Hot Chilli Cilic

What a match that was between Djokovic and Cilic! It may have not gone the full, full distance - it was four sets instead of five - but damn if it wasn't tight! There wasn't much you could split them on - how good was that first set with the insane tiebreaker at the end? Even though Djokovic came out on top, which was definitely not my preferred outcome, I enjoyed every second of it. It was a FABULOUS match!

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I am so proud of Marin Cilic. He's so young, and he was clearly having problems with his knees, but he played Djokovic like an equal. He was smokin' hot for a lot of this match. This wasn't an up-and-comer playing a current superstar. This was two guys playing on basically level pegging. Djokovic might have had a little bit of experience which helped him out when the going got tough, but he had his choke moments as well, and Marin pounced. I roared myself hoarse when Djokovic was serving for the match in the fourth, 5-4, 40-15 up - and Cilic came back! Marin may not be in the top ten yet, but can anybody gainsay him? I challenge anyone to tell me that Marin Cilic will not one day be a top ten player. Croatia, you can be damn proud of this boy. Ljubicic and Ancic were and still are excellent players, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Cilic eclipse them both in the fullness of time.

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Djokovic didn't play especially badly, either - I wouldn't say it was the best match I have ever seen him play, but he didn't suck. This wasn't a match that he almost lost, it was a match that Cilic almost won. Once Djokovic got his nose in front, he stayed there, but Cilic was hot on his tail the whole time. The tiebreak in that fourth set was heartbreaking, really... Cilic had worked so hard to get that break back, and then to lose the breaker 7-0 was very sad. But still, even the match maybe ended on a bit of a downer, he has a lot he can be proud of. Considering that he lost in qualies for the US Open last year, to come into it seeded this year and play at such a high level is an awesome achievement. And you just wait till next year. Cilic in the final is not unthinkable. This kid is going to be awesome. And I spotted him when he was all young and wet behind the ears. Go me. Oh, and go him. And stuff.

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Onto other people I like a lot, how awesome was Roger's win over Stepanek? That was some sweet shot-making - and his netplay was just awesome. I love that he wasn't afraid to come in, and he played beautifully when he was there. Stepanek may be weird-looking, but he's a crafty player, coming off a win against the Fed in Rome, and Roger just crushed him dead. He did a great impression of a human backboard, and that forehand was firing on all four cylinders, which is something we haven't seen for a while. Oh yes, I was very satisfied. I am very, very happy with Roger's form right now.

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Going back to Djokovic for a minute, I noticed that he is setting himself up for a retirement in the future, if one is, ahem, necessary. There was that ankle injury in the first round - which I'm sure is genuine - and now there's reports of some stomach thing going round. I refuse to believe that anyone is sick as often as Djokovic claims he is - and if he finds himself down in the semi against Federer and does a runner, then I will be all smug and go AHAHAHAHAHA! CAUGHT YOU, NOVAK!

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Not that I am cynical when it comes to Djokovic, or anything.

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It was bit sad to see human chainsaw Jo-W Tsonga go out to Tommy Robredo, but for his first tournament back, this was a pretty good showing. He played to his seed, which is something that is not nothing, and I think the only way is up. If he can remain uninjured and doesn't contract a case of Safin Knee, then Jo-W is going to become a force again. I would love to see him do well in Australia again next year, because he is just so much fun to watch.

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Speaking of fun guys, I still haven't solved the mystery of the whereabouts of smiley happy Marcos. Anyone know where he's got to? It would be very tragic if he were badly injured.

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Meanwhile, according to Tennis Australia, there are currently five players in contention for #1 in the women, though I'm not sure who has to do what. There were six, but Sveta is obviously gone. Ivanovic can keep it, though one imagines that would be hard. Safina, Dementieva and Serena can all take it, though I would imagine they'd have to win. Jankovic has to reach the semis, but I don't know if that's dependent on how everyone else performs or what. Le mystery.

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Oh, and today's shoutout goes to the Arevalo family of El Salvador. Remember Rafael Arevalo from the Olympics, who fought bravely, considering his ranking? I noticed in the juniors that there is another player from El Salvador - a Marcelo Arevalo. Brother, perhaps? In any case, vamos!

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Today's Results

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US Open (Flushing Meadows)

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Radek Stepanek, 6-3 6-3 6-2

Novak Djokovic def. Marin Cilic, 6-7 (7-9) 7-5 6-4 7-6 (7-0)

Andy Roddick def. Andreas Seppi, 6-2 7-5 7-6 (7-4)

Fernando Gonzalez def. Jarkko Nieminen, 7-5 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 6-1

Tommy Robredo def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 6-3

Nikolay Davydenko def. Dmitry Tursunov, 6-2 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

Gilles Muller def. Nicolas Almagro, 6-7 (3-7) 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (8-6) 7-5

Igor Andreev def. Fernando Verdasco, 6-2 6-4 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Elena Dementieva def. Li Na, 6-4 6-1

Jelena Jankovic def. Caroline Wozniacki, 3-6 6-2 6-1

Sybille Bammer def. Marion Bartoli, 7-6 (7-3) 0-6 6-4

Patty Schnyder def. Katarina Srebotnik, 4-6 6-3 6-3

Mini-Rafa

The real story of the men's draw so far really has to be Yen-hsun Lu, who is now into the third round. No one would have picked that one - especially as he drew Murray in the first round! He beat Calleri in the second, who isn't exactly a Murray, but is pretty handy and is ranked a lot higher than Lu, so it was an awesome win! (Though why was Calleri even there? Why didn't they take Juan Martin del Potro? WHY?)

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Rafael Arevalo has to be a pretty good story as well! To be ranked where he is and make it to the second round of an ATP level tournament is pretty good, so well done to the boy from El Salvador. I would like to make it clear that I was in no way cheering for him, though - Roger all the way! (And yes, I confess, it was nice to see Roger beat Rafa, even it wasn't Rafa Rafa!) He seemed to look pretty good in this match, judging by reports... it obviously wasn't shown on Australian TV. Even Rafa vs. Lleyton only got about five points. Stupid swimming. But back to Roger. Mini-Rafa broke his serve in the first game of the second, but Roger broke right back and ran away with the set, so that was pretty sweet. There seems to be some minor trouble with the gear shift still - maybe Roger couldn't quite find cruise control in the beginning of that set! But he got there, and niftily too.

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He'll play Berdych in the next round. One word: vengeance! Served cold, with a side of arse-kicking.

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Rafa was utterly dominant in his match over Hewitt - surprise surprise. I wish the Australian media would get over this notion of Hewitt as their great white hope, because he really is going under, and fast. Unless he gives it time to heal, this hip injury is never going to better. And even if he goes away and comes back, it's going to be like Safin's knee - a chronic pain that flares up at the worst possible moments. (Thus saith Jodi, the highly qualified sports doctor, who knows all things.)

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We saw another couple of top ten guys get knocked out today. Paul-Henri Mathieu knocked out Davydenko, but we all know how Davydenko is whinging about motivation and how he hates the sight of his tennis racquets and stuff, which really takes the victory away from Paulo, in a respect. I am very cross with Kolya at the moment. That attitude is really, really disrespectful to his opponents.

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And, unfortunately, we lost Stan Wawrinka to Jurgen Melzer. By Stan's newly lofty standards, it was a pretty poor loss - but according to reports, he's having some problems adjusting to the humidity, poor Swiss boy that he is, used to the cold mountain air! Here's hoping this will leave him a bit fresher for the doubles - Team Fedrinka for gold!

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Djokovic and Nalbandian both had pretty good wins, though it was a bit sad to see Massu go... still, he was never, ever going to defend that gold medal. It was likewise sad to see Tipsarevic retire, as he was looking quite good, and I was personally sad to see Marin Cilic go, as he was the last one left flying my Stars of the Future flag: none of the rest of them made a splash at all. Oh well. London.

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Pretty standard day on the women's side - I suppose the major upset was Schiavone taking out Radwanska. That'll learn Radwanska for playing that Tier IV tournament when there was a Tier I tournament on! The Williams sisters had a bit of a struggle in the doubles but pulled through, as did Safina and Kuznetsova - and speaking of Safina, she is still looking veeery cruisy in the singles. Dinara and Roger for gold!

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And before I sign off, a shout out to the forgotten tournament in Washington. A great victory for Robert Kendrick, who is probably best remembered for almost but not quite beating Rafa at Wimbledon a couple of years back. He took out third seed Feliciano Lopez. Good work Robert!

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Today's Results

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Games of the XXIX Olympiad (Beijing)

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Men's Draw - Singles

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Roger Federer def. Rafael Arevalo, 6-2 6-4

Rafael Nadal def. Lleyton Hewitt, 6-1 6-2

Novak Djokovic def. Rainer Schuettler, 6-4 6-2

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Nikolay Davydenko, 7-5 6-3

David Nalbandian def. Nicolas Massu, 7-6 (7-0) 6-1

James Blake def. Dominik Hrbaty, 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 6-3

Jurgen Melzer def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-4 6-0

Gilles Simon def. Guillermo Canas, 7-5 6-1

Fernando Gonzalez def. Marin Cilic, 6-4 6-2

Mikhail Youzhny def. Thomas Johansson, 7-5 6-2

Nicolas Kiefer def. Kevin Anderson, 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-4

Tomas Berdych def. Andreas Seppi, 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

Gael Monfils def. Victor Hanescu, 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Lu Yen-Hsun def. Agustin Calleri, 6-4 6-4

Igor Andreev def. Michael Llodra, 6-4 3-6 6-1

Olivier Rochus def. Janko Tipsarevic, 7-6 (7-5) 2-3 retired

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Women's Draw - Singles

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Jelena Jankovic def. Alona Bondarenko, 7-5 6-1

Serena Williams def. Samantha Stosur, 6-2 6-0

Elena Dementieva def. Sofia Arvidsson, 6-3 6-4

Dinara Safina def. María José Martínez Sánchez, 7-6 (7-3) 6-1

Venus Williams def. Iveta Benesova, 6-1 6-4

Francesca Schiavone def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-3 7-6 (8-6)

Vera Zvonareva def. Shahar Peer, 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

Caroline Wozniacki def. Daniela Hantuchova, 6-1 6-3

Victoria Azarenka def. Casey Dellacqua, 6-2 6-2

Sybille Bammer def. Patty Schnyder, 6-4 6-4

Alizé Cornet def. Peng Shuai, 6-2 6-2

Dominika Cibulkova def. Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-2 6-2

Zheng Jie def. Nuria Llagostera Vives, 6-7 (7-9) 6-1 6-4

Li Na def. Ayumi Morita, 6-2 7-5

Kaia Kanepi def. Virginie Razzano, 6-4 7-5

Lucie Safarova def. Mariya Koryttseva, 2-6 6-1 7-5

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Men's Draw - Doubles

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Bryan/Bryan def. Knowles/Mullings, 6-2 6-1

Clement/Llodra def. Erlich/Ram, 6-4 6-4

Bhupathi/Paes def. Monfils/Simon, 6-3 6-3

Melo/Sa def. Berdych/Stepanek, 5-7 6-2 8-6

Fyrstenberg/Matkowski def. Yu/Zeng, 6-3 6-4

Knowle/Melzer def. Kiefer/Schuettler, 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-1

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Women's Draw - Doubles

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Kuznetsova/Safina def. Santangelo/Vinci, 6-1 3-6 7-5

Williams/Williams def. Benesova/Vaidisova, 4-6 7-5 6-1

Chan/Chuang def. Cornet/Razzano, 7-6 (7-2) 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 (7-5)

Davenport/Huber def. Jans/Rosolska, 6-2 6-1

Bondarenko/Bondarenko def. Domachowska/Radwanska, 6-3 6-2

Vesnina/Zvonareva def. Llagostera Vives/Martínez Sánchez, 2-6 6-1 6-3

Yan/Zheng def. Hantuchova/Husarova, 6-1 7-6

Govortsova/Kustova def. Peng/Sun, 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-3)

Azarenka/Poutchek def. Ani/Kanepi, 6-2 6-2

Gagliardi/Schnyder def. Daniilidou/Gerasimou, 6-0 6-4

Pennetta/Schiavone def. Dellacqua/Molik, 6-4 6-4

Dulko/Jozami def. Obziler/Peer, 6-3 6-2

Mirza/Rao def. Golovin/Parmentier, walkover

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Legg Mason Tennis Classic (Washington)

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Robert Kendrick def. Feliciano Lopez, 6-3 7-5

Alejandro Falla def. Mardy Fish, 5-7 6-4 6-2

Viktor Troicki def. Denis Gremelmayr, 6-4 6-2

Igor Kunitsyn def. Mischa Zverev, 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 6-2

Fabio Fognini def. Marat Safin, 7-5 retired

Donald Young def. Luis Horna, 6-3 6-1

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Western and Southern Financial Group Women's Open (Cincinatti)

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Nadia Petrova def. Galina Voskoboeva, 6-3 6-0

Aleksandra Wozniak def. Aiko Nakamura, 6-3 6-2

Yanina Wickmayer def. Vasilisa Bardina, 7-5 3-6 6-3

Julia Vakulenko def. Monica Niculescu, 6-2 2-6 6-4

Vania King def. Tathiana Garbin, 4-6 6-3 7-5

Kicking Kolya Out Of The Kitchen

One thing I have to say about the Beijing Olympics. Their Opening Ceremony was fantastic, it all seems to be very well organised and running smoothly and all, but their tennis livescoring system is really, really bad. Like, dreadful. It's a pretty sad state of affairs when the 32-draw Legg Mason 'I'm not good enough/too wussy to go to the Olympics' Classic has a better system than the greatest sporting event on earth.

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Other than that, Beijing did a great job of squeezing something like 65 matches into a day, even if it was terribly hard to follow them. Of course, here in Australia, we saw absolutely no tennis, as Australia stands pretty much no chance of doing well and they're hardly going to show anyone else, but I kept up to date what was going on. The most important match from my perspective was, of course, Federer against Tursunov. Not seeing the match, I can't comment adequately on it, but it seems like a pretty decent win for Roger to me. I saw some reports which were all 'vintage Federer!' and others that said that he did enough to win but wasn't that impressive. Still, no matter which way you look at it, a straight sets victory over a talented big-hitter like Tursunov ain't nothing to sneeze at.

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Federer next plays Rafael Arevalo, whom no one has heard of - including Federer, by all reports, who was apparently frantically Googling him to find out some stuff. What I did find out is that Arevalo is ranked something like #447, so you'd think Federer would be a dead cert bet... but we all remember the Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo incident. I don't think Roger will underestimate him, which would probably be the biggest pitfall.

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I'm not sure if Rafa did some underestimating or whether he's just tired, because he'd normally never drop a set to someone like Potito Starace. Still, he came through. I'm sure there'll be some reports of how the pressure of #1 is getting to him, but everyone drops a set now and again. I don't think it's really much to worry about for Team Rafa. Though Team Spain clearly has something to worry about - three of their four guys went out yesterday, which was not so good. And Rafa dropped a set... maybe they all had food poisoning! Or not. Maybe they just got beaten.

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Ferrer lost to Tipsarevic, who looks more and more dangerous every time he plays. Seppi beat Robredo and Monfils beat Almagro. Strange, isn't it, that Spain left all these awesome players behind - players like Nando Verdasco - and then most of them lose. At least you can pretty much always count on Rafa.

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Djokovic had a pretty handy win, but there were a couple of upsets - not just Ferrer, but Murray as well. Yen-hsun Lu played the match of his life there! I remembering watching him play at the Hopman Cup this year, and he really has a lovely playing style, so good word to him. As those hideous cackling commentators on Channel 7 might say, 'onya!' And on the women's side, my gold medal pick Svetlana Kuznetsova went crashing out to Li Na. That means I have to revise my gold medallist, and I'm revising it straight to Dinara Safina. Don't know why I didn't pick her in the first place. She is easily playing better than anyone else right now.

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For a limited time only - ie. the duration of the Olympics - Tennis From The Backseat will also be covering doubles... mostly because I'm really, really excited about Team Fedrinka! I think they stand a great chance! How many other teams boast two top ten players? I know that's not the only consideration for doubles, but I think they could just be fabulous. And they WILL be fabulous!

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They face a Russian team next - Tursunov and Youzhny - who knocked out Gonzalez and Massu, who won the gold medal in Athens, so that was a good win. If you want a tough team, I don't know if you can go further than those boys, so that should be a good match.

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...though speaking of Russians, did anyone else see that article about Davydenko? I was totally disgusted. I think it's on Eurosport, if anyone else wants to look: basically, he was whinging about how he has no motivation, and how he's going to play at the Olympics, but he isn't really going to try and how he doesn't expect to do well and how he just finds it so hard to pick up a racquet.

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If I were Ernests Gulbis, who was knocked out by Davydenko in the first round, I would be feeling so offended right now. What kind of attitude is that for an elite sportsman? For the first time, I think I understand - just a little - why Justine Henin retired. I don't understand WHY she had no motivation, but once she recognised that she did, she was at least respectful to her opponents and stepped aside. Sport is about giving your all. Isn't that, like, the Olympic thing? Faster, higher, stronger, or whatever the motto is? If you're not prepared to try, get out. If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. Kolya, I hope you get destroyed in your next match - because with an attitude like that, you have absolutely no right to be here. None whatsoever.

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Today's Results

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Games of the XXIX Olympiad (Beijing)

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Men's Draw - Singles

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Roger Federer def. Dmitry Tursunov, 6-4 6-2

Rafael Nadal def. Potito Starace, 6-2 3-6 6-2

Novak Djokovic def. Robby Ginepri, 6-4 6-4

Janko Tipsarevic def. David Ferrer, 7-6 (10-8) 6-2

Lu Yen-Hsun def. Andy Murray, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

David Nalbandian def. Zeng Shaoxuan, 6-2 6-1

Stanislas Wawrinka def. Frank Dancevic, 4-6 6-3 6-2

Gilles Simon def. Robin Soderling, 6-4 6-4

Gael Monfils def. Nicolas Almagro, 6-4 3-6 6-3

Mikhail Youzhny def. Jiri Vanek, 6-4 6-1

Nicolas Kiefer def. Max Mirnyi, 6-3 6-1

Michael Llodra def. Radek Stepanek, 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 11-9

Thomas Johansson def. Jarkko Nieminen, 4-6 6-4 6-4

Andreas Seppi def. Tommy Robredo, 6-4 4-6 8-6

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Nicolas Lapentti, 7-6 (7-4) 6-2

Victor Hanescu def. Simone Bolelli, 7-5 3-6 6-4

Olivier Rochus def. Ivo Minar, 6-3 3-6 6-3

Igor Andreev def. Sam Querrey, 6-4 6-4

Dominik Hrbaty def. Thomaz Bellucci, 2-6 6-4 6-2

Marin Cilic def. Juan Monaco, 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-3

Agustin Calleri def. Devin Mullings, 6-1 6-1

Rainer Schuettler def. Kei Nishikori, 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-3

Lleyton Hewitt def. Jonas Bjorkman, 7-5 7-6 (7-2)

Nicolas Massu def. Steve Darcis, 6-4 7-5

Kevin Anderson def. Komlavi Loglo, 6-3 6-2

Rafael Arevalo def. Hyung-Taik Lee, 4-6 6-3 6-4

Jurgen Melzer def. Marcos Daniel, 6-7 (9-11) 6-1 8-6

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Women's Draw - Singles

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Jelena Jankovic def. Cara Black, 6-3 6-3

Li Na def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Serena Williams def. Olga Govortsova, 6-3 6-1

Elena Dementieva def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 6-1 6-4

Dinara Safina def. Mara Santangelo, 6-3 7-6 (7-1)

Venus Williams def. Timea Bacsinszky, 6-3 6-2

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Chan Yung-Jan, 6-1 7-6 (8-6)

Vera Zvonareva def. Yan Zi, 6-2 6-0

Daniela Hantuchova def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-2 7-5

Zheng Jie def. Agnes Szavay, 4-6 6-3 7-5

Victoria Azarenka def. Tatiana Perebiynis, 6-4 5-7 6-4

Patty Schnyder def. Jill Craybas, 6-3 6-2

Kaia Kanepi def. Flavia Pennetta, 6-2 7-6 (8-6)

Alizé Cornet def. Nicole Vaidisova, 4-6 6-1 6-4

Dominika Cibulkova def. Pauline Parmentier, 6-1 7-5

Shahar Peer def. Sorana Cirstea, 6-3 5-7 6-0

Virginie Razzano def. Eleni Daniilidou, 6-3 6-3

Alona Bondarenko def. Milagros Sequera, 3-6 0-1 retired

Sybille Bammer def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-2 4-6 6-4

Casey Dellacqua def. Gisela Dulko, 6-3 6-4

Peng Shuai def. Carla Suárez Navarro, 7-5 7-6 (7-2)

Iveta Benesova def. Sania Mirza, 6-1 2-1 retired

Sofia Arvidsson def. Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6-2 6-1

Lucie Safarova def. Maret Ani, 6-4 6-2

María José Martínez Sánchez def. Alicia Molik, 6-1 6-1

Nuria Llagostera Vives def. Klara Zakopalova, 2-6 6-3 7-5

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Men's Draw - Doubles

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Federer/Wawrinka def. Bolelli/Seppi, 7-5 6-1

Almagro/Ferrer def. Anderson/Coetzee, 3-6 6-3 6-4

Nadal/Robredo def. Bjorkman/Soderling, 6-3 6-3

Andreev/Davydenko def. Blake/Querrey, 6-3 6-4

Aspelin/Johansson def. Hanley/Kerr, 7-6 (9-7) 6-3

Murray/Murray def. Nestor/Niemeyer, 4-6 6-3 6-4

Darcis/Rochus def. Canas/Nalbandian, 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3

Tursunov/Youzhny def. Gonzalez/Massu, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Guccione/Hewitt def. Calleri/Monaco, 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 18-16

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Legg Mason Tennis Classic (Washington)

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Tommy Haas def. Rik de Voest, 6-4 4-6 6-1

Dudi Sela def. Vince Spadea, 7-6 (8-6) 6-3

Somdev Devvarman def. Taylor Dent, 7-6 (7-3) 2-6 6-1

Florent Serra def. Uladzimir Ignatik, 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

Bobby Reynolds def. Marc Gicquel, 7-6 (7-2) 3-6 6-4

John Isner def. Marcel Granollers, 6-3 6-7 (6-5) 7-6 (7-1)

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Western and Southern Financial Group Women's Open

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Katarina Srebotnik def. Amanda Fink, 6-3 6-3

Sabine Lisicki def. Anna Tatishvili, 5-7 7-5 6-0

Camille Pin def. Ekaterina Makarova, 6-2 6-0

Petra Cetkovska def. Tamira Paszek, 4-6 6-3 4-1 retired

Nathalie Dechy def. Olivia Sanchez, 6-2 6-2

Julie Ditty def. Yuan Meng, 2-6 6-1 6-4

Maria Kirilenko def. Hsieh Su-wei, 6-2 7-5

Stéphanie Dubois def. Evgeniya Rodina, 6-2 7-6 (7-3)