The Most Comprehensive of Fails

Wow. Paragraphs. Two days in the row. Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?

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Pity the first day of Roland Garros was so spectacularly dull. It's hardly worth writing about, but seeing as I have been so ragingly neglectful, I feel like I should. So let's see what we can come up with.

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Remember a few years ago when I picked out a few guys as Stars of the Future? Well, yeah, my track record is not the best, as it turns out. And it started so promisingly. The two prize horses in my fold, Marin Cilic and Ernests Gulbis, began - and ended - Roland Garros with an epic fail.

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Cilic hasn't been playing well of late, and he went out in straight sets to Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, who hitherto has been best known for almost beating Roger Federer one time a few years ago. Cilic has done precisely nothing this year, but still, this is not a match he should be losing. But he did. And that is all there is to say about that.

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And yet he is the less comprehensive of my fails.

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Ernests Gulbis has now lost 2o straight sets at Slam level. TWENTY. F^&*ING TWENTY. Is a single person left on that bandwagon? Seriously, what a waste of a stupendous talent. He was beaten by Blaz Kavcic, who is coming up LIKE WHOA, but that doesn't excuse anything, to tell the truth. Gulbis should be top ten, with his talent. And he's not even close. Ugh. It's... well, it's pretty much disgusting.

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Over in the ladies, the big upset of day one was Flavia Pennetta, who went out depressingly to Varvara Lepchenko. I say depressingly on account of I have no idea who Lepchenko is, and seriously, Flavs should be winning and going deep at events like this. She hasn't really been a force this year and I find this sad.

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But enough of this despair. Sam Stosur had a cracking match to win, and I am very happy about that. I don't know if there is any finals-making in her future again, but this is very good so far. Good signs.

Not A F%^&ing Tourist

It is no secret that I am not exactly the biggest tennis patriot ever. However, I was/am genuinely interested in the Fed Cup tie between Australia and Italy going on in Hobart, and I am totally devo that they are only showing it on pay TV, which I do not have.

The live scoreboard is good, though. Why don't they use it at all the tournaments?

It's also no secret that I currently find men's tennis more interesting than women's tennis, but the Italy/Australia tie is as good a match up as you will ever hope to see and kicks the arse of a lot of Davis Cup ties. In the Italian corner, we have Francesca Schiavone and Flavia Pennetta. In the Aussie corner, we have Samantha Stosur and Jarmila Groth. Let the games begin.

It's one of those ties in which no result is surprising. I wouldn't have been surprised to find either team 2-0 up after the first day, and so 1-1 is, I guess, kind of an expression of that. And yet it was still surprising. The one point for Australia comes from Groth, who upset Schiavone. Stosur went down to Pennetta.

And yet, even though Stosur is ranked way higher than Pennetta at the mo, I am somehow not surprised. Because all four singles players playing this tie are 100% absolute quality.

I couldn't tell you how Stosur lost or why Pennetta won or anything like that, because of the whole not having TV problem. What I can say is this: this is one of the best results of Jarmila Groth's career. Beating a Grand Slam champion and defending Fed Cup champion... wow. That is something else.

Particularly after coming back from one set to love down as well. That is an awesome result. When I saw Groth play Wickmayer at the Aussie Open, my immediate impression was of a player with heaps of talent and all the shots, but who could go AWOL mentally at any second. She could light up (ie. second set) but also come crashing down to earth without any notice (third set).

What Jarka showed me here in Fed Cup was that she can grit her teeth and get it done. And if she keeps gritting her teeth and getting it done... well, I could see her definitely making top twenty. Because she is majorly talented. And she is, in her own words, not a fucking tourist.

Reverse singles today (and doubles), with Groth taking on Pennetta and Stosur taking on Schiavone. I'm going with another split result here - I say Groth and Schiavone coming out on top. I don't see Frankie losing two days in a row, and I think Jarka might be on a roll. So this fascinating tie could come down to the doubles...

This is the kind of tie Fed Cup needs. I often talk about how maligned Davis Cup is, but Fed Cup is worse. Probably also because it has such a boring name. But with awesomeness like the awesomeness in this tie... Fed Cup could be on its way up.

(Also, Nicolas Mahut is into the final in Courmayeur! He'll play Gilles Muller. And also, he and Gicquel won the doubles. And I think making the final will send him into the top hundred! Mahuberfans unite!)

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.

The Woes Of Being Feli

WILDCARD FOR MAHUT WILDCARD FOR MAHUT WILDCARD FOR MAHUT #wildcardformahut. Yep, that's still happening. Wildcards are due to be announced Tuesday, so get aboard the bandwagon for one last push!

The bandwagon was largely pushed by other people yesterday, as I was incommunicado while taking my younger brother to the Medibank International. It was his first time at an international tennis tournament - though he is, like his sister, a big fan (and unlike his sister, an excellent player) - and the tournament did not disappoint. We were lucky enough to be treated to the entire three hours and twenty minutes of the epic clash between Juan Martin del Potro and Feliciano Lopez.

I really, really feel for Feli Lopez. You come into a tournament, you're seeded, you hope to start off easy, with a qualifier maybe, and hey - you get drawn against a guy ranked #259! Awesome! But oh... hey. You look at his name. Juan Martin del Potro.

Bugger.

And then you play really well! I'm serious, you play REALLY well. The crowd's not especially behind you or anything - there's not many of them anyway, and most of them are supporting your opponent - so this one is all you. Your opponent is directing a few wide into the tramlines - he doesn't seem to have his timing quite right yet - and you are pouncing. You are playing awesome stuff.

But he is a world class player, even if he is a bit down on his luck, and he's sticking with you. All right, you think, I'll just hang on and do it in the tie break. And you do it! You take that first set breaker and then - guess what? You keep playing awesome! But he keeps sticking with you, so you're like, fine, another breaker, I've done this before.

And you bring up match point! ...and he saves it. And you two play an absolutely electrifying tie break. And he gets it.

And then you get to the breaker AGAIN. No one can pick a winner. But he gets you. After a long, LONG time, he gets you. He gets the glory. And what do you get? Upset in the first round. A seeded player, beaten by #259 in the world.

It must suck to be Feli right now.

But seriously, this was an awesome match. You will be hard pressed to watch a better tie break than the one that was played in the second set. It was a small crowd on Ken Rosewall Arena, but I think everyone was pretty fully engaged in that match. It was exciting stuff!

My brother and I also caught the twenty seconds it took for Li Na to beat Anastasia Rodionova (seriously, that was... quick), Stosur/Wickmayer, and some of Ebden and Luczak playing doubles, and all in all, it was a fantastic day - and I was very glad there was no movement on the #wildcardformahut front while I was away! But seriously, it was worth it just for that second set tie break between Lopez and del Potro. That was some tennis right there.

More Doha Disappointments

Well, Doha goes on, even if Elena Dementieva has gone and retired on us. And the streak of intense disappointment continues.

Seriously, these were not the results I wanted and they were both soft losses. I really had high hopes that Sam Stosur could win this tournament, but once she went down that first set to Clijsters, she just crumbled. It was a good result to get through to the semis, but really, the field was just not that good. She could do better.

But her disappointment has nothing on that perpetrated by Vera Zvonareva. Bepa, who have the ability to absolutely wallop Caro's arse. But you didn't. She lost a set 6-0. SIX LOVE. I am disgusted.

I am fully expecting Kimmie to win this tomorrow, though I think Caro needs it a lot more. But in reality, the match is never on Caro's racquet. If Kimmie plays moderately well, she has this one in the bag. Caro needs it to sort of consolidate her #1 position - if she's going to be #1 she needs to win something - but Kimmie's game is obviously superior. If she brings it.

Short Statements on Skill

Well, we pretty much have our final four. We have Caro and Kimmie and Sam and Bepa. And really, they didn't have to do so much to get there.

The only really significant match of the round robin stages - that counted anything in terms of psychological winnage, in any case - was Stosur over Wozniacki. And then she had a bit of a comedown when she lost to Lena D, even if it was in a third set breaker.

But let's stay on topic here. This has been a stunningly dull world tour finals, even by WTA standards. It's just been a big fat pile of nothing, really. Looking forward to 2011, I really hope they can lift the standard, because it's really just a whole big pile of not good.

And that is all I have to say about that.

Sam She Is

I just realised that Sveta is not in Doha. I know she didn't have a good enough year to come anywhere close to making it, but it still makes me sad.

You know who is in Doha, though? And doing awesomely? That would be one Sam Stosur, who is kicking arse and taking names. She played the only competitive match of the day yesterday when she beat Francesca Schiavone, and today she pulled a really big coup by beating Caro Wozniacki.

Caro Wozniacki may be the #1 player in the world, but she is completely vulnerable to a zoning player. Well, anyone is vulnerable to a zoning player, I suppose, but she is super-vulnerable. Her game is all based around the fact that everyone else's game is based on risk - if she can keep the ball in play, eventually the coin will comes heads instead of tails, so to speak. But when her opponent is taking the risks and the majority of them are paying off... hello, trouble.

That's what happened today. This isn't the best I've seen Stosur play, but it was pretty damn good. Nearly everything she hit went in and she hit through Caro basically at will. She had the ol' serve forehand combo working like a dream. It was great stuff. And now she has total control over the Maroon Group with only one match left to play... and when you consider that that match is against the emphatically out of form Elena Dementieva, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to see Sammy's path straight into the semis.

Vera Zvonareva is on top of the White Group for now, but Kim Clijsters is also undefeated - you'd have to think that it'll be the winner of that match who wins the group. Jankovic definitely isn't going through and I'm not so hot on Vika's chances either, so you have to think that it'll be Clijsters and Zvonareva going through here. Stosur and Wozniacki have to be the picks in the other group, unless Schiavone pulls out something a bit spesh.

I just realised something. Did Venus not qualify this year? or is she just not playing? What's the deal there? This must be the first Williams-less final in some time!

And The Razzie Goes To...

Are we here already? Is it really already the end of the year?

Well, not for the boys - they still have a few weeks left before the World Tour Finals, in which three spots are still up for grabs - but it's all going on in Doha for the ladies right now. Although 'all going on' might be misleading. The WTA hasn't exactly been known for its great matches of late, and in at least two of the matches today, we had no disappointments. Or big disappointments. I was trying to put a positive spin on it, but yeah... not positive. No way, no how.

Let's start with the least disappointing of the three matches, Stosur vs Schiavone. This wasn't the greatest match ever, but both Sammy and Frankie basically held up their ends of the 'I can play tennis' bargain, and we had a match. Sam got revenge for Roland Garros and some tennis was played. End of that story.

...and then we had Dementieva. Caro Wozniacki may be the #1 player in the world. She may beat people by big scorelines sometimes, but she rarely beats them into the ground. You rarely come away from a Caro match going 'wow, that was a two hoof beatdown.'

That was what today's match looked like. And it wasn't because Caro was playing well, it was because Dementieva was playing awfully. I hear Caro asked her 'are you all right?' at the net, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if there was something messed up in camp Lena D. And I wouldn't be surprised if we see an alternate tossed in.

And they might want to make sure they have a third alternate, because I'm pretty sure the second one will be taking Jelena Jankovic's spot. Awful as Dementieva's performance was, it had nothing on Jankovic's. JJ did manage to take one more game off Bepa than Lena did off Caro, but I'd argue that her quality of tennis was... completely non existent. Yes, I think that's fair.

So, in short, two of the worst matches of the year were played in Doha today, and that's saying something. Congrats to Bepa and Caro, and especially to Sam Stosur, who won the only match which was a match, but dear god I hope the quality is better tomorrow.

CommCrap

Yesterday, we talked about Andrey Golubev, who is awesome. Today, we're going to talk about something which is decidedly un-awesome.

That's right, we're talking Commonwealth Games tennis.

Now, I understand why Comm games tennis is so dodge. Not that many awesome players come from the Commonwealth, to begin with. Sure, there's Murray and Stosur, but beyond that...? not so much. And it's at a stupid time for the few awesome players there are, and they have pretty much zero incentive to play, apart from some faint sense of nationalism. So surprise, surprise - guess what? they didn't choose to play. Which leaves us with a draw where Somdev Devvarman and Anastasia Rodionova are the top seeds, essentially rendering it meaningless as any kind of major tennis achievement.

I understand all these things. All these things were predictable things, quite outside of the whole furore with security in Delhi. And this begs the question - why the f*ck is tennis in the Commonwealth Games at all?

I'm a big fan of tennis in the Olympics. But you know what? That's because the field is awesome and people have an incentive to play. No one is really going to come to the Comm games, because it's not a productive use of their time nor is it good for their rankings. Tennis in the Comm games is, quite simply, a big fat waste of time.

I know India put it in in the hopes that Sania Mirza could win a medal. Here's hoping that at the next Comm games, it comes straight back out again, because it is spectacularly useless.

Let The Sun Shine In

I bitched a lot about the state of Australian tennis yesterday. Today, let's talk about something lovely. Like Jarmila Groth winning her first WTA title in Guangzhou!

Groth isn't the most talented player out there, and she's never going to be Sam Stosur mk 2 or anything, but she has a lovely game and damn can she play. She has had an absolute breakthrough year this year - there are a lot of players ranked a lot higher than her than would be really super happy with making two fourth rounds at the Slams. Given the level of consistency in the WTA, that is a really excellent result.

Jarka might be a bit of a late bloomer, but she definitely brings a lot to the Australian stable - and, moreover, the Fed Cup team. Between Stosur and Groth - with players like Rodionova and Dokic lurking around as well - we have one hell of a Fed Cup team. The Guangzhou tournament might not be a huge tournament - Jarka was top seed - but winning a title, any title, is a huge achievement for any player.

I could be more analytical and make predictions for Groth, grand where to from here statements... but I don't really want to. Instead, let's just focus on the fact that Jarka won a title. She won it in style. And that, my friends, is awesome. Let the sun shine in, Jarka. You deserve it.

Intrigue and Errors

We have a really intriguing women's semi final lined up - Venus vs Kimmie. A year after Kimmie lined up against Venus's sister Serena in that fateful match, we are getting the closest thing to a repeat possible. Intriguing.

Now, I think Kimmie is going to take this and take it relatively easily. But if she plays as error-strewntastically as she did today and Venus plays tight, then it could be very interesting indeed.

Let's talk about the two quarter finals for a sec. Frankie Schiavone was right when she said she lost her match more than Venus won it. Normally, I'd be all 'come on guys, this is unfair', but Frankie imploded spectacularly in this match. She is capable of so much more and this was very disappointing. Nonetheless, it's got Venus through to her first semi in about a hundred years in New York, and given the dearth of men on the dudes' side in this draw, the US should be glad.

And then there was Sammy. Oh, Sammy.

Clijsters played some error-strewn stuff today, and Sammy had her chances. She could have won the match today if she had just taken them. But her inability to hold serve... well...

But no one expected her to hang this tight to Kim. And no one really expected her to make quarters here. She played to her seed, and that is something. Well done, Sammy.

And the men. Oh the men.

Rafa got through relatively painlessly, and Youzhny with only a scrape or so, but Stan Wawrinka and Fernando Verdasco must both be totally exhausted after their respective epics. I don't want to say that we'll have Youzhny and Rafa in the semis for sure... but I kind of do, because I just don't know how these guys are going to bear up.

But awesome performances from both - Stan for toughing out that fifth set against a non-partisan crowd and FeVer for roaring back from two sets to love down. This is the best performance from both this year, and both have a lot to be pleased about. And if one of them is a surprise semi finalist... I won't complain!

Leaving Normal

Of course when I talked about the relatively low upsettage in this tournament, there was going to be a wham-bam-thankyou-ma'am epic upset. Andy Murray, you are GONE.

This is a loss that Murray shouldn't have taken. Not after winning Toronto and the US Open series, and not after playing well in his first couple of matches. We knew the Stan Wawrinka match up was probably not the best match ever for him - we all remember that epic five setter under the lights at Wimbledon - but Stan hasn't been playing that great, and Andy should be better than that.

That is the problem with Andy. Right when he should be, he never seems to be better than that.

I would not be surprised if this match has as much of a psychological impact on him as that crushing by Federer in Australia. At least in Australia he made the final and managed one set of relatively good tennis, even though he lost it. Here, he just couldn't make it happen. Sure, Stan was zoning, but he wasn't redlining, wasn't zoning so hard that there was nothing Murray could do about it.

But nonetheless, Murray just could not do anything about it. And now you might as well send Rafa straight to the final.

Over on the ladies' side of the draw - I don't know if we'll see a better women's match this tournament than Stosur/Dementieva, because that one was an absolute cracker. I was listening to it at work and I was on the edge of my seat. I thought Sam fighting off one match point against Serena at Roland Garros was pretty good - here, she fought off four and played a superb tiebreak to beat Dementieva.

I don't think Sam stands a realistic chance against Clijsters right now. But she's played to her seed and achieved her best result at the US Open by a long way. Sam Stosur has a lot to be proud of - on a surface that is not her best, she has fought her way into the quarter finals. It's not getting anywhere near the coverage that, say, Jelena Dokic's run to the quarters in Australia did last year. And you know why? because this is becoming normal for Sam. And that is the best news of all.

Bloodless Coup

Well, we all know where my heart lies - it's firmly going yay yay YAY at such an awesome showing by Roger Federer over Brian Dabul.

I know Dabul is a nobody. I know Federer's break point conversion rate was crap. But seriously, the signs were nothing but good. And that tweener... swoon.

Okay. Pulling self together now.

It was a mixed day for the Australians - good for the women, with only Ferguson falling, though Stosur looked shaky, but poor for the dudes. Carsten Ball might be through, but that was a big fat fail from Lleyton Hewitt. If you're not going to pull the actual comeback, dude, lose in three. Have mercy. You can't come all the way back and stumble at the last hurdle. It's just not cool.

But back to the good news story. Most rocking player of the day as far as the ladies go has to go to Sally Peers - what an awesome victory! After coming through qualies! I don't know a lot about Peers, but I am 100% impressed - here is hoping she can keep up this standard!

There were no major upsets today, but we have to talk about Robin Soderling. I have never heard of this Andreas Haider-Maurer fellow - what is the go there? I saw none of the match, but it seems to me like he almost did what he did in Australia: play an awesome two sets and then lose in five. Thankfully for him he got it together in the fifth, but that is dangerous for the Yoker. (Though considering the quarter of the draw he is in, if he wants to sit this one out, well...)

Gael Monfils also needed five, but Hewitt was the only male seed to fall today, and we lost no seeds in the ladies - this must be the least bloody opening day in quite some time (especially considering Hewitt was the #32 seed!) I don't expect it to stay that way in the rest of the first round, but the normalcy (especially for the ladies) is almost refreshing.

A word, though, for Dinara Safina. She just could not make anything happen against Hantuchova today. Take the rest of the year off, Dinara. Come back next year. Just chill for a bit. Stop trying so hard.

Upping the Awesome Level

Well, well, well, Vika Azarenka seems to be pulling herself together. And so does Maria Sharapova. I am going to be very interested to see how this final tomorrow turns out.

Both of these ladies have been spectacularly disappointing this year - more so Vika, really, as MaSha sort of does still have that injury comeback thing going for her, I suppose. Both ladies have incredible amounts of potential - slam winning, I would argue. (In MaSha's case, this isn't even an argument - it's a fact). And so it's nice to see them back on track.

I'm definitely not Victoria Azarenka's biggest fan, but she really did bring something to the game. She has a particularly brand of fierce emotional tennis that is somewhere between compelling and disturbing. When she redlines her game, I think just about anyone would be hard pressed to beat her - Serena Williams from the Australian Open 2009 would agree with me on this one. But she hasn't found that redline so far this year.

Until now.

I'm annoyed she took out Sam Stosur, obviously, but I want the US Open to be interesting, damn it, and that means having as many of the top ladies in form as possible. And so if Vika and MaSha can bring their best games to the table, I say bring it and bring it HARD. Let's see how much awesome we can get in place come September.

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

I think the first round losses of Stosur and Schiavone show one thing - the fact that the WTA is really anyone's game at the moment. One day, you might be playing in the final. The next, you're losing in the first round. It's open and it's unpredictable and it's hard to know what's going on.

That said, Serena Williams is looking fierce and I defy anyone to beat her, no matter what I predicted.

But let's go back to Sam Stosur. She looked all at sea on the grass and Kaia Kanepi trod all over her at the end. Kanepi played an awesome match and this was a tough, tough first round draw for Sam, mark my words - Kanepi was ranked #18, like, last year. But Stosur did not really acquit herself well at all.

Stosur does well on clay because of the Nadal-esque she can get on her groundies, particularly the serve. The new string she's started using has only helped her. But I think she fell into the same trap that Roger did last night and was kind of trying to play clay court tennis on a grass court. She's one of the best doubles players of the last decade. She's very comfortable at the net and can hit a sweet, sweet volley. She had some good success at the net in this match, but did not come in anywhere near enough. A few serve and volleys or even chip and charges might have been a good idea. She did try it a couple of times but not enough.

Kanepi played good tactics - going into the backhand in particular. In Roland Garros Sam danced round a lot of these to hit the forehand, but here she didn't have the time, what with the nature of the surface. And also her forehand was misfiring a bit, so not the best idea anyway.

In short, this is a bit disappointing from Sam but not really surprising. She's never been that comfortable a) at Wimbledon and b) under scrutiny, and here she was both.

Someone who is comfortable in both these places is Serena Williams, and she looked positively lethal today. Larcher de Brito pulled it together a bit in the second set but it was too much, too late. It looks like I was a little quick to write off Serena. I, for one, am hoping for a similarly awesome performance from MaSha and a big, big R16 clash...

Wimbledon 2010 - The Ladies

It's that time again - le predictions de Jodi, Wimbledon edition. Let's start with the ladies.


Serena's quarter: This quarter isn't terrible for Serena, but it's not great either. Normally I'd expect her to come through it without any problems at all, but I'm just a little concerned about her level of injury at the moment. Still, if the girl is going to get to quarters and very-nearly-almost of Roland Garros (which is what she did last year, when she won Wimbledon...)


The biggest name lurking in this section has to be Maria Sharapova. She's not doing too badly - she made a final last week - but she could be doing better (she should have won that final.) She could meet Serena in the round of sixteen, and wouldn't that be a screamathon (even more so if Michelle Larcher de Brito got through - all of SW19 is going to be able to hear Serena's first round encounter with the young screamer.)


Winner: Serena. You'd be a fool to bet against her.
If not her, then: Maria Sharapova. No shocks there.
Dark horses: Na Li. I'm never counting this lady out. And also, randomly, Dominika Cibulkova. I heard she's working with Zeljko Krajan now, and maybe that'll give her a little sumthin' sumthin'.
First round encounters to watch: Serena/Screamer, Cibulkova/Safarova and Keothavong/Rodionova.


Caro's quarter: This is a much better draw for Sam Stosur than she had at Roland Garros, and consequently, I don't expect her to go as far. She places best as the underdog, when there's no pressure on her, and I don't think it would be unfair to call her favourite for this quarter, as Caro doesn't seem to be in much form.


One to watch out for, however, is Caro's teen queen frenemy, Vika Azarenka. She's hit a nice patch of form right at the right time - however, I'm not sure if playing a final the Saturday before Wimbledon will help or hinder her. Jury's out there. And is it a fluke? Who knows.


Oh, and miss gold lame dress herself is in this quarter (though presumably wearing a different dress.) What can she make happen here?


Winner: Vika Azarenka. I just have a feeling.
If not her, then: Sam Stosur. I don't expect it, but it'd be nice if it happened. Or maybe Pavlyuchenkova - I like her game a lot.
Dark horses: I like the look of Alexandra Dulgheru, but I'm not quite sure what she can do on grass. Oh, and maybe Rezai.
First round matches to watch: Pavlyuchenkova/Benesova, Cirstea/Kvitova and Stosur/Kanepi.


Jankovic's quarter: They might as well have just named this quarter the Belgian quarter, as all three of the big Belgian contenders (and Kirsten Flipkens) are in here. Surprise! they're all major chances in my book. I love Kimmie's game on grass - and if she can beat someone in 38 minutes (even though she lost the next round) I appreciate it. JuJu definitely has the drive. And I just really like Yanina Wickmayer.


As to JJ herself - I don't know if she's really recovered from the mental beatdown Stosur put on her at Roland Garros. But I am ready to be proved wrong.


Also watch out for Nadia Petrova. You never know what she can do.


Winner: Kim Clijsters. I like her game on grass the best of all the Belgians - oops, I mean, everyone.
If not her, then: Justine Henin. You know she wants this one.
Dark horses: Yanina Wickmayer. Belgian surprise! And also Nadia Petrova. And Jankovic - can I call her a dark horse in a quarter she's seeded to win?
First round matches to watch: Jankovic/Robson, Oudin/Flipkens and Kirikenko/Voegele.


Venus's quarter: Not only do we have Venus 'I care only about Wimbledon and nothing else' Williams in this quarter, but the recently crowned Roland Garros champ Francesca Schiavone, proof that anything can happen (and frequently does). That said, I'm not expecting lightning to strike twice for Frankie, but definitely keep an eye out for her - I think she'll play out her seeding, if nothing else.


It's hard to pick against Venus at Wimbledon, even though she's been so pathologically underwhelming for a while now. This quarter isn't too bad for her, because the major headcases of the game - Ivanovic and Safina - are in there, and should Venus meet them, I don't expect she'd have too much trouble dispensing with either one.


Do watch out, however, for Yaroslava Shvedova. She's been playing some good ball lately.


Winner: Venus. Not betting against her in her backyard. She wants revenge against Serena for last year.
If not her, then: Frankie. Don't think it'll happen, but who's going to count her out now?
Dark horses: Shvedova, as noted above. And also Marion Bartoli - we know she's gone deep here before, maybe she can do it again. And maybe even Safina, now that the pressure's off a little and no one's really talking about her.
First round matches to watch: Peer/Ivanovic, Mirza/Kerber and Safina/Groenefeld.


This leaves us with the following semi final match ups:


Serena vs Vika
Kimmie vs Venus

I bet you think I'm going to pick the Williams sisters, don't you? It's been the all-Williams show for a wowzand years now. But guess what? My finals pick is...


Vika vs Kimmie


That's right, not even one Williams in the final in the Jodi draw. Neither have been playing well enough for me to merit picking them. (That said, neither is Vika, but she is totally due a win over Serena). And I have a feeling.


And the winner is...


Kimmie.


Probably not the safest bet, but I have a really good feeling about Kim Clijsters in this tournament - a holding up the trophy feeling. And it's always a feelgood victory when Kimmie wins.


What do you think?

Lessons

Okay, kiddies. Roland Garros and the claycourt season are over for the year (well, apart from that weird post-Wimbledon fake-claycourt season, but no one who is anyone really plays that.) We're off the red and onto the green - off the dirt and onto the lawn. But before we depart Paris altogether, let us take a moment and think of what we have learned.

1. Rafa Nadal is the greatest clay court player. Ever. I don't think this is particularly contentious - however, when you consider all the hoops that Federer had to jump through to prove he was the greatest of all time, I think this bears some thinking about. Rafa has long since beaten that streak of most consecutive clay court wins (I think Vilas had it before, and I think Rafa's streak ended up at 81 or something crazy, which beat the record by about 30.) However, the one stat Rafa has yet to chase is the Bjorn Borg feat of six Roland Garroses.

Let's be fair on the kid. He is 24. I think he has more than one title in Paris left in him yet. And if you put today's Rafa up against Borg in his prime, my money is on Rafa. So I'm handing over the greatest claycourter ever crown... now. Actually, I handed it over about three years ago, but let's make it official here.

2. Some streaks can only be appreciated when they're broken. 23 Slam semis. That's about five years of being in the semis in every Slam. Well done, Roger Federer. It may have ended, but I think we can safely that this is one stat that is safe for a while. For five years, at least.

And you still have your quarter final streak. 24 and counting. Is that a record?

3. You don't have to be a baby to make massive career strides. Much as I was being all nationalistic and pulling for Stosur, Francesca Schiavone's win was massive, and she's nearly 30. This was a huge achievement for her, and I think it really is the icing on the cake for this story in women's tennis. When you've got players who are not young in tennis years achieving greatness, I think that is special. This is a win for the Kimiko Date Krumms of the world. But most of all, it's a win for a lovely player who deserves it.

And on that note...

4. Francesca Schiavone has one of the best smiles in tennis. She and Marcos Baghdatis. Gotta give it to them.

Any arguments?

5. Robin Soderling was not a one final wonder. I don't know if anyone expected Soderling to come close to replicating what he did last year. He may not have played the best final ever, but let us not denigrate his journey to the final. He played some truly excellent tennis. And considering he was the one that a) beat Nadal here last year and b) broke the Federer Slam semi streak... can you deny that the Yoker seriously has something, particularly here in Paris?

Now, what else have you got in your bag of tricks, Soddy my friend?

6. Sam Stosur is a force to be reckoned with. Like Soderling, she did not exactly play the final to end all finals. But you can't fluke beating Henin, Serena and Jankovic in a row. Sam Stosur is going places. She is this year's Soderling (well, Soderling is this year's Soderling, but she's the other one.) She backed up and bettered her performance of last year despite being in the most obscenely difficult quarter I have ever seen. This can only give her confidence and things are only looking up.

7. Don't trust the Russians. Sveta. Dinara. I am looking at YOU.

Much as I don't like it when I don't get my Fed-in-the-final fix, I thoroughly enjoyed this year's Roland Garros - and, unusually, I enjoyed the women's side more than the men's. Maybe it's because I am, at this stage of my life, more emotionally invested in men's tennis, but I really enjoyed the openness of the women's draw. It was a real anybody-can-win thing, and hell, anybody did. I would be upset about this with the boys (I like Fedal on top) but in the women, I dig it.

Wimbledon, over to you.

Fearless Francesca

I might have been pulling - and pulling heavily - for Sam Stosur, but one cannot fail to be inspired by what Francesca Schiavone did today. I have not seen a performance so inspired, so fearless, for many years.

Did anyone ever think Francesca would a Slam? I don't think so. She's nearing 30, which makes her the second oldest Slam winner of all time. What an inspiration, and what a revelation for women's tennis. Francesca, I salute you.

Let us spare a thought for Sam Stosur, who played a nervy but not necessarily a bad match. This has been the tournament of her career, even though it ends with the tin of biscuits and not the trophy. But there is time still for Stosur, and now she's been here, I think she'll be here again. I think there is a lot of tennis left in Sam Stosur, and her time will again.

But this moment belongs to the fearless Francesca Schiavone, who played the match of her life. She served brilliantly, returned like a demon and made some completely inspired volleys at net. But what won her this match and won her this tournament was her fearlessness. May you never lose it, Frannie.

Momentous

I don't know if it can be described how significant this Saturday will be for women's tennis in both Australia and Italy. It may be the randomest Grand Slam final we've had in quite some time, but in many ways it is also the most momentous. No matter who wins, whether it be Stosur or Schiavone, this weekend is absolutely mammoth.

I cannot pretend to be unbiased. I'm pulling for Stosur in an absolutely massive way. I am very interested in the future of tennis in my nation (oddly enough) and Stosur is definitely our way forward. Added to which I absolutely love her game and I think she has everything it'll take to win this title. But even if she doesn't, what she has achieved her is massive. I mean, to beat Henin, Serena and Jankovic in a row? That beatdown she laid on Jankovic was nothing short of epic - whoever would have thought JJ would go out only having won three games? And whoever thought Sammy Stosur would be the one to come through that incredibly tough quarter she was in?

Schiavone's achievements are also incredibly huge - I have to give a lot of credit to Van from Tennis Talk Anyone? for calling this one, because I never would have picked Schiavone for the final. (I think I picked Pennetta to go deep - wrong Italian, I guess!) It was very sad the way that she came through yesterday - I'm sure she would have rather had the full triumph rather than come through on the back of Lena D's retirement. But nonetheless - she has played amazing this tournament.

Has she got what it takes to beat Sammy Stosur? Who knows? But for whoever comes through, this will be an absolute revelation.

I can genuinely say that I am very happy about this result. I have very different reactions to mens' and womens' tennis, I think - I am eternally biased in mens' tennis, being such a rabid Federfan, but with the women I'm not, and sometimes that makes it more exciting. Whatever happens from here on in is a good result. (I mean, Sammy would be a better one, but if she doesn't win, I won't cry myself to sleep or anything...)

I'm just so excited about this final. I don't think it's the final or the tournament was hoping for, but you know what? that kind of just makes it all the more awesome.