O-Kei

So here is a truth-fact I did not know - Ernests Gulbis reached his first ATP level semi final at St Petersburg in 2006, and, while 2008 can legitimately be considered his breakout year, what with his run to the quarters of Roland Garros, he did not reach another semi until last week.

Last week.

And where is he this week? Why, monsieur, that would be - wait for it - the semis.

Now there is something to make we few lonely passengers on the Ernie bandwagon very excited indeed. Semis in back-to-back weeks? That is a solid result for just about anyone, but for Ernie, with his struggle to string two matches together last year, this is not just solid, but solid gold. Now if only he can take that one step further...

I would love for Ernie to win the title. I really would. But I think I would be satisfied with a run to the final. If he makes the final, he'll play either Ivo Karlovic or Mardy Fish, who are neither of them slouches, though I believe Ernie is capable of beating them both. But if he could just go that one step further, make that final...

Not that the semis isn't already a very satisfactory result. It totally is. But I really think Ernie has a great shot at beating Jarkko Nieminen, who really hasn't been that impressive for a long time now. Ernie was really quite impressive in his victory over Leonardo Mayer... and I can't help but remember how Kei Nishikori won this tournament out of nowhere a few years back.

Please let Ernie be this year's Kei, okay? O-Kei! Fear my punnage.

Hey, Leonardo

Not much to report today, other than a) I still don't understand what the hell this Bali tournament is supposed to be and b) everything is continuing apace nicely in Valencia and Basel. The big guys are winning, no one's getting scared, and all things are quiet and peaceful.

Well, I suppose that's not strictly true. Leonardo Mayer gave Andy Murray a bit of a run for his money, extending Mr Newly-beAdidased to three sets. Mayer is another one of this players who seemed to pop out from nowhere and then suddenly you'd see them in every tournament. I can't quite put my finger on when it happened - about six months ago, maybe - but I swear I'd never heard of him before and then he was playing every week. Just like Horacio Zeballos, as discussed yesterday.

They are both Argentinian. Perhaps the Argentines have some super secret tennis program wherein they can just suddenly launch people into the bigtime with no prior warning? If Mayer and Zeballos worked their way up from satellite tournaments, their transition between tours was certainly not gradual. Just bam! ATP! every week. Bizarre. Probably explicable, but then what would I have to talk about?

The other Big Dude who was out on the court today was Djokovic, and he didn't get anything like the scare Murray had... ain't nothing scary about a double bagel drumming (unless, of course, you are the one being bagelled). I don't know whether Jan Hernych, the bagelee, was injured or just played sucktastically, but that's a two-hoof beatdown if ever I saw one... which was certainly not the trend in Basel today, where a couple of guys saved match points before progressing to the next round. Mighty Marin Cilic very nearly succumbed to the Serbian wiles of Viktor Troicki, while Richard Gasquet just managed to edge out John Isner. I think the Swiss public have got their money's worth on this tournament - must be an exciting tournament to watch! And they've still got Stan Wawrinka, Marco Chiudinelli, and, oh yeah, that Roger bloke left in the tournament, so hopp Suisse!

Today's Results

Valencia Open 500 (Valencia)

Andy Murray def. Leonardo Mayer, 6-4 3-6 6-3
Nikolay Davydenko def. Juan Monaco, 6-3 7-5
Fernando Verdasco def. Janko Tipsarevic, 6-3 6-3
Tommy Robredo def. Feliciano Lopez, 4-6 6-3 6-4
Albert Montanes def. David Ferrer, walkover
Mikhail Youzhny def. Pablo Cuevas, 6-2 2-6 6-1


Davidoff Swiss Indoors Basel (Basel)

Novak Djokovic def. Jan Hernych, 6-0 6-0
Marin Cilic def. Viktor Troicki, 7-6 (9-7) 6-7 (8-10) 7-6 (8-6)
Stanislas Wawrinka def. Jarkko Nieminen, 7-5 2-6 601
Richard Gasquet def. John Isner, 4-6 7-6 (11-9) 6-2
Evgeny Korolev def. Jeremy Chardy, 6-4 7-6 (7-1)
Marco Chiudinelli def. Michael Lammer, 2-6 6-3 6-3


Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions (Bali)

Shahar Peer def. Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-1 7-6 (7-4)
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Agnes Szavay, 4-6 6-4 6-0
Kimiko Date Krumm def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-4 6-3
Aravane Rezai def. Melinda Czink, 6-3 7-5

No Name Alert

Ha ha ha, I bet the organisers of Dubai are absolutely wringing their hands with despair. Not only is Andy Murray, one of their last great drawcards, out of the tournament, he's out with a walkover - so he didn't even play. Another great player promised, another not delivered. That's four huge names now out - Federer, Nadal, Murray and Roddick.

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So can Djokovic carry the profile of the tournament? He's a pretty big name, but when you consider that we've had a Federer/Nadal final (aka. the ultimate final) in this tournament before and should have been on that track again this year, I'll bet the organisers are weeping silently into their dinner plates.

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At least the other three guys left - Ferrer, Simon and Gasquet - are not total no names. If you had total randoms there, I'd bet there'd be a lot more weeping.

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Speaking of no names, who is this Daniel Koellerer? And Leonardo Mayer? I've vaguely heard the names before, but I definitely couldn't put faces to them or tell you anything at all about them, but now they're both in the quarter-finals at Acapulco. I (probably unlike the organisers of Dubai) like a good no name here and there, so I'll keep a bit of an eye on them. I'm always looking for new inductees into my Stars fold - and Lord knows I need one this week. As far as I can tell, the last Star standing is Jeremy Chardy... and I'm going to stop right here, before I repeat every single thing I said about Ernests Gulbis yesterday.

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Oh, actually, I lied. One more thing. Very nice to see Agnes Szavay doing well in Acapulco. I had her earmarked for success a while back, and then she seemed to disappear - she's in this tournament as a lucky loser, case in point. I'd like to see her realise her potential - and prove me right.

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Today's Results

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Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships (Dubai)

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Novak Djokovic def. Marin Cilic, 6-3 6-4

Richard Gasquet def. Andy Murray, walkover

Gilles Simon def. Fabrice Santoro, 7-6 (7-3) 6-1

David Ferrer def. Igor Andreev, 7-5 6-1

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Abierto Mexicano Telcel (Acapulco)

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Men's Draw

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Gael Monfils def. Thomaz Bellucci, 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (5-7) 6-1

Tommy Robredo def. Kevin Kim, 6-2 6-0

Nicolas Almagro def. Potito Starace, 7-6 (7-1) 6-7 (5-7) 6-3

Jose Acasuso def. Juan Ignacio Chela, 7-5 6-3

Daniel Gimeno-Traver def. Albert Montanes, 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-5)

Martin Vassallo Arguello def. Marcel Granollers, 6-4 6-3

Leonardo Mayer def. Carlos Moya, 6-4 7-5

Daniel Koellerer def. Alberto Martin, 6-4 5-7 7-6 (7-4)

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Women's Draw

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Venus Williams def. Greta Arn, 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-4

Flavia Pennetta def. Pauline Parmentier, 6-1 6-3

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova def. Carla Suárez Navarro, 6-4 7-5

Iveta Benesova def. Klara Zakopalova, 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-3)

Maret Ani def. Gisela Dulko, 7-6 (8-6) 6-3

Petra Cetkovska def. María José Martínez Sánchez, 3-6 6-4 6-1

Agnes Szavay def. Roberta Vinci, 7-6 (7-1) 6-4

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Delray Beach International Tennis Championships (Delray Beach)

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Mardy Fish def. Vince Spadea, 6-4 6-1