Final Round Qualies: Dani Koellerer falls short again and random moments

Final Round Qualies: Dani Koellerer falls short again

Dropshot Dlouhy stopped deciding to continue his mucking around and thrashes Chen, which makes for all the foibles in the previous 2 rounds and now plays Roddick who once again peaked for Kooyong.

Sam “Donny” Warburg made the MD defeating Dolgpolov Jr 14-12 in a thriller and he was down a break in the 3rd and almost went down a double break, he seems like a good guy and I am happy he qualified.

Rajeev Ram made it for the 1st time in Melbourne as well, fighting hard and was on fire initially steaming to a 4-0 lead and everything was working for him, then Udomchoke took it in a breaker and was up 4-1 and ended up losing the set 7-5 to Ram. Rajeev was on fire in the 3rd set taking a 4-0 lead and didn’t let it slip this time. The elation when a player makes it through the qualies is always good to see, especially if you like the player.

Dani Koellerer once again fell short in the final round of qualifying for a place in the main draw of a Slam, this time he fell to Scotsman Jamie Baker who was playing very well throughout the event and handled the shenanigans from Koellerer very well to win 6-4 6-4.

Lets see, there was the underarm serve, a bit of timewasting, calling for the trainer and then not bothering when he got there, the usual screams, but it wasn’t enough and after the match it seems Egli the man who looks like an over attentive parking inspectior was having some words with him.

The King’s protégé Marcel Granollers-Pujol got the money against Kunitsyn 8-6 in the 3rd and it was a surprise for sure, as Mr. Kremlin Cup Kunitsyn seemed to be that much better overall, but Marcel was fighting hard and after going down a set, he levelled at 1 set all with some good play.

Marci was under hammer from Kuntisyn basically from the 1st game of the 3rd set and put plenty of pressure on his serve, but even the unconventional backhand was holding up quite well and the forehand was deep, which kept him in the point. After saving all the break points and at 7-6, then with some good play, he gets a 2nd match point. I called the serve to Marci backhand and it was there, except the net got in the way, then on the 2nd that Marcel should belt the forehand and he did and got him the win.

Odesnik and Big Kon moved safely through to the MD, not the best qualies ever, but I had a lot of fun at the courts.

Random stuff

Well this is the fun stuff, that isn’t part of the tennis per se. My friends and I have decided to find which court Oscar is playing on and dump clay on there.

Hartfield seems like a pleasant guy and it’s disappointing that he has to play Federer twice at GS level in the 1st round and yes he does look like Gaudio. Speaking of Argies, Charly Berlocq doesn’t have the mullet anymore, but has managed to get himself a decent looking woman.

Seeing Sam Querrey being dwarfed by John Isner and Sam is 196cm is hilarious for all the wrong reasons, though at least Sam is quicker than Isner, it might be close.

Oscar Hernandez is a very humble king and is prepared to talk with the masses and show his talents to the world and you know when he says a surface isn’t quick, then there is a good chance it isn’t.

Berdych wasn’t happy, as he was given the wrong info about a practice court. Well they had the chicks on there and they should have been sent to the carpark to train. Berdych’s coach Jaro Navratil is a very funny guy with a dry wit and wearing these loud yellow and red shirts, best of all he still has the great mullet. He was very relieved that Tomas was finally able to beat Simple Simon.

Mike Russell bought his wife down and she understands that he can’t go shopping with her when he has to train. He has a good draw against Fognini and was not happy about playing in Auckland when it rained against Kohli, not that he would have won the match.

Massu is still a surly vampire and Almagro has a head the size of Saturn. Peta feels bad she took photos of Cilic, when she has to boo him when he plays Almagro.

Joakim Nyström is coaching Melzer now, and Melzer would love to have 1/30th of tennis brain , at the same time Melzer does very well off the court.

Greece vs. Chile match between Economidis and Gonzo should be fun and saw Larry Stefanki putting Feña through these backhand return drills and it was good to watch him show Gonzo where his feet were and why the ones he was missing were crap.

Malisse has some strapping on the middle finger of his hand and a knee problem, plus in another huge surprise he has a new coach. He and Melzer lost to Lucho and Monaco in Auckland. He laughed when I told him my stringer friend said he was their best customer and even Horna during training said “Hey man, who many strings do you break on average”.

Seppi chucked his racquet over the fence after a hitting session with Klein in which he was awful, but he will still get to R2. The daughters of the coach are growing very fast and Seppi was more interested in talking about how AC Milan are so poor in the Serie A.

Andreev was actually hitting backhands in one of the sessions and has been quite pissy and his coach Altur said, “This is what happens when you play shit for 3 months, except Davis Cup”. He plays the cheery Pavel and at least one player I like makes it through there.

Acasuso just rules, the languid manner and he now has fans in Kristen and Peta, good to see that even after a while that class can be appreciated. Hope he has a good year, but playing Lizard Lips won’t be easy. His coach Orsanic is a River Plate fan, but we can’t have everything.

Koubek had this faded orange shirt, lets get the real stylish shirt happening.

Jamie Murray has great hair, too bad he supports Man Utd.

Adrian Voinea is a very cool guy, so why the hell does he train Boris Pashanski?

Nieminen is still very professional and he is a genuine class act, when that term gets thrown too loosely.

Acasuso and the King training was such quality stuff and the shoulder turn is still there for all to see.

Roitman had a big ice pack on his elbow, but that was precautionary. I am going to have words with him to export these shirts, he also trained with the King as well.

Del Potro has a new team down with him or maybe Eduardo and Cristian aren’t here as of yet.

Mats Wilander is busy with Mathieu and also good to see the legends of Jaite, Gumy and Mancini.

Well got a big day tomorrow and have to enjoy it hopefully.

Yes, Volandri’s serve still sucks.