The Balding God Is Made Man; or, Some Pun About Fish

So. This Mardy Fish thing. It's a big deal why?

Maybe I just don't understand the significance of being the top player for your country. As long as I can remember, the top Australian guy has been Lleyton Hewitt, and that has not changed. Actually, I lie - the top guy might always have been Lleyton Hewitt, but I've seen a number of top ladies, including Molik, Stosur, Dellacqua and Dokic. And I just do not get why it is such a big deal that he is now ranked higher than Andy Roddick.

Seriously, do Fish and Roddick themselves care? Did Roddick text Fish and be all 'dude, you are now officially better than me, that is a thing?' Did that mean for all these years the American dudes were worshipping at the altar of Roddick like he was some sort of balding god? Why, why is it a thing that Fish and Roddick have done a swapsie in internal rankings? It's not a big deal that Fish is now ranked higher than... oh, I don't know, Monfils. Why does it matter so much more when it's Roddick?

And this isn't even the first time this has happened to A-Rod - he went through exactly the same thing with James Blake a few years back. And no one remembers that now. So I doubt anyone is going to remember this.

I don't want to belittle what Fish has done in this tournament, because he has done some great things. Beating David 'Lord Farquaad' Ferrer is not a thing of easiness. Neither is beating, oh, I don't know, Juan Martin del freaking Potro. But no one is paying attention to what he's actually done - not any more. No, it's all about some random permutation of a computer algorithm.

So. Internal rankings. Why do they matter? Should they matter? Because I, personally, think they are a bit rubbish. Discuss.

Sleepless in Melbourne

Sleepless is the best way to put it. It's 1:30am as I write this, back in my hotel room, after just having returned from the exhilarating Nalbandian/Hewitt five set match. I've been at Melbourne Park since 10 in the morning. That's a very long day of tennis - and I'm going to do it all again tomorrow!

I started my day with a leisurely wander around the practice courts (harder than it might sound, as there are eight, four on each side of the site, and it takes about ten minutes to bash your way through Grand Slam Oval to get there) before settling down for a bit to watch Kai-Chen Chang and Bojana Jovanovski. Yes, I went to a WTA match. I upheld my word. I caught the first set, which Chang totally let slip out of her grasp after being a break up. But Jovanovski... well, she is one to watch.

I then intended to catch some of Youzhny and Ilhan, but it was crazy full there with shouting Turkish fans, so I opted for the slightly tamer (in crowd size, not in tennis) Kavcic/Anderson, where I saw Anderson take the first set. I then thought he was destined to win the thing, but I was wrong. Oh, how I was wrong. As I will elaborate later.

It was back to the back courts after that - yes, I was trying to stalk players in their practice sessions; no, it didn't entirely work - where I caught about a set and a half of the all Brazilian battle between Thomaz Bellucci and Ricardo Mello. This might have been my favourite back court match of the day, because this match had it all - extreme tension and big hitting and some real flair that you don't often see outside of the Frenchies. Bellucci was on top when I was watching, but looking at the score, Mello came back and took a couple of sets before Bellucci closed it out. I'm not surprised. He was playing very well. These are seriously two very watchable players.

...but I stopped watching them after a bit, because, you know, trying to catch some matches and practices and suchlike. I caught a bit of Schwank and Mayer, but the all-Argentinian battle didn't have anything on the all-Brazilian one, so off did I take myself, intending to go and see Falla/Lopez, but ending up...

...back at Kavcic/Anderson, where ALL HAD CHANGED. Seriously, Blaz Kavcic. Watch out for this guy. He has tons of game - like, tons. I understand why he was #1 seeded qualifier! He has mad skillz. Anderson serves out of a tree - as seen in the first set - but by the fourth set, which was what I saw, by which time Kavcic was up two sets to one, Kavcic had almost totally neutralised it. He worked it out, and he played an outstanding fourth set tie breaker after coming back from a break down. He is going to be awesome soon.

Then away! for Federer was practicing. Not much to say here, except that I nearly got crushed in a Federiot. Seriously, it was crazy. People who want autographs are deadly.

I tried all day to find Mahut practicing, but it didn't work, so I gave it up after a while and decided just to watch some bits of matches instead... except for one small thing. Every match I walked into seemed to immediately end. I caught the last couple of games of Isner's match, the same with Gilles Muller's... then I caught a whole set of Alisa Kleybanova's, which would have been awesome if the set hadn't been 6-0. I betook myself round to Clement/Seppi after that, which was only just starting, but lo! no sooner had I done that than it was time to head into Rod Laver Arena.

There's not much to say about the Safina/Clijsters match. Kim played great. Dinara really didn't. It was a bit embarrassing. (Though considering what was coming next I'm glad it was short, or I'd still be there!) I will say this, though - while Safina's ball toss is still ridiculously high, it is not as high. Nor as wonky. Progress has been made. Though Clijsters is clearly not the one to try it out on!

And then... the match.

Hewitt and Nalbandian were always going to go five sets. Everyone knew this. It was always going to be an epic. It had the potentially to be Isnutically long, though thankfully it wasn't. But what I wasn't expecting was the real, incredible quality of this match. Seriously, it was OUTSTANDING.

This wasn't a good draw for either guy in the first round. Hewitt deserved better than this, with the way he was playing - put him against another one of the players seeded in the 20-odds and I think the result might have been different. But I suppose there's always going to be that history between Nalbandian and Hewitt, that old tension, and I really think that is what pushed Nalbandian over the line in the end - the desire not to lose to someone he doesn't like.

But their history aside, this match was outstanding. It was literally impossible to pick the winner - Hewitt had two match points on which he did not capitalise - and it see-sawed dramatically. The crowd were behind Hewitt, of course, but it didn't seem to bother Bandy at all - if anything, he fed on it. The length of the rallies was astounding and the shotmaking, well...

...suffice to say it totally made up for the not-so-good night session the night before!

Win of the day: Nalbandian. That had to be sweet. Though I'd like to put my hand up for Bellucci as well.
Loss of the day: Ivanovic. Didn't see it, but this is not a good thing to happen for Miss Muffet.
Players in dangerous form: Both Nalbandian and Hewitt, not that Hewitt will get a chance to show it. Also Nadal.
Players to watch in the future: Kavcic. Bellucci. Mello. Jovanovski.
Things for Jodi to do tomorrow: Watch more WTA instead of just a token match. And also FIND MAHUT PRACTICING.

Rally For Relief

It wasn't quite Hit For Haiti. I don't know if anything could match the glorious spontaneity of that Sunday afternoon last year. But Rally For Relief this afternoon was big fun, and the cause was extremely important. (If you haven't already, please donate - you can do so here.)

It was only a short event but it felt longer - probably because of the masses of time we spent queueing and then sitting in the arena, waiting for the players to come on. (Though there was a Federer practice session going on, so who was complaining? NOT ME.) There were a lot more players than last year - the event opened with ten players walking on.

The Gold Team: Novak Djokovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Ana Ivanovic, Justine Henin, Lleyton Hewitt (c)
The Green Team: Andy Roddick, Andy Murray, Vera Zvonareva, Victoria Azarenka, Pat Rafter (c)

All ten of the players were micced up, and they were hilarious. I can't really convey the humour of events like these in words - perhaps you can try and YouTube it, if you weren't lucky enough to be there! - but it was in great spirit, great fun, and was great tennis. Honorable mentions have to go to Andy Roddick for taking on linesman duties and Novak Djokovic for both conducting a rally while sitting down and getting into the press pit. Dishonorable mention goes to Andy Murray for substituting grunting for humour and Lleyton Hewitt for trying to bring his son Cruz onto court (Cruz promptly burst into tears!) even if it was epically cute!

And then this lot went off and four more came on for a match of doubles - Rafael Nadal and Kim Clijsters against Roger Federer and Sam Stosur. These four weren't micced and I feel like this was a bit of a failing - all four of them were micced up last year and were good value for money (though Stosur was a bit quiet). However, you have nothing to complain about when you have seen... drumroll... FEDAL DOUBLES.

Yes, it's true. Yes, it happened. The players pretty soon switched sides and we had girls against boys. I'm sure I'm not the only tennis fan who thinks it would be legendary for these two to play some matches together, and this may be the closest we ever get to it! And they're not a bad team, either... even though they were holding back a bit... but not so much that the girls didn't beat them fair and square!

All in all, I cannot overstate the value of events like these, both for tennis and the wider community. This kind of exhbition allows the players to cut loose and put their personalities on show - something we don't see enough of - which really does attract new fans to the sport. And much more importantly, it was a major contribution to alleviating the crisis currently felt in Queensland. Over $1.5 million was raised by Rally For Relief, and that total is still rising. Please donate - support tennis and support Australia.

(Sidebar: Nicolas Mahut plays Brian Dabul third match up on Court 14 tomorrow. I will be there. Anyone else?)

Roger, Rafa and Friends Rally For Relief

If there is one thing I think I have really learned in the past week, it is the capacity of the tennis community to pull together. I saw it on Twitter this week, when one little late night hashtag turned into a Twitter love fest for Nicolas Mahut. (#wildcardformahut is now #supportmahut, in case anyone missed it!)

And now, on a much larger and more important scale, we have the Federer-originated Rally For Relief.

We saw Hit For Haiti last year. We saw how the tennis stars of the world, as well as the tennis fans, pulled together to raise a huge amount of money to go towards the Haiti earthquakes. This year, the need is much closer for the host country.

In case anyone has been living under a rock and missed it, there have been massive and incredibly destructive floods in Queensland. An inland tsunami has swamped Toowomba, rivers have peaked at depths of 22 metres in some area, large parts of Brisbane are underwater and sharks have been seen in what were once streets in Ipswich. The death toll is rising and a large number of people are still unaccounted for. The area underwater is equivalent to more than six of the United Kingdom. It is huge and destructive. There are no proper words to describe it.

But there are ways to help, and the tennis community, as it did with the Haitian tragedy last year, has pulled together to do it. Roger Federer, as he did last year, has organised a charity exhibition to be played on Rod Laver Arena at 2pm on Sunday afternoon. Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Lleyton Hewitt, Kim Clijsters, Samantha Stosur and Pat Rafter - whose arena in Brisbane is now underwater - will all be playing. Like Hit for Haiti last year, it should be a whole pile of fun for a very serious cause. And the tennis community will rise to this challenge.

So, if you are in Melbourne, get along to the Rally for Relief! I will be there along with a whole bunch of other tennis folk, including Dootsiez from All I Need Is A Picket Fence, and hopefully the whole arena will be sold out. Tickets are $20 a head - a small contribution you can make to the flood appeal (and getting a whole lot of awesome tennis into the bargain!)

You can buy tickets here. And if you can, PLEASE donate to the Queensland Flood Appeal, which you can do here.

Second Year Blues

Oh, glorious nation of Kazakhstan, you are making me a bit sad. After your awesomeness last year, you have had some second year blues.

First, we lost Shvedova. She is injured, which maketh me sad, and I hope she gets well soon, because I like her style. She's been replaced by Sesil Karantcheva, who had about four seconds to get acclimatised, and who had to play Justine Henin the second she got off the plane. Unsurprisingly, she lost in straight sets - though she did make a good show of it.

And then Andrey Golubev - my beloved Andrey Golubev! - went and lost to Ruben Bemelmans.

Now, I am very fond of Bemelmans. I wrote a post a few days ago which was all about how much I love him. But Andrey! my Andrey! whom I have adored for this one year past! This was not a good result for him.

This was the match in his group that you would expect him to win. I expected him to put up a good fight against Djokovic, but to lose eventually. I think he has a solid chance against Hewitt. But I expected him to beat Bemelmans. I expected him to do that.

Now, this is a great result for Bemelmans, who is definitely going into my stable of future stars, and on that count, I am very pleased that he just claimed a top thirty scalp when he is ranked so much lower. But did it have to be my beloved Andrey?

Oh yeah, and Serbia totally hammered Australia. The Hewitt/Djokovic match was a lot more competitive than I thought it would be, but it was still straight sets. But it was eminently watchable. Molik/Ivanovic...? not so much.

A Love Song To Young Ruben Bemelmans

I'm back! And there's tennis! And it's exciting! Time for exclamation marks!

I could talk about Abu Dhabi, but I didn't actually see it, so well done Rafa, well done Roger, keep it up. Here endeth my Abu Dhabi coverage.

But it's Hopman Cup time, and we are opening the year today with a fresh new star. This is my love song to young Ruben Bemelmans.

I always seem to discover an awesome young star at the Hopman Cup, and this year one has been thrown up in the first day. This year's Andrey Golubev is (well, apart from Golubev himself, who is also in this tournament) is Ruben Bemelmans. Sure, he didn't win his singles match yesterday, and he had a bit of a choke in the mixed doubles, but this boy is quivering with talent.

You heard it here. Ruben Bemelmans is going to grow up AWESOME.

He is hyper aggressive, which means that when he is good he is very very good (and when he is bad he is horrid, but a little experience and discipline should give him some consistency). He goes for the lines and he hits them a reasonable percentage of the time. I really like his volleys. He is a lefty so he gets some crazy angles, and his general game plan is good. All that is letting him down is execution.

He is the type of player who could catch alight and go on an absolute tear, and even though he didn't beat Lleyton today, look for him to give Djokovic a bit of a scare and do the same to Andrey Golubev (even though, as we know, Golubev is pure unadulterated awesome). Keep an eye on him this year. He is going to gain at least a hundred places this year, if not more. And in a couple of years... look for this guy in the top twenty, if not the top ten. He has so much talent he just doesn't know what to do with it.

And another person to keep an eye on, albeit for a different reason - Justine Henin. She seems a little pessimistic about her elbow, and she was a little loose against Molik today, even though she put together a very tidy win, but I was very impressed with her, in the mixed doubles in particular. If that injury doesn't get her too far down, she could put together a massive Aussie Open campaign.

Oh, and even though this is a love song to Belgium, Australia did actually win this tie. Well done. And stuff.

Farewell, Charly

It's been a long time coming... and to tell the truth I thought it had happened already. But it's still a thing.

Carlos Moya has retired. Farewell, Charly.

Ah, Carlos Moya. The love rat of the ATP tour. The Yoda to a once upon a time young Padawan Rafael Nadal. The dude that thought it would be awesome to cheat on Flavia Pennetta (seriously, Carlos?) The dude that was one of the ATP pin ups and who was actually more surprisingly successful than you might think.

One of the first ATP matches I ever remember really watching featured Carlos Moya. It was at the Australian Open in 2001, it went five sets, and Moya beat Hewitt. I didn't know enough about tennis at that stage not to automatically go for the Australian, so I was cheering against Moya, but damn, that was an entertaining match. I will never forget it.

Moya was around so long that I think a lot of us have actually forgotten how incredibly successful he was in the late 90s. He was a multiple Slam finalist and he was also a Slam winner (Roland Garros '98, I do believe) and he was ranked #1 in the world. He was up there with the best of his generation - the Kuertens and Rafters and Agassis and Samprases of the world - and he came off pretty all right, when it all comes down to it.

He obviously continued a lot longer than those guys (maybe Agassi is comparable, but in general). Was this a good idea? I'd say he probably could have gone a little sooner. But let's not forget that it's only been a couple of years since Moya was beating his protege Nadal. And that is no mean feat.

Also, thanks for retiring so I had something to write about today.

Frankie, the Potato, and the Glorious Kazakhs

I could talk about the tennis going on in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok and Beijing and whatnot...

...or I could talk about my favourite tournament of the year, and how awesome it's going to be next year.

That's right. More teams have been announced for the Hopman Cup!

Lleyton Hewitt's partner has been announced - it's Alicia Molik. This isn't exactly awe-inspiring stuff - when Australia managed to pull Stosur last year, that was a bit more of a coup - but Molik is likeable enough, so it should be fun. There's no way Australia's getting to the final, of course, but meh, whatevs. It's all about the exciting international teams anyways.

Speaking of which - Italy! yay! We have Potito 'I have an awesome name that only Jack Sock can rival' Starace paired up with Francesca Schiavone - man, is the women's draw going to be awesome at Hopman '11 or what? We have Serena, Juju, Frankie... pure awesomeness. The Italian team has the possibility of doing what Spain did this year, I think - a relatively underwhelming team on the surface that can totally kill the flashy teams with the big names. I would not be at all surprised to see Frankie and the Potato win the thing. It would be awesome.

But you know who I want to win? Kazakhstan.

That's right - Slava Shvedova and my beloved cutie-patootie Andrey Golubev are back for another year, and some arses are going to be kicked. They very-nearly-almost made the final this year - can they go all the way this time? I wouldn't be ruling them out... as Switzerland can well tell you, you can never count Kazakhstan out...

One Step Short... Again

I would really, really be lying if I didn't say that I was disappointed.

Belgium was an eminently beatable opponent for Australia. But once again, we proved that we just really don't have the depth. Rochus, Darcis and Bemelmans really does not make a worldbeating Davis Cup team - nowhere close. But apparently Hewitt, Luczak and Ball... well, that's even worse.

It really highlights the dependency of the Australian team on Lleyton Hewitt, which is incredibly dangerous. Even if he'd been able to play, I don't think he would have had much success - he came so close to losing to Bemelmans that I really didn't see him coming through Rochus. But Luczak should have been able to make things happen. And Ball... well, I think people just expect a lot more of him than he's capable of, to tell the truth. He and Guccione make a great doubles team, but I just don't know if he's ever going to be any more than that.

Australia really can't rely on Lleyton. He's been so good for so long, but come on, the dude's been on his way down for years. We can't manufacture talent out of nowhere, but we need to stop pinning all our hopes on one guy so much - it's not fair to him. This is exactly what is going to happen to Bernard Tomic and Jason Kubler, if they ever make good on their respective immense talents - reliance, to the detriment of the squad. And then we're going to end up like the UK, losing to Lithuania.

I suppose there's nothing really you can do. If you don't have the players, you just don't have the players. And I think the venue decision was as smart as it possibly could have been - the hot, steamy conditions of Cairns should really have benefited the Australians. But it just didn't happen. Story of Davis Cup in Australia for a long time now.

Bloodless Coup

Well, we all know where my heart lies - it's firmly going yay yay YAY at such an awesome showing by Roger Federer over Brian Dabul.

I know Dabul is a nobody. I know Federer's break point conversion rate was crap. But seriously, the signs were nothing but good. And that tweener... swoon.

Okay. Pulling self together now.

It was a mixed day for the Australians - good for the women, with only Ferguson falling, though Stosur looked shaky, but poor for the dudes. Carsten Ball might be through, but that was a big fat fail from Lleyton Hewitt. If you're not going to pull the actual comeback, dude, lose in three. Have mercy. You can't come all the way back and stumble at the last hurdle. It's just not cool.

But back to the good news story. Most rocking player of the day as far as the ladies go has to go to Sally Peers - what an awesome victory! After coming through qualies! I don't know a lot about Peers, but I am 100% impressed - here is hoping she can keep up this standard!

There were no major upsets today, but we have to talk about Robin Soderling. I have never heard of this Andreas Haider-Maurer fellow - what is the go there? I saw none of the match, but it seems to me like he almost did what he did in Australia: play an awesome two sets and then lose in five. Thankfully for him he got it together in the fifth, but that is dangerous for the Yoker. (Though considering the quarter of the draw he is in, if he wants to sit this one out, well...)

Gael Monfils also needed five, but Hewitt was the only male seed to fall today, and we lost no seeds in the ladies - this must be the least bloody opening day in quite some time (especially considering Hewitt was the #32 seed!) I don't expect it to stay that way in the rest of the first round, but the normalcy (especially for the ladies) is almost refreshing.

A word, though, for Dinara Safina. She just could not make anything happen against Hantuchova today. Take the rest of the year off, Dinara. Come back next year. Just chill for a bit. Stop trying so hard.

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!

The C Word

What is this I am eating? Why yes, it is my words, accompanied by a large slice of humble pie. I suppose that will teach me to write off Lleyton Hewitt.

But considering he was on a fifteen match losing streak to Federer, what was I supposed to do?

I think the fans will be more worried about this loss than Federer himself, and that is something which actually worries me a little. I don't want to mention the dread word 'complacency', but I'm beginning to think it might be heading in that direction. Two of his big streaks have just been broken - the semis and then the wins at Halle. I don't think either has worried him too much and I kind of wish they worried him more.

But I cannot be greedy. The dude has sixteen Slams, after all. If that's not going to make you complacent, what is?

Big props to Lleyton Hewitt, though. I had totally written him off and he proved me wrong. I still hesitate to make him a big chance for Wimbledon, but if the draw falls right for him, he could make the semis. Best of five will be, however, harder for him, I think, with his hips. But the results this week show that there is a small degree of openness to this year's Wimbledon which maybe hasn't been there in the past.

Oh, and Querrey beat Fish. I, um, don't really care that much, but good on Sam. We ain't on clay no more.

Measure of Wimbledon

So I might have to eat humble pie re Lleyton Hewitt, given that he is in the final of Halle... but I'm still not very inclined to change my mind. I don't want to do any jinxing by saying this, but I give him exactly no chance to beat Federer, and unless he can play with the big boys on the small stage, he's not going to be able to play with them at the big stage.

Here is hoping I don't have to eat my words tomorrow. I don't think they'd be very tasty.

Meanwhile, with that top heavy field in Queen's, who thought that we'd be seeing a Fish vs Querrey final? I certainly wouldn't have picked it, that's for sure. Though this being said, this could be a real sign of things to come. We've got a very open women's game at the moment - I will be very interested to see what happens with the boys at Wimbledon.

Federer is, of course, solid, but there are big fat question marks over the rest of the fabulous four. Murray and Djokovic are not not NOT in form and I am worried about Rafa's injuries. And Queen's has showed us that it's a while down the list before anyone is making a real showing - Querrey is the seventh seed, Fish unseeded.

So are we going to have a surprise finalist at Wimbledon? Will Queen's be the measure of the tournament?

Step One

So I've been reading a lot of stuff this week from people who think that Lleyton Hewitt is a potential spoiler maker at Wimbledon (and, for that matter, Halle.) I would like to point out that these people are not just the Australian media, who are always suggesting Hewitt could be a spoiler maker (when they're not talking about 'our Sam'.) These are proper grown up tennis peeps.

My response is... um, no.

Don't get me wrong - Hewitt's a good grass court player. It's probably his best surface. But his day is so far over it's not funny, even if he still does win the odd tournament here and there. The reason he's so good on grass is because he's fast. But he is definitely nowhere near as fast as he was.

I could harp on and on about his hip surgery - I mean, come on, he's only just come back from Round 2 on that one. He's had more hip surgery than a retirement home. But it's not just his speed that's affected - well, I suppose it is his speed, but that's not what I'm getting at.

I would contend that the whole reason Hewitt got to #1 back in the day is because he had such a fast first step. He could zip around the court and play that very effective form of counterpunching tennis that he plays because he had a) good reaction time and b) his body backed him on that. Grass court tennis is such a fast game that so much relies on this first step.

And Hewitt doesn't have it any more. And there's not a lot that can make up for that.

You know who does have it? Rafa and Roger. One of the reasons these Fedal boys are so good is because they have this quick first step. If you ask me, this was the question mark that was hanging over Rafa post knee injury - would the first step be fast enough? I think we can all agree that there ain't nothing wrong with what that boy's got going on in that department.

But Lleyton? A Wimbledon contender, just off hip surgery? The first step not the same? Guess again.

Better Than Great Britain

Let's do a tennis feelgood story. Specifically, let's talk about the Australian Davis Cup team. I'm not normally extraordinarily nationalistic when it comes to tennis, but watching the progress of both our national teams this year has made me happy.

Sure, we may only be second tier, but the Australian Davis Cup team has not lost a rubber this year. Sure, we've been facing Chinese Taipei and Japan respectively, who are not exactly known to be tennis powerhouses, but not one single rubber. That seems to me to be pretty impressive. We have had the added advantage of playing at home, but nonetheless. Not one. That's awesome.

And it's not as if we've been a one man show, either. We've had Lleyton Hewitt do some heroics, we've had some from Carsten Ball, Peter Luczak, Bernard Tomic... for the first time in a long time, the Davis Cup team is beginning to attain something that almost looks like depth. And with players like Greg Jones and Nick Lindahl waiting in the wings and players like Jason Kubler and Luke Saville on the rise... the future is looking bright.

Not that I expect the Aussies to win Davis Cup anytime soon or anything. We have a ways to go before we're even in contention - if we get an unfriendly draw, then we'll have zero hopes of being the grown up group next year. But we're edging our way towards something a bit good - and certainly we're doing very respectably.

We're not going the way of Great Britain, that's for sure. Well done, boys, on a fabulous tie over the weekend. And if the world group playoff is in Australia, you can bet I will be there with bells on.

Making The Best Of What You Have

Personality-wise, I am not a fan of Lleyton Hewitt. I pretty much think that, while he has definitely matured over the years, sometimes he should learn to shut up. Actually, a lot of the time he should learn to shut up. He can be so totally... naff is the word that comes to mind, but it's not the right one. I think I might just go with irritating.

But on court? I cannot help but respect the dude.

On court, he has completely outperformed his abilities. Someone with a game like his - counterpunching, no real weapon - should never have reached #1 in the world and stayed there for as long as he did. And he really shouldn't be a contender on the world stage.

Australian commentators are fond of asking whether Lleyton has the chance at another Slam. To that I say, categorically, no. He's an overachiever, and the real talent of a lot of the others in the field has caught up with him. But what he does have is the potential to go deep, to take any draw that is even slightly favourable and run with it. While it would be surprising to see him in a Slam final, it would not be surprising to see him in, say, the quarters. That is the kind of ability and... surprise factor he has.

What I'm trying to say is that I have a whole lot of respect for the on court Lleyton - for the way he never gives up and for the way he does so much with what little (comparatively) he has. Case in point, overcoming the promising young Turkish dude Marsel Ilhan in Barcelona. I'll be interested to see how he does from here...

JI's Last Hurrah

Well, thank God Wayne Odesnik didn't make it to the Houston final, that's all I can say. Good on Sam Querrey for winning that one.

But I feel like he might have expended a little too much righteous energy in that match, because Juan Ignacio Chela is not really someone he should be losing to. Querrey is, what, 37 in the world? And sure, I realise and respect that he is not a dirtballer and Chela is (at least, more so) but Querrey really should be making mincemeat of JI. Because, let's face it, everyone else is.

I was very surprised to see Chela on the winner's podium here, not just because he beat Querrey, but because he beat, well, everyone else. I think everyone's attention has been focused squarely on Odesnik here, so his run to the final - and, indeed, the title - hasn't been the focus of much of anything. But I'd written Chela off as a huge has been. He's done nothing of note for at least two or three years.

But now, a title. Huh.

I think this is a fluke rather than some kind of epic return to form from Chela - I still think he's going to be remembered as that dude that had that spat with Lleyton Hewitt that time moreso than as JI the fantastic player. This is a huge result for him, make no mistake. But whether or not it means anything in the greater scheme of things? I don't think it's anything more than a last hurrah.

A Fairy Tale That Wasn't

Farewell America and hello Europe, farewell purple hardcourts - welcome to the red stuff. It seems like just yesterday we were all worried about these two big hardcourt Masters titles - well, it was yesterday, but whatevs. Today, it is all about the clay.

Suddenly, my friends, we are in the lead up to Roland Garros - where, for the first time ever, Roger Federer will be returning as defending champion. Here we have a very interesting few months of tennis. Oh yes we do.

But today let's forget all that. I want to write a little bit about one particular player - a player that opened his clay account (and, indeed, his account for the year, as far as I can tell) with a loss in Casablanca. (So much for 'hello Europe' - we're actually still in America and in Africa this week. Oops). That player is Robin Haase.

A couple of years back, when Haase played Hewitt in the first round of Wimbledon and played him so, so tight (five sets) I seriously thought this Dutch kid was the real deal. He was about twenty at the time, I think, and he played tennis pretty damn spectacularly. He was to me about two, three years back what Ernests Gulbis is now - one of the faces of the future of tennis.

And then he pretty much fell off the face of the planet. And I have no idea what happened to him.

This is the case sometimes, I suppose - when a player with so much promise and talent just never makes it happen. We always hear about the ones that do - I mean, Roger Federer, hello - but there are so, so many that don't. Just take a tour through the winners of junior Slams. For every Federer, even every Monfils, you have a Todd Reid. Who is that? Good question. I only know because he's Australian - he won junior Wimbledon and then did nothing else of note ever, as far as I can tell.

Robin Haase is, I am sad to say, might just be a Todd Reid. He didn't lose badly today - he went down in straights in breakers to Marcel Granollers - but even just playing a match on the tour level is a big thing for him now. I thought he'd have a huge stack of titles by now.

For every fairy tale, there is the one that didn't quite happen. And Robin Haase is one of those stories.

Has The Real Andy Murray Finally Stood Up?

I am going to come out right now and say it - Marin Cilic will win a major one day.

I don't think it will be this week, as he is now two sets and a double break down to Andy Murray. But had he not played three five set matches this week, and had Murray not managed a shot (which gave him a break) which can only be called miraculous, I think we might have seen a match more in the mode of the US Open, where Cilic blasted Murray off the courts in straights. Because this kid is seriously good.

Serve? Sweet - even though the deep backbend he gets makes him look like he's in The Matrix. Forehand? Pretty damn excellent. Backhand? He can hit some great winners off it. Volleys? More than capable. Wingspan? Huge. Temperament? Calm. Mind? Bob Brett is his coach, so you want to bet that he's a thinking player.

Cilic came out and absolutely dominated Murray for a set and a bit - and had not Murray pulled off that over-the-shoulder pass, he could have easily been up two sets to love, I think. He did this by aggressive play, forcing Murray to play his game and also understanding the Murray game very well (cutting off the cross court pass, for example). But three five setters is going to take it out of anyone, and about halfway through the third set, Cilic hit the wall. Had Tomic and delPo and A-Rod not taken him the distance, this would have been a really different match.

I realise I'm making it sound like this match was on Cilic's racquet - and you know what? I think it largely was. He's got bigger weapons than Murray, when it all comes down to it. And in the long run, I think he's going to get the better of their head to head. And although Murray certainly lifted - he won (or, to be fair, is about to win) this match, Cilic didn't tank it - I think there have been some interesting questions raised.

Especially this one from Jim Courier - what is Andy Murray's A Game? What kind of tennis does he like to play?

Murray is an amorphous player, becoming whatever is necessary to defeat his opponent. He doesn't have one game that he tries to impose on his opponents at all costs, like someone like Rafa does. He doesn't necessarily play tennis in his own terms all that often because no one really knows what Murray's terms are. And I don't know if Murray really knows either.

He just won, by the way - he hit a round the netpost winner in his last service game which was totally stupid. And maybe this is what Andy loves - stupid winners. It is certainly what fired him up tonight. His extreme aggression against Nadal was what won him that match, even though Rafa's knees gave out at the end of the second set. And yet we often see him playing counterpunching tennis that is Hewittesque. The thing is, Hewitt wasn't capable of too much more than counterpunching, excellent as he was (is) at it. Murray is clearly capable of so much more, and he doesn't often go for it.

Perhaps this is the next stage in the evolution of Andy Murray - when instead of being reactive, although he's been excellent at it, he becomes active. What we have seen in this tournament is the beginnings of Murray really dictating the way he likes to play tennis - and it's working for him. And when he stands up on Sunday - he is in with a good chance. Even if he stands up against my beloved Federer.

Oh, and we're getting Serena and Justine in the women's final - I can't believe I nearly forgot! (Though to be fair, if you blinked, it wouldn't have been hard to miss JuJu's match...) Now that should be a barnburner...

Reverse Psychology

Channel 7 have this thing every year where they try to convince the world that Lleyton Hewitt is going to win the Australian Open, despite huge amounts of evidence to the contrary. This year was no different, but they managed to do it via the most ridiculous 'inspirational' montage I have ever seen.

'Roger will beat Lleyton.'

'Lleyton might get a set if Roger gets so bored he falls asleep.'

'Lleyton has no chance.'

'Roger will smash Lleyton like a guitar'.

(Words mine, but message = everyone they interviewed, from Jim Courier to Brad Gilbert to Darren Cahill to Roger Rasheed).

And this was supposed to be a pro-Lleyton inspiration montage. Perhaps reverse psychology was involved? Or something?

Anyway, no matter what was involved, the predictions of Everyone Who Means Anything came true and Federer's victory over Hewitt was total. There is nothing that Hewitt can do that really troubles Federer - he doesn't have the arsenal. His speed used to be his biggest weapon but he's a good half step short of where he used to be.

And then there is that whole thing where Federer has now beat him fifteen times in a row. There's some psychology for you, Channel 7.

Hardly any of the other men's quarters were quite so simplistic, however. Roger will now face his recent bugabear Nikolay Davydenko... though he will be very glad to see that Kolya went five sets when he really shouldn't have. Jo Tsonga also played a completely unnecessary five sets. Both Kolya and Jo were up two sets to love before Verdasco and Almagro, their respective opponents came back strong.

It's the first time I've ever seen Kolya spray so much, and I think it might have something to do with his mental strength rather than his game. This is his first experience of being talked about as a serious chance and I don't think he likes it much. It will be interesting to see how that plays out in his match against Federer - I think he will either be incredibly strong, because of his previous two victories, or incredibly weak, because to a degree, there is expectation that he will pull off the upset.

Intriguing.

I felt a bit sorry for Nando getting knocked out... but then I realised that he hit over twenty double faults and nipped that in the bud at once. Almagro really had no right to take Jo so deep so he can justifiably be proud - that was a great achievement from the little claycourt dude.

In the women, we - surprise, surprise - have the Williams sisters through, and I think you justifiably can predict a Serena/Justine final at this point. We also, for the first time, have two Chinese women in the quarters - great achievement! - and Vika Azarenka came through in a tight one, though Caz-Woz, her fellow teen queen got knocked out.

I blame the pom poms on her socks.