The Rules Around Second Chances

So an interesting thing happened in Doha the other day. I'm a couple of days behind the pace, but... oh well. Mario Ancic's retirement was worth it.

Cautionary note: today I am writing about the WTA. I know I don't do this a lot, so proceed at your own peril. The likelihood of me saying a number of things which are wrong is high.

Okay. So this interesting thing that happened in Doha. Lucie Safarova beat Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets. This was an upset (technically), but is not the interesting thing. No, I'm being all tennis-nerdy and referring to one weird call in particular.

Let me set the scene. The players! Radwanska and Safarova! The umpire! Kader Nouni! The stadium! Mostly empty, because it is Doha! And what happened is this.

Aga and Lucie are rallying, valiantly hitting the ball each to each. Safarova hits the ball to Radwanska. Radwanska has a play on the ball, but does not hit it, on account of the linesperson yelling OUT! Unfortunately for Aga, that linesperson also yelled CORRECTION! a split second later.

No matter, it seems. Aga challenges, hoping that the ball will be out and the point will thus be hers. But the ball is good. A let, it seems, should be played. But no! Kader Nouni awards the point to Safarova. And Aga gets maaaaaaaaaaaaaaad.

This one ended up with the tournament referee coming out to clarify the ruling, something which I think I've only seen once before (and hey, Nico, if you ever read this, do you want to explain the ruling in that match against Troicki to me? because I didn't understand it). The ref came down on Kader's side, which Aga obviously didn't like. And I don't blame her, because I totally understand her point of view.

The situation, as I understand it, was this: because Radwanska challenged the call, she thus forfeited her chance at playing a let, because she couldn't have two chances to win the point. I don't think Kader Nouni explained this particularly well to her - it took me a while to even begin to understand what he was saying. I totally see Aga's perspective on this - she was there, she had a play on the ball, the out call was interference, so it should be a let. And it would have been a let - had she not challenged. But no, because she challenged, the point had to be decided one way or another.

I certainly wasn't aware of this rule, and it doesn't seem like Aga was either. I've heard several criticisms of the interactions of HawkEye with actual umpiring, and it seems like this was one. This is clearly a pretty obscure rule, which doesn't have much call to be used... or does it? It seems like this situation would happen a lot, now that I think about it. Was Kader Nouni upholding the letter of the law where most umpires do not? I've never seen this ruling before and it seems like it would be pretty common - surely players challenge things all the time and lets are played? I can't put my finger on any particular instances of it at the moment, but it must happen. And I don't remember any players being particularly upset at their opponent being given Nouni's 'two chances' to win the point.

Aga clearly wasn't aware of this rule, otherwise it seems unlikely that she would challenge. It seems like a lot of players would be more reticent to challenge if this rule were employed more commonly. So does there need to be a clear delineation of the rules around HawkEye? Should Kader have told Aga before she challenged that if she was wrong she was forfeiting the point? Or should this rule - which obviously exists, because the tournament referee upheld it - be changed, so that Aga would get her let?

Thoughts?

Get A Roof!

If there was one thing to take away from Day 4 at Roland Garros, it was this - GET A ROOF. Seriously, why is it that Australia, the Slam where it hardly ever rains, has two (soon to be three) of the things, and Roland Garros has none? When Wimbledon is ahead of the times you know something's a little interesting.

I know there's a lot of talk about Roland Garros moving sites - personally, I hope that doesn't happen, because this site is great, but how about a bit of the ol' upgrade? Melbourne Park is currently undergoing an AUD$363 million upgrade - surely Roland Garros can spring for a roof for Philippe Chatrier. I'm sure Wimbledon will give them the name of the guy they used.

But despite all this rain, there was actually some tennis - so without further ado...

The winners: The Yoker is coming through the draw like a hot knife through butter and I'm surprised people aren't talking about it more. He was on and off court in something like 71 minutes, which is obscenely quick. I will be very much surprised if he does not make it to the quarters (where I am hoping he will be stopped by Federer), because he is looking very, very good. He might have peaked a touch too soon, but we shall see, we shall see...

Speaking of winners, after a slow first set, Roger Federer is also in this column. Definitely a much better match than that four set nailbiter he played with Jose Acasuso last year.

Over with the ladies, I'm very surprised I'm saying this, but I am super impressed with Caro Wozniacki. She's not normally the type of player who closes out matches quickly, but she's had two quick matches now. Maybe this injury cloud hanging over her head has been good in a way, because it's forcing her to pull the trigger a little earlier and be more aggressive.

And also, no one's talking about her, but Nadia Petrova. Watch out for her!

The losers: Andrea Petkovic. Anyone that holds four match points (or, indeed, any match points) and then loses the match has got to be absolutely kicking themselves, and I'm sure this is exactly the case with Petkovic. It would have been an upset if she beat Kuznetsova, but she had her in the palm of her hand and still couldn't close it out.

Also, Lucie Safarova. I thought she was going to go a long, long way and then she went and lost to Polona Hercog in straights. This is a big time loss, because Safarova had the draw to go a long way. It's going to be really interesting to see who comes out of that side of the draw, because I just cannot pick it at all.

The disappointments:I have to put Gisela Dulko here. To go from beating Azarenka to losing to Chanelle Scheepers (yeah, I don't know who she is either) is fiercely disappointing.

I also have to put Taylor Dent here, because as brilliantly as Robin Soderling played, Dent played horrifically awfully. Seriously, dude, with your serve, you should be able to win more than two games in a best of five set match, even when your opponent is top ten. Really disappointing showing here.

The scraped-in-by-the-skin-of-teeth: As if I would go past Sveta on this one. She clawed this victory by the skin of her teeth, and I'm still not quite sure how she did it. Kudos to her, though. I love watching Sveta when she's playing well, and I'm really hoping she has sort of played herself into form. I would love it if she could come anywhere close to defending her title. Am not in any way expecting this to happen, but it would be awesome.

Story of the day: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga going apesh*t at tournament organisers about scheduling. I have to admit I don't have a lot of time for these kinds of temper tantrums - sure, it might put you out to have to play on Sunday, but suck it up, dude! But I am not a tennis player, so maybe I don't understand how difficult it is... and in any case, the tantrums are always mildly amusing, in a watching-a-train-wreck kind of way.

And the other story of the day is LightGate with Monfils and Fognini. Monfils nearly made the worst decision ever when he asked to push on at 4-all in the fifth... it will be interesting to see who comes out of this. I expect to be Monfils, but I would not be surprised if Fabio Fognini surprised him...

Nil, Nothing

We talked about someone disappointing yesterday, and who am I to buck a trend. There's another inductee into the Club of Lost Souls for 2009 - Tomas Berdych.

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Actually, Berdych could probably be a career inductee. He and his girlfriend Lucie Safarova suffer from the same malady - too much potential, not enough delivery. Both have them have insane amounts of talent packed inside their bodies, but what has it brought them? In the long run, nothing.

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Both have had some excellent runs in Australia - I remember Lucie Safarova pulling a big upset over Mauresmo and then going on to about the quarters a few years back. Tomas Berdych came within a fingerslength of taking out eternal finalist Roger Federer this year. Both have collected the odd minor title, and Berdych won a Masters event in 2005, but beyond that... nothing.

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Tennis is the game of a young person, and while there are late bloomers - Fernando Verdasco's recent run comes to mind - time is running out for Berdych and Safarova to capitalise on the potential they both have. I've held out hope for both of them for years, but hope is slipping away as time runs out. Berdych just took a weak loss in the first round of Rome to Feliciano Lopez, and this really isn't good enough for someone with so much potential packed into a 6'5" frame. I've held out hope for the Czech pair for years... methinks it might be time to let go.

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Today's Results

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Internazionali BNL d'Italia (Rome)

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Tommy Robredo def. Marat Safin, 2-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Simone Bolelli, 4-6 6-1 6-0

Robin Soderling def. Marcel Granollers, 6-3 6-0

Mischa Zverev def. Tomas Berdych, 4-6 6-2 7-5

Feliciano Lopez def. Thomaz Bellucci, 6-4 6-2

Jurgen Melzer def. Julien Benneteau, 3-6 6-2 6-3

Mardy Fish def. Igor Andreev, 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-2)

Andreas Seppi def. Sam Querrey, 3-6 6-4 6-3

Janko Tipsarevic def. Jose Acasuso, 6-3 6-4

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Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart)

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Dinara Safina def. Sara Errani, 6-0 6-1

Elena Dementieva def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 6-4 3-6 6-3

Caroline Wozniacki def. Iveta Benesova, 6-3 7-5

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 7-6 (7-2) 6-0

Marion Bartoli def. Karolina Sprem, 6-3 2-6 6-1

Li Na def. Peng Shuai, 6-2 6-3

Agnes Szavay def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-3 2-6 7-6 (7-4)

Gisela Dulko def. Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-3 6-3

Tsvetana Pironkova def. Alberta Brianti, 0-6 6-4 6-4

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Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem (Fes)

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Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Camille Pin, 6-1 6-1

Alisa Kleybanova def. Corinna Dentoni, 6-2 6-4

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Galina Voskoboeva, 6-1 6-2

Lourdes Domínguez Lino def. Sorana Cirstea, 6-3 6-4

Roberta Vinci def. Mariana Duque Marino, 2-6 6-4 6-1

Shahar Peer def. Aravane Rezai, 6-4 2-6 6-4

Anne Keothavong def. Maret Ani, 6-2 7-6 (7-3)

Melinda Czink def. Nathalie Vierin, 3-6 6-2 6-0

Jarmila Groth def. Paula Fondevila Castro, 6-3 7-5

Lucie Hradecka def. Nadia Lalami, 6-4 6-3

Klara Zakopalova def. Urszula Radwanska, 7-5 6-2

Akiko Morigami def. Fatima Zahrae El Allami, 2-6 5-5 retired

Polona Hercog def. Vitalia Diatchenko, 6-1 6-2

Eva Fernández-Brugues def. Petra Cetkovska, 2-6 6-4 6-2

Grow UP, Richou!

God, Richard Gasquet is a little whinger. I used to really like him - I still enjoy his style of play - but I have gone off him altogether. In all my berating of Andy Roddick for not going to the Olympics, I often forget to berate Richou, but he probably deserves it more, truth be told. There was the French Open stunt, the Olympic stunt, the absolutely ridiculous Davis Cup stunt and now this stupid Paris thing. Jesus, Richou, grow up. Even if you don't want to play Paris-Bercy, you don't have to kick up a huge stink about it. What kind of person comes out and says, 'I will be happy once I would be eliminated at the Paris Masters Series.'

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Methinks Richou needs to revamp his attitude and revamp it fast. He's already taken a slide down the rankings this year - no Tennis Masters Cup for him! Is it really necessary to be a complete dickhead while he's doing it?

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Meanwhile, in actual news about matches in which people have played, instead of wussing out like Gasquet, it was very sad to see Dmitry Tursunov's season end with a retirement. He toughed it out for a while but then called it quits in his match against Djokovic with a shoulder injury. See you next year, Dmitry - maybe defend your Sydney title, eh? I'll be there again, watching.

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That, of course, means Djokovic is through... but I wouldn't mind seeing Djokovic doing all right his week, as I don't want him to do well next week. Yes, I am a terrible, horrible person, wishing ill on people, but I just want Roger to win the Masters Cup. Is that so much to ask? He is, after all, the Master. I know Rafa is #1 and all now and he is good and I like him and stuff, but Roger is just special.

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Apparently Marat Safin is thinking about retirement, which is sad. He says he'll keep playing as long as he still enjoys it... and it can't be very fun losing all the time. Still, he has had his best season in a while... and Hopman Cup coming up! It will be rad to play with Dinara - though it must be oddly pressuring to have your baby sister being all awesome while you sort of suck. Still, I guess Dinara has had to live in Marat's shadow for, like, ever - it's her turn to shine. Though Marat has a standby for Hopman Cup - Igor Andreev - all planned out. Much as Andreev is good and stuff, he's not Marat. Don't retire, please!

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Oh, and the seventh Hopman Cup team has been announced. It's not as awesome as I was hoping, but it's still pretty good. It is, of course, the USA, about whom I totally forgot. Actually, it is an awesome team: James Blake and Serena Williams. I guess that sometimes the USA just feel so old hat... and incidentally, where are the Czech Republic this year? I wanted to see Berdych and Safarova make another go of it. There is still one spot remaining, but that is for the winner of the Asian Hopman Cup, so maybe they can come back in 2010...?

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Today's Results

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BNP Paribas Masters (Paris)

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Novak Djokovic def. Dmitry Tursunov, 6-2 4-3 retired

Andy Roddick def. Feliciano Lopez, 6-3 6-4

Juan Martin del Potro def. Mario Ancic, 6-0 6-4

Gael Monfils def. Juan Monaco, 6-4 6-4

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Mikhail Youzhny, 6-1 6-4

Radek Stepanek def. Marc Gicquel, 6-4 3-6 6-4

Robin Soderling def. Josselin Ouanna, 6-3 6-4

Ivan Ljubicic def. Viktor Troicki, 6-3 6-4

Florent Serra def. Guillermo Canas, 4-6 7-5 6-3

Fernando Verdasco def. Tommy Robredo, 6-2 6-7 (6-8) 6-2

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Bell Challenge (Quebec)

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Nadia Petrova def. Maria Mokh, 6-1 6-2

Severine Brémond def. Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6-2 7-6 (7-4)

Galina Voskoboeva def. Sofia Arvidsson, 6-3 6-2

Melinda Czink def. Sabine Lisicki, 6-2 5-7 6-3

Nathalie Dechy def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 6-3 6-1

Varvara Lepchenko def. Rossana de los Ríos, 6-1 6-3

Carly Gullickson def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 7-6 (8-6) 6-1

Why People Should Play Hopman Cup

Well, looks like I'm eating my words. I didn't think Berdych had a prayer against del Potro, but I'm actully pleasantly surprised to see myself proven wrong. Berdych just has so much talent and ability, but he's such a head case, and it's been so sad to see him not doing that well. He has been in the top ten, but now he's #27. I think it would be fabulous to see him make a resurgence. He's played at Hopman Cup a time or too as well, which really endears him to me. Hopman Cup might be my favourite tournament, I think, and it gets no kudos. So kudos to Berdych for winning and for giving kudos to my favourite tournament.

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It's a bit strange, actually, thinking about it - remember when his girlfriend Lucie Safarova was all seeded at Grand Slams at stuff? Now I don't think she's even in the top fifty, and though I can recall her winning a title this year (Forest Hills) it was a Tier IV tournament. Their slides down the rankings have kind of coincided with each other. They didn't break up, did they? That might provide a modicum of an explanation. Or maybe it's just complete coincidence, and I am going all New Idea on them for nothing.

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And Dmitry Tursunov is back winning titles as well! I may have been wrong about Berdych, but I was totally right about Dima being able to beat Paulo. It was three sets, and kind of tight, but the big guy got there in the end. Like Berdych, Dima's Hopman Cup playage has endeared him to me greatly - especially that mixed doubles proset Russia and Spain played in the '07 final. I will remember that forever - I don't know if I've ever laughed so hard. Dmitry Tursunov, Nadia Petrova, Tommy Robredo and Anabel Medina Garrigues have had a special place in my heart ever since.

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Speaking of Nadia Petrova, she unfortunately did not win her final today, going down to Jelena Jankovic (another Hopman Cup aficianado) but how great is it to see her back in finals? I don't think anyone would have put money on her to reach the final of Stuttgart - so top work there, Nadia! She won a title the same week as the Olympics, I remember... maybe she's on the way back up? I certainly hope so. Next to Dinara Safina, she is my favourite Russian!

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I think the real lesson we can learn from Tomas Berdych, Dmitry Tursunov, Jelena Jankovic and Nadia Petrova is that people who play Hopman Cup win stuff. So more people should play Hopman Cup, as it is the best tournament ever. (I know there is no chance of it, but I would love to see Federer and Schnyder play for Switzerland. I think they would be a fabulous mixed doubles team.)

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And congratulations also to Caroline Wozniacki and Sorana Cirstea, who won titles this week, even if I have nothing intelligent to say about them.

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Today's Results

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Open de Moselle (Metz)

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Dmitry Tursunov def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 7-6 (8-6) 1-6 6-4

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AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships (Tokyo)

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Men's Draw

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Tomas Berdych def. Juan Martin Del Potro, 6-1 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Caroline Wozniacki def. Kaia Kanepi, 6-2 3-6 6-1

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Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart)

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Jelena Jankovic def. Nadia Petrova, 6-4 6-3

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Tashkent Open (Tashkent)

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Sorana Cirstea def. Sabine Lisicki, 2-6 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Cilic Serves Fish

I'm following the live scores as I write this, and right now my boy Marin Cilic is up 5-2 in the third set against Mardy Fish and is serving for it. I'm very proud. Boy, do I know how to pick 'em!

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I was doing a bit of hunting through the Challenger archives for this year, and I found out what Jeremy Chardy has been up to - well, for a week, anyway. He won a Challenger in Graz in late July, so maybe I'm being a bit unfair when I say he's the worst performer of my little Stars fold. He hasn't been splashing about on the ATP circuit like my boy Marin, maybe, but he's working hard. Good boy, Jeremy. (Condescending, me?)

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Speaking of Marin, he just won! One day, I'm going to be able to say that I picked him out before he was famous. I don't know if he's ever going to be #1, but top ten for sure, I think - and he's one of mine. I don't think I can really claim that I jumped on the del Potro bandwagon before he became all good and stuff, but I sure picked Marin early. Go me. And go Marin! Now all I need is for Ernests Gulbis to win a tour title and I'll be extraordinarily pleased with myself.

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Going back to the Challengers, another star performer was Thomaz Bellucci, who has won four of the things this year. I'd love to see him make a splash on the ATP circuit - but we might have to wait till next year, as I think he's a bit of a claycourter. Still, claycourters can sometimes do other stuff... look at Rafa.

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I promised a US Open preview, I do believe, but I might save that for tomorrow, when I will have nothing at all to talk about, as there will be no tennis. It's the US Open's version of Boring Sunday - but I suppose two weeks of awesome tennis after that might make up for it!

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Oh, and today's shout out goes to Lucie Safarova (aka Madame Berdych.) After a stellar run a while back - I remember her beating Mauresmo (I think) at the Australian and really doing well - she lost form, so much so as to be unseeded at a Tier IV tournament. I think she's ranked about #80 or something now. Anyway, she won that selfsame Tier IV tournament in Forest Hills pretty handily. She's really a lovely player - very watchable - so I'm quite pleased. Nice one, Lucie!

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Oh, and I apologise for the title of today's post. Really, I do.

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Today's Results

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Pilot Pen Tennis (New Haven)

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Men's Draw

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Marin Cilic def. Mardy Fish, 6-4 4-6 6-2

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Women's Draw

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Caroline Wozniacki def. Anna Chakvetadze, 3-6 6-4 6-1

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Forest Hills Tennis Classic (Forest Hills)

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Lucie Safarova def. Peng Shuai, 6-4 6-2

Czechmate

Tomas Berdych is a terminal underachiever, in my uneducated opinion. He's a fabulous player and he's really shot up the ATP rankings since the match that really made his career, which was when he defeated Federer in the second round of the Athens Olympics in 2004. He's got a great style and because he's so tall and lanky, he's got this huge wingspan at the net... and yet he hasn't quite realised his potential yet.

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Berdych is one of those players that is solid in the top twenty, but only ever fleetingly appears in the top ten. I think he has the talent to get into the top ten and stays there, but it just never seems to quite happen for him. In 2005, when Federer and Nadal took out eight out the nine Masters Series events, it was Berdych who took out the remaining one (AMS Paris), but he hasn't really lived up to this potential. You see him frequently in the round of sixteen at the Slams, but I don't think I can remember seeing him in the quarters, and that's really a bit sad. He's got all this talent, but something always seems to get in the way.

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Like today. The Czech Republic totally could have taken out the USA today, but Berdych was sick. Not that that's his fault or anything, but it was really sad. I'm disinclined to root for the USA after the whole Serena incident, and so it was really disappointing that Berdych had to pull out. I thought that his girlfriend, Lucie Safarova, played a great match against Serena (disastrous first set aside). Like Berdych, Safarova is rolling in potential. She halved her ranking last year, and I'd love to see her halve in again this year. She's ranked 23 at the moment. I think she can entrench herself pretty firmly in the top twenty by the end of 2008.

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But alas, the Czech Republic is now pretty much out of contention for the Hopman final. I hope the USA doesn't make it... I'm still in a snit about the Serena incident. Meanwhile, did anyone see what she was wearing today? Worst tennis outfit I have ever seen. Ever. And I've been watching for a while. Serena's pulled out some shockers before, but this one really took the cake. I don't know what she was thinking.

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Today's Results

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Hopman Cup (Perth)

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France def. Argentina, 2-1

Golovin/Clement def. Dulko/Chela, 6-3 6-2

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USA def. Czech Republic, 3-0

Serena Williams def. Lucie Safarova, 6-0 2-6 7-5

Mardy Fish def. Tomas Berdych, walkover

Williams/Fish def. Safarova/Berdych, 6-0 ret.

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Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts (Gold Coast)

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Tathiana Garbin def. Nadia Petrova, 5-7 7-5 6-3

Patty Schnyder def. Alisa Kleybanova, 6-1 6-3

Yuliana Fedak def. Agnes Szavay, 3-6 7-5 6-2

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ASB Classic (Auckland)

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Katarina Srebotnik def. Anastasia Rodionova, 6-0 3-0 ret.

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Nicole Pratt, 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

Tamira Paszek def. Yanina Wickmayer, 7-6 (9-7) 6-1

Ashley Harkleroad def. Emilie Loit, 6-4 6-1

Lindsay Davenport def. Laura Granville, 6-2 6-3

Klara Zakopalova def. Meilen Tu, 6-3 7-5

Yvonne Meusburger def. Akiko Morigami, 7-5 6-0

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Next Generation Adelaide International (Adelaide)

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Michael Llodra def. Gilles Simon, 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

Joseph Sirianni def. Radek Stepanek, 7-6 (7-3) 4-3 ret.

Michael Russell def. Juan Martin del Potro, 6-3 6-3

Sam Querrey def. Steve Darcis, 7-5 6-4

Benjamin Becker def. Robert Smeets, 3-6 6-4 6-2

Mischa Zverev def. Florian Mayer, 6-3 6-3

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PS. It's great to see the Adelaide International back as a proper knock out tournament this year. That round robin stuff they had last year was RUBBISH.