The Ball Keeps Bouncing

Okay, whoa. Whoa whoa whoa. What is Carsten Ball doing in an ATP final?

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He's the type of player I wouldn't expect to see in a Challenger final, so low down the rankings is he - and, like I said yesterday, the couple of times I've seen him play, I haven't been particularly impressed. But here he is, after overcoming Leonardo Mayer in a scraptastic semi, in the final of LA.

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Well, that's something.

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However, I would like to categorically state that Ball is NOT on my list of candidates for this year's Juan. I'm pretty sure this is what we in this blogging business call a 'fluke'. But still... kudos. And yay for Aussie tennis.

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He'll face either Haas or Querrey in the final, and I think both of these dudes are in the running to be the next Juan. Haas's glory days are probably largely behind him, but as we saw at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, this dude has some game. Much game, in fact. I know his shoulder is, like, held together with paperclips or something, but he's been playing awesomely and I see no reason why he couldn't make a big charge here.

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Same goes for Querrey, but you'd want to hope Querrey's big days are still in front of him . He's definitely in a spot of form - he's been floating around the deep end of draws for the last little while - and a title in LA could really put him on a roll. (Like Ball. Roll. Get it? Hahahahahahaha.)

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Today's Results

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Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad (Gstaad)

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Thomaz Bellucci def. Igor Andreev, 6-4 7-5

Andreas Beck def. Marcos Daniel, 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

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ATP Studena Croatia Open (Umag)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Jurgen Melzer, 6-1 6-1

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Andreas Seppi, 6-1 6-7 (1-7) 7-5

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LA Tennis Open (Los Angeles)

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Carsten Ball def. Leonardo Mayer, 7-5 7-6 (7-3)

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Bank of the West Classic (Stanford)

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Venus Williams def. Elena Dementieva, 6-0 6-1

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Istanbul Cup (Istanbul)

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Vera Dushevina def. Timea Bacsinszky, 6-2 6-4

Lucie Hradecka def. Andrea Petkovic, 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 7-5

Getting the Ball Rolling

I'd like to take a day's break from our quest for this year's Juan Martin del Potro to give a massive shoutout to the Aussie participants this week, who are batting well above their weight. Nice to see!

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First, we have Chris Guccione who was definitely in a winning position against Mardy Fish - he had match points, I do believe - before going down in a tight three sets. I have mixed feelings about this match - coming so close, I believe Gooch should have won - but Fish is ranked a long way above him, and so playing him so tight for three sets is an achievement in and off itself. If only Gooch could close out a little better... he has all the tools he needs to be a Karlovic-style menace, I just wish he'd bring it to the court a little more often.

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Then we have Samantha Stosur, who had a tremendous win over Serena in Stanford. That's right, Sam beat Serena. I think this is a bit of revenge for Sydney, where Sam had those match points and failed to convert. No such troubles this time. Stosur has really come into her own this year, ever since she made that semi at Roland Garros. She's making a charge towards the top ten - watch out! We haven't had a really bright star in women's tennis since the retirement of Molik, and I reckon Sam could be that girl. Onya, Sam!

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But then, lastly and most remarkably of all, we have Carsten Ball making the semis in LA. Now, previous to this tournament, I'd have to say I didn't rate Ball at all. I hadn't seen him play singles, but I'd seen him play doubles with Guccione, and I really wasn't that impressed with what I saw. Well, time to eat my words, because Ball clearly has a little somethin' somethin' going on. You don't reach a tour level final without a bit of jazz. Now I am totally prepared to become a Ball fan... even if it is only for the awesome punning opportunities his name affords me! So c'mon Carsten and make it to the final - do it for the puns... and the pundits.

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Yes, I really said that.

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Today's Results

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Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad (Gstaad)

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Igor Andreev def. Jeremy Chardy, 6-3 6-3

Thomaz Bellucci def. Nicolas Kiefer, 3-6 1-0 retired

Andreas Beck def. Victor Crivoi, 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Marcos Daniel def. Florent Serra, 6-4 7-6 (7-1)

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ATP Studena Croatia Open (Umag)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Simone Bolelli, 7-6 (12-10) 6-1

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Maximo Gonzalez, 7-5 6-2

Andreas Seppi def. Nicolas Massu, 6-4 6-4

Jurgen Melzer def. Ivan Ljubicic, 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

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LA Tennis Open (Los Angeles)

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Carsten Ball def. John Isner, 6-4 6-4

Leonardo Mayer def. Mardy Fish, walkover

Sam Querrey def. Dudi Sela, 6-3 7-5

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Bank of the West Classic (Stanford)

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Samantha Stosur def. Serena Williams, 6-2 3-6 6-2

Elena Dementieva def. Daniela Hantuchova, 6-2 6-4

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Istanbul Cup (Istanbul)

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Vera Dushevina def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-1 6-2

Andrea Petkovic def. Olga Govortsova, 6-3 6-3

Lucie Hradecka def. Marta Domachowska, 6-1 5-7 6-4

Timea Bacsinszky def. Urszula Radwanska, 6-0 6-1

Another Pun on 'Yoking'

Well, candidate #2, Marat Safin, has defeated candidate #1, Ernests Gulbis, in LA, after Gulbis was a set and a break up. I'm very glad for Marat, because he clearly didn't go away mentally, but I'm not especially pleased with Ernests Gulbis, who obviously did. I'm not removing Ernests from my list of candidates, but he needs to shape up, clearly.

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And Marat, you need to keep it going.

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Today's candidate is an obvious one - much more obvious than Juan Martin del Potro was last year - because this player has already started his run. I'm interested to see if he can keep it going on the hard courts after a great season on clay. I'm talking, of course, about the Yoker, Robin Soderling.

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There is no reason at all why he cannot tear up the courts this summer. His nemesis has been Roger Federer - well, Roger is everyone's nemesis, really - but with Rafa's dodgy knees, Djokovic's dodgy mind and Andy Murray... well, ain't nothing dodgy about Andy Murray, but that doesn't take away from the fact that Soderling has everything he needs to go on a big run these hardcourt season and propel himself well inside the top ten. He's got the weapons, he's got the mind, he's got the coach and now he's got the confidence. Robin ain't yoking when it comes to tennis.

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I'm not exactly sure which tournaments the Yoker is playing - del Potro's run was so pronounced last year because he played four of those little schlep tournaments in a row and won them all. So if he - or, indeed, anyone - goes on a run, it might not be quite so obvious. But a hot streak is a hot streak... and the Sod's been on one. Who's to say it cannot continue?

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Today's Results

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Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad (Gstaad)

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Thomaz Bellucci def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-4 6-4

Florent Serra def. Victor Hanescu, 6-4 retired

Nicolas Kiefer def. Ivan Navarro, 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-2

Marcos Daniel def. Julien Benneteau, 6-3 7-6 (10-8)

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ATP Studena Croatia Open (Umag)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Alberto Martin, 6-2 6-3

Nicolas Massu def. David Ferrer, 4-6 6-2 6-4

Jurgen Melzer def. Pablo Cuevas, 6-4 6-3

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Potito Starace, 1-6 6-3 6-2

Ivan Ljubicic def. Nicolas Almagro, 7-5 7-6 (7-2)

Andreas Seppi def. Frederico Gil, 7-5 7-6 (7-5)

Simone Bolelli def. Fabio Fognini, 6-3 6-4

Maximo Gonzalez def. Oscar Hernandez, 6-4 6-4

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LA Tennis Open (Los Angeles)
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Dudi Sela def. Robert Kendrick, 6-4 3-6 6-1

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Bank of the West Classic (Stanford)

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Serena Williams def. Melinda Czink, 6-3 7-6 (9-7)

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Istanbul Cup (Istanbul)

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Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Pemra Ozgen, 2-6 6-2 6-0

Lucie Hradecka def. Julia Goerges, 2-6 6-4 6-1

Andrea Petkovic def. Rossana de los Rios, 6-1 6-0

Urszula Radwanska def. Ekaterina Dzehalevich, 7-5 1-6 6-4

Blaze of Glory

Okay, time for candidate #2 in the race for this year's Juan (aka Jodi's adventure in wishful thinking). Time to discuss... Marat Safin.

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I know he's not an up and coming young gun looking for a hot streak to propel him into the top ten. The majority of Marat's career is behind him. But why not go out with a bang? Why not?

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What has Marat got to lose? Nothing. And it would be so, so very Marat, after a lacklustre few years, the only major spot of wow being that Wimbledon semi, to get on a roll and blaze through draws like a bushfire. He's got the ability - I don't think anyone would ever question the sheer ability and talent of the Safinator. It's a question of the mind.

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I'm hoping that that exhibition against Sampras the other day gave Marat a sense of history. His career opened with a spectacular bang in the US - maybe Marat will become motivated to make it end the same way. Though I don't know how much motivation is the question... I don't even know what the question is. But Marat can do this. He can. I want him to.

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Oh, I don't even know what I'm saying - except that I want Marat to do well, and I believe he can do it. Unfortunately, he comes up against our candidate #1, Ernests Gulbis, in the second round... but at least it means one of them will make it to the quarters!

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Today's Results

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Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad (Gstaad)

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Igor Andreev def. Jan Hernych, 6-4 6-1

Jeremy Chardy def. Mikhail Youzhny, 6-3 5-7 6-3

Victor Crivoi def. Teimuraz Gabashvili, 6-4 6-4

Andreas Beck def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 7-6 (7-3) 1-6 7-6 (7-3)

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ATP Studena Croatia Open (Umag)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Daniel Gimeno-Traver, 6-2 6-2

David Ferrer def. Daniel Koellerer, 6-1 6-7 (2-7) 6-3

Maximo Gonzalez def. Viktor Troicki, 6-4 3-6 7-6 (8-6)

Nicolas Almagro def. Marcel Granollers, 6-1 6-3

Oscar Hernandez def. Sergiy Stakhovsky, 7-6 (7-3) 6-1

Ivan Ljubicic def. Filippo Volandri, 6-1 6-4

Alberto Martin def. Martin Klizan, 6-4 6-4

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LA Tennis Open (Los Angeles)

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Carsten Ball def. Dmitry Tursunov, 6-4 0-1 retired

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Bank of the West Classic (Stanford)

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Samantha Stosur def. Monica Niculescu, 6-1 7-5

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Istanbul Cup (Istanbul)

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Marta Domachowska def. Aravane Rezai, 6-3 4-6 6-4

Vera Dushevina def. Maria Elena Camerin, 6-0 6-1

Olga Govortsova def. Angelique Kerber, 6-4 6-7 (7-9) 6-4

Timea Bacsinszky def. Mariya Koryttseva, 6-2 3-6 4-1 retired

Speaking Ernestsly

So who will be this year's Juan Martin del Potro - if, indeed, we get such a figure this year? Are we going to see any young gun blossom out of nowhere and make a tear up the rankings during this US Open series? This was the question I posed yesterday, and if I don't get distracted by something shiny or by the Federer twins, this is the question I'd like to consider this week.

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Today's candidate: Ernests Gulbis.

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Yes, I know he's been playing like crap this year and he hasn't been able to string two wins together. But he says this is because he is still getting used to his increased muscle mass and that he is finding his game again. And he has such beautiful, exquisite talent...

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I know I'm biased towards Gulbis, because he is a special favourite of mine - but I genuinely believe he has the talent to make it big, and why not start now? He's coming off a doubles win with Tursunov last week, and I know doubles wins don't mean much usually, but look what it did for Roger Federer last year, winning that doubles medal? And Gulbis has had a good win in LA today over Yen-hsun Lu, whom we all know is definitely no slouch and has some serious game.

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So why should this not be Gulbis's year to be Juan Martin? He's young and talented, and if he can just get used to his new physique he's got all the tools he needs. Sure, he's unproved - but so was del Potro before his run last year, so unproved the Argentines didn't even take him to the Olympics. There is nothing in Ernests' way but himself... oh yeah, and a few other tennis players, but he has the ability to beat them. I really believe this.

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And then there's the fact that I would love love LOVE Ernests to be this year's Juan and prove me right after I've been bignoting him all this time...

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Today's Results

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Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad (Gstaad)

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Stanislas Wawrinka def. Federico Del Bonis, 6-4 7-5

Victor Hanescu def. Ivo Minar, 6-2 6-2

Jeremy Chardy def. Thierry Ascione, 6-3 6-3

Nicolas Kiefer def. Jose Acasuso, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Marcos Daniel def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (8-6)

Ivan Navarro def. Farrukh Dustov, 7-6 (7-2) 4-6 6-2

Julien Benneteau def. Stephane Bohli, 7-6 (7-4) 7-5

Florent Serra def. Martin Vassallo Arguello, 6-3 6-2

Thomaz Bellucci def. Michael Lammer, 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

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ATP Studena Croatia Open (Umag)

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Jurgen Melzer def. Brian Dabul, 6-3 7-5

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Christophe Rochus, 6-2 6-3

Andreas Seppi def. Juan Igancio Chela, 6-4 2-6 6-3

Fabio Fognini def. Mischa Zverev, 2-6 6-3 6-4

Pablo Cuevas def. Ivan Dodig, 6-3 6-1

Frederico Gil def. Sergio Roitman, 7-5 6-2

Potito Starace def. Grega Zemlja, 6-1 6-3

Simone Bolelli def. Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, 7-6 (9-7) 3-6 6-0

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LA Tennis Open (Los Angeles)

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John Isner def. Benjamin Becker, 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (7-3)

Ernests Gulbis def. Yen-hsun Lu, 7-5 6-2

Carsten Ball def. Marc Gicquel, 6-2 7-6 (10-8)

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Bank of the West Classic (Stanford)

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Samantha Stosur def. Dominika Cibulkova, 6-4 6-3

Marion Bartoli def. Ayumi Morita, 7-6 (8-6) 6-3

Daniela Hantuchova def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 6-4 4-6 7-5

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Istanbul Cup (Istanbul)

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Mariya Koryttseva def. Vera Zvonareva, 6-2 1-6 6-4

Rossana de los Rios def. Patty Schnyder, 7-6 (7-3) 2-6 6-3

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Anastasiya Yakimova, 6-4 6-2

Vera Dushevina def. Yuliana Fedak, 6-1 6-4

Lucie Hradecka def. Cagla Buyukakcay, 4-6 6-3 6-0

Andrea Petkovic def. Sandra Zahlavova, 6-1 6-2

Urszula Radwanska def. Stefanie Voegele, 6-2 7-6 (7-4)

Julia Goerges def. Masa Zec Peskiric, 6-2 6-3

Angelique Kerber def. Alina Jidkova, 6-2 6-3

Ekaterina Dzehalevich def. Darya Kustova, 6-4 7-6 (11-9)

Juan Singular Sensation

Slowly but surely, the post-Wimbledon tennis is going to start to get interesting again - for we are embarking on the US Open series, which, although I think it is a little overmarketed, is always an interesting time. And there's a lot of money involved, which I'm sure makes it interesting for the players as well.

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It's quite easy to write off everything in the tennis year after Wimbledon, except for perhaps the minor blips of the US Open, the Masters Cup and, for those involved, the Davis Cup final. I've been guilty of it myself - but last year, while the rest of the world was off in Beijing playing for Olympic glory and not paying attention to the little US Open series, we saw one of the most remarkable runs of form I can remember from someone not called Roger or Rafa. Juan Martin del Potro won four tournaments on the trot and blazed his way into the quarters of the US Open.

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What was most remarkable about the del Potro run was that he actually came from nowhere. He was ranked somewhere around #60-odd, had been booted out of Wimbledon early and wasn't considered good enough to take on the four man tennis squad from Argentina to the Olympics. Instead, he was left behind to play what were basically the schlep tournaments, devoid of any real talent.

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But even still, winning four of them on the trot is extreme.

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But is it a fluke? people said. No one of any real substance is there. Maybe - oh yeah, there he goes, winning through to the quarters of the US Open. Del Potro made his mark on the game and he has stayed at the top - currently in the best of the rest position at #5. And he is certainly playing well enough to do very well indeed - he has wins over all the top four except Federer, and we saw how close he came at Roland Garros. Del Potro has the ability to go even deeper at the US Open this year, I believe.

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But this didn't start off being about big Juan M. The question I wanted to pose was this - are we going to see another Juan-esque run this year? Is someone suddenly going to find their form and their feet and make a tear to the top of the game? And if so - who do you think it will be?

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Today's Results

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Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad (Gstaad)

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Victor Crivoi def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-4 6-0

Igor Andreev def. Diego Junqueira, 7-5 6-4

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Feliciano Lopez, 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-3

Teimuraz Gabashvili def. Paul Capdeville, 1-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

Jan Hernych def. Flavio Cipolla, 6-1 6-0

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LA Tennis Open (Los Angeles)

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Chris Guccione def. Kevin Kim, 6-1 6-4

Jesse Levine def. Bobby Reynolds, 6-2 6-3

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Bank of the West Classic (Stanford)

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Agnieszka Radwanska def. Sorana Cirstea, 6-0 6-1

Monica Niculescu def. Meghann Shaughnessy, 6-1 6-0

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Istanbul Cup (Istanbul)

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Aravane Rezai def. Viktoriya Kutuzova, 7-6 (7-3) 6-2

Olga Govortsova def. Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-2 5-7 6-4

Timea Bacsinszky def. Polona Hercog, 6-2 6-2

Maria Elena Camerin def. Ipek Senoglu, 6-0 6-2

Marta Domachowska def. Patricia Mayr, 1-6 6-2 6-0

Pemra Ozgen def. Arantxa Rus, 6-3 6-7 (2-7) 6-2

The Other Winners

I could continue cooing over Myla and Charlene Federer for quite some days - and probably there will be more baby talk this week, just so you're warned - but it is weekend winners day, so let's take a survey of who won what where. (Even though the biggest win this week clearly went to Roger and Mirka - welcome twins!)

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Let's start with the no surprises winners. Dinara Safina won in Portoroz - if she hadn't won I would have probably been poised to declare an official Dinara slump, considering most of her opponents there were ranked approximately #5000. She cruised through this week and though it was an odd tournament to choose to play, I'm hoping it just gives her that little bit of confidence she might need going into the US Open series. She can win the Open this year - I believe that. But she needs to believe it, or it ain't gonna happen.

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And then in Hamburg, Nikolay Davydenko came out on top. He wasn't the top seed - that was Gilles Simon - but given Simon's play of late he was effectively the top seed, and he played very well all week, including in his tough semi over David Ferrer. Nice work, Kolya. I have no idea why you insist on playing these silly out-of-place clay tournaments, but well done anyway.

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Then we have our two more surprising winners. Andrea Petkovic won in Bad Gastein. Um, who? Alize Cornet was the top seed here, but she's been hanging out with fellow Frenchie Simon too much, or so it would seem from her tennis. I can't comment anything more, really, because I don't know anything else about Petkovic. Which makes her win pretty sweet, even at one of these smaller satellite tournaments. Well done, Andrea.

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And then in Indy, Robby Ginepri overcame Sam Querrey in an all-American final. Ginepri has been flying under the radar for a number of years now and it is always surprising to me when he wins... I'm sort of used to him being in a slump, because he seems to have been there for sometime now. One thing, though - Querrey seems to have made a few finals this year, but I can't remember him winning any. Am I remembering rightly or did I just make this up?

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But my favourite win of the weekend (Federer twins aside) was in Hamburg, where Dmitry Tursunov and Ernests Gulbis won the doubles. Tursunov is a longtime fave of mine and I haven't seen much of him of late, and we all know that Ernests Gulbis is my favourite of the Stars of the Future, even if he hasn't been doing much this year. I'd like to say that this will rejuvenate them both... but I doubt this, really. However, I do like to see them win. They're a couple of my favourite boys!

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Today's Results

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International German Open (Hamburg)

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-4 6-2

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Indianapolis Tennis Championships (Indianapolis)

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Robby Ginepri def. Sam Querrey, 6-2 6-4

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Banka Koper Slovenia Open (Portoroz)

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Dinara Safina def. Sara Errani, 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 7-5

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Nurnberger Gastein Ladies (Bad Gastein)

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Andrea Petkovic def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 6-2 6-3

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Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad (Gstaad)

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Mikhail Youzhny def. Gaston Gaudio, 6-3 5-7 6-4

Andreas Beck def. Marco Chiudinelli, 4-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-4