Worth Watching

This week, I watched my first ever Challenger tennis. I've always known it was out there, sort of in the abstract... you know, out there, existing, but I never thought of watching it. Or even checking the results.

You have Nicolas Mahut to thank for my transformation. With a soupcon of Amir Weintraub, because his column has got me absolutely fascinated with the hardcore life these players live.

The match I watched was an absolute cracker - a Hopman Cup reunion match in Courmayeur between Ruben Bemelmans and my beloved Nico. Mahut ended up winning in a third set tie break. It was engaging and entertaining and generally, the level was pretty damn high. I mean, neither dude is Federer or Nadal, but only two dudes get to be them. It was a good match. I don't think it would have been out of place in a tour level tournament.

Amir Weintraub writes in his column about how playing Australian Open qualies really made him feel like he was on the same level as the guys ranked #100-#200 and how he could really send himself skyrocketing up the rankings, how it was real and tangible and could really happen. But then the next week in Eylat he lost to a guy ranked in the #600s and he got all depressed, because he felt like maybe he wasn't doing as well as he thought.

What this really highlights for me is how good so many guys are, how close. It's a fight for every ranking point on the Challenger and Futures tour because one ranking point can be a big difference. At the top of the game, it wouldn't matter whether Nadal gained a point or lost a point, because he'd still be 3,000 points ahead. On the satellite level... if you gain a point, you could jump quite a lot on the computer.

If Nicolas Mahut wins in Courmayeur, I'm pretty sure he'll go back into the top hundred. I felt pretty gypped on his behalf when I found out he got 45 ranking points for making second round at the Australian Open - I felt like that was barely anything. And then I read Weintraub's column about how happy he was to get eight ranking points just for playing first round qualies - how he played the tournament in Eylat in the hunt for 17 points. 17. It seems like nothing. But it's everything.

And yet the level of these guys, if the Mahut/Bemelmans match is used as an indicator, is not so far off the tour level. It's a very fine line between good enough and not quite there. And it seems to me that there must be a lot of luck involved - as well as talent and skill and tenacity and whatnot - in getting there. Getting into the top hundred, playing on tour level instead of being stuck in the satellite dogfight... everyone works for it, but only a few get lucky.

There's part of me that wants every single guy on this satellite circuit to make it - for their hard work to pay off. The reality is that not every guy is going to make it. Not every guy gets the fairy tale. Some guys are going to be stuck here slogging it out forever, in this world where one ranking point can make you or break you.

But that doesn't mean that they're not awesome tennis players.

Challenger tennis. It's worth watching. For reals.

The First Awesome Thing To Happen in Australian Sport This Year

I've been focusing on Hopman Cup all week, but let's talk a little about Brisbane. In particular, let's yell out F%^& YEAH MATT EBDEN YOU ARE AWESOME.

Ebden is ranked at about #172, and he took out Denis Istomin, ranked over 130 places higher, at the Brisbane International. He did this by simply playing awesome tennis. Sure, he had a double break in each set and could have won by even more than he did, but at the end of the day, HE WON, and that is an absolutely outstanding achievement.

Ebden is probably my favourite of the young Australians we have hanging around. I really enjoy his game, and although at 23 he might be classified as a late bloomer, it is very obvious that he has talent. If he continues to play like he did against Istomin, then I see no reason why he can't break into the top hundred this year.

He has absolutely nothing to lose against Robin Soderling in his match, so I hope he comes out swinging. I don't think he's quite up to beating-a-member-of-the-top-five level, but I'd really like to see him make a good account of himself. He certainly has the ability to do so!

Over at the Hopman Cup, the Ivanovic/Henin match is one of the best women's matches I have seen in a long time. The commentators have been talking like Ivanovic is 'back' - I think she still has a ways to go before we can say that, but playing in a match like this certainly didn't hurt. But this isn't the Ivanovic story, even though she did play a good match which must be hope-inspiring for her.

It's all about Henin. And if she keeps playing like this... hello, leading contender for the Australian Open.

There is absolutely no reason why Henin cannot win the Open, particularly in the absence of Serena. I know she's been fairly pessimistic about her chances what with coming back after such a long lay off, but if she continues as she has begun at the Hopman Cup, then she has every chance in the world. She wasn't misfiring off any wing, and while her backhand is often lauded as a thing of art, I was in awe of her volleys. Seriously, she has MAD SKILLZ at the net.

Belgium are out of the Hopman Cup after Bemelmans lost to Djokovic (AO organisers, if you find another wildcard under your sofa after you give one to Nicolas Mahut, you could do worse than give it to Ruben Bemelmans), but Henin went undefeated all week and played - well, I can't overstate how impressed I was. Watch out for JuJu in Australia. She could do something incredible.

Second Year Blues

Oh, glorious nation of Kazakhstan, you are making me a bit sad. After your awesomeness last year, you have had some second year blues.

First, we lost Shvedova. She is injured, which maketh me sad, and I hope she gets well soon, because I like her style. She's been replaced by Sesil Karantcheva, who had about four seconds to get acclimatised, and who had to play Justine Henin the second she got off the plane. Unsurprisingly, she lost in straight sets - though she did make a good show of it.

And then Andrey Golubev - my beloved Andrey Golubev! - went and lost to Ruben Bemelmans.

Now, I am very fond of Bemelmans. I wrote a post a few days ago which was all about how much I love him. But Andrey! my Andrey! whom I have adored for this one year past! This was not a good result for him.

This was the match in his group that you would expect him to win. I expected him to put up a good fight against Djokovic, but to lose eventually. I think he has a solid chance against Hewitt. But I expected him to beat Bemelmans. I expected him to do that.

Now, this is a great result for Bemelmans, who is definitely going into my stable of future stars, and on that count, I am very pleased that he just claimed a top thirty scalp when he is ranked so much lower. But did it have to be my beloved Andrey?

Oh yeah, and Serbia totally hammered Australia. The Hewitt/Djokovic match was a lot more competitive than I thought it would be, but it was still straight sets. But it was eminently watchable. Molik/Ivanovic...? not so much.

25 Things I Love About Andrey Golubev

So he didn't beat Novak Djokovic (though he did take a set off him!) Sure, he went off the boil pretty badly there. But I still think Andrey Golubev is the knees of the bees, and he is going to grow up SO AWESOME.

Anyone who follows me on Twitter will have seen this list last night, when I live-tweeted the Djokovic/Golubev match. But I think it's a pretty good list (even if some of it is obviously live-blogged and will have no relevance to someone who didn't see the match!) and so here it is in it's entirety.

25 Things I Love About Andrey Golubev from the Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

1. He doesn't mess around with his serve. Quick and dirty. No epic time wasting.
2. He didn't just hit two double faults in a tow.
3. He always tries to make his opponent play an extra shot. Good tennis brain.
4. He has a very stylish serve-forehand one-two punch. Mmm-mmm. Delish.
5. That backhand up the line he just hit. Sexy, sexy shot.
6. SINGLE. HANDED. BACKHAND.
7. The angles he is getting, particularly on the backhand side. UNF.
8. He is delightfully red-headed.
9. That forehand down the line just then was smokin'. UNF UNF.
10. His aggression, even when it doesn't quite work out.
11. The dude can VOLLEY. Seriously.
12. He is annoying the f%^& out of Bert the Unshaven right now.
13. HE JUST BROKE DJOKOVIC. HELLS TO THE YEAH.
14. Clutch first serve. Not all the time, but it's getting there.
15. Right after losing that game, he's straight back on the aggressive horse.
16. FIRST SET BITCHES! HELL YEAH!
17. He's not afraid to hit the ball, even after some demoralising shanks.
18. He freaking GOES FOR IT on the return.
19. He has the ability to dig himself out of a hole.
20. Even if he is losing this set pretty badly, he has some mad HawkEye skillz.
21. That hectic service break he just made. Even if he loses the set, that rocked.
22. He gives credit where credit is due (i.e. he applauds his opponents).
23. He's not afraid to come to the net.
24. He has mad skillz on the return. Always gives his opponent a good ball.
25. He might have lost, but DAMN, can he play.

So there it is - some of the many things I love about Andrey Golubev. What he does need is a little discipline and a little consistency - he's a bit fragile mentally - but he has no real weaknesses and when he is playing well, he is well nigh unstoppable. I talked about Ruben Bemelmans being this year's Golubev yesterday. I think Golubev might like to be this year's Golubev - thank you very much!

A Love Song To Young Ruben Bemelmans

I'm back! And there's tennis! And it's exciting! Time for exclamation marks!

I could talk about Abu Dhabi, but I didn't actually see it, so well done Rafa, well done Roger, keep it up. Here endeth my Abu Dhabi coverage.

But it's Hopman Cup time, and we are opening the year today with a fresh new star. This is my love song to young Ruben Bemelmans.

I always seem to discover an awesome young star at the Hopman Cup, and this year one has been thrown up in the first day. This year's Andrey Golubev is (well, apart from Golubev himself, who is also in this tournament) is Ruben Bemelmans. Sure, he didn't win his singles match yesterday, and he had a bit of a choke in the mixed doubles, but this boy is quivering with talent.

You heard it here. Ruben Bemelmans is going to grow up AWESOME.

He is hyper aggressive, which means that when he is good he is very very good (and when he is bad he is horrid, but a little experience and discipline should give him some consistency). He goes for the lines and he hits them a reasonable percentage of the time. I really like his volleys. He is a lefty so he gets some crazy angles, and his general game plan is good. All that is letting him down is execution.

He is the type of player who could catch alight and go on an absolute tear, and even though he didn't beat Lleyton today, look for him to give Djokovic a bit of a scare and do the same to Andrey Golubev (even though, as we know, Golubev is pure unadulterated awesome). Keep an eye on him this year. He is going to gain at least a hundred places this year, if not more. And in a couple of years... look for this guy in the top twenty, if not the top ten. He has so much talent he just doesn't know what to do with it.

And another person to keep an eye on, albeit for a different reason - Justine Henin. She seems a little pessimistic about her elbow, and she was a little loose against Molik today, even though she put together a very tidy win, but I was very impressed with her, in the mixed doubles in particular. If that injury doesn't get her too far down, she could put together a massive Aussie Open campaign.

Oh, and even though this is a love song to Belgium, Australia did actually win this tie. Well done. And stuff.

Advent

Hola, my reader friends! As you know, December is a bit of a quiet month in the tennis world - but the December Showdown starts today, and our coverage of it will start tomorrow. Well, when I say 'coverage', I mean, 'me talking about matches I didn't actually see', but I'm sure we can make something out of that.

So yes. This is going to be a short one today, due to lack of content.

But a few quick words on the Hopman Cup - a few months ago, they had such a sweet line up, and now they're dropping like flies. First we lost Serena, who's been replaced by Bethanie Mattek-Sands; then Steve Darcis, who has been replaced by Ruben Bemelmans (he who played Lleyton pretty tight in Davis Cup); and now Gael Monfils has got all injured.

I heartily approve of his replacement, though. Nicolas Mahut and Kristina Mladenovic might not stand a great chance of taking the trophy, but any man who can play a 70-68 fifth set is all right by me. I wonder if Nico has a hair gel endorsement yet...

One Step Short... Again

I would really, really be lying if I didn't say that I was disappointed.

Belgium was an eminently beatable opponent for Australia. But once again, we proved that we just really don't have the depth. Rochus, Darcis and Bemelmans really does not make a worldbeating Davis Cup team - nowhere close. But apparently Hewitt, Luczak and Ball... well, that's even worse.

It really highlights the dependency of the Australian team on Lleyton Hewitt, which is incredibly dangerous. Even if he'd been able to play, I don't think he would have had much success - he came so close to losing to Bemelmans that I really didn't see him coming through Rochus. But Luczak should have been able to make things happen. And Ball... well, I think people just expect a lot more of him than he's capable of, to tell the truth. He and Guccione make a great doubles team, but I just don't know if he's ever going to be any more than that.

Australia really can't rely on Lleyton. He's been so good for so long, but come on, the dude's been on his way down for years. We can't manufacture talent out of nowhere, but we need to stop pinning all our hopes on one guy so much - it's not fair to him. This is exactly what is going to happen to Bernard Tomic and Jason Kubler, if they ever make good on their respective immense talents - reliance, to the detriment of the squad. And then we're going to end up like the UK, losing to Lithuania.

I suppose there's nothing really you can do. If you don't have the players, you just don't have the players. And I think the venue decision was as smart as it possibly could have been - the hot, steamy conditions of Cairns should really have benefited the Australians. But it just didn't happen. Story of Davis Cup in Australia for a long time now.