Fast Five

I am back! I am sure you missed me. Please, who wouldn't miss me and all that insightful commentary I make? I mean, I LOVE ROGER'S HAIR and MAHUT IS AWESOME are key contributions to the world of tennis, n'est-ce pas?

Right. Let's ease back into things with a few quick stories:

1) Jarmila and Sam Groth are no more. Jarka and the GrothHawk have split up, which is a bit sad. She's back to being Ms Gajdosova now. His hair is presumably still silly. This event is probably most notable, tennis-wise, for her Twitter tirade about how she didn't marry Sam just for citizenship. Personally, I think the fact that people raised that question at all is insulting and ludicrous. Jarka does not need to be married to a man with stupid hair to play for Australia. Glad to have you, Jarka.

2) Fernando Gonzalez is back in town. I had almost forgotten about the existence of Gonzo, but I bet there were people that hadn't, like, oh, the entire nation of Chile. He chose to come back at the Djokovic - I mean, Serbian Open in Belgrade, where he beat Martin Klizan but lost to Feliciano Lopez. Winning your first match back - even if it is against someone I have personally never heard of - is no mean feat, so well done, Gonzo. Keep it up.

3) Someone who does not get a well done ribbon this week is John Isner. Ouch. That is going to hurt, rankings wise.

4) Welcome back Tommy Haas! He played doubles in Munich, his first match back in about 709838 years. He partnered Stepanek and they lost in a match tiebreaker, but it is so good to see Herr Hotness back on the court.

5) Grigor Dimitrov seems to have had something resembling a 'breakthrough', though I would not go counting chickens, you hear me. He beat Marcos Baghdatis, and the way people are talking about it, you'd think he beat Rafa in straight sets in the final of Roland Garros. Of course it's cause to be optimistic, but slow your roll, people, honestly. He's not exactly Milos Raonic yet.

Writing From Afar

Usually, the dude that sneaks through the draw totally unnoticed until the fourth round or so is Nikolay 'playstation' Davydenko. This year is a bit different, because everyone's talking him about it (and I don't think he likes it much, though it hasn't hurt him at all so far - he's sliced through his opponents like a knife through hot butter). But it means that the role of 'dude no one talks about' is vacant.

And it's been filled by a pretty unlikely contender - Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

I haven't seen much of Jo-Jo this tournament - largely because he's been playing on Hisense, where I have not been. But he's been quietly coming through the draw, and he's suddenly looking ominously good. He played very well against a dangerous Tommy Haas last night and came through in four, though it could very easily have gone five (Tommy was up 5-2 in the fourth before Jo-Dub came back to win it 7-5). I don't understand why he hasn't always been a major contender at Slams with the way he plays... injuries, I suppose.

But he is a scary good player. I'll be interested to see how far he goes!

Lleyton Hewitt also won in a prematurely-ended match against Marcos Baghdatis, and will now play Federer in the next round. He's already posturing about how he can beat Roger... which he hasn't done since 2003. Roger had a battle in the first round but he's been cruising over Hanescu and Montanes, who are not crapulent by any standard. I don't want to jinx Roger or anything... but let's say I will be very surprised if we see an Australian man in the quarters.

I also will be surprised if we see an Australian woman, though Sam probably has a better chance against Serena than Lleyton against Roger. I think there's one more round before Serena hits that Grand Slam place where she's virtually unbeatable and if Sam doesn't get too tight, I think she could take a set at least. But thinking is one thing, wishes are another... so we'll see.

I write this from my parent's house in Wollongong, having left the Open yesterday morning. I miss Melbourne already. There is nothing quite like being in the thick of it. Next year, next year, Jodi.

We had a lot of retirements in the men's draw yesterday - three, in fact. Baghdatis, Koubek and Youzhny all pulled out... I feel for Mikhail Youzhny in particular. He had a really good shot against inexperienced-at-this-level Lukasz Kubot, who, by virtue of his inexperience, has practically already given Novak Djokovic a pass into the quarters. But we have a lot of the top guys left, and so we're in for a blockbuster week!

Surprisingly, most of the top women are still in as well - the only huge names to topple have been Clijsters and Dementieva, which is not bad for the WTA these days. Both men's and women's tournaments are unpickable at the moment. It is going to be so, so interesting to see how this tournament plays out...

...I wish I was there to see it!

Jodi's Epic Tennis Adventure 2.5 - Fedophilia

I've sat through tight Federer matches before. I've been to live Federer matches. But I've never been to and sat through a tight Federer match, and it just about killed me.

On paper, it wasn't that tight. Four sets, with the fourth a very tidy bagel... fine, right? Just a brain fart for a set and then an otherwise fine day at the office... but no. Those of us who were there can tell you an entirely different story.

First of all, tennis gods, what kind of first round draw is Igor 'I took you to five sets at the US Open that one time' Andreev? I know he hasn't exactly been in form lately, but if nothing else, his girlfriend beat Sharapova yesterday. Hello, inspo? And his forehand is an evil beast machine. That's all I'm saying.

I didn't actually have tickets to this match, but was gifted with one by a kindly passerby about halfway through the third set... aka 'most nervewracking set of the year so far (and yes, I know it's only January)'. This was the most topsy-turvy bastard of a set ever, and I had about five heart attacks in it. Andreev was up a break, and then Federer came back, and then he was serving for it, and then Andreev came back, and then Andreev was serving for it, and then it went to a breaker... honestly, I think Federer won this one on will alone.

Though that shouldn't be underestimated. Will. Andreev certainly lost his when he lost the third set - you can bet that if he was two sets to one up, he would not have been taking a bagel in the fourth. I guess that's part of what makes a real champion.

But this wasn't the only match I saw today - so let me expound. It didn't rain today - hurrah! So I spent the majority of my day wandering about the grounds (where every second person was wearing an RF cap - he's a brand name as well as a person now!) and I opened my daily account with a Federer practice and a Nadal practice. My Roland Garros cap is now my most prized possession, as Roger signed it... yes, I am a sad fangirl.

ANYWAY. Tennis. Today's Maria Sharapova Award for most random upset went to Robin Soderling, who managed to lose a match he'd pretty much already won when Marcel Granollers came back from two sets to love down to win it in five. I saw the first set of this match and although it was 7-5 to Soderling, it was far less close than the score suggests. So I really have no idea what happened here. I hope the Yoker isn't injured, because that would be completely crapulent. Better luck at your next Slam, I guess, Robin... and I do believe that is a little Slam called 'Roland Garros'.

Runner up for this weird loss award goes to Juan Carlos Ferrero, who was also two sets up, whom I also saw early in the match, and who managed to lose when winning seemed inevitable. Bizarre. Again, hopefully no injuries for JCF.

I caught the end of Ernests Gulbis's match as well - I know he was the Great Disappointment of 2009, but I just can't quit him. Unfortunately, he didn't provide me with much ammunition here... he lost in straights to Juan Monaco (who bears a resemblance to those old Catholic school pictures of Jesus - if Jesus was totally buff). He smacks the cover off the ball, and when his shots go in, then wow, Ernie... but his shots weren't going in. And this isn't the WTA.

I was also very disappointed in Dominika Cibulkova. She should be able to do better than losing to Vania King. And Mr Tommy 'I beat Andy Murray to win the Hopman Cup' Robredo should not be losing in the first round to Santiago Giraldo. I was not disappointed, however, in Tommy of the Haas variety. I caught the third set of his match against Simon Greul, and I have never noticed what beautiful hands he has at the net before. Absolutely stunning. I'm not sure what section of the draw he is in, but whoever is in it should watch out. He is such a talent... just so unlucky. I confess, I looked at the sky to see when the piano would fall on him.

Someone else who is massively talented - hello, Julie Coin! I've just returned from the night session and I was so, so impressed with her, even if her victory came at the expense of Alicia Molik. She's got a real wheeler-dealer style that appeals to me - similar to Gulbis in that sense, I suppose. She is very aggressive and goes for everything. When she misses, she misses badly, but when she doesn't miss... whoo boy. And she has hands at the net like... like... someone with really good hands at the net.

Simile fail.

Molik will be kicking herself, and rightly so, because she should have won this match. You don't get a set and 5-2 up and get away with not winning a match, really. Coin did start to play with more confidence, but Molik should have squashed her before she really let loose. Nonetheless, Molik could have played a lot worse, and for a comeback, well... I've seen worse.

This was not the most interesting night session ever. It was full of Australians, and largely, I am not that interested in the major Australian players - not when you have a whole world full of tennis personalities to choose from. The first match up was Hewitt versus some Brazilian called Ricardo Hocevar - you'd be lucky if this made a show court at another Slam, but in Australia, bam! Rod Laver. It was a good match from a Hewitt perspective - he totally whaled on Hocevar, which has got to be good for his confidence. But I really would rather have seen the (still ongoing) Gasquet/Youzhny clash.

Tomorrow's night sesh looks like big fun, however - and I will be there! It opens with Henin and Dementieva and then we have Tomic and Cilic. Fun times!

Crushinating and Burninating

Papa Bear is in the house!

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That's right, Roger's back, with Mama Bear and Baby Bears #1 and #2 in tow, and he's ready to rumble. He may not have exactly been in cruise mode against Frederic Niemeyer, Canadian journeyman, but somehow I'm thinking that doesn't mean too much. A little rust, perhaps, but that machine still looks pretty damn well-oiled to me. The Federer Express is a-rolling on, and it'll be crushinating and burninating again very soon, mark my words.

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Someone who's not crushinating and burninating at the moment, seemingly out of nowhere, is Marin Cilic. Now we all know I'm a Marin fan - he's one of my Stars of the Future who's rapidly growing into a Star of the Present - so I'm monitoring this mini-slump quite closely. He's now had two first round exits in a row, which is unlike him - including one to Somdev Devvarman. I'm sorry, but who? I'm not too worried - I think Marin's pretty resilient - but I'll be keeping an eye on him, nonetheless. Watch yourself, boy!

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Wins also went today to Djokovic, Murray and Davydenko, whom I'll be interested to watch progress in this tournament, as well as to Tommy Haas. Now there's someone whose cranked up the crushinator and the burninator of late. He hasn't played this well for years. First he was ever so close to beating the Rog at Roland Garros. Then there was Halle and the Wimbledon semi final, and some excellent matches since. Today he negated the ever-dangerous Ivo Karlovic - I'm not about to say that he's going to win the title or anything, but I think ol' Tommy has proved he's not going to be underestimated. He's got his game face on, that's for sure!

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And speaking of game faces, the king of the game face, one Mr. Rafael Nadal, will be back on the singles court tomorrow. He's already played a bit of doubles and not looked too shabby - let's see what he's like with the world watching...

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Today's Results

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Rogers Cup (Montreal)

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Andy Roddick def. Igor Andreev, 6-1 7-6 (7-3)

Juan Martin Del Potro def. Jan Hernych, 6-2 7-5

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Rainer Schuettler, 4-6 6-3 6-4

Gilles Simon def. Alejandro Falla, 4-6 6-2 6-2

Fernando Verdasco def. Leonardo Mayer, 6-1 6-1

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Gael Monfils, 6-3 7-6 (9-7)

Philipp Petzschner def. Tommy Robredo, 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-4)

Mikhail Youzhny def. John Isner, 6-7 (8-10) 6-1 6-3

Victor Hanescu def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-3 4-6 7-5

Stanislas Wawrinka def. Andrey Golubev, 7-5 6-4

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Western and Southern Financial Group Women's Open (Cincincatti)

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Elena Dementieva def. Yanina Wickmayer, 6-3 6-4

Jelena Jankovic def. Maria Kirilenko, 7-6 (8-6) 6-3

Vera Zvonareva def. Alisa Kleybanova, 6-4 1-6 7-5

Caroline Wozniacki def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 4-6 6-4 6-4

Victoria Azarenka def. Anna Chakvetadze, 6-4 6-2

Melinda Czink def. Ana Ivanovic, 7-6 (8-6) 7-5

Sybille Bammer def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-0 7-5

Flavia Pennetta def. Agnes Szavay, 6-2 6-4

Sorana Cirstea def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 6-3 6-2

Daniela Hantuchova def. Alona Bondarenko, 7-5 1-6 6-4

Peng Shuai def. Maria Jose Martinez Sanches, 5-7 6-2 6-1

Kim Clijsters def. Patty Schnyder, 6-2 7-5

The Ball Keeps Bouncing

Okay, whoa. Whoa whoa whoa. What is Carsten Ball doing in an ATP final?

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He's the type of player I wouldn't expect to see in a Challenger final, so low down the rankings is he - and, like I said yesterday, the couple of times I've seen him play, I haven't been particularly impressed. But here he is, after overcoming Leonardo Mayer in a scraptastic semi, in the final of LA.

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Well, that's something.

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However, I would like to categorically state that Ball is NOT on my list of candidates for this year's Juan. I'm pretty sure this is what we in this blogging business call a 'fluke'. But still... kudos. And yay for Aussie tennis.

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He'll face either Haas or Querrey in the final, and I think both of these dudes are in the running to be the next Juan. Haas's glory days are probably largely behind him, but as we saw at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, this dude has some game. Much game, in fact. I know his shoulder is, like, held together with paperclips or something, but he's been playing awesomely and I see no reason why he couldn't make a big charge here.

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Same goes for Querrey, but you'd want to hope Querrey's big days are still in front of him . He's definitely in a spot of form - he's been floating around the deep end of draws for the last little while - and a title in LA could really put him on a roll. (Like Ball. Roll. Get it? Hahahahahahaha.)

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Today's Results

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Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad (Gstaad)

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Thomaz Bellucci def. Igor Andreev, 6-4 7-5

Andreas Beck def. Marcos Daniel, 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

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ATP Studena Croatia Open (Umag)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Jurgen Melzer, 6-1 6-1

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Andreas Seppi, 6-1 6-7 (1-7) 7-5

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LA Tennis Open (Los Angeles)

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Carsten Ball def. Leonardo Mayer, 7-5 7-6 (7-3)

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Bank of the West Classic (Stanford)

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Venus Williams def. Elena Dementieva, 6-0 6-1

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Istanbul Cup (Istanbul)

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Vera Dushevina def. Timea Bacsinszky, 6-2 6-4

Lucie Hradecka def. Andrea Petkovic, 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 7-5

Haassassination

Roger Federer plays tennis so beautiful it hurts.

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This was just a lovely match. The score makes it look really close, but the reality was that you never, ever felt that Federer was in danger of losing. It felt like he was in the driver's seat for the entire match. And once he had that first set under his belt, even though Haas stayed with him... it was all over, Red Rover.

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Let's start with some gratuitous Tommy praise, because he did good, seriously. He served like a mofo and if he was playing a lesser player I don't reckon he'd have been broken. As it was, with Federer playing some majorly sweet tennis, those two breaks of serve still had to be eked out. And I liked seeing Tommy come into net and serve and volley - and he didn't crumble mentally, which he's done in the past. It was, in a way, better than the match he played against Federer in Paris, because he lost a massive lead there. Here, he struggled gamely but came up ultimately short against a player who is quite simply, amazing.

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And the thing is, that wasn't even close to the Federer Full Throttle (tm). It wasn't his beautiful Ultimate God Mode tennis, but it was incredible nonetheless. It was more to do with the aura of confidence he was radiating than anything else. He looked like he belonged there - and he does. This is his backyard, and he's the king of the castle at the moment.

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And in the final, he'll play... Andy.

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Roddick.

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And who predicted that at the beginning of the tournament?

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Me.

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I'm good. Oh yes I am.

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And what a match that battle of the Andies was! I live-tweeted the whole thing (as anyone who follows me on Twitter will probably have, you know, picked up - and that was a total popcorn match. In fact, I had popcorn. It was so enjoyable and so much fun to watch with some great tennis from both players. And Andy Roddick can... volley! This is a far cry from the player we used to see actively run away from the net. He played a brilliant tactical match today - and Murray, celebrated tactician though he is, could not adjust to what Roddick did.

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And it's just so great to see Roddick through. A Federer/Roddick final... that's old school, you know? That's like it was in the old days. Roddick said after his match that he didn't know if he'd ever have the opportunity to play for another Slam title, and I think Wimbledon is a very fitting title for him to play for, considering the wonderful finals he and Roger have had in the past.

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Make no mistake. I'm all Roger, all the way - and I both want him to and think he will win. But I'm really glad to see Roddick there. After the match he played today - clever, smart, aggressive tennis - he deserves that spot walking out under the celebrated lines of Kipling's If. He's earned his place here, and it will be like a final of days gone by to see these two playing each other.

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And also, who predicted that Federer would beat Haas and Roddick would beat Murray in the semis before a ball of the tournament was even played? That would be me. A little respect over here, please?!

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Today's Results

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The Championships (Wimbledon)

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Tommy Haas, 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 6-3

Andy Roddick def. Andy Murray, 6-4 4-6 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-5)

Breaking The Giant's Back

I don't know if I have ever, EVER, in my all days of watching tennis, seen three more Ultimate God Mode returns than the three key returns Roger Federer played off Ivo Karlovic's mammoth first serve.

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Two were in the first break of serve, one in the second. (The only two breaks, coincidentally, that Karlovic has suffered in this tournament and in the entire grass court season.) One was forehand, two were backhand. Absolute reflex shots off serves coming down the court at a pace that would make the speed of light feel slow. And they came back pretty much faster than they went down, right in the corner, thank you very much.

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There are no words I can use to describe them. Viewing is necessary. But oh my lordy, they nearly killed me with their insane beauty. I didn't even think that was possible. I don't think Ivo Karlovic thought it was possible. Crazy.

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Federer played a wonderful match today, given his opponent - when he could get the ball back against the Karlovic serve (and when he wasn't hitting returns which are actually physically impossible) he kept it down low at the big guy's shoelaces and Karlovic really had to work to scoop them out. He played a smart match and put on an absolute clinic of serving. He faced no break points, went to deuce only once and served his way out of it immediately. When there were baseline rallies, I would venture to say that he won at least 90% of the time. He actually made more service winners than Karlovic - Dr Ivo had no idea what was going on with the Federer serve by the end of the match and couldn't get the return in more than one time out of every ten - and he made an incredible seven unforced errors for the match. Not for a single set. For the match.

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Crazy.

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Added to which he's through to his twenty freaking first Slam semi in a row, and that is just unheard of. Roger Federer was in god mode today and I am in gush mode. That was crazy. Absolutely insane. Impossible, and amazing.

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And who was it that correctly predicted all four men's semifinalists? Oh yeah, that would be me. We're getting a battle of the Andies in the top half - though Lleyton Hewitt came much closer to knocking out the Andy of the Roddick variety than I expected - and Federer/Haas in the other one. That was a great win Haas had over Djokovic - I'm very glad to see him in the semis! When was the last time he made it this far without a piano falling from the sky and landing on his head or some similar freak accident? Slightly left of never, I would be thinking.

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Today's Results

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The Championships (Wimbledon)

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Ivo Karlovic, 6-3 7-5 7-6 (7-3)

Tommy Haas def. Novak Djokovic, 7-5 7-6 (8-6) 4-6 6-3

Andy Murray def. Juan Carlos Ferrero, 7-5 6-3 6-2

Andy Roddick def. Lleyton Hewitt, 6-3 6-7 (10-12) 7-6 (7-1) 4-6 6-4

Just Another Manic Monday

Back to writing in the light of day. This feels much more normal. Apologies for the lack of rhythm!

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So Middle Sunday happened, followed up by possibly the most exciting day of the tournament, Manic Monday. And we had some cracking matches today - and I would just like to point out that although my strike rate for the women is pretty bad, all four of my men's semi-finalists are still in contention. Federer/Haas and a battle of the Andies. You heard it here first.

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But all four of these dudes had to come through the fourth round today, and there were a couple of interesting matches in there.

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Let's start with Federer/Soderling so I can get all my gushing out of the way. This was a very interesting match, and I think a good preperation for Federer's quarter final against Ivo Karlovic, because Soderling served brilliantly. There was only one break of serve in the entire match, which came in the first set - and the two tiebreaks were close affairs, the one in the third set in particular. If Soderling hadn't shot himself in the foot with that double fault at 5-all, who knows what might have happened? He played some great tennis and he was unlucky not to come up with at least a set.

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But anything anyone can do Roger Federer can probably do better, and he stayed cool and delivered the goods. He just looks so eminently comfortable on grass it's almost scary... actually, you know what's almost scary? Federer matches usually make me really nervous. My nerves throughout this tournament have been slight to non-existent. And that makes me nervous, because I'm sure it's some kind of jinx.

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Anyone, tough luck to the Yoker. I bet he was cursing his luck when his trajectory emerged and it was a round of sixteen clash with the big dude. And I bet he was cursing making that quip about eleven in a row in the Roland Garros presentation ceremony, because everyone remembered it.

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Another straight sets victory was that of Tommy Haas, and how about this guy? He's got the worst tennis luck in universal history and here he is in the quarter finals - and you really feel he deserves a good run after that titanic effort he put in against Roger in Roland Garros. He plays Novak Djokovic in the quarters, and if Djokovic isn't on his game, I reckon Tommy could get him. Djokovic has been coming through pretty quietly and efficiently, however... it's going to be interesting if nothing else. I'll be cheering for the big T-Haas, though!

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Andy Roddick looked simply lethal over Tomas Berdych. 'Nuff said. He'll face Lleyton Hewitt, who came back from two sets to love down against Stepanek, because he just doesn't know how to give up. You never want to count Lleyton out, but I'm smelling a quarter final crushing. Sorry Lleyton.

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And then in the match of the day, Andy Murray just edged out Stan Wawrinka in a five set epic. He's getting known for these Wimbledon R16 epics - remember the one against Gasquet last year? He was never quite as behind in this one as he was in that, but it was a near run thing. Great match from Stan Wawrinka - I was pulling for him, I have to admit, and I'm sad he couldn't pull it off. His backhand is totally divine. I loved it.

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Andy will now face Juan Carlos Ferrero, and you have to like him to win that one... it's going to be interesting!

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Over in the ladies' tennis... my heart breaks for Ana Ivanovic, poor girl. Injuries galore, and she was all crying, and it was sad, and... well, Venus was going to beat her anyway, but it's sad it had to happen like that. Serena also came through, taking approximately four seconds to win her match in order to get off the frankly insulting Court 2 - I don't know why they put her out there, but that is seriously whack. Safina through after a struggle. Dementieva through, in a sudden burst of form. A few others, and...

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...and my special favourite, Sabine Lisicki. I love love LOVE this girl. She just looks so happy and ebullient playing tennis, and she's damn good too. Her quarter final match against Safina is going to be a hard one for me - I like them both!

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Today's Results

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The Championships (Wimbledon)

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Robin Soderling, 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-5)

Andy Murray def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 2-6 6-3 6-3 5-7 6-3

Andy Roddick def. Tomas Berdych, 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 6-3

Ivo Karlovic def. Fernando Verdasco, 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 7-6 (11-9)

Lleyton Hewitt def. Radek Stepanek, 4-6 2-6 6-1 6-2 6-2

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Gilles Simon, 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 6-2

Novak Djokovic def. Dudi Sela, 6-2 6-4 6-1

Tommy Haas def. Igor Andreev, 7-6 (10-8) 6-4 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Venus Williams def. Ana Ivanovic, 6-1 0-1 retired

Dinara Safina def. Amelie Mauresmo, 4-6 6-3 6-4

Elena Dementieva def. Elena Vesnina, 6-1 6-3

Serena Williams def. Daniela Hantuchova, 6-3 6-1

Victoria Azarenka def. Nadia Petrova, 7-6 (7-5) 2-6 6-3

Sabine Lisicki def. Caroline Wozniacki, 6-4 6-4

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Melanie Oudin, 6-4 7-5

Francesca Schiavone def. Virginie Razzano, 6-2 7-6 (7-1)

Humility and Respect (or lack thereof)

I am totally out of my writing rhythm. I need to start writing in the mornings again instead of the evening. This is totally weird.

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Another good win for Lleyton Hewitt last night - thought I'd put this out there now before I forget to talk about it, because he's not my main topic of conversation today. He took out Philipp Petzschner in three pretty decent sets - it was an entertaining match. Most entertaining match award of the day has to go to the end of Haas/Cilic, which finished 10-8 in the fifth - you have to feel for Cilic but if this hasn't tired Haas out I can totally see him making the semis. He has such a good shot.

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Also impressive in five was Radek Stepanek, who beat David Ferrer despite suffering some bizarre injury. If it actually is a badness, then Lleyton Hewitt is NOT the player he wants to be facing in the next round, considering the amount of balls the little guy gets back. This'll be an interesting one to see, that's for sure.

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But on the subject of injury, this brings to me to my main subject today - Jelena Jankovic, who had approximately fourteen thousand injuries in her match today, and who always seems to carrying a few. I don't have an issue with that - players get injured and some get injured more than others. This happens, I'm all right with that.

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But what I am NOT cool with is what she said about her opponent.

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JJ, when you lose, there ain't no one can take the blame but you. YOU lost. There might be extenuating circumstances, but at the end of the day, YOU LOST. Deal with it. You DO NOT come out and say that your opponent 'has no weapons' and 'can't really hurt you'. That is absolutely not cool. That is totally disrespectful of Melanie Oudin, and if she holds a grudge against you for the rest of eternity, I totally do not blame her. She beat you, JJ. You lost. Deal with it.

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I know that JJ isn't exactly enamoured of my man Roger Federer due to some comments he made about the WTA rankings when she was #1 (I think we all agree that the rankings are totally f*cked), but she needs to take a lesson from him. When was the last time you heard him go 'yeah, my opponent had nothing and I was sick'? The man kept glange secret for months! Sure, that's a bit extreme, but you must ALWAYS give credit to an opponent. To do otherwise demonstrates a total lack of sportsmanship.

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So JJ is in my bad books. And if she doesn't improve her attitude, she's staying there. I'm glad Oudin beat her. I hope Oudin beats her again. JJ needs to learn that humility and respect is one of the most important parts of sport. And I hope Oudin makes her eat her words.

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Two lovely girls that played off against each other were Kuznetsova and Lisicki, and much as I like Sveta, I'm glad Lisicki won that one. I'd be happy to see her go deep in this tournament. She is such an ebullient, lovely sportswoman - and Sveta gave her fair credit. That is the way to do things.

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Shape up or ship out, JJ.

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Today's Results

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The Championships (Wimbledon)

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Men's Draw

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Andy Roddick def. Jurgen Melzer, 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-2) 4-6 6-3

Andy Murray def. Viktor Troicki, 6-2 6-3 6-4

Tomas Berdych def. Nikolay Davydenko, 6-2 6-3 6-2

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Fernando Gonzalez, 4-6 7-5 6-4 4-6 6-4

Tommy Haas def. Marin Cilic, 7-5 7-5 1-6 6-7 (3-7) 10-8

Lleyton Hewitt def. Philipp Petzschner, 7-5 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

Igor Andreev def. Andreas Seppi, 6-1 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 7-6 (7-5)

Gilles Simon def. Victor Hanescu, 6-2 7-5 6-2

Stanislas Wawrinka def. Jesse Levine, 5-7 7-5 6-3 6-3

Radek Stepanek def. David Ferrer, 7-5 7-5 3-6 4-6 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Venus Williams def. Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-0 6-4

Sabine Lisicki def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-2 7-5

Dinara Safina def. Kirsten Flipkens, 7-5 6-1

Ana Ivanovic def. Samantha Stosur, 7-5 6-2

Amelie Mauresmo def. Flavia Pennetta, 7-5 6-3

Melanie Oudin def. Jelena Jankovic, 6-7 (8-10) 7-5 6-2

Caroline Wozniacki def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-2 6-2

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Na Li, 6-4 7-5

Settle, Gretel

I feel like I want to take the world by the throat and tell it to settle down. Has anyone else noticed the pervasive OH MY GOD ROGER FEDERER LOST A SET WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIIIIIIIIIIE mentality that's suddenly appeared post the Kohlschreiber match? I can't be the only one, surely - it's everywhere!

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Well, world, here is me grabbing you by the throat and telling you to settle, Gretel.

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One set. One set and there's a global freakout. Maybe the world was on edge what with all the various celebrity tragedies, but it was pretty ridiculous.

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Sure, that third set against Kohlschreiber was not the bestest set ever played by Roger ever, and he really should have won it after being up a break, but he lost in a close breaker, and I think the world can agree that instead of putting the hammer down when he was ahead, he started an experimental period of attempted linepainting which didn't go so well. And then he got irritated at the indignity of it that he had to go and win 6-1 in the fourth.

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Not to take anything away from Kohlschreiber, because he didn't play a bad match. You can't, if you want to take a set off the man, even if he's gone into playgroup mode. But there seems to be an awful lot of hysteria over one set. Federer lost a whole bunch of sets over in France - one is nothing.

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My two cents, anyway.

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I was surprised at how easily Djokovic came through Mardy Fish - he's playing better than I thought he was going to, which is good for him (even though he still has a repellent personality). But the match of the day has to be one which isn't even finished yet - the throwdown showdown between Tommy Haas and Marin Cilic. I'm pretty sure that's the Djokovic quarter, yes? I initially picked Haas to make the semis, but if Cilic comes through this one (they're currently locked at 6-6 in the fifth) I wouldn't be surprised either. And if the five setter doesn't take too much out of the tank, then I think whomever wins the match will win the quarter. And it's not like they'll have to play straight up - ah, middle Sunday.

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I'm going to be interested to see how Hewitt plays tonight - switched over to a bit of preview action now, sorry for the abrupt change. I can totally foresee him falling in a heap against Petzschner after his big win against del Potro. Conversely, I can see him making the quarters, so I don't know. Same for Stosur, really - she's got bad Wimbledon hoodoo from the past, so can she shake it off?

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Today's Results

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The Championships (Wimbledon)

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-3 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-1

Novak Djokovic def. Mardy Fish, 6-4 6-4 6-4

Ivo Karlovic def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 7-6 (7-5)

Fernando Verdasco def. Albert Montanes, 4-6 6-1 6-4 7-6 (7-2)

Dudi Sela def. Tommy Robredo, 7-6 (10-8) 7-5 2-6 7-5

Robin Soderling def. Nicolas Almagro, 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Victoria Azarenka def. Sorana Cirstea, 7-6 (7-2) 6-3

Elena Dementieva def. Regina Kulikova, 6-1 6-2

Serena Williams def. Roberta Vinci, 6-3 6-4

Nadia Petrova def. Gisela Dulko, 3-6 6-3 6-4

Francesca Schiavone def. Marion Bartoli, 7-6 (7-5) 6-0

Elena Vesnina def. Dominika Cibulkova, 7-5 4-6 6-4

Daniela Hantuchova def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-4 6-3

Virginie Razzano def. Vera Zvonareva, walkover

Wimbledictions (For The Blokes)

Wimbledon is coming upon us. Somehow, with the technological media being saturated by it - the tournament suddenly being all over Facebook and Twitter - it seems bigger than it ever did before. The draws have just come out, and while I'm tempted to start with the women, given that anything I say about the men's draw is under the Nadal caveat, it's pretty obvious that this is where my heart is. So, my Wimbledon predictions (Wimbledictions?) for the men!

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So, let's start at the top, with the Nadal quarter - should he play, given the whole KneeGate crisis currently. Everyone seems to have been excusing him of bunging it on this week, but I think it's becoming increasingly obvious that this is a real problem. Rafa Nadal does not lose in straight sets to Lleyton Hewitt, not even in an exo. And Uncle Toni does not come out and say that he thinks Rafa should go straight back to Mallorca if there is not something seriously, seriously wrong.

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...and should Rafa play, guess who he'd get second round, provided he got through Arnaud Clement in the first round (and Arnaud was a quarterfinalist here last year). Lleyton Hewitt. And if his knees are as bad as they seem, I would not be above picking an upset here. Hewitt is going to run for everything, which means the points would be looooooong. And that is not something Rafa would really want, unless he can basically stand still on the baseline and dictate.

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Tursunov, Stepanek and Ferrer are all lurking in this section, but I actually wouldn't be surprised to see Hewitt come through and do well - he is a grass boy, and if Rafa doesn't get him, then I think he might go quite a way. But the winner of this quarter, for me, has to be Andy Roddick. In fact, I think he's going to make the final. A fully fit Rafa would eat him for breakfast, but we don't have that, and Andy is in fine form and fettle right now. He's got a tough first round against Jeremy Chardy, but I think he can get past Berdych and Davydenko, the big names in his section, to take out this quarter.

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The second quarter is the Murray quarter, and if Andy Roddick isn't in the final, Andy Murray will be - unless this really has been a KneeGate saga and Rafa is suddenly fine, which I doubt. He could face a tough one in the second round, if Gulbis suddenly remembers how to play tennis again, but I don't see Wawrinka or Gonzalez stopping him, and Safin would really have to pull a rabbit out of the hat to make a semi final reprise. I think we're going to see a semi final battle of the Andies. I'm picking Roddick, but Murray is definitely a possibility.

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Then we have the Djokovic quarter, and while a lot of people have been picking an early exit for him, I think he actually has a pretty good route. However, I'm going to go out on a limb and pick a real upset for this section - especially if Juan Martin del Potro gets moved in the draw up to take Rafa's spot. I think our semi finalist here will be Tommy Haas. He's got the game at the moment and I reckon he could sneak into the semis much like Schuettler did last year. It could be very, very interesting, this quarter... it's not that hard a quarter, but that could just mean bigger upsets.

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And then we come to the Federer quarter - which I think is the hardest of the lot. There are some big grass court names in there - Lopez and Karlovic leap out, and, after his run in Paris, so does Kohlschreiber. Yen-hsun Lu is not an easy first round draw for the Swiss Mister either. However, all this said, I think Roger's going to come through just fine. All the way to the final. And the title. Oh yeah.

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So just a reminder of the predictions I made:

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Semis: Andy Roddick vs. Andy Murray, Tommy Haas vs. Roger Federer

Final: Andy Roddick vs. Roger Federer

Winner: Roger Federer

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So let's see how I go!

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Today's Results

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AEGON International (Eastbourne)

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Men's Draw

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Dmitry Tursunov def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-2 6-2

Frank Dancevic def. Fabrice Santoro, 6-4 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Virginie Razzano def. Marion Bartoli, 6-4 1-0 retired

Caroline Wozniacki def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 3-6 6-4 6-4

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Ordina Open (s'Hertogenbosch)

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Men's Draw

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Raemon Sluiter def. Ivan Navarro, 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-3

Benjamin Becker def. Rainer Schuettler, 3-6 7-5 6-1

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Women's Draw

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Yanina Wickmayer def. Francesca Schiavone, 7-6 (7-3) 2-6 6-3

Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Dinara Safina, 7-5 7-5

Home Court Advantage

In all that talk of grunting yesterday, I don't think I really stopped to give our weekend winners much of a talking about - which is a mighty shame, because there were some interesting results. So here goes!

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First of all, the British media went absolutely psycho over Andy Murray winning Queen's - and with good reason. Sure, he was the top seed and sort of expected to win, but he's the first Brit to win a grasscourt title since about 1066, so you can understand why. And I've got to say... while, internationally, Murray goes into Wimbledon a tiny bit under the radar - who wouldn't be eclipsed by that final we had last year with Rafa and Roger? - I think there is good reason to think that he'll go deep. I don't know if he's at finals level yet - actually, I think it depends which half of the draw he ends up in. I don't really like anyone's chances against Federer right now, still riding the happy wave from Roland Garros and looking to pull a Borg, but if Murray ends up in the Nadal half of the draw, and Nadal's knees are a badness, and Murray's got that whole crowd behind him... it could be very, very interesting.

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I'm going to tip him to at least play out his seeding and make it to the semis. Further tippage will ensue once we have the draw. This much is certain - I think Tim Henman will be a little annoyed if Andy manages to steal his thunder!

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Over to Halle, and here's looking at you, Tommy Haas. The big German with the shoulder held together by sticky tape is in some fine form at the moment. He beat both Tsonga and Djokovic en route to the title, and that is no mean feat - though one really has to put a giant question mark over Djokovic at the moment. He says he's still mentally exhausted from that match against Nadal in Madrid, where he had the match points... Novak, please. That was a thousand years ago now. Suck it up and get over it. The way he's playing, I wouldn't be surprised to see another early round exit, particularly if he gets one of those tricky players early on, like he did at Wimbledon last year, when he went out to Safin in the second round.

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But enough of Djokovic. Back to Haas. He did a fine, fine job in securing that title - just like Murray, in his home country, as well. Not too shabby at all. I don't think I'm quite up to tipping him to making a surprise finals showing, but depending on what area of the draw he's in, he could easily make it to the round of sixteen or even the quarters. We'll wait and see, I suppose!

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And Magdalena Rybarikova won her first title in Birmingham. I don't know much about Rybarikova - the only time I've ever seen her play was live, when she got bagelled by Vera Zvonareva at the Aussie Open. She seems to have bounced back from that all right, so snaps to you, Magdalena!

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Today's Results

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Ordina Open (s'Hertogenbosch)

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Men's Draw

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David Ferrer def. Jesse Huta Galung, 6-2 7-5

Rainer Schuettler def. Nicolas Devilder, 6-4 7-6 (8-6)

Marc Gicquel def. Steve Darcis, 6-2 6-3

Jeremy Chardy def. Philipp Petzschner, 6-1 6-3

Michael Llodra def. Mischa Zverev, 4-1 retired

Oscar Hernandez def. Daniel Koellerer, 6-3 6-2

Benjamin Becker def. Florent Serra, 6-3 6-4

Dick Norman def. Daniel Berta, 6-3 6-3

Kristof Vliegen def. Jan Hernych, 2-6 7-5 6-2

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Women's Draw

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Yaroslava Shvedova def. Patricia Mayr, 6-2 6-0

Kateryna Bondarenko def. Kirsten Flipkens, 6-4 3-6 6-4

Daniela Hantuchova def. Roberta Vinci, 7-6 (7-2) 6-4

Flavia Pennetta def. Yung-Jan Chan, 6-4 6-2

Ksenia Pervak def. Petra Cetkovska, 7-5 7-6 (8-6)

Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 6-1 6-3

Michaella Krajicek def. Sara Errani, 6-4 6-2

Yanina Wickmayer def. Maria Elena Camerin, 6-1 6-3

Francesca Schiavone def. Julie Coin, 6-2 6-2

Olga Govortsova def. Severine Bremond, 6-2 6-1

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AEGON International (Eastbourne)

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Men's Draw

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Dmitry Tursunov def. Fabio Fognini, 6-3 4-6 6-4

Fabrice Santoro def. Robert Kendrick, 6-3 6-2

Sam Querrey def. Paul Capdeville, 6-2 7-5

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Evgeny Korolev, 6-2 6-7 (3-7) 6-2

Leonardo Mayer def. Eduardo Schwank, 6-4 6-2

Yen-hsun Lu def. Colin Fleming, 7-6 (7-2) 1-6 6-3

James Ward def. Victor Crivoi, 6-1 6-3

Joshua Goodall def. Tatsuma Ito, 6-4 6-1

Alex Bogdanovic def. Ivo Minar, 6-4 7-6 (7-3)

Brydan Klein def. Teimuraz Gabashvili, 6-3 5-7 6-1

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Women's Draw

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Elena Dementieva def. Maria Kirilenko, 6-2 6-2

Virginie Razzano def. Alize Cornet, 7-6 (7-3) 6-2

Samantha Stosur def. Sabine Lisicki, 6-2 6-1

Nadia Petrova def. Ana Ivanovic, 6-1 4-6 6-4

Jie Zheng def. Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-2 6-2

Grunt Work

I bet Aravane Rezai is reeeeeeeeally popular in the locker room right now. I have this mental image of Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka, Serena Williams and Michelle Larcher de Brito shoving her into a locker. Why? Because the ITF - finally - is thinking about doing something about grunting.

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I read this statistic that said that Sharapova's grunt was nearly the same decibel level as a lion's roar. Larcher de Brito's grunt wasn't on the list of decibels, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was louder. Everyone has noticed this - viewers round the world have been muting their TV sets on Sharapova and co. for years. But since the Rezai incident at the French Open, where she basically pointed out the elephant in the room, the ITF has been forced into action.

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At the most extreme, the way I understand it, a player can be defaulted for grunting, and this to me seems a bit extreme. Sure, grunting is a pain, but I am pretty sure it's relatively involuntary. I wonder if there's a sort of yardstick they're going to use. The criterion is whether or not it distracts the opponent, but you can imagine that some gamesmanship might go on there, exploiting that rule. And if you've been a grunter for life, can you break yourself of the habit?

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I don't really have a formed opinion on this subject. I'll have to ponder it more. But I'll be very interested to see what rules come in.

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Over to the actual tennis. The winners of Queen's and Halle last year turned out to be the Wimbledon finalists, but I will be quite surprised if that turns out to be the case this year. Kudos to Murray and major kudos to Haas, who really deserved a victory (especially one where he defeated a top four player) after he came so close in Roland Garros. Nice work, boys!

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Today's Results

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Gerry Weber Open (Halle)

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Tommy Haas def. Novak Djokovic, 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-1

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AEGON Championships (Queen's)

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Andy Murray def. James Blake, 7-5 6-4

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AEGON International (Eastbourne)

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Janko Tipsarevic def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-4 6-2

Ivan Ljubicic def. Andreas Seppi, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5)

Robby Ginepri def. Andrey Golubev, 6-3 6-4

Denis Istomin def. Kevin Kim, 7-6 (7-5) 7-5

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Ordina Open (s'Hertogenbosch)

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Men's Draw

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Fernando Verdasco def. Pablo Andujar, 6-3 7-5

Igor Kunitsyn def. Arnaud Clement, 6-2 6-3

Dudi Sela def. Christophe Rochus, 6-2 6-4

Raemon Sluiter def. Daniel Gimeno-Traver, 6-2 7-5

Ivan Navarro def. Gilles Muller, 7-5 7-5

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Women's Draw

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Sorana Cirstea def. Monica Niculescu, 5-7 6-3 6-3

Iveta Benesova def. Mara Santangelo, 6-2 6-3

Kristina Barrois def. Elena Vesnina, 6-4 6-4

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AEGON Classic (Birmingham)

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Magdalena Rybarikova def. Li Na, 6-0 7-6 (7-2)

By the Skin of His Teeth

Roger Federer, if I get a stomach ulcer, I am blaming you.

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Sometimes it is so damn hard to be a Roger Federer fangirl. I'm deliberately not talking about the assumption that Federer 'must' win now Nadal is out for fear of jinxing it, but if he had lost this match... God, I would have been so damn disappointed. The first set... he should have won. He didn't lose a point on serve till the breaker, where he fell apart. The second set, if he'd hung onto that break, it could have totally been the other way round. But there we were. Tommy Haas, up two sets to love on Roger Federer.

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And then it's break point. It's 4-3 to Haas, Federer serving, and Haas has a break point. Federer hits the gutsiest damn forehand I have ever seen. Paints the line. And then the match turns. Federer takes that set, 6-4. Then 6-0 in about four seconds. Haas struggles gamely in the beginning of the fifth, gets it to 2-all... but then Federer just screams away. That point, that break point... if he had lost that, Tommy Haas would have been serving for the match. But he made it. He made it.

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God, that man is a champion.

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He really, really is. I can't deny it. This was an almost exact replica of that Berdych match in Australia, which nearly slayed me. I nearly turned the match off, unable to watch the end, unable to face it. But I owe Roger that much, and I remembered that match, and so I kept on, and I watched and listened and I prayed to the great gods of tennis. (Considering Roger Federer is my tennis god, it might have been a tad redundant, but sort of poetic in the same way). And I believed. And... and my Roger did not let me down.

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I was sad when Rafa lost. But if Roger had lost, I think I would have been just about catatonic. Thank you, Roger. Thank you. You might have given me an ulcer, but thank you.

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And I don't know if my troubles will go away, because he's facing Monfils in the next round, who looked very good in his victory over Roddick today. Not that Roddick is the king of clay or anything, but this is certainly his best result here by a long shot, and Monfils pretty much nailed him to the wall. The Federer/Monfils semi last year was a close one, and Roger will have to do a little better than scraping through by the skin of his teeth, I think. I'm just hoping that he's suffered the same malaise as both Nadal and Djokovic seemed to have - but instead of falling victim, he managed to fight on. I have my fingers crossed for that.

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Making up our other quarter final we have Juan Martin del Potro, who had a very good win over Jo-W Tsonga - though Jo was, in my opinion, largely walkabout for large sections of the match - and Tommy Robredo, who had a nice win over Kohlschreiber. I do not wish to sound, you know, psychic or anything, but did I or did I not predict that Tommy Robredo would make the semis? And are we not just one win away from that?

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Quick women's watch, and Serena is beginning to look ominous. Maybe we are going to see the Safina/Serena amazing rhyming final after all. However, she'll face Svetlana Kuznetsova, who has been coming through the draw quietly but likewise ominously... and that could be a cracker. And how about the other quarter? Isn't that a surprise? Sam Stosur, who demolished Virginie Razzano, over Romanian prodigy Sorana Cirstea, who has really come into her own with two big victories over her BFF Wozniacki and now Jankovic in an epic third set. Now this could be a good one - and although I think Cirstea is great, I am pulling for Sam in this one 110%!

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Today's Results

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Tommy Haas, 6-7 (4-7) 5-7 6-4 6-0 6-2

Gael Monfils def. Andy Roddick, 6-4 6-2 6-3

Tommy Robredo def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-4 5-7 7-6 (7-4) 6-2

Juan Martin del Potro def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-1 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Serena Williams def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 6-1 6-2

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-4 1-6 6-1

Samantha Stosur def. Virginie Razzano, 6-1 6-2

Sorana Cirstea def. Jelena Jankovic, 3-6 6-0 9-7

The Serena Slide

Guess who lost again in the very first round. Oh yes. That would be my dear friend Ernests Gulbis. Sigh.
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He lost to a qualifier. Sure, the qualifier was Tommy Haas, but still. Ernests, Ernests, Ernests.

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The big worry, however, is not in the men's section at all - I think it's fair to say that it largely played out the way it was supposed to overnight. No, our concern has got to be for the women... and especially for one Serena Williams, who retired one set down in her match against Francesca Schiavone with a knee injury. Now, with Roland Garros around the corner this is a serious, serious problem.

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If one counts a retirement as a loss, Serena is now on a four match losing streak. Not so hot, for the self-proclaimed best in the world. Thing is, I do believe Serena is the best in the world at the moment, and I'm totally bemused. Is this is a chronic knee injury that's been hampering her ability to play? If so, first I've heard of it. Or did it happen in the match against Schiavone? You'd want to hope that Serena isn't off injuring herself with a Slam just round the corner. She's on a two Slam streak - a three final streak - is Roland Garros going to be the place where it snaps in two?

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I bet Dinara Safina isn't complaining. And to an extent, it opens the door for unorthodox but effective claycourter Venus to step up. She's risen to #3 by dint of some pretty excellent play of late - what will this mean for her?

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And what will it mean for the WTA?

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Today's Results

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Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open (Madrid)

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Men's Draw

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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Marat Safin, 6-4 7-5
Stanislas Wawrinka def. Marco Crugnola, 6-2 6-0

David Ferrer def. Guillermo Canas, 6-2 6-2

Oscar Hernandez def. Martin Vassallo Arguello, 6-3 6-3

Mardy Fish def. Janko Tipsarevic, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4

Florent Serra def. Rainer Schuettler, 6-2 6-4

Ivan Ljubicic def. Teimuraz Gabashvili, 6-3 6-2

Robin Soderling def. Ivan Navarro, 6-4 6-2

Simone Bolelli def. Juan Ignacio Chela, 7-5 7-6 (7-3)

Tommy Haas def. Ernests Gulbis, 6-2 5-7 7-5

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Nicolas Almagro, 6-3 6-4

Juan Monaco def. Feliciano Lopez, 6-4 7-5

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Women's Draw

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Nadia Petrova def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-5)

Patty Schnyder def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 6-2 6-4

Anna Chakvetadze def. Samantha Stosur, 1-6 6-2 7-6 (7-4)

Elena Vesnina def. Virginie Razzano, 7-5 6-3

Francesca Schiavone def. Serena Williams, 6-4 retired

Caroline Wozniacki def. Shahar Peer, 5-4 retired

Amélie Mauresmo def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-2 6-4

Peng Shuai def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-1 7-6 (7-2)

Daniela Hantuchova def. Gisela Dulko, 7-6 (9-7) 6-1

Roberta Vinci def. María José Martínez Sánchez, 4-6 6-2 6-4

Varvara Lepchenko def. Magdalena Rybarikova, 7-6 (14-12) 5-7 6-1

That Young Guy

So it looks like Hamburg lost their lawsuit against the ATP. I don't know if I really have an opinion (or feel justified having one) on this issue, but you can't help feeling sorry for them. Hamburg has been such an important tournament for so long and to be relegated like that, and moved, and all kinds of other things... no wonder they tried. But they lost. And now they'll be later in the year, post-Roland Garros, so the star quality won't be nearly so high... though some of them will play on the stuff day in, day out if they can help it. But I'd be very surprised to see the Federers and Nadals of this world there.

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So vale, Hamburg of old. You were a fun tournament while you lasted.

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I wonder how this will effect the rankings? Probably not at all, now that I think of it... it's done by week, not by ranking, yesno? Which is how we know Rafa will become #1 (sob) though he isn't yet - because Roger has yet to drop the points from Montreal and Cincy last year. SO Hamburg will be swept into the corner, to become one of those clay tournaments I rail about. That's really sad, actually.

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What isn't sad is that Marat Safin beat John Isner in straights. I know I always overestimate Isner and that really, the Safins of this world should never lose to the Isners, but still - go Marat! He faces Odesnik next, and provided he keeps his head on straight, he should win easily. I hope he's learning something from his sister's new attitude. Dinara's insanely talented, but the reason she's winning at the moment is that she wants it, and she wants it bad - and she's not backing down. I would love to see non-backing-down Marat too. I would LOVE him to win this tournament. Love. LOVE.

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Even the ATP seems to have conceded that this tournament is pretty dull - their coverage seems lacklustre at best. Their big story is that Donald Young upset Tommy Haas. Hardly world-changing stuff... but then, there's only so much to work with.

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Actually, what is it with this Young kid? I've seen him lauded in some places as this crazy-good young guy who's going to be the future of American tennis, but this is the first time I can remember him winning a match. He hasn't even made a blip on my Stars of the Future radar - and I'm out there looking. I have my posse of young guys, and he never even made the shortlist. Hell, he never even made the longlist. I confess I haven't really paid much attention to him - but why should I? Can someone tell me why this kid is supposedly so good even though he seems to lose nearly all his matches? Because winning a few here and there is kind of key. That's why Gulbis and Cilic are looking so dangerous right now - they may not be winning tournaments yet, but they're getting a few wins nearly every time they step out there. They've made the first step.

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Look at me ragging on Young. I bet he goes on to win the tournament now. That would be just my luck.

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Today's Results

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Countrywide Classic (Los Angeles)

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Dusan Vemic def. Sam Warburg, 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Donald Young def. Tommy Haas, 6-2 6-4

Marat Safin def. John Isner, 6-3 6-4

Carlos Moya def. Xavier Malisse, 6-2 1-6 7-6 (7-5)

Amer Delic def. Dudi Sela, 6-4 6-4

Vince Spadea def. Sebastien Grosjean, 6-3 3-6 6-3

Denis Gremelmayr def. Feliciano Lopez, 7-5 7-5

Florent Serra def. Fernando Verdasco, 6-2 7-6 (7-4)

Bracket Woes

My sucky run at the bracket challenge continues. I got a few more right than I did yesterday, but still nothing to write home about. I'm usually pretty decent at making predictions once we get to the quarter finals, etc, but the first round... well, stands to show it's pretty bad. No major upsets or anything. Just me picking wrong among the little guys.

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Though some of these first round matches were hardly matches of the little guys. How often have you seen Jarkko Nieminen and Tomas Berdych play in the first round of a major event? That might just be to the left side of never. There is real depth in men's tennis when these two can meet in a first round. That one was a tall order.

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Berdych was the one that walked away the victor - obviously, I picked Nieminen. I should just start picking the opposite of who I think is going to win and then maybe I'll do better. I really hope this is the beginning of a return to form for Tomas - who is this week's ATP blogger - because I really think he has an excellent game, even if he is, as discussed here at length, a perennial underwhelmer.

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Meanwhile, what has happened to Carlos Moya? To my eyes, he's had a pretty ordinary year, but he's still floating about at #28, so he can't be doing that badly. But #28 or not, looks like he got a bit pulverised by Tommy Haas. Haas has been looking quite good lately - maybe he's going to make a run for it in this tournament. Let's have a look at his draw... he's up against Davydenko next round. Sensible people would put their money on Kolya, but I could see Haas coming through it if he plays like he did today. Indeed, I have picked him to come through in my bracket... which is probably a sure sign he is going to lose. But let's say that I actually manage to get one right and he does - he would face the winner of Kiefer and Youzhny, which one would think would be Youzhny. That could be an interesting match up indeed...

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Another player impressing me of late - well, of last week - is Gilles Simon, who won in Indy and who won his first round match against Donald Young pretty handily, but I don't see him coming through the second round... he's up against the big man, R-Fed. And we all know how I'm cheering there.

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My semi final pick Soderling made it through, as did Igor Andreev. I also picked the minor upset victory of Feliciano Lopez over Radek Stepanek, which I was pleased about, because we all know Stepanek is kind of weird. One second round match which I think is going to be very intriguing is Tommy Robredo against Marin Cilic... Robredo is a good player and all, but I think I like Cilic to come through this one. He has impressed me a whole lot of late. And considering Ernests Gulbis went out in the first round, I have to have one young gun to follow, and he really is the only one left, as Thomaz Bellucci went out as well. Meanwhile, Philipp Kohlschreiber just lost to Alexandre Kudryavtsev in straight sets. First, I would like to say, who? Is he some relation to Sharapova-slaying tuxedo-hating Alla Kudryavtseva? And secondly, I really need to stop overestimating Philipp Kohlschreiber, as I invariably get disappointed.

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Not a whole lot of doubles action today - actually, they only had one match yesterday and two today. How are they planning to squeeze it all in? Two teams I had talked about as intriguing both went out - the French duo of Gasquet and Mahut to the Murray brothers, which was hardly surprising... oh, I bet Richou loved that. He must hate Andy Murray so much now after Wimbledon. And then Nieminen and Ferrer went out to Mathieu and Youzhny. Quite why Mathieu and Youzhny are playing together is beyond me, but they obviously seem to have something going for them.

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Today's Results

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Rogers Cup (Toronto)

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Feliciano Lopez def. Radek Stepanek, 4-6 6-3 6-4

Andy Roddick def. Nicolas Mahut, 6-1 6-7 (6-8) 6-3

Alexandre Kudryavtsev def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-2 7-6 (9-7)

Fernando Verdasco def. Thomaz Bellucci, 1-6 6-3 6-2

Tomas Berdych def. Jarkko Nieminen, 6-3 6-1

Tommy Haas def. Carlos Moya, 6-3 6-2

Igor Andreev def. Gael Monfils, 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-3)

Gilles Simon def. Donald Young, 6-1 6-3

Marin Cilic def. Lukas Dlouhy, 6-3 4-6 6-3

Jesse Levine def. Peter Polansky, 6-2 6-4

Robin Soderling def. Guillermo Canas, 7-5 6-1

Thomas Johansson def. Andrey Golubev, 7-6 (7-4) 6-1

Jonas Bjorkman def. Arnaud Clement, 6-3 3-6 6-0

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East West Bank Classic (Los Angeles)

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Nadia Petrova def. Alina Jidkova, 6-0 6-4

Flavia Pennetta def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 6-1 6-0

Dominika Cibulkova def. Monica Niculescu, 6-4 6-3

Peng Shuai def. Julie Ditty, 6-4 6-2

Regina Kulikova def. Elena Vesnina, 6-4 4-6 6-2

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Banka Koper Slovenia Open (Portoroz)

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Maria Kirilenko def. Nika Ozegovic, 6-1 6-1

Katarina Srebotnik def. Sanda Mamic, 6-2 6-2

Camille Pin def. Marina Erakovic, 7-5 5-7 6-3

Sara Errani def. Maria Elena Camerin, 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 6-1

Roberta Vinci def. Alberta Brianti, 6-1 6-3

Julia Goerges def. Ekaterina Bychkova, 6-4 6-3

Mara Santangelo def. Yanina Wickmayer, 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4

Karolina Sprem def. Evgeniya Rodina, 4-6 6-3 6-3

Elena Bovina def. Tatiana Perebiynis, 6-3 6-4