Nieminenenenen

I would not be myself if I did not begin this post with a big AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, as is my wont whenever Novak Djokovic gets beaten by someone he shouldn't have. How about Jarkko Nieminen? He played a fabulous match - and this has to be the best win of his career. He's never beaten a top five player before - and in my humble opinion, he couldn't have picked a better one to beat.

*

I don't think this is going to have too much bearing on the Open - Djokovic could be playing his way into form - but I would not be unconcerned, were I in the Djokovic camp. That's all I'm saying. Along with AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

*

It's going to be an interesting match, this final - who would have picked a Nalbandian/Nieminen match? Certainly not me. It's going to be intriguing to see an inform Nalbandian at the Open - he has got potential to beat any of the top four. He's in the Djokovic quarter, and that would be a very interesting match indeed. I was gunning for him to be in the Nadal quarter, because that would be interesting to the nth degree, but we cannot have everything. I'm going to pick him over Jarkko, but then I picked Djokovic over Jarkko as well. Who knows what Nieminenenenen can pull out of the bag this time?!

*

The women's final was a very interesting match as well. It is beyond me why Elena Dementieva can hit such powerful, penetrating groundies and then have a serve which is the equivalent of caressing her opponent with a natural yoghurt (pop culture reference - props to anyone who gets it, as you clearly have excellent taste.) Imagine her game with, say, Serena's serve. She'd be unstoppable. Hell, put Safina's serve on her, and she'd be #1 in a flash.

*

Dinara herself did not play badly - I think she got outplayed, mostly. Elena's on a hot streak. What did get me was how frickin' mean her coach was to her! Seriously, oncourt coaching is a dodgy enough enterprise, without your coach coming out and launching a tirade of abuse at you. Maybe that's how Dinara operates - she needs someone to be super-hard to help her knuckle down or whatever - but it didn't even really sound like constructive criticism to me... I hate oncourt coaching. I think it's ridiculous and should be thrown out the window, baby, bathwater and all. If you even mentioned the possibility on the ATP tour, there'd be uproar. Why is it all right on the WTA tour? The girls are not stupider than the guys!

*

Speaking of the ATP tour, and the Player Council President in particular, he has a final himself today at Kooyong - which I cannot watch because of work, which saddens me greatly. It's going to be an interesting tussle, Roger vs. Stan - obviously you pick Roger, but Stan obviously knows his game so well... and they're such good mates. I bet that match will be a pleasure to watch - for all the people that aren't me!

*

Oh, and props to Marija Mirkovic! I lied yesterday when I said Mr Milkshake was the only Aussie, male or female, left in qualies. Here's hoping Marija can pull it out over Kimiko Date Krumm and win herself a place in the main draw!

*

*

Today's Results

*

AAMI Classic (Kooyong)

*

Stanislas Wawrinka def. Fernando Gonzalez, 7-6 (7-3) 6-7 (1-7) 6-4
Marcos Baghdatis def. Marin Cilic, 6-3 6-2
Carlos Moya def. Ivan Ljubicic, 7-5 3-6 7-5

*

*

Medibank International (Sydney)

*

Men's Draw

*

Jarkko Nieminen def. Novak Djokovic, 6-4 7-6 (7-3)

David Nalbandian def. Richard Gasquet, 6-4 6-3

*

*

Women's Draw

*

Elena Dementieva def. Dinara Safina, 6-3 2-6 6-1

*

*

Heineken Open (Auckland)

*

Juan Martin del Potro def. Robin Soderling, 6-4 6-3

Sam Querrey def. David Ferrer, 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

*

*

Moorilla Hobart International (Hobart)

*

Petra Kvitova def. Iveta Benesova, 7-5 6-1

Not Forgetting Richou

Wow. What a terrible day for Australia in the qualies for the Open. Only one Aussie got through (one, out of both men and women!) and that was Peter Luczak. Here's hoping Mr Milkshake can win through to the actual tournament, because otherwise that's just a bit ridiculous for Australian tennis! We have some great players in through the discretionary wildcard system, but you'd hope for at least one qualifier!

*

Kooyong yesterday was an absolute nailbiter - the Federer/Verdasco match, I mean. Federer was clearly playing well within himself, experimenting, trying a few things out, etc, etc, but Nando played a great match after beign 5-0 down in the first to take it to a third set breaker. You'd have to say that Roger never looked like losing, but the scoreline belies it, and so kudos to Nando on a great match. It's going to be interesting to watch his progress at the Open... and I'd back him over whomever he faces in the playoff for third here at Kooyong, whether it's Wawrinka or Gonzo. And obviously you've got to back the Fed over either of those guys, so it's going to be an interesting final... which I probably won't be able to watch because I'll be at work. Le sigh. At least I'll see them all in the flesh next week at the Open!

*

Sydney, and man did Serena lie down for Elena Dementieva! It always amazes me that Dementieva is ranked as high as she is with that serve of hers (which, granted, is improved, but is still a joke compared to most of the other serves on tour) but Serena totally failed to capitalise and Dementieva smashed her like a guitar. It's going to be interesting - Dinara Safina had a bit of trouble against the wily veteran Ai Sugiyama, but brought it in the major points. So who do you back? Elegant Elena or Dinara the freight train? They split big matches last year - Dinara had her number at the French Open, but Elena won the gold medal. I'm backing Dinara on this one, but I think it's on her racquet. If she gets in a rut like Serena did, Elena will sail away with the title. But I don't think Dinara will do that. She's a bit too determined, even if she can be scatty at times.

*

And I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that Richard Gasquet is going to come away with the title this week in the men's at Sydney. Tsonga is out with injury (man, I hope he's okay for the Open!) and the three remaining out contenders are Djokovic, Nalbandian and Nieminen. I think Gasquet, if he plays the way he has been, can take all three of them, particularly with Djokovic's racquet change and ensuing discomfort. The one to watch will be Nalbandian, but even though he beat Hewitt, I wasn't especially impressed with his play... so I'm backing Richou. Even though he fell out of favour last year what with his tanties and his headcaseness, it would be nice to see him climb back up the rankings some... strange to think, isn't it, that he usedto be France's #1? Tsonga and Simon both catapulted past him last year, and everyone pretty much forgot about Richou. Maybe he's not ready to be forgotten just yet...

*

*

Today's Results

*

AAMI Classic (Kooyong)

*

Marcos Baghdatis def. Ivan Ljubicic, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4

Roger Federer def. Fernando Verdasco, 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-5)

Marin Cilic def. Carlos Moya, 6-3 7-6 (7-1)

*

*

Medibank International (Sydney)

*

Men's Draw

*

Novak Djokovic def. Mario Ancic, 6-3 6-4

Jarkko Nieminen def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, walkover

David Nalbandian def. Lleyton Hewitt, 7-6 (7-3) 7-5

Richard Gasquet def. Jeremy Chardy, 6-2 7-6 (7-4)

*

*

Women's Draw

*

Elena Dementieva def. Serena Williams, 6-3 6-1

Dinara Safina def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-4 7-6 (7-3)

*

*

Heineken Open (Auckland)

*

Juan Martin del Potro def. Viktor Troicki, 6-3 6-2

David Ferrer def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, walkover

Sam Querrey def. Nicolas Almagro, 6-3 6-2

Robin Soderling def. John Isner, 6-4 6-4

*

*

Moorilla Hobart International (Hobart)

*

Iveta Benesova def. Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-1 6-3

Petra Kvitova def. Virginie Razzano, 6-4 6-2

Hats Off To Jeremy!

We have one Star who is really shining bright this week, and it's not one I would have picked. Hats off to Jeremy Chardy! He was admitted to the fold pretty much on the strength of his performance in the French Open, but he clearly still has something, because he has beaten some quality players this week. First it was Radek Stepanek, and now it's Igor Andreev. He's in the quarters now - can Jeremy take it further?

*

One of Australia's last hopes, Chris Guccione, is out, but it was a bit much to ask him to repeat his performance of last year. Lleyton Hewitt, on the other hand, is playing quite nicely - I very much enjoyed his match against Janko Tipsarevic. Even though he's objectionable when he speaks, I really do like watching him play - maybe it's because his counter-punching style seems to draw points out, and long points are good viewing. Anyway, I like watching him, and I'm sure his quarter final match against David Nalbandian will be entertaining, if nothing else.

*

I very much liked the look of Caroline Wozniacki yesterday, even though she did go down to HMAS Serena. She played beautifully - especially in the first set. She's one to keep an eye on for sure - her and Dominika Cibulkova! The Dinara Safina freight train rolled on as well, steamrolling Alize Cornet for the second time in two weeks. It'd be interesting to see who came up trumps in a match between her and Serena - no quarter would be asked, and no quarter given.

*

Meanwhile, another one of my favourite tournaments has begun - the AAMI Classic in Kooyong. Marcos Baghdatis was not looking good at all in his match against Stan Wawrinka, who was - how sweet is his backhand? Nando Verdasco also looked good beating my Star Marin Cilic, but the real class act was, of course, Roger Federer. He was just cruising around, looking supreme, making shots, pulling shapes, being the ultimate front man, anything you can ask. He looked so casual and yet his tennis was so beautiful... I think (and hope!) that he's been playing the B or C game all these weeks and will bring the real stuff at the Open. Especially as I might get to see him play live!

*

*

Today's Results

*

AAMI Classic (Kooyong)

*

Stanislas Wawrinka def. Marcos Baghdatis, 6-2 6-2
Roger Federer def. Carlos Moya, 6-2 6-3
Fernando Verdasco def. Marin Cilic, 6-2 7-5
Fernando Gonzalez def. Ivan Ljubicic, 6-4 6-3

*

*

Medibank International (Sydney)

*

Men's Draw

*

Novak Djokovic def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-1 6-2

Richard Gasquet def. Gilles Simon, 6-4 6-4

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Simone Bolelli, 6-4 6-1

David Nalbandian def. Michael Llodra, 6-1 6-3

Jeremy Chardy def. Igor Andreev, 6-4 4-6 6-4

Mario Ancic def. Tommy Robredo, 6-2 6-1

Lleyton Hewitt def. Janko Tipsarevic, 7-5 6-4

Jarkko Nieminen def. Chris Guccione, 7-6 (10-8) 6-3

*

*

Women's Draw

*

Serena Williams def. Caroline Wozniacki, 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-3)

Dinara Safina def. Alizé Cornet, 6-3 6-4

Elena Dementieva def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-2 5-7 6-4

Ai Sugiyama def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, walkover

*

*

Moorilla Hobart International (Hobart)

*

Iveta Benesova def. Gisela Dulko, 6-4 6-4

Petra Kvitova def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 1-6 7-5 6-3

Magdalena Rybarikova def. Melinda Czink, 6-0 1-6 7-6 (9-7)

Virginie Razzano def. Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-4 6-1

No Repeat Performances

Well, we're not having a repeat of last year's final at the Medibank International. Chris Guccione is through on the strength of a really quite excellent performance against perennial underachiever Tomas Berdych, but Dmitry Tursunov is out. He didn't exactly get bundled out, but he went down in a tight two-setter to Richard Gasquet, who is looking better than I've seen him for a while. It's going to be interesting to see how that one works out for him.

*

On the men's side, it was a good day for Australia - both Gooch and Hewitt are through. That Hewitt match was really good to watch - no matter what one might think of his personality, he's dynamic on court, and you have to admire his chutzpah. Julien Benneteau should be fiercely disappointed to lose that one. Another loser was Radek Stepanek, who did retire, yes, but who was being pummelled by Jeremy Chardy (a Star!) when he called it quits. He cites illness... I have my doubts. Mostly because I don't like him. Which is a fair enough reason. But good on Jeremy!

*

Speaking of Stars, Ernests Gulbis is looking pretty decent over in Auckland over a good three-set win over Marcel Granollers, who is no slouch - he has a title to his name, and you don't get that by being a schlep. However, Ernests is going up against the #1 seed today, Juan Martin del Potro... can he upset two #1 seeds in consecutive tournaments? I like to think he can - here's hoping he does!

*

And how dangerous is Dinara Safina looking over on the women's side? I wouldn't want to come up against her anytime soon. After pounding on Cirstea yesterday, she turned Vera Dushevina into mincemeat. (Ironically, Cirstea and Dushevina are doubles partners. They can share their woes together.)

*

Meanwhile, more wildcards for the Aussie Open have been announced, and I have to say that I like their choices. Discretionary wildcards have been handed to Bernard Tomic, Sam Groth, Brydan Klein and Carsten Ball in the men's, and Monica Wejnert, Isabella Holland, Olivia Rogoswka and Jessica Moore in the women's. All young guns, all with potential. My goal is for one of these eight to win a match - actually, make it ten, we'll include Colin Ebelthite and Jelena Dokic, who won the playoffs. I have a particular feeling about Isabella Holland... she might just make good!

*

*

Today's Results

*

Medibank International (Sydney)

*

Men's Draw

*

Chris Guccione def. Tomas Berdych, 6-3 6-4

Janko Tipsarevic def. Mardy Fish, 6-4 3-6 6-4

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Andreas Seppi, 6-2 2-6 6-3

Lleyton Hewitt def. Julien Benneteau, 5-7 6-2 6-4

Jeremy Chardy def. Radek Stepanek, 6-4 3-0 retired

Richard Gasquet def. Dmitry Tursunov, 7-6 (7-4) 6-4

*

*

Women's Draw

*

Serena Williams def. Sara Errani, 6-1 6-2

Dinara Safina def. Vera Dushevina, 6-3 6-0

Elena Dementieva def. Jarmila Gajdosova, 6-2 6-4

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Kaia Kanepi, 6-2 2-6 7-6 (7-3)

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Daniela Hantuchova, 6-3 7-5

Caroline Wozniacki def. Melanie South, 6-2 6-0

Alizé Cornet def. Alisa Kleybanova, 7-6 (7-5) 6-1

Ai Sugiyama def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 2-6 6-1 6-2

*

*

Heineken Open (Auckland)

*

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Dominik Hrbaty, 6-1 6-2

John Isner def. Albert Montanes, 7-6 (7-4) 7-5

Juan Monaco def. Victor Hanescu, 6-3 6-4

Gilles Muller def. Florent Serra, 6-3 6-4

Yen-Hsun Lu def. Steve Darcis, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Ernests Gulbis def. Marcel Granollers, 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-1

Bobby Reynolds def. Oscar Hernandez, 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 6-2

Marc Gicquel def. Agustin Calleri, 3-6 6-4 6-4

*

*

Moorilla Hobart International (Hobart)

*

Magdalena Rybarikova def. Flavia Pennetta, 7-5 6-3

Gisela Dulko def. Zheng Jie, 6-3 6-3

Petra Kvitova def. Alona Bondarenko, 6-2 6-1

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Carla Suárez Navarro, 6-4 6-1

Iveta Benesova def. Mara Santangelo, 6-3 6-1

Virginie Razzano def. Anne Keothavong, 4-6 6-0 7-5

Melinda Czink def. Urszula Radwanska, 4-2 retired

Tsvetana Pironkova def. Olga Govortsova, 6-1 6-2

Feeling Sorry for Sorana

Dinara Safina doesn't seem to have let that heartbreaker of a loss to Dominika Cibulkova in Perth slow her down - if anything, it seems to have given her motivation to absolutely pound on her opponents, and poor Sorana Cirstea was today's victim. Dude, I would not have liked to be in Sorana's shoes. Dinara absolutely smashed her. If she keeps playing like this (Dinara, that is, not Sorana) she is a real shot for the Aussie Open... and I bet she was chuckling when Cibulkova went down softly to Wozniacki. I was a bit sad about that, actually - much as I'm on Team Dinara, I really like Cibulkova's pocket rocket style of play, and a rematch could have been interesting... especially if Dinara went in with the mindset she seemed to have gone in with against Cirstea!

*

There were no upsets of note in either Sydney or Auckland for the blokes - though Igor Andreev was looking like he was in trouble for a while there against Frank Dancevic, who may not be very highly ranked but has proved to be a little dangerous on occasion. (I believe his power lies in his bandanna, if he still wears it - he wore it when I watched him play Nieminen at last year's Aussie Open, and it was up there with Stepanek's shirt for sheer stupidity) The only really iffy one was Juan Carlos Ferrero beating Kei Nishikori, but that was by retirement... I hope Kei is all right! I want him to go far, far, far! He's a Star!

*

The women's side, by contrast, was a little more up-and-down. It seems to me like pretty much anyone who's anyone is playing in Sydney for the women this week - with the exception of the two Serbian girls. Who would pick players of the calibre of Nadia Petrova (seeded #7) and Alize Cornet (unseeded) meeting in the first round? Cornet is ranked #15 - you'd normally get a pretty decent seed based on that ranking. Petrova is #11 and Wozniacki is #8 - Cornet'd be next in line, I guess. But still, in how many tournaments are you going to see two top twenty players meeting in the first round? I bet both of them were pretty filthy with that draw... especially Petrova, coming off viral meningitis last week. You want a nice easy qualifier or something to warm up against... instead, you get Alize Cornet.

*

This could have been a great match if it'd happened a little later in the week and Petrova had played her way into form a bit. As it was, Cornet pretty much snapped her in half. I am loving the look of Alize at the moment - probably not a finals run yet, but I could see her in the quarters of the Australian. And on that subject, no Sharapova! I am feeling the loss so tragically. Really. Feel my pain. I mean, sure, she's the defending champ and all, and it's sad that she can't defend her title, but we've coped just fine without her for a while now - I'm sure we'll manage somehow. (Meanwhile, does anyone else think that there must be a lot of dislike between Sharapova and Ivanovic - especially from Sharapova to Ivanovic? Ana has pretty much run off with the mantle of the glamour girl of tennis... have we moved beyond Maria?)

*

And what is up with Casey Dellacqua? She went down ridiculously softly to Sara Errani, which I would not have expected. She wasn't looking that good in Perth either - is the pressure of backing up what she did last year getting to her?

*

*

Today's Results

*

Medibank International (Sydney)

*

Men's Draw

*

Igor Andreev def. Frank Dancevic, 7-6 (7-2) 6-3

Tommy Robredo def. Jurgen Melzer, 6-3 6-4

Jarkko Nieminen def. Feliciano Lopez, 6-2 7-6 (11-9)

Mario Ancic def. Xavier Malisse, 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-3

Michael Llodra def. Denis Gremelmayr, 6-0 6-2

Simone Bolelli def. Potito Starace, 7-6 (7-1) 6-4

*

*

Women's Draw

*

Dinara Safina def. Sorana Cirstea, 6-2 6-1

Elena Dementieva def. Ekaterina Makarova, 7-5 6-1

Alizé Cornet def. Nadia Petrova, 6-2 6-4

Caroline Wozniacki def. Dominika Cibulkova, 6-1 6-2

Daniela Hantuchova def. Klara Zakopalova, 6-3 6-0

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Anastasiya Yakimova, 6-1 3-6 6-3

Kaia Kanepi def. Angelique Kerber, 6-1 7-5

Ai Sugiyama def. Jill Craybas, 6-2 6-3

Alisa Kleybanova def. Maria Kirilenko, 6-2 6-2

Sara Errani def. Casey Dellacqua, 6-1 6-2

Vera Dushevina def. Emelyn Starr, 6-0 6-1

Melanie South def. Marion Bartoli, 1-1 retired

Jarmila Gajdosova def. Karin Knapp, 6-4 6-2

*

*

Heineken Open (Auckland)

*

Sam Querrey def. Daniel King-Turner, 6-4 7-5

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Kei Nishikori, 5-3 retired

Viktor Troicki def. Igor Kunitsyn, 6-1 6-2

Robby Ginepri def. Jose Rubin Statham, 6-2 6-3

*

*

Moorilla Hobart International (Hobart)

*

Flavia Pennetta def. Shahar Peer, 6-2 7-6 (7-5)

Carla Suárez Navarro def. Anna Chakvetadze, 7-6 (7-5) 1-6 7-5

Zheng Jie def. Marina Erakovic, 6-1 4-6 6-1

Anne Keothavong def. Agnes Szavay, 6-3 7-5

Urszula Radwanska def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 7-5

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Olivia Rogowska, 6-3 6-1

Olga Govortsova def. Jessica Moore, 6-0 6-3

Gisela Dulko def. Stefanie Voegele, 6-2 6-3

Virginie Razzano def. Maria Elena Camerin, 6-1 6-2

Mara Santangelo def. Nicole Vaidisova, 6-1 6-1

Melinda Czink def. Tathiana Garbin, 6-2 1-6 7-5

Leave It In Brisvegas

Let us not begin today's blog with sour things. Let us instead begin with happy news - congratulations to Dominik Hrbaty and his girlfriend, now fiancee, on their engagement! Apparently he proposed right after he and Dominika Cibulkova won the Hopman Cup, which is really cute. So big congratulations!

*

Right, more sour things. I have discovered the source of Radek Stepanek's power, to which Fernando Verdasco fell victim yesterday, joining a first-set-winning-but-match-losing club with Robin Soderling and Richard Gasquet. It is his shirt. Has anyone ever seen tennis wear more ugly or more mesmerising? I don't know why he thought it would be a good idea to wear a shirt made out of a picnic blanket, but it seems to have worked for him - all three of these players have become hypnotised by it. Or perhaps the horror of it just overcame them. Who can tell?

*

Shirt aside, the match between Verdasco and Stepanek was really a good one, especially the third set, when Stepanek got two breaks up and then Verdasco pulled one and nearly both back. There was some absolutely insane shotmaking from both players (I still blame the shirt) and it was just really good fun to watch. Tennis matches can be good that way, when you aren't especially invested in them (though I was, anyone can tell, pulling for Nando!) You can really appreciate the tennis in and of itself.

*

That said, I hope Stepanek's sudden run of good form doesn't translate to him being this year's surprise finalist. I don't think I would like that. Le's leave it at Brisvegas.

*

And how about Mr Marin Cilic, winning his second title - though it was a struggle against Somdev Devvarman, the wildcard playing out of his skin. But nice one, Marin, flying the Star flag!

*

*

Today's Results

*

Brisbane International (Brisbane)

*

Radek Stepanek def. Fernando Verdasco, 3-6 6-3 6-4

*

*

Chennai Open (Chennai)
*

Marin Cilic def. Somdev Devvarman, 6-4 7-6 (7-3)

*

*

Medibank International (Sydney)

*

Serena Williams def. Samantha Stosur, 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 7-5

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Peng Shuai, 3-6 6-1 6-3

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Sybille Bammer, 6-4 6-3

*

*

Moorilla Hobart International (Hobart)
*

Tsvetana Pironkova def. Patty Schnyder, 6-2 6-4

Alona Bondarenko def. Monica Niculescu, 6-4 2-6 6-2

Iveta Benesova def. Tamarine Tanasugarn, 7-5 7-5

Petra Kvitova def. Sally Peers, 6-0 6-0

Magdalena Rybarikova def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-1

The Worm Effect

What is it about the Worm? I've watched both his quarter and semi final showings at the Brisbane tournament, and both times he's been getting his arse kicked heavily in the first set, only to somehow turn the tables in the second two sets when he really has no right to. He did it to Soderling and then he did to Gasquet. Does he only kick into action in the second set? What's with it? And why do these guys let him do it? They're both quality players - what exactly is going on? It doesn't look like he lifts his level of play that exponentially - the wheels just sort of fell off for Robin and Richard. Is this Worm Effect a documentable phenomenon? I don't get it.

*

The final of this tournament is going to be interesting, though I doubt it's going to be anything resembling the cracking Djokovic/Tsonga rematch the organisers were clearly hoping for. Stepanek against Verdasco. Verdasco has been looking very very good (unlike his belaguered girlfriend) and he's in the doubles final as well... so will tiredness come into play? One would hope not - and anyone, he's Spanish, and they don't seem to ever get tired (Rafa and Ferru, anyone?) But what will happen with the Worm Effect? Nando shouldn't rest too easy if he claims the first set without breaking a sweat - beware that evil worm!

*

The women's final was last night, and it was pretty anticlimactic, considering some of the awesome matches we've had this week (like Mauresmo/Coin - that was fabulous!) Victoria Azarenka absolutely pounded on Marion Bartoli. I'm still not keen on Azarenka after her behaviour in her match against Gajdosova, but you have to admire her consistency. And man, Marion Bartoli is a weird tennis player. Whenever she was at net I just wanted to pry her left hand off her racquet. Playing two-handed volleys just killed her - she had next to no reach as well as far fewer options. Two-handed backhand, sure. Two-handed forehand, weird, but if it works for you... two-handed volley was just bad. What is next? Two-handed serving? Bartoli's service action seems to change every single time I see her play. At the moment it seems to be comprised of so many elements that it's pretty bizarre just watching her prepare to throw the ball up - one of the commentators said she found it almost hypnotic, and I totally agree.

*

And how about the Chennai final? Cilic versus Devvarman, the wildcard? Whoever wins there it'll be good. Sure, Devvarman got there via a Schuettler walkover, but whatever. It's always good to see a total random in the final, particularly if they're a local total random... and always good to see one of the Stars as well! We've had a reasonable week, me and my Stars - we have Cilic in a final, Nishikori in the quarters and Gulbis taking out Djokovic. Not bad, eh?

*

Oh, and Dementieva beat Vesnina in the Battle of the Elenas, and Murray beat Roddick in the Battle of the Andies. I bet no one saw those wins coming. At all. Ever. I am stunned and surprised.

*

*

Today's Results

*

Brisbane International (Brisbane)

*

Men's Draw

*

Fernando Verdasco def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-2 6-1

Radek Stepanek def. Richard Gasquet, 2-6 6-2 6-4

*

*

Women's Draw

*

Victoria Azarenka def. Marion Bartoli, 6-3 6-1

*

*

Chennai Open (Chennai)
*

Marin Cilic def. Marcel Granollers, 6-4 6-3

Somdev Devvarman def. Rainer Schuettler, walkover

*

*

Qatar Exxonmobil Open (Doha)

*

Andy Murray def. Andy Roddick, 6-4 6-2

*

*

ASB Classic (Auckland)

*

Elena Dementieva def. Elena Vesnina, 6-4 6-1

*

*

Josh's Tennis Tips

Focus: Backhand

Today's Tip: One hand or two?

*

When you start playing tennis, you need to decide if you are a two handed or one handed player for a backhand. You should try to do the one that feels best for you! Do not try to do the most stylish or best looking one.