I don't think there's a whole lot more that can be said about Day 3 other than Dinara, Dinara, Dinara. What a compellingly disappointing performance. I don't know whether the break up with Zeljko has been a good thing or not, but Gaston Etlis needs to get Dinara to a sports psych, stat. I've seen a lot of tennis matches in my time - I've seen your Grosjeans and your Gasquets - and that is one of the single chokiest performances I have ever seen.
The winners: Well, Kimiko Date Krumm, obviously. When you're just about forty and playing on one leg and you beat a former world #1, you've got a little sumthin' sumthin' going on.
Other women that I thought were major winners were Maria Sharapova, who has continued her good form from Strasbourg; Justine (obviously); Anastasia Rodionova, who won her first ever Slam match, and Jarmila Groth ('cause she's Australian). However, I thought the winniest winner among the women yesterday was probably Yanina Wickmayer. She's in that year-after-the-breakthrough phase, but I think people ought to watch out for Yanina. She's got quite a nice draw and she could potentially go a long way.
Over in the boys, I thought David Ferrer and Lleyton Hewitt were probably the best performers over all. (Note: I am judging Rafa by a completely different standard. He was obviously the best player yesterday, but by his own admission, it was not his bestest match ever, even though he won comfortably.)
The losers: Dinara Safina. Obviously. She's going to plummet down the rankings Ivanovic-style here, and it's not going to be pretty. A change is clearly what she needs and she has that in the form of Gaston Etlis - I just hope it begins to pay dividends for her. And that she can fix that mess of a serve. It's crazy.
For the dudes, though we lost players like Juan Monaco and Eduardo Schwank, who are good dirtballers, disappointment of the day was clearly Sam Querrey. He really shouldn't be losing to Ginepri, and he knows it - he left Paris in a fit of pique, leaving his doubles partner in the lurch. And he quit Twitter. Not really impressed with Samurai right now.
The disappointments: I think Rafa was a little disappointed in himself, but it would be totally unfair to place him in this category, so I won't.
I do have to put Carla Suarez Navarro here, because I had hoped for a lot from her. I know she's injured so it isn't her fault, but it is disappointing. She's a lovely clay player with a beautiful backhand. Now she and Martinez Sanchez are both out, I think only Medina Garrigues is flying the flag for the Spanish ladies.
Eduardo Schwank was also disappointing. He's got some moves on clay and he went out to a dude I have never heard of (Blaz Kavcic), retiring in the fourth set when down two sets to one. Didn't see the match so I couldn't even tell you what his injury was, but this is a disappointing result for him.
The-scraped-in-by-skin-of-teeth: Why, hello, Andy Roddick. He looked very nonchalant in his five set win over Jarkko Nieminen and he came perilously close to being bundled out. He hasn't played a match on red clay all season so I'm not surprised he's rusty - and let's face it, Roland Garros is not the tournament closest to his heart. That one is coming up in a few weeks.
Horacio Zeballos, also. He only just made it through 8-6 in the fifth over some dude I have never heard of.
One to watch: Gianni Mina. He may have been routed by the raging bull yesterday, but Mina's going to grow up into something a bit cool. I would not be surprised if he surpasses his doppelganger Gael Monfils...
Afterthoughts (a.k.a therapy)
7 years ago
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