A Not-Quite-Motley Crew

Roger Federer achieved a new milestone this morning, though I'm not sure it's necessarily the one he'll be trotting out to tell his grandchildren. For the first time in 763 ATP level matches, he withdrew in the middle of a tournament.

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He's still never retired during a match at the ATP level - he gave James Blake a walkover today due to a stiff back. I suppose with Shanghai round the corner he'd rather be safe than sorry. It's still a bit sad, though, and I'm sure he's not too thrilled with himself, as it seems to mean something to him. I remember him saying that, 'Roger Federer doesn't pull out - otherwise he doesn't walk on court.' Which I suppose he held to, because he didn't walk on court. So I doubt somehow that this will be a harbinger of things to come. He's certainly not going to turn into a Djokovic!

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Someone that did retire during a match today was Rafa Nadal, after losing the first set 6-1 to Nikolay Davydenko. Add to that Djokovic's defeat early in the week and Murray's loss to Nalbandian today, and we have a crew of semi finalists who... well, not quite motley, but certainly not the four guys you'd expect, given that the four guys you'd expect would be the Big Three plus Murray (the Big Four? Can we legitimately say that yet?) But instead we have Nikolay Davydenko, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, James Blake and David Nalbandian.

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I have to say that I'm pulling for Tsonga, because he really deserves a big title and it would be nice for him to do it in front of a home crowd. Blake's been close a couple of times, Nalbandian is the defending champion and Davydenko has a Masters shield already this year. It's really open. Any one of these four guys could take it out. Much as I always want Federer to win things, it's kind of nice to have things so unpredictable. This should be a dog fight of a tournament, right down to the last point.

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Today's Results

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BNP Paribas Masters (Paris)

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James Blake def. Roger Federer, walkover

Nikolay Davydenko def. Rafael Nadal, 6-1 retired

David Nalbandian def. Andy Murray, 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Andy Roddick, 5-7 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

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Bell Challenge (Quebec)

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Nadia Petrova def. Melinda Czink, 6-1 6-4

Bethanie Mattek def. Melanie Oudin, 7-6 (9-7) 6-1

Angela Haynes def. Nathalie Dechy, 2-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-3

Argentinian Grudge Rematch

Wow, I'm sensing some pent-up aggression from David Nalbandian. He seems like a man who would hold a quality grudge, and, even though I have absolutely no evidence of this, I get the sense that he's feeling some resentment towards Juan Martin del Potro right now, what with the whole del Potro being the golden boy of Argentinian tennis right now. Not so fast! says Big Dave. This is the second time in two weeks Nalbandian has trounced del Potro, and I bet he's loving it on the inside. Their Davis Cup training camp must be a pleasant place to be.

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We bid farewell to the last of my Stars for the year - bye guys! Cilic lost today, but I have to admit I wasn't going for him... he was playing Federer. Much as I love my Stars, I love Roger more! He looked in fine form heading into the quarters, where he'll play James Blake, I think. Let's hope those Olympic jitters don't get to him! I think he'll be fine, somehow. His thing with Rafa aside, Roger is not prone to being a headcase.

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And Djokovic got knocked out! That was awesome. Still, I hope it doesn't mean he's feeling all rested and good heading into Shanghai. Still, it's not next week next week, is it? There's a week between Paris and Shanghai. Or at least I hope there is. Doha is next week with the girls, and then Shanghai the week after. I think. I hope.

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Back to Djokovic getting knocked out, which made me say AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I wouldn't be surprised if Djokovic never scored a victory over Tsonga again. Jo-W seems to have his number now, and I don't think he's going to let the Aussie Open final happen again. On the whole, Djokovic has not been that impressive of late. I know he made the US Open semi, but other than that, what has he won of late? He made the final in Thailand, but Jo-W got him. This was when he started winning big points last year... so is he on the slide? Or is this wishful thinking on my behalf?

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And Andy Roddick has qualified for the Masters Cup. He still should have gone to the Olympics, but well done, A-Rod!

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Today's Results

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BNP Paribas Masters (Paris)

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Roger Federer def. Marin Cilic, 6-3 6-4

Rafael Nadal def. Gael Monfils, 6-3 6-2

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Novak Djokovic, 6-4 1-6 6-3

Andy Murray def. Fernando Verdasco, 6-3 7-6 (8-6)

Nikolay Davydenko def. Tomas Berdych, 6-1 6-1

Andy Roddick def. Gilles Simon, 6-3 7-5

David Nalbandian def. Juan Martin del Potro, 6-4 6-0

James Blake def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-4 6-4

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Bell Challenge (Quebec)

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Nadia Petrova def. Varvara Lepchenko, 6-2 6-4

Bethanie Mattek def. Valérie Tétreault, 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 7-6 (7-1)

Marats in Training

Argh, Marat Safin is not the only frustrating player out there right now. I have some other names to chuck into the ring: David Ferrer and Stan Wawrinka. Sure, these guys have not honed their be-frustrating skills to quite the same fever pitch that Marat has, but they are both annoying me SO MUCH right now.

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Let's start with Ferru. He was ranked #4 for a lot of this year - aka the best of the rest, behind the Big Three. Not bad at all, eh? He didn't have any massive runs at Slams, but he was consistent, you know? That's a quality I really appreciate in a tennis player. He's quick and scrappy and arguably the best returner on tour, and even though he's not the most aggressive player in the world, he was fun to watch.

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But now? Now he is getting smashed like a guitar by Philipp Kohlschreiber. He's really faded severely, especially post-US Open - and it's ridiculous, because there's no reason why his game shouldn't translate to carpet. Hell, we know he can do it - he owned his half of the Tennis Masters Cup last year, right up to playing the final with Federer. So what's up with Ferru? I hope he gets his head in the game by the Aussie Open, because I want to watch him do WELL!

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Ditto Stan Wawrinka. His loss this week was a little more understandable - he went out to Tomas Berdych, a former champion here - but he has taken a whole string of early losses in the last few weeks, which has ruled him out of the Masters Cup, which makes me sad, because I would have liked Roger to have one of his little friends there... and also, Stan is kinda fun to watch. I saw him live at the Australian Open this year, and I had a great time - he plays fun tennis. So wake up, Stan. Yes you can, Stan. Come back to the fold of awesomeness.

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Someone unfrustrating is my last Star in action for this year (counting out Juan Martin del Potro), which is Marin Cilic, who had a good win over Marcel Granollers. What a good boy he is. Watch out for him next year, mark my words: 2009 will be the Year of Cilic - hopefully the Year of Gulbis as well. And obviously the Year of Federer... but all years are the Year of Federer for me. I'd also like a Year of Safin - so please don't retire, Marat!
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Oh, David Nalbandian has to play Juan Martin del Potro again. I don't know if this can be especially healthy for Davis Cup... because there is SO obviously a rivalry!

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Today's Results

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BNP Paribas Masters (Paris)

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Roger Federer def. Robin Soderling, 6-4 7-6 (9-7)

Andy Murray def. Sam Querrey, 6-2 6-4

Rafael Nadal def. Florent Serra, 6-2 6-4

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. David Ferrer, 6-3 6-2

Nikolay Davydenko def. Ivan Ljubicic, 7-6 (7-5) 7-5

David Nalbandian def. Nicolas Kiefer, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3

Gilles Simon def. Igor Andreev, 6-3 7-5

Tomas Berdych def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-3 7-5

Marin Cilic def. Marcel Granollers, 6-4 7-6 (7-2)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Radek Stepanek, 3-6 6-4 6-4

James Blake def. Simone Bolelli, 6-7 (10-12) 6-3 6-4

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Bell Challenge (Quebec)

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Melinda Czink def. Julie Ditty, 6-1 6-1

Melanie Oudin def. Olga Puchkova, 6-1 7-6 (7-3)

Rebecca Marino def. Jill Craybas, 7-6 (7-4) 6-1

Grow UP, Richou!

God, Richard Gasquet is a little whinger. I used to really like him - I still enjoy his style of play - but I have gone off him altogether. In all my berating of Andy Roddick for not going to the Olympics, I often forget to berate Richou, but he probably deserves it more, truth be told. There was the French Open stunt, the Olympic stunt, the absolutely ridiculous Davis Cup stunt and now this stupid Paris thing. Jesus, Richou, grow up. Even if you don't want to play Paris-Bercy, you don't have to kick up a huge stink about it. What kind of person comes out and says, 'I will be happy once I would be eliminated at the Paris Masters Series.'

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Methinks Richou needs to revamp his attitude and revamp it fast. He's already taken a slide down the rankings this year - no Tennis Masters Cup for him! Is it really necessary to be a complete dickhead while he's doing it?

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Meanwhile, in actual news about matches in which people have played, instead of wussing out like Gasquet, it was very sad to see Dmitry Tursunov's season end with a retirement. He toughed it out for a while but then called it quits in his match against Djokovic with a shoulder injury. See you next year, Dmitry - maybe defend your Sydney title, eh? I'll be there again, watching.

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That, of course, means Djokovic is through... but I wouldn't mind seeing Djokovic doing all right his week, as I don't want him to do well next week. Yes, I am a terrible, horrible person, wishing ill on people, but I just want Roger to win the Masters Cup. Is that so much to ask? He is, after all, the Master. I know Rafa is #1 and all now and he is good and I like him and stuff, but Roger is just special.

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Apparently Marat Safin is thinking about retirement, which is sad. He says he'll keep playing as long as he still enjoys it... and it can't be very fun losing all the time. Still, he has had his best season in a while... and Hopman Cup coming up! It will be rad to play with Dinara - though it must be oddly pressuring to have your baby sister being all awesome while you sort of suck. Still, I guess Dinara has had to live in Marat's shadow for, like, ever - it's her turn to shine. Though Marat has a standby for Hopman Cup - Igor Andreev - all planned out. Much as Andreev is good and stuff, he's not Marat. Don't retire, please!

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Oh, and the seventh Hopman Cup team has been announced. It's not as awesome as I was hoping, but it's still pretty good. It is, of course, the USA, about whom I totally forgot. Actually, it is an awesome team: James Blake and Serena Williams. I guess that sometimes the USA just feel so old hat... and incidentally, where are the Czech Republic this year? I wanted to see Berdych and Safarova make another go of it. There is still one spot remaining, but that is for the winner of the Asian Hopman Cup, so maybe they can come back in 2010...?

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Today's Results

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BNP Paribas Masters (Paris)

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Novak Djokovic def. Dmitry Tursunov, 6-2 4-3 retired

Andy Roddick def. Feliciano Lopez, 6-3 6-4

Juan Martin del Potro def. Mario Ancic, 6-0 6-4

Gael Monfils def. Juan Monaco, 6-4 6-4

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Mikhail Youzhny, 6-1 6-4

Radek Stepanek def. Marc Gicquel, 6-4 3-6 6-4

Robin Soderling def. Josselin Ouanna, 6-3 6-4

Ivan Ljubicic def. Viktor Troicki, 6-3 6-4

Florent Serra def. Guillermo Canas, 4-6 7-5 6-3

Fernando Verdasco def. Tommy Robredo, 6-2 6-7 (6-8) 6-2

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Bell Challenge (Quebec)

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Nadia Petrova def. Maria Mokh, 6-1 6-2

Severine Brémond def. Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6-2 7-6 (7-4)

Galina Voskoboeva def. Sofia Arvidsson, 6-3 6-2

Melinda Czink def. Sabine Lisicki, 6-2 5-7 6-3

Nathalie Dechy def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 6-3 6-1

Varvara Lepchenko def. Rossana de los Ríos, 6-1 6-3

Carly Gullickson def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 7-6 (8-6) 6-1

Talking Hopman

Well, Marat Safin's tennis year must be pretty much over now, with that loss in Paris. I'm a bit annoyed about that one - a player of his talent should be able to pound someone like Juan Monaco into the ground. But that's Safin for you, I guess. And if we reflect on his tennis year, it's been better than the past couple. He made a final and a couple of quarters, as well as a Slam semi on his least favourite surface. That's not so bad.

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Though who ever thought we'd be saying that about Marat Safin?

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Marin Cilic had a win, though, on a happier note - though, may I ask, where is Ernests Gulbis this tournament? He didn't appear to be on the draw when I did the bracket challenge. That sucks, as he is all awesome and stuff. Maybe next year - which is the same thing I can say for Marat Safin. Maybe next year will be the year. I am hoping that playing Hopman Cup with his sister will be awesome for Marat. Maybe he'll pick up on whatever it is that's making her so fabulous. I am absolutely dying to go - when else will I get the chance to see the Safin(a) siblings playing together? But it is in Perth... and my boss just might kill me...

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There have been six teams announced so far out of the eight for the Hopman Cup, and it looks like it'll be a great competition. We have Lleyton Hewitt and Casey Dellacqua for Australia, Marat and Dinara for Russia (made of awesome!), Dominik Hrbaty and Dominika Cibulkova for the Slovak Republic (I had a vague notion he'd retired - guess not), Flavia Pennetta and Simone Bolelli for Italy, Alize Cornet and Gilles Simon for France and Nicolas Kiefer and Sabine Lisicki for Germany. There are two more teams to go, and there are just so many possibilities! One of the teams has to be from Asia, I think - I'm pretty sure one of the spots is reserved for the winner of the Asian Hopman Cup, which was Chinese Taipei last year. I wouldn't mind seeing Japan coming through this year - how about Kei Nishikori and Ai Sugiyama for you? I'd love to see Kei in particular play Hopman.

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Who else could we have? I'd love to see Federer and Schnyder play for Switzerland because I think they'd be a rad doubles team, but I think the chances of that are less than zero. Federer's played Hopman Cup before - with Hingis and with his girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec - so I guess it's kind of 'been there, done that' for him. I'd love to see Rafa or Ferru play with Anabel Medina Garrigues or Nuria Llagostera Vives, but again, I think the chances are pretty low. There was a great Serbian team last year, Djokovic and Jankovic, but I don't think they'll be coming back... unless we get, say, Tipsarevic and Ivanovic, which could be fun. How about Andy Murray and Anne Keothavong? If only there were a nice Latvian girl or Croatian girl for Gulbis or Cilic to play with. That would be big fun. And are there any Argentinian women that play tennis? There are so many guys, but I seriously can't think of one girl.

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But there is world enough and time for Hopman Cup. This week is Paris-Bercy, so I should probably talk about that I guess... Federer's definitely playing! He's never won this one before, so I'm cheering for him bigtime!

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Today's Results

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BNP Paribas Masters (Paris)

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Marin Cilic def. Andreas Seppi, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Nicolas Kiefer def. Ivo Karlovic, 6-4 7-5

Mario Ancic def. Rainer Schuettler, 6-4 3-6 6-1

Sam Querrey def. Marcos Baghdatis, 7-5 6-7 (5-7) 3-2 retired

Tomas Berdych def. Robby Ginepri, 6-4 7-5

Juan Monaco def. Marat Safin, 6-0 7-6 (7-4)

Simone Bolelli def. Jarkko Nieminen, 7-5 6-4

Igor Andreev def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 7-6 (8-6) 6-3

Feliciano Lopez def. Janko Tipsarevic, 6-3 6-4

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Bell Challenge (Quebec)

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Julie Ditty def. Urszula Radwanska, 7-6 (7-1) 6-2

Valérie Tétreault def. Mathilde Johansson, 6-1 7-5

Restoring Order

I do so love it when Roger Federer wins stuff. It seems like things are happening correctly - like proper order has been restored. In the first part of the year, when he was suffering under the mono-monster, something really was rotten in the state of Denmark. But now, with him, like, winning stuff, chaos has been averted. Order has been restored.

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One thing I really like about his play is how he improves over the course of the tournament - not that I in any way endorse his early round jitters against players like Bobby Reynolds. But he really stepped it up come semis and especially today, in the finals. David Nalbandian is no pushover - even if LameDave shows up, he still has game. He and Roger are old-time rivals and they have a pretty competitive career record: after Basel, Roger now leads 10-8. So it was great for the Fed to beat Headbandian so convincingly. Not having seen the match, I don't know if it was GoodDave or LameDave who turned up, but GoodDave has been in evidence this week, so I'm going to assume it was him. And R-Fed took care of business. All is well.

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The only tournament, men or women, this week in which the top seed did not win was Lyon, where seventh seeded Robin Soderling took out unseeded Julien Benneteau. The top seed was Andy Roddick. Well, I guess he should have gone to the Olympics. Any failings he has for the rest of his career I am going to blame on that.

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So our other winners were Andy Murray (who totally owned Andrey 'who?' Golubev, but kudos to the qualifier for making it to the final!), Elena Dementieva and - guess what!? - Ana Ivanovic. That's right, Ana is back winning stuff, and that is very exciting. It may not have been the biggest tournament in the world, but it certainly wasn't a total schlep tournament: it was Tier II. So well done Ana! Hopefully this will do wonders for her confidence and we'll see her make a good account of herself in Doha.

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And before I go, vale Federico Luzzi. This 28 year old Italian player unfortunately died of leukaemia after being diagnosed over the weekend. What a sad day for Italian tennis.

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Today's Results

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Davidoff Swiss Indoors (Basel)

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Roger Federer def. David Nalbandian, 6-3 6-4

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St Petersburg Open (St Petersburg)

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Andy Murray def. Andrey Golubev, 6-1 6-1

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Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon (Lyon)

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Robin Soderling def. Julien Benneteau, 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-1

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BNP Paribas Masters (Paris)

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Tommy Robredo def. Jeremy Chardy, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5)

Dmitry Tursunov def. Adrian Mannarino, 6-3 6-2

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Generali Ladies Linz (Linz)

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Ana Ivanovic def. Vera Zvonareva, 6-2 6-1

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FORTIS Championships Luxembourg (Luxembourg)

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Elena Dementieva def. Caroline Wozniacki, 2-6 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

GoodDave Turns Up

Seems Big Dave took umbrage at me suggesting that his time was past and this was the time of del Potro, by resoundingly beating said del Potro to reach the final of Basel. Even though del Potro is one of my Stars (though I still don't know if I can legitimately claim him - I definitely jumped late on that bandwagon) I have to say that I was pleased for Nalbandian. I'm not a huge fan of his - he seems like a pretty unpleasant kind of guy - but I am a big fan of that generation, the generation of Federer and Safin and Hewitt and those guys. So kudos to Dave - it was GoodDave, seemingly, and not LameDave, that showed up. I don't really care which Dave shows up tomorrow, as long as Federer wins. That partisanship of mine will not be changing any time soon.

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Roger and Dave aside, as they were the top two seeds in Basel and regulars in finals (well... Roger is, anyway) we have some very strange men in the finals this week. Andy Murray in St Petersburg is no great shock, but what about Andrey Golubev? I'm sorry, but who? He stomped all over Victor Hanescu in his semi-final, and I have totally never heard of him. His ATP profile tells us that he is twenty-one, ranked #150 and won a Challenger event this year. I'll have to keep an eye on him. He may yet be young enough for admission to the Stars program, but he'll have to prove himself a little more first. Look at Eduardo Schwank. He won three Challenger events this year and he's only hanging on to his spot in the program by his teeth. Because it is such a highly-sought after honour, after all.

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Then in Lyon, we have a final between Robin Soderling and Julien Benneteau, who knocked out Gilles Simon and Jo-W Tsonga between them. I bet no one was expecting that. Soderling is seeded #7, so I guess he's the favourite... it's about time he did something. He's been considered 'dangerous' for a long time, but he really needs to step up to the plate and produce good results on a week-to-week basis if he wants to move up the rankings. As for Benneteau, I can't say I know too much about him. I think he maybe knocked out Andy Roddick in the first round of the US Open one time, though I could be getting him confused with someone else. Oh, and I saw him play Stan Wawrinka at the Australian Open this year on Show Court 3. It was fun.

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And guess who else is in a final? ANA IVANOVIC! Horror of horrors, shock of shocks! And she beat a decent player to get there. I say 'beat' - she totally scraped through by the skin of her teeth against Agnieszka Radwanska. But a win is a win, and she obviously hung tough throughout the match. Please let this be the sign of good things to come. Doha is coming up so soon, and I'd love to see Ana do well.

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Speaking of Doha, the field is finalised: Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Vera Zvonareva, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Elena Dementieva and my special favourite, Dinara Safina. Dinara's been so close at so many of the Slams this year that I feel she deserves this one, to go along with the rest of her Tier I lovin'. That said, I am oddly sad that Sharapova is going to miss out with her injury. I am definitely not a Sharapova fan - we all know that - but that final between her and Henin last year was so spectacular that it's a shame she doesn't get to have another crack at it. Oh well. Next year, Shazzapov.

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Today's Results

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Davidoff Swiss Indoors (Basel)
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Roger Federer def. Feliciano Lopez, 6-3 6-2

David Nalbandian def. Juan Martin Del Potro, 6-4 6-4

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St Petersburg Open (St Petersburg)

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Andy Murray def. Fernando Verdasco, 6-0 6-3

Andrey Golubev def. Victor Hanescu (ROU) 6-3 6-0

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Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon (Lyon)

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Julien Benneteau def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 7-6 (7-4) 7-5

Robin Soderling def. Gilles Simon, 5-7 6-3 6-3

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Generali Ladies Linz (Linz)

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Ana Ivanovic def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-2 3-6 7-5

Vera Zvonareva def. Marion Bartoli, 6-0 6-1

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FORTIS Championships Luxembourg (Luxembourg)

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

Caroline Wozniacki def. Li Na, 7-6 (7-1) 3-6 6-2