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.

More on the Greatness of Golubev

So my beloved Andrey Golubev did not win. He fell at the very last hurdle - and literally, it was the very last - against Mikhail Youzhny. Damn you, third set tiebreaker!

But seriously, can we just reflect momentarily on how incredibly awesome this kid is? Like, seriously, he is the up and comer of the year for me. Can anyone think of anyone else who has made a comparable rankings jump? He was outside the top hundred when I spotted him playing Hopman Cup back in January, when he flipped the switch and became Awesome Andrey.

You know what he's ranked now? #33. Thirty freaking three. That is some jump.

I'm sad he didn't manage to scrape over the line against Headbanger, but a week where you beat Robin Soderling and David Ferrer in back to back matches? That's a good week for anyone, let alone some guy that was ranked outside of the top hundred not that long ago.

Make no mistake, Andrey Golubev is going places. And with what he can do... I don't think there are many players who will be able to stand in his way.

Andrey Time

It's time to talk about Andrey. And by talk, I mean gush.

I told you this kid was awesome! I told you that he was on the way up! And I was right!

Is this an upset of Soderling I see before me, belonging to Andrey? Why yes, it is. The Golubev freight train is picking up steam and it is powering onwards and upwards. Not only has he upset Soderling in convincing straights, but now Ferrer? Kid just doesn't know his place, and I love it.

The first time I ever really watched Golubev play, I was on a plane from Melbourne to Perth. I was flying there for a couple of days of the Hopman Cup, and I was watching one of the night ties on that little plane TV. It was Russia vs Kazakhstan, and Igor Andreev was taking on some kid called Andrey Golubev. Who is this kid?

I found out soon enough, when Golubev prevented Andreev from hitting a single winner for a set and a half. He was a demolition machine that week - that kid is something else. The Hopman Cup is a good place to capture the much-coveted attention of Jodi, and he did it in spades.

It could have just been a good week. But no, ever since he won his first title a couple of months ago, Andrey has been 100% solid awesome. He's improved his ranking by about 70 places since the beginning of the year, and now he's in the finals of Kuala Lumpur, it's only going to go up.

And trust me, if the kid can beat Soderling and Ferrer back to back, he can totally take Youzhny. Watch out, Headbanger!

The Man You Cannot Ignore

I don't think there is anyone in the world who picked Nadal to make the final of the US Open, much less to win. Everyone was all like, 'no, he doesn't play well here, he hates this surface, Andy Murray ra ra ra'.

I'm rooting for Federer. We know this. And my life would be easier if all this were true. But the fact of the matter is that Rafa, you are awesome, and I am so glad you have proved your doubters wrong.

The man who can't play in the US Open has got to the semis without dropping a set - and before today, he hadn't got his serve broken at all in the tournament, which is absolutely phenomenal. He has also added a whole lot more oomph to that serve and is playing like a demon out of hell. He is totally capable of winning the whole thing. Like, scarily capable. But while I am scared, I cannot help but applaud.

I know that his big obstacle was supposed to be Andy Murray, who would smash him like a guitar in the quarters. Instead, he faces Mikhail Youzhny, who put him out of the US Open a few years ago but seems unlikely to repeat the feat. But this does not mean that any feat Rafa has achieved has any kind of asterisk over it - not at all. Rafa may have a relatively cupcake-y draw, but that isn't his fault and he can't be held accountable for it.

A Fedal final would be the ultimate frazzle test for a Federer fan. But it also has the potential to be one of the greatest matches ever.

Not that I'm counting chickens or anything - Roger has to get by Djokovic, and Youzhny, well, he did put Rafa out that one time. But no matter what happens, Rafa has so much to be proud of this tournament. We talk about Fed-haters a lot - I don't know if there are Nadal-haters so much as Nadal-ignorers. And Rafa has shown us time and time again that he is not a man who can be ignored.

Intrigue and Errors

We have a really intriguing women's semi final lined up - Venus vs Kimmie. A year after Kimmie lined up against Venus's sister Serena in that fateful match, we are getting the closest thing to a repeat possible. Intriguing.

Now, I think Kimmie is going to take this and take it relatively easily. But if she plays as error-strewntastically as she did today and Venus plays tight, then it could be very interesting indeed.

Let's talk about the two quarter finals for a sec. Frankie Schiavone was right when she said she lost her match more than Venus won it. Normally, I'd be all 'come on guys, this is unfair', but Frankie imploded spectacularly in this match. She is capable of so much more and this was very disappointing. Nonetheless, it's got Venus through to her first semi in about a hundred years in New York, and given the dearth of men on the dudes' side in this draw, the US should be glad.

And then there was Sammy. Oh, Sammy.

Clijsters played some error-strewn stuff today, and Sammy had her chances. She could have won the match today if she had just taken them. But her inability to hold serve... well...

But no one expected her to hang this tight to Kim. And no one really expected her to make quarters here. She played to her seed, and that is something. Well done, Sammy.

And the men. Oh the men.

Rafa got through relatively painlessly, and Youzhny with only a scrape or so, but Stan Wawrinka and Fernando Verdasco must both be totally exhausted after their respective epics. I don't want to say that we'll have Youzhny and Rafa in the semis for sure... but I kind of do, because I just don't know how these guys are going to bear up.

But awesome performances from both - Stan for toughing out that fifth set against a non-partisan crowd and FeVer for roaring back from two sets to love down. This is the best performance from both this year, and both have a lot to be pleased about. And if one of them is a surprise semi finalist... I won't complain!

US Open Predictions - The Gents

We've done the ladies, time for the gents. Away!

Rafa's quarter: It's weird to see Rafa in this spot and Roger in the #128, even though Rafa deserves it - I've just become accustomed to looking to the top for the Roginator. But nonetheless, here we are. And here Rafa is. And even though he took some not-so-awesome losses in Toronto and Cincy, you'd be a moron to pick against him.

The big challenge to Rafa in this quarter, the way I see it, is Nalbandian. I love that Nalby/Nadal match up and I am hanging out for that quarterfinal, because it would rock my socks off. Whether or not Daveed can keep in the best of health, on the other hand, is another matter - but he's not one of the top favourites for this event for nothing. And if anyone in this quarter can shock Rafa, it's Nalbandian. (That said, if Teimuraz Gabashvili takes a set from Rafa in the first round, I won't be surprised - he has game.)

I'd like to say Gulbis could make something happen here, but I don't think it's going to happen. I'm not expecting anything from Fernando Verdasco, who has been resoundingly meh of late. If I'm looking for super dark horses, I am looking to Ukraine - hello there, Sergiy Stakhovsky and Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr. What have you got for me?

Winner: Rafael Nadal
If not him, then: David Nalbandian
Dark horse(s): Sergiy Stakhovsky (or maybe Denis Istomin or Jeremy Chardy)
First round matches to watch: Nadal/Gabashvili, Stakhovsky/Luczak, Chardy/Gulbis

Muzz's quarter: This is the quarter of players on whom Jodi is not too keen, with Murray, Stepanek and Berdych all ensconced therein. However, Andrey Golubev is in there too and I love him, so it's not all bad. (As well as some dude named Jack Sock. I like him just for his name.)

Considering Murray won the US Open series, I'm not going to pick against him here, but I'd be lying if I said I had a Murray feeling. I just can't see an adequate challenger. I don't see Berdych beating him, and guys who could legitimately trouble him, like Stan Wawrinka and John Isner, are just not in great form. But it's America, and so you never know what Querrey might do - and we mustn't forget that Mikhail Youzhny has been deep at this tournament before and is perfectly capable of doing it again. Actually, if anyone is going to overthrow the over-jawed Scot, it is the Headbanger.

Oh, and there's always Yen-hsun Lu to worry about...

Winner: Andy Murray
If not him, then: Mikhail Youzhny
Dark horse(s): Yen-hsun Lu and Andrey Golubev
First round matches to watch: Starace/Almagro, Youznhy/Golubev, Stepanek/Benneteau

Bert's quarter: This quarter is the one where a surprise semi-finalist would most likely come from, given how unimpressive Novak has been of late. If he was in better form, I would say it presented the perfect opportunity for Nikolay Davydenko. As it is, it might still be the perfect opportunity.

But this is a tough quarter. You're never going to count Andy Roddick out here, and you never know what Gael Monfils might pull. And then there's Mardy Fish, who has been playing some great stuff. And Marcos Baghdatis! The names just keep on coming.

Actually, you know what? I am going out on a mega limb here. I am going to pick Gael Monfils to win this quarter, on grounds no stronger than 'I have some kind of feeling' about him. Whether or not this is the 'upset in the first round' feeling remains to be seen...

Winner: Gael Monfils (told you)
If not him, then: Nikolay Davydenko or Mardy Fish
Dark horse(s): Marcos Baghdatis or Andy Roddick (can Roddick be a dark horse)
First round matches to watch: Greul/Gasquet, Djokovic/Troicki, Baghdatis/Clement

Roger's quarter: Oh gee, I wonder who Jodi is going to pick in this section. What a big surprise it will be!

Um... I might go Federer on this one.

The predictions of heart and head are aligning on this one. Roger has played some legitimately great stuff so far in the US Open series, and the Federcone partnership seems to be rocking on just fine. There's some big talent in this section, but Federer can, I am confident, handle all the punches thrown at him. The big lurking danger is obviously Robin Soderling, but I bet someone is hungry for a revenge sandwich. Served cold.

Another player I'm going to be watching with interest is Thiemo de Bakker - purely because everyone seems to be talking about him and I can't quite work out why. Suddenly he's this epic talent. When did that happen?

Winner: Roger Federer
If not him, then: Robin Soderling
Dark horse(s): Juan Carlos Ferrero
First round matches to watch: Dent/Falla, de Bakker/Gicquel, Nishikori/Korolev

That leaves us with the following semis:

Nadal vs Murray
Monfils vs Federer

I'm legitimately torn over who to pick for the first semi, though the second is no mystery to me. But given his previous record in Flushing Meadows (comparatively, at least) I'm lining up the following final:

Murray vs Federer

And you know what? I think Roger's going to break him. Again. Murray may have triumphed in Toronto, but here? Nah.

So, according to both my head and heart, my prediction for the men in the US Open is Roger Federer. (I wonder how many of you are surprised...?)

Kazakhstani Wonderkids

Kazakhstan really knows what they're about with the players they're purchasing. I think it's a little weird that they actually have to buy their tennis players, but whoever's picking them out has a damn good eye.

Yaroslava Shvedova. She's pretty awesome. Just made Slam quarters. Win #1 to the Kazakhstani tennis buyers. Andrey Golubev. Just won his first title. Win #2. Evgeny Korolev. Definitely, I would argue, on his way up. A bit early to call, but I'm going to say win #3.

And now some other Kazakhstani tennis player, of whom I have never heard, has gone and beat Mikhail Youzhny in Gstaad. Yuri Schukin knocked out the top seed in three sets. Now that is a bit all right.

I know nothing about Schukin and so I can't actually say anything about the match or anything, you know, of substance. But I'm beginning to think that whoever is picking out players for Kazakhstan has a SERIOUSLY good eye - and while it's inevitable they'll get some duds, just look at their current stable. And maybe Yuri Schukin is the next Kazakhstani wonderkid.

Oh, and the top three seeds got knocked out in Umag. On the same day. Davydenko got beaten two and one. Now there's someone who needs to lift his game.

Davydenko and Other Disappointments

Spain have been sufficiently kept real. No Davis Cup threepeat for them. One tennis journalist wrote that while the defeat wasn't necessarily surprising, the 3-0 blowout was. I agree totally. Any nation is at risk against the hyper-talented France, but I would have expected Spain to have at least won one of the first three rubbers.

Nando Verdasco is going to wear this back home and no mistake. All the previous Davis Cup heroics will be forgotten in the face of his new found bunny status. I guess he'll just be hoping that Spain is too focused on the World Cup to care (which, to be fair, is probably true).


The Czech Republic are also through - without Berdych and Stepanek, which is a massive result for them - but the real battles going on are the two that are still alive, Russia vs Argentina and Croatia vs Serbia. They're both technically anyone-can-win, but you really have to like the team that took the doubles rubber in both situations.


In the former, that is Argentina. A lot is going to rest on Nikolay Davydenko, and he doesn't sound incredibly optimistic. He was phenomenally disappointing against David Nalbandian in the first singles rubber. I mean, sure, Nalbandian is awesome and all and he always brings it at Davis Cup, but Kolya was totally under par. Very disappointing. I'd be putting my faith in Mikhail Youzhny if I were the Russian Davis Cup captain - he seems like Russia's best bet for an equaliser.


And for Croatia, who are down one rubber to two, it's all on the shoulders of mighty Marin Cilic. He is certainly capable of taking out Novak Djokovic, but Djokovic is coming off a great Wimbledon and Cilic has not been in great form of late. However, if he brings it, if he throws the kitchen sink at Djokovic, he definitely has a chance. I thought Davydenko/Nalbandian was going to be the match of the weekend and it was totally disappointing. Maybe Cilic/Djokovic will be the one to remember instead...

Pathetic Fallacy

Welcome to Weel 2 at Roland Garros, where it is all happening. The skies were stormy and pathetic fallacy abounded as some of the big names of tennis crumbled under the pressure, unable to weather the storm. Count the incidences of literary wordplay in that sentence. Oh yeah.

Some people, on the other hand, had a cruise-y ride. But we're getting down to the business end, and things are getting veeeeeeeery interesting at ol' RG.

The winners: Surprise, surprise, I'm starting with Fed. He played a little scratchier than I would have liked against Wawrinka at times, but when you can come away with a straight sets victory over a player like Stan, you're doing OK. I was very happy.

He'll face the Yoker next, who's also appearing in this column (hopefully for the last time this tournament, fingers crossed fellow Fedfans!) He absolutely pulverised Marin Cilic. See above re 'when you can come away with a straight sets victory over a player like...' It is going to be on till the break of dawn in FedSod II: Electric Boogaloo.

And Nadia Petrova - here's looking at you, kid! Venus was my pick for the final from this half of the draw, and Nadz absolutely annihilated that negligee off the court. Well, maybe annihilated is a little strong, but it was a very tidy putaway. Let's just say I would now not be at all surprised to see Nadz in the final. This side of the draw isn't the strongest evah and Nadz has a good a chance as any.

The losers: Speaking of the negligee... Venus. Big time. I really thought she had what it takes to go deep this year, but looks like my hunch is wrong, wrong, wrong. Petrova is playing really good stuff (as evidenced by her appearance in the winners column) but Venus did not play a good match here. Disappointing for V. Still... I was going to say it'll get her onto the grass earlier, but it totally won't, because she has doubles. Further disappointment, then.

And Andy Murray. No one ever expects him to do that well at Roland Garros, but surely he should at least be able to play competitively with Berdych. I actually thought that was a really favourable match for Murray - I thought he could bamboozle Tomas with some moonballage - but no. Fail. Not to denigrate Berdych's achievement here, because he did good, but this was not a great performance from Muzz.

The disappointments: Jo Tsonga. It is very, very disappointing that he had to retire, not least because I picked him for the semis and now my bracket is all wrong. And it is very disappointing for the home team that is French tennis - Bartoli and Rezai did not exactly exceed expectations, and then their last hope caved to a back injury.

Get well soon, Jo.

The scraped-in-by-the-skin-of-teeth: Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Caroline Wozniacki. I have actually been totally pleasantly surprised by Caro this tournament - I foresaw an early exit for sure. But in this weaker half of the women's draw, she actually stands a decent chance of getting through to the finals. The finalist is going to be either Caro, Nadz, Lena D or Schiavone - not all outside the realms of possibility, but not my initial picks, that's for sure.

And though it wasn't quite skin-of-teeth, I have to talk JuJu here. I thought MaSha had her when she went up that break, but JuJu staged an awesome fightback. I'm sad for MaSha - playing like she did, she deserved better than a third round. But then again, so did JuJu.

One to watch: Mikhail Youzhny. He is creeping through this draw very quietly - surprising, given his propensity for bashing his own head with his racquet. Now he's facing Berdych for a spot in the semis. This would be a big career jump for both of them - Youzhny has been to Slam semis once before, Berdych never - and it'll be interesting to see who comes out alive. I can't tell you why, but I'm like the headbanger on this one.

The Mikhail Youzhny One Good Match Theory

So I picked two finals, lost one. Not a bad ratio. Two thirds. Go me. Yay.

In Rotterdam, we had the Yoker defeating Mikhail 'sometimes I hit my head so hard it bleeds' Youzhny. This was not surprising, though the ending was a bit disappointing. Retirement in a final is always disappointing, even when it's totally understandable.

I have this theory that Mikhail Youzhny has one really, really good match in him in a tournament, and if he uses it up early, then he's screwed. Think US Open, a few years back - he beat Rafa in the quarters and was mediocre in the semi. First round in Australia - he was great when he came back against Gasquet, then lame for the rest, all the way up to the retirement. Today, he literally ran out of steam and got hit by injury after his excellent semi against Djokovic.

And so Soderling got the bacon. I'm still not 100% sure he's back on track, but I'm getting there.

And then Kubot lost to Juan Carlos Ferrero. As if that wouldn't happen. Puh-lease.

The match I was wrong about was Verdasco/Roddick. Roddick won the first but then Verdasco came back to win. However, I am still not convinced about this whole Nando thing. I didn't see the match, so who am I to talk? But he just hasn't reached those heights he achieved in Australia last year. He's still poor man's Rafa.

...and Roddick is injured. We know this, yeah?

Oh, I don't know. I just have this feeling. Roddick is going to get better again and start winning some stuff, and Nando has some work to do. Even though this match turned out this way. Good on Nando for winning, but I'm still not feeling you, dude.

Going Nuts

So when Robin Soderling comes back from not-winning-an-ATP-match-all-year-no-not-even-at-the-Australian-Open, he does it in style. He is into the final in Rotterdam after beating Nikolay Davydenko, he who has been talked about more this year already than probably any other year in his career.

Not having seen the match, I don't know if this is a case of Soderling stepping up his game or Davydenko falling off his a bit - Kolya is still obviously a form player, but I think it's going to take us a while to tell how that quarter final loss in Australia after being in such a commanding position is going to treat him. It's not often that you dominate a match like he dominated that match against Federer only for it to turn around in the blink of an eye and for you to find yourself totally crushed instead. But Kolya is a tough nut. I think he'll be OK - even if this round in Rotterdam went to Soderling.

Djokovic, on the other hand, is not exactly what I would call a tough nut. He's more an almond, or a pine nut, or some other really soft nut. He obviously hasn't always been like this in his career, but it's really been a while since Novak seriously looked like winning... which is a problem, considering he is the #2 player in the world in one of the strongest eras of all time. He got edged by Mikhail Youzhny in two tiebreakers today. Youzhny will now go on to play Soderling in the final.

Best of three tennis is difficult in that, yes, you can lose two tiebreakers and find yourself out of the tournament without having done that much wrong. But while a few of these two-breaker upsets do exist, they're not an epidemic. Players like Federer, Nadal, Murray - Roddick is another one you definitely see this with - do end up in breakers, sure, but for them to lose both of them? Two in a row? Not something you see too often.

Again, I didn't actually see the match, so I can't make any profound comment on how well Youzhny played or what went on with Djokovic. But it just worries me that Novak really hasn't looked like a real contender in a while - even in Australia, where he made the quarters. He didn't play a seeded player till the quarters, where he lost. Sure, Jo-W Tsonga has his number and it went five sets, but I would argue that Djokovic probably wouldn't even have got that far if he hadn't had such a total cakewalk draw.

So there's one to keep an eye on. Soderling/Youzhny is not the final most people would have wanted in Rotterdam, but I think it will be a good match nonetheless. These two, if nothing else, are tough nuts.

ETA: Welcome to the world, Alexia Wawrinka! Congrats to Stan and Ilham. And Myla and Charlene... I bet you'll have a new friend in the tournament creche soon enough!

Awesome Andrey

Oh man, my boy Andrey Golubev was SO CLOSE to pulling a big upset in Rotterdam and knocking out sixth seed Mikhail Youzhny. He cantered away with a breadstick in the first but then lost the next two sets in tiebreaks. Clearly he has still got his awesome game going on and it wasn't just an Australian fluke - but he's got to close out these matches instead of coming OMGSOCLOSE. Because I firmly believe that he can skyrocket - and I mean skyrocket - up those rankings. If he keeps playing the way I saw him play in Perth...

...I can't get over how awesome he is and how low his ranking is by comparison. Though he did improve it by about thirty places over the Australian summer - and when you consider that he totally only played the Australian Open, as the Hopman Cup (where he was arguably at his awesomest) has no ranking points attached, that is totally awesome.

If he can only win matches like this one against Youzhny instead of coming agonisingly close, then we will really be cooking with gas. But watch this kid, guys. Andrey Golubev is going places.

Another result from Rotterdam I thought was interesting was Marsel Ilhan's win over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Garcia-Lopez can really ball on the red stuff, so this was a good win. But what I want to know is - where did Ilhan come from? I could swear I had never heard of him before the beginning of this year... or maybe late last year. Point is, he popped up so suddenly. Suddenly Turkey is all about tennis. I noticed the same OMGlookatme! appearance of Horacio Zeballos as well - I'd never seen him before and suddenly he was everywhere.

Goes to show you can write about tennis every day and still things surprise you.

One thing that does not surprise me, however, is Alize Cornet losing in Paris. Seriously, when was the last time she actually won a match? Did losing that match to Safina at AO '09 really do this much damage?

Writing From Afar

Usually, the dude that sneaks through the draw totally unnoticed until the fourth round or so is Nikolay 'playstation' Davydenko. This year is a bit different, because everyone's talking him about it (and I don't think he likes it much, though it hasn't hurt him at all so far - he's sliced through his opponents like a knife through hot butter). But it means that the role of 'dude no one talks about' is vacant.

And it's been filled by a pretty unlikely contender - Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

I haven't seen much of Jo-Jo this tournament - largely because he's been playing on Hisense, where I have not been. But he's been quietly coming through the draw, and he's suddenly looking ominously good. He played very well against a dangerous Tommy Haas last night and came through in four, though it could very easily have gone five (Tommy was up 5-2 in the fourth before Jo-Dub came back to win it 7-5). I don't understand why he hasn't always been a major contender at Slams with the way he plays... injuries, I suppose.

But he is a scary good player. I'll be interested to see how far he goes!

Lleyton Hewitt also won in a prematurely-ended match against Marcos Baghdatis, and will now play Federer in the next round. He's already posturing about how he can beat Roger... which he hasn't done since 2003. Roger had a battle in the first round but he's been cruising over Hanescu and Montanes, who are not crapulent by any standard. I don't want to jinx Roger or anything... but let's say I will be very surprised if we see an Australian man in the quarters.

I also will be surprised if we see an Australian woman, though Sam probably has a better chance against Serena than Lleyton against Roger. I think there's one more round before Serena hits that Grand Slam place where she's virtually unbeatable and if Sam doesn't get too tight, I think she could take a set at least. But thinking is one thing, wishes are another... so we'll see.

I write this from my parent's house in Wollongong, having left the Open yesterday morning. I miss Melbourne already. There is nothing quite like being in the thick of it. Next year, next year, Jodi.

We had a lot of retirements in the men's draw yesterday - three, in fact. Baghdatis, Koubek and Youzhny all pulled out... I feel for Mikhail Youzhny in particular. He had a really good shot against inexperienced-at-this-level Lukasz Kubot, who, by virtue of his inexperience, has practically already given Novak Djokovic a pass into the quarters. But we have a lot of the top guys left, and so we're in for a blockbuster week!

Surprisingly, most of the top women are still in as well - the only huge names to topple have been Clijsters and Dementieva, which is not bad for the WTA these days. Both men's and women's tournaments are unpickable at the moment. It is going to be so, so interesting to see how this tournament plays out...

...I wish I was there to see it!

Basel Dystopia

Yet another reason I Severely Dislike Novak Djokovic - he went and beat my beloved Roger Federer in the final of Basel, the Roginator's home tournament. I am appalled and disgusted and this is a universe gone topsy turvy and if Federer doesn't keep the year end #1 I am going to punch a wall. Or something.

I don't think there's an epic chance of him losing it, but I understand that it is within the realms of possibility, and I don't like that very much. It makes me sad that a tournament that's been so great as Basel ended with what is obviously the wrong result. Hmph. Screw you, Novak.

Yes, I am a paragon of maturity.

Everything came up Muzz in Valencia, which is really hardly surprising. Much as it would have been nice for Youzhny the Make-Himself-Bleed man to pull an upset, it was never really going to happen. Still, great run for Youzhny, and nice title from Muzz, so maybe he can climb back over Djokovic to that #3 spot. Stranger things have happened.

And then, in Bali, Aravane Rezai won the tournament... whatever the hell it was. I still don't understand the point of Bali, but I guess it's nice that she won. It was such a classic WTA match, though... Bartoli has been playing great all this week, and then bam! final! ...

...retire!

An ignominious end to what really has been a pretty ignominious year for the WTA. Kim Clijsters' US Open win aside, I don't think we've seen much amazing stuff there... and I really, really hope next year is better.


Today's Results

Valencia Open 500 (Valencia)

Andy Murray def. Mikhail Youzhny, 6-3 6-2


Davidoff Swiss Indoors Basel (Basel)

Novak Djokovic def. Roger Federer, 6-4 4-6 6-2


Commonwealth Bank Trophy of Champions (Bali)

Aravane Rezai def. Marion Bartoli, 7-5 retired

Battle of the Basel Boys

Well, we got our battle of the Basel boys - what a lovely match it must have been, seeing these two hometown boys having a good match. It's the furthest Marco Chiudinelli has ever been in a tournament, and it's great that it could happen in Basel - and it's lovely that he got the chance to play his bestie Rog.

I really hope Chiudinelli gets the comeback of the year award, because he has just been made of awesome so far. After finishing last year somewhere around #800, to be in the top hundred now and making tour level semis is pretty rad. I'd love to see him put up a good showing in Australia next year, maybe make it to the fourth round or so - he really deserves a great Slam run, after his awesomeness this year.

And speaking of awesome Swiss people, there is nothing that I can say about the awesomeness of Roger Federer that I have not already said. I really wish I had seen this match - because I love me some of the nice Swiss guys. A win for Basel.

Roger will play Djokovic in the final, who came through a good match against Radek Stepanek. That's a quality marquee final - I bet the organisers of Basel are very happy. I don't know how this tournament could have gone better for them.

In Valencia, we're going to see Muzz vs Youzhny - Youzhny's really on a kick these days. I remember writing a 'where are they now?' piece about him a while back, and now suddenly he's in finals all over the place. I don't know how you can not be a fan of a man who, you know, totally accidentally made himself bleed that one time, so I'm looking forward to a good match there.


Today's Results

Valencia Open 500 (Valencia)

Andy Murray def. Fernando Verdasco, 6-3 2-6 6-3
Mikhail Youzhny def. Nikolay Davydenko, 3-6 6-4 6-3


Davidoff Swiss Indoors Basel (Basel)

Roger Federer def. Marco Chiudinelli, 7-6 (9-7) 6-3
Novak Djokovic def. Radek Stepanek, 6-7 (4-7) 7-5 6-2


Commonwealth Bank Trophy of Champions (Bali)

Marion Bartoli def. Kimiko Date Krumm, 6-1 6-3
Aravane Rezi def. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, 6-2 6-3

Computer Problems =/= Crystal Meth

Let's get the actual tennis out of the way for starters. Just about everything came up Swiss in Basel overnight - Novak Djokovic took out Stan Wawrinka, but it's smooth sailing for one Mr R Federer, who made short work of Evgeny Korolev, and for his bestie Marco Chiudinelli the Resurgent, who also made short work of Richard Gasquet. Eminently satisfactory. It looks on track to be a Federer/Djokovic final and that would be pretty fun to watch... though not as fun as watching two childhood mates battle it out! I'm sure a lot of Swiss folks would love to see Roger vs Marco.

Everything fell the way it was supposed to in Valencia, pretty much - Gilles Simon was the only one who fell that, seedtastically speaking, probably shouldn't have, but he was playing Mikhail Youzhny, who has been made of awesome of late, so that's hardly surprising. Murray, Kolya and Nando all live to fight another day. Fun times, fun times.

And Bali is still as WTF? as ever - except for one thing. Vera Dushevina has been brought in as an alternate to replace Yanina Wickmayer. Why? Because the Flemish Doping Authority has banned her for one year, effective immediately. Same with her countryman Malisse.

I confess that the Malisse ban doesn't bother me as much - not because his circumstances were any more or less dodgy or anything, but because he's getting on and the better part of his career is definitely behind him. But Yanina Wickmayer? Title-winning, US Open semifinalist teenager Yanina Wickmayer? This could derail her whole career.

And the reason for the ban? She failed to report her whereabouts for testing three times over eighteen months. She claims this is due to a dodgy password, and technology being what it is, I see no reason why she shouldn't be believed. There's not a whiff of drugs about the girl. And three times over eighteen months? I could understand her getting a warning, or a slap on the wrist, or even a fine - but a one year ban is much, much too harsh. A one month ban, maybe, if you were being really mean - it'd rule her out of Bali but she'd be back by the Aussie Open. But this is frankly ridiculous.

The case of Malisse is also ridiculous - I can't remember what his offence was, but it was something else stupidly minor - but it doesn't tug at my heartstrings the way Yanina's does. She seriously has her whole career ahead of her, and this is not going to help. One can't help but think that is the backlash to the Agassi thing (about which I still have not been able to bring myself to write) and if it is, then that is stupid, reactive and unfair. Just because Yanina Wickmayer had computer problems doesn't mean she was off doing crystal meth somewhere.

Both Wickmayer and Malisse are planning to appeal, and I seriously hope these rubbish bans get overturned. Sure, drugs in sport is a big issue. However, tennis - whatever Andre Agassi might write - is pretty clean now. The biggest scandal we've had of late has been Richard Gasquet, and his poison of choice was cocaine, which isn't exactly performance enhancing. And he got off with, in the end, a slap on the wrist. If Wickmayer and Malisse's bans get upheld when they weren't guilty of anything more than being a bit cavalier with reporting, with no evidence they were actually doing drugs at the this time, then that is absolutely stupid. Slap on the wrist, tell them they were naughty and not to do it again - but you can't destroy someone's career over a password that didn't work.


Today's Results

Valencia Open 500 (Valencia)

Andy Murray def. Albert Montanes, 6-4 6-2
Nikolay Davydenko def. Guillermo Garcia Lopez, 6-4 7-6 (7-3)
Fernando Verdasco def. Tommy Robredo, 6-3 6-2
Mikhail Youzhny def. Gilles Simon, 6-4 6-4


Davidoff Swiss Indoors Basel (Basel)

Roger Federer def. Evgeny Korolev, 6-3 6-2
Novak Djokovic def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2
Marco Chiudinelli def. Richard Gasquet, 6-1 6-3
Radek Stepanek def. Marin Cilic, 4-6 6-3 6-3


Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions (Bali)

Marion Bartoli def. Shahar Peer, 6-3 6-2
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Samantha Stosur, 7-6 (7-4) 7-5
Vera Dushevina def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 2-6 6-1 7-5
Sabine Lisicki def. Melinda Czink, 6-2 6-7 (1-7) 6-4

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

Full of Surprises

The big day is upon us. One of my favourite things about Roland Garros is that there is no boring Sunday - that day before a Slam starts when there is no tennis and you're not quite sure what to talk about, because you've talked through most of that week's actual tennis with predictions. Or maybe this is something only suffered by me. Who knows.

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Anyway, Roland Garros does indeed start tomorrow, with its Sunday start so beloved by me and so loathed by the players, as I understand, and the draw came out yesterday. The player to watch closely here was Djokovic, and - much to the dismay of Roger Federer, I would imagine, though he'd never admit it - he landed in the Federer half. This means that Rafa has world number #3 Andy Murray to negotiate, but on clay, you wouldn't like Andy's chances. Not that you'd really like anyone's chances much against Rafa on clay.

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This means that we're going to be deprived of a rerun of Madrid, where Rafa played that excellent semi against Djokovic before backing up to play a close one with Federer. It's a shame that the King of Clay won't meet both his close rivals in this tournaments - from a viewing perspective - but I think we can safely say he'll meet one of them. And I'm of the opinion that will be Federer, though others might think differently.

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Not that Rafa's got a cakewalk. Oh no indeed. He's got potential match ups with Dr Ivo Karlovic and David Ferrer before what could be an absolute blockbuster against Fernando Verdasco. After the fantastic semi at the Aussie Open, I would love to see a rerun there! Then there's the possibility of Murray in the semis, with Cilic, Gonzalez, Simon and Safin also in contention. (Yes, I put Safin in there. I'm determined. After Wimbledon last year, Marat can do anything.)

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Now to the other half, beginning with the Djokovic quarter. This one looks the easiest of the quarters to my mind, though you never know - a real test, I think, will be Tommy Robredo in the fourth round. I picked Tommy to make the semis a while back, and while I'm not exactly sure whether I still think that, Tommy's got the game to give Novak a run for his money. One never knows what's going to happen with Novak, after all... though he's already got the Roland Garros jewel in his quest to win the retirement Slam.

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Also lurking in that Djokovic quarter is Juan Monaco, and we know what a surprise package he's been over the claycourt season. He could be a dark horse contender to go deep. Juan Martin del Potro and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are also hanging out in this quarter, and both are capable of doing well.

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Then we come to the Federer quarter, where all the Americans seem to be hanging out. Blake and Roddick are both in this quarter, as is Berdych, which could be interesting after the way the fourth round at the Aussie Open almost turned out. Gael Monfils is also hanging out in this quarter. I think this'll be a relatively all right draw for Fed until the semis - but who knows what will happen in the world of tennis?

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Still, I would like to re-affirm that I do believe in the Mighty Fed. Will Rafa win Roland Garros? Probably. But can Federer do it? Absolutely.

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We'll take a look at the women's draw tomorrow. Early impressions? The Williams sisters are in opposite halves, but I still don't like their chances of meeting in the final!

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Meanwhile, brief detour to the world of tennis actually happening now - who on earth is Alexandra Dulgheru? What is she doing in the final of Warsaw? And is she playing Roland Garros? Should I be keeping my eye on her? Where in the world did she pop up from? And it looks like my Mikhail prediction has gone south - Youzhny went out to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who'll now face lucky loser Julien Benneteau in the final in Kitzbuhel.

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Tennis. Full of surprises.

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Today's Results

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ARAG ATP World Team Championships (Dusseldorf)

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Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Andreas Vinciguerra, 6-1 6-2

Janko Tipsarevic def. Francesco Piccari, 6-2 6-3

Maximo Gonzalez def. Evgeny Korolev, 6-3 3-6 6-3

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Interwetten Austrian Open Kitzbuhel (Kitzbuhel)

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Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Mikhail Youzhny, 6-3 1-6 7-6 (7-5)

Julien Benneteau def. Oscar Hernandez, 6-3 6-4

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Warsaw Open (Warsaw)

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Alexandra Dulgheru def. Daniela Hantuchova, 6-4 6-7 (2-7) 6-1

Alona Bondarenko def. Anne Keothavong, 6-2 7-5

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Internationaux de Strabourg (Strasbourg)

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Aravane Rezai def. Viktoriya Kutuzova, 6-4 6-2

Lucie Hradecka def. Ayumi Morita, 6-0 1-0 retired

Not Too Bad

Well, the comeback of Maria Sharapova had to end somewhere, and for her first time out, quarterfinals is not too bad. I'd still bet you anything that she's not going to be too thrilled to herself - she lost very tamely to Alona Bondarenko in Warsaw. This is something that you'd never, ever see with her pre-injury - but I don't think it's too much cause for concern. Coming off a nine-month layoff and making quarters is perfectly acceptable.

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Though, like I said, I bet she's not going to be too happy.

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There's been a major exodus of seeds in Kitzbuhel - sorry, I just made a bit of a jump-cut over to the men's tour there without too much explanation! Remember how I was going on about Mikhail Youzhny yesterday? Well, I reckon he might actually win the tournament. He's the highest -and only! - seed left. I'm not quite sure what went on there to leave the tournament with the #7 seed, two randoms and a lucky loser left standing, but I guess it's just another one of those overlooked tournaments, being right before the French...

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Meanwhile, over at the cute little exo that's running in Paris - the Guinot Mary Cohr Masters - both our big boys had some good wins. Rafa Nadal beat Arnaud Clement in cruise-tastic straight sets - would one expect anything less from the Rafinator? - and my man Rog avenged his loss to Stan Wawrinka by taking him out pretty easily in straights as well. This'll be good for both of them going into Roland Garros next week - good luck, boys! Andy Murray, on the other hand, will have to go in with a loss under his belt after going down to Paul-Henri Mathieu... but I don't know how much it'll worry him.

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Today's Results

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ARAG ATP World Team Championships (Dusseldorf)

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Robin Soderling def. Rainer Schuettler, 6-0 6-0

Sam Querrey def. Gilles Simon, 7-5 6-3

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Robby Ginepri, 3-6 6-2 6-4

Juan Martin del Potro def. Igor Andreev, 6-3 7-6 (7-3)

Andreas Seppi def. Viktor Troicki, 6-1 6-4

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Interwetten Austrian Open Kitzbuhel (Kitzbuhel)

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Mikhail Youzhny def. Jurgen Melzer, 6-4 6-4

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Victor Hanescu, 6-2 6-2

Oscar Hernandez def. Juan Ignacio Chela, 6-4 6-4

Julien Benneteau def. Daniel Koellerer, 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-0

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Warsaw Open (Warsaw)

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Daniela Hantuchova def. Klara Zakopalova, 6-3 4-6 6-4

Alona Bondarenko def. Maria Sharapova, 6-2 6-2

Anne Keothavong def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 6-0 6-1

Alexandra Dulgheru def. Galina Voskoboeva, 6-1 7-5

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Internationaux de Strasbourg (Strasbourg)

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Ayumi Morita def. Peng Shuai, 7-5 6-2

Aravane Rezai def. Monica Niculescu, -0 6-1 6-2

Lucie Hradecka def. Kristina Barrois, 6-3 7-6 (7-2)

Viktoriya Kutusova def. Stephanie Cohen-Aloro, 7-5 6-1

Supporting Characters

I wrote - oh, it must have been a couple of months back now - about the mysterious disappearance and re-appearance of Mikhail Youzhny. He went totally AWOL from about the US Open season last year until about Indian Wells-ish, when he began posting all right results again.

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I say all right - it's been pretty quiet for Youzhny, really, when you consider that this is a man who has made a Grand Slam semi and has a couple of victories over Rafa Nadal under his belt. But every so often you see him creeping up through the draw, and - and I don't know where I'm really going with this, but although I can't confess I really noticed when he was gone, I certainly am glad he's back.

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He's like Davydenko in that regard, I suppose - how many people missed Kolya when he was gone? Considering he has the personality of a boiled potato, I'd venture to say not many. But when he came back, it was great to have him. Both he and Youzhny bring a certain sort of... well, it's je ne sais quoi, really. From Kolya it's his dogged consistency. Youshny has a sort of militaristic determination not unlike that of Dinara Safina (though I think Dinara's better at it.) They're not essential to the game - not like, say, Federer is, or Nadal, without whom the game would definitely be less enjoyable - but they're good supporting characters, and it's nice to have them back (even if they could be edited out).

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Speaking of Russians, let us flick over to the women's channel for a while and check on the progress of Maria Sharapova. I'd say she's doing quite well - though that tape on her shoulder is pretty frightening. She totally demolished Darya Kustova in Warsaw - sure, I mean, who on earth is that? but any win is a good win when you're in Maria's position. I've never been a huge Sharapova fan, but she is (unlike Youzhny and Davydenko) a little more than a supporting character, and the game has been a lesser place without her.

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Today's Results

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ARAG ATP World Team Championships (Dusseldorf)

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Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 6-3

Maximo Gonzalez def. Simone Bolelli, 6-3 5-7 6-4

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Interwetten Austrian Open Kitzbuhel (Kitzbuhel)

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Jurgen Melzer def. Agustin Calleri, 6-4 7-5

Victor Hanescu def. Marcel Granollers, 6-1 7-6 (7-2)

Mikhail Youzhny def. Stefan Koubek, 6-2 6-4

Oscar Hernandez def. Andreas Beck, 7-5 6-4

Daniel Koellerer def. Diego Junqueira, 6-1 6-2

Juan Ignacio Chela def. Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, 6-3 6-2

Julien Benneteau def. Nicolas Massu, 6-1 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (9-7)

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Warsaw Open (Warsaw)

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Klara Zakopalova def. Zheng Jie, 6-0 6-4

Alexandra Dulgheru def. Sara Errani, 6-4 6-3

Daniela Hantuchova def. Urszula Radwanska, 6-3 6-1

Alona Bondarenko def. Marta Domachowska, 6-3 6-1

Anne Keothavong def. Jill Craybas, 3-6 6-3 6-1

Galina Voskoboeva def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Ioana Raluca Olaru def. Julia Goerges, 6-3 -6 7-6 (7-3)

Maria Sharapova def. Darya Kustova, 6-2 6-0

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Internationaux de Strasbourg (Strasbourg)

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Kristina Barrois def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-4 retired

Peng Shuai def. Pauline Parmentier, 6-3 7-6 (8-6)

Steohani Cohen-Aloro def. Gisela Dulko, 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Ayumi Morita def. Julie Coin, 4-6 6-0 6-4

Aravane Rezai def. Anastastiya Yakimova, 6-4 6-1

Lucie Hradecki def. Alla Kudryavtseva, 7-5 6-0

Monica Niculescu def. Yuliya Beygelzimer, 5-7 6-0 6-4

Viktoriya Kutuzova def. Stephani Foretz, 3-6 6-3 6-2