Saturday, December 31, 2005

Goodbye to 2005 and Bring on 2006

The end of the season of the old season has been good and now the circus begins again for 2006. Too bad I am not going to more events, but only have myself to blame for that.

It'll be good to experience live tennis again, though it's usually better when it's on clay, but the Australian Open has a great friendly and relaxed atmosphere and should be fun to go to and meet up with some people.

Good luck for the 2006 season, to the players I like and as for injuries, the less of them the better, but just wish some of the hypocrisy would disappear when it comes to this issue, but one can dream.

Saturday, December 24, 2005

Marat do the Right Thing

Day 9 was only about one thing and one thing only John McEnroe playing doubles and no more. Ok, seriously I wasn't sure what to think about this match beforehand I knew Safin was a big chance to win as for one he isn't scared of Rawdick's firepower and the pressure wasn't on him at all. Trying to get a ticket to this one wasn't easy, but through resourcefulness we managed to get inside the arena.

Just before I write about the match, there is something that has been made clear to me during my time here. Roddick is not very popular especially with many of the players, when fans asked me who I thought is going to win the tournament. I said I am not too fussed as long as it's not Agassi or Roddick, hardly anyone disagreed with me when it came to Roddick.

Got into my seat and here comes the match report no ESPN propaganda here. The first set was over very quickly Roddick was solid, not doing anything great, but Safin made 16 unforced errors and hardly any winners in that 1st set, he broke Roddick but lost it straight away. I am thinking that were was a guy that looked like Safin, but he should have been charged with impersonating a tennis player.

The second set begins and I am saying he better improve the depth on his shots, or this will be over quickly. Safin breaks for 2-1 and is beginning to make less errors and hitting better depth on his groundstrokes. He had a chance for a double break at 3-1, but Andrew saves. Safin is changing the spins and varying it quite well. 5-3 to Safin and he has 3 set points on the Roddick serve, which he converts and children we have one set all.

Safin starts serving in the 3rd set and he is moving the ball around very well and Roddick is doing a lot of legwork, though he hasn't had a hard match during the tournament, so it shouldn't be effecting him too much. On serve at 3-3, Roddick had 0-30, but Safin hits a huge forehand and wins the next 4 points to hold serve. Then at 6-5 on Roddick's serve Safin has two set points and takes it on the second and wins 7-5. He is playing some quality tennis and Duckboy has been doing his usual and he is starting to get frustrated.

The fourth set has more of the same Safin playing tennis and Roddick relying on that canon serve which has been quite good and he has had 1st serve percentages over 60 for the whole match. 2-1 to Safin and he had a break point hits a Becker like volley but Pandy hits the ball in the open court for a winner. At 3 all 20-0 the linesman misses a bad fault and Pandy cries about it and continues at the change of ends, Gilbo is angry about it as well. Nice to see things even out in the end don't they? They make it to the tiebreaker and Safin plays a very poor breaker and Roddick played it well and wins 7-0.

I know Marat has a very good 5 set record that not many people would associate with him, and I thought he could do it. Though he played a very lazy tiebreaker and seemed not to be moving as well as previously. Roddick starts serving in the 5th which is a huge advantage. Roddick is hloding easily, whilst Safin was taken to deuce in the first service game and saved a break point in the 2nd. Safin gets a bad call, but doesn't do anything about it. 4 all and it's 0-30 on Roddick's seve, he gets to 15-40 on a mishit backhand and he has 2 breakpoints. Roddick error and Safin Breaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaks and is serving for the match.He was down 15-40 and I am thinking don't throw it from here, you can smell the line. Huge ace to get 30-40 and then after that he decides not to lose a point and comes through 6-4.

Huge effort by Safin who had the overwhelming crowd support, and I high fived my friend who got me the ticket, and this Austrian guy I met outside who hates Roddick more than I do. I saw Denis afterwards and said thanks man Marat has made my week with that result. I can see why Marat wasn't impressed with Duckboy and he was the better player overall and his court demeanour was excellent and held himself together well.

Monday, December 19, 2005

Perfect Australia Day

My ideal Australia Day was to see Arazi and Federer win that would be fantastic, but more on these later.As usual there was the fiasco at ticket collection they always seem to never have my tickets when I get there, and there is this game we are always playing. It usually involves a few phone calls, but it usually gets sorted out in the end, but never very quickly.

I went to see the great Gaudio/Karlovic combo taking on Nestor/Knowles which I didn’t expect them to win and they didn’t, but it was fun seeing them together I probably should have got a photo it would have been interesting.

One of the Argie friends was going to see the Nalle vs Canas match, I had a feeling that Canas would be a bit flat after his two 5 setters and lack of tennis. He told me Nalle played very well and could win this match whenever he felt like it and it’s a very good sign for the quarter finals. It was a very good comeback tourney for Canas and he has a very good base to get his ranking up there again and give the Argies an extra option in the Davis Cup.

I went over to watch the Pavel v Ferrero match, which was of a very good standard because both players had lower unforced errors than they did winners which is a very good indication of the playing standard. Ferrero claims he has an injury, but I am far from convinced, he was moving very well and didn’t seem too effected by it. Pav started a bit slowly in the 1st set and Ferrero took it 6-4.

Pav then broke Ferrero in the first game and after a very difficult 1st service game for Pav he held on and managed to hold his serve with a great drop volley. They continue on serve while Ferrero was strong from the baseline with his forehand working well and Pavel serving very well in this set and he attacked the net quite a lot as well. He held to 15 to take the 2nd set.

The third set continuing on the same vein whilst there was this cocksmoker who kept heckling Pavel as he was about to serve, he should have been chucked out, but he shut up shortly after, Pav saved 4 break points at 1-2, but Ferrero broke at 4-3 to lead 5-3, when he served for the set he had 40-0, but Pav fought back and took it deuce and he lost the set on a weak error.

Ferrero broke at the beginning of the 4th and was playing solidly, Pavel looked a bit weary as he hasn't had that much match practice and the conditioning was lacking this showed up in his play. He kept fighting but Ferrero was too good. He actually decided to sign some autographs for a change and his English has improved he's not at the level of Corretja or Moya but it's getting better.

Allezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Arazi yes what a fantastic performance but him, yet on Australia Day the Poo had less passion that I would if I was confronted by 90 yr old, 200kg woman in a thong telling me to get it up and perform. He was listless, but Arazi made him look very silly when he hit those great shots and the Poo was being generous in his errors. After his stomach injury last year Thierry must have a found a way to get through to Arazi. Even if he loses to Ferrero, a QF appearance is a very good result for him, hopefully Younes can be back on deck for the Davis Cup vs Argentina. Part 1 of my Australia Day double is complete, now just onto Part 2.

Onto part 2 Federer vs Hewitt one of his bogeymen in front of a very full house. Nearly everyone was there former Aussie players, politicians and other sportspeople trying to cheer on Hewitt, with very few Swiss fans there. The first set well Hewitt came out ready to play and broke Rogi early and held through to the first set, but Rogi seemed very composed even though he wasn't very well in the beginning and this was a great sign against one of his more difficult opponents.

He slowly came into the groove halfway through the 2nd set and some of the variety he was starting to show was very high calibre and duly won the second set. Then the 3rd there was someone at the other end called Hewitt, but I think he was only a passenger in the Roger Federer show, and in the 4th Hewitt just keep hanging in there and he played very well but the masterful Federer was in his own world and playing better than anything Hewitt could come up with and it was a great victory.

Lead by myself the Swiss fans and others led the chant " Na na na na na Hew- itt goodbye", "Lala , lala, Hew-itt goodbye".

So yes it was a very good day for myself.

I think I should post this on MTF, nah stuff them they don't deserve it.

Middle Sunday action

This started out fairly quietly, as I was trying to wake up from last night’s activities. Then I decided to go and watch some doubles matches before I went to see Safin beat up on Blake, which was the last match on the Vodafone arena. First of all I went to see Sa/Saretta v Novak/Stepanek. As I like all four players and I was hoping that it was a good match, and I wasn’t too disappointed. There were none of the big canon serves in this match, there were a lot of angles, retrieving and even a joke dive from Sa late in the 3rd set. It was good that the Brazilian guys won, both are very friendly guys as well.

My friend Niclas and I went briefly to the Bhupati/Mirnyi v Arazi/Mahut match and we ended up talking with Thierry Champion about Arazi’s chances and how Escude was going. He is a very nice guy and there was a very good reason that Escude lost to Ginepri, he doesn’t have the greatest conditioning at the moment. They went to Doha just to see how the hip would fare, they didn’t expect to win the tournament. Until about two months ago he was only allowed to hit for 20 minutes at a time, after the matches in Doha he ran out fuel. He went to prepare for Davis Cup and then he is going to improve his physical conditioning.

We spoke about what we thought of Robby “ I have muscles, but no game” Ginepri and he pretty much agreed with everything I said about him, and I said hopefully Seb doesn’t lose to this guy. He said as long as he is feeling fairly good he won’t lose to Ginepri. Thankfully he was proven correct.

Arazi has a big chance against the Poo we thought, as long as he returns well. He beat him at the Australian Open once before on the same court in 98, he should be able to do it again and ruin Australia Day. Unfortunately I won’t be able to see that match live, as I will be at another one at the same time.

Went over to the Vodafone area for Safin v Blake. I don’t like the Vodafone area much at all, it’s called a multi-purpose venue but it’s really a velodrome, that they basketball on as well. The match was of a very good standard and Safin had to do well to win it in 4 sets. I mean if I was Roddick I would be worried, hopefully he goes in overconfident and gets creamed.There were some very well structured points from Safin and Blake, Safin creating plenty of angles and Blake hitting big forehands.

The first two sets Safin had in control, though it was close it didn’t look like he would lose. Then in the 3rd Blakie gets a break and serves for the set at 5-4 and immediately gets broken back then went to a tiebreaker, which Blakie just played that bit better. Safin is still composed where it was possible that he could burst over with rage after losing that set.The fourth set started out with more of the same and Blakie serving at 3-4 had saved 4 breakpoints from either good play, or Safin missed running forehands.

Then on the 5th break point there was a spectacular rally, then Safin rips an angle forehand, Blake gets it back and Safin hits a great drop shots and as his forward momentum too the net increases, Safin hits a lob volley winner for the break and Blake claps the point and admires the play. Safin held his serve easily and won the match.Things to notice Safin was still moving well during the whole match and he kept composed. Safin hit more winners, less unforced errors and made more net approaches than Blake, all in all a good performance look out Rawdick.

Friday, December 16, 2005

Cañas and Pavel win 5 set battles and more action from Round 3

Today wasn't a great day in my opinion as the only match that I wanted to watch was Grosjean vs Hrbaty, but I had to leave as I had a prior arrangement.I just found out that Grosjean beat Hrbaty in 4 as Hrbaty had won the 1st and a 4-2 lead in the second and then lost. Grosjean at least beat Robby " I have muscles but no game" Ginepri for the opportunity to get knocked out by Agassi.

I snuck into the centre court for the Safin vs Martin match after it was 1 set all. One of my friends who has a player guest pass got me in and we sat where those corporate wankers who don't give a shit about the game usually sit, and they usually get the best seats.

It was a very gutsy win by Safin, and it was unlike the Corretja v Ancic match, Marat actually won it with outstanding shots and not on Martin's mistakes. The last set was a very good one, as the 4th Martin gave away at 4-0 and had a massage from the physio, which seemed to work very well.

Sjeng killed Melzer, that wasn't unexpected. Enqvist disappointed his large following which he doesn't care about unlike the other Swedes who appreciate all the support they get. It didn't get into Enqvist's head that the backhand up the line option was available.Ginepri the less said about him the better and Escude well he proved my point about losing to anyone.

Blake knocked off that clown Patience and Rawdick well Dent must have a plane to catch. Tomorrow will be better matches so go Canas, Pavel. Nalle, Federer, Ancic, Nadal, Costa and Ferrero.

Day 6 was a fantastic day for me tenniswise. Yes, there were plenty of women to look at and I was recovering from another big night, but that can wait.

Now onto the important matters at hand. The great Gaudio/Karlovic combination were successful yet again against the Israeli combination of Erlich/Ram. The funny thing about this match was that Gaudio didn't lose his serve at all and it was Karlovic that was broken twice, but Gaston played very well and I think they are surprised as any to be in the 3rd round of the doubles.

Second great result of the day was the Pav steaming back from 2 sets down to beat Novak. I saw the start where Pavel just raced to a 4-0 lead and wasn't missing anything, then I went to the Gaudio match and when I came back he somehow managed to lose the first set 6-4 and then the second 6-2. I went down and sat near the Pavel camp. Pav was making too many errors as everybody knows how Novak plays and that he isn't going to give a match away, it's up to the player to beat him.

As soon as I said he needs to improve his length and be more patient and he will get his chances to capitalise. Pavel kept hanging in there, Novak was very steady choosing the right moment to come into the net and hit excellent volleys and drop shots. Then at 6-5 in the 3rd Novak served a very poor service game and Pavel took advantage and won the 3rd set. The struggle continued as Pavel was making less errors, and Novak was still very steady and definitely the match was in the balance, Pav had break chances but didn't take them. It went to the tiebreaker and Pavel played an outstanding tiebreaker and that backhand was in fine form.

Novak was wilting. He played some great shots and once he got the break in the 5th, he looked very strong and fit whereas Novak wasn't looking as good. Pavel had 40-0 on serving for the match, and the nerves got the better of him and it got to deuce. On the 5th match point he closed out the match and he was elated, as I was myself and the supporters around me. The coach said I definitely need a few beers to settle down after that match and that was understandable.

Whilst this was going on Cañas and Henman were slugging it out on the old court 1. I was at the scoreboard and I saw Henman had won the first 2 sets and they were very close. I tried to get into the match, but it was an effort with all those English backpackers who normally don't give a shit about tennis, just there to cheer on Tiger Tim. One he is not one of my faves and two I have always admired Canas, so it was imperative to get there and give Canas some support. We got there through the third set, and we could only see the scoreboard for about 7 games as people were not moving.

Then Niclas a Swedish friend of mine and I stood one of the garbage bins, and then we could see over the top of people and catch a glimpse of the match. Unfortunately the security guys, didn't appreciate our innovative solutions and told us to get down twice. Then Canas won the 3rd set and we got in the match.Niclas and I were in hostile territory amongst most of the English fans, but to be fair they helped give the match some great atmosphere and most of the non-English were going for Canas, so there was plenty of chanting and noise which made them both perform at excellent levels. Henman kept playing his chip and charge game, and Canas the warrior was just running and running and his lobs were of the highest quality which kept him in the match.

The fourth set was more of the same and Henman had many chances on the Canas serve, but he was either passed, lobbed or just made an unforced error. I said Niclas to if Canas wins this set, there is no way he is losing. He loves the battle and this was made for him, and also Tiger Tim isn't known for his mental fortitude in the tighest situations. Then Canas takes his chance and wins the fourth set 7-5.We are into the 5th and the English fans are a bit nervous, so was I to an extent, even though I had full confidence in Canas being successful in this match. Then the 5th Timmy is playing very good aggressive tennis and he breaks Canas at 3-1 and then holds to take it to a 4-1 lead. Still I just knew Canas had it in him to comeback, he plays a great game and breaks Henman at 4-3 and then holds for 4-4. The crowd were even getting louder for Henman, but there were a few of us Canas fans who made our presence felt.

Neither player was giving anything less than 100% and I felt that Henman's would crack. He lead 7-6 and 0-30 but Canas held and voila t 7-7. His arm had turned to jelly and Canas was circling Henman like a lion does his prey and got the break at 8-7. I had made a choking gesture that some of the fans liked but others didn't appreciate as much.

Now the crowd were trying to will Timmy over, Canas played a very solid game, though there were a few second serves at 130km/h, but he managed to get to 40-15. Henman then saved match points and Canas got to advantage. The match point was an absolute fitting way to win the match after a short rally, Henman approaches the net and the Canas running like his life depending on it and smacks this huge forehand up the line which was a great way to end this very entertaining and gripping match. The crowd gave both of them a standing ovation that seemed to last for ages and it was deserved.


Henman hit 100 winners and Canas had made only 30 unforced errors and he played the very important points much better. So all in all a great day Nalle won easily, Pavel and Gaudio won. I am happy that Arazi won and I was disappointed for Costa, but he hates playing night matches and it showed. Come on Arazi take out the Poo and Feds beat Hewitt on Australia Day would be fantastic.

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Calleri the 5 set Maestro

Today was definitely a long day and I got my quota of 5 setters in and I must say I was happy with my choices.

After the party last night I woke up feeling very very ordinary and I have to thank the Aus Open BBQ sausage with onions and other forms of something that looked like food that bought me back to reality and energised me to my normal self.

Yes, I saw the great Karlovic/Gaudio combination win their first round doubles against Mantilla/Lopez Moron. It was very strange seeing those two play and yes Gaudio serving and volleying, no that wouldn't have helped him against Hrbaty yesterday. I mean if Karlovic gets his serves in he doesn't need to do that much, it would be hard playing against him.

I witnessed the battle of Argentina with Calleri and Canas. I was looking forward to this match and it didn't disappoint I wanted Calleri to win, but I wasn't disappointed about Canas winning. Sammy and I knew this one would be going 5 sets, and Calleri was shattered when he was serving for the match at 5-4 in the 4th and played 2 forehands wide. Canas got a sniff and you know he isn't going to go away and Calleri was made to pay for his lack of mental toughness and lack of patience on big points and Calleri continues with his bad 5 set record. The match had Gaudio, Chela, Massu and Gonzo watching at different times, hopefully it's a 35 degree day when Henman plays Canas.

Then went to see Corretja and Ancic. It was hard for Sammy as he likes Corretja, but he is patriotic and wanted to Ancic to win just to have one more Cro still in the draw. Ancic was always attacking and the thing I have noticed most about Corretja is that he makes so many more unforced errors than he used to. There was a match point to Ancic and Corretja hits this great forehand pass down the line. Sammy comes up with the great comment where was that shot against Sampras at the US Open. When it got to the 5th Corretja looked strong and was going to come out victorious, Ancic came up with some big shots, but ultimately it was Alex who helped Ancic by giving away three unforced errors in his last service game. It was a good atmosphere, but not the result I was wanting.

However it got better as Costa came through against Arthurs. We both like Costa and there was only about 10 people going for Costa in the match. Arthurs just kept serving canons, but in the last game he threw in 2 doubles and then he went to for the slider out wide, and siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Costa smacked that trademark backhand up the line on match point to pull out the victory. He meets Arazi who was killing Saulnier after losing the first 2 sets then Saulnier retires and he only played just over 90 minutes.

Pavel was solid and didn't make many errors and he will need to do the same against Novak. He leads 3-2 in their head-to head that could be the sleeper match of the 3rd round. Rogi smashed that joke Morrison and there was no need to watch that, and now he needs to smash that little upstart Reid. I mean Sargsian apart from Roddick, he beats the players I like, but when I want to him a match he doesn't. Somehow he was cramping in the 5th which he shouldn't have as he wasn't sweating from the Björkman match.

Nadal was good in parts against Ascione and I think the boys should have come up with some tacitcs for Hewitt. I feel a night match is coming on for these two and hopefully Nadal can tire Hewitt out for the next match, I think he can win a set but probably not the match.Better go, I have another party to go to and I will try and write some more updates.

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Second Round Fun

Ok, children I know you have missed my reports so the priviledge is all yours for two reports from the non Roddick/Agassi Australian Open.

Wednesday, wasn't too bad in some respects and not others. I met up with an old Croatian friend of mine Sammy, I was wondering what happened to him during the first two days. The clown broke his arm, falling while playing soccer and couldn't come the first two days. Luckily he knows me very well and knew what matches to find me.

First of all I will talk about the hiding that Hrbaty gave Gaudio 6-1, 7-5, 6-0. The Dominator definitely dominated Gaudio, and for once Gaudio didn't give up, but he didn't vary his game enough to throw Hrbaty out of rhythm and it's about time that Hrbaty at least showed some of his potential, and he hasn't been pushed too hard and I think he has a very good opportunity to beat Grosjean on Friday night.

Enqvist and Beck was a tough match, but Enqvist was good enough to win. The Swedes definitely give the tournament a lot of atmosphere which is a good thing, and it's usually easy to know how one of their players is going from the crowd, if you can't get in the court. I am not a huge fan of Enqvist, one of my friends was heckling him when he was training in Stockholm last December, and it was funny when Enqvist recognised the heckler. He has a very good record against Agassi, so hopefully the boring churchboy can put one over Bald Eagle who walks like a Duck Agassi.

Escude and Söderling was quite a good match and Escude played very well, but the problem is that Escude isn't known for his consistency and could quite easily lose to that waste of space Ginepri. I remember seeing Ginepri last year playing Rosset and that was one hell of a poor match. Rosset was injured and played absolute crappy tennis and Ginepri wasn't much better, but to his credit he decided to bulk up, but this is a cosmetic change as I still don't rate him very highly.

Speaking of ordinary players it's an absolute joke that " have a little" Patience is in the 3rd round. Davydenko has been on a very poor streak which doesn't say much about the gnome Clement, but losing to Patience come on that is virtually unacceptable for Davydenko.

I saw Roger and Yves playing doubles and they lost to Sa and Saretta, Roger didn't really try that hard, and I would even go to far as saying that Allegro was probably the better out of the two, though Allegro and return of service aren't mutually exclusive terms.

Then Costa and Ferrero were practicing and there were a lot of silly girlies watching Ferrero and he was getting frustrated and threw his racquet against the back fence after he missed a shot, it was quite funny to see actually. I spoke to Costa afterwards, actually mostly about how I hope he will play better in the tournament than Barcelona are currently going in La Liga, also joked about the huge serving left handers that they keep throwing him Rusedski then Arthurs.

Björkman girl who is very keen on Jarkko,myself and also Sammy who was very frustrated at this time with Ljubicic and Karlovic's exits from the tournament.

The Ljubicic match he had plenty of chances against Guga in the 1st and 3rd sets but managed to find a way to lose, whilst Karlovic the tiebreak king played some very poor points in the breaker against Martin. We all like Jarkko, but the reason we went for Safin were practical reasons, as he had a more realistic chance of doing more damage in the tournament.

The match was of a very high standard and Safin knew he had to lift his level of play to beat Jarkko, which he did very well. The old temper was flaming and there to see on show, but his overall form was good. Jarkko played some very good shots, but he really does need to improve his second serve to take that next step. Freddy is a good coach and got Norman to the top, and he will work on that and get him stronger physically. Safin has to continue improving and he will with more match time and I think he should take care of old man Martin.

Saturday, December 10, 2005

End of the First Round

Saw plenty of matches today and no there will not be any Roddick/Agassi ESPN propaganda from me, this is for sure. Though I think I should still take notes during the day.

Now onto the matches and two of the more unique things I have seen on the court. First I subjected myself to watching Mantilla playing like an absolute arse clown today. It was a horrible performance, as I was talking with his coach Joaquin Munoz before the match and he said he felt some pain around his Achilles and he wasn't moving that well. The thing was Mantilla made nearly as many unforced errors as Ascione, and we know Mantilla doesn't make many unforced errors, so his lack of confidence in his movement contributed.One of the funny things was Mantilla hit this mishit forehand that went very high and swirled in the wind, it just bounced once on the Ascione side of the net, then it bounced back on Mantilla's side and he won the point. Everyone in the crowd was laughing.

Arazi struggled initially and then overcame Mutis. Younes was there and I asked him about the injury and he said he wasn't sure about whether he will be able to play Davis Cup. That would be a tragedy for Morocco if he couldn't play, yes he is a great guy and he posed with everyone that asked for photos. Hahahahaha Coria is gone, and I can't say I am disappointed at all. I didn't see the match, but since I had one of my Argentine friends there, his analysis was Saulnier played well and Coria was ordinary and he did a little bit of usual whining when things aren't going way.

Yes, Corretja won and it was a very good effort though Verkerk definitely helped him with errors at vital points. Verkerk was very frustrated and did refer to the way Corretja was playing like he was gay, he probably should have mentioned Woodforde instead. It was good to see Corretja showing some of his determination and next comes Ancic another big server who exhales like Muster when he hits the ball. That will be very tough and I think Ancic might win, though I hope not.

Nandroman got the needle taken out of him by Costa. To put simply Rusedski didn't serve very well and he doesn't have anything else to back it up with. Costa was solid when he had the chances and was passing very well and that stands him in good stead against Arthurs in his next match.

Pavel played very well against the Beast. In fact he only had 5 unforced errors in the first 2 sets, he lost the tiebreaker on 2 dodgy calls, but he put it behind hm and was outstanding. Mirnyi played quite good as well and was fantastic signing autographs for 5 minutes after he lost. Pavel is a very outgoing guy and he was chatting with everyone after he won.

Calleri has lost weight and is not such a Gordo anymore, and that huge backhand was operating very well for the majority of the match. C.Rochus tried but the big Argie was too good when it counted. Next up for him is Canas who won easily and this is one that I will be going out to see.Nalbandian and Nadal were a total class above Mello and Tabara respectively, a Hewitt v Nadal match is looking very likely and me getting tickets is looking very unlikely.

Ah the second thing that happened today was in the Stepanek v Sanguinetti match. Yes, I decided to like Stepanek and after his great comeback there were more who like Radek. He lost the first 2 and then I came to the match halfway through the 3rd and he was lifting his game. He was playing some great drop shots, angles and lobs. In the 5th he was frustrating Sanguinetti so much, and the facial reactions needed to be seen, with the hip wiggles .Then it's Radek's match point and there is a bit of rain, but nothing that serious. Sanguinetti starts crying to the umpire to suspend play while the court was wet. Yes, yours truly led the chorus of boos on the outside court and then the slow handclapping. After 5 minutes they finished the match and I was wondering whether Sanguinetti would call for the trainer or take a toilet break while match point down.

Well for tomorrow I will be going to seeEscude v Söderling in the morning, and then I will see Gaudio take out that Hrbaty character ( no I am not confident) and later go and watch Jarkko against Safin. There are some others I will be keeping my eyes out on. The mens doubles begin on Thursday and there should be some interesting matches.

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Play Time Over Here is Day One

Yes, now the play time is over and the tournament got under away. It was quite a warm day today, and it will be only worse tomorrow. I got my bearings and decided to find the matches that I wanted to see.

Overall it wasn't a bad day unfortunately Koubek lost to Beck. It was the first time I have seen Beck play and he wasn't crap, though Koubi wasn't in the greatest form, all this means is Koubi will be around at the parties during the week, before he prepares for Davis Cup.

Igor Andreev has a very good game and people will be hearing about him. He got himself injured during the third set, with an upper thigh injury and that restricted his movement, and Patience who I call "Have a little" because of that Guns and Roses song, he took advantage and won. Davydenko should clean him up handily, by the way it was great that he beat the garden gnome munchkin Clement especially after coming back from 2 sets down.

I saw a bit of the Ljubicic match and no I didn't expect tennis, which is exactly what I got. The Croatian fans like to think it's a football game and don't know that much about tennis, but it gave the venue a bit of atmosphere. After Guga's great effort I wouldn't be surprised if Ljubicic takes him out in the next round.

Yes, Ja, Si and yes Gaudio was the winner today and he played very well. Robredo made a few errors and didn't convert his chances, but Gaudio played a very good match, he has to improve on keeping the double faults down against Hrbaty. I saw Gaudio after the match and he joked "why weren't you there for the whole match". Well apart from going for a walk and getting a drink, I came back in the 3rd set and that is the one he had the most problems with Robredo. He wasn't too keen on playing Hrbaty.

The Gonzo/Rawdick match yes what a disappointing result. It's good to see that good eyesight isn't a prerequisite for being a linesperson. Gonzo serving at 5-6 in the 2nd set deuce, he smacks this forehand which I see on normal speed on a television and could tell it was in, was called out. I suppose the ball landing in the middle of the line for a winner in that point is a foreign concept to some people. Hopefully Gonzo sticks around and plays in the doubles.

Saw Roger and Allegro practicing today. Allegro wasn't hitting the ball very well and Roger wasn't much better. He seems in a strange world at the moment, I just hope Mirka doesn't take out the garbage as well as wear the pants in that relationship.

Finally met Björkman girl, she is a very nice and I think she was disappointing in expecting a ridiculously handsome man with a strange accent, and she then met me. I saw her after the Nieminen vs Massu match, which Jarkko won, but it was more to Massu making huge amounts of errors. The guy was too intense, just talking to his coach the whole time and this guy an impostor playing as Massu played and was down 1-6, 0-4 and then the real Massu turned up and won the 2nd set. Jarkko was more consistent and deservedly won.

No, Ilhame (or the MTF poster known as Maratski) I don't have any Safin pics, not easy getting past some of the fans. He is playing Jarkko next and I might get some while he is practicing tomorrow.

Tomorrow is a very busy day for me as I will be out at these matches. Some I will have to hop between them.

Arazi vs Mutis
Costa vs Nandroman (Rusdeski the nandrolone user)
Pavel v Mirnyi
Nalby vs Mello
Corretja v Verkerk
Calleri v C Rochus
Nadal v Tabara
Mantilla v Ascione
Björkman v Sargsian

The people I said first are the ones I am cheering for. I think it could be time to start taking notes, instead of doing this off memory.

Last Day of Qualies

The last day of qualies and I only saw 2 matches Mello winning into the main draw with Sa, Saretta and a couple of other Brazilian guys cheering him on.The other was Misha unfortunately losing to Muller of Luxembourg in the final match. Muller served very well and Misha made plenty of errors on his backhand and was under pressure because of Muller's serving. There are a few injuries around, so there is hope that he might get as in a Lucky Loser but that’s a bit desperate.

Today on the practice courts there were a some guys who practiced twice today. Chela and Costa and one guy I know thinks Chela does look like a monkey in the face, he's definitely not as hairy as an ape. Then later Costa was hitting up with Srichaphan and there were a few people around to see them.

Pavel was hitting up with Nieminen and they were sharing the court with some other guys, then later Pavel was training with Gonzo and they were both timing the ball very well and De La Pena was his usual self. I have to say Gonzo does have a very attractive girlfriend, then again that is the same with most players.

Safin was hitting up with Ljubicic and they were both training very well, and the lack of screaming girls was a wonderful thing. Yes, there was one or two but not as many as there is going to be during the week. I like Safin, though those kinds of fans are very annoying to say the least.Guga was there as well and didn't have the screaming girl factor there, and from what I saw all the players were accommodating to the fans, yes that includes Costa.

One of my friends spoke to Arazi and he told me that Younes was able to practice today and is confident that he will play the Open. He also told us about how life is when a player is injured, it was interesting to hear what he did during his three months off tennis. Koubek was out there slugging away with Oli Rochus, and Escude was on the court beforehand as well. Rounding out the day I saw Kucera, Söderling, Ferrer, Saretta practicing as well at different times.

I have just looked at the schedule of play and I think I will be seeing this matches, though not all of them in full.

Roddick vs Gonzo on the big screen
Safin vs Vahaly, if I can get past all the screaming girls
Younes vs Blanco
Massu vs Nieminen
Hrbaty vs Saretta
Ginepri vs Horna
Patience vs Andreev
Gaudio vs Robredo
These are who I want to win, they probably won't Gonzo, Safin, Nieminen, Hrbaty, Horna, Andreev and Gaudio.

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Australian Open 2004 The Series of Reports Day 1 and 2

Well since this is the off season and I thought I would place my reports from the 2004 and 2005 Australian Open, so these archived reports will be bought back starting from today. It will be interesting to see how they look after this time.

Day 1
Well it's Thursday and I made it to the first round of the qualifiers for the Australian Open. I arrived in the afternoon as I am not too interested in women's tennis to sit down for long enough to watch a match.

The complex is getting its last touches before the mayhem and the chaos begin on Monday, and they play all the matches on the smaller courts, and the show courts are blocked off so the top players are practicing in peace.

The qualies are good fun, it's free, I met some interesting people and yes I saw some matches today. The Swiss had the contingent of Wawrinka, Bastl, Hueberger and Kratochvil all hoping to qualify for the main draw.

I saw Wawrinka play against Marcos Daniel of Brazil, and Wawrinka didn't play too well he made too many errors when he wasn't going for any winners, and sadly he lost 6-4 6-4. Bastl, Heuberger and Kratochvil all won through to the next round.

After Michel's match I asked about why he withdrew from Adelaide, he had some dizzy spells and thought it was the best to save himself for Melbourne. I asked about him about Rosset, who decided not to come down this year which was a disappointment. He said Marc was tired from playing all those challengers to try and get his ranking down, so he would get into the main draw, but he didn't finish high enough. I would be lying to say I am a huge fan of Rosset's game, but he is a very funny guy and I enjoy seeing him around the tournament.

Unfortunately Andre Sa lost to that prick Jeff Morrison who was complaining even though he was winning, which is a bit strange to me. Then I watched this Austrian guy Daniel Kollerer who beat Patty Schynder in a battle of the sexes match in Austria a few weeks ago. Kollerer managed to win his match, but he needs some anger management, and I don't think he is above some questionable tactics when he plays.

I ran into some Swedish fans, it was only a small core watching Björn Rehnquist playing against Israeli Noam Okun. It was a tough match Rehnquist lost 7-6 1-6 7-5, he had chances but wasn't good enough to take it on the day.While I was watching the Kratochvil match against Niemeyer a big serving Canadian. I ended up talking to this guy David from Mallorca. I found out he is very good friends with Rafa Nadal and family, he coaches in Barcelona and he was a big fan of Kratochvil's game. The plan was to meet up tomorrow in the afternoon and see more matches.

Choke of the day goes to Arvind Parmar who was up 5-1 40-0 in the final set against Kevin Kim, he had 10 match points and somehow managed to lose the match, when you are that far ahead and lose, there is no sympathy coming from me.

Day 2


Day two of the qualifiers was a good day, not because of any great results, but because there were more of the players arriving and practicing.Bastl and Heuberger managed to lose their matches and Misha got through in two very tough sets against Coutelot. Misha has the most handsome German player of all time Bernd Karbacher helping him at the moment, hopefully he can win some matches this year and getting his ranking so he can get into more main draws.

Met up with David and we commented that Nadal made the semis in Auckland, and we didn't think that he would make the final and he would arrive tomorrow. Then we had some very interesting conversations about tennis and other sports, he is actually a very nice guy for a Real Madrid fan, but I can't hold that against him.

Also I ran into Fabrice this Swiss French guy I met at the AO a few years ago, and luckily he remembered me and we joked about the old times. He had some more friends from the his region so I decided to call this group "The Fondue Boys", more from them later for sure.

Coria was training on show court 3 which was open, he was hitting with Volandri. He seemed to be moving quite well, I actually noticed his coach Alberto Mancini more I remember him, when he was a handsome, very strong guy who knew how to hit a topspin backhand. Now he is just a fat guy with less hair, but he has done a great job with Coria.

Next I saw Kiefer wandering around the grounds, he seemed to be in another world and I think his time has gone unfortunately I could be wrong, but I doubt it. Up on the player fare was Corretja and Gaudio who I happen to like. It was a bit warm so I sat in the shade and watched them play, and David was telling me about the Davis Cup when Argentina should have won.

He likes Gaudio play, but doesn't like him too much. They were hitting quite well, though Gaudio seemed to have a problem of moving forward to finish the points. Corretja even beats Gaudio in the practice sets as well. I spoke with Corretja who is definitely one of the nicest guys on tour, and hopefully he can do some good work again.

I saw Gonzalez training and yes he does absolutely belt the crap out of the ball. He was going alright and he won his practice set. His coach Horacio De La Pena is always joking around, he talks like Speedy Gonzalez on LSD and all the time as well, luckily I had the Spanish translator with me. I wished him luck and said for the good of tennis you have to beat that arsehole Roddick, Gonzo laughed and said I will do my best.

Other people I saw training were Koubek, Costa, Blake and Nico Lapentti, decided to call it day and then think about tomorrow.

Monday, December 05, 2005

Ancic holds nerve and Croatia wins Davis Cup

Earlier in the day Hrbaty produced a great performance to defeat Ljubicic in 5 sets. Ljubo had started very well and only needed the one break of serve to close out the 1st set, but Hrbaty whose self-belief never wavered in spite of his horrible head-to-head record against Ljubo, stepped up and played more aggressively and unlike in the doubles the few break point chances he had this time he was converting them and this is what lead him to take the next 2 sets, while Hrbaty was outstanding in saving break points.

The fourth set was close and Hrbaty played a sloppy game and got punished for it and Ljubo took it into a deciding 5th set. At this stage Hrbaty wasn't even close to looking tired and was ready to go, with the crowd behind him and realising this was now or never, he stepped up the pressure on Ljubo to hold serve at 4-5 down and after Ljubo bravely saved 2 match points, but a missed forehand was enough for Hrbaty to take it to the 5th match.

Hrbaty was very animated with the shirt going into the crowd and as did the racquets, he plays above himself in the Davis Cup and this is clear to see. Ljubo was brave and without his contributions during the year the team would never have made it this far.

Mario Ancic, the man who had not won a live singles rubber this year, won the ultimate match to clinch the Davis Cup for Croatia 3-2 over a gallant Slovakia, who breathed life into the tie after the outstanding Dominik Hrbaty beat Ivan Ljubicic in a high quality 5 set match to level the scores at 2-2.

Ancic defeated Michal Mertinak a replacement for Karol Kucera 7-6 6-3 6-4. Mertinak was brave and played to the best he could, but in reality Ancic was not in any danger in this match and once he secured the first set with an excellent performance in the tiebreaker, it just seemed a matter of time before the Croats would have their hands on the trophy.


At the end of it all, the right team won the Davis Cup and there were some great moments at the end of the tie. Miloslav Mecir was always a classy guy as well as a very gifted player and his speech was great and the Slovak fans were gracious in defeat as they were in victory in the semi finals.

The banner at the end said it all "Congratulations Croatia" at the end of them, while disappointed they lost, they were good enough to show due respect to Croatia and it just shows it's no more than a game and the Slovaks might have lost on the scoreboard, they were not losers and now the fun is still going to continue for the Croats.

Sunday, December 04, 2005

Ljubicic and Karate Kid give Croatia a 2-1 lead

The Croats won the doubles as they had done in all of the previous ties and it was an outstanding performance from Ljubicic and Ancic and showed their superior teamwork over Michal Mertinak and Dominik Hrbaty by winning 7-6 6-3 7-6.

The Slovak combination did play quite well in an entertaining match, but were let down by a combination of not converting enough of their break point chances and inspired play from the Croats. Obviously in a match of this magnitude the first set was the key to this match and if the Slovaks had won it, then anything could have happened, though the Croats were superior overall in this match and deserved their victory.

Big Goran was getting in the spirit of the atmosphere, by hitting one of his own teammates with the big rubber sticks, there were plenty of shots of Srdjan Ivanisevic, for those who don't know is Goran's father.

Now the pressure is all with Ljubo to win the 4th match and bring home the Davis Cup for Croatia. He has an excellent record over Hrbaty, but that counts for not much in this environment, he has had a tendency to fall in the big matches and this is really the biggest one for him. Everything is in favour of Croatia, even if Ljubicic loses, but in Davis Cup anything can happen.

Saturday, December 03, 2005

Hrbaty keeps Slovakia in the Tie

The best possible scenario for the Slovaks has been realised after Dominik Hrbaty had defeated Mario Ancic to level the score at 1-1 after the 1st day of action in Bratislava.

Miloslav Mecir the Slovak captain had pulled a switch and named Karol Kucera to play in the 1st singles replacing the nominated Karol Beck, who had pulled with a knee injury, whether it was the knee problem or the alleged doping rumours surrounding Beck that prompted this decision is just speculation.

Ivan Ljubicic was as expected too good for Karol Kucera in the 1st match and to be honest this result was never in doubt. Kucera showed some flashes of his play when he was at his best, but his time has passed and "Ljubo" who is one of the best indoor players at the moment, had the match in his hand the whole way without ever being seriously troubled on serve, and was able to break Kucera easily and showed that he was a class above his opponent.

The 2nd match was huge for the Slovaks as Dominik Hrbaty and took on Mario Ancic, anything less than a victory for Hrbaty, would mean that the final would virtually be over on Day 1. Ancic has a very good record against Hrbaty, but this counts for nowt especially in a Davis Cup final and playing at home.

This match was a lot closer and more competitive than the first match, which alone made it a more enjoyable spectacle to watch. Hrbaty showed how much he loves the Davis Cup environment and how tough he is to play in this environment, the Croatian fans bouyant after Ljubo's win earlier were cheering on Ancic, but the Slovak crowd got a very good show from Hrbaty.

Hrbaty was serving well and Ancic was keeping with him initially until the breaker, which Dom took and then at 3-3, Hrbaty had a break point and converted it and then broke Ancic again to take it 6-3. It seemed the Slovak was going to win this in straight sets, but credit to Ancic he with the bad singles record in Davis Cup this year fought very hard, while he couldn't get any break points on the Hrbaty serve, he kept hanging in there and got it to the 3rd set breaker and was able to make a move on the Hrbaty serve and win it.

As the fourth set continued in the same way as the 3rd. Hrbaty was very strong on serve and Ancic through a mixture of defence and attacking play was hanging on, and then at 3-2 and a break point for Hrbaty. Ancic moves forward to the net, hits a reasonable approach shot and then Hrbaty hits an outstanding forehand pass on the run for the break and from there would not be denied.

The venue maybe small, but there was plenty of noise and atmosphere and showed the joyful qualities that Davis Cup has. Hrbaty was so animated on court which is not usual way and it was great to see with the gestures, big Goran Ivanisevic cheering and encouraging Ancic all the way.

Hrbaty played an outstanding match, his serve was excellent, his groundstrokes precise and even hit some topspin on that forehand and interestingly he moved to the net more than Ancic did in the match. Ancic for his part played quite well, but he just wasn't good enough to make inroads on the Hrbaty serve and at times was too passive in the match.

All to play for in the doubles now. Hrbaty has been nominated with Mertinak, but if there are changes to either or both nominated teams, then it would not be a surprise.

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Davis Cup Final : Croatia vs Slovakia

The Davis Cup will have a new winner irrespective of the result between Slovakia and Croatia. At the start of the year, a final between these two nations wasn't the likely outcome and it's good to see that there is still some unpredictability within professional sport.

This will be the first final for both of these newly independent nations that gained independence from Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia respectively. There are some more parallels as well, for Croatia have named Goran Ivanisevic in their team for this match. it seems that it will be symbolic as to get his name on the Davis Cup trophy, but he has done a lot for the Croatian fans and tennis, plus his this will just be the perfect end for his career for the proud Croatian.

Slovakia have a veteran in their squad Karol Kucera who is semi-retired and will be finished with tennis as a player after the final, though the circumstances he has been included in are cloudy. It is rumoured that the Slovak number 2 Karol Beck has failed a doping test, but at this point in time it is only rumours, and latest news is that Beck will be playing in the first match against Ivan Ljubicic. So either it was some tactics by the Slovaks to cause a diversion, or Beck isn't too bad or are prepared to take their chances.

Croatia have been carried by big Ivan Ljubicic to the final, he has been the tower of strength for the team, the whole year and is 9-0 in his matches and has the chance to equal John McEnroe's record of 12 victories in Davis Cup for a season. It will be a lot of pressure for him and he doesn't have the greatest record in big matches and this one is bigger than the others he has played. Mario Ancic needs to step up as well, this could be his time to shine. Russia was the last team to win the Davis Cup away from home, the Croats are favourites to win the final, but anything can happen in Davis Cup.

As for how the final will go, personally I would like to see Slovakia win, their captain Miloslav Mecir, never won something this big as a player and he was outrageously gifted and has done excellent work as captain, but if they don't, then it won't be so bad if Croatia won the Davis Cup.

The best scenario the Slovaks can hope for is 1-1 at the end of the first day, then take it from there and like many Davis Cup ties the doubles will be the key, but as they say lets bring it on and end the season of 2005 on a high note with some quality tennis and performances.