Day 1 at the AO

Monday

Baghdatis vs. Luzzi. Well this match had plenty of atmosphere as the Greeks were supporting Marcos and the Italians were supporting Luzzi and as these two long standing communities were giving each other shit it was fun. The Greeks had the drum and were pissing off Luzzi, who isn't that hard to irritate and the Italians thought it was a football match.

Marcos was the better player, but Luzzi managed to keep him off his balance with his heavy forehand and when he got the length right, it was the main reason Marcos couldn't attack him and led to errors from Marcos and the fact that he had a few lapses didn't help. It was a tough match for Marcos to come through, but he managed it and I am happy for him, though this cousin stayed for the full match unlike myself, because from what I saw I was giving him some bad luck, now it's time for Ljubicic, a totally different game, but if he returns well he has a chance.

Koellerer was at the Luzzi match which was a surprise, considering Luzzi punched him after a very heated challenger match last year. I think he might have been cheering for Marcos.

Phau v Costa well what can I say about this, it was an absolute horrible performance from Costa. Al didn't seem there and when he is continually approaching the net, you know something isn't going right. Phau I don't think hardly opened his eyes the whole match, but he is very fast around the court and did some very good shots. Costa broke him twice in the 2nd set , he served for it, but played some very bad points and got duly punished. I think Mario "Karate Kid" Ancic should take him out easily.

Didn't see much of the Hrbaty vs. Söderling match, though it definitely wasn't beautiful tennis and Hrbaty was in control, then Robin decides to retire with a knee problem, then later Hrbaty was out training, it must not have been enough practice for him.

Calleri vs. Mirnyi. Yes, yes this was a great win from El Gordo and it was quite a good match played by two bigger guys, it's interesting to see the contrast between these two and say Monfils and Ginepri for example who are much speedier around the court.

Calleri got into the groove fairly quickly and probably should have won this match in 4 sets at worst, but in both the 2nd and the 4th sets, he played one very loose service game and was punished for that. Calleri returned very well as Max was pressuring him hard and his trademark backhand was on fire and he didn't become passive when the match got tight and came to the net on a few occasions and showed he can volley quite well. I know a few guys who got burnt on this match, but I thought this one is tough for Calleri, but if he can get his returns working, then he is a chance.

When asked after the match by the Clarin guy, he said the court seemed to be playing the same as last year, he know has to play Thomas Johansson in the next match and he wasn't impressive, but he won.

Gaudio vs. Gimelknob. This match I can say wasn't the best, but the most important thing is the result and he managed to get through to the next round easily and that is what counts.

Gaston didn't start off greatly, but Gimelclown was worse and that was the funny thing. Gaston was returning quite well and broke easily and had 40-0 to close out the set 6-3, but Gaston being Gaston decides to play some interesting points and loses the advantage. In the tiebreaker Gaston starts hitting some very good shots especially varying the direction of the backhands and Gimelknob was standing there looking foolish.

Yes, Gaston and Gimelstob hit a few balls at each other, but it's easiest way to win the point at the net, so it's cool with me. In the 2nd set Gaston lifts his game and is really cruising along and he took an early break to lead 2-1, then in reality he only pulled out the good shots when he needed them. Gimelknob is really mishitting backhands so badly, that I ended up with one of the balls from the match, that in addition to Gaston's play and his balltoss problems.

The 3rd was set was more of the same, though at one point Gaston falls over when coming to the net and the "clown" missed the attempted lob.
A victory is a victory and that is what counts and Gaston will need to improve if he is to win, though if he can return well and get Fish running then he has a good chance of going through to the next match.

Monaco vs. Fish: This one was a very disappointing result and I think Monaco's inexperience let him down in this one. I got there at the start of the 3rd set, and as a match it wasn't too bad. Fish has chopped off all his hair and Monaco has a haircut, but I think Monaco is going to have some very good results barring injuries. The 3rd set was the pivotal one as they were going on serve at 5-4, then Juan missed too many 1st serves and got punished.

The most frustrating thing about this match was that how many break opportunities Monaco had in the 3rd set and in the 5th he broke Fish and was on the way, then he got tight and got broken straight away. Monaco was pushing him around the baseline, though Fish's backhand was working well and he came through in the big moments with some good volleys off some very good passes. Mardy was too good when it counted, though on his performance it would be interesting to see how he plays against Gaudio.

Monfils vs. Ginepri. Gael was very nervous in the 1st set as to be expected in his 1st Slam match and was spraying the ball everywhere, but he settled down in the 2nd and then started to show some of his talents. The court was very packed as it's small and people were watching over from the next court. I have to say I enjoyed this match mainly because Ginepri is such a tool and it's good to see him pissed off.

The only similarity that Gael has with Roddick is the service motion, though Monfils was varying the service speeds very well, not all of them hard, a few slower ones as well, some kickers. The thing about Gael is that he is so fast around the court it isn't funny, and Ginepri isn't slow at all, but he was made to look slow. There was a topspin lob that Gael ran down and hit a winner, he is very expressive and you can genuinely tell that he loves playing the game itself and not for the money.

His dtl backhand was very effective in this match and Ginepri showed he doesn't have much of a clue at the net, plus it was fun to see him pissed off.
Gael should have finished this match off earlier than he did and he let it get to a breaker, but he increased the level and he loves the stare down of the opponent, it makes things interesting.

He has a tough match against Oli Rochus next, which should be fun as well. The Rochus/Kiefer match was of a very high standard. There were the Germans and the Belgians against each other in the stands which made it fun.

Oli is so small, but the guy is gutsy and it makes him so fun to watch as for Kiefer the guy moves very well around the court, but he isn't always as focused and when I saw that Rochus had won the 4th set I though that he would win as Kiefer wouldn't have the temperament to put him away and would get irritable as he does so easily, and this was the case.

I felt for Kiefer's coach Hogstedt he was just sitting there alone and just focused and when Kiefer lost, he was so out of there in a hurry and you could see how pissed off after the match.