Rally For Relief

It wasn't quite Hit For Haiti. I don't know if anything could match the glorious spontaneity of that Sunday afternoon last year. But Rally For Relief this afternoon was big fun, and the cause was extremely important. (If you haven't already, please donate - you can do so here.)

It was only a short event but it felt longer - probably because of the masses of time we spent queueing and then sitting in the arena, waiting for the players to come on. (Though there was a Federer practice session going on, so who was complaining? NOT ME.) There were a lot more players than last year - the event opened with ten players walking on.

The Gold Team: Novak Djokovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Ana Ivanovic, Justine Henin, Lleyton Hewitt (c)
The Green Team: Andy Roddick, Andy Murray, Vera Zvonareva, Victoria Azarenka, Pat Rafter (c)

All ten of the players were micced up, and they were hilarious. I can't really convey the humour of events like these in words - perhaps you can try and YouTube it, if you weren't lucky enough to be there! - but it was in great spirit, great fun, and was great tennis. Honorable mentions have to go to Andy Roddick for taking on linesman duties and Novak Djokovic for both conducting a rally while sitting down and getting into the press pit. Dishonorable mention goes to Andy Murray for substituting grunting for humour and Lleyton Hewitt for trying to bring his son Cruz onto court (Cruz promptly burst into tears!) even if it was epically cute!

And then this lot went off and four more came on for a match of doubles - Rafael Nadal and Kim Clijsters against Roger Federer and Sam Stosur. These four weren't micced and I feel like this was a bit of a failing - all four of them were micced up last year and were good value for money (though Stosur was a bit quiet). However, you have nothing to complain about when you have seen... drumroll... FEDAL DOUBLES.

Yes, it's true. Yes, it happened. The players pretty soon switched sides and we had girls against boys. I'm sure I'm not the only tennis fan who thinks it would be legendary for these two to play some matches together, and this may be the closest we ever get to it! And they're not a bad team, either... even though they were holding back a bit... but not so much that the girls didn't beat them fair and square!

All in all, I cannot overstate the value of events like these, both for tennis and the wider community. This kind of exhbition allows the players to cut loose and put their personalities on show - something we don't see enough of - which really does attract new fans to the sport. And much more importantly, it was a major contribution to alleviating the crisis currently felt in Queensland. Over $1.5 million was raised by Rally For Relief, and that total is still rising. Please donate - support tennis and support Australia.

(Sidebar: Nicolas Mahut plays Brian Dabul third match up on Court 14 tomorrow. I will be there. Anyone else?)

Roger, Rafa and Friends Rally For Relief

If there is one thing I think I have really learned in the past week, it is the capacity of the tennis community to pull together. I saw it on Twitter this week, when one little late night hashtag turned into a Twitter love fest for Nicolas Mahut. (#wildcardformahut is now #supportmahut, in case anyone missed it!)

And now, on a much larger and more important scale, we have the Federer-originated Rally For Relief.

We saw Hit For Haiti last year. We saw how the tennis stars of the world, as well as the tennis fans, pulled together to raise a huge amount of money to go towards the Haiti earthquakes. This year, the need is much closer for the host country.

In case anyone has been living under a rock and missed it, there have been massive and incredibly destructive floods in Queensland. An inland tsunami has swamped Toowomba, rivers have peaked at depths of 22 metres in some area, large parts of Brisbane are underwater and sharks have been seen in what were once streets in Ipswich. The death toll is rising and a large number of people are still unaccounted for. The area underwater is equivalent to more than six of the United Kingdom. It is huge and destructive. There are no proper words to describe it.

But there are ways to help, and the tennis community, as it did with the Haitian tragedy last year, has pulled together to do it. Roger Federer, as he did last year, has organised a charity exhibition to be played on Rod Laver Arena at 2pm on Sunday afternoon. Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Lleyton Hewitt, Kim Clijsters, Samantha Stosur and Pat Rafter - whose arena in Brisbane is now underwater - will all be playing. Like Hit for Haiti last year, it should be a whole pile of fun for a very serious cause. And the tennis community will rise to this challenge.

So, if you are in Melbourne, get along to the Rally for Relief! I will be there along with a whole bunch of other tennis folk, including Dootsiez from All I Need Is A Picket Fence, and hopefully the whole arena will be sold out. Tickets are $20 a head - a small contribution you can make to the flood appeal (and getting a whole lot of awesome tennis into the bargain!)

You can buy tickets here. And if you can, PLEASE donate to the Queensland Flood Appeal, which you can do here.

Last of the S&Vers

On from the excellent news of yesterday to the rather more melancholy news of today - not sad, I think, but heading in that general direction. Taylor Dent has retired from professional tennis.

In reality, Taylor Dent was someone that never was. He was like a slightly more actualised version of Joachim Johansson - he had all the talent, but injury and whatnot stood in the way of him making good on it. I remember back in Australia 2006, where he was the 27th seed, people were tipping him to make the semis and all kinds of crazy things. Taylor never even came close.

But despite all his woes and despite the fact he never made it to the upper echelons of the game, Taylor did represent something important in the world of men's tennis, and that is something which is, I think, definitely going to be missed. That thing is serve-and-volley. Dent was probably one of the last - if not the last - true serve-and-volley player out there. I mean, he wasn't exactly Pat Rafter, but he was all that we had left on that front. Of course there are players who can and do serve-and-volley, but Dent was the last of the true breed, I think. And that will be missed.

And then there's the fact that the Dent story in and of itself is pretty amazing - didn't he spend more than six months in a full body cast at some stage? He was definitely out for a really long time and then made a pretty shiny comeback, which is awesome. But he has a new(ish) baby and a life and he's never going to make the big BIG leagues now, though he might have continued to enjoy some minor success. I understand why he's retired. But it's kind of sad to think that the Last of the S&Vers has departed the court.

Perfect Pat

So the new Australian Davis Cup captain has been announced. John Fitzgerald is stepping down after ten years at the helm (including a memorable victory in 2003) and the new dude is...

...Pat Rafter.

And Jodi says this: what a sweet choice.

Seriously, I cannot imagine how they could have made a better choice for captain. Pat Rafter will be 100% awesome. I'm not a fan of the player captain, but I really do love the idea of the young captain, and I think Pat fits that niche perfectly. He's young enough to have played with some of the team (i.e. Hewitt) and isn't so far off the tour that he completely can't relate.

He's also a public figure - much more so than John Fitzgerald - and if he can raise the profile of Davis Cup, I think that will be a good thing. Added to which he is a totally awesome guy whom people really look up to and an excellent statesman for the sport and stuff. He's charismatic and I really think he'll spur the team on to better things. Like getting in the World Group, for example.

In addition, Tony Roche is coach. Great pick. Well played, Tennis Australia!

Phil's Big W

Rafa may have won the match, but Philipp Petzschner can put another check in his fan column. He's officially won me over.

I would be lying if I said Petzschner could really win the match. I think I always knew - and I don't think I'm the only one - that Rafa would pull it out. That said, it does not mean it was not a fine, fine match indeed, and very enjoyable to watch.

Petzschner on grass is an absolute joy, and I really liked his tactics against Nadal. He came into the net a lot - which might seem foolhardy given Nadal's proclivity for the passing shot, and sure, he did get passed on more than a few occasions - but what I really liked was a) the different looks he gave Nadal when he did come in, whether he hit a traditional approach shot or served and volleyed or some cute crosscourt angled thing and b) that he drew Nadal in as well. Nadal's not the world's worst volleyer, but it's certainly not the strongest part of his game - he'd rather be passing someone at the net than being here himself. And Petzschner drew a surprising amount of errors that way.

I think the match that Petzschner played was like a bizarre cross between Soderling and Rafter, and for two sets, it really worked. He obviously couldn't keep the level up, due to the fact that in his own words, to win he had to 'play crazy', but he asked Nadal a lot of questions. And I imagine that there would be a lot of people watching this match with interest. One of them would be called Robin Soderling, going 'heyyyy... I've seen this somewhere before'. And, I hope, another one was called Roger Federer, because if he played Rafa like this, I don't know what would happen.

But these dudes aside, let's just say yay Petzschner, because even though you didn't win the match, you sure won me over. Well done, Phil.

The Legendary Mark Philippoussis?

One of the top stories on the Tennis Australia website at the moment - one of the things that is REALLY BIG NEWS - is that Mark Philippoussis is going to play the Legends event at the Australian Open. Me... I have some doubts. To begin... since when is the Poo a Legend?

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Let's face it. No one likes the Poo. Even at the height of his career, no one - not even Australians - really genuinely liked the Poo. I still remember during the Sydney Olympics when there was a big to-do before the Olympics started, because none of the Australian athletes wanted to room with him, because no one liked him. I think Pat Rafter got stuck with the gig in the end, but I'm sure it was made worth his while in some fashion. I mean - he's called the Poo. He may try to plug that Scud card as much as he likes, but no one calls him that. He's the Poo. And that is just not a flattering nickname.

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His tennis career didn't suck. But at the end of the day, his greatest achievement is going to be being the answer to a trivia question no one can answer: who did Roger Federer beat to win his first ever Grand Slam? Or, alternatively, he'll be known as the guy who did a reality TV show, or the guy that cheated on Delta Goodrem with Paris Hilton. None of this really qualifies him as a legend - particularly when, according to this article, he's eyeing a return to the Davis Cup squad.

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So this begs the question - what does one need to do to be a legend? Mark Philippoussis is not one. Henri Leconte, who he'll be playing doubles with, is. So what are the criteria?

Raindrops on Roses, Whiskers on Kittens, and... Tennis?

I just read an article on the ATP website that made the following, very surprising, claim:

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"Despite no Australian male or female player being ranked in the top 50 of the world’s tennis players, tennis retains its position as the sport in which most Australians are interested."

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Bullcrap.

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I wish it were true. But it just isn't. Tennis is nowhere near Australia's favourite sport. (What does 'interested in' mean anyway?) They must have had a very pro-tennis sample, because that is just wrong. As a nation, Australia cares about cricket, about swimming, AFL, rugby league, rugby union, soccer, occasionally horseracing. We might show a brief flicker of interest in basketball or netball occasionally. But tennis? Hell no. Not unless Pat Rafter or Lleyton Hewitt is in the final.

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You can tell every time you open a newspaper. There'll be pages on the various codes of footy, the racing guide, cricket all over the shop. Tennis? Not unless it's a Slam or Bec Cartwright has just given birth. Australians care about tennis in January, and pretty much no other time, unless someone's winning - and even in January, it's a ratings war with the cricket.

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So I wish this was true. I wish tennis was Australia's favourite sport. But in reality? Not a chance.

BecnLleyton

I have mixed feelings on Middle Sunday. I like that Wimbledon is so civilised and all - though, when they have a rain-decimated tournament like they did last year, they really do need to be a bit quicker to get over their civilisation and have some play. I also think Middle Sunday is good because it gives you a bit of time to sit back, take stock and assess the field for the second week. Obviously, for the ordinary schlep that only watches tennis very occasionally this isn't an issue, but it's good for crazies like me.

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And I suppose there was the final of Euro to distract us all... because my one criticism of Middle Sunday is this: it's so damn boring!

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Big congratulations to Spain for winning the soccer - I know my brothers will be happy, as they are all soccer nuts who were going for Spain. Moreover, I bet Rafa Nadal is out of his mind happy - I love reading his press conferences, where he's all sensible answering the questions, and then gets all excited whenever someone mentions the soccer. He said he was going to have all the other Spanish guys round to his house to watch it - I can just see it, him and Nando and Fidgiano all sitting round and shrieking and jumping when Torres scored that goal. (My brothers want me to marry Fernando Torres. They chose well, obviously!)

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I like hearing about the friendships on tour. I'm a girl, and I like gossip. So sue me.

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Speaking of gossip, news has just come out in Australia that Bec and Lleyton are up the duff again. I am finding it pretty hard to care. It's really hard to even think about Lleyton as a tennis player here in Australia, because he's just such a public figure. And not in a classy way. In a tabloid way. Sure, he's a wonderful sportsman, and he was #1 in the world for a while, but why has that made him so... tabloid? And it's not just the Bec factor. (His wife Bec, for those of you who haven't experienced the joys of Home and Away, is an ex soap star.) Lleyton was all over Woman's Day and New Idea way before Bec. Actually, do you remember when Bec and Lleyton got engaged? Apparently he proposed just after he lost the final of the Australian Open in 2005 to Marat Safin. Bec was doing some special performance on Dancing With The Stars the next week, and - I remember the ad so clearly! - they actually superimposed this little engagement ring on her finger and made it all sparkly. It is from Lleyton, not Bec, that tabloid stardom comes.

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Bec helps, obviously... what with that deal they did over their wedding over Woman's Day and how Bec has been their spokeswoman for, like, ever. The birth of Mia has had something to do with it as well, I feel. Actually, in many ways, Lleyton and Bec have become this kind of hybrid entity in the Australian press. You can't discuss one (usually Lleyton, because Bec doesn't do anything except be his wife and tote Mia round these days) without the other. They're this one being - BecnLleyton. I only ever read Woman's Day when I go home to Wollongong to visit my family, and there's one issue I remember reading really, really clearly. The front page said Our New Family Joy! and it had a picture of BecnLleyton and Mia, who was then maybe a year old. And was what their new family joy? It was that Mia has learned how to steal stuff out of her mother's handbag. I had trouble understanding why they were so joyful. Surely that would be annoying...?

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Not that joy (or lack thereof) is the issue. The issue is that THIS IS FRONT PAGE NEWS! I know Australia isn't a big country population-wise, but is this really the best we could come up with out of twenty million people? Lleyton Hewitt's kid is a klepto?

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This is a couple of years back now, so obviously I've left my rant a little late over that particular issue of Woman's Day - but now that Bec's pregnant again, I can only imagine what the tabloids are going to be like. I was watching whatever that morning show is that comes after Sunrise on Channel 7 the other day and they were rating the top five most ostentatious sports star weddings. (Yet another indictment on the state of news and entertainment in Australia...) BecnLleyton came second. Only Posh and Becks beat them. I remember when Mia was born... the media was insane, to say the least. And then there was the whole Logies incident...

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Does this happen anywhere else in the world? Do Novak Djokovic and Jelena Jankovic present at whatever the Serbian equivalent of the Logies is? Is Ana Ivanovic on the front cover of Serbian Woman's Day? Actually, maybe the Serbs are a bad example. I know they're massive in their local media, but there's three for them. There's only one of Lleyton. What happens in Latvia with Ernests Gulbis? Is he Celebrity #1? What's going to happen in New Zealand when they realise just how good Marina Erakovic is going to be?

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Or is this a purely Lleyton phenomenon? When Pat Rafter was the king of tennis in Australia, I don't remember anything like this. I mean, sure, he wasn't married to Hayley from Home and Away, but he was as good as Lleyton was, even if he didn't have the run at #1. What about the Swiss players? Martina Hingis and Roger Federer are certainly big figures in Switzerland - I know Roger features in quite a few Swiss ads and stuff, for coffee and insurance and stuff like that - but as far as I know, he's never presented a Swiss Logie. I can't see him and Mirka selling their wedding to a magazine either - and I don't know if news of their firstborn raiding Mirka's handbag would quite be front page news.

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So why Lleyton? Because, as far as I know, people don't even like him that much! He's rude and abrasive, and sure, he has some good qualities as a sportsman, like never giving up, but mostly what we see about him is 'C'mon!' - so much so that it's become part of the vernacular. Does 'vamos!' have the same connotations in Spain? 'Ajde' in Serbia? 'Allez' in France and Belgium? I'm running out of languages now... 'Davai?' 'Hopp?'

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I just don't get it. I don't get it at all. So congratulations, BecnLleyton. I hope you've booked your flight home for tomorrow, because even though the wonderful Monsieur Federer will probably also offer his congratulations, he will show no mercy on the tennis court. And for tennis players, even if they present Logies and sell their lives to Woman's Day, tennis is what ultimately counts in the end.

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Middle Sunday - no results!