Fast Five

I am back! I am sure you missed me. Please, who wouldn't miss me and all that insightful commentary I make? I mean, I LOVE ROGER'S HAIR and MAHUT IS AWESOME are key contributions to the world of tennis, n'est-ce pas?

Right. Let's ease back into things with a few quick stories:

1) Jarmila and Sam Groth are no more. Jarka and the GrothHawk have split up, which is a bit sad. She's back to being Ms Gajdosova now. His hair is presumably still silly. This event is probably most notable, tennis-wise, for her Twitter tirade about how she didn't marry Sam just for citizenship. Personally, I think the fact that people raised that question at all is insulting and ludicrous. Jarka does not need to be married to a man with stupid hair to play for Australia. Glad to have you, Jarka.

2) Fernando Gonzalez is back in town. I had almost forgotten about the existence of Gonzo, but I bet there were people that hadn't, like, oh, the entire nation of Chile. He chose to come back at the Djokovic - I mean, Serbian Open in Belgrade, where he beat Martin Klizan but lost to Feliciano Lopez. Winning your first match back - even if it is against someone I have personally never heard of - is no mean feat, so well done, Gonzo. Keep it up.

3) Someone who does not get a well done ribbon this week is John Isner. Ouch. That is going to hurt, rankings wise.

4) Welcome back Tommy Haas! He played doubles in Munich, his first match back in about 709838 years. He partnered Stepanek and they lost in a match tiebreaker, but it is so good to see Herr Hotness back on the court.

5) Grigor Dimitrov seems to have had something resembling a 'breakthrough', though I would not go counting chickens, you hear me. He beat Marcos Baghdatis, and the way people are talking about it, you'd think he beat Rafa in straight sets in the final of Roland Garros. Of course it's cause to be optimistic, but slow your roll, people, honestly. He's not exactly Milos Raonic yet.

Result and a Half

First thing is first: this is the 400th post on Tennis From The Backseat! What a nice round number.

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Second thing: Jarmila Groth! How about you, girl?!

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The WTA still has her listed as playing for the Slovak Republic, but I'm pretty sure she plays for Australia now. She's been trying to get citizenship for about a thousand years now, and then she married Sam Groth, one of our Davis Cup team, a couple of months ago (she used to be called Jarmila Gajdosova). Jarmila is listed as third on the Tennis Australia list of top Australian female tennis players, so they clearly think she's Australian, and... I get away from the point.

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Jarmila Groth, our dear Australian, took out the top seed, Iveta Benesova - with whom I have certainly not been unimpressed - in Estoril. In straight sets, no less. How about that? That is a pretty good result, if I do say so myself! I haven't seen huge amounts of Jarmila playing, but she's always impressed me when I have - she put up a very good showing against Victoria Azarenka in Brisbane.

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Speaking of seeds tumbling, Ana Ivanovic went out in Rome to Agnieszka Radwanska, who clearly heard me beating on her last week and tried to do better. On you, Agnieszka. And how about Patty Schnyder taking out Serena? That's a result and a half!

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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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Nikolay Davydenko def. Juan Carlos Ferrero, 7-5 6-2

Oscar Hernandez def. David Ferrer, 6-2 6-4

Mardy Fish def. Ivan Navarro, 2-6 6-1 6-4

Paul Capdeville def. Maximo Gonzalez, 2-6 6-2 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Jarmila Groth def. Iveta Benesova, 7-5 6-4

Maria Kirilenko def. María Emilia Salerni, 6-3 6-0

Sorana Cirstea def. Maret Ani, 7-5 6-2

Sabine Lisicki def. Elena Bovina, 6-4 7-5

Ekaterina Makarova def. Melinda Czink, 5-7 7-5 7-5

Shahar Peer def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 6-4 6-1

Anna-Lena Groenefeld def. Kristina Barrois, 6-4 6-4

Yanina Wickmayer def. Olga Govortsova, 0-6 6-2 6-2

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BMW Open (Munich)

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Marin Cilic def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-0 6-4

Mikhail Youzhny def. Nicolas Almagro, 7-6 (7-2) 6-4

Jeremy Chardy def. Nicolas Kiefer, 6-4 7-6 (10-8)

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Denis Gremelmayr, 6-1 6-4

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Serbia Open (Belgrade)

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Novak Djokovic def. Janko Tipsarevic, 6-2 4-6 6-0

Viktor Troicki def. Marcel Granollers, 6-3 6-4

Lukasz Kubot def. Igor Andreev, 3-2 retired

Kristof Vliegen def. Christophe Rochus, 3-6 6-4 6-3

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Internazionali BNL d'Italia (Rome)

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Dinara Safina def. Zheng Jie, 5-7 6-1 7-6 (7-3)

Jelena Jankovic def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 6-1 1-0 retired

Venus Williams def. Anna Chakvetadze, 6-0 6-7 (8-10) 6-4

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Ana Ivanovic, 6-1 3-6 6-4

Victoria Azarenka def. Caroline Wozniacki, 6-2 6-2

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Flavia Pennetta, 6-3 3-6 6-0

María José Martínez Sánchez def. Nadia Petrova, 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-4

Kaia Kanepi def. Patty Schnyder, 6-3 6-0

To 2011 And Beyond!

Well, well, well, Australian women's tennis. Maybe you are not as hopeless as you have been made out to be in the past. After sweeping Korea on the first day on competition, the girls have just made another clean one of Thailand, with Dokic and Stosur winning the singles and then Dellacqua and Stubbs finishing it off in the doubles. How 'bout that, eh? How 'bout that?

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I mean, of course, Australia is in a really low group right now - the Asia/Oceania group - and we have to win the final to have a chance to get into World Group 2, the group below the World Group proper. The earliest we could compete for the actual Fed Cup is 2011, when one has to think Dokic and Stosur will be a leeeeeetle past their prime. But I suppose we do have players like Isabella Holland, Monica Wejnert and Olivia Rogowska coming up...

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It's just really nice to see the girls doing well. Jelena cruised in her match, winning it 6-1 6-2, but the day belonged to Stosur, who came back from a set and 5-2 down to beat Tamarine Tanasugarn (who is actually ranked higher than she is) to win the tie. She won eleven straight games. Now that's pretty sweet.

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And then, in other Australian tennis news, I think Jarmila Gajdosova is 100% definitely an Australian citizen now - she just got married to Sam Groth. The new Mrs. Groth (who is going by Groth now) really troubled Victoria Azarenka in Brisbane - and actually could be another good addition to the Fed Cup squad one day. And we all know how Scary Sam played Davis Cup for Oz last year against Chile... and I didn't even know they were dating. Guess you learn something new every day.

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Today's Results

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SA Tennis Open (Johannesburg)

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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Denis Istomin, 6-1 6-4

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Leonardo Mayer, 6-4 7-5

Jeremy Chardy def. Marco Chiudinelli. 6-4 6-4

Kristof Vliegen def. Ivo Minar, 6-4 6-1

Frederico Gil def. Rik de Voest, 4-6 7-5 6-4

Sebastien de Chaunac def. Izak Van Der Merwe, 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 7-6 (7-5)

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Movistar Open (Vina del Mar)

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Tommy Robredo def. Brian Dabul, 6-3 7-6 (7-5)

Sebastian Decoud def. Agustin Calleri, 7-6 (7-3) 7-5

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PBZ Zagreb Indoors (Zagreb)

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Sergiy Stakhovsky def. Ivo Karlovic, 6-4 3-6 6-3

Jan Hernych def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-7 (7-9) 6-4 6-2

Mario Ancic def. Teimuraz Gabashvili, 6-1 6-1

Ivan Dodig def. Ernests Gulbis, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4

Mischa Zverev def. Victor Hanescu, 6-4 5-7 7-6 (9-7)

I Told You So!

I told you Ernests Gulbis was going to be good. I told you so. And what a time and a way to prove it. That's really a way of serving notice to the tennis world - knocking off Novak Djokovic in the first match of the season.

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While the organisers of Brisbane are probably sobbing quietly into their drinks, I am laughing. He really is a wonderful player to watch. All the weapons are there - all that he needs is a little maturity and consistency to be a real threat. As it is, he is enormously dangerous - as Novak Djokovic will attest to! His forehand is insanely good, as is his serve. His backhand needs a little work, but you wouldn't want to get in the way of it if he has time to get set - he's just a gorgeous player.

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And he beat Novak Djokovic. Excuse me while I say AHAHAHAHAHAHA!

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Added to which Roger Federer won, cruising past Potito Starace, which means the #2 ranking is safe, and we can ready the ship to launch back at the #1 spot. A la la la la la.

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But yesterday's tennis did have a black spot - and no, it wasn't the fact that Australia got beaten in the Hopman Cup by a Slovak team who really have been playing outside their skin. No, I refer to the disgraceful behaviour of Victoria Azarenka in her match against Jarmila Gajdosova. It was seriously disgusting. Not only did she throw a couple of tantrums that a toddler would be proud of, but then she accused the umpire of nepotism, because he was Australian and Gajdosova, though nominally Slovakian, is Australian. That is just childish and disgusting and Azarenka is going down there with Djokovic on my list of objectionable tennis players.

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But Gulbis won! Djokovic lost! Victory for the Stars!

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Today's Results

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Harry Hopman Cup (Perth)

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Italy 2, France 1

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Alize Cornet def. Flavia Pennetta, 7-5 6-2

Simone Bolelli def. Gilles Simon, 6-3 6-3

Pennetta/Bolelli def. Cornet/Simon, 6-4 7-6 (7-2)

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Slovak Republic 2, Australia 1

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Dominika Cibulkova def. Casey Dellacqua, 7-5 6-2

Lleyton Hewitt def. Dominik Hrbaty, 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (1-7) 6-4

Cibulkova/Hrbaty def. Dellacqua/Hewitt, 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 10-4 (match tiebreaker)

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Brisbane International (Brisbane)

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Men's Draw

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Robin Soderling def. Julien Benneteau, 6-3 6-3

Richard Gasquet def. Taylor Dent, 7-5 6-4

Ernests Gulbis def. Novak Djokovic, 6-4 6-4

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Agustin Calleri, 6-2 7-5

Tomas Berdych def. Brydan Klein, 6-0 6-4

Florent Serra def. Juan Carlos Ferrero, 6-3 7-6 (7-3)

Mario Ancic def. Amer Delic, 7-6 (7-2) 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (8-6)

Kei Nishikori def. Bobby Reynolds, 6-3 6-2

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS) 63 63

Michael Llodra def. Joseph Sirianni, 5-7 7-6 (7-3) 6-2

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Women's Draw

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Victoria Azarenka def. Jarmila Gajdosova, 7-6 (7-4) 7-5

Marion Bartoli def. Melinda Czink, 5-7 6-3 6-1

Tathiana Garbin def. Alisa Kleybanova, 4-6 6-4 6-2

Lucie Safarova def. Samantha Stosur, 6-4 6-4

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Chennai Open (Chennai)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Daniel Koellerer, 6-2 6-3

Flavio Cipolla def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-4 6-1

Ivo Karlovic def. Rajeev Ram, 6-4 6-3

Carlos Moya def. Danai Udomchoke, 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

Janko Tipsarevic def. Pablo Andujar, 6-3 6-2

Andreas Beck def. Roko Karanusic, 6-1 6-0

Denis Istomin def. Rohan Bopanna, 6-4 7-6 (7-3)

Ivo Minar def. Wayne Odesnik, 6-3 6-0

Somdev Devvarman def. Kevin Kim, 6-3 6-3

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Qatar Exxonmobil Open (Doha)

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Rafael Nadal def. Fabrice Santoro, 6-0 6-1

Roger Federer def. Potito Starace, 6-2 6-2

Andy Murray def. Albert Montanes, 6-2 6-4

Mikhail Youzhny def. Igor Andreev, 4-6 6-3 6-4

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Marco Chiudinelli, 6-4 6-3

Alexander Peya def. Dmitry Tursunov 2-6 6-3 6-4

Arnaud Clement def. Diego Junqueira, 6-1 6-2

Kristof Vliegen def. Oscar Hernandez, 6-1 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-5)

Karol Beck def. Michal Przysiezny, 4-6 6-4 7-5

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ASB Classic (Auckland)

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Elena Dementieva def. Chan Yung-Jan, 7-5 6-3

Caroline Wozniacki def. Alberta Brianti, 6-1 6-0

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Kristina Barrois, 6-3 6-1

Carla Suárez Navarro def. Nathalie Dechy, 6-4 6-0

Anne Keothavong def. Mirjana Lucic, 6-4 6-2

Marina Erakovic def. Nuria Llagostera Vives, 7-5 6-4

Elena Vesnina def. Aiko Nakamura, 6-1 6-0

Ayumi Morita def. Marta Domachowska, 6-4 4-6 6-4

Berdych's Big Break?

Well, well, could Tomas Berdych be going to make something of himself at last? It's probably a stretch to say yes, but at least he's proven that he still deserves to be in the upper echelons of the ATP. He hasn't been very impressive at all this year, but if he can win this title, that might really help him out. He has so much talent and so much promise, and after beating Federer at the Olympics in Athens and winning that Masters shield in 2005, I bet a few people had him on their Stars of the Future list. Largely, he hasn't come through - and it's not like this final in Tokyo changes that. But it is a positive sign.

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That said, it was a pretty tight match. It wasn't like Berdych came out and totally flogged Roddick. It was a third set breaker. But Berdych came away with the win, which is important for him... though I don't like his chances in the final. He's playing Juan Martin del Potro, and we all know how hot that kid is running right now. I certainly wouldn't bet against him, unless he were playing Federer or Nadal or someone. I suppose the real question will be whether or not he can maintain this hot streak. I hope, for his sake, that he isn't a player that has an amazing hot streak and then effectively burns himself out, never to be seen again.

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Meanwhile, I really, really hope that Jelena Jankovic takes some serious time off sometime soon, or I think her limbs might actually start falling off. I don't know if I can remember a tennis player so constantly injured. She had to have painkillers injected to make it through today's marathon match against Venus Williams. This is what she said:

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"When I saw the needles they were going to use ten minutes before the game started, I went white - I hate needles... I was screaming when the doctor put the needle in and I had to hold onto one of the physios, but I had to do it to get through the game."

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Personally, if I was in that much pain, I wouldn't have played. If the remedy is (for Jelena, anyway) worse than the cure, then surely your body might be trying to tell you something? But she knows best, I suppose... I have absolutely no knowledge of anything to do with sports medicine.

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Oh, and davai Dmitry! Tursunov is through to the final in Metz, and I would love to see him win... though unfortunately I can't be present this time, like I was when he won the tournament in Sydney. He faces Paul-Henri Mathieu, and though Paulo is seeded higher (and very cruelly took out the wonderfully named Adrian Mannarino) I think we all know Dmitry can take him.

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And congratulations to Jarmila Gajdosova, who unfortunately couldn't get past Caroline Wozniacki today, but who did make it to the semis nonetheless - nice one!

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Today's Results

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Open de Moselle (Metz)

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Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Adrian Mannarino, 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (7-1)

Dmitry Tursunov def. Radek Stepanek, 6-3 6-4

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AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships (Tokyo)

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Men's Draw

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Juan Martin Del Potro def. Richard Gasquet, 6-3 4-6 7-5

Tomas Berdych def. Andy Roddick, 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 7-6 (7-3)

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Women's Draw

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Caroline Wozniacki def. Jarmila Gajdosova, 6-4 6-3

Kaia Kanepi def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 6-4 6-4

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Porsche Tennis Grand Prix

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Jelena Jankovic def. Venus Williams, 6-7 (8-10) 7-5 6-2

Nadia Petrova def. Victoria Azarenka, 6-4 6-4

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Tashkent Open (Tashkent)

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Sabine Lisicki def. Peng Shuai, 5-7 6-3 6-4

Sorana Cirstea def. Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-3 retired

Our Jarmila

Unfortunately Sam Stosur got stopped today, but how about Jarmila Gajdosova? She's kind of Australian, and she's into the last four in Tokyo. Good on you, Jarmila! (I think I've said that about twelve times in the past couple of days!) Dinara Safina got beaten as well, and we all know she is my special favourite, so it was very nice to have a bright spot.

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So when is this Australian citizenship/playing-for-Australia going to happen for Jarmila, Tennis Australia? You can bet the whole country will be calling her 'our Jarmila' if she wins this tournament. Not that a whole heap of people in Australia would be following it, but the ones that are... and yeah, I guess I include myself in that, though I like to think that I wouldn't have to qualify it with a tournament victory.

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Over in the blokes, and, with the demise of Schwank, all my Stars are gone... except Juan Martin del Potro, but I don't know if I can in all fairness count him as one of my Stars, as that ship had already sailed by the time I jumped on. Who would have picked that? If you'd asked me in May or whatever which young player was most likely to make a huge splash over the summer (if one was going to) I would have said Gulbis or Cilic. Del Potro has been round for a little while, so that you sort of forget how young he is... he must be in a fair way for qualifying for the Tennis Masters Cup. Now no one would have picked that one at the beginning of the year. But no one could say he doesn't deserve it - he just took out David Ferrer to get to the semis, so more power to him.

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And down in Metz, we have a qualifier into the semis. Adrian Mannarino, I know nothing about you, but you have a cool last name, so kudos. I might even be cheering for you... as long as you're not playing Tursunov, because he, like Dinara Safina, is one of my special favourites. But isn't it nice when some little qualifier guy gets up and does well? I've never cheered for him since, but when Steve Darcis won his first title from #297 in the world or whatever it was last year, I was pulling for him.

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Today's Results

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Open de Moselle (Metz)

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Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Janko Tipsarevic, 7-6 (7-4) 6-3

Dmitry Tursunov def. Carlos Moya, 6-3 6-3

Radek Stepanek def. Eduardo Schwank, 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4

Adrian Mannarino def. Marc Gicquel, 6-4 7-6 (7-3)

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AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships (Tokyo)

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Men's Draw

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Juan Martin Del Potro def. David Ferrer, 6-1 7-5

Andy Roddick def. Viktor Troicki, 6-3 6-4

Tomas Berdych def. Fernando Gonzalez, 6-0 6-4

Richard Gasquet def. Rainer Schuettler, 6-3 6-2

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Women's Draw

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Caroline Wozniacki def. Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6-4 6-1

Kaia Kanepi def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-1)

Aleksandra Wozniak def. Samantha Stosur, 7-5 6-3

Jarmila Gajdosova def. Klara Zakopalova, 7-5 7-5

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Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart)

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Jelena Jankovic def. Vera Zvonareva, 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (7-5)

Venus Williams def. Dinara Safina, 6-4 6-2

Victoria Azarenka def. Elena Dementieva, 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 6-1

Nadia Petrova def. Li Na, 6-2 6-3

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Tashkent Open (Tashkent)

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Peng Shuai def. Monica Niculescu, 6-7 (6-8) 6-2 6-4

Sorana Cirstea def. Michelle Larcher de Brito, 6-2 7-6 (7-5)

Sabine Lisicki def. Urszula Radwanska, 3-6 7-5 7-6 (7-4)

Magdalena Rybarikova def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 6-1 6-2

Head Case Moments

Well, it's all happening in the women's tournaments this week. How about Serena Williams's total collapse against Li Na? She had that match as wrapped up as you could get - 6-0 in the first set - and then she just imploded. It was very un-Serena - she's usually so tough in the head. That's one of the things I really respect about her game - and then it totally went away! I feel harsh for saying this, but if she's going to become a head case, then she doesn't deserve to be #1. That was not a performance worthy of a #1 player. I mean, I suppose all the players have their head case moments and take their early losses - but when was the last time you saw Roger Federer lose early because his head wasn't in it? Or Rafael Nadal? Aspects of their game might break down, but I don't think I've ever seen either player suffer a real mental collapse - not even in the final of the French Open where Rafa absolutely hammered Roger. I thought Serena was one of those players too... but obviously not.

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Wow. That was harsh. It wasn't intended to come out quite like that, but I think I stand by it. If a part of a player's game breaks down, they can compensate, but if the head isn't it, then you can kiss the match goodbye.

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Another very interesting match was the Schnyder/Kuznetsova match. Normally you'd pick Sveta every time, but Patty came out and took it to her, and came away with the match. It wasn't because Sveta had a head case moment - Patty just comprehensively outplayed her. Schnyder isn't a player that often 'outplays' anyone - that word kind of has the connotation of 'outhit' and you wouldn't say that Patty does that to anyone, really. She plays with guile and spin. But on this occasion, even though it was tight, I think we can safely say that Patty owned Sveta. And good on her too. I love watching both these girls play, but I have a special respect for someone that relies on strategy - on, as it were, their head.

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Over to the blokes, where there were far fewer upsets - the top twelve seeds in Tokyo all progressed safely (at the expense, I am sad to say, of Joe Sirianni - but good on him for making it to the second round!) Kei Nishikori is through, and he is, I believe, my final Star remaining this week - Gulbis lost to Tipsarevic in Metz, alas. But still, I have big hopes for Kei. He took out a seed - the sixteenth seed, sure, but a seed nonetheless - and I would love him to go all the way! He plays Gasquet tomorrow - classic head case, as we're discussing it - and I think Kei can take him.

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The major upset was in Metz, where Carlos Moya took out Ivo Karlovic. More power to him, I say. I have great respect for Carlos, and he's certainly much more interesting to watch than Dr Ivo. I know his game is effective, but it's just so damn boring. Unreturnable. Ace. Unreturnable. Percentage play. Dull, dull, dull.

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Oh, and Jarmila Gajdosova, the almost-Aussie, pulled an upset in Tokyo! She took out sixth seed Shahar Peer, the villain in the comeback of Kimiko Date Krumm. Good on you, Jarmila!

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Today's Results

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Open de Moselle (Metz)

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Carlos Moya def. Ivo Karlovic, 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

Dmitry Tursunov def. Jose Acasuso, 6-2 6-2

Janko Tipsarevic def. Ernests Gulbis, 6-4 6-4

Adrian Mannarino def. Andreas Seppi, 6-4 6-2

Radek Stepanek def. Julien Benneteau, 6-3 6-3

Rik de Voest def. Arnaud Clement, 4-6 6-2 7-5

Michael Llodra def. Feliciano Lopez, 7-6 (13-11) 6-7 (6-8) 6-3

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AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships

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Men's Draw

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David Ferrer def. Jesse Levine, 6-4 4-6 6-1

Andy Roddick def. Ivo Minar, 7-6 (13-11) 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-2)

Fernando Gonzalez def. Yen-hsun Lu, 1-6 7-5 6-3

Richard Gasquet def. Martin Slanar, 6-4 6-2

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

Tommy Robredo def. Joseph Sirianni, 6-2 6-2

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Bobby Reynolds, 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4

Mikhail Youzhny def. Flavio Cipolla, 6-2 6-2

Tomas Berdych def. Roko Karanusic, 6-3 6-4

Jarkko Nieminen def. Cecil Mamiit, 7-6 (9-7) 6-4

Rainer Schuettler def. Hyung-taik Lee, 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-3

Amer Delic def. Sam Querrey, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3

Jurgen Melzer def. Simon Stadler, 6-2 6-3

Takao Suzuki def. Simone Bolelli, 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 7-6 (7-5)

Kei Nishikori def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-4 6-4

Viktor Troicki def. Wayne Odesnik, 6-2 6-1

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Women's Draw

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Kaia Kanepi def. Yanina Wickmayer, 3-6 6-1 6-0

Jarmila Gajdosova def. Shahar Peer, 5-7 6-1 7-6 (11-9)

Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Camille Pin, 6-2 6-2

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Chan Yung-Jan, 3-6 6-3 6-3

Samantha Stosur def. Vania King, 6-2 retired

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Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart)

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Li Na def. Serena Williams, 0-6 6-1 6-4

Elena Dementieva def. Sybille Bammer, 6-1 6-4

Victoria Azarenka def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-1 7-5

Patty Schnyder def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-4 4-6 7-5

Vera Zvonareva def. Daniela Hantuchova, 6-3 6-2

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Tashkent Open (Tashkent)

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Sabine Lisicki def. Alexandra Panova, 7-5 6-1

Magdalena Rybarikova def. Vesna Manasieva, 6-1 7-5

Ioana Raluca Olaru def. Ksenia Palkina, 2-6 6-3 6-2

Urszula Radwanska def. Sofia Shapatava, 7-5 6-2

Arantxa Rus def. Vlada Ekshibarova, 3-6 6-2 6-1

Red Tape

Very little to report today, as nothing of interest is really happening... we had some interesting upsets in Metz, with Simon and Almagro falling to Mahut and Schwank respectively, which is news, I suppose. I'm glad to see Schwank doing well, as I was nearly ready to drop him from my Stars fold - since the claycourt season, he has done very little of note, and that is just not good enough for one of my chosen ones! This hardcourt victory gives him a little more leeway. It'll be interesting to see how far he can go. He's one of the oldest of my Stars - in his early twenties - and so I don't think his future is quite as shiny as, say, Gulbis or Cilic, who had the rest of their careers still before them. Still, he's one to keep an eye on!

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Another one of my Stars to keep an eye on this week is, obviously, Kei Nishikori. He's playing in front of a home crowd and he's clearly in killer form. Wouldn't it be great to see him go on and win the title? We know he's capable of winning ATP titles - Delray Beach, anyone - but I'd really like him to prove that wasn't a fluke. Loads of people have won one title. A lot fewer have won two. And Nishikori is such a fun player to watch as well. If he were a bigger guy, one thinks he'd play like Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, but because he's slight, his big weapon is speed... though that's not to say that he doesn't hit the ball hard!

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I was pleased to see that lucky loser Jarmila Gajdosova was able to win her first round match in Tokyo too. She's still playing for Slovakia, but she's sort of Australian, like Anastasia Rodionova... actually, what is going on with that whole thing? Both have expressed their desire to play for Australia - hell, I think both have played for Australia! - so what is the holdup? I have no idea what is going on with that whole situation there. This has been going on for about a year now. What's the deal? Is it citizenship? Visa? When are these two going to be playing for us? You'd think with everyone whinging about how Australian tennis is in a state you'd want it to be soon. Stupid red tape.

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Meanwhile, Marcos Baghdatis showed his face again, only to retire (a set up, too!) against Ivo Karlovic with a back injury. Get well soon, Marcos!

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Today's Results

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Open de Moselle (Metz)

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Ivo Karlovic def. Marcos Baghdatis, 4-6 2-1 retired

Nicolas Mahut def. Gilles Simon, 6-4 3-6 6-1

Eduardo Schwank def. Nicolas Almagro, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Nicolas Devilder, 6-0 6-2

Dmitry Tursunov def. Thierry Ascione, 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 6-4

Victor Hanescu def. Ivan Ljubicic, 6-1 7-6 (7-4)

Marc Gicquel def. Marcel Granollers, 6-3 6-2

Romain Jouan def. Agustin Calleri, 5-7 6-1 6-2

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AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships (Tokyo)

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Men's Draw

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Kei Nishikori def. Robert Kendrick, 7-6 (7-3) 6-7 (5-7) 6-2

Dudi Sela def. Bjorn Phau, 7-5 6-1

Wayne Odesnik def. Kevin Kim, 6-4 6-3

Simon Stadler def. Philipp Petzschner, 6-2 6-4

Flavio Cipolla def. Ivan Navarro, 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-4)

Bobby Reynolds def. Tatsuma Ito, 6-3 6-1

Roko Karanusic def. Hiroki Kondo, 6-2 6-2

Yen-hsun Lu def. Luka Gregorc, 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Joseph Sirianni def. Yuichi Ito, 6-3 6-2

Jesse Levine def. Danai Udomchoke, 4-6 6-1 6-0

Martin Slanar def. Donald Young, 4-6 6-3 6-2

Cecil Mamiit def. Brendan Evans, 3-6 7-5 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Caroline Wozniacki def. Gisela Dulko, 4-6 6-0 6-3

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Zheng Jie, 6-1 6-2

Klara Zakopalova def. Maria Kirilenko, 4-6 6-2 7-5

Shahar Peer def. Kimiko Date Krumm, 6-3 6-1

Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Stéphanie Dubois, 6-1 6-3

Aleksandra Wozniak def. Jill Craybas, 7-5 6-7 (2-7) 6-3

Yanina Wickmayer def. Iveta Benesova, 6-4 3-6 6-3

Camille Pin def. Carla Suárez Navarro, 6-0 7-5

Rika Fujiwara def. Petra Cetkovska, 7-6 (8-6) 6-4

Ryoko Fuda def. Pauline Parmentier, 7-5 6-2

Jarmila Gajdosova def. Mara Santangelo, 6-4 7-6 (7-0)

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Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart)

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Venus Williams def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 6-1 6-2

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Sandra Zahlavova, 6-3 6-2

Marion Bartoli def. Dominika Cibulkova, 6-3 6-1

Victoria Azarenka def. Agnes Szavay, 7-5 6-3

Nadia Petrova def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 6-2 6-2

Tsvetana Pironkova def. Alizé Cornet, 6-2 6-1

Kateryna Bondarenko def. Flavia Pennetta, 4-6 6-2 6-1

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Tashkent Open (Tashkent)

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Peng Shuai def. Arina Rodionova, 6-4 6-1

Ksenia Palkina def. Olga Govortsova, 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 7-5

Sorana Cirstea def. Ekaterina Dzehalevich, 7-6 (7-4) 7-5

Monica Niculescu def. Olga Savchuk, 7-5 0-1 retired

Urszula Radwanska def. Akgul Amanmuradova, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3

Yaroslava Shvedova def. Anastasiya Yakimova, 6-1 6-1

Anna Lapushchenkova def. Nina Bratchikova, 4-6 6-1 7-6 (7-3)

Michelle Larcher de Brito def. Andreja Klepac, 6-0 6-7 (4-7) 6-2

Ioana Raluca Olaru def. Katie O'Brien, 6-2 6-1

Vesna Manasieva def. Nigina Abduraimova, 6-1 6-1

Tatiana Poutchek def. Sariya Khayrova, 6-1 6-0

Alexandra Panova def. Alisa Ogorodova, 6-4 6-0