Psychic Tennis

For a change, I'm not going to talk about Roger's match today, and I'm going to talk about something different.

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Okay, that's a lie. I'm going to talk about Roger's match. But not exclusively. And that's a new and exciting step!

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Due to gainful employment, I didn't actually get to see it, but I was following the scores online. In retrospect, it was probably good for me to be following the match in an environment where I can't be too vocal about it - it kind of helps keep the stress under control. (Sort of... not entirely!) Also, there were periods where I couldn't check the score - because, being at work, I had to actually work - and when I came back, on the whole, Roger had broken and was ahead, or was at least on serve. I didn't have any nasty surprises!

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My psychic tennis skills kicked in a little bit - man, if I actually WAS psychic, I'm sure using my skills to hone in on what was going on in a tennis match would be a spectacular waste of them! - and I had a sinking feeling during the first part of the second set... but then it was overridden with calm, because I knew, I KNEW, that Roger would fix it. I think that might be more to do with the fact that he'd won the first set, and thus had a bit of leeway... if he'd been a set and a break down, I would have panicked, psychic skills or no psychic skills! Though it was kind of weird, during the second set breaker... even when Berdych was 3-0, 3-1 ahead, and later, when he had set points, I knew Roger was going to win. I just knew.

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So I'm starting to freak myself out a bit here. But maybe it's because I've matched so many Roger matches that I sort of get the pattern of them, if that makes sense... I don't think I want to lay claim to any sort of paranormal power!

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But a match that I did see and would like to devote some space to was the match between Novak Djokovic and Lleyton Hewitt.

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If we had seen the Djokovic of today playing against the Hewitt of his heyday, 2000-01, I think this would have been a really, really interesting match. As it was, it was pretty interesting. I don't know about the game, necessarily, but I think Hewitt certainly has the temperament to unsettle Djokovic. He's like a terrier. One of the things the Australian media always says about Hewitt is that he's a fighter, and I think it's certainly true. Much as I think he could use a personality transplant off the court, his doggedness on court is certainly an asset.

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So if we'd seen that Hewitt of 2000-01, a Hewitt who'd been able to consolidate and cement those breaks of serve he had in the first two sets, I think this would have been a fabulous, fabulous match - and I think Hewitt would have come out on top.

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Certainly Hewitt provided a sterner test for Djokovic than he's had in his first few rounds. I was gunning for Tursunov to get through - if he had, he would have met Djokovic in the third round, and that would have been very interesting - but alas, it was not to be. It will be really interesting to see how Djokovic fares in the quarters. He's playing Ferrer, who took out Ferrero in four sets. (It looked like a really good match from the stats - I wish they had shown it!) Now, Ferrer had a great year last year - a real breakthrough year, if you ask me. And in that year, Ferrer and Djokovic met four times.

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The result? They split it. Two each.

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They only met once in a Grand Slam - at the US Open, in the semis, where Djokovic won in straight sets. But at their last meeting, at the Tennis Masters Cup, Ferrer won in straight sets, 6-4 6-4.

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Now, in Djokovic's defence, he had a spectacularly awful tournament there. He lost to everyone. I think it's pretty safe to say he played too much tennis in 2007 and he was buggered by the time the Masters came around. But still, that doesnt take away from the significance of the match for Ferrer. Mentally, that should be a huge boost.

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Confidence, for Ferrer, is really the issue, I feel. I haven't seen a great deal of his matches - he's never really made a huge impact at the Australian Open or at Wimbledon, which is basically the extent of the Australian television coverage - but, hey! maybe it's my psychic tennis skills kicking in again. Who knows? This guy once described himself as the worst top 100 player in history. He doesn't strike me as having that Djokovic/Tipsarevic brand of fearlessness. But when facing a higher-ranked player, he cannot be afraid. That is tennis suicide.

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I think Ferrer can win - and win easily - if he is not afraid. Federer once said, 'A man who wins is a man who believes he can,' and David could do worse than to take that advice!

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So vamos, David! I would love to see him continue his great run. He made it to the semis of the US Open and the final of the Masters Cup - it'd be great to see him go through to the semis here. (There, of course, he will have to stop, due to extreme Federer presence, but I'd like to see him there!) And God, I want someone to put Djokovic in his place - or at least give him a scare. I appreciate that's he's a great tennis player, but he's just so... arrogant about it. I was so glad when he got that time violation warning last night. Nadal used to be just as bad in that area - sometimes he still is. Tennis should be about tennis, not about using the situations to your advantage. Like all those pretend injuries Djokovic has. That's not on. And if Federer comes out and says something negative about someone else - like he did about Djokovic and his injuries - then you know it's serious, because he hardly ever does anything like that.

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But if Djokovic does get through to the semis... I hope Roger doesn't just beat him. I hope he spanks him, and spanks him good. Djokovic could be this year what Roddick was last year. Roddick's team were all like, 'yes, well, we're a huge threat,' and then Federer totally demolished him in that semi. So if Djokovic gets through, with all his big talking... I hope Roger flattens him like he did Roddick!

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Australian Open Results - Day 8

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Tomas Berdych, 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 6-3

Novak Djokovic def. Lleyton Hewitt, 7-5 6-3 6-3

David Ferrer def. Juan Carlos Ferrero, 7-5 3-6 6-4 6-1

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

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Womens Draw

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Venus Williams def. Marta Domachowska, 6-4 6-4

Ana Ivanovic def. Caroline Wozniacki, 6-1 7-6 (7-2)

Daniela Hantuchova def. Maria Kirilenko, 1-6 6-4 6-4

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Nadia Petrova, 1-6 7-5 6-0

This Year's Marcos

Like I've said about four billion times, I'm not very nationalistic when it comes to tennis. I go for the personalities, not the Aussies. But damn if I wasn't cheering my lungs out for Casey Dellacqua last night!

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I love a good underdog. Maybe Casey is this tournament's Marcos...? (Though I have another contender for the position, who I'll talk about later.) She played a fabulous match last night against Amelie Mauresmo - really, really fabulous. One of the things people say about Federer (and I'd imagine they say it about Justine Henin as well) is that he often defeats opponents before they come onto the court, because they're afraid of him. I think that might be one of the keys to his game, actually - he's said before that he respects everyone, but fears no one.

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Well, Casey Dellacqua played with no fear last night, and that's what won her the match. It must be a bit overwhelming, when you know your opponent is expected to pound you into the ground, but at the same time, I can see how it gives you a certain level of freedom. No pressure. No expectations. You can just give it your all and see how you go.

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I really like her game, especially when she goes for the lines. She hit some sweet shots last night, some awesome winners. But her real strength was that she just didn't go away mentally. A lot of low-ranked players, coming up against a Mauresmo and losing the first set, might give up. But she didn't. Maybe it was the strength of her first two matches that kept her going - they both went three sets, and both times she won 8-6 in the third. The match against Schnyder must have been especially heartening - she lost the first set, but won the match.

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What I really like about her is that she has an 'I can do it' mentality. You could see it - she steeled herself, went for her shots, and came up with the goods.

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She plays Jelena Jankovic next. Jankovic is one of the best players in the world, but she is carrying that hamstring injury from the Hopman Cup and she hasn't been playing spectacularly well here - her first round match against Paszek went to 12-10 in the third. So can Casey do it again? We'll see...

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Meanwhile, what a great match from Philipp Kohlschreiber! He is my other contender for the role of Marcos this year. It wasn't necessarily a poor match from Roddick - not one of his best, but not awful - but Kohlschreiber played awesomely. He's started off this year great, with that win in Auckland, and I think he might shoot up the rankings a bit this year. Top twenty for sure, if not top ten. His backhand is gorgeous. It's not the driving weapon that Safin's is - which is probably my favourite backhand in the game after Federer's - but he places it so well, and knows how to spread out the court... at this rate, he's scheduled to meet Rafa in the quarters, and if Kohlschreiber keeps playing like this, I think he's a real chance of taking him out - which I confess I would like to see! I have a soft spot for Rafa, but it's nothing compared to my one for Federer, and I don't want him gaining any more ranking points here, thank you very much!

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And go Hsieh Su-wei! A qualifier, into the round of sixteen! Didn't I pick her weeks ago? Didn't I? How good am I?

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Australian Open Results - Day 5

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Men's Draw

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Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Andy Roddick, 6-4 3-6 7-6 (11-9) 6-7 (3-7) 8-6

Rafael Nadal def. Gilles Simon, 7-5 6-2 6-3

Richard Gasquet def. Igor Andreev, 6-3 6-2 4-6 6-4

Nikolay Davydenko def. Marc Gicquel, 6-3 6-2 6-3

Jarkko Nieminen def. Mardy Fish, 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 6-1

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-3 6-4 6-2

Mikhail Youzhny def. Ivo Karlovic, 6-2 6-4 6-2

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Stefan Koubek, 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 5-7 8-6

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Women's Draw

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Justine Henin def. Francesca Schiavone, 7-5 6-4

Jelena Jankovic def. Virginie Razzano, 6-2 4-6 6-1

Maria Sharapova def. Elena Vesnina, 6-3 6-0

Serena Williams def. Victoria Azarenka, 6-3 6-4

Elena Dementieva def. Shahar Peer, 6-2 6-0

Nicole Vaidisova def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-3 6-4

Casey Dellacqua def. Amélie Mauresmo, 3-6 6-4 6-4

Hsieh Su-Wei def. Aravane Rezai, 6-2 6-7 (3-7) 6-4