Horsti Skoff dies at 39 because of heart attack

Horsti Skoff dies at 39 because of heart attack

This is always a tough thing to write about it, especially coming the day after such a surprising win by one of my favourite players. It definitely gets things back to earth very quickly.

Just before the mens final at Roland Garros, the news came through that Horsti Skoff, the very controversial and cantankerous Austrian who was always at loggerheads with Thomas Muster had died at age 39 of a heart attack. It was definitely too young for him or anyone to die, but he lived the fast life and enjoyed himself, though towards the end of his life, he was having weight problems and this will be shown by the pictures that have been posted.

Skoff was original for sure and definitely not the most popular guy around with his peers. He’d talk to them, laugh at them, clown around and entertain the crowd with the antics, albeit getting under the skin of the opposition players.

Off the court he didn’t mind the party life at all, he and Muster were so diametrically opposed in temperament and in game style. Horsti was talented, but didn’t train as hard as Muster, whereas Muster didn’t have a great degree of natural talent, but an outstanding work ethic. In football terms, Horsti was the talented midfielder with the skillful feet, but moody and would drift out of games and Muster was the guy who did the hard work, while valuable tended to be looked down upon.

Horsti’s memorable matches were the 1988 Vienna final when it was the first ever all Austrian final at the event and he defeated Muster in 4 sets and that defeat still bothers Muster. At the event, the crowd used to chant Horsti’s name, but it will be interesting to see what happens now he has passed on. Also the 6 hour match with Wilander in Davis Cup that didn’t have advantage sets and I was there for that match, it was a very brave effort, but he didn’t have anything left in the tank the next day.

Davis Cup also had its lowlights for him. When they made the semi finals in 1990 after Muster thumped Agassi, it came down to Horsti and Chang in the 5th rubber. This was played in the Ernst Happel Stadium in Prater Park Vienna, the crowd was signing and Horsti was so inspired and took the first 2 sets, but the daylight faded and the match was suspended, he had to come back the next day. The chance was lost, Chang changed his tactics and was able to get the job done.

Then the one in Graz, where Muster and Stich had a great battle, with Muster winning in 5 sets and the match went 5 and a half hours, but Goellner served out of a tree that day and Horsti wasn’t able to play well enough to get the victory for Austria.

Once he retired, he would make the odd appearance around the traps. Actually just recently I had wanted to interview him, but obviously that chance is gone now. He was opinionated, arrogant at times, very friendly, depended on his mood and was a ladies man, doing well in marrying a former Miss World.
He had his own academy set up in Carinthia and was hoping to bring through some players to improve Austrian tennis.

Many people forget before Muster and Horsti there was no Austrian tennis. Then these two came through at the same time and while they fought and couldn’t stand each other, as Muster said “Horsti was there for a lot of my career and he pushed me very hard”. These two came through without the help of the tennis federation and then put it on the map.

RIP Horsti and hope the academy can still continue on in your name.

Luis Horna and Pablo Cuevas provide the real surprise of Roland Garros and show that dreams can come true in unlikely circumstances

Luis Horna and Pablo Cuevas provide the real surprise of Roland Garros and show that dreams can come true in unlikely circumstances

Yes, this has been a bit late, but better late than never as they say in the classics. Unlike Rafael Nadal, who donkey punched his way through the field to win the singles in a very brutal and yet predictable manner. Also Ana Ivanovic who while very attractive, does not need to fist pump after every point won the womens event, but this wasn’t a surprise, especially since JuJu Henin decided to retire from tennis, whether it’s permanent or not, we’ll see.

Now onto the fun part of this blog entry. If someone had told me at the start of the doubles that Horna/Cuevas would the Roland Garros doubles champions I’d have asked “hey what are you smoking and where can I get it from”. The great ride started when they played the French duo of Clement and Llodra in the first round, an excellent combo and competent at singles as well, so they definitely aren’t doubles specialists. They were handled with ease, then took out Nieminen and Lindstedt in the next round and after this they took out Dlouhy/Paes in the 3rd round. They made the quarter finals taking out 2 seeded combinations.

The boys reached the quarter finals and then the fun with the Bryans began. The Bryans were huge favourites obviously for this match, but luckily the conditions were very heavy and it rained as well, making the court heavier and better for the South Americans to return serve and they took advantage. The 3rd set tiebreaker was hilarious when Ceuvas jumped the net and it was clearly nowhere near the Bryans, but after the match when Lucho and Cuevas won, the Bryan bitches refused to shake Ceuvas’s hand. There was no need for that, next time boys you have to get the rattle yourself from outside of the pram, you crybabies.

The semi final against another unseeded team Soares/Vemic was their most difficult match, as they got closer to the final, they blew match points, but managed to make it through to the final.

As we know the Cinderella tales don’t often come true, but this one was special. A Peruvian and Uruguayan making a GS final in doubles, the fact that Horna and Cuevas are singles players and don’t take doubles too seriously, in the process they knocked out three seeded teams and were big underdogs against Nestor/Zimonjic the number 2 seeds.

Lucky the conditions were quite heavy and it suited Lucho and Cuevas for sure and they came out on fire slapping returns that the doubles specialists weren’t used to handling at all. Lucho ripping on the forehand side and Ceuvas with the single hander, these devastating shots were too much for Nestor/Ziki who looked all at sea out there under the onslaught. The first set was over quickly and the second was slightly more competitive, but the same pattern continued the South Americans won 6-2 6-3.

It was great to see 2 singles guys show the doubles specialists how to get it done. They had not been used to such hitting from the baseline and service returns, yes it wasn’t conventional doubles, but it’s not important, they are out there to win.

The after match scenes were wonderful, as there weren’t many people left in the crowd, but Mastelli and Orsanic the coaches were there along with friends and family members, celebrating the win. Lucho started in English and then he switched to Spanish, too bad the Aussie commentators who were as stunned as most people talked over them.

One could see they couldn’t believe that they won and Cuevas said afterwards “we weren’t expecting to get that far”. Taking out four seeded players, showing that the doubles specialists, really should play more singles as it would help their overall games.

Lucho become the 2nd player from Peru to win a Slam and Cuevas the first Uruguayan to do it, so it was a very special achievement and one that was such a surprise made it even better that it was my personal highlight of Roland Garros.

Neither of then will be going to the Olympics, but that’s not such a big thing. Lucho has take some positive momentum from the success and the time is now to rebuild Lucho’s ranking in singles and Cuevas to establish himself in the singles top 100.

Roland Garros: What's going to stop Nadal winning a 4th title in a row?

Well, the hopes of the scenario that I painted in my last post about Nadal playing average and winning Roland Garros is likely, so the take on this entry, will focus on who else can do well in this event and this is relative compared to their draws and rankings.

Federer got quite a comfortable draw, but that is to be expected. The 3rd round he will more than likely play the winner of Andy "South Tyrolean maestro" Seppi and Mario Ancic. Normally it would be that Ancic is the seeded player, but Seppi's excellent run in Hamburg and Ancic's recovery from glandular fever have changed that. Last time they met it was on a fast indoor surface that suited Ancic, this time on clay it will suit Seppi more, especially if there is the scheduled rain that has been forecast.

Pico Monaco got the Toad Söderling in the 1st round and as tough as this looks on paper. The Toad doesn't normally bring it in the Slams and whoever wins this match would have to fancy themselves a shot at making the 4th round. Monaco's better clay pedigree will get him over the line.

Stani Wawrinka newest member of the top 10 plays German Kohlschreiber. One thing for sure there will be some quality single hand backhands in this match. This one could go either way and Stani played a lot of tennis recently and had last week off from playing 4 weeks in a row, he should be refreshed and as long as he can keep relaxed with the foot movement. He'll get the W here.

Andreev and Starace, this will be a long one and now Andreev like Chucho is coachless and he has QF finals points to defend, but if he is able to defeat the tall Italian, then he is in a good position to defend those points and at the same time if Napoli's finest Starace can get the W, he'd fancy his chances in an open section as well.

Lucho Horna replaced Tsonga as a LL and has a good chance to make it through a few rounds as long as his calf injury holds up. At the same time he plays Jenkins who has a big serve and Lucho doesn't play those guys too well, just hope it's heavy and that will help him. The other seed is Ferrero, if fit he should be good enough to make the 3rd round, but this depends on his hip problem. Big Luczak is here as well and he has been having some issues with the hamstring, just hope he is healthy.

Calleri will never have a better chance to make a 3rd round here again than this time. He plays Fish out of clay and then he'd take on Hewitt or Mahut, that should be Hewitt, the only problem over Hewitt is his hip problem and he is probably using Paris as fitness for the grass season.

Berdych will be looking atone for his poor RG showing last year and will have a kind opening 2 rounds, but with the Berdman anything can happen. Good to see del Potro back on tour and the back seems fine so far and will play Baghdatis or ball bashing Bolelli in the next round, this one is tough for Baghdatis no form going into it.

The King and the protege (Marcel Granollers) are playing at the same time. Oscar Hernandez is playing Minar again and as long as his foot is alright, he should be able to win and get enough balls head high to Minar. Granollers plays the tank Berrer and like his 2nd round opponent Schwank, he has played a lot recently, but has had a bit of rest as well, big opportunity for both. Cañas and Odesnik definitely won't be one that will be a short match and one that Willy needs to win, to get his season back. Odesnik is the one American besides Russell that can actually play on this surface.

Nieminen and Marc Lopez, someone I like will at least make the 2nd round. Guccione is playing Devilder and it would be great if he won because he'd be playing Nadal in the 2nd round. Seeing the massive Guccione on a big serving day against Rafa on clay, will be different, though at the same time there is some comedy potential for sure, which is always good to see.

Goodbye Gustavo Kuerten, Sunday Starts suck, but glad to have Michelle and other friends in Paris at the moment

Yes, I know this is a bit late to start writing this, but there were other things that had to be attended to and also the fact I personally can't stand Sunday starts, it's not about the fans and it never has been about fans, it's about the corporation and the cash, where the lines between the business and sport become even more blurred than before.

At the same time, is there a point to writing a Roland Garros preview considering that the likelihood of Rafael Nadal winning his matches easily and playing at an average level, which will still be too good for an inept Federer in the final. Yes, this is something we have not seen before. This is likely to happen, but onto the fun stuff.

Guga Kuerten was competitive in his last match and it's disappointing to see one of the greatest clay court players of all time retire because his body gave out, but he achieved a lot and gave a lot of people happiness. He was able to remain an excellent sportsman and be respected all over the world. He was unique and sadly it seems Brazilian tennis was not able to get a boom after his success, but all the best in life away from tennis.

Nalbandian did what he needed to do against Berlocq. Acasuso without a coach now managed to beat Hrbaty and plays Murray in the next round and this is a big chance for Chucho. Whether he will take it or not remains to be seen, he does not have a great record in Slams and also as much as I like the man, he has been struggling, at the same time that is the case for Murray as well.

Almagro took out the racist Pashanski, though not sure about how his wrist is holding up. Big win baby Gordo Schwank over Moya in 5 sets. Schwankster has been playing a lot of tennis lately and was involved in the hotel fire in Bordeaux.
He looks like a bit like Lapentti and plays a bit like Zabaleta except with more power and he will the play the winner of Granollers or Berrer in the next round.

The warrior Nico Lapentti took out Tipsarevic, which was not a surprise really. Of course it took a while, but Lapentti does not mind the long matches, in fact he really enjoys them. This and his game can upset the rhythm of Tipsarevic who does better when he is not favourite.

Lapentti has a chance to make the 4th round and believe he will do it. It will be a pleasant change to see some different faces in the last 16 or last 8.

Michael Russell returning to tour and thanks the readers of this blog for the support

Michael Russell returning to tour and thanks the readers of this blog for the support

Sadly, once again Michael Russell’s year has been derailed by injury problems. After winning a GS match against Fognini in Melbourne, he was in a position to rebuild his ranking and finally take the next steps and make the quarter finals of ATP events, something which surprisingly hasn’t happened for him as of yet.

For those who haven’t read the article, though I know the good readers of this blog are literate and can appreciate quality journalism, well maybe not from me. The article linked below Perseverance paying off for Michael Russell reveals quite a lot about the man’s struggles and qualities, which make him among one of the more likable tennis professionals who survive in a very selfish and closed world.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=2978555&type=story

The latest problem is a torn rotator shoulder cuff, of which there were signs of it in Delray Beach, but manifested itself in Memphis when playing his friend Sam Querrey. He was serving for the match against Big Sam, but wasn’t able to do win.

Mike is entered the Carson City and Yuba Challengers in the US and this week it’s ironic, the tournament where he gained the greatest notice against Guga Kuerten in 2001 Roland Garros starts this week and also Guga’s retirement as well.

A personal message from the man himself. “Thank you so much for their support and that I will be back soon fitter and stronger then before”. This shows what a positive attitude he has considering all the injury problems and also that appreciates our support.

If there is a man that deserves some good fortune it’s Mike Russell.

"El Fashionista” Stefan Koubek has back surgery

“El Fashionista” Stefan Koubek has back surgery

After a good finish to 2007 and a strong showing at this years Australian Open where he lost to Paul-Henri Mathieu in 5 sets in a match that he shouldn’t have lost.

Koubek has had some back problems that flared up in Zagreb and then decided to try play in Sunrise and Miami which made the problem worse. He tried resting and getting treatment, but this was not successful and last week Koubek had surgery in Vienna to correct the problem.

There is a chance that it could end his career, but Stefan sounded confident that this would not be the case and he will back on tour in his home event the Vienna Indoor. At that time, he will able to have a protected ranking which will be in the 60s.

Hopefully he can come back tour without further back problems and be able to play tennis and be involved in some of the more memorable matches like the famous Sopot 2007 match with Agustin Calleri where he was down 6-0 4-0 and Calleri served for the match twice in the 2nd set before losing 6-7(3). In addition to this Calleri lead 5-3in the 3rd and lost it 7-5.

Nearly as important as health, it would be great to see the yellow shorts make a return to tour.

Hamburg, no more trips to the Reeperbahn, matches played in 12 degrees and bye to slow and heavy clay Preview and Discussion

This is what possibly could be the last Hamburg event, after Fearless Leader aka Mr. Disney otherwise known as Etienne de Villiers the head of the ATP. The man who has 2000 ideas a day and 2001 of them are bad, but the ongoing lawsuit with the ATP over the downgrading of its status is among the many problems associated with the game at the moment. It won't be long, before he leaves and if he had any sense, he'd leave gracefully, though if he had any sense then he would not have introduced Round Robin play into regular tournaments.

Will this event have another nauseating and tedious Nadal and Federer final on clay, where Nadal doesn't have to get out of neutral to win or will something different happen? This time last year Nadal had won the big 3 events before playing Hamburg for the first time in a while and he was very heavy legged in the final and Federer played well and still could only win in 3 for his only win on the surface. Federer loves the Hamburg clay, it's slow enough, that the ball doesn't kick up as much and that helps him and Nadal, will be that bit better for having the week off, but enough of these two.

We already have 3 winners because another ingenious Mr. Disney idea is start events on a Sunday, so there is no TV coverage, but they only show minor matches, the winners were Ljubicic who got revenge on Darcis, with Ivan saving match points and Darcis served for the match, while Karlovic in a huge shock won 7-6 7-6 and Simple Simon beat Malisse.

Onto the good stuff, well depending on results. Nieminen has a chance to win a match against Schuettler, though if he does, he plays Federer and sadly for the Finn, he is cannon fodder for Federer, the second serve gets too easily exploited. Andreev and the Toad is the interesting match, as to whoever wins this one, will be favoured to make the 3rd round against clay clowns Mahut or Tsonga.

"Colonel" Youzhny makes a comeback after suffering some injury problems, he has played well in Germany in the past, but Verdasco is not an easy opponent, but can play quite well after a break. Cañas will be looking to get back on track here, though slow hardcourt is his preferred surface. David Ferrer should be freshened up after his early loss in Rome and has a comfortable 2nd rounder against LaLo or Minar.

Davydenko and Ljubo in the 2nd round could produce an upset. Ljubo is not in great form, but he knows how to play Davydenko, at the same time with all the negativity around the ATP and with Ljubicic's role as the main players representative have impacted on his tennis.

Monaco should be able to get the better of Volandri, he needs some more matches and this section of the draw is good for him to do that as Gasquet is the other seed. Marcel Granollers qualifies for his first TMS and will fancy his chances against free swinging Bolelli, he should get enough balls back on this surface to frustrate the flashy Italian. Seppi has a kind draw, but he had that and lost to Querrey and turned in a woeful performance against Blake, as to Gasquet, not sure what mood he will be in.

Almagro not sure about the status of his wrist and Acasuso is lacking confidence, but they had an exciting tussle in Acapulco with Mucho getting it 7-5 in the 3rd, whoever wins, will be relishing a 2nd round match with Montanes or Fish, as they both can hit through them and heavy games, that match up well on this surface.

Former champ Boredo and Kohlschreiber, will be a classic one aggressive player against a passive one, it all depends on whether Kohli can use his backhand well to dominate and expose Boredo and make less errors in doing so, if not then Boredo will get the cash, though big Karlovic is waiting and Robredo doesn't like him playing him anywhere.

Welcome back to tour for Berdych, after his ankle problem, not sure how he'll perform, but that's not unusual. He will either play Safin or Cilic, the revenge factor with Safin will be there, just hope his ankle is fine.

Last of all the Lucho Horna qualifies and plays Starace in the 1st round, just hope it's on a TV court, it will be tough either way and whoever wins will play Nadal in the 2nd round. Lucho gave him plenty to think about in their last match and also loves playing the top 10 players and it will be a better match up than Starace who has been handled easily by Nadal in their 3 matches.

Lets hope for a non Federer-Nadal final, well hope is free.

Arrivederci Roma: The Roman review as the likable Wawrinka makes the top 10 and my mate James the linesman was on the TV

Well Rome turned out to have quite a few strange things about it, and no the Italian fans aren't counted in this case.

The first day was so overcast and rainy, the courts played like Hamburg. On this day there were some great results well personally anyway. The "Peruvian Pearl" Lucho Horna beating Richard Gasquet more details in my previous entry, then he defeated Chucho Acasuso, one of his friends and then lost in the 3rd round to the crafty and sexy Radek Stepanek, who used an injury timeout at the beginning of the 3rd set to break the momentum and it worked, more on Radek later.

On the same day, we had a bit of needle in the Andy Murray and del Potro match, which is always good for the entertainment value. del Potro hits a few balls at Murray at the net, which is perfectly legal, then Murray says something about it. Juan replies about Murray acting like his mother and how it's always the same. Here is the link to the incident . The commentators in this Jason Goodall and Robbie Koening, wanting some biffo out of this, good for the game.

Rafael Nadal finally lost a match on clay this year to Juan Carlos Ferrero and of course the excuse makers are out there, trying to justify blisters as an injury. They aren't an injury and medical science backs that up. Sure, with the ridiculous schedule that is in place for the clay season, that is another post. He played 10 singles matches in the last 2 weeks and won easily for all of them apart from the set against Ferrer in the Barcelona final.

All this does is take away from the performance of Ferrero who tactically played a very good match and was able to execute his plan to the letter. While not a huge fan of Ferrero, too many tend to forget about how good he was on clay from 2000-2003, his forehand was one of the biggest and the speed as well. He will never get back to that level, the game has passed him by mostly, sure he can have the odd moments of brilliance, but not the day in, day out consistency of previous years. Not surprisingly he lost to finalist Stani Wawrinka in the next round, different day, different match up and it's always difficult to follow the big win, with another one in the next round.

The courts started playing the way they normally do in Rome, which is very fast. With Nadal gone, all eyes were on Federer to take another title, but this was killed by "Thunder Lips" Stepanek in the quarter finals, playing some aggressive, clever attacking tennis. The serve was working very well, and that made it easy to put his plan into process. He has pushed Federer before and Radek doesn't mind getting in the face of opponents, it works for him and also the crowd being so pro-Federer, made the win even sweeter for Thunder Lips and he pulled out the worm, which is never a bad thing

The semis were decided by retirements. Stani Wawrinka played only 3 games and then "Duckboy" Roddick, who had to play such clay legends as Fish and Bolelli, then beating his pigeon Robredo for a place in the semis, decided to call it a day with back spams. If this wasn't bad enough for the crowd. Thunder Lips was down 6-0 1-0 and pulled the pin against Djokovic, with nausea and he didn't look right, and both Roddick and Stepanek have decided to be cautious and withdraw from Hamburg.

Djokovic definitely had a charmed life in making the final, having a Bye in the 1st round, then having retirements from Almagro in the QFs and Stepanek in the semis. Unlike Wawrinka who made the semis in Barcelona last week, then had to play Safin on Monday, he got his Bye on Saturday, but he has played a lot of tennis.

The final was quite a good match, with Stani starting well and keeping Djokovic back with solid serving and not making errors and he took the 1st set, he really had to win the final in 2 sets, because Djokovic was so much fresher and that was going to count the longer the match went. This, plus in addition to Djokovic adjusting his game, moving forward more and taking charge in the rallies, he was able to expose Wawrinka's forehand and by the end of the match, Wawrinka was not moving as well and leaking errors on the forehand side, he played well, but Djokovic's extra experience in these situations and freshness counted in this match and he deserved the victory.

Welcome to the top 10 for Wawrinka, he still has some significant improvements to make, but fantastic achievement for the pleasant and likable individual.

Big cheers to my friend James, who was calling the lines and saw you on the TV during the Blake vs. Seppi match, which was one of the worst I have seen and both players didn't deserve to make it through to the next round.

Luis "Lucho" Horna lays the smackdown on Richard Gasquet 6-4 6-1 in Rome

Normally I don't write about individual matches, but there always good times to do something different.

Lucho Horna who is currently ranked outside the top 100, this is not a true reflection of his ability and talent. It's more a combination of his injury problems and also inconsistency, coming from a lack of practice to get his game going. The one season he didn't have injuries he finished in the top 40. The game is definitely there, but more about Lucho as I plan to do a write up on him at a later date.

Horna qualified defeated Max Mirnyi and Mischa Zverev, on paper they should be easy matches for a player like Horna at home on the clay, both of them presented tough challenges,. Rule number 1 in tennis, it's about match ups and most people forget this, though not the readers of this blog, these guys have games that explot Lucho's main problem the return of serve, but he came through this and drew Gasquet in the 1st round.

When I saw this draw, I thought there were good possibilities of a Horna win, due to the fact that as a qualifier, he is used to the conditions and that counts in the TMS events and also it's advantageous for the qualifiers to be playing on the Monday. This plus his aggressive game when on, can be very effective, using the heavy serve to open the court up.

The match started out fairly even, both were playing well off their service games and could hardly get a look at a break for the first 6 games, then at 30-30 on Gasquet's serve, then things changed for the better in concern to Horna's chances of winning this match. Gasquet served 2 double faults and Horna was there to capitalise for the break at 4-3. Horna continued serving well, getting a high percentage of serves in and then backing it up with solid groundstrokes, keeping good length in the heavy conditions and was winning the majority of baseline exchanges. There was a slight hiccup at 30-30 when Lucho served the set out 6-4.

Horna kept his level of play up and Gasquet afte Lucho broke his first game, it looked like he mentally checked out of the match and had his mind on other things besides tennis. Horna was mentally strong enough to close the door on any hopes of a comeback and finish off a disheartened Gasquet very quickly in the 2nd set. The Italians weren't very happy at all and being the expressive people they are, they let Gasquet know what they thought of his efforts which met with some boos and jeers for a lack of mental toughness in the 2nd set.

Lucho now has the excellent record of 9 wins against Top 10 players, considering where he has been ranked for his career. The list below is of his 9 victims and the Grand Slam ones are bolded,

1. Gasquet - Rome 2008 (10)
2. Nalbandian - Buenos Aires 2007 (10)
3. Ljubicic - Portschach 2007 (7)
4. Robredo - Båstad 2007 (8)
5. Gaudio - Acapulco 2006 (8)
6. Henman - Roland Garros 2005 (8)
7. Coria - Toronto 2004 (3)
8. Federer - Roland Garros 2003 (5)
9. Ferrero - Sopot 2003 (2)

The "Peruvian Pearl", will now play either his good friend Chucho Acasuso or Dmitry Tursunov for a place in the 3rd round, Acasuso is still looking for his confidence that is somewhere in Miami and Tursunov is just there for the food, the opportunity is there, but it has to be taken and this is not an area where Horna has excelled in following through after big wins.

Barcelona Review from the man on the grounds, no PR propaganda here

The best way to watch tennis is from the grounds and we all know this, so whoever wants to submit a report from an event, they go to and yes that includes the grass ones, then let me know.

This a review from Deivid who was at the Barcelona event and saw some quality matches and the Granollers bandwagon is there in Catalunya.

Here it is, read it and enjoy it.

This year we were there just until Wed , as usual a group of friends of mine and me arrived on Saturday morning to see qualies, but as even more usual, we ended up drinking and not going to the club on that day, so basically we went for a couple of hours on Sunday, to see some trainings and qualifying matches, where I could see a good match between that motherfucking fixer Schukin and Marc López, a guy that
used to play good tennis on dirt, but has been niggled by injuries during the last years, sadly. It was a good match and we liked the chances of the winner to win a couple of rounds if draw was kind enough, both were playing good stuff out there.

One funny thing was to see Marcel Granollers being assaulted by many people around as if he was some kind of new Borg, when we´ve always seen there totally unnoticed and almost carrying other´s rackets during past years. That´s what recent success carries with, a lot of cocksuckers making queue to salute him that didn´t even bother to say hello a few months ago. Talking about him. he was too tired in the 3rd set against Montañes to keep fighting and folded like a cheap tent after a promising 5-0 start in 1st set.

We always have tickets on the right corner of the same stand, as it´s the place where you can see all the 4 main courts (of course if a bit of height doesn´t make you dizzy) and although I went down to the outside courts sometimes, I basically spent my time there. Zverev was a toy in Ancic´s hands, when he doesn´t serve well, Misha has a lot of trouble, and that was the case that day, he definitely needs to get more on that serve of his if he wants to develop and turn into a dangerous player.
Polaco Brzezicki is still a cunt and a cheating bastard. He threw the match against his good friend Cuevas and even his girlfriend sounded like she didn´t have a clue about what was happening. I asked a friend of mine to go down and find out something by talking to her, but she was looking at his man a bit in disbelief, “He doesn´t look today like himself, looks a bit careless” lol . Shame on him.

It was good to see Dani Gimeno playing some good tennis, as I always thought he should have done much better with his career, but don´t know why he´s stuck in the rankings and with no convincent glimpses of improving too much. Ventura looks like he doesn´t like that court 1, I´ve seen a couple of awful matches from him there and this was another one. Starace looked way sharper in his match against Luczak than against Lapentti in MonteCarlo, he´s reaching top form when it counts most for him as he showed in the first set against Nadal later. Wawrinka had too much for both Sanchez de Luna, who has absolutely nothing to hurt Stan on his racket and against a good Schukin who at least made it competitive. Stan is growing as a player every year and it´s only a matter of time he´s reaching top 10 imo. RRH vs Gremelmayr was an excellent match from both players, it was clear the one who was winning that 1st set had a very good chance not only at winning that day, but going deep in the draw as well. Oscar played well, but Willy outgrinded him, at some point he just couldn´t find a way to win the points and if you think about it that was just bound to happen. Calleri played a very clean 1st set against David, but decided to play a bit of baseball for 5 minutes in the 2nd set, just enough to help Nalbandian a bit not to throw the match away and ended up paying a high price for that.

Tipsarevic rolled his ankle in the 2nd set against Gulbis, Minar had a thigh injury, Acasuso a brain injury, Troicki a Bermuda jetlag injury and that can easily summarize those matches.

Coria vs Tsunami was an interesting match, Coria started nervous, he made like 3 or 4 df´s in his first 3 service games, but after being 2-5 down, he cut them down and with some help of Tsunami´s brainfarting he scored 5 games in a row to win the set but he was not playing well and Gabashvili took the 2nd set. The third one was a very good set of tennis from both players, Coria was up 4-2 in it but although he basically made no ues/dfs in that last set, Tsunami hitted easily like 15 winners since he was broken and had too much for Coria to handle, but it was a pretty decent effort, fair to say.

Kukushkin played two excellent matches against Nieminen and Cuevas, both won fairly comfortably and he was hitting good length, changing directions smartly and without a problem and going for it when it was the right choice to do. Surely this is not his usual level, but he showed he has the ability, that´s for sure

On Wed afternoon he had to leave back home and I´ve not been able to watch anything bar the final yesterday, so that´s all from my side.

Nicolas Almagro: Sometimes talent isn't enough

It has been some time since I have wrote one of these types of articles, but that is not something that has meant to be happen. Deivid thanks a lot in advance for helping me with this piece.

Now the subject of this post is the Spaniard Nicolas Almagro. He is known as Mucho more commonly, but I like to refer to him as "el cabezon", which is a reference to size of his cranium to the rest of his body and not to his ego, which is definitely quite healthy as it normally is for a professional sportsman. At a time he was "the Superstar", because of the antics, but didn't have the results to back up the swagger, this has been partially rectified, though there are still question marks which will be addressed later.

Almagro turned pro in 2003 and won several Futures titles and he beat some names that have made it to the main tour Igor Andreev, Stani Wawrinka, Juan Monaco, Garcia-Lopez among the list. Then as a qualifer in Palermo, he came through and took finalist Mathieu to 3 sets, who made the final and had a huge choke against Massu.

"El cabezon", while he was known to Spanish tennis audiences, came known to international audiences when in a short space of a few weeks, he qualified for 2004 Hamburg and pushed Guillermo Coria to the brink losing 7-5 in the 3rd and this was the Coria who was on quite a long clay winning streak, who ended up losing to Federer in the final. Then he qualified for Roland Garros played Guga Kuerten lost the first two sets, came back won the next 2 and lost the last one 7-5. Though he lost those matches he made an impact with shotmaking, exuberance and the lack of fear when against two of the best claycourt players one in their prime and the other slightly faded.

After that, he lost his way in 2005 and didn't realise that he had to work hard to improve, within 2 seasons he was just outside the top 100. He pumped Safin in Rome in striaght sets, but did little else after that in the season. He won his first Valencia title as a qualifier in 2006, that then that lead him on a rich vein of form, losing to Nadal in Barcelona, then qualified for Rome and made the semi finals pushing Federer to the brink.

This is when the press and fans start getting on the Almagro bandwagon, that he is going to do some damage at Roland Garros, he is a dark horse and all the usual hype that happens after one or two good results. The hype ended up crashing pretty quickly when he lost to James Blake and this match highlighted many of 'el cabezon's" weaknesses. Blake plays the same style of game irrespective of surface, he belts the shit out of the ball, when not going well, he tries to hit it harder. Mucho wins the 1st set in a TB, then Blake's shots starts going in, but instead of Almagro using his greater experience and nous on clay, by stretching Blake wide or hitting some heavy topspin balls down the middle. He wants to be mucho macho and try and match Blake in the ballbashing stakes, as if to prove "I am the bigger man and I can hit harder than you", it's not rocket science, you don't try and play the game that your opponent loves, unless you are Federer at his best or Borg on clay.

Almagro has an outstanding single hand backhand down the line especially and can get very good angles on it and when in full flight it's a wonderful shot. His forehand while it's his weaker side, it's a very heavy shot and hard to attack, unless you get him moving. His serve is excellent, very hard to read with a quick and low ball toss and even with that low ball toss, he gets a lot of kick of the court, which opens the court up and then he can dominate from there.

El cabezon has an attitude problem as well.Yes, he has had some on court problems with his antics, well when he won Valencia in 2006. Marat Safin refused the handshake, then the famous incident with Daniel Koellerer in the Acapulco qualies, where they were giving each other shit and then Koellerer calls him "hijo de puta}, well he probably should have said it in German. In a way it's good that he is a bit controversial and shows what he feels on court.

More importantly, he has lazy footwork, not that he is slow per se, he just doesn't move that well, and that impacts on his defensive skills. "El cabezon" is the type that enjoys dictating the play, and can hit the big shots when he is set, but he finds it hard to defend very well, when stretched because of his average movement. This leads into some questionable shot selection, doesn't always know when to pull the trigger to unleash the powerful shots, could give the ball a bit more and use the advantage that he has heavy shots to get more short balls, that he can punish with his outstanding groundstrokes from either side.

He has now seemed to have found some consistency at the IS level and he played an excellent match in Acapulco against Nalbandian to win the title there. Almagro is due for some consistent performances in the major clay events, the main doubts are whether he has the will or the aptitude to work on the weaknesses like the movement, shot selection and defensive skills which will help him do better on the clay, as well as the hardcourts. Then again he might be content with just existing on his talents and existing between 20-50, with the occasional good performance.

As for the big breakthrough, well he is definitely good enough to win one of the big 4 clay events, but these aren't won, just by having great groundstrokes and looking good on court. He could do with a change of coach, to take him to the next level, as the saying goes you can lead the burro to the water, but you can't make him drink.

Camp Nou, Gaudi, La Rambla, the home of Catalan Culture

This has traditionially been one of the best clay events on the calendar and nearly anyone who is anybody in respect to claycourt pedigree has won here for example Borg, Wilander, Lendl, Muster, Nadal, then there have been the surprise winners like Todd Martin and Richard Krajicek.

Some would say that it's a waste of time to do a review of a clay event that Nadal is playing in, and there is probably some merit in ths, but one can hope that there are possibilities of him being knocked off the perch this week. If not, which is likely, then it can give a chance to gauge the form of some of the other contenders.

The Americans decided to show up here with James Blake and Gineprick, it was meant to be three, but the best of the lot Vinny "Ice" Spadea withdrew for some reason, which is disappointing, because the rap gimmick and his sense of style and flair would have gone down well there. Ginepri is going there as a tourist and also he can work again with Jose Higueras who is going back to his homeland.

Kevin Anderson and Dmitry Tursunov has all the hallmarks of a claycourt clown classic, though this one will pale into insignifance compared to the classic between Kenneth Carlsen and Paradorn Srichaphan that was played in front of the Catalans. This is a city that has seen some of the most breathtaking football and claycourt tennis artistry, but nothing will top that much for all round buffoonery and tennis was the only winner.

The event is still played at a club and not some purpose built arena, which gives it something of a special atmosphere for all the Spanish players, many of them Catalan speakers as well. This is as close to a local event for Rafael Nadal since Mallorca moved to Valencia, since his first language Mallorcan is close to Catalan. He has been good enough to be able to win this event, this is something the genial and likable Alex Corretja was never able to do for some reason, plus this was where Felix Mantilla (a profile will be on him this week) made his comeback from skin cancer and got a great reception and pushed Moya to the brink last year.

Onto the matches there are some very good 1st rounders and tough sections, and usual a section that has some clay clowns, but that is bound to happen. The good natured Aussie Peter Luczak didn't get the best of draws, especially as he flew from Bermuda and will face the Potato Starchy (Starace). Starace hasn't been in as good form as last year since coming back from the betting ban, which was just gelato money. They have played once this year and Starace won in straight sets, and would be strongly favoured here. It will be interesting to see how he does against Nadal. Also in this section is Chucho Acasuso who is playing LaLo, who haven't played for almost 5 years and Chucho needs to get his season back on track after the Davis Cup failure.

The Blake section of the draw is very weak and whoever gets through there, it will be like a Bye for the semi finals. Blake, who has never real done the business on clay in Europe. Tursunov and Anderson are clay clowns. Navarro has some good possibilities, as his serve and volley game can be effective, the clay gives him more time to make the returns. Marcos Daniel is a challenger player who fights hard and has no forehand. The interesting part is Gremelmayr and Ramirez-Hidalgo, both of whom ran Federer quite close on the clay in Estoril and Monte Carlo respectively but lacked the necessary Wilanders (balls) to believe they could win this match.

Unlike the Blake section, the potential quarter finalist from this section could either be Mucho Almagro who plays well at home and in the lower level ATP events. Volandri who has to max out his points for the year, he plays the talented, but tactically inept Jürgen Melzer. Melzer beat him on clay to win his only title, yet he lost a set 6-0 to Volandri on indoor hard in Bercy, in which he was considered a bit of a joke for getting a bagel from Volandri on a non-clay surface. Ancic is continuing on his comeback and with Fidde Rosengren taking plenty of notes, anyone who knows anything about Fidde is that he works his players hard and wants them do well on the clay to help them on other surfaces. If he beats Zverev, then he will play Andy Murray who is still an unknown quantity on the clay, at least he has enlisted Alex Corretja one of the best tacticians of the game to help deal with the red stuff.

Marcel Granollers returns home after a great trip to North America where he got his first title, playing another local lad in Fat Albert Montañes. This will be Espanyol vs. FC Barcelona in this one. Polaco Brzezicki and Cuevas, this one could go either way, maybe Cuevas can get some inspiration from Marcel's win in Houston, though losing to a 15yr old is going to do much for his ego. The seeds in this section are big Ivo Karlovic and the Finn Jarrko Nieminen, who was finally able to end the run of poor defeats and is now going to work with Joakim Nyström for the clay season.

Stani Wawrinka and Nalbandian are paired in the same section of a draw once again, this does not mean that they will necessarily will meet in the 3rd round, as long as Stani gets through his qualifier, he won't have problems with Ginepri or Schukin unless he has a very bad paella. Calleri who played 2 very poor matches lately has a chance to get a win against ToJo Johansson and if that's the case, then there will be the Cordoba derby between he and Nalbandian. Boca vs. River Plate, Calleri won the last time they played, the thing with el Gordo is that it's very hard to pick when he is going to play well, because of the fluctuations of his game.

As this preview is almost like an essay time to finish it up. It's good to see that Cañas is back, the only problem is that he is facing King Oscar is in his backyard, at least tennis will win here. Coria back on the ATP level, so the Weasel playing the tsunami Gabashvili, there definitely could be some funny antics in that one and maybe a bit of chat as Gabashvili speaks Spanish, it will depend on how Coria serves. Ferrer is there lurking in the shadows, he seems to have lifted his game and this is good.

Nadal, well it would be great if he could stopped this week, then again it would be great if I had 6 to 10 hot women on call all the time, just like Nadal losing this week, it's not going to happen.

Drinking beer, eating weisswurst, BMWs and there is some tennis this week in Münich

Germany, which was once the powerhouse of tennis, especially in the 90s, now it's relegated to only having a few small IS events. At the same time there is the Hamburg suing the ATP and Stuttgart almost a Mickey Mouse event.

Unlike Barcelona, this event is quite open, but this is to be expected when Nadal is not playing in a clay event. This tournament has the defending champion and Bavarian Philipp Kohlschreiber who also won the doubles as well, he has a fairly good draw, it wouldn't surprise if he defended the crown.

Mathieu and the Chilean Gonzalez are the top 2 seeds here, seems a bit strange that Gonzo would pull out of Monte Carlo to play there, then again small event and bigger appearance fee would help this and also he can use this to prepare for Rome, Hamburg and maybe Dusseldorf. He plays Sela who took him out in the Davis Cup playoffs last year, on this surface it should be a comfortable win for the Chilean.

Korolev and Cilic, could be potentially an interesting match between 2 youngsters, who go about the game very differently. Korolev with his power and not always the best shot selection and Cilic who works very hard and is quite steady.

Andy Seppi likes playing in German-speaking environments and will be looking to erase that poor performance against Querrey, where everything was just not working very well, he has quite a good section of the draw, got to take advantage of it.

Best match of this round is Monfils and Andreev who had quite good weeks in Monte Carlo last week, but anything could happen in this match. Andreev has been a bit inconsistent this season and Altur isn't with him as he has been over the last years and Thierry Champion is back with Monfils, though he will still play in Austria when standing to return serve. It's a hard match to gauge, but either player is good enough to take the title.

Del Potro has to get his season in order after some back problems, this is a good as place as any, to start building his ranking back up and now he has Franco Davin as his trainer, the ex-Gaudio coach, so he is used to some difficult characters.

Marat Safin is there probably looking to get a new BMW on a discount, he plays Charly Berlocq aka the panther, for his speed across the court. Berlocq flew in from Bermuda not long ago, so Marat could take advantage. At the moment it seems he can't string anything consistent, one day plays well, the next day awful. He has lost that bit of speed, which will make it harder for him.

Auf gehts Seppi, take your first title here, but like I said at the start, at least this event is open and that is something that has been lacking over the recent clay season.

The Millionares' Playground, Jimmy's Bar, Fifis, Casinos Beautiful people, well not beautiful, but rich people in Rainierstan aka Monte Carlo Preivew

Monte Carlo

We have now arrived to the first clay TMS of the season, which is one of the most prestigious, even though that clown Mr. Disney was trying to degrade its status, but the groundswell of support shows that there is still a lot of love there. This event has traditionally been the best indicator of Roland Garros success. Well here comes the problem will we see Rafael Nadal sleepwalk, while playing at 30% capacity and still winning the event easily. Or the unlikely scenario is that he might be challenged or pushed, let alone beaten. This season has been different to say the least, but Nadal losing on clay would liven it up for sure.

Federer after winning his 1st challenger title in years, well not really sure what level of form he is at. He has a kind draw until the QFs. The next section is of interest Boredo made the semis last week, but he still isn't in the form he was over the last 2 seasons. The possibility of too much tennis over the last 2 years has taken the edge off, he has a difficult 1st round with Stani Wawrinka. He leads 3-1, but Stani won the last one easily, this is the best surface for both of them. I think Stani will get the job done this time around, he has to be careful of making basic errors as Robredo will just get the ball back. Thunder Lips and Toad will be agood clash of styles, too bad they decided to put the match in Italy. Nalbandian is in this quarter, not sure how we will play. Personally I don't expect too much from him in this event, he had some muscle soreness in Davis Cup and he will be playing better in Barcelona and Rome, it would be good to be proven otherwise.

Guga is playing for the last time in Monte Carlo an event which he has won, just hope he can perform as well as he can, though I don't see him beating Ljubicic. This section has a potential Djokovic and Murray match in the 3rd round, it would be a surprise not to see Djokovic there, but Murray is still unknown on the clay. Take a bow Sam Querrey the only American player with the balls to come over and play with the big boys in Monte Carlo. It won't be easy for him as he plays the 10th seed Moya, he needs to serve big and hit some big forehands, then he might have a show. The Calleri and Seppi match is a difficult one as they are both favourites, their form has been up and down and it will be difficult to call the winner on this, though both of them do have a chance against Moya in the 2nd round. Rounding this section off will be Vliegen and Gasquet, the young Frenchie definitely has a lot to prove after the fiasco with Davis Cup. Allegedly he had blisters, a knee injury, dandruff. whatever the ailment, he has something to prove.

Andreev has the chance to take on Youzhny in the 2nd round, because he really shouldn't lose to Tursunov on clay, at the time I said that about Berdych losing to Roddick on clay. Possible 2nd round rematch from Valencia with Mucho Almagro and Juan Monaco, this will be a lot closer than the last one, conditions will be different, the court is faster in Monte Carlo and Monaco has got the jet lag out of the system, it wouldn't surprise if either Monaco or Almagro is the quarter finalist in this section. Chucho Acasuso plays Kohlschreiber, both of them had poor matches last time out in Davis Cup, especially Chucho getting thrashed by Soderling at home, but this is a good time to bounce back. Chucho's heavy game should be too strong for Kohli, then he'd take on Kiefer. Chela who is sucking at the moment needs to beat Bolelli and he would play Davydenko, who he enjoys a good record against.

Safin and Malisse, two headcases, should be the odd broken racquet and swear word in this match, if they are both switched on, then there is a chance to see some good tennis. Solid Starace will get a lot of Italian support, he'd fancy his chances of a 3rd round appearance. Ferrer is the man in their section, his level was not great at Valencia, but he got through that bad patch, not sure which Ferrer will show up this week.

As for the bottom part. Nadal is there and the all rest are just props, though I'd love Nieminen or Ancic to give the vamos, arse picking Mallorquin a challenge.

Ferrer show in Valencia, Federer wins a Challenger and Marcel Granollers shows Blake how to win on clay

The clay season has finally kicked off and it was an interesting week for a variety of reasons in the respective events Valencia, Estoril and Houston. A mixture of the expected and unexpected happened, which is typical for the week after Davis Cup and also for early in the clay season for many players. I will do the summary in 3 different parts for the respective events.

Valencia

This is meant to be last edition of the Valencia clay event, before it becomes one of these 100 000000 point ATP events that Mr. Disney wants to rename for the purpose of making it look like he is doing something for the game, the surface will be changing to indoor hard, if all the 2009 calendar thing goes through.

It was clearly the strongest event of the week, this was due to the calendar being fucked up for the year. Before we get through to the good stuff, well that depends on the definition of good. Lucho Horna continued his poor streak of form by losing 1st round to Zverev, who is not a claycourter, but has a good serve and is tricky, plus Lucho isn't known for the quality of his return game. Disappointing that he pulled out of the Bermuda Chllenger, he is too good to be where he is ranked at the moment, but fitness issues can do this.

Igor Andreev lost another 3rd set tiebreaker to countryman Evgeny Korolev, seems the only man he can beat in them is Albert Montañes, his 2007 losing streak in final set tiebreakers includes Nadal, Djokovic, Seppi, Mahut and LaLo (5th set TB) this is not the one trend that a player wants to repeat. After the big comeback year of 2007, it's no surprise that Andreev has struggled a bit in 2008, taking all that effort to come back, rebuild the ranking, that he is mentally a bit down at the moment. Though he does have a very attractive girlfriend, which can be a good or a bad thing. He is still a dangerous opponent, though a danger to himself he can be as well, with those bricklayer hands at the net. It was a great week for Korolev who has gone into the background recently and this can be a good thing for his development, that the other youngsters have had more headlines. He fought very hard and went one better with the semi final before losing to Nico "Mr. Valencia" Almagro, who had the been the best player all week.

Marat Safin defeating Ferrero, two former number ones playing in a 1st round of an IS event, well time and the game don't stand still for anybody. Best thing for Marat is that he is working with Geneva's finest Marc Rosset for the clay season. With this win and also his Davis Cup 5 set win over Berdych, of course there were plenty of fools who believed that he was back. It will take some consistent wins and not consistent 1st round losses before Safin is back to a decent level, if he can play one of the big guys early in the upcoming TMS events, he usually plays well, but he has more problems with the lower ranked ones these days.

Onto the winner of the event the local lad David Ferrer. What a courageous fighter he is, the biggest fighter on tour now Felix Mantilla has retired. He is definitely not the most spectacular player, but even when not playing at his best, he will always fight hard and has won matches from seemingly impossible positions, this tournament was a perfect example of this. In the quarter final he was outplayed for the most part by Fernando Verdasco who has done well against Ferrer in their recent matches, but Verdasco had match point and served for the match. He showed once again he has the million dollar game and body, but the tennis brain and the on court mentality of a 1 cent piece and this goes onto the numerous list of matches, that somehow Verdasco has managed to blow from winning positions. The semi final was more of the same against Boredo, who was up a set and dominating the match, but Ferrer just hung around, cut down on his mistakes, ran everything down, got a bit more aggressive and was able to turn the tide.

The final against Almagro. El cabezon Almagro has won this event twice and had 17 consecutive wins at the venue and unlike Ferrer, he was hardly challenged this week in his wins. He made Juan Monaco and Korolev look ordinary and started off in the same way in the final against a nervy Ferrer. Almagro was serving well, using the angles and the spin to set up the points, then hit a quicker one to change it up. He was 0-3 in matches against Ferrer, while he has the weapons to beat Ferrer, he doesn't always have the mental aptitude on court. He took the 1st set easily, but Ferrer was able to start returning better in the 2nd set and el cabezon was missing his big groundies, even then as Ferrer won the 2nd set, it seemed Almagro was in control. The 3rd set began like the 1st and Almagro was having his way with Ferrer, up a double break at 5-2, it looked like he was going to win three times in a row. Ferrer kept hanging on and Mucho got tight, Ferrer sensed this and took the initiative and was able to level at 5-5. Once he got in the tiebreaker, Ferrer was just too solid, not making errors and riding on the back of the crowd support, whereas Mucho was bemused at what was going on out there.

Ferrer was a deserved winner, mainly because he did not give up, played the big points well and showed how much he has developed over the years, finding a way to win when not playing near your best and this event illustrated that perfectly. Almagro, well he now needs to perform at the bigger clay events at a consistent level to justify the hype around him, the ability isn't what he lacks.

Estoril Challenger

This event used to open the clay season and had quality events, but this year suffered due to the shift in dates. Apart from Roger Federer and Davydenko this was just a challenger field in reality. Yes, both of these guys made the final, though there were a few hurdles. Davydenko was playing poorly and trying to lose, so he could go to Monte Carlo, but if he loses early in these IS events, then there is the spectre of an investigation of him not putting in his best effort. Federer managed to lose a set to Gremelmayr who somehow made the semi finals. Fed also hit some backhands into Spain or the Azores depending on wind conditions. So we had a final with a guy who tried to tank, but the players he played weren't good enough to take advantage of it and the world number 1 who isn't exactly in prime form. Federer won, but the fact that Davydenko retired in the 2nd set with a break, is just ironic. Some of the more paranoid will think it was a fix, though not sure winning the Estoril Challenger is worth as much as doing well in Monte Carlo. It's definitely not the way Federer would like to win a title, but it's apt for how his season has played out so far.

Houston

Congratulations to Marcel Granollers-Pujol on winning his ATP title. It was a surprising win, though at the same time it was a very open field, with North American Mickey Mouse title specialists James Blake and Tommy Haas in the field. Marcel took out Gulbis, Luczak, Daniel, Odesnik saving 2 match points in the process and then taking out Blake 7-5 in the 3rd after being down 0-3 in the 3rd set and serving for the match at 5-4. Marcel just had too much claycourt acumen for Blake, who was frustrated with the heavy conditions and not being able to hit through his opponent, who defended well, when he needed to and changed it up with some excellent dropshots.

Other notes on this event. The venue is a plush country club, but I think it suits the event perfectly. The court is slow in general, but unlike in Europe, they use the Wilson ball which is a lot lighter than the one used in Europe and South America. Well somehow Fish wins clay matches in Houston, but can't do it anywhere else. Fish's loss to King Oscar was great and funny as well. Fish complaining about the hamburger smell nearby, but the King didn't mind and got hungry from it.

This event cause of the open nature was a series of lost opportunities. Sergio "Escopeta" Roitman who has won big events in Challengers, but seems to have problems progressing past the quarter finals of ATP events. He had the perfect opportunity to do this against Wayne Odesnik, a courageous leftie from South Africa but lives in the US now. Roitman won the 1st set easily, then served for the match twice in the 2nd set and had a match point in the process. He has a history of some classic chokes and failing to close out matches, this is one match he will be kicking himself badly that he lost.

King Oscar made his first semi final after 0-7 in QF appearances on tour, while this is a good result making the semis. There were chances for him to make the final, initially Oscar was a bit nervous which makes sense considering it was his first semi and lost the 1st set. The 2nd set at 3-1 up and 30-0, this was where he needed to establish himself on the match to able to take it to the 3rd set, as he has the game on clay to frustrate Blake. The weather worked in Blake's favour as it was warmer and that made the court quicker and helped impose his game. Not sure if the King will get another chance to make a tour final, but it does not matter he will always be King Oscar.

Nalbandian back in Buenos Aires and Raemon Sluiter finishes his career in Rotterdam

Before writing the previews for this week, will round up some of the recent results. Finally Seppi won an event in the Bergamo Challenger, he usually doesn't play challengers, now has to take that on board and be able to do well in major events.

Andy " I am scared of the Last Tango in Buenos Aires" Murray came through to win in Marseille and his decision to skip the Davis Cup tie in Buenos Aires, hence the name for him seemed justified, though the way he went about it was poor, sure he won the event, but this event was more newsworthy in that Mario "Karate Kid" Ancic came back to the tour and made the final in his first event back after suffering glandular fever and other injuries. This tournament also had the comeback of Robin 'the Toad" Söderling from a wrist problem and was defeated by Ancic and the Toad loves a roof, so he is now the hope of Swedish tennis.

Congrats to the young Japanese Kei Nishikori for winning MM Delray Beach, which was like a challenger field and taking out James Blake in the final who loves an American Mickey Mouse event for sure, doing it as a qualifier even better, and this is one Asian guy who doesn't mind a clay court.

Mucho Almagro won the title in Brasil and it's his 3rd title and he defeated Moya who had been playing 3 setters all week, where he should have lost in the 1st round to Santi "the clay detective" Ventura who created a lot of chances, but played the big points poorly and the King Oscar Hernandez up 4-1 in the 3rd set and couldn't close the deal. Almagro is an interesting case and will do a write up on him soon, he needs to fire in the big events. Acasuso and Andreev even by their standards had comical losses this week, well Acasuso might have been drunk after the Davis Cup losing to Decoud, but still should have won. Andreev got thumped by Schwank aka baby Gordo and he didn't get a break point at all in the match, big Andreev is going through a rut at the moment.

Onto this weeks events well since San Jose is a Mickey Mouse event, the only comments about this event are that I hope Joel he knows who he is, has a good time there and that Mike Russell turns around that loss to Ginepri that he had in Delray Beach.

Buenos Aires, well it's a strong field this time around and no Round Robin bullshit either, which is the way tournaments are meant to be played. Coria and Gaudio both were meant to play here, but couldn't take their place as Gaudio still has the ankle problem and Coria didn't take the wildcard that was on offer for him. Nalbandian is back here and has never got past the quarters at this event and the fact that Jaite his coach doubles as the tournament director is a good reason for him to play here, he has a fairly good draw, but anything is possible here. Too bad the clay loving Aussie Peter Luczak didn't get a better draw, but at this event, there aren't that many easy matches, especially if their level isn't up to standard.

King Oscar and Zabala are playing each other in the 1st round and that will be on centre court. Oscar had a good run in Brazil and defeated Zabaleta last time they played in Florianopolis and Zabala needs to get back on track. It's the old thing, to get match tough, players need to win matches, but not winning matches, then it gets harder to get that way. The winner of that will play Almagro or Che Vassallo, and Mucho will be a bit tired from his win in Brasil, so there is a chance there for either Oscar or Zabala.

Igor "I am in very poor but I will still beat Gaudio form" Andreev needs to get on back track at this event and has drawn Montanes someone he has a 3-0 record ever and hope he can turn it around starting at this event. Andreev doesn't defend very well and it seems he has got worse in that department or maybe the fact he fought back so well in 2007 from the injury problems in 2006, that he is a bit flat at the moment and that can happen, well it happened to Muster after his knee problem, but would like to see him play either Acasuso or "Mr Buenos Aires" Moya in the quarters. Acasuso has a big shot here at Moya, he does play well at home and Moya hasn't been able to prepare as much as he'd like for the Buenos Aires Slam.

Los Mastellis, they are Horna and Monaco both coached by old fox Mastelli make a return to tour, though not sure how their bodies will handle it. Horna has an elbow problem, that could be a chronic thing, if not taken care of and he really needs the points to build back his ranking to where it should be. Monaco is back after spraining his ankle and missing Davis Cup, hope he can play, but there are doubts whether he will and he has a tough 1st rounder against Calleri in his title defence, just hope he can play with no pain.

Rotterdam

Krajicek has got a strong field here at Rotterdam. Nadal got an interesting draw and him losing would be worth it, though not sure if Tursunov will be on or off. Would like a rematch with the Toad and Nadal. Seppi playing Hewitt, this is a good time for Seppi to take advantage of Hewitt's lack of match play.

Berdych and Ljubo is a quality 1st round match and either one of them could make the final on the weaker side of the draw. Karlovic is playing Oli Rochus, he should just concentrate on hitting kick serves that bounce over head. Colonel Youzhny and Tipsarevic, well the Colonel should win this match and he is the defending his title and should make the semis here, but what should and does happen are two different things.

This will be the last event for Raemon Sluiter and perfect place to retire in your hometown and hope he can win a match here and have a good life after tennis.

Davis Cup World Group 1st Round Summary

Well this really won't take too long as there really weren't that many interesting ties and also some of the teams weren't at full strength for varying reasons like Andy Murray who was too scared to face the chorus music in Buenos Aires. Nadal couldn't be bothered in Peru and Master Federer doesn't believe in Davis Cup unless he can be the saviour.

Russia vs. Serbia 3-2 : No surprise that the Russians won especially with Djokovic and Tipsarevic not playing on Day 1 due to illness and injury respectively. Djokovic made an appearance in the doubles with Zimonjic and then played the 4th match and once Davydenko started to get some momentum and he retired from the match due to his illness. No need to play Marseille for him, but he will anyway. Zimonjic and Troicki did an excellent job in tough circumstances, now they play at the Czechs at home on clay.

Czech Republic vs. Belgium 3-2 : Good that the Czechs have finally made a QF of the World Group again and they have a very good unit with Berdman, Stepanek, Dlouhy and Vizner and I think next time against the Russians on clay that Dlouhy/Vizner should play instead of asking Berdych and Stepanek for the doubles, as they will be needed on Day 3. This one was done and dusted by the doubles and the Czechs had fun at the bar on Saturday night.

Argentina vs. UK 4-1 : Baker the Scotsman defeating Calleri in the 5th match was the highlight for this tie and the Argies might be shattered that there was no 5-0 in this tie.

Sweden vs Isreal 3-2: Lack of a number 2 singles player cost the Israelis here and good to see that the old fox Bjorkman was able to preserve World Group status for the Swedes, who go back to Argentina for a drubbing on clay in the quarter finals.

Germany vs. Korea 3-2 : Never in doubt for the Germans and Kohli had too much class on the clay for the Koreans.

Spain vs. Peru 5-0: Too much depth for the Spanish team and also the fact that the Peruvian warrior Lucho Horna injured his arm on the warm up and couldn't play on Day 1 hampered any chance of the Peruvians making it to Day 3 as a live rubber, will be interesting to see what the surface the Germans use this time around.

France vs. Romania 5-0: Tsonga had a very successful debut for the French team and they will be hopeful he can keep that up in future DC ties and too classy for the Romanians.

USA vs. Austria 4-1: Clownish performance by the Austrians at home. They had enough chances to be leading 2-0 after Day 1 and somehow they managed to be 0-2 down after Melzer up a break in the 5th set against Roddick and making too many errors wasn't stable enough to overcome his nemesis.

Koubek leading 7-5 5-2, then loses the 3rd and 4th sets 6-2 6-2 with an effort that looked like he didn't compete at all and was too passive. There are questions that need to be asked of Gilbert Schaller's leadership when Koubek was struggling, this was where Muster would have been able to get the best out of him, but this wasn't the case.

The Bryans slapped around Knowle and Melzer like they were gimps at a bondage party, the dead rubber well Eschauer didn't do himself any favours losing to Bob Bryan.

The Quarters should be more interesting.

Australian Open final call

The Australian Open final call

My Aus Open ended at the Nieminen/Nadal and Tsonga/Youzhny matches, sometimes I go to one of the semi finals, but it was not the case this year and in a way it was disappointing to miss out seeing Federer and Nadal both losing in straight sets live to Dokovic and Tsonga respectively, well we can’t have everything in life.

Does this mean a changing of the guard in relation to tennis hegemony? Not at the moment, it’s too early to say that, but with Novak Djokovic talking it up saying he was ready to challenge and delivering by taking out the event and Federer in straight sets, maybe it sets the seeds for the other players to come through in the majors. Federer is still a massive favourite for Wimbledon and the US Open and Nadal still is clearly the favourite at Roland Garros.

The final itself was close and was glad that it wasn’t the usual turgid Federer vs. Nadal final matches which are the majority except at 2007 Wimbledon and 2006 Rome. The extra big match experience of Djokovic was just too much for Tsonga, who was the crowd favourite all the way through with his great movement, soft hands, flashing smile, Cassius Clay lookalike and relaxed manner. One thing about the final was interesting, the respective support groups the Djokovic clan were very fired up, especially the father to be point of being obnoxious and Tsonga’s dad was just very calm, though when his son won the 1st set he was doing the shadow boxing and stylish as well.

Enough of the final and the overall experience this year when inside the tennis complex was positive for the most part. There was a good perve which is important and saw Xristos the Greek stud who is funny in his own way.

It was good to see Koubek playing well, the King Hernandez winning on hardcourt, Calleri and Brzezicki playing doubles for a laugh, Seppi winning a match that didn’t go to 3.49am. Pavel might be in Australia for the last time and copped a rough draw. Adrian Voinea for putting up with Sammy and my questions and handling it well. Peter Luczak for being the humble, hard working player that he is, though a bit disappointed not to see baby Seb, but that can wait for another day. Jarkko Nieminen making the most of his game and having another successful Slam.
Good crowds, met some interesting people from all walks of life. The five French guys from Paris, but support Olympique Marseille in football were quality and followed on all the French players especially Tsonga and Mathieu and they listened to my advice about how to get into centre court for free and it worked. They did so well they were there for the final annoying Papa Djokovic.

The little sisters Kristen and Peta it was great catching up with them for different reasons. Kristen gets called Justine Henin, but she is much prettier than her and these crazy Austrians seem to appreciate her and not just talking about Marach. Peta with her obsession with Pavel and Enric Molina, if I didn’t know her, then it’d be freaky, but I do and it isn’t.

Sammy and Joe the Geelong Croat connection thanks for all your help and it’s always fun catching up with you and the marathon tennis DVD oldies sessions were worth it and next year I might have to try and qualify for the Aus Open, maybe I could play the journalists event.

Andreas the legend Austrian journalist from ORF and fellow Kent Carlsson fan always a pleasure, too bad we couldn’t play tennis this time, we’d draw more people than the average WTA match. Ariel and Leo the Argentines an honour as always and Victor thanks for everything and coming through when needed. Nick it was fun as always and just hope Malisse doesn’t piss you about anymore.

James and Saffaro, well always good to hear from you and see you, well James next year it has to be done, but you knew me from the start, so that won't be forgotten.

Grekan, I know you don’t read this, but will eventually. Thanks to yourself who showed me the way around the Aus Open complex, when I had less clue than Thomas Muster on grass and introduced me to some good people and no matter what happens to me, you won’t be forgotten.

Hopefully I will be back there next year and also at more tennis events in 2009 and try and entertain the people who read this blog sometimes.

The Shark fails to put the bite into Nadal. Tsongaaaaa Bombaya

The original intention was not to go to the tennis on this day, but somehow I managed to get tickets for both quarter finals a day and a night session, so these had to be taken of course.

Nadal vs. Nieminen :

It was a great feat for Nieminen to make the quarter finals, but the result of this match was never in doubt for a few reasons. Jakke Nieminen does not beat the higher ranked players, this is partly due to a lack of belief in doing it and also he doesn't have enough weapons generally.

The 1st set was quite good tennis with Nieminen coming out relaxed and nothing to lose (there is a story to this in the next entry) and was handling the heavy game of Nadal well with the backhand especially and wasn't passive all the time.

Both of them were holding serve comfortably until the turning point of the match in the 1st set, when Nieminen had 2 set points on Nadal's serve. Nadal hit a good 2nd serve that jammed Nieminen as he tried to run around and hit a forehand. Once Nadal held that service game, the inevitable break of serve came along and then Nadal served it out after that.

Jarkko had a mental let down after the lost opportunity and Nadal being Nadal turned the screws in and was able to keep comfortably ahead and took the second set very easily and Jakke even managed to hit a 2nd serve at 102 km/h, something that is memorable. The third set was closer, but even then there was no feeling that Nadal was in trouble and it went as expected.

It was a great event for Nieminen, too bad he couldn't take the 1st set and stir up the Mallorcan bull.

Tsonga vs. Youzhny:

The 1st set of this match was excellent tennis as both guys were serving very well. Tsonga with the massive serve and was serving at 80 percent in the set, always going to be tough to break and that got him in the mood.

Youzhny wasn't using the slice backhand as much and when he did big Jo was able to handle it and one thing about Tsonga, yes he is massive, but he is very fast for his size and had the crowd eating out of his hands and had the majority support. 30 all at 6-5 on Youzhny's serve was the big turning point here as Tsonga was defending like Nadal and Youzhny had an easy smash and netted it, to go down set point. Then Tsonga hits a huge backhand winner to take the set 7-5.

Tsonga took the momentum and rode with it after such a tough 1st set and crushed Youzhny 6-0 in the 2nd as he maintained his outstanding level of play. Youzhny had some taping on his ankles taken off, but he was moving quite well.

Thye 3rd was a very tight affair as well as Youzhny lifted his game and Tsonga was playing at a very high level, hitting some big winners, defending very well and serving huge that Youzhny who returns well didn't have a break point in the whole match. Youzhny had a couple of points to take it to a 4th, but it was not to be and Tsonga took the match in straight sets.

The young Muhammad Ali lookalike has taken the crowd by storm and he recovered from the back injury that he suffered for 2 years and other ones, lets hope that he can remain injury free and show more of the quality tennis he can play.

Finnish legend Jarkko Nieminen makes second ever Slam QF

Andrei Pavel and Johansson lost their doubles today and this maybe the end of the line for Pavel as a player in Australia, but I hope it's not this season as his last, as we all know it has to end one day.


Nieminen vs Kohlschreiber : These 2 guys definitely know each other and have played a lot in recent times, this plus the very cloudy conditions and a Slam quarter final place on the line, made this is a very tight and tense match, though the quality wasn't the best.


Kohli was the favourite here after beating Roddick in the last round and also he won the last 2 matches against the likable Finn. The German got an early break and was hitting some good backhands and using his forehand to set up the play and Nieminen was a bit heavy legged early in the match and not moving as well. It was good enough for Kohli to take the 1st set.

Nieminen starts playing better in the second set and they are hitting fairly well at this point, with the crowd getting into it. Koubek is there in a hood and hat and looks like he had a big night on the piss last night and he is talking with Riisto, he is a big legend Finn fan who wears a red coat no matter what weather and he was in the Finnish army.

Kohli gets to the first of the 6 set points for a 2 set to love lead, but Nieminen lifted his game and decided not to be passive and hit through the ball and with some good backhands and Kohli got a bit tight and wasn't able to convert any of them and lost his break, and then went to the tiebreaker.

The tiebreaker continued on the same path as the previous set, with Kohli being slightly better, but not coming through on the big points and Nieminen got stronger when he was down in the game. The Sharks's shots when he was down set points were outstanding and somehow the Finn steals the 2nd set, when Kohli had 6 set points to take a 2 sets to 0 lead.

The Finn is having problems with his 1st serve and when you have a second serve like Jakke's, then it's a real problem especially as it will get eaten up by better players. Kohli is playing some up and down tennis, some really good shots mixed in with some poor choices and this is keeping Nieminen in the match.

It goes to another tiebreaker and after Jakke won a point and did a fist pump, it seems Kohli wasn't too thrilled with it, but in reality there was nothing much in it at all. Kohli had another 4 set points that he couldn't convert and the Shark hung in there and was able to take the set.

The 4th set was very tough to watch, both guys just breaking serve, there were 5 breaks in a row, both were as nervous as fuck and couldn't hit the ball at all, especially when they were serving. Nieminen then held for 5-2 and that was a very tough thing to do in the context of the match. Kohli held and then the Shark served it out, though having 40-0 and being taken to deuce and ad a few times isn't the best way to do it.

This was like the Koubek match, where the guy who should have won the match didn't, but you got to take your chances when they are around and this time it was different mainly because I was happy that Nieminen won, but pro sport isn't always kind or fair. If it was then Medvedev would have won Roland Garros 99.