A Year To The Day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oh Hi, Captain Obvious

It is absolutely KILLING me that the best match of the women's side so far is all tied up at one set all at the suspension of play. I want to know what happens, damn it!

Henin/Sharapova may not be one of the most immediately obvious of the WTA rivalries, but I think it is certainly one of the most compelling. I will never forget that three hour match they played at the year ending championships a few years back, where Henin got through - or that absolute beatdown MaSha put on JuJu at the AO early the next year. Even when neither is on top of their game, they both play totally watchable tennis when they play each other.

And, I confess, I'm sort of hoping they wear each other out and make Sam Stosur's path that little bit easier... look at me, all parochial. Who woulda thunk.

The winners: Rafa Nadal. Duh. He is putting the beatdown on anyone who so much as looks at him sideways. I know clay isn't Lleyton Hewitt's best surface, but Rafa put him down like a rabid dog. Scary stuff.

A beatdown was also issued by, surprisingly, Jurgen Melzer. Totes did not expect him to beat Ferrer, mostly because I had completely forgotten he existed. I'm pretty sure this is the Djokovic quarter, which means Melzer has a good a chance as any of winning it. Go the Jurgenator.

And from the women, let's talk Sam Stosur, who had a sweetly routine win over Anastasia Pivovarova. And let's also talk Daniela Hantuchova, whom I also always forget about, who triumphed unexpectedly against Yanina Wickmayer. Great stuff from both ladies.

The losers: David Ferrer. Big time. He had what was basically a clear path to the quarters, and he screwed it up and screwed it up good. Like, a screw up of an epic degree. I understand that Jurgen Melzer was playing awesome tennis, but straights, Ferru? Really?

And I have to put Yanina Wickmayer in here as well. I know DaniHani is massively talented, but hello, Yanina, so are you. I guess she's just come off elbow surgery, so I shouldn't be too harsh on her, but I totally thought she was a dark horse for this section of the draw. And I don't like being proven wrong.

Oh look, Captain Obvious has just paid us a visit? You know who was a big-ass loser today at Roland Garros? Andy Roddick. I know he was maybe sick and he doesn't exactly love clay, but he should at least have been able to take a set off Gabashvili. At least.

The disappointments: Juan Carlos Ferrero. I totally picked him to come through his section of the draw, and he did not do me proud, to say the least. You can beat Novak Djokovic is breathing a lot easier (allergies aside) now that the two Spaniards are out of his section. JCF totally had more in him than this.

And Alisa Kleybanova? WTF? I've seen Yaroslava Shvedova play live and she's got some serious game going on, but I thought Alisa would have been able to outclub her. Obviously I was wrong. Well done Slava, I guess.

Oh, and Captain Obvious has just informed me Marion Bartoli should be in here. I guess I never really pay enough attention to her (except to comment on her weird-ass shots) to notice when she loses.

The scraped-in-by-the-skin-of-teeth: Greetings, Nadia Petrova. I am so glad Nadz took out this match, not just because I like her (which I do) but because someone had to kill that damn gold dress. Nadz is super talented and totally deserves this fourth round run. I hope she can make it even further!

And oh hi, Robby Ginepri. I was very disappointed that your opponent JCF lost, but you totally deserved this win. Who woulda thunk you would be the good news story for American mens' tennis from this tournament? Certainly not me.

One to watch: Teimuraz Gabashvili. I know Roddick was not that well and doesn't like clay, but straights, dude? You've got a little sumthin' sumthin' going on if you can pull that one off. This could be his breakthrough tournament (even though it feels like he's been round for a million years...)

The Other Winners

I could continue cooing over Myla and Charlene Federer for quite some days - and probably there will be more baby talk this week, just so you're warned - but it is weekend winners day, so let's take a survey of who won what where. (Even though the biggest win this week clearly went to Roger and Mirka - welcome twins!)

*

Let's start with the no surprises winners. Dinara Safina won in Portoroz - if she hadn't won I would have probably been poised to declare an official Dinara slump, considering most of her opponents there were ranked approximately #5000. She cruised through this week and though it was an odd tournament to choose to play, I'm hoping it just gives her that little bit of confidence she might need going into the US Open series. She can win the Open this year - I believe that. But she needs to believe it, or it ain't gonna happen.

*

And then in Hamburg, Nikolay Davydenko came out on top. He wasn't the top seed - that was Gilles Simon - but given Simon's play of late he was effectively the top seed, and he played very well all week, including in his tough semi over David Ferrer. Nice work, Kolya. I have no idea why you insist on playing these silly out-of-place clay tournaments, but well done anyway.

*

Then we have our two more surprising winners. Andrea Petkovic won in Bad Gastein. Um, who? Alize Cornet was the top seed here, but she's been hanging out with fellow Frenchie Simon too much, or so it would seem from her tennis. I can't comment anything more, really, because I don't know anything else about Petkovic. Which makes her win pretty sweet, even at one of these smaller satellite tournaments. Well done, Andrea.

*

And then in Indy, Robby Ginepri overcame Sam Querrey in an all-American final. Ginepri has been flying under the radar for a number of years now and it is always surprising to me when he wins... I'm sort of used to him being in a slump, because he seems to have been there for sometime now. One thing, though - Querrey seems to have made a few finals this year, but I can't remember him winning any. Am I remembering rightly or did I just make this up?

*

But my favourite win of the weekend (Federer twins aside) was in Hamburg, where Dmitry Tursunov and Ernests Gulbis won the doubles. Tursunov is a longtime fave of mine and I haven't seen much of him of late, and we all know that Ernests Gulbis is my favourite of the Stars of the Future, even if he hasn't been doing much this year. I'd like to say that this will rejuvenate them both... but I doubt this, really. However, I do like to see them win. They're a couple of my favourite boys!

*

*

Today's Results

*

International German Open (Hamburg)

*

Nikolay Davydenko def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-4 6-2

*

*

Indianapolis Tennis Championships (Indianapolis)

*

Robby Ginepri def. Sam Querrey, 6-2 6-4

*

*

Banka Koper Slovenia Open (Portoroz)

*

Dinara Safina def. Sara Errani, 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 7-5

*

*

Nurnberger Gastein Ladies (Bad Gastein)

*

Andrea Petkovic def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 6-2 6-3

*

*

Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad (Gstaad)

*

Mikhail Youzhny def. Gaston Gaudio, 6-3 5-7 6-4

Andreas Beck def. Marco Chiudinelli, 4-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-4

Down With The Worm!

There's something vaguely satisfying about seeing Radek Stepanek get beaten. Not because he's a horrible person or anything - I suppose Martina Hingis and Nicole Vaidisova must have seen something in him, because he's butt-ugly - but just because he's so kind of... creepy. You don't get the nickname 'The Worm' by being a handsome, upstanding member of the tennis community. He's just so... off-putting.

*

But The Worm is no more in Madrid, being effectively put down in two sets by the Swiss Master, Roger Federer. They weren't blow-out sets, but a straight sets victory is a straight sets victory, and compared to the tussle Nadal had with Gulbis yesterday, it's pretty nice looking. So well done, Roger. And along the way - just another milestone in that amazing career of his - he surpassed Sampras's mark for as the winner of the most prize money in tennis history. Not that Federer seems like a monetarily minded guy or anything - Maria Sharapova must rake in fifty times what he makes each year from endorsments alone - but it must be a pretty nice mark. I wouldn't mind getting money out at an ATM and looking at a balance like that on the receipt. He's won in excess of forty-three million dollars. Now that is a sweet paycheck!

*

He plays Jo-W Tsonga in the next round. That should be an interesting one to watch - I don't know if they've ever met. Federer remains the one member of the Big Three Tsonga hasn't taken down: and much as I like Tsonga, here's hoping it stays that way! Federer for the title!

*

Djokovic also advanced, but there were two breaker sets, one of which he lost, and his opponent retired in the third. And what's with David Ferrer? He seems to have gone right off the boil, which is a bit sad for him, as he is a bit fabulous. He lost to Feliciano Lopez. Get well soon, David - or whatever it is! I'd love to see him playing at the Masters Cup this year, especially as he got to the final last year. And Davydenko went out as well - to Robby Ginepri, of all people. There's a weird loss if I ever saw one.

*

*

Today's Results

*

Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid (Madrid)

*

Roger Federer def. Radek Stepanek, 6-3 7-6 (8-6)

Novak Djokovic def. Victor Hanescu, 6-7 (8-10) 7-6 (8-6) 3-1 retired

Robby Ginepri def. Nikolay Davydenko, 4-6 6-4 6-4

Feliciano Lopez def. David Ferrer, 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

David Nalbandian def. Tomas Berdych, 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-1

Andy Roddick def. Tommy Robredo, 6-3 6-4

Juan Martin Del Potro def. Jarkko Nieminen, 6-2 4-2 retired

Stanislas Wawrinka def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 3-6 7-5 7-6 (7-5)

Gael Monfils def. Fernando Gonzalez, 6-3 6-4

Ivo Karlovic def. Robin Soderling, 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (10-8)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Marcel Granollers, 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-5)

*

*

Tennis.com Zurich Open (Zurich)

*

Venus Williams def. Alona Bondarenko, 6-3 6-4

Francesca Schiavone def. Maria Kirilenko, 6-3 7-5

Flavia Pennetta def. Nadia Petrova, 6-1 6-1

Katarina Srebotnik def. Timea Bacsinszky, 6-3 6-3

Sofia Arvidsson def. Sybille Bammer, 0-6 7-5 6-4

Gear Shift

I am very, very glad that I wasn't around watching the scores when Federer played Ginepri. I think I might just have exploded. Roger Federer does NOT lose three times in a row.

*

Luckily, he didn't, for anyone who might not have seen the result yet. The first two sets were tie-breakers, Ginepri winning the first, Federer the second, with a big ol' bagel in the third. So the real Roger, the awesome Roger, is clearly still there. The talent hasn't gone away, nor the ability, nor the fitness, nor the anything. He's just having a few issues with his gear shift. And I'm pretty confident he can sort that out.

*

And to tell the truth, I'd be worried if he were playing Supreme Almighty God Tennis in the first round anyway. That would be a sure sign of peaking too early.

*

He's facing Karlovic in the next round, which I think should be a really good match for him. Karlovic has that huge serve, but otherwise plays reasonably predictable percentage tennis. I think it'll give R-Fed a bit of a chance to work himself out and settle down a bit - before the inevitable glorious future.

*

Meanwhile, my bracket is totally shot... as I somehow now seem to have picked Clement to reach the final, as Stan has disappeared mysteriously from the draw. I have this vague sensation that that... oh, I don't know, maybe won't happen? I'm still doing all right at the moment, but Cilic lost, and I picked him to reach the semis. I hope Stan is all right... he is important to Roger and the doubles and Switzerland and stuff! And also he is a nice boy in his own right.

*

But seriously, Clement/Cilic disaster aside, I am still doing pretty all right on this bracket thing. I have 22 points - the leaders have 26. That's not too bad. I really am getting better at it! Though I will inevitably lose 90,000 million points when Clement loses. Though it would be pretty neat if he made it to the final. I would look really smart, and it wouldn't even have anything to do with me!

*

A good win for our Mr Moya as well, taking out ever-dangerous Tipsarevic - also picked in the Jodi Bracket of Excellence, though perhaps more from wishful thinking than anything else. Still, sometimes wishful thinking does the job done. Carlos doesn't seem to have been doing that well this year, but he's still hanging about in the top thirty, so he must be doing something right. Good on him. I like Carlos. He's my poster boy for thirty-something tennis.

*

And Dmitry beat Marat, which was always going to be bittersweet. I had picked Marat, but no one can say Dima didn't deserve it. I would really like to see him make a big run for it at this year's US Open. He is so talented and so good on hard courts that it's almost surprising he hasn't gone hugely deep at the US or the Australian before. But I have a wee feeling... and we know my feelings aren't always to be trusted, as they get mixed up with wishful thinking, but sometimes they're right on the money.

*

Oh, and meanwhile, I SO don't believe this. Roddick has just pulled out, to be replaced with Woong-Sun Jun. I bet that American crowd watching those two warm up is super thrilled about that. What's wrong now, Andy? Is this all about US Open preparation too?

*

And on a nicer note, congrats to Chris Guccione. I didn't know he was even in the draw, but he totally won his match today. Though speaking of Australians... where's Lleyton? Is he doing that thing he does where he doesn't play any tournaments except Slams? Because I don't like that thing at all.

*

*

Today's Results

*

Western and Southern Financial Group Masters (Cincinatti)

*

Roger Federer def. Robby Ginepri, 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-0

Jose Acasuso def. Paul Capdeville, 5-7 6-2 6-2

Dmitry Tursunov def. Marat Safin, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Gael Monfils def. Donald Young, 6-1 6-1

Carlos Moya def. Janko Tipsarevic, 7-6 (7-5)

John Isner def. Andrea Stoppini, 7-6 (7-2) 6-3

Richard Gasquet def. Michael Llodra, 3-6 6-1 1-0 retired

Gilles Simon def. Rajeev Ram, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Arnaud Clement def. Thomas Johansson, 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (5-7) 6-3

Simone Bolelli def. Kevin Anderson, 6-3 7-6 (7-1)

Nicolas Lapentti def. Marin Cilic, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Chris Guccione def. Jesse Levine, 6-3 6-4

Fernando Verdasco def. Victor Estrella, 6-3 7-5

Florent Serra def. Benjamin Becker, 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-4

Ivo Karlovic def. Jose Acasuso, 6-3 7-6 (7-3)

Robin Soderling def. Tommy Robredo, 7-6 (8-6) 6-4

*

*

Rogers Cup (Montreal)

*

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-1 1-0 retired

Victoria Azarenka def. Jamea Jackson, 6-1 6-1

Nadia Petrova def. Marie-Ève Pelletier, 6-0 6-1

Maria Kirilenko def. Anne Keothavong, 6-1 7-5

Flavia Pennetta def. Olga Savchuk, 1-6 7-5 6-3

Ai Sugiyama def. Nicole Vaidisova, 6-3 3-6 6-2

Sybille Bammer def. Monique Adamczak, 6-7 (6-8) 6-1 6-2

Alisa Kleybanova def. Ahsha Rolle, 6-4 6-2

Jill Craybas def. Sharon Fichman, 6-4 6-3

Marta Domachowska def. Bethanie Mattek, 7-5 6-2

Melinda Czink def. Julie Ditty, 7-6 (7-4) 6-0

*

*

Nordea Nordic Light Open (Stockholm)

*

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Nathalie Dechy, 6-2 6-3

Katarina Srebotnik def. Anna Lapushchenkova, 6-2 6-1

Caroline Wozniacki def. Angelique Kerber, 6-3 6-4

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Sandra Roma, 6-3 6-1

Maria Elena Camerin def. Marina Erakovic, 6-3 6-4

Mariya Koryttseva def. Ekaterina Makarova, 6-3 6-4

Vera Dushevina def. Lucie Safarova, 7-6 (7-4) 6-3

Virginia Ruano Pascual def. María José Martínez Sánchez, 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova def. Petra Cetkovska, 6-4 6-7 (2-7) 6-4

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Ekaterina Bychkova, 6-4 3-6 6-1

Johanna Larsson def. Julia Goerges, 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4