Tapping the Well in Indian Wells

Well, we've kept Nicolas Mahut (yay!) even though he has come down with some flu-y symptoms that led to him pulling out of doubles in Sarajevo. Here is hoping that he feels better, because if he's not going to play Indian Wells, I want him to win this whole damn tournament. He pulled out the win ove Roberto Batista-Agut today, and here's hoping he can do the same against Jan Hernych tomorrow.

This is especially because we've now lost the top two seeds, leaving Nico, at #3, the highest man standing. Dimitrov went out in the first round and then Kavcic followed him in the second, going down to Martin Fischer. Kavcic had a pretty big weekend of Davis Cup duty - he pretty much led Slovenia to victory - but then, Fischer wasn't exactly a slouch playing for Austria, so go figure. That is tennis. Sometimes you get weird results.

I really, really wish that Nico had gone to play Indian Wells qualies. I think he definitely would have had a great shot at qualifying. But it's all about points, points, points, and considering he dropped ten places last week, I guess I understand.

There are some familiar faces among the dudes that did qualify in Indian Wells, and three of them are Australian, which is a little bit awesome. Matt Ebden beat Izak van der Merwe to qualify, which is a good win, and he'll face Mischa Zverev in the first round, which is not the most unwinnable of matches. Ebden is 23, which seems a little late to be making a major breakthrough, but he has been playing better and better and better consistently over the last year or so. I think he can definitely break into the top hundred and results like these are good ways of getting there.

One dude who has been to the top hundred and is looking to get back is Chris Guccione, who also fought his way into the main draw. He beat a dude of whom I have never heard, but I wish I had, on account of he has an awesome name - Spain's Daniel Munoz-De La Nava (how is that not the name of a volcano or something like that? I love it.) Guccione hit 17 aces, which... wow. If he has that big lefty serve cranking, watch out world. He's drawn James Blake in the first round, which could be a very interesting match up indeed.

The last of the Aussie qualifiers, a man who has all the talent to be in the top hundred but sometimes not the consistency (but that's getting better), is Marinko Matosevic. He beat South African Raven Klaasen (another awesome name - this dude seems to be popping more and more in draws, so he must be on the improve), but has got arguably the toughest first round draw of the Aussie boys - he'll face Dr Ivo Karlovic, just a week after that record-breaking serve. If he can get a read on the serve, he has a chance, if not...

This is a great result for Australian tennis, having these three dudes go through. Also spare a thought for Greg Jones, who fell in the last round of qualies to Somdev Devvarman. None of these dudes are megastars, but they're good, quality players. Australian mens' tennis is not quite in the epic black hole everyone seems to think it is. The well is not as shallow as once it was.

A Highly Educated Look At Things I Know A Lot About

There is not so much to report today. We're in that brief no man's land between the Davis Cup weekend and Indian Wells where fat nothing happens. So what I thought we might do is have a quick snappy look at the dudes who won Challengers over the weekend. Are you cool with that? You better be, because that's what I'm doing.

In Cherbourg, much to my chagrin, it was not defending champion Nicolas Mahut to took away the trophy, but young Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov. As a result, Dimitrov leaps up the rankings ten spots while Mahut goes down ten (but he's still in the top hundred, fear not!) Dimitrov is the latest player, as we all know, to be touted as the second coming of Roger Federer... but while we have the first one I don't really see the necessity of a second. Dimitrov's strokes are so closely modelled on Roger's that it's uncanny. And if there's a model you want to take, Federer is not a bad one...

...but I heard Jim Courier say once that unless you develop your own style, there's not much out there for you. I'd like to see Dimitrov move in his own direction a little. Sure, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and his Federerness is clearly working for him, because hello, he just won Cherbourg, but I'd like to see something in the mix that is pure Grigor. And I think it'll come too - what's the attraction in being a carbon copy of another dude when you can be yourself? The Federer strokes will provide a great base for Dimitrov to build on, provided he's prepared to get his hands dirty and build a beautiful house. The house is a tennis player. This metaphor is bad.

In Dallas, the tournament where all the Australians thought it would be a good idea to go for some reason, we saw Alex Bogomolov Jr take away the title. Here is all the things I know about Alex Bogomolov Jr:

...

...

...

As you can see, I am supremely well informed about this young man and all his prospects. I'm going to stick with 'well done' - particularly as he beat Rainer Schuettler in the final, and Schuettler, while he might be past it now, has been to a Grand Slam final in his day - and give a big shout out to Matt Ebden, who made the semis, and lost to this Alex Bogomolov Jr character in three tight sets. It's only a matter of time before Ebden starts winning these tournaments, I think - he gets better and better every time I see him play.

And then in Salinas, Andres Moltini was the winner. You know how much I knew about Alex Bogomolov Jr (ie. his name and nothing else)? I know even less about Moltini. I'd never even heard of him before this week. But he's clearly doing something right, because he just won in Salinas. And he upset top seed Brian Dabul to do it, so well done Andres. May you continue Moltini-ing on for the rest of your days.

Where Is The Wildcard For Awesome?

Dear Tennis Australia and all ye in charge of giving out wildcards -

I get it, OK? You want to give your discretionary wildcards to Australians. You want to support homegrown tennis and build a Davis Cup team and whatever. I totally understand.

But it doesn't mean I have to like it. And while you may have done a service to Australian tennis (such as it can be said to be), you have done a disservice to tennis overall. Because - as you have heard very loudly over the last few days - the tennis community has been pushing hard for one thing. One wildcard.

We wanted a wildcard for Nicolas Mahut.

I know he's not Australian. I know he's not exactly an up-and-comer. I know he's not going to play Davis Cup for you. But what he is is PURE 100% AWESOME. And we wanted him to have a chance.

Tennis is gladiatorial. Mahut is a gladiator. He played an eleven hour match - how many of your other wildcard contenders could claim to have the legs to do that?

Tennis is entertainment. Um, were you watching the Hopman Cup? Mahut put on a dress and walked out there and entertained his heart out. You want tennis to be watched? You want tennis to be popular? You want to encourage kids to pick up a racquet? You want to entertain them. You need a showman. In short, you need someone like Mahut.

Wildcards are for those who might do something with them. Two words: Hopman Cup. Mahut beat Potito Starace, ranked almost a hundred places higher than him, and pushed Andy Murray very, VERY hard. You want someone who might actually win a match or two? How about Mahut?

Wildcards are for those who deserve to catch a break, who deserve a shot. Look at Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin. Clijsters got a wildcard to the US Open in 2009, Henin to the Australian Open in 2010. Both players who needed a chance. And look how that turned out. Now, I'm not saying that Mahut would have gone on and won the Open if he'd been given a wildcard. But honestly, what more does he need to do? This one is on his own tennis federation as well - Rufin in the US, Paire here... why does Mahut get NO recognition?

There is a reciprocal wildcard arrangement with France and with the US. A wildcard is given to Asia, in the spirit of the Australian Open being the Grand Slam of the Asia Pacific. One is given to the winner of the Australian Open playoff. And four are discretionary. Paire. Harrison. Devvarman. Matosevic. Ebden. Luczak. And, as of yesterday, Ball and Tomic.

It would be very, very easy for me to take potshots at Ball and Tomic - Tomic in particular. But it's been done and it's been done eloquently, and so I will refrain. (Except to say that, REALLY, Tennis Australia, you thought it would be a better idea to give a wildcard to a kid who complained that his centre court match went on past his bedtime than to a man that played eleven hours without complaining?) Instead, I have an alternative proposal.

I propose that every year, one of the discretionary wildcards is set aside to be the Wildcard For Awesome.

This is the wildcard that does not care about some kind of Davis Cup developlement ideal, that's not dangled above the head of misbehaving youngsters like some kind of delicious biscuit. This is the wildcard for someone who has proved, time and time again, that they are awesome. Maybe they... I don't know, have been injured and don't qualify for protected ranking. Maybe they've had a bad season and are on their way back. Maybe they're just very entertaining and obvious fan favourites. Maybe they played a GODDAMN ELEVEN HOUR TENNIS MATCH and survived.

There is only one criterion - that the recipient of this wildcard be AWESOME.

I have very much enjoyed being the captain of the Good Ship #wildcardformahut - which has now become #supportmahut. As I write this, Mahut has just won his first qualifying match - a 6-0 6-1 win in about 45 minutes. He is well on his way to the main draw - one down, two to go. I'd much rather he didn't have to go through this qualifying rigmarole, but now that he has to, he has started off his campaign with style.

I am sad that #wildcardformahut didn't work, but one thing it did do was draw the attention of the tennis community to a player who really is genuinely 100% awesome - as a player, as an entertainer, and as an all round cool dude. Nicolas Mahut, there is a whole bunch of people out here who think you are basically the Lord of Awesome. And even though we didn't succeed in getting you a wildcard into the main draw, I hope some ripple of the #wildcardformahut campaign reaches you - because we want you to know just how awesome we think you are.

The Woes Of Being Feli

WILDCARD FOR MAHUT WILDCARD FOR MAHUT WILDCARD FOR MAHUT #wildcardformahut. Yep, that's still happening. Wildcards are due to be announced Tuesday, so get aboard the bandwagon for one last push!

The bandwagon was largely pushed by other people yesterday, as I was incommunicado while taking my younger brother to the Medibank International. It was his first time at an international tennis tournament - though he is, like his sister, a big fan (and unlike his sister, an excellent player) - and the tournament did not disappoint. We were lucky enough to be treated to the entire three hours and twenty minutes of the epic clash between Juan Martin del Potro and Feliciano Lopez.

I really, really feel for Feli Lopez. You come into a tournament, you're seeded, you hope to start off easy, with a qualifier maybe, and hey - you get drawn against a guy ranked #259! Awesome! But oh... hey. You look at his name. Juan Martin del Potro.

Bugger.

And then you play really well! I'm serious, you play REALLY well. The crowd's not especially behind you or anything - there's not many of them anyway, and most of them are supporting your opponent - so this one is all you. Your opponent is directing a few wide into the tramlines - he doesn't seem to have his timing quite right yet - and you are pouncing. You are playing awesome stuff.

But he is a world class player, even if he is a bit down on his luck, and he's sticking with you. All right, you think, I'll just hang on and do it in the tie break. And you do it! You take that first set breaker and then - guess what? You keep playing awesome! But he keeps sticking with you, so you're like, fine, another breaker, I've done this before.

And you bring up match point! ...and he saves it. And you two play an absolutely electrifying tie break. And he gets it.

And then you get to the breaker AGAIN. No one can pick a winner. But he gets you. After a long, LONG time, he gets you. He gets the glory. And what do you get? Upset in the first round. A seeded player, beaten by #259 in the world.

It must suck to be Feli right now.

But seriously, this was an awesome match. You will be hard pressed to watch a better tie break than the one that was played in the second set. It was a small crowd on Ken Rosewall Arena, but I think everyone was pretty fully engaged in that match. It was exciting stuff!

My brother and I also caught the twenty seconds it took for Li Na to beat Anastasia Rodionova (seriously, that was... quick), Stosur/Wickmayer, and some of Ebden and Luczak playing doubles, and all in all, it was a fantastic day - and I was very glad there was no movement on the #wildcardformahut front while I was away! But seriously, it was worth it just for that second set tie break between Lopez and del Potro. That was some tennis right there.

The First Awesome Thing To Happen in Australian Sport This Year

I've been focusing on Hopman Cup all week, but let's talk a little about Brisbane. In particular, let's yell out F%^& YEAH MATT EBDEN YOU ARE AWESOME.

Ebden is ranked at about #172, and he took out Denis Istomin, ranked over 130 places higher, at the Brisbane International. He did this by simply playing awesome tennis. Sure, he had a double break in each set and could have won by even more than he did, but at the end of the day, HE WON, and that is an absolutely outstanding achievement.

Ebden is probably my favourite of the young Australians we have hanging around. I really enjoy his game, and although at 23 he might be classified as a late bloomer, it is very obvious that he has talent. If he continues to play like he did against Istomin, then I see no reason why he can't break into the top hundred this year.

He has absolutely nothing to lose against Robin Soderling in his match, so I hope he comes out swinging. I don't think he's quite up to beating-a-member-of-the-top-five level, but I'd really like to see him make a good account of himself. He certainly has the ability to do so!

Over at the Hopman Cup, the Ivanovic/Henin match is one of the best women's matches I have seen in a long time. The commentators have been talking like Ivanovic is 'back' - I think she still has a ways to go before we can say that, but playing in a match like this certainly didn't hurt. But this isn't the Ivanovic story, even though she did play a good match which must be hope-inspiring for her.

It's all about Henin. And if she keeps playing like this... hello, leading contender for the Australian Open.

There is absolutely no reason why Henin cannot win the Open, particularly in the absence of Serena. I know she's been fairly pessimistic about her chances what with coming back after such a long lay off, but if she continues as she has begun at the Hopman Cup, then she has every chance in the world. She wasn't misfiring off any wing, and while her backhand is often lauded as a thing of art, I was in awe of her volleys. Seriously, she has MAD SKILLZ at the net.

Belgium are out of the Hopman Cup after Bemelmans lost to Djokovic (AO organisers, if you find another wildcard under your sofa after you give one to Nicolas Mahut, you could do worse than give it to Ruben Bemelmans), but Henin went undefeated all week and played - well, I can't overstate how impressed I was. Watch out for JuJu in Australia. She could do something incredible.

The Jelena Smackdown

It does not take a stretch of the imagination to see that Jelena Dokic is looking dangerous.

Oh, I don't mean that she's going to make some fairy tale comeback and win the Australian Open or anything, but... well, we all remember 2009. You just never know what is possible with Jelena - she's out injured or sick or whatever so often that there is no real sense of what she can do. We just haven't seen it yet.

I don't think anyone was expecting Dokic to steamroll Molik the way she did - least of all Molik. I saw a little of this match on the livestream - not much, but enough to tell that Molik was looking seriously shellshocked. Dokic took her and smacked her down like the hand of God, and there was absolutely nothing Molik could do about it.

She'll face Olivia Rogowska, who overcame a vaguely injured seeming Sophie Ferguson, and you have to put your money on Dokic here. Sure, she might suffer a bit of a slump, but what we do know about Jelena is that she is determined like whoa. You'd have to wake up very early in the morning to out grit Ms Dokic.

Over in the dudes, Peter Luczak overcame Matt Ebden and Marinko Matosevic beat Adam Feeney, and now these two will final it up. I really like Luczak - he seems like a nice bloke - and I don't know very much about Matosevic... which is why, I think, I'm going for him. Luczak has an awesome shot at a wildcard. Matosevic could get swept under the rug pretty easily.

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Wow! Suddenly it's the semis of the December Showdown! That happened with a speed I was not prepared for!

The blockbuster semi is, of course, Dokic vs Molik. It's a shame that they're not on opposite sides of the draw, or this could be a final, but sadly it hasn't played out that way. Nonetheless, this match should be an awesome one. I can't remember the last time these two girls played, and I think it's going to be very interesting to see which one comes out on top. I fully expect them both to get carded into the Open anyway, but that does not make this match any less interesting.

This is not to say, though, that whoever wins this match wins the wildcard. Both Dokic and Molik went three sets in their last matches, so clearly neither is in OMG DOMINATION mode right now... though those cylinders could fire up at any moment! Whichever one gets to the final will have their work cut out against Sophie Ferguson or Olivia Rogowska.

In the dudes, James Duckworth is out, which makes me sad, because he's a bit cool. He was knocked out by Marinko Matosevic, who will face Ball-conquering Adam Feeney. You'd like Matosevic to win this one - he is the second seed - but you never know. This said, Matosevic has been coming through the tournament quietly... I kind of really hope he gets the card here, actually, because he doesn't seem to have made the name for himself that some of the other players have. Peter Luczak and Matt Ebden will face off in the other semi. You can pretty much bet Luczak will get carded in, and Ebden will have a pretty good shot, but Matosevic seems to be under-the-radar man. This could be his best shot.

Medals. And Stuff. Whatever.

Last post on Commonwealth Games tennis, I swear. I still loathe it with a fiery passion, but I should probably talk a little about how it turned out.

It was pretty much the Anastasia Rodionova show, which is not unsurprising, because she was pretty much the highest ranked player there. She won singles gold over Sania Mirza - in what was a surprisingly good match, though it wasn't particularly high quality - and then doubles gold with Sally Peers. She also got silver in the mixed doubles with Paul Hanley - they lost to a pair of Scottish players I have never heard of.

It's a pretty sad story for Commonwealth tennis when Australia is winning pretty much all the medals, which is essentially what happened. There were a few for India - I was, I confess, glad to see that Somdev Devvarman won gold for his nation (it at least made their ridiculous inclusion of tennis worthwhile) - and Sania Mirza, of course, won silver, but Australia won a ridiculous amount of medals in this event. Rodionova, as mentioned, won gold in the women's singles, and Sally Peers won bronze. Greg Jones and Matt Ebden (still a big Ebden fan, in case anyone was wondering - love his game) won silver and bronze. Then there was gold in the women's doubles, as well gold in the men's doubles. Oh, and also silver in the women's doubles.

Let's face it - Australia is not currently one of the world's tennis powerhouses. We have some good up and coming players, but we can't even get into the world group for Davis Cup. And yet we managed to win all this stuff. It's ludicrous.

Congratulations to all medallists. I mean that sincerely. I wouldn't want my ranting about the inclusion of the sport in the games to reflect badly on your achievements, of which you should be very proud. But seriously, Commonwealth Games? How about we stick to what we're good at next time?

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.

My New Homeboy

Matt Ebden is my homeboy.

I didn't know anything about him until he beat Bernard Tomic at the December Showdown this year. Then I got the inkling that he could be a bit of all right, because Tomic is a bit good. And then I followed him through qualies in Brisbane, where, among others, he beat Marinko Matosevic, one of the higher-ranked Aussie players. And I thought he was pretty good.

And then he beat Jurgen Melzer today, ranked several hundred ranking places above him. And that was made of awesome.


He served stupidly awesomely. And to pull a Chris Eaton and win a match like this is pretty awesome. Please, Australian Open, card him in. Give him that last wildcard. If nothing else, let him into qualies. Because he's a total dude.


Speaking of Australian tennis, Stosur and Hewitt managed to win their tie in the Hopman Cup today, even though they let the doubles get away from them in a bad way. It's pretty hard for them to make the final now, and frankly, they don't deserve to. If Spain don't make it, I will be very surprised indeed - they are, as I write this, one rubber up over Romania, with Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez beating Sorana Cirstea in the women's singles.


Carsten Ball is also through to the second round of Brisbane, but Nick Lindahl, Bernard Tomic and Alicia Molik are all out. Molik got absolutely crushed by Kim Clijsters - Kimmie is looking like she is in absolutely dangerous form. Here's hoping she makes the women's final...


...because guess what! I will be there!


Due to this tennis trip, posting here may be a bit scattered over the next few days, but I promise I'll update with all my news when I get back. I'm doing two days at the Hopman Cup and then the men's semis and women's final in Brisbane, and it's going to be MADE OF AWESOME. Catch you on the flip side!




Today's Results

Hopman Cup (Perth)

Australia 2, USA 1

Samantha Stosur def. Melanie Oudin, 6-2 6-4
Lleyton Hewitt def. John Isner, 6-1 7-5
Oudin/Isner def. Stosur/Hewitt, 2-6 6-1 10-4 (match tie break)



Spain 3, Romania 0


Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Sorana Cirstea, 6-4 6-4
Tommy Robredo def. Victor Hanescu, 6-3 retired
Martinez Sanchez/Robredo def. Cirstea/Hanescu, walkover



Brisbane International (Brisbane)


Men's Draw


Gael Monfils def. Taylor Dent, 7-6 (7-1) 6-7 (5-7) 6-2
Carsten Ball def. Mischa Zverev, 7-5 6-1
Matthew Ebden def. Jurgen Melzer, 7-5 6-1
Tomas Berdych def. Nick Lindahl, 6-2 6-4
Marcos Baghdatis def. Mardy Fish, 7-5 7-5
James Blake def. Sam Querrey, 4-6 6-3 6-4
Florent Serra def. Julian Reister, 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-5) 7-5
Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr def. Bernard Tomic, 6-4 6-4



Women's Draw


Kim Clijsters def. Alicia Molik, 6-0 6-3
Andrea Petkovic def. Vania King, 4-6 6-2 6-1
Melinda Czink def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 6-3 2-6 6-1
Ana Ivanovic def. Timea Bacsinszky, 6-2 2-6 6-4



Qatar ExxonMobil Open (Doha)

Roger Federer def. Christophe Rochus, 6-1 6-2
Andreas Seppi def. OScar Hernandez, 6-4 7-5
Nikolay Davydenko def. Mikhail Kukushkin, 6-2 6-0
Lukasz Kubot def. Karim Maamoun, 6-0 6-2
Steve Darcis def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-4 6-1
Younes El Aynaoui def. Ryler DeHeart, 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-4)
Rafael Nadal def. Simone Bolelli, 6-3 6-3


Chennai Open (Chennai)

Robby Ginepri def. Robin Soderling, 6-4 7-5
Lukas Lacko def. Yen-hsun Lu, 6-4 6-3
Kevin Kim def. Daniel Brands, 6-2 6-2
Dudi Sela def. Denis Istomin, 6-1 6-2
Stanislas Wawrinka def. Rohan Bopanna, 6-1 6-4
Michael Russell def. Prakash Amritraj, 6-3 6-1
Stephane Robert def. Louk Sorenson, 6-2 6-1
Michael Berrer def. Santiago Ventura, 6-3 6-2
Robin Haase def. Tsung-hua Yang, 6-4 6-3
Somdev Devvarman def. Rainer Schuettler, 7-5 6-2
Marcel Granollers def. James Ward, 5-7 6-2 6-2


ASB Classic (Auckland)


Carla Suarez Navarro def. Edina Gallovits, 6-4 7-5
Francesca Schiavone def. Stephanie Cohen-Aloro, 6-2 6-3
Sania Mirza def. Stefanie Voegele, 5-7 6-1 7-5
Alize Cornet def. Marina Erakovic, 6-4 6-3
Elena Vesnina def. Alberta Brianti, 6-1 6-4
Virginie Razzano def. Monica Niculescu, 7-5 6-4
Ioana Raluca Olaru def. Elena Baltacha, 6-2 6-2
Shahar Peer def. Polona Hercog, 7-5 6-3
Maria Kirilenko def. Tatjana Malek, 6-2 6-3
Kaia Kanepi def. Na Li, 6-1 6-3

Kind of Loving Tommy

Tommy Robredo is one of those players that I have, without meaning to, somehow conspired to see play a lot. He's not up there on my favourites list or anything, but somehow I always manage to catch a bunch of his matches. And I kind of love him now - a love born of familiarity more than anything else, because I doubt he'd stand out to me otherwise. He's not spectacularly interesting or anything.

But. Yes, I have just been all like, 'I love you, Tommy, but hot damn you are boring,' but when I saw him play John Isner at the Hopman Cup yesterday, I realised there was a reason I kind of loved him, and it's his speed. The way he can run down balls is pretty awesome to watch. They actually did a bit of stats thing on the TV where they showed how often Isner was hitting the ball to Robredo's backhand - something like 71% of the time. However, despite the speed of the Isner groundies, Robredo was running round most of them to hit forehands. Because he could.

And his passing shots! Oh, his passing shots! There is something in the Spanish air which predisposes the Spaniards to hitting beautiful passing shots, and Robredo is no exception. The best tribute I can pay them is silence.

The Isner/Robredo match was a seriously good match. It went 7-6 in the third, with Robredo coming out on top, but it was a titanic struggle - and it looked like it was going to be all Isner until one moment midway through the second set. Robredo had struggled mightily to get it to 30-all on Isner's serve, and then he hit an absolutely inspired forehand to bring up break point. He went on to break Isner - the only break of serve in the match - and run off with the set. And even though the third set went deep, you kind of had the feeling Robredo was going to win.

Spain won the tie 3-0, cleaning up in the women's singles and the mixed as well, and they surely must be favourites to win the group now. Another failed year at Hopman Cup for Australia.

Over in Brisbane, there were quality wins for Alicia Molik and Matt Ebden, which surely must turn Tennis Australia's collective frown upside down. Good stuff.


Today's Results

Hopman Cup (Perth)

Spain 3, USA 0

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Melanie Oudin, 6-4 6-4
Tommy Robredo def. John Isner, 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-4)
Martinez Sanchez/Robredo def. Oudin/Isner, 6-4 7-5


Brisbane International (Brisbane)

Women's Draw

Kim Clijsters def. Tathiana Garbin, 6-2 6-1
Alicia Molik def. Ekaterina Makarova, 6-4 1-6 6-4
Vania King def. Sybille Bammer, 6-4 6-1
Andrea Petkovic def. Iveta Benesova, 6-7 (6-8) 6-2 6-1
Melinda Czink def. Lucie Hradecka, 6-4 3-6 6-3
Barbora Zahlavova Strycova def. Olga Govortsova, 6-4 6-1

Coming Clean on Klein

I think it's safe to say that Brydan Klein will not be winning the play-off wildcard from the December showdown - not only has he now been beaten by James Duckworth, Kaden Hensel (of whom I have never heard) owned him today. A lot of things will need to go his way if he wants to progress through...

Klein is a player that I think is a bit overhyped. He's very talented, yes, and he did win the AO juniors a couple of years back, but I think that was more of a fluke than anything else, to tell the truth. He's served on Davis Cup occasionally, but I've seen him play a couple of times now and I haven't really been impressed with what I saw... and that whole sledging incident didn't really endear him to me, either. So if Klein is one of the bright stars of the future of Australian tennis, I think we're in trouble.

Someone who is a bright star, Bernard Tomic, also got beaten, which surprised me, I confess. He went down to Matthew Ebden, who isn't a slouch, but he isn't a star, either. I hope Tomic progresses through to the next round, I really do... it would be a big shame to see him fizzle in this intranational playoff.

I am, however, on the James Duckworth bandwagon. That kid is great.

In the women, Olivia Rogowska looks out for the count as well - which is a shame. Dellacqua and Molik are still all a-g-go, though, as is my little favourite Monika Wejnert... I'm cheering for you, Monika!