A Woman Scorned

I was going for Gilles Simon, I'll admit it, but all credit to Andy Murray for pulling off another Masters Series win - his second one straight. With that, and making the final of the US Open, he's really proved he's ready for the big time. With the game the way it is - ie. dominated by two of the best players ever - I don't know if he'll ever make it to #1, but I reckon he could certainly turn this Big Three phenomenon into the Big Four if he continues this way. He certainly has the ability to catch up to Djokovic. Hell, if you pitted them against each other now, I don't know which one I'd pick. Murray, probably, on the grounds that I like him more. Not that I'm a massive Murray fan - I think he still has some attitude lessons to learn - but I still like him more than Djokovic.

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Neither final went my way - I was really, really hoping Flavia Pennetta would take out the title in Zurich. She is a woman scorned! She deserves to win stuff! But no one can take the credit away from Venus, I suppose. It must be really tough to play a player that is technically a long way below you rankings-wise, but who beats you all the time anyway - Venus has had a bit of a problem with Pennetta of late, so kudos to her for overcoming it.

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But here's hoping Flavia's career goes into overdrive now. Because no one deserves more stuff than a woman scorned. That is my professional opinion.

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Today's Results

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Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid (Madrid)

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Andy Murray def. Gilles Simon, 6-4 7-6 (8-6)

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Tennis.com Zurich Open (Zurich)

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Venus Williams def. Flavia Pennetta, 7-6 (7-1) 6-2

At Least...

All I want is for Roger Federer to win one Masters Series trophy this year. Just one. Is that so much to ask? He's won four of the bloody things in previous years. Why is it proving so difficult this year?

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At least he lost to Andy Murray, and not to some total schlep, and at least it was close. But still. Can't he just have one? Just one?

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And at least Rafa is out as well - just so it's a Big Three free party. Even if Rafa has clinched the year end #1. I don't want him increasing that lead, if it can be avoided. And Murray vs. Simon should be an interesting match in and of itself. Wouldn't it be great to see Simon get up and grab the trophy? That'd be a real victory for the little guy.

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Let's look at Masters Series events this year. Even though the Fed hasn't won one, it's been a parade of big names. Djokovic. Davydenko. Nadal. Djokovic. Nadal. Nadal. Murray. It'd be nice to see wee Gilles get his name on there. Though I doubt you'd bet against Murray. But I'm gunning for Gilles. That was a nailbiter he rode out against Rafa, and all credit to him.

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And I guess more rest can't hurt Roger. Sigh. And if he's going to win one, Paris might be nice, because he's never won it before, so it'd be a new trophy in his cabinet. (Whatever you need to tell yourself, Jodi.)

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Meanwhile, in Zurich, Ivanovic finally went down - but at least it was to Venus Williams. And it was tight, too. If Ivanovic loses to Williams, that's - well, not okay, because the top players beat everyone - but it's better than losing to Julie Coin. So well done on your semi, Ana. Let it be the sign of big things to come.

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I would not, however, be putting my money on Venus Williams in the final. She's playing Flavia Pennetta, who is not leading their head-to-head 3-1, but is newly single and has a lot of rage to work out. (As anyone would, stumbling on their longtime boyfriend with another woman. You love rat, Carlos, you.) I'm behind Flavia all the way. She deserves this one.

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Today's Results

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Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid (Madrid)

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Andy Murray def. Roger Federer, 3-6 6-3 7-5

Gilles Simon def. Rafael Nadal, 3-6 7-5 7-6 (8-6)

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Tennis.com Zurich Open (Zurich)

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Venus Williams def. Ana Ivanovic, 4-6 6-3 6-4

Flavia Pennetta def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-3 7-6 (8-6)

Whose Cuisine Will Reign Supreme?

Mon dieu. The shock. Ana Ivanovic managed to win ANOTHER match. Two in a row! When was the last time that happened? The French Open, perhaps? No, wait, she got to the third round of Wimbledon, but I seriously can't remember her having consecutive victories since then. Sure, she only beat Petra Kvitova, but I have two words to say to you, and they are Julie and Coin. She's in the semis of Zurich now. I'm not used to saying 'Ana Ivanovic' and 'semis' in the same sentence, unless there's some variant of 'didn't make it' in there. Is Ana better? Is she, at least, improving? What will happen?

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She plays Venus Williams next. Now that will be interesting. Both are Grand Slam champions this year, and both have taken some interesting losses (to say the least.) Who will serve up what? Whose tennis cuisine will reign supreme, as Chairman Kaga might say? That'll be an interesting one to watch.

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Meanwhile, I have to say that I like the look of R-Fed right now. Juan Martin del Potro is on a psycho-crazy hot streak right now, and Federer spanked him pretty convincingly. I mean, it wasn't a massive blowout, but there was pretty much no way del Potro was going to win that match, and everyone knew it. That rest seems to have done the Master some good. The semi against Murray will be an interesting one, as Federer's lost to Murray a couple of times in three-set matches on hard courts... but then, the US Open is still looming large in everyone's minds, and we all know how that turned out. So I wouldn't be betting against the Federer Express. I don't know of any sane person that ever would.

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I love that three of the top four seeds are through to the Madrid semis, and the one that didn't make it was Djokovic. That puts a grin on my face, let me tell you.

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Today's Results

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Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid (Madrid)

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Roger Federer def. Juan Martin Del Potro, 6-3 6-3

Andy Murray def. Gael Monfils, 6-2 6-2

Rafael Nadal def. Feliciano Lopez, 6-4 6-4

Gilles Simon def. Ivo Karlovic, 7-6 (7-1) 4-6 7-6 (7-2)

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Tennis.com Zurich Open (Zurich)

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Ana Ivanovic def. Petra Kvitova, 6-1 6-4

Venus Williams def. Francesca Schiavone, 6-3 6-3

Flavia Pennetta def. Katarina Srebotnik, 7-5 6-2

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Victoria Azarenka, 4-6 6-3 retired

A World Gone Topsy-Turvy

I think I might be in shock. My world has gone topsy-turvy. Jelena Jankovic lost a match...

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...AND ANA IVANOVIC WON ONE!?!?!?!

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And all it took was for Jankovic to play tennis non-stop for about a month and for Ivanovic to lose twelve hundred times in a row.

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Seriously, I cannot remember the last time Ivanovic won a match. And it wasn't a scrape-through-by-the-skin-of-her-teeth affair either: it was in two reasonably comfortable sets over Marion Bartoli. Bartoli hasn't been in anything even resembling form this year, but she's not a total schlep - so a victory over her, considering the people Ivanovic has been losing to of late, is a victory indeed.

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And so we must ask the question: can she do it again? Can she string another victory onto this one? Is this the week that Ana resurfaces? When you start asking the same questions about a player that you routinely ask about the King of Inconsistency, Marat Safin, there you know there's trouble.

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We had some interesting results in Madrid over night - we have a quality set of quarter-finalists, but not necessarily the ones you'd expect. Juan Martin del Potro aside, all my Stars are out - Marin Cilic went down to Andy Murray. Oh well. He's young. Novak Djokovic also went down - I'd just like to say AHAHAHAHAHAHA! Two tie-breaker sets to Ivo Karlovic. I know Karlovic plays the most boring tennis in the history of the universe, but a Djokovic loss is a Djokovic loss.

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And yes, I am a horrible person.

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R-Fed and the Rafinator are both through, accounting comfortably for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet respectively. I do like Rafa, but I am praying like nobody's business that he loses his next match, because if he wins, he's guaranteed the year-end #1, and I like it when Federer has that. Still, if he can get it back by winning the Australian Open or suchlike, that would be nice too.

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Defending champion David Nalbandian went out to Juan Martin del Potro, who'll now face Federer - I don't know if they've played while del Potro has been on this hot streak, so this'll be interesting. Seriously, has del Potro made Shanghai yet? Because he must be close. And Roddick went out to streaky Gael Monfils. Guess he should have played those Olympics. I am perfectly content to blame every loss he takes from now until the end of his career on his failure to do so.

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And a special shout out today to Victoria Azarenka, who served Monica Niculescu a double bagel. Not so nice for Monica, but that'll be one to tell the grandkids.

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Today's Results

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Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid (Madrid)

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Roger Federer def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-4 6-1

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

Ivo Karlovic def. Novak Djokovic, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5)

Andy Murray def. Marin Cilic, 7-5 7-6 (7-2)

Juan Martin Del Potro def. David Nalbandian, 6-4 6-2

Feliciano Lopez def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-4 6-4

Gilles Simon def. Robby Ginepri, 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 7-6 (8-6)

Rafael Nadal def. Richard Gasquet, 6-4 6-2

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Tennis.com Zurich Open (Zurich)

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Flavia Pennetta def. Jelena Jankovic, 5-7 6-3 6-3

Ana Ivanovic def. Marion Bartoli, 6-2 6-4

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Vera Zvonareva, 6-3 3-0 retired

Katarina Srebotnik def. Agnieszka Radwanska, -26 7-6 (8-6) 6-3

Victoria Azarenka def. Monica Niculescu, 6-0 6-0

Petra Kvitova def. Sofia Arvidsson, 6-2 6-1

That Strange Unfinished Feel

Very little to report on today... mostly because very little happened. Only six matches were played in Madrid, and none of the results were particularly unexpected... that said, I only picked four of them correctly in the bracket challenge. But, you know, some of them were hard picks.

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Like Simon vs. Andreev. I mean, who are you going to pick in that one? They couldn't decide who was going to win - Andreev had four match points. I had picked him to win, but Simon came through in the end. If that had been a five set match, that one could have been a thriller. I mean, as a three set match it looked like a bit of a thriller, what the nail-biting final set breaker. I hate final set breakers, I have to say - I think it is the stupidest way of deciding matches. Well, not stupid, I guess - I have no issues with breakers used in other sets - but I just feel that if the match is that close, then you are obligated to keep it going on until someone wins properly, if that makes sense. Imagine if that amazing Nadal/Federer match at Wimbledon had been decided with a fifth set breaker. That would have been tragic. Actually, remember the final at Rome in 2006, decided with a fifth set breaker. The match was five hours already, but it deserved longer. Someone wins the breaker, for sure, but the match is left with a strange unfinished feel...

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Meanwhile, Tomas Berdych is looking in good form, which is interesting, because we haven't seen that for a while. Maybe that win in Tokyo was a harbinger of good things to come. Rainer Schuettler isn't a schlep - he is, we must remember, a Wimbledon semifinalist - but Berdych totally owned him. I'd like to see Berdych do well. He's a good indoor player, I do believe - remember that year when Federer won four Masters events and Nadal won four, and then neither of them played Paris? Berdych won it. I'm not saying I necessarily want him to replicate that - we all know I want Federer to win, to take out the double, especially as he hasn't won any Masters events this year - but it'd be nice to see him do well.

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Same thing with my boy Marin Cilic, who had a good win as well, beating Olivier Rochus in straights. Rochus might not be the mightiest player on the circuit, but Cilic is being consistent and not taking any weird losses, and that's all I can ask of him. This kid is on the way up, big time.

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Someone I thought was on the way up but keeps losing early, which is disappointing, is Alize Cornet, who lost to Alona Bondarenko in Zurich. It was another final set breaker - damn those breakers - but really, come on, Alize. Let's see you making good on all that talent!

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Today's Results

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Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid (Madrid)

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Mardy Fish def. Steve Darcis, 6-1 6-4

Simone Bolelli def. Nicolas Almagro, 7-6 (7-4) 6-1

Gilles Simon def. Igor Andreev, 4-6 6-1 7-6 (9-7)

Marin Cilic def. Olivier Rochus, 6-3 7-5

Tommy Robredo def. Andreas Seppi, 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-3

Tomas Berdych def. Rainer Schuettler, 6-1 6-2

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Tennis.com Zurich Open (Zurich)

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Maria Kirilenko def. Daniela Hantuchova, 7-5 6-2

Victoria Azarenka def. Amélie Mauresmo, 6-2 6-1

Alona Bondarenko def. Alizé Cornet, 1-6 6-3 7-6 (8-6)