Indian Summer

I suppose I should talk about Davis Cup today. But in another installment of my mindblowing Cherbourg coverage, can I get a F%^& YEAH NICOLAS MAHUT? He is in the final there, where he will meet top seed Grigor Dimitrov. Nico won this tournament last year, so for points purposes, I would really like him to win it again, but I am very happy that he's a finalist full stop. My man Nico is on fire, and don't you forget it.

Right. Davis Cup.

The most interesting tie - to my mind, anyway - is this one between Serbia and India. From the outset, you might think that this is the most boring of all the ties - I know I certainly did. But even though the Serbs are pretty much on top now, the Indian dudes have BROUGHT IT like whoa. And without Bhupathi and Paes, which is a massive handicap.

Let's recap. Day One singles, first rubber. Viktor 'vile' Troicki lines up against Rohan Bopanna, whom he is expected to beat easily. Troicki is not exactly the captain of the consistency bandwagon, but this looks like an easy one for him. Right?

WRONG.

Bopanna takes him to five. It all seems smooth sailing for the first two sets, but the worm, oh, how it turns! This match so, SO easily could have gone Bopanna's way. And we all know how I feel about Troicki, so I wish it did.

Oh well. It's only natural for a team to get the yips a little, n'est-ce pas? And Serbia came away with the point anyway, so surely we are headed right down 5-0 blowout lane from here. Right?

WRONG.

Janko Tipsarevic walks out on court against Somdev Devvarman. And walks off three sets later a defeated man.

Would that be 1-all? Why YES, it would be. And it so, so easily could have been 2-0 India. A few points Bopanna's way, and...

The Serbs pulled out the doubles on Saturday, but it was a tight, tight thing - 12-10 in the fourth set tiebreaker. And you really, really have to wonder what would have happened if Bhupathi and Paes had been there...

This is basically an object lesson in don't underestimate the underdog. I think the Serbians have been that underdog for so long that adjusting to being the top dudes might have messed with them again. And much as they love the home crowd, probably playing in Serbia - after what happened the last time they played in Serbia - was intense, intense pressure. Last time it was glory, and now the populace expects no less.

But let's be realistic. This one wasn't all on the Serbian racquet. The Indian dudes have played OUT OF THEIR FREAKING MINDS awesome. Bopanna and Devvarman have a lot to be proud of here. And you know what? It's not over yet. And I, for one, will be cheering for Team India all the way.

The other really intriguing tie going on is Croatia vs Germany, where Marin Cilic pulled out an absolute heartbreaker against Florian Mayer only to have Germany take the next two points. But Croatia, with their singles team of Cilic and Dodig, are more than capable of getting two points on the morrow by taking out Kohlschreiber and Mayer respectively... we shall see, we shall see. Oh, and Karlovic beat that fast serve record of Andy Roddick's. Well done, Dr Ivo.

Disappointment of the Davis Cup week is obviously Russia. What an awful performance. Kudos to him for pulling out the win, but no one should really be losing to Joachim Johansson right now. (Out of interest, why didn't Sweden field Nick Lindahl? I thought that was, like, the whole reason he defected.)

Oh, and before I go - MASSIVE shoutout to Jelena Dokic, who is in the final of Kuala Lumpur, where she will take on Lucie Safarova. This is a crazy-excellent result and I hope she is SUPER proud!

Missing Ivan Dodig

Here is a list of facts I know about Ivan Dodig:

1) He is from Croatia.
2) His first name is Ivan.
3) His surname is... wait for it, drumroll please... Dodig.
4) He is humanoid. (Probably. I assume.)
5) He plays tennis.
6) He is pretty good at playing tennis. (I think.)

Seriously, had anyone heard of Ivan Dodig before this year? I have totally never heard of him. The first time he popped into my frame of vision was at the Australian Open this year when he played that epic late night match against Karlovic. I could have stopped by and seen a little bit - I was in Rod Laver Arena that night - the night that Djokovic beat Granollers - and that session finished before this outside court epic.

But I didn't stop by. Me and Ivan Dodig missed each other again.

Dodig lost in the second round of the Australian Open (there is another fact I can add to my list!) which seems pretty unremarkable, until you consider who he lost to. You might have heard of him. His name is Novak Djokovic and he's been doing pretty okay recently.

So okay, in fact, that he only dropped one set in the whole tournament. He played a bunch of awesome guys - Federer, Murray, Berdych. But that one set he lost to was to some guy named Ivan Dodig. Of whom I had never heard.

I didn't see the match. I missed Ivan Dodig. Of course.

But clearly his set-winning was a sign, because Ivan Dodig, of whom I have never heard, just went and won himself a title at Zagreb. He's also got a pretty good 2011 record - he's won seven matches and lost twice, or so the ATP website tells me. And those two losses came to Djokovic at the Australian Open and Berdych in Chennai, so he's not exactly losing to Mickey Mouse opponents here. Ivan Dodig - whoever he is - has very suddenly made the big time.

Zagreb had a couple of local hopes in there who were real chances at the title. Marin Cilic was one. Ivan Ljubicic was another. If either of these dudes had taken out the title, then it wouldn't have been surprising. But this Dodig guy? He's the homegrown hero that no one expected. Because as far as I can tell, he just popped into existence this year.

I wish I could say something more meaningful about him, but you've seen all I know about him in my awesome List of Ivan Dodig Facts. (To which I can add this, courtesy of the ATP website - he is coached by a dude called Martin Stepanek. Any relation, do you think?) What it really proves - once again - is the depth of the field. I think I'm pretty knowledgeable when it comes to, you know, knowing tennis players exist and stuff. Put me in front of a Challenger draw and I'll recognise a bunch of the names. But before this year, Ivan Dodig wouldn't have been one of them. And now he's gone and won not a Challenger title, but a full tour title.

That is a major-ass achievement. There is a whole ton of tennis players out there - very successful ones - who have never won a title. Never come close. Look at Janko Tipsarevic, for example. We all know who he is, but he's never won a title. Same with Potito Starace. Rendy Lu. But this Dodig dude has. He's smashed through the wall that these dudes never have.

And all I can tell you about him is that he is humanoid (probably). Tennis can always surprise you.

The Little Nation That Could

You know what? I think I can probably squeeze another day out of Davis Cup blogging after all. So here goes!

Even though, as we all know, I am definitely not Novak Djokovic's biggest fan, I kind of love the story of Serbia and the Davis Cup. It reminds me of Croatia five years back - it's a sort of Little Nation That Could story. It's the story of a country who managed to topple countries much bigger with much deeper pools than they have with what seems like heart alone.

Of course, that isn't one hundred percent true - the Serbian team is totally talented and it's more than just will that's got them this far. But the incredible driving force of the will of the nation - correct me if I'm wrong, but tennis is the most popular sport in Serbia, yesno? - was definitely a big deal.

By rights, France should have taken this one. Serbia may have Djokovic, but France has got about ten dudes in the top hundred (or something similarly ridiculous). And France was also the team that knocked Spain - the nation which is clearly the world's tennis powerhouse at the moment - out of contention. France has the depth which Serbia lacks - while Djokovic is excellent and Tipsarevic and Troicki are very good and Zimonjic is a world class doubles player - if one of them is out, then there are REAL problems. But Serbia - well, it's the little nation that could.

I don't think Djokovic functioned quite in the way that Ivan Ljubicic did for Croatia in 2005 - I don't think he provided quite the same kind of extreme rallying point than Ljubo did, though his matchplay record is clearly comparable. No, the Serbian triumph was, I feel, much more of a team effort. I feel almost a bit bad for Djokovic, actually, because his excellence was sort of assumed. It was just sort of assumed that he would win both his singles rubbers and that the team would try and take care of that one remaining point... and the people that did take care of that point were the ones who were the heroes (Tipsarevic in the semis, Troicki in the final.) The Ljubicic story was almost the story of How One Man Won The Davis Cup (with a bit of help from Mario Ancic). The Serbian narrative is different.

But I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing that it was this way. Actually, I think it's a good thing that the Serbian victory has been a team deal. Novak Djokovic winning a big tournament? Well, that's not that exciting. But a tiny nation with a handful of talented players and a whole lot of heart winning it? Now that is a story.

Superb Serbia

Well, I did not expect this. I would have sworn that France was going to win this one. I was convinced that Llodra would have the guns to pull through and that Monfils might get a sneaky one in over Djokovic. But I was totally, utterly wrong. Sorry about that, Serbia. And congratulations.

It's hard to pick a hero for this tie - I mean, you can safely say it wasn't Tipsarevic, but beyond that, not so much. You really do have to go with Djokovic, I think, who won those crucial two points and gave Troicki a fighting chance going into the fifth and deciding rubber. You can throw Troicki's name into the ring as well - he did, after all, win that rubber - but his serve was the yippy one in the doubles. So Novak gets the honours, I think - but it was a big team effort.

Let's talk about the two matches for a second. I think they both would have been terribly anti-climactic - especially after the epic doubles match - if it wasn't, you know, the Davis Cup final. I definitely wasn't expecting Djokovic to put the hurt on Monfils the way he did. I definitely was expecting more from Monfils than he brought. It seems like he left it all on the court against Tipsarevic... he should have saved some up for this match, because with the way Tipsarevic was playing, he didn't need to use it all then.

I think the crowd definitely drove Djokovic on, but I think it also negatively affected Monfils... which it didn't in the first match, so I found this surprising. I thought that Monfils sort of enjoyed being the antagonist then. Today... not so much. Maybe it's different because it's Djokovic. I don't know. But Gael won't be too happy with himself.

And neither will Michael Llodra, and I am really sad about this one, because I would have totally backed him against either Troicki or Tipsarevic. Unlike Obradovic, I would have played Tipsarevic here, but his choice was obviously a good one, because it paid off big time. Troicki had the match of his life out there. He was definitely spurred on by the crowd here, because he had an absolute blinder. I have never, ever seen him play that well.

...and I can't remember the last time I saw Llodra play so poorly.

This one breaks my heart, because I am in love with Llodra's game. He epitomises French tennis - the flair, the style, the everything. But today he epitomised the bad side of that - the erraticness. And it was horrible to watch.

This is the kind of match that can break a man, and I will be so, so sad if it breaks Llodra. He is so much better than this. He has so much more ahead of him. Here's hoping he can just put Davis Cup behind him and rock 2011 like the French tennis god he is.

But for now, congratulations to Serbia. Talk about a fairy tale.

Serbia Gets Slapped

Okay. Now we have some action. A fightback from two sets down? That is what I'm talking about.

I bet Obradovic is fiercely glad he didn't play Djokovic here, even though the Serbs didn't get the point, because if Djokovic had gone five sets today? No way he'd be up to it against Monfils tomorrow. That just wouldn't be happening.

Troicki and Zimonjic put up a good match here - they won the first two sets, after all - but they're both going to be bitterly disappointed. To lead two sets and then go down, in front of a home crowd? Geez. That is like a slap in the face with a fish and no mistake. And if I'm Nenad 'I love doubles' Zimonjic, I am a bit annoyed about being let down by the weak serving of my partner. Because that, at the end of the day, was the clincher. So in that sense, maybe Obradovic is regretting he didn't play Djokovic. I doubt he would have got as yippy as Troicki did.

But let's talk about the dudes that really pulled it out. Clement. Llodra. I love these dudes. They might be one of my favourite doubles teams ever. They are GOOD TIMES. I don't really have a side I'm pulling for in this tie, but in terms of this match? I was pulling for these two all the way. Forget did a really good job putting these two together - though I doubt it was a rocket science decision.

What I always admire in a comeback like the one they pulled is the ability to not panic and to not give in. It must be so easy to fold when you're two sets down - the way back seems insurmountable. But for Arnaud and Michael? Not so much. They rocked it. And I bet that Serbian crowd was NOT happy.

This leaves us in a very interesting place for tomorrow. The long and short of it is that if Djokovic loses, Serbia are screwed. But let's assume that rankings hold and Djokovic beats Monfils (even though I have a sneaky suspicion Gael might pull that one out). The fifth rubber is due to be contested by Tipsarevic and Simon. But will it actually be these two?

If I'm Forget, I'm definitely considering picking Llodra, even though he played five sets today. Simon was overwhelmingly disappointing in the first singles rubber... but then, he was playing Djokovic. Llodra has had a great time of it lately and should be high on adrenaline, if on nothing else. So despite the five sets, I'm going Llodra.

But if I'm Obradovic, I'm sort of between a rock and a hard place. Troicki was definitely the weak link in the doubles, and he's coming off five sets. But then Tipsarevic was terribly disappointing in the first singles match. Neither option is particularly attractive. Yesterday, I would have got Troicki in a second. But today, I think I'm leaning towards Tipsarevic. Maybe he can make something happen through talent alone...

A Meh Beginning

Davis Cup seems to have come around surprisingly quickly this year, yesno? I remember getting tons of mileage out of it in the offseason last year. But no matter. It hasn't been especially interesting yet, so it probably doesn't deserve the space.

So we've had the singles match - Djokovic vs Simon and Tipsarevic vs Monfils, and we're locked at 1-all after two straight sets victories. While this could lead to a very exciting finish - a live fifth rubber could be awesome! - the day was somehow not that exciting.

I'll start with the second match, which was Djokovic/Simon. I'm not sure why Guy Forget played Simon here. Maybe he thought that there was no hope of winning this match anyway so he sort of tanked it a little bit? I would have played Llodra for sure. Simon never had a chance in this match, as you would well expect. There was a little excitement when he saved match points to break back to 5-5 in the third set, but then he got broken straight back, so meh. That's a good word to sum up this match, actually: meh.

It also sums up the performance of Tipsarevic. I think that, like Obradovic, I would also have picked Tipsy over Troicki here, but he just did not bring it. Monfils has had a screamer of a summer but there definitely isn't the mismatch element going on here that there was in the Djokovic match. I probably would have picked Monfils to win (if I'd realised Davis Cup was even coming up - oops) but Tipsy should have at least got a set here, I think.

Maybe he was nervous in front of his home crowd. Maybe he is just not in form. Maybe it just wasn't his day. Whatever the reason was - or whether there is a reason at all - I expected a bit more from Tipsarevic. I expect that Troicki will be played on Sunday. Llodra, too.

Excellent performance from Monfils, though. There is every possiblity that Monfils/Djokovic could be an absolute scorcher on the weekend - and if Djokovic plays doubles and doesn't get the rest, then 'meh' could be the last word on my mind.

The New Ivan

A 5-0 loss, Switzerland? Really? Really?!

We are SO not speaking.

But Serbia! How about you?! Novak Djokovic, you done good, but how about you, Janko Tipsarevic? You are a freaking HERO.

This is going to be a really interesting final. France have the talent to beat just about any squad in the world - scratch that, France can beat anyone if they play well. They have amazing depth and an ability to substitute quality players that only Spain can really come close to matching. I mean, look at the talent in their stable - Monfils, Gasquet, Tsonga, Llodra, Benneteau, Clement... and that's just off the top of my head. Those Frenchies can play.

But the highest ranked player in that tie is going to be Novak Djokovic, and unless Tsonga is back and playing awesomely, I don't see him getting beaten in either singles rubber. And Janko Tipsarevic, well... if he can beat Tomas Berdych in a clutch singles rubber and then come back a couple of days later and win a live fifth in convincing fashion... such is the stuff that Davis Cup heroes are made of. That is Ivan Ljubicic level stuff right there. And Janko, I think you just might be the new Ivan.

France on Fire, Serbia to the Wire

Well, that didn't go too well for Switzerland. Well done, Kazakhstan, but Switzerland, really?

Enough about that. I suppose the playoffs pale in comparison to the real deal, the semi-finals, and I probably should at least mention that they're happening.

The regular Davis Cup heroism of David Nalbandian could not save Argentina this time - they have been absolutely taken apart by the French team. It would not be unfair to say, I think, that France are on fire. And given that the level of tennis talent in France is nothing short of immense, it is not unfair to say that they should always be on fire. They should be a fixture in the finals, not breaking a major drought.

But now isn't the time to lambast them - now that they have actually made good for once. France are a super deserving finalist for this year's Davis Cup - taking out Argentina and, moreover, Spain, is nothing to sneeze at. Their draw has been many things, but cupcake-y is not one of them. Allez!

And then there is Serbia vs the Czech Republic, and a tighter tie it would be hard to imagine. If Serbia had had Djokovic on the first day, one might imagine that the whole thing might have been a lot less tight. But no, Serbia have to win both matches on the final day to go through.

And they so easily could have been out in straights like Argentina - if Serbia go through to the final this year, they need to give Janko Tipsarevic a ticker-tape parade. His win over Berdych was some of the best clutch play around. And now the Czech Republic may be up a point, but if Djokovic can make good on his ranking and beat Berdych, and if Tipsarevic can keep his level up against Stepanek, well... what a tie this could end up being!

Bloody Coup

So much for bloodless.

We have to start by talking about Andy Roddick, because this is one of the worst losses he's taken in a while - not just in opponent but in demeanour. This is probably the most bad tempered match I have ever seen Andy play. He just had nothing going on, and he was berating himself stupid for it. It was painful to watch and to experience and does not bode well into the future. Anyone can take an early loss - but the manner in which he took this loss does not make me hopeful for his future.

Congrats to Janko Tipsarevic, though - great win! This really opens up the Djokovic quarter, and because I don't see Djokovic coming through, why not Tipsarevic to be surprise semi finalist? This quarter quite literally belongs to anyone.

You know who else is going nowhere fast? Oh HI, Tomas Berdych? Am I gleefully glad that you got booted out of the tournament like a whelp? Why... YES. I am really happy about that because I am never going to forgive you for Wimbledon EVER and I really, really love what Michael Llodra is bringing and maybe you don't deserve this but I am so, SO glad you are out, out, OUT!

Okay. Ahem. Back now.

There were a couple of other scares - Sam Querrey springs to mind - but otherwise the dudes survived okay. Oh, except for Ljubicic! This is a big win for Ryan Harrison. I wouldn't go tipping him for future glory or anything, but it has to be heartening.

Now, over to the ladies. Vika, Vika, Vika. I don't even like you and I am TOTALLY worried about you. I am glad that it wasn't heat-related because that would have been seriously worrying, but could you try not to give yourself a concussion when I've picked you to make the final? That would be greatly appreciated.

But I don't think this says anything about my picking abilities. How was I supposed to anticipate a concussion?

Oh, and we have to talk about Ana Ivanovic. What is this whole winning-two-matches-in-a-row-in-a-convincing-fashion thing? This is not dreamt of in my philosophy!

Yet More Andrey

So I'm pretty sure when I was all 'blah blah Brad Gilbert' yesterday, I probably should have been talking about Darren Cahill instead. Oops. My bad. But my main point still stands - ain't nothing wrong with Murray's game. Is all in Murray's mind. And he needs a coach who is good at that stuff, n'est-ce pas?

Anyway.

My boy Andrey Golubev lost in Gstaad, but considering he did win Hamburg the week before, I think I can give him a pass on this one. Did you know he jumped about fifty ranking spots and is now in the thirties? That is something fierce, yo. If he plays his cards right, he can totally be seeded at the US Open. Now wouldn't that be something!

But you know what he has to do if he wants to be taken seriously?

Stop playing on freaking clay when the claycourt season is over and it's all about the US. And you too, Nikolay Davydenko - are you listening?

I've ranted about this ad nauseam, so I won't go on about it again - but I mean, come ON, guys. What is the point of playing on clay at this time of the year? I just do not get it - not one little bit!

Oh, and in closing this post of randomness, I would like to give a shout out to my new fave doubles team. Janko Tipsarevic and Feli Lopez, please play doubles together for always, just for the Twitter fun times. You guys are made of pure awesome, covered in a luscious awesome sauce!

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly and The Still-In-It-Just

Roland Garros is here! Day one is over and gone and we have some stories and some winners and some losers and all kinds of things. Tennis, tennis, tennis - I love tennis! I love Roland Garros! (Yes, I have had a couple of glasses of wine...)

The winners: Robin Soderling. Big time. He smashed Laurent Recourderc like a guitar and looked very, very dangerous. I thought this was the best performance of the day by a long way - for the boys at any rate.

Over in the women, you have to go with Gisela Dulko, because that was quite some win she had over Vika Azarenka. See notes re smashing like a guitar. But another person that did some serious smashing was Aravane Rezai. That gold dress has given her superpowers, even though it's totally fug.

The losers: You can't go past Victoria Azarenka on this one, because this was one of the most disappointing performances I have seen in a long time. I thought this was going to be an upset win, but I didn't think it was going to be an upset shut out. Dulko absolutely destroyed Azarenka, but Azarenka destroyed herself as well.

There have been 'Azarenka is the next Vaidisova' opinions voiced. I think this is a bit OTT - Azarenka had a leg injury which she didn't take time off to heal, which was totally stupid, but not the end of the world. She really needs to take time off now, and this exit gives that, at least.

And also - Janko Tipsarevic. What kind of performance was that?

The disappointments: It's got to be Gulbis. This was a great win by Julien Benneteau, but obviously not the way that Gulbis wanted to conclude his clay tournament, especially when he's done so well at this tournament in the past. And the retirement... oh, Ernie. Not happy with you, chappie.

The scraped-in-by-the-skin-of-teeth: Jo-W Tsonga. He really, really shouldn't have gone five sets. I picked him to win his quarter and I will be mighty pissed off if he screws up my bracket. Obviously he hasn't been in le form d'awesome or anything, but his quarter is so eminently winnable...

That's all from Day One... oh, except for Dinara Safina breaking up with Zeljko Krajan! That made me actually very sad - I loved those crazy kids, with all their shouting... I kind of hope they get back together. I love them.

One Day More, One More Day

So one of the old veterans who had planned on retiring at the end of the year. No, it's not Marat Safin, but who really expects that train to suddenly un-derail itself? It's Nicolas Lapentti, former top ten player, and he says that the reason he's staying on is because his country, Ecuador, has been elevated to the world group in Davis Cup for the first time in approximately twelve centuries, courtesy of the effort Nico and his brother Giovanni put in.

I can't claim to know much about either of the Lapentti brothers, but I thought this was sort of nice. It made me go awwwwwwwwwww, anyway.

So, back to tennis.

In Moscow, Janko Tipsarevic is in his first semi in a few years - I so would not have picked this, by the way, the fact that he's been semi-less for a long time. I pick him a lot to win in bracket challenges and the like... but this may be because the one match of his I really remember well is his epic third round against Federer in Australia last year where he went down 10-8 in the fifth and where he was playing lights out. So I might have a slightly inflated view of his playing style. But he's in the semis in Moscow, and more power to him. I'm picking Youzhny to win the title, but if anyone can shake it up, I think it'll be Janko.

Moscow for the ladies has been the typical seed bloodbath. Second seed Jelena Jankovic went out - which is probably good, because she has to get to Doha. I'm not talking any more about that. It'll depress me...

...but Sabine Lisicki, playing in Luxembourg, is enough to make me like the WTA pretty much single-handedly. She took out Clijsters-conquering Patty Schnyder in style - kudos. And she's just so happy and fearless on court and she never leaves anything out there... really, the WTA needs a few more like Sabine Lisicki. I'm hoping for big things from her next year.

And back to Stockholm, which looks like the most interesting tournament going on this week. We've got an interesting, albeit motley, bunch of semi finalists - the Yoker, tiny Olivier Rochus, Star of the Future Thomaz Bellucci and the Smiling Cypriot. I'm kind of ambivalent on Rochus - though I do like him for his shortness - but I would be pretty happy for any of the other three to win this tournament. Fond of all of them. I might have a slight preference towards Soderling because of year ending championships purposes, but this tournament really seems like a win-win situation from my fan perspective. Looking forward to it!


Today's Results

Kremlin Cup (Moscow)

Men's Draw

Mikhail Youzhny def. Sergiy Stakhovsky, 6-3 6-3
Mikhail Kukushkin def. Pablo Cuevas, 4-6 6-1 6-4
Janko Tipsarevic def. Robby Ginepri, 6-3 6-3
Illya Marchenko def. Evgeny Korolev, 0-6 6-2 6-3


Women's Draw

Alisa Kleybanova def. Jelena Jankovic, 6-4 6-3
Francesca Schiavone def. Maria Kirilenko, 6-3 6-2
Alona Bondarenko def. Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-3 6-3
Olga Govortsova def. Vera Dushevina, 6-3 6-0


If Stockholm Open (Stockholm)

Robin Soderling def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 7-6 (7-4) 6-4
Olivier Rochus def. Jarkko Nieminen, 6-3 2-6 6-1
Thomaz Bellucci def. Joachim Johansson, 7-6 (7-4) 6-3
Marcos Baghdatis def. Arnaud Clement, 6-4 6-4


BGL Luxembourg Open (Luxembourg)

Shahar Peer def. Daniela Hantuchova, 6-2 7-6 (7-4)
Yanina Wickmayer def. Kirsten Flipkens, 7-6 (7-1) 4-6 6-1
Sabine Lisicki def. Patty Schnyder, 6-4 6-2
Timea Bacsinszky def. Katarina Srebotnik, 6-7 (3-7) 6-1 6-4

Stars in the California Sky

In all the excitement of the recent Federer news, I completely forgot what I was going to write about yesterday, which is my Stars. And I have to say, I'm glad I waited until today, because we had some very very good results yesterday!

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We'll start with the bad - we had one very disappointing Star loss, I thought, which was Kei Nishikori going down to Ivan Ljubicic. I mean, sure, Ivan Ljubicic has certainly been up there as far the game is concerned - he's been as high as #3 - but he's not exactly Wonderboy right now. Kei seems to have gone a little bit off the boil in the last little whiles - he's taken a couple of tame losses. But it happens to everyone - and I think we all know he'll be back up there in time.

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But we have had some pretty nice wins! Marin Cilic won't be action for a day or two yet, but Ernests Gulbis, Jeremy Chardy and Thomaz Bellucci have all been doing quite well. Chardy is in action as I write this, one set to love up against Victor Hanescu. Gulbis had a good win over Kevin Kim - hardly the toughest opponent ever, but it was a good solid job nonetheless. Note how I am not asking whether this is the tournament where Gulbis will finally make a good deep run. I'm convinced it jinxes him. We'll just let things unfold.

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Bellucci probably had the best win of the lot of them - I am really liking what I've seen come off his racquet in the last little while. I don't know if many people would have picked him to beat Janko Tipsarevic, but he did, in a tight three set match. It was very nice. He's going to be one to watch in coming months, particularly on clay...

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So all in all, some nice early round action. But the tournament still hasn't really begun yet, it seems to me. I think we're all waiting to see what will happen when the big boys come out to play!

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Today's Results

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BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells)
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Men's Draw

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Todd Widom def. Ivan Navarro, 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Michael Berrer def. Kevin Anderson, 6-3 6-3

Daniel Koellerer def. Mischa Zverev, 2-6 7-5 6-2

Ryan Sweeting def. Wayne Odesnik, 1-6 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Sam Querrey def. Guillermo Canas, 7-6 (7-2) 6-2

Andreas Seppi def. Juan Ignacio Chela, 6-2 4-1 retired

Jeremy Chardy def. Victor Hanescu, 6-4 3-6 6-2

*
*

Women's Draw

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Caroline Wozniacki def. Timea Bacsinszky, 6-1 6-1

Shahar Peer def. Marion Bartoli, 1-6 6-4 7-5

Amélie Mauresmo def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 5-7 6-3 6-4

Kaia Kanepi def. Virginie Razzano, 7-6 (7-2) 1-0 retired

Peng Shuai def. Olga Govortsova, 6-3 3-6 6-4

Alexa Glatch def. Carla Suárez Navarro, 6-3 6-1

The Armada Sails On

Thankfully my Nando rant yesterday was ultimately pointless - he is injured. To that I say thank God, because if he hadn't been and he'd been left off the team, well...

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Not that it would really matter much, because the Spanish boys seem to be sailing along quite well. The Serbians won the doubles, but they really did not fire in the singles at all. Rafael Nadal absolutely destroyed Janko Tipsarevic, and Novak Djokovic did not really do too much better against David Ferrer... I mean, I get that Ferru is a claycourter, but Djokovic is really not playing well if he can't even take a set off the guy. Ferrer really hasn't been especially remarkable so far this year... I guess this is proof that neither is Djokovic.

*

The Swiss look to be going down in Alabama as well, which is so sad... If they won the doubles I thought they'd be in with a chance, but the Bryans got them. If Federer had played, I think the tie'd be pretty much wrapped up by now, as one assumes he would win both his singles matches and with the point that Stan got, that'd be the three. But no such luck. Oh well - maybe next year (which is the mantra of the Swiss Davis Cup fan, I feel... unless Stan and Marco Chiudinelli pull off something totally remarkable on the last day, it's back to square one.)

*

Only two countries have claimed wins thus far - Argentina has defeated the Netherlands and Croatia has beaten Chile. It's good that it's so close - you've got to love the tightness! Makes it all the more interesting.

*

And the Aussie boys are doing well! Brydan Klein lost his singles match agaisnt Danai Udomchoke, but Hewitt won his and Ball and Guccione pulled their weight in doubles, so we look a very decent shot of winning the tie - awesome!

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Today's Results

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Argentina 3, Netherlands 0

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Lucas Arnold-Ker/Martin Vassallo Arguello def. Jesse Huta Galung/Rogier Wassen, 6-4 7-5 6-3

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*

Czech Republic 2, France 1

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Tomas Berdych/Radek Stepanek def. Richard Gasquet/Michael Llodra, 6-3 1-6 6-4 6-2

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USA 2, Switzerland 1

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Andy Roddick def. Marco Chiudinelli, 6-1 6-3 7-6 (7-5)

Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan def. Yves Allegro/Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-3 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-2)

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Croatia 3, Chile 0

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Mario Ancic/Marin Cilic def. Paul Capdeville/Nicolas Massu, 6-3 6-3 3-6 6-4

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*

Sweden 2, Israel 1

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Simon Aspelin/Robert Lindstedt def. Amir Hadad/Andy Ram, 6-4 1-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4

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*

Russia 2, Romania 1

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Marius Copil/Horia Tecau def. Marat Safin/Dmitry Tursunov, 4-6 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

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Germany 2, Austria 1

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Nicolas Kiefer/Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Julian Knowle/Alexander Peya, 6-3 7-6 (7-6) 3-6 6-4

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Spain 2, Serbia 1

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David Ferrer def. Novak Djokovic, 6-3 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

Rafael Nadal def. Janko Tipsarevic, 6-1 6-0 6-2

Viktor Troicki/Nenad Zimonjic def. Feliciano Lopez/Tommy Robredo, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 7-6 (9-7)

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*

Monterrey Open (Monterrey)

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Marion Bartoli def. Vania King, 2-6 6-2 6-3

Zheng Jie def. Gisela Dulko, 6-3 6-2

Iveta Benesova def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 7-5 6-4

Li Na def. Lucie Safarova, 6-3 7-6 (7-3)

If You Hear Us, Clap Your Hands!

Okay, I admit it. I was SUCH a tennis patriot last night. I cheered my lungs out for the Aussies - hell, you probably heard me if you were watching! The atmosphere in Rod Laver Arena was electric! But more on that later. Let us start at the beginning.

*

I got there just before play began, and got myself a pretty decent seat on Show Court 2 to watch a bit of Cilic and Tipsarevic. One thing I had not considered in choosing this match to begin my day's viewing is that Cilic is Croatian and Tipsarevic is Serbian, and both groups of fans are very, very vocal in Australia, so there was a whoooole lot of shouting! I didn't understand most of it, not understanding either Croatian or Serbian, but it made the whole thing feel like a footy match, and it put the crowd into the match from the start - it really created a great atmosphere! Seriously, it was akin to the endless chants of 'MAR-COS - BAGH-DA-TIS!' that floated out of that same court in the afternoon. And it was a good match as well - I only watched the first set, which Cilic won, but there were some great shots made and good fun for everyone.

*

I had a bit of a wander round the back courts to see if anyone interesting was practicing, but I had determined not to spend my whole day waiting for Fedot again, so when I determined that no one especially interesting was, I went back to Margaret Court Arena and settled in for a good couple of hours - and it was lucky I went when I did, because the whole place got packed out very, very quickly! As it was, being alone, I got a pretty decent seat - right at the top, with an excellent view of the whole court. I watched the second set of Petrova/Mirza, which was good fun, but I was really there for the next match - Safin/Garcia-Lopez.

*

And when the big man came out, let me tell you, the cheers were massive. There were about three lonely Spanish fans chanting 'G - G - L! G -G - L!' and everyone else was roaring for Safin. (There were a lot of women in the audience... go figure. The queues to get into the stadium were over an hour long at one point, and the match was only an hour and a half - Marat has a whooole lot of fans in Australia! And I don't know whether the crowd lifted him or if he was just having a good day, but he played beautifully - very clean tennis, by his often erratic standards. I watched the whole match and I enjoyed every second. I'm so sad he comes up against Federer next - and sad that I don't have arena tickets for Friday night, because I'm pretty sure it's going to be then...

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When Safin finished I went for another wander round the back... just to check if anyone was out. (Not that Federer would have been out - he was about to play. But someone else might have been there.) I caught a bit of Nieminen hitting up then sat down at Court 19 and watched a bit of Tommy Robredo pummelling Viktor Troicki into the ground. That one was almost painful to watch because Troicki was so upset with himself and playing so badly, so I left and went back round the front - just to discover that the Roger match in Rod Laver Arena was about to begin!

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I had a lovely hour-and-a-half, sitting on the grass in Garden Square, watching the match on the big screen. Federer played beautifully and you could hear the cheers wafting out from the stadium. Also, I was in some Channel 7 footage of Garden Square. That made me glad. It wasn't as hot yesterday (probably only 32 or 33 degrees compared to the 37ish 38ish the days before) and so it was very pleasant - almost like a picnic, sans food and company. (Otherwise exactly the same.)

*

I went offsite to eat, then came back at about 6, to find a huge crowd glued to the big screen watching Lu/Nalbandian, with not a seat to spare, so I wandered round and caught the last two games of Bolelli/Fish and the second set of Santoro/Kohlschreiber, which was a totally excellent match which I would have watched more of, but the main event was starting in the arena!

*

I didn't know how the crowd was going to react to Jelena Dokic, and I don't think she did either, but they got behind her 110%. There were some folks holding up a 'Welcome Back Jelena!' banner and I think that pretty much says it all. The crowd were cheering and chanting like anything - me included. The amount of times that the 'AUSSIE FANS IN THE STANDS, IF YOU HEAR US, CLAP YOUR HANDS!' cheer went round was obscene - and it was such a great match as well. When Jelena finally pulled it out deep in the third, the whole crowd rose as one and just screamed and screamed and screamed. She started crying - and I confess I shed a tear as well. It was such a great moment.

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And then when Tomic came out, the crowd didn't lose any momentum! There were innumerable 'AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE, OI OI OI!' chants as well as a whole host of others... it was like being at the cricket, seriously. And what a match Tomic played - especially that first set. He may not have won the match, but he sure won the hearts of the crowd. He served notice, I think - the a-Tomic bomb is here to stay!

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Today's Results

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Australian Open

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Evgeny Korolev, 6-2 6-2 6-1

Novak Djokovic def. Jeremy Chardy, 7-5 6-1 6-3

Gilles Muller def. Bernard Tomic, 3-6 6-1 6-4 6-2

Andy Roddick def. Xavier Malisse, 4-6 6-2 7-6 (7-1) 6-2

Yen-Hsun Lu def. David Nalbandian, 6-4 5-7 4-6 6-4 6-2

Juan Martin del Potro def. Florian Mayer, 6-1 7-5 6-2

Marat Safin def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 7-5 6-2 6-2

Marcos Baghdatis def. Robin Soderling, 3-6 7-5 6-3 6-3

Marin Cilic def. Janko Tipsarevic, 6-2 6-3 406 6-3

David Ferrer def. Dominik Hrbaty, 6-2 6-2 6-1

Stanislas Wawrinka def. Brydan Klein, 6-3 6-4 6-4

Fabrice Santoro def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 5-7 7-5 3-6 7-5 6-3

Mardy Fish def. Simone Bolelli, 6-4 6-1 7-5

Tomas Berdych def. Brian Dabul, 6-1 6-1 6-3

Amer Delic def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 1-6 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-3) 9-7

Tommy Robredo def. Viktor Troicki, 6-1 6-3 6-0

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Women's Draw

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Jelena Jankovic def. Kirsten Flipkens, 6-4 7-5

Dinara Safina def. Ekaterina Makarova, 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-0

Ana Ivanovic def. Alberta Brianti, 6-3 6-2

Vera Zvonareva def. Edina Gallovits, 6-0 6-0

Nadia Petrova def. Sania Mirza, 6-3 6-2

Caroline Wozniacki def. Virginia Ruano Pascual, 6-3 6-3

Alizé Cornet def. Andrea Petkovic, 6-1 6-0

Marion Bartoli def. Tsvetana Pironkova, 7-5 6-2

Jelena Dokic def. Anna Chakvetadze, 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-3

Daniela Hantuchova def. Mathilde Johansson, 6-3 4-6 6-3

Kaia Kanepi def. Patricia Mayr, 6-3 6-1

Ai Sugiyama def. Nathalie Dechy, 1-6 6-1 6-3

Alisa Kleybanova def. Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro, 6-1 3-6 6-2

Sara Errani def. Monica Niculescu, 6-2 6-3

Lucie Safarova def. Marina Erakovic, 6-1 3-6 9-7

Galina Voskoboeva def. Karin Knapp, 6-4 6-1

Mirnyi Lays Down The Law

First things first: I know there's lots of proper grown up tennis going on in the world at the moment, but I have to say the result I found most exciting was in the Optus under-12 National Championships, where little Ashleigh Barty and Li Tu took out the titles. Not having seen either of them play, I can make no real comment, but the fact that such an event exists and the standard is reportedly so high is a very good sign for the future of Australian tennis. Here's hoping these kids grow up into something spectacular, so I can look back at this post when I'm thirty, thirty-five, and say, 'I told you so.'

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No major upsets in the grown up tennis world today, unless you count Juan Martin del Potro, who was technically beaten, but it was a walkover, so I don't know if that counts. The only other seeded player to be beaten was Janko Tipsarevic, who got knocked out in Moscow by Viktor Troicki. I saw Troicki play Nadal at the Australian Open this year, and though Nadal beat him in straights, he played very well and held a couple of set points, so it's nice to see that potential come through.

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Speaking of potential, Star of the Future Kei Nishikori had a good win over Dominik Hrbaty - I know Hrbaty isn't exactly the best, most in-form player on the circuit right now, but a win is a win, and I am very proud of my Kei. For he is one of mine, and that is something. And yay for Marat, who strung a second win onto his first one! He beat Julien Benneteau, despite Benneteau handing him a bagel in the second set.

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And a big shout out to Max Mirnyi, who got his degree! I find it incredible how some of these players can find time to study when you consider the rigorous life of a tennis player - I mean, I know Ancic earned his degree while he was off with glandular fever, but it takes years to earn a degree - particularly a law degree, which is what both of these guys now have. They both must have been studying like crazy. I have major kudos for both of them. I find it hard enough to study in my own life - I can't imagine what it would be like if you had to deal with being a professional athlete as well. Particularly writing a thesis, which both of them did - Mirnyi's was about the human rights of children, and Ancic's about the legal status of the ATP, or somesuch. I'm putting the finishing touches on my thesis now, and it has consumed my whole life. I can't imagine having to spend hours and hours and hours training and playing and whatnot every single day. And I don't know about Ancic, but Mirnyi has a family, as well. Max, you are a machine. I salute you.

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Today's Results

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Kremlin Cup (Moscow)

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Men's Draw

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Nikolay Davydenko, def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-1 6-1

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Dudi Sela, 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 7-6 (7-0)

Marat Safin def. Julien Benneteau, 6-4 0-6 6-2

Viktor Troicki def. Janko Tipsarevic, 6-3 6-4

Mischa Zverev def. Teimuraz Gabashvili, 6-2 2-6 6-1

Igor Kunitsyn def. Robby Ginepri, 6-4 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Jelena Jankovic def. Vera Dushevina, 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 6-2

Vera Zvonareva def. Daniela Hantuchova, 6-1 6-0

Nadia Petrova def. Caroline Wozniacki, 6-4 3-2 retired

Flavia Pennetta def. Ekaterina Makarova, 3-6 6-4 6-4

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If Stockholm Open (Stockholm)

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David Nalbandian def. Joachim Johansson, 6-3 6-2

Mario Ancic def. Steve Darcis, 7-6 (7-4) 6-4

Jarkko Nieminen def. Arnaud Clement, 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-2

Robin Soderling def. Juan Monaco, 6-3 6-3

Albert Montanes def. George Bastl, 1-6 6-3 6-2

Kei Nishikori def. Dominik Hrbaty, 6-1 1-6 7-5

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Bank Austria Tennis Trophy (Vienna)

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Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Juan Martin Del Potro, walkover

Gael Monfils def. Radek Stepanek, 6-4 6-3

Feliciano Lopez def. Santiago Giraldo, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3

Jurgen Melzer def. Juan Carlos Ferrero, 7-6 (7-4) 6-3

Starlight, Starbright

I must admit, I was very disappointed that Fabrice Santoro couldn't do a bit more in the beating-Andy-Roddick sort of way. I like watching him play (the Harry Potter of men's tennis) and we all know how disenchanted I am with A-Rod right now. But I suppose we can't have it all our own way. If I had my druthers, Clement would have taken out Djokovic as well. But it was not to be. I will have to be satisfied with that crushing Roger victory from yesterday - which was AMAZINGLY satisfactory!

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I caught absolutely no tennis today, so I don't have that much to discuss that doesn't come directly from the scores. One thing I was very satisfied with was the performance of Ernests Gulbis, who took out ever-wily Olympic silver medallist and former Slam champion Thomas Johansson. What really surprised me was that the match was played on Armstrong - surely neither player is high-profile enough for that? I wonder why it was put there - on whose recognisance, I mean. I know Gulbis is good, and he's going to be great, but surely he doesn't have that kind of pulling power yet - and surely Johansson is no longer that high-profile? Nevertheless, it is a match I would have loved to watch, and maybe it's good that the US Open organisers put them there, so more people can start waving little Latvian flags and joining Team Gulbis.

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And another star performer was Mr. Marin Cilic - even though, unlike Ernests, it took him five sets to get past his opponent, one Julien Benneteau. Great as it was to see Marin win that tournament this week, I hope it hasn't worn him out too terribly - five tough sets can hardly be helping! Here's hoping he gets a little time to recover, because I really would like to see him do well. Gulbis has made it to the quarters before - and perhaps can do so again. I'd like to see Marin match him. Indeed, wasn't Ernests vs. Marin one of my quarter final picks? Wouldn't that be a fabulous match to see?! I'd willingly walk dozens of kilometres on the treadmill at the gym if it meant I could watch that one!

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Eduardo Schwank, on the other hand, lost. I'm afraid he might be one of those Stars who only does well on clay. It does occur to me that he is probably the oldest Star in my fold - not that he's past it or anything, but if one of my Stars does make the bigtime, it probably won't be him. Nevertheless, he didn't seem to leave much in the locker room against Tursunov - four tight sets. So nice try, Eduardo. Better luck next time... aka better draw!

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It was a bit sad to see Tipsarevic retire, but nonetheless I found myself breathing a guilty sigh of relief... I would prefer he didn't meet Roger in Slam tennis for a little while, not after what happened in Australia! And speaking of the ol' homeland, there was a good win for Chris Guccione. I completely forgot he was in the draw and thought Jessica Moore was our last hope... not that either of them are great chances of making it to the third round, but still, it's nice to have one or two still there, even if the second week is completely unheard of for Australians these days.

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Oh, and good work to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for winning his first match back. And Kolya Davydenko also won, but I can't say that brought me much pleasure. Stupid Kolya.

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Over in the women's, Jelena Jankovic is not looking so hot. I know she's been #1 and is seeded #2 and all, but I really don't like her chances of making it to her first Slam final. Same goes for her countrywoman Ana Ivanovic, actually. At least one, and maybe both of them is at some point going to run into the chainsaw that is Dinara Safina, and they'll be decimated. Even if everyone else wasn't playing rubbish, I'd still be backing Dinara, and everyone really sort of is. The Serbian girls are shaky. Kuznetsova is a bit unsteady too. Sharapova isn't even there. Dementieva is doing all right, but do you think Dinara's going to let her beat her twice in a row? No, no, I love Dinara's chances - and if she's not the odds on favourite, she should be.

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Oh, and before I go, one match people should keep an eye on tomorrow, if they possibly can - Juan Martin del Potro against Thomaz Bellucci. That would be two of my Stars, and though you'd probably pick del Potro to win it what with his current record, I wouldn't be surprised if Bellucci gave him a little trouble...

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Today's Results

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US Open (Flushing Meadows)

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Men's Draw

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Andy Roddick def. Fabrice Santoro, 6-2 6-2 6-2

Novak Djokovic def. Arnaud Clement, 6-3 6-3 6-4

Ernests Gulbis def. Thomas Johansson, 7-5 6-1 7-6 (7-3)

Robby Ginepri def. Amer Delic, 6-1 6-2 7-6 (7-5)

Nikolay Davydenko def. Dudi Sela, 6-3 6-3 6-3

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Santiago Ventura, 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-2 6-3

Robert Kendrick def. Nicolas Mahut, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 5-7 7-5

Marin Cilic def. Julien Benneteau, 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-7 (7-9) 6-2

Agustin Calleri def. Austin Krajicek, 6-2 6-2 6-1

Nicolas Almagro def. Frank Dancevic, 5-3 6-4 7-5

Carlos Moya def. Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi, 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-2) 6-2

Victor Hanescu def. Albert Montanes, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 2-6 6-3

Radek Stepanek def. Potito Starace, 7-5 6-3 6-1

Sam Warburg def. Janko Tipsarevic, 6-2 1-0 retired

Chris Guccione def. Jesse Levine, 6-3 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (8-6)

Dmitry Tursunov def. Eduardo Schwank, 7-5 4-6 7-5 7-6 (7-5)

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Women's Draw

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Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Sorana Cirstea, 7-6 (7-3) 6-1

Lindsay Davenport def. Alisa Kleybanova, 7-5 6-3

Jelena Jankovic def. Sofia Arvidsson, 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 7-5

Elena Dementieva def. Pauline Parmentier, 6-2 6-1

Patty Schnyder def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-3 6-3

Caroline Wozniacki def. Maria Elena Camerin, 6-1 6-2

Katarina Srebotnik def. Yvonne Meusburger, 6-1 6-3

Victoria Azarenka def. Iveta Benesova, 6-2 6-3

Anne Keothavong def. Francesca Schiavone, 6-2 306 6-4

Magdalena Rybarikova def. Tamira Paszek, 6-1 6-2

Ekaterina Makarova def. Ekaterina Bychkova, 3-6 7-5 6-3

Tatiana Perrebiynis def. Vera Zvonareva, 6-3 6-3

Jie Zheng def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-1 6-4

Li Na def. Sara Errani, 4-6 6-2 6-0

Sybille Bammer def. Aravane Rezai, 6-1 7-5

Marion Bartoli def. Virginia Ruano Pascual, 6-4 6-2

Swan Lake

Apparently 'Gulbis' means 'swan' in Latvian. I don't think he looks anything like a swan, nor is his game especially swanlike, but I thought it was amusing anyway.
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Swanlike or not, win or lose, I was very impressed with the way young Ernests played. A while ago, I gave him a couple of years before he became really good. I'm revising that now to a year. Of all the young players I've ever discussed on this blog, I have to say that he is the one with the most promise. If he is not top ten, or at least top twenty within a year, I will eat an item of my own clothing.
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All he needs is a tiny bit more mental stability. He's a little bit like Robin Haase in that sometimes he panics on the forehand side and goes for too much, though he does it far less often than Haase does. The first set, where he beat Nadal 7-5, was impeccable. He has a high-risk, red line game, an all or nothing, winner or error style. All he has to do is tighten up just a tiny bit. Just a few more winners than errors, and Rafa could easily have lost that third set, and then I think the match could have had a whole different complexion.
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There's not much of Gulbis - he's 6'3" but only 76kg, which really isn't that much - but hot damn, that kid is strong. He's this tall, gawky nineteen year old, and yet he's hitting the ball like Roddick. I have never, ever seen anyone beat Nadal so consistently with sheer pace. It was insane. And he was hitting the lines a LOT, especially in that first set. He serves out of a tree. And - again, especially in the first set - he was allowing Rafa no rhythm. Consistently, he was pinning him three, four, five metres behind the baseline, just by the heaviness of his groundstrokes.
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He's an out and out baseliner, yet what I really liked was that he was willing to come to the net. He's not the best volleyer, but he's not bad, and he can definitely improve easily with a little more experience and maturity. He served and volleyed a few times, which I really liked. And he had some excellent clutch-serving - that is, being down in a service game, and coming up with the big first serve ace or unreturnable to get himself out of it.
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To be honest, I don't know if we've seen a talent this big since the rise of Richard 'Baby Fed' Gasquet. And I think this kid might be better than Richou, to tell the truth. Already, he seems to have better mental stability than Richou. After Nadal won the second set, it would have been easy for Gulbis to fall off in the third, but he didn't - and if a couple more of those errors had been winners, then he could have easily taken a two sets to one lead. And then I don't know if I would have fancied Rafa's chances in getting out of it.
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Rafa didn't play his best, but I think a lot of that might be because Gulbis didn't let him. Rafa likes to dig in, extend the point, and often he wins points through his opponents making a mistake (though he does have his fair share of winners as well.) Especially in the first set, Gulbis was shortening the points - coming in to the net, which was just awesome. Even though he lost, I was mightily, mightily impressed with Ernests Gulbis. He will be seeded here next year, mark my words.
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Not so with Andy Roddick. Nalbandian, Davydenko, Djokovic and now Roddick. The Federer quarter and the Nadal quarter both have the top two seeds intact, but the Djokovic and Davydenko quarters are now virtually empty. Janko Tipsarevic is a great player, sure, but I didn't think he was going to take out Roddick - not on grass. Maybe the loss of Djokovic, which made him the hope of Serbia, gave him some heart. Who knows? But whatever happened, that quarter, like the Djokovic quarter, is now wide, WIDE open.
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Baghdatis was my pick for semi finalist in that second quarter. In the third quarter, I'm going to to tip Dmitry Tursunov, providing he keeps his head in the game. He's always been consistent at Wimbledon - two third rounds, two fourth rounds, I think - and it's sort of his turn to go deeper. I think I previously picked Mathieu, but Tursunov has a better grass game in my opinion. Cilic is another outside possibility. And who knows? Maybe Arnaud 'le cle' Clement can make a splash. It's an open quarter. It's anyone's game.
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This has been a seriously weird second round. In the women's game too - bye bye MaSha! Alla Kudryavtseva played brilliantly, but Sharapova played DREADFULLY. Seriously, she was awful. Cringeworthy. Yuri'll be a-scolding her, mark my words. With Sharapova gone, there is a HUGE chance for Dinara Safina. Hell, there was a huge chance for her when Sharapova was still there. Wouldn't it be nice if Safin and Safina could both reach the semis? I'd like it!
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Third round action tonight. Here's cheering for Federer and Safin!
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Wimbledon Results - Day #4
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Rafael Nadal def. Ernests Gulbis, 5-7 6-2 7-6 (7-2) 6-3
Janko Tipsarevic def. Andy Roddick, 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 6-4 7-6 (7-4)
Andy Murray def. Xavier Malisse, 6-4 6-2 6-2
Dmitry Tursunov def. Chris Eaton, 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 6-4
Richard Gasquet def. Sebastien Grosjean, 6-2 6-2 retired
Mikhail Youzhny def. Stefano Galvani, 4-6 6-4 6-3 3-6 6-3
Rainer Schuettler def. James Blake, 6-2 6-7 (8-10) 4-6 6-4 6-4
Nicolas Kiefer def. Martin Vassallo Arguello, 6-0 6-3 6-1
Tommy Haas def. Tommy Robredo, 6-4 6-4 6-3
Marin Cilic def. Jarkko Nieminen, 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-7 (6-8) 7-5
Jurgen Melzer def. Jesse Levine, 4-6 6-2 3-6 6-4 6-1
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Nicolas Almagro, 6-3 3-6 5-7 6-1 6-2
Arnaud Clement def. Benjamin Becker, 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-3)

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Jeremy Chardy, 6-3 7-5 7-6 (7-1)

Radek Stepanek def. Viktor Troicki, 6-7 (1-7) 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-1 6-2

Gilles Simon def. Agustin Calleri, 5-7 6-2 6-3 6-4

*

*

Women's Draw

*

Alla Kudryavtseva def. Maria Sharapova, 6-2 6-4

Venus Williams def. Anne Keothavong, 7-5 6-2

Dinara Safina def. Hsieh Su-wei, 6-3 6-2

Jelena Jankovic def. Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-1 6-3

Gisela Dulko def. Lindsay Davenport, walkover

Alisa Kleybanova def. Daniela Hantuchova, 6-3 4-6 6-1

Shahar Peer def. Emilie Loit, 6-3 6-4

Victoria Azarenka def. Sorana Cirstea,6-1 6-3

Nadia Petrova def. Mara Santangelo, 6-4 7-5

Marina Erakovic def. Julia Goerges, 6-2 7-6 (7-5)

Elena Dementieva def. Timea Bacsinszky, 4-6 6-3 6-3

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Sania Mirza, 6-0 4-6 9-7

Ai Sugiyama def. Flavia Pennetta, 7-6 (7-5) 2-6 6-2

Caroline Wozniacki def. Aleksandara Wozniak, 6-1 6-1

Shuai Peng def. Sybille Bammer, 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 6-3

Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Vera Zvonareva, 7-6 (12-10) 4-6 6-3

Born to Shine

What a match. WHAT A MATCH.

*

It's almost a pity I couldn't bring myself to watch most of it, actually.

*

I will always be a Federer fan, no matter what he's ranked or if he loses in the first round of every tournament he plays for the rest of his life. Federer the man is my hero - Federer the tennis player is obviously a large part of Federer the man, but it is the man who says, "It's nice to be important, but it's important to be nice," that is the object of my idolatry. But the fact that I like him for him and not because he wins everything doesn't mean that I don't get nervous as hell for him.

*

I think I said in my post 'Why I Love Tennis' that the most nervous I have ever been in a tennis match was when Roger played Tommy Haas in the fourth round of the Australian Open two years ago. Wimbledon against Rafa last year probably ran a close second. But they've both been usurped, because I have never, ever, EVER been so nervous.

*

I'm an actor. No matter how many times I go onstage, I still get stage fright. I used to do eisteddfods for speech and drama, and sometimes the nerves could be almost crippling. I would walk up and down the corridors backstage, my fingers in my ears, reciting my lines over and over again. There was this strange feeling like your legs weren't connected to your head, your heart would race, and every year I used to wonder why I put myself through it, when it caused me so much anxiety.

*

I know why I put myself through Roger matches. The man is my hero. Not only is he amazing to watch, with his fluid strokes and incredible angles and ability to do just about anything, he's a lovely person to boot. Justin Gimelstob once described him as 'the perfect human being.' So Roger is the reason - but the nerves are, if anything, worse.

*

I started gnawing my nails during the first set breaker, and I let out an ungodly shriek when Tipsarevic won it with that lob that Roger let go. The second set was painful, though I got a brief reprieve when Roger won it. Also, Channel 7 stopped covering the match and went to the news, so I was following the scores on the internet. Somehow, when you're not watching, you're not quite as involved.

*

Not quite.

*

And then the third set happened, and that is when the agony really began for me.

*

Roger lost that set 7-5. It was on serve, and then he must have had a loss of concentration - Channel 7 picked up coverage at this point, but it was slightly delayed, and because I knew what was going to happen I couldn't bring myself to watch it. During the set, before the break, I went running. I figured if I went away, when I came back, Roger might have won the match and spared me a lot of pain. But almost as soon as I got back, the break happened. And the set was gone, and suddenly Roger was down two sets to one.

*

Roger has not been down two sets to one in a Grand Slam match for longer than I can remember. Even that match against Tommy Haas, he was two sets to love up, then two to one, then two all. He was never actually down.

*

I couldn't even bear to watch the scores for the fourth set. I had to get out. My backyard is pretty overgrown, and we've been intended to get someone in to mow and spray the weeds for ages. And these are serious weeds. We're talking big, spiky thorn-beast weeds, crosses between trifids and Audrey II. So what did I do?

*

I went out and weeded. With my bare hands.

*

I was out there for maybe twenty minutes. I didn't check the scores. I tried to distance myself from the tennis. Slowly, I became less and less nervous. I sort of had the sense that Roger was doing okay. I mean, I'm not claiming to have some massive psychic power here, but you know how you sometimes get feelings? Like you know the phone is going to ring and who it's going to be just before it happens? I had a feeling like that. But I kept pulling up the damn spiky weeds, just in case. If Roger was losing, if Roger had lost, I couldn't bear to know. Not yet. Not yet.

*

So, with scratched and bleeding hands, I came back inside. And the Australian Open scores page says, 'No current matches in progress."

*

My heart froze. I had been out there a while, but nowhere near long enough for two sets. One, yes, but two, definitely not. It couldn't be a rain timeout, because the roof was closed. Unless one of them was badly injured and retired, that meant that the match had only gone four sets.

*

That meant Tipsarevic had won.

*

My eyes filled with tears. "No," I said. "No." This wasn't possible. This was 2008. This was Roger's lucky year! (He's said often his lucky number is 8, because his birthday is the 8th of August.) He couldn't have lost!

*

I was devastated. I was - I was almost angry.

*

There was one big weed in the backyard that I had left. A weed that had grown to gargantuan heights (for a weed) that seemed to be composed entirely of thorns. You couldn't touch it without nearly cutting your hand off. But what did I do, in my rage, in my devastation?

*

I took a garden stake and I whacked at that giant spiky weed, and I smashed the damn thing to bits. And then I dug up the roots (bare-handed) and threw it against the fence. I was too - I don't know what I was. Angry? Distraught? even to cry. I was destroyed.

*

Eventually, I went back in. If Roger had lost, I had to at least know what the score was. I owed him that much.

*

But his match wasn't in the completed matches list.

*

Hope blossomed.

*

I clicked back to the 'matches in progress' in page. And there it was.

*

Roger had won the fourth, 6-1. It was 2 all in the fifth, on serve. He hadn't lost. He was still in it. He had risen above it. He had levelled the match.

*

My hero lived again.

*

And there I was, looking at my computer screen with my dirty, bleeding hands, and I was laughing, and I was crying, and... oh God, I still couldn't bear to watch the scores ticking over. I knew Channel 7 was showing it on a delay, but I sure as hell couldn't stand to turn it on until I was sure that Roger had won. Otherwise, I think I just might have given myself heart failure.

*

I went back out into the backyard. I had pulled up all the scary spiky weeds I could find, but there was still grass growing in the garden beds where it didn't belong. I didn't care that my hands were bleeding. (Before anyone freaks out, it wasn't that bad. Just scratches.) I couldn't watch. My heart was in my throat. I was waiting for another feeling like I had had before, when I somehow knew that Roger was doing okay. (I had been right the first time, even though my computer had so cruelly betrayed me!)

*

It didn't come.

*

It was dark by now, and I had pulled up just about everything I could see. "Right," I said to myself. "Be sensible. It must be over by now. Roger's a champion. He must have pulled it out and won. And if he hasn't, that's not the end of the world. Your life will go on fine if Roger does not win this tennis match."

*

But I still had this sick feeling in my stomach. I forced myself to look at the scores, even though I didn't want to.

*

Six all.

*

I had been banking on Tipsarevic fading after being totally shellacked in the fourth. But the man's got heart. (All cred to him, even though I'm always on Roger's side.) It was tight. So tight.

*

There was still the possibility that Roger might lose.

*

I still couldn't watch, though it was now too dark to take my frustrated, nervous energy out on the garden. I had this crappy chicklit book I've been reading, so I decided that I would read two chapters then check again.

*

I read two chapters. That sick feeling hadn't gone away, but I made myself check. 8-7, Roger serving, looking like he was going to hold.

*

Because I know many useless facts about Roger, I knew that the last time he had won an extended fifth set was that famous match with Sampras at Wimbledon in 2001, where he won 9-7. This, clearly, didn't help my nerves in any way.

*

I decided to read another chapter.

*

When I next checked, it was 8 all, Tipsarevic serving, 40-15.

*

Another chapter it was.

*

But I had barely read two pages when I had the feeling. It was like a little voice was whispering in my ear, 'Go, Jodi. Look now. Look NOW.' And obviously I was frazzled enough at this point to listen to all my little voices, and so I checked.

*

8 all. Deuce. Tipsarevic serving. Advantage Federer.

*

Wait... advantage Federer?!

*

It was like my eyes were locked to that damn live scoring page. That little A next to Roger's name seemed to grow bigger and bigger, and then...

*

It was a 40 again. Tipsarevic had brought it back to deuce. But I still couldn't move. I knew, without knowing how I knew, that this was it.

*

And then the A came back! Advantage Roger! Break point!

*

AND THEN HE WON THE GAME!

*

9-8. Roger was serving for the match.

*

I couldn't move. I was afraid that, if I moved, I would jinx it somehow.

*

That final game, even though it was a pretty routine service game for Roger, seemed to take about nine hundred years. And when he won...

*

I'm an actor. (As I've said...) I have very, very melodramatic tendencies. I fell to my knees... and really hurt myself, so I decided not to try that again. But it was like a great weight had been lifted from me. He won. He won. He won.

*

He won.

*

Channel 7 was still showing the match on a delay, and I watched it from 7 all through tears. God, I felt like an idiot. "It's only tennis," I told myself. But for me, it was more than that.

*

Have you ever had a hero? Someone who you just worshipped, and wished you could make yourself over in their image? Roger Federer is that for me. I wish I could be a person like he is a person - he is a great, great champion, but he is humble, he is gracious, he is real. He is a lovely person. He has an incredible attitude to tennis and to life.

*

And I so, so desperately wanted him to succeed. And when he did... I was overcome.

*

It's lame, but I have a song that is my Roger song. 'Shimmer' by Shawn Mullins - "He's born to shimmer, born to shine, born to radiate." I made the mistake of listening to this song after the match and burst into loud, noisy tears.

*

This man, this wonderful champion, is born to shine.

*

And, in the end, I think this match will be good for Roger. Much as it was lovely to see him winning so easily over Hartfield and Santoro, I was a little concerned that he was peaking too early. Let people say he has no matchplay now. This match went for four and a half hours. Roger on fire is amazing, but knowing he can pull it out even when the hammer is down and he's down is even more amazing... even if I can't bear to watch it.

*

What a great champion. He was serving second in that fifth set as well. If Tipsarevic had broken him, Tipsarevic would have won. Roger had to break THEN hold. And Tipsarevic has no pressure. No expectations. If Roger lost, that would have been the greatest upset of the tournament - which is saying something, in a 24 hours so peppered with upsets. Roddick, Chakvetadze, Gonzalez and Kuznetsova were among the seeds that lost. Grosjean nearly knocked off Blake. But Roger made it. He won.

*

What was strange about the match is that, if you look at it on paper, Federer won easily. He had 96 winners to 64 errors, which is a great ratio. Tipsarevic was 52 to 47. Federer was serving better, he won 202 points to Tipsarevic's 173... and yet Tipsarevic somehow managed to hang on. It is a rare day that someone can serve at 64% winning 89% of points on that first serve and go to five, but it happened.

*

I think this shows the quality of Tipsarevic's scrambling and his mentality. He won the points that he needed to. Federer obviously got more points on the Tipsarevic serve than vice versa, but Tipsarevic fended him off. A 24% break point conversion rate for Federer tells that story. So congratulations to Janko Tipsarevic, because that is an awesome effort.

*

And congratulations to Roger Federer, more than anyone else, because it would have been so easy to let the pressure crush him, to tank, to let the weight of expectations beat him into the ground. But he is a true champion. He fights. Even though the chips are down, and he's sure not used to them being down, still he fights. He can adapt. He is prepared. He can go the distance, even where he is so rarely asked to.

*

This man is a great tennis player. He is a great man. And after this match, this titanic struggle, I admire him even more than I did before.

*

*

Australian Open Results - Day 6

*

Men's Draw

*

Roger Federer def. Janko Tipsarevic, 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-1) 5-7 6-1 10-8

Marin Cilic def. Fernando Gonzalez, 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-1

Tomas Berdych def. Juan Monaco, 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

James Blake def. Sebastien Grosjean, 4-6 2-6 6-0 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Novak Djokovic def. Sam Querrey, 6-3 6-1 6-3

Lleyton Hewitt def. Marcos Baghdatis, 4-6 7-5 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 6-3

*

*

Women's Draw

*

Venus Williams def. Sania Mirza, 7-6 (7-0) 6-4

Maria Kirilenko def. Anna Chakvetadze, 6-7 (6-8) 6-1 6-2

Ana Ivanovic def. Katarina Srebotnik, 6-3 6-4

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-3 6-4