Second Year Blues

Oh, glorious nation of Kazakhstan, you are making me a bit sad. After your awesomeness last year, you have had some second year blues.

First, we lost Shvedova. She is injured, which maketh me sad, and I hope she gets well soon, because I like her style. She's been replaced by Sesil Karantcheva, who had about four seconds to get acclimatised, and who had to play Justine Henin the second she got off the plane. Unsurprisingly, she lost in straight sets - though she did make a good show of it.

And then Andrey Golubev - my beloved Andrey Golubev! - went and lost to Ruben Bemelmans.

Now, I am very fond of Bemelmans. I wrote a post a few days ago which was all about how much I love him. But Andrey! my Andrey! whom I have adored for this one year past! This was not a good result for him.

This was the match in his group that you would expect him to win. I expected him to put up a good fight against Djokovic, but to lose eventually. I think he has a solid chance against Hewitt. But I expected him to beat Bemelmans. I expected him to do that.

Now, this is a great result for Bemelmans, who is definitely going into my stable of future stars, and on that count, I am very pleased that he just claimed a top thirty scalp when he is ranked so much lower. But did it have to be my beloved Andrey?

Oh yeah, and Serbia totally hammered Australia. The Hewitt/Djokovic match was a lot more competitive than I thought it would be, but it was still straight sets. But it was eminently watchable. Molik/Ivanovic...? not so much.

Frankie, the Potato, and the Glorious Kazakhs

I could talk about the tennis going on in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok and Beijing and whatnot...

...or I could talk about my favourite tournament of the year, and how awesome it's going to be next year.

That's right. More teams have been announced for the Hopman Cup!

Lleyton Hewitt's partner has been announced - it's Alicia Molik. This isn't exactly awe-inspiring stuff - when Australia managed to pull Stosur last year, that was a bit more of a coup - but Molik is likeable enough, so it should be fun. There's no way Australia's getting to the final, of course, but meh, whatevs. It's all about the exciting international teams anyways.

Speaking of which - Italy! yay! We have Potito 'I have an awesome name that only Jack Sock can rival' Starace paired up with Francesca Schiavone - man, is the women's draw going to be awesome at Hopman '11 or what? We have Serena, Juju, Frankie... pure awesomeness. The Italian team has the possibility of doing what Spain did this year, I think - a relatively underwhelming team on the surface that can totally kill the flashy teams with the big names. I would not be at all surprised to see Frankie and the Potato win the thing. It would be awesome.

But you know who I want to win? Kazakhstan.

That's right - Slava Shvedova and my beloved cutie-patootie Andrey Golubev are back for another year, and some arses are going to be kicked. They very-nearly-almost made the final this year - can they go all the way this time? I wouldn't be ruling them out... as Switzerland can well tell you, you can never count Kazakhstan out...

Kazakhstani Wonderkids

Kazakhstan really knows what they're about with the players they're purchasing. I think it's a little weird that they actually have to buy their tennis players, but whoever's picking them out has a damn good eye.

Yaroslava Shvedova. She's pretty awesome. Just made Slam quarters. Win #1 to the Kazakhstani tennis buyers. Andrey Golubev. Just won his first title. Win #2. Evgeny Korolev. Definitely, I would argue, on his way up. A bit early to call, but I'm going to say win #3.

And now some other Kazakhstani tennis player, of whom I have never heard, has gone and beat Mikhail Youzhny in Gstaad. Yuri Schukin knocked out the top seed in three sets. Now that is a bit all right.

I know nothing about Schukin and so I can't actually say anything about the match or anything, you know, of substance. But I'm beginning to think that whoever is picking out players for Kazakhstan has a SERIOUSLY good eye - and while it's inevitable they'll get some duds, just look at their current stable. And maybe Yuri Schukin is the next Kazakhstani wonderkid.

Oh, and the top three seeds got knocked out in Umag. On the same day. Davydenko got beaten two and one. Now there's someone who needs to lift his game.

Wimbledon 2010 - The Ladies

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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


This leaves us with the following semi final match ups:


Serena vs Vika
Kimmie vs Venus

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


Vika vs Kimmie


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


And the winner is...


Kimmie.


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


What do you think?

Jodi's Epic Tennis Adventure 2.7 - Fedgasm

It struck me, as I was walking back to my hotel from Melbourne Park tonight, how very sad the week I spend each year at the Australian Open makes me. It makes me sad that every week of my life is not this great. Is there any felicity in the world superior to being at the heart, feeling the pulse, of one of the things one loves most?

No, I didn't think so.

I think I've become so introspective because I got to witness a Federer match tonight, a match where he was in full flight and it was so incredibly beautiful it was almost painful. Yes, I know I am waxing poetic about a second round match where the opponent wasn't that great, but there is something incredibly special about being there, seeing that ball come off his racquet and knowing that he knows he's going to win.

He was absolutely sublime tonight - fifty two winners to seventeen unforced errors. He made the point himself that his opponent's style - this was Victor Hanescu, for those of you who are unaware - allowed him to play this way, but it didn't make it any less beautiful. After the nerviness of the Andreev match, this was a total breath of fresh air.

And it is always an honour to watch this man play. Even Prince William thought so. (Kudos to the prince, by the way - he was great with the crowd tonight. Though I suppose he's had some practice with crowds).

His post match interview with Jim Courier was also good fun - and Mirka was a very good sport about it as well. And it was just SUCH A FESGASMIC MATCH.

Okay. Federer drooling over now.

There was actually another match in the night session... it just wasn't very interesting. Seriously, the sesh started out with the sublime and ended up with the so-boring-it-was-ridiculous. Seriously, whose fool idea was it to put Dellacqua/Sprem on Rod Laver Arena. That match belongs on Court 11. Or something. Margaret Court Arena, max. But Laver? When there are Williamses and all other kinds of interesting women?

I did stay for the whole match, I confess, but it was more nostalgia than anything else, as it was my last night on Rod Laver Arena. I'll be wandering the grounds again tomorrow, but the night sesh will be viewed from the comfort of my hotel room. If only Kuznetsova were on tonight instead of them! Seriously, Dellacqua/Sprem was the most boring match I have ever witnessed. It was dull in the first half and then WTA-typical (read: no one could hold serve) in the second. Dellacqua won in two tiebreakers. I think. I might have fallen asleep.

I did catch some good tennis around the grounds during the day, however... though I was very, very disappointed in my WTA fave Sabine Lisicki, who I saw crash out in the second round to Alberta Brianti. Seriously, Sabine? I expected so much more of you. I want to take you and Ernests Gulbis and put you on a tennis court with Larry Stefanki and not let you both out again until you stop doing stupid things, like making 3028402834 errors per match.

So that was disappointing - as was Yaroslava Shvedova's loss to Tathiana Garbin. I caught the first set of this, which Shvedova won, but evidently there was a bit of a crashing and burning incident when I left. Iveta Benesova was also disappointing - I expected her to lose to Vera Zvonareva, but I caught some of this match, and Benesova added a lot of losing to Vera's winning.

Oh. Ana Ivanovic. It's impossible for her to disappoint me any more, because I have no expectations. But she did even worse than last year. Yeesh.

In the 'not disappointing' camp, I saw the first two sets of Nikolay Davydenko versus Illya Marchenko, and JMDP was not lying when he said that Kolya plays like Playstation. Seriously, he got so many balls back it was just not funny. And he's developed a really excellent sliding serve which I haven't seen from him before - Marchenko got no play on it at all. I think there's a possible Verdasco/Davydenko fourth round clash, and I would be really interested to see how this turns out. Nando is in pretty decent nick himself, but this is a different Kolya to the one we've seen before...

But match of the day on the outside grounds for me definitely went to Almagro/Becker on Court 8, which Almagro took in five. This was a real battle of different styles (and fans!) and I was sad to see Becker-no-relation lose it, to tell the truth. Almagro on hard courts doesn't really do it for me, and he was no good at all last year. But it was an extraordinarily entertaining match - and that is what tennis is all about!

Oh, and addendum - only interesting thing to come out of the Dellacqua match. Marcos Baghdatis was in Karolina Sprem's box. THEY ARE SO DATING.