Always Channel-Surfing

The 2009 tennis season is really sneaking up on us. Seriously, the 2008 season ended about four seconds ago, and I thought the off-season was going to seem really long, what with trying to blog through it about effectively nothing - though the December Showdown was big fun - but it's flown by.

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If I were a tennis player, I would want to just lie around for about a year after I retired and not move a muscle. Perhaps this is why I am not a top athlete. But these guys keep coming back. Sure, it's lucrative, but really, if you've been a top tennis player, you're not exactly in the gutter. So I am left to conclude that tennis players really love the sport.

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I wasn't exactly intending to go on a ramble there about the love of tennis... I guess these things happen. What I was going to talk about was the Brisbane International, a tournament which I am opposed to in principle, because there was nothing wrong with the old Gold Coast and Adelaide tournaments, and the tennis love should be spread throughout the states, but which I am a little intrigued by.

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It's going to have an interesting field, if nothing else. I am very much looking forward to seeing how Bernard Tomic fares in the men's main draw - correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is his first ATP level tournament. Only a few months after Marko Djokovic too, despite Tomic being ranked about a thousand places ahead of him. Such a shame that Bernard doesn't have a big brother to buy him into tournaments, like Novak's bought Marko into the one in Thailand and now in Brisbane (though at least Marko's only making a showing in the doubles. But still.) I would dearly love for Bernard Tomic to win a few rounds... so someone keep his dad away from the court, lest we have another scandal. I don't want Bernard to be Jelena Dokic II.

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But one thing that is going to be very intriguing is how much television coverage Brisbane will get. Traditionally, the semis and finals of Gold Coast and Adelaide, but there are heaps more big names in Brisbane... Djokovic (spit spit) and Ivanovic (Anando will be there) among them. So will Channel 7 pull out their collective finger and give me... I mean, Australia, the tennis we deserve?

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Not that I could possibly watch anything except the night sessions, because my loyalty belongs to the Hopman Cup. But there's always channel-surfing.

The Djokovic Gravy Train

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hang on there. When did Djokovic jump to within ten points of Federer in the rankings? How did that happen?

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Well, I suppose I know how it happened - Federer lost points, because he won last year's Masters Cup, and Djokovic gained points, because he bombed out in round robin last year. But still - what? How on earth did that happen?

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Granted, Federer hasn't had the bestest year ever this year, but he made it to three Slam finals and a semi, winning one Slam. Djokovic also won a Slam, but made only two semis and a second round (gotta love that Safin smackdown!) I suppose this is an indication of how little tennis is actually Slams. To be #1, you have to be consistent, week in, week out. Federer won no Masters Series crowns this year - and maybe that's where it tells. We see this with the Williams sisters, too - they play for Slams, not rankings, and as a result, they aren't as high up the ladder as they should be. Still, at least Djokovic is still behind the great man, even if it is only by ten points - and try gaining points at the Aussie Open, Novak. Just TRY.

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One place he might gain points, however, is at the Brisbane International, the newly established tournament replacing the ATP tournament in Adelaide and the WTA tournament on the Gold Coast. Actually, there was a story on the Tennis Australia website today that enraged me. The title is 'Two Djokovics for the Price of One!' Yes, that's right - Novak has bought little brother Marko into another tournament... though at least it's only in doubles. Ire, ire, rage, rage. I posted a while back about Marko in Bangkok, and how it was unfair he got carded in. I am anti-riding on someone else's gravy train. Did you ever see Dinara Safina using Marat's fame to her advantage? If anything, she seemed kind of annoyed about it. Marko has been carded into the junior Aussie Open draw as well. I say but this - I hope he plays Tomic, and Tomic eats him for breakfast.

Blood Privileges

Let's take a reality check for a moment. Do you think there is a chance in hell that Marko Djokovic would have got a wildcard into the Thailand Open if he wasn't Novak's brother?
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Marko is ranked #1734 in the world at the moment. He's made exactly three appearances on the Futures circuit, two echelons below the ATP main circuit. Let's have a look at the players ranked around him. There are a whole stack of people ranked at this number, with exactly one point. Have you ever heard of Patrick Knobloch? Ricardo Azzarita? Jesus Bandres?

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I didn't think so. And can you see any of these players getting wildcarded into a tournament? Hell, look at Bernard Tomic. He is ranked half that, at #811, which means, one would think, he would walk all over Marko Djokovic and assorted cohort. Can you imagine him getting wildcarded into the Thailand Open? The Australian Open, or the Medibank or something maybe, but that would be more on the grounds of him being Australia's most promising junior rather than being ranked #811. In fact, we have three Australians also ranked #1734 - David Bidmeade, Phillip Lang and Alan Poric. In what alternate universe would they get a wildcard into any ATP tournament, even the Australian ones? Hell, we have players ranked in the #300s - like Rameez Junaid, or Matthew Ebden - that will never see an Aussie Open wildcard, let alone one in a country not their own.

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So why should Marko Djokovic be treated any differently? Excuse while I bellow 'NEPOTISM!' at the top of my lungs.

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There are plenty of players that deserve wildcards much more than Marko Djokovic. So why should he get special treatment just because he's Novak's brother? I am not amused.

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What was amusing was that Jarkko Nieminen pounded him into the ground, 6-2 6-0. Nonetheless, there are a lot of players ranked much higher than Marko Djokovic that would kill for the opportunity to be whipped by Jarkko Nieminen. I hope they all frown at him in the locker room - on the Futures circuit. Or the Pro circuit. Or whatever is below the Pro circuit. Nick Lindahl and Monique Adamczak are winning things on the Pro circuit, and they're both ranked in the #200s. Marko Djokovic would be hard-pressed to qualify.

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In happier news, well done to the Australian Junior Davis Cup team! Maverick Banes, James Duckworth and Jarryd Chaplin accounted for Tunisia in fine form, 3-0. We're seeded #7 in the event, but we won last year (Bernard Tomic played on that team, along with Mark Verryth and Alex Sanders) and I reckon we can do it again. Australian tennis is going to be in SUCH a good place in a few years. Tomic will be the spearhead, but we have some other good kids coming up too.

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So why aren't they given wildcards into tournaments lightyears ahead of their playing range, hmmm?

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Today's Results

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Thailand Open (Bangkok)

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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Lukas Dlouhy, 7-6 (11-9) 3-6 7-6 (7-1)

Gael Monfils def. Robert Kendrick, 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Jarkko Nieminen def. Marko Djokovic, 6-2 6-0

Jurgen Melzer def. Donald Young, 6-3 6-3

Viktor Troicki def. Fabrice Santoro, 7-6 (7-4) 6-2

Simone Bolelli def. Thomaz Bellucci, 6-3 6-3

Mischa Zverev def. Robert Smeets, 6-4 6-4

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China Open (Beijing)

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Men's Draw

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Fernando Verdasco def. Bobby Reynolds, 6-3 6-3

Sam Querrey def. Jesse Levine, 1-6 6-2 7-6 (7-4)

Ivo Minar def. Hyung-taik Lee, 6-3 3-6 6-2

Dudi Sela def. Nicolas Devilder, 6-4 6-3

Go Soeda def. Yan Bai, 6-4 7-5

Brendan Evans def. Roko Karanusic, 7-6 (7-5) 1-6 7-6 (12-10)

Jean-Claude Scherrer def. Peng Sun, 6-4 7-6 (9-7)

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Women's Draw

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Jelena Jankovic def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 6-3 7-5

Daniela Hantuchova def. Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6-1 0-6 7-5

Zheng Jie def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-2 6-3

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Hansol Korea Open (Seoul)

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Shahar Peer def. Ayumi Morita, 6-4 7-5

Ekaterina Makarova def. Klara Zakopalova, 6-3 6-2

Jill Craybas def. Akgul Amanmuradova, 7-6 (7-1) 6-2

Samantha Stosur def. Sabine Lisicki, 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-3