Godzilla

The remaining seeds in Tokyo are righting the ship a little -by which I mean none of them actually lost today - but I'm still in total awe about how one tournament could turn into such a mess. When Jelena Jankovic is the highest seed and most consistent player remaining (JJ of this year, not JJ of last year) then something's awry.

Not that I don't think JJ is capable of winning tournaments... but let's face it, this has not been her year. It hasn't really been anyone's year, except maybe Kim Clijsters, and she only played for about four seconds. Oh, WTA. What a glorious mess you are.

I think you have to like Victoria Azarenka to win this title - US Open aside, she hasn't done too bad for herself this year, and you can bet that she'll be kicking herself because Wozniacki made it to a Slam final before she did, claiming the crown of Teen Queen for the present. But you know who I want to see win this title, to be the Godzilla that claims Tokyo? Maria Sharapova.

I love that a) she's still in it and b) the MaSha serve is back! That abbreviated motion might have been good for her shoulder, but it was a total mess for her game, what with those eleventy million double faults. I hope she and her team have found a way to make the old MaSha serve not bad for her shoulder... but if that's the choice she's going to make, more power to her. I'd love to see her win this tournament. Time for Maria's comeback to go nuclear.


Today's Results

PTT Pattaya Open (Bangkok)

Viktor Troicki def. Thomaz Bellucci, 6-3 7-6 (7-4)
Jurgen Melzer def. Marsel Ilhan, 6-4 6-2
Kevin Kim def. Rainer Schuettler, 6-4 6-4
Mischa Zverev def. Leonardo Mayer, 5-7 6-3 6-3


Proton Malaysian Open (Kuala Lumpur)

Nikolay Davydenko def. Taylor Dent, 6-3 7-6 (7-4)
Robin Soderling def. Brendan Evans, 6-1 6-1
Mikhail Youzhny def. Marcos Baghdatis, 6-2 6-3
Gael Monfils def. Denis Istomin, 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-2)
Richard Gasquet def. Victor Crivoi, 6-1 6-2
Simon Greul def. Christophe Rochus, 6-4 3-6 6-2


Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo)

Jelena Jankovic def. Elena Vesnina, 6-1 3-0 retired
Victoria Azarenka def. Lucie Safarova, 7-5 604
Agnieszka Radwanska def. Andrea Petkovic, 6-4 3-6 6-3
Marion Bartoli def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 4-6 6-2 7-5
Li Na def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 2-6 7-5 6-3
Maria Sharapova def. Alisa Kleybanova, 2-6 6-2 6-2
Iveta Benesova def. Chang Kai-Chen, 7-5 6-2
Magdalena Rybarikova def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 1-6 6-3 6-3

A Little Celebration

My friends, today is a cause for celebration! A cause for celebration indeed?

Why, I hear you ask? For surely 'tis only boring tournaments on at the moment and nothing truuuuuuly interesting will happen till at least Shanghai. What is this cause of celebration of which you speak?

Well, I shall tell you. In this overdramatic manner.

1) Marat Safin won a match. Against a seeded player.

Now, when was the last time you remember that dear ol' Marat won a match? I can't think of it off the top of my head, that's for sure. And to beat a seed - well, that is quite exciting. He had a three set victory over Philipp Petzschner in Thailand, cruising away 6-1 in the third. Petzschner has been one of those players on the vast improve this year (as demonstrated by his, you know, seeding) and so this is a totally good win for Marat. I know it's got a likelihood of approximately a billion to one, but I would love to see him win a tournament before he retires. Just one. Even a little one. Maybe this one. I know it won't happen, but oh, I desperately want it to.

But there are a few other players who could use a good win, which leads me to my other reason for celebration.

2) Ernests Gulbis won a match.

*falls over*

I love Ernests. He's totally my homeboy. I've been on his bandwagon since Day #1 and I've stayed on it (even though it's now a very lonely ride). And sure, he only beat Somdev Devvarman, but Devvarman won a tournament not so long ago and did some sweet Davis Cup duty, so he's not a total slouch. So come on, Ernie. I don't expect you to win, but I do want you to win at least another match. You know, two in a row for the first time this year? That would be made of awesome.

But for today, I am content. For today, I will simply celebrate.


Today's Results

PTT Pattaya Open (Bangkok)

Marat Safin def. Philipp Petzschner, 6-2 3-6 6-1
Jurgen Melzer def. Marcos Daniel, 6-3 6-2
Evgeny Korolev def. Fabrice Santoro, 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (9-7)
Marsel Ilhan def. Benjamin Becker, 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-3
Andreas Beck def. Edouard Roger-Vasselin, 7-5 7-6 (7-1)
Marco Chiudinelli def. Florian Mayer, 6-3 6-3
Ernests Gulbis def. Somdev Devvarman, 7-6 (9-7) 6-2
Robby Ginepri def. Danai Udomchoke, 6-4 6-3


Proton Malaysia Open (Kuala Lumpur)

Tomas Berdych def. Igor Kunitsyn, 6-1 3-6 6-2
Mikhail Youzhny def. David Ferrer, 7-6 (7-3) 6-2
Joachim Johansson def. Lleyton Hewitt, 7-6 (9-7) 6-3
Martin Vassallo Arguello def. Feliciano Lopez, 6-3 6-3
Rohan Bopanna def. Jose Acasuso, 4-6 6-3 6-4
Karol Beck def. Mikhail Kukushkin, 1-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-3


Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo)

Iveta Benesova def. Gisela Dulko, 6-3 3-6 6-4
Maria Sharapova def. Samantha Stosur, 6-0 6-1
Alisa Kleybanova def. Vera Zvonareva, 3-6 6-4 6-2
Aleksandra Wozniak def. Caroline Wozniacki, 5-0 retired
Magdalena Rybarikova def. Nadia Petrova, 6-2 6-2
Agnieszka Radwanska def. Daniela Hantuchova, 6-3 3-6 6-3
Victoria Azarenka def. Jie Zheng, 6-1 6-1
Lucie Safarova def. Shuai Peng, 6-3 4-6 6-4
Na Li def. Vera Dushevina, 7-5 6-0
Kateryna Bondarenko def. Elena Dementieva, 6-2 6-7 (3-7) 6-1
Jelena Jankovic def. Sabine Lisicki, 6-3 4-6 6-2
Elena Vesnina def. Roberta Vinci, 6-1 7-6 (8-6)
Marion Bartoli def. Aravane Rezai, 6-4 6-2

Alas, Poor Tokyo

So I bet the organisers of Tokyo are weeping softly in a corner right about now. What a massacre. What a total massacre.

Safina. Kuznetsova. Venus. I think the highest seed to win yesterday was Agnieszka Radwanska, at #11. What an unqualified disaster for those poor tournament organisers.

I guess the post-US Open season is the place to collapse, if you're into that kind of thing. But I'm heavily displeased with all of them. Venus should do better, no excuses. Kuznetsova won Roland Garros and then fizzled. And Safina... Dinara, I have supported you. I have been behind you. I have continued to believe in you. And you're not making it easy, girl.

Poor Tokyo.

Of course, what this means is that we'll probably have a totally surprising winner, which is, you know, pretty awesome. I love a surprise winner. I'd really like it to be Sam Stosur who, despite carrying the black mark of seeding which seems to be a death sentence in this tournament, is still in it. And surely her time has come. Surely it has come!

Oh, and Ivanovic lost also. That was yesterday. I almost forgot. Probably because she is just so easy to forget about these days.


Today's Results

PTT Thailand Open (Bangkok)

John Isner def. Kittipong Wachiramanowong, 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-5)
Thomaz Bellucci def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-4 7-6 (9-7)


Proton Malaysia Open (Kuala Lumpur)

Brendan Evans def. Michael Yani, 6-3 6-4
Taylor Dent def. Andrey Golubev, 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-4)
Marcos Baghdatis def. Yen-hsun Lu, 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-5)


Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo)

Iveta Benesova def. Virginie Razzano, 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-0
Samantha Stosur def. Alexa Glatch, 7-5 6-0
Maria Sharapova def. Francesca Schiavone, 4-6 7-5 6-1
Aleksandra Wozniak def. Kimiko Date Krumm, 5-7 7-6 (7-2) 6-4
Magdalena Rybarikova def. Urszula Radwanska, 6-4 6-4
Nadia Petrova def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-0 2-1 retired
Agnieszka Radwanska def. Ekaterina Makarova, 7-5 6-3
Daniela Hantuchova def. Jill Craybas, 6-3 6-3
Jie Zheng def. Sania Mira, 5-7 6-2 6-3
Shuai Peng def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-3 6-3
Vera Dushevina def. Alona Bondarenko, 1-6 7-5 6-1
Kateryna Bondarenko def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 6-3 6-1
Marion Bartoli def. Sorana Cirstea, 6-3 6-0
Kai-Chen Chang def. Dinara Safina, 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 7-5
Andrea Petkovic def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 7-5 4-6 6-3
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Venus Williams, 7-6 (8-6) 7-5

In Short

I've been talking a lot about comebacks recently, what with Kim Clijsters' US Open triumph and the return of Henin and now Srichaphan and... that whole host of people who seem to be coming out of the woodwork after some time away.

But one that I have neglected - and very wrongly so - is Kimiko Date Krumm. 39 years old - which is getting on by anyone's standards in international sport - and back she comes, and what do you know? she's just gone and won a title.

Now that is a comeback. That is something pretty special.

I like Kimiko's style of play a lot - I do like those wiry, gutsy little players. And she's smart too, which is something I think a lot of the girls at the moment are struggling with. She's not the strongest player on tour, but she's definitely up there in terms of strategy. She is, in short (haha, the pun!) something a little bit special. She is something to be celebrated.

I just can't get over the fact that she's 39 years old. 39! Clijsters is what, 25? and coming back? It seems strange you can be coming out of retirement at that age... normal people are only just starting their careers, but the world of sport is different, I guess. It's so rare that you see players over 30 - women especially. The men seem to last a little longer, but the women are giving out in their late twenties, generally. 39. Thirty-freaking-nine.

The women is a wonder.


Today's Results

BCR Open Romania (Bucharest)

Albert Montanes def. Juan Monaco, 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (8-6)


Open de Moselle (Metz)

Gael Monfils def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 7-6 (7-1) 3-6 6-2


Hansol Korea Open (Seoul)

Kimiko Date Krumm def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-3 6-3


Tashkent Open (Tashkent)

Shahar Peer def. Akgul Amanmuradova, 6-3 6-4


Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo)

Roberta Vinci def. Flavia Pennetta, 6-1 6-2
Lucie Safarova def. Ana Ivanovic, 6-4 7-6 (7-1)
Li Na def. Alize Cornet, 6-4 6-0
Elena Vesnina def. Maria Jose Martinez Sanches, 6-3 6-2
Sabine Lisicki def. Patty Schnyder, 6-4 6-0
Alisa Kleybanova def. Ayumi Morita, 6-1 6-4
Gisela Dulko def. Agnes Szavay, 6-3 6-0
Aravane Rezai def. Sara Errani, 6-2 6-2
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-1 7-6 (7-3)
Andrea Petkovic def. Sybille Bammer, 7-5 6-4
Chang Kai-Chen def. Kaia Kanepi, 6-3 6-3

Pim-Pim and Paradorn

Now here's something I didn't know - Paradorn Srichaphan is set to return to the tour next week at the Thailand Open. There you go.

Sure, it's only in the doubles, but I had pretty much given up hope on him altogether - he's been out since, what, 2006? 2007? A long time ago, anyway. During which time he married Miss Universe or some other beauty pageant type person, which became his new claim to fame. Here's hoping he can get back a bit more of that 'Thailand's favourite son' mojo and lose that 'tennis player married to super hot chick' thing he's been working of late. I like Paradorn. He's a bit of a character. It'll be nice to see him back.

Of course, here's hoping he stays back, instead of coming back sporadically, retiring again, playing a few Challengers and then fading into obscurity. I am definitely not thinking of Joachim 'Pim-Pim' Johansson here. Oh no. Not at all. Whatever happened to him, anyway? He made some kind of comeback late last year, didn't he? Or was it this year? Anyway, I haven't heard of or seen anything of him since. He could be playing satellite events or playing pool in his local pub for all I know. Definitely no Clijsters style comeback, that's for sure.

...okay, I just did a bit of a search on Pim-Pim, my curiosity being piqued, and he played a few Challengers in April and May, before seemingly fading into oblivion. His last match was a walkover - I can only conclude that he's out injured again. Or possibly retired. Who can tell.

Sebastien Grosjean has been in this position as well - he's been out for seemingly forever, before coming back briefly in the grass court season, withdrawing injured and then coming back this week in Metz, where he won a match before going down. Slightly better for a comeback. It's odd, these players that you totally forget about until their names pop up and you're like, 'that's right - you exist!' Marcos Baghdatis, there's another one. Where is he at these days?

So I drifted a little from my original intended subject, which was 'yay for Paradorn coming back!' Oops. Let me then conclude with 'yay for Paradorn coming back!' and a fervent wish that he fares better than poor Pim-Pim.


Today's Results

BCR Open Romania (Bucharest)

Juan Monaco def. Simon Greul, 6-4 6-3
Albert Montanes def. Santiago Ventura, 4-6 6-4 6-1


Open de Moselle (Metz)

Gael Monfils def. Richard Gasquet, 6-4 6-3
Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4


Hansol Korea Open (Seoul)

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 2-6 6-3 6-1
Kimiko Date Krumm def. Maria Kirilenko, 3-6 6-2 6-4


Tashkent Open (Tashkent)

Akgul Amanmuradova def. Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-4 7-6 (7-3)
Shahar Peer def. Olga Govortsova, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Juan of the Juans

So with Roger being out of Tokyo and Shanghai and with Rafa being out for the next god-knows-how-long (I bet Xisca's really pissed about missing that sweet holiday it looks like he had planned!) we could be in for a boring month or so of tennis. Which... you know, is boring.

But I guess we'll just have to make the best of what we have, which at the moment is Metz and Bucharest. And yeah, Bucharest is clay. What's up with that? I've done the out-of-season clay court rant about eleventy million times, so I won't subject you all to that again, but yeah... it's stupid.

Though Juan Monaco is making a real go of it. In the absence of anything else to discuss, we're going to talk Juan - well, one of the many Juans, because you have to think that Juan Martin del Potro rather has the honour of being 'the' Juan as the moment. But Monaco is indeed a fine Juan, and provides me with many punnilicious opportunities, for which I would like to pre-emptively apologise.

He's kind of flown under the radar a bit - who wouldn't, what with Federer's clay court triumph? but he has had a fine, fine clay court record this season. He's right up there in terms of wins - and I can't remember if he's actually won a tournament, but if he hasn't, he should have. In fact, maybe he can do it this week, in this misplaced clay tournament in Bucharest. He overcame eighth seed Pablo Cuevas in his semi final, and Cuevas ain't no slouch on the red stuff.

But then, neither is Monaco, and if he can't overcome the remaining players in the tournament - Greul, Montanes and Ventura - I might have to retract all those nice things I just said about him. This tournament is pretty much his to win now - a nice little curlicue on the end of the victory from that other Argentinian Juan a couple of weeks ago.

And a shout over to Metz - Richou, subject of yesterday's ramble, is in the semis, after overcoming fourth seed Philipp Petzschner. I wanted him to have a good win, and that is one. If he wins the title he will have to go through the top three seeds, Monfils, Kohlschreiber and Mathieu - but nothing's impossible, I have found!


Today's Results

BCR Open Romania (Bucharest)

Juan Monaco def. Pablo Cuevas, 6-3 2-6 6-1
Albert Montanes def. Fabio Fognini, 6-1 6-1
Santiago Ventura def. Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, 6-2 6-3
Simon Greul def. Maximo Gonzalez, 6-2 6-2


Open de Moselle (Metz)

Gael Monfils def. Janko Tipsarevic, 6-1 4-2 retired
Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Evgeny Korolev, 6-1 6-3
Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Andreas Beck, 6-2 3-6 6-3
Richard Gasquet def. Philipp Petzschner, 6-7 (2-7) 6-1 6-3


Hansol Korea Open (Seoul)

Kimiko Date Krumm def. Daniela Hantuchova, 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 6-4
Maria Kirilenko def. Vera Dushevina, 7-5 7-6 (7-5)
Anna-Lena Groenefeld def. Yung-Jan Chan, 6-0 2-6 7-5
Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-3 6-3


Tashkent Open (Tashkent)

Yaroslava Shvedova def. Monica Niculescu, 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 6-2
Akgul Amanmuradova def. Stefanie Voegele, 6-1 6-4
Olga Govortsova def. Darya Kustova, 6-3 2-6 6-2
Shahar Peer def. Alexandra Panova, 6-4 6-4

The Return of Richou

In all this flurry of me doubting the Henin return, Henin returning and then the Davis Cup draw for next year happening, I quite forgot that there was some actual, you know, tennis going on. And one very interesting thing that happened was Richard Gasquet scoring his first win back after his suspension.

To be precise, it's two wins now, after he beat Christophe Rochus in his second round match in Metz, which puts him into the quarter finals. Fancy that. This is a good result for Richou - very good indeed.

But the fact of the matter is that the two players he's beaten are players he should beat, considering how amazingly talented he is. He's toughed out both matches - which, from his perspective, is a very good thing, considering what a nightmarish headcase he is. The first match he won was in a third set breaker, so that took some steel.

And that's what I want to see from Richou now. I want some steel. He's won another chance to come back to tennis - I don't want to see him fritter it away on choking and temper tantrums. He's got too much talent for that. He has the ability to be up at the top of the game, and I want to see that again. He once reached #7 in the world - maybe even #6, I can't actually remember. I don't expect him to do that again, not with the depth of talent in the ATP - but he should be able to win matches. Lots of matches. Have some good wins over tough players. He's got the talent to do it - I want him to deliver.

That was a bit of a long-winded ramble, but it's all true. I refuse to be impressed by Richou winning these two matches - even if he did tough them out - until he can play his hand well in a big match where the chips are down. That'll be a true test of character.

Oh, and welcome back to another Frenchman - who unfortunately lost today, but did manage to score a win earlier this week. Nice to see you back, Sebastien Grosjean. May you stay back.


Today's Results

BCR Open Romania (Bucharest)

Maximo Gonzalez def. Oscar Hernandez, 7-5 3-6 6-1
Simon Greul def. Daniel Koellerer, 6-1 6-4
Juan Monaco def. Pere Riba, 6-4 6-2
Pablo Cuevas def. Peter Luczak, 7-5 6-4


Open de Moselle (Metz)

Janko Tipsarevic def. Ivan Ljubicic, 6-4 7-6 (7-3)
Gael Monfils def. Sebastien Grosjean, 6-1 6-1
Philipp Petzschner def. Michael Llodra, 7-6 (7-3) 6-3
Richard Gasquet def. Christophe Rochus, 7-5 4-6 6-2


Hansol Korea Open (Seoul)

Daniela Hantuchova def. Chanelle Scheeper, 6-1 6-1
Maria Kirilenko def. Francesca Schiavone, 6-1 1-2 retired
Vera Dushevina def. Anastasija Sevastova, 7-5 6-1


Tashkent Open (Tashkent)

Akgul Amanmuradova def. Ekaterina Bychkova, 4-6 7-5 7-6 (7-4)
Olga Govortsova def. Vesna Manasieva, 6-2 6-3
Shahar Peer def. Kathrin Woerle, 6-2 604
Alexandra Panova def. Patricia Mayr, 7-5 6-1