Goodbye to Super Mario

Mario Ancic is living proof that not every tennis player's story is a fairy tale.

He was a world #1 junior. He made the boys' finals of the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2000, losing to Andy Roddick and the marvellous Nicolas Mahut respectively. He was Croatia's heir to Goran Ivanisevic, and like Ivanisevic, it seemed that he had a destiny.

He beat Roger Federer at Wimbledon in his first ever Grand Slam match, and I bet there's a few guys out there that will tell you that that is something which is a bit hard to do. He won a Challenger in Hamburg in 2003, which seems like a little thing... until you realise that the other finalist was some dude called Rafael Nadal. He made the Wimbledon semis in 2004. He won a bronze medal in doubles with Ivan Ljubicic at the Athens Olympics.

And that's not even his career years yet. His career high ranking was #7, and he deserved it. Mario Ancic was a fantastic player. He won titles at St Petersburg and s'Hertogenbosch (twice). He was so, so close to making the Masters Cup a couple of times. He was basically made of pure awesome and the train did not seem like it was about to stop.

But then came the monster that every tennis player fears. Injury. Illness.

Glandular fever. Broken bones. An ongoing back complaint. The mind was willing but the flesh was weak. Though weak is not the right word for it - Ancic forced his way back up to about #24 in the rankings for a while there. But he was never the same again.

Yesterday, Mario Ancic announced his retirement from professional tennis. At the age of 26, he is walking away from the sport. His body can no longer take it. The monsters won in this fairy tale. In terms of tennis, there is no happy ending here.

This does not mean that a) Ancic cannot be proud of his achievements, because he did really, really well in his time on tour, and b) that there are not bright things ahead for Ancic. From 2002-2008, Ancic was studying law as well as playing tennis, and he submitted his thesis on the legal underpinnings of the tour in 2008. He's probably one of the foremost experts in the world now on tennis and law, and I think that there is definitely a very, very excellent future for Ancic there. He might be done with playing the sport, but tennis and Ancic will continued to be linked for some time yet.

It's still really sad, though. It makes you realise that injury and illness can happen to any player out there - even the bright young things who seem to have all their career still ahead of them. We might not have seen much of him for the last few years, but we're still going to miss Mario Ancic. He was a big player with a big game and a big heart, and people like him will always, always be missed.

The Playing Field

Well, my boy James Ward didn't get too much further - his run stopped in the quarters - but it was still a champion effort for him. Well done Jimbo.

What runs like Ward's are making me aware of is the level of upsettage that is going on in men's tennis at the moment. Sure, at the Slams it's basically the Hispano-Suisse domination machine rolling onwards like a mighty boulder, but in these 250 tournaments we are seeing a very high level of crazy shenanigans going on.

Look at the tournaments this week. The final in Eastbourne is between the #5 seed and the #8 seed. Not a bad result, but not exactly what you'd expect. In s'Hertogenbosch, we have the #7 seed and an unseeded player - and no player seeded higher than #7 made it to the semis. The same thing happened at Queen's, and, to a degree, at Halle. And even at Roland Garros - Nadal and Soderling were pretty decent semi finalists, but Melzer and Berdych? I don't think anyone had any money on that.

What does this prove? I'm not quite sure. Maybe the playing field is evening out a bit. Maybe there isn't quite such a divide between the top ten/twenty and the dudes below. Or maybe I'm just making this up. Who knows. But it's going to be an interesting phenomenon to watch - particularly, I think, in the smaller tournaments - for a little while...

Seed Massacre

Okay, what is with this seed massacre going on in s'Hertogenbosch and Eastbourne this week? It's crazy! It's covering both the men's and women's tournaments, and it seems that no one is immune. Is it grass? Or is it just that we're having a ker-razy week?

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The only draw which seems even a little immune is the men's draw at Eastbourne, we have the #2, #4 and #8 seeds in the semis - but still, they're hardly the four seeds you'd expect! That's Tursunov, Santoro and Garcia-Lopez... and a qualifier, Frank Dancevic. What's the bet that Dancevic goes on to win the title? From memory, he's already knocked out the top seed (which was Andreev, I think). It looks like we're having a bit of a misrule hangover from Roland Garros.

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In the women at Eastbourne, the only seed left standing is #6, which is Caroline Wozniacki. (Odd, isn't it, that the women's draw seems to have attracted a lot more high-end players than the men - Dementieva as a top seed has a lot more pulling power as a name than Andreev). I really would like see Caro go on to win the tournament, and considering the rest of her opposition consists of Razzano, Bartoli and Wozniak, she should be able to do it... though Bartoli is a former Wimbledon finalist, I suppose, and has game on grass. Still, if Caroline can't pull this one off you practically have to write the tournament off as a moment of WTA insanity.

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...which is mirrored over in s'Hertogenbosch, where only top seed Dinara Safina remains standing - and only after a real battle against Daniela Hantuchova. It would be great for her to win this title to get her confidence back up after the Chernobyl incident in the Roland Garros final, and like Wozniacki, she should be able to do it: her opposition is Tanasugarn, Wickmayer and Schiavone, all players she should theoretically be able to beat with one hand tied behind her back. So here's hoping she does.

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And our last bastion of normalcy in the men's s'Hertogenbosch draw is fourth seed Rainer Schuettler - and even though he's the seed, I don't think there's any way in hell I'd pick him to win. Even if he did make the Wimbledon semis last year. Up against him is Becker, Navarro (who put an absolute pounding on defending champ Ferrer) and Sluiter. I think this one might be Becker's. It'd be nice to see him come up through qualies like that - and he really does have a great game.

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So, in conclusion, there's general madness, and I think the only thing you can really attribute it to is the miniscule amount of play that happens on this surface. And why is that? Wimbledon is probably the most important event of the year! Why does Roland Garros get two or three months of lead up clay tournaments when Wimbledon only gets two weeks?

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Today's Results

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Ordina Open (s'Hertogenbosch)

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Men's Draw

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Benjamin Becker def. Michael Llodra, 7-6 (8-6) 7-5

Rainer Schuettler def. Jeremy Chardy, 7-6 (9-7) 3-6 7-6 (13-11)

Ivan Navarro def. David Ferrer, 6-4 6-2

Raemon Sluiter def. Dudi Sela, 4-6 6-4 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Dinara Safina def. Daniela Hantuchova, 1-6 6-4 6-3

Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Flavia Pennetta, 2-6 6-3 6-3

Yanina Wickmayer def. Kristina Barroi, 6-1 6-1

Francesca Schiavone def. Olga Govortsova, 6-1 6-3

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AEGON International (Eastbourne)

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Men's Draw

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Frank Dancevic def. Leonardo Mayer, 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 7-5

Fabrice Santoro def. Ivan Ljubicic, 3-6 4-2 retired

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Janko Tipsarevic, 6-4 3-6 6-3

Dmitry Tursunov def. Denis Istomin, 7-6 (8-) 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Virginie Razzano def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 7-6 (7-5) 7-5

Marion Bartoli def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-1 6-4

Caroline Wozniacki def. Ekaterina Makarova, 6-3 6-2

Aleksandra Wozniak def. Vera Dushevina, 6-1 6-0

Nice Guys Finishing First

You know who I've missed - and who I think the tennis world has missed? Marcos Baghdatis.

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I assume he's been having injury troubles, because I haven't seen him around for a while. This is a crying shame, because not only is he a nice player to watch, he just brings so much extra flair to the court. Maybe I'm a little biased, being Australian and thus privy to the massive Greek crowds that support him so vocally at the Aussie Open, but he really brings a lot of personality to the table, with his big cheeky smile and effervescent attitude. The world needs more players like Marcos.

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I say all this on account of Marcos suddenly turning up again in s'Hertogenbosch and winning a match - a good one too, knocking out second seed Tommy Robredo. I mean, sure, Tommy Robredo is Spanish, not Rafa and thus probably allergic to grass (even if David Ferrer won the title here last year) and Marcos is a former Wimbledon semi-finalist, but whatever. Marcos has been away for a while (I think he was in the first round of Roland Garros, but I don't really remember) and it's nice to see him win one.

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The same thing is true, to a lesser degree, of Ivan Ljubicic. He's played some excellent tennis this year after a big slump, and it is totally great to see him playing well. He's an excellent statesman of the game and probably one of the most eloquent tennis players I've ever seen, and I like it when nice people do well. It makes the world seem a little bit fairer.

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Today's Results

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Ordina Open (s'Hertogenbosch)

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Men's Draw

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Marcos Baghdatis def. Tommy Robredo, 7-5 6-2

Benjamin Becker def. Fernando Verdasco, 7-5 7-6 (7-4)

Michael Llodra def. Kristof Vliegen, 6-2 6-3

Dudi Sela def. Igor Kunitsyn, 6-4 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Dinara Safina def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 6-0 6-3

Alona Bondarenko def. Stefanie Foretz, 6-4 6-7 (1-7) 6-3

Nathalie Dechy def. Dominika Cibulkova, 6-3 3-6 6-3

Flavia Pennetta def. Ksenia Pervak, 6-1 6-1

Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Iveta Benesova, 6-3 6-1

Yanina Wickmayer def. Sorana Cirstea, 6-4 6-3

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AEGON International (Eastbourne)

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Men's Draw

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Frank Dancevic def. Igor Andreev, 7-6 (8-6) 6-2

Julien Benneteau def. Mikhail Youzhny, 4-6 6-5 6-4

Fabrice Santoro def. Robby Ginepri, 4-6 6-4 6-1

Ivan Ljubicic def. Joshua Goodall, 6-3 7-5

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Yen-hsun Lu, 6-4 6-7 (0-7) 7-6 (7-3)

Janko Tipsarevic def. Brydan Klein, 7-6 (7-5) 6-1

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Women's Draw

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Li Na def. Elena Baltacha, 6-2 7-5

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Urszula Radwanska, 6-1 6-1

Anna Chakvetadze def. Jelena Jankovic, 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-2

Marion Bartoli def. Gisela Dulko, 6-3 6-1

Sybille Bammer def. Anne Keothavong, 6-3 6-2

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-1

Caroline Wozniacki def. Alisa Kleybanova, 6-3 6-2

Ekaterina Makarova def. Jarmila Groth, 7-6 (9-7) 6-1

Amelie Mauresmo def. Vera Zvonareva, 6-3 1-6 6-3

Vera Dushevina def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-7 (6-8) 7-5 6-4

Aleksandra Wozniak def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-0 6-3

Ole!

Eastbourne, June 1972. Andres Gimeno of Spain wins the title. No Spaniard has won a grass court title since.

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..until last week, when Rafa Nadal won Queen's, and now there's seemingly an avalanche of Spanish guys winning on grass.

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I say avalanche. I mean two. We have Rafa at Queen's and now Ferru at s'Hertogenbosch. Even though I haven't actually seen the matches, I have been SO impressed with Ferru this week. He said in his post-match presser that 'of course' clay is still his favourite surface, but I wonder whether or not he should think about revising that. I love Ferrer's game on hard courts - and it's not like he hasn't been successful with it, either. He didn't have to make it to the final of the Tennis Masters Cup last year (which he did) to prove he's got game. And now that he's found his feet and has been so dominant this week on grass, I think we might just have the makings of a spectacular all-round player here.

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I'd be watching my back, if I were Nikolay Davydenko. David's a-coming.

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It'll be interesting to see how Ferru backs this up at Wimbledon. I don't think playing through to the final will affect him in terms of fatigue at all - look at his insane leadup to Roland Garros! The fact does remain, though, that Ferru was the top seed here this week, and it wasn't like Gicquel was really a tough match up for him. Gasquet was the real grass court danger man in the draw, and he got bumped off early... though that said, you can never underestimate Ancic on grass, and Ferru dealt with him with aplomb. But if Ferru can back this up at Wimbledon against top notch quality players, then... watch out. Vamos.

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Let's see whose quarter he's going to be in at Wimbledon... here we are. He has a potential quarter final match up with Federer. I don't see him getting past that one - and we all know who I'd be supporting in any case - but I like his chances of making it that far. He could have maybe Andreev in the second round and Ancic in the third... and perhaps Berdych in the fourth. All difficult matches, but if Ferru plays the way he's been playing, he could take out any of those guys in straight sets.

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I'm going to save my full draw analysis for tomorrow, which is the English tennis summer's equivalent to Australia's Boring Sunday. Think of that as a sneak preview... because my draw analyses are sought after worldwide, and stuff. Oh yeah.

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Meanwhile, I was two from two on finals, because Dr Ivo won over Verdasco in Nottingham, saving a match point along the way. Hey, imagine if Verdasco had won! That would make it THREE Spanish titles! More on that in a minute... back to Dr Ivo. I have this image of him in my head, which I am positive is wrong, of him as this big, sort of dopey guy, all serve and nothing else. In fact, it must be wrong, because serve and serve alone will not let you win a tennis match. And I think that the notion of a dumb professional tennis player is obviously erroneous - tennis is a test of intelligence and psychology as much as anything else.

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Is this the curse of the big server, to be pigeonholed like this? I remember it happened a bit to A-Rod when he first came on the scene. I think it happens to Guccione too. To what extent is it warranted and to what extent is it totally unfair?

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I suppose that's one of those matters that can only be settled on a case by case basis.

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Now to Verdasco. Big kudos to him for making it to (and almost winning) the final. Honestly, these Spanish boys... they're coming from everywhere! What are we going to do with them?

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I suppose the most interesting question is why no Spanish players have been particularly good on grass historically. I guess it's as simple as the fact that these guys grow up on clay and hardly ever play on grass... but hey, so did Federer, and he plays okay on grass. Just okay. Not like, brilliant or anything. It's not like he's the best player EVER on grass or anything like that.

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So why now? Is the Nadal-Ferrer-almost-Verdasco almost trifecta a hint of things to come, or is it a fluke?

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Perhaps we will find out at Wimbledon. Remember how there were five French guys in the round of sixteen at Roland Garros? Somehow, I don't think the Brits are going to repeat the feat... so maybe the Spaniards are the ones to keep an eye on!

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Today's Results

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Ordina Open (s'Hertogenbosch)

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David Ferrer def. Marc Gicquel, 6-4 6-2

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Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Dinara Safina, 7-5 6-3

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Slazenger Open (Nottingham)

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Ivo Karlovic def. Fernando Verdasco, 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (10-8)

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International Women's Open (Eastbourne)

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Agnieszka Radwanska def. Nadia Petrova, 6-4 6-7 (11-13) 6-4

An Unlikely Eight

Well, don't we have an unlikely set of semi-finalists in s'Hertogenbosch? And in Nottingham? Nottingham less so, but these are a bunch of guys you wouldn't expect to see, say, in the second week at Wimbledon (mostly.) So... it's interesting.

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This may be a testament more to the calibre of players playing this week more than anything else - Federer, Nadal and Djokovic all conspicuously absent, along with grasscourt heavyweights like Roddick and Hewitt. The one man who was playing this week that I would normally put money on to reach the second round of Wimbledon, Richard Gasquet, got knocked out early. But consider this: Rafa Nadal, who has reached the final of Wimbledon for the past two years, has only just won his first grasscourt title. That says something about how difficult it is to do well on grass. So it will be interesting to see which two of these eight walks away with the prize.

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Let's look at Nottingham first. In the first semi final we have Gael Monfils, recent French Open semi finalist, and Ivo Karlovic, defending champion. I'd venture to say that whoever wins this semi will win the match. It's hard for three set matches to be real throwdown affairs - there is only so long a match like that can go on for. (That is why five set matches are so preferable, in my opinion... they're gladiatorial, and they're amazing tests of endurance, both mental and physical.) Dr Ivo will have the edge with his monstrous serve - we must remember the close shave that Rafa had with him over at Queen's - but Monfils has such flairs of unpredictable brilliance. If Monfils plays like he does in the first and second sets of his semi at Roland Garros against Federer, I'd back him. Otherwise, I might have to come down on the side of Dr Ivo's dull but effective percentage tennis.

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In the other semi we have Fernando Verdasco and Marin Cilic. Verdasco is the higher seed - he's seeded #3 - but I've been quite impressed with Cilic of late. His win at the Australian Open over Gonzalez was nothing short of remarkable, and as he grows in confidence, I think he's going to be a real danger. However, Verdasco has a psychological advantage over him, I think. They played in the semis of St Petersburg last year, a match which Verdasco won. But Verdasco's quarter-final win over Simon seems much scratchier than Cilic's win over Johansson... so I think I'm going to go for the underdog in this one. So my pick for the Nottingham final is Karlovic/Cilic.

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Now, in s'Hertogenbosch, we have four players that are really not grasscourters... Gicquel, maybe, but definitely not the other three. We have Ferrer against Del Potro, and Gicquel against Canas. You've got to back Ferru for the title - especially after he had such a great victory over Ancic, who definitely is a grasscourt player. Del Potro is good, but he isn't exactly Captain Grass, and he has a long way to go before he becomes the player he has the talent to be. He's only a littl'un... not in stature, obviously, but in age, certainly. So I'm saying Ferru, and Ferru easily, because he's awesome and in form and a cool guy, and stuff. Vamos Ferru!

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The other one will be interesting. I think people often fall into the trap of categorising Willy Canas as a claycourter because he's Argentinian, but his best results have come on hard courts. That doesn't make him a grasscourter, but I think it makes him more of one than, say, Nicolas Almagro. I can't say I know a whole lot about Gicquel... I do remember that, ah, incident with him and Benjamin Becker's serve at Halle last year, wherein he ended up in a lot of pain and, although he beat Becker (and that pesky 129km serve, hehehe) he had to retire against Nieminen. I think every man that was watching that day must have winced in unison.

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Just for that, I'm gunning for Gicquel, because I feel sorry for him, and also because I don't like Willy very much. So Ferru/Gicquel for the s'Hertogenbosch final.

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But it's odd, isn't it? Karlovic is probably the closest to a grass courter we have in either of these semis. It's heavy on the Latins, and that's a bit unusual, when it comes down to it. Not that it's bad, but it's definitely weird.

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Today's Results

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Ordina Open (s'Hertogenbosch)

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David Ferrer def. Mario Ancic, 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Juan Martin del Potro def. Arnaud Clement, 2-6 6-3 6-1

Guillermo Canas def. Viktor Troicki, 6-2 6-2

Marc Gicquel def. Jurgen Melzer, 6-3 6-4

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Elena Dementieva def. Sorana Cirstea, 6-2 6-4

Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Michaella Krajicek, 3-6 6-3 6-4

Alona Bondarenko def. Anna Chakvetadze, 6-2 3-6 6-2

Dinara Safina def. Katerina Srebotnik, walkover

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Slazenger Open (Nottingham)

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Gael Monfils def. Vince Spadea, 7-6 (7-4) 6-2

Ivo Karlovic def. Andreas Seppi, 6-3 3-6 6-4

Fernando Verdasco def. Gilles Simon, 6-3 2-6 6-3

Marin Cilic def. Thomas Johansson, 6-1 6-2

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International Women's Open (Eastbourne)

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Samantha Stosur def. Caroline Wozniacki, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4

Nadia Petrova def. Ekaterina Makarova, 6-4 6-3

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Gisela Dulko, 7-5 7-5

Marion Bartoli def. Alisa Kleybanova, 6-3 6-3

Iron Man

Again, not much to report this week... none of the really big boys are playing, which has meant my interest has dropped significantly. I think this makes me a pretty vapid tennis fan, really... no Roger, no Rafa, I lose interest. And it's not that there aren't good players playing this week - Ferrer, for one, Gasquet, for another. I'm just shallow.

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Not that Richou, baby Fed, will be playing any more this week... he went down badly to Marc Gicquel. Not that he lost heavily - it was tight - but he lost to someone he shouldn't have. He is ten times the player that Gicquel is, especially on grass. What a shame. Richou is SO off his game. He needs to sit down with that basketball game scene in High School Musical if you ask me... because his head is NOT in the game.

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Disclaimer: I loathe High School Musical. Just so you know.

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David Ferrer is through, however, which is good. I saw him practice at the Australian Open this year, and damn can that boy scramble! (Not only that, he is rather nice looking... hence the standing and watching!) I would venture to say that he is the best returner on the circuit. I mean, there is always the Federer exception, and Djokovic (curse his name!) might give him a run for his money, but Ferrer really is fabulous. I'm not sure what his grass game is - I'm still not sure, what with not actually watching his match in s'Hertogenbosch, but I'm going to keep an eye on him at Wimbledon.

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Before the French Open started, I picked Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Ferrer as my semi finalists. I have no way of proving I did this because I wasn't blogging at that stage, so you'll just have to take my word for it, but still, I came pretty close! The big three are pretty much a given, and Ferrer was only one match away... I don't know if I'd back him at Wimbledon, but I really am very interested to see how he holds up. His most powerful weapon is the return, and grass is so fast, so I guess returning is harder (hence the points generally being so shorter) so if he can push his super-returningness into service there, he will be superb. Superb!

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He once described himself as the 'worst top hundred player of all time.' Now that he's #5 in the world, I think we can say pretty comprehensively that this is not true. I love Ferru's game. And he seems like such a nice kid as well. Actually, I would love to see him play doubles with Rafa - just for kicks. I think their games would be highly complementary - and they are the numbers #1 and #2 Spaniards, so it would be all nice too. Nadal has played with Robredo before, but I don't know if he's played with Ferru... I think they'd be awesome. In fact, if Rafa and David stay healthy, I think Spain is a dead cert for the Davis Cup this year. There are some awesome teams in the semis - the US are always strong, with Roddick and Blake and the Bryans, and the Russians are tough, and the Argentinians maybe the favourites, but I really think that Spain is untouchable if they have all their players. Can you imagine? You've got Rafa and Ferru for the singles, you have Robredo as well, and if it's on clay, you have Almagro too, and you have all those other guys about, like Verdasco. How can you compete with the depth of Spain?

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One of the other things I like about Ferru is that he is virtually untireable. Seriously, the guy is like the Energiser bunny. He has to be one of the fittest guys on tour (again, the Federer caveat in place!) He reminds me a bit of Hewitt back in the old days - he just doesn't stop. He played seven or eight straight weeks of tennis leading up to and including the French, I think - he played Valencia, Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Rome, Hamburg and I think Dusseldorf before Roland Garros, in which he reached the quarters. And it wasn't like he didn't go deep into these tournaments - he won Valencia, reached the final in Barcelona and was up there in nearly all of those tournaments. "Ferru" means iron in Catalan, and this man deserves that title more than anyone on the tour, in my opinion.

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And he seems to be such a lovely guy, too. He's blogged for the ATP a couple of times. He's not exactly the golden pen, but he comes across as so sweet. So go David! I'd love to see him win s'Hertogenbosch - and go deep at Wimbledon too. Vamos!

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Today's Results
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Ordina Open (s'Hertogenbosch)
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Mario Ancic def. Steve Darcis, 6-2 6-4
David Ferrer def. Massimo Dell'acqua, 6-2 7-6 (7-3)
Jurgen Melzer def. Igor Andreev, 6-4 1-6 6-1
Marc Gicquel def. Richard Gasquet, 7-5 7-6 (8-6)
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Sorana Cirstea def. Maria Kirilenko, 7-5 6-4
Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 6-3 6-3
Dinara Safina def. Camille Pin, 6-1 6-4
Anna Chakvetadze def. Angelique Kerber, 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-1)
Alona Bondarenko def. Marina Erakovic, 3-6 6-4 6-3
Alona Bondarenko def. Iveta Benesova, 6-4 4-6 6-4
Yung-jan Chan def. Sofia Arvidsson, 7-5 7-5
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Slazenger Open (Nottingham)
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Radek Stepanek def. John Isner, 6-3 6-2
Vince Spadea def. Alexander Slabinsky, 6-1 7-5
Gael Monfils def. Chris Guccione, 7-6 (7-4) 6-4
Eduardo Schwank def. Frederik Nielsen, 6-3 6-3
Gilles Simon def. Donald Young, 6-1 6-4
Samuel Groth def. Jamie Baker, 7-6 (9-7) 6-3
Fernando Verdasco def. Marcos Daniel, 6-4 7-6 (7-3)
Thomas Johansson def. Kei Nishikori, 7-5 retired
Alex Bogdanovic def. James Ward, 6-3 6-4
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International Women's Open (Eastbourne)
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Caroline Wozniacki def. Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-3 6-2
Ekaterina Makarova def. Vera Dushevina, 6-3 6-0
Olga Govortsova def. Nicole Vaidisova, 6-2 6-4
Virginie Razzano def. Kaia Kanepi, 6-3 6-4
Alisa Kleybanova def. Melanie South, 6-4 6-4
Sybille Bammer def. Alla Kudryavtseva, 7-6 (11-9) 1-6 7-5
Nadia Petrova def. Li Na, 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-3

Baby Fed

I don't get it. If you're a tennis player, and you're playing Wimbledon next week, and you want to play a tournament this week... why would you go all the way to the Netherlands when you can play in Nottingham?

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I mean, I guess it would be a bit unfair to all the people in s'Hertogenbosch if no one went there and everyone went to Nottingham instead. It just seems like an odd decision. But I guess it's not that far... if Rafa can go home to Mallorca to play golf when he was already right in England, then going to the Netherlands is nothing. Being Australian, I guess I forget about how small Europe is.

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And maybe it's to do with the type of grass or something... like the way Halle is played on the same type of grass as Wimbledon but Queen's on a different type.

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Okay, so I have very, very little to write about today.

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So I'm going to write a tiny bit about Richard Gasquet. He is playing in s'Hertogenbosch, so it's totally relevant and everything! Actually, he was what got me musing about playing in s'Hertogenbosch versus Nottingham... he won Nottingham once (or was it twice?) but he's playing s'Hertogenbosch... I wonder why? At least it's not like last week with Warsaw and the clay... and I'm rambling again.

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So. Richou. I like his grass court game a lot. Actually, I like his game a lot, and he had a good win over Rochus (who, we must remember, once had six match points against Federer at Halle, so he's no slouch on grass.) He's just so intensely disappointing, because he could be so much better if he'd just get his head in the game.

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I don't think there's any doubt that Federer is the most talented player on the circuit, but Richou has got insane amounts of talent too. He needs an epiphany, like Federer had against Squillari back in the day. If he could just sort out his brain, he could be amazing. If he actualised his potential... if he just could... Richou is, when it comes down to it, more talented than Djokovic. But Djokovic has realised his potential, whereas Richou hasn't. I mean, sure, Richou has a few titles and that semi final at Wimbledon last year, but if he lived up to what he was capable of, he could bump off Djokovic easy. He could be challenging Rafa. But he just isn't all there in the head.

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The thing I like about Richou's game is that there is so much of it - game, I mean. He used to be called 'Baby Fed' and I can see why - he has an allcourt game that is not dissimilar to that of the Master. It's just inconsistent. I heard a piece on Radio Roland Garros with Roger Rasheed, who said that he'd like to coach Gasquet and shake him up a bit. I don't know if Rasheed is the right man for the job - we all know what I think of his commentary skills! - but Richou could use a good shake up. In my opinion.

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Richou withdrew from the French Open citing injury. This is totally uneducated, but I think it was mostly in his head. If he does the same thing at Wimbledon - I don't think he will, but if he did - I'd never forgive him. I'd really like to see him defend his semi-final points - and he is totally capable of doing it. If only he can keep his head in the game.

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Sorry about that mostly incoherent ramble... not my best ever entry! But I really would like to see Richou make his breakthrough. Not at the expense of Federer, of course, but if he's on the other side of the draw, I'd totally love him to make the final!

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Speaking of players I like, Carlos Moya is out of Wimbledon, which saddens me. I like Carlos a lot... though if there was one Grand Slam he's not going to do as well at, it's probably Wimbledon... he's not exactly the king of grass. So get well soon, Carlos, and see you on the hard courts!

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And Dinara Safina - who is definitely still in Wimbledon - won her match in s'Hertogenbosch today. Davai Dinara!

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Today's Results

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Ordina Open (s'Hertogenbosch)

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Juan Martin del Potro def. Fabrice Santoro, 6-3 6-1

Guillermo Canas def. Mischa Zverev, 5-7 6-3 6-3

Massimo Dell'acqua def. Fabio Fognini, 7-6 (7-4) 6-2

Arnaud Clement def. Benjamin Becker, 6-3 3-6 6-4

Marcel Granollers def. Kristof Vliegen, 6-0 1-0 retired

Rohan Bopanna def. Martin Verkerk, 6-7 (8-10) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4

Viktor Troicki def. Denis Gremelmayr, 6-3 7-5

Ivan Ljubicic def. Robin Haase, 6-3 7-6 (7-5)

Marc Gicquel def. Matwe Middelkoop, 6-4 6-1

Richard Gasquet def. Olivier Rochus, 6-2 7-6 (7-3)

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Sara Errani def. Anne Keothavong, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Dinara Safina def. Pauline Parmentier, 6-4 6-1

Sania Mirza def. Flavia Pennetta, 6-4 6-3

Michaella Krajicek def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-1 5-7 7-6 (9-7)

Marina Erakovic def. Alexis Gordon, 6-1 6-1

Angelique Kerber def. Klara Zakopalova, 6-4 3-6 6-4

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Slazenger Open (Nottingham)

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Julien Benneteau def. Simone Bolelli, 6-1 6-4

Ivo Karlovic def. Jonas Bjorkman, 6-3 6-4

Sam Querrey def. Alejandro Falla, 6-3 6-4

Bobby Reynolds def. Nicolas Mahut, 7-5 4-6 6-4

Dmitry Tursunov def. Yen-hsun Lu, 7-5 6-4

Marin Cilic def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 1-6 6-4 6-3

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International Women's Open (Eastbourne)

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Samantha Stosur def. Katie O'Brien, 6-4 6-3

Amelie Mauresmo def. Alize Cornet, 6-1 4-6 7-5

Li Na def. Casey Dellacqua, 6-2 6-4

Nadia Petrova def. Shahar Peer, 6-2 6-2

Gisela Dulko def. Tathiana Garbin, 3-6 6-4 6-2

Aravane Rezai def. Victoria Azarenka, 6-2 retired