That Feeling

That's it. I am officially giving up on what was once the Davydenko quarter of the draw. Every time I pick someone to come through to the semis, they lose. Kolya went. A-Rod went. And now Mathieu and Tursunov have both been scuttled. No matter what happens, there is going to be an unseeded player in the semi - either Cilic, Tipsarevic, Schuettler or Clement. Not names you expect to see in a Grand Slam semi final, eh? Cilic is the only other player I think I've mentioned in this quarter prior to the mass exodus, so I'm going to go with him as my tip. Of course, this means he will lose instantly now.

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I would say that Rafa must be cheering, as this quarter is in the same half of the draw as his, but he has a few tough ones to get through before he gets there. That's the one quarter where the seeds have basically held true the whole way through. No matter what happens, Rafa is at least going to have a tough quarter final, provided he gets through his round of sixteen match. He's playing Mikhail Youzhny, who has been a bit of a boogeyman for him in the past. There was the quarters of the US Open two years ago, for one. There was the final of Chennai this year, where Youzhny won bagel, breadstick. And they met at this stage in Wimbledon last year, and it was a close fought five set affair. So this match is going to be very interesting, I think.

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Not that I would bet against Rafa, or anything... though don't expect me to take my own advice later in this piece. He looked very impressive against Kiefer, who is definitely no slouch on grass. I was very impressed with his performance. He did very well indeed. Kiefer didn't give up, either - Rafa just accelerated away in those last two sets, even though he took that spectacular fall... that one was a doozy. So well done, Rafa. Tough times await, but I don't think anyone would be doubting his ability or his drive to reach the final. And who knows? There is always the chance that Youzhny will split his head open with his racket again... that was an amusing moment. Straight to the pool room.

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The winner of the Nadal/Youzhny match will face the winner of Gasquet/Murray, and that is going to be seriously intriguing. Richou's coming off a truly terrible spell, but he played very nicely last night in taking out Gilles Simon, and he seems much happier on the grass than he did at s'Hertogenbosch last week. Murray was also very impressive against Haas, even though he dropped a set. He has the home crowd advantage, though I don't think that's as a big of a motivation thing for him as it was for Henman, back in the day. Murray has never been beyond the fourth round of a Slam, though - actually, it will be interesting to see whose hands that plays into. Gasquet is hardly King of the Slams, but he has gone deeper, with that semi and I think maybe a quarter here and there, and so he has a modicum of experience. But Murray hasn't, and maybe so he has the motivation.

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Of all the fourth round match ups, the Gasquet/Murray clash is the hardest one to call. They're ranked pretty closely - not much separates them at all. They're both a bit injury prone - you could have a great drinking game with that match! A shot every time someone calls the trainer. Both are capable of beautiful tennis. (Did anyone else see that incredible passing shot of Murray's in the first set last night? The one where he was outside the doubles alley and flicked it down the line back into court? It was sweet.) And Andy and Richou even look the same. So it's incredibly difficult to call.

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I'm going to go with Murray, but just barely. I think he might want it a tiny bit more, and I think he's in slightly better form. And also I have a tiny hunch. But I am totally prepared to be wrong on this one.

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I am going to be slightly controversial, however, and call a Youzhny victory over Rafa. I would not be surprised AT ALL if I am wrong. In fact, I don't think I want to be right. This is based on a feeling, and nothing more. But there is clearly something about Youzhny's game that troubles Rafa. I haven't watched Youzhny play enough to tell you what it is. But there's something, something that is not nothing. I think the longer the match goes, the more it is going to favour Rafa, however, so if Mikhail is going to win, it will necessitate him getting off to a good start. Intellectually, all the signs do point to Rafa to win. Emotionally, I want Rafa to win, even though he is perceived as such a threat to my beloved Roger Federer. But I just have this FEELING...

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And who can tell what is going to happen in Wimbledon this year? If Rafa gets through Youzhny, he will face a very tough match in the quarters, no matter who gets through. If he gets to the semi, I don't think there's too much doubt of him making the final... but look at what happened with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. That quarter in particular is maybe the most interesting section of the draw, because there are so many possiblities.

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So, the quarter finals. Yesterday I picked Federer/Ancic and Safin/Baghdatis. From the bottom half, I'm going to say Youzhny/Murray (or Nadal/Gasquet, or Nadal/Murray, or Youzhny/Gasquet... you can't make me choose!) and Tipsarevic/Cilic. I don't really have too much faith in any of my picks in the bottom half, but we'll see, we'll see.

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The women's draw is a very interesting place to hang out as well. I'd like to send a fond farewell to Dinara Safina, who played very bravely but eventually went out against Shahar Peer. I guess the Safin/Safina semi final dream is not to be. Dinara is still about in the doubles though, so it's not all over for her by any means. She was probably the biggest seed to fall yesterday, though it wasn't like a massive shock upset or anything - not like Ivanovic. But, oh golly oh gosh, etc, etc, Jelena Jankovic came close. Sometimes watching her play makes me cringe, because she's injured ALL THE TIME. Seriously, I don't think I've ever seen a match in which she hasn't played under some injury cloud. And with her knee, I don't like her chances. With Ivanovic gone, I bet she likes her chances, but one again I find myself saying that I just have this feeling...

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Yesterday I picked Szavay/Vaidisova and Radwanska/Serena Williams as my top half quarters. In the bottom half, I'm going to pick Dementieva/Petrova - Dementieva will be too strong for Peer, I feel, and Petrova has just been playing so marvellously I don't think she'll have much problem with the Sharapova-slaying tuxedo-hating Alla Kudryavtseva. And then I'm going to pick Venus Williams/Tanasugarn. That's right, Jodi's calling another upset. Tanasugarn is a smart woman and she is going to send Jankovic sprawling all over the court if she senses even a hint of weakness in that knee. And who knows what kind of upset Alisa Kleybanova could pull? I don't see her getting past Venus, but I don't think even Venus can outhit this young woman.

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And I'm keeping my eye on the juniors as well, and I'd like to just mention two young Aussies that did well. Bernard Tomic, of course, the top seed, won his match convincingly, but what was perhaps more impressive was the effort of Isabella Holland, winning a three set marathon match. Maybe there is some hope for Australian tennis after all...

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Wimbledon Results - Day #6

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Men's Draw

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Rafael Nadal def. Nicolas Kiefer, 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 6-3

Andy Murray def. Tommy Haas, 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-2

Richard Gasquet def. Gilles Simon, 6-3 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-3

Janko Tipsarevic def. Dmitry Tursunov, 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

Mihail Youzhny def. Radek Stepanek, 7-5 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-3

Rainer Schuettler def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-2 6-3 6-4

Marin Cilic def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-4 7-6 (8-6)

Arnaud Clement def. Jurgen Melzer, 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Jelena Jankovic def. Caroline Wozniacki, 2-6 6-4 6-2

Venus Williams def. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, 6-1 7-5

Elena Dementieva def. Gisela Dulko, 7-6 (7-2) 7-5

Nadia Petrova def. Victoria Azarenka, 7-6 (13-11) 7-6 (7-4)

Shahar Peer def. Dinara Safina, 5-7 7-6 (7-4) 8-6

Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Marina Erakovic, 4-6 6-4 6-4

Alla Kudryavtseva def. Shuai Peng, 6-3 1-6 6-4

Alisa Kleybanova def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-4 6-4

Smiley Happy Marcos

Like most Australians, I have some very fond memories of Marcos Baghdatis. If there is one tennis tournament I will remember till the day I die, it will be the Australian Open 2006, because that is when I went from being a follower of tennis to the insane true believer that I am now. For me, the tournament was all about Roger Federer (surprise, surprise): coming back from injury, he wasn't playing especially well, and yet he still found a way to win... and he cried at the end, which made me cry too... but I've written about this before (I think the post was called 'Why I Love Tennis', if I haven't gushed enough about Federer to put you off him for life.) But for the rest of Australia, the tournament was all about Marcos Baghdatis - and even for me, the tournament would not have been the same without him.

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The first time I remember hearing about Marcos Baghdatis was in about the second round of that auspicious tournament. He was playing out on one of the back courts - Court 17, I think - and Channel 7 did one of their brief feature stories on it in their Australian Open news, because there were so many people out there cheering for Marcos. Melbourne has a massive Greek community and Marcos, who apparently has cousins among them, was their poster boy. It was a little unusual for a player who wasn't an Aussie to get such vociferous support - actually, I remember the Channel 7 newscaster yelling out 'Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi Oi Oi!' in a vague pretence at competition and cringing, because it was just so awful. But it was a cute story. Cypriot player has many fans.

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But no one expected the Cypriot player to do quite so well.

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I remember sitting down to watch the round of sixteen Roddick/Baghdatis match thinking it was going to be a blowout. Federer had drawn someone hard in the round of sixteen - Tommy Haas - and I was wishing he could have faced someone like Marcos instead. (Rafa was out that tournament and back in those days, Roddick was the #3, so he was the second seed - and speaking of Roddick, people have pretty much retired him to the semis at Queen's. He's played about three sets of tennis in three matches - or 'matches,' as the case may be.) It was late in the afternoon. I'd just come back from work and I vividly remember standing at my stove in my little college room, watching it over my shoulder as I was cooking dinner. Props to the underdog, I remember thinking - maybe not exactly in those words, but something to that effect. He took a set off Roddick.

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Marcos did win the first set, but got blown away by Roddick in the second - I think it was 6-1 or something like that. In my naivete, I thought that meant Roddick was going to get back on track. But no... Marcos took another set off Roddick. And then another. And that meant... oh, wait, the match.

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Everyone was shocked. The Cypriot fans exploded. But Roddick was not especially in form, so, as upsets go, it could have been worse. So the little guy pulled an upset. These things happen.

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But then he backed it up.

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It took him five sets, but Marcos took out Ivan Ljubicic, who, unlike Roddick, was in form. Australia started to realise that this kid could be huge. But next up was David Nalbandian, and no one expected Marcos to win that one. Nalbandian was too good, too solid, too experienced.

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And Marcos took him down. He came back from two sets to love down and took out David Nalbandian. (And may I just note that, pursuant to previous discussions about David Nalbandian, it was not LameDave that showed up that day.) And then he was in the final.

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And Australia just got out of control.

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For the past few years, the Australian Open has been the one that's had a random finalist. Hewitt/Safin back in 2005 was a pretty normal final as finals go, but since then we've had Baghdatis, Gonzalez and Tsonga. But there has been nowhere near the hype round Gonzalez and Tsonga that there has been round smiley happy Marcos. I don't know whether it's just because Marcos does have something resembling an Australian connection or whether it's just because he's so likeable. I like to think it's because he's so likeable. But Australia pretty much tried to adopt him.

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Actually, they did try to adopt him - literally. There was all this 'oh no! Marcos Baghdatis's brilliant tennis career is going to be cut short by compulsory military service!' stuff, and I think it ended up with the premier of Victoria offering Baghdatis Australian citizenship. Marcos did the equivalent of backing slowly away from the crazy person with his hands in the air and saying no thanks. No one had thought to ask Marcos his opinion before they tried to solve his life.

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And then, the final. I have such fond memories of this match, although I was on absolute tenterhooks throughout it. I shut myself away. I didn't want to be with anyone else while I watched it. Unfortunately, that was while I was a duty student at college and I happened to be on call that night - but luckily, no one called. I had been pulling for Marcos all through the quarters and the semis, but he very much took second place to Federer. I never cried over a Marcos match. I wept over Federer's.

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(Yes, I am lame.)

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Marcos took the first set. Federer looked shaky. Marcos went up a break in the second. Australia cheered, I wept. But then Federer broke back, and broke again, and then the third and fourth sets were a showcase of Roger Federer God Tennis. Marcos didn't have a shot.

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I will always remember the presentation of the Australian Open 2006. Mostly I will remember it because Federer cried, and I cried too (again, see 'Why I Love Tennis') but I remember Marcos as well. Arguably, that was a match of the two best smiles in the tennis universe. And it was just lovely.

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Why the Marcos-reminiscing, you ask? Well, last night in Halle, there was a rematch of that Australian Open final. It was a quarter final this time, on grass, and only best of three, but those two lovely, smiley men faced off again.

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Federer won. He usually does. The Australian Open 2006 has taught us this. And Marcos hasn't been playing his best of late. But whenever I see these two men playing, I am reminded of that immortal final - of the great champion that captured my heart, and the smiling Cypriot that captured the nation's.

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Today's Results

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Artois Championships (Queen's Club, London)

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Rafael Nadal def. Ivo Karlovic, 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-4)

David Nalbandian def. Richard Gasquet, 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-3)

Novak Djokovic def. Lleyton Hewitt, 6-2 6-2

Andy Roddick def. Andy Murray, walkover

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Gerry Weber Open (Halle)

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Roger Federer def. Marcos Baghdatis, 6-4 6-4

Nicolas Kiefer def. Michael Llodra, 4-0 retired

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Robin Soderling, 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

James Blake def. Andreas Beck, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5)

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Orange Warsaw Open (Warsaw)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Evgeny Korolev, 6-4 6-2

Fabio Fognini def. Guillermo Canas, 7-5 7-5

Juan Monaco def. Marcel Granollers, 6-4 6-3

Tommy Robredo def. Oscar Hernandez, 4-6 6-2 6-2

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DFS Classic (Birmingham)

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Kateryna Bondarenko def. Petra Cetkovska, 7-6 (7-3) 6-2

Marina Erakovic def. Alona Bondarenko, 6-4 7-5

Yanina Wickmayer def. Melanie South, 6-4 6-3

Bethanie Mattek def. Nicole Vaidisova, 6-3 6-0

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Campeanatos Internacionales de Tenis Femenino de Espana (Barcelona)

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Nuria Llagostera Vives def. Sara Errani, 2-6 6-2 6-3

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Lucie Safarova, 6-2 4-1 retired

Stephanie Cohen-Aloro def. Ekaterina Ivanova, 6-2 6-1

Maria Kirilenko def. Edina Gallovits, 7-6 (7-3) 6-1

The Importance of Being Ernests

Eduardo Schwank might have fallen today, but how about Jeremy Chardy? And Ernests Gulbis? I might not have been going for Chardy per se - Tursunov, his opponent, being a personal favourite of mine - but what a victory for him! This is only his sixth ATP level tournament, and to reach the round of sixteen at a Slam - what an achievement!

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But Gulbis was the one that really impressed me. This kid is going to be something else, if he can keep it together. He reminds me a bit of Richard Gasquet, actually - though hopefully he can tough it out mentally better than Richou has been of late. His win over Lapentti was maybe not as big an upset as his win over Blake yesterday, but it's not like Lapentti is a pushover. He's been around forever, and he knows how to play on clay. Gulbis is what, nineteen? Give him two years, and this boy is top ten, if you ask me.

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I've written a lot about the up-and-coming youngsters this week - Schwank, Chardy, Bellucci and now Gulbis. Although all of them have the potential for excellence, the one I'd really keep an eye on to make it big would have to be Gulbis. Schwank and Bellucci have excellent claycourt games but really have yet to prove themselves on other surfaces. Gulbis has been popping up here and there on hard courts as well - he was the only one I'd actually heard of before the claycourt season. He played Safin in the first round of the Australian Open, and I remember people being surprised that Safin won. I had no idea why, as, like, who was this Latvian kid? But I get it now.

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I think Gulbis's game will translate very well to grass and so it's going to be interesting how he handles the next swing of the tour. He plays Llodra in the round of sixteen here and I like him to win, which would put him in a quarter final against the winner of the Djokovic/Mathieu match. Oh, wouldn't I like to see Ernests take out the Djoker...

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Djokovic also won today (surprise surprise) over Wayne Odesnik. I think Odesnik was a bit shell-shocked to find himself in the third round, and one can hardly blame him. He did not disgrace himself, however... though I would have loved it if he could have taken Djokovic out. Anyone sense a theme?

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The man who I do think will take Djokovic out, Rafa Nadal, won superbly today. I'm fond of Nadal, but I think this might be the first year I'm actually barracking for him to reach the final. It would be a travesty to see Djokovic there. And besides, Rafa is #2 and Djokovic is #3. Djokovic needs to aim to overtake the #2 player before the #1 player... and Rafa needs to teach Djokovic some respect and unload a whole world of hurt on him. In my opinion. Which is, as always, very biased.

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Almagro beat Murray, as I predicted, so I think we're looking at a Nadal/Almagro quarter there to match up with Djokovic/Gulbis. I'll give you my predictions for the top half tomorrow, when the round of sixteen there has been determined.

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Some cracking upsets on the women's side today with Serena and Venus both getting knocked out (oh, how sad I am. See me cry copious tears.) Dellacqua also lost, which was sad, but what a great run nonetheless. And Sharapova came perilously close to getting knocked out... and I am beginning to revise my views of her chances. If all goes as expected, she'll face Safina in the round of sixteen and if she plays like that against Dinara, she'll be off court before she knows what's happened.

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Actually, wouldn't that be great? I would love Dinara to do well. That would put her with a quarter final against Dementieva (probably) and a semi against Kuznetsova (almost definitely), and I think she'd stand a good chance of winning those matches. I'd love to see Dinara make a run for a title... the Safin family need more Slams in their trophy cupboard.

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Cornet went out today, but she put up a good fight against Radwanska - she could have won the match if she'd just been a little tighter on the big points. Like Gulbis, she's going to grow up awesome. Radwanska, to her credit, played very well, though she's probably going to come up against Jankovic in the next round, and I don't like her chances. My quarter final predictions for that half of the women's draw are Jankovic/Pennetta and Schnyder/Ivanovic. Predictions for the other half tomorrow. In that half, Safina and Szavay are the ones to keep an eye on, I think. They're the dark horses that could knock out the Sharapovas and Kuznetsovas and come out surprise finalists. And both of them - Safina especially - are capable of taking out one of the Serbian girls in the final. With Cornet out, I am now choosing Safina to back. Go Dinara!

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But if there's one thing to take out of my ramble today, dear readers (however few you may be), it is this: keep an eye on Ernests Gulbis, because he is going to be something else.

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Roland Garros Results - Day #6

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Men's Draw

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Michael Llodra def. Simone Bolelli, 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Rafael Nadal def. Jarkko Nieminen, 6-1 6-3 6-1

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Eduardo Schwank, 6-2 6-3 3-6 7-6 (11-9)

Novak Djokovic def. Wayne Odesnik, 7-5 6-4 6-2

Julien Benneteau def. Alejandro Falla, 1-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-0

Jeremy Chardy def. Dmitry Tursunov, 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 6-4

Fernando Verdasco def. Mikhail Youzhny, 7-6 (7-5) 5-7 7-5 6-1

Ernests Gulbis def. Nicolas Lapentti, 6-3 7-5 6-2

Nicolas Almagro def. Andy Murray, 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 7-5

Florent Serra def. Victor Hanescu, 6-4 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5)

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Women's Draw

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Maria Sharapova def. Bethanie Mattek, 6-2 3-6 6-2

Flavia Pennetta def. Venus Williams, 7-5 6-3

Ana Ivanovic def. Caroline Wozniacki, 6-4 6-1

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Alize Cornet, 6-4 6-4

Katarina Srebotnik def. Serena Williams, 6-4 6-4

Patty Schnyder def. Emilie Loit, 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 6-2

Vera Zvonareva def. Stephanie Cohen-Aloro, 6-2 6-4

Carla Suarez Navarro def. Casey Dellacqua, 6-3 6-3

Petra Cetkovska def. Iveta Benesova, 6-3 6-3

Nadia Petrova def. Alisa Kleybanova, 6-3 6-3

The Kitchen Revisited

I don't follow women's tennis anywhere near as closely as I follow men's tennis, but the two matches yesterday were profoundly interesting.

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Firstly, Jelena Jankovic vs. Serena Williams yesterday. That was a weird match. There is really no other way to describe it. It was just... strange. There were about eighty-four breaks of serve, and Serena just wasn't there. I'm not really a Williams fan, but as a tennis fan, it was concerning to see such a major player in the women's game playing so listlessly. I don't know if she was injured or if it was psychological or what, but she clearly wasn't all there. And even though Serena is a great player even when she's off the boil, I don't feel like Jankovic really played that well either. There's nothing I can put my finger on and say, well, obviously, that's where she fell down, but I think that, on the whole, Jelena can play much better than that. It was a weird match in that sense, I suppose... it was a quarter-final, and they were both in it, but it wasn't especially good, I suppose.

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On the contrary, that match between Henin and Sharapova was fabulous. I don't really like either of them, so I wasn't involved in it at all... I couldn't even decide who I was sort of going for. I was totally neutral. And the standard was very, very high! Henin, to tell the truth, probably did not play her best, but Sharapova was on fire. I can't say I was especially pleased with the way she conducted herself in her post-match interview - has anyone else noticed how she gives interviewers the brush off? It's kind of rude - but she played amazing tennis. She's everyone's new tip for the title now that Henin is gone... and I can see why! I'm liking a Sharapova/Ivanovic final this year, with a Sharapova victory. Actually, I'd like to see a Jankovic/Ivanovic final, but I don't think Jankovic will stand up to Sharapova if they both keep playing at their current standards.

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And the contest for this year's Marcos is over. I think it's become pretty clear that it's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. I don't know if he's captured the Australian imagination quite the way Marcos did - though considering Marcos had the entire Greek community on his side that would be pretty difficult - but he's definitely got the giant-killing downpat. Baghdatis, when he came through, knocked off Roddick, Ljubicic and Nalbandian. Tsonga has taken out Murray, Gasquet and Youzhny. Next up is Rafa. Roddick was the 2 seed back in '06 and Rafa is the 2 seed here, so can Tsonga do it?

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Only time will tell. But I think a lot of it is in Tsonga's head. Or his kitchen, as Roger Rasheed would say. (I thought the first time he brought out the kitchen metaphor it was a sort of verbal accident. But he said it again a few days ago, and my jaw dropped in awe at his stupidity.) It's like Ferrer. If he believes he can, he will. Rafa is a big giant to kill, but Tsonga's game is great - his footwork especially. If he comes out firing, then I think he'll do just fine. The first set is the key against Rafa, I feel. He's been down set points in at least two or three of his first sets thus far - including against Nieminen in the quarters - and got out of it every time, and then the opponent has sort of gone away. If Tsonga can get that first set... then we're in for a match, baby!

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Australian Open Results - Day 9

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Men's Draw

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Rafael Nadal def. Jarkko Nieminen, 7-5 6-3 6-1

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Mikhail Youzhny, 7-5 6-0 7-6 (8-6)

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Women's Draw

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Maria Sharapova def. Justine Henin, 6-4 6-0

Jelena Jankovic def. Serena Williams, 6-3 6-4