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.

The Other Fed

So. Fed Cup.

I suspect a lot of us would rather not talk about it, especially those of us who are Australian or American. It was not a good time, shall we say. I mean, there were moments, moments where things were great, people who played their hearts out. But in the end... oh dear. Oh dear, dear, dear.

Australia were playing Ukraine, and we managed to embarrass ourselves a lot less than the Americans, so go us. We had match point in the doubles...! We could have taken it...! And Anastasia Rodionova could totally have won that singles match...! And... if wishes were horses, etc.

The Australian press (what little of it there is that covers Fed Cup, anyway) has been pretty mean to Anastasia Rodionova about the whole "losing three rubbers" business... and it certainly is a weekend to forget for her. Not her finest hour. But in reality, she wouldn't normally be the lady that takes the court anyway, so well done to her for stepping up. And a super well done to Jarka Groth, who won both her singles rubbers and was generally awesome all weekend.

But no, on the whole, Australia suffered from a case of Fed Cup malaise. Fed Cup is just not that important to people, in the long run. Ukraine had the same thing - they were sans Bondarenkos. We had no Stosur, no Dokic, and Groth and Rodionova were essentially left as a two woman team. Kudos to them that they did as well as they did...

...and didn't, oh, lose 5-0, like a certain American team I could name.

You have to feel sorry for them. People believe, I think, that the American Fed Cup team is a lot better than it actually is, on account of there have been some Williamses on it before. But to throw McHale, Oudin, King and Huber up against Lisicki, Petkovic, Goerges and Groenefeld? Ouch.

The Germans have an awesome Fed Cup team and I will not be surprised if they win the whole thing in coming years. What they did to the American girls is only the beginning, I think. Let's hope somebody actually notices how awesome these girls are... because if you thought people didn't care about Davis Cup, it's ten times worse for Fed Cup.

Not A F%^&ing Tourist

It is no secret that I am not exactly the biggest tennis patriot ever. However, I was/am genuinely interested in the Fed Cup tie between Australia and Italy going on in Hobart, and I am totally devo that they are only showing it on pay TV, which I do not have.

The live scoreboard is good, though. Why don't they use it at all the tournaments?

It's also no secret that I currently find men's tennis more interesting than women's tennis, but the Italy/Australia tie is as good a match up as you will ever hope to see and kicks the arse of a lot of Davis Cup ties. In the Italian corner, we have Francesca Schiavone and Flavia Pennetta. In the Aussie corner, we have Samantha Stosur and Jarmila Groth. Let the games begin.

It's one of those ties in which no result is surprising. I wouldn't have been surprised to find either team 2-0 up after the first day, and so 1-1 is, I guess, kind of an expression of that. And yet it was still surprising. The one point for Australia comes from Groth, who upset Schiavone. Stosur went down to Pennetta.

And yet, even though Stosur is ranked way higher than Pennetta at the mo, I am somehow not surprised. Because all four singles players playing this tie are 100% absolute quality.

I couldn't tell you how Stosur lost or why Pennetta won or anything like that, because of the whole not having TV problem. What I can say is this: this is one of the best results of Jarmila Groth's career. Beating a Grand Slam champion and defending Fed Cup champion... wow. That is something else.

Particularly after coming back from one set to love down as well. That is an awesome result. When I saw Groth play Wickmayer at the Aussie Open, my immediate impression was of a player with heaps of talent and all the shots, but who could go AWOL mentally at any second. She could light up (ie. second set) but also come crashing down to earth without any notice (third set).

What Jarka showed me here in Fed Cup was that she can grit her teeth and get it done. And if she keeps gritting her teeth and getting it done... well, I could see her definitely making top twenty. Because she is majorly talented. And she is, in her own words, not a fucking tourist.

Reverse singles today (and doubles), with Groth taking on Pennetta and Stosur taking on Schiavone. I'm going with another split result here - I say Groth and Schiavone coming out on top. I don't see Frankie losing two days in a row, and I think Jarka might be on a roll. So this fascinating tie could come down to the doubles...

This is the kind of tie Fed Cup needs. I often talk about how maligned Davis Cup is, but Fed Cup is worse. Probably also because it has such a boring name. But with awesomeness like the awesomeness in this tie... Fed Cup could be on its way up.

(Also, Nicolas Mahut is into the final in Courmayeur! He'll play Gilles Muller. And also, he and Gicquel won the doubles. And I think making the final will send him into the top hundred! Mahuberfans unite!)

Clean Slate

There is something magical about walking through the gates on the first day of the Slam. It is a clean slate. There is tennis to be played, stories to be told, portraits to be painted, hearts to broken, tears and laughter and incredible sadness and joy ahead, but on that first day, everything is clean and new. Anything is possible. And you are there to witness it.

I made a decision this year that unlike previous years, where I have flitted from court to court to court (usually in an effort to make sure I don't miss any Federer practice sessions, because I am a fangirl like that), I was going to try and watch some real proper tennis on the outside courts (ie. more than one change of ends). I also wanted to make sure I watched at least one player a day I had never seen before, preferably one I'd barely/never heard of. So, without further ado, here is my story of Australian Open - Day One.

I'd decided to begin my day on Court 6 with what looked like a tasty match up between Julien Benneteau and Juan Monaco, but then when the players walked on court... hey, THAT's not Benneteau, quoth I to myself. No, it was Simon Greul, whom I presume is a lucky loser. I have no idea what's happened to Benneteau, but he wasn't on that court when he was supposed to be. I hope it's nothing bad... particularly as he is doubles partners with Mahut and I want them to be awesome! (More on Mahut later.)

So I upped and left after two changes of ends (see, I watched some of it! I gave it a chance!) and wandered round to the back courts. For some reason, it is so difficult to get there now that you practically have to answer three riddles of increasing difficulty then fight a troll, but when I did manage to fight my way to Court 16 through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I was treated with Federer practice goodness. I feel like it was the tennis gods rewarding me for being good. La la la.

Then I went to Court 19 (the original aim of my trek to the back courts) and caught a set and a half of Carlos Berlocq against Robin Haase, which was a very interesting match indeed. I've been watching Haase for a while - actually, no, that's a lie. I picked up on a him a number of years ago when he took Hewitt to five at Wimbledon, thought he was cool, then forgot about him (apart from a few 'hey, where's Haase these days? I thought he was going to be good and stuff!). But I've found him now, and I'm glad I have.

I feel like Haase is sort of the thinking tennis fan's Ernests Gulbis. He has big power off both wings, is practically exploding with talent but suffers a little from inconsistency and... well, he has hair that could rival Ernie's. But I feel like he has a better mindset on court - he got down in sets to Berlocq a couple of times and fought his way back every time. One thing I did think was unusual was the frequency with which he played the squash shot - he played it a LOT - but it seemed to be working for him, so no complaints.

After some serious time spent with Haase, I wandered back over the other side with the intention of catching some of Nishikori's match. However, Court 8 was UBER-packed, so I opted for a match that was just beginning instead - Tobias Kamke and Philipp Kohlschreiber. And boy, was this a surprise.

I only caught the first set, in which Kamke TOTALLY dominated Kohli. I mean, SCARY dominance here. I'd never seen Kamke play before (tick!) nor did I know anything about him other than that he won newcomer of the year last year, so this was a real treat. Looking at the scores now, I see that Kohli came back from two sets to love down to win (after a third set breaker), and as all I have to go off is that first set, I was very surprised. Kamke was painting the lines left, right and centre. He was eating Kohli alive out there. But I guess he came back down to earth after I left or something.

Sorry, Tobias, but Federer called. I didn't have a day ticket into Rod Laver Arena, so I caught the first set of his match on the big screen in Garden Square. To say that Federer had things under control is an understatement. (He'll face a bigger test in round two with Gilles Simon - FRAZZLE!) He was powering ahead, so I wasn't nervous at all when I left after the first set to go and spend some quality time with my new best friend, Nicolas Mahut.

Watching this match was my favourite thing of the whole day. I didn't expect Nico to win going into this match. I didn't expect him to lose either. I was very careful to have no expectations. And one of the expectations that I did not have was that Mahut would win the match in FREAKING STRAIGHT SETS!

Seriously, I was cheering my lungs out out there. (Anyone who was there - I was the one yelling 'Allez!' A LOT.) Watching Nico serve, you can understand why he managed to hold serve 68 times in a row - he has one hell of a serve on him. When Dabul started getting a read on it and cracking some returns, he just kept changing it up. He is RIDICULOUSLY talented. I totally understand how he won junior Wimbledon. And it is SO NICE to watch serve and volley tennis. Especially done so well.

But my favourite thing about Mahut was how, even when he was down (like in the third set), he didn't break down about it. He just gritted his teeth, came back, and GOT IT DONE. He did this in qualies as well, but I somehow wasn't expecting to see it in front of me. (Another side effect of 'no expectations'.)

Dabul was ranked higher than Mahut - not much higher, but enough to qualify for direct entry - and he was overwhelmingly outplayed. Considering Mahut didn't play the Australian Open last year, a second round result will definitely boost him up a bit - here's hoping he doesn't need to rely on my 0-from-1 #wildcardformahut campaign at Roland Garros and Wimbledon!

After Mahut kindly took a photo with me (!) it was off to catch a bit of Stan Wawrinka, who had a bit of an up and down match with Gabashvili. To clarify - it was Gabashvili who was up and down, Stan was pretty solid throughout. This is the best I've seen Stan play in a while - he was cranking it against an opponent who was alternately on fire and in the gutter - so clearly that whole 'leaving his wife' thing worked for him. To each their own.

I tried to get in to see Gilles Simon and Rendy Lu after this, but it was packed out, so I went and watched a little bit of Benoit Paire, the French wildcard, against Flavio Cipolla. I have previously bitched about how Mahut should have got the wildcard and who is this Paire kid anyway, and that is ALL STILL TRUE (Mahut should have got a wildcard, even if he didn't end up needing one), but I was seriously impressed with Paire. That kid has got some strokes on him and no mistake. But he needs to stop playing with his necklace in his mouth. That seems silly.

And then it was time for my night on Rod Laver Arena.

I was spectacularly disappointed with the scheduling, but Groth and Wickmayer almost made a decent match of it - or would have, if Groth wasn't doing exactly what Gabashvili had done earlier and alternating between extreme awesome and extreme awful. She started off very poorly, sacrificing the first set to Wickmayer with barely a whimper and then getting down a break in the second, but then flipped the switch and reeled off six straight games to win the set. But then it all came crashing down in the third set...

Jarmila Groth is a player of the type I like. She's aggressive, she goes for her shots, it's great when it works, sometimes it's awful. But she needs to find some chill - or at least direct her frustration in a more productive direction. Gesturing up to your player's box ultimately achieves nothing. If she could harness that energy, well... watch out world.

And then Djokovic came on and totally owned Granollers. It was... not that interesting. Nole is looking very good, though. I will say this.

In a nutshell, here is what I thought of Day One of the Australian Open:

Win of the Day: I'm sentimental. Mahut. It was awesome. I loved it.
Loss of the Day: Davydenko, who lost to Florian Mayer. I didn't see it, but seriously, Kolya? I know Mayer's in form, but remember how you were the one everyone feared last year...? Also Sam Querrey. Baaaaaaaaaad.
Players in dangerous form: Federer. Djokovic. The usual suspects. Wawrinka also looking great guns.
Players to watch in the future: Haase. Kamke. Paire.
Things for Jodi to do tomorrow: Maybe catch a WTA match or two - looking back over this, it was a total sausagefest!

More Haikus for a Dull Week

Romania


Chela won this one
I had wholly forgotten
That he existed.



Metz


This one went to Gilles
Back in 2008
He was good... but now?



Seoul

AKley disappeared
For a while - but now - yay! Seoul!
...doesn't mean that much.



Tashkent


Alla in Tashkent
She lost to Jarka last week
This is a good run.

Let The Sun Shine In

I bitched a lot about the state of Australian tennis yesterday. Today, let's talk about something lovely. Like Jarmila Groth winning her first WTA title in Guangzhou!

Groth isn't the most talented player out there, and she's never going to be Sam Stosur mk 2 or anything, but she has a lovely game and damn can she play. She has had an absolute breakthrough year this year - there are a lot of players ranked a lot higher than her than would be really super happy with making two fourth rounds at the Slams. Given the level of consistency in the WTA, that is a really excellent result.

Jarka might be a bit of a late bloomer, but she definitely brings a lot to the Australian stable - and, moreover, the Fed Cup team. Between Stosur and Groth - with players like Rodionova and Dokic lurking around as well - we have one hell of a Fed Cup team. The Guangzhou tournament might not be a huge tournament - Jarka was top seed - but winning a title, any title, is a huge achievement for any player.

I could be more analytical and make predictions for Groth, grand where to from here statements... but I don't really want to. Instead, let's just focus on the fact that Jarka won a title. She won it in style. And that, my friends, is awesome. Let the sun shine in, Jarka. You deserve it.

Not Quite Such A Bloodless Coup

Yesterday was a bloodless coup. Today was very nearly almost not so.

Sure, we lost a couple of seeds. We lost Marcos Baghdatis. We lost Li Na. We lost Nadia Petrova. We lost Juan Monaco and Radek Stepanek and Lucie Safarova and Yaroslava Shvedova. But on the whole, these seeds are relatively minor. With the exception of Petrova and maybe Li, these seeds were not major title contenders. There were three seeds today we came to the verge of losing that were very definitely major title contenders.

Let's start with the ladies - more particularly, with Maria Sharapova. I would be lying if I said I was not cheering for Jarmila Groth in this match - I was cheering my lungs out for here. I really like Jarka, and not just because she is Australian - she has awesome, awesome game. But she crumbled big time in the third here and let Maria out of the cage in a big way, because Maria was in real trouble here. I've ranked her among my favourites for this title, but if she plays like this, she is going to get big fat nowhere. Groth was quite a big test for the first round - maybe her second round will be a little less intense. But make no mistake - MaSha has to pick up her game.

This is nothing, however, compared to what Jelena Jankovic went through today. She should have lost that match against Simona Halep. It is testament to nothing more than Halep's youth and inexperience that she choked that match away - I have every confidence that in a few years, this will be the kind of match that Halep does not lose. Jankovic got very, very lucky today - her passive play eventually paid off against an opponent so young and naive she was almost afraid of winning. She should have lost this match. If she plays this passively, she is not going to go very far. She has the talent to win a Slam, but if she plays like this, she never will.

Which brings us to her countryman, Novak Djokovic.

Viktor Troicki definitely bears a little blame. He should have won this match in the fourth set, and it is to Novak's credit that he toughed it out. But seriously? A match this intense? This early on? I suppose Federer did it against Falla at Wimbledon... but in the long run, that didn't really work out so well, did it? Djokovic is proving that he is not a major contender more and more with every match he plays like this - particularly matches he plays in tough weather conditions, where it becomes painfully obvious that he just cannot deal. Dude, when you're comparing the brief respite of shade in the fifth set to sex, it is painfully obvious that there is something wrong. That is all I'm saying.

I feel like there is something more I should be saying in my Day 2 wrap, but I can't for the life of me tell you what it is, so I'm leaving it there. Catch you on the flip side!

Just Another Manic Monday

You have to feel for Andy Roddick.

Wimbledon is, arguably, the best chance he has to win another Slam. After he lost that heartbreaker of a final last year, I'm sure he wanted desperately, more than anything, to give himself that chance again.

But it wasn't Roger Federer who took that chance away this time. Not even close.

Yen-hsun Lu is through the quarter finals - a truly remarkable achievement for the man from Chinese Taipei. And Andy doesn't even get to be the bridesmaid this time.

Sigh. Poor dude.

This really opens up the second quarter of the draw for Novak Djokovic, and it would be pretty surprising if Lu ended up in the semi final. Not outside the realms of possibility, of course, but highly unlikely. Djokovic has played himself into something resembling form this tournament - he looked quite good overcoming a spirited challenge from Lleyton Hewitt, whom many people picked to pull the upset. It'll be interesting to see how far he can go.

Roger and Rafa came through reasonably unscathed, but the same cannot be said for Robin Soderling - that was some five setter he pulled! But I think we're all counting down to that blockbuster quarter between Rafa and Robin now... will it be Roland Garros revenge? Or will Rafa reassert his dominance?

Over to the ladies, and it was a great victory for Kim Clijsters. I'm really liking her chances now - I picked her to win and I'm sticking with it. JuJu lost her way a little, but Kimmie capitalised - nice one.

And a great win for Serena over Sharapova also. And for Venus - man, Jarka played her tight! I am looking forward very much to seeing more of Jarka in the future...

The real seeded casualty on the women's side was Caro Wozniacki, who went out very tamely to Petra Kvitova. How very underwhelming.

Wending Through Week One

So. Week One. What's gone down?

Well, the ATP has gone all WTA and the WTA has gone all ATP. Without too much exception, the major contenders in the women's draw are still alive - by which I suppose I mean the Williams sisters, the Belgians and Sharapova. Outside those five, I'm not really seeing too many major contenders for the title. All five of these women have got through with relative ease - I don't recall any of them dropping a set, though I could be wrong.

In the ATP, on the other hand, we've had a festival of very-nearly-almost but no major, major upsets. Federer and Djokovic have survived one major scare each, Nadal two. Only Andy Murray has come through relatively unscathed... but Robin Soderling has been cutting his way through the draw so ominously you can practically hear the Jaws soundtrack. You have to like his chances against Rafa if they both get that far.

Because it's been a festival of very-nearly-almost, we've had some guys who have come away with very hard losses - harder to bear, I suspect, because they were so very close. Alejandro Falla, Olivier Rochus, Robin Haase and Philipp Petzschner will probably be engaging in some solid self-flagellation, if I am right. They all put up great fights but couldn't quite get it done.

We had some bad behaviour - Victor Hanescu springs to mind, in one of the most bizarre cases of tanking and crowd abuse ever. He got fined the big bucks, and I'm pretty sure no one knows what went down. That was weird. We also have Sveta Kuznetsova refusing to shake Anastasia Rodionova's hand. She said she had her reasons, but I don't know what they are. Also weird.

Surprise packet of the week has to be Jarmila Groth. She hasn't had a super tough draw or anything, but she has come through to the fourth round for two Slams in a row. That is something which is most definitely not nothing.

The Queen turned up. I don't think anyone really cared.

And then the story of the week - John Isner and Nicolas Mahut put on the match of a lifetime on Court 18. An absolute gladiatorial epic, I am pretty sure this match will be remembered long after we have forgotten who won this tournament. Absolutely outstanding. 70-68. Can't imagine this ever being matched.

What are your Week One memories?

The Court Where Stuff Happens

Court 2 used to be the Wimbledon court with all the notoriety - the graveyard of champions where big names fell with such incredible regularity. But Court 2 doesn't have it any more. The most notorious court on the Wimbledon grounds now has to be Court 18.

I'm not sure if playing there is a blessing or a curse, but if you're playing on Court 18, chances are your match will be memorable. Maybe it will go for eleven hours and span three days. Or maybe it will be the forum for one of the foulest cases of bad sportsmanship I have ever witnessed.

I know there were people in the crowd who were doing something (not sure what) to upset Victor Hanescu. But come on, he's supposed to be a professional tennis player. Tune it out, dude. Get into your zone. There is no excuse for the way Hanescu behaved.

His opponent, Daniel Brands, had this to say:

"In the final set I recognised that he had some problems with his leg and he was getting angry, and angry with the crowd. The main reason was because [he was getting jeered] from some people in the crowd. I didn't hear [him swear]. I think he was deliberately foot faulting and serving some double faults on purpose.

"At the end he came and shook my hand at the net. I asked him what happened. He said he was injured and had to retire. I didn't see him after leaving the court. That was the first time that we played against each other. It doesn't happen really very often that the player gets angry. It's not polite to act lke he did but that's his decision that he made."

Brands is very diplomatic about the whole thing - primarily because I think he is as confused about the whole situation as everyone else is. I don't think anyone really knows what went on with Hanescu and the crowd, but I don't really think it matters. There is no excuse for the kind of stunt Hanescu pulled. There is no excuse for unsportsmanlike conduct and there is no excuse for tanking. It is extremely disrespectful, not just to the crowd who were on his case, but to his opponent.

I am sure Daniel Brands would have loved to have won this match under better circumstances. I am sure he'll take the win anyway, but I don't anyone would really want to win this way. I hope Hanescu gets smacked with a big, big fine. This behaviour is unacceptable.

Oh, and also on Court 18, Jarmila Groth won her match against Angelique Kerber. This might not seem so remarkable, but when you consider that Jarka has now made the round of sixteen at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon despite being ranked around #80, then it starts getting pretty remarkable! (What's even more remarkable is that the Australian media don't seem to have noticed yet...)

And John Isner's tournament is over. I don't think anyone expected him to beat de Bakker, and in a way, I'm glad he lost. It would be wrong if he progressed deep in the tournament and Mahut was left stranded holding nothing but a first round loser's check and a souvenir bowl. That match existed outside Wimbledon (and, some might argue, all sense of time and reality). It'll go down as one of the great ones. Victory was Pyrrhic for Isner, and really, that's the way it should be. That match wasn't about winning and losing - that one really was, to use the old adage, about playing the game.

Hey Roland Garros, I Meant It - Get A Roof

Welcome to another odyssey in the adventures of Roland Garros and how much they need a roof. It is SO IRRITATING waiting till 4pm Paris time for play to start when you're in Australia and that means it's midnight. Yes, I'm whinging like a spoiled bratty little fangirl, but that is exactly what I am, so come on, Roland Garros. Get with the program and get a roof so I don't have to put everyone whose second round singles match got canned into the losers column. Remember Wimbledon in '07 when there were matches that took, like, five days? (Rafa, Yoker, I'm looking at you). YOU DO NOT WANT THIS.

Okay. Let's go.

The winners: Fabio Fognini. I know he only squeaked in by the skin of his very teeth and I should be putting him in this column, but this was such a spectacular victory, after all those shenanigans with the light and whatnot. Well done that Fog.

Also, Australian women's tennis in general. Sophie Ferguson may have lost, but both Jarmila Groth and Anastasia Rodionova won and won relatively easily as well. And if (fingers crossed) Sam Stosur gets through, that is three Aussie ladies in Round 3. And that is quite something.

I'd also like to mention Elena Dementieva. No one is talking about her, and I think this is a good thing. She is always over hyped in Australia and it never amounts to anything. I personally think she does much better with under hype... which is why it gets nasty when the last few rounds come around and everyone is hyped.

The losers: Well, Gael Monfils, obviously. Sucks to be you. 'Nuff on that.

We have to talk Ana Ivanovic here. I wrote a positively cheery series of posts about her a few weeks back, and yes, it was a blip. It is rare that a player has a blip of positivity rather than negativity, but it looks like what that was. I didn't expect her to beat Alisa Kleybanova but I expected her to do a little better than three games, which was, frankly, pathetic. Nothing more to say.

The disappointments: Agnieszka Radwanska. I honestly don't understand why she is seeded #8, because she never seems to be around when things get all second weekish in Slams. This said, I really like her game and I wish she, you know, won more. Very disappointing result. Yaroslava Shvedova is an excellent player - I saw her play at Hopman Cup, and was impressed - but Radwanska should certainly not be losing this tamely.

And much as I am parochially glad Anastasia Rodionova came through, I'm a bit disappointed in Vera Zvonareva as well. Is she still injured? She seems always to be injured. I didn't see the match, but this is really not a good result for her.

Oh, and Monfils. He should have been able to win that one.

The scraped-in-by-the-skin-of-teeth: The obvious choice is Fognini, but let's talk about those big seeds going four - specifically, the Andies. Andy Murray went four against the frankly over Juan Ignacio Chela and Andy Roddick went four against Blaz 'my name is awesome but no one knows who I am' Kavcic. Neither of them should really have gone four here.

And it wasn't really skin of teeth stuff, but I thought Jelena Jankovic was going to have a slightly easier time of it. Maybe her shiny yellow dress has made me a little over optimistic about her chances...?

One to watch: The selfsame Blaz Kavcic. I have no idea who this dude is, but if you can get through a round in a Slam and take a set off a top ten player, you've got a little something something going on. And also his name is totally awesome.

(Back) On Top of the World

It's official: Australia is back in the World Group of Fed Cup.

I know no one really gets excited about Fed Cup any more (or Davis Cup, really - but Fed Cup is worse) but I am really excited that Australia is back in the World Group. We might not look it, but our team is seriously good - and it's only going to get better.

Stosur is, and will continue to be, the lynchpin - she's the one that clinched the deciding victory today and sent Australia through over Ukraine. (And, I would like to point out, Ukraine is not a nation to be sniffed at tennis-wise - I have one word and that word is Bondarenko). But there are a number of others in the squad who have valuable contributions to make. Rodionova was the other star on the weekend - and on debut no less - but we've got some depth going on.

We have Molik, who is on the way back up. The erratically brilliant Dokic. The on-the-comeback Dellacqua. Jarka Groth. And then a number of very promising up and comers like Olivia Rogowska, Isabella Holland, Sally Peers and Monika Wejnert.

Everyone seems to pin all their hopes on Bernard Tomic for the future of Australian tennis. I think it's right here in this Fed Cup team. Aussie girls are on the rise!

The Wizard

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Today's Results

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The Championships (Wimbledon)

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Men's Draw

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Women's Draw

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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