Tales From The Outside Courts

The side of the draw playing today is my non-emotional investment side (ie. no Federer, no Mahut), so today was sort of my off day at the Australian Open. This is not to say, however, that I did not have excellent times watching excellent tennis. Because I did.

Walking through the gates at Melbourne Park (and walking out again fifteen-odd hours later, knowing you'll be back there not long after) is magical. I've been to a few of the tournaments around Australia - Sydney, Brisbane, Hopman Cup - and while they are all excellent (especial props to the Hopman Cup) there's a buzz at a Slam. There are good vibrations in the air. Things are going to happen. Magic is going to be made.

And magic is made - not just on Rod Laver Arena, not just on Hisense, not just on the show courts. At every court there is magic. One of the most magical moments I've had this week was on Court 14 (arguably the most remote court in the complex) watching Mahut win his first round match. Watching tennis on TV, it seems like the main arenas are all there is. When you are there, there are so many other stories to be told on the outside courts that you miss otherwise.

Like Alexandr Dolgopolov. The media has been silent on him - he hasn't played anyone big yet - but MAN, has this guy got game. He took four sets to beat the also very talented Benjamin Becker (aka Becker-no-relation) today, but I was super impressed. He has a great serve, a massive forehand, and he can volley like nobody's business. He plays Jo-Wilfried Tsonga next, and I would not be surprised at all if he gives the big guy a run for his money. Watch out for this kid in the future. He has MAJOR talent.

And he is man enough to wear an Alice band. I respect that.

I also saw Youzhny play today. He earned his membership to the Roger Federer Let's Win Two Sets Then Lose Two And Give People A Heart Attack Club by winning the first two sets over Blaz Kavcic, then dropping two before coming back to see the fifth. I only saw the fifth set, so I can't talk about the rest of the match, but Youzhny certainly played very well. And I saw his salute live!

But that wasn't what I meant to talk about. Kavcic is another one of those stories that you only find on the outside courts. I saw some of his first and second round matches, and he is an absolutely outstanding talent. I really think we are going to be seeing a lot more of him in the future. He is a story that is not going to be on the outside courts forever.

Same with Santiago Giraldo. I saw him play - and lose to - Marin Cilic today, but he has some massive potential. He hits the ball hard and hits an excellent slice... and when he hits it, he makes a whoosh sound. How can you not love that?

For the first time this week, I sat and watched an entire match that did not involve Nicolas Mahut on an outside court. I don't normally do this - I'm flitting from court to court to court - but it was so hot today that there was no way I was giving up the patch of shade I found! Luckily for me, the match was a great one - John Isner vs Radek Stepanek. Throughout the match, you could actually see the cogs in Isner's mind turning as he figured Stepanek out. He played crap in the beginning - he lost the first set and smashed a racquet in spectacular fashion - but then... he worked it out.

There is a lot to be said for a thinking tennis player - indeed, any good tennis player needs to be one. I feel like Isner sometimes gets dismissed as being just a serve, but he really does have a multidimensional game. His volleys in particular are outstanding. I think he will make mincemeat of Cilic in the next round - Cilic was better than I expected him to be against Giraldo, but he's nowhere near where he was last year - and might even take a set off Rafa in the next one, if Rafa isn't zoning.

I'm really hoping Rafa is zoning in the third round, though. But even if he isn't, he is going to take Bernard Tomic TO F%^&ING SCHOOL. And that is all I have to say about that.

Tonight was my last night in Rod Laver Arena, and there was no way it could live up to the previous two. But it didn't do so bad. Stosur had a really high quality win over Dushevina - definitely the best I've seen her play this year - and then Baghdatis/Del Potro was entertaining, if a little short. I would have loved to see the fifth in this match, but JMDP couldn't do it for me. I am a little concerned about his ongoing wrist problems, however - he had the trainer out three times for it, and there was one instance where he actually DROPPED HIS RACQUET in the middle of a service action. On a break point. Has anyone ever seen that before? I haven't.

But I missed, it seems, the moment of the day. However, I've heard alllll about it. Good on you for taking Todd Woodbridge to task, Kim Clijsters. You are awesome.

Shiny Happy Shiny Things

There's something that makes you smile when you see Roger Federer with silverware in his hands. When there is a trophy over the Federhead, all is right with the world.

I mean, it's only Stockholm. A 250. For which I don't think he gets any ranking points. And it wasn't as if it was a great field - I mean, he was playing Florian Mayer in the final. I was hardly dialling 1800-SURPRISED when he won. But considering the definite title drought that has been going on this year, seeing Roger with some shiny stuff is definite happymaking.

And, as noted yesterday, it was a great result for Mayer as well - though he got a distinct lack of shiny stuff. Gypped. Maybe his reward was merely standing in the presence of mighty Fed. Who can tell.

And what a result for Viktor Troicki? He's a player I go on and off with, but I find it very hard to believe that this is his first ever ATP title. He's definitely got enough game to pick off a few 250 tournaments here and there in his career - maybe even a 500, if he gets very lucky. And it was a good victory for him in the final as well, beating Marcos Baghdatis. A bit disappointing for Marcos, I suppose, but a final is still a pretty good showing!

Now stop reading my random ramblings and go and look at pictures of Roger holding shiny things!

Florian and the Final

Well, well, well, he didn't need that last win after all. Robin Soderling is through to the world tour finals, and I am confident that he is going to rock them, providing he is uninjured. He wasn't that great last year, but here's hoping he can do something a bit spesh this year. He, after all, very, very much deserves to be there.

But Stockholm has been rolling on without him, and we have the final coming up very soon - Roger Federer vs Florian Mayer. You'd expect that Roger would make the final - he's Roger, after all, and even though he had a bit of a scare against Wawrinka, he makes it good - but this a big result from Florian Mayer, he who conquered Soderling and then backed it up.

Seriously, Florian Mayer has been around forever, and I could not tell you one single thing about him. That's usually a sign that he hasn't done that much, I think. This is certainly the first final I can remember him making. I can't think of too much more to say about this, due to not knowing too much about him, but well done, dude. You'll have your work cut out for against the Federer Express, but you should be pretty proud of coming this far, if nothing else.

There's also been a big result for Denis Istomin in Moscow. I know he lost to Marcos Baghdatis, but it was tight, and with his whole up and comer schtick, semis in a decent field like this is good stuff. And it's a good result for Baghdatis as well - he hasn't had the most awesome year ever and a title here would be a really good result for him. Actually, a final's not bad either. Fun times.

The Spectacular Dullness of New Haven

So if Roger Federer made the final of both the biggest tournaments of the US Open series and won one of them... why is Andy Murray the winner of the series? Can anyone explain this?

Moreover, I'm pretty sure Marcos Baghdatis came second. Explanations, anyone? I just do not get it at all.

I'm really scraping the barrel for something to write about right now (duh), so I guess we have to talk about the lame tournament going on right now. That tournament is New Haven and it is spectacularly uninteresting, but let's see if I can dream up something to say.

Um...

The men's final is between Denis Istomin and Sergiy Stakhovsky, which should give some indication of the quality of the tournament. I wouldn't know who to pick there, because I don't know enough about either player - even though Istomin has been rocking that dark horse thing all year. The women's final is between Nadia Petrova and whoever wins out of Wozniacki and Dementieva.

There is a thought, actually. Why is it that nobody who is anybody on the men's side plays a tournament the week before a Slam - which seems to make sense, because you want to conserve energy, ra ra ra - but a bunch of the ladies do? The ladies who are anybody - because much as I would like to deny it, Wozniacki is anybody.

So... yep. There's a question. Answers, anyone?

Back at the Bar

The results in Washington this week are like stepping back five or more years. It's crazy. And it's also one of the greatest triumphs of talent I have ever seen.

I have talked before about how I think Tomas Berdych is crazy talented - which he is - but Xavier Malisse is, in my book, much more so, and really could have been something if he had managed to capitalise on it. Which he hasn't. Not really. He should have been solid top ten for several years and he never came close. But now, in his relative old age, he's having some success - at this tournament anyway.

Maybe it was the threat of his career ending with that whole drugs thing last year - the same thing that enveloped Yanina Wickmayer - because it really seems to have lit a fire under Malisse. He's never going to reach the top ten, but he's been moderately impressive this year by anyone's standards. And now he's beaten the top seed (Berdych) to progress to the semis in Washington. Good work, Xavier.

And then there's Marcos Baghdatis and Marin Cilic - very talented, both of them - but well, well, who is this I see? It surely couldn't be the man who has missed the last six Slams but still manages to keep it together for Davis Cup? Oh why yes, it is. David Nalbandian is playing as well as I've seen him for a long time and he played some lovely stuff in putting out Roddick-beater Simon. I really want to see him keep on this trajectory of improvement, because seriously, seeing Daveed play when he's playing well is something very special.

I'd be happy with any one of these four boys taking the title, but I really would like to see Malisse or Nalbandian do it. It's been a long time between drinks but they're finally back at the bar!

Lessons

Okay, kiddies. Roland Garros and the claycourt season are over for the year (well, apart from that weird post-Wimbledon fake-claycourt season, but no one who is anyone really plays that.) We're off the red and onto the green - off the dirt and onto the lawn. But before we depart Paris altogether, let us take a moment and think of what we have learned.

1. Rafa Nadal is the greatest clay court player. Ever. I don't think this is particularly contentious - however, when you consider all the hoops that Federer had to jump through to prove he was the greatest of all time, I think this bears some thinking about. Rafa has long since beaten that streak of most consecutive clay court wins (I think Vilas had it before, and I think Rafa's streak ended up at 81 or something crazy, which beat the record by about 30.) However, the one stat Rafa has yet to chase is the Bjorn Borg feat of six Roland Garroses.

Let's be fair on the kid. He is 24. I think he has more than one title in Paris left in him yet. And if you put today's Rafa up against Borg in his prime, my money is on Rafa. So I'm handing over the greatest claycourter ever crown... now. Actually, I handed it over about three years ago, but let's make it official here.

2. Some streaks can only be appreciated when they're broken. 23 Slam semis. That's about five years of being in the semis in every Slam. Well done, Roger Federer. It may have ended, but I think we can safely that this is one stat that is safe for a while. For five years, at least.

And you still have your quarter final streak. 24 and counting. Is that a record?

3. You don't have to be a baby to make massive career strides. Much as I was being all nationalistic and pulling for Stosur, Francesca Schiavone's win was massive, and she's nearly 30. This was a huge achievement for her, and I think it really is the icing on the cake for this story in women's tennis. When you've got players who are not young in tennis years achieving greatness, I think that is special. This is a win for the Kimiko Date Krumms of the world. But most of all, it's a win for a lovely player who deserves it.

And on that note...

4. Francesca Schiavone has one of the best smiles in tennis. She and Marcos Baghdatis. Gotta give it to them.

Any arguments?

5. Robin Soderling was not a one final wonder. I don't know if anyone expected Soderling to come close to replicating what he did last year. He may not have played the best final ever, but let us not denigrate his journey to the final. He played some truly excellent tennis. And considering he was the one that a) beat Nadal here last year and b) broke the Federer Slam semi streak... can you deny that the Yoker seriously has something, particularly here in Paris?

Now, what else have you got in your bag of tricks, Soddy my friend?

6. Sam Stosur is a force to be reckoned with. Like Soderling, she did not exactly play the final to end all finals. But you can't fluke beating Henin, Serena and Jankovic in a row. Sam Stosur is going places. She is this year's Soderling (well, Soderling is this year's Soderling, but she's the other one.) She backed up and bettered her performance of last year despite being in the most obscenely difficult quarter I have ever seen. This can only give her confidence and things are only looking up.

7. Don't trust the Russians. Sveta. Dinara. I am looking at YOU.

Much as I don't like it when I don't get my Fed-in-the-final fix, I thoroughly enjoyed this year's Roland Garros - and, unusually, I enjoyed the women's side more than the men's. Maybe it's because I am, at this stage of my life, more emotionally invested in men's tennis, but I really enjoyed the openness of the women's draw. It was a real anybody-can-win thing, and hell, anybody did. I would be upset about this with the boys (I like Fedal on top) but in the women, I dig it.

Wimbledon, over to you.

Novak on the Edge

I talked yesterday about how Federer's loss to Baghdatis was not indicative of any great slide in form, any more so than his 2007 loss to Canas was the beginning of an end (we all know how that turned out - three Slam year ahoy!) And this is all true.

However, it does not mean that Novak Djokovic's loss to Ivan Ljubicic is NOT indicative of some greater overall thing. (Fear my double negative). Because I would contend that this is the latest in a string of weird things that... well, let's just say I'm not exactly on the 'Djokovic will dominate the tour this year bandwagon'.

Maybe it's the newfound pressure of being #2 or something, but Djokovic looks tired whenever he steps out on court (moreso than usual, anyway). At the Australian Open, we saw a lot of this - he managed to cruise through four relatively weak opponents before physically crumbling when he hit the brick wall that is Jo Tsonga.

But that brick wall seems to be coming earlier and earlier. This time it was Ivan Ljubicic - who is made of awesome, don't get me wrong, but really not the kind of person Djokovic should be rolling over for.

I used to rag on Djokovic all the time for being a rude little douchebag. But maybe he needed that abrasiveness. Maybe it gave him the edge he needed to play tennis at the top. Because he seems to have lost that edge now, lost that fire, that desire... and if this trend continues, he's not going to stay at #2 or even #3 for much longer.

And The Moral Of The Story Is...

...when you have match points, you must convert them.

Roger Federer held three match points against Marcos Baghdatis today and failed to convert a single one, which led to him losing the match. I don't think this is indicative on any greater trends - guess it didn't just go his way today - but it does show that in tennis, it isn't so much winning points that matters, but which points you win. They both won the same number of points (108) but Baghdatis comes out with the W next to his name.

That's tennis. So let that be a lesson to you - convert the points that matter.

It's annoying that Roger is out of Indian Wells, but it's not a major crisis or anything. With him gone, I am now barracking whole heartedly for Rafa (even though his shorts are heinous). It's going to be interesting to see who steps up for this one.

Speaking of stepping up - Sam Stosur! She's into the quarters after a sizzling win over Vera Zvonareva, the defending champ. Seriously, MADE OF AWESOME. She has a great chance of winning the whole thing, and now that would be something else. She won her maiden singles title last year... to get the second one at a tournament this massive would be rad.

Disappointments in Dubai

I think I wrote a few weeks ago about how Feliciano Lopez has one really good tournament in him in a year. He won a tournament a few weeks ago... and the theory is holding true, because he lost first round in Dubai to Stefan Koubek. Now, Koubeck isn't the uber-suck - he is Federer's hitting partner of choice, as we all know - but really, Feli? Really?

Another dude is definitely hanging out in Club Disappointment this week is Simone Bolelli. Now, I have watched Bolelli play a few times and I like his game. He's played Hopman Cup before, and that really endears me to a player. He's talented and really pretty and he has some serious game.

So why has he lost fourteen matches in a row? Riddle me that one.

I can't talk about that too much more, because I legitimately have no answer. I don't know if there is any excuse for an ATP player of that calibre to lose that many times in a row. That's just crazy talk. So fix something, Simone. You're a mess right now.

Someone I am not disappointed in, however, is Marcos Baghdatis. Gilles Simon may just be back from injury, but he is ranked up high. This was a great win for Marcos, and I hope he can go further!

Jodi's Epic Tennis Adventure 2.2 - Sparky Marky

I've just returned from the men's final of the Medibank International - and one thing's for sure, I am looking forward to Melbourne, where my hotel is within walking distance of Rod Laver Arena. To get from Central Sydney to Ken Rosewall Arena, it's two trains and a hike. But whinging aside, yay tennis!

Baghdatis and Gasquet was always going to be an intriguing match up - if we had to have two unseeded players in the final, these are probably the two I would have picked. Actually, the seeds in the men's draw weren't that great anyway, so all things considering, this was a good final. And it was certainly a more entertaining match than the women's match the night before, which, despite featuring two Big Name Players OMG, was not exactly a blockbuster.

So we have an intriguing match, a final in balmy Sydney, what could possibly go wrong?

Weather.

Of all the nights to rain and force the match to go late late late, it had to be the one where I'm catching an early flight the next morning. Typical. It started to fall at 30-0 Gasquet in the second set, Baghdatis having just won the first, and persisted for the better part of an hour. And it's pretty dull when you're there all by yourself and there's no tennis and there's rain... though you do get to eavesdrop on the people around you and wince at their tennis (and other) faux pas. (What is the plural of faux pas? I have no idea). My favourite one was 'Feliciano Verdascus', who apparently won Kooyong today... though there was a 'Twilight is extremely well written' one which made me wince. But my feelings on tweenage literature are not the subject of this post.

As you can tell, I am rambling, because I am tired and need to sleep before aforementioned early flight. I will be concise. Gasquet did not play badly at all - in fact, this is the best I have seen him for a long time. I don't know if we'll see him in the top ten again this year, but he should definitely better his ranking significantly if he stays out of trouble. He played some backhands tonight that... whoa. Yeah. They were pretty amazing. I think Gasquet should have a special exhibition against Wawrinka one day. That would be like... backhand porn.

So his backhand was great, his forehand was pretty solid - he didn't do a whole lot wrong. If one shot let him down, it was the serve - he served two doubles in a row in the tiebreak which probably didn't help him a great deal. Baghdatis, on the other hand, was cranking the serve - he got a lot of cheap points off it. This match was definitely won by Marcos and not lost by Richou, because both of them played pretty well. The difference was in the serving and hitting the lines - I haven't seen the error count, but I'd imagine Marcos would be pretty economical, considering the level of aggression he played with.

Gasquet started out with the wrong game plan, I think, which cost him his very first service game, which end up costing him the set. He was playing a lot of junk balls around the service line, and Baghdatis was just eating them up. I couldn't tell whether he was just sort of feeling out the court or whether he was trying to lure Baghdatis in - he did set up a couple of points beautifully where he lured Marcos in and then passed him. Baghdatis started off playing a lot deeper and it paid off.

This was a match with long rallies and it was very entertaining. I hope to see more of both these boys at the Open! And congratulations to Marcos - it's really something being in a crowd that's full of crazy Cypriot fans, and I really loved the atmosphere. Keep smiling, dude.

Lena Under The Radar

It's the day before Jodi's Epic Tennis Trip Mk 2 starts - I'm flying off to Sydney tomorrow night for the men's and women's finals of the Medibank International before heading down to Melbourne for the first week of the Aussie Open. And boy, am I excited!

I'm even more excited now that we should have a half decent women's final for me to watch. I was a bit worried for a moment there that we'd have Aravane Rezai vs an exhausted Victoria Azarenka. Dementieva, to her credit, never gave me a moment's worry - she disposed of Azarenka quickly. But Rezai really should have won that match against Serena - and Serena should not have had to pull a Houdini to get out of it.

To Serena's credit, she did pull the Houdini, and I wouldn't be surprised to see her win the final tomorrow (though I really do have my money on Dementieva - she's definitely been the steadiest player all week). These two girls were responsible for the Best Match Evah of 2009 on the women's side (though in my humble opinion, it didn't have anything on Clijsters vs Henin in Brisbane - I WAS THERE I WAS THERE). And here's hoping they can pull out another big one tonight.

I've seen a lot of Dementieva in the last couple of weeks - I saw her play live at the Hopman Cup, and I was sitting quite close to her. There's things you can tell in real life that you can't off a telecast, and let me tell you, Dementieva is looking good. I don't want to pull the big claims and say that oh yes, Lena D will win her first Slam in Australia? but you know what? she has a pretty good shot. I think it's in her favour that Clijsters/Henin, with a side of Serena, will take the spotlight. Lena does her best work when she's under the radar, in my opinion, and I'll be interested to see how she performs.

I'll also be very interested to see how Serena performs when she runs up against a Belgian, but that will be a whole other story.

The men's final is on Saturday, and will feature either Gasquet or Benneteau against either Baghdatis or Fish. (Fish has just beaten Peter Luczak in a tight one - Lleyton Hewitt totally crashed out to Marcos Baghdatis after being up a set and a break). Personally, I'm pulling for Gasquet/Baghdatis - that could be totally entertaining, and good for both of their respective comebacks as well.

Before I go, a shout out to my boys John Millman and Matt Ebden in Melbourne, who are both through to the final round of qualies. If we can get just one of these boys through to the main draw, that will be awesome... but you know what? I reckon we can get both.

Coming Home Strong

Wow. We all know that Sabine Lisicki is my homegirl, but congratulations, Timea Bacsinszky! What a great win!

I haven't seen a lot of Timmy playing, to be honest, but I've read a few interviews with her and she seems cute as a button and sweet as pie. This is, I believe, her first career title - the first of several, I hope. I love girls that look genuinely joyful on the tennis court - which is why I'm such a big Sabine fan, among other reasons - and Timmy's one of them. So allez Timea! Looking forward to seeing more of you next year!

And speaking of the WTA, Francesca Schiavone also managed a title, finishing the year very very strongly. She couldn't quite bring home the bacon last week in Osaka, but she defeated Olga Govortsova to come away with the Kremlin Cup. Any woman with a one handed backhand has me as a fan, so awesome work, Francesca!

(One question - Doha starts tomorrow, yeah? Why is the women's year ending championships so much earlier than the men's? That doesn't seem especially fair.)

The male Kremlin Cup winner was Mikhail Youzhny, who produced a blistering second set to level things up against Janko Tipsarevic and then brought it home in the third. It's always nice to see a hometown hero win his local tournament (cough Roger cough Basel cough please cough) and it wouldn't be right, really, to see a non-Russian hold up that cup. It was Kunitsyn last year, and Davydenko and Safin have both been in the mix in the past, and... I feel a bit bad for Janko, because I think he's a really good player and he never seems to get the pay off. But Youzhny's come blazing back after a very slow start to the year, and I love me some of that...

...which is why Marcos Baghdatis's victory in Sweden made me happiest of all. I've talked a lot about my Marcos love this week already so I won't harp on about it, but Marcos, I'm looking forward to cheering for you in Australia (even though the likelihood of me being heard over Melbourne's Greek community = less than zero).


Today's Results

Kremlin Cup (Moscow)

Men's Draw

Mikhail Youzhny def. Janko Tipsarevic, 6-7 (5-7) 6-0 6-4


Women's Draw

Francesca Schiavone def. Olga Govortsova, 6-3 6-0


If Stockholm Open (Stockholm)

Marcos Baghdatis def. Olivier Rochus, 6-1 7-5


BGL Luxembourg Open

Timea Bacsinszky def. Sabine Lisicki, 6-2 7-5

Girls Made of Awesome

I'm guessing that the Yoker's year ending championships dream might be at an end, which is a shame that is THIS BIG. He didn't walk out on court for his semi-final, giving Marcos Baghdatis a walkover into the final. It's an elbow injury, I think - and I really hope it's not too serious. If Soderling doesn't continue on his run of awesomeness next year I'll be very disappointed. He's been so totally awesome this year. And much as Nando Verdasco has had an awesome year - that semi against Rafa at the Aussie has to be one of the matches of 2009 - I can't help feeling that the Yoker belongs in London at those championships. That French Open run alone warrants it.

(Much like Kim Clijsters belongs in Doha, but that's a whole other kettle of fish).

Baghdatis will meet Rochus in the final after wee Olivier beat Thomaz Bellucci in the other semi in three. No secret I'm pulling for Marcos. I want that smiley happy Cypriot to get his ranking back up there and have a decent run in Australia. There's really no sight like when you see the Greek crowds screaming for him as you're wandering round Melbourne Park. It's really something else. I don't know if he can get anywhere seeding level, but it would be awesome if he could. Marcos Baghdatis belongs in the second week in Australia. It's just the way it is.

And we have a lovely final over in Luxembourg - we have my special favourite and Girl Who Might Just Save The WTA Yet Sabine Lisicki playing young Swiss girl Timea Bacsinszky, who I think is pretty awesome too. I'm pulling for Sabine, what with her being my special favourite and all, but I wouldn't be devastated if Timmy pulled it out. Just getting to the final alone is pretty huge for her - it's her first, I think...? Anyway, that tournament is so win-win. I hearby declare Luxembourg, as a tournament, Made Of Awesome.

And a shoutout has to go to Francesca Schiavone in Moscow - back to back finals in two weeks = made of awesome! She lost to Sam Stosur (also made of awesome) last week - here's hoping she can come away with the title this week. Vive la one-handed backhand!


Today's Results

Kremlin Cup (Moscow)

Men's Draw

Mikhail Youzhny def. Mikhail Kukushkin, 6-2 6-1
Janko Tipsarevic def. Illya Marchenko, 6-1 6-4


Women's Draw

Francesca Schiavone def. Alona Bondarenko, 6-4 6-0
Olga Govortsova def. Alisa Kleybanova, 6-2 6-1


If Stockholm Open (Stockholm)

Marcos Baghdatis def. Robin Soderling, walkover
Olivier Rochus def. Thomaz Bellucci, 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 6-3


BGL Luxembourg Open (Luxembourg)

Timea Bacsinszky def. Yanina Wickmayer, 3-6 6-2 7-5
Sabine Lisicki def. Shahar Peer, 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-5)

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

#1 Story

It is, I believe, official, or as good as - Dinara Safina is no longer going to be the world #1. Instead, that title will pass to the much-belaguered-of-late Serena Williams. This is, in my opinion, a Good Thing for Dinara. A very Good Thing indeed - and I'm sure I'm not the only person who thinks this way. The last thing Dinara needs at the moment is that kind of pressure. Maybe this will inspire her to better play. Who knows?

At any rate, I'm not giving up on Dinara just yet. I may be the last person clinging to the bandwagon, and I may only be clinging to it by a fingernail, but I'm going to keep the faith. She's never been someone that wins pretty, and she's never lost prettily either. The rest of this year has to be a write-off from her perspective - I wouldn't blame her if she skipped the end of year championships and just went off and worked with Zeljko for a while on that serve of hers. I think it would do her the world of good. And then maybe next year we can see her winning ugly again instead of losing hideously.

Speaking of #1 seeds losing, I bet Juan Martin del Potro's filthy with himself. Talk about coming back from a massive title without a bang. He went down in straights in the first round of Tokyo to qualifier Edouard Roger-Vasselin - not the kind of match he wants to be losing. I mean, I'm sure we can forgive him a stupid loss or two - he did prove himself in rather spectacular fashion by winning in the US - but I've got my eye on you, Juan. Don't keep this up.

The top seed in Beijing is one Rafael Nadal, and he did not lose today - onya, Rafa. However, he did go to three, and the man that stole the set was Marcos Baghdatis. I've missed smiley happy Marcos, and to see him back on court and pinching sets from the top blokes is very nice indeed. Keep it up, amigo!


Today's Results

China Open (Beijing)

Men's Draw

Rafael Nadal def. Marcos Baghdatis, 6-4 3-6 6-4
Lukasz Kubot def. Andy Roddick, 6-2 6-4
Nikolay Davydenko def. Igor Kunitsyn, 6-1 6-7 (6-8) 6-2
Fernando Verdasco def. Robby Ginepri, 6-7 (7-9) 6-1 6-2
Robin Soderling def. Jeremy Chardy, 6-3 4-6 6-2
Fernando Gonzalez def. David Ferrer, 7-5 6-4
Marat Safin def. Jose Acasuso, 6-4 6-2
James Blake def. Florian Mayer, 6-3 3-6 6-3
Ivan Ljubicic def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 7-6 (10-8) 4-6 6-1
Viktor Troicki def. Fabio Fognini, 7-6 (7-5) 7-5


Women's Draw

Marion Bartoli def. Alisa Kleybanova, 6-2 6-3
Flavia Pennetta def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 3-6 7-5 6-3
Vera Zvonareva def. Francesca Schiavone, 6-3 6-0
Elena Dementieva def. Melinda Czink, 6-4 6-3
Agnieszka Radwanska def. Patty Schnyder, 6-4 6-1
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Vania King, 6-4 6-4
Shuai Peng def. Jelena Jankovic, 4-6 7-5 6-2
Maria Sharapova def. Victoria Azarenka, 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 7-5
Nadia Petrova def. Daniela Hantuchova, 6-1 2-6 7-5
Serena Williams def. Ekaterina Makarova, 6-3 6-2


Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships (Tokyo)

Edouard Roger-Vasselin def. Juan Martin del Potro, 6-4 6-4
Gilles Simon def. Takao Suzuki, 6-3 6-4
Tomas Berdych def. Go Soeda, 6-2 6-4
Lleyton Hewitt def. Tatsuma Ito, 6-1 7-5
Jurgen Melzer def. Leonardo Mayer, 7-6 (7-4) 6-3
Fabrice Santoro def. Andrey Golubev, 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-2) 6-2

Pim-Pim and Paradorn

Now here's something I didn't know - Paradorn Srichaphan is set to return to the tour next week at the Thailand Open. There you go.

Sure, it's only in the doubles, but I had pretty much given up hope on him altogether - he's been out since, what, 2006? 2007? A long time ago, anyway. During which time he married Miss Universe or some other beauty pageant type person, which became his new claim to fame. Here's hoping he can get back a bit more of that 'Thailand's favourite son' mojo and lose that 'tennis player married to super hot chick' thing he's been working of late. I like Paradorn. He's a bit of a character. It'll be nice to see him back.

Of course, here's hoping he stays back, instead of coming back sporadically, retiring again, playing a few Challengers and then fading into obscurity. I am definitely not thinking of Joachim 'Pim-Pim' Johansson here. Oh no. Not at all. Whatever happened to him, anyway? He made some kind of comeback late last year, didn't he? Or was it this year? Anyway, I haven't heard of or seen anything of him since. He could be playing satellite events or playing pool in his local pub for all I know. Definitely no Clijsters style comeback, that's for sure.

...okay, I just did a bit of a search on Pim-Pim, my curiosity being piqued, and he played a few Challengers in April and May, before seemingly fading into oblivion. His last match was a walkover - I can only conclude that he's out injured again. Or possibly retired. Who can tell.

Sebastien Grosjean has been in this position as well - he's been out for seemingly forever, before coming back briefly in the grass court season, withdrawing injured and then coming back this week in Metz, where he won a match before going down. Slightly better for a comeback. It's odd, these players that you totally forget about until their names pop up and you're like, 'that's right - you exist!' Marcos Baghdatis, there's another one. Where is he at these days?

So I drifted a little from my original intended subject, which was 'yay for Paradorn coming back!' Oops. Let me then conclude with 'yay for Paradorn coming back!' and a fervent wish that he fares better than poor Pim-Pim.


Today's Results

BCR Open Romania (Bucharest)

Juan Monaco def. Simon Greul, 6-4 6-3
Albert Montanes def. Santiago Ventura, 4-6 6-4 6-1


Open de Moselle (Metz)

Gael Monfils def. Richard Gasquet, 6-4 6-3
Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4


Hansol Korea Open (Seoul)

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 2-6 6-3 6-1
Kimiko Date Krumm def. Maria Kirilenko, 3-6 6-2 6-4


Tashkent Open (Tashkent)

Akgul Amanmuradova def. Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-4 7-6 (7-3)
Shahar Peer def. Olga Govortsova, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Rajeev Believes

In all that talk about Davis Cup over the past few days, especially yesterday, I just about forgot to cover one of the other biggish stories of the weekend - Rajeev Ram won the title in Newport after entering the draw as a lucky loser.

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Now doesn't that warm the cockles of your heart?

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I love stories like this (provided they don't come at the expense of my beloved Roger Federer, but he is, as we all know, out on baby watch for the moment, so we don't have to worry about him for a while!) I mean, sure the competition in these little tournaments like Newport isn't massive, but a victory over players ranked a good deal higher than you is a victory. Major kudos to Rajeev Ram.

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I think what I like most about these stories is not so much the rags-to-riches nature of them, but the fact that the little guy, the qualifier or the lucky loser or whoever, believes he can do it. It's like Marcos Baghdatis at the Aussie Open a few years back. It was belief that got him where he went. And I have a lot of credit for that - for believing that no matter how insurmountable the obstacle might seem, anything is possible.

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So well done, Rajeev Ram. Keep believing.

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Today's Results

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Mercedes Cup (Stuttgart)

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Victor Hanescu def. Dominik Meffert, 6-4 7-6 (8-6)

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Catella Swedish Open (Bastad)

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Andreas Vinciguerra def. Florent Serra, 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-4

Victor Crivoi def. Denis Istomin, 6-0 6-4

Teimuraz Gabashvili def. Christophe Rochus, 4-6 6-1 6-0

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ECM Prague Open (Prague)

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Francesca Schiavone def. Shahar Peer, 7-5 6-3

Sybille Bammer def. Tsvetana Pironkova, 2-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-5

Carla Suarez Navarro def. Alexandra Dulgheru, 4-6 6-3 6-3

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova def. Kristina Kucova, 7-5 6-4

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Internazionali Femminili di Tennis di Palermo (Palermo)

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Alberta Brianti def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-3 4-0 retired

Aravane Rezai def. Galina Voskoboeva, 6-2 6-4

Roberta Vinci def. Lourdes Dominguez Lino, 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-3)

Olga Govortsova def. Maria Elena Camerin, 6-3 6-3

Varvara Lepchenko def. Corinna Dentoni, 6-3 6-3

A Girl Who Has Lost Her Way

There I go saying all that nice stuff about Marcos Baghdatis yesterday and how nice it is to see him playing on the tour, and then he goes and retires in his match against Raemon Sluiter. I guess these mysterious injuries that have been plaguing him are still... well, plaguing him. Get well soon, Marcos.

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In other news, I think we have a few new contenders for entry into the Club of Lost Souls. Tempting as it is to enter the entire women's top ten and leave it at that, we have to be a little more selective. Ana Ivanovic is definitely in there, after losing to Petrova the other day - which wasn't even technically an upset, given that Petrova was seeded and Ivanovic was not. Jankovic is scrabbling at the door, after an embarrassing loss yesterday - whatever happened to JJ, anyway? But today's contender for Girl Who Has Lost Her Way is Elena Dementieva.

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And the year started off so well.

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I don't know how you reconcile the beginning of her year, where she won two straight tournaments and then made the Australian Open semis, with the big fat nothing that's happened since. She did get a bit of a hammering in the Australian Open, I suppose -Serena saw to that - but Safina got a worse one, and she still managed to dominate the claycourt season and reach the Roland Garros final. You see Dementieva sort of hanging about in draws now, maybe going a couple of rounds here and there, but the last time I can remember her winning is January.

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What's remarkable is how unremarkable this is. I don't think I've actually seen her play a single match since the Australian Open, though she obviously had. Her loss of way has been completely under the radar. I could offer no commentary on what she needs to fix in her game, what she needs to get back on track - well, I probably couldn't anyway being totally uneducated, but whatever - but she needs to do something. She's just taken another early round loss, and for a player with her capability, that should not be happening.

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So get back on the path, Elena. The Club of Lost Souls is so full with your WTA compatriots that you couldn't swing a cat in there at the moment. Prove me wrong.

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Today's Results

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Ordina Open (s'Hertogenbosch)

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Men's Draw

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Rainer Schuettler def. Thiemmo de Bakker, 6-3 7-6 (7-3)

Jeremy Chardy def. Dick Norman, 3-6 6-3 6-3

David Ferrer def. Oscar Hernandez, 6-4 6-3

Raemon Sluiter def. Marcos Baghdatis, 4-3 retired

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Women's Draw

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Dinara Safina def. Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-3 6-3

Daniela Hantuchova def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 2-6 6-2 6-2

Francesca Schiavone def. Alona Bondarenko, 4-6 7-5 6-3

Olga Govortsova def. Nathalie Dechy, 6-1 6-3

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AEGON International (Eastbourne)

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Men's Draw

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Frank Dancevic def. James Ward, 7-6 (8-6) 6-4

Leonardo Mayer def. Julien Benneteau, 6-4 6-4

Denis Istomin def. Sam Querrey, 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-4

Dmitry Tursunov def. Alex Bogdanovic, 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

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Women's Draw

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Virginie Razzano def. Elena Dementieva, 6-0 3-6 7-6 (7-4)

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Li Na, 3-1 retired

Marion Bartoli def. Anna Chakvetadze, 7-5 6-3

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Sybille Bammer, 6-1 7-5

Caroline Wozniacki def. Samantha Stosur, 6-1 5-7 6-1

Ekaterina Makarova def. Amelie Mauresmo, 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (15-13)

Vera Dushevina def. Nadia Petrova, 5-7 1-0 retired

Aleksandra Wozniak def. Jie Zheng, 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

Nice Guys Finishing First

You know who I've missed - and who I think the tennis world has missed? Marcos Baghdatis.

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I assume he's been having injury troubles, because I haven't seen him around for a while. This is a crying shame, because not only is he a nice player to watch, he just brings so much extra flair to the court. Maybe I'm a little biased, being Australian and thus privy to the massive Greek crowds that support him so vocally at the Aussie Open, but he really brings a lot of personality to the table, with his big cheeky smile and effervescent attitude. The world needs more players like Marcos.

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I say all this on account of Marcos suddenly turning up again in s'Hertogenbosch and winning a match - a good one too, knocking out second seed Tommy Robredo. I mean, sure, Tommy Robredo is Spanish, not Rafa and thus probably allergic to grass (even if David Ferrer won the title here last year) and Marcos is a former Wimbledon semi-finalist, but whatever. Marcos has been away for a while (I think he was in the first round of Roland Garros, but I don't really remember) and it's nice to see him win one.

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The same thing is true, to a lesser degree, of Ivan Ljubicic. He's played some excellent tennis this year after a big slump, and it is totally great to see him playing well. He's an excellent statesman of the game and probably one of the most eloquent tennis players I've ever seen, and I like it when nice people do well. It makes the world seem a little bit fairer.

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Today's Results

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Ordina Open (s'Hertogenbosch)

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Men's Draw

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Marcos Baghdatis def. Tommy Robredo, 7-5 6-2

Benjamin Becker def. Fernando Verdasco, 7-5 7-6 (7-4)

Michael Llodra def. Kristof Vliegen, 6-2 6-3

Dudi Sela def. Igor Kunitsyn, 6-4 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Dinara Safina def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 6-0 6-3

Alona Bondarenko def. Stefanie Foretz, 6-4 6-7 (1-7) 6-3

Nathalie Dechy def. Dominika Cibulkova, 6-3 3-6 6-3

Flavia Pennetta def. Ksenia Pervak, 6-1 6-1

Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Iveta Benesova, 6-3 6-1

Yanina Wickmayer def. Sorana Cirstea, 6-4 6-3

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AEGON International (Eastbourne)

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Men's Draw

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Frank Dancevic def. Igor Andreev, 7-6 (8-6) 6-2

Julien Benneteau def. Mikhail Youzhny, 4-6 6-5 6-4

Fabrice Santoro def. Robby Ginepri, 4-6 6-4 6-1

Ivan Ljubicic def. Joshua Goodall, 6-3 7-5

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Yen-hsun Lu, 6-4 6-7 (0-7) 7-6 (7-3)

Janko Tipsarevic def. Brydan Klein, 7-6 (7-5) 6-1

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Women's Draw

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Li Na def. Elena Baltacha, 6-2 7-5

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Urszula Radwanska, 6-1 6-1

Anna Chakvetadze def. Jelena Jankovic, 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-2

Marion Bartoli def. Gisela Dulko, 6-3 6-1

Sybille Bammer def. Anne Keothavong, 6-3 6-2

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-1

Caroline Wozniacki def. Alisa Kleybanova, 6-3 6-2

Ekaterina Makarova def. Jarmila Groth, 7-6 (9-7) 6-1

Amelie Mauresmo def. Vera Zvonareva, 6-3 1-6 6-3

Vera Dushevina def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-7 (6-8) 7-5 6-4

Aleksandra Wozniak def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-0 6-3

Ernests, Please!

Well, it's the first day of Miami, and there's one result I'm pretty sure you all know I'm going to talk about: why, oh why, Ernests Gulbis, did you go down like such a kitten to Marcos Baghdatis?

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Don't get me wrong, I am glad to see Marcos back - where has he been? What injury is it this time? If he hadn't been playing Gulbis, I probably would have been behind him all the way and this post would be all about how great it is to see him back in the game. But... for the love of God, Ernests! I know he's good and fresh and whatever, but at your level of talent, you should not be going down to anyone 6-2 6-2!

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Sigh. I know that first title is going to come for Gulbis. But I think everyone knows it, and everyone's talking. Could the pressure of being the next big thing be getting to the boy? I remember in the Aussie Open program they wrote that Djokovic, Murray, Tsonga and Gulbis had slotted menacingly into play behind Nadal and Federer. It is a lot of pressure for someone who is as yet unproved.

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But I think I can be pretty sure that Ernests doesn't this blog, so I can exhort him fruitlessly to my heart's content. Get your head in the game, Gulbis. You're such an exciting player and I want to see you go all the way sometime soon. Because you can do it - ask Niki Pilic.

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Today's Results

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Sony Ericsson Open (Miami)

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Men's Draw

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Marcos Baghdatis def. Ernests Gulbis, 6-2 6-2

Kevin Kim def. Michael Llodra, 3-6 retired

Julien Benneteau def. Florent Serra, 3-6 6-3 6-4

Jan Hernych def. Brendan Evans, 6-4 6-3

Diego Junqueira def. Yuki Bhambri, 6-4 6-3

Oscar Hernandez def. Ivan Ljubicic, 6-4 6-4

Robert Kendrick def. Arnaud Clement, 6-3 7-6 (7-5)

Frank Dancevic def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-4 7-6 (7-2)

Jarkko Nieminen def. Ivan Navarro, 6-3 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Samantha Stosur def. Sofia Arvidsson, 6-1 2-0 retired

Lucie Safarova def. Anne Keothavong, 6-4 7-5

Francesca Schiavone def. Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-3 5-7 6-3

Maria Kirilenko def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 6-4 0-6 6-4

Magdalena Rybarikova def. Arantxa Rus, 3-6 6-3 7-5

Galina Voskoboeva def. Vera Dushevina, 6-4 6-4

Nuria Llagostera Vives def. Coco Vandeweghe, 6-0 6-3

Mariya Koryttseva def. Sorana Cirstea, 6-2 6-1

Anastasia Pivovarova def. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 7-6 (7-1) 6-3