Comeback, Comedown

One of my favourite, favourite players ever - primarily due to his mad blogging skillz and the fact that he is a really funny dude - is Dmitry Tursunov.

Now, Dima's been off the scene for a while - I assume he's been injured, though I couldn't tell you exactly what the nature of that injury was. But he came back! A little while ago! He used his protected ranking to get into the main draws of Roland Garros and Wimbledon, where he recorded two first round losses - understandable, when you are on the comeback from a year or more out of the game.

But today, in Washington, Dima had a win. And that makes me very happy indeed.

And he didn't just beat some nobody or some punk kid either. It was a tight match, but Dima took out Teimuraz Gabashvili, who has played some very good Roddick-beating tennis of late. I mean, he's not exactly Federer or Nadal, but this is a really, really excellent result for Mr Tursunov. Tennis needs characters like Dima, and man is that guy a character.

Another guy who is a real character in tennis but who is playing appallingly and reaping according results is James Blake. If Dima is the good news story of Washington, Blake is the bad, because there seems to be no end to his woes. I literally cannot remember the last time he won a match - and that's saying something, because I can usually keep track of stuff like that. But Blake is in a downward spiral for sure. He lost to Ryan Sweeting, who is - correct me if I'm wrong - an American junior.

When results like this are not a one off but the norm, there is a problem ahoy, sailor.

A Speck of Nostalgia

I would like to give a shout out to my man Andrey Golubev, who won his second round match in Hamburg against Marcel Granollers in fine style. I am absolutely gagging to see this boy win a title, and if he plays the style of tennis he did at the Hopman Cup, then ain't hardly anyone gonna be able to stop him, because he is fierce (unlike whatever strange dialect I am trying to speak here). So here's hoping he can keep it together a little while longer in Hamburg.

(Mentioning Marcel Granollers, anyone remember that time he won a title, a few years back? Yeah, I hardly remember either. What happened to him? I thought he was on the up and up, but it sounds like he's just cruising along the plateau.)

Interesting match of the day, names-wise, was Jarkko Nieminen and Gilles Simon. That's a match I would sit down and watch, even though I find Simon's brand of weaponless tennis somewhere between weird and soporific. Simon is still the seed - though how he's managed to keep his rankings points up since that year he had in 2008 or whenever is beyond me - but it was Nieminen who came out on top.

Time was that would not be an early round match. But Nieminen's getting a little older, I suppose, and I don't think I would be the first to say that Simon's best year is behind him. But I kind of dig it when two veterans play each other, and this looked like a super tight match. I didn't actually see it so I can't make any, you know, informed comment (please, when do I ever?) but it makes me sort of nostalgic, I suppose...

Speaking of nostalgia, Dent vs Blake in Atlanta. Dent won. Blake is definitely on the way out. Any naysayers?

Farewelling Fabrice

If he's going to go out, he's going to do it with drama. I think everyone in the tennis world would have killed Thierry Ascione if he had managed to squeak out that match against Marat Safin. The world wants as much Marat as possible before we have to let him go.

Three match points. Three match points Marat saved in this match. Three match points between him and the end of his career. I wonder if he was tempted to choke on any of them...? I'm very glad he didn't. It means I can still believe he loves tennis, still believe that maybe there will be a Clijsters/Henin style comeback for him. I know there won't be, but a girl can dream, n'est pas?

However, Marat is not the only person we're farewelling (though not yet! NOT! YET!) Fabrice Santoro has played his last ATP level match and I think it's only fitting it was in Paris, his home country, in front of an adoring crowd. 'Twas James Blake that did the deed... seriously, it's, like, the first match he's won all year, and it has to be ending the career of someone as superb as Santoro.

Santoro never was, I think, one of the greats. He never won a Slam, or any of those major, major titles that put you in contention for Halls of Fame and general tennis immortality. He was, however, special. I don't think there's any player who was quite as unusual as him, with such a quick, quirky style of play, with such soft hands and such creativity. Every time I watched him play - he might not always have won, but still - he came up with some stuff which was really unexpected. He was a constant surprise. And he was different, and we like different here at this blog.

But now it's time to say goodbye to the little wizard. Marat Safin once said that being told he had to play Santoro was like being told he was going to die - such was Santoro's ingenuity and originality on the tennis court. Here's hoping a few kids see some tapes of Santoro and try to factor some of that quirky brilliance into their play - because the tennis world needs some magicians like Fabrice Santoro.


Today's Results

BNP Paribas Masters (Paris)

Andreas Seppi def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-3 6-3
Ivo Karlovic def. Pablo Cuevas, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4
Tomas Berdych def. Vincent Millot, 6-3 7-6 (7-4)
Lukasz Kubot def. Andreas Beck, 6-4 3-6 6-4
Viktor Troicki def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 7-6 (7-4) 3-0 retired
Albert Montanes def. Victor Hanescu, 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-3)
John Isner def. Alejandro Falla, 4-6 7-6 (12-10) 7-5
Marat Safin def. Thierry Ascione, 6-4 4-6 7-6(7-3)


Fed Cup

Italy def. USA, 4-0

Flavia Pennetta def. Alexa Glatch, 6-3 6-1
Francesca Schiavone def. Melanie Oudin, 7-6 (7-2) 6-2
Flavia Pennetta def. Melanie Oudin, 7-5 6-2
Errani/Vinci def. Huber/King, 4-6 6-3 11-9 (match tiebreak)

The Zeballos Mystery

Feddy McFeddenpants won his match in Basel overnight! Hurrah! In fine form! Hurrah! I do so love it when the R-Fed is cruising. It makes me feel like something is right with the world.

Other Basel winners include Mighty Marin Cilic and Swiss Mister Stan Wawrinka, so congratulations to both of them. I also am glad when they are winning - especially Stan, for whom times have been a little lean 0f late. Star of the Future Jeremy Chardy also won, knocking out seventh seed James Blake - and, may I ask, why is James Blake seeded? Because really, he has not done one single thing this year. One. Single. Thing. Chardy beating him was technically an upset, but I would have thought Chardy was higher in the rankings any day. Oh well. Evidentally not.

One question about Basel, though - who is this Horacio Zeballos fellow? He seems to have suddenly emerged from nowhere over the last few weeks and bam! finals in St Petersburg and assorted other results of goodness. He went out here in Basel (Richard Gasquet did the deed) but I just don't understand where he came from. Anyone got any answers for him?

Meanwhile, in Valencia, Tsonga is out injured. I'm pretty sure he was one of the contenders for the last spot in the Masters Cup, and so an injury at this stage = so not good. Other contender Fernando Verdasco has stayed alive, though, so maybe he will clinch that eighth spot. (Has Kolya officially scored that seventh spot yet? I'm not sure.)

And in the land of the women, I still don't know what exactly this Bali tournament is or what it hopes to achieve, but it seems to have a very arbitrary group of players playing there. Interesting ones, however, so I'm not complaining. Sabine Lisicki, my special favourite, took a loss (boo) but Sam Stosur had a solid win over Agnes Szavay, and that made me quite happy.


Today's Results

Valencia Open 500 (Valencia)

Gilles Simon def. Tomas Berdych. 6-4 4-6 6-3
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Gael Monfils, 6-2 7-5
Mikhail Youzhny def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-7 (3-7) 6-0 3-0 retired
Fernando Verdasco def. Oscar Hernandez, 6-1 0-1 retired
Janko Tipsarevic def. Victor Hanescu, 6-4 6-3
Feliciano Lopez def. Alberto Martin, 7-5 6-3


Davidoff Swiss Indoors Basel (Basel)

Roger Federer def. Andreas Seppi, 6-3 6-3
Radek Stepanek def. Florent Serra, 3-6 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-1)
Marin Cilic def. Philipp Petzschner, 6-4 6-4
Stanislas Wawrinka def. Ivan Ljubicic, 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-4
Jeremy Chardy def. James Blake, 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (6-8) 6-4
Richard Gasquet def. Horacio Zeballos, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4


Commonwealth Bank Trophy of Champions (Bali)

Marion Bartoli def. Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-4 6-4
Samantha Stosur def. Agnes Szavay, 6-2 3-6 6-1
Yanina Wickmayer def. Kimiko Date Krumm, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3
Aravane Rezai def. Sabine Lisicki, 1-6 6-3 6-4

Nice Guy Finishing Last

You know who lost again in Cincinatti? James Blake. And you know who's surprised? Not me. Or anybody, I would venture.

I hate to whale on James Blake, because he really is a likeable guy, and his tennis, when he plays it, can be pretty fearsome. But I just don't know what's happened to him of late. He's been out for a bit, but even before that, he wasn't racking up the wins. So what's the go? Is he injured or what?

Blake isn't a player I expect to win allllll the time - he's solid top twenty, but he ain't no Federer or Nadal or Murray. Still, I expect him to win some of the time, and he can't even manage that at the moment. I can't remember the last time he didn't lose in the first round. It's a while. And it is such a freaking shame.

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What's wrong with James, world? Is anything wrong with James? Or has he just fallen into one of those ruts that tennis players often do that precludes them from playing well for months at a time?

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Whatever it is, I hope it's not injury. That dude's had his fair share and more of injuries. The tennis gods have not smiled on him during periods in the past - and they are clearly not smiling on him now. I'm not expecting anything from him for the rest of the season - not with this kind of lead up - but I'm hoping that we see him back next year, bigger and better than before, ready to kick some butt. Because I hate it when nice guys are down in the doldrums, and James is a nice guy.

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Today's Results

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Western and Southern Financial Group Masters (Cincinatti)

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Roger Federer def. Jose Acasuso, 6-3 7-5

Andy Murray def. Nicolas Almagro, 7-6 (7-3) 6-2

Novak Djokovic def. Ivan Ljubicic, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Chris Guccione def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 7-6 (14-12) 6-2

Nikolay Davydenko def. Igor Kunitsyn, 6-2 1-6 6-3

Radek Stepanek def. Marat Safin, 4-6 6-3 6-1

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Mikhail Youzhny, 7-5 6-3

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Ivo Karlovic, 7-6 (11-9) 6-4

Julien Benneteau def. Jurgen Melzer, 6-2 3-6 6-2

Tomas Berdych def. Philipp Petzschner, 7-6 (10-8) 6-7 (7-9) 6-4

Jeremy Chardy def. John Isner, 6-7 (1-7) 6-3 4-1 retired

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Rogers Cup (Toronto)

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Aravane Rezai def. Dinara Safina, 3-6 6-2 6-4

Alisa Kleybanova def. Dominika Cibulkova, 6-1 4-6 7-6 (7-4)

Kim Clijsters def. Victoria Azarenka, 7-5 4-6 6-1

Jelena Jankovic def. Patty Schnyder, 7-5 6-4

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Agnes Szavay, 6-1 6-1

Maria Sharapova def. Sybille Bammer, 6-3 7-6 (7-5)

Vera Zvonareva def. Roberta Vinci, 6-3 6-3

Virginie Razzano def. Flavia Pennetta, 6-3 6-1

Shahar Peer def. Francesca Schiavone, 7-6 (7-2) 6-4

Elena Dementieva def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-3 6-2

Jie Zheng def. Caroline Wozniacki, 7-5 6-3

Alona Bondarenko def. Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-3 6-0

Fluke?

I know this news is a day old, but I was too preoccupied ranting about the stupid place of some tournaments in the calendar yesterday to write about it - so it's getting today's post, in lieu of a better story.

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Question: why is Gilles Simon in the top ten?

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Because I have no idea. Sure, he made a Masters Series final last year, but that alone cannot be enough to propel someone up in the upper echelons, surely? I know those points still count, but let's just take a brief look at Gilles' 2009. It started all right - he made quarters in Australia, yesno? - but after that? I can't remember him stringing more than two wins together at all. He's completely lost the plot. And it's not like he's losing to big name players, because he's not getting far enough in the tournament to meet them. When was the last time Gilles Simon played someone in the top ten? I can't remember. And it's because he's got the protection of seeding, which means he meets the lower-ranked guys... and he's losing to them.

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All credit to him for doing well last year and breaking into the top ten and making it to the Masters Cup and all, but I have no idea how he's still in the top ten. You ask me to name the major weapon of Gilles Simon and I'm going to come up blank. He plays pretty unremarkable tennis, on the whole - which makes his achievements last year all the more amazing, but it also means that they could be given the unfortunate label of fluke.

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Move over, James Blake. You're no longer the sole president of the Club of Lost Souls. Gilles is coming in as co-president and until one of you manages to dig yourselves out of your respective ruts, you're just going to have to share the job.

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Today's Results

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Catella Swedish Open (Bastad)

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Juan Monaco def. Fernando Verdasco, 6-1 3-1 retired

Robin Soderling def. Nicolas Almagro, 7-5 6-3

Tommy Robredo def. Teimuraz Gabashvili, 6-4 6-0

Andreas Vinciguerra def. Jurgen Melzer, 2-6 6-4 6-3

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Mercedes Cup (Stuttgart)

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Fabio Fognini def. Nikolay Davydenko, 6-1 3-6 7-5

Victor Hanescu def. Alexandre Sidorenko, 7-6 (7-2) 6-4

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ECM Prague Open (Prague)

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Francesca Schiavone def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 6-1 6-1

Sybille Bammer def. Lucie Hradecka, 7-5 5-7 7-5

Iveta Benesova def. Zarina Diyas, 6-4 6-1

Timea Bacsinszky def. Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-4 6-4

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Internazionali Femminili di Tennis di Palermo (Palermo)

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Flavia Pennetta def. Aravane Rezai, 6-4 6-4

Anna-Lena Groenefeld def. Patty Schnyder, 4-3 retired

Sara Errani def. Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-2 7-5

Tathiana Garbin def. Olga Govortsova, 6-2 6-1

The Wizard

There is something truly magical about watching Roger Federer play on grass that I think we lost last year when he was grinding through mono, and watching him play Rendy Lu yesterday, it was wonderful to see that he's back. David Foster Wallace described it as a religious experience, and I can see why - he practically floats on the grass. I swear he walks about two feet above it and flies.

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Hell, even when he took that fall, it was graceful.

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And how about that shot round the netpost, hmmm? That has to be one of the shots, if not the shot of the year. It was amazing.

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And because it cannot be ignored... I love the outfit. Maybe not the bag, but I dig the jacket and I love the waistcoat. I know it's not so popular, but I love it. I know Dootsiez over at All I Need Is A Picket Fence wants to see a monogrammed cape and undies worn outside shorts next year - personally, I'm gunning for a cloak. A looooooong one. Possibly lined with faux ermine. With a hood. And a wizard hat. Or possibly a crown.

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A word has to go to the man unlucky enough to face King Roger - I really like Lu Yen-hsun ("Rendy") and I'm sad he got this draw, because I mean, hello, as if I'm pulling against Roger. I really would see to like him go a few rounds at a Slam this year, because he really has a beautiful game - and he generally played calm in the big moments, which is so important. His clutch serving was great and he hit some great winners. He refused to let Federer steamroll him, and you have to give him kudos for that. Well done, Rendy.

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Someone who did get steamrolled is James Blake. Seriously, what is wrong with him? Is he injured or just a basket case? He has done nothing this year. He is not only a member of the Club of Lost Souls, he's the current president. I have no clue what the dealio is with him, and I don't think I have much patience with it, either. Spank your inner moppet and get over it, whatever it is, James.

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Over to the women, and the story of the day from my perspective had to be Jarmila Groth, who had a great win over Lucie Safarova - one of one Aussie through to the second round so far, which is good! Latest inductee to the Club of Lost Souls, however (though not up to Blake standards) is Patty Schnyder. Don't know what's up there.

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Day 2 has now started - catch you on the flip side!

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Today's Results

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The Championships (Wimbledon)

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Yen-hsun Lu, 7-5 6-3 6-2

Novak Djokovic def. Julien Benneteau, 6-7 (8-10) 7-6 (7-1) 6-2 6-4

Fernando Verdasco def. James Ward, 6-1 6-3 6-4

Robin Soderling def. Gilles Muller, 6-7 (4-7) 7-5 6-1 6-2

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Andrey Golubev, 6-3 5-7 7-5 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5)

Andreas Seppi def. James Blake, 7-5 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Kristof Vliegen def. Nicolas Mahut, 6-3 7-6 (8-6) 5-7 5-7 6-4

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Florent Serra, 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 6-4

Igor Andreev def. Evgeny Korolev, 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Dudi Sela def. Santiago Gonzalez, 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-3

Vince Spadea def. Paul Capdeville, 6-0 6-4 7-5

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Agustin Calleri, 6-2 6-3 6-2

Marin Cilic def. Alberto Martin, 6-3 6-4 6-4

Janko Tipsarevicdef. Jan Hernych, 6-4 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Stefan Koubek def. Edouard Roger-Vasselin, 7-5 6-3 4-6 3-6 6-3

Sam Querrey def. Danai Udomchoke, 6-3 6-4 6-4

Simon Greul def. Michael Yani, 6-4 6-2 7-5

Marcel Granollers def. Andreas Beck, 6-2 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-2

Steve Darcis def. Frank Dancevic, 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 6-3

Albert Montanes def. Grga Zemlja,6-4 6-4 6-4

Ivo Minar def. Maximo Gonzalez, 6-4 3-6 7-5 6-0

Nicolas Almagro def. Juan Monaco, 6-7 (3-7) 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 8-6

Tommy Robredo def. Luka Gregorc, 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 5-7 7-6 (7-3)

Mardy Fish def. Sergio Roitman, 6-3 6-2 4-1 retired

Simone Bolelli def. Daniel Koellerer, 6-7 (3-7) 2-6 7-5 6-4 6-4

Marc Gicquel def. Adrian Mannarino, 6-2 6-2 6-4

Ivo Karlovic def. Lukas Lacko, 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-3

Rainer Schuettler def. Xavier Malisse, 6-7 (9-11) 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 6-1

Karol Beck def. Feliciano Lopez, 1-6 7-5 6-3 4-6 10-8

Guillermo Canas def. Diego Junquiera, 6-1 6-2 6-2

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Women's Draw

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Serena Williams def. Neuza Silva, 6-1 7-5

Mathilde Johansson def. Melanie South, 7-5 7-6 (7-5)

Maria Sharapova def. Viktoriya Kutuzova, 7-5 6-4

Elena Dementieva def. Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-4 6-1

Daniela Hantuchova def. Laura Robson, 3-6 6-4 6-2

Francesca Schiavone def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 4-6 6-4 6-4

Victoria Azarenka def. Severine Bremond Beltrame, 6-2 retired

Shahar Peer def. Maria Elena Camerin, 6-2 7-6 (7-3)

Arantxa Parra Santonja def. Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6-4 6-4

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Petra Cetkovska, 6-2 6-2

Elena Vesnina def. Yanina Wickmayer, 6-1 6-1

Ioana Raluca Olaru def. Nathalie Dechy, 1-6 7-6 (7-0) 6-2

Virginie Razzano def. Tamira Paszek, 6-0 3-1 retired

Jie Zheng def. Kristina Barrois, 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-4)

Regina Kulikova def. Karolina Sprem, 4-6 7-5 6-3

Roberta Vinci def. Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-3 6-2

Gisela Dulko def. Stephanie Foretz, 6-3 7-5

Timea Bacsinszky def. Vesna Manasieva, 6-1 4-6 8-6

Jarmila Groth def. Lucie Safarova, 6-3 3-6 6-3

Aravane Rezai def. Ayumi Morita, 6-2 6-2

Nadia Petrova def. Anastasiya Yakimova, 6-1 6-1

Ai Sugiyama def. Patty Schnyder, 6-4 6-4

Sania Mirza def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 6-2 2-6 6-2

Jill Craybas def. Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-4 7-5

Sorana Cirstea def. Edina Gallovits, 7-5 6-1

Michelle Larcher de Brito def. Klara Zakopalova, 6-2 7-5

Dominika Cibulkova def. Julie Coin, 6-4 3-6 6-3

Marion Bartoli def. Yung-Jan Chan, 6-0 6-0

Urszula Radwanska def. Masa Zec Peskiric, 6-3 6-3

Alisa Kleybanova def. Sesil Karatantcheva, 6-2 7-5

One Sixteenth

The first round is complete - well, mostly: there are a few matches that were suspended because of rain, but we're largely there. All of the big guns in both men and women's matches have come through safely to the last 64 - which is a good thing - but we've lost a few of the secondary characters (the medium guns?) which always livens things up a little. We've farewelled Karlovic, Mauresmo and Berdych, among others - today we said goodbye to Schuettler, Blake and Fish from the men, and Peng from the women.

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I'll tell you who nearly screwed around with this, though, and that was Serena Williams. She won her first match of the year on clay, beating Klara Zakopalova (does memory serve - she lost to Zakopalova on clay already this year, yesno? At Marbella, maybe?) but it was a near run thing. Three sets, 6-4 in the third. I am not liking the look of her at all at the moment. She's clearly injured and if she makes it to the second week I will be very surprised.

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But that's not to say it's impossible. She's Serena, after all.

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While we're still on women's tennis I would like to take this moment to point out something I find quite remarkable. Australia had six entrants in the main draw of Roland Garros - two men and four women (I don't think I've left anyone out - apologies if I have!) This is unremarkable in and of itself, but five of them made it through to the second round. Now that is something pretty special for Australian tennis. Bernard Tomic went down to Philipp Kohlschreiber, but Hewitt is through, and all four of our women: Stosur, Dokic, Groth and Rogowska. That would be four Aussies of the final 64 in the women's draw. That means a sixteenth of the draw is Australian. Now that has not happened for a LONG time. Nice work, girls!

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I was particularly impressed with Stosur, who overcame Italian veteran Francesca Schiavone in straights. Schiavone is wily and good on clay - that's a good victory. Dokic took a set to warm up but then she breezed past Karolina Sprem. I was very impressed with both of them.

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Over to the blokes, and the woes of the Americans continue - Blake and Fish, both American seeds, crashed out to random Argentines: Leonardo Mayer and Maximo Gonzalez respectively. But hey, at least Andy Roddick is into the second round. That's a victory in and of itself. And Alexa Glatch is someone to cheer for.

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The match of the day over there was a battle between unseeded old-school veterans, and it was a titanic struggle - the five set epic between Juan Carlos Ferrero and Ivan Ljubicic. Now that was a match. Ferrero came out on top, but that was one to remember for both players, I think. There have been a few five set encounters in this first round, but that is one of the best of them. I was sad they couldn't both win!

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Today's Results

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French Open (Roland Garros)

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Men's Draw

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Jo-Wilfried Rsonga def. Julien Benneteau, 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-4

Novak Djokovic def. Nicolas Lapentti, 6-3 3-1 retired

Gael Monfils def. Bobby Reynolds, 6-2 6-3 6-1

Juan Martin del Potro def. Michael Llodra, 6-3 6-3 6-1

Leonardo Mayer def. James Blake, 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 6-2

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Ivan Ljubici, 2-6 6-4 6-4 3-6 6-3

Maximo Gonzalez def. Mardy Fish, 6-3 1-6 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Marc Gicquel def. Rainer Schuettler, 6-0 6-0 6-4

Sergiy Stakhovsky def. Brian Dabul, 4-6 7-5 7-6 (7-2) 6-3

Daniel Gimeno-Traver def. Evgeny Korolev, 6-4 retired

Tommy Robredo def. Adrian Mannarino, 6-2 6-1 6-2

Tommy Haas def. Andrei Pavel, 6-1 6-4 6-4

Juan Monaco def. Marcos Baghdatis, 6-3 6-2 6-4

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Bernard Tomic, 6-1 6-2 6-2

Andreas Beck def. Ivan Navarro, 7-6 (11-9) 6-4 6-1

Viktor Troicki def. Lukasz Kubot, 3-6 6-3 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-3

Victor Crivoi def. Simon Greul, 6-1 7-6 (7-1) 6-2

Andreas Seppi def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-3 6-3 6-1

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Women's Draw

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Jelena Jankovic def. Petra Cetkovska, 6-2 6-3

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Claire Feuerstein, 6-1 6-4

Serena Williams def. Klara Zakopalova, 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-4

Virginie Razzano def. Daniela Hantuchova, 6-3 6-3

Elena Demetieva def. Chanelle Scheepers, 6-4 6-3

Caroline Wozniacki def. Vera Dushevina, 4-6 7-5 6-1

Sybille Bammer def. Nathalie Dechy, 6-3 7-6 (7-1)

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Ekaterina Makarova, 6-2 5-7 6-0

Melinda Czaink def. Anastasija Sevastova, 3-6 6-4 6-1

Viktoriya Kutuzova def. Zuzanna Ondraskova, 6-2 6-4

Sorana Cirstea def. Carly Gullickson, 6-4 6-2

Yanina Wickmayer def. Urszula Radwanska, 4-6 6-3 6-0

Petra Martic def. Mara Santangelo, 6-4 6-2

Jelena Dokic def. Karolina Sprem, 3-6 6-1 6-2

Galina Voskoboeva def. Sania Mirza, 6-4 7-6 (7-3)

Magdalena Rybarikova def. Kristina Mladenovic, 6-1 2-6 8-6

Samantha Stosur def. Francesca Schiavone, 6-4 6-2

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Shuai Peng, 1-6 6-2 6-4

Aleksandra Wozniak def. Monica Niculescu, 6-4 4-6 6-3

Virginia Ruano Pascual def. Nicole Vaidisova, 6-4 6-3

Lost Souls, Lucky Losers, Stars and a Russian Rematch

Well, well, well. There were a couple of very interesting results overnight - maybe not necessarily at first glance, but... yeah, I thought they were interesting.

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#1: James Blake is through to the semi-finals in Estoril. That would be the semi finals of a tournament on clay, where he had to beat actual players to get there. Excuse me while I stumble around in shock for a moment. He beat Florent Serra overnight - and pretty handily as well - to get into the semis. I totally didn't see him sneaking through this draw, but I'm glad he has. I inducted him into the Club of Lost Souls a couple of weeks ago: this could be a good step for him to get out.

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#2: Another Club of Lost Souls inductee, Tomas Berdych, is also through to the semis - in Munich, in this case - after a win, but it's not the win I want to focus on, it's the opponent. Lleyton Hewitt pushed Berdych all the way to a third set breaker in the quarter finals - on clay, which has never been Hewitt's forte, and especially not in this stage of his career, where his body is giving out. I didn't see the match, so I don't know if Hewitt lifted his level or Berdych dropped his, but even though Hewitt lost, I think this is a good result for him going into the French Open.

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#3: In a battle of the Stars, Jeremy Chardy beat Marin Cilic. Wouldn't have picked that one, but I'm now gunning for Jeremy to take the title!

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#4: Lukasz Kubot, a lucky loser, is through to the semis in Belgrade. How about that?

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#5: And last but definitely not least - we're going to have a rematch of the final in Stuttgart last week in Rome. Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Victoria Azarenka (excellent result for Sveta) and Dinara Safina beat Venus Williams (also an excellent result) to make it to the final, and it's going to see who walks away with this one. Whoever would have picked Sveta to make two finals in a row, after she's been such a non-entity for the last little while? And I am so glad that Dinara seems to have picked herself up and dusted herself off - even though the on-court coaching facility, which seems to be helping her a great deal, will not be available to her at Roland Garros. Great results for both girls - am pulling for Dinara to take this one, but if Sveta won... maybe she's going to be a contender at Roland Garros after all.

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Today's Results

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Estoril Open (Estoril)

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Men's Draw

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Albert Montanes def. Gilles Simon, 5-7 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Nikolay Davydenko def. Mardy Fish, 6-4 6-3

James Blake def. Florent Serra, 6-4 6-1

Paul Capdeville def. Oscar Hernandez, 4-6 6-1 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Ekaterina Makarova def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 6-3 6-1

Yanina Wickmayer def. Shahar Peer, 3-0 retired

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BMW Open (Munich)

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Jeremy Chardy def. Marin Cilic, 3-6 7-5 6-4

Tomas Berdych def. Lleyton Hewitt, 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

Mikhail Youzhny def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 7-5 3-6 6-3

Daniel Brands def. Potito Starace, 6-4 1-1 retired

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Serbia Open (Belgrade)

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Ivo Karlovic def. Flavio Cipolla, 6-3 6-3

Andreas Seppi def. Marcos Daniel, 6-4 7-5

Lukasz Kubot def. Kristof Vliegen, 7-6 (8-6) 6-3

Novak Djokovic def. Viktor Troicki, 6-3 6-2

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Internazionali BNL d'Italia (Rome)

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Dinara Safina def. Venus Williams, 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-4

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Victoria Azarenka, 6-2 6-4

Nada, Niente

You know who has been a spectacular disappointment so far this year? James Blake.

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Seriously, I can't think of a single tournament in which he's gone deep. Of course, my memory isn't encyclopaedic, but if he'd done something noteworthy, I'm pretty sure I would have, you know, noted it. But nada. Nothing. Nil. Niente. And now he's just taken another loss in the first round of Rome, to little known Romanian qualifier Victor Crivoi.

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Sure, I mean, we're on clay, and clay has traditionally not been the best surface for Blake and for Americans in general - from memory, the furthest any American got last year was the third round, and that American was Bobby Reynolds, who is hardly one of the big leagues. But first round? To a qualifer ranked #112 in the world? That really signals a bit of a problem.

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And, of course, it's not just the clay. Blake has flown under the radar for pretty much the entire year - because he hasn't done anything noteworthy. A quick scan of his ATP profile shows that his best result this year was a semi in San Jose. Radek Stepanek won that title. Blake should be able to outclass him with relative ease. But nada. Niente.

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It's sad - I like Blake. He's good to watch play and he's a lovely guy as well. So pick up the ball, James, because there's no room for performances like this in a tour this deep.

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Today's Results

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Internazionali BNL d'Italia (Rome)

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Stanislas Wawrinka def. Igor Kunitsyn, 6-3 6-4

Victor Crivoi def. James Blake, 7-5 6-3

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

Christophe Rochus def. Juan Ignacio Chela, 6-1 6-2

Juan Monaco def. Nicolas Kiefer, 6-2 6-3

Viktor Troicki def. Victor Hanescu, 6-3 6-3

Ivo Karlovic def. Jan Hernych, 4-6 6-4 6-2

Albert Montanes def. Potito Starace, 7-6 (10-8) 6-4

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Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart)

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Victoria Azarenka def. Carla Suárez Navarro, 6-1 6-4

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Grand Prix de SAR le Princesse Lalla Meryem (Fes)

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Marta Domachowska def. Maria Kirilenko, 6-4 6-4

Ekaterina Makarova def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

All's Not Quiet On New Year's Day

And so actual tennis is underway in Abu Dhabi! The usual suspects are doing the usual things - a very strong start to the year from Andy Murray and Nikolay Davydenko. I expected it from Murray - I think he has a lot to prove this summer, after crashing out of the Aussie Open in the first round last year (to Jo-W Tsonga, but nevertheless.) Murray took out James Blake, who is clearly still in that rut of mediocre form he's been in for a while now. (Whither James Blake? He hasn't made a very good showing for a while now.) I wouldn't have expected Blake to beat Murray, as Murray is now a big gun (tm), but I was expecting it to be a little more competitive than it was. Ah well.

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Kolya took out Andy Roddick. This one could, I thought, have gone either way, but it looks like the consistency of Kolya won out. Roddick seemed very sluggish indeed - he had only one break point the entire match, which he failed to convert. Kolya wasn't stellar, but he was much too good for Roddick on this occasion... Andy seems a bit blase about the whole thing, but if I were the other half of Team Roddinki, I think I'd be a little concerned. It may only be the first match of the year for Roddick, but hey, it's the first match for Kolya, too.

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The winners of these two matches will go on to face the big guns, R-Fed and the Rafinator. I think Rafa definitely has the easier one here - he faces Kolya, while Roger takes on Murray. We know Roger can definitely beat Andy when he puts his mind to it (hello, US Open!) but something about Murray in a best-of-three is a bit troubling for him... or has been in the past, anyway, but who knows what might have happened in that training camp in Dubai? Last year Roger came out of it at about three-quarter strength what with the glange and everything. Here's hoping that this year we get our KING OF TENNIS back where he belongs at #1...

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...though healthy competition from Rafa (a lovely boy) is also good. I think a Roger/Rafa final in Abu Dhabi could be just what we need to start off the year - especially if Roger comes out on top!

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Today's Results

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Capitala World Tennis Championship (Abu Dhabi)

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Andy Murray def. James Blake, 6-2 6-2

Nikolay Davydenko def. Andy Roddick, 6-4 6-4

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Josh's Tennis Tips

Focus: Forehand

Today's Tip: Your Body

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When playing tennis, you have to turn your body sideways to the ball. This is to get the ball straighter. (So for left-handers you should turn your body to the left for forehands and to the right for backhands, and vice versa for right-handers.)

The Last American Hero?

I was reading through Tennis Australia's little Off the Court article that they put out every week (it was very short - clearly they aren't the only ones struggling for something to write about!) and something struck me. There was a story about John McEnroe thinking about retiring from Blackrock after losing so badly in London, and then a story about Pete Sampras saying that there are dark times for American tennis ahead.

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These guys are two of the major figureheads of the US tennis pantheon, yeah? And they are so incredibly different. McEnroe is all racquet-smashing and fire and temper and swearing, whereas Sampras is more gentleman-like -not quite to the epic standards of Federer, but still. He could be accused of being boring sometimes. And yet they're both still beloved - and, I might venture to say, probably disliked by equal amounts of people.

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And now we come to the point - what does US tennis have now?

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Andy Roddick, who probably drew more attention from his engagement to Brooklyn Decker than from his tennis this year, and James Blake, who was a bit of a non-event this year, apart from at the Olympics. Then I suppose there's Fish and Querrey and all that crew, but there is no real American tennis god right now, no McEnroe, no Connors, no Sampras, no Agassi. I guess Australia isn't the only place seemingly in a tennis recession. And Sampras seems to think there are dark times ahead for America - no one coming up, no one coming through. (I still pray at the altar of Tomic for the sake of Australian tennis every day. Go Bernard - though not with your little temper tantrums, please.)

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Tennis is almost wholly European at the moment. Look at the top - a Spanish guy, a Swiss guy, a Serbian guy, a British guy. Europe's got the monopoly on the top. Not that I'm complaining - there's nothing wrong with it. But how on earth did we go so quickly from a USA-USA duopoly in Agassi and Sampras to a Hispano-Suisse one?

Thirty-One Grand Slam Titles... and James Blake

Okay, so a question. This exhibition event in Macao that Federer's playing with Borg and McEnroe. Why, why, WHY is James Blake the other guy?

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Not that James Blake isn't a great player. I had that whole discussion yesterday about the insane achievements of anyone who makes it anywhere near the top hundred. He's a wonderful player. He has mad tennis skillz. But... he hasn't exactly won multiple Slams. He hasn't exactly won ONE Slam. Federer has thirteen. Borg and McEnroe have a pretty healthy number between them. I would feel like such a schlep if I were James, such a ring-in. You have these three major tennis greats... and James Blake. Poor guy.

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Federer beat Blake in a scrappy match, and McEnroe overcame Borg. I'm not sure what happened in the doubles. I'm not exactly sure what the point of this exhibition was, but it sounded like fun. Pity that that other one had to get cancelled - I think it was supposed to be in Penang. Still, the Macao thing sounds like it would have been fun to watch.

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Speaking of fun to watch, who else would kill to see that Sampras/McEnroe showdown in the BlackRock masters event in London? That one will be a dogfight of the old guys. I bet they'll sell a whoooooole lotta tickets.

A Not-Quite-Motley Crew

Roger Federer achieved a new milestone this morning, though I'm not sure it's necessarily the one he'll be trotting out to tell his grandchildren. For the first time in 763 ATP level matches, he withdrew in the middle of a tournament.

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He's still never retired during a match at the ATP level - he gave James Blake a walkover today due to a stiff back. I suppose with Shanghai round the corner he'd rather be safe than sorry. It's still a bit sad, though, and I'm sure he's not too thrilled with himself, as it seems to mean something to him. I remember him saying that, 'Roger Federer doesn't pull out - otherwise he doesn't walk on court.' Which I suppose he held to, because he didn't walk on court. So I doubt somehow that this will be a harbinger of things to come. He's certainly not going to turn into a Djokovic!

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Someone that did retire during a match today was Rafa Nadal, after losing the first set 6-1 to Nikolay Davydenko. Add to that Djokovic's defeat early in the week and Murray's loss to Nalbandian today, and we have a crew of semi finalists who... well, not quite motley, but certainly not the four guys you'd expect, given that the four guys you'd expect would be the Big Three plus Murray (the Big Four? Can we legitimately say that yet?) But instead we have Nikolay Davydenko, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, James Blake and David Nalbandian.

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I have to say that I'm pulling for Tsonga, because he really deserves a big title and it would be nice for him to do it in front of a home crowd. Blake's been close a couple of times, Nalbandian is the defending champion and Davydenko has a Masters shield already this year. It's really open. Any one of these four guys could take it out. Much as I always want Federer to win things, it's kind of nice to have things so unpredictable. This should be a dog fight of a tournament, right down to the last point.

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Today's Results

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BNP Paribas Masters (Paris)

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James Blake def. Roger Federer, walkover

Nikolay Davydenko def. Rafael Nadal, 6-1 retired

David Nalbandian def. Andy Murray, 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Andy Roddick, 5-7 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

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Bell Challenge (Quebec)

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Nadia Petrova def. Melinda Czink, 6-1 6-4

Bethanie Mattek def. Melanie Oudin, 7-6 (9-7) 6-1

Angela Haynes def. Nathalie Dechy, 2-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-3

Argentinian Grudge Rematch

Wow, I'm sensing some pent-up aggression from David Nalbandian. He seems like a man who would hold a quality grudge, and, even though I have absolutely no evidence of this, I get the sense that he's feeling some resentment towards Juan Martin del Potro right now, what with the whole del Potro being the golden boy of Argentinian tennis right now. Not so fast! says Big Dave. This is the second time in two weeks Nalbandian has trounced del Potro, and I bet he's loving it on the inside. Their Davis Cup training camp must be a pleasant place to be.

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We bid farewell to the last of my Stars for the year - bye guys! Cilic lost today, but I have to admit I wasn't going for him... he was playing Federer. Much as I love my Stars, I love Roger more! He looked in fine form heading into the quarters, where he'll play James Blake, I think. Let's hope those Olympic jitters don't get to him! I think he'll be fine, somehow. His thing with Rafa aside, Roger is not prone to being a headcase.

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And Djokovic got knocked out! That was awesome. Still, I hope it doesn't mean he's feeling all rested and good heading into Shanghai. Still, it's not next week next week, is it? There's a week between Paris and Shanghai. Or at least I hope there is. Doha is next week with the girls, and then Shanghai the week after. I think. I hope.

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Back to Djokovic getting knocked out, which made me say AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I wouldn't be surprised if Djokovic never scored a victory over Tsonga again. Jo-W seems to have his number now, and I don't think he's going to let the Aussie Open final happen again. On the whole, Djokovic has not been that impressive of late. I know he made the US Open semi, but other than that, what has he won of late? He made the final in Thailand, but Jo-W got him. This was when he started winning big points last year... so is he on the slide? Or is this wishful thinking on my behalf?

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And Andy Roddick has qualified for the Masters Cup. He still should have gone to the Olympics, but well done, A-Rod!

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Today's Results

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BNP Paribas Masters (Paris)

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Roger Federer def. Marin Cilic, 6-3 6-4

Rafael Nadal def. Gael Monfils, 6-3 6-2

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Novak Djokovic, 6-4 1-6 6-3

Andy Murray def. Fernando Verdasco, 6-3 7-6 (8-6)

Nikolay Davydenko def. Tomas Berdych, 6-1 6-1

Andy Roddick def. Gilles Simon, 6-3 7-5

David Nalbandian def. Juan Martin del Potro, 6-4 6-0

James Blake def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-4 6-4

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Bell Challenge (Quebec)

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Nadia Petrova def. Varvara Lepchenko, 6-2 6-4

Bethanie Mattek def. Valérie Tétreault, 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 7-6 (7-1)

Stuck on 399

Marat, Marat, Marat. What am I going to do with you?

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Every time I see him entered in this little schlep tournament, I get excited. Ah-ha! think I. There is next to no competition! Maybe this will be the tournament where Marat wins again for the first time since 2005! Maybe this will get him back on track!
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...and then he goes and loses to someone like Philipp 'who?' Petzschner, and we're back to square one again.

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So, Mr. Safin, answer me this. What is going on with you? I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but why can't you be more like your sister? I don't want to accuse Marat of not trying, but the reason Dinara has been so smokin' hot this season - she's #3 in the world now! - is because you pretty much have to shoot her to get through her. The only vaguely strange loss I can think of that she's taken since Berlin was to Shahar Peer in the third round of Wimbledon, and even that went to 8-6 or something in the third.

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I'm not asking much, Marat. Just a little more commitment. Focus, perhaps. Because I want to see you winning again. You're one of my favourite players, and I don't like to see you losing to schleps in schlep tournaments when you are so much better than that. Had you won this, this would have been your 400th career win - and no one wants to see you stuck on 399.

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Meanwhile, back to my new favourite subject - Davis Cup. The first round ties for next year have come out and there are some mighty interesting draws. Switzerland vs. USA, for example. I don't know about you, but I think the USA might find themselves playing relegation rounds this time next year... let's look at this. On Team USA, you have Roddick and Blake - two solid singles players - as well as the Bryans, who are one of the best doubles teams ever. So far so good, right? But then look at Team Suisse. You have the greatest player that's ever lived in Roger Federer - and sure, he's lost to both Roddick and Blake in the past, but would you really bet against him? Then you have Stan Wawrinka, also a top ten player. Oh, and in the doubles... guess who knocked the Bryans out in the Olympics and went on to win the gold medal.

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It does seem a little like the Swiss have a two man team while the Americans have four, but when those two men are Federer and Wawrinka, do you really need more?

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The other reeeeeally intriguing tie is Spain/Serbia... I'd pay good money to see Nadal take on Djokovic in a Davis Cup match. Especially since it's presumably going to be on clay. I love it when Djokovic gets his arse kicked.

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Today's Results

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Thailand Open (Bangkok)

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Robin Soderling def. Aisam ul-Haq Qureshi, 6-2 6-4

Philipp Petzschner def, Marat Safin, 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Teimuraz Gabashvili def. Michael Berrer, 6-4 6-3

Nicolas Mahut def. Danai Udomchoke, 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-2

Robert Kendrick def. George Bastl, 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

Simon Stadler def. Julien Benneteau, 7-5 6-1

Lukas Dlouhy def. Benjamin Becker, 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

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China Open (Beijing)

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Men's Draw

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Tommy Robredo def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-4 7-5

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Alexandre Kudryavtsev, 6-4 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Anna Chakvetadze def. Iveta Benesova, 6-4 7-5

Alizé Cornet def. Zhang Shuai, 6-1 3-6 7-6 (9-7)

Francesca Schiavone def. Li Na, 6-1 7-6 (7-4)

Agnes Szavay def. Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-4 6-3

Ai Sugiyama def. Yan Zi, 6-3 6-4

Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Katarina Srebotnik, 6-4 7-5

Aleksandra Wozniak def. Virginie Razzano, 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 6-4

Alla Kudryavtseva def. Peng Shuai, 7-5 6-4

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Hansol Korea Open (Seoul)

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Maria Kirilenko def. Lenka Wienerova, 6-2 6-0

Kaia Kanepi def. Rika Fujiwara, 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-0

Klara Zakopalova def. Carla Suárez Navarro, 6-1 6-7 (3-7) 6-4

Samantha Stosur def. Marina Erakovic, 6-2 6-0

Chan Yung-Jan def. Mara Santangelo, 1-6 6-3 6-4

Ekaterina Makarova def. Tamira Paszek, 6-1 6-2

Jill Craybas def. Yuan Meng, 6-0 6-0

Lucie Safarova def. Melanie South, 6-1 3-0 retired

Stéphanie Dubois def. Camille Pin, 6-4 3-6 7-5

Ayumi Morita def. Arantxa Rus, 6-4 6-1

Anastasia Pivovarova def. Lee Ye-Ra, 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 5-3 retired

Grapple in the Apple

I promised, I will deliver. US Open draw preview coming right up.

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Let's start at the top, in the Nadal quarter. (Oh! how it hurts to say that!) I think you'd be a fool not to pick Rafa in this quarter to make the semis, with the way he's playing at the moment - though for his sake, I hope that playing all those tournaments hasn't worn him out! One potential quarter-final match that could be very interesting, however, is Rafa vs. LameDave Headbandian - on the proviso that GoodDave, and not LameDave, shows up. Rafa has never beaten Nalbandian - there's something about the Headbandian game that gives him trouble. I think they've only played twice or something though, so I don't know how indicative is of anything... and Rafa is THE form player at the moment, and LameDave doesn't even make the list - he's been very underwhelming this year. Rafa is the quintessential anti-headcase, so I don't know how much effect that record would have on him either... but still. Could be interesting. If Nalbandian makes the quarters, which I personally wouldn't bet on.

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I certainly don't see anyone stopping Rafa on the way to the quarters - the only people with even an outside chance are probably Berdych and maybe Querrey, or, if Rafa breaks his leg, Kohlschreiber. But really, you'd be a moron to bet against Rafa there. In the Nalbandian section, however, there are a couple of potentials. Blake is one. Fish is another. And Monfils, if he isn't injured. I'd like to see Nalbandian make it, because I want to see how Rafa fares against him, but if I were gambling, I think I'd go with Blake.

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Now, the second quarter. This is the really interesting quarter, because it's the one from whence comes the random semi-finalist. Randoms so far this year include Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils and Rainer Schuettler - so who is it to be this time? The seed is Ferrer, and he plays well at the US Open traditionally, so he well could fulfil his seed. I'd like that, actually... and a Rafa/Ferru semi could be interesting, because Ferru has knocked Rafa out of this tournament before. However, there are some other challengers - not least among them being Juan Martin del Potro. There are some good names in this quarter, actually - despite the lack of a member of the Big Three, it's got a lot of really good players. Murray is one, Stan W another. There's the ever-dangerous Canas, Youzhny, Lopez, Monaco and even Star of the Future Bellucci. My quarter final pick is probably Ferrer against Wawrinka - though it could just as easily be del Potro against Murray. It will be between those four that the quarter will be decided, methinks. However, I'm going to stick with the seed and say Ferrer will come through - though not with any conviction.

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Now we come to the Djokovic quarter - ominous music. Personally, I would prefer that Djokovic won the quarter to Roddick winning it, so unimpressed am I with Roddick right now. He should have gone to the Olympics, instead of playing schlep tournaments. In fact, I hope he gets knocked out in the first round. And he's playing Fabrice Santoro, who you should never underestimate, so maybe he will. Allez Fabrice.

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If I were to pick a sentimental semi-finalist here, I would say Safin - and we all know he's capable of it, though whether or not he does it is a whole other story. Jo-Wilfried is back, but because it's his first tournament since, like, twelve years ago, I wouldn't put any money on him to repeat his Australian Open performance. One match that is going to be very interesting is the potential third round of Djokovic versus Cilic - and we all know who I'll be going for. In fact, I'm going to be bold and say Cilic will win it! Go Marin! And should Djokovic come through, he might face Marat... and that will be a real test of his strength of character. A headcase would lose. A not-headcase would not. Simple as that.

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I'm going to stick to my guns and pick Cilic as my quarter finalist here - though Marat would be ideal. And in the other section (the Roddick section) I'm going with my boy Ernests Gulbis. I think Roddick is going to crash and burn - if he doesn't lose to Santoro, Gulbis will get him, mark my words. Kiefer and especially Gonzalez are also possibilities, but I really like Gulbis here. Gulbis versus Cilic quarter final, I say - and though it will be long and hard-fought, I'm going with Gulbis to win it. Go Ernests! (And Marin too... I'm cheering for my Stars!)

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And then the bestest quarter - the Federer quarter. We all know who I'm picking to win. The Fed Express has a pretty decent draw - Stepanek in the third round could be a bit interesting, but I don't see him taking three sets off Roger. Best of five suits the Federer game so much more - I feel like he can sort of relax into it more. Andreev could potentially win a set, and maybe Nando Verdasco, but otherwise, I think Rog has a reasonably smooth ride to the quarters. There, I think he might face Tursunov. Or possibly Haas. This is really not the strongest section ever. Davydenko is the seed, but with his attitude right now, I wouldn't pick him to beat anyone. Even me. Tipsarevic is another possibility, but I wouldn't give Gasquet and Almagro much in the way of a chance - or even Star of the Future Schwank. I'm going to go with Tursunov - mostly for sentimental reasons - but whoever it is, I think Federer will beat them. It'll be pretty disastrous if he loses before then - but he's keyed up for Slams. And I think doubles at the Olympics taught him to love tennis again - he was just having such a blast! Hopefully he can just chill out and play his game.

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Let's revise those picks for the quarter finals. We have:

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Nadal vs. Blake

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Ferrer vs. Wawrinka

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Cilic vs. Gulbis

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Federer vs. Tursunov

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This would translate to the following semis:

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Nadal vs. Ferrer

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Federer vs. Gulbis

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And to the following final:

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Nadal vs. Federer

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And we all know who I think will win the Grapple in the Apple. Hopp Suisse!

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I haven't really looked at the women's draw, but I can tell you this - Dinara Safina is going to win. No doubt.

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No results today!

Weaving A Tangled Web

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Today's Results

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Pilot Pen Tennis (New Haven)

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Men's Draw

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Women's Draw

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rafa's Time

I would be lying if I pretended I wasn't bitterly disappointed. I don't know what happened, or why it happened, but it did. The only time I ever remember Federer looking like losing to Blake was in the final of Indian Wells two years back, when he went down a double break in the first set. But even then, he got it back. He won the set. This match was gone before it even began.

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Looking at the score, it's clear that it was close. One break of serve in the first set, a breaker in the second. But that means nothing, really. Best of three tennis is so cutthroat. I don't know if Federer would have won it were best of five, but that kind of tennis certainly suits him better. But this...

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I have to congratulate James Blake, because he played an excellent match. I mean, I didn't see it, but even a sluggish Federer is still Federer, and you have to play great tennis to beat him. In a way, Federer can be like Nalbandian, but the Roger equivalent to LameDave is still one of the world's best tennis players. Sigh. I am so disappointed.

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But there's still doubles. I would have preferred Federer to get a medal in the singles, obviously, but doubles would be sweet too! And if he doesn't win a medal, that's cool too. It's Roger the man I admire, and Roger the tennis player is only a part of that. And no matter what he's ranked or what he wins, nothing can take that away. Tennis-wise, he needs to steady the ship and take a deep breath. As a person, there's not much he needs to fix.

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But even I can't deny that this is Rafa's time now. I don't how long Rafa's time will last - I'm still very confident that there will be a Second Golden Age of Federer - but he deserves to be #1 right now. He has been second banana to Roger for so long now. It is his turn to shine. (Not that he hasn't already been shining, but comparatively...) I'd like him to win the gold medal now. He deserves it. And I really don't want Djokovic to win it.

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That's my new podium. Rafa for gold. Gonzalez for silver. Djokovic for bronze. I'd like Blake to win bronze, but I think Djokovic might edge him. The Olympic tennis has lost its shine for me, I must admit, but I am a tennis fan as well as - in fact, before - I am a Federer fan. He is one man, and he is brilliant, but he once said, 'you never be bigger than the game, and I think you need to remember that.' Perhaps I need to remember that. Players come and go. Tennis is constant. The sport ain't going anywhere. And Rafa is very good for the sport. So vamos, Rafa. Vamos.

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Meanwhile, some huge upsets in the women! Both Williamses gone! Who would have picked that? Certainly not me. It looks like we might be having the Russian national championships again, providing Safina beats Jankovic, which I'm pretty sure she'll do. Along with Zvonareva, Dementieva and Li... well, suffice to say that's not exactly the semis anyone expected! But I like it. That's one thing that's good about women's tennis... because I'm not so emotionally involved, I can appreciate a good upset and go for the underdog and stuff if I'm so inclined. There is much more of a place for whimsy. Go Dinara!

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Oh, and go Team Fedrinka! Singles may have been a bust, for doubles gold is just as good!

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Today's Results

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Games of the XXIX Olympiad (Beijing)

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Men's Draw - Singles

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James Blake def. Roger Federer, 6-4 7-6 (7-2)

Rafael Nadal def. Jurgen Melzer, 6-0 6-4

Novak Djokovic def. Gael Monfils, 4-6 6-1 6-4

Fernando Gonzalez def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-4 6-4

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Women's Draw - Singles

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Elena Dementieva def. Serena Williams, 3-6 6-4 6-3

Li Na def. Venus Williams, 7-5 7-5

Vera Zvonareva def. Sybille Bammer, 6-3 3-6 6-3

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Men's Draw - Doubles

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Bryan/Bryan def. Guccione/Hewitt, 6-4 6-3

Aspelin/Johansson def. Fyrstenberg/Matkowski, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Clement/Llodra def. Andreev/Davydenko, 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 64

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Women's Draw - Doubles

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Medina Garrigues/Ruano Pascual def. Stosur/Stubbs, 4-6 6-4 6-4

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Legg Mason Tennis Classic (Washington)

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Viktor Troicki def. Bobby Reynolds, 6-4 1-6 6-4

Juan Martin del Potro def. Dudi Sela, 6-0 5-7 6-2

Andy Roddick def. Eduardo Schwank, 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-2)

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

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Aleksandra Wozniak def. Julia Vakulenko, 6-2 6-3

Flying the Gulbis Flag

Well, Arnaud Clement, who somehow accidentally became my pick for the final due to Stan withdrawing and me not realising, has lost. Surprise, surprise. So looks like I won't be winning the bracket challenge this time. I'm still doing pretty well, though - 139th out of 11,000 odd. Go me.

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Of course, the boy Arnaud lost to is one of my favourite Stars of the Future, Ernests Gulbis. I was flying my Cilic flag all last week, but Ernests is getting raised up the Stars flagpole this week, I think. It was a tight match - third set tiebreaker - but Clement is a wily old fox and I'm very proud of Ernests for winning. Even if my bracket is now dead in the water.

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Ernests will meet the winner of the Blake/Simon match... which has been played, and is Blake. So the Simon Streak (tm) has faded away a bit. That should be an interesting match... actually, didn't Gulbis beat Blake at the French Open? That's over five sets, which makes it a bit different, but if the kid can do it once...

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Another player who has been impressive lately is Mr Maria Kirilenko, Igor Andreev. He beat John Isner today - and with the Isner serve, that's not exactly a cakewalk. Andreev has made, what, two finals in the recent future? My bracket has him reaching the semis, and though I got the other half of the draw wrong - Wawrinka/Cilic, which somehow became Clement/Cilic without me noticing - I could get this one right, because I picked Federer/Andreev, and that's a real possibility. Igor will play the winner of Davydenko/Moya, which you'd probably guess would be Davydenko... but Kolya hasn't been that great lately. If Carlos can't take him, I bet Igor will.

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Meanwhile, Dmitry Tursunov just put a major beatdown on Richard Gasquet. The first set was tight - a breaker, in fact - but the second set was a bagel blowout. I guess Richou will have to go back to whimpering under the bed... for the duration of the whole Olympics, because he's too cool to go.

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And what is with Gael Monfils retiring? Does he ever play even half of the tournaments he enters? Blink and you miss him, but not because he loses - because he freaking retires. I hate that. Do you know how many times Roger Federer has retired in his career on the ATP circuit? Zero. Not once. That is because he is an EXCELLENT SPORT.

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Speaking of people that retire all the time, Djokovic won his match in two breakers. Ugh.

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Today's Results

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Western and Southern Financial Group Masters (Cincinatti)

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Igor Andreev def. Radek Stepanek, 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-3)

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Woong-Sun Jun, 6-2 6-2

Novak Djokovic def. Simone Bolelli, 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-2)

Nicolas Lapentti def. David Ferrer, 7-6 (7-2) 3-6 6-3

James Blake def. Gilles Simon, 6-4 6-3

Andy Murray def. Sam Querrey, 7-6 (7-3) 6-1

Ernests Gulbis def. Arnaud Clement, 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-5)

Tommy Haas def. Gael Monfils, 5-1 retired

Andreas Seppi def. Tomas Berdych, 5-7 7-5 7-5

Igor Andreev def. John Isner, 3-6 7-6 (10-8) 7-5

Dmitry Tursunov def. Richard Gasquet, 7-6 (10-8) 6-0

Fernando Verdasco def. Chris Guccione, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4)

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Rogers Cup (Montreal)

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Ana Ivanovic def. Petra Kvitova, 6-3 4-6 6-3

Anna Chakvetadze def. Jill Craybas, 6-2 7-5

Dinara Safina def. Anastasia Rodionova, 6-2 6-4

Patty Schnyder def. Monica Niculescu, 6-1 7-5

Marion Bartoli def. Alisa Kleybanova, walkover

Victoria Azarenka def. Sybille Bammer, 6-2 6-2

Nadia Petrova def. Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6-3 6-2

Stéphanie Dubois def. Maria Kirilenko, 6-2 2-6 7-6 (7-4)

Michelle Larcher de Brito def. Flavia Pennetta, 6-3 0-6 6-3

Ai Sugiyama def. Shahar Peer, 6-2 6-2

Tamira Paszek def. Melinda Czink, 6-4 7-5

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Nordea Nordic Light Open (Stockholm)

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Agnieszka Radwanska def. Mariya Koryttseva, 6-1 6-1

Vera Dushevina def. Agnes Szavay, 6-4 7-6 (8-6)

Katarina Srebotnik def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-3 6-4

Sania Mirza def. Emilie Loit, 6-3 6-2