When the Ground is Red

I could have written this post last year and I don't think anyone would have been able to tell. If I had called the opponent Mr X, then I guarantee no one would have been able to tell.

Put Rafa Nadal on clay - particularly, it seems, the clay of Monte Carlo - and it doesn't matter who is on the other side of the net, because he's going to win. The opponent, in many ways, is beaten before he even begins. No one dethrones Rafa Nadal in Monte Carlo. And, as it is the first tournament of the clay season (the proper clay season, none of this Golden Swing ridiculousness), it's an ominous note for the rest of the ATP.

When the ground is red, it's Rafa's time. (As well as all those other times when it's Rafa's time.)

I don't think Rafa played anywhere near his true abilities on clay today - not even close. And yet, even playing at, what, 70%? 75%? there was no way Daveed Ferrer was touching him. And Ferrer is not exactly sub-par when it comes to clay - he has a clay title already this year, which he earned by beating Almagro, the Prince of Clay. But when it comes to Rafa...

It must be so hard for people to come out against Rafa on clay and expect to win. Belief is a huge ingredient of the tennis... cake? pie? and it is a rare man who comes out with even the faintest hint of belief that he'll win. This is why Nadal/Djokovic on clay will be such an interesting match, I think, whensoe'er it happens (and it seems likely that it will, at some point), because if there is one thing Novak has never struggled with, it's belief.

But that is a match for another day. Today is all about Rafa, and one of the most ridiculous tournament streaks we have ever seen. Congratulations, Rafa. When the ground is red, you are terrifyingly, ridiculously good.

Cupcakes For Breakfast

So I think we're all agreed. The top half of the Indian Wells draw is cancelled. We're just sending Rafa Nadal straight to the final, yesno?

Seriously, I'm not one of the people who sees conspiracy theories in draws, but if Rafa's draw was any cupcakier I would be eating it right now. It is freaking ridiculous. I've seen some fluke-y draws in my time, but this one is practically a work of art in its cupcakiness. And it's not like it necessarily started out that way, either - it's evolved into this high form of cupcake art. Give a monkey a pen and eventually it'll write Hamlet; give tennis players racquets and one day you'll be left with Rafa and some cakes.

Let's review. In fact, I've got a very special guest here on Tennis From Beyond The Baseline to review for you. Say hola to Rafa, guys!

...

Hello. Hola. I'm Rafa Nadal, and I'm ranked #1 in the world. I had a bit of a sad loss at the Australian Open, but I'm still ranked #1 and I'm all better from my injury, and I'm coming off a pretty excellent Davis Cup weekend. I'm pretty awesome. On my day, I can beat just about anyone. Actually, that is actually everyone, because I'm more than pretty awesome.

I get a bye in my first round, because, hello, awesome. And then in my second round, I get Rik de Voest. He's a qualifier. I know it can toughen people up, that qualifying draw, and I like my cupcakes all gooey and moist, so I decide to give him - oh, he retired. Oops. Who knew.

Meanwhile, while this is going on, the other seeds in my section are playing. Sorry, did I say playing? I meant losing. Out goes Monaco, out goes Baghdatis, out goes Tsonga, and the dude who beat me at the Australian Open, David Ferrer? Yeah, he's gone too. But it's all right. This cupcake still has some seeds in it. It's freaking multigrain. Simon! Almagro! Montanes! These dudes all have some mad skills, no?

Sorry, did you just ask what I'm ranked? #1, dude. And how many Slams do I have? That would be nine. How many other Slam winners are there in the entire top half of the draw? Well, Juan Martin del Potro won one, but he's over in the other side of the half. Murray's half. And Murray's been to three finals of Slams before - oh, Murray lost? To Donald Young?

You know I am a polite guy. I'm Rafa. But excuse me while I shriek WHAT THE F^&*?!

But you know, I am modest, and is basically impossible for me to win, no? These guys, they all play very good. Anyone is a danger. I'm playing Ryan Sweeting this round, and he got a whole FOUR GAMES off me at the Australian Open. In three sets. That is FOUR GAMES TOO MANY.

I am so disappointed. He got four games off me again, and this time in only TWO sets. My game must be slipping. Is basically impossible for me to win this cupcake-y half now, no? There are still some seeds left, remember - remember Montanes and Almagro and Simon?

WHAT DO YOU MEAN ONLY MONTANES IS LEFT WHAT IS THIS TOURNAMENT WHO IS BAKING THIS CUPCAKE FOR ME?!

But in the other side of this top half, it's still all going on. Murray might be gone, but Soderling is #4 now, and he's still there - oh. Hang on. So if I want to make the final, the highest seed I have to beat is... Verdasco?

Except no. Because he lost too. The highest ranked dude I could face now before the final is... drumroll... Sam Querrey. And is impossible for me to win that match, no? He's won three of eight matches this year and I'm only ranked #1. What more do you expect me to do?

Sorry guys, I have to say hasta manana now. I can smell cupcakes baking in the oven. And I have to play another qualifier soon.

...

...hi guys, Jodi's back now. And she would like to say WHAT THE EVERLOVING F^&* HAPPENED TO THE TOP HALF OF THE DRAW IN INDIAN WELLS?! The only dude that is even half a threat to Rafa now is Juan Martin del Potro and while he's pretty awesome, I don't think he's quite up to Rafa beating right now. We might as well pack up the top half now and send Rafa straight to the final.

And if I'm Rafa, I don't know how much I like this state of affairs. Because if I've been stuffing my face with cupcakes and then I get to the final and I get a big slice of Federer-or-Djokovic pie... I don't think that's going to sit too well, if you know what I mean. Cupcakes are many things - delicious, for example - but good preparation for a final? Not so much.

One Step At A Time

There is no three title run for Nicolas Almagro. Such a thing was not writ in his destiny. Instead, David 'Lord Farquaad' Ferrer took the title. And he is looking gooooooooood. Australia was no fluke. David Ferrer is a force to be reckoned with and no mistake.

He is one of those dudes that, given the right draw, could go very, very deep at Roland Garros. Or even given the wrong draw. No one expected him to end up in the semis in Australia, and yet semis he made. So keep an eye on this one. No telling where he'll pop up.

He will be seeded. This we know. And he will be seeded high. So while it probably wouldn't be a top player's MOST FAVOURITE THING EVER to have Ferru land in their quarter, he's hardly a dangerous floater.

One of the other winners over the weekend, on the other hand, is. Welcome home, Juan Martin del Potro.

I don't want to go proclaiming that JMDP is 'back' in some definable sense of the word or anything like that. For one, that's not really a quantifiable concept; and two, it's a long way back up to where he was, because he was forced to fall from so very high. But winning titles is the way to get back up there - step by step, rung by rung, hand over hand on the ladder.

Sure, it was a Mickey Mouse tournament - there's not much else going on this week. But Mardy Fish and Janko Tipsarevic are quality opponents and JMDP basically ate them for breakfast. These are all good signs, positive signs. While Juan's results over the Australian summer might not have been spectacular on paper, I think they did give him some useful matchplay. Want to get your eye in? Try playing three hours against Feliciano Lopez. It's been a grinding, wearing summer for JMDP, but it is paying off.

Delray Beach is JMDP's first title since he lifted the trophy at the US Open in 2009. I don't see him lifting another Slam trophy this year - or maybe not even next year - but these signs are all good. In a lesser field, his return might be quicker. Unfortunately, we have an extraordinary level of depth in men's tennis at the moment, crowned with some truly extraordinary players at the top. If JMDP is going to get back up there, climb the mountain again, it's going to take a while. No single title win is suddenly going to propel him back among the echelons of the top ten.

But there's only one way to climb a mountain, and that's step by step. And winning Delray Beach is quite a large step - one might almost call it a leap.

If A Tree Falls And No One's There...

I have found myself spectacularly uninvolved in the world of tennis this week. I know it should have been the first week that I really cared post-Australian Open, what with the return of my main man Roger, but no. I found this week terribly, terribly dull.

This is not to say that I am not a bit cross with the selfsame Roger Federer for his performance in the Dubai final. Djokovic is playing so well at the moment that even if he had played better I don't know if he would have been able to win, but missing overheads? Dude, seriously? Ferd the turd was out in this match in full force.

So let's not talk about him. Or I will shout. LIKE THIS. Instead, let's talk about Nicolas Almagro, who keeps, like, winning stuff. Like, lots of stuff.

He is in his third straight final, going for his third straight title. I know these are Mickey Mouse clay tournaments, but that is still pretty impressive. Almagro is a fearsome claycourter at the best of times (he is, after all, the Prince of Clay) but this is a good run for him. This is a run I don't think Rafa would be ashamed to have to his name, if Rafa were the kind of dude that played these tournaments.

And now Almagro is going up against another Spanish dude in the in-form David Ferrer. And you've got to think... if you've just played about 2394729387 matches on the trot, David Ferrer is the last dude you want to face. (Ask Rafa.) Because here is the thing - three finals in a row is a great result, but is it the best idea for your body?

As far as I recall, Almagro is not the most injury prone dude. He's no Tsonga, that's for sure. But clay is a demanding surface and even when you're winning pretty comfortably, as he has generally been doing, it's got to take a toll on your body. Again, let's look at Rafa, the clay machine. I think we can all agree that Rafa's fitness is superhuman, that he is lightyears ahead of the field on clay, and that there is quite a high possibility that he is a cyborg. And yet he didn't win those three Masters 1000s on clay until he stopped playing Barcelona.

If Almagro gets good draws - ie. doesn't come up against that selfsame Rafa, or Federer, or Djokovic - he is perfectly capable of going very deep in the important clay tournaments to come. On clay, he is top ten in the world, no doubt. But if he guns it too hard now, when no one's around, then he's going to burn out. And no one will remember these tournament wins here... because, as always, Roland Garros will eclipse everything.

(On Roland Garros - there is a slight possibility I might actually attend for a day or two this year! How cool is that?!)

The Roddick Gateway

We very nearly could have had exactly the same winners on the ATP tour this week as last week, if Andy Roddick had not carelessly (or probably carefully, actually) got in the way. I don't know how often this happens, but I'm going to venture 'not often'. And this week it was not to be.

Nicolas Almagro and Robin Soderling completed the first two points of the triangle - I am very glad that Soderling won in Marseille, by the way. If my beloved Nico M is going to get beaten, I would rather it was by some dude who's genuinely excellent than anyone else. And the Prince of Clay, Nicolas Almagro... well, he's making good on the nickname, and that is for sure.

Anyway. So we had Almagro (check) and Soderling (check) but Raonic, who would have made it a three-from-three, went and lost to Roddick. Three sets it took - though it easily could have been two either way, as the first two were pretty intense breakers - but Roddick it was who came out on top. Yoda I am talking like today. I am, oh yes.

I feel a bit bad about it, as I probably should be rooting for the underdog, but I'm glad Roddick came out on top today. Even though it is, as I said yesterday, like a spaceship with jet thrusters rather than a bandwagon, I'm just not on board with Milos Raonic yet. Probably the spaceship is going too fast for me to catch up on. If Raonic was to add a top ten scalp to his already growing bag of scalps - a scalp that is not the questionably mohawked scalp of Fernando Verdasco, that is - then I don't know if I could deal.

Roddick represents order in the tennis world. He's a top ten fixture. He exists in my world to place regular beatdowns on the guys ranked below him and to get shellacked by Roger Federer. He's the intermediary between the two worlds - the gateway, if you like. If you beat Roddick, then something serious is going down. It's not like beating Verdasco or one of the other top ten ne'er do wells - I'd place players like Berdych, who is (I think) ranked higher than Roddick in this category. Roddick is consistent. Roddick has been in the top ten for about a hundred years and stayed there. If you beat Roddick - especially if you start beating him regularly - well then, you could be launching an assault on the top guys. Or at least getting some wins against them.

Milos Raonic isn't there yet. The Roddick door is closed to him. And for me, maybe this is good. If he's going to get on board, I need his bandwagon to go a little slower.

Life On Show Court 2

Today was my last day at the Australian Open - sadface. I finished it off with wonderful drinks with Dootsiez and PJ from All I Need Is A Picket Fence, which was the perfect way to end what has been a wonderful tournament for me. I have had the time of my life, and you can bet your bottom dollar that I will be back for 2012 - for even longer, if I can possibly afford it!

I spent a great part of my day on Show Court 2 today - first for Almagro vs Ljubicic and then for Azarenka vs Scheepers. Herein is my report.

Almagro was playing as well as I have ever seen him on a hard court. We all know that he is the Prince of Clay, but he was absolutely on fire today against Ljubicic. If you'd asked me to place a bet before the match, I would have said Ljubicic in straights. Instead, it turned out being the other way round.

I never realised Almgaro had such massive shots - he can hit the ball HARD. I think the only person I've seen hit the ball that (noticeably) hard is Soderling. And maybe Nadal. Seriously, his strokes were MASSIVE today. He has a real flair for the passing shot and the angled forehand. And he played a totally fierce second set tiebreak. That tiebreak was the real key point in the match, and it was Almagro who held tough. I was very impressed. I totally understand how he gave Tsonga such a good run for his money last year! Actually, Almagro has a pretty decent record in Australia, and I totally get why.

Ljubicic, on the other hand, was doing something weird with his shots. I don't know if I was influenced by his grunt, which made him sound extremely like he was in pain, but he seemed to be collapsing inwards on a lot of his shots - sort of curling up, which seemed to be really hampering his movement. I don't know if I've missed, like, his entire career, and he's always played like this, but I felt very much like he was playing through big pain. I was kind of glad Almagro put him out of his misery, to tell the truth.

And then it was time for the ladies. This was the first full ladies' match I have watched outside of Rod Laver Arena, and it was suitably compelling, even if the scoreline did not suggest it.

I have not been a big fan of Azarenka in the past. I don't know if I have changed my opinion, but I was pretty impressed with her today. Scheepers possesses some big shots - like, BIG. She can hit winners like nobody's business and she has a lot of power. But Vika didn't panic and deflected all that power straight back at her. It was great tennis from Vika, combined with a bit of inexperience from her opponent, which won her this match. And in a women's draw more wide open than ever, why shouldn't it be time for Vika to make a charge?

And then it was time for Federer. I didn't have Rod Laver Arena tickets, but I watched on the big screen in Grand Slam Oval. And had twenty minor heart attacks, even though Federer was in front virtually the whole time.

Federer played this whole match like he'd left the oven on - distracted and wanting to get off as soon as possible. He managed the latter, but it was a strange, nervy match. He oscillated between extreme brilliance and Federror, his evil shadow-self. And then there was his strange obsession with the drop shot...

But he'll be right. He's Federer. And that is the truth of the matter.

I'm watched the Rod Laver Arena night session as I write this. Stan Wawrinka has just put paid to an awful Gael Monfils. Seriously, could Monfils have played any worse in this match? He possibly has the worst mentality in tennis. I came to this conclusion after watching him tank the third set against Gil the other night, and it was only reinforced tonight.

We've watched Federer and Nadal. We know that tennis champions have minds of steel. Monfils demonstrated tonight that he does not have one. He fell apart, totally and completely. He might have the talent, he might even have the game, but unless he works on what he has upstairs, he's not going anywhere.

In short, it is time for Gael Monfils and Roger Rasheed to BREAK UP. Rasheed is infecting him with douchiness.

Stan, on the other hand, played wonderfully. He may be a little douchey in his personal life - I cast no stones, I said 'may' - but his backhand is a freaking work of art. That thing is gorgeous.

And then the second Rod Laver Arena match... poor Venus. That poor girl. Poor scheduling decision, considering her injured-ness, but oh my goodness. That girl was HURTING. Get well soon, Lady V!

Some Watch-This-Spacers

So Denis Istomin has pretty much sprung from nowhere, huh. The first memory of him I have is him playing - and being destroyed by - Federer at the Australian Open some years ago (like '06 or '07 or some long ago time). And then he just sort of hung around for awhile.

And now he's suddenly all awesome.

I mean, there is a limit to his awesomeness. He hasn't been winning titles or anything (that I can remember, anyway.) But's he's troubling people. He's pulling upsets. He's looking a little bit dangerous. Exhibit a - he took out last week's winner Nico Almagro in straights in Hamburg. That's a little bit cool, you know. He's got some good stuff going on. Watch this space, is all I'm saying where this kid is concerned.

I'd like to say the same thing about Julian Reister, who popped up in about the third round of Wimbledon from seemingly nowhere - literally, I had never heard of him before. He just put put bad-tempered on-the-outs I'm-pretty-sure-everyone-hates-him-right-now Victor Hanescu in straights in Hamburg also - tight straights, but straights. I don't know enough about him to talk coherently about him (same with Istomin) but it's kind of cool that some new people have been making a splash. Even if they have been around forever and I just haven't realised it.

Bad luck continues for Simone Bolelli, though. Dude just can't catch a break right now.

Spanish Weekend

I am never quite sure what to make of Nicolas Almagro. Sometimes I think he is the Prince of Clay and that he can do just about anything. A lot of the other times I forget about him completely.

He's been pretty much in the forgotten camp of late, especially in the grass season. The ascendancy of Rafa (and, to some extent, of Feliciano Lopez) has assuaged the tendency for people to think that Spaniards can't play on grass, but Almagro is still one of the forgotten ones. And he really hasn't done anything spectacular all year (though he did play part of an awesome five setter in Australia against Jo Tsonga, if I remember rightly.)

But that said, though I do forget about him, I do like watching him play. He is very entertaining and even though I am quite fond of Robin Soderling, I was glad to see Almagro take the title in Stuttgart this weekend. I don't think Almagro is ever going to be one of the greats, but he has the potential to be one of the pretty-damn-goods, so here's hoping he can keep his form hot into the summer.

Speaking of Spaniards, what's got into Albert Montanes this year? He just won a title and has been having an awesome, Federer-beating year. Who woulda thunk?

A Year To The Day

A year to the day that Robin Soderling did the seemingly impossible and knocked out Rafa Nadal at Roland Garros, Sam Stosur has done exactly the same on the women's side. And much as I love Justine Henin, I am ecstatic for Sam.

People were calling Sam the dark horse of this incredibly difficult quarter, but I don't think anyone actually expected her to come through Justine realistically. But she has a chance - a damn fighting chance - of actually repeating her semi final performance here last year and maybe going further. If she can beat JuJu on clay, you can bet that she has as good a chance as anyone against Serena...

The winners: Sam Stosur. For all the reasons listed above. And for being freaking AWESOME.

Rafael Nadal also, for being a complete force of nature on a clay court.

And I have to give a shout out to Jurgen Melzer. So much talent, never really did too much with it, being the first Austrian to really do much of anything after Thomas Muster retired. And now - quarters at a major. Not too shabby at all! And considering the way Djokovic is playing, he stands a pretty decent chance of making semis if he keeps his head screwed on.

The losers: I'm sorry, JuJu, but you have to go in this column. Sam Stosur played lights out to beat her, but I seriously thought JuJu was going to win the tournament. She won't be happy with this result - even though it will give her a little longer to plan her assault on Wimbledon. And maybe that will be the difference for JuJu there... only time will tell.

And it might seem a little unfair, but Shahar Peer has to go here too. She started out fantastically against Serena and then completely lost it. What happened there, Shahar - apart from you realising that, oh yeah, Serena was on the other side of the net?

The disappointments: Raise your hand, Nando Verdasco. I know you have your whole toenail deal going on, but I was really feeling you this clay court season. I really feel like you have it in you to go super deep at Roland Garros - obviously your year is not this year.

And I know he won, but Novak Djokovic has been very disappointing this whole tournament, and it didn't stop here. Considering Robby Ginepri has won a grand total of eleven clay court matches in his entire career, you'd think the world #3 would be able to beat him without meekly dropping a set for what seemed like no reason.

The scraped-in-by-skin-of-teeth: No one really - no extremely tight matches today. So let's call this one the sneaking-through-the-draw-without-really-drawing-attention-to-themselves category today, and point our fingers at Nico Almagro and Jelena Jankovic, who have been silent and deadly so far. Nico will obviously stop next round, as he's playing some dude called Rafa whom I hear is a bit good on this surface, but Jelena really has the potential to go all the way here.

One to watch/story of the day: Watch out world. Here comes Sam Stosur!

The Murray Conundrum

I would like to state right now that I am not going to even muse on the possibility of a Fedal final in Madrid. It will be a jinx. And Ferrer and Almagro are fierce players. Note that I am not mentioning any words like 'destiny'.

Instead, I want to talk about Andy Murray.

I completely forgot he was even in this tournament until he lost to Daveed Ferrer today. This is not just me not paying attention - this is, I believe, symptomatic of Murray's career over the last few months. It has been very easy to forget about Andy Murray. Too easy, when he's supposed to be ranked in the top five.

I don't know how much of this is his relative inability to play on clay and how much is the funk he is undoubtedly in. A quarter final in Madrid is actually not that bad a result, considering what other results he's been pulling over the last little while. And maybe this under the radar thing will work for him. He's certainly the dude that no one is talking about going into Roland Garros.

...where, we must remember, he made the quarters last year. His relative inability to play on clay is just that - relative. He's never going to be a dirtballer, let's put it that way.

But, all this aside, I can't help feeling that something is very wrong with Andy Murray. And with Wimbledon fast approaching, where expectations are going to hit him like a freight train, he's running out of time to straighten up and fly right. Because if he's in a hole now, imagine what the British media will do to him if he disappoints in SW19.

Reverse Psychology

Channel 7 have this thing every year where they try to convince the world that Lleyton Hewitt is going to win the Australian Open, despite huge amounts of evidence to the contrary. This year was no different, but they managed to do it via the most ridiculous 'inspirational' montage I have ever seen.

'Roger will beat Lleyton.'

'Lleyton might get a set if Roger gets so bored he falls asleep.'

'Lleyton has no chance.'

'Roger will smash Lleyton like a guitar'.

(Words mine, but message = everyone they interviewed, from Jim Courier to Brad Gilbert to Darren Cahill to Roger Rasheed).

And this was supposed to be a pro-Lleyton inspiration montage. Perhaps reverse psychology was involved? Or something?

Anyway, no matter what was involved, the predictions of Everyone Who Means Anything came true and Federer's victory over Hewitt was total. There is nothing that Hewitt can do that really troubles Federer - he doesn't have the arsenal. His speed used to be his biggest weapon but he's a good half step short of where he used to be.

And then there is that whole thing where Federer has now beat him fifteen times in a row. There's some psychology for you, Channel 7.

Hardly any of the other men's quarters were quite so simplistic, however. Roger will now face his recent bugabear Nikolay Davydenko... though he will be very glad to see that Kolya went five sets when he really shouldn't have. Jo Tsonga also played a completely unnecessary five sets. Both Kolya and Jo were up two sets to love before Verdasco and Almagro, their respective opponents came back strong.

It's the first time I've ever seen Kolya spray so much, and I think it might have something to do with his mental strength rather than his game. This is his first experience of being talked about as a serious chance and I don't think he likes it much. It will be interesting to see how that plays out in his match against Federer - I think he will either be incredibly strong, because of his previous two victories, or incredibly weak, because to a degree, there is expectation that he will pull off the upset.

Intriguing.

I felt a bit sorry for Nando getting knocked out... but then I realised that he hit over twenty double faults and nipped that in the bud at once. Almagro really had no right to take Jo so deep so he can justifiably be proud - that was a great achievement from the little claycourt dude.

In the women, we - surprise, surprise - have the Williams sisters through, and I think you justifiably can predict a Serena/Justine final at this point. We also, for the first time, have two Chinese women in the quarters - great achievement! - and Vika Azarenka came through in a tight one, though Caz-Woz, her fellow teen queen got knocked out.

I blame the pom poms on her socks.

Jodi's Epic Tennis Adventure 2.7 - Fedgasm

It struck me, as I was walking back to my hotel from Melbourne Park tonight, how very sad the week I spend each year at the Australian Open makes me. It makes me sad that every week of my life is not this great. Is there any felicity in the world superior to being at the heart, feeling the pulse, of one of the things one loves most?

No, I didn't think so.

I think I've become so introspective because I got to witness a Federer match tonight, a match where he was in full flight and it was so incredibly beautiful it was almost painful. Yes, I know I am waxing poetic about a second round match where the opponent wasn't that great, but there is something incredibly special about being there, seeing that ball come off his racquet and knowing that he knows he's going to win.

He was absolutely sublime tonight - fifty two winners to seventeen unforced errors. He made the point himself that his opponent's style - this was Victor Hanescu, for those of you who are unaware - allowed him to play this way, but it didn't make it any less beautiful. After the nerviness of the Andreev match, this was a total breath of fresh air.

And it is always an honour to watch this man play. Even Prince William thought so. (Kudos to the prince, by the way - he was great with the crowd tonight. Though I suppose he's had some practice with crowds).

His post match interview with Jim Courier was also good fun - and Mirka was a very good sport about it as well. And it was just SUCH A FESGASMIC MATCH.

Okay. Federer drooling over now.

There was actually another match in the night session... it just wasn't very interesting. Seriously, the sesh started out with the sublime and ended up with the so-boring-it-was-ridiculous. Seriously, whose fool idea was it to put Dellacqua/Sprem on Rod Laver Arena. That match belongs on Court 11. Or something. Margaret Court Arena, max. But Laver? When there are Williamses and all other kinds of interesting women?

I did stay for the whole match, I confess, but it was more nostalgia than anything else, as it was my last night on Rod Laver Arena. I'll be wandering the grounds again tomorrow, but the night sesh will be viewed from the comfort of my hotel room. If only Kuznetsova were on tonight instead of them! Seriously, Dellacqua/Sprem was the most boring match I have ever witnessed. It was dull in the first half and then WTA-typical (read: no one could hold serve) in the second. Dellacqua won in two tiebreakers. I think. I might have fallen asleep.

I did catch some good tennis around the grounds during the day, however... though I was very, very disappointed in my WTA fave Sabine Lisicki, who I saw crash out in the second round to Alberta Brianti. Seriously, Sabine? I expected so much more of you. I want to take you and Ernests Gulbis and put you on a tennis court with Larry Stefanki and not let you both out again until you stop doing stupid things, like making 3028402834 errors per match.

So that was disappointing - as was Yaroslava Shvedova's loss to Tathiana Garbin. I caught the first set of this, which Shvedova won, but evidently there was a bit of a crashing and burning incident when I left. Iveta Benesova was also disappointing - I expected her to lose to Vera Zvonareva, but I caught some of this match, and Benesova added a lot of losing to Vera's winning.

Oh. Ana Ivanovic. It's impossible for her to disappoint me any more, because I have no expectations. But she did even worse than last year. Yeesh.

In the 'not disappointing' camp, I saw the first two sets of Nikolay Davydenko versus Illya Marchenko, and JMDP was not lying when he said that Kolya plays like Playstation. Seriously, he got so many balls back it was just not funny. And he's developed a really excellent sliding serve which I haven't seen from him before - Marchenko got no play on it at all. I think there's a possible Verdasco/Davydenko fourth round clash, and I would be really interested to see how this turns out. Nando is in pretty decent nick himself, but this is a different Kolya to the one we've seen before...

But match of the day on the outside grounds for me definitely went to Almagro/Becker on Court 8, which Almagro took in five. This was a real battle of different styles (and fans!) and I was sad to see Becker-no-relation lose it, to tell the truth. Almagro on hard courts doesn't really do it for me, and he was no good at all last year. But it was an extraordinarily entertaining match - and that is what tennis is all about!

Oh, and addendum - only interesting thing to come out of the Dellacqua match. Marcos Baghdatis was in Karolina Sprem's box. THEY ARE SO DATING.

Getting Stuck on 'Annihilate'

We're into the third round now, the round where, as we all know, the seeds begin to meet, and consequently, we're seeing bigger and bigger upsets. The huge one today was on the women's side - we said farewell to the #3 seed, Venus Williams. Second round in Australia, third round at Roland Garros - it has not been a happy year for Venus at the Slams. For her sake, one has to hope that Wimbledon turns out a little better.

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It isn't often that you see Venus - or Serena either, for that matter - get beaten so comprehensively. 6-0 6-4 was the score today, and though Venus staged a mini-comeback in that second set, from the instant they hit the first ball, you could tell that this game belonged to Agnes Szavay. I actually felt very vindicated about Szavay pulling this upset - I used to talk about her a lot maybe a year, eighteen months back as a big hope for the future, but then she sort of faded into the background. This was an excellent win for her here, and she deserved it thoroughly - sure, Venus didn't play well, but Agnes did, and that's all that counts. She played the big points with aplomb, and this is a very good sign for the future.

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One up-and-comer who will go no further in this tournament is my last remaining female Star, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. She had an absolute beatdown put on her by her countrywoman and, by now, out and out favourite for this tournament, Dinara Safina. I was pulling for Dinara in this match, what with her being my special favourite in the women and all, but I felt sorry for Anastasia. She's got a lot more talent than 6-2 6-0 shows. Her time will come.

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And I would just like to note that Dinara has only given up four games in three matches. That is incredible. Outstanding, in fact. She's served up three bagels, two breadsticks and a... what does one call 6-2? A croissant, maybe? Anyway, the Dinara Safina bakery is open for business, and Aravane Rezai better watch out.

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Another #1 player who served up an absolute two-hoof beatdown today was Rafa Nadal, who pummelled poor Lleyton Hewitt. There's not much you can say about that match, except that Rafa will be Rafa... and sometimes he gets stuck on the 'annihilate' setting.

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But we did lose some big seeds in the men today - though not ones that were really surprising. Was anyone surprised that Gilles Simon went out? I wasn't. Victor Hanescu got him in straights. David Ferrer went out to Robin Soderling, but Ferrer has been pretty much non-existent this year, so I wasn't really surprised... and hey, this will set up an interesting match between Soderling and Nadal. No love lost there. Somehow, I would not be surprised if Rafa got stuck on 'annihilate' again.

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Nicolas Almagro also went out - no quarter final repeat performance for him. This will set up a veeeeeeery interesting round of sixteen match between Verdasco (who beat Almagro) and Davydenko (who beat Wawrinka). Man, that one could go for about twelve hours. I wouldn't like to pick a winner there, that's for sure!

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Today's Results

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French Open (Roland Garros)

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Men's Draw

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Rafael Nadal def. Lleyton Hewitt,, 6-1 6-3 6-1

Fernando Gonzalez def. Josselin Ouanna, 7-5 6-3 7-5

Novak Djokovic def. Sergiy Stakhovsky, 6-3 6-4 6-1

Andy Murray def. Janko Tipsarevic, 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 retired

Victor Hanescu def. Gilles Simon, 6-4 6-4 6-2

Robin Soderling def. David Ferrer, 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 6-2 7-6 (7-5)

Fernando Verdasco def. Nicolas Almagro, 6-2 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (10-8)

Marin Cilic def. Radek Stepanek, 6-1 7-6 (7-4) 6-3

Nikolay Davydenko def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-3 4-6 6-3 6-2

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Juan Carlos Ferrero, 6-4 2-6 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Aravane Rezai def. Michelle Larcher de Brito, 7-6 (7-3) 6-2

Maria Sharapova def. Yaroslava Shvedova, 1-6 6-3 6-4

Ana Ivanovic def. Iveta Benesova, 6-0 6-2

Agnes Szavay def. Venus Williams, 6-0 6-4

Dinara Safina def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-2 6-0

Dominika Cibulkova def. Gisela Dulko, 6-4 6-2

Na Li def. Olga Govortsova, 7-5 6-1

Clemency

Now, I could do another post about yet another inductee to the 2009 Club of Lost Souls (I was going to beat on Alize Cornet this time) but then that might just get monotonous. So let's talk about something else.

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The big guns are largely through in Rome - Djokovic went through yesterday, and Nadal and Federer both went through pretty comfortably today - with one notable exception: Andy Murray, who went down in a tight three-setter against Juan Monaco. Now, this might just be my imagination, but Juan Monaco seems to be popping up a bit lately. I can't pinpoint where, but I know his name's been around for doing... something. (Maybe I was beating on him for being not good enough - we all know that's my wont!) This is a good win for him - maybe the biggest one of his career.

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Now, if Nadal, Federer or even Djokovic had taken this loss, I can guarantee that it would be cause of huge concern and there would be massive press and coverage and whatever. As it is, I don't think it's going to be too much of a worry for Murray. He's already greatly exceeded expectations on clay, which is NOT his best surface, and so I think one early loss probably isn't going to be too much of a concern. If anything, it might do him good to have a week off and a bit of a rest.

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Nikolay Davydenko also went out, but considering his recent comeback and good showing in Barcelona, I'm also prepared to show clemency. And I'm even going to be nice about Ernests Gulbis, despite my ranting about his not winning enough - he had a fabulous, fabulous win in the first round against Nicolas Almagro (who is definitely AWOL this year - the Prince of Clay is not in the building) before going out in a tight three sets to Richard Gasquet. Not too bad, not too bad.

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In fact, I don't think there's a single result today which is totally, totally disappointing... in Rome, anyway. There are definitely a few choice words I could say about various people in Fes and Stuttgart. But today is a day for clemency - I'll beat on them tomorrow.

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Today's Results

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Internazionali BNL d'Italia (Rome)

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Rafael Nadal def. Andreas Seppi, 6-2 6-3

Roger Federer def. Ivo Karlovic, 6-4 6-4

Juan Monaco def. Andy Murray, 1-6 6-3 7-5

Fernando Verdasco def. Mardy Fish, 6-4 5-7 6-3

Jurgen Melzer def. Nikolay Davydenko, 7-5 7-6 (7-5)

Stanislas Wawrinka def. Mikhail Youzhny, 6-3 7-6 (7-5)

Fernando Gonzalez def. Janko Tipsarevic, 6-4 6-4

Tommy Robredo def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-2 7-6 (7-5)

Marin Cilic def. Christophe Rochus, 6-0 5-7 6-2

Robin Soderling def. Victor Crivoi, 6-1 6-7 (2-7) 6-1

Mischa Zverev def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-0

Radek Stepanek def. Feliciano Lopez, 6-2 6-1

Gilles Simon def. Fabio Fognini, 6-7 (6-8) 6-2 6-3

Richard Gasquet def. Ernests Gulbis, 6-2 1-6 6-4

Juan Martin Del Potro def. Viktor Troicki, 6-3 6-1 6-3

Richard Gasquet def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 7-6 (7-2) 6-4

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. David Ferrer, 6-3 2-6 6-2

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Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart)

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Gisela Dulko def. Victoria Azarenka, 6-4 6-3

Jelena Jankovic def. Dominika Cibulkova, 6-1 6-1

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Andrea Petkovic, 6-4 5-7 6-1

Nadia Petrova def. Zheng Jie, 6-4 5-7 6-4

Flavia Pennetta def. Anna Chakvetadze, 6-2 6-0

Daniela Hantuchova def. Alizé Cornet, 6-3 6-1

Sabine Lisicki def. Patty Schnyder, 6-4 6-3

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Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem (Fes)

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Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Klara Zakopalova, 1-6 7-6 (7-1) 6-3

Alisa Kleybanova def. Jarmila Groth, 6-4 6-1

Melinda Czink def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 7-6 (7-1) 3-6 6-3

Ekaterina Makarova def. Akiko Morigami, 6-0 6-1

Polona Hercog def. Roberta Vinci, 6-2 6-4

Lucie Hradecka def. Shahar Peer, 6-4 6-1

Lourdes Domínguez Lino def. Anne Keothavong, 4-6 7-5 6-3

Marta Domachowska def. Eva Fernández-Brugues, 6-4 6-4

An Exercise in Predictability

Talk about totally predictable. In the quarter-finals in Barcelona we have the #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7 and #9 seeds. The one odd man out is Radek Stepanek, #9 seed, who knocked out the #8 seed, Stan Wawrinka, last week's Federer conqueror. How long has it been since we saw a tournament fall so cleanly?

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It's not a bad thing that we rarely see a clean fall of the draw like this - unlike the WTA, where it is a symptom of the headcaseness sweeping the top #10. In the ATP, it shows the level of depth - because there is a huge level of talent going all the way down through the top twenty... maybe even the top fifty or hundred. We usually see some of that top echelon through - you can generally bet at least two of that top four make it through, if not three or all of them - but the rest of the quarter/semi finalists? Could be anyone.

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One thing did surprise - and disappoint - me in Barcelona, though. I've talked before about clay being a leveller - you have more specialist players on this surface than on any other, who really come into their own on the red stuff. And the captain of the dirtballing crew - Rafa aside, who totally transcends the title of captain and has become something like an emperor or a god - is Nicolas Almagro, the Prince of Clay. And what has he done so far this season? Big fact nothing.

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He went out to David Nalbandian in the round of sixteen - who promptly handed his quarter final match to Rafa in a walkover with a hip injury. So, although no one can gainsay the prowess of Nalbandian, this has been Almagro's turf for quite some time now. And Dave beat him. On one leg. Something's not quite right with this picture.

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Perhaps I'm expecting too much of Almagro. I'd never make this kind of demand on him in any other part of the season. But he has brought so much in the previous couple of seasons - c'mon Nicolas, bring it back and bring it on!

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Today's Results

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Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell (Barcelona)

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Rafael Nadal def. Christophe Rochus, 6-2 6-0

Fernando Verdasco def. Tomas Berdych, 7-5 5-7 6-4

Nikolay Davydenko def. Feliciano Lopez, 7-6 (10-8) 3-6 6-4

David Ferrer def. Potito Starace, 4-6 7-5 6-2

Fernando Gonzalez def. Juan Monaco, 7-6 (8-6) 6-3

Tommy Robredo def. Igor Andreev, 4-6 6-2 6-3

David Nalbandian def. Nicolas Almagro, 6-3 6-4

Radek Stepanek def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-4 1-6 7-5

Potential Again

There are two blokes I am not especially impressed with at the moment. One is Ernests Gulbis. The other Nicolas Almagro.

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One had a win yesterday, one a loss. One was seeded, one is not. But both have oodles of potential, and both are not using it.

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Let's start with Gulbis. I've flogged this horse to death - we all know how good I think he has the potential to be. But what have we seen over the past few tournaments? A big fat nothing. Nada. Niente. And here we've had it again, with him going down in three sets to Potito Starace. He did win the first set... but ugh, Ernests, would it have killed you to win one of the other two as well?

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I was talking about the pressure put on Rafa and Roger yesterday - I think pressure is something that factors into the Gulbis equation as well. I'm not the only one who thinks he is a fiery ball of potential. And that has to be a whole lot of pressure. Maybe that's making him nervous - he's supposed to be performing, and it hasn't quite happened yet, and that just intensifies with time. But... argh, Ernests, I know you can do it! Just go out and do it! Seriously, I'll settle with one match win at this stage.

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And then Nicolas Almagro... Nicolas, Nicolas, Nicolas. He has consistently proved that when he comes to clay, he is a massive force to be reckoned with it - he is the Prince of Clay. But what's happening? He took a meek loss in Monte Carlo and then he almost took another meek one today in Barcelona before Victor Hanescu retired with cramps. He is capable of so much more.

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I guess that's what it comes down to - people not doing as well as they should. But such is the nature of humanity, I suppose...

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...wow, that's philosophical.

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Today's Results

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Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell (Barcelona)

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Nicolas Almagro def. Victor Hanescu, 3-6 7-6 (9-7) 2-2 retired

Igor Andreev def. Andreas Seppi, 6-3 3-6 7-5

Tomas Berdych def. Martin Vassallo Arguello, 5-2 retired

Christophe Rochus def. Nicolas Devilder, 6-4 6-4

Janko Tipsarevic def. Albert Montanes, 6-4 7-6 (7-1)

Jose Acasuso def. Dudi Sela, 6-4 7-5

Alberto Martin def. Marc Gicquel, 6-3 6-4

Santiago Ventura def. Marcel Granollers, 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

Potito Starace def. Ernests Gulbis, 4-6 6-3 6-3

Juan Ignacio Chela def. Thomaz Bellucci, 6-2 3-6 6-4

Mikhail Kukushkin def. Pere Riba-Madrid, 6-2 7-6 (7-5)

Igor Kunitsyn def. Juan Carlos Ferrero, 7-5 7-6 (7-3)

Frederico Gil def. Yen-Hsun Lu, 6-2 6-1

Endangered Species

Aiyaiyai, Monte Carlo. We had some ker-RAZY results there overnight. Sure, the big boys got through all right - Djokovic and Murray came through in pretty convincing straights - but the rung below that? Yeesh. Berdych? Gone. Monfils? Gone. Simon? Gone.

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What is up with that?

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But there were even more shocking results than that - yes, even more shocking than Gilles Simon being beaten by Andreas Beck, who I recall having seen play and liked before - but still, qualifier. There were two that I would NOT have picked - whoever wins the bracket challenge this tournament is clearly psychic. Tommy Robredo, who has been playing so well and whom I have tipped to go deep at the French, lost to Juan Monaco, with whom I have not been impressed in the past. Sure, he's a claycourter, but Robredo is a pocket dynamo! This is not a good result at all.

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But even more shocking, the player who has regularly been #3 in the claycourt season over the past couple of years behind Rafa and Roger, the Prince of Clay himself, Nicolas Almagro, lost to Albert Montanes. It was a third set breaker, but THAT IS NO EXCUSE! I have high expectations of Almagro and this was just not cool. Montanes is a wily veteran, but Almagro is genuinely up there with the best in the world on the red stuff. This wasn't good enough.

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Maybe I'm expecting too much. The season has only just started and maybe the players need some time to get their eye in or whatever. But... ugh, please. Seeded players are becoming an endangered species in Monte Carlo. It's starting to look like a WTA tournament.

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Though it will be interesting to see what some of these lower-ranked guys can do... (Kudos to Marat Safin, incidentally. Always keen to see him through!)

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Today's Results

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Monte Carlo Rolex Masters (Monte Carlo)

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Novak Djokovic def. Oscar Hernandez, 6-1 6-2

Andy Murray def. Victor Hanescu, 6-3 6-2

Andreas Beck def. Gilles Simon, 7-5 6-1

Juan Monaco def. Tommy Robredo, 6-2 6-4

Janko Tipsarevic def. Gael Monfils, 6-3 6-1

David Nalbandian def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-4 3-6 6-3

Albert Montanes def. Nicolas Almagro, 7-6 (8-6) 4-6 7-6 (7-5)

Fabio Fognini def. Tomas Berdych 1-6 6-3 6-3

Jean-Rene Lisnard def. Christophe Rochus, 6-2 6-2

Martin Vassallo Arguello def. Igor Andreev, 2-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

David Ferrer def. Feliciano Lopez, 6-2 6-3

Ivo Karlovic def. Florent Serra, 6-4 6-4

Marat Safin def. Lleyton Hewitt, 6-4 7-5

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Family Circle Cup (Charleston)

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Vera Zvonareva def. Rossana de los Ríos, 6-3 6-2

Marion Bartoli def. Anastasija Sevastova, 6-1 6-3

Dominika Cibulkova def. Tamira Paszek, 6-4 6-0

Aleksandra Wozniak def. Abigail Spears, 6-3 4-6 6-0

Bethanie Mattek-Sands def. Mariana Duque Marino, 7-6 (7-3) 7-5

Shenay Perry def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 7-5 6-1

Sabine Lisicki def. Marie-Ève Pelletier, 7-5 6-4

Elena Vesnina def. Evgeniya Rodina, 6-0 6-2

Alla Kudryavtseva def. Angela Haynes, 6-4 5-7 6-0

Akgul Amanmuradova def. Alexandra Stevenson, 6-2 6-4

Sania Mirza def. Sesil Karatantcheva, 6-4 6-4

Viktoriya Kutuzova def. Mariya Koryttseva, 6-1 6-1

Stéphanie Dubois def. Katie O'Brien, 4-6 6-2 6-1

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Barcelona Ladies' Open (Barcelona)

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Masa Zec Peskiric def. Kaia Kanepi, 3-6 6-2 6-4

Carla Suárez Navarro def. Estrella Cabeza Candela, 6-2 6-0

Maria Kirilenko def. Camille Pin, 6-2 6-0

Anastasiya Yakimova def. Sorana Cirstea, 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-5)

Francesca Schiavone def. Lourdes Domínguez Lino, 7-6 (7-4) 6-4

María José Martínez Sánchez def. Kirsten Flipkens, 6-2 6-2

Nicole Vaidisova def. Yevgenia Savranska, 6-2 6-4

Severine Brémond def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 7-6 (7-4) 6-2

Tatjana Malek def. Nuria Llagostera Vives, 6-3 3-6 6-1

Emilie Loit def. Mervana Jugic-Salkic, 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-2

A Different Animal

A few upsets in the clay tournaments we have going on this week - we lost Rainer Schuettler (#2) and Christophe Rochus (#7) in Casablanca and former champ Mardy Fish in Houston. It seems strange to be calling these players 'seeds' - they're certainly not what we would normally think of as high level players. But that's this time of the year, I guess.

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The clay season is both the most predictable and unpredictable swing of the year, in my opinion. The top players - players like Rafa Nadal and Nicolas Almagro, very rarely lose on this surface. Often with the top players you get a random upset here and there, but you very rarely see this on clay, I think. Look at Rafa's record - he's lost, what, two matches over the past four years? One was to Federer and the other one was to Juan Carlos Ferrero when he was pretty nastily injured. Other than that, he's been solid as a rock. Almagro, the Prince of Clay, is similar, though obviously on a lesser scale.

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But when you skip down a rung or two to the rest of the top ten and the guys that are supposed to be at the top... on clay, it seems like the playing field is pretty different. You get a lot more upsets here. I don't know if it's just the claycourters upsetting those who are more consistent year-round or whether it's more arbitrary, but you certainly get some random results that you probably wouldn't normally see.

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You've got to wonder whether Roland Garros should adopt a seeding system like hat of Wimbledon - based not only on current ranking but on previous performance on that surface as well. Clay is a different animal and the top ten rankings don't really reflect the real rankings. Nadal #1 and Federer #2, yes, but the rest of the top ten...? I think there'd have to be a significant reshuffle.

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Today's Results

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Grand Prix Hassan II (Casablanca)

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Igor Andreev def. Rabie Chaki, 3-6 6-3 7-5

Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo def. Rainer Schuettler, 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Albert Montanes def. Reda El Amrani, 6-2 7-5

Marc Gicquel def. Kristof Vliegen, 7-5 6-3

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Christophe Rochus, 6-2 6-3

Potito Starace def. Oscar Hernandez, 4-6 6-3 6-3

Olivier Rochus def. Mehdi Ziadi, 4-6 6-2 6-1

Teimuraz Gabashvili def. Fabio Fognini, 6-2 6-1

Santiago Ventura def. Oliver Marach, 6-1 6-1

Nicolas Devilder def. Daniel Koellerer, 6-3 6-4

Mischa Zverev def. Flavio Cipolla, 6-2 3-6 6-3

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US Men's Clay Court Championships (Houston)

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Bjorn Phau def. Mardy Fish, 6-3 5-7 6-3

Sergio Roitman def. Agustin Calleri, 6-3 6-3

John Isner def. Michael Russell, 4-6 6-3 6-2

Tommy Haas def. Denis Gremelmayr, 6-3 6-3

Scoville Jenkins def. Alexander Peya, 0-6 6-4 6-3

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Giovanni Lapentti, 1-6 6-0 6-2

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Andalucia Tennis Experience (Marbella)

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Jelena Jankovic def. Francesca Schiavone, 6-2 6-1

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Anastasiya Yakimova, 6-1 6-3

Carla Suárez Navarro def. Maret Ani, 7-5 7-5

Sara Errani def. Julia Schruff, 7-5 7-6 (8-6)

Virginia Ruano Pascual def. Tathiana Garbin, 6-1 2-6 6-1

Andreja Klepac def. Severine Brémond, 5-7 6-2 6-2

Renata Voracova def. Pauline Parmentier, 7-6 (10-8) 4-6 6-4

Arantxa Rus def. María-Teresa Torró-Flor, 4-6 6-2 6-0

Ekaterina Ivanova def. Masa Zec Peskiric, 6-0 6-4

Polona Hercog def. Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro, 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2

Selima Sfar def. Estrella Cabeza Candela, 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

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MPS Group Championships (Ponte Vedra Beach)

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Nadia Petrova def. Olga Govortsova, 6-2 6-4

Aleksandra Wozniak def. Jill Craybas, 6-4 6-4

Elena Vesnina def. Peng Shuai, 2-6 6-1 6-3

Sabine Lisicki def. Mariya Koryttseva, 6-3 7-6 (7-3)

Tamira Paszek def. Melinda Czink, 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-4

Anastasia Rodionova def. Galina Voskoboeva, 6-4 6-2

Daniela Hantuchova def. Anastasija Sevastova, 2-6 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Smooth Sailing in Miami

All smooth sailing so far in Miami, it looks like. People seemed surprised at Roger Federer doing well, which surprised me - just because he lost a match to Andy Murray doesn't mean he's out of form. But that's the hysteria over Federer that's been around for years, I suppose. In any case, he had a very cruise-y win over Kevin Kim (who was part of the first ever professional tennis match I saw live - James Blake/Kevin Kim, Day 3 of the Medibank International in 2007: there's some trivia for you!) and it was all very matter-of-fact and business like. I haven't seen the match so I don't know if Roger has already done this or not, but I'd really like to see him play aggressive this week, especially when it comes to attacking the second serve. He's said himself that he has to play aggressive to beat Nadal - I'd like to see him try it out.

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Actually, I wonder if he's taken a look at David Nalbandian's match against Rafa in Indian Wells, the one where Rafa had to save five match points. Headbandian seemed to have a lot of success attacking Rafa's first serve, especially early on. This is purely judging by the stats as I didn't see the match, but it could be something to try - a sort of throwing down of the gauntlet. 'Your first serve better be pinpoint accurate, Rafa, otherwise I'm just going to smack it, and who knows what will happen then.' I'd like to see more slice instead of topspin backhands, and - but I am not a tennis coach, nor am I qualified to give this kind of advice. I place my faith in the Mighty Fed. He's reversed these massive head-to-head defecits before. He can do it again.

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When did this turn into 'how will Federer beat Nadal'? That was not my intention! Back to Miami. No major upsets in the blokes - the only seed to go down was Nicolas Almagro, the Prince of Clay, and as the name suggests, he's hardly Captain Hardcourt. A couple more seeds went down among the women, but again, no one major, unless you count Marion Bartoli. I don't like to count her out, but a lot of the time I don't really like to count her in either, if you know what I mean.

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One seed to go was Sybille Bammer, another member of the WTA mum's club that Kim Clijsters will soon be joining, and she was knocked out by Sam Stosur. It's great to see Sam playing well! She's the only Aussie hope left, since Caroline Wozniacki exacted revenge for her third round defeat at the Aussie Open at the hands of Jelena Dokic, and Gilles Simon absolutely hammered Lleyton Hewitt. I'd really like Sam to have a big run at a big tournament - quarters, maybe. The Aussie players deserve some lovin'!

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Today's Results

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Sony Ericsson Open (Miami)

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Kevin Kim, 6-3 6-2

Novak Djokovic def. Frank Dancevic, 6-3 6-2

Gael Monfils def. Michael Russell, 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-3

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Agustin Calleri, 6-1 6-1

James Blake def. Julien Benneteau, 6-4 6-4

Tommy Robredo def. Jan Hernych, 6-4 6-4

Taylor Dent def. Nicolas Almagro, 2-6 6-2 7-6 (9-7)

Tomas Berdych def. Mikhail Youzhny, 6-3 3-6 6-4

Marat Safin def. Oscar Hernandez, 6-4 2-6 6-1

Robert Kendrick def. Robin Soderling, 6-4 6-2

Dmitry Tursunov def. Mikhail Kukushkin, 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-3

Nicolas Kiefer def. Fabrice Santoro, 5-7 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Marcos Baghdatis, 6-3 2-6 6-2

Gilles Simon def. Lleyton Hewitt, 6-1 6-2

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Women's Draw

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Dinara Safina def. Mathilde Johansson, 6-1 6-3

Elena Dementieva def. Anastasia Pivovarova, 6-0 3-6 6-3

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Tamira Paszek, 2-6 7-5 6-1

Anastasiya Yakimova def. Marion Bartoli, 6-4 6-3

Caroline Wozniacki def. Jelena Dokic, 6-3 5-7 6-2

Flavia Pennetta def. Maria Kirilenko, 6-4 7-5

Patty Schnyder def. Lucie Safarova, 4-6 6-1 6-4

Amélie Mauresmo def. Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-3 1-6 6-2

Anna Chakvetadze def. Daniela Hantuchova, 6-3 6-1

Alisa Kleybanova def. Galina Voskoboeva, 6-2 6-4

Agnes Szavay def. Francesca Schiavone, 2-6 6-4 6-2

Samantha Stosur def. Sybille Bammer, 6-1 6-1

Nicole Vaidisova def. Alona Bondarenko, 6-1 6-0

Carla Suárez Navarro def. Nuria Llagostera Vives, 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7-3)

The Prince of Clay

Yeah, so we have winners in Acapulco -Venus (surprise surprise) taking out Flavia Pennetta and then Nicolas Almagro beginning his annual surge with a good win over Gael Monfils. Actually, let's talk about Almagro for a sec, though I hadn't intended to. He is so impressive at this time of the year. As soon as the tour hits the clay, he becomes a contender. That said, put him on hard court and grass and he becomes basically a non-entity. However, when he hits the red stuff...

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I think we can safely say he is the Prince of Clay. Rafa is the king, and ain't no one gonna challenge that one - remember the Roland Garros quarters last year, when Rafa beat him one, one and one? However, I think that beatdown was due to the fact that Rafa took him extra seriously. So it's good to see that Almagro hasn't gone away during the non-clay part of the season and is back, ready to take on the world on the red stuff again.

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Now, onto what I really want to talk about. Bernard Tomic won his first ever Challenger title in East Bentleigh. It's only his third ever Challenger tournament, so I have to say that that is very very good - very very good indeed! He's ranked 536 - this win will catapult him into the #400s. It's still too soon to admit him into my Stars of the Future fold, but hot damn, that boy is going to be good!

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That said, Marinko Matosevic pushed him all the way. It was 5-7 6-4 6-3, so that's clearly one that could have gone either way. I still can't say I know much about it, but he's doing well round this satellite circuit, so the boy clearly has some mojo going on.

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Today's Result

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Abierto Mexicano Telcel (Acapulco)

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Men's Draw

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Nicolas Almagro def. Gael Monfils, 6-4 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Venus Williams def. Flavia Pennetta, 6-1 6-2