Dolgopolove

Alexandr Dolgopolov is going to be a top ten player. Maybe even top five. And it is going to happen soon.

Robin Soderling did not know what hit him when he walked out on Rod Laver Arena. At first, I'm pretty sure he thought it was fat nothing, when he walked all over his opponent 6-1 in the first set. And even when he was broken in the second set - hell, even when he lost the second set - I'm pretty sure he was still feeling all right.

We were all applauding. 'Wow, Sasha got a set!' we cheered. 'A set from Soderling! He really is going to be something special one of these days!'

But Sasha was not content with 'one of these days'. No, Sasha wanted today.

And that is what he got.

When Soderling lost the third set... he knew he was in a match. And even after Soderling won the fourth set, and when he went up a break in the fifth... this was somehow Sasha's match. After he won the third set, there was not a moment in this match when Dolgopolov was going to lose.

Andy Roddick called him 'aggressive to the point of psychosis'. Sasha Dolgopolov has all the shots. He can rip winners from anywhere in the court - like, ANYWHERE, in that manner that only Federer and Nadal can do on a consistent basis. I can see how, on an off day, it could all go horribly wrong, and I suppose that's why he isn't higher ranked right at this second, but (first set aside), it was all going right for Sasha against Soderling. And if he can play like this on a consistent level, it is hard to imagine too many people who could stop him.

He has a huge forehand. He has a scintillating backhand. He can volley and slice and has a nice serve too. He can hit with spin, he can hit flat. I saw his match against Becker the other day live and after his match against Soderling, I haven't seen a shot he can't hit and hit with panache.

He plays the type of tennis which is most watchable when it's on and agonisingly painful when it's off. His mission, should he choose to accept it, is to make sure he can keep his level up week in, week out. Because if he can play like he played against Soderling all the time, he will be into the top ten with a rocket.

In other news, Nadal seems to have recovered from his illness woes - he really played a good match against Cilic, who couldn't really hurt him too much. Murray absolutely mauled Melzer in a terrifying way - that will be a really tough match for Sasha next. And a Murray/Nadal semi - that could be an absolute cracker. (Or totally anticlimactic, depending on how well both dudes play.)

In the ladies, the Kim Clijsters train rolls on - she put out Ekaterina Makarova, whom I really liked the look of and hope we see more of in the future. Vera Zvonareva continued to slice through the draw quietly (hot knife, butter, etc) and Agnieszka Radwanska had a very good win as well and Petra Kvitova is looking very nice as well...

Looking Back - Roland Garros

This tournament, I would argue, is when the real Jonah Day of the Federer fans in 2010 began (ending sometime after Wimbledon). It was always going to be a sad day when that semi final record went down. 23 major semi finals in a row. I would venture that that is one record that is never, ever going to be beaten.

It was Robin Soderling that did the damage, and in a strange way, this tournament belongs almost as much to him as it did to Rafa, even though Rafa absolutely routed him in the final. (We have had heinously boring Slam finals this year. I mean, I loved the one in Australia, but there's only been one that went more than three sets, yesno?) He became the man who not only broke That Record, and not only had victories over both Federer and Nadal at Roland Garros to his name, he proved that he was not a one Slam wonder. Robin Soderling can and will challenge for Slams, especially at Roland Garros. Count on it.

There was another dude who came out swinging and really made an impact at Roland Garros this year - well, I certainly stood up and took notice of him. That dude is Jurgen Melzer. He had an amazing year, and the semi final finish at Roland Garros is the crowning glory. Sure, he went down to Rafa - but who isn't going to go down to Rafa at Roland Garros? - but he had an absolutely amazing tournament full of big wins. He was preciously close to making the cut for the World Tour Finals, and if he keeps up his standards next year, I think that he just might. He'll have a ton of points to defend, but so what? If he can defend them - and improve on them - Jurgen Melzer is going places.

The other semi finalist was Tomas Berdych. In hindsight, that is dreadfully portentous.

But there is an elephant in the room. And his name is Rafa Nadal.

Rafa Nadal, who everyone had talked about as down and out a few months earlier. Rafa Nadal, who had not won a title in eleven months when he took the title in Monte Carlo - the first of what was to be a claycourt clean sweep, ending with his reclamation of the Coupe des Mousquetaires. Rafa Nadal, who pulverised his opponents into submission. Rafa Nadal, who became world number #1, and who never looked back.

Rafa Nadal, who deserves every bit of praise we can heap upon his head.

Rafa doesn't inspire the same poetry and awe that Roger does. I don't know if anyone will ever call watching him play a religious experience. But that does not make him any less great. He's not that guy. He's the conquistador, the raging bull, an almost elemental force of nature. And we have been privileged to watch him play this year.

Weird, But Not Complaining

Wow. Roger Federer, where have you been this year? This is a weird time of the year to start playing Ultimate God Tennis. Not complaining! Please keep it up!

It's sort of simultaneously hard and easy to believe that Federer's never made the semis of Paris. Easy, because this is not the most strategically important part of the year to be playing well. Hard, because he is playing SO well right now. And you know what? It would be really nice to cap off the year with a Masters title. Even better if he could cap it off with a good showing at the WTF.

He played SO well against Melzer today. He's had to play Melzer about a billion times this year after never having met him before, and it has not been a happy head to head for Jurgen, let us just say that much. Did you know that this is the most amount of aces he has ever served in a three set match? When that serve is going well, you know Federer's feeling good. You know that he doesn't have the back pain and that ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN.

So. Yeah. I'm excited about what the fading twilight of 2010 can offer Roger. Or, rather, what he can offer us!

Andy Murray lost today, in a very interesting match against Gael Monfils. I'm in two minds about the strategic importance of this. On one side, he really didn't show much form. On the other, he now has more rest before the O2, which is bad from a Federfan point of view. But oh well. Whatever. Roger is still my favourite.

The other two semi finalists are Llodra and Soderling - Llodra is totally having an awesome tournament! That said, I don't see him beating Robin, so we might be in for a very interesting final here. I would be very interested to see a Federer-Soderling final, assuming Roger comes through Monfils. It could be a very interesting prelude to the WTF!

Elite Eight (and Mr Melzer)

The line up is set for the World Tour Finals. The lucky three to get through are Roddick, Ferrer and Berdych. I wish Melzer had made it through instead of Berdych, but as was pointed out to me yesterday by reader Yolita (thanks!), this was in fact mathematically impossible. Pretty sure the only way we get Melzer now is if one of the Elite Eight shuts down for the year, and I don't want that to happen.

This qualification happened because Monfils beat Verdasco, who I am very glad did not qualify - he really didn't deserve it. Berdych lost to Davydenko (bit sad he wasn't in contention, but then, he didn't really do anything to deserve it, apart from having a cracker start to the year) but is still through, and Melzer came through to face Federer in the quarters, but is not through. Oh, and Llodra beat Djokovic.

The way he's playing at the moment, Berdych is going to be easy pickings for the other dudes at the WTF, and - I don't want to jinx it, especially because he made the finals of Basel last week, but nonetheless - I have a sneaking suspicion we might see Djokovic go 0 and 3 as well. Unless, of course, Berdych and Djokovic are in the same group, in which case Novak's getting at least one win. Djokovic's results have actually not been that bad of late, Llodra-loss today aside, but I am just spectacularly unconvinced by his play. Maybe it's just because he's been tagged twice by Federer since the US Open and I'm biased, but he feels a little lackadaisical to me at the mo.

But he ain't got nothing on Berdych.

Also, I think we have to give a big shout out to Andy Roddick, forever the forgotten quantity of the top ten. His longevity gets overlooked because of the longevity of his peer Federer - understandable, due to their comparative success rates - but qualifying for the WTF eight times in a row? Dude, that is super. Well done, A-Rod. You keep on keeping on. And who knows? If you end up in a group with Berdych and Djokovic (or even if you don't), you might find yourself in the semis or even in the final of the WTF. I would be a little surprised if it happened, but not a lot surprised. And when your field contains the like of Nadal, Federer, Murray, Soderling and, yes, Djokovic, that is saying something.

Bercy, Daveed and the WTF

Bercy! The forgotten Masters. The one that no one who is anyone really cares about because the World Tour Finals are in, like, two seconds... except the people that are trying to qualify for the finals, because hello, points, who are thus wearing themselves out before these finals even happen.

Sorry for that Sentence of Doom.

But seriously, here we are in Bercy, one of the stupidest placed tournaments on the calendar in term of care factor - dudes, I know that you want to finish the year with a bang for the non-WTFers, but you make it very hard for anyone to care about you - and we have a bunch of guys who are after the remaining three spots. The front runners, the way I see it, are David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych, Jurgen Melzer and Andy Roddick. One is going to miss out, of course, but it has to be out of those four. I think. Maybe Fernando Verdasco is in there. But with his epic losingness, I don't think he's going to be in there.

I'm really hoping Berdych is the one who misses out, because a) I don't like him very much and b) apart from Wimbledon, what has he really done? But I think he's up there in points... oh, I don't know. I don't understand their crazy maths.

I do understand, however, that Jurgen Melzer and David Ferrer have helped their chances by winning - a skin of the teeth thing for Ferrer, but a win nonetheless! Match of the day, though, has to go to Murray and Nalbandian. You had him, Daveed! You so could have kicked his arse if you'd just kept your level up! But maybe you did me and the Fedfans of the world a favour by losing... we don't want Murray all fresh for the WTF, do we?

Shanghai Showdown Special

Well, I said that Melzer couldn't keep his level up, but I thought he'd at least manage to beat Juan Monaco after defeating Rafa Nadal. Everything I said about Melzer yesterday still stands - this is far and away the best year of his career - but come on, Jurgen, you can do better than that.

Consistency is the name of the game, I suppose, and these streaky players could really do with a dose of the Wozniackis every once in a while.

Meanwhile, we had the Federer/Soderling showdown (I'm pretty sure every match of theirs from now on is going to be characterised as a showdown) and it was not very showdown-y. It was a very one sided affair... and that side was Soderling. Yes, Federer won the match, but could Soderling have played any worse?

It is not Federer's fault that Soderling lost this match. Sure, he contributed - he didn't play badly or anything, but it was hardly GodFed - but Soderling defeated himself in this match. He served awfully, hit awful strokes, made awful decisions and just pretty much played awfully. I don't know if he's got what Djokovic used to have - remember how he played for the #2 ranking like, 100 times, and never got anywhere? Maybe Soderling has the same with the prospect of overtaking Murray so tantalisingly close. I don't know. But something was up, and it didn't feel like injury. It felt like one giant brainfart.

Next up we have Murray/Monaco, which should pretty much be a snoozefest - if Murray loses this match, he is in worse shape than even the most dire naysayer would think - and Federer/Djokovic, which should be very interesting indeed. Like Federer/Soderling, any match these two play is going to be a showdown for a while. I don't know how significant the result would be - I'm hesitant to put too much weight on a single match - but it will be interesting to see who triumphs, no doubt about it.

A Melzer Moment

The biggest thing to come out of today's showdown in Shanghai is not that Rafa Nadal lost a match. People will probably jump up and down and be all RAFA'S DECLINE about it, but at the end of the day, this was no biggie for the Rafinator and I don't think it indicates too much about him and his form.

No, the biggest thing to come out of today was that Jurgen Melzer won a match. He won a match against an excellent player and he did it with panache.

You know what this match reminded me of? It reminded me of that match last year where Benneteau played an absolute screamer of a match against Federer, and there just wasn't much Roger could do about it. In the best of three sets arena, there is always going to be a guy that comes out not just red, but white hot - ablaze, an inferno of a man, and even if you are the best player in the world, you just can't do much about it.

That was Jurgen Melzer today.

I don't think Melzer can keep that standard up, purely because no one can keep that standard up. But this has been the year of his tennis career. He made the semis of a Slam - I sure never picked that one! - has had some excellent victories, and now he's played his ultimate game to beat the best player in the world right now. He's really made good on his talent and potential this year. And if he continues playing at a not-quite-this-good level, he could even win this tournament.

Spare a moment for Jurgen Melzer. This match is going to get talked about from a Rafa-centric perspective, the way any match is talked about when a big player loses. But remember - Rafa didn't lose this match. Jurgen won it. And what sweet, sweet victory it was.

The Capslock of WTA RAGE

Today, I am spectacularly impressed by the main men in tennis and spectacularly unimpressed with the ladies' side of things. We had EPIC WINNAGE and then EPIC FAILAGE.

Let me elaborate.

First, the good news. Basically, the good news = the dudes. It's very unusual that you'll ever find me putting a Novak Djokovic win in among my good things, but it seems like everyone and his dog was expecting him to lose to Mardy 'Farty Dish' Fish today. Fish was the hot tip, the big pick... and instead, Djokovic coolly dispatched him in straights.

Everyone knows that I'm not Djokovic's biggest fan, but he proved why he is still near the top of the game after all these years. Kudos to you, Novak. Good job.

And then the Sod won, which fills me with frazzly terror but which is good because, hey, I like that Yoker, and Monfils won, which is cool, because I picked him to reach the semis and it makes me look a bit insightful.

Oh, and some Swissie won. Some Swissie looked pretty freaking brilliant as he put Melzer to bet in straights. And I'd like to give full credit to Melzer here, because he played some excellent tennis and never went away in the match. Federer was just awesome. And a 50% break point conversion rate? Given his usual standards, that is made of pure solid gold.

But then there were the women.

This does apply to all. Vera Zvonareva, you get an A+. You are my new favourite on this side of the draw, because you are really cool, Bepa, and you played some sweet sweet stuff against Petkovic today. You played like someone who has made the final of a Slam before and is looking to make their second one should play, and that really impresses me. You've played to your seed and no one can ask more of you than that.

...but I'm going to, because if it comes to it, I'm gonna need you to take out Caro for me. (You're cute, Domi, but I don't see you doing it.)

Caro, you're a sweet kid. You're the #1 seed and you're playing like it. BUT YOU PLAY THE MOST BORING TENNIS IN THE WORLD EVER WHY DID YOU NOT BEAT HER MASHA WHY WHY WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!

Kudos to Caro and all, but I was really disappointed Sharapova did not make more of this. I was hoping of something of the level of Stosur/Dementieva, and I definitely didn't get it. This match was billed so highly it was always going to be a letdown, but it should have been better than that.

Oh, and then there was bit where Wickmayer lost to Kanepi, and, oh yeah, SVETA LOST. Sveta, I wanted you to win so badly I PICKED you to win, and I NEVER pick you. But could you oblige me? NO. You went down in flames to tiny Domi C, and I'mma havin' a hard time forgiving you. Less brainfarts, please?! PLEASE?!

...I'm going to stop writing before the capslock gets stuck on. But come on, Bepa. Win this half for me. I know you have it in you!

The G-Boys

There's a poll on the ATP website at the moment that is trying to ascertain who is the biggest improver of 2010. Mardy Fish, John Isner and Jurgen Melzer are all on there, as is Aleksandr Dolgopolov Jr, who obviously has improved, even though I don't remember it happening.

But most importantly, two of my favourite young characters are on there. Both have won their first titles this year, and I have hopes of great things for both of them.

Andrey Golubev. Ernests Gulbis. Improved. Still improving.

Finally.

I've talked a lot about my fangirlishness of Golubev lately, so I'll leave him alone for now, but let's talk Gulbis. I have been on his bandwagon for what feels like a thousand years now, waiting for him to break through. Sometimes I thought I was the only one on the bandwagon, though at other times it was quite popular. Though, with injury and whatnot, he hasn't been around much lately, it is really good to know that I was right. Gulbis is going places.

Both Gulbis and Golubev have massive tennis stories left to tell. Both are relatively late bloomers, but so what? So are plenty of players. I don't know if either of them will ever win a Slam - though Gulbis might surprise you! - but there is a lot of success ahead of both of them. I am sure of this.

And I'd also like to point out that Gulbis is leading the poll at the moment, and Golubev is coming second. But the real winner? Me, obviously.

(This is a joke, clearly.)

The Playing Field

Well, my boy James Ward didn't get too much further - his run stopped in the quarters - but it was still a champion effort for him. Well done Jimbo.

What runs like Ward's are making me aware of is the level of upsettage that is going on in men's tennis at the moment. Sure, at the Slams it's basically the Hispano-Suisse domination machine rolling onwards like a mighty boulder, but in these 250 tournaments we are seeing a very high level of crazy shenanigans going on.

Look at the tournaments this week. The final in Eastbourne is between the #5 seed and the #8 seed. Not a bad result, but not exactly what you'd expect. In s'Hertogenbosch, we have the #7 seed and an unseeded player - and no player seeded higher than #7 made it to the semis. The same thing happened at Queen's, and, to a degree, at Halle. And even at Roland Garros - Nadal and Soderling were pretty decent semi finalists, but Melzer and Berdych? I don't think anyone had any money on that.

What does this prove? I'm not quite sure. Maybe the playing field is evening out a bit. Maybe there isn't quite such a divide between the top ten/twenty and the dudes below. Or maybe I'm just making this up. Who knows. But it's going to be an interesting phenomenon to watch - particularly, I think, in the smaller tournaments - for a little while...

Like Donkey Kong

There is a certain sense of parallelism in this year's men's final. It was time for Rafa to back in the final - this is, after all, his playground. And much as I was hoping to see my beloved Roger facing up against him... there is another part of me that is very glad Soderling has the chance to have another crack at him.

Beyond a Fedal final, I doubt there is any prospect more tantalising than Nadal/Soderling at the French now, given what happened last year. Nadal will be thirsty for revenge, and Soderling will be thirsty not just to win his first Grand Slam title, but to beat this guy again. And if there is anyone, any single non-Fed player who has the capacity to really trouble Nadal here, it is Soderling.

In fact, for Nadal, Soderling is the worst possible opponent. His battle with Federer has never been especially mental for him, but if any player is in Rafa's head, it is the Yoker. This will be the real test - how has last year's final affected him?

Truth be told, I think last year's result will give Rafa extra fire. Not only will he want revenge on Soderling, he genuinely doesn't like the guy, and he will NOT want to lose to him twice - not here, not at Roland Garros. But exactly the same thing is going to be true of Soderling - just as Rafa dislikes Robin, Robin dislikes Rafa, and I doubt there would be too much sweeter for Soderling than to win this tournament by beating Rafa.

In summary, both dudes have something to prove, and both will want to do it at the expense of the other.

Ever since Robin beat Roger, there has been a sense of fate about this match. In a way, Roland Garros is Robin's playground as well, and now we have a tussle. This was never going to be a final for Berdych or Melzer - this one is all Rafa, all Robin, and it is on like Donkey Kong.

A Year To The Day

A year to the day that Robin Soderling did the seemingly impossible and knocked out Rafa Nadal at Roland Garros, Sam Stosur has done exactly the same on the women's side. And much as I love Justine Henin, I am ecstatic for Sam.

People were calling Sam the dark horse of this incredibly difficult quarter, but I don't think anyone actually expected her to come through Justine realistically. But she has a chance - a damn fighting chance - of actually repeating her semi final performance here last year and maybe going further. If she can beat JuJu on clay, you can bet that she has as good a chance as anyone against Serena...

The winners: Sam Stosur. For all the reasons listed above. And for being freaking AWESOME.

Rafael Nadal also, for being a complete force of nature on a clay court.

And I have to give a shout out to Jurgen Melzer. So much talent, never really did too much with it, being the first Austrian to really do much of anything after Thomas Muster retired. And now - quarters at a major. Not too shabby at all! And considering the way Djokovic is playing, he stands a pretty decent chance of making semis if he keeps his head screwed on.

The losers: I'm sorry, JuJu, but you have to go in this column. Sam Stosur played lights out to beat her, but I seriously thought JuJu was going to win the tournament. She won't be happy with this result - even though it will give her a little longer to plan her assault on Wimbledon. And maybe that will be the difference for JuJu there... only time will tell.

And it might seem a little unfair, but Shahar Peer has to go here too. She started out fantastically against Serena and then completely lost it. What happened there, Shahar - apart from you realising that, oh yeah, Serena was on the other side of the net?

The disappointments: Raise your hand, Nando Verdasco. I know you have your whole toenail deal going on, but I was really feeling you this clay court season. I really feel like you have it in you to go super deep at Roland Garros - obviously your year is not this year.

And I know he won, but Novak Djokovic has been very disappointing this whole tournament, and it didn't stop here. Considering Robby Ginepri has won a grand total of eleven clay court matches in his entire career, you'd think the world #3 would be able to beat him without meekly dropping a set for what seemed like no reason.

The scraped-in-by-skin-of-teeth: No one really - no extremely tight matches today. So let's call this one the sneaking-through-the-draw-without-really-drawing-attention-to-themselves category today, and point our fingers at Nico Almagro and Jelena Jankovic, who have been silent and deadly so far. Nico will obviously stop next round, as he's playing some dude called Rafa whom I hear is a bit good on this surface, but Jelena really has the potential to go all the way here.

One to watch/story of the day: Watch out world. Here comes Sam Stosur!

Oh Hi, Captain Obvious

It is absolutely KILLING me that the best match of the women's side so far is all tied up at one set all at the suspension of play. I want to know what happens, damn it!

Henin/Sharapova may not be one of the most immediately obvious of the WTA rivalries, but I think it is certainly one of the most compelling. I will never forget that three hour match they played at the year ending championships a few years back, where Henin got through - or that absolute beatdown MaSha put on JuJu at the AO early the next year. Even when neither is on top of their game, they both play totally watchable tennis when they play each other.

And, I confess, I'm sort of hoping they wear each other out and make Sam Stosur's path that little bit easier... look at me, all parochial. Who woulda thunk.

The winners: Rafa Nadal. Duh. He is putting the beatdown on anyone who so much as looks at him sideways. I know clay isn't Lleyton Hewitt's best surface, but Rafa put him down like a rabid dog. Scary stuff.

A beatdown was also issued by, surprisingly, Jurgen Melzer. Totes did not expect him to beat Ferrer, mostly because I had completely forgotten he existed. I'm pretty sure this is the Djokovic quarter, which means Melzer has a good a chance as any of winning it. Go the Jurgenator.

And from the women, let's talk Sam Stosur, who had a sweetly routine win over Anastasia Pivovarova. And let's also talk Daniela Hantuchova, whom I also always forget about, who triumphed unexpectedly against Yanina Wickmayer. Great stuff from both ladies.

The losers: David Ferrer. Big time. He had what was basically a clear path to the quarters, and he screwed it up and screwed it up good. Like, a screw up of an epic degree. I understand that Jurgen Melzer was playing awesome tennis, but straights, Ferru? Really?

And I have to put Yanina Wickmayer in here as well. I know DaniHani is massively talented, but hello, Yanina, so are you. I guess she's just come off elbow surgery, so I shouldn't be too harsh on her, but I totally thought she was a dark horse for this section of the draw. And I don't like being proven wrong.

Oh look, Captain Obvious has just paid us a visit? You know who was a big-ass loser today at Roland Garros? Andy Roddick. I know he was maybe sick and he doesn't exactly love clay, but he should at least have been able to take a set off Gabashvili. At least.

The disappointments: Juan Carlos Ferrero. I totally picked him to come through his section of the draw, and he did not do me proud, to say the least. You can beat Novak Djokovic is breathing a lot easier (allergies aside) now that the two Spaniards are out of his section. JCF totally had more in him than this.

And Alisa Kleybanova? WTF? I've seen Yaroslava Shvedova play live and she's got some serious game going on, but I thought Alisa would have been able to outclub her. Obviously I was wrong. Well done Slava, I guess.

Oh, and Captain Obvious has just informed me Marion Bartoli should be in here. I guess I never really pay enough attention to her (except to comment on her weird-ass shots) to notice when she loses.

The scraped-in-by-the-skin-of-teeth: Greetings, Nadia Petrova. I am so glad Nadz took out this match, not just because I like her (which I do) but because someone had to kill that damn gold dress. Nadz is super talented and totally deserves this fourth round run. I hope she can make it even further!

And oh hi, Robby Ginepri. I was very disappointed that your opponent JCF lost, but you totally deserved this win. Who woulda thunk you would be the good news story for American mens' tennis from this tournament? Certainly not me.

One to watch: Teimuraz Gabashvili. I know Roddick was not that well and doesn't like clay, but straights, dude? You've got a little sumthin' sumthin' going on if you can pull that one off. This could be his breakthrough tournament (even though it feels like he's been round for a million years...)

Sense and Scheduling

Well, it had to happen sooner or later - Marin Cilic just lost a match he should have won.

Mighty Marin went down to Austrian Jurgen Melzer, who is definitely not a total slouch - I do believe he has an ATP level title to his name - but he's not exactly the man, either. On most given days, Marin would stomp all over him and smash him like a guitar.

But not this time. And why? I didn't see the match, but I can tell you why: scheduling.

It is totally ridiculous, the amount of tennis that Cilic has played this year. I mean, obviously it's good he made the semis in Oz and all, but he has probably spent more man hours on the court than any other dude on the ATP circuit so far this year. By a long way. He's won two tournaments and gone deep in Australia... and I know Australia seems like a long time ago, but the reality is that Cilic has played so, SO much tennis. He needs a break.

And you know what? I'm glad he went down to Melzer today. He wouldn't have a chance in hell in Indian Wells or Miami without a bit more rest under his belt. I think Marin is awesome and I want him to stay that way. No burn outs, Marin. Say it with me: sensible scheduling. Sometimes less is more.

Age Before Beauty

Well, Marat is gone from China, and the march towards Bercy and his last tournament continues. Still, he didn't exactly roll down and die in his match against Berdych - a match of two headcases - and so I suppose I can be happy with that. I just don't want to think about a future with no Marat in it. Sigh.

We saw a couple of upsets today, most notably third seed and Grand Slam man Juan Martin del Potro go down to Jurgen Melzer, retiring down a set because of wrist issues. I will be very disappointed in Juan if he can't back up his US Open triumph - but if he's injured I suppose that's not his fault. Just another casualty of the season and the length and all those wacky things. So hasta la vista, Juan, and hopefully we'll see you back again by Bercy.

But the result I thought was reeeeeeeeally interesting was Ivan Ljubicic taking down Fernando Verdasco. It seems like a thousand years ago that Ljubicic was #3 in the world - it was only 2006, and he spent a while floating round the top ten before sliding down to the bottom half of the top fifty. But nonetheless, he's got a lovely game and ain't no one can take that away...

...however, with Nando's crushing groundies, I thought he'd pummel Ivan into submission. Ivan is definitely one of the grandpas of the tour (read: is in his thirties) and while that serve of his is smoking, I got the impression that he'd lost a leeeeeeetle power over the years. But, of course, what does that mean? If one can counterpunch effectively, one can do anything.

I didn't actually see the match so I'm not exactly qualified to comment, but I thought this was an interesting result. Not good for Nando in his bid to make it to the year-ending championships, but it's always nice to see one of the elder statesmen - particularly a really lovely, eloquent gentleman like Ljubicic - prevail.


Today's Results

Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 (Shanghai)

Rafael Nadal def. James Blake, 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 6-4
Novak Djokovic def. Fabio Fognini, 6-3 6-1
Jurgen Melzer def. Juan Martin del Potro, 7-5 2-1 retired
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Shao-Xuan Zeng, 6-3 6-3
Ivan Ljubicic def. Fernando Verdasco, 6-4 7-6 (8-6)
Gilles Simon def. Viktor Troicki, 6-3 6-4
Robin Soderling def. Nicolas Almagro, 6-4 7-5
Gael Monfils def. Lleyton Hewitt, 4-6 6-4 6-2
Tommy Robredo def. Florian Mayer, 4-6 7-6 (12-10) 6-4
Rainer Schuettler def. Tommy Haas, 6-4 retired
Feliciano Lopez def. David Ferrer, 4-6 7-5 6-1
Tomas Berdych def. Marat Safin, 3-6 6-4 6-4


Generali Ladies Linz (Linz)

Yanina Wickmayer def. Timea Bacsinszky, 7-6 (8-6) 6-4
Alexandra Dulgheru def. Sybille Bammer, 6-3 6-1
Alize Cornet def. Kristina Barrois, 4-6 6-3 6-3
Agnieszka Radwanska def. Monica Niculescu, 6-4 6-2
Sara Errani def. Tatjana Malek, 6-3 6-0
Petra Kvitova def. Iveta Benesova, 6-4 7-5
Carla Suarez Navarro def. Olga Govortsova, 6-3 6-4


HP Open (Osaka)

Melinda Czink def. Vania King, 6-4 6-2
Francesca Schiavone def. Yung-Jan Chan, 6-3 0-6 6-3
Sania Mirza def. Viktoriya Kutuzova, 6-4 6-3
Marion Bartoli def. Kurumi Nara, 6-1 6-1

Domo and Muzza, Me Old Mates

Honestly, some people are soooooo bogan. 'Domo' and 'Muzza' are both tennis players - can you guess who they are? I'm sure if these players heard 'let's go, Domo!' or 'c'arn, Muzza!' shouted at them (which they did on Thursday at the Open!) they wouldn't recognise their own names either... it was pretty funny. But bogan. Hilariously so.

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I started my Thursday at the Aussie Open just before eleven, having a bit of a wander round to see who was hitting up before settling in at Court 19 to watch Dominika 'Domo' Cibulkova play Chan Yung-Jan, which was the most one-sided match I have seen thus far in Melbourne - Domo won her first match in a double bagel, and the first set of this match was a bagel as well. She is really, really good. If she is not top ten by the end of the year I will eat an item of my own clothing. But good as she is, the match was so one-sided it was boring, and I could see Jelena Jankovic practicing over on Court 17, so I left after the first set.

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I watched a bit of Jankovic, but then I heard a very familiar sounding shriek from the next court, so I mosied on over to Court 16 and caught the majority of Dinara Safina's practice - possibly the most unusual practice session I have seen yet. We've all read the stories of how Zeljko Krajan, her coach, has calmed her down and sorted her out on court, and it is my personal belief that he has done this by making her have all her temper tantrums in her practice sessions instead. Seriously, these two scream at each other like nothing else I have ever seen. I think I've commented on how much of a bitch Zeljko was to her during the oncourt coaching in the final of Sydney, and nothing was different here. Okay, so maybe they were a bit calmer, but this relationship has serious fire. If he wasn't wearing a wedding ring, wasn't five hundred years older and a foot shorter than she is, I'd think they were having some kind of clandestine love/hate relationship. But it's certainly working!

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Safina was replaced on Court 16 by Ivanovic, so I watched her hit for a little while before swapping practice courts again to watch Baghdatis, who replaced Jankovic. (He looks so different without his hair!) Then I decided I should probably, you know, watch some actual tennis, so I headed out to Court 8 to watch a bit of Andreas Beck and Jurgen Melzer (is he still dating Domo? She seems to be swap them round a bit - she's been linked to both Monfils and Stakhovsky as well, if memory serves.) This was a good match - I watched the second set, which ended in a breaker, and it was a really tight one. Melzer levelled it at one set all, and it was well worth the watching.

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I headed back out to the practice courts after that (yeah, I have an addiction problem, so sue me.) Djokovic was practicing, and it gave me a great deal of satisfaction to see that although there was a bit of a crowd watching him, it was absolutely NOTHING compared to the mobs that Federer draws. No one else draws that kind of mobs - not Ivanovic or Jankovic or the Williamses, not Hewitt or Murray or Djokovic or even Nadal. Is this the same worldwide? I love the notion of Federer as a universal star. There was a good match on Court 19 so I watched some of that - a very intriguing clash between Fabio Fognini and Nicolas Almagro. Almagro won easily in the end, but it was Fognini that drew my attention - he was bouncing racquets all over themselves, and he also made my favourite non-Federer shot of the tournament: he was at net, Almagro hit a volley at his toes, he dove to get it back over, fell, did a commando roll, and was back up in time to put the next one away for a winner. It was awesome. It was such a shame there are no cameras on that court, because it was a MAD shot.

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But Djokovic was gone and the crowd was a-gathering, and that only ever means one thing - a Fed storm a-brewing! I went down and scouted myself a good spot at the fence of Court 16. At length, he did come out (unlike his Monday no show) - but he headed to Court 17! The crowd was very taken aback and swarmed after him - it was pretty funny! Being alone and also being small and quick, I got myself to an equally good position at the fence and watched the Great Man hit up for about forty-five minutes. It is such a bizarre feeling, being that close to someone that you admire so much - particularly when there is a group of teenage girls shouting propositions to him behind you! (That said, the blokes are just as bad - there was this big, burly guy next to me, and Roger came over to the fence at one point to pick up a ball, and he bellows, 'HEY ROGER! I'M HAVING A BARBIE AT MY PLACE TONIGHT - YOU'RE WELCOME TO COME!' It must be so disconcerting, trying to just have a simple hit up and to get mobbed wherever you go. I guess that's just the price you pay for being fabulous.

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When he was done (after about a thousand years of signing autographs) I went and caught the first set breaker of Ljubicic/Tsonga on the big screen. Even though Jo-W won that match, I was glad to see Ivan putting up such a good fight. He really is one of the great gentlemen of the sport, and I feel he never gets enough respect for that. He is a very lovely man. After that breaker I went and watched some of the all-Croat showdown on Show Court 2, where Ancic and Karlovic were slugging it out. There was seriously nothing between them. Karlovic probably had the ascendancy during the part of the match I watched (mostly the third set) but Ancic ended up winning - but honestly, there was no splitting them. It was good viewing.

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I nipped offsite to eat and then came back to Show Court 2 to wait for Ernests Gulbis, which meant I caught the second set of Shuai Peng and Sesil Karantcheva, which was another seriously one-sided affair. Karantcheva didn't play badly (though she was missing a few) but Peng was on fire. She is a weird player - two-handed on both sides, which always looks weird - but it really worked for her. Karantcheva looks physically stronger than Peng, but the two hands really seemed to lend her some extra power, and she has excellent precision. The set I saw was a bagel, so it wasn't long till Gulbis came out, and that was a much tighter affair. I didn't see very much at all - it started at about seven - but it was a close one. Apparently Andreev won in five... so this tournament won't be Ernests's big break, but watch out, world, watch out.

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Then it was into the arena - and what a women's match it was to start out! The whole crowd got behind Carla Suarez Navarro, especially when she won the second set. The Aussie crowd usually loves an underdog, and this wasn't an exception. And man, Venus did not look happy. You could tell she expected to win that one, and it seemed like she underestimated Carla all the way to the end... it seemed like she was waiting around for Carla to crack, and when Carla didn't... disaster for the sixth seed! But it was such a special moment, being in the crowd for that victory.

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Then there was the Murray match, which was a bit disappointing, really. There were some really good points - a lot of really long ones - but you could tell that Granollers just never, ever believed he could win. Murray was on top the whole way - and because Granollers didn't appear to be fighting that hard, the crowd didn't really get behind him at all. There was some crazy Scots cheering for their man, but on the whole, the match had no fire. However, it did produce the name 'Muzza' - by which Andy Murray will now be known to me forevermore!

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Today's Results

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Australian Open

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Men's Draw

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Rafael Nadal def. Roko Karanusic, 6-2 6-3 6-2

Gilles Simon def. Chris Guccione, 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-1 6-2

Andy Murray def. Marcel Granollers, 6-4 6-2 6-2

Gael Monfils def. Stefan Koubek, 6-4 6-4 3-6 6-2

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Ivan Ljubicic, 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (9-7) 6-2

Fernando Gonzalez def. Guillermo Canas, 7-5 6-3 6-4

James Blake def. Sebastien de Chaunac, 6-3 6-2 6-3

Mario Ancic def. Ivo Karlovic, 5-7 7-5 4-6 6-4 6-3

Igor Andreev def. Ernests Gulbis, 6-4 6-4 5-7 3-6 6-4

Tommy Haas def. Flavio Cipolla, 6-1 6-2 6-1

Richard Gasquet def. Denis Istomin, 6-3 6-4 6-4

Fernando Verdasco def. Arnaud Clement, 6-1 6-1 6-2

Jurgen Melzer def. Andreas Beck, 5-7 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 6-3

Radel Stepanek def. Michael berrer, 6-3 6-2 6-7 (3-7) 7-5

Nicolas Almagro def. Fabio Fognini, 6-2 7-5 6-0

Dudi Sela def. Victor Hanescu, 6-3 6-3 6-2

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Women's Draw

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Carla Suarez Navarro def. Venus Williams, 2-6 6-3 7-5

Samantha Stosur def. Sabine Lisicki, 6-3 6-4

Elena Dementieva def. Iveta Benesova, 6-4 6-1

Serena Williams def. Gisela Dulko, 6-3 7-5

Flavia Pennetta def. Jessica Moore, 6-4 6-1

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Tatjana Malek, 6-2 6-2

Amelie Mauresmo def. Elena Baltacha, 4-6 6-3 6-2

Shuai Peng def. Sesil Karantcheva, 6-4 6-0

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Julie Coin, 6-1 6-4

Virginie Razzano def. Patty Schnyder, 6-3 6-1

Alona Bondarenko def. Severine Bremond, 7-6 (7-1) 1-6 6-2

Jie Zheng def. Melinda Czink, 7-6 (7-0) 5-7 6-3

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Akgul Amanmuradova, 6-2 6-4

Victoria Azarenka def. Tathiana Garbin, 4-1 retired

Dominika Cibulkova def. Yung-Jan Chan, 6-0 6-2

Kateryna Bondarenko def. Lourdes Dominguez Lino, 7-5 7-5

Potato

Some players just fly under the radar. You know their names, you know they float around in the top hundred, and usually you know where they come from, but you wouldn't know them if you fell over them in the street and you couldn't name their significant career wins if someone paid you. On the whole, they have never been very deep at Slams - maybe an occasional round of sixteen, but rarely more than that. They do well in the IS and ISG tournaments, but are not particularly remarkable.

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One day, I am going to find out what makes these unremarkable players remarkable. Because they must be remarkable. You don't get to be in the top one hundred in the world without being a little bit remarkable. Let's name names. Potito Starace. Fabio Fognini. Jurgen Melzer. These guys have all been round for a while, but I could tell you next to nothing about them, except that Starace and Fognini are Italian and Melzer is Austrian. Oh, and Starace's name sounds like 'potato.' But that hardly takes rocket science to work out.

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Let's take Starace. He is 27. I know that. He comes from Cervinara. He plays right handed. And that's it. That is the extent of my knowledge.

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But there are other players, ranked in the same sort of area, that I know loads more about. Take Tommy Haas. Actually, he might be a bad example, because he's been up there in the top ten. According to the ATP website, Starace has never been higher than #27. Let's look at Robin Soderling, then. He's ranked #48, with a career high of #23. He plays right handed and lives in Monte Carlo.

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But I can also tell you that Soderling hates Nadal, and that it's apparently reciprocated. Soderling is considered a danger man on tour. He's quite good on grass. He's Swedish, and sometimes plays doubles with Jonas Bjorkman. Not many facts, sure, but some.

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Why do I know about Soderling? Because he's played a big match at a Slam. And I'm not just talking about a match against a big player, because Starace has played his share of those. I remember coming up against Rafa a couple of times, and losing pretty dismally. Soderling, however, was one half of that marathon five day match at Wimbledon last year, where his dislike of Rafa was fomented. And those are the things that make you remember people.

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So what can Potito do, if he wants people to remember him? He already has the advantage of a memorable, vegetablesque name. Actually, I wonder how famous he is in Italy? Is he a Hewitt or a Guccione? Or a Sirianni? There are quite a few good tennis players from Italy - there's equally forgettable Fognini and Bolelli and Seppi and Volandri. (I just went on the ATP website to see if there were any famous Italians I'd missed, and I was stunned to discover that Filippo Volandri is now ranked #138 in the world. When did that happen? He was about #30 last time I checked. What happened?) I wonder what kind of profile tennis has in Italy. How famous are these boys? And it's not like they're totally deficient in the women's draws, either - Flavia Pennetta springs inexorably to mind.

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But I'm talking about Potito's international recognition, not homegrown Italian fame. And not even household name status - just within the tennis community. (Look at me talking like I am one of the tennis community... Potito's probably done loads of wacky things that people talk about.) If you look at the press conference archive on ASAP sports, there is not one single conference from Starace. Not one.

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So if Starace wants to be famous, he has to either:

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- do well at a Slam.

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- do something stupid to get himself in the tennis news.

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- play a really, really long match at a Slam sometime.

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I don't know. Hell, why am I even writing about this? I know nothing about Starace - including whether or not he wants to be famous. Maybe he's content flying under the radar. But we'll never find out unless he does something remarkable.

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Today's Results

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Austrian Open (Kitzbuhel)

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Jurgen Melzer def. Rainer Schuettler, 2-6 7-5 7-5

Potito Starace def. Eduardo Schwank, 6-1 6-2

Juan Martin Del Potro def. Nicolas Devilder, 6-2 6-3

Victor Hanescu def. Brian Dabul, 6-3 6-4

Rainer Schuettler def. Jan Hernych, 2-6 6-4 7-5

Juan Martin Del Potro def. Sergio Roitman, 6-2 6-4

Nicolas Devilder def. Alexander Peya, 6-4 6-4

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Dutch Open Tennis (Amersfoort)

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Marc Gicquel def. Teimuraz Gabashvili, 6-4 6-1

Steve Darcis def. Christophe Rochus, 7-5 6-3

Albert Montanes def. Jose Acasuso, 6-0 6-2

Oscar Hernandez def. Marcel Granollers, 7-5 6-2

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Studena Croatia Open (Umag)

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Fernando Verdasco def. Mischa Zverev, 7-5 7-5

Fabio Fognini def. Carlos Moya, 6-4 6-3

Igor Andreev def. Guillermo Canas, 7-5 6-4

Maximo Gonzalez def. Roko Karanusic, 2-6 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

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Indianapolis Tennis Championships (Indianapolis)

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James Blake def. Woong-Sun Jun, 6-3 7-5

Sam Querrey def. Vince Spadea, 4-6 6-3 6-4

Gilles Simon def. Tommy Haas, 4-6 6-4 6-2

Sam Querrey def. Bobby Reynolds, 6-1 3-6 6-3

James Blake def. Yen-Hsun Lu, 6-2 6-0

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Bank of the West Classic (Stanford)

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Samantha Stosur def. Vera Zvonareva, 6-3 6-2

Patty Schnyder def. Alisa Kleybanova, 7-6 (10-8) 6-4

Marion Bartoli def. Anne Keothavong, 6-3 1-6 7-5

Aleksandra Wozniak def. Sybille Bammer, 6-4 7-5

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Gastein Ladies (Bad Gastein)

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Agnes Szavay def. Melanie Klaffner, 3-6 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (7-3)

Mariya Koryttseva def. Caroline Wozniacki, 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7-5)

Pauline Parmentier def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 7-5 4-6 6-4

Lucie Hradecka def. Timea Bacsinszky, 6-1 6-4

Iveta Benesova def. Galina Voskoboeva, 6-4 4-6 6-1

Yvonne Meusburger def. Maret Ani 6-2 2-6 6-3

Tereza Hladikova def. Karolina Sprem, 6-3 1-6 6-4

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And in the last installment of Stars of the Past, Stars of the Future (for now!): Ernests Gulbis.

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Ernests Gulbis is the potential #1 that the world never saw coming. Like Jeremy Chardy, he exploded on the scene at Roland Garros 2008, but he's been making inroads for a lot longer than that. He attended the same tennis academy as world number #3 Novak Djokovic, the academy run by Niki Pilic. Djokovic graduated and went on to great things, as we have all seen - but it was for Ernests Gulbis that Pilic actually left the academy for a time so he could focus on one-on-one training. This teenager from Latvia has got a very special talent - perhaps one seen only once in a generation. Roger Federer turned out to be the king of his generation, the New Balls generation. Could Gulbis be the king of his?

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It seems a little pre-emptive to make this claim - and one feels that there is a man by the name of Rafael Nadal that might have something to say about that. But Ernests Gulbis has clearly got something going on. And it does seem unfair to put him in the same generation as Nadal or even his old friend Djokovic. Age is not necessarily the correct demarcation of generation. Gulbis belongs to the generation of Chardy, Cilic and Schwank - and of the four, it seems likely that he will turn out to be the best.

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Gulbis was the only man apart from Roger Federer to take a set from Nadal at Wimbledon this year. Despite the massively powerful groundstrokes of Nadal, Gulbis proved himself capable of dominating at the baseline. He is tall and thin and there seems to be little of him, but he is deceptively strong. He does not play the tennis of Fabrice Santoro, but he clearly has a very high tennis IQ. It seems only a matter of time before Gulbis breaks through with a big tournament win - and after that, who knows? The sky may well be the limit for Ernests Gulbis.