More Haikus for a Dull Week

Romania


Chela won this one
I had wholly forgotten
That he existed.



Metz


This one went to Gilles
Back in 2008
He was good... but now?



Seoul

AKley disappeared
For a while - but now - yay! Seoul!
...doesn't mean that much.



Tashkent


Alla in Tashkent
She lost to Jarka last week
This is a good run.

Haikus for a Dull Week

Romania

Starace is out
Montanes is the top seed
How did that happen?


Metz

Since Australia
Cilic hasn't been red hot
Just kind of tepid


Seoul

Safina is out
Sadly, so is Date Krumm
Seoul is dead to me


Tashkent

Alla beat Masha
At Wimbledon that one time
...that is all I've got.

Horse-Flogging... In The Metaphorical Sense

The Aussie boys finished sixth in junior Davis Cup, beating Hungary but losing to Sweden. Still, this whole week has been nothing to sneeze at. Maverick Banes, James Duckworth and Jarryd Chaplin can all be justifiably proud of what they have achieved. You wait. I don't know if any of them is a future #1, but they're going to grow up great. I'm not exactly sure when I started flogging this horse, but I seem to have started at some point, and so I'm going to stick with it. Australian tennis is going to great... in a while. Just not now.

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Though one thing that I did find troubling is that we either didn't send a team to junior Fed Cup or we didn't qualify. The boys are doing all right - what about the girls? We do have a few good juniors - Jess Moore won her first match in a senior Grand Slam this year - but none under sixteen, apparently. Where are the girls? Though it is well within the realms of possibility that there simply are none - we are a small country, after all. And look at today's generation. We aren't exactly a powerhouse of Australian tennis.

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That said, Sam Stosur was just in a final. Unfortunately, she went down to Maria Kirilenko, but it's a pretty decent achievement anyhow. She's never won a WTA singles title - Stosur, that is - but she's shown she's got the capability. Here's hoping she can go one further sometime in the near future - and get a few more doubles Slams under her belt as well!

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And speaking of winners, how about that Jo-W? Vengeance is sweet! Take that one, Novak! I was praying for someone to beat him this week after that whole Marko incident, and Jo-W did me proud. It was his first ATP title, and I think it's great that he beat Djokovic to do it. Monsieur Tsonga is serving notice. He's back - and he's back bigtime. I would love to see him make a good run at the Aussie Open next year - though obviously, with my proclivities, I want Federer to win it. Jo-W is just such an exciting player to watch. He's explosive, and he's fun, and he's not a complete dickhead, like certain Djokovics I could mention. Here's hoping that the rest of his year is shiny!

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(On the Djokovic subject, how long do you think it'll be before Novak gets his other little brother a wildcard? Spew.)

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Roddick and Jankovic round out our winners this week, taking titles in Japan. I confess I was hoping for Sela to come through with the goods, but Roddick did give a whole stack of his prize money to charity, which earned him extra brownie points. Still, he should have played the Olympics. There is another horse I'm going to flog for as long as it has legs to stand. (How 'bout that metaphor, eh?)

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Today's Results

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Thailand Open (Bangkok)

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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Novak Djokovic, 7-6 (7-4) 6-4

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China Open (Beijing)

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Men's Draw

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Andy Roddick def. Dudi Sela, 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Jelena Jankovic def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-3 6-2

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Hansol Korea Open (Seoul)

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Maria Kirilenko def. Samantha Stosur, 2-6 6-1 6-4

They Are Coming!

Unfortunately the boys in the junior Davis Cup squad were unable to capitalise on their lead against Russia. Oh well. They can still be very proud of themselves. I'm cheering them on!

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I was reading Australian Tennis Magazine yesterday, and it was full of articles about how Australian tennis is dying, falling away, etc, etc, and it was full of contingency plans about what we can do. People were worried we were becoming complacent in the wake of Hewitt, not looking for new stars, etc, etc. I don't know if anyone's considered the fact that maybe we just didn't have very good tennis players there for a few years. The future of Australian tennis is very bright, and it doesn't look like people have noticed. The whole magazine seemed to be devoted to wondering what Tennis Australia and the AIS and co have done wrong, and why no one was coming up through the ranks. I felt like yelling 'THEY ARE COMING!' at the magazine. Surely I can't be the only one that's noticed this brilliant Tomic-led generation coming up? And we're not weak in the girls either - Isabella Holland, Jess Moore and Sally Peers are all already on the way up. Sure, Australian tennis right now is a bit disappointing, but it has to be remembered that we are a small nation. Only 20 million people live here. We can't be producing stars left right and centre all the time, even if our general sporting prowess greatly exceeds our population.

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There endeth the rant.

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Andy Roddick made it to a final! Though he did lose a set to Bjorn Phau there. He'll be playing Dudi Sela in the final, who had a far more comfortable time against Rainer Schuettler. I would laugh SO HARD if Dudi went on and beat Roddick. So skipping the Olympics was a wise move, was it Andy? Was it wise? Feeling good? Feeling fresh? We'll see! The women's final in Beijing looks like it pretty much belongs to Jelena Jankovic - Svetlana Kuznetsova hasn't convinced me of much lately. Still, she did beat Zheng Jie, and we all know she is a bit of a party pooper.

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And major snaps to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who is in the final of Bangkok, where he will play Novak Djokovic - ominous music. I can't think of many people who would watch this match and go for Djokovic. Tsonga is just so much fun and Djokovic really hasn't made many friends with his antics at the US Open. Actually, there was an article in Australian Tennis Magazine called 'Don't Diss The Swiss' about how even mild-mannered Federer was annoyed by Djokovic's pranks - and how that Djokovic's Swiss-dissing certainly didn't earn him any friends, because everyone loves Roger so much. I laughed a little to myself.

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And huge props to Sam Stosur who absolutely ROLLED Jill Craybas in Seoul! She plays Kirilenko in the final, and I would LOVE her to win. I really like her - not just because she's an Aussie, but because she's lovely to watch, and her volleys are amazing - and she really deserves a title, after that awful bout of Lyme disease. Go Sam!
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And in gossipy news... what's this I hear about Ana Ivanovic and Fernando Verdasco? I am sure there are a few men in the ATP who wouldn't mind chatting her up at a party... so is Nando the lucky one? Maybe that's why they both lost early... Ana is not suffering a form slump at all. She just wanted to spend more time with Nando...

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Today's Results

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Thailand Open (Bangkok)

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Novak Djokovic def. Tomas Berdych, 7-5 6-1

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Gael Monfils, 6-0 6-3

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China Open (Beijing)

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Men's Draw

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Andy Roddick def. Bjorn Phau, 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 6-1

Dudi Sela def. Rainer Schuettler, 6-3 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Jelena Jankovic def. Vera Zvonareva, 6-4 2-6 6-4

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Zheng Jie, 7-6 (7-3) 7-5

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Hansol Korea Open (Seoul)

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Maria Kirilenko def. Kaia Kanepi, 6-4 3-6 6-4

Samantha Stosur def. Jill Craybas, 6-0 6-1

Whither Ana?

So I picked Zheng to upset Ivanovic, and hey! guess what! I was right. Yet I am feeling strangely unproud of myself. Who wouldn't you pick to upset Ivanovic now?

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This was a better match from Ivanovic than we've seen of late - she even said after the match that she was pretty happy with the way she played. But she served for that first set twice, before Zheng won it in the breaker. You can talk about injuries all you like, and Ana is certainly claiming a few, but something is just not right in that girl's head. This is not the girl we saw beating Dinara Safina, the hottest player in the world, in the final of the French Open. She certainly isn't playing like a #1 player - which, to be fair, she no longer is.

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But it's just so damn sad. I used to love watching Ivanovic. She was explosive, big-hitting, but she had some really clever shots too. It's hard to believe that she made two Grand Slam finals this year. Where did she go? I want her back. She was good for the game. Men's tennis has too many #1s at the moment, women's tennis not enough. Pick up the ball, Ana. Go see a sports psychiatrist and get back on track.

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Meanwhile, anyone else seriously cheering for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga right now? He's into the semis of Bangkok, and I would love to see him win the title. It's hard to believe that the boy does not have a title to his name - indeed, I think he only has one final, and that's the big one, the Australian Open. Wouldn't it be great to see him bring that buzzsaw tennis that saw him beat Rafa Nadal and use it to chop Novak Djokovic off at the knees? I would seriously dig that. Rematch! Rematch!

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And to conclude, them Aussie boys in Mexico at the junior Davis Cup are doing us proud. Most of the matches got rained out today, but in one that did get completed, wee Maverick Banes upset Russian young gun Richard Muzaev to give the Aussie boys a 1-0 lead. And the Russians are the top seeds. Go you good thing!

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Oh, and speaking of Australian tennis, Sam Stosur is having a great run in Korea, where she is into the semis. Good on you, Sam!

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Today's Results

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Thailand Open (Seoul)

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Novak Djokovic def. Robin Soderling, 6-4 7-5

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Jurgen Melzer, 6-3 6-2

Tomas Berdych def. Nicolas Mahut, 7-6 (8-6) 6-3

Gael Monfils def. Philipp Petzschner, 7-6 (8-6) 6-4

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China Open (Beijing)

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Men's Draw

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Andy Roddick def. Juan Carlos Ferrero, 2-6 6-3 6-4

Bjorn Phau def. Fernando Gonzalez, 6-3 4-6 6-3

Dudi Sela def. Tommy Robredo, 6-4 6-1

Rainer Schuettler def. Richard Gasquet, 4-6 6-3 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Jelena Jankovic def. Daniela Hantuchova, 7-5 6-1

Zheng Jie def. Ana Ivanovic, 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 6-4

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Dominika Cibulkova, 6-2 6-4

Vera Zvonareva def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-0 6-1

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Hansol Korea Open (Seoul)

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Maria Kirilenko def. Pauline Parmentier, 6-3 6-2

Jill Craybas def. Shahar Peer, 6-2 7-5

Kaia Kanepi def. Yanina Wickmayer, 6-1 6-4

Samantha Stosur def. Ekaterina Makarova, 6-3 6-4