Tales From The Outside Courts

The side of the draw playing today is my non-emotional investment side (ie. no Federer, no Mahut), so today was sort of my off day at the Australian Open. This is not to say, however, that I did not have excellent times watching excellent tennis. Because I did.

Walking through the gates at Melbourne Park (and walking out again fifteen-odd hours later, knowing you'll be back there not long after) is magical. I've been to a few of the tournaments around Australia - Sydney, Brisbane, Hopman Cup - and while they are all excellent (especial props to the Hopman Cup) there's a buzz at a Slam. There are good vibrations in the air. Things are going to happen. Magic is going to be made.

And magic is made - not just on Rod Laver Arena, not just on Hisense, not just on the show courts. At every court there is magic. One of the most magical moments I've had this week was on Court 14 (arguably the most remote court in the complex) watching Mahut win his first round match. Watching tennis on TV, it seems like the main arenas are all there is. When you are there, there are so many other stories to be told on the outside courts that you miss otherwise.

Like Alexandr Dolgopolov. The media has been silent on him - he hasn't played anyone big yet - but MAN, has this guy got game. He took four sets to beat the also very talented Benjamin Becker (aka Becker-no-relation) today, but I was super impressed. He has a great serve, a massive forehand, and he can volley like nobody's business. He plays Jo-Wilfried Tsonga next, and I would not be surprised at all if he gives the big guy a run for his money. Watch out for this kid in the future. He has MAJOR talent.

And he is man enough to wear an Alice band. I respect that.

I also saw Youzhny play today. He earned his membership to the Roger Federer Let's Win Two Sets Then Lose Two And Give People A Heart Attack Club by winning the first two sets over Blaz Kavcic, then dropping two before coming back to see the fifth. I only saw the fifth set, so I can't talk about the rest of the match, but Youzhny certainly played very well. And I saw his salute live!

But that wasn't what I meant to talk about. Kavcic is another one of those stories that you only find on the outside courts. I saw some of his first and second round matches, and he is an absolutely outstanding talent. I really think we are going to be seeing a lot more of him in the future. He is a story that is not going to be on the outside courts forever.

Same with Santiago Giraldo. I saw him play - and lose to - Marin Cilic today, but he has some massive potential. He hits the ball hard and hits an excellent slice... and when he hits it, he makes a whoosh sound. How can you not love that?

For the first time this week, I sat and watched an entire match that did not involve Nicolas Mahut on an outside court. I don't normally do this - I'm flitting from court to court to court - but it was so hot today that there was no way I was giving up the patch of shade I found! Luckily for me, the match was a great one - John Isner vs Radek Stepanek. Throughout the match, you could actually see the cogs in Isner's mind turning as he figured Stepanek out. He played crap in the beginning - he lost the first set and smashed a racquet in spectacular fashion - but then... he worked it out.

There is a lot to be said for a thinking tennis player - indeed, any good tennis player needs to be one. I feel like Isner sometimes gets dismissed as being just a serve, but he really does have a multidimensional game. His volleys in particular are outstanding. I think he will make mincemeat of Cilic in the next round - Cilic was better than I expected him to be against Giraldo, but he's nowhere near where he was last year - and might even take a set off Rafa in the next one, if Rafa isn't zoning.

I'm really hoping Rafa is zoning in the third round, though. But even if he isn't, he is going to take Bernard Tomic TO F%^&ING SCHOOL. And that is all I have to say about that.

Tonight was my last night in Rod Laver Arena, and there was no way it could live up to the previous two. But it didn't do so bad. Stosur had a really high quality win over Dushevina - definitely the best I've seen her play this year - and then Baghdatis/Del Potro was entertaining, if a little short. I would have loved to see the fifth in this match, but JMDP couldn't do it for me. I am a little concerned about his ongoing wrist problems, however - he had the trainer out three times for it, and there was one instance where he actually DROPPED HIS RACQUET in the middle of a service action. On a break point. Has anyone ever seen that before? I haven't.

But I missed, it seems, the moment of the day. However, I've heard alllll about it. Good on you for taking Todd Woodbridge to task, Kim Clijsters. You are awesome.

Basel O'Clock

You know who hasn't been around for a while? Robin Haase, that Dutch dude. I think of this, of course, because he suddenly is around again, beating Stephane Bohli in Basel, and he's popped his head up a couple of times this year, but mostly... not so much with the being around.

He was one of those young guns a few years ago who was supposed to be heading big places - I remember him taking Lleyton Hewitt to five in the first round of Wimbledon in an awesome match. He reminds me a bit of Gulbis, but I think he just looks like him more than actually being like him.

Anyway. That's all I have to say about that. I hope we see a bit more of Haase playing. I remember really liking his game.

And we cannot talk about Basel without talking about the Basel guy himself, one R Federer. He spent less than an hour on court dismissing Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr and he was smoking. And then Dolgopolov retired one game away from the finish line, which I thought was pretty poor form - how hard is it to play one extra game and give your opponent the win proper? - but it was still all sunshine for Roger. Keep it coming.

...oh, and why is Stan Wawrinka playing in Valencia and not Basel? Are he and some Swiss tennis figure or organisation or something having a fight?

The G-Boys

There's a poll on the ATP website at the moment that is trying to ascertain who is the biggest improver of 2010. Mardy Fish, John Isner and Jurgen Melzer are all on there, as is Aleksandr Dolgopolov Jr, who obviously has improved, even though I don't remember it happening.

But most importantly, two of my favourite young characters are on there. Both have won their first titles this year, and I have hopes of great things for both of them.

Andrey Golubev. Ernests Gulbis. Improved. Still improving.

Finally.

I've talked a lot about my fangirlishness of Golubev lately, so I'll leave him alone for now, but let's talk Gulbis. I have been on his bandwagon for what feels like a thousand years now, waiting for him to break through. Sometimes I thought I was the only one on the bandwagon, though at other times it was quite popular. Though, with injury and whatnot, he hasn't been around much lately, it is really good to know that I was right. Gulbis is going places.

Both Gulbis and Golubev have massive tennis stories left to tell. Both are relatively late bloomers, but so what? So are plenty of players. I don't know if either of them will ever win a Slam - though Gulbis might surprise you! - but there is a lot of success ahead of both of them. I am sure of this.

And I'd also like to point out that Gulbis is leading the poll at the moment, and Golubev is coming second. But the real winner? Me, obviously.

(This is a joke, clearly.)

However Many Ice Baths...

So we're finally all caught up on second round matches, and it's third round all the way. What is going to be interesting is how this disruption in play affects people. I definitely think it could come into play in the WTA. The ATP... I think it will be more pronounced, purely because it will affect some people and not others. I don't think Rafa, for example, will be bothered at all - if he can come through that match with Verdasco at the AO last year and still win the final, then he'll be OK. Your Andy Murrays, however...? As many ice baths as he takes, I think it's going to be a dicey thing. Opinions?

But without further ado...

The winners: Roger Federer. He had the funhouse open for business against Julian Reister. That second set, which took eighteen minutes... can anyone remember a quicker set? I can't.

Rafa Nadal also. Obviously.

Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr. Not just because he beat last year's semi finalist Fernando Gonzalez, but because he has one of the best names ever, no exception.

And over in the ladies, you have to go with Serena, who pulverised Julia Goerges. MariKiri, as well, who beat last year's champion Sveta. But I think my fave might beat Chanelle Scheepers, who beat Akgul Amanmuradova. She's into the third round and she has an awesome surname. What more do I need?

The losers: Sveta. Big time. I won't pretend I didn't expect her to lose early on (actually, first round, which is why she's not in the disappointments column) but it's always sad when a defending champ goes out early. I know she hasn't been in form, but I freaking love Sveta when she plays awesome, and I was sort of hoping that she had played herself back into form against Petkovic. But no such luck. And there's a reason MariKiri is in the winners column. I think she just beat Dulko for Upset Queen of the Year.

And it may be a little unfair, but for lack of someone else, I have to mention Fernando Gonzalez. I know he hasn't played in, like, forever, but who is Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr? (Apart from someone with an awesome name?) He can do better.

The disappointments: I'm not going to go with actual losers here, because there were precious few major upsets yesterday (maybe due to rain), but I have to go with people who went the distance unnecessarily. Yanina Wickmayer, for one - I thought she should be able to put away Sybille Bammer relatively easily, but it was not the case. I have big hopes for Yanina, so hopefully she will do better in future.

And I did not think I would be mentioning his name here, but Robin Soderling. He set himself an impossibly high bar in his first two matches by absolutely annihilating his opponents, so I'm raising my eyebrows at the lack of annihilation. Four sets, Yoker? Really? (Yeah, I know, it's not major. But I'm struggling here.)

The scraped-in-by-skin-of-teeth: So maybe it wasn't really skin of teeth, but I want to talk about it, so I will. I never expected Sam Stosur to have so much first set trouble with Rossana de los Rios. She cleaned her up good in the final two sets, but I was scared there for a bit. Well done, Sam, but don't scare me like that again, please. You are my special favourite, after all.

One to watch: Julian Reister. I don't think he's going to be anything epic, but he played some great forehands against the Federmeister, and I think he really might be a bit of something on the Challenger circuit. There, he could really make some waves.