Isnut: The Rematch

Well, we needed to have a dooozy of a match, and Mladenovic and Mattek-Sands certainly gave us that. Sure, Mladenovic faded and faded badly towards the end, but this was a match and a half. Is there any better type of tennis than pure aggression meeting pure aggression?

Anyway, I didn't see all of this match, so I don't want to go into it in detail, but this was a quality win for Mattek-Sands. And I also want to see more of Mladenovic in the future. She's a bit cool.

But the real story of the day was always going to be John Isner and Nicolas Mahut: redux.

It was always going to be Isner's match. If these two play off grass, being Mahut's favourite surface, then it is always going to be Isner's match, unless Isner has somehow been handicapped. But that did not mean it was not a little special to see this match - to see the power and wingspan of Isner go head to head with the Gallic flair of Mahut. And with all that history between them... how could that not be special?

I am glad to see these two are such good friends, because honestly, I would not be surprised if they were so totally sick of each other they just wanted to punch themselves whenever someone asked them about that match. In a year where Rafa Nadal achieved a career Slam and essentially made the sport of tennis his bitch, this match still managed to be one of the biggest (if not the biggest) tennis story of the year... and if I were Isner and Mahut, I would want to be over it already. Particularly if I were Isner, with designs on the top ten and second week runs at Slams. I would not want my greatest achievement to be a first round Wimbledon match. Both Isner and Mahut are more than that match.

But that does not mean it is not a bit special to see these two men, who are inexorably linked, play. Even if we are never going to see 70-68 again. And thank you, Hopman Cup, for getting THE REMATCH over and done with in a relatively safe environment, outside the pressure cooker of the tour (or worse, the Slams)!

In Which I Once Again Feel Sorry For Nicolas Mahut

More on wildcards, as I have nothing else to talk about (thank you, Roger and Rafa, for your charity matches. I can see material for the next two days lined up already!)

So the French wildcards have been announced, and they are Virginie Razzano and Benoit Paire.

I have absolutely no idea who Benoit Paire is, but Razzano is a familiar enough name to all of us - and seriously, wasn't she in the top thirty like yesterday? I was totally shocked to see her name on the wildcard list, because honestly, how has she not made the cut? Now that I think about it, of course, I cannot think of a single thing she's done in 2010 - has she been injured or just out of form? - but it still is a shock to me that she's not inside that magic number.

As she is obviously outside the main draw cut, I think she is an excellent choice for a wildcard. Though I bet Kristina Mladenovic is pretty bummed. Oh well.

Now. Benoit Paire. Who are you? A quick Google reveals to me that he is 21 years old and ranked #150 odd. It also reveals to me that Nicolas Mahut is ranked about twenty places above him, which means he likewise cannot qualify for the main draw without a wildcard (or playing qualies).

SERIOUSLY, WHAT DOES NICO HAVE TO DO TO CATCH A FREAKING BREAK AROUND HERE?!?!?!?!?!

That is all.

Advent

Hola, my reader friends! As you know, December is a bit of a quiet month in the tennis world - but the December Showdown starts today, and our coverage of it will start tomorrow. Well, when I say 'coverage', I mean, 'me talking about matches I didn't actually see', but I'm sure we can make something out of that.

So yes. This is going to be a short one today, due to lack of content.

But a few quick words on the Hopman Cup - a few months ago, they had such a sweet line up, and now they're dropping like flies. First we lost Serena, who's been replaced by Bethanie Mattek-Sands; then Steve Darcis, who has been replaced by Ruben Bemelmans (he who played Lleyton pretty tight in Davis Cup); and now Gael Monfils has got all injured.

I heartily approve of his replacement, though. Nicolas Mahut and Kristina Mladenovic might not stand a great chance of taking the trophy, but any man who can play a 70-68 fifth set is all right by me. I wonder if Nico has a hair gel endorsement yet...

Hurrah for the Hopman Cup!

As regular readers of this blog will be aware, I embarked on an epic tennis adventure around the nation last year, stopping in at four cities. One of these was Perth, where I paid my first ever visit to Western Australia and the Hopman Cup.

Now, even though I had an absolute blast last year, I was tossing up whether to go to Perth again this year, because when you live in a country as big as Australia, flights clear across the country are expensive. It's like a punch directly to the wallet. But with the announcement of some of the teams, I think my decision's been made for me. I couldn't not go.

John Isner and Serena Williams are the American entry, and they have to be the top seeds for sure. Big Is played there last year (opposite tiny Melanie Oudin) and I think Perth will be very glad to see him back! And Serena, well… pulling a #1 player is a huge coup for an exhibition tournament like Hopman Cup! I'm assuming they pay appearance fees and that their bucket of money is very deep indeed, because they've also got Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic. (I know Ana's ranking is not that high, but I still think she could demand big time fees!)

Oh, and Justine Henin, partnered with Steve Darcis. Minor coup. Pfft.

And then there's the French team! Gael Monfils is going to be very entertaining, and I'm really looking forward to seeing his partner, Kristina Mladenovic, one of the top juniors in the world. And Lleyton Hewitt is back (again), with a yet to be decided partner.

It would be pretty hard to dream up an exho field better than this! This has the two finalists from this year's AO and I for one am gagging to see them play. Perth 2011, here I come!