Another long day at the tennis, but this is never a bad thing, unless the results don’t go the way that you would like and we know that this is subjective of course.
Almagro vs Massu : This was the first of the 5 set feast that happened today and it was a high quality match, with plenty of fighting and extended rallies. Almagro had the better of it and was handling the match comfortably, using his big serve effectively to open up the court and then have Massu on a string. The backhand was working very well, but Massu is gritty fighter and Almagro had a lapse of concentration and Massu was able to hit some big forehands and then broke serve and won the 3rd set.
The match had plenty of atmosphere with the Chileans of course and there was a small Spanish contingent, which made plenty of noise, but knew when to shut up as well. Both were hitting the ball well, Massu was hitting the off forehand well and even his backhand was quite acceptable, as Almagro’s lazy footwork on the forehand side was exposed again. Massu continued with the momentum to take the 4th set and it went down to 5 sets, which this deserved.
The 5th set started with both players hitting good length, Almagro with the heavy forehand, waiting for the short ball from Massu, so he could pin him with the down the line backhand and Massu trying to mix the off forehands with cross court ones to expose Mucho. Almagro got the early break and was able to hold his serve all the way through, though in the final game, he was very nervous, pulling off the ball and not accelerating through the ball, which happens when they are tired and nervous. A fun match to watch and Massu grunting on slice backhands, haha.
Granollers vs. Gabashvili : The apprentice started very well and got an early break. I thought this match could have gone 5 sets, but Marcel handled the heat much better than Gabash. There were some long rallies with Gaba trying to be aggressive, mainly because he didn't want to be out there for that long, but Marcel was defending very well and when he had the chance to move forward to the net, he took it and showed excellent feel at the net, by finishing off the points.
The second set was the key here Gabash was up 2-0 40-0 on serve, but he lost serve and then Granollers held and got it to the TB, which he won. Gabash was getting annoyed, though he went for it more and it went in for him and took the 3rd set, but Granollers hung in there and ground down the Georgian and ran away with it in the 4th set.
Karlovic vs. Gimeno-Traver: This was my comedy match of the day, not because I dislike Gimeno, in fact he is a good guy. It was more for the fact that with his very Western grip on the forehand in addition to the fact that the court was taking bounce very well factoring in Karlovic's serve. He was 3m behind the baseline and jumping in the air on the forehand side to return serve and it wasn't getting in, but Dani was a good sport about it.
Koubek vs. Youzhny : This was the best performance of the day for me. Koubek started very well and was in the mode where nothing was going to get past him and also he wasn't being passive, which can happen at times, when he gets in the lead. Had a positive feeling about this match beforehand, not exactly sure why, but glad this one worked out.
Youzhny didn't look himself, but confidence is a funny thing, great when you have it and when you don't, the opposite is just as true. It was still warm when they played and a bit of a swirling breeze, which Koubek used to keep Youzhny off balance and also changed the spins which helped him. Koubek the times he lost serve, he broke back straight away, he had to be careful not to throw away the 3rd set, and have the momentum shift against him. Excellent all round performance from the El Fashionista, his match with Monfils should be entertaining, if he brings this form.
Polansky vs. Andreev : Roman (Polansky) went in there with nothing to lose and it showed for the first 2 sets as Andreev was struggling with his game and the tactics Roman used effectively. Instead of backing off when Igor was hitting his monster forehands, he was stepping into them taking it on the rise and going to the forehand, then finishing the points off at the net. This worked for the first 2 sets.
Andreev served for the set at 5-3 after getting the break, but Roman broke back straight away, then Igor broke to take the set 6-4, from there Andreev was able to impose his game, this and a lack of experience on this stage from Polansky contributed to Andreev getting the cash here, but Polansky has a good base to work from, needs to get a bit stronger, but hope he can do well on the main tour.
Hanescu vs. Herynch : Lurch was down 2 sets and Hernych served for the match in the 3rd set and on one of his match points, he double faulted it away. Hanescu started serving better and using his backhand with more impact and was able to take the next 2 in tiebreakers.
Herynch was struggling in the conditions and Hanescu looked fresher, big Vic was broken, when Hernych took chances and it came off and Hernych had another chance to serve it out at 6-5, but was broken easily. Hanescu then won the next 3 games, not making errors and taking advantage of Hernych's tiredness.
Canas vs Kindlmann : Got here a bit late for this one, but it was the classic Canas getting through on courage, and not on the way he played. Kindlmann was hitting flat and Canas is making more errors than he used to, he looks like he has lot a bit of speed around the court. I mean he is still fit as, even fitter physically, but doesn't quite have the same spark.
The 5th set there were a few breaks and Canas served for the match at 5-4, but he played a weak game and got too far behind the baseline in the rallies and Kindlmann broke back. Even then it didn't feel like Canas was going to lose, but going 5 sets with Kindlmann isn't a good sign for Gonzalez. He broke him and then able to serve it out.
Serra vs Karanusic: Great win for Roko, this was a funny match, there were a few Aussies cheering for Roko, they had money on him for sure. Serra was getting pissed off with the fans, and after the match he wanted to have some words with these guys.
Serra got a couple of dead netcords and didn't acknowledge. Roko pulled off a couple of screamers, he was on the backhand side, then Serra placed it in the forehand corner and he hits a squash shot forehand angle that landed on the line for a winner. He was struggling with cramps, he broke for 5-3 and Serra was up 40-0 and then when Roko served for the match, he was down 0-40 and got out of it.
Stepanek vs. Lapentti : Excellent match here that didn't involve ballbashing, a lot of slices and Thunder Lips was quite restrained in this one, mainly because I think he had this one under control, but Lapentti played a solid match, definitely no lack of slice in this one.
In the 3rd set there was a hilarious service game from Lapentti that went 20 minutes at least, but which Lapentti ended up winning saving around 8 break points, but Radek was able to eventually break Lapentti's serve, he was excellent around the net and Lapentti's passing shots weren't up to the level they used to be, with this being said, he would have defeated a lot of players in this draw, but that goes into the what if scenarios.
Speaking of what if, it's time to submit this entry and go and watch some matches for the day.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Aus Open Day 1 Main Draw Reports
Honestly I couldn't think of a more snazzy or funky title, so this is going to have to do under the circumstances.
Got to the grounds just before the start of play, might make it there earlier, if all works out or not. It was fucking hot, but at least it was dry heat, which is a lot better than humidity. Now onto the matches.
Berydch vs. Ginepri : One can never tell with the Berdman, what is going to happen, but he had this under control. Berdych broke in the middle of the 1st set and was able to take it to 6-4, then he turns on the style to lead 4-0. He then gets bored and decides to clown around a biut and Gineprick comes back to level at 4-4, then Berdych wakes up and breaks him and takes the set 6-4, then in cruise control for the rest of the match.
Malisse vs. Llodra : Since I can't be at all of the matches, there are a mix of people that help me, these are Glen, Jimbo and Sam when it comes to some details in matches. Malisse was looking sharp and after a hard fought set, he turned on the style and was played some of the high quality tennis that he is very capable of and then annihilated Llodra continuing from his good finish against Dancevic.
Muller vs LaLo: Not the match that I expected to spend the most amount of time at, but hey the thought of seeing LaLo lose is always good, plus unlike Adam I don't have a problem with Gilles Muller, in fact he has always been fine whenever I had any dealings with him.
He started well and was able to get the early break and hold on to take the 1st set, then got his chance in the tiebreaker, funny enough the 3rd and 4th sets won by LaLo, happened the same way Muller played some poor shots in his first service game and then it just went with serve to end the sets. There were very few baseline rallies and the ones that were, Muller was the better player, though he did lift off the forehand too often for my liking and LaLo was volleying well when he had to.
The 5th set was more of the same some big serving, Muller had a couple of half chances, but LaLo snuffed them out with some big bombs when it counted. It was dragging on in the heat, but there were some interested spectators like Pim Pim Johansson, who thinks maybe in two months he can play tennis again, Darcis, Rochus and some other players as well, alonng with Albert Costa. Big hold for Gilles at 15-14, then finally he was able to get a hold of the LaLo serve and hit two excellent returns and ripped a forehand past him to get to match point. LaLo saved one, but couldn't save the next one. ESPN ran onto the court to interview Muller and both of these guys are going to be tired as.
One hilarious moment, was the crowd were lacking some major brain power and both guys were waiting to play and this no talent arse clown just walks in at a non change of ends right in their eye line and LaLo said something and so did Muller, got to love these idiots without a clue, which lead to the majority of Serb fans during the Tipsarevic and Hernandez match later on.
Calleri vs Garcia-Lopez: I didn't get to see the start, so thanks to Roberto for filling me in with the stuff I missed. Gordo started off very well winning the first set 6-3 and leading 4-1, then he starts going a bit silly because of some shit line calls and then loses the 2nd set in a tiebreaker. After this GGL got some momentum, he placed the ball deep and then Calleri just self destructed hitting a clownish amount of unforced errors to only win 2 games in the last 2 sets, which was poor to say the least. Glad for him that he signed for some fans after he lost, but poor result.
Tipsarevic vs Hernandez : Oscar started very well, using his serve effectively and opening up the court from there he was using the forehand to run Gattuso (Tipsarevic) around the court and was playing not too far behind the baseline and took the first set 6-4. Gattuso started to concentrate a bit better, plus he got some classy dead netcords at 30 all points twice in the second set and was able to break in these games, while making less errors.
Gattuso was bothered by some blisters and the heat and was pulling some classic timewasting tactics, but the umpire wasn't pulling up on anything, there were some bad line calls that went both ways. Oscar had a few words with Gattuso letting him know he wasn't impressed with the antics. Oscar and the umpire had a running dialogue. Oscar says to him "What is have you against me"? The umpire doesn't say anything and Oscar says that's the problem "you don't say or see anything", when it comes to linecalls.
Gattuso gets the early break and holds on in the 3rd set, then the hilarious sight, when both guys are getting treated by the trainer at the same time. Oscar with a back problem and not sure about Gattuso. The King starts playing like he did in the 4th set and was able to defend resolutely under the attacks of Gattuso.
The King loses his first service game with a shank that lands on the line from Gattuso and another netcord. Then he has a huge chance to break back, but the shoulder rotation on the backhand wasn't quick enough to get through the ball and it went metres wide or shanked. Gattuso gave him enough second serves and the King ended up a conversion rate of something like 4/20 break points which is not going to get it a done. This was a combo of his passive play and a good shots by Tipsarevic.
This matrch had a lot of things, some humour mostly from Oscar, a bit of niggle, clownish officiating, worst of all a bunch of absolute nationalistic moronic deadheads who only supported Tipsarevic because of his nationality. They know totally nothing about the game, just go there to be seen, just walk around in between points, pissing off both players.
Kudos for placing on this on a very small court so hardly any people could see it, this was more genius wotk from Craig Tiley.
Phau should consider retirement losing to Brydan Klein in any form and as for Starace, well hang his head he had more than enough chances to take this match, but Tomic has more go than Klein. As long as Muller is fresh enough, he should be able to take Tomic and expose his poor movement.
Of course thanks to glen, Jimbo, Sammy, Imran who helped with this as well.
Got to the grounds just before the start of play, might make it there earlier, if all works out or not. It was fucking hot, but at least it was dry heat, which is a lot better than humidity. Now onto the matches.
Berydch vs. Ginepri : One can never tell with the Berdman, what is going to happen, but he had this under control. Berdych broke in the middle of the 1st set and was able to take it to 6-4, then he turns on the style to lead 4-0. He then gets bored and decides to clown around a biut and Gineprick comes back to level at 4-4, then Berdych wakes up and breaks him and takes the set 6-4, then in cruise control for the rest of the match.
Malisse vs. Llodra : Since I can't be at all of the matches, there are a mix of people that help me, these are Glen, Jimbo and Sam when it comes to some details in matches. Malisse was looking sharp and after a hard fought set, he turned on the style and was played some of the high quality tennis that he is very capable of and then annihilated Llodra continuing from his good finish against Dancevic.
Muller vs LaLo: Not the match that I expected to spend the most amount of time at, but hey the thought of seeing LaLo lose is always good, plus unlike Adam I don't have a problem with Gilles Muller, in fact he has always been fine whenever I had any dealings with him.
He started well and was able to get the early break and hold on to take the 1st set, then got his chance in the tiebreaker, funny enough the 3rd and 4th sets won by LaLo, happened the same way Muller played some poor shots in his first service game and then it just went with serve to end the sets. There were very few baseline rallies and the ones that were, Muller was the better player, though he did lift off the forehand too often for my liking and LaLo was volleying well when he had to.
The 5th set was more of the same some big serving, Muller had a couple of half chances, but LaLo snuffed them out with some big bombs when it counted. It was dragging on in the heat, but there were some interested spectators like Pim Pim Johansson, who thinks maybe in two months he can play tennis again, Darcis, Rochus and some other players as well, alonng with Albert Costa. Big hold for Gilles at 15-14, then finally he was able to get a hold of the LaLo serve and hit two excellent returns and ripped a forehand past him to get to match point. LaLo saved one, but couldn't save the next one. ESPN ran onto the court to interview Muller and both of these guys are going to be tired as.
One hilarious moment, was the crowd were lacking some major brain power and both guys were waiting to play and this no talent arse clown just walks in at a non change of ends right in their eye line and LaLo said something and so did Muller, got to love these idiots without a clue, which lead to the majority of Serb fans during the Tipsarevic and Hernandez match later on.
Calleri vs Garcia-Lopez: I didn't get to see the start, so thanks to Roberto for filling me in with the stuff I missed. Gordo started off very well winning the first set 6-3 and leading 4-1, then he starts going a bit silly because of some shit line calls and then loses the 2nd set in a tiebreaker. After this GGL got some momentum, he placed the ball deep and then Calleri just self destructed hitting a clownish amount of unforced errors to only win 2 games in the last 2 sets, which was poor to say the least. Glad for him that he signed for some fans after he lost, but poor result.
Tipsarevic vs Hernandez : Oscar started very well, using his serve effectively and opening up the court from there he was using the forehand to run Gattuso (Tipsarevic) around the court and was playing not too far behind the baseline and took the first set 6-4. Gattuso started to concentrate a bit better, plus he got some classy dead netcords at 30 all points twice in the second set and was able to break in these games, while making less errors.
Gattuso was bothered by some blisters and the heat and was pulling some classic timewasting tactics, but the umpire wasn't pulling up on anything, there were some bad line calls that went both ways. Oscar had a few words with Gattuso letting him know he wasn't impressed with the antics. Oscar and the umpire had a running dialogue. Oscar says to him "What is have you against me"? The umpire doesn't say anything and Oscar says that's the problem "you don't say or see anything", when it comes to linecalls.
Gattuso gets the early break and holds on in the 3rd set, then the hilarious sight, when both guys are getting treated by the trainer at the same time. Oscar with a back problem and not sure about Gattuso. The King starts playing like he did in the 4th set and was able to defend resolutely under the attacks of Gattuso.
The King loses his first service game with a shank that lands on the line from Gattuso and another netcord. Then he has a huge chance to break back, but the shoulder rotation on the backhand wasn't quick enough to get through the ball and it went metres wide or shanked. Gattuso gave him enough second serves and the King ended up a conversion rate of something like 4/20 break points which is not going to get it a done. This was a combo of his passive play and a good shots by Tipsarevic.
This matrch had a lot of things, some humour mostly from Oscar, a bit of niggle, clownish officiating, worst of all a bunch of absolute nationalistic moronic deadheads who only supported Tipsarevic because of his nationality. They know totally nothing about the game, just go there to be seen, just walk around in between points, pissing off both players.
Kudos for placing on this on a very small court so hardly any people could see it, this was more genius wotk from Craig Tiley.
Phau should consider retirement losing to Brydan Klein in any form and as for Starace, well hang his head he had more than enough chances to take this match, but Tomic has more go than Klein. As long as Muller is fresh enough, he should be able to take Tomic and expose his poor movement.
Of course thanks to glen, Jimbo, Sammy, Imran who helped with this as well.
Monday, January 19, 2009
The Random Stuff
The King is truly a nan of the people, he helped out the needy and hope he beats Gattuso Tipsarevic.
My Bulgarian mate, put me up to this and yes I watched Sesil Karantancheva, it also confirmed why I don't like womens tennis. At the same time it was good to see Sesil actually talk with the fans for a good 10 minutes after she won her matches. One of the funniest was her second round opponent Brengle. She is this American with a big rack and skinny legs. She was whining about the 10 Bulgarian fans, and complaining she was going to have a migrane after the match and wanted to use a gun, all class.
Clown fan moment was when one of the Bulgarian fans who was very excited after Sesil qualified. He stands on this pot plant and wants to do a back sommersault, he over rotated and instead of landing on his feet, he landed on his lead. Yes, all his friends laughed at him, then after a few minutes, they told to get it checked out, but he refused.
Mats Wilander and Babsi Schett were doing their Eurosport preview and then Sveta is training on the court behind them and starts pulling these faces, great work Sveta, Sharapova wouldn't do this.
Good to see Luczak isn't above pushing the pram around with Sebby, who is getting bigger and also his wife is going to have a daughter in March.
Felix Mantilla is around and it has been great to see him. It's easy to spot him with the foreign legion hat, he has a tough job helping the Aussies on clay. He is with his girlfriend and she seems pleasant.
Now onto some serious business. The Players Meeting on Saturday was very heated and had some vigorous discussion about the impact of the new ranking system. There was defintiely plenty of dissent there naturally, when the system didn't need to be changed, and tries to protect certain players and disadvantaging others who have no chance of defending their points.
Ljubo isn't in a great position and there is talk that he might resign his position, though this is more of a watch this space kind of thing, but the new ranking system is a load of bullshit, how can something that was said to be easier to understand for fans, yet come across so ham fisted in its explanation.
Off to do some tennis things now.
My Bulgarian mate, put me up to this and yes I watched Sesil Karantancheva, it also confirmed why I don't like womens tennis. At the same time it was good to see Sesil actually talk with the fans for a good 10 minutes after she won her matches. One of the funniest was her second round opponent Brengle. She is this American with a big rack and skinny legs. She was whining about the 10 Bulgarian fans, and complaining she was going to have a migrane after the match and wanted to use a gun, all class.
Clown fan moment was when one of the Bulgarian fans who was very excited after Sesil qualified. He stands on this pot plant and wants to do a back sommersault, he over rotated and instead of landing on his feet, he landed on his lead. Yes, all his friends laughed at him, then after a few minutes, they told to get it checked out, but he refused.
Mats Wilander and Babsi Schett were doing their Eurosport preview and then Sveta is training on the court behind them and starts pulling these faces, great work Sveta, Sharapova wouldn't do this.
Good to see Luczak isn't above pushing the pram around with Sebby, who is getting bigger and also his wife is going to have a daughter in March.
Felix Mantilla is around and it has been great to see him. It's easy to spot him with the foreign legion hat, he has a tough job helping the Aussies on clay. He is with his girlfriend and she seems pleasant.
Now onto some serious business. The Players Meeting on Saturday was very heated and had some vigorous discussion about the impact of the new ranking system. There was defintiely plenty of dissent there naturally, when the system didn't need to be changed, and tries to protect certain players and disadvantaging others who have no chance of defending their points.
Ljubo isn't in a great position and there is talk that he might resign his position, though this is more of a watch this space kind of thing, but the new ranking system is a load of bullshit, how can something that was said to be easier to understand for fans, yet come across so ham fisted in its explanation.
Off to do some tennis things now.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
The End of Qualies Round 2 and Final Round
Due to a few factors and none of them at all were alcohol related, these reports have been delayed, so in other words you are going to get to two helpings in the one post, so that might be good for some people, it might not be, but we'll see how it goes.
Malisse vs. Lammer : Xavi was quiet and not bitching about everything, funny how this is when he is playing at a good level. Lammer made too many errors and made it a difficult match for him, even harder, the extra class gap between the two was clear.
Lopez vs Desein : Marc followed up his good performance from the other day against Lee in this match. He hardly made errors and frustrated the hell out of Desein who has some big shots, but he lacked the patience and execution, for which Lopez took advantage of.
Luczak vs. Ascione: Much better from Luczak, who lost concentration at the end of the 1st set to lose serve, this plus Ascione was going for broke and making the winners. In the last 2 sets, it was a combo of Luczak serving better, being more aggressive and running the big Frenchie around, who after 6 shots just wants to belt winners, he was huffing and puffing halfway through the 2nd set. He definitely had too much cassoulet during Xmas.
Sela vs. Zemlja : On paper this should have been a comfortable win for Sela, but this was anything but the case, in fact this is what is known as an old fashioned choke. Zemlja had four match points and on two of them the likable Slovene really duffed them. The first one was a smash that was taken inside the service line, the smash was well hit, but it lacked direction. The court was packed now and there was a small but vocal section of Israelis supporting Dudi, and the other side were mostly Zemlja fans on the second match point that he choked away, there was a big rally with Zemlja bossing the point and was able to hit a big forehand and Sela hit a weak return and Zemlja came in for the put away volley, but had lumberjack hands and instead of hitting a short angle to win the point, he hit it long and his chance was lost. Sela then was able to come back and then break and eventually serve out the match. Zemlja must have been so down after this match, especially the way he lost it.
Lopez vs. Rehnquist: This smelled of 3 set dogfight and this was what happened. It wasn't always the greatest tennis, but there were many gruelling rallies with plenty of net clearance, there were even a few that would not have been out of place at Roland Garros in the mid 80s. Rehnquist got off to a flyer, as Lopez was nervous and raced through the 1st set. Once Lopez settled down and hit more balls into the court and Rehnquist became more reactive than usual, Lopez was able to control the rallies and keep Rehnquist on the run, able to get the ball high to his backhand and then Lopez used his slice backhand as a change up and it worked, as he was able to take the 2nd in a breaker.
The third set was far from pretty in fact it was a breakathon, 3 out of the first 4 service games were breaks of serve. In the 5th game Lopez was serving at 3-1 40-15 and he got a hideous call, which was clearly out, but it was not called, that gives him 4-1, but he lost his marbles and got shitty and managed to lose 4 games on the trot and Rehnquist served for the match 5-4. Needless to say Rehnquist choked and played an average game and Lopez got back into the match, but he was starting to cramp and tried to come over the backhand and not having great success with it and he lost serve at 6-7. Rehnquist was able to serve it out, though Lopez at 30-30 didn't manage to make an easy ball into the court, very hard fought match, which was last round qualies should be.
Luczak vs. Odesnik : Total baseline battle here with Luczak getting off to a flier. He was serving very well getting some excellent kick and movement off the serve and Odesnik was hitting short shit, which was getting punished by Luczak as he ran through the first set 6-1. Odesnik took a toilet break, maybe to have a piss, but also to contemplate his thoughts and the break did him the world of good. He was able to move the ball around and started using his serve a bit better than before, this and the fact that Luczak lost a bit of concentration and wasn't able to keep up the intensity, helped Odesnik take the second set 6-2. The third set was hard fought, long rallies, some good winners from Odesnik, woeful dropshots by Luczak, some landing on the service line and another bounced twice before the net. Odesnik got the vital break at 4-2 and the when serving for the match he was down 30-40, short second serve which Luczak dumped a backhand halfway up the net, then after that Odesnik served two aces and through to the MD.
Ventura vs deChaunac: Jesse Ventura is the better player out of these two, but basically this match came down to Jesse getting hooked on a shocking line call at 4-4, the ball was clearly out. Granollers and Almagro were watching as well and they shook their heads and laughed. Ventura freaks out has the shits and basically cats the rest of the match.
Malisse vs. Dancevic : This should have been a first round main draw match, especially with some of the dudathons that have been dished up like Chardy/Daniel for example. Malisse started well got the early break, then Dancevic took 6 out of the next 7 games to take the set. Frankie's serve wasn't as effective and Malisse is putting more balls into court and breaks at the end of the second set to take it 7-5, then after that Frankie loses confidence and Xavi gains it and is able to run through the last set easily, lucky for Frank, he got in as a Lucky Loser.
Michael Berrer, the guy who should be a weightlifter got through to the main draw, he had been playing average, but he peaked when it counted and crushed Dorsch. Looking forward to seeing the smashes from the 100kg weightlifter.
Malisse vs. Lammer : Xavi was quiet and not bitching about everything, funny how this is when he is playing at a good level. Lammer made too many errors and made it a difficult match for him, even harder, the extra class gap between the two was clear.
Lopez vs Desein : Marc followed up his good performance from the other day against Lee in this match. He hardly made errors and frustrated the hell out of Desein who has some big shots, but he lacked the patience and execution, for which Lopez took advantage of.
Luczak vs. Ascione: Much better from Luczak, who lost concentration at the end of the 1st set to lose serve, this plus Ascione was going for broke and making the winners. In the last 2 sets, it was a combo of Luczak serving better, being more aggressive and running the big Frenchie around, who after 6 shots just wants to belt winners, he was huffing and puffing halfway through the 2nd set. He definitely had too much cassoulet during Xmas.
Sela vs. Zemlja : On paper this should have been a comfortable win for Sela, but this was anything but the case, in fact this is what is known as an old fashioned choke. Zemlja had four match points and on two of them the likable Slovene really duffed them. The first one was a smash that was taken inside the service line, the smash was well hit, but it lacked direction. The court was packed now and there was a small but vocal section of Israelis supporting Dudi, and the other side were mostly Zemlja fans on the second match point that he choked away, there was a big rally with Zemlja bossing the point and was able to hit a big forehand and Sela hit a weak return and Zemlja came in for the put away volley, but had lumberjack hands and instead of hitting a short angle to win the point, he hit it long and his chance was lost. Sela then was able to come back and then break and eventually serve out the match. Zemlja must have been so down after this match, especially the way he lost it.
Lopez vs. Rehnquist: This smelled of 3 set dogfight and this was what happened. It wasn't always the greatest tennis, but there were many gruelling rallies with plenty of net clearance, there were even a few that would not have been out of place at Roland Garros in the mid 80s. Rehnquist got off to a flyer, as Lopez was nervous and raced through the 1st set. Once Lopez settled down and hit more balls into the court and Rehnquist became more reactive than usual, Lopez was able to control the rallies and keep Rehnquist on the run, able to get the ball high to his backhand and then Lopez used his slice backhand as a change up and it worked, as he was able to take the 2nd in a breaker.
The third set was far from pretty in fact it was a breakathon, 3 out of the first 4 service games were breaks of serve. In the 5th game Lopez was serving at 3-1 40-15 and he got a hideous call, which was clearly out, but it was not called, that gives him 4-1, but he lost his marbles and got shitty and managed to lose 4 games on the trot and Rehnquist served for the match 5-4. Needless to say Rehnquist choked and played an average game and Lopez got back into the match, but he was starting to cramp and tried to come over the backhand and not having great success with it and he lost serve at 6-7. Rehnquist was able to serve it out, though Lopez at 30-30 didn't manage to make an easy ball into the court, very hard fought match, which was last round qualies should be.
Luczak vs. Odesnik : Total baseline battle here with Luczak getting off to a flier. He was serving very well getting some excellent kick and movement off the serve and Odesnik was hitting short shit, which was getting punished by Luczak as he ran through the first set 6-1. Odesnik took a toilet break, maybe to have a piss, but also to contemplate his thoughts and the break did him the world of good. He was able to move the ball around and started using his serve a bit better than before, this and the fact that Luczak lost a bit of concentration and wasn't able to keep up the intensity, helped Odesnik take the second set 6-2. The third set was hard fought, long rallies, some good winners from Odesnik, woeful dropshots by Luczak, some landing on the service line and another bounced twice before the net. Odesnik got the vital break at 4-2 and the when serving for the match he was down 30-40, short second serve which Luczak dumped a backhand halfway up the net, then after that Odesnik served two aces and through to the MD.
Ventura vs deChaunac: Jesse Ventura is the better player out of these two, but basically this match came down to Jesse getting hooked on a shocking line call at 4-4, the ball was clearly out. Granollers and Almagro were watching as well and they shook their heads and laughed. Ventura freaks out has the shits and basically cats the rest of the match.
Malisse vs. Dancevic : This should have been a first round main draw match, especially with some of the dudathons that have been dished up like Chardy/Daniel for example. Malisse started well got the early break, then Dancevic took 6 out of the next 7 games to take the set. Frankie's serve wasn't as effective and Malisse is putting more balls into court and breaks at the end of the second set to take it 7-5, then after that Frankie loses confidence and Xavi gains it and is able to run through the last set easily, lucky for Frank, he got in as a Lucky Loser.
Michael Berrer, the guy who should be a weightlifter got through to the main draw, he had been playing average, but he peaked when it counted and crushed Dorsch. Looking forward to seeing the smashes from the 100kg weightlifter.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Aus Open reports Day 1 Qualies
Aus Open report qualies Day 1
Yes, it's that time of the year again, where I front up to the Aus Open qualies, of course it took me a while to discover the benefits of going to qualies, besides it being free. Once the trick is learned that you need to stock up on the food as there are very limited options then it's a good thing.
One thing that is noticeable at qualies is that the players are pretty much next to the court waiting to go on after the next matches. It's not like they have many people around at the best of times. Ran into Peta and Kristen, which is never a bad thing. Peta or Petea as her beloved Andrei Pavel calls her, was a very happy little vegemite when she saw Andrei there and he is now Romanian DC captain and playing for fun, hope he can draw some gimp like Volandri or Junquiera, then he will win a round for sure, and yes there has been some Carlos Ramos appreciation from her. Kristen was very happy to see Oli Marach who disappointingly has decided to give the singles up and just going to play doubles with the Kubot.
It's always a more relaxed atmosphere during this time and yes there are certain players not down this year, that I would have like to have seen, but there are enough to keep me entertained and amused, so that's always a good thing. Then the funny moments from qualies always come back. Baghdatis qualifying and only 10 people watching his matches, then Simple Simon making it as well and then beating Massu in 5 sets in the first round and had to be carried off court, seeing Djokovic making it through as well. Koellerer's antics among other things.
The man, the legend, and one of the bloggers all time favourites Felix Mantilla was there and what a pleasure to see the man. I haven't told him that I wrote his Wikipedia page yet, hehe. He is there in his role of coach for the AIS when it comes to Aussies on clay. He had the special hat for him, to guard against skin cancer, but it was good to speak to him, though mostly it was about how well Barcelona are playing.
Now onto the tennis part.
Ventura vs Huta Galung : Jesse Ventura was just good for Huta Galung, he played a solid match, without being spectacular, but that's reallly it all takes sometimes, hope he makes the MD.
Sirianni vs. Soeda: Saw a bit at the start of the match and then came over when Sirianni was down 0-5 in the 3rd set and he stepped up his game, was more patient and varied the pace of shot as Soeda was just pushing the ball back, doing nothing, except running and being very passive. Then Sirianni started to get some momentum and that backhand down the line which is his signature shot was firing big time and most importantly he was playing it at the right moment, instead of waiting for the ball, he stepped into it and bang down the line winners were flying everywhere. Once he got it back to 5-6 on serve, he had to save a few match points, he played some good tennis and Soeda helped by not making a second serve return on one of the match points. The crowd were getting behind the local boy and he managed to pull it through, this should free him up and hopefully make the MD.
I spoke to Joe after the match and asked him about what was going on with the 0-5, he was just pissed off with things around him. He wasn't happy about missing out on the WC to the main draw, though not just for himself, also for his friend Peter Luczak, who really should have got a wild card after what happened to him this season and they give it to a no hoper cockchimp like Klein.
Marc Lopez vs HT Lee : Surprising result for Lopez beating Lee on this surface, though the courts are really reacting to the heat and Marc was able to get the ball to jump out of Lee's hitting zone especially on the backhand which helped him win this match, this an there was a huge service game at the start of the 3rd from which Lopez was able to hold, then from there got the confidence from his recent win in Doha and was able to pull the upset here.
Luczak vs Coelho: This was a hideous performance from Luczak, but he got the W and that's all that counts. He was never in trouble on serve at all, and then he played a dumb game to lose serve at 5-4 and give the set to Coelho, who was playing a bit better. Luczak was making errors off normal rally balls and bad ones as well, backhands hitting the bottom of the net. The turning point was at 3-3 when Luczak was serving he was down break points, through serving 4 double faults, but a second serve ace on break point down and also a forehand that was clearly on the line, but the lineswoman called it early and corrected herself after that. Once Peter held, he then relaxed a bit and hit a backhand winner finally and then was able to get through against a player he has struggled against.
Montcourt vs. Lopez Jaen: Got to love hard fought matches, they are good for the game and this one was. Montcourt was his prick self to the ballkids, he hit a ball back with the back flick and hit the kid in the face and said nothing. Lopez Jaen was giving him the huge fistpumps, but at 6-6, he called for the trainer as he was only able to hit backhands, the magic spray couldn't work for the blond Spaniard and Adam's fave Frenchman le Montcourt was able to make it through this one.
Dlouhy vs. Fleischman : Dropshot Dlouhy had an excellent conversion on break points, but had this match in control, even though he had a couple of poor service games, but he controlled the tempo, kept Fleishmann off the balance and then moved the net to execute the volley, good performance and will need to be at this level against Delic.
Sela vs. Posposil : Never in doubt this one, the biggest highlight was seeing sexy Snobel at this match.
Gio Lapentti vs Matosevic : Didn't see much of this and I am disappointed not to, because from what I saw, it was an intense and good match. Gio will always be known as Nicolas Lapentti's brother and he does play a similar style of game, except not as good and Matosevic was very expressive and fiery, but Lapentti's experience got him through, one thing about Gio he has Mr Tenis Pro Marcaccio as his coach.
Malisse vs Ram : Rajeev played quite well, but Malisse had the extra class to get through. Malisse was bitching about everything people walking around, the ballkids orange shirts, a speck of dust that came across the court, he'd have seen it and whined, but he got through it.
Capdeville vs Middelkoop : This was on late and that Capdeville was grunting very loudly, though not to Massu level and this Middelkoop was trying to salvage an average day for the Dutch players. I saw Van Gemerden around seems like he is coaching one of the players, but he was around for the Dutch matches, only saw bits of it and heard more through the sound effects of Capdeville and Middelkoop. A surprise that Capdeville lost.
Olejniczak vs Cipolla : Lucky this was a tennis match and not a boxing match. Olejniczak is in the wrong sport, he should either be a nightclub bouncer, playing for the Polish rugby team or chopping wood for something. This being said glad it was a tennis match, Cipolla basically took the piss with this lack of pace and short slices and moved the big Polish tank around the court, then drop shotted him. The bouncer did well to get a game, maybe he intimidated Cipolla at the change of ends and told him to give him a game, or he'd beat him up.
Kubot vs Roger-Vasselin : Only saw a bit of this as I was about to leave, Kubot had turned it around and was hitting very good length and was able to move Roger-Vasselin around and then knock off the volleys.
Amitraj vs. Devvarman : The battle of India, this was a good quality match, the clash of styles made it so. Big Dev was running and running everything down and Prakash was waiting for the right chance to come into net, he had some very good approach shots, but Somdev was able to either hit the passing shot and make some quality lobs. I remember one point towards the end of the 1st set, Prakash hits an excellet drop volley and Somdev is about 2m behind the baseline, he just makes it and is pissed off that he didn't get it over. Somdev has a great attitude and fighting spirit, which can't be taught, but he definitely needs to get stronger physically to progress further and get a bit more power on his groundies.
Sela vs. Posposil : Never in doubt this one, the biggest highlight was seeing sexy Snobel at this match.
Gio Lapentti vs Matosevic : Didn't see much of this and I am disappointed not to, because from what I saw, it was an intense and good match. Gio will always be known as Nicolas Lapentti's brother and he does play a similar style of game, except not as good and Matosevic was very expressive and fiery, but Lapentti's experience got him through, one thing about Gio he has Mr Tenis Pro Marcaccio as his coach.
Yes, it's that time of the year again, where I front up to the Aus Open qualies, of course it took me a while to discover the benefits of going to qualies, besides it being free. Once the trick is learned that you need to stock up on the food as there are very limited options then it's a good thing.
One thing that is noticeable at qualies is that the players are pretty much next to the court waiting to go on after the next matches. It's not like they have many people around at the best of times. Ran into Peta and Kristen, which is never a bad thing. Peta or Petea as her beloved Andrei Pavel calls her, was a very happy little vegemite when she saw Andrei there and he is now Romanian DC captain and playing for fun, hope he can draw some gimp like Volandri or Junquiera, then he will win a round for sure, and yes there has been some Carlos Ramos appreciation from her. Kristen was very happy to see Oli Marach who disappointingly has decided to give the singles up and just going to play doubles with the Kubot.
It's always a more relaxed atmosphere during this time and yes there are certain players not down this year, that I would have like to have seen, but there are enough to keep me entertained and amused, so that's always a good thing. Then the funny moments from qualies always come back. Baghdatis qualifying and only 10 people watching his matches, then Simple Simon making it as well and then beating Massu in 5 sets in the first round and had to be carried off court, seeing Djokovic making it through as well. Koellerer's antics among other things.
The man, the legend, and one of the bloggers all time favourites Felix Mantilla was there and what a pleasure to see the man. I haven't told him that I wrote his Wikipedia page yet, hehe. He is there in his role of coach for the AIS when it comes to Aussies on clay. He had the special hat for him, to guard against skin cancer, but it was good to speak to him, though mostly it was about how well Barcelona are playing.
Now onto the tennis part.
Ventura vs Huta Galung : Jesse Ventura was just good for Huta Galung, he played a solid match, without being spectacular, but that's reallly it all takes sometimes, hope he makes the MD.
Sirianni vs. Soeda: Saw a bit at the start of the match and then came over when Sirianni was down 0-5 in the 3rd set and he stepped up his game, was more patient and varied the pace of shot as Soeda was just pushing the ball back, doing nothing, except running and being very passive. Then Sirianni started to get some momentum and that backhand down the line which is his signature shot was firing big time and most importantly he was playing it at the right moment, instead of waiting for the ball, he stepped into it and bang down the line winners were flying everywhere. Once he got it back to 5-6 on serve, he had to save a few match points, he played some good tennis and Soeda helped by not making a second serve return on one of the match points. The crowd were getting behind the local boy and he managed to pull it through, this should free him up and hopefully make the MD.
I spoke to Joe after the match and asked him about what was going on with the 0-5, he was just pissed off with things around him. He wasn't happy about missing out on the WC to the main draw, though not just for himself, also for his friend Peter Luczak, who really should have got a wild card after what happened to him this season and they give it to a no hoper cockchimp like Klein.
Marc Lopez vs HT Lee : Surprising result for Lopez beating Lee on this surface, though the courts are really reacting to the heat and Marc was able to get the ball to jump out of Lee's hitting zone especially on the backhand which helped him win this match, this an there was a huge service game at the start of the 3rd from which Lopez was able to hold, then from there got the confidence from his recent win in Doha and was able to pull the upset here.
Luczak vs Coelho: This was a hideous performance from Luczak, but he got the W and that's all that counts. He was never in trouble on serve at all, and then he played a dumb game to lose serve at 5-4 and give the set to Coelho, who was playing a bit better. Luczak was making errors off normal rally balls and bad ones as well, backhands hitting the bottom of the net. The turning point was at 3-3 when Luczak was serving he was down break points, through serving 4 double faults, but a second serve ace on break point down and also a forehand that was clearly on the line, but the lineswoman called it early and corrected herself after that. Once Peter held, he then relaxed a bit and hit a backhand winner finally and then was able to get through against a player he has struggled against.
Montcourt vs. Lopez Jaen: Got to love hard fought matches, they are good for the game and this one was. Montcourt was his prick self to the ballkids, he hit a ball back with the back flick and hit the kid in the face and said nothing. Lopez Jaen was giving him the huge fistpumps, but at 6-6, he called for the trainer as he was only able to hit backhands, the magic spray couldn't work for the blond Spaniard and Adam's fave Frenchman le Montcourt was able to make it through this one.
Dlouhy vs. Fleischman : Dropshot Dlouhy had an excellent conversion on break points, but had this match in control, even though he had a couple of poor service games, but he controlled the tempo, kept Fleishmann off the balance and then moved the net to execute the volley, good performance and will need to be at this level against Delic.
Sela vs. Posposil : Never in doubt this one, the biggest highlight was seeing sexy Snobel at this match.
Gio Lapentti vs Matosevic : Didn't see much of this and I am disappointed not to, because from what I saw, it was an intense and good match. Gio will always be known as Nicolas Lapentti's brother and he does play a similar style of game, except not as good and Matosevic was very expressive and fiery, but Lapentti's experience got him through, one thing about Gio he has Mr Tenis Pro Marcaccio as his coach.
Malisse vs Ram : Rajeev played quite well, but Malisse had the extra class to get through. Malisse was bitching about everything people walking around, the ballkids orange shirts, a speck of dust that came across the court, he'd have seen it and whined, but he got through it.
Capdeville vs Middelkoop : This was on late and that Capdeville was grunting very loudly, though not to Massu level and this Middelkoop was trying to salvage an average day for the Dutch players. I saw Van Gemerden around seems like he is coaching one of the players, but he was around for the Dutch matches, only saw bits of it and heard more through the sound effects of Capdeville and Middelkoop. A surprise that Capdeville lost.
Olejniczak vs Cipolla : Lucky this was a tennis match and not a boxing match. Olejniczak is in the wrong sport, he should either be a nightclub bouncer, playing for the Polish rugby team or chopping wood for something. This being said glad it was a tennis match, Cipolla basically took the piss with this lack of pace and short slices and moved the big Polish tank around the court, then drop shotted him. The bouncer did well to get a game, maybe he intimidated Cipolla at the change of ends and told him to give him a game, or he'd beat him up.
Kubot vs Roger-Vasselin : Only saw a bit of this as I was about to leave, Kubot had turned it around and was hitting very good length and was able to move Roger-Vasselin around and then knock off the volleys.
Amitraj vs. Devvarman : The battle of India, this was a good quality match, the clash of styles made it so. Big Dev was running and running everything down and Prakash was waiting for the right chance to come into net, he had some very good approach shots, but Somdev was able to either hit the passing shot and make some quality lobs. I remember one point towards the end of the 1st set, Prakash hits an excellet drop volley and Somdev is about 2m behind the baseline, he just makes it and is pissed off that he didn't get it over. Somdev has a great attitude and fighting spirit, which can't be taught, but he definitely needs to get stronger physically to progress further and get a bit more power on his groundies.
Sela vs. Posposil : Never in doubt this one, the biggest highlight was seeing sexy Snobel at this match.
Gio Lapentti vs Matosevic : Didn't see much of this and I am disappointed not to, because from what I saw, it was an intense and good match. Gio will always be known as Nicolas Lapentti's brother and he does play a similar style of game, except not as good and Matosevic was very expressive and fiery, but Lapentti's experience got him through, one thing about Gio he has Mr Tenis Pro Marcaccio as his coach.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Radek Stepanek lights up Brisvegas, Marc Lopez carries Nadal in Doha and Cilic enjoys the vindaloo
Here is a review of the opening week of the season.
We have completed the first week of the ATP circus, it's always the great unknown, because players are in theory meant to be starting from zero, but it doesn't always work like that. Since the season started a week later, some players were still back at home drinking too much, and others were in training and it showed, but this was the week that the ATP announced its new fearless leader, that's a topic for another post, because this one should be about the tennis.
In the Gulf state of Qatar, the home of Al-Jazzera, the attempt to buy Olympic gold medals by buying athletes, footballers and swimmers who are doing it for Qatari pride, enough of the tourist promotion. The King played here and lost to the Flea (Vliegen) in 3 sets and was leading 5-4 in the final set TB. The South Tyrolean sex machine finally won a match in Doha, before losing 3 and 3 to Federer, though he made it go for 89 minutes.
The Panther (Monfils) took out Nadal in straight sets, though he failed to back up the big win against Roddick, who seems to be a rare thing, a successful American in the Middle East, well the part not linked to Israel. Monfils has a lot of ability, but still doesn't know how he should play, he has Roger Rasheed in the corner which could be of benefit, if used the right way and he is a qualified fitness trainer, so Panther is going to have to work. The highlight of the week was Marc Lopez carrying Nadal to win the doubles title and on a sidenote Dunblane's finest defended his title.
Marc Lopez
Marin Cilic was successful in Chennai, though the event suffered a couple of withdrawals. The PMK withdrew against the Czech maestro Lukas Dlouhy with a heel problem and he had to pull out of the Aussie Open, hope he doesn't come back too soon. The other was Schuettler who has a wrist problem and withdrew against Somdev who made the final. It was great for the event that a local made the final. The man from the Assam province that borders Bhutan and not far from China, had an outstanding week, though his performance in the final wasn't great, he made too many mistakes and couldn't get enough length on the groundies. He is 23, but he went to university and played his way through the challengers and Futures and will make a good ranking jump into the 100s and hope he can qualify for the Aus Open.
Cilic didn't play a great match, but it was enough to get the job done and that's all it needs to happen to get the win. The young Croat is on the way to the top 10 barring injuries, but his forehand can be put under pressure in tight moments. The ceremony was well done and both of the guys were very respectful in victory and defeat.
Brisbane will only be a shortish write up, because there is an MTF poster krystelt who did an outstanding job of writing and I will link her blog. We had some good coverage and Marcos Baghdatis was back on tour, a dumb move by sacking Lundgren and he is always weak up from a long break, losing to the Shark (Nieminen). This will be a tough time for the Shark as he lost finalist points last year from Adelaide and also he has the QF points to defend from the Aussie Open. Nieminen started very well against Tsonga, leading a set and a break, but wasn't able to forclose the deal sadly.
But Brisvegas this was the week of Radek Stepanek (Thunder Lips), who gesticulated, wiggled the hips, screamed and used plenty of variation to take the title over Fernando Verdasco in the final, he also defeated the Toad (Söderling) and Gasquet (showpony) in the preceding rounds. He gave them all the first set, and then worked his way into the match, and was able to use his strengths, the solid and underrated serve, excellent volleys and the old Continental forehand wasn't breaking down. There were definitely some gamesmanship antics from Stepanek, he will do what is necessary to win and it's up to the opponent to deal with it. He has come a long way from 2002, when he was just a doubles player.
The ladies of Brisvegas, will be dripping in their underwear tonight, after they see Thunder Lips, though Vaidisova could learn from Radek about winning matches. As for the fashions, well good to see that a man is comfortable with himself to wear lavender, so in this week he showed why he is the "Lavender Lothario" or the "Purple Pimp".
All Hail Radek Stepanek
As for a preview for this weeks tournaments perhaps, but best of all I will be in Melbourne having fun at the AO qualies.
We have completed the first week of the ATP circus, it's always the great unknown, because players are in theory meant to be starting from zero, but it doesn't always work like that. Since the season started a week later, some players were still back at home drinking too much, and others were in training and it showed, but this was the week that the ATP announced its new fearless leader, that's a topic for another post, because this one should be about the tennis.
In the Gulf state of Qatar, the home of Al-Jazzera, the attempt to buy Olympic gold medals by buying athletes, footballers and swimmers who are doing it for Qatari pride, enough of the tourist promotion. The King played here and lost to the Flea (Vliegen) in 3 sets and was leading 5-4 in the final set TB. The South Tyrolean sex machine finally won a match in Doha, before losing 3 and 3 to Federer, though he made it go for 89 minutes.
The Panther (Monfils) took out Nadal in straight sets, though he failed to back up the big win against Roddick, who seems to be a rare thing, a successful American in the Middle East, well the part not linked to Israel. Monfils has a lot of ability, but still doesn't know how he should play, he has Roger Rasheed in the corner which could be of benefit, if used the right way and he is a qualified fitness trainer, so Panther is going to have to work. The highlight of the week was Marc Lopez carrying Nadal to win the doubles title and on a sidenote Dunblane's finest defended his title.
Marc Lopez
Marin Cilic was successful in Chennai, though the event suffered a couple of withdrawals. The PMK withdrew against the Czech maestro Lukas Dlouhy with a heel problem and he had to pull out of the Aussie Open, hope he doesn't come back too soon. The other was Schuettler who has a wrist problem and withdrew against Somdev who made the final. It was great for the event that a local made the final. The man from the Assam province that borders Bhutan and not far from China, had an outstanding week, though his performance in the final wasn't great, he made too many mistakes and couldn't get enough length on the groundies. He is 23, but he went to university and played his way through the challengers and Futures and will make a good ranking jump into the 100s and hope he can qualify for the Aus Open.
Cilic didn't play a great match, but it was enough to get the job done and that's all it needs to happen to get the win. The young Croat is on the way to the top 10 barring injuries, but his forehand can be put under pressure in tight moments. The ceremony was well done and both of the guys were very respectful in victory and defeat.
Brisbane will only be a shortish write up, because there is an MTF poster krystelt who did an outstanding job of writing and I will link her blog. We had some good coverage and Marcos Baghdatis was back on tour, a dumb move by sacking Lundgren and he is always weak up from a long break, losing to the Shark (Nieminen). This will be a tough time for the Shark as he lost finalist points last year from Adelaide and also he has the QF points to defend from the Aussie Open. Nieminen started very well against Tsonga, leading a set and a break, but wasn't able to forclose the deal sadly.
But Brisvegas this was the week of Radek Stepanek (Thunder Lips), who gesticulated, wiggled the hips, screamed and used plenty of variation to take the title over Fernando Verdasco in the final, he also defeated the Toad (Söderling) and Gasquet (showpony) in the preceding rounds. He gave them all the first set, and then worked his way into the match, and was able to use his strengths, the solid and underrated serve, excellent volleys and the old Continental forehand wasn't breaking down. There were definitely some gamesmanship antics from Stepanek, he will do what is necessary to win and it's up to the opponent to deal with it. He has come a long way from 2002, when he was just a doubles player.
The ladies of Brisvegas, will be dripping in their underwear tonight, after they see Thunder Lips, though Vaidisova could learn from Radek about winning matches. As for the fashions, well good to see that a man is comfortable with himself to wear lavender, so in this week he showed why he is the "Lavender Lothario" or the "Purple Pimp".
All Hail Radek Stepanek
As for a preview for this weeks tournaments perhaps, but best of all I will be in Melbourne having fun at the AO qualies.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
The Nickname Reference List
Nickname Reference List
Yes, this is a quality first post of 2009, since there are some strange names in usage in this blog. I figured it was about time, that I posted this, though there will be some of these nicknames that I will have missed and no this is not deliberate, maybe it's the old age catching up with me, if there are any others that I have missed then let me know.
For those who want explanations, I will post them in the comments section.
Name Nickname
Oscar Hernandez - The King
Marcel Granollers - The Apprentice
Andreas Seppi - South Tyrolean sex machine
Radek Stepanek - Thunder Lips, Lavender Lothario, Purple Pimp
Jose Acasuso - Smoking Joe, stoner
Stefan Koubek - El Fashionista, Special K
Michael Russell - Russ, Rusty or Rustenberger
Justin Gimelstob - Gimelknob, Gimelclown
Stanislas Wawrinka - The Real Swiss Number 1 (credit to adee-gee)
Tomas Berdych - Berdman
Boris Pashanski - Borracist
Nikolai Davydenko - PMK for Poor Mans Kafelnikov
Mikhail Youzhny - Colonel
Nicolas Almagro - El cabezon or the Head
David Nalbandian - Nalle
Robin Söderling - Toad ( an Aphex special)
Andy Roddick - Duckboy, woodduck
Feliciano Lopez - LaLo
Juan Ignacio Chela - Chubby Chela
Olivier Patience - Have a Little "patience" ( A Guns and Roses song)
Guillermo Coria - Weasel
Albert Montañes - Fat Albert
Mardy Fish - Fisker med Mardy Fish (Fishing with Mardy Fish)
Robby Ginepri - Gineprick or Captain Charisma
James Blake - Snake
Marcos Daniel - Markito
Sergio Roitman - Escopeta
Carlos Berlocq - The Panther
Rafael Nadal - Arse Picker
Tommy Robredo - Boredo
Martin Vassallo Arguello - Che
Gilles Simon - Simple Simon
Agustin Calleri - Gordo
Eduardo Schwank - Baby Gordo
Diego Hartfield - Baby Gaston
Florian Mayer - The New German Gigolo
Marin Cilic - Sam the Eagle (Muppets character)
Somdev Devvarman - Kapil Dev (after the great Indian cricketer)
Richard Gasquet - Showpony
Jo-Wilfred Tsonga - Ali
Yes, this is a quality first post of 2009, since there are some strange names in usage in this blog. I figured it was about time, that I posted this, though there will be some of these nicknames that I will have missed and no this is not deliberate, maybe it's the old age catching up with me, if there are any others that I have missed then let me know.
For those who want explanations, I will post them in the comments section.
Name Nickname
Oscar Hernandez - The King
Marcel Granollers - The Apprentice
Andreas Seppi - South Tyrolean sex machine
Radek Stepanek - Thunder Lips, Lavender Lothario, Purple Pimp
Jose Acasuso - Smoking Joe, stoner
Stefan Koubek - El Fashionista, Special K
Michael Russell - Russ, Rusty or Rustenberger
Justin Gimelstob - Gimelknob, Gimelclown
Stanislas Wawrinka - The Real Swiss Number 1 (credit to adee-gee)
Tomas Berdych - Berdman
Boris Pashanski - Borracist
Nikolai Davydenko - PMK for Poor Mans Kafelnikov
Mikhail Youzhny - Colonel
Nicolas Almagro - El cabezon or the Head
David Nalbandian - Nalle
Robin Söderling - Toad ( an Aphex special)
Andy Roddick - Duckboy, woodduck
Feliciano Lopez - LaLo
Juan Ignacio Chela - Chubby Chela
Olivier Patience - Have a Little "patience" ( A Guns and Roses song)
Guillermo Coria - Weasel
Albert Montañes - Fat Albert
Mardy Fish - Fisker med Mardy Fish (Fishing with Mardy Fish)
Robby Ginepri - Gineprick or Captain Charisma
James Blake - Snake
Marcos Daniel - Markito
Sergio Roitman - Escopeta
Carlos Berlocq - The Panther
Rafael Nadal - Arse Picker
Tommy Robredo - Boredo
Martin Vassallo Arguello - Che
Gilles Simon - Simple Simon
Agustin Calleri - Gordo
Eduardo Schwank - Baby Gordo
Diego Hartfield - Baby Gaston
Florian Mayer - The New German Gigolo
Marin Cilic - Sam the Eagle (Muppets character)
Somdev Devvarman - Kapil Dev (after the great Indian cricketer)
Richard Gasquet - Showpony
Jo-Wilfred Tsonga - Ali
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Important News Update
Important News Update
Yes, there haven't been any updates for a while, but that's partly due to laziness and a lack of interest, which happens now and then, but fortunately I have a few things that will deserve some individual attention, whereas this entry is just a general summary.
The Argentines have decided to appoint Modesto Vasquez as Davis Cup captain, which is totally against the wishes of the players, but this is not a surprise considering the AAT (Argentine Federation) aren't exactly competent. Martin Jaite should have been appointed, he actually has the respect of the players and can even keep the peace between del Potro and Nalbandian, which will be interesting to see what happens comes the 2nd round of the Davis Cup.
Hopefully at the AO, I will be able to get some interviews, but one can dream about these things, yes I will be writing reports from the event and they will start from qualies and this will lead into my next point.
This is something I shouldn't have to say, but will anyway. If anyone at all wants to use my reports elsewhere please ask for my permission, it won't take long and if approved then credit the source. The reason for this last comment was something that I discovered on Tennistalk in relation to an interview Gaudio gave to an Argentine newspaper. I had translated the article into English and all of a sudden this basically word for word translation appeared on their site as if it was written by another journalist, the issue is not the translation itself. In other words it was plagarism and very shoddy journalism, not crediting the original source in this case Ole Clarin. The offending article was taken down, but it should have never got published in the first place, so if there is anything you want to use, then ask me directly.
It's very basic and simple journalist practices to follow these rules, it also helps solidify reputations of the publication, if they don't take cheap shortcuts and invent quotes that weren't there in the original translation.
Yes, there haven't been any updates for a while, but that's partly due to laziness and a lack of interest, which happens now and then, but fortunately I have a few things that will deserve some individual attention, whereas this entry is just a general summary.
The Argentines have decided to appoint Modesto Vasquez as Davis Cup captain, which is totally against the wishes of the players, but this is not a surprise considering the AAT (Argentine Federation) aren't exactly competent. Martin Jaite should have been appointed, he actually has the respect of the players and can even keep the peace between del Potro and Nalbandian, which will be interesting to see what happens comes the 2nd round of the Davis Cup.
Hopefully at the AO, I will be able to get some interviews, but one can dream about these things, yes I will be writing reports from the event and they will start from qualies and this will lead into my next point.
This is something I shouldn't have to say, but will anyway. If anyone at all wants to use my reports elsewhere please ask for my permission, it won't take long and if approved then credit the source. The reason for this last comment was something that I discovered on Tennistalk in relation to an interview Gaudio gave to an Argentine newspaper. I had translated the article into English and all of a sudden this basically word for word translation appeared on their site as if it was written by another journalist, the issue is not the translation itself. In other words it was plagarism and very shoddy journalism, not crediting the original source in this case Ole Clarin. The offending article was taken down, but it should have never got published in the first place, so if there is anything you want to use, then ask me directly.
It's very basic and simple journalist practices to follow these rules, it also helps solidify reputations of the publication, if they don't take cheap shortcuts and invent quotes that weren't there in the original translation.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Yannick Noah vs. Kent Carlsson Roland Garros 1987
This was a brilliant contrast between the serve/volleyer Yannick Noah and the Swede Kent Carlsson. The tennis was fun to watch and the fashions were very sexy as well.
Del 2
Del 3
Del 4
Del 2
Del 3
Del 4
Monday, October 27, 2008
Last Chance Saloon in Bercy
Bercy
Here it is the last TMS event of the year in Bercy, which used to suffer from chronic withdrawals, but this hasn’t been as bad as in previous years. This is possibly due to the finals being reduced to the best of 3 sets, the changing of the surface from carpet to an indoor hardcourt, but the most important thing is that there is a financial reward for competing in all of the TMS events.
Gasquet has withdrawn from this event, this isn’t a surprise and probably a wise move, no point going through the motions especially in front of the French crowd, who don’t need any reason to boo. Time to fuck off for the year and come back next year, as for Richie, well the boulevard of broken dreams and shattered potential is a busy one, not saying he has prime real estate on that street yet.
Federer and Davydenko have been rumoured to be withdrawing from this event, though the financial incentive might be enough to prevent this.
This event pretty much is Last Chance Saloon to get a gig at the TMC, luckily Federer, Nadal, Murray, Djokovic and Davydenko don’t have to worry about this, so that leaves players like Ferrer who not surprisingly hasn’t been playing as well as last year. Roddick who will probably sneak in, the TMC wouldn’t be any poorer for his absence, except that Federer wouldn’t have the chance to extend his head to head record against him.
Del Potro has been the form player along with Murray in the second part of the season, it would be good personally if he made Shanghai, but looking ahead to the Davis Cup, it might be beneficial, if he didn’t go to Shanghai.
As for what will happen, probably a strange finalist, but as long as Simple Simon doesn’t make Shanghai, then all good.
Here it is the last TMS event of the year in Bercy, which used to suffer from chronic withdrawals, but this hasn’t been as bad as in previous years. This is possibly due to the finals being reduced to the best of 3 sets, the changing of the surface from carpet to an indoor hardcourt, but the most important thing is that there is a financial reward for competing in all of the TMS events.
Gasquet has withdrawn from this event, this isn’t a surprise and probably a wise move, no point going through the motions especially in front of the French crowd, who don’t need any reason to boo. Time to fuck off for the year and come back next year, as for Richie, well the boulevard of broken dreams and shattered potential is a busy one, not saying he has prime real estate on that street yet.
Federer and Davydenko have been rumoured to be withdrawing from this event, though the financial incentive might be enough to prevent this.
This event pretty much is Last Chance Saloon to get a gig at the TMC, luckily Federer, Nadal, Murray, Djokovic and Davydenko don’t have to worry about this, so that leaves players like Ferrer who not surprisingly hasn’t been playing as well as last year. Roddick who will probably sneak in, the TMC wouldn’t be any poorer for his absence, except that Federer wouldn’t have the chance to extend his head to head record against him.
Del Potro has been the form player along with Murray in the second part of the season, it would be good personally if he made Shanghai, but looking ahead to the Davis Cup, it might be beneficial, if he didn’t go to Shanghai.
As for what will happen, probably a strange finalist, but as long as Simple Simon doesn’t make Shanghai, then all good.
The Week that was (Federer, Nalbandian, Söderling and Luczak)
The Week That Was
Onto the stuff that happened on the court this week. I am not really sure about writing something like this, but anyway here goes.
The indoor season isn’t a personal favourite, but it has its own mystique and differing conditions. Indoors definitely helps the brainless ball bashers, because they are able to get into a rhythm a lot easier and don’t need to worry about the wind and the sun or other elements getting in their way.
The race for the Shanghai Surprise in other words the Tennis Masters Cup is on, so that aspect where the players are whoring themselves out and playing too many weeks in a row to get those final few spots is amusing enough, at the same time being an alternate for the event does have an excellent payday.
Roger Federer won Basel for the third time, never in doubt that he would be peaking for Basel and yes while it has less points than Madrid or Bercy, there is no doubt that he values Basel higher than the 2 indoor TMS events. This will always be a factor, especially since he is a local boy, FC Basel fan ( they got smoked badly by Barca, King Oscar would have loved that) and that he was a bellboy at the event.
Federer should withdraw from Bercy, he has had enough matches for the year and should be ready for Shanghai, though he could always be a mercenary, take the cash for appearing at all 9 TMS events and then tank, unlike Davydenko he wouldn’t get fined for that, well not now.
Losing finalist David Nalbandian, who is getting ready for the Davis Cup final and has his sights focused on that and using these events as a way of getting some rhythm for that event. Federer and Nalbandian matches have an interesting dynamic, there is a respect there, at the same time Nalle doesn’t kiss Federer’s arse and asks for an autograph while he is on the court, that attitude has helped him in their matches.
Federer hasn’t forgotten leaving the court in Basel in tears when he Tim Henman and Nalbandian defeated him there, that alone will spur him on to peak for Basel, though he should focus on Davis Cup a bit more.
In Lyon Robin “the Toad” Söderling finally a broke a title drought of a few years, by winning in Lyon, it’s the second time he has won there and the other was in Milan. He lost finals to Llodra and Darcis when he was clearly the favourite.
The Toad has been working with Magnus Norman since he and Peter Carlsson went separate ways, it seems to be working quite well at the moment. Norman has a very good eye for the game and was definitely a hard worker, something that Söderling needs. There have been suggestions that he is a cheaper and uglier version of Thomas Enqvist. I can see the similarities, both hit the ball hard off both sides, have slightly unconventional strokes, love playing under a roof, lacking in mobility and also variety in their games, it’s pretty obvious what is coming, but the skill is to be able to adapt to it. The differences are Söderling is better on the clay and gives his forehand more topspin, but Enqvist was better at Grand Slam level.
Söderling has become a member of the top 20, it was never about the talent and the ball striking for him, it’s more about the poor mental toughness he has shown at times, when things don’t go his way.
Murray defended St. Petersburg, which is a Challenger field with almost a million dollars.
Vassallo Arguello won the Buenos Aires Challenger over Ramirez- Hidalgo and is back in the top 100 with that victory. Sergio Roitman finally won back to back matches for the first time in ages and needs a good result before he can make Melbourne.
Last of all congrats to Peter Luczak for an excellent run of form, this is a guy who deserves it, one of the hardest workers and even more important he is a great individual and that is something that the ATP ranking doesn’t measure.
Onto the stuff that happened on the court this week. I am not really sure about writing something like this, but anyway here goes.
The indoor season isn’t a personal favourite, but it has its own mystique and differing conditions. Indoors definitely helps the brainless ball bashers, because they are able to get into a rhythm a lot easier and don’t need to worry about the wind and the sun or other elements getting in their way.
The race for the Shanghai Surprise in other words the Tennis Masters Cup is on, so that aspect where the players are whoring themselves out and playing too many weeks in a row to get those final few spots is amusing enough, at the same time being an alternate for the event does have an excellent payday.
Roger Federer won Basel for the third time, never in doubt that he would be peaking for Basel and yes while it has less points than Madrid or Bercy, there is no doubt that he values Basel higher than the 2 indoor TMS events. This will always be a factor, especially since he is a local boy, FC Basel fan ( they got smoked badly by Barca, King Oscar would have loved that) and that he was a bellboy at the event.
Federer should withdraw from Bercy, he has had enough matches for the year and should be ready for Shanghai, though he could always be a mercenary, take the cash for appearing at all 9 TMS events and then tank, unlike Davydenko he wouldn’t get fined for that, well not now.
Losing finalist David Nalbandian, who is getting ready for the Davis Cup final and has his sights focused on that and using these events as a way of getting some rhythm for that event. Federer and Nalbandian matches have an interesting dynamic, there is a respect there, at the same time Nalle doesn’t kiss Federer’s arse and asks for an autograph while he is on the court, that attitude has helped him in their matches.
Federer hasn’t forgotten leaving the court in Basel in tears when he Tim Henman and Nalbandian defeated him there, that alone will spur him on to peak for Basel, though he should focus on Davis Cup a bit more.
In Lyon Robin “the Toad” Söderling finally a broke a title drought of a few years, by winning in Lyon, it’s the second time he has won there and the other was in Milan. He lost finals to Llodra and Darcis when he was clearly the favourite.
The Toad has been working with Magnus Norman since he and Peter Carlsson went separate ways, it seems to be working quite well at the moment. Norman has a very good eye for the game and was definitely a hard worker, something that Söderling needs. There have been suggestions that he is a cheaper and uglier version of Thomas Enqvist. I can see the similarities, both hit the ball hard off both sides, have slightly unconventional strokes, love playing under a roof, lacking in mobility and also variety in their games, it’s pretty obvious what is coming, but the skill is to be able to adapt to it. The differences are Söderling is better on the clay and gives his forehand more topspin, but Enqvist was better at Grand Slam level.
Söderling has become a member of the top 20, it was never about the talent and the ball striking for him, it’s more about the poor mental toughness he has shown at times, when things don’t go his way.
Murray defended St. Petersburg, which is a Challenger field with almost a million dollars.
Vassallo Arguello won the Buenos Aires Challenger over Ramirez- Hidalgo and is back in the top 100 with that victory. Sergio Roitman finally won back to back matches for the first time in ages and needs a good result before he can make Melbourne.
Last of all congrats to Peter Luczak for an excellent run of form, this is a guy who deserves it, one of the hardest workers and even more important he is a great individual and that is something that the ATP ranking doesn’t measure.
Federico Luzzi dies of leukemia
Federico Luzzi dies of leukemia
In some very sad news Italian player Federico Luzzi died at the age of 28 on Saturday night. Luzzi thought he had bronchitis, but when the doctors did tests on him, he had a very advanced form of leukemia, which could not be treated and he died after playing his last match in Sardinia 6 days ago.
Luzzi was definitely a character, he did things his own way. He was suspended for betting on matches, by the ATP, these weren’t significant amounts of money, it was over a sustained period of time, where the ATP was all smoke and mirrors. In other words making out like they were trying to do something about the gambling problem, but the reality is they weren’t.
Then there was the fight he and Daniel Koellerer had at a Challenger after the match. Both of these guys were fairly feisty on court and would express themselves and sometimes wind up the opponent, but that is professional sport. Unlike many others, they continued it after the match, then both of them were suspended.
Luzzi mostly played on the Challenger circuit, but played a few times on the main tour. He played against Gaston Gaudio in Buenos Aires in an entertaining match and he was appreciated by the crowd on and off the court for his interview after the match.
28 years old is too young to leave the world and hopefully his best friend Potito Starace can remain strong in these difficult times. It’s important for the family and friends of Luzzi to remember the positive moments and memories of his life, and that he isn’t in any pain.
RIP and condolences to the family and friends.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Madness in Madrid
It’s the second last TMS event of the year in Madrid and hopefully there will be some fan reports, as we know this is the best way to appreciate any event.
As for Madrid, there is always some form of controversy, and this one is no different, the whole models as ballgirls is one such caper, that irritates people. Then again with the mafia don Ion Tiriac in charge, this means controversy isn’t far away. This is the kind of man, who if he shook your hand, then you would check to make sure your fingers were there.
This years controversy is the non-awarding of a wildcard to Juan Carlos Ferrero, the former world number 1 and in fact the first Spanish player to achieve this and he won the title in 2003. Ferrero had been out with injury and he was just outside the Entry List, with the ever popular Moya getting a wildcard from Marca, there were still 3 wildcards available. Marat Safin got a one in Rome and of course Tiriac had to do a deal to get him one there, therefore an Italian had to get one at his event. Ferrero was pissed off that he wasn’t awarded a wildcard and he has some justification for that. The other side to this is that, when one became available due to a withdrawal, he chose not to take it. One could say, it’s good that he stood up for himself and saw the offer as an empty one, or the other side to that, is that he should have taken the wildcard and win some matches to show up Tiriac. The irony is that Safin has withdrawn from the event.
Onto the event now, well they had 2 Stupid Sunday matches and Thunder Lips thumped Monaco and will play Federer, it would be great for the event, if both he and Nadal lost in the 1st round. Then the Latvian Gulbis defeated Kiefer and will play Nadal. Rafa got his number 1 presentation at his home event, but he definitely got a testing first rounder. Gulbis has a lot of talent, but erratic. The altitude in Madrid is negligible really, the way some people talk about it, they make it’s like playing tennis at Base Camp on Mt.Everest.
Some interesting qualifiers, very surprising that Granollers qualified in the process defeating Ljubicic, who really struggled since coming back from a back problem. Gineprick has done well in Madrid before and will fancy his chances against Llodra. Stevie Darcis will like his chances against “Fisker med Mardy Fish”.
Tonight the “South Tyrolean stud” Andreas Seppi will be playing Boredo. Seppi hasn’t had a great start to the indoor season, two losses in straight sets, but with Andy, one can’t tell when he can play well. He has done well against Boredo in the past and won their last match at the Olympics, hope he can something positive from that and take out the win here and then play Roddick in the next round, who has never done well in Madrid.
Igor Andreev is playing Simple Simon as well today. Simon hasn’t done much in the big events this year apart from in Canada. He won their only match in Sopot last year. It will be interesting to see what tactics Andreev uses, he really should use his serve to open the court up and hit behind Simon, because Gilles has excellent anticipation and covers most shots in the open court and has a good 2 hander down the line, which can expose Andreev when he is in the Calderon stadium trying to hit off forehands.
The Nalbandian/Berdych/del Potro section of the draw is by far the most interesting section. It would be good if Berdych wins tonight and not play a dumb match like he is very capable of doing in losing Schuettler. It would be good to see a rematch of the Nalle and Berdman Madrid match again, especially as it was the one where Nalle down a set and 4-0 and he wins, then the big indoor run happened after that. This is where he was the only guy to beat both Federer and Nadal in successive events. As for Nalle, he won in Stockholm, but his main goal is Davis Cup for this season, this series of matches in this section should give him a good test.
Not sure who will win this event, though someone else besides Federer and Nadal would be good.
P.S The Berdych write up will be done next week, as there is a lot of info to write.
As for Madrid, there is always some form of controversy, and this one is no different, the whole models as ballgirls is one such caper, that irritates people. Then again with the mafia don Ion Tiriac in charge, this means controversy isn’t far away. This is the kind of man, who if he shook your hand, then you would check to make sure your fingers were there.
This years controversy is the non-awarding of a wildcard to Juan Carlos Ferrero, the former world number 1 and in fact the first Spanish player to achieve this and he won the title in 2003. Ferrero had been out with injury and he was just outside the Entry List, with the ever popular Moya getting a wildcard from Marca, there were still 3 wildcards available. Marat Safin got a one in Rome and of course Tiriac had to do a deal to get him one there, therefore an Italian had to get one at his event. Ferrero was pissed off that he wasn’t awarded a wildcard and he has some justification for that. The other side to this is that, when one became available due to a withdrawal, he chose not to take it. One could say, it’s good that he stood up for himself and saw the offer as an empty one, or the other side to that, is that he should have taken the wildcard and win some matches to show up Tiriac. The irony is that Safin has withdrawn from the event.
Onto the event now, well they had 2 Stupid Sunday matches and Thunder Lips thumped Monaco and will play Federer, it would be great for the event, if both he and Nadal lost in the 1st round. Then the Latvian Gulbis defeated Kiefer and will play Nadal. Rafa got his number 1 presentation at his home event, but he definitely got a testing first rounder. Gulbis has a lot of talent, but erratic. The altitude in Madrid is negligible really, the way some people talk about it, they make it’s like playing tennis at Base Camp on Mt.Everest.
Some interesting qualifiers, very surprising that Granollers qualified in the process defeating Ljubicic, who really struggled since coming back from a back problem. Gineprick has done well in Madrid before and will fancy his chances against Llodra. Stevie Darcis will like his chances against “Fisker med Mardy Fish”.
Tonight the “South Tyrolean stud” Andreas Seppi will be playing Boredo. Seppi hasn’t had a great start to the indoor season, two losses in straight sets, but with Andy, one can’t tell when he can play well. He has done well against Boredo in the past and won their last match at the Olympics, hope he can something positive from that and take out the win here and then play Roddick in the next round, who has never done well in Madrid.
Igor Andreev is playing Simple Simon as well today. Simon hasn’t done much in the big events this year apart from in Canada. He won their only match in Sopot last year. It will be interesting to see what tactics Andreev uses, he really should use his serve to open the court up and hit behind Simon, because Gilles has excellent anticipation and covers most shots in the open court and has a good 2 hander down the line, which can expose Andreev when he is in the Calderon stadium trying to hit off forehands.
The Nalbandian/Berdych/del Potro section of the draw is by far the most interesting section. It would be good if Berdych wins tonight and not play a dumb match like he is very capable of doing in losing Schuettler. It would be good to see a rematch of the Nalle and Berdman Madrid match again, especially as it was the one where Nalle down a set and 4-0 and he wins, then the big indoor run happened after that. This is where he was the only guy to beat both Federer and Nadal in successive events. As for Nalle, he won in Stockholm, but his main goal is Davis Cup for this season, this series of matches in this section should give him a good test.
Not sure who will win this event, though someone else besides Federer and Nadal would be good.
P.S The Berdych write up will be done next week, as there is a lot of info to write.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
There is a Choupi in Metz, which might not seem much because she is not in Tokyo Fan Reports
Metz kicks off the indoor season
The first European indoor event of the year in Metz, located in the north east of France. The usual thing of the titleholder not coming back here to defend the title has happened again, at the same time not exactly how many people will miss Tommy Robredo to be honest.
It’s not a bad field and I have decided to focus on this event, because Choupi will be going to Metz for a few days and we (the readers) love fan reports that tell us more about what’s going on at the event, then the stock standard press release.
Some interesting first round matches for sure. Big Karlovic and Baghdatis, who is trying to finish off the year without more injury problems. He definitely won’t be getting any rhythm in this match, but he can practice his returns of serve.
Acasuso and Cañas, this one is very important for Davis Cup, as Chucho needs to get something out of this season, plus he can play quite well indoors and Willy isn’t at his best at the moment.
Ljubicic is making his comeback from back problems and he loves a roof. Ancic and Gulbis is an intriguing match, Ancic could be too steady for him.
Seppi and Calleri are there as well, hope for some good results in this event and even more so the fan reports.
The first European indoor event of the year in Metz, located in the north east of France. The usual thing of the titleholder not coming back here to defend the title has happened again, at the same time not exactly how many people will miss Tommy Robredo to be honest.
It’s not a bad field and I have decided to focus on this event, because Choupi will be going to Metz for a few days and we (the readers) love fan reports that tell us more about what’s going on at the event, then the stock standard press release.
Some interesting first round matches for sure. Big Karlovic and Baghdatis, who is trying to finish off the year without more injury problems. He definitely won’t be getting any rhythm in this match, but he can practice his returns of serve.
Acasuso and Cañas, this one is very important for Davis Cup, as Chucho needs to get something out of this season, plus he can play quite well indoors and Willy isn’t at his best at the moment.
Ljubicic is making his comeback from back problems and he loves a roof. Ancic and Gulbis is an intriguing match, Ancic could be too steady for him.
Seppi and Calleri are there as well, hope for some good results in this event and even more so the fan reports.
Welcome back to the tour Stefan Koubek
Welcome back Koubek
Stefan Koubek has recovered from the back surgery and will be returning to the tour next week in the Mons Challenger and then like I wrote in my previous entry on him, he got the expected Wild Card into the Vienna.
It’s going to take him a bit of time to get back into the swing of things naturally and as he said in his last blog entry, that he is hitting the ball well, but lacking in conditioning. Well, one can always get fitter and two no matter the amount of training and rehab is done on the courts, it doesn’t beat match practice. He should be able to play some challengers at the end of the year as well and he will play in Melbourne with his protected ranking.
The most important thing is that his back surgery was successful and that he doesn’t feel any pain when he is playing, so I don’t expect too many big results straight away, but that it’s irrelevant compared to his health. I am just happy that he is back on court playing again.
Davis Cup Aftermath. Telenova where will Argentina play the final
Davis Cup
Huge surprise in the Davis Cup semi finals, well more so that Argentina needed the 5th match to defeat Russia, but doesn’t matter how the win happens, as long as they won. After Nalbandian carried the Argie team for many matches, it was great to see del Potro step up to the plate and play two outstanding matches crushing Davydenko and Andreev.
Spain won easily, but this had as much doubt as the next Pope being Catholic. Nadal toying with Roddick was top quality entertainment.
The real fun is now where the AAT will hold the final. The players and captain want to play indoors on a carpet or a fast hardcourt in Cordoba, which would be the preferred option. The crowd will be crazy there, starting early with the Fernet and Cola, but the venue is under the 14 000 the ITF want for a final, but there are ways around this. Other contenders are Luna Park in Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata.
It will be interesting to see what decision that clown Morea will come up with, the fact Mancini and the players were adamant the conditions they want to play in, has forced him to think about this more than he would have previously.
Huge surprise in the Davis Cup semi finals, well more so that Argentina needed the 5th match to defeat Russia, but doesn’t matter how the win happens, as long as they won. After Nalbandian carried the Argie team for many matches, it was great to see del Potro step up to the plate and play two outstanding matches crushing Davydenko and Andreev.
Spain won easily, but this had as much doubt as the next Pope being Catholic. Nadal toying with Roddick was top quality entertainment.
The real fun is now where the AAT will hold the final. The players and captain want to play indoors on a carpet or a fast hardcourt in Cordoba, which would be the preferred option. The crowd will be crazy there, starting early with the Fernet and Cola, but the venue is under the 14 000 the ITF want for a final, but there are ways around this. Other contenders are Luna Park in Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata.
It will be interesting to see what decision that clown Morea will come up with, the fact Mancini and the players were adamant the conditions they want to play in, has forced him to think about this more than he would have previously.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Davis Cup World Group Semi Finals
Argentina vs. Russia
This will be the competitive tie of the weekend and how it ends on Day 1 will be crucial. The Argentines have gone for experience in the form of Calleri and Cañas, something about the Davis Cup atmosphere brings the best out of Calleri and especially Nalbandian.
Del Potro’s huge improvement has come at the right time for Mancini when it comes to second singles options in this case, there was no real other option , if they were to make the final like I believe they will, then del Potro could be the number 1 ranked Argentine and that would make things interesting for the final.
Nalbandian is the glue of this team and has been for the longest time. This is the event, where he turns up to play, no shenanigans and thrives in this environment. His match with Andreev will be pivotal to how the tie goes. If it’s first match, it would be better, because del Potro would be more relaxed in his match with Davydenko, assuming that he plays on Day 1.
The Russians without Safin and Youzhny still bring a good team to Buenos Aires. It wouldn’t surprise if somehow Safin came out of nowhere and played in this tie. The crowd will be very hostile, but Andreev has had experience of this in Chile and will be the teams’ translator as well. The doubles could throw up a multitude of combinations, this will be dependant of Day 1 results as to what the captains will use.
With all these possible scenarios, the Argentines are favourites, though apart from del Potro, they aren’t in great form, but the home ground advantage and Nalbandian’s consistent play should get them over the line
Spain vs. USA
Only doing a preview of this tie for comedic purposes, because the only way Spain loses this, if their whole team is wiped out by some mysterious illness that only Boredo and Feli Lopez are immune to and they must play the tie.
Watching Roddick move on claycourt as effortlessly as an elephant on ice skates. No matter, how many times you see it, the viewer is bamboozled by the brilliance of the graceful movement, there should be warning before his matches “Please kids, don’t try this at home”.
At least big “Sam the studmuffin” Querrey is included in the team and will probably do better than the other guys in the team. He looks goofy and ungainly, but kudos to him for having a go on the clay last season and this season, he isn’t afraid of the clay unlike some of the Yanks.
Mardy Fish is there to be Roddick’s sidekick, clean his shoes, trim his nasal hair or others would say be his bitch, because he is definitely not going to star in a movie “A Fish called Mardy”, maybe he can come to Scandinavia and go a TV program “Fisker med Mardy Fish”, which means “Fishing with Mardy Fish”. Not sure whether he knows the true meaning of tackle in this case, and no, this does not mean huge men, wearing helmets and sniffing jockstraps running into each other, trying to prove some archaic form of manliness.
Hope the US enjoys their stay in Madrid, it’s quite a party city.
This will be the competitive tie of the weekend and how it ends on Day 1 will be crucial. The Argentines have gone for experience in the form of Calleri and Cañas, something about the Davis Cup atmosphere brings the best out of Calleri and especially Nalbandian.
Del Potro’s huge improvement has come at the right time for Mancini when it comes to second singles options in this case, there was no real other option , if they were to make the final like I believe they will, then del Potro could be the number 1 ranked Argentine and that would make things interesting for the final.
Nalbandian is the glue of this team and has been for the longest time. This is the event, where he turns up to play, no shenanigans and thrives in this environment. His match with Andreev will be pivotal to how the tie goes. If it’s first match, it would be better, because del Potro would be more relaxed in his match with Davydenko, assuming that he plays on Day 1.
The Russians without Safin and Youzhny still bring a good team to Buenos Aires. It wouldn’t surprise if somehow Safin came out of nowhere and played in this tie. The crowd will be very hostile, but Andreev has had experience of this in Chile and will be the teams’ translator as well. The doubles could throw up a multitude of combinations, this will be dependant of Day 1 results as to what the captains will use.
With all these possible scenarios, the Argentines are favourites, though apart from del Potro, they aren’t in great form, but the home ground advantage and Nalbandian’s consistent play should get them over the line
Spain vs. USA
Only doing a preview of this tie for comedic purposes, because the only way Spain loses this, if their whole team is wiped out by some mysterious illness that only Boredo and Feli Lopez are immune to and they must play the tie.
Watching Roddick move on claycourt as effortlessly as an elephant on ice skates. No matter, how many times you see it, the viewer is bamboozled by the brilliance of the graceful movement, there should be warning before his matches “Please kids, don’t try this at home”.
At least big “Sam the studmuffin” Querrey is included in the team and will probably do better than the other guys in the team. He looks goofy and ungainly, but kudos to him for having a go on the clay last season and this season, he isn’t afraid of the clay unlike some of the Yanks.
Mardy Fish is there to be Roddick’s sidekick, clean his shoes, trim his nasal hair or others would say be his bitch, because he is definitely not going to star in a movie “A Fish called Mardy”, maybe he can come to Scandinavia and go a TV program “Fisker med Mardy Fish”, which means “Fishing with Mardy Fish”. Not sure whether he knows the true meaning of tackle in this case, and no, this does not mean huge men, wearing helmets and sniffing jockstraps running into each other, trying to prove some archaic form of manliness.
Hope the US enjoys their stay in Madrid, it’s quite a party city.
Davis Cup World Group Promotion Round Preview and Match Reports
Yes, it’s back after a long break, got to deal with those motivational problems and no going down the pub and sinking a few brews isn’t always the best thing either, but enough of this.
It’s Davis Cup weekend, so as there are playoffs as well World Group semis for the big prize, so I will divide these entries into their respective sections. Because I am too lazy, I will be posting news of the ties in the respective posts, instead of writing new posts, because that requires effort.
Looking at the respective playoff ties, most of these have a very clear favourite, the only differences are the respective surfaces and what the scores will be.
Chile vs. Australia
It’s very disappointing that Hewitt isn’t available for this Davis Cup tie as he has had hip surgery and out for the rest of the season. He loves the team environment, which goes back to his days as a youngster in Adelaide, loving his Aussie rules football, plus he has had some great wins in DC over Guga Kuerten in Florianopolis and Albert Costa in Barcelona. The more hostile the crowd, the more he loves it and missing out here means, he hasn’t had the joy of being the away player in Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Spain, where the crowds can get enthusiastic at worst.
Onto the tie, the Chileans will make it back to the World Group, just on the back of Fernando Gonzalez, who can carry a poor Massu, especially with the withdrawal of Hewitt. I wonder if Gildemeister will play Capdeville against the Gooch on Day 1 or will he stick with Massu.
The Aussies have a depleted team, with “Big Red” Guccione leading the team, sure he doesn’t mind a claycourt, but he’d would rather it be 2000m+ above sea level. Peter Luczak coming back after a stress fracture with the pelvis and not having much tennis in his system is another drawback for them in addition to the hostile environment.
The doubles will be funny with Gonzo and Massu slapping groundies from the baseline and”Big Red” with the “Blond Bomber” Sam Groth doing everything but hitting groundies.
Chile will win this easily, unless disqualified, but it will be a good experience for the Aussies.
UK vs. Austria
This won’t be pretty for the Austrians, though in Melzer and Peya they have two cats who don’t mind the grass courts, but both have an aversion to winning big matches, especially Melzer in Davis Cup.
Koubek is a big loss for the Austrian team, even on grass, because he has the capability of winning a match, at the same time he can lose to anyone anytime, get well soon Stef.
The British team has 2 Scots and a Serb, then again if it was all English, then they wouldn’t make the World Group consistently. Andy Murray should win his matches comfortably and if the Austrians get it to a live match on the 3rd day, then they will have done well.
Switzerland vs. Belgium
Superman Federer decides to pull on his cape and save Switzerland from going back through the playoffs again. He has done this many times before, last year it came unstuck against the Czechs and it was great that it did, maybe not for the Swiss tennis.
It would be good if he actually would play the 1st round matches of the World Group, but lets see what happens with that. No excuse about Wawrinka not being a good enough number 2 player, in fact he is the real Swiss #1 according to the masses.
The Belgians are just going over to Lausanne for a holiday, bring back some quality cheese and then they show the Swiss Frenchies how to make proper beer, that will be the best they can hope for.
Switzerland back in the World Group, but a guess whether big Fed will do something rare and play a 1st round match.
Croatia vs. Brazil
This is a good way for the Brazilian players to earn some more frequent flyer points with the trip to Zadar. It’s very generous of the Croats to host them there instead of Zagreb. It’s a nice walled city on the coast, they should be able to enjoy the off court action though not exactly about on court.
No doubt the Croats will have a very slick and fast surface to favour their tall timber in Karlovic, Ancic (if he plays) and Cilic. The best chance the Brazilians have of winning a match in Zadar is through the doubles with Melo and Sa.
The Croat fans should be prepared for the loud decibels of the Thiago Alves grunt, hope it doesn’t shatter the windows of homes in Bosnia and Montenegro, not sure if they have their windows double glazed. It will be interesting to see the mishits on the Bellucci groundstrokes with the ball coming through low and fast.
Israel vs. Peru
Peru will need Lucho to be at his very best to have a chance in this tie, especially as Chino Miranda has been ill lately and not had the match practice, though with his killer slice he isn’t afraid of the hardcourts. In addition to this Lucho has been in average form, but he lifts for Davis Cup and this is what is left in the 2008 season for him.
Dudi Sela, small in height, but big on courage really should get 2 wins here and the Erlich/Ram combination should be too solid for the Peruvians who will be brave, but ultimately outgunned, it would be good to be proven wrong.
Netherlands vs. Korea
The Dutch back to the WG in this one, sure Lee is a very seasoned and tough customer with calves like medicine balls, but it won’t be enough to get over the Dutchies, Huge preview there, but sometimes less is more.
Romania vs. India
This has the potential to be the sleeper tie of these play offs. The lack of Andrei Pavel is a big setback for the Romanians, with his experience in these situations, it would have been easier for the Romanians. Now Hanescu has the responsibility of getting the team through to the WG.
While clay is definitely not the Indians best surface, they have the youngster Somdev Devvarman who doesn’t mind playing on the clay and has been in good form this season. He is very steady and consistent, and I’d back him in a live 5th rubber to win it for India. As per usual Day 1 will be the key in this tie, especially if Somdev can upset Hanescu.
Slovakia vs. Serbia
The Serbs will be the only away team to win a tie during this weekend. They have a better all round team and not sure if even some Hrbaty heroics can stop the Serbs this time around from making the World Group.
Hopefully there are some close ties, this weekend, but the majority of them will more than likely be completed by the end of the doubles.
It’s Davis Cup weekend, so as there are playoffs as well World Group semis for the big prize, so I will divide these entries into their respective sections. Because I am too lazy, I will be posting news of the ties in the respective posts, instead of writing new posts, because that requires effort.
Looking at the respective playoff ties, most of these have a very clear favourite, the only differences are the respective surfaces and what the scores will be.
Chile vs. Australia
It’s very disappointing that Hewitt isn’t available for this Davis Cup tie as he has had hip surgery and out for the rest of the season. He loves the team environment, which goes back to his days as a youngster in Adelaide, loving his Aussie rules football, plus he has had some great wins in DC over Guga Kuerten in Florianopolis and Albert Costa in Barcelona. The more hostile the crowd, the more he loves it and missing out here means, he hasn’t had the joy of being the away player in Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Spain, where the crowds can get enthusiastic at worst.
Onto the tie, the Chileans will make it back to the World Group, just on the back of Fernando Gonzalez, who can carry a poor Massu, especially with the withdrawal of Hewitt. I wonder if Gildemeister will play Capdeville against the Gooch on Day 1 or will he stick with Massu.
The Aussies have a depleted team, with “Big Red” Guccione leading the team, sure he doesn’t mind a claycourt, but he’d would rather it be 2000m+ above sea level. Peter Luczak coming back after a stress fracture with the pelvis and not having much tennis in his system is another drawback for them in addition to the hostile environment.
The doubles will be funny with Gonzo and Massu slapping groundies from the baseline and”Big Red” with the “Blond Bomber” Sam Groth doing everything but hitting groundies.
Chile will win this easily, unless disqualified, but it will be a good experience for the Aussies.
UK vs. Austria
This won’t be pretty for the Austrians, though in Melzer and Peya they have two cats who don’t mind the grass courts, but both have an aversion to winning big matches, especially Melzer in Davis Cup.
Koubek is a big loss for the Austrian team, even on grass, because he has the capability of winning a match, at the same time he can lose to anyone anytime, get well soon Stef.
The British team has 2 Scots and a Serb, then again if it was all English, then they wouldn’t make the World Group consistently. Andy Murray should win his matches comfortably and if the Austrians get it to a live match on the 3rd day, then they will have done well.
Switzerland vs. Belgium
Superman Federer decides to pull on his cape and save Switzerland from going back through the playoffs again. He has done this many times before, last year it came unstuck against the Czechs and it was great that it did, maybe not for the Swiss tennis.
It would be good if he actually would play the 1st round matches of the World Group, but lets see what happens with that. No excuse about Wawrinka not being a good enough number 2 player, in fact he is the real Swiss #1 according to the masses.
The Belgians are just going over to Lausanne for a holiday, bring back some quality cheese and then they show the Swiss Frenchies how to make proper beer, that will be the best they can hope for.
Switzerland back in the World Group, but a guess whether big Fed will do something rare and play a 1st round match.
Croatia vs. Brazil
This is a good way for the Brazilian players to earn some more frequent flyer points with the trip to Zadar. It’s very generous of the Croats to host them there instead of Zagreb. It’s a nice walled city on the coast, they should be able to enjoy the off court action though not exactly about on court.
No doubt the Croats will have a very slick and fast surface to favour their tall timber in Karlovic, Ancic (if he plays) and Cilic. The best chance the Brazilians have of winning a match in Zadar is through the doubles with Melo and Sa.
The Croat fans should be prepared for the loud decibels of the Thiago Alves grunt, hope it doesn’t shatter the windows of homes in Bosnia and Montenegro, not sure if they have their windows double glazed. It will be interesting to see the mishits on the Bellucci groundstrokes with the ball coming through low and fast.
Israel vs. Peru
Peru will need Lucho to be at his very best to have a chance in this tie, especially as Chino Miranda has been ill lately and not had the match practice, though with his killer slice he isn’t afraid of the hardcourts. In addition to this Lucho has been in average form, but he lifts for Davis Cup and this is what is left in the 2008 season for him.
Dudi Sela, small in height, but big on courage really should get 2 wins here and the Erlich/Ram combination should be too solid for the Peruvians who will be brave, but ultimately outgunned, it would be good to be proven wrong.
Netherlands vs. Korea
The Dutch back to the WG in this one, sure Lee is a very seasoned and tough customer with calves like medicine balls, but it won’t be enough to get over the Dutchies, Huge preview there, but sometimes less is more.
Romania vs. India
This has the potential to be the sleeper tie of these play offs. The lack of Andrei Pavel is a big setback for the Romanians, with his experience in these situations, it would have been easier for the Romanians. Now Hanescu has the responsibility of getting the team through to the WG.
While clay is definitely not the Indians best surface, they have the youngster Somdev Devvarman who doesn’t mind playing on the clay and has been in good form this season. He is very steady and consistent, and I’d back him in a live 5th rubber to win it for India. As per usual Day 1 will be the key in this tie, especially if Somdev can upset Hanescu.
Slovakia vs. Serbia
The Serbs will be the only away team to win a tie during this weekend. They have a better all round team and not sure if even some Hrbaty heroics can stop the Serbs this time around from making the World Group.
Hopefully there are some close ties, this weekend, but the majority of them will more than likely be completed by the end of the doubles.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Choupi in Stuttgart with reports on the King, fun in Båstad, snow in Gstaad
Choupi in Stuttgart with reports on the King, fun in Båstad, snow in Gstaad
Well once again Fearless Leader Mr.Disney is at. The genius idea of having 4 events in one week and also making them 28 player fields, it's moronic then and it's moronic now, plus the old chestnut when in doubt blame the Olympics is always used.
Stuttgart
Nadal was meant to be the big atttaction at this event, but he has withdrawn and this is no surprise. At the same time the Stuttgart owners were able to use his name to get some ticket sales. The true attractions of Stuttgart are not the 28 player field, the fact that there will be a roving reporter there from tomorrow, to get some of the action.
Baby Gordo Schwank is playing the weasel Coria, at least it will be a Germany vs Argentina second round match. Nice to see Calleri in Stuttgart, just hope he sticks around long enough so that he can be seen by Choupi and also he will play Cuevas if he gets past pretty boy Melzer in the 1st round. Almagro is the highest seed in this section, though little Richard Gasquet is the 2nd seed and should have a tough one against the Bye and then both qualifiers.
Results so far del Potro and Cuevas won their matches. Once again Acasuso from a break is rubbish and he lost to Fat Albert Montañes, who now plays the real headliner of Stuttgart King Oscar Hernandez, who handled Santi Ventura very easily. These guys are friends and the King needs the points, so I think Montañes will do the right thing and bow down to the King.
Båstad
The field isn't as good as it usually is, but with Disney doing this to the summer clay events, then this is not likely. Crazy Dani Koellerer qualified and he will play Darcis, this will be interesting to see how he acts, how he plays and also what the Swedes will think of this unstable cat.
Nieminen and Roitman, both of these guys need a good result and quickly, though Boredo is lurking and he wants to peak at this event. Moya is back here and has won Båstad before, but he is using this practice to peak for Umag next week. Great to see Marc Lopez in a MD, very humble and nice guy, just not strong enough to compete regularly on the tour, and Safin will be too busy fucking to concentrate on the tennis.
Berdman is another one who needs to get it back on track, he will hope that the wind stays away, but this isn't very likely in Båstad, being on the ocean will do that. I think it will be a Ferrer-Berdych final, just hope there is some good tennis and Volandri losing early would help.
Gstaad
The mountain and exclsuive air in Gstaad, one of the more scenic places on tour, well both the finalists are here again. Mathieu has to play Cilic again, well I think they should be familiar with each other now. Stani is the number 1 seed at home for the first time in his career and he should have had enough time to adjusted to the altitude and looks like a strong favourite here.
Lucho Horna fresh from qualifying for and winning the Lugano Challenger is in a tough section with Karlovic and Seppi. Ivo likes playing here, his serve is even more effective. but with him one can never tell. Seppi is playing a big server in Meffert, it's just the usual take care of your own service game and concentrate hard on the big servers, he should do enough and make it through to the next round.
Andreev finally won a match and hope he can finish the clown Serra as he needs to get back on track, since dumping Altur as coach, though at least he has Kirilenko, so not everything is going against him at the moment.
Newport
Just a total Mickey Mouse event, hope old man Santoro defends.
Well once again Fearless Leader Mr.Disney is at. The genius idea of having 4 events in one week and also making them 28 player fields, it's moronic then and it's moronic now, plus the old chestnut when in doubt blame the Olympics is always used.
Stuttgart
Nadal was meant to be the big atttaction at this event, but he has withdrawn and this is no surprise. At the same time the Stuttgart owners were able to use his name to get some ticket sales. The true attractions of Stuttgart are not the 28 player field, the fact that there will be a roving reporter there from tomorrow, to get some of the action.
Baby Gordo Schwank is playing the weasel Coria, at least it will be a Germany vs Argentina second round match. Nice to see Calleri in Stuttgart, just hope he sticks around long enough so that he can be seen by Choupi and also he will play Cuevas if he gets past pretty boy Melzer in the 1st round. Almagro is the highest seed in this section, though little Richard Gasquet is the 2nd seed and should have a tough one against the Bye and then both qualifiers.
Results so far del Potro and Cuevas won their matches. Once again Acasuso from a break is rubbish and he lost to Fat Albert Montañes, who now plays the real headliner of Stuttgart King Oscar Hernandez, who handled Santi Ventura very easily. These guys are friends and the King needs the points, so I think Montañes will do the right thing and bow down to the King.
Båstad
The field isn't as good as it usually is, but with Disney doing this to the summer clay events, then this is not likely. Crazy Dani Koellerer qualified and he will play Darcis, this will be interesting to see how he acts, how he plays and also what the Swedes will think of this unstable cat.
Nieminen and Roitman, both of these guys need a good result and quickly, though Boredo is lurking and he wants to peak at this event. Moya is back here and has won Båstad before, but he is using this practice to peak for Umag next week. Great to see Marc Lopez in a MD, very humble and nice guy, just not strong enough to compete regularly on the tour, and Safin will be too busy fucking to concentrate on the tennis.
Berdman is another one who needs to get it back on track, he will hope that the wind stays away, but this isn't very likely in Båstad, being on the ocean will do that. I think it will be a Ferrer-Berdych final, just hope there is some good tennis and Volandri losing early would help.
Gstaad
The mountain and exclsuive air in Gstaad, one of the more scenic places on tour, well both the finalists are here again. Mathieu has to play Cilic again, well I think they should be familiar with each other now. Stani is the number 1 seed at home for the first time in his career and he should have had enough time to adjusted to the altitude and looks like a strong favourite here.
Lucho Horna fresh from qualifying for and winning the Lugano Challenger is in a tough section with Karlovic and Seppi. Ivo likes playing here, his serve is even more effective. but with him one can never tell. Seppi is playing a big server in Meffert, it's just the usual take care of your own service game and concentrate hard on the big servers, he should do enough and make it through to the next round.
Andreev finally won a match and hope he can finish the clown Serra as he needs to get back on track, since dumping Altur as coach, though at least he has Kirilenko, so not everything is going against him at the moment.
Newport
Just a total Mickey Mouse event, hope old man Santoro defends.
Wimbledon Review
It's time for the Wimbledon review and since I couldn't be bothered writing a preview, because the expected finalists were known before the event and this came true, but more on the final later. This was quite an enjoyable Wimbledon event, any time that Andy Roddick loses early, then it's a good event. His victor Janko Tipsarevic is the man who plays well against the big players, but struggles against the players he should beat, and he ended up losing in the 4th round to Rainer Schüttler who saved his singles career with this result in making the semi finals. The likable and hard working German had suffered from glandular fever and he came back too soon, which put him further behind than he would have been initially, but I'm happy he did well here at the veteran stage and after the 1st set against Nadal, while outgunned, he played a tactically sound match.
The enigmatic volcano Marat Safin making the semi finals of Wimbledon, if someone said this before the start of Wimbledon, then it would be a trip to the special place where they like to keep people away from the general population. The big man played very well and he is thankful that the surface has been slowed significantly for him to win this many matches in a row on grass. He made Djokovic look fairly pedestrian and followed it up some excellent wins. The match against Seppi was of a high standard, though it should have been suspended or at least, the players given high visibility wear, it's very hard to play tennis when you can't see the ball. Marat also handled Wawrinka and LaLo who has always been a very tough opponent for him, he must get freaked out by LaLo's serve or the sexy backhand.
Good results for Andy Murray, Cilic once again made a 4th round of a Slam, but losing to Clement easily, is never a good thing. Martin Vassallo Argüello winning a match on grass is something that should be marked down in the calendar and it doesn't matter that he was donkey punched by Kiefer in the next round. Ernests Gulbis took out the serving tree Isner and gave Nadal, plenty to think about. Just hope he can continue to develop and progress and start giving the big players something to think about.
Onto the final now. It's better to get this out of the system now. It's interesting how the slowing down of the grass courts has impacted on tennis. I could probably do a separate article on this, but would require more work, so it will just be a summary. What was happening in the 80s and 90s, it was serve and volley tennis, this was the case when Edberg, Cash and Becker were playing, but as they were leaving the game this evolved into what became the hideous serve tennis. Just hitting bombs to the corners on bowling greens and blind monkeys could make those volleys, it was the equivalent of watching a football match and going straight to penalties. Understandably they slowed down the courts to create more rallies, but grass rewarded specific skills, encouraging the serve/volley, but as technology advanced it became, biff, bang, wallop, boom tennis and this was problematic for the fans. At the same time the glaring hypocrisy is that the clay courts have been sped up and they are using a lighter ball, yes but nothing is said about this at all. The overall homogensiation of the game in relation to surfaces is a greater factor, but if you want me to go into it further, then I will try and write something more on it.
The final, well it had plenty of drama and was good to watch, more so the last 2 sets, the first 3 sets weren't of the highest quality. Nadal was just solid and Federer a mix between good, tactically inept and woeful esepcially with his backhand. Federer's serve had been the best thing about his tournament so far and he wasn't serving that well, he lead 4-2 in the 2nd set and had numerous chances to break, but of course the relentless Nadal took his few chances and then wins the 2nd set 6-4.
Pretty much most people watched this match and as an overall match to say it was the best ever final is hyperbole at its best. Yes, it had drama, but that was it, plus the 4th set had 2 classic shots, not sure how this makes an all time classic match. As for the result, it was well deserved for Nadal, in the way, that his mental strength and his excellent break point conversion, were the keys to this match. Federer dumping backhands into the net on break points on second serves, which weren't that menacing, the fact he wanted to hit topspin backhands and approach the net, when it goes straight into Nadal's strike zone.
Time for Federer to learn something from this defeat and push forward and Nadal to be a factor at hardcourt Slams.
The enigmatic volcano Marat Safin making the semi finals of Wimbledon, if someone said this before the start of Wimbledon, then it would be a trip to the special place where they like to keep people away from the general population. The big man played very well and he is thankful that the surface has been slowed significantly for him to win this many matches in a row on grass. He made Djokovic look fairly pedestrian and followed it up some excellent wins. The match against Seppi was of a high standard, though it should have been suspended or at least, the players given high visibility wear, it's very hard to play tennis when you can't see the ball. Marat also handled Wawrinka and LaLo who has always been a very tough opponent for him, he must get freaked out by LaLo's serve or the sexy backhand.
Good results for Andy Murray, Cilic once again made a 4th round of a Slam, but losing to Clement easily, is never a good thing. Martin Vassallo Argüello winning a match on grass is something that should be marked down in the calendar and it doesn't matter that he was donkey punched by Kiefer in the next round. Ernests Gulbis took out the serving tree Isner and gave Nadal, plenty to think about. Just hope he can continue to develop and progress and start giving the big players something to think about.
Onto the final now. It's better to get this out of the system now. It's interesting how the slowing down of the grass courts has impacted on tennis. I could probably do a separate article on this, but would require more work, so it will just be a summary. What was happening in the 80s and 90s, it was serve and volley tennis, this was the case when Edberg, Cash and Becker were playing, but as they were leaving the game this evolved into what became the hideous serve tennis. Just hitting bombs to the corners on bowling greens and blind monkeys could make those volleys, it was the equivalent of watching a football match and going straight to penalties. Understandably they slowed down the courts to create more rallies, but grass rewarded specific skills, encouraging the serve/volley, but as technology advanced it became, biff, bang, wallop, boom tennis and this was problematic for the fans. At the same time the glaring hypocrisy is that the clay courts have been sped up and they are using a lighter ball, yes but nothing is said about this at all. The overall homogensiation of the game in relation to surfaces is a greater factor, but if you want me to go into it further, then I will try and write something more on it.
The final, well it had plenty of drama and was good to watch, more so the last 2 sets, the first 3 sets weren't of the highest quality. Nadal was just solid and Federer a mix between good, tactically inept and woeful esepcially with his backhand. Federer's serve had been the best thing about his tournament so far and he wasn't serving that well, he lead 4-2 in the 2nd set and had numerous chances to break, but of course the relentless Nadal took his few chances and then wins the 2nd set 6-4.
Pretty much most people watched this match and as an overall match to say it was the best ever final is hyperbole at its best. Yes, it had drama, but that was it, plus the 4th set had 2 classic shots, not sure how this makes an all time classic match. As for the result, it was well deserved for Nadal, in the way, that his mental strength and his excellent break point conversion, were the keys to this match. Federer dumping backhands into the net on break points on second serves, which weren't that menacing, the fact he wanted to hit topspin backhands and approach the net, when it goes straight into Nadal's strike zone.
Time for Federer to learn something from this defeat and push forward and Nadal to be a factor at hardcourt Slams.
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