Exhibitionists

So I was thinking today about the tournaments I won't be going to on my January adventure - namely, the Moorilla International in Hobart and Kooyong in Melbourne - and that got me to thinking about the phenomenon that is the exhibition tournament. (Obviously, Hobart has nothing to do with this, but whatevs).

Players are always complaining about their crazy tennis schedules - and with good reason, I do believe. I'm sure if I was pushing my body to the edge eleven months of the year I'd be pretty cranky about it too. But yet they still play these exhos, which sort of undermines their credibility in this arena some. So this begs the question... why?

The obvious answer is the cash, because these things are obviously huge cashcows. But the top tennis players - i.e. the people that get asked to play exhos - are ridiculously rich anyway, rolling around in piles of filthy lucre. So money alone doesn't seem to be enough, and without the points you'd get you have no incentive there, and with the already packed schedule... so why exho?

I think, personally, it's because of trick shots.

One thing you always hear when you watch tennis is the term 'percentage play'. Players that play high percentage plays all the time -people that play it safe - are stupidly boring to watch, and I can't imagine percentage tennis is that much fun to play either. But if it's your career, then you're not going to go risking losing your match because you want to try stuff out. In fact, the only player I've ever really seen try stuff out in a tournament match is Roger Federer, when he's sailing ahead lightyears in front, and even then it's sometimes not an especially good idea.

But exhos? You've been paid your cash and you don't have any points riding on the line, so why not cut loose and have fun? Nothing to gain so there's nothing to lose - so it becomes all about the shots.

Which begs the question... why isn't more exhibition tennis televised? Because that stuff is a watcher's paradise.

Swiss Misters

Anyone who was in doubt, doubt no more. Roger Federer is here in Australia, and he means business.

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I only caught the last four games of the Kooyong final yesterday (damn gainful employment!) but that was all I needed to catch to catch the message. He played absolutely beautiful tennis against Stan Wawrinka yesterday - no quarter was asked, no quarter given - and I fail to see how anyone could doubt his ability, or call him washed up and on the way out. Has anyone ever played tennis like he has? He played some shots that were absolutely INSANE - did anyone see that hooking crosscourt forehand winner he made off a Stan serve? He put such work on the ball that it kicked up into about Row F. Stan had no hope of touching it. It was beautiful.

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I know I'm biased - I am a massive Roger fan, after all, and I'm hardly shy about admitting it! - but seriously, he's the best that ever lived. I think people realise that as well - the very fact that they call him finished after a year in which he won four titles, reached three Grand Slam finals and a semi and won Olympic gold shows that. For anyone else, that would be a career year of insane proportions. For Roger, substandard. We are already judging him against a different yardstick than we judge anyone else of the era.

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But we can't leave Stan out either - even though the scoreline belies it, he didn't play bad tennis. He's got some lovely shots, does Little Brother. I love the way he plays into the corners - he can get some real whip. He simply got outplayed yesterday. I very much look forward to seeing another match up between the two Swiss Misters in the fourth round at the Open! It's a bit sad that Stan (and Marat!) are in that section of the draw... normally, I'd be gunning for them to go real deep, but I never pull against the inexorable Federer!

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The schedule of the first day of the Open just came out. Months ago, I bought my tickets - a five day ground pass for the first five days and Rod Laver Arena tickets for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. Guess who is on Rod Laver on Monday night? The opener is Casey Dellacqua against Daniela Hantuchova (which, with the way Casey is playing currently, should take about four seconds... sorry, Casey, but it's true!) followed by Andreas Seppi versus the Great Man. And I'll be there, cheering the Fed Express on!

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Onto another final - one about which I can probably talk more sanely, due to the lack of gushing! The Medibank final was a really good match. The last time Nalbandian and Nieminen met, Dave walked all over Jarkko (2 and 1, I think.) But this one was much tighter - the breaker in the second set was positively nailbiting! Nieminen is in the best form I have seen him in for some time. He could potentially meet Djokovic a few rounds in at the Open, and I would love to see another upset!

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And Nalbandian... look, you can what you like about his personality (though he was very effusive and quite funny in his champion's speech) but the guy is a seriously classy tennis player. You know how some tennis players are good, but not classy? (Federer probably being the epitome of class, if you want a standard to measure it against.) Nalbandian has serious class. He is very interesting to watch play, and he played some lovely balls last night... it's going to be interesting to see how he goes at the Open!

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Oh, and Juan Martin del Potro beat Sam Querrey in Auckland. Quel surprise. And both Peter Luczak and Marija Mirkovic lost in the final round of qualifying... which is actually really sad. This is the first Open Mr Milkshake has missed in seven or eight years. We'll miss you, Pete!

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Today's Results

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AAMI Classic (Kooyong)

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Roger Federer def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-1 6-3

Fernando Verdasco def. Fernando Gonzalez, 6-4 6-3

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Medibank International (Sydney)

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David Nalbandian def. Jarkko Nieminen, 6-3 6-7 (9-11) 6-2

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Heineken Open (Auckland)

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Juan Martin del Potro def. Sam Querrey, 6-4 6-4

Nieminenenenen

I would not be myself if I did not begin this post with a big AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, as is my wont whenever Novak Djokovic gets beaten by someone he shouldn't have. How about Jarkko Nieminen? He played a fabulous match - and this has to be the best win of his career. He's never beaten a top five player before - and in my humble opinion, he couldn't have picked a better one to beat.

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I don't think this is going to have too much bearing on the Open - Djokovic could be playing his way into form - but I would not be unconcerned, were I in the Djokovic camp. That's all I'm saying. Along with AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

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It's going to be an interesting match, this final - who would have picked a Nalbandian/Nieminen match? Certainly not me. It's going to be intriguing to see an inform Nalbandian at the Open - he has got potential to beat any of the top four. He's in the Djokovic quarter, and that would be a very interesting match indeed. I was gunning for him to be in the Nadal quarter, because that would be interesting to the nth degree, but we cannot have everything. I'm going to pick him over Jarkko, but then I picked Djokovic over Jarkko as well. Who knows what Nieminenenenen can pull out of the bag this time?!

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The women's final was a very interesting match as well. It is beyond me why Elena Dementieva can hit such powerful, penetrating groundies and then have a serve which is the equivalent of caressing her opponent with a natural yoghurt (pop culture reference - props to anyone who gets it, as you clearly have excellent taste.) Imagine her game with, say, Serena's serve. She'd be unstoppable. Hell, put Safina's serve on her, and she'd be #1 in a flash.

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Dinara herself did not play badly - I think she got outplayed, mostly. Elena's on a hot streak. What did get me was how frickin' mean her coach was to her! Seriously, oncourt coaching is a dodgy enough enterprise, without your coach coming out and launching a tirade of abuse at you. Maybe that's how Dinara operates - she needs someone to be super-hard to help her knuckle down or whatever - but it didn't even really sound like constructive criticism to me... I hate oncourt coaching. I think it's ridiculous and should be thrown out the window, baby, bathwater and all. If you even mentioned the possibility on the ATP tour, there'd be uproar. Why is it all right on the WTA tour? The girls are not stupider than the guys!

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Speaking of the ATP tour, and the Player Council President in particular, he has a final himself today at Kooyong - which I cannot watch because of work, which saddens me greatly. It's going to be an interesting tussle, Roger vs. Stan - obviously you pick Roger, but Stan obviously knows his game so well... and they're such good mates. I bet that match will be a pleasure to watch - for all the people that aren't me!

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Oh, and props to Marija Mirkovic! I lied yesterday when I said Mr Milkshake was the only Aussie, male or female, left in qualies. Here's hoping Marija can pull it out over Kimiko Date Krumm and win herself a place in the main draw!

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Today's Results

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AAMI Classic (Kooyong)

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Stanislas Wawrinka def. Fernando Gonzalez, 7-6 (7-3) 6-7 (1-7) 6-4
Marcos Baghdatis def. Marin Cilic, 6-3 6-2
Carlos Moya def. Ivan Ljubicic, 7-5 3-6 7-5

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Medibank International (Sydney)

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Men's Draw

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Jarkko Nieminen def. Novak Djokovic, 6-4 7-6 (7-3)

David Nalbandian def. Richard Gasquet, 6-4 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Elena Dementieva def. Dinara Safina, 6-3 2-6 6-1

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Heineken Open (Auckland)

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Juan Martin del Potro def. Robin Soderling, 6-4 6-3

Sam Querrey def. David Ferrer, 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

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Moorilla Hobart International (Hobart)

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Petra Kvitova def. Iveta Benesova, 7-5 6-1

Not Forgetting Richou

Wow. What a terrible day for Australia in the qualies for the Open. Only one Aussie got through (one, out of both men and women!) and that was Peter Luczak. Here's hoping Mr Milkshake can win through to the actual tournament, because otherwise that's just a bit ridiculous for Australian tennis! We have some great players in through the discretionary wildcard system, but you'd hope for at least one qualifier!

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Kooyong yesterday was an absolute nailbiter - the Federer/Verdasco match, I mean. Federer was clearly playing well within himself, experimenting, trying a few things out, etc, etc, but Nando played a great match after beign 5-0 down in the first to take it to a third set breaker. You'd have to say that Roger never looked like losing, but the scoreline belies it, and so kudos to Nando on a great match. It's going to be interesting to watch his progress at the Open... and I'd back him over whomever he faces in the playoff for third here at Kooyong, whether it's Wawrinka or Gonzo. And obviously you've got to back the Fed over either of those guys, so it's going to be an interesting final... which I probably won't be able to watch because I'll be at work. Le sigh. At least I'll see them all in the flesh next week at the Open!

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Sydney, and man did Serena lie down for Elena Dementieva! It always amazes me that Dementieva is ranked as high as she is with that serve of hers (which, granted, is improved, but is still a joke compared to most of the other serves on tour) but Serena totally failed to capitalise and Dementieva smashed her like a guitar. It's going to be interesting - Dinara Safina had a bit of trouble against the wily veteran Ai Sugiyama, but brought it in the major points. So who do you back? Elegant Elena or Dinara the freight train? They split big matches last year - Dinara had her number at the French Open, but Elena won the gold medal. I'm backing Dinara on this one, but I think it's on her racquet. If she gets in a rut like Serena did, Elena will sail away with the title. But I don't think Dinara will do that. She's a bit too determined, even if she can be scatty at times.

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And I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that Richard Gasquet is going to come away with the title this week in the men's at Sydney. Tsonga is out with injury (man, I hope he's okay for the Open!) and the three remaining out contenders are Djokovic, Nalbandian and Nieminen. I think Gasquet, if he plays the way he has been, can take all three of them, particularly with Djokovic's racquet change and ensuing discomfort. The one to watch will be Nalbandian, but even though he beat Hewitt, I wasn't especially impressed with his play... so I'm backing Richou. Even though he fell out of favour last year what with his tanties and his headcaseness, it would be nice to see him climb back up the rankings some... strange to think, isn't it, that he usedto be France's #1? Tsonga and Simon both catapulted past him last year, and everyone pretty much forgot about Richou. Maybe he's not ready to be forgotten just yet...

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Today's Results

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AAMI Classic (Kooyong)

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Marcos Baghdatis def. Ivan Ljubicic, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4

Roger Federer def. Fernando Verdasco, 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-5)

Marin Cilic def. Carlos Moya, 6-3 7-6 (7-1)

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Medibank International (Sydney)

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Men's Draw

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Novak Djokovic def. Mario Ancic, 6-3 6-4

Jarkko Nieminen def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, walkover

David Nalbandian def. Lleyton Hewitt, 7-6 (7-3) 7-5

Richard Gasquet def. Jeremy Chardy, 6-2 7-6 (7-4)

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Women's Draw

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Elena Dementieva def. Serena Williams, 6-3 6-1

Dinara Safina def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-4 7-6 (7-3)

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Heineken Open (Auckland)

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Juan Martin del Potro def. Viktor Troicki, 6-3 6-2

David Ferrer def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, walkover

Sam Querrey def. Nicolas Almagro, 6-3 6-2

Robin Soderling def. John Isner, 6-4 6-4

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Moorilla Hobart International (Hobart)

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Iveta Benesova def. Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-1 6-3

Petra Kvitova def. Virginie Razzano, 6-4 6-2

Hats Off To Jeremy!

We have one Star who is really shining bright this week, and it's not one I would have picked. Hats off to Jeremy Chardy! He was admitted to the fold pretty much on the strength of his performance in the French Open, but he clearly still has something, because he has beaten some quality players this week. First it was Radek Stepanek, and now it's Igor Andreev. He's in the quarters now - can Jeremy take it further?

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One of Australia's last hopes, Chris Guccione, is out, but it was a bit much to ask him to repeat his performance of last year. Lleyton Hewitt, on the other hand, is playing quite nicely - I very much enjoyed his match against Janko Tipsarevic. Even though he's objectionable when he speaks, I really do like watching him play - maybe it's because his counter-punching style seems to draw points out, and long points are good viewing. Anyway, I like watching him, and I'm sure his quarter final match against David Nalbandian will be entertaining, if nothing else.

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I very much liked the look of Caroline Wozniacki yesterday, even though she did go down to HMAS Serena. She played beautifully - especially in the first set. She's one to keep an eye on for sure - her and Dominika Cibulkova! The Dinara Safina freight train rolled on as well, steamrolling Alize Cornet for the second time in two weeks. It'd be interesting to see who came up trumps in a match between her and Serena - no quarter would be asked, and no quarter given.

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Meanwhile, another one of my favourite tournaments has begun - the AAMI Classic in Kooyong. Marcos Baghdatis was not looking good at all in his match against Stan Wawrinka, who was - how sweet is his backhand? Nando Verdasco also looked good beating my Star Marin Cilic, but the real class act was, of course, Roger Federer. He was just cruising around, looking supreme, making shots, pulling shapes, being the ultimate front man, anything you can ask. He looked so casual and yet his tennis was so beautiful... I think (and hope!) that he's been playing the B or C game all these weeks and will bring the real stuff at the Open. Especially as I might get to see him play live!

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Today's Results

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AAMI Classic (Kooyong)

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Stanislas Wawrinka def. Marcos Baghdatis, 6-2 6-2
Roger Federer def. Carlos Moya, 6-2 6-3
Fernando Verdasco def. Marin Cilic, 6-2 7-5
Fernando Gonzalez def. Ivan Ljubicic, 6-4 6-3

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Medibank International (Sydney)

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Men's Draw

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Novak Djokovic def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-1 6-2

Richard Gasquet def. Gilles Simon, 6-4 6-4

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Simone Bolelli, 6-4 6-1

David Nalbandian def. Michael Llodra, 6-1 6-3

Jeremy Chardy def. Igor Andreev, 6-4 4-6 6-4

Mario Ancic def. Tommy Robredo, 6-2 6-1

Lleyton Hewitt def. Janko Tipsarevic, 7-5 6-4

Jarkko Nieminen def. Chris Guccione, 7-6 (10-8) 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Serena Williams def. Caroline Wozniacki, 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-3)

Dinara Safina def. Alizé Cornet, 6-3 6-4

Elena Dementieva def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-2 5-7 6-4

Ai Sugiyama def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, walkover

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Moorilla Hobart International (Hobart)

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Iveta Benesova def. Gisela Dulko, 6-4 6-4

Petra Kvitova def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 1-6 7-5 6-3

Magdalena Rybarikova def. Melinda Czink, 6-0 1-6 7-6 (9-7)

Virginie Razzano def. Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-4 6-1

Conversations on Kooyong

The field for Kooyong has just been announced, and it's not quite as star-studded as in the past: Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Fernando Gonzalez, Marin Cilic, Marat Safin, Carlos Moya, Fernando Verdasco and Marcos Baghdatis. Fun, but where's some of the big names of the past?

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Ernests Gulbis had to pull out after accidentally scheduling to play Auckland at the same time - how he managed that I am not quite sure. He was replaced by Nando... but I think the organisers are more excited about the prospects of Ana Ivanovic in the stands than anything else.

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I like the matches, and I like that R-Fed will get challenged... but not too much. But this event has pulled some huge names in the past. Where's Rafa and Djokovic? This is such a cool event - where is everyone this year?

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Actually, where's Andy Roddick? He traditionally plays this event - where is he?

Russian Roulette

I don't think there is a woman in the world who doesn't have a bit of a soft spot for Marat Safin.

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Understandably.

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I love watching Marat play, but going for him is certainly a gamble. When Marat is on, then he's on. Marat, at his best, can give Roger Federer a run for his money. They've certainly had some classic matches in the past - the Australian Open final in 2004 and the semi-final in 2005 both come to mind. But Marat when he's off... can be almost painful. Maybe because it's so painful for him. Yesterday's match against Andy Roddick at Kooyong was an example of that. Marat did not play well. And you could tell he knew it.

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I don't think I would like to meet Marat after a match like that. He was in a foul mood on the court, and I can't imagine he'd be very pleasant to be around afterwards.

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That's the difference, I think, between Marat and his Russian compatriot Dmitry Tursunov. Dmitry, like Marat, is a hot/cold player. Cheering for Dmitry is a roll of the dice, and you're never quite sure what you're going to get. But Dmitry doesn't seem to get quite so annoyed at himself about it.

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I would love to see Safin and Tursunov play doubles. They have in the past - Davis Cup for Russia comes to mind. They also played at Estoril in 2006, when Dmitry wrote his now-famous blog, much of which was devoted to paying out Marat, especially because they had to pull out in the semi-final because Marat rolled his ankle walking down the hill to get a haircut. I can imagine that their singles careers get in the way of playing doubles, but if they started training together permanently, I think they could take out the Bryans.

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(I'd certainly like to think they could take out the Bryans!)

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Unlike Marat, Dmitry is ON at the moment. He's into the semis at Sydney, where he'll play Fabrice Santoro, and I'm pretty sure he can win. I certainly hope he wins, because I've got tickets to the men's final tomorrow night, and I wouldn't miss that one for anything! The four semi-finalists are actually pretty weird - not who you would have picked. Chris Guccione plays Radek Stepanek and Tursunov plays Santoro. None of them are seeded. When you consider that the four top seeds were Gasquet, Robredo, Blake and Berdych - none of whom are slouches, and all of whom were taken out by these four players - that's a pretty good effort.

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I'm gunning for a Tursunov/Guccione final, with a Tursunov victory. Not very patriotic, I know, but if you ask me, tennis isn't about nationality. Tennis is about personality - and Dmitry Tursunov sounds like someone I wouldn't mind having a few drinks with!

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Today's Results

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Medibank International (Sydney)

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Men's Draw

Chris Guccione def. Tomas Berdych, 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-4

Radek Stepanek def. Agustin Calleri, 6-2 6-4

Dmitry Tursunov def. Sebastien Grosjean, 6-4 6-2

Fabrice Santoro def. Evgeny Korolev, 6-3 6-3

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Women's Draw

Justine Henin def. Ana Ivanovic, 6-2 2-6 6-4

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Nicole Vaidisova, 7-5 7-6 (7-4)

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AAMI Classic (Kooyong)

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Andy Murray def. Ivan Ljubicic, 6-7 (7-9) 6-4 6-2

Andy Roddick def. Marat Safin, 6-3 6-3

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Heineken Open (Auckland)

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Julien Benneteau def. David Ferrer, 6-4 6-0

Juan Monaco def. Michael Llodra, 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-5)

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Nicolas Massu, 4-6 6-3 6-4

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Florian Mayer, 6-3 6-4

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Moorilla Hobart International (Hobart)

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Vera Zvonareva def. Ashley Harkleroad, 6-2 6-1

Eleni Daniilidou def. Flavia Pennetta, 6-4 6-3