The First Kiddies

Three very important people in the world of tennis were born today. None of them actually play the game (at least, not very well) but all three of them have changed the way we view the sport.

The first of them is obviously me. I mean, what would modern tennis be without my wondrous incredibly insightful ramblings on Tennis From The Backseat wherein I am always right, never repeat myself and write excellent things all the time, because I am just that awesome?

The other two (who may be, I concede, sliiiiiiiiiiiiiightly more worldshaking) are Charlene Riva and Myla Rose Federer, who turn one year old today. I don't know if Mama and Papa Federbear have let them touch a tennis racquet in their life, but these two little munchkins have changed the tennis landscape in a palpable way. They really are the Mighty Babes, the First Children of tennis.

Everyone wondered, when Mirka Federer's pregnancy was announced, whether having kids would effectively turn Roger's mighty tennis mind into mush and whether he would ever be the same again. He proved them wrong, most emphatically. He said himself that he wondered, right after they found out Mirka was pregnant, whether he would be able to concentrate... and then stepped out on court at the Australian Open and beat Juan Martin del Potro 6-3 6-0 6-0, which was a bit all right.

And then he won the French Open.

And then he won Wimbledon.

And then his daughters were born, and it was all, 'oh, all right, they're here now, will he start going downhill?'

Roger might not be playing fantastically at this very moment, but he has been so awesome in the tennis world since Myla and Charlene were born - Australian Open, anyone - and I don't think it's any question he'll resurface when he's ready. He has said himself that he wants his kids to be able to see him play - and I think we all know that if Myla and Charlene are watching, Daddy wants to make them proud.

Happy birthday, little Federers. 23 July is when all the cool kids are born. Love, your fairy godmother.

Babies and Impossibilities

So guess who has a new friend in the collective tennis creche? Why yes, that would be Myla and Charlene Federer, who now have another Swiss tot to hang with. Stanislas Wawrinka's wife Ilham Vuilloud gave birth to a baby girl a few days ago. Welcome to the world, Alexia Wawrinka!

Please let these three girls grow up to be tennis players. Switzerland could totally OWN the WTA in a few years. Now if Chiudinelli would just have a daughter, we could see some awesome all-Swiss doubles.

But I don't want to devote all of this post to future tennis players when there are some, you know, current ones doing stuff. I talked about the Soderling/Youzhny final yesterday, so let's talk the other two finals today. We have Roddick and Verdasco in San Jose. Normally I would be all over that and be talking up what a great match it is, but I'm so not feeling Nando right now. He is not the dude he was this time last year. I mean, I know he almost pulled off an awesome comeback against Davydenko in Australia, but that was more because of a Kolya fold than some Nando awesome. Didn't he hit something like 20 doubles in that match?

Beside the point. The point being that I'm not impressed with Nando right now, and he's got some work to do before I readmit him to the ranks of 'worth even really discussing the possiblity of his winning'. If Roddick isn't injured, he should own him. You heard it here.

The other final - Brazil - we have le veteran de Juan Carlos Ferrero (yes, I realise that is inappropriate Franglais, but whatevs) against Lukasz Kubot, who appears to be trying to prove that his run to the round of sixteen in Australia was not a fluke. Despite the fact that it pretty much was a fluke (beating two virtual nobodies and scoring a walkover does not an awesome run make). This one has JC written all over it.

Wow. Sense my optimism.

Family Photo

Tidbit of news - Roger Federer has just released the first photo of his new family, Roger and Mirka plus babies. It's beautiful. And at the same time, he's confirmed his participation in the Rogers Cup in Montreal.

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I don't know whether Mirka and the girls are going to go with him, which will be a very different experience for him. It's very rare to see a Roger match without faithful Mirka in the box supporting him, and on top of that, I don't think he'd be too keen on leaving his beautiful baby daughters Myla and Charlene behind. So maybe they will go with him - which will be a different experience, trying to focus on tennis with two such lovely (and presumably loud) distractions. So either way, it will be an interesting experience for Roger at the Rogers Cup.

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But what is most intriguing about Montreal is that it's sort of the first tournament back after the summer holidays and everything has changed in the interim. It's the debut of the new world order - Federer at #1, Nadal at #2, with a pair of suspect knees and Myla and Charlene along for the ride. Both the great champions of our sport have undergone signifcant changes since we last saw them. Rafa has been dealing with incredible injury as well as some pretty nasty personal stuff. Roger has become a daddy. The world has changed.

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The family photo of the ATP is now significantly different from the last time it was snapped. And it's going to be very interesting to see how that plays out on the court. Will Roger be inspired by his daughters to ascend to another, even more sublime, level of tennis and float through the US Open series on a wave of joy and brilliance? Will Rafa be so determined to prove himself after injury that he steamrolls every obstacle in his path with that mental toughness we've come to know and love so well? Or will both boys be a bit distracted and will someone else triumph?

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I can't say. And neither can anyone. And the truth is, no one will know anything until we see those guys play. The proof is in the pudding, and we can theorise as much as we choose, but until we see them play, we don't know a goddamn thing.

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Except that Myla and Charlene Federer are adorable.

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Today's Results

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Legg Mason Tennis Classic (Washington)

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Juan Martin Del Potro def. Robin Soderling, walkover

Fernando Gonzalez def. Tommy Haas, 7-5 6-4

Andy Roddick def. Ivo Karlovic, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5)

John Isner def. Tomas Berdych, 6-3 6-7 (10-12) 6-2

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LA Women's Tennis Championships (Los Angeles)

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Sorana Cirstea def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 7-6 (7-4) 1-6 7-5

Samantha Stosur def. Jie Zheng, 4-6 6-3 6-4

A Pair of Papas

News just in, hot off the press, extra extra read all about it, etc etc. I don't know how reliable my sources are, but this just in - apparently Stan Wawrinka and his ladyfriend Ilham Vuilloud are having a baby.

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Now, I must confess that this news freaked me out just a little bit - but that's only because Stan was born in the same year I am and the likelihood of me having kids anytime soon is less than zero and it made me feel old. But then I got passed that and was all delightfully happy for them. Stan will be a wonderfully cute dad! I don't know much about his Mirka Ilham, but I'm sure she's lovely as well.
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So, what's it to be? Are Myla and Charlene Federer in for a bit of competition from little Miss Wawrinka when Wimbledon rolls round in twenty years time? Or is Roger Federer going to have to sit Stan Jr. down and tell him to watch his step round his precious baby girls? Could we see another Federer/Wawrinka doubles gold medal?

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...actually, probably not on that last one, because one assumes Myla and Charlene would play with each other and mixed isn't an Olympic sport. But maybe it will be in twenty years' time! Maybe we could see a marvellous mixed combination!

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I don't know what's in the water over there in Switzerland, but they're producing some pretty marvellous parents over there... and some babies with some pretty remarkable tennis genes. The destinies of Clan Federer and Clan Wawrinka may well be intertwined forevermore, as cemented by that wonderful gold medal last year. I'm looking forward to seeing you, baby Wawrinka - and I bet Roger's glad his precious girls will have someone to play with! What a marvellous pair of papas they shall be!

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Today's Results

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Legg Mason Tennis Championships (Washington)

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Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Tommy Robredo, 6-3 6-2

Philipp Petzschner def. Mardy Fish, 1-6 6-4 6-1

Ivo Karlovic def. Rainer Schuettler, 6-4 7-5

Andy Roddick def. Benjamin Becker, 6-3 6-2

Sam Querrey def. Igor Kunitsyn, 6-3 6-4

Wayne Odesnik def. Igor Andreev, 2-6 7-5 6-4

Fernando Gonzalez def. Alejandro Falla, 7-5 7-5

Marc Gicquel def. Viktor Troicki, 3-0 retired

Lleyton Hewitt def. Dudi Sela, 6-3 2-6 6-2

John Isner def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-4)

Robin Soderling def. Mikhail Youzhny, 6-3 6-1

Sebastien de Chaunac def. Dmitry Tursunov, 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 7-5
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LA Women's Tennis Championships (Los Angeles)

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Jie Zheng def. Elena Vesnina, 6-4 4-6 6-0

Samantha Stosur def. Maria Kirilenko, 6-2 6-4
Anna Chakvetadze def. Alisa Kleybanova, 6-3 3-6 6-1

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-2 6-1

Urszula Radwanska def. Dominika Cibulkova, 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 6-4

Nadia Petrova def. Shahar Peer, 6-4 2-6 6-3

Flavia Pennetta def. Coco Vandeweghe, 6-2 6-4

Yanina Wickmayer def. Jill Craybas, 7-6 (7-2) 6-1

Dinara Safina def. Daniela Hantuchova, 6-2 6-4

Alona Bondarenko def. Lucie Safarova, 5-7 6-4 7-5

Na Li def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 4-6 6-4 6-2

Sabine Lisicki def. Ekaterina Makarova, 6-1 6-4

Maria Sharapova def. Victoria Azarenka, 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-2

The Other Winners

I could continue cooing over Myla and Charlene Federer for quite some days - and probably there will be more baby talk this week, just so you're warned - but it is weekend winners day, so let's take a survey of who won what where. (Even though the biggest win this week clearly went to Roger and Mirka - welcome twins!)

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Let's start with the no surprises winners. Dinara Safina won in Portoroz - if she hadn't won I would have probably been poised to declare an official Dinara slump, considering most of her opponents there were ranked approximately #5000. She cruised through this week and though it was an odd tournament to choose to play, I'm hoping it just gives her that little bit of confidence she might need going into the US Open series. She can win the Open this year - I believe that. But she needs to believe it, or it ain't gonna happen.

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And then in Hamburg, Nikolay Davydenko came out on top. He wasn't the top seed - that was Gilles Simon - but given Simon's play of late he was effectively the top seed, and he played very well all week, including in his tough semi over David Ferrer. Nice work, Kolya. I have no idea why you insist on playing these silly out-of-place clay tournaments, but well done anyway.

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Then we have our two more surprising winners. Andrea Petkovic won in Bad Gastein. Um, who? Alize Cornet was the top seed here, but she's been hanging out with fellow Frenchie Simon too much, or so it would seem from her tennis. I can't comment anything more, really, because I don't know anything else about Petkovic. Which makes her win pretty sweet, even at one of these smaller satellite tournaments. Well done, Andrea.

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And then in Indy, Robby Ginepri overcame Sam Querrey in an all-American final. Ginepri has been flying under the radar for a number of years now and it is always surprising to me when he wins... I'm sort of used to him being in a slump, because he seems to have been there for sometime now. One thing, though - Querrey seems to have made a few finals this year, but I can't remember him winning any. Am I remembering rightly or did I just make this up?

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But my favourite win of the weekend (Federer twins aside) was in Hamburg, where Dmitry Tursunov and Ernests Gulbis won the doubles. Tursunov is a longtime fave of mine and I haven't seen much of him of late, and we all know that Ernests Gulbis is my favourite of the Stars of the Future, even if he hasn't been doing much this year. I'd like to say that this will rejuvenate them both... but I doubt this, really. However, I do like to see them win. They're a couple of my favourite boys!

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Today's Results

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International German Open (Hamburg)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-4 6-2

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Indianapolis Tennis Championships (Indianapolis)

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Robby Ginepri def. Sam Querrey, 6-2 6-4

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Banka Koper Slovenia Open (Portoroz)

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Dinara Safina def. Sara Errani, 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 7-5

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Nurnberger Gastein Ladies (Bad Gastein)

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Andrea Petkovic def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 6-2 6-3

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Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad (Gstaad)

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Mikhail Youzhny def. Gaston Gaudio, 6-3 5-7 6-4

Andreas Beck def. Marco Chiudinelli, 4-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-4

Baby Talk

The tennis world is still completely gaga over Myla and Charlene Federer - as well they should be, because these are the progeny of Roger Federer, greatest of all time, and Mirka Federer, a very good player in her own right, and they definitely have the genes to grow up and single (well, double) handedly dominate the WTA and take it to another level, like their daddy has for the ATP.

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But while the careers of Charlene and Myla might be brilliant, there's a little while to go before they can, you know, learn to sit up, let alone hold a tennis racquet, and there's another career going on at the moment which is pretty brilliant which we should have a look at - that of Papa Bear, Roger Federer.

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He's scheduled to come back to the tour in Montreal, giving him approximately two weeks before he drags himself and his little family over to North America (Myla and Charlene's first international trip! Won't that be fun for all involved?) I wouldn't be surprised to see him sit out till Cincinatti, but I don't think he's going to take a huge amount of paternity leave - it's not his style, and Mirka has already proved she is an iron woman who can sit through anything... like a 16-14 Wimbledon final while eight and a half months pregnant with twins.

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I think I discussed this a little yesterday, but I'm inclined to think Charlene and Myla will be a positive, rather than a detrimental effect on his career. The question everyone's been posing has been 'what has Roger got left to play for now he's won everything?' and the answer is his two baby girls. Sure, they may give him some sleepless nights early on - I wouldn't be surprised to see some early exits in the pre-US Open tourneys, though who knows? he might be riding so high on pure joy it will overcome sleeplessness. But on the whole, Roger is going to want his girls see him win - to show them that anything is possible, and impossible is nothing.

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Then let us have a quick look at the other great champion of our sport, Rafa Nadal. His middle of the year has been... it has sucked the big one, to put it mildly. He got knocked out of his favourite tournament by Robin Soderling in the fourth round. He's got tendinitis and we don't know how badly this will effect him in the long term. He couldn't defend his Wimbledon crown. One of his best friends of the tour died randomly for no apparent reason. And his parents are getting divorced, splitting his close-knit family on Mallorca in twain.

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His professional life - crappy. His personal life - bites. Whereas Roger now has Roland Garros, Wimbledon, the #1 ranking, a lovely wife and two beautiful daughters. You have to feel sorry for Rafa. The tennis gods have not smiled on him of late, poor guy.

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But there is time yet for Rafa Nadal. He is still young. I wouldn't be surprised to see Shmafa take the court for his first few matches back - but then, just like before, maybe I am wrong. Maybe Rafa will come roaring back like a steam train and it will be game on again between the two heavyweights. One thing is for sure, though - the tour may never be quite the same again.

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Today's Results

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International German Open (Hamburg)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. David Ferrer, 7-5 7-6 (7-2)

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Pablo Cuevas, 4-6 6-3 7-5

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Indianapolis Tennis Championships (Indianapolis)

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Sam Querrey def. Frank Dancevic, 6-4 6-4

Robby Ginepri def. John Isner, 6-4 6-3

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Banka Koper Slovenia Open (Portoroz)

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Dinara Safina def. Alberta Brianti, 6-4 6-3

Sara Errani def. Stefanie Voegele, 6-1 6-2

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Nurnberger Gastein Ladies (Bad Gastein)

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Ioana Raluca Olaru def. Alize Cornet, 3-6 7-5 6-3

Andrea Petkovic def. Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-2 6-1

Wimbledon 2029: The Federer Showdown

It's Wimbledon 2029. Nineteen year old Charlene Federer is facing Myla Federer in the Wimbledon final. They're due to turn twenty in a couple of weeks on July 23 (the same day as their fairy godmother Jodi from Tennis From The Backseat will turn... much older than twenty) and they're going to be playing in the doubles final later that afternoon, but for now, sisterly love is forgotten.

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It's 6-7 (16-18) 7-6 (22-20) 26-26 in the final - the longest women's match in history. Roger Federer is sitting in Charlene's row. Mirka Federer is sitting behind him in Myla's row. Four weeks earlier, their positions had been reversed, when Charlene and Myla played each other in the Roland Garros final. Charlene and Myla's young siblings are scattered between the rows. No one is taking sides, but everyone is biting their nails. The greatest match of the women's game might not even be halfway over yet.

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Yes, this is what we might have to look forward to.

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Late at night in Switzerland, the lovely Mrs Mirka Federer gave birth to twin girls, girls that might grow up to be the future of the WTA tour. Whether they are identical or fraternal we do not know, but one thing we do know about Charlene Riva Federer and Myla Rose Federer is that they will be remarkable. They have some of the best tennis DNA you could possibly imagine, but if they do not choose to follow that path, they have two of the most wonderful parents conceivable.

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I fail to see how Roger and Mirka Federer could have children who did not grow up to be truly amazing.

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And they were born on my birthday. Oh yes they were.

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Whether or not they have a tennis career is, of course, entirely up to the young Charlene and Myla, but even now, when they are about a day old, people are projecting Wimbledon finals for these girls and a rivalry not unlike that of the Williams sisters. Sure, it may be a bit unfair on the girls to project such expectations on them, but can you imagine how marvellous Myla and Charlene might be at our beautiful game? We might be in for one of the greatest rivalries in tennis history. Buckle your seatbelts!
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But tennis aside, what we can be sure of is that these two girls will grow up to be lovely human beings, courtesy of their lovely parents, and that they will change the lives of Roger and Mirka forever. I'm sure Roger is going to want a few Grand Slams in front of his precious girls, and Mirka, Myla and Charlene are going to want to cheer him on! But this is not about tennis right now.

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Congratulations, Roger. Congratulations, Mirka. And welcome to the world, Myla Rose. Welcome to the world, Charlene Riva. You are blessed girls, with such parents (and such a wondrous birthday-sharin' fairy godmother!) May you live glorious and beauteous lives!

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Today's Results

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International German Open (Hamburg)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Victor Hanescu, 6-3 4-6 6-3

David Ferrer def. Simon Greul, 6-2 6-3

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Viktor Troicki, 3-0 retired

Pablo Cuevas def. Nicolas Almagro, 6-2 6-4

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Indianapolis Tennis Championships (Indianapolis)

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Frank Dancevic def. Dmitry Tursunov, 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Sam Querrey def. Marc Gicquel, 6-4 7-5

Robby Ginepri def. Alex Bogomolov Jr., 7-5 6-1

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Banka Koper Slovenia Open (Portoroz)

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Dinara Safina def. Maria Elena Camerin, 6-3 6-0

Sara Errani def. Petra Martic, 6-1 6-1

Stefanie Voegele def. Rossana de los Rios, 6-1 6-1

Alberta Brianti def. Camille Pin, 6-3 6-2

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Nurnberger Gastein Ladies (Bad Gastein)

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Alize Cornet def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 6-4 2-6 6-2

Ioana Raluca Olaru def. Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-4 6-4

Andrea Petkovic def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 6-1

Yaroslava Shvedova def. Yvonne Meusburger, 6-2 6-3