DISCLAIMER: Don’t use these reports or portions of these reports anywhere else without asking my permission to post them.
I am in report mode, so if you don't like the matches and the players I have written about, then you can either complain to me or get lost, as to what is preferable, well that depends on the individual.
Well finally the tennis has started and on today was definitely a busy one as it always is when there are that many matches around and of course that means I can’t see every point of every match, so I got some help with this report and these people who helped me will be named and appreciated for their work.
One of the few Americans I like and one of the players in form at the moment Michael Russell who won the New Caledonia Challenger for the loss of around 20 games, had a very interesting problem getting from New Caledonia to Melbourne, as they were overbooked and this meant they were stuck there and had to go to Auckland and then to Melbourne and arrived on Tuesday night.
1000 thanks to Imran for helping me with this report as he saw the 1st set as I could only get there for the 2nd set, so this will be a combination report. He was playing Larsi Burgsmuller in the 1st round and that match could have been harder than it needed to be and in this case it was a case of Russ starting slowly and being down 3-1. Then Larsi started charging the net more than he normally does and Russ was being aggressive though missing more than he has been of late. Then once Russell got the break back, then he was able to control the points and stretch Burgsmuller from side to side and was able to take the set 6-4 once he found the range and used good changes of pace.
Russell got an early break and while leading 4-2 had a lapse in concentration and then Burgi broke back to take the lead 5-4 and had 2 set points which Russell duly saved and then got back on track and showed his superiority and was running Burgi ragged and he had to take chances as Russell wasn’t missing much and had to dig in and fight hard and was able to do so.
In homage to the Brad Gilbert book “Winning Ugly”, this was not a performance of beauty, but it got the job done and that is what counts in the end. If it came down to looking pwetty (pretty) then Feliciano “LaLo” Lopez would have won a multitude of Grand Slam titles.
Pavel vs. Troicki
This was always going to be a tough one for Pavel and especially since he has had time off through injuries and Troicki does have potential to be a reasonable player. In retrospect I should have stayed away and not watched the 2nd and 3rd set of this match, as this was the one I went to after the Russell match.
It was clear to see that Pavel was lacking in match condition and Troicki broke early in the 2nd set and then Pavel broke back and took the lead, but wasn’t able to consolidate his chances and Troicki took the 2nd set.
The question was whether Pavel would be able to use his experience to be able to come through this situation or whether Troicki with the Serbian posse of Djokovic, Tipsarevic, Zimonjic watching would be able to continue on. Troicki kept the pressure on and was able to continue his aggressive play and went to a 5-1 lead before Pavel made a minor fightback and fortunately Troicki had an insurance break and was able to close the match at his second attempt. This was a combination of Pavel lacking matches and Troicki playing some good aggressive tennis.
Monroe vs. Chardy
This was on another court opposite to a match as I watching, but decided to have a look anyway. Chardy started off very well and was dominating with his forehand and took the 1st set. After this the youngster Monroe decided to change his game and incorporated the chip and charge tactics and this threw off Chardy who wasn’t able to get rhythm and since he isn’t the greatest mover his backhand or lack of was exposed and he was getting pissed off with the umpire as well and lost the last 2 sets only winning 1 game in the process.
Monroe’s dad is his coach and he seems to be a very good man and I spoke to him about racism in tennis and how it has changed over a period of time. We agreed that maybe it’s lesser than before or it’s just better hidden these days.
Snobel vs. Summerer
It’s a sad day in paradise as the Snobel permullet (image) has disappeared for the moment and maybe forever. It has now been replaced by a big mop of frizzy hair that would work in an 80s band, but not as cool as the mullet was on the Snobel. Snobel was striking the ball very clean and his main weaknesses apart from the hair are a lack of power, but he was getting some good angle on his shots. It was disappointing that he had to retire at 3-3 in the 3rd set.
Wang vs. Marc Lopez
This one had the potential to be a sleeper match of the 1st round and it was a high quality match. There was some good hitting from both guys, albeit in different ways. Wang has the typical Asian game with good stroke production with little spin and Lopez was hitting a very heavy forehand and running around his backhand to hit off-forehands.
Wang had his Taiwanese fanbase there cheering for everything and it was only myself and these 2 others that were cheering for Lopez. The main difference in this match was that Lopez played the big points better and was fighting very hard to get the extra ball back into play and it worked for him.
On a sidenote all seems to be well with Felix Mantilla these days, but Lopez doesn’t believe that his friend will make a comeback to tennis.
Alves vs. De Voest
It was the 1st time that I saw Alves play live and he isn’t a bad player and could exist in between the 80-100 section at best. This was a poor tactical match from Alves and he wasn’t originally going to play in the qualies and he only signed in as an alternate, then only played when Vinciguerra sadly withdrew with some knee trouble again.
De Voest like most South Africans has a solid serve, good volleys and is comfortable on the surface. The South Americans aren’t used to the serve/volleyers and Alves didn’t return well and it’s not like de Voest is a dangerous on serve, but Thiago couldn’t hit enough returns to get them into court. When he did he was better from the baseline and de Voest was just hitting them back and Alves didn’t use enough of the angles to open up the slower De Voest. After a close 1st set, it was not surprising that Alves checked out mentally in the 2nd set.
Silva vs. Haase
Thanks to Sammy and Joe for this one as I was only able to see bits of this match. From what I saw and was reported it was every entertaining and went down to 13-11 in the 3rd. As much as Silva does look like a monkey, the buffoon Pashanski was out of line with his racist comments, but that’s another story. There were some good rallies and some sneaky gamesmanship where Silva called for the trainer and took a time out at 30-30 late in the 3rd set and Haase thought he might as well take one while he had the chance to do so.
Haase has talent for sure, but the question for him is to see whether he will be able to step up and make the top 40 or be someone with good results but lacks consistency.
Peya vs. Behrend
Not sure why I chose to watch this. Yes, I know the reason, it was cause of the man known as Tomas Ugo Behrend and yes he is the PMA “Poor Mans Acasuso” and slower at that as well.
He had the bright blue shoes and the overgrunting was still there as usual, but the former surprise result isn’t there and it’s only a surprise when he wins in singles these days. The sad thing about this match was that Peya won 1 and 2 and wasn’t exactly playing well.
One highlight for Behrend was when he hit an excellent backhand towards the end. He screamed out “finally when I am match point down then I hit a good backhand” and that was the main thing in this match was that Behrend made too many errors.
After the match Peya and Behrend were walking off together and just talking about everything as if they have just finished a village warm up tournament. As bad as it was in the singles, the man known as Behrend will be playing doubles with Vik.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Quarter Finals
Safin vs. Hrbaty. When I heard the roof was going to be closed for this match. One I was pissed off because they played with it open for the previous 2 matches and should have kept it open. The second reason was that the match was played indoors which would totally benefit Marat and the advantages of superior conditioning and fitness that Hrbaty has were taken away because of a decision from above.
They measure it by 36 degrees air temperature and 30 per cent humidity and if it reaches this then the roof will be closed. As the roof was closed this match wasn't really a contest as the conditions which could effect Marat's game weren't apparent and then he really went on to show why he is one of the premier players indoors.
Once he got into the groove on serve he just dominated the match and Hrbaty sadly wasn't in it at all. Dominik had flashes, but it was only small glimpses and I do think he was upset that the roof was closed and had a right to be, at the same time he had to adjust to the conditions and wasn't able to as Marat was better in every form in the game. It was an awesome performance from the big man and I am happy that he is coached by Lundgren as they seem to work together very well. Hrbaty congrats on a fine tournament and even taking out Gaudio in that manner still deserves applause.
Federer vs. Agassi. The hype around the grounds was huge for sure, but I was quite content in watching the match in the garden on the big screen as I don't care too much about Agassi. In addition to this it was next to impossible to get a ticket as the line waiting on returns and cancellations was huge and not moving, so I took the easy option.
Found a seat and then what can I say about this match is a summary really. Federer treated Baldy with contempt, he broke serve when he wanted to do and just held the advantage as he had plenty in reserve. Roger was hitting some great shots and in reality he was making Agassi look like an old guy. I have to say I found it amusing to say the least to see Roger kill him the score might have looked alright, but it's not like Roger was ever troubled and he will need to be on his game for the next matches.
Australia Day wasn't a great day for me, then again it's national day with quite a few drunken fools around and that isn't surprising.
It was cool to see Fromberg/Wilander playing doubles, though I find it hard to see how can Richard Fromberg be a legend, he only won Båstad once, then again he is Tasmania's best ever player and that's good enough. These guys were playing well and they had fun which is important and they made the oldies doubles.
I saw David practicing with Eduardo in the evening, Eduardo doesn't have a bad backhand and it was only a short session and his brother was there. I had never seen him, but the eyes were too similar then I looked at the badge and yes they are brothers. There were some pissed clowns from the top walkway screaming "you're going down Nalbandian", it's alright he didn't take any notice at all.
This match was very difficult to be a Nalbandian fan as it was national day with a bunch of Aussies and I didn't get a ticket, but the square was packed for sure. Hewitt got out early and was playing very well and Nalle seemed a bit out of sorts and was making some errors that he normally wouldn't. I just hoped that the nerves would settle down eventually and then he would be able to show some of his talents.
Hewitt settled quicker and took the 1st set easily, then Nalle had 15-40 in the 2nd set and to me he had to win this game and get some momentum, but sadly he blew it and then Hewitt was able to refocus on the job at hand and was playing solidly and won the 2nd set to 2.
Lucky the fireworks which were very good, lod and spectacular well as much as I like fireworks anyway. This helped Nalle as he tightened up and wasn't making as many errors on that backhand as he was spraying them everywhere. Then Nalle was able to move Hewitt around the court and when he is playing well I love how he uses the court with angles and his ability to manouever the opponent out of court. He is improving and finally gets a break and takes the 3rd set.
The 4th set Nalle continues on the same vein and is hitting some good winners and it seems that Hewitt has gone off to the races for a while, but if it got to a 5th I doubt that the Potato will always be around at the end sadly. I thought Nalle had the chance for a bagel and I was chanting bagel, bagel and all the Aussies were so quiet during this time of the match and then Dave takes it for 6-1.
Here comes the business end now and knowing that Hewitt doesn't give away any presents. I was worried about Nalle's serve as everyone knows what a liability it can be at times. He is serving well by his standards and the thing that really frustrated me about this match was the amount of times that he had 30 all on Hewitt's serve and didn't make the return into play either into the net or just long on the backhand, then later he came out with great winners.
I was cheering on as best as I could, but Hewitt kept holding serve and I thought the longer he couldn't break Hewitt, the closer it was to Nalle losing his serve and at 8-8 the 15-40 and the head went down and he lost serve.
Hewitt then served it out and he was too good in the vital moments. Nalle played very well at the end and it was very close and in the future he can win those matches, but I am proud of the way he played.The funny thing was the guys who were going for Nalle could see me walking away dejectedly as all the Aussies were celebrating, the thought of having to go for Hewitt was fresh in my mind and the head shaking was constant for at least 30 mins, but a good performance by both.
They measure it by 36 degrees air temperature and 30 per cent humidity and if it reaches this then the roof will be closed. As the roof was closed this match wasn't really a contest as the conditions which could effect Marat's game weren't apparent and then he really went on to show why he is one of the premier players indoors.
Once he got into the groove on serve he just dominated the match and Hrbaty sadly wasn't in it at all. Dominik had flashes, but it was only small glimpses and I do think he was upset that the roof was closed and had a right to be, at the same time he had to adjust to the conditions and wasn't able to as Marat was better in every form in the game. It was an awesome performance from the big man and I am happy that he is coached by Lundgren as they seem to work together very well. Hrbaty congrats on a fine tournament and even taking out Gaudio in that manner still deserves applause.
Federer vs. Agassi. The hype around the grounds was huge for sure, but I was quite content in watching the match in the garden on the big screen as I don't care too much about Agassi. In addition to this it was next to impossible to get a ticket as the line waiting on returns and cancellations was huge and not moving, so I took the easy option.
Found a seat and then what can I say about this match is a summary really. Federer treated Baldy with contempt, he broke serve when he wanted to do and just held the advantage as he had plenty in reserve. Roger was hitting some great shots and in reality he was making Agassi look like an old guy. I have to say I found it amusing to say the least to see Roger kill him the score might have looked alright, but it's not like Roger was ever troubled and he will need to be on his game for the next matches.
Australia Day wasn't a great day for me, then again it's national day with quite a few drunken fools around and that isn't surprising.
It was cool to see Fromberg/Wilander playing doubles, though I find it hard to see how can Richard Fromberg be a legend, he only won Båstad once, then again he is Tasmania's best ever player and that's good enough. These guys were playing well and they had fun which is important and they made the oldies doubles.
I saw David practicing with Eduardo in the evening, Eduardo doesn't have a bad backhand and it was only a short session and his brother was there. I had never seen him, but the eyes were too similar then I looked at the badge and yes they are brothers. There were some pissed clowns from the top walkway screaming "you're going down Nalbandian", it's alright he didn't take any notice at all.
This match was very difficult to be a Nalbandian fan as it was national day with a bunch of Aussies and I didn't get a ticket, but the square was packed for sure. Hewitt got out early and was playing very well and Nalle seemed a bit out of sorts and was making some errors that he normally wouldn't. I just hoped that the nerves would settle down eventually and then he would be able to show some of his talents.
Hewitt settled quicker and took the 1st set easily, then Nalle had 15-40 in the 2nd set and to me he had to win this game and get some momentum, but sadly he blew it and then Hewitt was able to refocus on the job at hand and was playing solidly and won the 2nd set to 2.
Lucky the fireworks which were very good, lod and spectacular well as much as I like fireworks anyway. This helped Nalle as he tightened up and wasn't making as many errors on that backhand as he was spraying them everywhere. Then Nalle was able to move Hewitt around the court and when he is playing well I love how he uses the court with angles and his ability to manouever the opponent out of court. He is improving and finally gets a break and takes the 3rd set.
The 4th set Nalle continues on the same vein and is hitting some good winners and it seems that Hewitt has gone off to the races for a while, but if it got to a 5th I doubt that the Potato will always be around at the end sadly. I thought Nalle had the chance for a bagel and I was chanting bagel, bagel and all the Aussies were so quiet during this time of the match and then Dave takes it for 6-1.
Here comes the business end now and knowing that Hewitt doesn't give away any presents. I was worried about Nalle's serve as everyone knows what a liability it can be at times. He is serving well by his standards and the thing that really frustrated me about this match was the amount of times that he had 30 all on Hewitt's serve and didn't make the return into play either into the net or just long on the backhand, then later he came out with great winners.
I was cheering on as best as I could, but Hewitt kept holding serve and I thought the longer he couldn't break Hewitt, the closer it was to Nalle losing his serve and at 8-8 the 15-40 and the head went down and he lost serve.
Hewitt then served it out and he was too good in the vital moments. Nalle played very well at the end and it was very close and in the future he can win those matches, but I am proud of the way he played.The funny thing was the guys who were going for Nalle could see me walking away dejectedly as all the Aussies were celebrating, the thought of having to go for Hewitt was fresh in my mind and the head shaking was constant for at least 30 mins, but a good performance by both.
4th Round
Sunday
Federer vs. Baghdatis, well I felt for Marcos he was very nervous and he had won 6 matches already, so with his elbow problem and the fact that he was playing the # 1 in the world contributed to the horrible start he made. I was sincerely hoping that he wouldn't get bagelled and be able to show some of his talent to the masses at some point.
The first 2 sets I really can't say that much about them, Roger was doing what he needed to do and was playing within himself and Marcos had a few shots, but a few too many errors.
At least in the 3rd set Marcos started to relax and was able to move better and then showed some of his form and personality on the court. The Greek fans stood by him, even though they knew before the match that he didn't have much of a chance. With this he was able to take it to Federer and make Roger win it in a breaker, he has left a good impression here during his time and barring injuries he could do very well.
A tip to the local crowds, it was a bit late to start cheering Marcos when he is in a tiebreaker. The guy was a massive underdog and then they decide to cheer him when the match is over, it's not like Federer has a shortage of fans.
Hrbaty vs. Johansson. This match I thought Hrbaty would win quite handily before that, though this result wasn't the one I expected. The 1st set was competitive and there were plenty of hard and flat groundstrokes traded, but once Hrbaty got the 1st set it really wasn't much of a match as Johansson went for the trainer early in the 2nd set and then the build up of 5 setters with Luczak, Calleri and Kim started to effect him and then Hrbaty saw that and raised the game and just kept punishing him as he should have.
I was surprised that Kim and Luczak were able to make Tojo go 5 sets especially Kim since ordinary is the nicest thing I can say about him, though that is better than that fool Reynolds who somehow managed to make the 3rd round.
It was an easy run for Hrbaty in the last 2 sets and this has been a good tournament for him so far.
Monday was the day that really pissed me off results wise for obvious reasons.Cañas vs. Davydenko, well I had a good feeling when I saw this one and thought Cañas has the record on him and if he played to his capacity then he should get through. How wrong I was about that.
Fucking Davydenko I doubt whether he will play that well again he was on fire for the whole match. The pattern of the match was set early, by some very bad line calls in the 1st set when Cañas lost his serve at 30-30 there was a ridiculous out ball missed by the linesperson that led to 30-40 and then from there it began.
In the 1st set Kolya was serving well and attacking a lot and it was coming off, he didn't want to grind with Cañas, but he was hitting winners and then moving forward and hitting some great dropshots which fooled Cañas and was leaving him in not a good mood at all.
Seriously I couldn't believe the amount of shocking linecalls in this match they missed at least 5 against Cañas and 1 against Kolya. One or two can happen, but from what I remember on the line is in and these were at vital points when Cañas had 30-30 or 30-40 on Kolya's serve.
The attacking pattern continued and he was even hitting cold winners on his backhand side now and then, when I saw this Kolya "The poor mans Kafelnikov" was going to win and this would be his day.
Cañas didn't hit with enough length and also missed a few too many forehands and he wasn't in position to hit them very well, this plus "PMK's" good play with the volleys and the winners led to this result. The worst thing is that I believe that "PMK" will lose like 6-0, 6-1 6-1 to Duckboy and he allegedly has problems with breathing which can't help him at all.
Nadal vs. Hewitt. Well the kid you blew it that is the honest assessment of this match. It's funny that Hewitt is bitching about the surface, yet there are more fastcourt players in the finals than previous. The kid and Potato were going at it right away with the heavy forehand of Nadal troubling Hewitt and Hewitt's will to hang in there were all to see. Nadal played a sloppy game to lose the 1st set 7-5.
Nadal then afterwards he concentrated well and then was just dominant and didn't make that many unforced errors and Hewitt couldn't attack his shots as they had too much depth and was able to move him well out of position.
The 4th set this was tough and I thought if Nadal didn't win that, then I thought the Potato would be too strong in the 5th set. Nadal had enough chances to put him away, but lost the 4th, then he was wallowing in his missed chances that he lost 2 breaks against Hewitt, once he decided to fight on it was too late for him and the Potato showed his mental strength this plus experience is what got him through this match.
Federer vs. Baghdatis, well I felt for Marcos he was very nervous and he had won 6 matches already, so with his elbow problem and the fact that he was playing the # 1 in the world contributed to the horrible start he made. I was sincerely hoping that he wouldn't get bagelled and be able to show some of his talent to the masses at some point.
The first 2 sets I really can't say that much about them, Roger was doing what he needed to do and was playing within himself and Marcos had a few shots, but a few too many errors.
At least in the 3rd set Marcos started to relax and was able to move better and then showed some of his form and personality on the court. The Greek fans stood by him, even though they knew before the match that he didn't have much of a chance. With this he was able to take it to Federer and make Roger win it in a breaker, he has left a good impression here during his time and barring injuries he could do very well.
A tip to the local crowds, it was a bit late to start cheering Marcos when he is in a tiebreaker. The guy was a massive underdog and then they decide to cheer him when the match is over, it's not like Federer has a shortage of fans.
Hrbaty vs. Johansson. This match I thought Hrbaty would win quite handily before that, though this result wasn't the one I expected. The 1st set was competitive and there were plenty of hard and flat groundstrokes traded, but once Hrbaty got the 1st set it really wasn't much of a match as Johansson went for the trainer early in the 2nd set and then the build up of 5 setters with Luczak, Calleri and Kim started to effect him and then Hrbaty saw that and raised the game and just kept punishing him as he should have.
I was surprised that Kim and Luczak were able to make Tojo go 5 sets especially Kim since ordinary is the nicest thing I can say about him, though that is better than that fool Reynolds who somehow managed to make the 3rd round.
It was an easy run for Hrbaty in the last 2 sets and this has been a good tournament for him so far.
Monday was the day that really pissed me off results wise for obvious reasons.Cañas vs. Davydenko, well I had a good feeling when I saw this one and thought Cañas has the record on him and if he played to his capacity then he should get through. How wrong I was about that.
Fucking Davydenko I doubt whether he will play that well again he was on fire for the whole match. The pattern of the match was set early, by some very bad line calls in the 1st set when Cañas lost his serve at 30-30 there was a ridiculous out ball missed by the linesperson that led to 30-40 and then from there it began.
In the 1st set Kolya was serving well and attacking a lot and it was coming off, he didn't want to grind with Cañas, but he was hitting winners and then moving forward and hitting some great dropshots which fooled Cañas and was leaving him in not a good mood at all.
Seriously I couldn't believe the amount of shocking linecalls in this match they missed at least 5 against Cañas and 1 against Kolya. One or two can happen, but from what I remember on the line is in and these were at vital points when Cañas had 30-30 or 30-40 on Kolya's serve.
The attacking pattern continued and he was even hitting cold winners on his backhand side now and then, when I saw this Kolya "The poor mans Kafelnikov" was going to win and this would be his day.
Cañas didn't hit with enough length and also missed a few too many forehands and he wasn't in position to hit them very well, this plus "PMK's" good play with the volleys and the winners led to this result. The worst thing is that I believe that "PMK" will lose like 6-0, 6-1 6-1 to Duckboy and he allegedly has problems with breathing which can't help him at all.
Nadal vs. Hewitt. Well the kid you blew it that is the honest assessment of this match. It's funny that Hewitt is bitching about the surface, yet there are more fastcourt players in the finals than previous. The kid and Potato were going at it right away with the heavy forehand of Nadal troubling Hewitt and Hewitt's will to hang in there were all to see. Nadal played a sloppy game to lose the 1st set 7-5.
Nadal then afterwards he concentrated well and then was just dominant and didn't make that many unforced errors and Hewitt couldn't attack his shots as they had too much depth and was able to move him well out of position.
The 4th set this was tough and I thought if Nadal didn't win that, then I thought the Potato would be too strong in the 5th set. Nadal had enough chances to put him away, but lost the 4th, then he was wallowing in his missed chances that he lost 2 breaks against Hewitt, once he decided to fight on it was too late for him and the Potato showed his mental strength this plus experience is what got him through this match.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Round 3
Well this one was a very tough day, but it was redeemed in some ways, but in reality there are only two matches that I saw in great detail and they are the ones that I will comment on.Gaudio vs. Hrbaty was first on Vodafone or as I call it the Velodrome.
The feelings about this match were very mixed as I knew that Gaston could win this, if he believed he can and the other side is he could easily lose it as well in a big way.We were there from the start and it was a promising start and when I saw the length of the rallies this was a good sign, and there were a few breaks of serve in this match. It started out as Hrbaty was playing close to the baseline and Gaudio was a bit behind hitting with good length and spins and wasn't making errors, and Hrbaty started serving very well and Gaston was getting frustrated, but he managed a break of serve at 4-2, but as the saying goes it's not a break of serve unless it's confirmed straight away.
Then of course Gaston loses his break and they make it to a tiebreaker which was decided by the simple fact that Gaston served 2 dfs and Hrbaty served 2 aces and Hrbaty takes it.The 2nd set is more of the same Gaudio is bringing Hrbaty to the next and exposing his lack of confidence around the net area and breaks to lead again, but once again he didn't confirm the advantage and Hrbaty breaks back. It's a battle at the moment, which I enjoyed plenty of running to the corners from both players using the court,
Gaston trying to break the rhythm of Hrbaty and Dominik hitting the corners attempting to wear down Gaudio. These two end up in another tiebreaker and I thought here it goes that Gaudio will lose it again, but he saves 3 sps from Hrbaty and then ends up winning the breaker with a winner and starts getting excited. I thought this is not too good he should really be up 2 sets to love, but alas this was not the case.
The 3rd set continues on this grinding pattern which I love and many others around me are enjoying. Gaston does the trick shot he did at Kooyong the crosscourt between the legs for a winner and he shook the umpires hand after he managed to hit it for a winner. Once again there were breaks traded between them and Gaudio once again led by a break and couldn't hold it and I was forced to sit through another tiebreaker, which Gaudio had played the better and I thought with the momentum he might win, but if it went to the 5th, then things change into Hrbaty's favour.
Then early in the 4th set with Gaston leading 40-30 in the service game, he couldn't move and called the trainer for cramps or a leg injury. To all the muppets out there who read this and if they want to question my consistency on this issue, then should be clear. No, Gaston shouldn't have been treated for cramps at all, as cramping isn't an injury, two he shouldn't have had it during the game and if I had my way he would have lost the game.
When I saw this I didn't think Gaston would win as Hrbaty would see the cramping and then being the fitness machine that he is, that he will lift and able to increase the pressure on Gaudio and it will be tough for him, but all I could was cheer him on. The 4th set was a 6-1 flogging with Gaudio trying to conserve energy and playing some silly shots and I was laughing too much to be upset.The 5th set well Gaston hasn't won a 5 setter away from RG and Hrbaty wasn't even looking close to being tired, so all I could hope for is Gaston to try and his best and if he was to lose, then do it like a man. The 5th set Hrbaty lifted his game and was even making volleys and Gaston was fighting and trying everything to get back into it, but he was spent and Hrbaty was the man when it counted and deserved to win. Hrbaty was better phyiscally prepared and Gaston didn't take his chances and in reality he had the opportunities to win this match in 3 sets.
The thing is that Gaston played much better in this match against Hrbaty than his previous two and I was proud in the way that he didn't give up at all, but all credit to Hrbaty he was the better player when it counted and the extra training benefitted him and it's not just talent that wins tennis matches.
Robredo vs. Baghdatis:
I thought here is a great chance for Marcos to take another scalp as I don't rate Robredo that highly and if Marcos could get the 1st set, then Robredo would get agitated with all the Greek fans and the fact that Marcos plays well with good crowd support and if he could keep the momentum up, then he would win the match.Geez I love it when I am right in so many ways. Robredo was playing his Robredo style not doing anything great and Marcos was hitting some good forehands and able to keep a good length on the backhand and he settled down quickly.
The 1st set breaker was the one he had to win to get the momentum his way, he managed that and the Greek fans were in fine voice and Robredo looked lost out there and this pattern continued as Marcos stepped up his level of play and then Robredo lacked the ability to change the momentum in his favour and didn't even call for the trainer. The 2nd set was 6-4 and then Marcos just steamrolled him with forehand passes and just a very good level of play that couldn't be faulted.He is now in the top 100 and has no points to defend until the French Open as he was out injured.
Saturday
There were 60 000 people at this day, but only a percentage of those were watching tennis.Actually I only really watched 2 matches and snippets of others. Cañas vs. Stepanek. This match I expected to be closer, but Radek was having a shocker, though as I have said many times before his girlfriend is absolutely gorgeous and that made up for his display.Willy was solid, but Radek kept missing his forehand and when he tried to serve/volley Cañas had drilled returns right at his feet and wasn't able to make too many telling volleys at all.
Radek was just out of his depth in this match and when they had baseline rallies it was in Cañas's favour, then when he tried to change it up, he would miss the opportunity to put the ball away, just that Cañas was too tough. Sidenote Radek was good enough to sign some autographs after that performance.
Gonzalez vs. Nalbandian. This I thought would be a good match for Nalle as he has a very good record over Gonzo and the best thing about this match it was the one after the Cañas mauling, so I didn't have to move too far and the court was packed as well. The Chilean fans definitely outnumbered the Argentines and luckily it wasn't football and there was some good singing going on which is always good.
That's the thing with the Chilean players as there are so many Chileans around the world, they can always get big support.The match started out in the usual pattern Gonzo trying to dominate with the big forehands and Nalle using his Gonzo's power to change the direction of the ball on his strokes.
Nalle got a lead and was playing well better than he was against Ventura and he had to go against a better opponent. Then the evil Nalle service let him down, please could you get some kick to that serve and better length, Coria has a serve that doesn't get broken as often and he can do better than that. As he was serving for the 1st set then Gonzo started being more aggressive and the winners were flowing and he broke the back, then got some momentum from the Chilean fans and took the 1st set.
As to be sure whether he was going to continue on that vein I wasn't sure and felt that Nalle would be able to prevail in the end as Gonzo had some problems with his feet and the shoulder, so the pattern was that Nalle would hit some short angles and then just step up his game and he saw that Gonzo was struggling and the match totally changed when Nalle won the 2nd set 7-5, which he should have won the 1st set, but after that Gonzo was getting treated and not very happy with the situation and Nalle just ground him out and took the last 2 sets easily and it was a very good performance and he does have quite a lot of fans here, more than what some people would expect and the Chileans gave him a good ovation as well.
The feelings about this match were very mixed as I knew that Gaston could win this, if he believed he can and the other side is he could easily lose it as well in a big way.We were there from the start and it was a promising start and when I saw the length of the rallies this was a good sign, and there were a few breaks of serve in this match. It started out as Hrbaty was playing close to the baseline and Gaudio was a bit behind hitting with good length and spins and wasn't making errors, and Hrbaty started serving very well and Gaston was getting frustrated, but he managed a break of serve at 4-2, but as the saying goes it's not a break of serve unless it's confirmed straight away.
Then of course Gaston loses his break and they make it to a tiebreaker which was decided by the simple fact that Gaston served 2 dfs and Hrbaty served 2 aces and Hrbaty takes it.The 2nd set is more of the same Gaudio is bringing Hrbaty to the next and exposing his lack of confidence around the net area and breaks to lead again, but once again he didn't confirm the advantage and Hrbaty breaks back. It's a battle at the moment, which I enjoyed plenty of running to the corners from both players using the court,
Gaston trying to break the rhythm of Hrbaty and Dominik hitting the corners attempting to wear down Gaudio. These two end up in another tiebreaker and I thought here it goes that Gaudio will lose it again, but he saves 3 sps from Hrbaty and then ends up winning the breaker with a winner and starts getting excited. I thought this is not too good he should really be up 2 sets to love, but alas this was not the case.
The 3rd set continues on this grinding pattern which I love and many others around me are enjoying. Gaston does the trick shot he did at Kooyong the crosscourt between the legs for a winner and he shook the umpires hand after he managed to hit it for a winner. Once again there were breaks traded between them and Gaudio once again led by a break and couldn't hold it and I was forced to sit through another tiebreaker, which Gaudio had played the better and I thought with the momentum he might win, but if it went to the 5th, then things change into Hrbaty's favour.
Then early in the 4th set with Gaston leading 40-30 in the service game, he couldn't move and called the trainer for cramps or a leg injury. To all the muppets out there who read this and if they want to question my consistency on this issue, then should be clear. No, Gaston shouldn't have been treated for cramps at all, as cramping isn't an injury, two he shouldn't have had it during the game and if I had my way he would have lost the game.
When I saw this I didn't think Gaston would win as Hrbaty would see the cramping and then being the fitness machine that he is, that he will lift and able to increase the pressure on Gaudio and it will be tough for him, but all I could was cheer him on. The 4th set was a 6-1 flogging with Gaudio trying to conserve energy and playing some silly shots and I was laughing too much to be upset.The 5th set well Gaston hasn't won a 5 setter away from RG and Hrbaty wasn't even looking close to being tired, so all I could hope for is Gaston to try and his best and if he was to lose, then do it like a man. The 5th set Hrbaty lifted his game and was even making volleys and Gaston was fighting and trying everything to get back into it, but he was spent and Hrbaty was the man when it counted and deserved to win. Hrbaty was better phyiscally prepared and Gaston didn't take his chances and in reality he had the opportunities to win this match in 3 sets.
The thing is that Gaston played much better in this match against Hrbaty than his previous two and I was proud in the way that he didn't give up at all, but all credit to Hrbaty he was the better player when it counted and the extra training benefitted him and it's not just talent that wins tennis matches.
Robredo vs. Baghdatis:
I thought here is a great chance for Marcos to take another scalp as I don't rate Robredo that highly and if Marcos could get the 1st set, then Robredo would get agitated with all the Greek fans and the fact that Marcos plays well with good crowd support and if he could keep the momentum up, then he would win the match.Geez I love it when I am right in so many ways. Robredo was playing his Robredo style not doing anything great and Marcos was hitting some good forehands and able to keep a good length on the backhand and he settled down quickly.
The 1st set breaker was the one he had to win to get the momentum his way, he managed that and the Greek fans were in fine voice and Robredo looked lost out there and this pattern continued as Marcos stepped up his level of play and then Robredo lacked the ability to change the momentum in his favour and didn't even call for the trainer. The 2nd set was 6-4 and then Marcos just steamrolled him with forehand passes and just a very good level of play that couldn't be faulted.He is now in the top 100 and has no points to defend until the French Open as he was out injured.
Saturday
There were 60 000 people at this day, but only a percentage of those were watching tennis.Actually I only really watched 2 matches and snippets of others. Cañas vs. Stepanek. This match I expected to be closer, but Radek was having a shocker, though as I have said many times before his girlfriend is absolutely gorgeous and that made up for his display.Willy was solid, but Radek kept missing his forehand and when he tried to serve/volley Cañas had drilled returns right at his feet and wasn't able to make too many telling volleys at all.
Radek was just out of his depth in this match and when they had baseline rallies it was in Cañas's favour, then when he tried to change it up, he would miss the opportunity to put the ball away, just that Cañas was too tough. Sidenote Radek was good enough to sign some autographs after that performance.
Gonzalez vs. Nalbandian. This I thought would be a good match for Nalle as he has a very good record over Gonzo and the best thing about this match it was the one after the Cañas mauling, so I didn't have to move too far and the court was packed as well. The Chilean fans definitely outnumbered the Argentines and luckily it wasn't football and there was some good singing going on which is always good.
That's the thing with the Chilean players as there are so many Chileans around the world, they can always get big support.The match started out in the usual pattern Gonzo trying to dominate with the big forehands and Nalle using his Gonzo's power to change the direction of the ball on his strokes.
Nalle got a lead and was playing well better than he was against Ventura and he had to go against a better opponent. Then the evil Nalle service let him down, please could you get some kick to that serve and better length, Coria has a serve that doesn't get broken as often and he can do better than that. As he was serving for the 1st set then Gonzo started being more aggressive and the winners were flowing and he broke the back, then got some momentum from the Chilean fans and took the 1st set.
As to be sure whether he was going to continue on that vein I wasn't sure and felt that Nalle would be able to prevail in the end as Gonzo had some problems with his feet and the shoulder, so the pattern was that Nalle would hit some short angles and then just step up his game and he saw that Gonzo was struggling and the match totally changed when Nalle won the 2nd set 7-5, which he should have won the 1st set, but after that Gonzo was getting treated and not very happy with the situation and Nalle just ground him out and took the last 2 sets easily and it was a very good performance and he does have quite a lot of fans here, more than what some people would expect and the Chileans gave him a good ovation as well.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Aussie Open 2nd round adventures
Wednesday
Baghdatis vs. Ljubicic: I thought before this match started that Baghdatis was a chance at winning this match especially with the fact that Ljubo isn't known for his outstanding performances at Slam events. Marcos went in there and was ready to go straight away and was holding his own early against Ljubo.
This match was on court 21 which is right in the back of the venue and there was the Greek and Cypriot support which was very vocal and the Croatian fans and as it's a very small court it created a very festive and good atmosphere for this match.
One feature for Marcos that was working well apart from his forehand was his dropshot that exposed Ljubo's lack of movement around the court and Ljubo was missing volleys as well. Baghdatis was inspired by the Greek support and continued on the good form after winning the 1st breaker easily.
The match was still progressing the same way Ljubo trying to get back into it, but making errors on his groundstrokes, while Marcos was moving him around with his forehand and keeping good length on the backhand and took the 2nd set.
It was fun both sets of fans were giving a bit of cheek to each other and I had the feeling that Marcos will win in 3, but when they got to the breaker, he played a very sloppy breaker and got done easily, then he focused and broke Ljubo' serve easily and then continued on to a comfortable victory in the 4th for a match against Robredo, and when I saw that draw I thought he could easily take him out as I am not hugely impressed by Robredo in general.
Gaudio vs. Fish: Yes, the match between the Cat and the Fish. Before the match I was of the view that if Gaudio can keep good length here he will win and expose Fish's lack of speed around the court and the other faults in this game. The 1st set Gaston was not really there and Fish was serving very well and he was serving a lot to the backhand of Gaudio which he wasn't reading initially.
Then in the 2nd set Gaudio started to return better and then when he was able to make the rallies longer then he became in the dominant position and exposed Fish's lack of speed and won the next 2 sets by using good depth, mixing up the speed of his shots and using good lobs and passing shots, though of course Gaston being the player he is, he made it hard for himself.
In the 4th set he was up 4-1 with 2 breaks and wasn't making many unforced errors and had everything in control, then he loses both breaks and the set ends up in a tiebreaker and this time Gaston plays a very good tiebreaker and produced some very good angled forehands as Fish was trying to move forward and the backhand was working very well. This was a fairly good performance which probably surprised people that he has been able to win 2 matches in a row on the hardcourts and now to prepare for Hrbaty.
T.Johansson vs. Calleri. This match was going to be close, but I thought Johansson would edge this for some reason. The Swedes were there drunk, happily and faithfully cheering on Thomas who appreciates the support and on the other side where a few of the Argie fans and it was a good atmosphere. Calleri wasn't returning as well as he had been against Mirnyi and Johansson didn't seem to shake off a sluggish start like he did against Luczak.
The 1st set was close, but Calleri somehow always manages to throw in a silly game somewhere and that costs him, he was moving more into the forecourt in the 2nd set, some of the time was because the shot was there and the others it was because he came in on a low ball just because he does, as much as like Calleri he couldn't be confused as a tactical genius.
The 3rd set had a familar pattern of holding serves easily, then Calleri played his sloppy game and managed to lose the momentum and the 3rd set. Later in the match Calleri manages a great feat which I will go into detail later. Calleri starts being more aggressive and hitting some very good winners and volleys and Johansson isn't up to scratch then takes the 4th set.
Johansson gets an early break when Calleri manages to serve 4 double faults in a row and I am just there shaking my head as Calleri had only served 5 df's for the match, but 4 of them in a game I mean come on. ToJo was serving for the match and had managed to choke and Calleri got it back to 5-4 on serve then held on. During the 5th set there was a massive wind that lifted the on court umbrella and almost hit Calleri. Then in the last game at 15-30 on Calleri's serve, Johansson got a dead netcord and then it was over for Calleri. He was so pissed off, he grabbed a ball and belted it out onto the railway tracks. It was close, but not a great match per se.
Cañas vs. Verdasco. This one was a match that I didn't fear too much for Cañas actually, why I am not so sure, but I figured he would be alright. Verdasco is on fire in the opening set, he was serving very well and using his huge forehand to dominate the rallies and he was taking advantage of the short balls that Cañas was giving him and stormed to the first set.
The 2nd began very much in a similar way Verdasco moving his serve around, and keeping Cañas off balance, and then when they got into rallies, he was using the forehand and hitting deep with his backhand and making minimal errors at this stage. Cañas was getting a bit shitty questioning some linecalls, then he was done for coaching, though I am not exactly sure what Gumy had done that was any different from before.
He was down 2 breaks at 4-1 in the second and then Cañas started to get tough and work his way back into the match, hitting better length of shots, running down more shots and Verdasco was still being aggressive, but when Cañas broke back twice there was the definite shift in the match and he took the second set 7-5.
After that Cañas was never in trouble as Verdasco had some problems with his back and took a time out for treatment, but Cañas was dominating him then and ran away with the last 2 sets. I was happy with the fight that Cañas showed, but that's a given really and then he overwhelmed him as he is able to do with his determination.
Gonzalez vs. Andreev. The battle of the big forehands which was out on a smaller court and the Chileans were there in force as always. This wasn't a bad match per se, but the feeling was there that Gonzo was always just that a little bit ahead in this match. He definitely started a lot better than he did in the Acasuso match and he had to against a better opponent.
The thing that Gonzo was doing well was using the drop shot effectively to bring Igor into the net and he showed that he wasn't in great form when it came to play at the net and the thing that impressed me about Gonzo's play was the lack of unforced errors and there wasn't as many ridiculous attempts at winners as usual, but he played an intelligent match and the best thing was both of them running around their backhands to hit huge forehands and moving themselves into interesting court positions.
Nalbandian vs. Ventura.
Well David came out and started very well against a very nervous Ventura who couldn't hit a thing in in the 1st set and Nalle wasn't making it easier, he is definitely on his game today unlike when he played Ferrer and everything especially his opponent was irritating the hell out of him. The 1st set was a bagel and then Ventura started to become more competitve, but David was moving into the ball well and making Ventura cover a lot more court with good angles and this is an improvement from before.
All the Ace Ventura comments from the crowd are coming out and they are lifting him and after the 2nd set, he starts to make less errors and is hitting some very good winners from his forehand and his backhand is holding up, there were some good dropshots as well, then they were trying to out finesse each other at the net. Ventura deservedly took the 3rd set and Nalle's level just dropped a bit, but there wasn't the sense that this could be a 5 setter.
Nalle wakes up again and refocuses and put the youngster in his place and wins the 4th handily. This was the 1st time I have seen Ventura play and I like what I saw he will do well in the clay season, he has a good game for the surface and after he wasn't nervous he was a good opponent in this match and after he signed quite a few autographs which is always good.
The last match for this day was the most disappointing the Ferrero vs. Zabaleta match. I was looking forward to this one, even thinking about alternate transport because I might be late from the match going overtime. I was there with a group of South Americans and I saw Emilita from MTF no far from us and getting prepared for the match.Usually I prepare notes from these reports, but in this case it was better that I didn't do that as the reality wasn't very good in this match.
It was one of those days that we have all had in our lives that are hard to forget. Ferrero played well in the way that he was solid and hitting the ball fairly well, but Mariano who had huge support in the crowd and not just from the local ladies, and yes I was asked about him by a few for some some reason, it just didn't happen for him.
He didn't serve that well only at 50% he needed it to be in the 60s at least, but he just made error after error. The first set went quickly and I thought Ok, I'll write that one off and now it's time to grind and fight it out. They were hitting some good shots and Mariano started to try and lengthen the rallies, but when the opportunity came to finish the rally, he would hit the top of the tape with drop volleys when moving forward or hit long.It was very hard for Mariano and this was not a case of him giving up at all in this match, it was just everything he tried didn't work for him on the day.
Yes, the backhand is weaker and he made errors of that side, but his forehand wasn't working so well either and Ferrero well I can't say he was back to his best as he wasn't tested. One thing that could pretty much sum up the match for Mariano was that he won 50 points for the match and he made 44 unforced errors.
Even after he lost the last set 6-0 we all stood up and clapped him because in a moment like this it's important to show that no matter the result that you have to stay to the end and take these kinds of defeats, and Mariano was so dejected obviously, he wanted out of there as quickly as possible and just went through the tunnel.
Baghdatis vs. Ljubicic: I thought before this match started that Baghdatis was a chance at winning this match especially with the fact that Ljubo isn't known for his outstanding performances at Slam events. Marcos went in there and was ready to go straight away and was holding his own early against Ljubo.
This match was on court 21 which is right in the back of the venue and there was the Greek and Cypriot support which was very vocal and the Croatian fans and as it's a very small court it created a very festive and good atmosphere for this match.
One feature for Marcos that was working well apart from his forehand was his dropshot that exposed Ljubo's lack of movement around the court and Ljubo was missing volleys as well. Baghdatis was inspired by the Greek support and continued on the good form after winning the 1st breaker easily.
The match was still progressing the same way Ljubo trying to get back into it, but making errors on his groundstrokes, while Marcos was moving him around with his forehand and keeping good length on the backhand and took the 2nd set.
It was fun both sets of fans were giving a bit of cheek to each other and I had the feeling that Marcos will win in 3, but when they got to the breaker, he played a very sloppy breaker and got done easily, then he focused and broke Ljubo' serve easily and then continued on to a comfortable victory in the 4th for a match against Robredo, and when I saw that draw I thought he could easily take him out as I am not hugely impressed by Robredo in general.
Gaudio vs. Fish: Yes, the match between the Cat and the Fish. Before the match I was of the view that if Gaudio can keep good length here he will win and expose Fish's lack of speed around the court and the other faults in this game. The 1st set Gaston was not really there and Fish was serving very well and he was serving a lot to the backhand of Gaudio which he wasn't reading initially.
Then in the 2nd set Gaudio started to return better and then when he was able to make the rallies longer then he became in the dominant position and exposed Fish's lack of speed and won the next 2 sets by using good depth, mixing up the speed of his shots and using good lobs and passing shots, though of course Gaston being the player he is, he made it hard for himself.
In the 4th set he was up 4-1 with 2 breaks and wasn't making many unforced errors and had everything in control, then he loses both breaks and the set ends up in a tiebreaker and this time Gaston plays a very good tiebreaker and produced some very good angled forehands as Fish was trying to move forward and the backhand was working very well. This was a fairly good performance which probably surprised people that he has been able to win 2 matches in a row on the hardcourts and now to prepare for Hrbaty.
T.Johansson vs. Calleri. This match was going to be close, but I thought Johansson would edge this for some reason. The Swedes were there drunk, happily and faithfully cheering on Thomas who appreciates the support and on the other side where a few of the Argie fans and it was a good atmosphere. Calleri wasn't returning as well as he had been against Mirnyi and Johansson didn't seem to shake off a sluggish start like he did against Luczak.
The 1st set was close, but Calleri somehow always manages to throw in a silly game somewhere and that costs him, he was moving more into the forecourt in the 2nd set, some of the time was because the shot was there and the others it was because he came in on a low ball just because he does, as much as like Calleri he couldn't be confused as a tactical genius.
The 3rd set had a familar pattern of holding serves easily, then Calleri played his sloppy game and managed to lose the momentum and the 3rd set. Later in the match Calleri manages a great feat which I will go into detail later. Calleri starts being more aggressive and hitting some very good winners and volleys and Johansson isn't up to scratch then takes the 4th set.
Johansson gets an early break when Calleri manages to serve 4 double faults in a row and I am just there shaking my head as Calleri had only served 5 df's for the match, but 4 of them in a game I mean come on. ToJo was serving for the match and had managed to choke and Calleri got it back to 5-4 on serve then held on. During the 5th set there was a massive wind that lifted the on court umbrella and almost hit Calleri. Then in the last game at 15-30 on Calleri's serve, Johansson got a dead netcord and then it was over for Calleri. He was so pissed off, he grabbed a ball and belted it out onto the railway tracks. It was close, but not a great match per se.
Cañas vs. Verdasco. This one was a match that I didn't fear too much for Cañas actually, why I am not so sure, but I figured he would be alright. Verdasco is on fire in the opening set, he was serving very well and using his huge forehand to dominate the rallies and he was taking advantage of the short balls that Cañas was giving him and stormed to the first set.
The 2nd began very much in a similar way Verdasco moving his serve around, and keeping Cañas off balance, and then when they got into rallies, he was using the forehand and hitting deep with his backhand and making minimal errors at this stage. Cañas was getting a bit shitty questioning some linecalls, then he was done for coaching, though I am not exactly sure what Gumy had done that was any different from before.
He was down 2 breaks at 4-1 in the second and then Cañas started to get tough and work his way back into the match, hitting better length of shots, running down more shots and Verdasco was still being aggressive, but when Cañas broke back twice there was the definite shift in the match and he took the second set 7-5.
After that Cañas was never in trouble as Verdasco had some problems with his back and took a time out for treatment, but Cañas was dominating him then and ran away with the last 2 sets. I was happy with the fight that Cañas showed, but that's a given really and then he overwhelmed him as he is able to do with his determination.
Gonzalez vs. Andreev. The battle of the big forehands which was out on a smaller court and the Chileans were there in force as always. This wasn't a bad match per se, but the feeling was there that Gonzo was always just that a little bit ahead in this match. He definitely started a lot better than he did in the Acasuso match and he had to against a better opponent.
The thing that Gonzo was doing well was using the drop shot effectively to bring Igor into the net and he showed that he wasn't in great form when it came to play at the net and the thing that impressed me about Gonzo's play was the lack of unforced errors and there wasn't as many ridiculous attempts at winners as usual, but he played an intelligent match and the best thing was both of them running around their backhands to hit huge forehands and moving themselves into interesting court positions.
Nalbandian vs. Ventura.
Well David came out and started very well against a very nervous Ventura who couldn't hit a thing in in the 1st set and Nalle wasn't making it easier, he is definitely on his game today unlike when he played Ferrer and everything especially his opponent was irritating the hell out of him. The 1st set was a bagel and then Ventura started to become more competitve, but David was moving into the ball well and making Ventura cover a lot more court with good angles and this is an improvement from before.
All the Ace Ventura comments from the crowd are coming out and they are lifting him and after the 2nd set, he starts to make less errors and is hitting some very good winners from his forehand and his backhand is holding up, there were some good dropshots as well, then they were trying to out finesse each other at the net. Ventura deservedly took the 3rd set and Nalle's level just dropped a bit, but there wasn't the sense that this could be a 5 setter.
Nalle wakes up again and refocuses and put the youngster in his place and wins the 4th handily. This was the 1st time I have seen Ventura play and I like what I saw he will do well in the clay season, he has a good game for the surface and after he wasn't nervous he was a good opponent in this match and after he signed quite a few autographs which is always good.
The last match for this day was the most disappointing the Ferrero vs. Zabaleta match. I was looking forward to this one, even thinking about alternate transport because I might be late from the match going overtime. I was there with a group of South Americans and I saw Emilita from MTF no far from us and getting prepared for the match.Usually I prepare notes from these reports, but in this case it was better that I didn't do that as the reality wasn't very good in this match.
It was one of those days that we have all had in our lives that are hard to forget. Ferrero played well in the way that he was solid and hitting the ball fairly well, but Mariano who had huge support in the crowd and not just from the local ladies, and yes I was asked about him by a few for some some reason, it just didn't happen for him.
He didn't serve that well only at 50% he needed it to be in the 60s at least, but he just made error after error. The first set went quickly and I thought Ok, I'll write that one off and now it's time to grind and fight it out. They were hitting some good shots and Mariano started to try and lengthen the rallies, but when the opportunity came to finish the rally, he would hit the top of the tape with drop volleys when moving forward or hit long.It was very hard for Mariano and this was not a case of him giving up at all in this match, it was just everything he tried didn't work for him on the day.
Yes, the backhand is weaker and he made errors of that side, but his forehand wasn't working so well either and Ferrero well I can't say he was back to his best as he wasn't tested. One thing that could pretty much sum up the match for Mariano was that he won 50 points for the match and he made 44 unforced errors.
Even after he lost the last set 6-0 we all stood up and clapped him because in a moment like this it's important to show that no matter the result that you have to stay to the end and take these kinds of defeats, and Mariano was so dejected obviously, he wanted out of there as quickly as possible and just went through the tunnel.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
The end of the 1st round
Cañas was very comfortable against the Arthurs clone Guccione, he was never in serious trouble, though due to some ticket problems we missed a lot of this match, but he plays Verdasco and should be able to take him out quite easily.
Pavel vs. Mutis. Andrei pretty played within himself initially and was always in control of this match, he was moving well and the single backhand was working very well and should win his match against Reynolds, who I am not that keen on. His section is interesting as the winner of that would play the winner of Nadal/Youzhny and I would like to see Pavel play one of those guys.
Mantilla vs. Hernych. This was Felix's first match of the year after various injury problems to the stomach and the thigh and that put him off for sure, this plus he was playing a good opponent didn't help his disposition. Hernych isn't in the Kucera class at all, but he does play with a lot of angles and not much spin, though his forehand seemed to be doing most of the damage.
Mantilla was fighting hard and I thought at 1 set all that we were in for a 5 setter then he only won 1 game out of the last 13. He wasn't injured, but mentally wasn't there due to Hernych's play and the shocking line calls which pissed Felix off that he belted a ball out of the court and onto the railway tracks. Hernych plays Stepanek in what could be an interesting match up, though I missed most of Radek's match and it was great to see him beat Vinny Ice in 5 sets, and the facial gestures where there in full force.
Ferrer vs. Nalbandian well what can I say about this match. It was a tough scrap which is Ferrer's game and it was obvious that Nalle had major nervousness playing against a guy that he has never beaten before and it showed. The 3rd set was very painful as he breaks, then loses his serve and plays a silly dropshot that almost bounced before the net on his side to lose the 3rd and then the racquet went into the court and I understand that frustration, but the best thing for him is that he grinded out the result and when it got ugly, he hung around and that can only be good. His next match against Ventura will be another scrap for sure as Ventura does have a good future and lost to Dent in 2 tight sets in Sydney on this surface. This section playes the winner from Gonzo/Andreev.
Gonzalez vs. Acasuso. The old Chile/Argentina battle, it was hard to cheer too much as I like both Gonzo and Chucho. Gonzo started off very badly, he seemed to be very sluggish and his timing off and Acasuso was playing quite well using his serve well and his forehand was on top of its game.
Then in the 3rd set Gonzo took out an injury time out and I was sitting behind De La Peña who is very animated and funny watching his actions during a match and he lives through his player as well. The timeout loosened up his shoulder and was able to play more freely and then he started using the dropshot a whole lot more to bring in Chucho to expose his lack of movement around the net and it showed.
The Chilean fans were great and they were giving it atmosphere for sure and they outnumbered the Argie fans by quite a bit and it was funny the Viva Chile chant was going around and Gonzo was responding well.In the 5th set, he broke and had the chance to serve the set out at 5-4, but played a bad and nervous game and blew it, luckily he broke Chucho and was able to serve it out this time. Gonzo needs to have an easy day today as he will need all his energy against Andreev.
Zabaleta vs. Kimmich. I had never seen Kimmich play before and he definitely plays a lot differently to most Aussies, he plays a with a lot of spin on his forehand and in many ways he plays like he is on clay. Mariano was a bit sleepy going down 0-2 in the 1st set, then he woke up and started using his forehand to dominate the match and was moving him around well with very good angles and comfortably took the 1st set. The best thing that Kimmich does is the splits and he slides on Rebound Ace, he made a huge mark with his shoes after one of the points.
The second set was more of the same and Mariano wasn't dumping as many backhands in the net as he has done when he isn't playing well and that is a good sign. Mariano moving and serving well and was using Kimmich's pace to good advantage and opened the court up and hit behind him quite a lot.
I was thinking cool we will have a 3 set victory as Mariano breaks early, then loses concentration when close to the finish line and Kimmich tightens his game and manages to sneak through to the tiebreaker and was more solid and got a set when he probably shouldn't have.
The 4th set Mariano was back on track, and the funny thing was Kimmich's coach was saying that Mariano has some of the worst volleys he has ever seen, obviously he has never seen Acasuso, Mantilla or Ilie volley and I thought what a tool. He continued on opening the court up with his forehand and serving well and with a group like Mancini, Gumy, Lobo (coach), Chela watching him play he enjoyed it and now he has to take on Ferrero and if he serves well he can take him out.
Massu and oui oui Dupuis. The Chileans were in fine form as usual and I saw Massu's brother they have exactly the same eyes. That Massu is so intense when he is on the court, I bet when he is asleep he is intense. Always showing the teeth and his deliberate manner in between points. Unlike Sjengster and TL I don't have a major problem with Massu actually, only when he beats players that I like. That match almost went 4 hours and both players had the trainer out there, but nothing serious and Massu was playing alright in the last 2 sets and frustrating Dupuis and now will play Kohlschreiber.
Pavel vs. Mutis. Andrei pretty played within himself initially and was always in control of this match, he was moving well and the single backhand was working very well and should win his match against Reynolds, who I am not that keen on. His section is interesting as the winner of that would play the winner of Nadal/Youzhny and I would like to see Pavel play one of those guys.
Mantilla vs. Hernych. This was Felix's first match of the year after various injury problems to the stomach and the thigh and that put him off for sure, this plus he was playing a good opponent didn't help his disposition. Hernych isn't in the Kucera class at all, but he does play with a lot of angles and not much spin, though his forehand seemed to be doing most of the damage.
Mantilla was fighting hard and I thought at 1 set all that we were in for a 5 setter then he only won 1 game out of the last 13. He wasn't injured, but mentally wasn't there due to Hernych's play and the shocking line calls which pissed Felix off that he belted a ball out of the court and onto the railway tracks. Hernych plays Stepanek in what could be an interesting match up, though I missed most of Radek's match and it was great to see him beat Vinny Ice in 5 sets, and the facial gestures where there in full force.
Ferrer vs. Nalbandian well what can I say about this match. It was a tough scrap which is Ferrer's game and it was obvious that Nalle had major nervousness playing against a guy that he has never beaten before and it showed. The 3rd set was very painful as he breaks, then loses his serve and plays a silly dropshot that almost bounced before the net on his side to lose the 3rd and then the racquet went into the court and I understand that frustration, but the best thing for him is that he grinded out the result and when it got ugly, he hung around and that can only be good. His next match against Ventura will be another scrap for sure as Ventura does have a good future and lost to Dent in 2 tight sets in Sydney on this surface. This section playes the winner from Gonzo/Andreev.
Gonzalez vs. Acasuso. The old Chile/Argentina battle, it was hard to cheer too much as I like both Gonzo and Chucho. Gonzo started off very badly, he seemed to be very sluggish and his timing off and Acasuso was playing quite well using his serve well and his forehand was on top of its game.
Then in the 3rd set Gonzo took out an injury time out and I was sitting behind De La Peña who is very animated and funny watching his actions during a match and he lives through his player as well. The timeout loosened up his shoulder and was able to play more freely and then he started using the dropshot a whole lot more to bring in Chucho to expose his lack of movement around the net and it showed.
The Chilean fans were great and they were giving it atmosphere for sure and they outnumbered the Argie fans by quite a bit and it was funny the Viva Chile chant was going around and Gonzo was responding well.In the 5th set, he broke and had the chance to serve the set out at 5-4, but played a bad and nervous game and blew it, luckily he broke Chucho and was able to serve it out this time. Gonzo needs to have an easy day today as he will need all his energy against Andreev.
Zabaleta vs. Kimmich. I had never seen Kimmich play before and he definitely plays a lot differently to most Aussies, he plays a with a lot of spin on his forehand and in many ways he plays like he is on clay. Mariano was a bit sleepy going down 0-2 in the 1st set, then he woke up and started using his forehand to dominate the match and was moving him around well with very good angles and comfortably took the 1st set. The best thing that Kimmich does is the splits and he slides on Rebound Ace, he made a huge mark with his shoes after one of the points.
The second set was more of the same and Mariano wasn't dumping as many backhands in the net as he has done when he isn't playing well and that is a good sign. Mariano moving and serving well and was using Kimmich's pace to good advantage and opened the court up and hit behind him quite a lot.
I was thinking cool we will have a 3 set victory as Mariano breaks early, then loses concentration when close to the finish line and Kimmich tightens his game and manages to sneak through to the tiebreaker and was more solid and got a set when he probably shouldn't have.
The 4th set Mariano was back on track, and the funny thing was Kimmich's coach was saying that Mariano has some of the worst volleys he has ever seen, obviously he has never seen Acasuso, Mantilla or Ilie volley and I thought what a tool. He continued on opening the court up with his forehand and serving well and with a group like Mancini, Gumy, Lobo (coach), Chela watching him play he enjoyed it and now he has to take on Ferrero and if he serves well he can take him out.
Massu and oui oui Dupuis. The Chileans were in fine form as usual and I saw Massu's brother they have exactly the same eyes. That Massu is so intense when he is on the court, I bet when he is asleep he is intense. Always showing the teeth and his deliberate manner in between points. Unlike Sjengster and TL I don't have a major problem with Massu actually, only when he beats players that I like. That match almost went 4 hours and both players had the trainer out there, but nothing serious and Massu was playing alright in the last 2 sets and frustrating Dupuis and now will play Kohlschreiber.
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.
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.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
2005 AO Reports Day 3 and 4 the end of qualifying
Interesting results today and it only looks like that Baghdatis is the guy that I want to watch, but there will be some more guys training which will be good.
There was this Italian guy Lorenzi who is baby Massu. He has the same hairstyle, the same kind of game, but not as much grunt as Nico and doesn't have the strength of Massu and he lost to this joker Bobby Reynolds, he could only be American with that name.
Nettle/Mazrakis match was very close and Nettle got some hometown calls in the 3rd set which helped him for sure and some of the local Greek community weren't very happy about that.
Garcia-Lopez won again and made it tough for himself, he might lift his game and win easily in the last match and I would like to see him in the main draw.
Ryderstedt forgot about his form in the 2nd set of yesterday, but the conditions changed rapidly as it was very windy and overcast a total contrast to yesterday and he couldn't handle it. Bracciali was good, but Ryderstedt definitely helped him along the way.
Prpic I was disappointed with him in this match, he was a bit too passive, he had a good start then and Van Gemerden lifted his game and was hitting with good length and Prpic was hitting too many short balls and got punished for it.
Marach and Seppi well Seppi was somewhere else today in the mind, except from where he needed to be. Marach was solid, but nothing special and he did well to beat Mackin the ghost who is the whitest guy I have seen in ages. Seppi is definitely better on the clay, but he was a fool and not good enough and Marach took advantage.
Koellerer and Parmar well that was an interesting math for the time that I saw it. After the 3rd game "Dani" was up to his tricks whining about the calls, screaming at the ballboys and after losing a break at 2-1 in the 1st set, he threw his racquet down. Parmar again showed his choking capabilities and was serving for the match at 5-4 in the 2nd, but as usual didn't have the bottle and "psychotic clown" fought hard and won the 2nd and I had no doubt he would win the 3rd. Tomorrow he is making my list if you know what I mean.
Baghdatis was a lot better than yesterday, he was able to be consistent and to swing through his shots more than yesterday and Sarstrand had his forehand broken down, as his backhand is a very good shot. He was clearly the better player and had plenty in reserve and hopefully he gets through to the main draw.
Lopez/Suzuki match was frustrating for sure. Lopez should have won this in straight sets he was up 4-2 and 15-40 on Suzuki's serve, but he played a silly shot and lost that opportunity. He had problems with his stomach again and it's a chronic problem as he couldn't hit kick serves at all. When he could get rallies Lopez had him on a string, but the game he lost in the 1st set to lose his advantage, he didn't get a first serve in at all. His serve isn't fast enough for that to happen.
Marc fought hard and won the 2nd, but Suzuki remained calm, chipped and charged and moved forward a lot. Lopez is quite good at the net, but he let nerves get the better of him and wouldn't move forward and when the chance to run around the backhand to use his stronger forehand he wouldn't do it.
There were a few more training today. I saw Monfils today and he was training with Sargsian and I realised that Gael is playing Ginepri, so allez Gael. He isn't arrogant at all and seemed fine after practice and I don't get negative vibes from him.
Zabaleta was there training with Acasuso. It was plenty of fun as always and there is a surprise involved here, but I am not saying what it is They weren't really trying hard and Zaba was having his groin stretched and some of the ladies would have loved that for sure.
Mantilla was training as well and he wasn't hitting them that well, but if he is prepared to run and run he could win a few matches, I hope he can do this for sure, as I don't see him playing for much longer at all.
Massu was there watching Garcia and then he trained, so his injury wasn't too serious and when I left Schalken was working on his serve.
Not a bad day tomorrow should be better.
Saturday
Well this report I am not quite sure how it will read, but here goes anyway. I saw a lot more players training on site and that was good as there were only a few qualie matches today, but these had good results.
Garcia-Lopez got through and it was easy for once as he made heavy weather of the other 2 matches. Ferrero was there supporting his friend and my impression of him hasn't changed, he is alright and I don't dislike him, but there are other players that I want to beat him.
Marach vs. Christophe "the Beard" Rochus wasn't a bad match. Marach is a very good fighter who makes the most of what he has and I was surprised he won, but happy for him. Melzer was there with his beautiful hair, though he is almost macho compared to Feli Lopez.
Baghdatis played well today and it was funny his cousin was so nervous when Marcos was leading with an early break in the 2nd he went for a walk, then one of the Greek guys texted him and then he came back and was very happy. He got in a good section of the draw and can do quite well as his elbow seems to be a lot better and he was moving very well against a guy who has been better than the last opponents.
Dickhead Dani got beaten 6-4 6-0 and he was around and his mother was there giving him a hug, it was almost a tender moment, but since it was Koellerer I could only laugh. I didn't see much or hear much whining from him. The best bit is Luzzi the guy who punched him qualified and he didn't.
This is in no order of whom I saw play and the like, but these are among the illuminaries. Gambill was playing with the Aussie Healey and JMG no matter what I think of him as a player, or whether he is gay. I can't fault with him with the fans and the flies were getting to him as they do and it seems to be worse than usual.
Nieminen was training with the Toad and was striking them fairly well and Söderling has decided to get a haircut and Peta from MTF was happy that she got a photo the day before he cut his hair.
Mariano was training with Lobo at the same time, though he might have trained again later, though I am not sure about it. He was in jovial mood as always and I have the Swedish speech ready for him when he goes back to Båstad. He will need our support since he is playing an Aussie.
Robredo was training with Hrbaty and the irony is I am taking a photo for two of my friends Ariel the Argentine and Peter the Chilean and I was almost tempted to cramp up but that would have been over the top. Hrbaty when they finished ran off and trained on another court with Sluiter.
A Schuettler sighting he was training with Ljubicic and Dirk was there smirking as usual, the guy doesn't have to say anything and he is still funny. He seemed to be in a fairly good mood and no Alfie warning as of yet.
Kiefer was there with Kohlschreiber who was hitting the ball very well and giving Kiefer a workout. Hogstedt Kiefer's coach is a funny guy, he definitely had a big night out last night and Kiefer says “what do you expect, all he eats is Chinese food".
I did hear the circumstances of the gunman incident and what exactly happened to Kiefer, the basic simple truth is this guy was getting chased through Melbourne and stole a cab, as the car was crashed on the footpath and Kiefer was getting his bags out of the car, then the gunman was doing the pose of pointing the shooter everywhere and Kiefer ducked behind the car, the instant reaction.
I saw Spadea twice and Vinny Ice was at his best and I was surprised a woman asked for his autograph, and even more so he gave it. I thought Vinny Ice would have come up with a rap and I think it would be close to see who is more unpopular among their peers Spadea, Roddick or Coria.
T.Johansson was with Pavel and Pavel is a funny guy and the Peta incident. When she went up to him and asked him for a photo and in a deadpan manner said " No" Then he was waiting and said do you want the photo with a smile on his face. He was hitting the backhands very well and that is good to see and I'll be watching his matches as usual.
Calleri and Nadal were hitting together as well. Calleri is a great guy he was there joking afterwards and Ariel was very happy to talk to him and El Gordo is one of my favourites and he is nothing off court, like he is when he is on court and that is very scary as there is an intense rage that grips him. He has a tough match against Max, maybe Max hasn't been able to sleep well with the new baby.
Chela and Acasuso were around as well, then there was Saulnier who was hitting with Spadea. There was Stepanek and Davydenko on the outer courts as well. Volandri was there as well.
Blake was there, but Costa was killing him in practice and Blake's racquet was snapped and only the head was there and the handle was in his hand when he left the court.
Massu and Mantilla were there together. Felix wasn't too bad and Massu as always was intense and Peter isn't a fan of Massu at all, he is happy he won the Gold medal, but doesn't care for him either way. It was fun anyway, but more crazy shit was about to happen.
In the evening Monaco and Andreev were hitting and Monaco was getting the better of it and we were joking, then this 200kg security guard with no sense of humour was trying to kick us out, but we argued then hid and came back around and decided to watch the rest of the practice. He wasn't there to be seen, maybe he needed his burger fix.
There were these Germans around, and because nobody was around, these guys had their racquets and decided to hit on the court. It was quite funny and you can see they weren't of tournament standard, then I went on there and proceded to hit from 5 metres behind the baseline with a Wilson and now I know why I don't use this one, it was crap, but fun to hit on the court anyway.
There was this Italian guy Lorenzi who is baby Massu. He has the same hairstyle, the same kind of game, but not as much grunt as Nico and doesn't have the strength of Massu and he lost to this joker Bobby Reynolds, he could only be American with that name.
Nettle/Mazrakis match was very close and Nettle got some hometown calls in the 3rd set which helped him for sure and some of the local Greek community weren't very happy about that.
Garcia-Lopez won again and made it tough for himself, he might lift his game and win easily in the last match and I would like to see him in the main draw.
Ryderstedt forgot about his form in the 2nd set of yesterday, but the conditions changed rapidly as it was very windy and overcast a total contrast to yesterday and he couldn't handle it. Bracciali was good, but Ryderstedt definitely helped him along the way.
Prpic I was disappointed with him in this match, he was a bit too passive, he had a good start then and Van Gemerden lifted his game and was hitting with good length and Prpic was hitting too many short balls and got punished for it.
Marach and Seppi well Seppi was somewhere else today in the mind, except from where he needed to be. Marach was solid, but nothing special and he did well to beat Mackin the ghost who is the whitest guy I have seen in ages. Seppi is definitely better on the clay, but he was a fool and not good enough and Marach took advantage.
Koellerer and Parmar well that was an interesting math for the time that I saw it. After the 3rd game "Dani" was up to his tricks whining about the calls, screaming at the ballboys and after losing a break at 2-1 in the 1st set, he threw his racquet down. Parmar again showed his choking capabilities and was serving for the match at 5-4 in the 2nd, but as usual didn't have the bottle and "psychotic clown" fought hard and won the 2nd and I had no doubt he would win the 3rd. Tomorrow he is making my list if you know what I mean.
Baghdatis was a lot better than yesterday, he was able to be consistent and to swing through his shots more than yesterday and Sarstrand had his forehand broken down, as his backhand is a very good shot. He was clearly the better player and had plenty in reserve and hopefully he gets through to the main draw.
Lopez/Suzuki match was frustrating for sure. Lopez should have won this in straight sets he was up 4-2 and 15-40 on Suzuki's serve, but he played a silly shot and lost that opportunity. He had problems with his stomach again and it's a chronic problem as he couldn't hit kick serves at all. When he could get rallies Lopez had him on a string, but the game he lost in the 1st set to lose his advantage, he didn't get a first serve in at all. His serve isn't fast enough for that to happen.
Marc fought hard and won the 2nd, but Suzuki remained calm, chipped and charged and moved forward a lot. Lopez is quite good at the net, but he let nerves get the better of him and wouldn't move forward and when the chance to run around the backhand to use his stronger forehand he wouldn't do it.
There were a few more training today. I saw Monfils today and he was training with Sargsian and I realised that Gael is playing Ginepri, so allez Gael. He isn't arrogant at all and seemed fine after practice and I don't get negative vibes from him.
Zabaleta was there training with Acasuso. It was plenty of fun as always and there is a surprise involved here, but I am not saying what it is They weren't really trying hard and Zaba was having his groin stretched and some of the ladies would have loved that for sure.
Mantilla was training as well and he wasn't hitting them that well, but if he is prepared to run and run he could win a few matches, I hope he can do this for sure, as I don't see him playing for much longer at all.
Massu was there watching Garcia and then he trained, so his injury wasn't too serious and when I left Schalken was working on his serve.
Not a bad day tomorrow should be better.
Saturday
Well this report I am not quite sure how it will read, but here goes anyway. I saw a lot more players training on site and that was good as there were only a few qualie matches today, but these had good results.
Garcia-Lopez got through and it was easy for once as he made heavy weather of the other 2 matches. Ferrero was there supporting his friend and my impression of him hasn't changed, he is alright and I don't dislike him, but there are other players that I want to beat him.
Marach vs. Christophe "the Beard" Rochus wasn't a bad match. Marach is a very good fighter who makes the most of what he has and I was surprised he won, but happy for him. Melzer was there with his beautiful hair, though he is almost macho compared to Feli Lopez.
Baghdatis played well today and it was funny his cousin was so nervous when Marcos was leading with an early break in the 2nd he went for a walk, then one of the Greek guys texted him and then he came back and was very happy. He got in a good section of the draw and can do quite well as his elbow seems to be a lot better and he was moving very well against a guy who has been better than the last opponents.
Dickhead Dani got beaten 6-4 6-0 and he was around and his mother was there giving him a hug, it was almost a tender moment, but since it was Koellerer I could only laugh. I didn't see much or hear much whining from him. The best bit is Luzzi the guy who punched him qualified and he didn't.
This is in no order of whom I saw play and the like, but these are among the illuminaries. Gambill was playing with the Aussie Healey and JMG no matter what I think of him as a player, or whether he is gay. I can't fault with him with the fans and the flies were getting to him as they do and it seems to be worse than usual.
Nieminen was training with the Toad and was striking them fairly well and Söderling has decided to get a haircut and Peta from MTF was happy that she got a photo the day before he cut his hair.
Mariano was training with Lobo at the same time, though he might have trained again later, though I am not sure about it. He was in jovial mood as always and I have the Swedish speech ready for him when he goes back to Båstad. He will need our support since he is playing an Aussie.
Robredo was training with Hrbaty and the irony is I am taking a photo for two of my friends Ariel the Argentine and Peter the Chilean and I was almost tempted to cramp up but that would have been over the top. Hrbaty when they finished ran off and trained on another court with Sluiter.
A Schuettler sighting he was training with Ljubicic and Dirk was there smirking as usual, the guy doesn't have to say anything and he is still funny. He seemed to be in a fairly good mood and no Alfie warning as of yet.
Kiefer was there with Kohlschreiber who was hitting the ball very well and giving Kiefer a workout. Hogstedt Kiefer's coach is a funny guy, he definitely had a big night out last night and Kiefer says “what do you expect, all he eats is Chinese food".
I did hear the circumstances of the gunman incident and what exactly happened to Kiefer, the basic simple truth is this guy was getting chased through Melbourne and stole a cab, as the car was crashed on the footpath and Kiefer was getting his bags out of the car, then the gunman was doing the pose of pointing the shooter everywhere and Kiefer ducked behind the car, the instant reaction.
I saw Spadea twice and Vinny Ice was at his best and I was surprised a woman asked for his autograph, and even more so he gave it. I thought Vinny Ice would have come up with a rap and I think it would be close to see who is more unpopular among their peers Spadea, Roddick or Coria.
T.Johansson was with Pavel and Pavel is a funny guy and the Peta incident. When she went up to him and asked him for a photo and in a deadpan manner said " No" Then he was waiting and said do you want the photo with a smile on his face. He was hitting the backhands very well and that is good to see and I'll be watching his matches as usual.
Calleri and Nadal were hitting together as well. Calleri is a great guy he was there joking afterwards and Ariel was very happy to talk to him and El Gordo is one of my favourites and he is nothing off court, like he is when he is on court and that is very scary as there is an intense rage that grips him. He has a tough match against Max, maybe Max hasn't been able to sleep well with the new baby.
Chela and Acasuso were around as well, then there was Saulnier who was hitting with Spadea. There was Stepanek and Davydenko on the outer courts as well. Volandri was there as well.
Blake was there, but Costa was killing him in practice and Blake's racquet was snapped and only the head was there and the handle was in his hand when he left the court.
Massu and Mantilla were there together. Felix wasn't too bad and Massu as always was intense and Peter isn't a fan of Massu at all, he is happy he won the Gold medal, but doesn't care for him either way. It was fun anyway, but more crazy shit was about to happen.
In the evening Monaco and Andreev were hitting and Monaco was getting the better of it and we were joking, then this 200kg security guard with no sense of humour was trying to kick us out, but we argued then hid and came back around and decided to watch the rest of the practice. He wasn't there to be seen, maybe he needed his burger fix.
There were these Germans around, and because nobody was around, these guys had their racquets and decided to hit on the court. It was quite funny and you can see they weren't of tournament standard, then I went on there and proceded to hit from 5 metres behind the baseline with a Wilson and now I know why I don't use this one, it was crap, but fun to hit on the court anyway.
Step Back in Time : GWH 2005 Aussie Open Report Part 1 and 2
Since this is as good time as any to bring these reports back to life and then now all of them will be updated and that can only be good.
This is from the 2005 Aus Open starting at the Kooyong exho and the first day of qualies.
The organisers did the right thing, by changing the schedule and making the Federer/Gaudio match second for which I was thankful for.
Good advantage of travelling light as I don't have to wait for the luggage, though there was a foible to this and more later.
I got there at the end of the Agassi vs.. Massu match. I only saw the tiebreaker and Massu seemed to be playing alright, but Agassi is very tough on this surface and doesn't seem to miss a beat when he plays here.
Then onto the match that I wanted to see Federer vs.. Gaudio. On the whole the match wasn't great, then again being an exhibition that can happen, as they both seemed to be sluggish.
They started trading breaks and Federer was definitely attacking more and coming to the net more than usual which made sense and Gaston was missing a lot of passes, then he decided to vary his shots with a few lobs and changed the speed of shot.
At 5-5 Gaston saved his set point with a forehand winner and then on Federer's next service game, he used the lob when Roger moved forward and he hit a short shot for Gaston to hit a dtl backhand to break serve.
Then he managed to hold his serve to love and Roger was getting slightly annoyed.
Second set Federer starts hitting more touch shots and his game is getting in the groove and Gaston isn't as focused as previously, but Roger has lifted his game especially in the last 2 games.
The 3rd set then they actually started playing some good tennis as they were trying to outdo each other in the finesse stakes. Federer hits this short volley to Gaston's forehand, then all of a sudden he hits a crosscourt winner through his legs and Roger just laughs.
Both are playing well Gaston is hitting good length and Federer is using his forehand very well and knocking off the volley. They are going comfortably on serve and then Gaston at 3-3 threw in a bad game and was punished by that. He served 2 foot faults and one of them was a double, then Federer got a lucky net cord. The last chance he had was at 30-30 on Roger's serve, and then he hits a forehand that hits the line.
Roger served it out and Gaston played quite well in patches, and there was plenty of good feelings and mutual respect during the match. Gaston and Roger both signed plenty of autographs as well.
Nalbandian/Henman well this performance you could tell it was David's first match of the year and he will only get better. I am not really sure how Henman played as David made plenty of schoolboy errors, especially in the 1st set and 6-1 was justified.
The second set was better and he had so many break point opportunities, but he refused to take them and when Tim was serving for the match at 5-4, then David decides to serve 3 double faults in his service game just because he is charitable.
Nalbandian will have to improve for sure and Henman now plays Federer in the semis, while Gaston and Nalbandian play tomorrow.
Roddick was efficient in his match and he didn't seem to go that hard and Ljubicic wasn't much chop today and at least in the 2nd set he was semi-competitive, in the 1st set Duckboy didn't have to get out of neutral.
Thursday
This will have to be done in two parts as it will take too long and the first day of the qualies might have to wait.
I went and saw the first match between Gaudio and Nalbandian and for the 1st set it was quite a good match. David seemed to be more serious about it, but he needed to be after his first match against Henman.
Gaston started serving and had his footfaultitis again, but he started off well with 2 big backhand winners. The thing I noticed from the first 3 games was the clear improvement from yesterday, even though it was fucking hot already at 11am and of course I was out in the sun frying away, but managing to keep cool enough.
The first break for Nalle was for 2-3. It was funny Gaston hits a bad dropshot, Nalle hits a worse reply, but then he settles down and is moving well and being aggressive and showing he is better on this surface than Gaston. Gaston misses a sitter to make it to deuce.
The next service game had a very cool moment as Nalle gets back to deuce with some good play, he hits a top drop volley that is back spinning towards the net, Gaston makes it and but David puts it away and then they end up on the same side of the net and shake hands.
Gaston is serving/volleying more than usual and that is usually a sign in itself . He was volleying well and hitting some good winners, but I was impressed with Nalle's forehand and he was getting some very good angles and Gaston's volleying was very good in these stages, though he managed to blow easy chances at the wrong moments.
One very funny moment was a 1st serve from Gaston it was such a fault it missed the court and it went 6 rows back before bouncing, you can only laugh at such stuff like that, and then he lost serve.
Nalle is continuing on and playing very well and Gaston seemed a bit disinterested, he didn't tank at all, but a bit disinterested. He didn't hold a serve in the second set and Nalle was focused and wasn't going to let him off the hook.
It was a good and fun first set, but the 2nd one was a combination of Nalle's consistency and a bit of disinterest from Gaston, but it was good to see them play.
The right man won and the result was fair enough maybe the 1st set could have been 6-4 or 7-5 as it was fairly close, but I always felt David was in control.
Afterwards I went for a wander in the shade as it was very warm for sure and I couldn't be bothered about Roddick and Agassi, then I see Agassi walking towards me. He couldn't be bothered and it was an alleged hip problem. He has had enough practice and is probably ready to play.
I went down to the qualies afterward and I will do a combined Day 1/2 report and maybe do it later.
I saw Seppi, Baghdatis, Ryderstedt, Prpic, Marc Lopez, and Ancic training.
Since the men's doesn't start until noon at the earliest I will have it already before the start of play tomorrow.
There was plenty of activity going on with matches and I only saw a few matches in full and parts of others, due to them clashing and other annoying factors.
I saw a bit of the De Chaunac vs.Minar match it wasn't that good and De Chaunac for some reason I keep calling him "Cyrano" should have won it a lot earlier than he managed to and after the match he smashed his racquet and that was after he won.
These ones are not in order and sadly I missed the 'psychotic clown' Daniel Koellerer but fortunately for me he won and I can see him today. This guy is an absolute jerk and got suspended from the tour for a few months at the end of the season because of his arsehole behaviour and the argument he had with Luzzi at a challenger. The best bit was Koellerer's mother told these two German guys he had a back problem, but when I told them the truth, they found it very funny.
I saw the last set of the Rydsterdt vs. Sabau match and that was the set to watch. Mikael was hitting the ball well and I think he will qualify and could do quite well in the future.
Christophe Rochus has a beard and what an interesting growth it has and it helped him maybe not get burnt and there is photographic evidence of this beard.
I saw the last bit of the Seppi/Robert match once he had won the 1st set, he wasn't in much trouble. I don't mind Seppi's game and he seems to have a good attitude and I would like him to qualify for the main draw and haven't seen his section yet.
I saw the Di Pasquale match and it wasn't pretty. He really should have won this match in two as he was better than Schukin who wasn't too impressed with. He called for the trainer again and he seemed to be cramping again as he seems to do a lot sadly. I am disappointed that injuries have wrecked his career and I find it hard to see that he can make it back, but I hope to be proven wrong.
I wanted to see Sa vs. Wawrinka, but I didn't get around to it, but Stani won and that is cool as I don't mind him off the court, though on it he can be a bit of a pain, but I will watch him today.
Prpic vs. Bourgeois well Filip had this match in control the whole way through, he was moving quite well and I would like to see him go up the ranking, he has a good demeanour on court and off the court as well. It's hard to say how he played as he never seemed to be in trouble at all and it will be interesting to see his match today.
Two more matches I saw were Marc Lopez vs. Golmard. This was quite close initially and Lopez had to call the trainer for a stomach problem which restricted his serves to slice serves and ones at the body and Golmard made a lot of errors. Lopez was very consistent and hit some very good length on his hots and kept his errors down and that is what got him home. I hope he can get some treatment as the serves weren't very fast and Golmard was absolutely cut at losing this match. Mantilla was there as well for a while, so I was happy with that and the result of this match.
The last match was the Baghdatis vs. Gabashvili. I thought this would be straight forward for Marcos and it was, but there were some problems as he has difficulties with this player. Gabash is an all-forehand player with a big serve and plenty of acne and likes the ball to be hit hard.
Here is the thing that Marcos has tennis elbow and had to get treatment before the match as he wasn't able to be as aggressive as usual and was more reactive as he had some problems swinging through his shots, so he had to place them more effectively. It's a good sign that he was able to win while not playing well, he plays Sarstrand today.
Well this one was a long one and I think it will stay here as there aren't many stars around on this day.
This is from the 2005 Aus Open starting at the Kooyong exho and the first day of qualies.
The organisers did the right thing, by changing the schedule and making the Federer/Gaudio match second for which I was thankful for.
Good advantage of travelling light as I don't have to wait for the luggage, though there was a foible to this and more later.
I got there at the end of the Agassi vs.. Massu match. I only saw the tiebreaker and Massu seemed to be playing alright, but Agassi is very tough on this surface and doesn't seem to miss a beat when he plays here.
Then onto the match that I wanted to see Federer vs.. Gaudio. On the whole the match wasn't great, then again being an exhibition that can happen, as they both seemed to be sluggish.
They started trading breaks and Federer was definitely attacking more and coming to the net more than usual which made sense and Gaston was missing a lot of passes, then he decided to vary his shots with a few lobs and changed the speed of shot.
At 5-5 Gaston saved his set point with a forehand winner and then on Federer's next service game, he used the lob when Roger moved forward and he hit a short shot for Gaston to hit a dtl backhand to break serve.
Then he managed to hold his serve to love and Roger was getting slightly annoyed.
Second set Federer starts hitting more touch shots and his game is getting in the groove and Gaston isn't as focused as previously, but Roger has lifted his game especially in the last 2 games.
The 3rd set then they actually started playing some good tennis as they were trying to outdo each other in the finesse stakes. Federer hits this short volley to Gaston's forehand, then all of a sudden he hits a crosscourt winner through his legs and Roger just laughs.
Both are playing well Gaston is hitting good length and Federer is using his forehand very well and knocking off the volley. They are going comfortably on serve and then Gaston at 3-3 threw in a bad game and was punished by that. He served 2 foot faults and one of them was a double, then Federer got a lucky net cord. The last chance he had was at 30-30 on Roger's serve, and then he hits a forehand that hits the line.
Roger served it out and Gaston played quite well in patches, and there was plenty of good feelings and mutual respect during the match. Gaston and Roger both signed plenty of autographs as well.
Nalbandian/Henman well this performance you could tell it was David's first match of the year and he will only get better. I am not really sure how Henman played as David made plenty of schoolboy errors, especially in the 1st set and 6-1 was justified.
The second set was better and he had so many break point opportunities, but he refused to take them and when Tim was serving for the match at 5-4, then David decides to serve 3 double faults in his service game just because he is charitable.
Nalbandian will have to improve for sure and Henman now plays Federer in the semis, while Gaston and Nalbandian play tomorrow.
Roddick was efficient in his match and he didn't seem to go that hard and Ljubicic wasn't much chop today and at least in the 2nd set he was semi-competitive, in the 1st set Duckboy didn't have to get out of neutral.
Thursday
This will have to be done in two parts as it will take too long and the first day of the qualies might have to wait.
I went and saw the first match between Gaudio and Nalbandian and for the 1st set it was quite a good match. David seemed to be more serious about it, but he needed to be after his first match against Henman.
Gaston started serving and had his footfaultitis again, but he started off well with 2 big backhand winners. The thing I noticed from the first 3 games was the clear improvement from yesterday, even though it was fucking hot already at 11am and of course I was out in the sun frying away, but managing to keep cool enough.
The first break for Nalle was for 2-3. It was funny Gaston hits a bad dropshot, Nalle hits a worse reply, but then he settles down and is moving well and being aggressive and showing he is better on this surface than Gaston. Gaston misses a sitter to make it to deuce.
The next service game had a very cool moment as Nalle gets back to deuce with some good play, he hits a top drop volley that is back spinning towards the net, Gaston makes it and but David puts it away and then they end up on the same side of the net and shake hands.
Gaston is serving/volleying more than usual and that is usually a sign in itself . He was volleying well and hitting some good winners, but I was impressed with Nalle's forehand and he was getting some very good angles and Gaston's volleying was very good in these stages, though he managed to blow easy chances at the wrong moments.
One very funny moment was a 1st serve from Gaston it was such a fault it missed the court and it went 6 rows back before bouncing, you can only laugh at such stuff like that, and then he lost serve.
Nalle is continuing on and playing very well and Gaston seemed a bit disinterested, he didn't tank at all, but a bit disinterested. He didn't hold a serve in the second set and Nalle was focused and wasn't going to let him off the hook.
It was a good and fun first set, but the 2nd one was a combination of Nalle's consistency and a bit of disinterest from Gaston, but it was good to see them play.
The right man won and the result was fair enough maybe the 1st set could have been 6-4 or 7-5 as it was fairly close, but I always felt David was in control.
Afterwards I went for a wander in the shade as it was very warm for sure and I couldn't be bothered about Roddick and Agassi, then I see Agassi walking towards me. He couldn't be bothered and it was an alleged hip problem. He has had enough practice and is probably ready to play.
I went down to the qualies afterward and I will do a combined Day 1/2 report and maybe do it later.
I saw Seppi, Baghdatis, Ryderstedt, Prpic, Marc Lopez, and Ancic training.
Since the men's doesn't start until noon at the earliest I will have it already before the start of play tomorrow.
There was plenty of activity going on with matches and I only saw a few matches in full and parts of others, due to them clashing and other annoying factors.
I saw a bit of the De Chaunac vs.Minar match it wasn't that good and De Chaunac for some reason I keep calling him "Cyrano" should have won it a lot earlier than he managed to and after the match he smashed his racquet and that was after he won.
These ones are not in order and sadly I missed the 'psychotic clown' Daniel Koellerer but fortunately for me he won and I can see him today. This guy is an absolute jerk and got suspended from the tour for a few months at the end of the season because of his arsehole behaviour and the argument he had with Luzzi at a challenger. The best bit was Koellerer's mother told these two German guys he had a back problem, but when I told them the truth, they found it very funny.
I saw the last set of the Rydsterdt vs. Sabau match and that was the set to watch. Mikael was hitting the ball well and I think he will qualify and could do quite well in the future.
Christophe Rochus has a beard and what an interesting growth it has and it helped him maybe not get burnt and there is photographic evidence of this beard.
I saw the last bit of the Seppi/Robert match once he had won the 1st set, he wasn't in much trouble. I don't mind Seppi's game and he seems to have a good attitude and I would like him to qualify for the main draw and haven't seen his section yet.
I saw the Di Pasquale match and it wasn't pretty. He really should have won this match in two as he was better than Schukin who wasn't too impressed with. He called for the trainer again and he seemed to be cramping again as he seems to do a lot sadly. I am disappointed that injuries have wrecked his career and I find it hard to see that he can make it back, but I hope to be proven wrong.
I wanted to see Sa vs. Wawrinka, but I didn't get around to it, but Stani won and that is cool as I don't mind him off the court, though on it he can be a bit of a pain, but I will watch him today.
Prpic vs. Bourgeois well Filip had this match in control the whole way through, he was moving quite well and I would like to see him go up the ranking, he has a good demeanour on court and off the court as well. It's hard to say how he played as he never seemed to be in trouble at all and it will be interesting to see his match today.
Two more matches I saw were Marc Lopez vs. Golmard. This was quite close initially and Lopez had to call the trainer for a stomach problem which restricted his serves to slice serves and ones at the body and Golmard made a lot of errors. Lopez was very consistent and hit some very good length on his hots and kept his errors down and that is what got him home. I hope he can get some treatment as the serves weren't very fast and Golmard was absolutely cut at losing this match. Mantilla was there as well for a while, so I was happy with that and the result of this match.
The last match was the Baghdatis vs. Gabashvili. I thought this would be straight forward for Marcos and it was, but there were some problems as he has difficulties with this player. Gabash is an all-forehand player with a big serve and plenty of acne and likes the ball to be hit hard.
Here is the thing that Marcos has tennis elbow and had to get treatment before the match as he wasn't able to be as aggressive as usual and was more reactive as he had some problems swinging through his shots, so he had to place them more effectively. It's a good sign that he was able to win while not playing well, he plays Sarstrand today.
Well this one was a long one and I think it will stay here as there aren't many stars around on this day.
Mr Disney De Villiers Recreating Apartheid on the ATP in the form of Round Robin
Mr Disney's most controversial plan among many is the introduction of Round Robin in some tournaments in 2007. Yes, these will be some of the smaller events, but even then it is a ridiculous notion which basically serves to protect the best interests of the Tournament Directors and the top players.
Therefore with this being the case it is another form of apartheid where the people at the top who are already advantaged, get further benefits and while the Tournament Directors have to make money, it's not about them, though since the bottom line is making profits at the expense of the players and as long as it brings more money to Mr.Disney then the rest is just damage that can be written off according to the Mr.Disney gang.
As for whether the players are for this or not, this is very debatable at best. The ATP have said that they allegedly have fan support for this particular change to the game, which is interesting as to where this mysterious fanbase is. Where did they do these surveys and which people did they ask? It's interesting cause there are certain groups of people who wouldn't piss on each other if they were on fire, yet they can agree that RR in tournaments besides the World Team Cup and The Masters Cup is fundamentally flawed at best or a disgrace to the game at worst. Then again it's not difficult to manipulate a question to get a particular response you want.
The knockout system is what makes tennis special and unique and that is how the top players made their way through the ranks of the Futures and Challenger events, and they were able as youngsters to play in these events, where if they won their match then they were guaranteed to go through the next phase.
The common phrase so far is that "Federer may lose once, but he won't lose twice", and this is on the money and as for Federer he used to believe in the system and now he doesn't support the RR. I just wish he would use his influence as the best player in the world to make some people at ATP headquarters make sense.
The fact that there are chances that set ratio will be used to go through to the knockout phase and also if all things are equal, then the player with the higher ranking goes through, that is very fair. Also there is enough suspicion of match fixing within tennis and with these events it will increase the chances and also there is the opportunity for certain results to be fixed to give a greater benefit to a particular player.
One of the main reasons the players have not made more noise about it, is basically in essence they are mercenaries. Well the lower ranked are against it for obvious reasons and their collective voice isn't as great as the elite players and since they have don't have the star power and pull. Also the ATP has increased prizemoney, but as the old saying is that "everyone has their price". Since tennis is a selfish sport, of course they are going to think about the present and not worry about the future.
The biggest problem is that the schedule is too long and this is cosmetic to distract from this problem and how does RR help when it means more matches so to protect the top players. One of the more intelligent things to do would not have Masters events back to back, but that is deemed complex.
Sure these changes will make people like the mafioso Ion Tiriac happy and as for the fans, it's not like they really matter in the scheme of things. The ATP are more interested in the profit and loss column and it does say something when Mercedes a long time sponsor of the game quits at the change of leadership. Also the relationship between the ITF and ATP which was cold at best has now gone even colder at the moment.
Now we can only wait for the results of this experiment, which really should not be taking place and there are more players speaking out against it, the problem is it won't be enough of them or loudly enough. Mr.Disney does not care about the game of tennis and is there just to bring attention to himself and hog the spotlight instead of consolidating and thinking through various strategies. He has a 1000 ideas a day and 1001 of them are bad, on that note it would be for the benefit of tennis as a whole if the Round Robin experiment fails.
Therefore with this being the case it is another form of apartheid where the people at the top who are already advantaged, get further benefits and while the Tournament Directors have to make money, it's not about them, though since the bottom line is making profits at the expense of the players and as long as it brings more money to Mr.Disney then the rest is just damage that can be written off according to the Mr.Disney gang.
As for whether the players are for this or not, this is very debatable at best. The ATP have said that they allegedly have fan support for this particular change to the game, which is interesting as to where this mysterious fanbase is. Where did they do these surveys and which people did they ask? It's interesting cause there are certain groups of people who wouldn't piss on each other if they were on fire, yet they can agree that RR in tournaments besides the World Team Cup and The Masters Cup is fundamentally flawed at best or a disgrace to the game at worst. Then again it's not difficult to manipulate a question to get a particular response you want.
The knockout system is what makes tennis special and unique and that is how the top players made their way through the ranks of the Futures and Challenger events, and they were able as youngsters to play in these events, where if they won their match then they were guaranteed to go through the next phase.
The common phrase so far is that "Federer may lose once, but he won't lose twice", and this is on the money and as for Federer he used to believe in the system and now he doesn't support the RR. I just wish he would use his influence as the best player in the world to make some people at ATP headquarters make sense.
The fact that there are chances that set ratio will be used to go through to the knockout phase and also if all things are equal, then the player with the higher ranking goes through, that is very fair. Also there is enough suspicion of match fixing within tennis and with these events it will increase the chances and also there is the opportunity for certain results to be fixed to give a greater benefit to a particular player.
One of the main reasons the players have not made more noise about it, is basically in essence they are mercenaries. Well the lower ranked are against it for obvious reasons and their collective voice isn't as great as the elite players and since they have don't have the star power and pull. Also the ATP has increased prizemoney, but as the old saying is that "everyone has their price". Since tennis is a selfish sport, of course they are going to think about the present and not worry about the future.
The biggest problem is that the schedule is too long and this is cosmetic to distract from this problem and how does RR help when it means more matches so to protect the top players. One of the more intelligent things to do would not have Masters events back to back, but that is deemed complex.
Sure these changes will make people like the mafioso Ion Tiriac happy and as for the fans, it's not like they really matter in the scheme of things. The ATP are more interested in the profit and loss column and it does say something when Mercedes a long time sponsor of the game quits at the change of leadership. Also the relationship between the ITF and ATP which was cold at best has now gone even colder at the moment.
Now we can only wait for the results of this experiment, which really should not be taking place and there are more players speaking out against it, the problem is it won't be enough of them or loudly enough. Mr.Disney does not care about the game of tennis and is there just to bring attention to himself and hog the spotlight instead of consolidating and thinking through various strategies. He has a 1000 ideas a day and 1001 of them are bad, on that note it would be for the benefit of tennis as a whole if the Round Robin experiment fails.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Beware: Mr Disney and his vision for the Reformation of ATP Tour
The New Official Car of the ATP Tour since long time sponsor Mercedes withdrew its support for the ATP and is there a correlation between Mr Disney and this?
The Reformation of the ATP Tour
Well this entry is going to be one of the more serious ones, that has ever happened on this blog and no it’s not cause of the advancing years of the author. The subject matter concerned which are the reforms that are attempting to come into place for tennis and specifically the ATP Tour. These particular ones will be dealt individually in the piece, but we need to state the man behind this he is known as Etienne de Villiers the head of the ATP, that replaced another muppet Mark Miles and this is the only time he will be referred by that name in the article and he is known as Mr Disney cause he was a former executive with the Disney corporation and his suggestions for reform are just Mickey Mouse solutions to complex problems.
Mr Disney came in as a breath of fresh air and tennis does need to adapt and there are needs for reform and people were prepared to give the man a chance, but any goodwill that Mr Disney has gained has been lost among tennis fans, though this would not seem to be the case according to Mr Disney who has come out said. “The fans are behind these changes “. The main contention point is the Round Robin format for some of the events, which will be discussed in greater detail later on and this caused the greatest debate and with the spin Mr Disney is using. It would be worthwhile to find out who Mr Disney surveyed and it would not be a surprise if it was Tournament Directors.
Now it will be time to examine some of the reforms from Fearless Leader Disney and conclude with something deep and meaningful out of it, though with this blog that tends to happen as often as Kent Carlsson won a grasscourt match.
Starting Tournaments on Sundays:
This one is annoying yet understandable. For the weeks before Grand Slam events, it makes sense to start the tournament on a Sunday, as to give the finalists more time to get to the Slam venue than previously the case so that is beneficial.
Roland Garros this year had a Sunday start and it was a bit of a wank really just having 12 matches to choose from and that is combined with the males and the females. If they were serious about it then as a 128 draw, then they should have 21 matches on two of the days and 22 on the other day of the 1st round to complete it.
If they are going to do something like this then do it properly, there are always nice platitudes caring about the fans from the organisers when in reality they don’t give a fuck about people as long as they are gullible enough to hand over their hard earned money.
Federer had to play on Sunday and then his 2nd round match was played on a Wednesday, it was fortunate that the weather held up and didn’t create the logjam of matches that has occurred at the US Open with their 3 day 1st round. He joked he could have gone to Switzerland and back in time for his next match. The players are used to and like the continuity of play one day, then rest the next and vice versa during the Slams.
It was a gimmick just to milk more money and not really concerned about caring about the fans. If this was truly the case then there should have been more matches on offer to watch on that first Sunday, than was offered up.
Ending Best of 5 Set Finals in ATP Finals :
This is called “the James Blake rule”, named after the man who can’t win a 5 setter and says ‘that the players were behind this rule”. The elimination of 5 set finals outside of Slams well it will devalue the TMS events, even though they are in reality glorified warm up events for the Slams, some of these events have a great history and more often than not the best matches of the year have occurred in this environment, so it makes sense that Mr Disney and his cronies would want this eliminated.
As for the IS or ISG events that have 5 set finals, well it’s understandable that these finals are reduced to the best of 3 sets, that is less of a problem than doing it to the TMS events, though the above counts for some of the best matches have been in these finals. Also tennis is a game that fitness is important and these finals give players more exposure to best of 5 as well.
In other words it’s the cop out solution when in reality there should not be back to back TMS events, because Mr Disney won’t do anything about this problem, he then chooses the soft option and that is something he does frequently, as this gives the impression that something is being done, but it’s not what really should be addressed.
Marketing and renaming the tennis tour
Well tennis as a global sport is undisputed, but the way it has been marketed hasn’t been a success and this is probably down to a number of factors. Allegedly the marketing budget was under 1 million dollars and for an organisation as the ATP, that is just not good enough. This being said they have this marketing plan and that is one thing Disney is very good at, marketing their products to the general public. Whether they can use the same strategies with humans as they do with cartoon characters is debatable, though it wouldn’t surprise me if we saw stuff like Nadal dolls that scream ‘vamos” and pick their arse on demand, Roddick looking like Donald Duck as he does when he is pouting or whining about a line call and it goes on.
It seems they will focus mainly on 6 players those would be Federer, Nadal, Safin, Roddick, Blake and well since the Tursunov bandwagon is ridiculously huge they could use him as Aesop the storyteller. At the same time they need to take a punt on the younger talent coming through such as Gasquet, Berdych, Monfils, Murray, Baghdatis, Djokovic, del Potro for example. There is a fine line between marketing and overhype and no one wants something that is saturated, that it is more than likely to create a backlash. There needs to be more marketing of the sport, but they need to do it wisely.
Renaming the tour is just a silly tool and it’s not likely to bring in any more new fans just because the game will be called the “ATP Worldwide Tour”, it doesn’t scream wow I am a fan now. The question Mr Disney and his stooges have to ask is. What is their objective and end goal and where do they want to the game to be and to who they are trying to attract? Does the sport have to adapt to the casual fan or does the casual fan accept what the game of tennis is and what it isn’t? With gimmicks like this they seem to want to insult the intelligence of the existent fanbase to gain bandwagon fans who will leave just as quickly as they got on the wagon.
This is another example of taking the cheap option when the real problem is how tennis can get itself better TV coverage than it currently does. The PGA tour which owns the golf tournaments have negotiated the TV rights for their events as an organisation which is what the ATP should be doing at the very least. This means whether a consumer wants to watch the US or European tour events then they have the choice to do so and become familiar with the players and not many of these players are exactly charisma machines, but there is greater accessibility for the obvious reason, this is something tennis lacks.
There are many excellent players in tennis and have interesting stories about them, though this would not seem the case at the moment, the ATP have to take some responsibility and make some hard decisions and think about them and not just come up with cheap gimmicks. They need to take over the ownership of tournaments when it comes to negotiating TV rights, so they can charge the fees to various broadcasters and then the broadcasters choose the events that they will show for the week and have a rights deal that last 4 or 5 years for example. The lack of accessibility and the emphasis of just showing the established stars when on TV doesn’t do much for the sport, there needs to be a mixture of the financial and the future of the game to be considered.
The Round Robin section will be done alone as it’s a special stand alone subject.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Will it be the Vodka lovers or the Gauchos taking home the Davis Cup?
Finally the Davis Cup final is coming and there is great potential for a close final between Russia and Argentina. As the man known as Jimbo said “I couldn’t have had a better final even if I rigged the draw”.
There are so many possible scenarios to this tie and that alone makes it interesting, both the captains Shamil Tarpishev otherwise known as Yeltsin’s stooge and Alberto Mancini are very good leaders and shrewd and their tactics will come into play for sure, as they have to find the right balance and they have multi-dimensional options and that can make things just as difficult as only having a two man team.
First of all I will preview the Russians and they are the home team, yet the only time they have won the Davis Cup was away in France and the two finals at home they lost first of all in 1994 to Swedes on an indoor surface where Boris “boozer” Yeltsin walked in at 5-5 in the 5th set of the Edberg and Volkov match holding up play and then the next year against the inspired Yanks on slow heavy clay. That is one hurdle they have to get over and the fact that they are favourites and haven’t won the Davis Cup while being a favourite.
They have an excellent all round team with Safin, Tursunov, PMK and Youzhny. All four guys that can play on all surfaces and singles as well, so they are likely to lose the doubles tie, then again one can’t tell Davis Cup does strange things to players. The only constant here is that Safin will be playing singles and since he is the number 2 he will be playing Nalbandian on Day 1 and then the vital 5th match if it comes to that. Safin and Nalbandian will be the key players in this tie. Though Tursunov has shown his strong mentality in Davis Cup defeating Gasquet and Roddick in vital matches that have secured Russia’s place and the PMK is solid all around and has a combined 6-0 record against Calleri and Acasuso, though he is negative against Chela and Cañas. Youzhny has been named in the squad, but he will be either head cheerleader or somehow recovered from the broken bone in his foot and play doubles or a blinder in singles.
Onto the Argentines now, this is their golden generation of players and only the second time they have made the DC final. They aren’t favourites at all and that is something they can use to their advantage. Vilas and Clerc were the forerunners and it would mean a lot to Argentina to win the DC for the first time and this team have excellent harmony and that is something that should not be underestimated at all. Like the Russians, they have excellent depth and flexibility in their squad and how Luli uses his squad is vital. Mancini is aware that Shamil has been known to bullshit about his team selection, well claim that one player is playing and then he will substitute for another. Guillermo Cañas has made a wonderful comeback and is there with the team, but it would be too much to ask him to step up from clay challengers to a Davis Cup final indoors and this will mean that chubby Chela will be more than likely the 4th player, though one can never tell. It could be a case that PMK doesn’t play on Day 1 to avoid playing Chela, though if it goes to a 5th match then Chela won’t play a role.
The Order of Play will be intriguing as it would be advantageous for Argentina if Nalbandian plays first against Safin and this is the one arena where he always plays his heart out and tries his best. If Nalle can defeat Safin, then that will liven things up for sure, the other side is that if Nalle has to win the match at 0-1 down it will be a lot of pressure on him, as for Argentina to win the Davis Cup they will need to be 1-1 after Day 1 at worst.
This leads into the next question who will be the second singles player be Chucho Acasuso has been training well and responds well to Luli. His record indoors isn’t that good and while he has the best serve of the Argentines, his return game is streaky and he needs to be more of a man on the backhand and hit more of them. Calleri is another guy who lives for this format and he is the guy that I believe would be better suited to playing Safin in the last match.
Doubles well Nalbandian is the key and he plays well with Chucho or Calleri, so it wouldn’t be too radical to suggest that one of them will be playing in the doubles, but the match does rest on Nalbandian’s shoulders and he knows that. He has an excellent team with him and they are playing against a very good side as well and the tactics are going to be so important here in how they use their combinations.
If Argentina wins the Davis Cup, it will be so much more rewarding because they won 2 out of the 4 ties away from home and that is what the best sides should be able to do win the matches away from home.
The thing about this format is they win as a team and lose a team. The extreme levels of emotion involved as well is different from regular tournament play and this needs to be appreciated, it’s not about the money or individual glory solely, but then again it’s a great thing when the number 1 in the world Federer claims he cares about history, yet likes to piss on one of the most historical tennis events and he doesn’t have the excuse of a dud number 2 player.
As for who will win the final, well I think Russia will, but this is not the outcome that would be preferred. Hopefully it will be a hard fought and well contested final and whoever wins will have deserved it especially since they didn’t make the final on the back of having all ties at home.
There are so many possible scenarios to this tie and that alone makes it interesting, both the captains Shamil Tarpishev otherwise known as Yeltsin’s stooge and Alberto Mancini are very good leaders and shrewd and their tactics will come into play for sure, as they have to find the right balance and they have multi-dimensional options and that can make things just as difficult as only having a two man team.
First of all I will preview the Russians and they are the home team, yet the only time they have won the Davis Cup was away in France and the two finals at home they lost first of all in 1994 to Swedes on an indoor surface where Boris “boozer” Yeltsin walked in at 5-5 in the 5th set of the Edberg and Volkov match holding up play and then the next year against the inspired Yanks on slow heavy clay. That is one hurdle they have to get over and the fact that they are favourites and haven’t won the Davis Cup while being a favourite.
They have an excellent all round team with Safin, Tursunov, PMK and Youzhny. All four guys that can play on all surfaces and singles as well, so they are likely to lose the doubles tie, then again one can’t tell Davis Cup does strange things to players. The only constant here is that Safin will be playing singles and since he is the number 2 he will be playing Nalbandian on Day 1 and then the vital 5th match if it comes to that. Safin and Nalbandian will be the key players in this tie. Though Tursunov has shown his strong mentality in Davis Cup defeating Gasquet and Roddick in vital matches that have secured Russia’s place and the PMK is solid all around and has a combined 6-0 record against Calleri and Acasuso, though he is negative against Chela and Cañas. Youzhny has been named in the squad, but he will be either head cheerleader or somehow recovered from the broken bone in his foot and play doubles or a blinder in singles.
Onto the Argentines now, this is their golden generation of players and only the second time they have made the DC final. They aren’t favourites at all and that is something they can use to their advantage. Vilas and Clerc were the forerunners and it would mean a lot to Argentina to win the DC for the first time and this team have excellent harmony and that is something that should not be underestimated at all. Like the Russians, they have excellent depth and flexibility in their squad and how Luli uses his squad is vital. Mancini is aware that Shamil has been known to bullshit about his team selection, well claim that one player is playing and then he will substitute for another. Guillermo Cañas has made a wonderful comeback and is there with the team, but it would be too much to ask him to step up from clay challengers to a Davis Cup final indoors and this will mean that chubby Chela will be more than likely the 4th player, though one can never tell. It could be a case that PMK doesn’t play on Day 1 to avoid playing Chela, though if it goes to a 5th match then Chela won’t play a role.
The Order of Play will be intriguing as it would be advantageous for Argentina if Nalbandian plays first against Safin and this is the one arena where he always plays his heart out and tries his best. If Nalle can defeat Safin, then that will liven things up for sure, the other side is that if Nalle has to win the match at 0-1 down it will be a lot of pressure on him, as for Argentina to win the Davis Cup they will need to be 1-1 after Day 1 at worst.
This leads into the next question who will be the second singles player be Chucho Acasuso has been training well and responds well to Luli. His record indoors isn’t that good and while he has the best serve of the Argentines, his return game is streaky and he needs to be more of a man on the backhand and hit more of them. Calleri is another guy who lives for this format and he is the guy that I believe would be better suited to playing Safin in the last match.
Doubles well Nalbandian is the key and he plays well with Chucho or Calleri, so it wouldn’t be too radical to suggest that one of them will be playing in the doubles, but the match does rest on Nalbandian’s shoulders and he knows that. He has an excellent team with him and they are playing against a very good side as well and the tactics are going to be so important here in how they use their combinations.
If Argentina wins the Davis Cup, it will be so much more rewarding because they won 2 out of the 4 ties away from home and that is what the best sides should be able to do win the matches away from home.
The thing about this format is they win as a team and lose a team. The extreme levels of emotion involved as well is different from regular tournament play and this needs to be appreciated, it’s not about the money or individual glory solely, but then again it’s a great thing when the number 1 in the world Federer claims he cares about history, yet likes to piss on one of the most historical tennis events and he doesn’t have the excuse of a dud number 2 player.
As for who will win the final, well I think Russia will, but this is not the outcome that would be preferred. Hopefully it will be a hard fought and well contested final and whoever wins will have deserved it especially since they didn’t make the final on the back of having all ties at home.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Shanghai Showdown
Well the best 8 players of the year have gathered in Shanghai and are playing to see who will in the Masters and whatever prestige that brings with it. I mean just cause Nalbandian won it last year, it doesn't mean he was the true master of 2005 and if someone else besides Federer wins it, it won't change the fact that Federer has been the best player for the past seasons.
One thing I love about the Masters is that the surface is virtually always the same, therefore disadvantaging certain players while always favouring the same ones. Surface rotation would be good for that to spread it around, but hey that would be too sensible for those clowns to understand as a concept, then again there aren't many concepts that the ATP understand.
Better go onto the players and I will do this in groups and whatever order isn't important.
Federer : Well clearly the best player in the world and the only match he has lost in the TMC for the last 3 years was to Nalle in the final last year and he plays him again in the first round and it would be funny if he defeats him in the Round Robin play and then loses in the final. The one thing that will stop that is that Federer will win the final.
Ljubicic : The big serving Croat who has been laid low due to an allergic reaction to antibiotics taken against a virus he got in Madrid. The big man loves a roof and feels confident against any player apart from Federer indoors and would fancy his chances of making the semis and he is fortunate that he plays his "good friend" Roddick in the first round who hasn't the greatest success indoors and also has had some injury problems, so the question is who will be able to return well enough to win this match. His match up with Nalle is dependant on the mood of the happy Argentine and how well Ljubo serves, cause their matches in recent times haven't been close irrespective of who has won them. I wonder how good Ljubo's fitness is at the moment.
Roddick: Quack, quack and well apart from Federer these three are evenly matched and the fact Nalle took a set in his match with Federer means that either Ljubo or Duckboy have to beat Federer or at least take a set as it wouldn't surprise if they split their matches against each other. He can make the semis for sure, but I don't see the Duck getting out of the group.
Nalbandian: What can we expect from the happy Argentine? It seems to me that while Nalle would love to defend his title in Shanghai, his focus is upon playing in the Davis Cup final and that is something he doesn't have a problem with getting motivated for and it's hilarious in one way that he has done as well as he has considering the amount of effort he puts in. He lost to Federer in 3 sets, but would fancy his chances against the other 2 in the group.
Well that group is significantly stronger than the one below with Nadal, Davydenko, Blake and Robredo, but such is life and players have to take their chances.
Nadal : Nadal has been accused of getting some easy draws and the conspiracy theorists will love this for sure. Well Boredo isn't going to be a problem for him, in spite of the indifferent recent form of Nadal. He has to play Blake who has defeated the only two times they played, but Blake isn't always the best pressure player and Davydenko is an unknown quantity, though his record against top players isn't good.
Davydenko: The big Ukranian based in Germany playing for Russia has been rewarded with doing well in 3 of the Slams and winning enough MM events during the year and unlike the real Kafelnikov the PMK won a TMS event, but the PMK hasn't won Slams of yet. He should be able to do quite well on this surface, though he is 0-4 against Blake and hasn't done well against the top players. Well it's time for that to change, then again it might not change.
Blake: He has a hit and miss game which is spectacular when on and woeful when it's off. This is the first time that he is here at this event and he has good records against the other 3 in this group, but this is the big time and time for him to step up.
Robredo: He is there to make the numbers.
Well the only thing here is to see who will meet Federer in the final.
One thing I love about the Masters is that the surface is virtually always the same, therefore disadvantaging certain players while always favouring the same ones. Surface rotation would be good for that to spread it around, but hey that would be too sensible for those clowns to understand as a concept, then again there aren't many concepts that the ATP understand.
Better go onto the players and I will do this in groups and whatever order isn't important.
Federer : Well clearly the best player in the world and the only match he has lost in the TMC for the last 3 years was to Nalle in the final last year and he plays him again in the first round and it would be funny if he defeats him in the Round Robin play and then loses in the final. The one thing that will stop that is that Federer will win the final.
Ljubicic : The big serving Croat who has been laid low due to an allergic reaction to antibiotics taken against a virus he got in Madrid. The big man loves a roof and feels confident against any player apart from Federer indoors and would fancy his chances of making the semis and he is fortunate that he plays his "good friend" Roddick in the first round who hasn't the greatest success indoors and also has had some injury problems, so the question is who will be able to return well enough to win this match. His match up with Nalle is dependant on the mood of the happy Argentine and how well Ljubo serves, cause their matches in recent times haven't been close irrespective of who has won them. I wonder how good Ljubo's fitness is at the moment.
Roddick: Quack, quack and well apart from Federer these three are evenly matched and the fact Nalle took a set in his match with Federer means that either Ljubo or Duckboy have to beat Federer or at least take a set as it wouldn't surprise if they split their matches against each other. He can make the semis for sure, but I don't see the Duck getting out of the group.
Nalbandian: What can we expect from the happy Argentine? It seems to me that while Nalle would love to defend his title in Shanghai, his focus is upon playing in the Davis Cup final and that is something he doesn't have a problem with getting motivated for and it's hilarious in one way that he has done as well as he has considering the amount of effort he puts in. He lost to Federer in 3 sets, but would fancy his chances against the other 2 in the group.
Well that group is significantly stronger than the one below with Nadal, Davydenko, Blake and Robredo, but such is life and players have to take their chances.
Nadal : Nadal has been accused of getting some easy draws and the conspiracy theorists will love this for sure. Well Boredo isn't going to be a problem for him, in spite of the indifferent recent form of Nadal. He has to play Blake who has defeated the only two times they played, but Blake isn't always the best pressure player and Davydenko is an unknown quantity, though his record against top players isn't good.
Davydenko: The big Ukranian based in Germany playing for Russia has been rewarded with doing well in 3 of the Slams and winning enough MM events during the year and unlike the real Kafelnikov the PMK won a TMS event, but the PMK hasn't won Slams of yet. He should be able to do quite well on this surface, though he is 0-4 against Blake and hasn't done well against the top players. Well it's time for that to change, then again it might not change.
Blake: He has a hit and miss game which is spectacular when on and woeful when it's off. This is the first time that he is here at this event and he has good records against the other 3 in this group, but this is the big time and time for him to step up.
Robredo: He is there to make the numbers.
Well the only thing here is to see who will meet Federer in the final.
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