The Marvellous Miss Monica

And so we have our finalists in the December showdown. In the men, we have Davis Cup representative Sam 'Scary' Groth against Colin Ebelthite, and in the women, we have young gun Monica Wejnert against old gun Jelena Dokic.

*

Groth obviously came through a harder match today than Ebelthite - he beat Joe Sirianni, who won this event last year, and he's had victories over Robert Smeets and Carsten Ball this tournament as well. But you can't knock out Colin. He had that victory against Luczak yesterday - and the milkshake man had to be the favourite - as well as over Tomic (not to be underestimated). He 'only' beat Marinko Matosevic today, but he is totally capable of pulling this one out...

*

I have to say that I'm pulling for Sam, though. He might stand a better chance of winning a round or two in the actual Open - he could scare his opponents with his eyebrows.

*

And man, am I jumping on the Monica Wejnert train! Jelena Dokic is not one of Australia's better liked sporting personalities, but it's not for that reason I'm pulling against her - I just really, really like what Wejnert is bringing. She beat Isabella Holland today, and I really think Isabella has serious talent... so what will happen? Dokic winning would have the element of a fairy tale, I guess... but just how good is Miss Monica? Wejnert definitely beat the more quality opponent today - no detriment to Emelyn Starr, but she's not on the same level as Holland - and Wejnert beat Dokic earlier this week. AND she's only sixteen. I thought she was eighteen, but nope. Sixteen.

*

So, Miss Monica... bring it!

Colin Cruises

Whoa! How 'bout that Colin Ebelthite? Not only is he miraculously healthy, ending Bernard Tomic's chances of a wildcard into the Aussie Open main draw, but now he's knocked out the dude that had to be the odds on favourite, good ol' Mr Milkshake.

*

Now that's one that I bet Luczak didn't see coming. It'd be so easy to underestimate someone like Ebelthite - because, seriously, who is he? I hope Pete can find some other way of getting into the main draw, because he's probably a better chance in the long run than Ebelthite, but nonetheless - good job, Colin!

*

The other semi-finalists in this wildcard showdown are Sam 'Scary Eyebrows' Groth, Joe Sirianni and surprise packet Marinko Matosevic, who took out Carsten Ball in a bit of a surprising one. Sirianni won the wildcard last year and you have to like his chances again, but wouldn't it be great to see Matosevic, who plays pretty much exclusively on the Pro circuit, come through and grab that card? He is the underdog - so I feel obliged to go for him. No hard feelings, Joe, Colin, Scary. But go Marinko!

*

In the women, Jelena Dokic is through, as is Isabella Holland, who is going to meet Monica Wejnert - and what a cracker of a match that could be! That is well worthy of being the final, and I cannot pick it. My tip is that the winner of that match will win the tournament. I don't think Dokic will have a problem beating Emelyn Starr, who is the surprise semi-finalist, but I think she'll succumb to either Holland or Wejnert.

*

That said, wouldn't it be something if young Emelyn got the wildcard...?

Some Scary Stuff

Okay, so Sam Groth? Scary looking guy. All right player - he's through to the quarter finals of the December Showdon - but seriously, that guy has one scary mug. Have you seen those eyebrows? They are totally bristling and bushy and frightening.

*

Speaking of frightening - brief digression - I am frightened by the name of Bec and Lleyton's new kid. On what planet did they think it was a smart idea to name their kid Cruz? To start with, they are the least Spanish family ever, and secondly, why did they copy la famille de Beckham? That's just un-smart. Not a fan.

*

Back to the December Showdown. Peter Luczak is through to the quarters - nice one, Mr Milkshake! - as is Colin Ebelthite. However, he is all injured and stuff, so if he doesn't pass his fitness test, then Bernard Tomic gets his spot... which would suck for Colin, but it'd be probably be more exciting from a tennis perspective to see Bernard play, harsh as that might seem. Bernard went down to Joe Sirianni today pretty easily... but maybe he can up the ante?

*

And Jelena Dokic looks like she's through, and Monica Wejnert, and Isabella Holland. So the women are going to be intriguing as well...

December Showdown

The 'December Showdown,' as Tennis Australia have labelled the Open wildcard playoff, has yielded some very interesting results over the first couple of days. It's done in round robin format, which I don't normally like, but for the purposes of this tournament I think it's all right... and the results, for those who know who these Aussie players are, have been very intriguing.

*

Let's start with the group containing Colin Ebelthite, Joe Sirianni, Bernard Tomic and Dane Propoggia. Propoggia is pretty much out of the running, but any of the others could pull a win here. Sirianni is currently in the lead, but his match against Tomic will be a very interesting one. Tomic is sixteen, Sirianni is thirty-three... veteran versus rookie. Sirianni has beaten both Ebelthite and Propoggia, whereas Tomic beat Propoggia, but went down to Ebelthite in a third set breaker - it looked like an absolute nailbiter. Sirianni won the wildcard into the event last year, so he has good history here... I totally don't even know who I'm going for.

*

Mr Milkshake - Peter Luczak - has got to be the odds-on favourite, and he's been cruising along quite happily, claiming the not inconsiderable scalps of Brendan McKenzie and Brydan Klein. The names might not mean much outside Australia yet, but these boys have got potential... particularly McKenzie, in my humble opinion. Klein has made the final of the boy's Aussie Open and has served on Davis Cup, so he's no slouch either. Sam Groth and Carsten Ball, who have also served Davis Cup time, also had wins yesterday.

*

In the women, the big story is Monica Wejnert, eighteen years old, victor over Jelena Dokic. Even if she does nothing else in her career, that is a scalp and a half. Dokic has been in the top five in the world. She may be far fallen, but still - I am liking the look of Miss Monica. Australia needs more women players, especially in the wake left by Molik. We have Stosur and Dellacqua... and the wind whistling through the empty spots behind them. Monica Wejnert and Isabella Holland in particular are looking veeeeeery good...

'Competitive Spice'

Fed Cup is over and done for another year - gee, I am SO SURPRISED that Russia won. Nobody saw that one coming. I discussed the incredible depth of Russian women's tennis the other day, but I think I just need to reiterate it. Their top three players were out, and they still won easily, one hundred percent absolutely no contest. Spain mounted a bit of a challenge in Anabel Medina Garrigue's charge in the singles, but even then, she only got a set off Sveta Kuznetsova. Russia were never going to lose this one.

*

Imagine having six players in the top twenty. That's just insane. In the men's, France has something like fifteen players in the top hundred, and I thought that was pretty good - but I doubt more than three of them are in the top twenty. Actually, let's check... they have three, and none of them are in the top ten currently - Gasquet, Simon (who just won Bucharest) and Tsonga. Actually, I hadn't realised how remarkable Spain were - I knew they had a lot in the top hundred, but five of those are in the top twenty. There's Nadal at #1, of course, then Ferrer, Verdasco, Robredo and Almagro. Let's compare that with Australia. We have two players in the top hundred, Hewitt at #59 and Guccione at #80. Then in the next hundred there's Smeets, Sirianni, Luczak and Ball, then down another hundred is Ebelthite (who?), Groth, Klein, Jones (isn't he retired?), Armstrong (again, who?) and Lindahl. Bernard Tomic is at #816. Oh yes. What a strong tennis nation we are right now.

*

Speaking of Australian tennis, Robert Smeets has just been added to the Davis Cup team, so that's seven guys we're sending to Chile now. He's not really adding to the age of the team much either - he's twenty-two. So I guess that makes him old, actually, compared to most of the rest of them. Tennis Australia says that:

*

"The 147th ranked Smeets will add even more competitive spice to a young squad which will battle it out on the practice courts for a spot in the four man team to take on the highly-fancied Chileans in the World Group Play-off of Davis Cup by BNP Paribas from September 19-21."

*

Competitive spice, huh? Because our chances are SO huge. Not that I'm ragging on John Fitzgerald or anything - I think he's awesome that he's trying so hard and that he's pulling out the stops. But I do wish journalists would be a little more realistic about our chances... so if we win, it really will be a huge surprise!

*

*

Today's Results

*

BCR Open Romania (Bucharest)

*

Gilles Simon def. Carlos Moya, 6-3 6-4

*

*

Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic (Bali)

*

Patty Schnyder def. Tamira Paszek, 6-3 6-0

Invisible Men

Well, here we are again. Another Slam is over, and we've entered the monotony of one of those weeks where no one especially important is playing... when the big story of the day is that Nicolas Almagro and Paul-Henri Mathieu got beaten, you know it's a schlep tournament week. Not that schlep tournaments can't have their moments - every Star of the Future starts off playing them - but they are exceptionally dull after the big excitement of a Slam, especially one won by Federer.

*

And besides, Ernests Gulbis has already lost, so what am I supposed to talk about?

*

But there is one thing that saves us from the boredom, and that is Davis Cup. I've read a lot about the strange selection by the American team, but I'm going to be patriotic for once and talk about the Australian team. I believed I advised them a while ago to play Bernard Tomic, as we're going to lose anyway and it'd be good to blood him on the world stage... and they almost listened. He's part of a six-man squad going to Chile, but he's one of the alternates, along with Brydan Klein. The team proper consists of Chris Guccione, Peter Luczak, Sam Groth and Carsten Ball.

*

Now, I don't know about anyone else, but I'd never heard of Carsten Ball before the US Open, where he had a wildcard, and I've never heard of Sam Groth. Not to say that they're not good players, but I have absolutely no idea who they are. Where did they pop up from? Obviously I know about Tomic, because he's Australia's best junior, and I've heard of Brydan Klein as well - I think he made the junior final of the Australian Open last year or the year before - but never these other two. And they're the ones on the team proper. Go figure. Not that I'm saying I know better than John Fitzgerald, because I don't. It's just a bit bizarre, I guess... here's me thinking I knew nearly everything there was to know about Australian tennis! Nice to be proved wrong, I guess... nice to think we have more depth than I thought!

*

This is a really young team, which I think is really exciting... and will probably also play to our advantage, because the Chileans probably won't have heard of them either. That said, the Chileans will still eat them alive, especially because they're playing at home on clay, which is definitely not Australia's best surface... but I suppose we did once beat Switzerland on clay at home (Federer wasn't playing, obviously.) Still, Fernando Gonzalez is spearheading their team, and he could probably beat the entire Australian team at once. I suppose Gooch and Mr. Milkshake will be our singles players... though if it gets to dead rubbers, which is highly likely, I'd like to see Fitzy play some young guys.

*

Like I said, the youngness of the team is exciting... but you have to spare a thought for players like Joe Sirianni and Robert Smeets. They must be feeling really snubbed right about now. Poor dudes.

*

*

Today's Results

*

BCR Open Romania (Bucharest)

*

Gilles Simon def. Albert Montanes, 6-3 6-4

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Nicolas Almagro, 6-4 7-5

Carlos Moya def. Pablo Andujar, 6-3 7-6 (8-6)

Florent Serra def. Potito Starace, 7-5 0-6 6-4

Ivan Navarro def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-3

*

*

Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic (Bali)

*

Daniela Hantuchova def. Olga Savchuk, 6-1 7-5

Patty Schnyder def. Yuan Meng, 6-2 7-5

Francesca Schiavone def. Akgul Amanmuradova, 6-3 6-2

Marta Domachowska def. Jill Craybas, 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-4

Aussie Aussie... Aussie...?

Well, Lleyton Hewitt is out of the US Open. I can't say I have too much sympathy. I mean, sure, it's his hip that's hurting and I don't really know anything about it, but surely he realises that when you play on it all day every day it's just not going to get better? Why on earth did he not go in for surgery earlier?

*

We all know I'm not a Hewitt fan, but he really is the only good Australian tennis player out there, so it is very sad to see him falling down the rankings. (Though I will say this for him - at least he has a relatively normal name - cough Kamakazi cough yes it's really spelled that way the moron cough.) Had he played the US Open, he would have been unseeded for the first time in about eighty million years. It means he would have been a Safin-like floater, but unlike Safin, I don't think Hewitt would have stood much of a chance of beating anyone. I remember when he reached the fourth round of Wimbledon and played Federer, and the Australian media was all over it, talking about the possibility/probability of an upset. But look, even if Federer is not in the best form of his life, he'd have to be playing on one leg to lose to Hewitt now. I don't like Lleyton, but I feel sorry for him. He's a dead horse that the Australian media just will not stop flogging until someone else comes along.

*

That 'someone else' will be, one thinks, Bernard Tomic, but he's so young that I doubt he'll really burst onto the scene for a few years, if indeed he does some scene-bursting. He's definitely got the talent - he won the junior Australian Open this year, despite being only fifteen, and has been the top seed in every junior event I've seen him play - but from what I hear, he has a troublesome temperament. But that can be channelled... he's young. I would really like to see Tomic do something with his talent. Australian tennis is quiet right now.

*

Meanwhile, we are now absolutely screwed for Davis Cup. Well, we were already screwed, but now we're really screwed. We're playing Chile, I think, in a World Group playoff, and unless there is some kind of miracle, we are going to get our collective arse kick. Chile will play Gonzalez and Massu, one thinks... and Gonzalez could pretty much beat the Australian team single-handedly, even with Hewitt in. So I guess we'll play Guccione... Sirianni is the next highest ranked player, then Smeets, then Luczak, who has had a rotten year... Luczak is proven at Davis Cup, but look, we are going to lose anyway. Gooch'll get played, maybe Hanley and Kerr for the doubles, and I guess Sirianni, logically - but hell, play Tomic. Blood him on the world stage. Sure, it'll be a bitchslap for Joe and Robert and Mr Milkshake, but there's no way we're going to win, unless every person in Chile instantly breaks their legs. And maybe wee Bernard can surprise them, eh?

*

Before I go, a bit shout-out to world #434 Luka Gregorc, who knocked out Ivo Karlovic in New Haven today. Proof that the little guys can sometimes give the big guys a run for their money... yet another reason to play Tomic at Davis Cup!

*

*

Today's Results

*

Pilot Pen Tennis (New Haven)

*

Men's Draw

*

Fernando Verdasco def. Ivo Minar, 6-3 6-1

Luka Gregorc def. Ivo Karlovic, 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 6-2

Igor Andreev def. Victor Hanescu, 6-4 7-5

Marin Cilic def. Jurgen Melzer, 5-7 6-4 7-5

Andreas Seppi def. Fabio Fognini, 6-4 6-2

Jesse Levine def. Steve Darcis, 2-0 retired

Mischa Zverev def. Robby Ginepri, 1-6 6-3 6-1

Mardy Fish def. Wayne Odesnik, 6-1 4-6 6-1

Luka Gregorc def. Jose Acasuso, 6-4 6-4

Ivo Karlovic def. John Isner, 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-3

*

*

Women's Draw

*

Agnes Szavay def. Sara Errani, 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 6-4

Anna Chakvetadze def. Casey Dellacqua, 6-4 6-4

Amélie Mauresmo def. Patty Schnyder, 6-4 3-6 7-6 (8-6)

Sorana Cirstea def. Flavia Pennetta, 3-6 6-4 6-3

Alizé Cornet def. Katarina Srebotnik, 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 6-2

Caroline Wozniacki def. Monica Niculescu, 6-3 6-3

*

*

Forest Hills Tennis Classic (Forest Hills)

*

Peng Shuai def. Pauline Parmentier, 6-3 6-2

Jamea Jackson def. Marina Erakovic, 7-6 (7-4) 7-5

Carla Suárez Navarro def. Timea Bacsinszky, 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Lucie Safarova def. Akgul Amanmuradova, 6-7 (11-13) 6-3 6-3

Not Quite Tursunov

It was a bit disappointing for Serbia, in the end. I really wanted to see them win it, but with Jankovic injured and Djokovic a tired space case, I guess it just wasn't going to happen. I only caught the first set of the mixed doubles - I fell asleep to tell the truth - and it just made me long for the Hopman Cup final of last year. Russia vs. Spain. Nadia Petrova beat Anabel Medina Garrigues and then Dmitry Tursunov beat Tommy Robredo in a great match, and then the mixed doubles was the most hysterical tennis match I've ever seen. None of that this year, as it was one rubber all... the Hopman Cup had some great players this year, but I think it was lacking a bit of personality. There was no one like Tursunov, certainly.

_

But then, I have a very soft spot for Tursunov. (Who wouldn't?)

_

I was cheering for Joe Sirianni in his match today against Llodra in Adelaide. He didn't win, but for a 32 year old journeyman with only one prior ATP level victory to his name, I think he acquitted himself swimmingly. He's certainly much more likeable than Princess Lleyton - who lost (embarrassingly) in the quarters to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga... speaking of Tsonga, he was meek as a pussycat in his match against Jarkko Nieminen today. I thought that one could have been a thriller, especially considering the awesome match with Spadea last night. But Nieminen spanked him. I mean, I know it's about ninety million degrees in Adelaide, but Nieminen is Finnish! Tsonga is French! Why should Tsonga fall over just because of some heat when Nieminen did really well?

_

So the Adelaide final will be Nieminen vs. Llodra, and I think it's safe to say Nieminen is a big favourite. I've never really seen Llodra play, so I can't make an educated assessment, but the fact is that he's unseeded, with Nieminen seeded 3. So I'm going with Jarkko on this one. (I've always thought Nieminen looks a bit like a carrot. He's got a really triangular face, and all this spiky hair... probably more obvious in his ATP picture than anywhere else!)

_

I didn't get to watch it, but the Li/Azarenka final at the Gold Coast looked like a tight one as well. Excellent comeback for Li - who has, if memory serves, been out six months with injury - and a good match for Azarenka as well, even though she lost. Perhaps Belarusian tennis can have a bit of a revival in Azarenka, after the pitiful year Max Mirnyi had last year! And speaking of comebacks, what a performance from Lindsay Davenport in Auckland! To be fair, her opponent wasn't someone I'd actually heard of (the seeds fell early in Auckland), but to come back, being over 30 (she is over 30, yeah?) after having a baby and to win her first tournament back... wow! Also a great win for Stan Wawrinka in Doha over defending champ Ljubicic.

_

And in other news, I am going to both the Medibank International and the Australian Open. I've never seen tennis at Melbourne Park before, so I'm HUGELY excited! And I'll try not to get as sunburned in Sydney this year as I did last year...

_
_

Today's Results

_

Hopman Cup (Perth)

_

Final - USA def. Serbia 2-1

Novak Djokovic def. Mardy Fish, 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-4)

Williams/Fish def. Jankovic/Djokovic, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

_

_

Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts

_

Li Na def. Victoria Azarenka, 4-6 6-3 6-4

_

_

ASB Classic (Auckland)

_

Lindsay Davenport def. Aravane Rezai, 6-2 6-2

_

_

Next Generation Adelaide International (Adelaide)

_

Michael Llodra def. Joseph Sirianni, 6-3 7-6 (10-8)

Jarkko Nieminen def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-2 6-4

_

_

Qatar Exxonmobil Open (Doha)

_

Andy Murray def. Nikolay Davydenko, 6-4 6-3

Stanislas Wawrinka def. Ivan Ljubicic, 7-6 (7-1) 6-4

_

_

Chennai Open (Chennai)

_

Carlos Moya def. Florent Serra, 6-3 6-4

Mikhail Youzhny def. Xavier Malisse, 6-4 6-4

Marin Cilic def. Robin Haase, 4-6 6-2 6-3

Rafael Nadal def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-3 6-2