Big Kev Said It Best...

I have to say it - I'm excited about our Fed Cup team. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Australian women's tennis has got a spring in its step again. I think Sam Stosur puts it best:

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"Right from when we first got here we thought we had a good team ... three of us in the top 100 and Rennae in the doubles and Casey or myself able to play with Stubbsy in the doubles matches. It's a really good combination. Obviously the next tie is going to be tough depending who it's against and where it is, but I think we've got a great chance."

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And she's pretty much right. Three women in the top hundred - when did that happen? Actually, come to think of it, we did have that before, but - well, it's all about Jelena Dokic, really. I think it would be fair to say that this clean sweepage that's been going on this week has been her triumph. I mean, it belongs to Stosur and Dellacqua and Stubbs, but this whole resurgence, this newfound confidence in women's tennis in Oz can almost wholly be credited to Dokic, I think, and that amazing showing she put in at the Aussie Open.

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Now, I don't want to leave Sam Stosur out of this. She has had a fabulous week all week - and she certainly defeated the better player on the New Zealand squad today when she took out Marina Erakovic easily, while Dokic had more of a struggle against unranked Dianne Hollands. And she had that amazing comeback victory against Tamarine Tanasugarn, and she's just come back from that bizarre disease she had last year, and... yeah, this belongs to Sam too. But I think just as far as actual confidence goes, the notion that Australia actually has some real quality strength in women's tennis - I think that one's all Dokic.

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It's not that we weren't strong before. Stosur and Dellacqua are both world class players. But just the injection of the energy that Dokic has brought... it's something special. Dokic mk. 1 was a fabulous player - she got to #4 in the world, the semis of Wimbledon, all kinds of things. But Dokic mk. 2 is a better model, methinks. I don't know whether she'll get to #4 in the world again, but as a tennis player and as a person, I think she is more complete now. And her meteoric rise out of nowhere... that is really, really good for Australian tennis. To use the immortal words of Big Kev, I'm excited!

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Today's Results

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SA Tennis Open (Johannesburg)

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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Frederico Gil, 6-3 6-4

Jeremy Chardy def. David Ferrer, 1-6 7-6 (11-9) 7-6 (7-4)

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Movistar Open (Vina del Mar)

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Fernando Gonzalez def. Juan Monaco, 6-0 6-2

Jose Acasuso def. Tommy Robredo, 5-7 6-2 6-4

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PBZ Zagreb Indoors (Zagreb)

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Marin Cilic def. Viktor Troicki, 6-2 7-5

Mario Ancic def. Jan Hernych, 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 7-6 (11-9)

A Word To Channel 7

Why is Davis Cup so absolutely frickin' massive when Fed Cup is forgotten about totally?

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I don't get it. I really don't get it. There was this big fanfare and pomp and ceremony over Davis Cup last year, and it really made the career of Fernando Verdasco, who seems to have learned a lot about himself and how to play tennis and stuff from the experience. It's right at the end of the season, when the players can't possibly have any other commitments, and even plays who played Shanghai (London now, I suppose) have got a little time to recover. But Fed Cup? No. I can tell you that Russia won last year, but I couldn't tell you who they beat... but I can tell you that pretty much none of their top women played. No Safina, no Sharapova, no Dementieva - I don't even think Kuznetsova was there, though I can't really remember. It just doesn't seem to be such a big deal?

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WHY NOT?

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Seriously, Fed Cup is exciting! I know I go on and on about how tennis is an individual sport and how nation doesn't come into it - but that's what makes competitions like Davis Cup and Fed Cup and the Olympics all the more intense! It's the only time that players do get the opportunity to play for their countries, adding that extra little bit of intensity. You have to be the best in your country to get onto the team, and each country is different in their level of skilled players. Nando Verdasco's motivation in Mar del Plata was wanting to be a hero for Spain. Look what that did for him. Lleyton Hewitt used to light up in Davis Cup matches too. But can you think of a single player whose career has been made by Fed Cup?

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Maybe it just needs better marketing or something. But the fact of the matter remains that Channel 7 will televise Australian Davis Cup ties, but Fed Cup? What's Fed Cup? I mean, sure, men's tennis has been a darn sight more interesting than women's tennis for the last little while, but let's look at Australia's teams here, comparatively. Our Davis Cup squad is spearheaded by the on-the-way-out Lleyton Hewitt, with Chris Guccione, Carsten Ball and assorted others singing backup. Looming ominously in the background is Bernard Tomic, but I think we need to give him a little while before he really becomes a superstar. So, on the whole, it's Lleyton, Gooch and a bunch of 'sorry, who?' players.

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Fed Cup! Dokic! Dellacqua! Stosur! Names, names, names. Should one of them be injured, Gajdosova/Groth/whatever-she-is-now and Rodionova are there, and Jess Moore isn't far behind. Now, wouldn't you rather watch that? I rest my case.

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Our girls did fabulously well yesterday, incidentally - Dokic had the day off to get over that bug that's been troubling her, but it didn't even matter. Dellacqua had a massive win, then Stosur backed it up - between them, they lost five games. Then Stosur and Stubbs teamed up in doubles and hammered the point home. Another 3-0 sweep. Bye bye, Chinese Taipei. Now we're playing New Zealand in the group final - and you've got to think that Marina Erakovic is really the only one who could cause issues there. I think we're on the way, Australia. Maybe next time, you should think about televising the tie.

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Today's Results

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SA Tennis Open (Johannesburg)

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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Kristof Vliegen, 6-4 6-1

David Ferrer def. Marcos Baghdatis, 7-5 6-2

Frederico Gil def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 7-6 (8-6) 6-3

Jeremy Chardy def. Sebastien de Chaunac, 7-6 (7-4) 6-3

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Movistar Open (Vina del Mar)

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Tommy Robredo def. Juan Ignacio Chela, 0-6 6-3 6-4

Jose Acasuso def. Sebastian Decoud, 6-4 6-2

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PBZ Zagreb Indoors (Zagreb)

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Marin Cilic def. Antonio Veic, 6-2 7-6 (8-6)

Jan Hernych def. Mischa Zverev, 5-4 retired

Viktor Troicki def. Sergiy Stakhovsky, 6-3 6-2

To 2011 And Beyond!

Well, well, well, Australian women's tennis. Maybe you are not as hopeless as you have been made out to be in the past. After sweeping Korea on the first day on competition, the girls have just made another clean one of Thailand, with Dokic and Stosur winning the singles and then Dellacqua and Stubbs finishing it off in the doubles. How 'bout that, eh? How 'bout that?

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I mean, of course, Australia is in a really low group right now - the Asia/Oceania group - and we have to win the final to have a chance to get into World Group 2, the group below the World Group proper. The earliest we could compete for the actual Fed Cup is 2011, when one has to think Dokic and Stosur will be a leeeeeetle past their prime. But I suppose we do have players like Isabella Holland, Monica Wejnert and Olivia Rogowska coming up...

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It's just really nice to see the girls doing well. Jelena cruised in her match, winning it 6-1 6-2, but the day belonged to Stosur, who came back from a set and 5-2 down to beat Tamarine Tanasugarn (who is actually ranked higher than she is) to win the tie. She won eleven straight games. Now that's pretty sweet.

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And then, in other Australian tennis news, I think Jarmila Gajdosova is 100% definitely an Australian citizen now - she just got married to Sam Groth. The new Mrs. Groth (who is going by Groth now) really troubled Victoria Azarenka in Brisbane - and actually could be another good addition to the Fed Cup squad one day. And we all know how Scary Sam played Davis Cup for Oz last year against Chile... and I didn't even know they were dating. Guess you learn something new every day.

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Today's Results

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SA Tennis Open (Johannesburg)

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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Denis Istomin, 6-1 6-4

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Leonardo Mayer, 6-4 7-5

Jeremy Chardy def. Marco Chiudinelli. 6-4 6-4

Kristof Vliegen def. Ivo Minar, 6-4 6-1

Frederico Gil def. Rik de Voest, 4-6 7-5 6-4

Sebastien de Chaunac def. Izak Van Der Merwe, 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 7-6 (7-5)

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Movistar Open (Vina del Mar)

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Tommy Robredo def. Brian Dabul, 6-3 7-6 (7-5)

Sebastian Decoud def. Agustin Calleri, 7-6 (7-3) 7-5

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PBZ Zagreb Indoors (Zagreb)

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Sergiy Stakhovsky def. Ivo Karlovic, 6-4 3-6 6-3

Jan Hernych def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-7 (7-9) 6-4 6-2

Mario Ancic def. Teimuraz Gabashvili, 6-1 6-1

Ivan Dodig def. Ernests Gulbis, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4

Mischa Zverev def. Victor Hanescu, 6-4 5-7 7-6 (9-7)

The Casey Case

I'd almost forgotten what it was like to have very little to write about. I mean, I could write about Roger Federer and how wonderful I think he is and how he'll get that fourteenth Slam for days on ends, but I doubt it would make particularly interesting reading. No, no, it is back to the week by week grind of the ATP tour - though I suppose when Fed Cup starts for the women at the end of the week that'll provide some subject matter. But for now...

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Blogging the tennis year kind of makes you realise that the tennis players have a point when they claim about the insanity of their scheduling. We, as serious fans, are obviously a little more educated in this area than your average 'oh, love, the tennis is on but so is the cricket what do we do?' type fan, but even then, we forget that the tennis played in the little tournaments is still tennis, just as gruelling as in the Slams. I mean, sure, it's not five sets, but it ain't no walk in the park.

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Now, I lied. I do have something to talk about. Fed Cup, because I just realised that it has in fact started, contrary to belief - and Australia have totally owned their tie against Korea! Go us! Sam Stosur did pretty well in her match, taking out Lee Ye-Ra 6-2 6-4, but Dokic had to be the real star, totally demolishing Lee Jin-A 6-0 6-3. Don't tell me we're going to see - shock - a resurgence in Australian women's tennis? Mon dieu!

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But tell you what - I feel really sorry for Casey Dellacqua. She would have been growing up when Dokic was in the news all the time with Damir and stuff - a junior, probably. Then, last year, she suddenly became the nation's golden girl with that fourth round run in the Australian Open, which also made her the nation's top singles player. Then what happens over the course of the year? Stosur gets better, overtakes her in the rankings. Dellacqua makes some reasonable showings at Slams but not THAT great. She totally falls to bits at Hopman Cup. Then her Fed Cup singles spot gets given to Dokic, previously one of the nation's most hated sportspeople, who has now usurped that role as tennis's golden girl, because she went one round better at the Open this year than Casey did last year. And Casey? Demoted to doubles duty. Presumably only because Stosur was playing singles.

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So, yeah, you've got to feel for her. Not that Dokic hasn't deserved any of this - or Stosur either - but it must be a bit depressing for our Case.

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Today's Results

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SA Tennis Open

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Sebastien de Chaunac def. Marcel Granollers, 7-5 7-6 (7-3)

Izak Van Der Merwe def. Benjamin Becker, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-3)

Marcos Baghdatis def. Raven Klaasen, 6-3 7-5

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Movistar Open (Vina del Mar)

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Pablo Cuevas def. Albert Montanes, 7-6 (7-2) 6-4

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PBZ Zagreb Indoors (Zagreb)

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Marin Cilic def. Florent Serra, 6-2 7-5

Antonio Veic def. Evgeny Korolev, 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Roko Karanusic, 6-7 (6-8) 6-1 7-6 (7-3)

Victor Hanescu def. Lovro Zovko, 6-3 7-5

Coming Down

The Australian tennis summer has spoiled me. From having match after match on live TV to write about and all the time in the world to write it, I've gone to having nothing to see and very little time, what with the whole new world of nine to five. But persevere I must, and persevere I will. I, like Roger Federer, am not predisposed to giving up..

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It feels like the tennis world is still so shaken by the events of Sunday night that they can't quite process that life and tennis go on - there has been virtually no coverage of the tournaments this week at all (that I can find.) I suppose there's always that comedown period after a Slam - except, perhaps, after Roland Garros, when there's Wimbledon looming round the corner in two weeks, and everyone's scrambling to find their grass feet in Halle or Queen's or Nottingham or wherever. But the tournaments this week - Zagreb, Johannesburg and Vina del Mar - have absolutely no way in competing in interest level.

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For starters, the only really big name out there is Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - everyone else is taking a well-earned week off. Somehow, I don't think the beaten finalist is going to weeping at these tournaments. He's probably going to be too psyched just to be there - especially in Zagreb, where just about every seed seems to have been knocked out. Top seed Andreev gone. Melzer gone, Bolelli gone. And the fact that those guys are the seeds really says something, hey.

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The tournament in Johannesburg should be exciting - it's brand new! It's in South Africa! Actually, if it wasn't in February, and, more particularly, the week after the Australian Open, you can bet your bottom dollar Federer would have played, what with his foundation being in South Africa and his mother being from there and whatnot. Instead, their big drawcard is Jo-Dub, with David Ferrer and Marcel Granollers second and third seed. They're good and all, but...

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...it's like when you come down from an adrenaline high, I suppose. Or a sugar high, or a caffeine high, or whatever. There has been so much and it's so intense, and then suddenly... it's gone. And the Australian Open was brought to a fever pitch of intensity by the Nadal/Verdasco match, and then the whole volcano just boiled over and exploded with the epic final and the tears of Federer. Because, in truth, no matter what happens in the next few weeks, that image of Federer in tears is going to be the most powerful one in tennis for a while yet.

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Today's Results

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SA Tennis Open (Johannesburg)

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Ivo Minar def. Kevin Anderson, 7-6 (7-4) 6-4

Frederico Gil def. Daniel Koellerer, 6-4 6-0

Marco Chiudinelli def. Flavio Cipolla, 7-5 1-6 6-4

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Thierry Alves, 6-4 6-1

Kristof Vliegen def. Ross Hutchins, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4

Jeremy Chardy def. Jiri Vanek, 6-0 6-4

David Ferrer def. Dudi Sela, 6-2 6-0

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Movistar Open (Vina del Mar)

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Juan Monaco def. Nicolas Devilder, 6-2 6-4

Paul Capdeville def. Eduardo Schwank, 6-3 6-4

Martin Vassallo Arguello def. Oscar Hernandez, 6-3 7-6 (7-1)

Maximo Gonzalez def. Boris Pashanski, 6-3 6-2

Brian Dabul def. Diego Junqueira, 6-2 6-7 (2-7) 6-1

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PBZ Zagreb Indoors (Zagreb)

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Ivan Dodig def. Igor Andreev, 6-1 6-4

Evgeny Korolev def. Jurgen Melzer, 6-4 6-0

Viktor Troicki def. Simone Bolelli, 6-3 6-4

Jan Hernych def. Nikola Mektic, 6-3 7-5

Sergiy Stakhovsky def. Dominik Hrbaty, 6-2 4-6 6-1

Ernests Gulbis def. Dmitry Tursunov, 4-6 6-4 6-4

Mario Ancic def. Lukas Lacko, 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 7-5

The Man Who Cries

I started a new job yesterday - my first ever 9-to-5 office job. And my first ever office conversation? About tennis.
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Everyone in the office had stayed up late to watch the Aussie Open final, and so everyone was tired, but still everyone had wonderful things to say about the match. Because it was a great match. Both players made some spectacular winners - and both players made shots that should have been winners, but the other player ran it down and made better winners (Nadal in particular.) The level of commendation for Rafa was high.

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And for Roger?

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Let me preface this by saying that I'm Australian. This was an-all Australian office. Now, in Australia, the sensitive new-age man-who-cries is a not a phenomenon that we a) see very often, and b) like very much. I was prepared for words like 'crybaby' and 'sook' to be thrown about, as well as imputations against Federer's masculinity, because we all know that real men don't cry. And if it had been any other male athlete, I can pretty much guarantee you that this is exactly what would have been said.

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But not Federer. No one was laughing at his tears. Everyone was crying with him. This man has touched so many people.

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Perhaps it is because the desire to win is so strong with us - sport is our national religion, after all - and we, as a nation, empathised with the bitter defeat of loss. But I don't think that's it. Because it wasn't just Australia that cried with Roger Federer. It was worldwide and international. The world wants Roger to win, to do well.

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Not that the world is anti-Rafa. He's proved his quality - and the fact that he too is a sporting gentleman, with that tremendous show of sportsmanship he made towards Roger. But Roger was first, and Roger is, to the world, special.

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But he has a task ahead of him now. If he wants to be considered the greatest, he has to solve the riddle of Rafa. And he's almost there - he could have won that match. He could have held the break in the first, or won the breaker in the third, or just stayed with it mentally in the fifth. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with his game against Rafa - except perhaps that he has never, to my knowledge, had a high-percentage serving day against him, which is an issue. He can beat Rafa. He can beat anyone. He just has to believe it.

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And he said in his presser that he does believe it, that he didn't spend four-and-a-half hours out there on court not believing it. He is wholly capable of this. And it would be no fun to be the greatest without a serious roadblock to overcome. Wimbledon was the first Rafa trauma match. The Australian Open was the second. Now, Roger will be going for fourteen at Roland Garros - the tournament where Nadal will be a short-odds favourite. I quite like the symbolism of this. There'll be less pressure on Roger - a lot less - and a lot more on Rafa. So maybe, there, in the Slam he has never won, Roger can swing freely. Because he can beat Rafa, and he can do it anywhere. And when he does, when he wins that fourteenth Slam, I don't think anyone will contest his claim to greatness. Some have said the Australian Open will crush him. I think it'll shake him up and make him shake it down and get even.

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Today's Results

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SA Tennis Open (Johannesburg)

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Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Bjorn Phau, 6-4 6-3

Rik de Voest def. Ivan Navarro, 6-3 6-4

Leonardo Mayer def. Sergio Roitman, 6-2 6-4

Simon Greul def. Viktor Crivoi, 6-2 6-4

Raven Klaasen def. Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, 6-3 7-5

Marcos Baghdatis def. Andrew Anderson 6-4 6-2

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Movistar Open (Vina del Mar)

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Potito Starace def. Marcos Daniel, 6-4 6-4

Juan Ignacio Chela def. Pablo Andujar, 6-0 3-6 6-1

Daniel Gimeno-Traver def. Alberto Martin, 6-3 6-7 (2-7) 6-6 retired

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PBZ Zagreb Indoors (Zagreb)

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Marin Cilic def. Arnaud Clement, 6-4 6-3

Teimuraz Gabashvili def. Mikhail Youzhny, 6-3 6-4

Antonio Veic def. Guillermo Canas, 4-6 6-4 6-2

Ivan Ljubicic def. Christophe Rochus, 6-4 6-1

Only Human... Or Maybe Not

That little idiot in the crowd. That little idiot.

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Can you believe it? It's deuce. Federer's serving to stay in the match. Massive point. Nadal hits a ball on the line, and some DOUCHEBAG in the crowd yells out. And it's not called a let. Rafa gets the point. Championship point. And then he gets the match.

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Not that Rafa doesn't deserve the win. But it's such a shame that such a marvellous match and marvellous victory doesn't get the end it deserves.

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Much as I want to make excuses for my beloved Roger Federer here, I can't. He played the wrong tactics, played the wrong points sometimes, and didn't convert on break points when it mattered. That said, he still played a great match - but Rafa is a cyborg.

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Let's talk about the physical achievement of Rafa. Coming off that massive match against Verdasco, he doubles up again to defeat someone as great as Federer in another five-set epic. This wasn't quite as epic as the Wimbledon final, but it wasn't far off. Rafa is a machine. I think we have to salute him as possibly the toughest, more resilient, most inhuman human on the face of the earth. Wholeheartedly, congratulations, Rafa.

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I don't want to say too much more. But what now for Roger Federer? This has to take a mental toll - but how will he bounce back? We know he is a great, great player - I would not follow him so ardently if he were not. He is certainly one of the great humans alive on this planet today. There is one obstacle in his way to achieving absolute eternal greatness, to achieve the fourteen. And that is Rafa. What next for Roger? A serious sitdown with some Rafa tapes, and he needs to find a way to solve this man. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Roger just needs to work out what it is - and remember that while there is suspicion about Rafa being a cyborg, he is only human, after all.

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Australian Open

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Men's Draw

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Rafael Nadal def. Roger Federer, 7-5 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-2