-4 1-6 6-4
Vania King def. Sybille Bammer, 6-4 6-1
Andrea Petkovic def. Iveta Benesova, 6-7 (6-8) 6-2 6-1
Melinda Czink def. Lucie Hradecka, 6-4 3-6 6-3
Barbora Zahlavova Strycova def. Olga Govortsova, 6-4 6-1

Not Exactly Auspicious

So not exactly an auspicious start for the Australian Hopman Cup team. It was sort of equally their fault - Sam Stosur really should have won that singles match, and Lleyton Hewitt is potentially the worst doubles player in the entire universe. It was not a great performance, on the whole.

That said, you have to applaud the Romanians - especially Sorana Cirstea. She looked down and out after the first set against Stosur - she had no idea what was going on with the kick serve or anything, and Stosur was groundy-ing her off the court. But then... she worked it out. Once she started teeing off on those kick serves - Stosur's secret weapon - you knew it was going to be difficult for Stosur. Those huge crosscourt backhands that she brought to play were excellent, and I have never seen anyone able to pick that serve like that. It was awesome.

You know what else was awesome? The Hewitt/Hanescu match. I've never really seen Hanescu play before, but he's quite interesting to watch - a player in the mould of Juan Martin del Potro, though he's obviously not quite as good at it as Juan M is. I'm always amazed when I see those big dudes get down to volleys, but a huge percentage of them seem to be serve and volleyers, and Hanescu had good hands at the net.

But I really can't help myself liking Lleyton Hewitt when he's on the court, and he really owned this one. The third set was really tight, and he fired himself up when it counted. Sure, he might have been assisted by the fact that Hanescu looked like he was having mobility problems, but he stuck it out.

However, in the little I saw of the doubles... Hewitt was not so good, to put it mildly. Sam Stosur is one of the best doubles players in the world and he was running in front of her, behind her, pinching all her balls, trying to cover the whole court himself. I would have been very annoyed with him if I were Stosur. Not cool.

So not an auspicious start for Australia. It was, however, an auspicious start for Sorana Cirstea, who really served notice - and also for Rafa Nadal, who overcame his foe Robin Soderling in Abu Dhabi. Sure, the match means effectively nothing, but I'll bet Rafa's glad to have that victory, nonetheless.


Today's Results

Hopman Cup (Perth)

Romania 2, Australia 1

Sorana Cirstea def. Samantha Stosur, 3-6 6-4 6-3
Lleyton Hewitt def. Victor Hanescu, 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-2)
Cirstea/Hanescu def. Stosur/Hewitt, 7-5 6-1

All Is Quiet On New Year's Day

So my beloved Roger Federer started off the year with an exo loss to Robin Soderling, but I don't think it's anything to be especially worried about it. I didn't see the match, but when Federer serves and volleys five times in a row, you know he's just experimenting and making stuff up. Besides, perhaps this will negate the whole, 'no one beats Robin Soderling [insert number here] times in a row' curse which has been hanging about since the French Open. All in all, I'm not concerned.

And it gives us the opportunity to see a match up between Soderling and Nadal, which I am sure will be extremely highly anticipated. After losing to him in Roland Garros and then again at the year ending championships, I'm sure Rafa will be raring for revenge. He defeated David Ferrer who, while he is a good player, isn't exactly the Yoker. This will be a very good match.

But the tennis event for me has to be the first round of the Hopman Cup, which starts today - and about time too! Australia is playing Romania, which means Sam Stosur will be lining up alongside Sorana Cirstea and Lleyton Hewitt will be facing Victor Hanescu.

Hewitt and Hanescu will be a good match - I like Hewitt to win, I think, but Hanescu might give him a run for his money - but I'm really looking forward to Stosur and Cirstea. I'm a big fan of Stosur, and Cirstea really is one of the players that I think is going to be huge in a year or two. There's a massive crop of youngsters coming up from Romania - they're going to be an absolute powerhouse in women's tennis in the coming decade - and Cirstea is kind of the front runner of this. She's already started actualising some of her potential - she made the Roland Garros quarters last year, where she lost to, guess who? Stosur.

So I'm looking forward to seeing her play. This could be a huge year for Cirstea - and for Stosur. And also for Sabine Lisicki, who is playing for Germany, and a whole bunch of the girls playing Hopman this year. It's going to be good.