Things We Don't Need, Things We Do Need

NICOLAS MAHUT IS THROUGH TO THE MAIN DRAW OF THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN! TAKE YOUR WILDCARD AND F^&*ING SHOVE IT!

...yes, I am a little bit excited about it. He overcame Danish dude Frederik Nielsen in three sets. I don't mind what happens now - I'm just glad that he got to the main draw and I'll have a chance to cheer him on! (Though if you want to win a round or two that's fine with me, Nico.)

Someone I will not be cheering on, however, is Viktor Troicki. I went to the final of the Medibank International, which was won by Gilles Simon, and Troicki's behaviour was absolutely atrocious. Any respect I ever had for him... gone now.

I have no problems with fiery temperaments. I don't even have any problems with racquet smashing. I'm a SAFIN fan, for heavens' sakes - I freaking love that stuff, if it's done with Safinesque panache. But what I don't like is blatant abuse of the linespeople and other court staff, as well as constant remonstration and blaming other people for your f^&* ups.

The crowd did not warm to Troicki - there was a large Serbian contingent cheering for him, and that was about it. I think everyone else was going for Simon - not because he was especially good on his own, but because he wasn't actively abusing anyone. When Troicki got called for a foot fault late in the second set, I seriously thought he was going to pull a Serena on the lineswoman. It was... it was nasty, and that's not something we need in our sport.

What we do need is awesome people like those who are playing Rally For Relief - suppport this awesome cause if you can! You can make contributions here.

Safin Suited

So someone put Marat Safin in a suit. What's up with that?

The Kremlin Cup is so going to be the most awesome tournament this year. It might be catastrophic and disastrous - is anyone else having real problems imagining Marat Safin as an office dude? - but it will be awesome. In my mind, it will be full of Safinesque fun.

There was an article on tennis.com about 'Safin the Suit', and I am just having real problems picturing that. Not vodka-drinking, racquet-smashing Marat? Surely not? Apparently he showed at Wimbledon last week to convince people to play in his tournament, and I really hope it succeeded.

I thought I had all these things to say about this, but I'm really just stuck on Safin in a suit. It's very counterintuitive.

I am glad, however, that the world of tennis has not lost Marat Safin, and that he's sticking around, even if he's all suited up. I'm really looking forward to see how his baby Moscow tournament turns out. Wish I could go there, really... it would be fun times. Maybe Marat would be around, wink wink.

So yeah. That's my point. Yay Marat still being around. And yay for the beautiful chaos that will be in his tournament (in my mind).

A Little La Monf

You know who is looking a little bit good at the moment, formwise? Gael Monfils. And there's something you don't hear said a lot.

I don't think anyone would argue with the fact that Monfils is one of the most talented guys on tour. He's also probably one of the best athletes in the world (I read somewhere that France puts all its athletes through some kind of crazy tests, and Monfils broke records in all of them.) When he's on, he's on. But he's the sketchiest damn player you ever met. He is worse than David Nalbandian (at least you know he's going to turn up for Davis Cup) and maybe on a par with Marat Safin. You never which Gael will show.

He hasn't really done anything much particularly remarkable this year. Not that I've noticed anyway... until this week. First, he plays like a gun in Davis Cup to help secure a huge win for France over Spain. And now he's tearing it up in Stuttgart.

Well, I say 'tearing it up'. He lost a set to Pablo Andujar. Maybe this is a little optimistic. But there is cause for optimism whenever Monfils strings a few matches together. It will be interesting to see whether he can close out this tournament. If he does, then... maybe we will be in for a rocket of a summer.

Or maybe not. It is Monfils, after all.

Getting Down With WTT

So, world, level with me. What's the deal with World Team Tennis?

In a schedule that's already packed, I'm not quite sure why people would play World Team Tennis - though I suppose it comes with a big pay day - but I certainly think it is a lot of fun! And it's a viable alternative to the seniors tour that gives people who have retired the opportunity to keep playing professional tennis in a way that is fun and exciting.

And would anyone deny that the Venus Williams/Martina Hingis match up is the most keenly anticipated match of the week - including everything that's going down in Davis Cup?

I'm not exactly sure what the rules are - I have a notion that there is no ad scoring - and there is a crazy coloured court. It seems to be restricted pretty much to the US, but I remember a WTT exo that went on on Margaret Court Arena during the Australian Open this year which was big fun. I'd love to see it played more - maybe not so much with the current big time players, though if they want to play it, more power to them - but with some of the old stars. Hingis, Kournikova, Davenport... they all play WTT and it seems like a perfect fit. I want to see Marat Safin play it. I think it'd be rad.

In short, from what I know of WTT, I think it's awesome. It doesn't dovetail especially well with the actual tour, but it is good fun and allows tennis to be a team sport. I think it's especially good for some ex-pros... and I hope to see more of it. Unless it has some major failing of which I am not aware. But I don't think it does. So yay WTT! Let us see more!

Nole in the Hole

I am not, as we all know, a huge fan of Novak Djokovic, but I was getting really excited about the prospect of a Nole/Rafa final in Monte Carlo. I don't know if anyone will ever forget that epic match they had in Madrid last year - it is definitely one of the classics of the last ten years, no question.

So you can understand why I, and the world, have been salivating at the prospect of a claycourt rematch. The newly be-#2ed Novak against the semi-injured king of clay... it could have been great.

Except for the bit where Novak went and lost to Nando 'poor man's Rafa' Verdasco in one of the worst losses of his career.

Kudos to Verdasco for playing awesomely here, but I really don't think anyone can deny that stuff is up with Novak. Firing Todd Martin is probably good in this respect - he's changing things up - but he really needs to get his act together if he's going to be a real contender at Roland Garros.

It's not so much that he lost to Verdasco - Nando is a great player - but the manner of his loss. Djokovic hasn't lost a match so badly since he was beaten by Safin at the Australian Open in 2005, and that's saying something. His rut has been overshadowed by the rut of Murray, but he needs to pull up his socks if he really wants to rock the HispanoSuisse domination machine on the red stuff.

Mosquito Man

Wow. So Juan Carlos Ferrero is 30 now. Who knew? How time flies.

When we talk about people not fulfilling their potential, it's typically Safin we talk about (if we're talking tennis in the noughties, anyway). Only two Slams, all that talent. Early retirement. Scatty. Sketchy. Inconsistent. Flawed genius. And yes, Safin is all those things. But he's been such a dominant non-fulfiller that I think we forget JCF a bit.

To preface this - I don't necessarily think JCF is an underachiever. But his numbers are pretty similar to Safin's. One of the leaders of the New Balls generation. Slam winner. And for a brief period in the early noughties, damn near unbeatable.

It seems so long ago - and so laughable now - that JCF was thought unbeatable. His nickname is 'Mosquito' and it's for a reason - he plays annoying tennis, the kind of tennis that unsettles his opponents, rather than relying on big weapons. In that respect, he's quite similar to Hewitt, an overachiever - though I suppose you could say that Hewitt had speed as a weapon. When you look at the top ten now, there is no room for a mosquito.

But if you look at the early noughties, mosquito tennis was what was winning. Mosquitoes were at the top of the game. And the antidote to it at that time was Safin and Safinesque playing.

And then Federer happened and the whole game changed, but that's not really what I'm talking about today. If things had gone a little differently, then JCF could be one of those players that we talk about as the greats of the decade. However, it is not to be. The mosquito got swatted eventually when people figured out the key.

I'm not exactly sure where I'm going with this - I certainly didn't intend to end up in a comparison of counterpunching and, um, 'punching' tennis - but the fact remains that once, Juan Carlos Ferrero was the most awesome dude in the game. And now he's definitely not, and he hasn't been for a while, but he keeps going, and keeps playing, and he still, on occasion, wins some stuff. Even if the numbers say he's an underachiever who never went on from a sparkling start to his career.

And that's pretty cool. Kudos, Mosquito.

The Tennis Mind

It's interesting the matches that people remember. I was having a conversation about tennis with someone I'd only just met last night - something I find fascinating, because people experience and remember the game so differently it's interesting to see what sticks in their minds.

It's not surprising that the Australian Open dominates the collective mind - we are, after all, in Australia, and this is what we are exposed to. But even so, there are a lot of matches under that umbrella, and I was very interested to note that what this guy remembered best was Fernando Gonzalez - specifically, the match where he beat Nadal by powering him off the court with his draconic forehand.

A-ha, think I, so it is shots you remember! But no... the next match we started talking about was Johansson vs Safin in the final of '02. Then we discussed the minutiae of Gael Monfils' game.

I don't actually have a point to this, to tell the truth. I just find it interesting who and what dominates the tennis minds of other people. For me, it's always been Federer with a healthy dose of Safin on the side, a Nadal jus and, more recently, a Gulbis glaze, but that's certainly not everyone's experience. Defining matches - even if we just stick to Australia - for me include matches like the '06 final, where Federer beat Baghdatis, or the semi in '07, where he pulverised Roddick.

So... what dominates your tennis mind?

We'll Always Have Paris

This is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

Not only did my beloved Roger Federer lose to Julien Benneteau - yes, I had to say that to get it out of my system, because this is positively DYSTOPIC - we have witnessed the very, very last match of one of the truly great characters of tennis.

Marat Safin, we'll always have Paris.

(Yes, I know every blogger in history will be using that title today. Uniqueness is overrated.)

Marat was one of the New Balls generation, the spunky young things who came through at the beginning of the millenium and who were supposed to set tennis on fire. And they totally did set tennis on fire, too. Federer (sob sob sob why Benneteau whhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyy?!?!?!) is the one who is really going to go down in history, but at the beginning, it was all about Lleyton Hewitt and one other man - one Marat Safin. A feisty twenty year old who totally drubbed Pete Sampras in the US Open final and then celebrated with a case of vodka, because God had come to him, patted him on the head, and said 'you will the win the glory'. The Marat that proved that just because you were abrasive and opinionated it didn't stop you from being totally lovable.

Racquet-smashing Marat. Marat of the blontourage. Marat of the poker-faced humorous quips that have made him the darling of the media for many years (probably much to his disdain). Marat who didn't give a flying f*ck about anyone or anything and who did things his way.

Marat who, in the end, really didn't like tennis that much. But that was okay, because tennis liked him. The game will be poorer without him. He's no statesman, no Federer or Nadal or Ljubicic. But he is a character. Even in rankings freefall, he was one of the most popular players ever.

(Of course, it probably didn't hurt at all that he was totally smokin' hot).

It's probably sort of fitting that it was Juan Martin del Potro who defeated him today (though I probably would have found a reason for it to be fitting no matter who defeated him, except possibly Thierry Ascione). JMDP is another young dude who just won his first Slam at the US Open. At the beginning of this next decade, JMDP is going to be one of the guys who takes the game forward. He's part of this generations' New Balls, I guess you could say - and he is making his mark. He has made it today, by ending Marat Safin's career.

I don't think Marat is going to go gently into that good night. I don't think we've heard the last of him. It's not his style. We may not have the privilege of seeing him play any more, but we will, hopefully, get some more of those sardonic press conferences that have made us all chuckle. I, personally, would love to see him come to Australia some time in the future and commentate the Open with Jim Courier. I have a feeling that a match commentated by those two would be a riot, even if the match itself was as dull as dry toast.

So thanks for the memories, Marat. Ain't no one gonna forget you. And, yes, my friend, we will always, always have Paris.


Today's Results

BNP Paribas Masters (Paris)

Julien Benneteau def. Roger Federer, 4-6 6-7 (4-7) 6-4
Rafael Nadal def. Nicolas Almagro, 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-5
Novak Djokovic def. Juan Monaco, 6-3 7-5
Juan Martin del Potro def. Marat Safin, 6-4 5-7 6-4
Robin Soderling def. Ivo Karlovic, 6-4 7-6 (8-6)
Fernando Gonzalez def. John Isner, 7-5 7-6 (7-3)
Marin Cilic def. Lukasz Kubot, 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-2
Tommy Robredo def. Tomas Berdych, 6-4 6-4
Gael Monfils def. David Guez, 6-4 7-5
Arnaud Clement def. Tommy Haas, 5-7 6-3 7-6 (10-8)

Farewelling Fabrice

If he's going to go out, he's going to do it with drama. I think everyone in the tennis world would have killed Thierry Ascione if he had managed to squeak out that match against Marat Safin. The world wants as much Marat as possible before we have to let him go.

Three match points. Three match points Marat saved in this match. Three match points between him and the end of his career. I wonder if he was tempted to choke on any of them...? I'm very glad he didn't. It means I can still believe he loves tennis, still believe that maybe there will be a Clijsters/Henin style comeback for him. I know there won't be, but a girl can dream, n'est pas?

However, Marat is not the only person we're farewelling (though not yet! NOT! YET!) Fabrice Santoro has played his last ATP level match and I think it's only fitting it was in Paris, his home country, in front of an adoring crowd. 'Twas James Blake that did the deed... seriously, it's, like, the first match he's won all year, and it has to be ending the career of someone as superb as Santoro.

Santoro never was, I think, one of the greats. He never won a Slam, or any of those major, major titles that put you in contention for Halls of Fame and general tennis immortality. He was, however, special. I don't think there's any player who was quite as unusual as him, with such a quick, quirky style of play, with such soft hands and such creativity. Every time I watched him play - he might not always have won, but still - he came up with some stuff which was really unexpected. He was a constant surprise. And he was different, and we like different here at this blog.

But now it's time to say goodbye to the little wizard. Marat Safin once said that being told he had to play Santoro was like being told he was going to die - such was Santoro's ingenuity and originality on the tennis court. Here's hoping a few kids see some tapes of Santoro and try to factor some of that quirky brilliance into their play - because the tennis world needs some magicians like Fabrice Santoro.


Today's Results

BNP Paribas Masters (Paris)

Andreas Seppi def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-3 6-3
Ivo Karlovic def. Pablo Cuevas, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4
Tomas Berdych def. Vincent Millot, 6-3 7-6 (7-4)
Lukasz Kubot def. Andreas Beck, 6-4 3-6 6-4
Viktor Troicki def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 7-6 (7-4) 3-0 retired
Albert Montanes def. Victor Hanescu, 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-3)
John Isner def. Alejandro Falla, 4-6 7-6 (12-10) 7-5
Marat Safin def. Thierry Ascione, 6-4 4-6 7-6(7-3)


Fed Cup

Italy def. USA, 4-0

Flavia Pennetta def. Alexa Glatch, 6-3 6-1
Francesca Schiavone def. Melanie Oudin, 7-6 (7-2) 6-2
Flavia Pennetta def. Melanie Oudin, 7-5 6-2
Errani/Vinci def. Huber/King, 4-6 6-3 11-9 (match tiebreak)

The Sisters Take Saturday

Marat Safin lost in three sets in the semis in St Petersburg.

Pout.

Oh well. I shouldn't have looked. And it seems that he may be playing a cashcow exo in Hong Kong next year, so we can pretend he's still around. Sob.

Okay. Over to Doha.

We're all set up for a Serena vs Venus final, and you really have to like Serena to win this one. She's gone undefeated through the week and, to be honest, she really is the better player. And it would be a good way for her to cap off finishing as year-end #1. Though Venus is the defending champion and maybe it'd be nice for her to defend. I don't really mind. I don't really care. Congrats to both sisters on getting this far.

Venus overcame a tenacious Jelena Jankovic who, I may now finally allow, has proved her right to be here. She's played some feisty stuff in her last couple of matches. She really hasn't had the Bestest Year Ever, and I really hope she returns to her glittery best next year, with splits galore. The Jelena of '08 was one of my favourite players to watch - here's hoping she can bring it next year. She's shown she's got guts - here's hoping she doesn't go and pack on kilos upon kilos of muscle again!

But my real favourite this tournament has been C-Woz. It's such a shame that she's been all injured and had to retire against Serena today, because she's shown some real grit. I still think her tennis is vanilla and a little dull, but it's obviously working for her (US Open final, anyone?) and I hope she can bring this newfound steel to the court in 2010.

What I would really, really like to see from Caro in 2010 is... well, less of her. She's played far too much tennis this year, and it's no surprise her body's gone and broken down on her. I think she's been in something like 25 tournaments, 90+ matches... that's just not sustainable. So go and get yourself a lesson at the Roger Federer School of Smart Scheduling, Caro, and let's see you back, uninjured, and ready for the big time!


Today's Results

Sony Ericsson Championships (Doha)

Serena Williams def. Caroline Wozniacki, 6-4 0-1 retired
Venus Williams def. Jelena Jankovic, 5-7 6-3 6-4


St Petersburg Open (St Petersburg)

Sergiy Stakhovsky def. Marat Safin, 6-4 4-6 6-4
Horacio Zeballos def. Igor Kunitsyn, 7-6 (9-7) 6-3


Bank Austria Tennis Trophy (Vienna)

Marin Cilic def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-4 7-6 (7-4)
Jurgen Melzer def. Janko Tipsarevic, 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4


Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon (Lyon)

Michael Llodra def. Gilles Simon, 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-1)
Ivan Ljubicic def. Arnaud Clement, 6-2 6-4

I Don't Know What I Was Expecting, But It Wasn't This

So, um, yeah, not the Doha semi final line up I was expecting. But if you were asking me what I was expecting, I wouldn't be able to tell you. It just wasn't this.

That said, Serena obviously deserves her spot here - she went perfect through the round robin stage - and I'm really liking what I've seen from Caro. She went down tamely to Jankovic today - please, please, please let her not be injured again! - but her match against Azarenka was awesome yesterday. I confess I am pulling for her to win the tournament.

Jankovic I was not expecting, not so much. She had a good win over Caro today, but her other 'win' was over Dinara Safina, which went all of thirteen minutes. If Safina had pulled out before the tournament, things might have been totally different. Or, you know, not, given that Safina's replacement was Zvonareva, who herself got replaced today by Agnieszka Radwanska (who played awesomely to beat Vika - nice one, A-Rad!) So Jelena has technically won two matches, but I remain... yeah, unconvinced.

And then there's Venus. Not that Venus isn't a great player and all, but it just seems strange to me how a player can take two losses and still qualify. I don't know how they calculated the one that went through, but I was feeling Dementieva, maybe.

Like I'm said, I'm pulling for Caro to win the tournament, but you've got to put your money on Serena. I mean, really.

Over to the men, and YAY MARAT! He's in the semis of St Petersburg after a great win (feat. bagel) over Denis Istomin. Not saying anything. Not even daring to hope, daring to dream.

Gulbis lost. Still, he managed to get to the quarters. Things are looking up for the young 'un.

And I have to give a shout out to Arnaud Clement, who had an absolutely fantastic win over Jo-Willy in a barnburner of a match. Made of awesome!


Today's Results

Sony Ericsson Championships (Doha)

Jelena Jankovic def. Caroline Wozniacki, 6-2 6-2
Agnieszka Radwanska def. Victoria Azarenka, 4-6 7-5 4-1 retired
Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Elena Dementieva, 6-3 6-2


St Petersburg Open (St Petersburg)

Igor Kunitsyn def. Victor Hanescu, 6-3 3-6 7-6 (8-6)
Marat Safin def. Denis Istomin, 6-0 7-6 (7-4)
Horacio Zeballos def. Ernests Gulbis, 7-6 (10-8) 6-4
Sergiy Stakhovsky def. Bjorn Phau, 6-2 7-5


Bank Austria Tennis Trophy (Vienna)

Marin Cilic def. Feliciano Lopez, 6-1 6-4
Jurgen Melzer def. Radek Stepanek, 6-2 6-2
Janko Tipsarevic def. Gael Monfils, 6-4 6-7 (8-10) 6-3
Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Nicolas Almagro, 7-5 6-4


Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon (Lyon)

Arnaud Clement def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 5-7 6-4 7-6 (10-8)
Gilles Simon def. Julien Benneteau, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3
Ivan Ljubicic def. Florent Serra, 7-6 (8-6) 6-2
Michael Llodra def. Marc Gicquel, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Hotel California

Svetlana Kuznetsova and Venus Williams are locked at 4-all in the final set as I write this, in what looks like a really awesome match. Serena's already qualified for the finals, I would imagine, by virtue of her perfect score - I'm pretty sure Venus can't qualify, having taken two losses, but Sveta is still in the running if she wins this one. So I have my pom poms out and I'm cheering for her. In other Doha results, Serena beat Elena and Caro beat Zvonareva (surely Caro will qualify from this group?)

Now. Let's talk boys.

Specifically let's go YAAAAAAAAAAAY! Marat Safin is in the quarter finals of St Petersburg.

Sure, he made it there courtesy of Igor Andreev's retirement, but a quarter is a quarter and it is not to be sneezed at. I'm not even going to say that it would be nice if Marat won the tournament, because that goes without saying. All I'm going to say is GO MARAT! - I want to see some crazy Safin brilliance before this career is through.

Speaking of people on the verge of retirement, it was nice to see Dominik Hrbaty playing in Vienna. He lost today to Jurgen Melzer, but he did win a match before that, so good on him. He's always fun to watch (and, may I remind you, he and his partner Dominika Cibulkova won the Hopman Cup this year, so he's still got some game) and it'll be sad when he is no longer a part of our great sport.

Though tennis is a bit like Hotel California - you can check out but you never leave. Even after your retirement, everyone still cares about what you did and what you're doing now... as evidenced by the Agassi crystal meth scandal, which I haven't talked about yet, but I will, when I work out what I want to say.

So yes. Hrbaty. Safin. Yay. Basically.

And Venus just totally beat Sveta. Sigh. So what happens if Sveta beats Dementieva? Everyone except Serena will have taken one win and two losses. Who qualifies then?


Today's Results

Sony Ericsson Championships (Doha)

Caroline Wozniacki def. Vera Zvonareva, 6-0 6-7 (3-7) 6-4
Serena Williams def. Elena Dementieva, 6-2 6-4
Venus Williams def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-2 6-7 (3-7) 6-4


St Petersburg Open (St Petersburg)

Denis Istomin def. Mikhail Youzhny, 6-2 2-1 retired
Marat Safin def. Igor Andreev, 6-3 0-1 retired
Igor Kunitsyn def. Michail Elgin, 6-2 6-3
Sergiy Stakhovsky def. Andrey Kuznetsov, 6-1 6-4


Bank Austria Tennis Trophy (Vienna)

Marin Cilic def. Daniel Brands, 7-6 (9-7) 6-4
Gael Monfils def. Jan Hajek, 6-1 2-6 6-4
Feliciano Lopez def. Daniel Koellerer, 6-3 6-3
Jurgen Melzer def. Dominik Hrbaty, 6-4 7-5
Janko Tipsarevic def. Michael Berrer, 7-6 (7-3) 6-1


Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon (Lyon)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Olivier Rochus, 6-3 6-2
Gilles Simon def. David Guez, 6-1 6-2
Ivan Ljubicic def. Nicolas Kiefer, 6-3 3-6 6-3
Michael Llodra def. Juan Monaco, 6-3 6-4
Marc Gicquel def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-4 6-0
Arnaud Clement def. Benjamin Becker, 6-4 6-3

Taking Stock of Stockholm

Sigh. Marat went to all the trouble of beating Kolya only to go down tamely to Evgeny Korolev.

Pout.

Oh well. Marat will be Marat, and we should treasure the last few matches we have with him, even if he does fizzle out.

Let's talk Stockholm, because that's an interesting little tournament. I'm really pulling for the Yoker to win this one - is he still in with a chance of qualifying for the end of year championships? He was coming ninth, last time I looked... because he DESERVES THAT SPOT. I think it's a three way tussle at the mo between him, Verdasco and Kolya... and much as Nando's had a career year, it really wouldn't be fair to see all that hard work that the Yoker's put in go to waste. French Open final? It seems fair and just that it should be Soderling. So I'm cheering for him bigtime this week.

But the guy I'm really watching - for interest's sake more than anything else - is Marcos Baghdatis. He's been out for what seems like a thousand years, and it is good to see him playing - and winning! - again. He beat Kendrick two and two today, which is a pretty decent result. I mean, sure, Kendrick isn't exactly Federer, but he's played some tough tennis in his time (fade into the far away, so close match he played with Rafa at Wimbledon a few years back). So that was a good win for Marcos, and, damn it, he's just so happy and smiley! He deserves to win stuff!

So I'm keeping an eye on his comeback - as well as Pim-Pim's. I was talking a while back about him as a 'where are they now?' candidate, and suddenly BAM! he's coming back again. I don't think there's any way he'll ever reach his former glory, but he's been winning a match or two and that's pretty awesome.

Now if we could only get Sebastien Grosjean back on court...


Today's Results

Kremlin Cup (Moscow)

Men's Draw

Janko Tipsarevic def. Christophe Rochus, 6-4 2-1 retired
Robby Ginepri def. Marcel Granollers, 7-6 (7-5) 6-0
Mikhail Kukushkin def. Wayne Odesnik, 6-3 6-4
Illya Marchenko def. Andrey Golubev, 6-1 1-6 6-4
Evgeny Korolev def. Marat Safin, 6-4 7-6 (7-4)


Women's Draw

Tsvetana Pironkova def. Vera Zvonareva, 6-0 6-2
Jelena Jankovic def. Lucie Safarova, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3
Francesca Schiavone def. Monica Niculescu, 6-2 7-5
Alisa Kleybanova def. Evgeniya Rodina, 6-1 6-2
Vera Dushevina def. Agnes Szavay, 3-6 6-4 6-3
Maria Kirilenko def. Aleksandra Wozniak


If Stockholm Open (Stockholm)

Robin Soderling def. Andreas Seppi, 6-1 6-3
Jarkko Nieminen def. Tommy Haas, walkover
Olivier Rochus def. Feliciano Lopez, 4-6 6-4 6-1
Marcos Baghdatis def. Robert Kendrick, 6-2 6-2
Arnaud Clement def. Michael Berrer, 3-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-1


BGL Luxembourg Open (Luxembourg)

Daniela Hantuchova def. Lucie Hradecka, 7-5 3-6 6-2
Yanina Wickmayer def. Alize Cornet, 7-5 7-6 (8-6)
Shahar Peer def. Carla Suarez Navarro, 3-6 6-3 6-1

Marat's Moscow Magic

Well, if Kolya was going to be beaten by any man in Moscow, it is only fitting that it be this one. He went down in three sets to Marat Safin.

Before I start my regularly scheduled 'I love Marat' fanfare, complete with bells and whistles, can I just say that any man who flies from Shanghai to Moscow and plays approximately three seconds after he lands, regardless of jetlag, and pushes someone as talented and unpredictable as Safin to three has my undying respect. These two weeks have taught me to Respect the Davydenko. Man's fierce, yo.

Now. Back to Marat.

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Oh, how I would dearly, dearly love him to win a tournament as a parting gift! And oh! how Moscow would be absolutely perfect for this purpose! If there's any tournament he is going to win - I am aware that this has a likelihood of approximately 0.0000000001%, Marat being Marat - I'm pretty sure Moscow would be the one. It would be somehow fitting, I guess, for Marat to go out in this way.

Not that it will happen, but hey, he beat the top seed! The top seed who won a Masters series event last week (we won't mention the jet lag). Marat's got game, and I wish, wish, WISH for him to make it happen.

My other long time followee, Gulbis, went out tamely in Stockholm. To tell the truth, I'm not surprised, what with the whole Swedish prostitute sex scandal. I don't know whether Gulbis was, in actuality, involved, and frankly, I don't care. I want him to take away a lesson about concentration from this tournament - about separating off court sagas from the world on court. Lleyton Hewitt is the master of this. Ernie, clearly, has a ways to go.


Today's Results

Kremlin Cup (Moscow)

Men's Draw

Mikhail Youzhny def. Potito Starace, 6-1 6-1
Pablo Cuevas def. Teimuraz Gabashvili, 3-6 6-1 6-4
Sergiy Stakhovsky def. Fabrice Santoro, 7-5 6-1
Marat Safin def. Nikolay Davydenko, 4-6 6-4 6-2
Illya Marchenko def. Denis Istomin, 1-6 6-4 4-1 retired
Evgeny Korolev def. Igor Kunitsyn, 7-6 (8-6) 6-3


Women's Draw

Alona Bondarenko def. Nadia Petrova, 7-6 (7-3) 6-3
Olga Govortsova def. Maria Jose Martinez Sanches, 6-1 6-4
Maria Kirilenko def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-3 603
Agnes Szavay def. Flavia Pennetta, 4-6 3-0 retired
Evgeniya Rodina def. Elena Vesnina, 6-1 3-6 6-2
Francesca Schiavone def. Nuria Llagostera Vives, 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 6-3


If Stockholm Open (Stockholm)

Joachim Johansson def. Juan Monaco, 6-4 6-4
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Simon Greul, 6-3 7-5
Thomaz Bellucci def. Leonardo Mayer, 7-5 3-6 6-3
Robin Soderling def. Giovanni Lapentti, 6-3 6-0
Tommy Haas def. Florent Serra, 6-3 6-4
Marcos Baghdatis def. Juan Carlos Ferrero, 6-4 6-2
Feliciano Lopez def. Ernests Gulbis, 6-2 6-4


BGL Luxembourg Open (Luxembourg)

Kirsten Flipkens def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 7-5 6-3
Sabine Lisicki def. Polona Hercog, 7-6 (7-1) 6-4
Timea Bacsinszky def. Roberta Vinci, 6-2 6-2
Daniela Hantuchova def. Tatjana Malek, 6-1 6-0
Yanina Wickmayer def. Alexandra Dulgeru
Lucie Hradecka def. Catalina Castano, 7-6 (7-4) 6-2

Brain Cramp

So about this new cramping rule - which I understand to mean that players can't seek treatment for cramps until the end of a game...

I love it. But if it's just the end of the game, I don't know if that's not still too soft. I'd be thinking change of ends, personally. Isn't that when most people will get that kind of thing treated?

I mean, obviously there are exceptions, otherwise this rule wouldn't have come into play. I don't actually remember the last time I saw a player come down with cramp in the middle of a game and stop play, but evidently it's happened, and consistently enough that the need for this rule was felt. So, I think I probably need to think on it more - and find out what the rule actually is, which might help. But I think this is definitely a Good Thing.

A whole new day, a whole new slew of tournaments. The bigg'un is Moscow. I don't know if he's even playing but oh! how I would love Marat Safin to win this tournament. I know he won't, but oh! how I would love it if he did! I remember him making the final in '06, but I don't know how else he's fared there in the past - surely if there's one tournament he would love to win, this would be it.

One result out of this tournament so far I thought was interesting was on the women's side, where diminutive Dominika Cibulkova went down tamely to Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. Where's Domi been? Has she been injured? She had top five potential written all over her at the beginning of the year, and now she's all... not there. Sigh. Get better, Domi.


Today's Results

Kremlin Cup (Moscow)

Men's Draw

Mikhail Youzhny def. Horacio Zeballos, 6-1 7-6 (7-5)
Pablo Cuevas def. Yen-hsun Lu, 6-4 6-2
Teimuraz Gabashvili def. Karol Beck, 3-6 6-4 6-4
Potito Starace def. Evgeny Donskoy, 6-3 6-3


Women's Draw

Nadia Petrova def. Yana Buchina, 6-2 6-0
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Dominika Cibulkova, 6-2 6-2
Alona Bondarenko def. Anna Chakvetadze, 6-4 603
Lucie Safarova def. Ekaterina Makarova, 6-2 602
Olga Govortsova def. Ksenia Pervak, 6-3 4-6 6-0


If Stockholm Open (Stockholm)

Juan Monaco def. Jan Hernych, 6-2 5-7 7-5
Simon Greul def. Benjamin Becker, 2-6 6-3 7-5
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Alberto Martin, 6-3 6-2
Leonardo Mayer def. Albert Montanes, 6-4 6-3
Joachim Johansson def. Peter Luczak, 7-5 6-2


BGL Luxembourg Open

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Arantxa Parra Santonja, 7-5 6-2
Sabine Lisicki def. Iveta Benesova, 6-1 6-4
Carla Suarez Navarro def. Mandy Minella, 7-5 5-7 6-3

Age Before Beauty

Well, Marat is gone from China, and the march towards Bercy and his last tournament continues. Still, he didn't exactly roll down and die in his match against Berdych - a match of two headcases - and so I suppose I can be happy with that. I just don't want to think about a future with no Marat in it. Sigh.

We saw a couple of upsets today, most notably third seed and Grand Slam man Juan Martin del Potro go down to Jurgen Melzer, retiring down a set because of wrist issues. I will be very disappointed in Juan if he can't back up his US Open triumph - but if he's injured I suppose that's not his fault. Just another casualty of the season and the length and all those wacky things. So hasta la vista, Juan, and hopefully we'll see you back again by Bercy.

But the result I thought was reeeeeeeeally interesting was Ivan Ljubicic taking down Fernando Verdasco. It seems like a thousand years ago that Ljubicic was #3 in the world - it was only 2006, and he spent a while floating round the top ten before sliding down to the bottom half of the top fifty. But nonetheless, he's got a lovely game and ain't no one can take that away...

...however, with Nando's crushing groundies, I thought he'd pummel Ivan into submission. Ivan is definitely one of the grandpas of the tour (read: is in his thirties) and while that serve of his is smoking, I got the impression that he'd lost a leeeeeeetle power over the years. But, of course, what does that mean? If one can counterpunch effectively, one can do anything.

I didn't actually see the match so I'm not exactly qualified to comment, but I thought this was an interesting result. Not good for Nando in his bid to make it to the year-ending championships, but it's always nice to see one of the elder statesmen - particularly a really lovely, eloquent gentleman like Ljubicic - prevail.


Today's Results

Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 (Shanghai)

Rafael Nadal def. James Blake, 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 6-4
Novak Djokovic def. Fabio Fognini, 6-3 6-1
Jurgen Melzer def. Juan Martin del Potro, 7-5 2-1 retired
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Shao-Xuan Zeng, 6-3 6-3
Ivan Ljubicic def. Fernando Verdasco, 6-4 7-6 (8-6)
Gilles Simon def. Viktor Troicki, 6-3 6-4
Robin Soderling def. Nicolas Almagro, 6-4 7-5
Gael Monfils def. Lleyton Hewitt, 4-6 6-4 6-2
Tommy Robredo def. Florian Mayer, 4-6 7-6 (12-10) 6-4
Rainer Schuettler def. Tommy Haas, 6-4 retired
Feliciano Lopez def. David Ferrer, 4-6 7-5 6-1
Tomas Berdych def. Marat Safin, 3-6 6-4 6-4


Generali Ladies Linz (Linz)

Yanina Wickmayer def. Timea Bacsinszky, 7-6 (8-6) 6-4
Alexandra Dulgheru def. Sybille Bammer, 6-3 6-1
Alize Cornet def. Kristina Barrois, 4-6 6-3 6-3
Agnieszka Radwanska def. Monica Niculescu, 6-4 6-2
Sara Errani def. Tatjana Malek, 6-3 6-0
Petra Kvitova def. Iveta Benesova, 6-4 7-5
Carla Suarez Navarro def. Olga Govortsova, 6-3 6-4


HP Open (Osaka)

Melinda Czink def. Vania King, 6-4 6-2
Francesca Schiavone def. Yung-Jan Chan, 6-3 0-6 6-3
Sania Mirza def. Viktoriya Kutuzova, 6-4 6-3
Marion Bartoli def. Kurumi Nara, 6-1 6-1

Stanhai

Ernests Gulbis went out in the first round of the Shangahi Masters to Fabio Fognini.

Sigh.

Right. No more on you, Ernie, until you sort yourself out.

Marat Safin, on the other hand, won - yay for Marat! I mean, sure, he beat someone I've never heard of in Mao-Xin Gong, but he beat him well and good (unlike his sister and her Chinese wildcard boogeyman last week). So hurrah for you, Marat, and please, keep up the winning. Go out with a bang. Please. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease.

There were no major upsets on first day action - no seeds fell, but then only a couple were playing. One result I thought was quite interesting was Stan Wawrinka's - he totally had a brain fart in the first set against Lukasz Kubot before coming back to win in three. I love Stan - I really do - but he hasn't been especially impressive of late. He did well in Davis Cup, I suppose, but before that I can't remember a really excellent match he played after he lost to Andy Murray at Wimbledon. Maybe he's got late season blues as well. In which case, get better by next year, please, Stan...

...though with a baby on the way, maybe Stan won't even be in Australia. I hope he will. But nothing's certain, obviously.

One person who will be in Australia is Justine Henin, who's officially been granted a wildcard. I'm not expecting her to pull a Clijsters, but it is going to be very interesting to see how she goes...


Today's Results

Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 (Shanghai)

Fernando Gonzalez def. Mischa Zverev, 7-5 6-7 (0-7) 2-2 retired
Radek Stepanek def. Juan Carlos Ferrero, 6-3 6-0
Tommy Robredo def. Michael Llodra, 6-1 6-4
David Ferrer def. Richard Gasquet, 6-4 6-3
James Blake def. Ivo Karlovic, 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-3
Marat Safin def. Mao-Xin Gong, 6-4 6-4
Stanislas Wawrinka def. Lukasz Kubot, 2-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-3)
Florian Mayer def. Philipp Petzschner, 6-3 6-2
Rainer Schuettler def. Martin Vassallo Arguello, 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-2)
Fabio Fognini def. Ernests Gulbis, 7-6 (7-3) 6-3
Thomaz Bellucci def. Marco Chiudinelli, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4


Generali Ladies Linz (Linz)

Ioana Raluca Olaru def. Lucie Hradecka, 6-2 2-6 6-1
Petra Kvitova def. Andrea Petkovic, 6-1 6-4
Carla Suarez Navarro def. Katerina Srebotnik, 6-2 6-4
Urszula Radwanska def. Yvonne Meusburger, 7-6 (8-6) 6-1


AIG Japan Open (Osaka)

Francesca Schiavone def. Anne Kremer, 7-5 6-2
Sania Mirza def. Shahar Peer, 3-6 6-3 6-4
Melinda Czink def. Ryoko Fuda, 6-4 6-4
Mathilde Johansson def. Yaroslava Shvedova, 7-5 2-6 7-5
Viktoriya Kutuzova def. Maria Kirilenko, 6-2 retired
Katie O'Brien def. Alexa Glatch, 6-3 6-4

All Good Things...

Well, it couldn't last forever. Both Marat and Ernests went out today to opponents who are higher ranked, and, frankly, better than they are right now. No shame in that.

I don't know if there was ever much point hoping for Marat to beat Rafa - though a Marat who played to his potential, a la Marat AO '05, would certainly be capable of it. Rafa showed why he held the #1 spot for a year and why he's been at the top end of the game for so long. I'm pulling for him to win this title now - he deserves it, after a drought of about five months.

But I'm not here to make an ode to Rafa. I thought Marat did pretty well this week and though I'm not hoping for anything major from him in his last few tournaments, it'd be nice if he'd play like this week, win a few matches and fall to worthy opponents, instead of being like his sister and losing to people ranked in the #200s. Cool with you, Maratski?

Now, over to Ernie.

He lost, but I'm definitely seeing signs of life from the Latvian kid. He's working with Hernan Gumy now, I believe, and it's made a different. For the second week in a row, he played Jo-Wilfried tight in three. I think he has a bit of a problem with fading at the ends of matches which he needs to address, but things are looking up for Ernie. It used to be the height of trendiness to be an Ernie fan and now it seems to be the opposite. But I'm still siding with you, Ernie - now go out there, end the year with a few more consecutive wins and show me that my faith in you is not misguided!


Today's Results

China Open (Beijing)

Men's Draw

Rafael Nadal def. Marat Safin, 6-3 6-1
Novak Djokovic def. Fernando Verdasco, 6-3 1-6 6-1
Marin Cilic def. Nikolay Davydenko, 6-4 6-4
Robin Soderling def. Ivan Ljubicic, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4


Women's Draw

Marion Bartoli def. Vera Zvonareva, 3-6 7-5 6-2
Agnieszka Radwanska def. Elena Dementieva, 7-5 6-3
Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-3 6-3
Nadia Petrova def. Shuai Peng, 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-2


Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships (Tokyo)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Ernests Gulbis, 4-6 6-4 6-3
Gael Monfils def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 2-6 6-3 6-4
Mikhail Youzhny def. Tomas Berdych, 6-2 7-6 (8-6)
Lleyton Hewitt def. Edouard Roger-Vasselin, 6-4 6-0

Awesome Times Two

He did it! Oh frabjous day, calloo, callay, etc etc! Joy and celebration and a ticker tape parade!

Ernests Gulbis won two matches in a row.

It was pretty much the crappest way to win ever - on a retirement - but still, I am refusing to be downhearted. He played very well to beat Juan Monaco - even an injured Juan Monaco - and backed up his upset of Stepanek nicely. I am very, very happy.

This was after coming up through qualies, and I'm inclined to think playing the qualies was a good thing for him. It meant he had to string a couple of wins together before the tournament even started, which, sure, weren't over the bestest players EVAH, but it gave him a bit of momentum. This is obviously not something he's going to be able to rely on forever, but for now, I think it served him well. And now he's finally in reasonably deep at a tournament! Hurrah!

You know what would reeeeeeeeeeeally make my day, Ernie? If you won the next round as well. Prove it's not a fluke and you're making a late charge. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?!

And in other news, Marat Safin is totally in the third round in Beijing after opening a can of whoop-ass on seventh seed Fernando Gonzalez. I know his heart isn't in the game any more, ra ra ra, but I would dearly love to see him do well in these last few tournaments of his. End it with a bang, Marat. Do it for me.


Today's Results

China Open (Beijing)

Men's Draw

Rafael Nadal def. James Blake, 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 6-3
Robin Soderling def. Tommy Robredo, 6-3 6-3
Marat Safin def. Fernando Gonzalez, 6-3 6-4
Ivan Ljubicic def. Lukasz Kubot, 7-6 (8-6) 4-6 6-4


Women's Draw

Nadia Petrova def. Serena Williams, 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-5)
Vera Zvonareva def. Flavia Pennetta, 6-3 5-7 7-5
Agnieszka Radwanska def. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, 4-6 6-4 6-2
Marion Bartoli def. Zhang Shuai, 6-1 6-4


Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships (Tokyo)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Richard Gasquet, 4-6 6-2 6-2
Mikhail Youzhny def. Gilles Simon, 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (5-7) 6-4
Tomas Berdych def. Andreas Beck, 6-4 6-1
Lleyton Hewitt def. Fabrice Santoro, 3-6 6-3 6-1
Edouard Roger-Vasselin def. Jurgen Melzer, 4-6 6-2 6-3
Ernests Gulbis def. Juan Monaco, 6-3 4-1 retired

Thai Dyed

Well, I did not get my Thailand wish. Neither Marat Safin nor Ernests Gulbis managed to win their next matches.

Marat I am very disappointed in. He should be able to beat Marco Chiudinelli with his eyes closed and one arm tied behind his back, instead of losing tamely like he did. Still, it's pretty obvious that the fire is gone for Marat. He doesn't have any love for tennis at all and he's just hanging out for retirement so he can lie on the beach for a while. Here's one guy I don't think will be coming back.

Though my track record is not the best with these predictions - look what I said about Justine Henin.

Ernests Gulbis, on the other hand, did quite well. Could he finally, finally being finding his feet again? He pushed top seed Jo-Willy Tsonga all the way to a third set breaker, and considering the folks Jo-Dub has beaten of late - Federer springs to mind - that's really something a bit spesh. Not as good as winning, of course, but there's hope for the young Latvian yet. I'm still on your bandwagon, Ernie.

Over to the women, and I do believe I have some words to eat. I said Azarenka had to be the favourite to take the title... yeah, she went and lost. Just like all the other seeds. Li Na took her out - there's no way I would have picked that result. But JJ is still flying the seed flag, and Aggie Rad, and MaSha is still there - so it's not exactly like the semis of the US Open, which really was a decimation!


Today's Results

PTT Pattaya Open (Bangkok)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Ernests Gulbis, 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-2)
Gilles Simon def. Kevin Kim, 6-2 6-2
John Isner def. Mischa Zverev, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4
Andreas Beck def. Donald Young, 6-1 6-7 (3-7) 6-4
Marco Chiudinelli def. Marat Safin, 6-3 7-6 (7-4)
Evgeny Korolev def. Robby Ginepri, 6-1 6-1


Proton Malaysian Open (Kuala Lumpur)

Fernando Verdasco def. Karol Beck, 6-4 6-0
Fernando Gonzalez def. Rohan Bopanna, 6-4 3-6 6-4
Gael Monfils def. Martin Vassallo Arguello, 6-4 6-2
Tomas Berdych def. Simon Greul, 6-3 4-6 6-3
Richard Gasquet def. Joachim Johansson, 4-6 7-6 (7-1) 6-2


Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo)

Jelena Jankovic def. Marion Bartoli, 6-4 6-3
Li Na def. Victoria Azarenka, 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 7-6 (7-4)
Agnieszka Radwanska def. Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-3 6-1
Maria Sharapova def. Iveta Benesova, 6-4 7-5