More Haikus for a Dull Week

Romania


Chela won this one
I had wholly forgotten
That he existed.



Metz


This one went to Gilles
Back in 2008
He was good... but now?



Seoul

AKley disappeared
For a while - but now - yay! Seoul!
...doesn't mean that much.



Tashkent


Alla in Tashkent
She lost to Jarka last week
This is a good run.

Haikus for a Dull Week

Romania

Starace is out
Montanes is the top seed
How did that happen?


Metz

Since Australia
Cilic hasn't been red hot
Just kind of tepid


Seoul

Safina is out
Sadly, so is Date Krumm
Seoul is dead to me


Tashkent

Alla beat Masha
At Wimbledon that one time
...that is all I've got.

Juan of the Juans

So with Roger being out of Tokyo and Shanghai and with Rafa being out for the next god-knows-how-long (I bet Xisca's really pissed about missing that sweet holiday it looks like he had planned!) we could be in for a boring month or so of tennis. Which... you know, is boring.

But I guess we'll just have to make the best of what we have, which at the moment is Metz and Bucharest. And yeah, Bucharest is clay. What's up with that? I've done the out-of-season clay court rant about eleventy million times, so I won't subject you all to that again, but yeah... it's stupid.

Though Juan Monaco is making a real go of it. In the absence of anything else to discuss, we're going to talk Juan - well, one of the many Juans, because you have to think that Juan Martin del Potro rather has the honour of being 'the' Juan as the moment. But Monaco is indeed a fine Juan, and provides me with many punnilicious opportunities, for which I would like to pre-emptively apologise.

He's kind of flown under the radar a bit - who wouldn't, what with Federer's clay court triumph? but he has had a fine, fine clay court record this season. He's right up there in terms of wins - and I can't remember if he's actually won a tournament, but if he hasn't, he should have. In fact, maybe he can do it this week, in this misplaced clay tournament in Bucharest. He overcame eighth seed Pablo Cuevas in his semi final, and Cuevas ain't no slouch on the red stuff.

But then, neither is Monaco, and if he can't overcome the remaining players in the tournament - Greul, Montanes and Ventura - I might have to retract all those nice things I just said about him. This tournament is pretty much his to win now - a nice little curlicue on the end of the victory from that other Argentinian Juan a couple of weeks ago.

And a shout over to Metz - Richou, subject of yesterday's ramble, is in the semis, after overcoming fourth seed Philipp Petzschner. I wanted him to have a good win, and that is one. If he wins the title he will have to go through the top three seeds, Monfils, Kohlschreiber and Mathieu - but nothing's impossible, I have found!


Today's Results

BCR Open Romania (Bucharest)

Juan Monaco def. Pablo Cuevas, 6-3 2-6 6-1
Albert Montanes def. Fabio Fognini, 6-1 6-1
Santiago Ventura def. Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, 6-2 6-3
Simon Greul def. Maximo Gonzalez, 6-2 6-2


Open de Moselle (Metz)

Gael Monfils def. Janko Tipsarevic, 6-1 4-2 retired
Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Evgeny Korolev, 6-1 6-3
Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Andreas Beck, 6-2 3-6 6-3
Richard Gasquet def. Philipp Petzschner, 6-7 (2-7) 6-1 6-3


Hansol Korea Open (Seoul)

Kimiko Date Krumm def. Daniela Hantuchova, 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 6-4
Maria Kirilenko def. Vera Dushevina, 7-5 7-6 (7-5)
Anna-Lena Groenefeld def. Yung-Jan Chan, 6-0 2-6 7-5
Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-3 6-3


Tashkent Open (Tashkent)

Yaroslava Shvedova def. Monica Niculescu, 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 6-2
Akgul Amanmuradova def. Stefanie Voegele, 6-1 6-4
Olga Govortsova def. Darya Kustova, 6-3 2-6 6-2
Shahar Peer def. Alexandra Panova, 6-4 6-4

Why People Should Play Hopman Cup

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Today's Results

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Open de Moselle (Metz)

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

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AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships (Tokyo)

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Men's Draw

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

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Women's Draw

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

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Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart)

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

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Tashkent Open (Tashkent)

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

Red Tape

Very little to report today, as nothing of interest is really happening... we had some interesting upsets in Metz, with Simon and Almagro falling to Mahut and Schwank respectively, which is news, I suppose. I'm glad to see Schwank doing well, as I was nearly ready to drop him from my Stars fold - since the claycourt season, he has done very little of note, and that is just not good enough for one of my chosen ones! This hardcourt victory gives him a little more leeway. It'll be interesting to see how far he can go. He's one of the oldest of my Stars - in his early twenties - and so I don't think his future is quite as shiny as, say, Gulbis or Cilic, who had the rest of their careers still before them. Still, he's one to keep an eye on!

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Another one of my Stars to keep an eye on this week is, obviously, Kei Nishikori. He's playing in front of a home crowd and he's clearly in killer form. Wouldn't it be great to see him go on and win the title? We know he's capable of winning ATP titles - Delray Beach, anyone - but I'd really like him to prove that wasn't a fluke. Loads of people have won one title. A lot fewer have won two. And Nishikori is such a fun player to watch as well. If he were a bigger guy, one thinks he'd play like Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, but because he's slight, his big weapon is speed... though that's not to say that he doesn't hit the ball hard!

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I was pleased to see that lucky loser Jarmila Gajdosova was able to win her first round match in Tokyo too. She's still playing for Slovakia, but she's sort of Australian, like Anastasia Rodionova... actually, what is going on with that whole thing? Both have expressed their desire to play for Australia - hell, I think both have played for Australia! - so what is the holdup? I have no idea what is going on with that whole situation there. This has been going on for about a year now. What's the deal? Is it citizenship? Visa? When are these two going to be playing for us? You'd think with everyone whinging about how Australian tennis is in a state you'd want it to be soon. Stupid red tape.

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Meanwhile, Marcos Baghdatis showed his face again, only to retire (a set up, too!) against Ivo Karlovic with a back injury. Get well soon, Marcos!

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Today's Results

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Open de Moselle (Metz)

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Ivo Karlovic def. Marcos Baghdatis, 4-6 2-1 retired

Nicolas Mahut def. Gilles Simon, 6-4 3-6 6-1

Eduardo Schwank def. Nicolas Almagro, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Nicolas Devilder, 6-0 6-2

Dmitry Tursunov def. Thierry Ascione, 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 6-4

Victor Hanescu def. Ivan Ljubicic, 6-1 7-6 (7-4)

Marc Gicquel def. Marcel Granollers, 6-3 6-2

Romain Jouan def. Agustin Calleri, 5-7 6-1 6-2

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AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships (Tokyo)

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Men's Draw

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Kei Nishikori def. Robert Kendrick, 7-6 (7-3) 6-7 (5-7) 6-2

Dudi Sela def. Bjorn Phau, 7-5 6-1

Wayne Odesnik def. Kevin Kim, 6-4 6-3

Simon Stadler def. Philipp Petzschner, 6-2 6-4

Flavio Cipolla def. Ivan Navarro, 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-4)

Bobby Reynolds def. Tatsuma Ito, 6-3 6-1

Roko Karanusic def. Hiroki Kondo, 6-2 6-2

Yen-hsun Lu def. Luka Gregorc, 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Joseph Sirianni def. Yuichi Ito, 6-3 6-2

Jesse Levine def. Danai Udomchoke, 4-6 6-1 6-0

Martin Slanar def. Donald Young, 4-6 6-3 6-2

Cecil Mamiit def. Brendan Evans, 3-6 7-5 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Caroline Wozniacki def. Gisela Dulko, 4-6 6-0 6-3

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Zheng Jie, 6-1 6-2

Klara Zakopalova def. Maria Kirilenko, 4-6 6-2 7-5

Shahar Peer def. Kimiko Date Krumm, 6-3 6-1

Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Stéphanie Dubois, 6-1 6-3

Aleksandra Wozniak def. Jill Craybas, 7-5 6-7 (2-7) 6-3

Yanina Wickmayer def. Iveta Benesova, 6-4 3-6 6-3

Camille Pin def. Carla Suárez Navarro, 6-0 7-5

Rika Fujiwara def. Petra Cetkovska, 7-6 (8-6) 6-4

Ryoko Fuda def. Pauline Parmentier, 7-5 6-2

Jarmila Gajdosova def. Mara Santangelo, 6-4 7-6 (7-0)

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Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart)

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Venus Williams def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 6-1 6-2

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Sandra Zahlavova, 6-3 6-2

Marion Bartoli def. Dominika Cibulkova, 6-3 6-1

Victoria Azarenka def. Agnes Szavay, 7-5 6-3

Nadia Petrova def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 6-2 6-2

Tsvetana Pironkova def. Alizé Cornet, 6-2 6-1

Kateryna Bondarenko def. Flavia Pennetta, 4-6 6-2 6-1

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Tashkent Open (Tashkent)

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Peng Shuai def. Arina Rodionova, 6-4 6-1

Ksenia Palkina def. Olga Govortsova, 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 7-5

Sorana Cirstea def. Ekaterina Dzehalevich, 7-6 (7-4) 7-5

Monica Niculescu def. Olga Savchuk, 7-5 0-1 retired

Urszula Radwanska def. Akgul Amanmuradova, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3

Yaroslava Shvedova def. Anastasiya Yakimova, 6-1 6-1

Anna Lapushchenkova def. Nina Bratchikova, 4-6 6-1 7-6 (7-3)

Michelle Larcher de Brito def. Andreja Klepac, 6-0 6-7 (4-7) 6-2

Ioana Raluca Olaru def. Katie O'Brien, 6-2 6-1

Vesna Manasieva def. Nigina Abduraimova, 6-1 6-1

Tatiana Poutchek def. Sariya Khayrova, 6-1 6-0

Alexandra Panova def. Alisa Ogorodova, 6-4 6-0

Argentina Changes It Up

For the first time ever, Argentina is not playing a home Davis Cup tie on clay. Which is very, very smart, though you don't need to be a genius to work that out. They've proposed the indoor stadium at Cordoba, with their alternate offering being another indoor stadium. It's certainly the best way to give themselves a fighting chance.

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Rafa, in past years, has kind of disappeared after Wimbledon, and by the indoor season he's pretty much gone altogether. He certainly didn't disappear after this year's Wimbledon, what with that Olympic gold medal and suchlike, so it will be interesting to see how he handles the indoor season - the season that was absolutely owned by David Nalbandian last year. That is how Headbandian is still in the top ten, yesno - those carryover points from Paris and Madrid last year?

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Nadal has never beaten Nalbandian (I think) and so it will be veeeeeery interesting to see how this tie plays out, on Nalbandian's preferred surface. You still wouldn't bet against Nadal - the guy beat Federer on grass, so you'd think he can do just about anything - but this is a pretty big challenge, at any rate. I suppose it'll be contingent on which Nalbandian shows up. GoodDave usually appears at Davis Cup, but you never know when LameDave will rear his ugly head...

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We have several tournaments going on this week - the ATP is in Metz, the WTA in Stuttgart and Tashkent, and there's a joint tournament in Tokyo. One of my Stars is active in Metz, and he's making a very good account of himself - that would be Ernests Gulbis, who took out Mario Ancic, the eighth seed. All portents of good things - well, maybe not for Ancic, but for Gulbis certainly. Ancic is not necessarily in the best shape ever right now, but a victory is a victory and it's nothing to sneeze at! I would dearly love to see Gulbis make an assault on the title here. Marin Cilic has won his first title - it's Ernests's turn!

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Meanwhile, how rude was it of Andy Roddick not to go to Mardy Fish's wedding? I mean, sure he's a tennis player and he has to play and stuff, but didn't they, like, grow up together? I hope Mardy Fish refuses to attend Roddick's wedding. I would. What I found particularly ironic is that the tournament Roddick played which caused him to miss the wedding was in Beijing. Should have gone to China when everyone else was there for the Olympics, Andy!

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And finally, does anyone know what's going on with Marina Erakovic? She was sailing beautifully for a while there, and now she's losing all the time. What's going on?

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Today's Results

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Open de Moselle (Metz)

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Ernests Gulbis def. Mario Ancic, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4

Jose Acasuso def. Guillermo Canas, 6-3 2-6 6-3

Janko Tipsarevic def. Jeremy Chardy, 7-6 (7-5) 7-5

Carlos Moya def. Albert Montanes, 6-1 4-6 6-4

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AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships (Tokyo)

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Men's Draw

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Ivo Minar def. Mischa Zverev, 7-6 (11-9) 2-6 6-2

Amer Delic def. Go Soeda, 6-4 6-2

Hyung-taik Lee def. Satoshi Iwabuchi, 6-1 6-4

Takao Suzuki def. Yuichi Sugita, 6-3 7-6 (8-6)

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Women's Draw

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Kaia Kanepi def. Lucie Safarova, 4-6 6-3 6-4

Marta Domachowska def. Aiko Nakamura, 6-4 7-5

Ayumi Morita def. Marina Erakovic, 6-1 6-4

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Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart)

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Sybille Bammer def. Tatjana Malek, 4-6 6-2 7-5

Li Na def. Nicole Vaidisova, 6-1 6-2

Alona Bondarenko def. Eleni Daniilidou, 7-6 (7-5) 6-1

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Tashkent Open (Tashkent)

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Sabine Lisicki def. Dilyara Saidkhodjaeva, 6-0 6-1

Magdalena Rybarikova def. Kathrin Woerle, 6-4 6-4

Sofia Shapatava def. Kinnie Laisne, 6-3 4-6 6-4