Surprise Package

Zheng Jie. Had you heard of her? I had, vaguely, in a doubles context, but I had never given her much thought. Every single round this year I have predicted her demise. I have fallen into a trap and started attributing her victories to her opponent's poor performances. Subconsciously, of course, because this is not the kind of behaviour I would normally countenance. Even though she's been pulling huge upsets, I haven't really given her any thought. Her victory over Ana Ivanovic I thought about it terms of Ana losing, not Jie winning.

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What a mistake.

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I am not going to make that mistake any more. Because Zheng Jie thoroughly deserved that victory over Vaidisova. Vaidisova hasn't been a form player this year, sure, but you don't get to the quarter finals at Wimbledon by losing. She played some fine matches. And Jie outplayed her, plain and simple. And she has pledged all her prize money to the victims of the Chinese earthquake. How lovely is that?

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What a story this year's Wimbledon has been for Asian women. Zheng is through to the semis - but how about Tanasugarn? She played an excellent match - and I would venture that if she had been playing someone that wasn't a Williams, she might just have won. I've never really appreciated how clever she is. She isn't big and she isn't the strongest girl on tour, but she regularly had Venus pinned back behind the baseline with pure depth of shot. Even though she lost in straight sets, she had more break points than Venus did - she just wasn't able to capitalise on them. Nevertheless, she should be very proud of how she played. Tammy T played a very, very fine tournament. She's one of the veterans on tour - and it's nice to see the players who have been around a while still improving.

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Dementieva and Petrova are also considered veterans of the tour, even though they're only in the mid twenties. That was an interesting match. Petrova could easily have got away with it if her forehand was firing. I can't say I was very impressed with Dementieva at all. How on earth has she got to #5 in the world, and stayed around their so consistently, while being such a headcase? Seriously, this always happens. That quarter final against Safina was not an anomaly. Here, again, she was up 5-1 in a set, and let Petrova back in it. I appreciate that nerves are always a factor in tennis, but surely there should be a point where you just settle down?

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Her serve is, I grant you, vastly improved, but I don't see anything about her game that is super special, not with the crippling factor of her nerves. So how has she maintained this ranking for all these years? I just don't get it.

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Dementieva is through to the semis now - how, I'm not quite sure - but I don't see her getting any further. Impressive as Zheng has been as well, I am once again going to predict her demise. (Hey, maybe that'll mean she'll win!) I don't think much is going to get in the way of the Williams/Williams showdown. And who would win that one...? That's anyone's guess. And I'm not even going to attempt to predict it until it becomes a reality. Rather inevitable, I suppose... but you never know! I would venture, however, that if one of the challengers pulls an upset, it will be Zheng. I think Venus is going to eat Elena D alive.

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The commentators on Channel 9 the other day were saying that if Venus and Serena played more tournaments, they would be #1 and #2 easily. Even though the top four seeds went out relatively early in this tournament, I still think that's very unfair. Venus and Serena may own grass, but I believe they were the ones who crashed out early in the French... and there are some sweet, sweet hardcourt players in the women's game. Even though they look like they own Wimbledon, I think suggesting they own the women's game - or they could if they wanted to - is a bit unfair.

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I heard Serena say once that she's never had to be the kind of player that had to play eleven million tournaments to be #1. And sure, Venus and Serena don't play a lot of tournaments - but a lot of the girls at the top aren't exactly playing every second either. The commentators also suggested that the only player really capable of challenging them was Sharapova. I think the Serbian girls would have something to say about that - and a lot of the other Russians as well. I don't think Kuznetsova would like that suggestion very much. And I wouldn't mind seeing a showdown between one of the Williams girls and Dinara Safina. I'd like to see them outhit her.

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Men's quarters today... time for my bold predictions! Federer to take out Ancic - pretty obvious, it seems to me. Quite apart from the brilliance of Roger, Mario must be buggered after that marathon against Nando Verdasco. So Federer there... because he is very brilliant and he'll give Ancic the respect he deserves.

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Then I'm going to pick Safin ove Lopez. I don't think the five set Baghdatis match will affect Feliciano too much - certainly not physically, anyway - but Marat has the hot hand at the moment. It would be awesome to see him in his first Wimbledon semi final - and he can do it. This match hangs on his racquet. Actually, you can say that about any Safin match, pretty much. He is the only player, I would contest, that would even have the slightest chance of taking down Federer in full flight. On grass, I don't know if that's true, but I don't think there are many players out there as talented as Safin. If the rankings were based purely on raw talent, he'd be ahead of Rafa and Djokovic, certainly.

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Schuettler to beat Clement, simply because I want Clement to get to the semis and I seem to have a total inability to predict this quarter.

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Now Murray/Rafa... that is going to be SERIOUSLY interesting. Normally I would say Rafa every time. But I'm the tiniest bit concerned about his knee... and Murray has got the crowd behind him. I don't think that will affect Rafa - he's so tough mentally, unlike Richou - but it will affect Murray, and that is the telling factor. He believes in his chances. And if Rafa's carrying an injury, and if Murray can consistently pull out shots like that insane MacGyver pass down the line he did to win the third set, then we're in for a match and a half. So I'm picking Murray. Barely, but Murray.

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My record hasn't been particularly illustrious so far in picking matches this tournament... but I have been pretty decent at picking upsets. I think the only one I got dreadfully wrong was Nadal/Youzhny... so let's see how we go, eh?

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Wimbledon Results - Day #8

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Women's Draw

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Serena Williams def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-4 6-0

Venus Williams def. Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6-4 6-3

Elena Dementieva def. Nadia Petrova, 6-1 6-7 (6-8) 6-3

Jie Zheng def. Nicole Vaidisova, 6-2 5-7 6-1

Tennis in the Kitchen

Well, well, how about Michael Llodra at the Adelaide International? And here I (and everyone else) was thinking that Nieminen was a safe bet. He played fantastically today. I think what really won it for him was that he played very clean tennis - I think it was something like 25 winners to 13 unforced errors. That said, Nieminen played clean as well, but he didn't have the winners to match. Nieminen seemed a little inhibited today, playing cautiously, well within what he can do. Perhaps it's because he hasn't been training so much, what with being on military service for Finland...? Llodra, on the other hand, didn't miss much. He saw the ball, lined it up and wham! second career ATP title.

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Though I have to say it. I can't not. Michael Llodra, why do you have that hideous moustache?

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Now, I will be the first to admit that I am not a moustache fan. Don't like them. But this one of Llodra's is particularly hideous. It takes over his entire face, like some kind of ruthless barbarian invader. It's enormous. It's foul. Why, Michael, why? And surely it gets annoying in a sweaty game like tennis? I'm sure he never had it before (though I could be wrong - I don't really follow Llodra.) Why did he decide that the moustachio was the way to go?

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Oh well. Some things we may never know. And, fashion errors aside, for a guy that only made it into the main draw after Richard Gasquet pulled out, Michael Llodra has done pretty well for himself.

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Though there was one other thing I thought was particularly crap about today's final. Nothing to do with the tennis or the players - but the commentators! I know Roger Rasheed is a tennis guy (he used to coach Princess Lleyton, I think) but Bruce McAvaney has irritated me year in, year out. Although, ironically, it was Rasheed who came off as the bigger idiot today, in my opinion. There was one point - I think Nieminen was either trying to get back into it, or maybe he was down and out and Llodra was pressing his advantage, I can't remember - when Brainiac Rasheed comments, (from memory) 'well, that's what tennis is about. It's about getting in the other guy's kitchen, and...'

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Now, I think I understand what Rasheed was getting at - how you have to press your advantage mentally as well as physically, getting in the other guy's head, so to speak - but kitchen? KITCHEN? Where did that one come from? Since when was someone's mind their kitchen? I suppose we can just count ourselves lucky that he didn't press the metaphor. 'It's about getting in the other guy's kitchen, eating all his food, using all his pots and pans and smashing all his dishes after cooking yourself a nice curry, so when he gets home from his long day at tennis practice, his kitchen is a mess and he can't cook anything, although he is tormented by the lingering aroma of delicious curry. THAT's what tennis is all about.'

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Honestly.

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The Medibank International started in Sydney today (I'm going to the men's final, and I'm very excited!) although it doesn't really properly start till tomorrow - mainly qualifiers today, although there was a couple of interesting main draw women's matches. A tight match between Lucie Safarova and Alicia Molik that I wish I could have watched (beckoned away by gainful employment... such are my woes) and a bad loss from Nadia Petrova to Sybille Bammer. I've liked Nadia Petrova a lot since the fun of last year's Hopman Cup, so it's been sad to see her ranking slide. Here's hoping she gets it together at the Australian Open. She was the fifth seed there last year, but I don't think she'll be anything like that this year.

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I was sad to see Carlos Moya lose in a nailbiter to Rafael Nadal in the semis at Chennai (I like Rafa, but I like Carlos more!) and even sadder to see Stan Wawrinka lose in the final of Doha to Andy Murray - though I suppose Murray was always going to be the favourite for that one. Unfortunately, he also comes across as abrasive and obnoxious, and Stan seems like a lovely guy. Oh well. Personality is a big part of tennis, but I guess no one said you have to have a NICE personality.

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Though Federer does, and in the end, he's the real figurehead for men's tennis. So I guess he's all that matters in the end!

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(Unfortunately, the figurehead for women's tennis is probably Maria Sharapova, and the less said there...)

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Today's Results

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Next Generation Adelaide International (Adelaide)

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Michael Llodra def. Jarkko Nieminen, 6-3 6-4

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Qatar Exxonmobil Open (Doha)

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Andy Murray def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-4 4-6 6-2

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Chennai Open (Chennai)

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Rafael Nadal def. Carlos Moya, 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (7-1)

Mikhail Youzhny def. Marin Cilic, 6-2 6-2

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Medibank International (Sydney)

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Women's Draw

Sybille Bammer def. Nadia Petrova, 7-5 6-3

Lucie Safarova def. Alicia Molik, 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (12-10)

Virginie Razzano def. Nicole Pratt, 6-2 6-1

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Moorilla Hobart International (Hobart)

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Casey Dellacqua def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 5-4 retired

Eleni Daniilidou def. Pauline Parmentier, 6-3 6-4

Elena Vesnina def. Akiko Morigami, 6-4 7-5