Modest Achievements (and Immodest Failings)

In the grand old tradition (which I started yesterday) of talking about TWO WHOLE PLAYERS in one post, today I'm... going to talk about two players. Wow, really ruined that surprise. Oops.

The two lucky dudes on whom the glorious honour of my educated opinion are being bestowed today are Richard Gasquet and Nikolay Davydenko. I don't think their careers are directly comparable in the long run - Gasquet, as we both know, is quite a bit younger than Kolya and if talent was the only ingredient in the sundae that is a tennis player, then he would blow Kolya off the court - but they both have been around for a while, both have been in the top ten, and both are dudes on whom I have a little something something to say today. So there.

I don't think it's a secret to say that Richard Gasquet is one of the biggest wasted opportunities in tennis today. He is a typical French player - talented to the point of absurdity, capable of incredible - almost alien - tennis, and yet so inconsistent it can make you want to scratch your eyes out. I always think about Gasquet in the same box as Berdych - or at least Berdych prior to 2010. Gasquet made a run to the Wimbledon semis once, I think, but that's about it. I think that Berdych's one final is the one final he'll ever make at Slam level. Sketchy and inconsistent and... yeah, all those things.

But I actually want to say nice things about Richou today. I think he has actually played really well this year. He hasn't had a single first round exit - which for someone as skittish as him, is really something. He hasn't beaten anyone EPIC AND MAJOR OMG, but he's put together some nice streaks of matches - his run to the semis in Dubai, for example, where he beat Gilles Simon, or his run to the quarters in Indian Wells, where he came up against the blisteringly hot Novak Djokovic.

I'm not saying that he's going to go on and win Wimbledon or anything like that. But this is nice stuff to see from someone as traditionally inconsistent as Richou. Modest accomplishments, but solid ones. They're the ones that will earn you points. He just won over Denis Istomin in Monte Carlo, making another tournament where he hasn't lost in the first round. Well done, Richou.

And then we come to Kolya.

He's the opposite of Gasquet - a player who has made the most of talents that are a little bit limited. We know that he's challenged the great ones. We know he's done amazing things. But right now, he is having the most godawful year, poor thing. He just lost to Robin Haase in Monte Carlo, and his ranking is falling and falling. He's lost more times than he's won this year. He probably won't be seeded in Roland Garros, and I'd call him a dangerous floater, but who knows how dangerous he'll really be?

Haase is only the last of the players this year who've beaten Kolya who shouldn't have. After getting all the way to the final in Doha, Kolya has had a shocker of a year. What's he going to do to turn things round? I don't know. People are shouting 'retire', but I think there's more tennis in Kolya yet. We just need to find a way to winkle it out somehow.

Elite Eight (and Mr Melzer)

The line up is set for the World Tour Finals. The lucky three to get through are Roddick, Ferrer and Berdych. I wish Melzer had made it through instead of Berdych, but as was pointed out to me yesterday by reader Yolita (thanks!), this was in fact mathematically impossible. Pretty sure the only way we get Melzer now is if one of the Elite Eight shuts down for the year, and I don't want that to happen.

This qualification happened because Monfils beat Verdasco, who I am very glad did not qualify - he really didn't deserve it. Berdych lost to Davydenko (bit sad he wasn't in contention, but then, he didn't really do anything to deserve it, apart from having a cracker start to the year) but is still through, and Melzer came through to face Federer in the quarters, but is not through. Oh, and Llodra beat Djokovic.

The way he's playing at the moment, Berdych is going to be easy pickings for the other dudes at the WTF, and - I don't want to jinx it, especially because he made the finals of Basel last week, but nonetheless - I have a sneaking suspicion we might see Djokovic go 0 and 3 as well. Unless, of course, Berdych and Djokovic are in the same group, in which case Novak's getting at least one win. Djokovic's results have actually not been that bad of late, Llodra-loss today aside, but I am just spectacularly unconvinced by his play. Maybe it's just because he's been tagged twice by Federer since the US Open and I'm biased, but he feels a little lackadaisical to me at the mo.

But he ain't got nothing on Berdych.

Also, I think we have to give a big shout out to Andy Roddick, forever the forgotten quantity of the top ten. His longevity gets overlooked because of the longevity of his peer Federer - understandable, due to their comparative success rates - but qualifying for the WTF eight times in a row? Dude, that is super. Well done, A-Rod. You keep on keeping on. And who knows? If you end up in a group with Berdych and Djokovic (or even if you don't), you might find yourself in the semis or even in the final of the WTF. I would be a little surprised if it happened, but not a lot surprised. And when your field contains the like of Nadal, Federer, Murray, Soderling and, yes, Djokovic, that is saying something.

Super Soderling

Massively disappointing loss for Robin Soderling in Stockholm today - he is literally centimetres away from qualifying for the world tour finals, but he went down to Florian Mayer. Not an awesome result.

You would think this is a cue for another one of my x-player-who-did-well-at-a-Slam-one-time-is-now-so-disappointing rants, but no. Quite the opposite. While Soderling took a bad loss today, the fact that he is so close to qualifying for the world tour finals - which would make him the first guy outside the big four to do so - proves something very important. When Robin Soderling arrived on the scene, he made sure he hung around.

Ever since that win over Nadal at Roland Garros last year, the Yoker has been a force to be reckoned with. Before that, he was a mildly dangerous second tier player, capable of pulling the odd upset. Now he's someone that could legitimately challenge for a Slam title. And he is not a one hit wonder. He's not even a one album wonder. He's made two Slam finals now, and a whole bunch of other quarters and similarly awesome results. Soderling is keeping the standard up.

All this has left him one win away from the world tour finals - a win that he will get, even if he took a bad loss today. Robin Soderling has become what the Davydenkos and Berdychs of 2010 aspire to be - someone who made it big and then held their level, not someone who had a couple of good results and then fizzled spectacularly. The Yoker has really been a game changer in men's tennis. And with the team we have at the top at the moment, there's not many men who can say that.

Talking Tomas

So the big news of the day is that Maria Sharapova is engaged to her partner Sasha Vujacic.

Um... yeah. That's pretty much all I have to say about that.

In other news, I talked about the disappointment Davydenko's been this year. Let's talk about someone else who has been disappointing over the last few months - Tomas Berdych.

A big match can break you. I think we've seen this a few times this year. We've seen guys go into matches they've convinced themselves they have the goods to win, they haven't won it, and it's been goodnight Irene and disappointment has reigned. We've seen Federer do it to Andy Murray and Nikolay Davydenko, and I contend that Rafa Nadal did it to Tomas Berdych at Wimbledon.

I really think Berdych thought he could win that match. And after you've beaten Federer on grass at Wimbledon, no wonder. But I think that expectation has been the death of him, because what has he done since? Unremarkable US Open series, capped off with a disappointing first round loss in New York. And now he's been upset by Jarkko Nieminen, who is a wily veteran but hardly a tennis ninja.

I don't think the final nail has been hammered in the Berdych coffin - not by a long shot. But you know what? If he plays Federer again any time soon and loses - whether it's a blowout or a tough one - you can start playing that funeral dirge. Because what is currently very, very bent will then be completely broken.

Burnout

So Nikolay Davydenko just got beaten by some dude called Pablo Cuevas. I suppose I've vaguely heard of Cuevas, but I couldn't tell you jack about him. I can tell you something about Nikolay Davydenko, however, and it's that 2010 is not shaping up to be like 2009. Not even close.

Remember this time last year, when Davydenko was kicking arse and taking names and generally pretty much winning everything? ...um, yeah, it's not like that this year. This year, he's the one that's getting his arse kicked and his name taken. I'm not sure where he is in the line for qualification for the world tour finals, but considering the results he's had this year, I can't really imagine he's high up the list...

It's a sad story. Kolya is simultaneously cardboardy and totally charming and likeable. His game is sort of watchable, when he isn't playing awfully (remember Davydenko vs Verdasco at the Australian this year)? But it's been a year of pretty much fat nothing for him. Ever since Federer took him and snapped him at the Open, he's not been the same.

For a guy who supposedly hasn't had a good year, Federer's done a lot of psychological damage this year. At the Australian Open, he managed to slay both Andy Murray and Davydenko. The Murray thing's been discussed a lot but the Davydenko thing has been underestimated. I don't want it to be true, but I think we might have seen the best of Kolya. He burned very, very bright at the end of last year and the beginning of this year. I'm really hoping he hasn't burned himself out.

Kolya Fading Away

Oh, Davydenko. It seems like only yesterday you were the next big thing.

I've talked a lot about how losing to Federer at the Australian Open broke Andy Murray, and how it's in doubt now that he'll ever win a Slam, even though everyone seems convinced it'll happen. But what hasn't got a lot of air time - and has been much more pronounced than the Murray situation - is the way that Federer broke Davydenko.

We all remember the match. One and a half sets in, Kolya had points to make it a double break in the second, moving towards a two sets to love lead. And then someone flipped a switch and Roger won about twelve games in a row and it was all over, red rover - the whole Kolya adventure. All those victories that he'd scored over Federer in the last couple of months somehow became meaningless. His short lived gig as Mr Personality faded into the back of everyone's memory. And Kolya himself faded away.

The Kolya of that time, pre-quarters in Australia, would not be losing in the second round of Kuala Lumpur to Igor 'where have I been?' Andreev. That Kolya would be pretty much a dead cert for the final and no one would have stood in the way. That Kolya was a wall, capable of beating anyone, any time, any place, if he put his mind to it. Even the man that had made him his bunny, Roger Federer.

But then Federer turned a match around in a single point and that wall came crumbling down.

Davydenko is a strong enough player to come back from that defeat. One of the reasons he's been in the top ten for so long is not his game, but his consistency, which is a largely mental thing. You don't do that being weak. But since that time, we haven't seen much of Kolya. And unless he can pull himself together and do something even faintly resembling what he did in the latter part of last year, he's in danger of fading into the background permanently.

And Kolya, we don't want that. Pull yourself together. Because tennis isn't quite finished with you yet.

There Is No Mention Of The Word Blood In This Title

Okay, so I think I'm about done with the whole blood thing. That is sooooo first round.

First thing is first - Roger Federer is through, and in style. I could ask for nothing more (though if he wants to throw in a few more tweeners, then I'm not going to complain, you know?) I didn't see any of his match against Andreas Beck, but I'm pretty sure I'd enjoy most of it. Viva la Rog!

My fangushing is over now. Let us talk about everyone else.

Match of the day, I thought, had to go to Richard Gasquet and Nikolay Davydenko. Well, maybe not match of the day per se, but superlative performance of the day - Richou absolutely massacred Kolya. If I were more derivative, I would have titled this blog post something about Kolya's blood being spilled.

This is the kind of player Gasquet had the potential to be. If he played this awesome all the time, no one would be able to stop him. He'd be a second Federer - he'd be damn near unbeatable most of the time. But alas, he hasn't realised that potential. I doubt there is a Slam in Gasquet's future. He's going to be one of those woulda shoulda coulda kind of guys. But hot damn, this was some performance today. I'm going to be reeeeeeally interested to see how he fares in the next round, because if he shows up with this kind of form.... yeesh.

Soderling and Djokovic both had much easier times of it, which was nice for both of them. Djokovic seems to be trying to set a tradition of making an inappropriate joke in all of his post match press conferences. Um... whatever, Bert.

There was one major upset on the men's side today, and that was Kei Nishikori triumphing over Marin Cilic in an absolute epic. I love Nishikori's game, so I hope he can go far - this was quite some match for him!

Now. Ladies.

1) Caroline Wozniacki is looking more and more like she might win the title. This scares me.

2) Jelena Jankovic is definitely not going to win it. This is a bit saddening.

3) Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova are both big contenders and whoever wins that top quarter is going to win the tournament.

4) Andrea Petkovic and Bethanie Mattek-Sands played one of the most compelling women's matches I have seen a long, long time.

Any questions?

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.

Yet More Andrey

So I'm pretty sure when I was all 'blah blah Brad Gilbert' yesterday, I probably should have been talking about Darren Cahill instead. Oops. My bad. But my main point still stands - ain't nothing wrong with Murray's game. Is all in Murray's mind. And he needs a coach who is good at that stuff, n'est-ce pas?

Anyway.

My boy Andrey Golubev lost in Gstaad, but considering he did win Hamburg the week before, I think I can give him a pass on this one. Did you know he jumped about fifty ranking spots and is now in the thirties? That is something fierce, yo. If he plays his cards right, he can totally be seeded at the US Open. Now wouldn't that be something!

But you know what he has to do if he wants to be taken seriously?

Stop playing on freaking clay when the claycourt season is over and it's all about the US. And you too, Nikolay Davydenko - are you listening?

I've ranted about this ad nauseam, so I won't go on about it again - but I mean, come ON, guys. What is the point of playing on clay at this time of the year? I just do not get it - not one little bit!

Oh, and in closing this post of randomness, I would like to give a shout out to my new fave doubles team. Janko Tipsarevic and Feli Lopez, please play doubles together for always, just for the Twitter fun times. You guys are made of pure awesome, covered in a luscious awesome sauce!

Awesome Andrey

Oh my my - who is this handsome young man who has swept into the final of Hamburg like a freight train?

Andrey Golubev, you rock on with your bad self. You are AWESOME. If it was not already abundantly clear, I am your fangirl. Big time.

Andrey has knocked out a bunch of people who should have beaten him this week. Florian Mayer in the semis. Denis Istomin, who I talked about a few days ago as a major up-and-comer suddenly playing awesomely. And, oh yeah, Nikolay Davydenko. How about that?

I've rabbited on and on and on about how impressed I was with him when I saw him play at the Hopman Cup this year. He tailed away after that and although there were flashes of that redline game that saw him beat Andreev, he didn't stay as awesome. But hello, daddy-o, I think the awesome is coming back. This has not been a cakewalk draw to the final, not at all. I repeat - Davydenko. I know Kolya's not exactly the captain of the form squad right now, but DAVYDENKO. C'mon.

And he also had a birthday this week. He might have missed 23 July, tennis's holy day, but he's only one away, and maybe some of that glitter has rubbed off.

You keep your awesome up, Andrey. Because that's what you are - awesome.

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...

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!

Fix the Roger, Fix the World

I have a terrible nervous tic with Federer Slam matches that I'm sure a psychologist would find interesting. When things get tight - when Roger's not looking good - I start trying to fix things.

Not him, obviously - as he is far far away and, you know, on a tennis court, away from my frazzling. But things around me. I distinctly remember the Federer/Tipsarevic match a few years back that went deep into the fifth - in fact, there's a ye olde worlde blog post on here about it somewhere - going out into my overrun backyard and weeding. I couldn't fix Roger, so I had to fix my yard.

The same thing happened today. Roger was down a set, he was down a break, and he was playing like what could politely be described as 'absolute crap'. He was misfiring off every possible wing and would have made a few shots... if the court were three metres wider. Added to which Nikolay Davydenko was on fire like whoa. It was completely depressing.

So I started cleaning.

I started with the last vestiges of my unpacking from the Epic Tennis Adventure. I put on a few loads of laundry. I folded some only ones. I sorted through epic stacks of paper on my desk and threw most of them away. I put books back on bookshelves. I rehung clothes. I went all spring-cleaning-like.

And while I cleaned, while I fixed up my house, Roger fixed up his game and won a casual thirteen games in a row.

Then I stopped cleaning and all of a sudden! Kolya held serve. Well, we couldn't have that, so I started the pile of mending that had grown up around me over the past few months. I sewed on buttons. I hemmed things. I mended torn seams. I fixed things up.

It didn't work immediately - apparently it's not a fine art, my fix life = fix Roger act - and Davydenko won some games, and did some breaking, and it was all on serve. I looked up nervously from my mending and looked for more things to clean. But I persevered with the mending and Roger persevered with his winning. He got one break and was serving for it... but Davydenko suddenly became a zombie who wouldn't lay down. I set down my mending for a second to polish my window sill before I picked it back up again.

And it worked. I fixed it. As I sewed on the last missing button, as the last vestiges of sun set over Canberra, Roger Federer defeated Nikolay Davydenko in four crazy sets to reach his twenty third consecutive Grand Slam semi final.

I don't want to claim any credit for this (well, maybe a tiny bit). But it did seem oddly poetic. And made me wonder whether I should check myself into a mental hospital.

Back to, ah, more sane tennis talk - this was a really topsy-turvy match, but it really did show just what the difference is between Roger and Kolya, and the difference is this: gears. Roger was playing craptastically, so - seemingly without warning, after Kolya missed one single shot - he shifted gear and suddenly became King Roger of the Land of Fedgasm. Kolya certainly missed more after this, but it was a combination of forced errors and what I saw called 'mentally forced errors' the other day. Kolya played worse because Roger made him play worse.

Kolya did lift his game in the fourth set - and considerably - but it was kind of like he found himself (and the lines) a bit more after being shellshocked for thirteen games there. Federer came down from Cloud Nine (to approximately Cloud Seven) and so Kolya was able to compete more. But what is so good about his game - his consistency - may also be what is stopping him from going from extremely good to great. He has no upper level to shift to. This also means it's harder for him to go down, but if he can't work out the answer to a player, then he's in big trouble. He doesn't, at this stage, have anywhere to go.

I know one thing he can improve. He can get rid of those Viking axe chop two handed volleys and get some nice new ones. Then we'll be cooking.

But all this criticism aside, Kolya had a great tournament, and had he been in a different section of the draw, I think he could have gone further. I would have been very interested to see Murray and Davydenko play each other. That would be a really interesting match up of games.

But I digress. Kolya has found himself lately and while I think he's still getting used to some aspects of it - his newfound status as media darling, for example - he is here to stay. I would not be surprised at all to see him win some more big tournaments and to have some more deep Slam runs. And Irina Davydenko might just be my favourite WAG since Mirka. Any man that can pick Kolya up by his head (see photos from Kolya's victory in Shanghai) is fine by me.

Roger will now play the winner of the currently-in-progress Djokovic/Tsonga match. Who comes out of this match is anyone's guess at the moment - it's a total gunslinging shootout at the OK Corral at the moment. I'm not overly fussed over which it is - I think Roger can beat either of them. But I wouldn't mind them tiring each other out a little.

And a quick word to the women - Venus Williams and Victoria Azarenka, you should be ashamed of yourselves. You both had your matches completely won today before you threw them away. Not to take anything away from Li Na and Serena Williams respectively, who stole these matches back, but there has to be some serious losing going on to throw away leads that big. Oh, WTA. What a sad little place you can be.

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.

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!

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.

The Tortoise Takes Out The Hares

You know what? I am genuinely 100% pleased with the outcome of the World Tour Finals, or whatever it is we call the Masters Cup these days. Nikolay Davydenko totally owned Juan Martin del Potro, defeating him in straights in what was probably the least contested match of the tournament. That's not necessarily a slight against the match, either - we've seen some great tennis in this tournament, some truly epic battles.

And it was Kolya, Mr Slow and Steady Wins The Race, Mr Makes No Waves, Mr Cellophane, who came out on top.

Good on you, Kolya.

I don't think Davydenko will ever win a Slam. However, this really has to be the next best thing. I thought that when he won Miami last year - was it really only last year? - that that might be the title of his career. But now... I think not. The year ending championships is no mean feat. The guys you play against in this tournament are the best in the world - and considering the very high level of the ATP at the moment, that is really saying something.

So for Nikolay Davydenko to come out and win, that is really, really something.

And kudos to del Potro as well, who did very well to get to the final - but he's had his moment for this year. This one belongs purely to Kolya. Though I have to say, del Potro did deliver a particularly good quote - about Davydenko. He said, talking about the speed of Davydenko's game, 'he plays like PlayStation'.

Heh. I loved that.

I don't think this will stop Kolya being Mr Cellophane in the media's eye. He's been top five for a solid five-odd years now and they haven't paid any especial attention to him - this title won't change that, as I think it has more to do with him being perceived as dull rather than on his merits. However, for the tennis world, this serves as a reminder that you can't just look right through Kolya, can't walk right by him and never know he's there...

...because he totally is.

Congrats, Kolya!


Today's Results

Barclays ATP World Tour Finals (London)

Nikolay Davydenko def. Juan Martin del Potro, 6-3 6-4
Juan Martin del Potro def. Robin Soderling, 6-7 (1-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-3)

A Serve of Validation (a little disappointment on the side)

It is very easy, as a Federer fan, to become greedy. We all felt very hard done by last year when Roger only managed to capture one Slam out of three finals and a semi. That was, by his standards, a poor year. And while he qualified for the year ending championships easily, he went out in the round robin stage. We were all in agonies... while fans of another player with the same year would be in paroxysms of joy.

This is why I'm not particularly upset by Federer's loss to Davydenko at the year ending championships. He's won the French and Wimbledon this year. He's never lost to Kolya before, but if he had to take a loss, this isn't necessarily a bad time. Sure, it's a little disappointing, but he's got the year end #1 all wrapped up. He's improved on last year. He's won this tournament four times before. He scored a very psychologically important win over Andy Murray. And he deserves to go home with his girls and put his feet up.

And Davydenko really, really deserves to win something.

I don't think will give Kolya some massive burst of confidence over Roger or anything. Looking at their reactions afterwards, I think they're both pretty realistic about the significance of this in the long run - ie. not very. It was a tight match all the way down to the wire, and for once, Kolya got lucky. And while I obviously still would have preferred a Federer victory, I can't help but feel a little bit happy for Kolya. He's such a good player but he gets forgotten about all the time, and he really deserves a big title.

To win said title, he'll have to topple the winner of Soderling and del Potro, who are engaged in a bit of a titanic struggle on this one. I have a slight hunch that the Yoker might be the one to come out of this with the win, and I am totally fine with that. If we see a Soderling/Davydenko final, I genuinely won't mind which guy wins. They both deserve a big win.


Today's Results

Barclays ATP World Tour Championships (London)

Nikolay Davydenko def. Robin Soderling, 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 6-3
Nikolay Davydenko def. Roger Federer, 6-2 4-6 7-5

Sod and the Semis

Roger didn't win that match I was frazzling over yesterday, but he did win a set, and that meant that he won Group A and will thus go through to the final. Joining him there will be his conqueror, Juan Martin del Potro, who managed to snuff out Andy Murray's hopes by a single game. I won't deny it - I laughed.

I don't think there's much to read into the defeat here - I know this makes two times in a row that Federer's fallen to del Potro, but I just can't see it being especially meaningful in the end. I don't think del Potro's ever going to be the boogeyman to Federer that Nadal and, to some extent, Murray, have been. Federer's got all the game he needs to defeat del Potro - it's just an execution thing.

I'd be interested to see what happens if they met in the final - how that one would play out. I can't really see Roger losing to him twice in three days or whatever the timeframe is. Now that would be a worry.

Del Potro will play, I think, Soderling in the semis - I'm pretty sure that the Yoker has the victory in Group A all tied up. That'll be an interesting match - hard to pick, to an extent - but I'm coming down on the side of Soderling in this one. He's been the form guy this tournament, and I think he's going to be very hard to beat... as both Rafa and Novak will tell you.

Speaking of Rafa and Novak, they played earlier, and surprise, surprise, Rafa lost. Novak is now waiting for the results of the Soderling/Davydenko match to see if he's through. I'm loving what the Sod's bringing to the courts these days and I'd love to see him in the final, but I confess I'm pulling for Davydenko on this one. I'd totally love to see him qualify for the semis. I don't think he'd beat Federer, which is who he'd run up against, but it would good validation for Mr Cellophane.

And if Davydenko does get through, it means that Federer is the only member of the Big Four (are we still calling them that? is del Potro allowed into the club yet?) to qualify for the semis. Now there's an unexpected result.


Today's Results

Barclays ATP World Tour Championships (London)

Juan Martin del Potro def. Roger Federer, 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-3
Novak Djokovic def. Rafael Nadal, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3