Last of the S&Vers

On from the excellent news of yesterday to the rather more melancholy news of today - not sad, I think, but heading in that general direction. Taylor Dent has retired from professional tennis.

In reality, Taylor Dent was someone that never was. He was like a slightly more actualised version of Joachim Johansson - he had all the talent, but injury and whatnot stood in the way of him making good on it. I remember back in Australia 2006, where he was the 27th seed, people were tipping him to make the semis and all kinds of crazy things. Taylor never even came close.

But despite all his woes and despite the fact he never made it to the upper echelons of the game, Taylor did represent something important in the world of men's tennis, and that is something which is, I think, definitely going to be missed. That thing is serve-and-volley. Dent was probably one of the last - if not the last - true serve-and-volley player out there. I mean, he wasn't exactly Pat Rafter, but he was all that we had left on that front. Of course there are players who can and do serve-and-volley, but Dent was the last of the true breed, I think. And that will be missed.

And then there's the fact that the Dent story in and of itself is pretty amazing - didn't he spend more than six months in a full body cast at some stage? He was definitely out for a really long time and then made a pretty shiny comeback, which is awesome. But he has a new(ish) baby and a life and he's never going to make the big BIG leagues now, though he might have continued to enjoy some minor success. I understand why he's retired. But it's kind of sad to think that the Last of the S&Vers has departed the court.

A Speck of Nostalgia

I would like to give a shout out to my man Andrey Golubev, who won his second round match in Hamburg against Marcel Granollers in fine style. I am absolutely gagging to see this boy win a title, and if he plays the style of tennis he did at the Hopman Cup, then ain't hardly anyone gonna be able to stop him, because he is fierce (unlike whatever strange dialect I am trying to speak here). So here's hoping he can keep it together a little while longer in Hamburg.

(Mentioning Marcel Granollers, anyone remember that time he won a title, a few years back? Yeah, I hardly remember either. What happened to him? I thought he was on the up and up, but it sounds like he's just cruising along the plateau.)

Interesting match of the day, names-wise, was Jarkko Nieminen and Gilles Simon. That's a match I would sit down and watch, even though I find Simon's brand of weaponless tennis somewhere between weird and soporific. Simon is still the seed - though how he's managed to keep his rankings points up since that year he had in 2008 or whenever is beyond me - but it was Nieminen who came out on top.

Time was that would not be an early round match. But Nieminen's getting a little older, I suppose, and I don't think I would be the first to say that Simon's best year is behind him. But I kind of dig it when two veterans play each other, and this looked like a super tight match. I didn't actually see it so I can't make any, you know, informed comment (please, when do I ever?) but it makes me sort of nostalgic, I suppose...

Speaking of nostalgia, Dent vs Blake in Atlanta. Dent won. Blake is definitely on the way out. Any naysayers?

Get A Roof!

If there was one thing to take away from Day 4 at Roland Garros, it was this - GET A ROOF. Seriously, why is it that Australia, the Slam where it hardly ever rains, has two (soon to be three) of the things, and Roland Garros has none? When Wimbledon is ahead of the times you know something's a little interesting.

I know there's a lot of talk about Roland Garros moving sites - personally, I hope that doesn't happen, because this site is great, but how about a bit of the ol' upgrade? Melbourne Park is currently undergoing an AUD$363 million upgrade - surely Roland Garros can spring for a roof for Philippe Chatrier. I'm sure Wimbledon will give them the name of the guy they used.

But despite all this rain, there was actually some tennis - so without further ado...

The winners: The Yoker is coming through the draw like a hot knife through butter and I'm surprised people aren't talking about it more. He was on and off court in something like 71 minutes, which is obscenely quick. I will be very much surprised if he does not make it to the quarters (where I am hoping he will be stopped by Federer), because he is looking very, very good. He might have peaked a touch too soon, but we shall see, we shall see...

Speaking of winners, after a slow first set, Roger Federer is also in this column. Definitely a much better match than that four set nailbiter he played with Jose Acasuso last year.

Over with the ladies, I'm very surprised I'm saying this, but I am super impressed with Caro Wozniacki. She's not normally the type of player who closes out matches quickly, but she's had two quick matches now. Maybe this injury cloud hanging over her head has been good in a way, because it's forcing her to pull the trigger a little earlier and be more aggressive.

And also, no one's talking about her, but Nadia Petrova. Watch out for her!

The losers: Andrea Petkovic. Anyone that holds four match points (or, indeed, any match points) and then loses the match has got to be absolutely kicking themselves, and I'm sure this is exactly the case with Petkovic. It would have been an upset if she beat Kuznetsova, but she had her in the palm of her hand and still couldn't close it out.

Also, Lucie Safarova. I thought she was going to go a long, long way and then she went and lost to Polona Hercog in straights. This is a big time loss, because Safarova had the draw to go a long way. It's going to be really interesting to see who comes out of that side of the draw, because I just cannot pick it at all.

The disappointments:I have to put Gisela Dulko here. To go from beating Azarenka to losing to Chanelle Scheepers (yeah, I don't know who she is either) is fiercely disappointing.

I also have to put Taylor Dent here, because as brilliantly as Robin Soderling played, Dent played horrifically awfully. Seriously, dude, with your serve, you should be able to win more than two games in a best of five set match, even when your opponent is top ten. Really disappointing showing here.

The scraped-in-by-the-skin-of-teeth: As if I would go past Sveta on this one. She clawed this victory by the skin of her teeth, and I'm still not quite sure how she did it. Kudos to her, though. I love watching Sveta when she's playing well, and I'm really hoping she has sort of played herself into form. I would love it if she could come anywhere close to defending her title. Am not in any way expecting this to happen, but it would be awesome.

Story of the day: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga going apesh*t at tournament organisers about scheduling. I have to admit I don't have a lot of time for these kinds of temper tantrums - sure, it might put you out to have to play on Sunday, but suck it up, dude! But I am not a tennis player, so maybe I don't understand how difficult it is... and in any case, the tantrums are always mildly amusing, in a watching-a-train-wreck kind of way.

And the other story of the day is LightGate with Monfils and Fognini. Monfils nearly made the worst decision ever when he asked to push on at 4-all in the fifth... it will be interesting to see who comes out of this. I expect to be Monfils, but I would not be surprised if Fabio Fognini surprised him...

Comebacks in the Not-Golden Age

Nothing as major as the seed bloodbath we saw yesterday, but another big women's name made the long journey out of the tournament today - Victoria Azarenka, one of the widely touted next best things, goneski. Now, readers of this blog will know I am pretty much totally anti-Azarenka due to her repellent attitude, but this really is a shame. This means that over half the women's top twenty seeds are out. What kind of tournament is that?

This is why comeback makers like Clijsters and Sharapova have such a chance at this tournament. The players that are theoretically the top players are sweeping themselves under the carpet before they even come close to playing these comeback queens. (That said, Clijsters vs Venus in the round of sixteen is totally mouthwatering, and I am coming out right now and saying that Kim Possible is going to take it. Oh yes.)

Then we look at the blokes, and the top ten is totally intact (Rafa is still battling Nicolas Kiefer as I write this, but he's looking in decent shape), and we've only lost two top twenty seeds en route to the round of thirty two (that I noticed, anyway - Ferrer and Wawrinka). The dudes are stepping up to the plate like they should. This is testament to the totally different places men and women's tennis are in at the moment. Men's tennis is in a Federer-led golden age, where we have incredible depth and talent floating around (any world where someone who is playing as sharp as Roddick is right now can be ranked less than #1 is a pretty amazing world). And women's tennis... is not in a golden age.

To say the least.

That said, I think the result of the US Open on both sides is going to be very interesting. I think there are six major contenders on the men's side (some more major than others) and they are ranked one through six in the world. On the women... Serena has to be the favourite, and then there's Venus, and it's trendy to leave Dinara out of the mix, but after my post yesterday we all know I'm a Safina believer, and she's still there, which is more than can be said for some of her compatriots... maybe C-Woz, and definitely Sharapova and Clijsters. There are contenders... just not the usual suspects.

Bit of a change of subject now... one guy - who I don't think will win the US Open, but who put in a tremendous effort today - who deserves a shoutout is Taylor Dent. His game is boring as hell but he fought tooth and nail against Ivan Navarro today and came out on top. Though I hate fifth set breakers. They seem so... arbitrary. Give me an epic fifth set any day of the week.


Today's Results

US Open (Flushing Meadows)

Men's Draw

Andy Murray def. Paul Capdeville, 6-2 3-6 6-0 6-2
Juan Martin Del Potro def. Jurgen Melzer, 7-6 (10-8) 6-3 6-3
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Jarkko Nieminen, 7-5 6-3 6-4
Gilles Simon def. Thomaz Bellucci, 6-3 6-2 6-4
Fernando Gonzalez def. Josselin Ouanna, 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-4
Gael Monfils def. Andreas Beck, 6-3 7-5 6-3
Marin Cilic def. Jesse Levine, 4-6 2-6 6-0 6-3 6-0
Tomas Berdych def. Horacio Zeballos, 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-2) 6-2
Jose Acasuso def. David Ferrer, 6-3 3-6 1-6 6-3 6-2
Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Philipp Petzschner, 1-6 3-6 6-4 6-2 6-4
Julien Benneteau def. Viktor Troicki, 6-1 3-6 6-1 6-0
Nicolas Almagro def. Robby Ginepri, 6-7 (9-11) 6-2 6-3 4-6 6-4
Taylor Dent def. Ivan Navarro, 6-4 5-7 6-7 (1-7) 7-5 7-6 (11-9)
Denis Istomin def. Nicolas Lapentti, 2-6 6-4 4-6 7-5 7-6 (7-4)
Daniel Koellerer def. Pablo Cuevas, 3-6 6-2 6-1 6-4


Women's Draw

Serena Williams def. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, 6-3 7-5
Venus Williams def. Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-2 7-5
Vera Zvonareva def. Elena Vesnina, 6-2 6-4
Francesca Schiavone def. Victoria Azarenka, 4-6 6-2 6-2
Flavia Pennetta def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 6-1 6-1
Li Na def. Maria Kirilenko, 6-4 6-2
Daniela Hantuchova def. Vania King, 6-2 6-2
Kim Clijsters def. Kirsten Flipkens, 6-0 6-2

The Land of What Might Have Been

So, Taylor Dent, yeah. The first I remember of him is at the Aussie Open '06, when he was seeded about #27, and he was someone's semi-final pick (can't remember whose) in a pre-tournament TV show. He didn't deliver, and he hasn't delivered much of anything ever since. He's been a pretty big non-event for the last three, four years, really - I understand injury is to blame, though I confess I haven't been following the story too closely.

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And now here he is in Miami, a qualifier, beating the recently in-form Tommy Robredo. I wouldn't call this a comeback - far from it - but it must be nice for him to know that he's still got it. Still, I bet the poor guy will come away from his career with a feeling of what might have been.

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What a cheery note to start off with.

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Another cheery note - Dinara Safina continued the crisis of confidence in Miami, going down very, very meekly. She went down to Sam Stosur, so from my perspective, being Australian, it's like, go Sam - but Dinara is really my favourite on the WTA and I am not entirely happy with her right now. The determination that saw her so well through the mid-section of last year seems to have been put on the backburner, and that serve... oh, that serve. Please, Zeljko, help. Please. Please. Don't let Dinara become another inhabitant of the land of what might have been.

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(But meanwhile, go Sam!)

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Ana Ivanovic also went down, though with a bit more of a struggle - Agnes Szavay got her in three. And it was also curtains for Alize Cornet, who has not been playing anything like herself since she held those match points against Safina at the Aussie Open. It's going to be interesting to see who comes out at the best non-Williams this week - I don't think anyone would gainsay Serena in this tournament. And if Serena goes down to anyone, it'd probably be Venus. Sigh. Please, Roger and Mirka, have a little girl, and let her grow up to save the WTA. Please.

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On the subject of Roger, he had a very shiny win over Nicolas Kiefer. Nice one, Rog.

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Today's Results

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Sony Ericsson Open (Miami)

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Nicolas Kiefer, 6-4 6-1

Andy Roddick def. Dmitry Tursunov, 7-6 (11-9) 6-2

Taylor Dent def. Tommy Robredo, 7-5 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Samantha Stosur def. Dinara Safina, 6-1 6-4

Elena Dementieva def. Carla Suárez Navarro, 6-2 6-2

Agnes Szavay def. Ana Ivanovic, 6-4 4-6 6-1

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Nicole Vaidisova, 6-1 6-4

Victoria Azarenka def. Anna Chakvetadze, 6-1 6-4

Caroline Wozniacki def. Patty Schnyder, 6-4 6-4

Zheng Jie def. Alizé Cornet, 6-4 6-0

Alisa Kleybanova def. Anastasiya Yakimova, 6-3 3-6 6-4