The Other Fed

So. Fed Cup.

I suspect a lot of us would rather not talk about it, especially those of us who are Australian or American. It was not a good time, shall we say. I mean, there were moments, moments where things were great, people who played their hearts out. But in the end... oh dear. Oh dear, dear, dear.

Australia were playing Ukraine, and we managed to embarrass ourselves a lot less than the Americans, so go us. We had match point in the doubles...! We could have taken it...! And Anastasia Rodionova could totally have won that singles match...! And... if wishes were horses, etc.

The Australian press (what little of it there is that covers Fed Cup, anyway) has been pretty mean to Anastasia Rodionova about the whole "losing three rubbers" business... and it certainly is a weekend to forget for her. Not her finest hour. But in reality, she wouldn't normally be the lady that takes the court anyway, so well done to her for stepping up. And a super well done to Jarka Groth, who won both her singles rubbers and was generally awesome all weekend.

But no, on the whole, Australia suffered from a case of Fed Cup malaise. Fed Cup is just not that important to people, in the long run. Ukraine had the same thing - they were sans Bondarenkos. We had no Stosur, no Dokic, and Groth and Rodionova were essentially left as a two woman team. Kudos to them that they did as well as they did...

...and didn't, oh, lose 5-0, like a certain American team I could name.

You have to feel sorry for them. People believe, I think, that the American Fed Cup team is a lot better than it actually is, on account of there have been some Williamses on it before. But to throw McHale, Oudin, King and Huber up against Lisicki, Petkovic, Goerges and Groenefeld? Ouch.

The Germans have an awesome Fed Cup team and I will not be surprised if they win the whole thing in coming years. What they did to the American girls is only the beginning, I think. Let's hope somebody actually notices how awesome these girls are... because if you thought people didn't care about Davis Cup, it's ten times worse for Fed Cup.

Oudinisation

I suppose the match of the day we have to talk about is Sergiy Stakhovsky and Ryan Harrison. And don't get me wrong, this was a good match. Very entertaining stuff.

But... USA, I say this with love. I say it because I am from a country that does exactly the same thing to its sportspeople (hello, Casey Dellacqua?) You do not do your up and comers any favours when you deify them as the next big thing. It is possibly the most spectacularly unhelpful thing you could do for their careers.

It's a horrible process called... Oudinisation. And Ryan Harrison is being Oudinised.

I bet Harrison is kicking himself that he lost that match - any self respecting tennis player would be. But you know what? For the sake of any future career he might have, I reckon it might be a good thing. If he had got to the third round, had gone further, the Oudinisation process would have gone further. He must have become fully Oudinised. And that is not a good thing.

Players that are Oudinised have incredible expectations placed on their shoulders. Tennis is a game where only the toughest survive, and it is only the extremely rare player in whom that toughness is innate (Rafa and Serena come to mind). In most others, it is learned. I would include Roger Federer in this category, so this is not necessary a bad thing - look how he turned out. But the process of Oudinisation does not help.

Look at what happens to British players at Wimbledon. This is an extreme case of Oudinisation which can affect even those who are legitimately the next big thing (hi, Andy Murray). But when you heap the expectations of a nation on the shoulders of someone as young as Ryan Harrison or Beatrice Capra or Melanie Oudin, you are not allowing them that necessary growth period. The time when they can play their way into toughness.

It so happens that sometimes young players have good results. We know this happen. Melanie Oudin had a spectacular run at the US Open, and this cannot be denied. But when players this young have that one run and then get expected to repeat, that is when you open the mental floodgates to the demon. These players can be literally destroyed by hope - the hope of a nation desperate for someone to be the next be thing - and a lot of the time, that second result is going to be a long time in coming. If it ever comes. Oudinisation can mess with your head.

So what I'm saying is that just because one young player had one young result, do not go and make them your Messiah. You may have dodged a bullet when you fluffed those three match points, Ryan Harrison - it might all work out better for you in the long run.

And in other news, Dustin Brown has awesome hair. This is all.

Stepping Up In Davis Cup

Davis Cup is over for another badly-scheduled round, and while I don't think we've had any huge upsets per se, there have certainly been some interesting results.

Exhibit A: Spain vs Switzerland. I think we knew that Spain was going to win this one and win it easy... and some of us were secretly hoping Spain would win so that Switzerland that there could be a home tie in Australia in the playoffs. Which is very possible now. Woot.

Back on track. What I actually wanted to talk about here was the great effort that David Ferrer that put in. If you read the write up on the Davis Cup website it seems to blame Switzerland's showing all on Wawrinka playing poorly, which I think is a bit unfair. I mean, sure, he didn't play great, but I think David Ferrer played really, really well, especially in that decisive reverse singles rubber. He hasn't the bestest Davis Cup history in the past, as I have discussed before, so I like to see him bring it for his nation.

Ferru had that great year a couple of years back where he was up at about #4 in the rankings and then fell right back down again. I haven't seen him play this well for a long time - he's reached two finals of late, winning one, and now he's brought it at DC. He seems delightfully upwardly mobile!

The other really interesting result - and the only one that might even vaguely be called an upset - is the Serbia/USA tie. With Djokovic playing for Serbia and without Roddick, I think this one was always on the Serbian racquet. And I don't want to imply that US boys didn't bring it, because I think we can say they brought it. Especially John Isner. He very, very nearly knocked Djokovic off his perch. But this one had Serbia written all over it, and it really was Viktor Troicki that stepped up. I've been sort of following him since I saw him play Rafa in the first round of Australia a few years back, and he's really grown up excellent.

I felt really sorry for the US boys - they did a great job - but there was just not too much they could do about drawing the Serbians. (Hey, maybe if the Davis Cup were scheduled better, then someone like, say, Roddick, might be able to play! Mull on that, Davis Cup. Mull on that).

Bad Luck for Lady J

So if I were Jelena Jankovic, I would be in a massive snit right now.

I've been pretty critical of JJ in the past, but she really brought it all to the table in Fed Cup at the weekend. She played some stellar matches to beat first Alisa Kleybanova and then, more tellingly, Svetlana Kuznetsova. And, if we are to believe her website, she came within a hair's breadth of pulling out injured and yet she played and won anyway. Quality work for Lady J.

Ana Ivanovic, on the other hand, has no such excuse. She isn't exactly match tired, given as she managed to win a grand total of a set at this year's Australian Open. She isn't injured, as far as anyone's aware. All she seems to do is lope around on golf courses with Adam Scott, though I presume, she, like, trains and stuff. And she contributed absolutely nothing to the Serbian team on the weekend. She got steamrolled by both Kuznetsova and Kleybanova before dragging Jankovic down with her in the doubles. Who else is on the Serbian team? Couldn't Jankovic have played with a different partner?

It is such a shame, because the Serbian Fed Cup team should be, by all rights, awesome. How did the Ana who won Roland Garros in 2008 and reached the final year before turn into this pale shadow of what she was? What exactly went wrong?

Sigh. Alas for them.

You know who I was impressed with, though? (Apart from Lady J, obviously?) Yanina Wickmayer. Belgium could be such a force in Fed Cup this year if they get Kim and Justine back in the side - or even just one of them, because Yanina is seriously awesome. I really like her chances of breaking into the top ten this year. She has some moves. That match she played against Agnesizka Radwanska has to be the match of the weekend. And Kirsten Flipkens definitely did not disappoint either. Imagine Kim, Justine, Yanina and Flipper making up a Fed Cup team. Now that would be sweet.

Something else that could also be sweet is the Russia/USA match up in the next round. What we should be seeing is some combination of Safina/Dementieva/Kuznetsova/Zvonareva/Sharapova taking on the Williams sisters. What I suspect we'll see is Melanie Oudin vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, but I can hope...

The Other Fed in Tennis

I really wish Fed Cup was more awesome. I also wish Davis Cup was more awesome, but it's not struggling with quite the same level of not-awesome as Fed Cup is. It's not that the tennis is any less good (within the normal ATP/WTA parameters anyway, considering that men's tennis is in a golden age and women's tennis is not) but hardly any of the top players seem to have a desire to play Fed Cup, and that is not good.

The Davis Cup is one of those accessories that players like to have, a good trophy to have on the shelf. It's not a Slam or anything, but it is a rare opportunity for players to represent their nations and play as a team, not an individual. Even Federer, a pathological non-player of Davis Cup, has said he would like to win it one day... though this may be because it is the only trophy his decorated mantlepiece is missing. It's played at stupid times and is not well organised, but Davis Cup has prestige.

Whereas Fed Cup... not so much.

Look at Russia, powerhouse of women's tennis. They have Safina, Sharapova, Dementieva, Kuznetsova, Zvonareva... a virtually inexhaustible stream of top women. Yet who is playing? Sveta, sure, after she declared herself available at the last minute, and Alisa Kleybanova, who, while not crappy, is not exactly top ten. They're playing Serbia, who do have two former #1s in Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, but with the form of these two players at the moment, Russia should be crushing them. Instead, it's one-all.

And Belgium! Clijsters and Henin, hello? But no, it's Wickmayer and Flipkens stepping up to the plate. USA? Should be Williams and Williams. But no, it's Oudin and Mattek-Sands. The top women just don't play Fed Cup.

But you know the very first step to making Fed Cup more appetising for these top players? Do not schedule it the week after a Slam. This is not rocket science. Davis Cup is also guilty of this. If you want your top players in there, you have to schedule it at a time wherein they haven't, say, played seven five set matches in a row.

This is not a new rant. But that does not make it any less true. If Davis and Fed Cups are going to become truly awesome, then they need to schedule it better.

Kind of Loving Tommy

Tommy Robredo is one of those players that I have, without meaning to, somehow conspired to see play a lot. He's not up there on my favourites list or anything, but somehow I always manage to catch a bunch of his matches. And I kind of love him now - a love born of familiarity more than anything else, because I doubt he'd stand out to me otherwise. He's not spectacularly interesting or anything.

But. Yes, I have just been all like, 'I love you, Tommy, but hot damn you are boring,' but when I saw him play John Isner at the Hopman Cup yesterday, I realised there was a reason I kind of loved him, and it's his speed. The way he can run down balls is pretty awesome to watch. They actually did a bit of stats thing on the TV where they showed how often Isner was hitting the ball to Robredo's backhand - something like 71% of the time. However, despite the speed of the Isner groundies, Robredo was running round most of them to hit forehands. Because he could.

And his passing shots! Oh, his passing shots! There is something in the Spanish air which predisposes the Spaniards to hitting beautiful passing shots, and Robredo is no exception. The best tribute I can pay them is silence.

The Isner/Robredo match was a seriously good match. It went 7-6 in the third, with Robredo coming out on top, but it was a titanic struggle - and it looked like it was going to be all Isner until one moment midway through the second set. Robredo had struggled mightily to get it to 30-all on Isner's serve, and then he hit an absolutely inspired forehand to bring up break point. He went on to break Isner - the only break of serve in the match - and run off with the set. And even though the third set went deep, you kind of had the feeling Robredo was going to win.

Spain won the tie 3-0, cleaning up in the women's singles and the mixed as well, and they surely must be favourites to win the group now. Another failed year at Hopman Cup for Australia.

Over in Brisbane, there were quality wins for Alicia Molik and Matt Ebden, which surely must turn Tennis Australia's collective frown upside down. Good stuff.


Today's Results

Hopman Cup (Perth)

Spain 3, USA 0

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Melanie Oudin, 6-4 6-4
Tommy Robredo def. John Isner, 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-4)
Martinez Sanchez/Robredo def. Oudin/Isner, 6-4 7-5


Brisbane International (Brisbane)

Women's Draw

Kim Clijsters def. Tathiana Garbin, 6-2 6-1
Alicia Molik def. Ekaterina Makarova, 6-4 1-6 6-4
Vania King def. Sybille Bammer, 6-4 6-1
Andrea Petkovic def. Iveta Benesova, 6-7 (6-8) 6-2 6-1
Melinda Czink def. Lucie Hradecka, 6-4 3-6 6-3
Barbora Zahlavova Strycova def. Olga Govortsova, 6-4 6-1

Underrated

What an interesting collection of countries we have in the Davis Cup semi finals - really quite an eclectic group. Israel was the biggest surprise, as we discussed yesterday, but Croatia? And the Czech Republic? Not to mention the upset that Germany nearly pulled? Quite remarkable.

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Let's start with Israel again. Russia managed to get one point on the board in this tie, but it was only because Dudi Sela retired in his match against Andreev, so I don't think poor Igor gets to save any face there. Dudi's retirement also puts the mantle of tie hero quite firmly on the shoulders of Harel Levy - what a weekend for him! First he beats Andreev to make it 2-0, and then he has an absolutely cracking win over Kunitsyn in the dead rubber. I think it would be underestimating things to say he's found his mojo...

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Hero for Croatia probably goes to Marin Cilic, who won both his singles rubbers against the USA, beating Fish and Blake. Fish, I thought, played well, but it looks like James Blake's tenure as president of the Club of Lost Souls is going to continue a little longer. He choked right at the end of his match with Karlovic, and I was really hoping (for his sake) he could do a little more against Cilic. But it was not to be. Oddity of this tie? Bob Bryan winning a singles rubber. Don't see that very often!

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Then we go to the Czech Republic and Argentina, and like I said... I told them it would be smart to play Stepanek in the singles. I understand he has a knee injury but he managed to play through it fine in Wimbledon in his match against David Ferrer and so it was today. And it was a deciding rubber, as well - Juan Martin del Potro tried valiantly to keep Argentina's hopes alive by winning both his matches, but it was nice to see the Czechs come through, I do admit. There will be no final in Mar del Plata this year. And Berdych plus Stepanek... that is a seriously underrated team.

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And then, finally, to what I thought was the most exciting tie, Spain against Germany. I bet you anything that Fernando Verdasco is going to be filthy with himself for letting that match with Kohlschreiber slip between his fingers. It must be very difficult for him to let someone else wear the mantle of hero for Spain when it's belonged to him for quite some time now. But I think we have to say that the hero was an oldie but a goodie, Juan Carlos Ferrero. He was thrown in at the last minute to replace Tommy Robredo in the singles, and he played a lovely match to beat the talented Andreas Beck in straights. Though what would have been really interesting is if Germany had played Kiefer... or if Haas was playing this tie. I'd venture to say that if Haas had played, Spain would have gone down.

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So the semis are set. Davis Cup pick for this year? I'm going to go with the Czechs. Underrated and unappreciated, I reckon they have what it takes...

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Today's Results

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Davis Cup

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Czech Republic 3, Argentina 2

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Juan Martin del Potro def. Tomas Berdych, 6-4 6-4 6-4

Radek Stepanek def. Juan Monaco, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 6-2

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Croatia 3, USA 2

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Marin Cilic def. James Blake, 6-3 6-3 4-6 6-2

Bob Bryan def. Roko Karanusic, 5-7 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

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Israel 4, Russia 1

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Igor Andreev def. Dudi Sela, 4-3 retired

Harel Levy def. Igor Kunitsyn, 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7-2)

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Spain 3, Germany 2

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Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Fernando Verdasco, 6-4 6-2 1-6 2-6 8-6

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Andreas Beck, 6-4 6-4 6-4

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Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships (Newport)

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Rajeev Ram def. Sam Querrey, 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 6-3

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GDF SUEZ Grand Prix (Budapest)

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Agnes Szavay def. Patty Schnyder, 2-6 6-4 6-2

Praise and Blame

Israel beat Russia.

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Israel beat Russia.

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That was not supposed to happen. That was not in the script!

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It was the doubles guys that clinched the win for Israel - the match went five sets with the Russians fighting hard, but the experience of Erlich and Ram won out in the end. However, I think you have to give the hero label that inevitably comes up in this situations to the Israeli singles guys, Dudi Sela and Harel Levy - in particular, Levy, who overcame a deficit of something like a hundred rankings places to beat Andreev (who, according to Safin, was the only fit Russian on the team).

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It'll be interesting to see what happens to Tarpischev now... I mean, sure, the Russians did not have their best team out there. No Davydenko and no Tursunov. But the villain of the piece - for as there is a hero, there is someone who needs to be blamed - will be Andreev, poor guy. Davis Cup must be so hard for players, because it's totally foreign. You lose early in a tournament, and you have no one to blame but yourself and it's only yourself that you've let down, in effect. Lose a bad match in Davis Cup? You've let your nation down. And this is one of the only fora in which tennis players play as a nation. The pressure must be totally immense.

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All other ties are still alive - I'll be interested to see if the Americans can make anything happen against the Croats, but I doubt it. The Croats are looking better than they have since they won the Cup a few years ago. Karlovic and Cilic... there's a team to watch out for!

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Today's Results

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Davis Cup

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Czech Republic 2, Argentina 1

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Berdych/Stepanek def Acasuso/Mayer, 6-1 6-4 6-3

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Croatia 2, USA 1

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Marin Cilic def. Mardy Fish, 4-6 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-1 8-6

Bryan/Bryan def. Karanusic/Zovko, 6-3 6-1 6-3

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Israel 3, Russia 0

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Erlich/Ram def. Kunitsyn/Safin, 6-3 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 4-6 6-4

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Spain 2, Germany 1

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Lopez/Verdasco def. Kiefer/Zverev, 6-3 7-6 (7-1) 6-7 (6-8) 6-3

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Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships (Newport)

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Rajeev Ram def. Olivier Rochus, 6-3 6-4

Sam Querrey def. Fabrice Santoro, 6-3 7-6 (7-2)

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Bastad Swedish Open Women (Bastad)

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Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Caroline Wozniacki, 7-5 6-4

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GDF SUEZ Grand Prix (Budapest)

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Patty Schnyder def. Edina Gallovits, 6-2 6-4

Agnes Szavay def. Alona Bondarenko, 6-1 6-2

Patty Schnyder def. Alisa Kleybanova, 5-7 7-5 6-2

One of a Kind

Well, I suppose we'd better move on from Madrid before the week is completely out and Roland Garros is upon us. There are, in fact, tournaments going on this week, so we should probably check them out.

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The one that always catches my attention is World Team Tennis in Dusseldorf. It's sort of a pity that it's in the week before Roland Garros when none of the big boys are really very keen on playing, because it's a fascinating concept. It's a good way of getting matches in, what with the round robin aspect, and you also get to play for your country as well, which is pretty rare in the individualistic world of tennis.

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The eight countries taking part this year are France, Germany, USA, Sweden, Serbia, Argentina, Russia and Italy - and you know who's been surprising? Sweden. They're being represented by Robin Soderling and Andreas Vinciguerra, and they totally beat the USA overnight, which is a bit surprising. Haven't been following it closely enough to tell you who is in what position, but that was certainly something I found unusual... Sweden isn't exactly a tennis powerhouse these days.

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It is, as far as I know, the only tournament of its type in the calendar year, and I wish it was in a more prominent place - because it's a fascinating concept. I don't know what its history is like - whether it is a survivor from that failed era of round robin or whether it's just unique - but it's a great concept. So why, Dusseldorf? Why is your tournament like this?

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Today's Results

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ARAG ATP World Team Championships (Dusseldorf)

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Rainer Schuettler def. Gilles Simon, 6-4 6-4

Robin Soderling def. Sam Querrey, 6-2 6-2

Andreas Vinciguerra def. Robby Ginepri, 7-5 6-4

Juan Martin del Potro def. Andreas Seppi, 6-3 6-4

Viktor Troicki def. Evgeny Korolev, 6-2 6-2

Janko Tipsarevic def. Stanislav Vovk, 6-2 6-4

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Interwetten Austrian Open Kitzbuhel (Kitzbuhel)

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Jurgen Melzer def. Frederico Gil, 6-3 6-0

Oscar Hernandez def. Fabrice Santoro, 6-2 6-3

Juan Ignacio Chela def. Marc Gicquel, 5-7 6-3 6-0

Julien Benneteau def. Dudi Sela, 7-5 6-1

Stefan Koubek def. Philipp Petzschner, 7-6 (10-8) 6-4

Diego Junqueira def. Paul Capdeville, 6-3 6-2

Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo def. Mario Ancic, 6-4 6-3

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Warsaw Open (Warsaw)

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Sara Errani def. Greta Arn, 6-2 1-6 7-6 (7-2)

Daniel Hantuchova def. Nuria Llagostera Vives, 3-6 6-3 6-3

Urszula Radwanska def. Mariya Koryttseva, 6-3 3-6 6-3

Jill Craybas def. Edina Gallovits, 3-6 7-5 6-3

Galina Voskoboeva def. Patrica Mayr, 6-4 6-1

Klara Zakopalova def. Melinda Czink, 3-6 6-4 6-3

Ioana Raluca Olaru def. Jelena Dokic, 6-4 6-3

Alexandra Dulgheru def. Agnes Szatmari, 6-3 6-4

Darya Kustova def. Lenka Tvaroskova, 6-4 6-1

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Internationaux de Strasbourg (Strasbourg)

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Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Yanina Wickmayer, 1-6 6-3 6-3

Viktoriya Kutuzova def. Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6-3 6-0

Julie Coin def. Elena Vesnina, 6-4 6-2

Monica Niculescu def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 4-6 6-2 6-2

Alla Kudryavtseva def. Nathalie Dechy, 6-0 6-7 (5-7) 6-3

Anastasiya Yakimova def. Maret Ani, 6-3 7-5

Pauline Parmentier def. Varvara Lepchenko, 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-2)

Lucie Hradecka def. Jasmin Woehr, 3-6 6-1 6-2

Stephanie Foretzdef. Kirtsen Flipkens, 6-1 2-6 6-2

Stephanie Cohen-Aloro def. Mathilde Johansson, 4-6 6-4 6-1

Yuliya Beygelzimer def. Claire Feuerstein, 0-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

Heroes and Heroines

Okay, Rafael Nadal. He's not real, yeah?

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Five consecutive Monte Carlo titles. Now five consecutive Barcelona titles. All signs are pointing to five consecutive Roland Garros titles. He isn't real. He can't be real. He's a machine.

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It's going to be interesting to see how he goes at Rome this week - he's played pretty much every day for the last two weeks. Last year, he went out in the opening round to Juan Carlos Ferrero, but he was covered in blisters and could barely move. This year... I can't remember exactly who it is, but he's not facing anyone of the calibre of Ferrero in the opening round. How far can Rafa take this ride? I, for one, don't see anyone beating him soon.

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But I have been wrong before - I certainly did not see Italy beating Russia in the semis of the Fed Cup! To some extent, Russia was the victim of Shamil Tarpischev - personally, I think he could have made some better choices in who to deploy when (seriously - Chakvetadze over Petrova? WTF?) but all credit to the Italian girls, who did fabulously. Francesca Schiavone in particular is the heroine - she had that great win over Svetlana Kuznetsova on Day One, and then fought hard to take out Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (who did fight gamely).

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It's going to be an interesting final - I certainly wouldn't have picked Italy/USA! Full credit to the American girls as well, because the Czech Republic is a powerhouse in women's tennis, with Benesova, Kvitova and Safarova on their team. The word here has to go out to Alexa Glatch, who was absolutely exceptional - I'll be interested to see more of her in the future!

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And Australia, down in the World Group II playoff, had a great win over Switzerland - with Stosur and Dokic on our side, I think we have a pretty sweet chance in the future! If Pennetta and Schiavone can do it, and Glatch and Mattek-Sands... why not Sam and Jelena?

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Today's Results

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Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell (Barcelona)

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Rafael Nadal def. David Ferrer, 6-2 7-5

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Fed Cup

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Italy 4, Russia 1

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Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Flavia Pennetta, 6-0 6-3

Francesca Schiavone def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 6-2

Errani/Vinci def. Petrova/Pavlyuchenkova, 1-6 6-3 6-4

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USA 3, Czech Republic 2

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Lucie Safarova def. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 6-3 6-1

Alexa Glatch def. Petra Kvitova, 6-2 6-1

Mattek-Sands/Huber def. Peschke/Benesova, 2-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-1

Grow UP, Richou!

God, Richard Gasquet is a little whinger. I used to really like him - I still enjoy his style of play - but I have gone off him altogether. In all my berating of Andy Roddick for not going to the Olympics, I often forget to berate Richou, but he probably deserves it more, truth be told. There was the French Open stunt, the Olympic stunt, the absolutely ridiculous Davis Cup stunt and now this stupid Paris thing. Jesus, Richou, grow up. Even if you don't want to play Paris-Bercy, you don't have to kick up a huge stink about it. What kind of person comes out and says, 'I will be happy once I would be eliminated at the Paris Masters Series.'

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Methinks Richou needs to revamp his attitude and revamp it fast. He's already taken a slide down the rankings this year - no Tennis Masters Cup for him! Is it really necessary to be a complete dickhead while he's doing it?

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Meanwhile, in actual news about matches in which people have played, instead of wussing out like Gasquet, it was very sad to see Dmitry Tursunov's season end with a retirement. He toughed it out for a while but then called it quits in his match against Djokovic with a shoulder injury. See you next year, Dmitry - maybe defend your Sydney title, eh? I'll be there again, watching.

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That, of course, means Djokovic is through... but I wouldn't mind seeing Djokovic doing all right his week, as I don't want him to do well next week. Yes, I am a terrible, horrible person, wishing ill on people, but I just want Roger to win the Masters Cup. Is that so much to ask? He is, after all, the Master. I know Rafa is #1 and all now and he is good and I like him and stuff, but Roger is just special.

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Apparently Marat Safin is thinking about retirement, which is sad. He says he'll keep playing as long as he still enjoys it... and it can't be very fun losing all the time. Still, he has had his best season in a while... and Hopman Cup coming up! It will be rad to play with Dinara - though it must be oddly pressuring to have your baby sister being all awesome while you sort of suck. Still, I guess Dinara has had to live in Marat's shadow for, like, ever - it's her turn to shine. Though Marat has a standby for Hopman Cup - Igor Andreev - all planned out. Much as Andreev is good and stuff, he's not Marat. Don't retire, please!

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Oh, and the seventh Hopman Cup team has been announced. It's not as awesome as I was hoping, but it's still pretty good. It is, of course, the USA, about whom I totally forgot. Actually, it is an awesome team: James Blake and Serena Williams. I guess that sometimes the USA just feel so old hat... and incidentally, where are the Czech Republic this year? I wanted to see Berdych and Safarova make another go of it. There is still one spot remaining, but that is for the winner of the Asian Hopman Cup, so maybe they can come back in 2010...?

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Today's Results

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BNP Paribas Masters (Paris)

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Novak Djokovic def. Dmitry Tursunov, 6-2 4-3 retired

Andy Roddick def. Feliciano Lopez, 6-3 6-4

Juan Martin del Potro def. Mario Ancic, 6-0 6-4

Gael Monfils def. Juan Monaco, 6-4 6-4

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Mikhail Youzhny, 6-1 6-4

Radek Stepanek def. Marc Gicquel, 6-4 3-6 6-4

Robin Soderling def. Josselin Ouanna, 6-3 6-4

Ivan Ljubicic def. Viktor Troicki, 6-3 6-4

Florent Serra def. Guillermo Canas, 4-6 7-5 6-3

Fernando Verdasco def. Tommy Robredo, 6-2 6-7 (6-8) 6-2

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Bell Challenge (Quebec)

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Nadia Petrova def. Maria Mokh, 6-1 6-2

Severine Brémond def. Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6-2 7-6 (7-4)

Galina Voskoboeva def. Sofia Arvidsson, 6-3 6-2

Melinda Czink def. Sabine Lisicki, 6-2 5-7 6-3

Nathalie Dechy def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 6-3 6-1

Varvara Lepchenko def. Rossana de los Ríos, 6-1 6-3

Carly Gullickson def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 7-6 (8-6) 6-1