Juan Martin del Potro stepping out of the shadows of the big 4

The end of the Grand Slam season at the US Open was a pleasant surprise in that the winner was not Roger Federer as it had been the previous 5 years, or Rafael Nadal and the perennial favourite Andy Murray who can't peak for the big events at this moment in time. Various media outlets and tennis commentators were proclaiming Andy Murray as the next Grand Slam winner, that the tower from Tandil was overlooked, though this will not be the case from now on.

Franco Davin has gone a great job with del Potro and this has not been praised enough, but he is a low key guy, which is perfect for del Potro who doesn't go for the histrionics and just plays the game. del Potro was stagnating under previous coach Infantino, but Davin was able to get his respect and started building the pieces of the del Potro game and it came to its wonderful conclusion during these two weeks.

The four tournament wins in a row in 2008 was the start of the success, then he qualified for the TMS Shanghai, which he should not have played after having a toe problem, which jeopardised the Argentine teams chances in the Davis Cup final and created a bad atmosphere in the team helping the loss, as he had to sit out the second day due to the injury.

After this negative experience, he has shown great aptitude in learning from defeats and the putting them into practice. He hadn't beaten Nadal before 2009, but has been able to do this three times in a row now, being able to impose his game on him and use his particular strengths to expose Nadal's weaknesses. The most important lessons were his Federer matches this year, he got donkey punched at the Aus Open and the last two sets were very poor form from him and got criticised for such a poor showing in the quarter finals. At Roland Garros he was able to outplay Federer for large parts of the match, which is something he had not been able to do previously, but he ran out of conditioning and Federer was able to expose him with the drop shots and physcially got the better of him.

During the North American season he played reasonably well, but went under the radar. The US Open triumph was well deserved, after the 3rd round match with Crazy Koellerer, which was very entertaining, he just progressed along efficiently and quietly. Then come the semis he gave Nadal a good beating, which is never a bad thing and the final with Federer. He was written off by most media pundits, commentators, thought he was just there to make up the numbers and did not have a serious chance of winning.

There are a few similarities with the last Argentine to win a Slam Gaston Gaudio. Both guys were coached by Davin, both had never won a TMS before their Slam titles, were big underdogs in their respective finals and also won a Slam in their first final. Though barring injuries or a severe loss of form then del Potro will make more Slam finals.

It will be interesting to see how he follows up this win. He has a lot to work on still, the volleying needs to improve, but he is working on this, the movement is something that can always improve, the endurance and strength. He has a very solid and unspectacular game, mechanically very good strokes, the type of game which he finds difficult to play against, a mixture of slow slices and changing the pace to get him of his rhythm is something he will have to adjust to, at the same time he is fortunate that many players don't play this type of game. Apart from the grass he has shown that he is capable on the other two surfaces.

Congratulations to Juan Martin del Potro on his first Grand Slam title defeating Nadal and Federer consecutively is impressive, but now it's time to celebrate for a few days and then face up to the next challenges.

The US Open the hoe of 5th set tiebreakers and Stupid Saturday

Well it's that time of the year. The US Open, the last Slam of the year, where things are done differently in New York. The innovators of the 3 day 1st round, where it can be a pain to follow who is playing when, yes there is a schedule button on their homepage, but it's easier top half plays one day and the other half play on the alternate day. In this case there is mix and matching between the sections, this along with Stupid Saturday and the 5th set tiebreaks combine to make this Slam unique, though in this case it doesn't make it better.

The qualifying rounds as usual were competitive and the final day had these possibilities of making the main draw. Kavcic, Koubek, Machado and Luczak getting through. All of them lost on the last day, but Pete got in as a LL, living up to the nickname Lucky. Kavcic and Koubek were beaten comfortably so that isn't so bad. Luczak lost to Yani and no not the Greek musician, but an American with a very flat game that is built for hardcourts. Machado had the clown perfomance of the day, he is on the flight to Como after such a shit showing. He lead a set and 5-3, but lost 4 games in a row to lose the 2nd set. Had a break in 3rd and lost 6-4.

Now onto the main draw, there are some good first round matches, though good is subjective depending on the view point.

The King will be playing Chubby Chela, good chance for the King though he might want to tank and party, whereas Chela is past his best and still trying to find form on the challenger circuit. The King winning and playing Hewitt would be fun stuff, though Chela will get the cash.

Blake has a great chance to make the 4th round, didn't exactly get a minefield playing first the "Sleeve Man" Ramirez-Hidalgo who is in New York for a holiday. Kunitsyn got Blake in Canada, but not sure "Mr Kremlin Cup" can win more than two matches outside of Russia. Polansky qualified for another main draw and has a good chance against GGL, the other seed is Boredo wooo.

Djokovic and Ljubicic one of the better first round matches, they get along well and are former training partners. Ljubo will be competitive, but he will get exposed on the forehand side and Djokovic shouldn't have too many problems in this section. Polaco Brzezicki making the MD on hardcourt good for him, though he plays a fellow qualifier Carsten Ball who with his big serve should get the cash.

The South Tyrolean beast Seppi plays Kohlschreiber, the Bavarian goes hot and cold, if he is on, then the winners are flowing, if not then there isn't too much variation in his game, just hope it doesn't go to a 5th set tiebreaker then Seppi has no chance.

His mate Bolelli plays Thunder Lips Stepanek, definitely one for the ladies, got a guy who can't return against one of the more tactically astute players who still hits a continental forehand.

Nieminen is back on tour and his second match on tour, though personally I think he should have taken some more time in coming back. He plays the Fog in the 1st round and hope somehow he can win that, not that the Fog is a better player, just not sure of the confidence that he has in the wrist.

Lucky Pete got the LL and he is up against Troicki, not sure how this will one go. The question will be whether Luczak can return enough of Troicki's serves. Viktor has an unusual looking game, but he has done well off the court, there are worse seeds that Luczak to have got.

Good to see the US Open doesn't care enough about Horacio Zeballos not to give him the right nationality or first name.



He has been the form player on the Challenger circuit and qualified easily, he has a good chance of defeating Michael"Best Smash in the game" Berrer, wonder if they will adjust his name.

Chilean derby with Massu and Gonzo, at least the Chilean fans will win in this one. Another local derby "the Tandil showdown" between del Potro and Monaco, these two have hit a lot together, and will know each others games inside out, but the firepower of del Potro will be enough here.

The Gooch and Cuevas another classic encounter with sexiness abound, too bad the Gooch didn't get Nadal instead.

Dani Koellerer will be up against fisker med Mardy Fish. Two combative cats, this needs to be a late night match with some drunk New Yorkers in the crowd will try and heckle Koellerer, he will love this shit, then the shenanigans will start.

Nadal and Gasquet, as for Nadal, well if he is not fit, then he shouldn't play at all. So once he takes the court, then all the bullshit excuses stop. He hasn't played that many matches by his standards, but he is able to play, therefore the wah wah he is injured is tired and old. He has a marshmallow soft section of the draw, good he has Gasquet in the 1st round, though Richie will be inspired to go for the lines and stand up closer to the baseline. Gasquet will hit a few flashy winners and we'll get the spiel about his undoubted talent, at the end of the day Nadal wins this.

As for papa Federer number 16 GS is on the way.

Partying in Båstad and there is a French gnome in Stuttgart, the land of spätzle and Mercedes

We have the fun summer clay events, as much as I like Båstad, there aren't going to be any fan reports from this event, unlike Stuttgart, so I will get the Båstad info out of the way first.

Situated in the southwest of Sweden Båstad is the tenniscentre of Sweden. Lots of rich Stockholmers with summer houses, plenty of parties and a good amount of tourists enjoy the place and the town is at its liveliest when this event is on.

The players get looked after, plenty of good looking women and not quite like the Dnepr Challenger in Ukraine which is famous and not for the natural scenery of the building kind.

Vinciguerra makes it back to the main tour. The qualie draw is seriously weak there, but good that the adopted Swede Luczak, Gimeno-Traver, Cañas and Starace made the main draw.

Onto Stuttgart, this is where we get fan reports and that is the best part, no propaganda here. They took their time in releasing the main draw, but when Koubek is the special wildcard, then this is understandable, as we all know Koubek is the man and not just for the yellow shorts either. Also in Stuttgart, there is Tomas Berdych coming back from a successful Davis Cup adventure in Ostrava. Then our reporter gets to drool over Santoro and it will be one of the last times to see the wily old fox play.

Acasuso will be happy to be on the clay, though the memories in Stuttgart are still there 2 sets to 1 and leading 5-1 in the final before losing it are still there, has a tough one against another ballbasher in Chardy. Lurch Hanescu won his his first rounder, he is an atypical Romanian, very introverted and a gentle giant, but he did the world a favour in taking Simon out of RG.

Best of all and most importantly his majesty Oscar Hernandez is there in Stuttgart, so all the lovers of spätzle, one of the best ever foods can appreciate the genius and flair of Hernandez, even if he doesn't win here, he wins at life.

Turkey Time

Wimbledon, well the only Slam that has the middle Sunday free, this might be a good or a bad thing, depending on whether you live near the courts or not, though in the alleged modern world, it's not like a major religious holiday, but at least it gives time to reflect on some things.

Better get the shit out of the way now. The Wimbledon organising committee are a bunch of clowns for the most part, seriously start matches on the outside courts at 11am, use some commonsense, especially when they are no lights on outside courts and start Centre court at noon. It's not like dew is going to be a problem at 11, then again this is asking too much. The matches suspended because of darkness would have better chances of completion Haas/Cilic starting an hour earlier, the South Tyrolean sex machines matches against Gicquel and Andreev. Gimeno-Traver's match against Dent, as for the WTA matches they should be moved to the Isle of Man.

Next point is the grass itself, it's a different kind of problem now to what they had in the horror days of the mid 90s, where the average rally point was 1,6 shots and it wasn't serve/volley tennis, it was just serving. It got to the point where they might as well started at the tiebreakers. The composition of the grass has been changed to be more durable and less slick than before, also the fact the balls are a lot slower are contributing to the amount of rallies seen now and it's not traditional grasscourt tennis. Has it gone too much the other way? It has, but that there has to be a compromise, a bit quicker wouldn't hurt the game, there is already too much homogenisation surface as it is.

The highlights so far Daniel Gimeno-Traver winning a match, he has the Moya gamestyle with a worse serve, too bad he has the Moya backhand, but he is a good guy. Very surprising he beat Dent on this surface, though Dent had a shocker, even then it should be good enough to win. Though DGT was in a lowlight as well, blowing a huge chance against Troicki up 4-2 40-15 on serve in the 5th set and blowing the match 7-5. He missed an easy volley and then a netcord went out for deuce, and Troicki took chances and they came off. It got too dark, Troicki was creating some antics "I cannot see, I cannot see", but hey he saw well enough to break serve.

Montañes making the 3rd round funny stuff. Leo Mayer has improved quite a bit from when I saw him personally and it's good to see, because del Potro is going to need some help in the future with Davis Cup, especially as Schwank is having a lot of problems at the moment.

Koubek once again fucks up a match, tactically played it the right way, but refused to knock off some easy volleys, though it was good that the battling Sela ended the Robredo nonsense.

Now to the last 16. Berdych has been playing well so far, but he has a fear of GS quarter finals. It won't be easy against Roddick, but they have never met on grass. Roddick loves the grass, it depends on how Berdych returns, has to be really on his game, if he does that, then he should be able to dominate the rallies, though with Berdych it's on instinct and mood. Hope he wins to prove me wrong.

Ferrero and Simon, big chance for JCF to make the quarters, he hasn't been able to back up big performances regularly. He did well to get out of the match with Fernando Gonzalez with a win, it was a hard fought match, but Gonzo had plenty of chances to take it and Ferrero took his.

Andreev in the 4th round of a grass Slam, haha that is some funny shit right there and he has nothing to lose against Haas who is the favourite here. Haas unlike Seppi has an effective slice backhand and should be able to use it to keep Andreev on the defensive and also make him hit the running forehand which is not the one that Andreev enjoys hitting. Would like this match to go to Andreev, but he has to get the serve working like he has so far in this event.

Hewitt will be too solid for sexy Stepanek, plenty of antics and facial expressions in this one. Murray and Stani, one plays a slightly disjointed but successful game and the other one hits tennis balls, the former isn't losing. Karlovic and Verdasco, someone has to win.

Federer will make Söderling a turkey tonight.

Andreas Seppi does tennis a favour

The grass isn't a favourite time of the year, but with the game on the surface changing, while not always for the better, though personally for myself it makes grass tennis better to watch.

Federer is looking for his 15th Slam title and hopefully he can it done here, so the whole Sampras record thing is buried and yes I will do a write up on the Basel boy, once he passes the record, then the Roland Garros thing can be mentioned in greater context.

So far at the big W, excellent win for the legend of South Tyrol Andreas Seppi over big James Blake. Seppi played an intelligent and thoughtful match, he was able to absorb the pace of the ballbashing from Blake, got him into backhand to backhand rallies, where he was going to be dominant in those. The key thing was that he served well throughout the match, and wasn't able to be exposed on the second serve, which is a liability. The calm nature helped in the 3rd set tiebreaker where Blake was up 5-0, but Seppi kept fighting, and was aggressive and got rewarded. Has an interesting match against Gicquel, has to take advantage of this draw.

Always a good day when Koubek wins, he won in 5 sets, doing it the hard way can be fun at times, but he needs to take out Robredo in the next round, he is not a grass lover, but Stefan will need to be aggressive and use his forehand angles to get Robredo out of court and then take control from there..

Gordo Calleri retires from tennis, but that will get a separate entry at another time.

King Oscar was in generous mood losing 15 games in a row against Leo "Aligator" Mayer, who isn't bad on grass, has the big serve and forehand, converted 6/6 break points in the first 2 sets hence the 6-0 6-0, but the King decided to play a little bit. though the grass is more useful for other things than playing tennis on.

Lucho's double partner Cuevas won a match at GS level and great comeback in defeating Chris Rochus 11-9 in the 5th set, of course as usual in the early round matches, there are never streams for the matches that are truly interesting. Good for Pablo and Dani Orsanic, who is a good coach and Pablo is good enough to be in the top 100, have to play well outside of Viña del Mar, has a big show against Jesse Levine in the next round.

Daniel Gimeno Traver had Taylor Dent in all sorts of problems, he won the first 2 sets, but was up a break in the 3rd and managed to lose 2 service games in a row to lose the 3rd set and play is suspended. It's a very difficult thing going to sleep, especially when you are in the lead and had chances to finish it in a day, then come back the next day to finish the match. That's part of the mental battle, it's now like another match starting from 0-0, and remembering what he did well in the match so far and implement that.

Robin Söderling saves Roland Garros

Good old Robin Söderling has saved Roland Garros, this might sound like hyperbole, but in reality it is justified due to the ridiculous level of dominance by Nadal on the Parisian clay. He had won 4 titles in a row going for a Borg record, but the man we like to call "the Toad" stopped it. The fact that is was from such a surprising individual made the win even better and it made worldwide headlines as one of the first stories in the global news. The result has created such a buzz around the event which hasn't been seen for years, this coming upon Novak Djokovic's defeat against Phillip Kohlschreiber in the previous round.


What makes it even better is that Söderling and Nadal aren't exactly friendly with each other, a bit of spice is never a bad thing. Söderling is very direct and calls it how he sees it, he isn't there to make friends. Nadal's comments after the match were definitely not in the image of a gracious loser, that is usually the way with him.

Here is the classic imitation of Nadal's timewasting rituals in between points





Onto Nadal's complaints about hitting the ball short. Well there were some good reasons for this, a guy called Söderling playing aggressive and attacking tennis, using his serve well to open the court up. Once he was able to do that, then he pounded his forehand and attacked Nadal's forehand, while it's a great weapon, a player has to go there to get short replies, but it has to be done with power and precision. The Toad was able to do this and as he was able to put pression on Nadal and rushing him, therefore leading Nadal to hit shorter replies and Söderling was able to punish these short balls with the contempt they deserved.

Söderling established the pattern, but the real question was whether he was able to implement the plan for the whole match. He had a few lapses in concentration, but was in control of his own destiny, through his aggressive play. The thing with Söderling is the talent has never been in question, but the mental application has as he has had meltdowns in the past and major ones, but working with Norman has changed that. It was a great result for tennis that Söderling won this match and apart from Nadal fans or people without perspective, will see the atmosphere and anticipation that it has created around the event.

Interview





Now onto to the other 7 players left in the quarter finals.

Davydenko : He has been under the radar even more than usual. An underrated player when he is playing very well, lightning fast footwork and very crisp timing on the groundies which rush the opponent into error, as he cuts down their time. He does have the odd problem on serve and if he is off, he can be quite off. He has been impressive in his last two matches against Wawrinka and especially against Verdasco, where he showed his limitations off. Interesting match with the Toad next, he has struggled against him in the past, but he has won a GS quarter final, whereas Söderling hasn't.

Murray : Highest seed in the section, but probably the weakest claycourter out of the four. Has had a good event and the last start against Cilic was a very solid showing, he has improved all round and listening to Corretja has helped his game. Yes, he some glaring weaknesses on the clay, but they are harder to expose, as he has improved his overall game. Cilic made some dumb errors in the first 2 sets at vital moments, but the best players step up when needed and this is the group Murray belongs to. Had an escape against Starace, but that isn't a bad thing. Gonzalez will love his chances on this surface against Murray, but if he is badly off, then Dunblane will chop him.

Gonzalez : Easy so far for him, dispatched the players easily as he should have. The forehand is awesome and even the backhand is stepping up to the plate, but with Murray that side is going to come under a lot of pressure. Gonzo has the weapons to exploit Murray on clay. The serve while not quick, he gets quality angles on it and if he gets a high percentage in, then he can open the court up and run Murray around with the forehand that is overloaded with spin and pace.

The bottom half matches, well Federer was so tight against Haas, it was horrible to watch, but he was able to get through in 5 sets from 2 sets down, while not playing well at all. The pressure is really on him, as this is his great chance to win the only GS he hasn't. Interestingly there has been a press ban by the Federer camp, so only interviews he will give are the usual press conferences and the on court interview,

Monfils and Roddick : This was a highly entertaining match that started very late, due to the chicks going late. First decent player Roddick has played and Monfils isn't losing to Roddick on clay, unless severely injured. Monfils looked comfortable in this match, defending well as he usually does, hitting the odd aggressive shot, he was able to convert his break point chances whereas Roddick didn't have a great rate. As the weather got darker, so did Roddick's mood and he was playing to try and get the match suspended due to darkness. Roddick was bitching to the umpire Enric Molina saying "what was it like when the match started and what is it like now"? Tournament referee McEwan was there as well keeping an eye on things, as the changeover came to an end. Monfils walked past with a big smirk on his face laughing at Roddick. Then when he turned around, Roddick mouthed off and said "you're not that good to be that cocky". I think that is what is known as the pot calling the kettle black. Monfils dropped his bundle for a short time, he got it back together and was able to run the match out in straight sets before the darkness set in.

Tandil man del Potro too steady for Tsonga, still lacks variation big time, but his one dimension is good. His opponent is Boredo, so for the good of the game del Potro needs to win this one.

Great that Söderling, the most unlikely of people to beat Nadal has breathed life into this event again.

Gaston Gaudio returns to the winner circle in Tunis

This is an interesting entry, because personally I didn't think that I would be writing something like this after a short period of time. Gaston Gaudio returned to the winners circle for the first time in 4 years, by winning the Tunis Challenger, which is one of the larger Challenger events in terms of ranking points. He defeated Frederico "Gilberto" Gil in the final, who is top 100 now and has been in good form all season. The toughest match of the week was the second rounder against "How Now" Björn Phau where he was down 3-1 and 4-2 in the 3rd set, but luckily was able to break at will and then served it out.

Once he got through that, the weight on the shoulders seemed to be lifted, as he made cassoulet out of Sidorenko for the loss of 2 games in the quarter finals. He played a very solid match, good serving, not much short stuff when it came to length and controlled everything. The semi with Nieminen he continued with the good form, though it was very disappointing that Nieminen had a major problem with the wrist. The readers and myself wish him a speedy recovery, as he is one of the nicest guys on the circuit, a fair sportsman and generally a decent individual.

The final, well like many matches, there were a few key moments and the main two involved Gaudio service games. The first service game of the match, went to a few deuces, and Gaudio had to save break points, once he did that, he was able to settle down into his rhythm and then break Gil straight away and played quality clay tennis with good length, using the angles to get Gil moving and then hitting winners with the backhand. The second set Gil stepped it up and Gaudio had a lapse of concentration and was punished for it, and Gil took the set easy, while Gaudio was preparing for the 3rd set.

Both guys played clownish service games at the start, both served 2 double faults in their games for 1-1, then Gaudio held a big game to take a 2-1 lead saving 4 break points, one with an ace and another dropshot. Gaudio fixed the serving problems to an extent, was able to place it better and then take a more offensive position on the baseline to limit Gil's aggression, but Gil was fighting hard and trying to be more aggressive. The vital break came at 4-3, it was combination of some poor play from Gil and quality groundies from Gaudio lead to the break. Gaston doesn't have a great record in serving out matches, but after going down 0-30 and was able to do it after the 2nd match point, to surprisingly win this event.

What to make of this result. Well, Gaudio has played a few events already with the benefit of wildcards. Interestingly enough this was his first challenger event and he won it, this is the path that he should have taken originally, apart from the Buenos Aires event. Got to play matches to get the match practice and it's easier to achieve this at Challenger level than on the main tour, at the same time playing on the main tour, he had some good performances considering where he came from and this was able to give an indication of where he was at. Winning this challenger, should give him greater confidence and hopefully the organisers will give the man a wildcard to Roland Garros and he can keep doing well in the events leading into Paris, where he can hopefully win a match.

Interesting twist that his great rival Guillermo Coria retired from tennis in the last week, he hasn't been the same since 2005 and Gaudio won an event, I wonder if this helped him, that is unless the individual believes in conspiracy theories.

Lionel Messi, Gaudi Barcelona Preview and hopefully fan reports from the venue

This week we move to one of my favourite events on the calendar the Godo Barcelona Open. Sure Tiriac the mafia don managed to get a TMS for Madrid, more on that later, but this event is held in the spiritual home of Spanish tennis in Barcelona, so many players learned their craft at this club and many great winners of the event. It’s a tennis club and not a multi purpose venue and for people calling for Nadal to remove this from his schedule, are pissing in the wind, the conditions are favourable, he feels at home there and it also helps his preparation for RG domination.

Now onto to the event itself, the Bye continues his strong work ethic and is enjoying life on La Rambla. The qualifying field was quite strong this time. The warrior Lapentti coming through qualifying for Monte Carlo losing on Friday, then playing qualies here, knocked out Cuevas in 3 sets of course, running away with the last one 6-0. Pere Riba takes out Massu 4 and 4, he must have had a good serving day. Daniel Gimeno-Traver been taken to 3 sets by Bohli, not so good, but the result counts. Kuku the Kazak is back again and hope he makes the MD.

No need to comment too much more on Nadal as he will win the event. Onto the other matches, this will be done on order of the draw down. Gasquet is allegedly playing this event and he got a very kind section playing Hernych with his flat game and the only way Chris Rochus or Devilder would beat him, if Gasquet is injured or he withdraws. Richie getting another pummelling on clay from Rafa, not sure what it would to do the psyche of Mozart.

Next section is the one with el cabezon Almagro, Ferrero and Nalbandian, there are some potential good matches here. Almagro needs to lift his game and Hanescu isn't the best or worst match for him, then Chela or ballbashing Bellucci in the next round. Bellucci sometimes should take a bit of pace off the shots now and then, he will get short replies and then work from there. Ferrero playing Kunitsyn is good 1st rounder for him, then with Nalle anything can happen. He might turn up to play or not give a shit.

Davydenko doesn't have a great record here, but he showed some good signs in his comeback match and potentially a Cañas match would be good for him, as he will get to hit plenty of shots and gain his groove, as he loves playing events to get him into his rhythm. Willy has been average of late, but at least he won 2 matches in a row in Houston and Clement is far from the worst draw. Speaking of poor form the friendly Finn Nieminen needs to get back on track and playing LaLo on clay is always a good place to do it. Hope he gets heckled because he is a cat who deserves heckling all the time.

Gaudio got a WC to the main draw, they haven't forgotten that great display of tennis in 2002 where he was on fire and won the event, then the final in 2004, where he lost to Boredo in very dodgy circumstances. History might repeat itself, because Gaston got Junquiera in the 1st round, who is very beatable, but at the same time Gaston not playing matches and getting proper match conditioning won't help at all. It would be fun if he won, then I wonder if Robredo would feel the need to make a medical timeout for a massage when serving for a match. Tommy, one of the last people to criticise anyone for sportsmanship.

Seppi who is having a poor year playing big Andreev, who he doesn't have a great record against. Acasuso is having some back issues, but has played well here before, playing Sela on clay should be the right match for him, then playing Gonzo who is a bit cold on the clay, might give him some momentum, though he matches up poorly there.

Berdych (who will be the subject of a write up next week) is still his inconsistent self, he could easily thrash Vassallo Arguello or lose handily as Martin has improved in the last 2 seasons and had a good week in Monte Carlo, saving match points against Andreev, then serving for the match against Wawrinka. What ifs are just that, but Vassallo Arguello in a TMS semi would be interesting to say the least.

The King and Schwank will get the pulses ready for the ladies of Barcelona. Oscar needs to perform well in front of his friends and family and this is a good chance for him against Schwank whose form and confidence have gone quicker than free vodka shots. He has some points to defend as well, but that doesn't matter so much, if the mental side of things aren't right and they can be in many different guises, then it's going to impact on their play.

To finish up Pico Monaco playing former champ Safin in the first round on paper looks like the match of the round, things don't always work out like that and it would be good for Monaco to take out Mr.Wildcard.

Monte Carlo the beginning of the destruction by Nadal ( Possible fan reports)

Yes, it's that time of year again, which used to be so fun, but is not the case anymore for a multitude of reasons, which will be explained later or maybe explanation isn't the right word. I wasn't sure whether to do a preview of Monte Carlo or not, mainly because we already know the winner of the event, so this will mean that other possibilities have to be found before the ending which will be more predictable than a Hollywood movie.

The clay season only exists in name, because the utter and total domination by Nadal has rendered it almost useless. He is so far ahead of everyone else at the moment, it's not funny. Yes, it has helped that any potential competition for him Kuerten, Ferrero, Coria, Gaudio have all disappeared, when you have Ferrero who won his first tournament since 2003 in Casachallenger last week, it doesn't say much. Then you have guys Andreev who has the game, but not the execution, Almagro seems to have stagnated and worships Nadal, no chance there. Ferrer is brave, but not at his top level. Del Potro just a hardcourter who can play on clay, but when it gets tough, he will go missing. In fact Berdych just has much chance as the others and that isn't saying so much. Should they just not turn up to the event, well of course not, but it doesn't look good.

Decline will set in, but the question is when. Considering that art of claycourt tennis isn't really around anymore, due to the homogenisation of surface speeds, that players are able to play their hardcourt games on clay for the most part. To see that Federer has been the second best player for years on clay highlights how the game has changed on clay and not for the better either. Yes, without a doubt for an attacking player he is good on the surface this is clear enough, but his backhand just gets worked over and over by Nadal and it breaks like an egg when you make an omelette, the previous generation of guys hit heavy off both sides and Federer wouldn't be getting anything under shoulder high from guys like Bruguera, Corretja. The game has changed and has been taken advantage of, but numbers can only reveal so much.

Onto Federer, it was very poor form for him to take a WC here. He should just have committed to the event, then again he must have got some good money and also thinking about the possibility of ranking points as well, that he would lose. It's time for him to focus on winning Slams, if he gets the number 1 ranking back great, if not, then no less. play well and win then the ranking looks after itself. Lucky, I am not the Tournament Director, he'd have got a wildcard into the qualies only.

Now the event itself. The King will be first on court and the Monegasque ladies, might forget about walking their poodles and hanging out with the George Hamilton types with the huge suntan and the grey hair. Nico Lapentti qualified and always good to see the Ecuadorian still around the tour and he plays sexy Stepanek, there will be many slices, dropshots and court craft on show there. Seppi will need to be on his best game against Melzer, both aren't in great form, but the South Tyrolean legend needs some wins and if he does I get to see him play Federer on TV, though he must be sick of seeing him on the other side of the net, would love it if he won, but dreams are free.

As for the hopes of this event, at least some interesting early round matches, because last years clay season, especially with the events that Nadal played were more painful than root canal surgery without anaesthetic.

Andreas Vinciguerra making a comeback to the tour. The King hands down a royal beatdown

Time for another entry, it has been too long in coming, some of this news maybe already known and some of it not, so just read what you think is relevant. In other words, it could read as some random comments, but here goes.

Thanks to everyone who read the Peter Luczak interview, it was great to read the comments and it was very much appreciated. It was a great interview to do and hopefully I can get some more subjects during the year, though I don't expect them to all go like that. On the Luczak front, he and his wife Catarina welcomed their second child, so now Seb has a sister. He will now return t the tour in France next week and is 2nd alternate in Athens the week after. He was just getting some match practice as well before the break, but some things are more important than ranking points.

Lucho Horna another blogger favourite, finally won 2 matches in a row for the first time this year in Barletta. He has had a difficult time since coming back from his injury problems, it's the old classic chicken and the egg. A player needs to play and win matches to get confidence, but losing early, then can ebb away at the confidence, it only needs a good result somewhere and that can do wonders for the mental state. Horna is in a strange position, where last season he had great success in the doubles, while this is good, he considers himself a singles player and his results in singles were spasmodic at best. He did his usual beat a top 10 player routine, he has an excellent record when playing top 10 players, but hasn't been able to consolidate on it. He does have a lot of injury problems, not say like Massa or Russell for example, but more the annoying ones that keep him out for a month at a time, and don't allow any momentum to build up. When a guy like Bobby Reynolds is in the top 100, then Horna should be there.

Speaking of Americans. Michael Russell made a good move in playing the qualies of Indian Wells and Miami, even better that he made the main draw of both. He has played well in Indian Wells in the past, there is a bit of altitude, but it's far from quick. He won his 1st match and then lost to Tursunov in three which was a bit disappointing, nothing against Tursunov. It's that he would have played Nadal and it would have given me a reason to watch a Nadal match, not that the result matters. Russ took out Lurch Hanescu in Miami and now plays the "panther" Monfils, they had a tight one a few years ago at the US Open, anything can happen in a Monfils match. Russell has to concentrate on the ball and not the Monfils shenanigans. All small steps so

Miami had some interesting results last night, which is good for the game, considering the clay season coming up, which will be even more obvious that sun rises in the east, that as long as Nadal is breathing, he is going to be dominating the clay season, which renders it almost useless except for the events he isn't playing, but that's another entry.


Best result of Miami was "King Oscar" Hernandez defeating Ljubicic 6-4 6-4, the Latino community appreciate the King, he makes Tony Montana look like a block of wood when it comes to the charisma department. There have been no reports of Oscar saying to Ljubo "you are so bad", though there would be some nutty Croatians, who want to nail Ljubo's balls to a wall, of course they forget that he carried Croatia to a Davis Cup win, something Argentina hasn't been able to do as of yet.

Gaston Gaudio who has a place in Miami decided to play qualies and lost after having a match point against Korolev. He has been playing quite well since his comeback, though he hasn't been getting the results. He used to serve a few foot faults, but the problem does seem to be quite entrenched, sure he could move back from the line a few centimetres. It's not like he is going to get a great advantage with the serve, though Gaston dances to his own tune and this is not a bad thing at times. He has got a wildcard for Houston qualies, he should be grinding out in the challengers trying to get match practice that way, getting a WC and not winning matches results in 0 pointers, at the same time he can save his protected ranking. I would love to see him at Roland Garros, but there needs to be some significant improvement.

To finish, there is an update on Andreas Vinciguerra and it's good news. It was a big surprise that Wilander called him up for Davis Cup in Malmö after not playing for 2 years due to various knee problems. Sadly for him he lost both of his matches in 5 sets against Sela and Levy, the fact he got so close after so long out, says a lot about his ability, though the lack of matches cost him in this situation. A player can have all of the off court training, but that doesn't replicate playing matches. He is in good spirits and is going to play some Challengers shortly, just hope his body can hold up. He has a protected ranking and will use this for some of the events, of course he has a guaranteed wild card to Båstad, as long as he is fit enough to play, this is the key, the ability is still there.

Peter Luczak Interview Part 3

This is the final part of the interview that addresses issues in the current game, it was a pleasure to do this interview.

What do you think about the length of season? They have been talking for years about reducing the season, but nothing has changed in this regard. What steps can they take to fix the calendar?

This is bit of a tricky one. If you would have asked me the same question 8 years ago when I first started playing on the tour I would have answered it very differently. The only thing I wanted to do back then was play tournies and I'd be upset if there wasn't one on in a particular week. But now being a bit older the body getting a few injuries from all the pounding over the years and having a family I wish I could see more changes my view. I'd love it if we got bit more of an off season, that one month in December doesn't really cut it especially when you are training through it trying to get ready for the Aussie summer.

I'd love it if the season would be shortened to maybe 9 months, but how do you do that. Do you just cram all the tournies into that time period, or do you cancel 1/4 of the tournies. I know they have been talking about making the season shorter but the question is how you do it. Maybe you just gradually do it over many years. I know the Oz Open started a week later this year, maybe you just push it back one week every year and cut one week off at the end of the year for the next few years. But doing that is screws up other things. Like the Aussie would no longer be played during our holidays. Maybe less people and definitely less kids would be able to come out and watch. How do you fit all the tour events and DC in a 9 month period etc. So as nice as it sounds it would be a pretty difficult thing to do. In the end the players choose how long or short they make their season. But I think I could crap on about this question for a long time.

You were a vocal critic of the flawed Round Robin concept. It seems the ATP aren’t looking out for or listening to the interests of the players, and working more so for the tournament directors. What’s your take on it?

Round Robin was rubbish, it wasn’t a fair system. They said it was meant to be for the fans. I mean you win, you progress, you lose, and you go home, what is simpler than that. It makes little sense that you lose 2 matches and have a chance of still being in. They realised it wasn’t working and had to be scrapped.

Currently with the Council having the big 3 on there, they have more of a say than in the past. Problem is that a lot of the guys didn’t know that you could approach a Council member, if they are unhappy with any issue. In theory the Council should raise the issue at the next meetings, and then they can decide on whether to vote on the change or leave as it is.

Willy Cañas said “The ATP practices discrimination from an economic standpoint, like any multinational corporation. It’s just another of millions that there are in the world. Point being that I accept it, but I'm not buying into it that it is a group of players that decide (players union) because it isn't like that”. Do you believe that Willy is correct on this particular issue?

Yes, I agree to an extent. The tournament directors (TD’s) and the players are in conflict. An example of this was that the players voted for players that have come back from a drug ban, shouldn’t be awarded wild cards on the comeback, but the tournament directors didn’t want that and then the deciding vote went in favour of the tournament directors.

The TD’s are worried about putting on a show and it’s a business for them, they have a different agenda, no tournament = no players, no players = no tournaments. The TD’s had too much power and it was important that the ATP won the lawsuit against Hamburg, we should be attempting to work together. At the moment there is too much conflict between the two groups, who are standing off against each other and I am unsure of how to fix it.

What’s your view of the new Entry Ranking system? It does not seem to be universally popular, but as they have to complete the 2009 season with this system. Is it possible to return to the old system in 2010?

They could go back to the old system, but the year has to be completed first. The ATP tried to make it simpler, but they have given too many points for the winner and the finalist relative to the other positions. The Top 50 will be harder to crack and with the greater weighting towards the winner and finalist, it penalises the consistent performer who makes a lot of quarter final appearances.

The players that did well early in the year are disadvantaged and it’s almost impossible to defend their points from 2008. An IS win was 175, once this is doubled it becomes 350 that has to be defended and to win an IS event this year the most that can be had is 250, therefore losing 100 points.

The ATP has not increased the points for the challengers to the same level for a 50k Challenger it has gone from 50 to 75. The TMS events have increased from 500 to 1000 and the Grand Slam from 1000 to 2000 points. It was easier to pad the ranking in challengers like Lu or (Marcos Daniel), but you should be rewarded for doing well in the big events.

Do you think the ATP are doing a good job in trying to combat match fixing or is it just for show, because the players that have been suspended for betting, have been lower ranked and bet minimal amounts for the most part?

I'm really not sure if the ATP are doing a good or bad job. I think the difficult part is trying to catch and prove these guys are betting. The guys tanking and betting large amounts are not stupid and there is no way they would have any accounts linked to their name. So what can you do and the guys that were suspended were silly enough to not only bet on tennis in the first place but have an account in their name.

What are your short term goals for 2009, professionally and personally?

Make the main draw at Wimbledon, get back in the top 100 and stay healthy.

Now we’re at the end of the interview.

Word Association or 2 words in some cases.

Lleyton Hewitt – Competitive
Collingwood (Aussie Football Team) - Annoying
The ATP – Love Tennis
Båstad – Favourite event
Grasscourt tennis – Enjoyable, but difficult
Clay – Claydogs, grinding
Kevin Rudd (Aussie PM) - Champion
Borscht - Shocking

This is the end of the interview and people might have worked out, the stuff in brackets is what I have added and aren't Peter's words.

Peter Luczak Interview Part 2

Talking about injuries and Australian tennis.

How much of a setback was the stress fracture of the pelvis last year? You were ranked in the top 100 at the time and were unable to build upon your ranking during the clay season?

It was frustrating, as I worked hard, playing Challengers and was ranked between 70-80 and the start of 2008, made all the main draws of the clay events. I knew I wasn’t at 100 percent, but I kept playing and I didn’t know what it was. I had no clue and kept struggling with it, poor movement for 3-4 months, some days it was good and other days it was terrible, then it was all terrible. Then after losing to Melzer in the 1st round of Roland Garros, I had CTC scans, MRI scans, x-rays, they picked up that it was a stress fracture of the pelvis. Not knowing what the problem was after all that time, I was glad to find out and did the upper body rehabilitation.

During the enforced time away from the tour, what did you do to fill in the time?

I spent the time with the family, doing rehab. It was such a relief after a year to be pain free. It gradually got better after 3 and bit months. Hopefully it’s fine now and being able to play, compete, takes the pressure off whether I win or lose, it’s much better than being at home injured.

Did you come back too soon from injury to help Australia in the Davis Cup tie playoff?

No, I hadn’t played for 4 months. I had 10 days there in Chile with training 3 hours a day, great food, great hotel, being with the Aussie team. It was the perfect preparation.

Who are your best friends on tour?

The Gooch (Chris Guccione), Shannon Nettle, my former coach and still fishing companion, Stephen Huss, Ashley Fisher and Lleyton Hewitt, most of the Aussie guys.

Since we have some ladies, who read this blog. Can you tell us how you met your wife Catarina?

She was working at the ATP event in Munich, doing the accreditation and at the practice court desk. I saw her daily and thought she was hot. A group of 7 including Wayne Arthurs, Jordan Kerr and Graydon Oliver, went out after we lost. I went up to her and had a crack and she knocked me back. She just thought I was like some of the other players, that wanted to have fun for the evening and then that’s it. Somehow I got her phone number and we just texted on and off for a few months. We met again at Kitzbühel, where she was working again. We met for lunch and dinner, then for the next four days we were hanging out. At the end of the week she asks “Does this mean we are going out”. I just answered, “Yeah, ok”. I was 26 at the time, it was my first serious girlfriend, it happened so fast, 3 months later she was pregnant, and it got very serious. My parents were shocked at first, being my first serious girlfriend and all. Mum was worried at first, but once she met Cat, then all was fine and our families get along very well.

How do you enjoy living in Sweden and how are your Swedish language skills these days?

I like it, the people are great. They have a similar sense of humour to the Aussies and are great to get along with. For now it’s a base, but once I finish with tennis, then we will return to Australia. My Swedish is terrible, 6 months ago when I was injured I was doing an intensive course and making some good progress, but the problem is the Swedes speak excellent English, making it harder to learn the language.

I know you are a big AFL fan (the Dons). What did you think of the Aussies qualifying for the World Cup in Germany? If the World Cup bid is successful how good would it be for football in this country?

I had pneumonia during the World Cup in 2006 and was Sebby (Sebastien) was born 2 weeks earlier. So I was on the couch enjoying the tournament, with my Aussie flag, going crazy, and fist pumping when the Aussies defeated Japan 3-1. I was gutted after the Italian match, going out like that, but the tournament was great.

It would be possible for Australia to hold the World Cup and it would be great for the country if it happens.

How would you explain the lack of current depth in Aussie tennis?

It’s cyclical. 15 years ago there were plenty of Aussies in the top 100, now we don’t have any male in the top 100. South America wasn’t so strong then. France and Spain have good programs. There are 20 money events in France all year round and there are many Futures events in Spain, that they must be able to produce some players.

What’s your view on Tomic. Do you think the media are putting too much pressure and expectations on him?

A bit, but he is handling it well. He enjoys the hype and the press. He easily was the most popular player in Burnie. He has a good temperament, but there is a long way to go, he is going in the right direction.

How much do you value Davis Cup? When you went to Argentina in 2002 as a hitting partner who was that for?

Davis Cup, then followed by the Slams. I would love to play in an Olympics one day. There was a mistake where it said I was the hitting partner for the Argentines, but it was for Australia.

Do you think it’s fundamentally wrong to give ranking points for Davis Cup?

The Aussies have always played it (The Poo has been indifferent), it’s natural. If you don’t have enough passion to play, then it’s ridiculous to have points for Davis Cup to motivate them to play. Guys like Nieminen can’t get points because of his nationality and a Spanish player ranked around 50 because of their depth, he isn’t likely to play Davis Cup and can’t get points.

Peter Luczak Interview Part 1

Recently I conducted an extensive interview with Peter Luczak, the clay loving Australian born in Poland, who came to Australia at a very young age via Sweden. He is known for his work ethic, down to earth manner and since this interview is comprehensive, it will be broken into different sections to make it easier reading.

First of all I have to thank Peter for taking time out to answer these questions and also I hope the readers will get a better insight as to what goes on at the lower end of the tour and other factors not just what happens on the court.

A sidenote, as I am lazy, usually when I do a tournament entry, I have all the discussion in that one post, as I can't be bothered updating.

This section will deal with the early parts of Peter's life and tennis career.

How and when did you get into tennis?

I started playing tennis at around 5 or 6 years old, Ola my older sister played, we rode our bikes down to the club after school, they weren’t the greatest bikes, but whoever won got to ride the better bike. In addition to that we used to play on en-tout-cas ( a surface similar to clay, but cheaper), whoever lost had to sweep the whole court and lines after the match, instead of just doing your side of the court, initially it was me that sweeping the court and riding the worse bike home.

My uncle and father didn’t play the game in Poland, they played football and volleyball, as tennis was not a big game in Poland when they were children, but they played as well.

What were your memories of growing up in Melbourne, before you left for the USA ?

It was a normal childhood. I used to hang out with the guys, go to the horse races, watching the football (Australian football), went to the parties, but didn’t drink as I usually had tennis the next day and I always wanted to play the game. I wasn’t a childhood prodigy like Bernard Tomic, I used to have group lessons, mixed in with some private lessons before and after school. Then at the age of 18 there was drastic improvement and once I left school, I wanted to play tennis.

How did playing on the US college circuit help you as a player and as a person ?

My dad said that I should continue going to school and he didn’t have the money to support my career. So a tennis scholarship in the USA was perfect, getting an education and also developing my tennis without the financial burden. I had 3 offers, but chose Fresno, mainly because of an Aussie coach there called Michael Hegarty a Mount Waverley boy, which wasn’t far from me in Melbourne. He talked it up and was very convincing in getting me there.

When I got there it rained 10 days in a row, when on average it rained only 5 days a year in Fresno. I called home and said get me out of here, what’s going on, but I was very happy to have stayed on. It was a great experience, the units, the courts, gym was a 50m walk to all of the facilities. The team environment helped my overall development, it wasn’t just tennis, tennis, tennis, and there was a good social life, in addition to doing uni work. Yes, I was focused on tennis, but had other distractions, which were positive.

The college coach was great tactically, though he didn’t do much technically to my game. He made you feel good about yourself, worked very hard with brutal training sessions and he instilled the brutal training and hard work in me that continues today.

How were the early years of being on the ATP tour and did you have doubts that you’d be able to make it?

The final exams, I left with a smile on my face that lasted 3 days. It was a mixture of excitement, high confidence level and I thought it was just normal, competing, traveling and getting ready for the experience.

24 hour Greyhound bus rides, as I was not a rich kid at all. There were a group of 7 of us in a basement of a house, 2 beds, 1 couch, and the rest slept on the floor. Before the tournament we would play games of cards or chess to decide who would get a bed, once you lost your singles match, and then you were on the floor. I got the nickname of “Lucky Looch” and “Diablo” because I was always winning these games and getting the bed. One of the guys traveled with a stringer, so he was able to do all of our racquets. When it came to food, there were the 29c McDonalds burgers, I would have 5 of them in one sitting, eating 2 minute noodles and the free player lunch.


What are your favourite tournaments?

Båstad, Kitzbühel and the Australian Open.

What’s your worst hotel experience?

In Fes, Morocco. It was a single room, no window, dirty towels, cobwebs, TV didn’t work. 10 out of 32 players got food poisoning, it was a terrible week, but I won the tournament.


What are the best and worst ever matches you have played?


Hopefully the best ones are still to come, the ones in the past are hard to remember. But here are two of them. Playing Oli Rochus in Melbourne. I got a standing ovation from the crowd and I had goose bumps, looking up at the crowd singing the national anthem and Waltzing Matilda. Also in Melbourne 2005 when I took Thomas Johansson to 5 sets, I had psycho fitness levels, doing runs on the sand dunes, stair runs and there is a trail in Melbourne called the Kokoda trail. That year I was not going to lose a match because of fitness.

The worst was playing the Srich (Srichaphan) at Monte Carlo, before that I played my match against Michael Llodra, during the warm up, we were hitting serves, I lost concentration and hit him in the ear with a serve, and he was daydreaming. At 1-1 in the 1st set he retired as he lost his balance and I got booed off the court.

I totally choked against the Srich. It was my first big tournament and I thought I am going to beat the number 12 in the world. I couldn’t get a first serve in at 5-4 when serving for the match. I tried only to hit kick serves and served 4 double faults in the game, yet still held match point. It was very difficult to get over it, for the next few months I had flashbacks to that memory, we’ve all had experiences like that, such a tough mental experience.

You’re the Lone Ranger in the context of being an Aussie, which has clay as his favourite surface, which is the domain of the Spanish and South Americans. How do you get along with those guys and do you think there is a mutual respect for you going to play there on their surface?

For sure I have a huge respect for those guys but I can't talk for them but hopefully they respect me as well. I love the way they compete and give it there all on the court but still at the end of the day can look their opponent in the eye, shake hands and have a beer and a bite to eat.

The Return of Gaston Gaudio to Buenos Aires

Here we are, this is a tournament preview and yes there are plenty of mentions of the Gaudio, so either it could be very invigorating or tepid depending on the viewpoint.

Now the Latin American swing is heating up with the best two tournaments in Buenos Aires and Acapulco coming up next week. These are the events with the best fields and unlike Costa da Sauipe, there will be people in the stadium and give the place some atmosphere.

This leads to the biggest moment of the week the return of Gaston Gaudio to the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club, this is the definite highlight of the week, well this and King Oscar at the event as well. Gaudio has had a tough time recently, he had some injury problems with the ankle, but a bigger factor was that he was mentally burnt out and this impacted on his tennis. It's not difficult to fathom that if you are unhappy in your place of work or have other distractions, then it's going to impact in other areas, it was a good thing that Gaudio took a break from the game, had fun, played poker, went skiing.

The crowd reaction will be interesting, as he has been able to bring out the extreme reactions of his countrymen. After the Malaga Davis Cup fiasco, he was booed, jeered and heckled, then after he came from nowhere and won Roland Garros, he was feted and embraced as hero. The circle is almost complete, he got booed off the court when he played poorly against Ramirez-Hidalgo. At the end of last year at the Argentine Cup exho, where Gaston came back and won a couple of matches, he had the crowd eating out of his hand. It takes a unique individual to create such reactions.

Great that Jaite hasn't forgotten what Gaston has done for tennis in Argentina and giving him a wildcard, and he will be play the very likeable Daniel Gimeno-Traver. It could have been a lot worse, Dani hasn't been in great form, but this is his surface and has a massive and heavy forehand. Gaston will have to get to his backhand and if he can engage in the BH/BH rallies, then he has a big chance to win the match. At the same time, the results aren't relevant as long as Gaston can enjoy his tennis and not suffering like he is having his teeth pulled without anaesthetic.

This tournament isn't just about the Gaudio, there are some other good matches and names here. Nalbandian is back defending his title from last year and needs to make up for the disappointment of his early exit at the Aus Open, also a possible second round match with Gaudio does look tasty.

Calleri, who hasn't been in great form for the last few months, usually plays well at this event and he is up against Ferrero. He should always have positive memories of the beatdown he gave the then number 1 in the world, it would be too much to expect something like this, though a good run here is needed to get a confidence boost.

Chucho Acasuso, has been twice a losing finalist here, though he lost to Guga and Nalbandian, not exactly two monkeys of the sport. He has started the season well, though he had a poor loss to Boredo in Brazil, he should have freshened up a bit. Gaby Markus has to work the big man hard, lets see what happens here.

As for the others the King got "El Cabezon " Almagro in the first round, it won't be easy for Oscar, maybe he can get the crowd on his side and they can heckle Big Head, get him off his game. Oscar has had a tough start to the year and needs to get a W on the board, it's all about that precious commodity confidence, some habits are better than others.

Cool that Escopeta Roitman got the third wild card, he is in a similar situation to Hernandez, he didn't do that much at the start of last year, so he doesn't have a great amount to defend, part of the fun of the main tour. Too bad the cool dudes of Brzezicki, who blew his match against Maxi Gonzalez and Zabaleta couldn't make it through, though Cuevas and Koellerer is definitely an interesting qualie match.

Forza Seppi, time to get back on track.

The Aussie Open Adventure is Over

Yes, that's the Aussie Open adventure for another year and so this means the match reports are going to be over and this is the whole reflective and sentimental stuff, well maybe not.

Like anything there were highlights and lowlights, but overall I enjoyed the experience, but as we age, things tend to be seen differently. It's definitely more about the money making now than the moniker "The Friendly Slam", so I will get the shit out of my system now with the lowlights.

Lowlights: The main one has been the increase of crowd trouble in the last few years. Sadly it seems to be the Serb fans who are involved in the shit, a few years ago they had issue with the Croats. This year they were at it again going around trying to stir shit with Croats and Bosnians. These clowns haven't been in Serbia, especially during the war, they are searching for an identity. The Aus Open never had a problem before with people from all over the world having fun and cheering their favourites, but this lot aren't interested in tennis and the Serbian players have expressed their disappointment with these idiots.

The other main problem is the venue congestion at the moment. There are way too many people for the size of the venue at the moment, which was state of the art in 1988, but now looks very tired. They have some big plans for redevelopment and it's meant to be ready by 2016, but lets see what happens. In addition to this, the ticketing policy by charging extra for Hisense/Vodafone arena tickets, they really have dropped the ball there. The policy they used to have was the bottom tier was reserved seating, which is fine, but the top tier at sides of the court, was general admission for Ground Pass holders, now they don't do that and there is a distinct lack of atmosphere and the courts aren't close to full, plus it creates congestion elsewhere.

Enough of the shit and onto the good stuff. Yes, it was a good experience for me, going to the qualies is great, because you see true tennis fans, it's free and also the slow build up to the main event starting on Monday. There were quite a few players that I like, that weren't there, but there are always enough matches to watch to keep entertained.

It was great to catch up with up friends, watch some tennis, check out the women and writing these reports have been fun and I have to thank all these people who helped me during my time in Melbourne.

Peta and Kristen : No wonder Tom Tebbut likes the long lost sisters, always a pleasure to meet and hang with you for any length of time.
Sammy : Long term friend and one day Karlovic might win a 5 setter.
Imran : The Americans didn't want to show up this year, just hope Mikey Russell makes it back in 2010.
Glen : Hope you enjoy Acapulco, never know you might get a winner that you like this time around and being there seeing the King win his first match on hardcourt not to be forgotten.
Felix Mantilla : It was great to see him again and hope he succeeds in his job with the AIS teaching the Aussies how to play on clay.
Jimbo : For all the comedic moments, especially when Nalle and Kohli decide to gift Roddick a dream run to the quarters.
Big Brad: Thank you very much for letting me stay at your place and will make an appearance next year or during the year even.
Safaro and Jimmy Smith: Didn't get to see enough of you Safaro, hope your player makes the MD next season and Smith get your act together and work the 2010 event.

Then the others like tournament director Craig Tiley, when I asked him where I can send my feedback about the event, he gave me his card and it will give me something to write about next week, though I have enough subject matter for now.

Hope the readers have enjoyed what I have written, it's not for everyone and that's a good thing. It's always better being at the event yourself and yes that even includes ducking chairs and overpriced beer, but one can't have everything.

Berdych is from the Czech Republic and not the choke republic

The 4th round singles, though in my next and last post, I will be mentioning doubles and other random stuff associated with the event, some will be good and others won't be so good, but life is like this.

Del Potro vs. Cilic : This match up is one that has been happening for many years throughout the juniors and now the seniors. Both of these guys are giants, del Potro has filled out and got stronger, which is something Cilic needs to do. I spoke to one of the Croats that knows him, he says Cilic does the work everywhere, but doesn't like gym, sounds like to me that he thinks squats are what you do when you are on the toilet.

The first set was fairly close in the heat, Cilic did well to take the 1st set while only serving at 33 percent of first serves, whereas del Potro was in the high 60s, but at 30 all, the tall Tandil tree mishit a forehand and then threw in a double fault to take the set.

del Potro remained fairly calm and was able to control the rallies and he handled the heat better than Cilic with his extra strength and once he got the second set, he was able to control the tempo of the match and both men were even on unforced errors count in the middle of the third set. Then "the Tandil tree" tightened his game up and Cilic who was getting tired from the heat and the ground he covered, started making more errors, it was his forehand that broke down, towards the end, Cilic was gone and a solid win for del Potro.

Only a matter of time before Cilic makes the top 10 and he needs to get stronger.

Federer vs Berdych : As the old English commentator John Barrett loves to say, most tennis match are lost rather than won, well this statement isn't cryptic, well not to people who read this rather off centre blog, it's not.

This statement basically sums up the match in total, though the term choke gets thrown around loosely. In this case, it had all the hallmarks of a choke, except the part where Berdych was leading a double break in the third set, but he had that in the first set, fortunately he was able to close it out.

The Berdman started very well with groundstrokes from both sides penetrating through Federer’s defences and he even managed to double break in the first set, but no surprise that he fucked one of them up, at least it didn’t harm in the end.

Fortunately these two old ladies had enough for the day and they were generous enough to give me their ticket, though it was in the sun, but beggars can’t be choosers. Berdych continues where he left off with the outstanding shots, showing his ability as a pure ballstriker which is different from being a tennis player, he managed to get through the seconf set.

This match had the potential to make Berdych as a player, there are certain matches in a career that players are known by, whether they win or lose, sometimes this is fair and other times not the case. Both were having fun breaking each others serves, then the big turning point of the match.

Berdman needed to show some balls and mental strength, and this is where it’s even more important to play it point by point, sadly this didn’t happen. The said game was 3-3, where the Berdman missed three easy volleys, at best these were wooden volleys at worst, they were as clumsy as a horny teenage boy trying to get off a bra off his lady friend for the first time.

After this Federer was able to take the 3rd set, change the momentum in his favour, Berdych got the trainer out for his hamstring, but the trainer can’t cure mental fragility at big points in matches. If the player outplays you on big points, then that is just too good, but when it comes down to making schoolboy errors, then it’s a disappointing way to go.

Federer didn’t let the initiative go and that was to be expected and raced to a 4-0 lead over a mentally disintegrated Berdych, who showed some excellent signs in the match, but Tomas Krupa has some work to do with the big Prostejov man.

As for Federer this match was good for him, and he still is the man to beat here in Melbourne.

Gonzo and Gasquet steal the show and Norm Chryst wants to be a star

Cilic vs Ferrer : This one had the potential to be a long match, but just because something has potential doesn’t mean it’s going to happen.

Ferrer was able to get an early break in the first two sets, but wasn’t able to consolidate, with Cilic breaking back easily in both of the sets. Cilic for a tall man moves very well laterally and can defend when he has to, in addition to being aggressive.

During the match Cilic was able to manoeuvre Ferrer around the court and with more firepower he broke down Ferrer’s forehand and just too solid all around, the baseline game and the serve worked well and the 3rd set was comfortable in the end.

Del Potro vs. Muller : Good match, with Muller living it up on the big stage, got the first set with some good serving and volleying, but once delPo took the second set, he was able to overpower Muller, it ended up being an unspectacular win, but a win is a win.

Berdych vs Wawrinka : Stani came out firing and showing that classic backhand off, hitting with good length and was able to break early and run through the set 6-4.

Berdych then lifted his game and was hitting some heavy balls and able to move Stani around the court, even using the slice backhand with purpose and not as an afterthought, hope Tomas Krupa can work on that side of things, because he does need the odd bit of variation. Berdman was on fire in the second set, very clean hitting from him, it's even more noticeable when you are in the first level watching hearing the sound of the ball and seeing the movement.

Stani called for the trainer, but it didn't seem too serious and Stani fought very hard as usual, the Berdman was able to handle the "real Swiss #1"'s game and make it through to another 4th round.

The Berdych Army rule, they are a great support group, actually come up with chants that were witty, fun and a bit different, plus they support them through the shit and the good stuff as well. After the match, they were celebrating and gave a few of the Swiss fans the "Na, Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye" serenade.

Stepanek vs. Verdasco ; Radek started off well with a break of serve, doing what he normally does to Verdasco changing it up and breaking the rhythm up, but Verdasco broke back straight away, then this happened when Steps was up 4-3 and to serve for 5-3, then the huge change came over the match. Verdasco wasn't making mistakes and Stepanek had lead in his hands, with dropshots landing on the service line and Verdasco was dealing with the rubbish as it should be dealt with.

The last two sets, well Steps seemed a bit deflated and lacking energy, but you can have all of the energy in the world, but it doesn't matter when the ball is getting drilled past you from both sides with a combo of pace and angles. This was an outstanding performance from Verdasco, he has been showing signs of consistency for some time and winning the Davis Cup match under trying circumstances and not playing well, yet still coming through at the end. Hope he can give Murray a few proiblems in their next match.

Best of all were a group of about 8 guys that were chanting and singing about Carlos Ramos the umpire. He was embarrassed about ir, but deep down I think he appreciated it, all the tunes and support for the man himself.

Monfils vs. Almagro : Mucho didn't play that badly and hopefully he can use this as a springboard for better results on hardcourts. The Monfils was his usual part showman, part moonballer, showing his blistering pace around the court that can only be matched by Karlovic and Roddick at top speed, also selectively using the power to put away the short balls.

Just a case of Monfils being better on this surface. One hilarious incident and of course it involved the dickhead umpire Norm Chryst. The guy is such an arsehole and he wants to be involved in the show, but he is there to apply the rules with commonsense, something he lacks. There was a call and Mucho looked up at his camp and wanted it challenged, then Norm wouldn't allow it and "el cabezon" is far from happy with this and of course this is just Norm being part of the show. Monfils is bored with this and has fun during this session, but this was never in doubt.

Blake vs Andreev: Like all of their matches Blake loves the pace of the Andreev shots and is able to hit it back and with lower trajectory and rush Igor, in the process getting shorter balls which he can tee off on.

Now the best till last, when it comes to the matches.

Gonzalez vs Gasquet : Great move that this was put on the MCA (Margaret Court Arena) this is a great court to watch matches, very close to the action and not a multipurpose venue like Hisense which is shit for the most parts. The court was very packed, plenty of Chileans of course who made it like a Davis Cup match, also there were a few Frenchies in the crowd, plus the ones who love tennis there and it was the best match outside.

There was this usher in my aisle, lets call him the giraffe, mainly because he had a neck that was 1m long and was very distinctive. He was very good and took pride in his work, trying to get as many people into the court and finding seats quickly, good to see him take pride in his work.

Onto the match Gasquet started very well and was tactically smart, moving the ball around and eventually getting it to the weaker Gonzo backhand and able to exploit the weaker side and either winning the point on an error, the quality backhand or at the net. This was the best he played in a while, the backhand was firing and his forehand which can go off when stretched was holding up. Gonzo didn't start off poorly, he was just being outplayed and Gasquet deservedly took the first 2 sets.

The Chilean fans were doing their best to get Gonzo fired up and it worked, he was able to use that multi dimensional forehand. He can do whatever with that forehand, want some angle, there will be some quality angles, need some heavy spin, yes got that covered and when we wants to lay the smackdown and hit through it, then that is there as well. He started to make more winners and serve better, he was up a break twice and gave it back straight away.

Gonzo was able to take the 3rd set eventually after having a host of chances. Gasquet was having issues with blisters and he is a bit soft at the best of times, but Gonzo rode the momentum and ran through the 4t, while Gasquet was getting over the initial blister problem.

The 5th set was quality, extended rallies, plenty of fighting from Gonzo, who was struggling on serve, whereas Gasquet was strong in the majority of service games, plenty of winners from both players with their signature shots and their weaker sides were holding up fairly well. Gonzo kept holding on and then in the 11th service game of Gasquet, for once he was able to get the first point and he didn't relinquish the advantage and instead of the forehand, it was the backhand down the line that won the match.

The Chileans were going crazy after the match and a flare was released, so there was some smoke around the venue, glad it didn't get on anyone's clothing as that stuff can burn and kill people. They were very loud and the applause for both players was deserved and a long applause it was.

At the end of the match, there were some glum faces of the Gasquet fans, but many of the Chileans went up to them and shook their hands, both sets of fans enjoyed the match as a spectacle and a 88 mn final set isn't a bad thing, depending on the result.

Later today I will do the 4th round matches and these will be my last reports.

Igor Andreev hit 3 slice backhands in a row

Went out last night, so I didn't get a chance to write this report, thought I am doing my best and that's all that counts.

Didn't watch as many matches as I would have liked, then again I am not as rich as I would like either.

Gonzalez vs Canas: Canas improved on his performance against Kindlmann, but he was always a step behind Gonzo, who rarely looked threatened. Gonzo had some great mishits going into the crowd, but also some huge forehands. Willy is still very fit, but he has lot a bit of speed around the court, this plus his backhand when rallying is falling very short. He saved a few set points in the 1st set, but this was a good match for Gonzo to get some rhythm before he plays Gasquet, now Canas will stay away from the clay until Europe.

Almagro vs. Fognini : Much better from "el cabezon" today, even though the conditions were very shitty with heavy winds and hazy skies. This impacted on the timing of their strokes, but in a way it helped Fognini as it kept some of his wild shanks into the court. After the 2nd set which was fairly close, the Fog checked out mentally and was thinking about the clay in South American and finally Almagro wins 2 matches in Australia.

Monfils vs. Koubek: Not sure what to make of this match. Monfils was his usual self from the baseline, content to play balls with nothing on them, do a lot of running and then all of a sudden rip a huge backhand or forehand down the line. The first set was tight, with Koubek not making many mistakes, but he got punished for the lapse from 15-15, when he made 3 unforced errors in a row to lose serve.

The rallies were quite long, but Koubek wasn't using enough angles to open the court and hit behind Monfils, but the Panther had too many guns for a semi passive Koubek, should be interesting to see whether Almagro can expose the Monfils backhand.

Andreev vs. Gulbis: Plenty of big hitting in this match was to be expected and this was the case. Andreev started the better, using his serve and big forehand to dominate play and Gulbis was hitting some big shots from both sides, but also some big errors and the love of the dropshot is still apparent.

Igor took the first two sets 4 and 4, then not long into the 3rd set, he called the trainer to rub some magic potion on his stomach and after that he was serving significanly slower and Gulbis was able to take advantage and lifted his play to take the next 2 sets.

Looked like he had the momentum and took the break in the 5th, but Andreev was brave and fought hard, this in addition to some poor shot selection from Gulbis helped his cause. One rare Andreev backhand down the line winner was a crucial shot in getting the final break, it was a rare feat to see Andreev hit so many backhands, even the 3 slices in a row. Slice to Andreev is what he does to his bread, not the low spinning shot on a tennis court.

It was an excellent win for Andreev, who needed to improve his 5 set record and hopefully he takes out Blake in the next round.

When it falls, it all falls down the foibles of Wednesday

Better get the rants out of the way first of all. Good to see the organising people have no fucking brains. They used to allow Ground Pass holders into the Vodafone arena, but they decided to charge a bit more for specific Vodafone or whatever they call the crappy thing now. Problem is that there is a big court with no atmosphere, then the other courts suffer from overcrowding to the max. These idiots either need to limit the amount of tickets being sold, not happening or expand the seating capacities of the other courts to fit in with the demand and that is something that they can easily do and sshould.

Ferrer vs. Hrbaty : Ferrer was impressive, first time in a while I could say that, hit very good length and played very solid from the baseline. I expected this one to be a grindfest, but Hrbaty's forehand broke down big time, in Perth he was coming over it again, but here he couldn't do that and Ferrer exposed that side especially and Hrbaty was done in around 80 minutes.

Berdych vs. Dabul : The Berdman was just toying around with Dabul, and doing what he should be doing to lower ranked players that you are clearly better than, then again Nalbandian hasn't learned this lesson.

Mathieu vs. Delic : This Mathieu what a guy, he can only come back against Koubek, Seppi and Hernandez, but when you want to him to win, he does the opposite.

Seriously, he is up 2 sets to love and 4-1 in the 4th against Delic and he can't close it out. Delic loves playing here, because he gets great support from the Bosnian community, who are pretty good unlike the idiot Serb fanbase that is here, at least they don't scream out in the middle of the rally when the ball hasn't bounced. Mathieu got tight and was just popping up mid court balls with nothing on them and Delic took advantage of them as he should have and deserved his victory.

Safin vs GGL : Yes, I sat through some of this and good performance from Safin, he realises it's his last time here, so he decided to put on a show and it was a good show at that, Friday night blockbuster waits for him.

Santoro vs Kohli : This was a high quality match with Santoro doing his usual slice and dice stuff and Kohli being aggressive, it was hard to get a seat, but eventually we got in. Plenty of French fans there, who weren't there for the Mathieu match.

Fab was fighting hard and Kohli had this match in his hands, when he served for it at 5-4, but wasn't able to forclose the deal and Fab managed to get the fourth set and he rode the crowd momentum home. Plenty of quality rallies, moves to the net and Kohli hit 90+ winners and around 60 unforced errors. Santoro loves his big matches in Melbourne, only problem is now with Roddick winning, Kohli has a better chance of taking him out.

Norm Chryst was umpiring this match, and we were giving him stick, when he was overruling a call he shouldn't have and failed to overrule the one he should. Yes, the old "get the hair out of your eyes" comment was made.

Roddick vs. Malisse: Malisse blew this one, seriously some dumb unforced errors on rally balls. He had a break in the 3rd set, really Roddick shouldn't be outhitting Malisse from the baseline, and he wasn't coming up with big shots at all. Malisse was hitting the off forehand to late and if he wasn't, then he was rolling the ball into the net.

He manages to get to the 3rd set tiebreak, has a mini break and then decides to hit 6 unforced errors, then gets pissed off and Roddick runs it through from there. The fact that both Kohli and Nalle lost, means Roddick walks into the quarter finals.

Other notes, during the day Bolelli was his usual quality returning self, the guy couldn't return a phone call. Nalbandian was clownish in Nalbandian ways. Del Potro is loving it at the moment.

The Toad is a classic Grand Slam midget and up a set and 2 breaks, losing in 4 sets never in doubt.

The Five Set Feast on Day 2 at the Aus Open

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.