Hasta luego Lucho Horna

This is another tribute post to Luis Horna. Personally I thought this would be the best way to end the blogging year, it's not as if I churn out the articles regularly, but something is better than nothing.

After a difficult 2009 for Lucho Horna he decided to retire from the tour at his home event in Lima. Lucho had been training hard over the previous off season and his injury problems that plagued him throughout the season lead to this decision. He had a foot problem that put him out to the March, played a few events and then decided to play qualies at Roland Garros. He lost in the second round to Flavio Cipolla who loves the slices and chopping shots along with the worst serve on the tour, Horna was unable to get a break point against the worst serve on tour. If this is not a sign to retire then nothing is. He wasn't in form at all, but went back as he and Cuevas were defending doubles champions and they lost early in their defence of the crown.

Lucho was an excellent junior who was ranked 4th in his final year of juniors and it took him some time to get adjusted to the main tour. His idol was Thomas Muster and it was quite easy to see in his aggressive style of game trying to use his forehand to dominate the points and a backhand which was single handed and average, though when he was playing well even this side worked well.

He was a guy who had an excellent record against top 10 players in his career he defeated 9 of them, which is impressive for a man who had not made the top 30 in his career. His most famous win was the one over Roger Federer at Roland Garros in the first round where Federer was one of the favourites for the event. He played an intelligent game that day and let Federer make the errors, but was not passive when he had the chance to attack.


As has been the common case after a big upset, Horna couldn't follow it up in the next round but this case was a bit special. He was up a match point in the 2nd round against a certain Dutch guy called Martin Verkerk who steamrolled his way to the final before getting smashed by Ferrero. Lucho had another excellent win at RG against Henman, it was the classic match between the serve/volleyer and baseliner. Horna was running hard and ripping huge forehands at Henman's feet and he was volleying as well as he could against these hard shots and Lucho was cramping at the end, but got through at the end. He lost to Hanescu in the next round who then took out Nalbandian in the 4th round.

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

Among the wins there were some hilariously bad losses the Cipolla one was up there. One of the funnier ones was when Gustavo Marccachio who is the English language reporter for Tenispro defeated Lucho in Viña del Mar and the Chilean press stated that Horna lost to a TV reporter. There were days where he couldn't return a phone call which was his really big weakness, if he was off his big returns then he didn't have the nous to change it up. His GS record was not great and he was capable of making a 4th round at least once. He killed Monfils and Phau at the AO, then he played Mathieu in the 3rd round and managed the special skill of leading 5-2 double break twice in the first 2 sets and managing to choke to Mathieu.

In addition there were some funny antics in his matches. The heckler incident at the AO with Mirnyi. Lucho failed to capitalise on his chances and in the 9th game of the 5th set, there was this pissed Yank who kept heckling Lucho. He finally got the shits after being put off as he was about to serve. It worked as he went over to the umpire and said. "Are you going to get this guy out of the court or not? If not there is going to be a mess." He played another point and lost it and the heckler was it again. "He is still here and you do nothing about it, and if you don't get him out, it will be a big mess, a big mess". Lucho loses focus and serve, then when the match is over, the heckler ran off. Another one in Sopot where he played Cañas, where he got a point penalty and was going crazy.

Lucho won 2 titles, the first one was the best one in Acapulco where he defeated Chela in the final, he played very well that event and it was a pleasure to see such joy in winning the crown against a good friend of his. The other one was the RR shit in Viña del Mar where he got over the evil Massu, who always defeated Horna except in the match that counted which was this one. Massu could never win the Viña del Mar title no matter how hard he tried and for once Lucho didn't make silly errors and took the title.

Most famous of all was the Roland Garros doubles title with Pablo Cuevas in 2008. This was such a surprise and so much better for it. Two singles guys enter the doubles for a bit of fun and some extra cash. They take out Llodra/Clement in the 1st round, Dlouhy/Paes in the 3rd round, best of all the Bryan Clowns in the quarter finals which had a refusal to shake hands with Cuevas at the end. It was funny coming from these guys, they had a big fight in the semis and then crushed Zimonjic/Nestor in the final. They were bemused when they won it, but Lucho off the forehand side was hitting heavy and Cuevas off the backhand it was great to see such joy and the first time in a long time a Peruvian and Uruguayan have won a major title.


The above and through Lucho's warrior efforts for Peru, he lead them through to the World Group in Davis Cup. After all that battling through the various phases, it was very disappointing that he couldn't take part in the singles against Spain, even though he was likely to lose his singles match. It just seems a bit bittersweet not being able to contribute at the end, when he was the driving force for getting them through.

He was the second best Peruvian player after Jaime Yzaga. A true DC warrior, entertaining in his own quirky way and a tough fighter. One of the best sequences was when he and Calleri played four times in 5 weeks. They played in Melbourne, Viña del Mar, Buenos Aires and Acapulco. They split the matches 2-2 and also won a doubles title together.

Gaston Gaudio had some very kind words about Horna.

How do you feel about Horna´s retirement?

- “As a tennis player I regret that Lucho is retiring because we´ve shared almost the whole of our careers, we´ve played against each other, we´ve had our battles, and it will be a great loss for the sport. But as a friend I´m pleased for him if he´s happy, and if he wants to be able to enjoy other things, being with his family, or being in Lima, it´s understandable”.

Do you recall any important duel with him?

- “We have more shared memories as friends than as tennis players. We haven´t played each other more than a couple of times. But we would dine out, for instance. He lived in Buenos Aires a long time because he trained there, and we have shared experiences as friends”.

On that note, Lucho will still play some DC ties for Peru, but he is gone from the tour. He proved entertainment, good to watch when playing well and respect for his dedication to the Peruvian DC team. Hope he is enjoying time with the family.

Departing the Stage : Agustin Calleri

It seems like I forgot to write about this retirement of the big man known as "El Gordo" Agustin Calleri. Since it's quite late here and too fucking warm, it's my blog and I can swear if I want and not sure how this will read.

Calleri decided to call it a day in 2009 from the tour, though according to the original articles that stated his retirement that he is going to play Buenos Aires and Acapulco in 2010 which makes sense as one is his home tournament and the other where he won the first of his 2 ATP singles titles, which was scant return for a player of his abilities.

His career path took a slightly different path than many players. Calleri before he could go on tour needed money to travel as he had the talent, but struggled for sponsors at the time. He was part of the generation along with Cañas, Gaudio, Chela, Zabaleta and Puerta you didn't get any support from the AAT and he still has strong views about development of tennis in Argentina especially for rural guys like himself. He ended up working at his parents shop to pay for his initial expenses on the tour and that got him in there, once he was able to start showing some promise in the Futures and then the Challengers he was able to get a gig playing in the German Bundesliga which is the highest paying league. The advantage of playing in the Bundesliga where numerous, excellent conditions, good wages for players, excellent crowds. Can use the country as a base for travelling around Europe while playing in tournaments, if they fall early then they could play league tennis.

The year was 2000 was when Calleri made an impact just getting into the main draw of Roland Garros, this was the year where he reached his best result there. With the heavy power off both wings, especially the backhand down the line he took out Felix Mantilla in the first round, then Hrbaty who was the semi finalist in the previous year and seeded 14th, before losing to Medvedev in 4 sets. He also took out Safin in straight sets in Kitzi that year. He repeated the dose in Madrid indoors and Safin said he was lucky, hard to get lucky twice. He also made the 3rd round of the US Open giving Sampras a tough time of it, but this was typical of the man, some brilliant matches and showings along with the most poor exhibitions of tennis.

It's better to start with the huge chokes and there were a few. He was leading in the final of Buenos Aires against Massu making empanadas out of him leading 6-2 5-1 and the crowd were expecting the title for Calleri, but he got tight and Massu kept fighting hard and took the second set in a tiebreaker, from there it was only one winner and not Calleri. He was in New Haven against Blake had 3 match points leading a set and 5-4 40-0, but managed to shit himself again and lose in 3 sets.

Buenos Aires was the worst one because it was a final and he was the home player, but the funniest one was the loss to Koubek in Sopot. He lost 0-6 7-6(3) 7-5, Calleri lead 6-0 4-0, served for the 2nd set twice and then loses in a tiebreaker. He lead 5-3 in the 3rd and failed to serve it out and he went bananas at losing this, though to be fair this is as good as reason as any to go bonkers.

The other side of the coin when he was truly on his game, then it was amazing to watch as he could cause havoc with the brute power off both wings, especially the backhand down the line. Enjoy the clip below where it is raining winners and little Hewitt had no clue what was going on. His best win was against Ferrero in the Davis Cup 2003 Malaga, when JCF was the number 1 in the world and the best on clay. Calleri was on fire this day and thumped him in straight sets with the last set being 6-1. He was given a standing ovation from the Spanish home fans after his performance, this is when you know you have done well.

His performance against Agassi in Miami 2004 he blasted 20 winners in the first set with 4 errors and serving at 36% first serve. Agassi looked like the kid who had sand kicked in his face at the beach. In the US Open after Hewitt took the 1st set. Calleri was very aggressive and everything was going in and this is a show of his capabilities.


It was his unpredictability that made him fun to watch, but it was very disappointing that he could not make the 4th round of a Slam during his career. He played well in Hamburg 2003 before losing to Weasel Coria in the final, but he played an excellent semi final against Nalbandian.

His two career titles came in Acapulco 2003, where he defeated Gaudio, Rios, Mantilla and his friend Zabaleta in the final. Then he followed that up with Kitzbühel 2006, funnily enough just as in Acapulco in the last 4 matches he defeated 2 Argentines, a Spaniard and a Chilean. In this case it was Massu, Gaudio, Verdasco and Chela all for the loss of just one set. When he won the titles they came out of nowhere really, as he wasn't showing much form leading into these events.

In essence Calleri should have achieved more with his career, he had a lot of injuries and some of it had to do with his physique. He used to carry a bit in the middle, but was very strong. Tactically he let himself down by just slapping the ball all of the time instead of taking off some pace as his rally ball was quite penetrating and then he could take advantage of the short ball. The one year where was relatively injury free he finished in the top 20, this and the poor results in Grand Slams reflected on the lack of overall success.

He has a lovely wife and child, hope he is enjoying time with them and watching his beloved Boca Juniors.

Bye bye Marat Safin and 2009 in review

It's time for the 2009 season review. The season has been over for a few weeks, but it's still too long and there will be a lot of lipservice paid to the slogans "we're going to shorten the season, blah, blah, blah", then again the ATP aren't capable to releasing and penalising top players when they fail drug tests.

Overall the season had some pleasant surprises with some predictable overreaction to these surprises. Where to start this off, yes I suppose it should be done chronologically, but not in this case. Roger Federer after being written off by many pundits and fans, especially after losing to Nadal in the final of the Aus Open. He was finished, not going to break Sampras's record of the most Grand Slam wins and his time at the top was over. So what ended up happening, he won a rare Roland Garros and Wimbledon double in the process passing Sampras's record and shutting up many people along the way. Yes, there are people who complained that Federer didn't defeat Nadal to win the Roland Garros crown, but the title for him was not an easy ride at all. Jose Acasuso had a chance to go 2 sets to 1 up on his serve, but dropped his bundle and Federer was able to take advantage, then Haas and del Potro pushed him very hard. The final wasn't the hardest match for him, it helped that he played an opponent who was in his first final and also the conditions were heavier which suited his game even more.

The French crowd weren't used to a winning speech on the mens final day delivered in French and he is very much a crowd favourite there. Then he was able to win at Wimbledon playing against his punching bag Roddick, who decided to punch back and had his chances to take a 2 sets to love lead, it was no surprise that Roddick choked on that backhand volley, as the most common way to see how well a technical weakness holds up is under pressure. The match had drama, but not of the highest quality, the longer it went the more likely Federer was to win it. He got the job done, it doesn't matter how he played, because it only goes down in the record books as a win. In the process creating history and this record should stand for some time, though the same was said about Sampras, but nothing at the moment is coming through unless Nadal wins 12 Roland Garros titles.

Nadal, well as usual he had an excellent start to the season with this great win in Melbourne after battling 5 hours with Verdasco in the semis, there were excuses already being made that he was going to be too tired for the final, but he showed this was not the case in taking out his first Aus Open. It was about the time that there was a 5 set final at the Aus Open, there hadn't been one since 1988 and that's too long. Yes, there was drama and the mentally stronger individual came through on the day, but the presentation ceremony where Federer turned on the waterworks did take away the focus from Nadal's great moment of winning the Slam. He handled the situation well considering the circumstances, and it should never have been about Federer's tears, but of course the media are going to focus on this.

Nadal was pushed by Djokovic on the clay, but as per usual he managed to win as he usually does on the clay. The big surprise of the year was that he lost at RG, not that he was going to remain undefeated on the surface, more the fact of who he lost to was what was the surprise factor. As usual the bitching about him being injured was thrown around as the reason he lost the match, though he made paella and sodomised Hewitt in the previous round. The fact Robin Söderling took him out in Paris, whereas a few weeks earlier Nadal thrashed the Toad badly in Rome and there is not a lot of love between them, which is good to see. Söderling played some excellent tennis in this match and the fact Magnus Norman is working with him now and a man who knew how to play on clay, they came up with a plan which suited his strengths and was able to execute it. This was the foundation for the excellent 6 months for Söderling which culminated at a semi final showing at the TMC.

del Potro and Davydenko were the guys in the second half of the season. Just as it was great for RG that Söderling defeated Nadal, because the only people enjoying the public executions that passed off as Roland Garros in recent years are Nadal fans. The same can be said for del Potro when he won the US Open in 5 sets against Federer. He has come a long way from the meek surrender at the Aus Open to the same opponent, then taking him to 5 sets at RG and then the Slam. del Potro has been hyped as the player to do well and win Slams, but he did it earlier than he and many others expected. His game isn't exactly scientific but very effective and his temperament has improved. It helps he has an outstanding coach in Franco Davin who has guided both weasel Coria and Gaudio, plus he likes to keep in the background and not interesting in pimping his own work unlike Brad Gilbert.

Davydenko had an excellent second half of the season, since he is such a rhythm player when he gets on a roll he can be very hard to stop with his aggressive ball striking that takes time away from the opponent. Can he win a Slam? I wouldn't mind to see it happening, but there are still some doubts that he can get it done at GS level, though it would be good to be proven wrong in this case. He dances to his own tune and his interviews are free of cliches which is something these days.

Onto the other stuff. The ATP changed the ranking points system for some reason and the rebranding of the tournaments, not much changed in that regard. Players still have to win matches and defend points, just because you put lipstick and a dress on a pig, does not mean it's not a pig. They have this thing with ISG events yay, there is TV coverage from the semi finals but nothing from the early days anywhere that makes perfect sense.

One last rant, the ATP allowing so many tournaments with byes in 2010. Do they seriously think that having all these byes is going to get the top players to play these IS events? The IS events players will play are either the ones in their home countries like Djokovic or places where they have long standing positive memories. It's a joke that a pro player can win a tournament just winning 4 matches. Why not just have 16 player only instead at the IS and ISG events make things easier.

Marat Safin has departed the scene and is now looking to join the Russian Olympic Committee. Safin was a well loved figure among the journalists, the fans especially the ladies and many guys thought he was cool. I mean if your girlfriend ran off with Safin, it would be like "yeah, that's ok", unlike say it was Hewitt for example. The man who shagged more women than he broke racquets, liked to have fun and was admired by most of his peers and that is the important thing. As a player winning 2 Slams some will say this isn't enough of a return for a guy of his abilities, but many talented players have not won a Slam. It was the right time for him to retire, in fact probably should have retired at the end of 2008, he was a step slower and that meant he was late on the ball and impacted on his game and mental state. Best of all Safin was not a clone and his press conferences were almost as good as bedroom antics. Hope he can succeed in his life away from tennis.

Last of all Lucho Horna and Calleri decided to retire from the game and I have not forgotten about the Lucho retirement entry and I have decided that this will be the last entry for 2009.

Andre Agassi : Image is Everything

Andre Agassi : The circle is complete

After being out of the limelight, the past week the mullet formerly known as Andre Agassian has hit the headlines with a bullet, with some interesting revelations in his book that is coming out. Like anything with a big impact, there are just as many questions and theories as to why this information has come to light and the timing that it was released, more on that later on.

Lets have a look at the stages of the Agassi career. He came onto tour as a very promising 16 year old with spiky hair, which was acquainted with Dr. Bleach at this stage. He was not the first protege to come out of the Nick Bollettieri Academy aka the Forehand Factory. Jimmy Arias and Aaron Krickstein were the first ones, but Agassi had more flamboyance and a sense of difference in addition to his talent and look, that made the media and tennis public take notice.

1988 was Agassi's first big year on tour, hitting massive forehands and using the court well, but he lacked fitness, this was highlighted in the semis of Roland Garros when he played Wilander in the semis. Agassi got it to a 5th set and the French crowd were loving his sense of style, but the Swede outsmarted and outlasted him 6-0. He won some tournaments this year and they hyped him up big time at the US Open, then he ran into Lendl, who knocked the stuffing out him. Then delivered the great line about Agassi, "He is just a haircut and a forehand", how wrong Lendl was to be proved later on.

Agassi was making a lot of noise for the wrong reasons as well, he pissed off Mark Woodforde in a match, he was losing , but managed to win the match and Woodforde asked what happened "he started acting like an 18 year old kid". The worst was his absolute lack of class in a Davis Cup match against in Argentina in Argentina. He was thrashing Martin Jaite 6-2 6-2 5-0 and Jaite was up 40-0 on serve, then Agassi catches the serve taking the piss out of him big time, the Argentine crowd understandably were fired up by the disrespect and booed for 5 minutes. This stuff was par for the course, along with the faking of injuries to a level Djokovic and Inzaghi would be proud of, tanking when getting beaten and bullshit excuses when he lost. Then he managed to turn the perception of himself around in such a way, he could feed the press a turd wrapped up in Kobe beef, and the press would eat it up and not see it was a turd.

The turnaround from brat to multi grand slam champion, coming back from the problems he had with the game and starting over in the Challengers to rebuild his ranking got him respect with the public and the press alike. It got to the point where initially he was criticised for nearly everything to the point where he could do nothing wrong at all. For those of cynical persuasion or questioning minds, there were rumblings how much Agassi really changed or was it, that he was able to express himself in a clear and precise manner knowing when to say the right things at the right time, without really saying anything at all.

Lets have a look at the way he treated the ballkids, he was very anal retentive about this, yes Nadal is anal retentive about some things, but not to the point where he won't play unless the ballkids weren't in the exact spot and they couldn't stand together, this was classic Agassi. Towards the end of his career he was very similar to Carl Lewis, that he was once a great, but suffering more defeats as the ageing process took place. They still managed to steal the limelight even when they lost, he isn't the only one guilty of this, though it leads into the things he is guilty of. His last US Open was a classic case of banality and sentimental crap that was cringeworthy at best.

Revelations that he took crystal meth for a year during the 90s, in his down period. As for whether they should test for recreational drugs or not is another subject, but the fact that the ATP did test for them at the time and that he failed these tests. Yet, the ATP did not release his name and decided to get rid of the forensic evidence, just reconfirmed what sceptics have said about the ATP. The higher up the food chain, the more likely that they will get protected from any suspension this is not just related to drugs performance enhancing or recreational, match fixing and we have seen the lack of fairness when it comes to applying penalties for these offences. The ATP just look even more incompetent than usual, which takes a lot of effort.

Mike Agassi gave Andre speed allegedly, but nothing will come of this, even though he revealed this in his book. Why would it come out now, if he was truly honest, then he would have accepted the penalties at the time, irrespective of whether the rule stinks or not and there would be no sweeping under the carpet. There have been suggestions that Agassi has taken performance enhancing substances during his career, not that he would ever be caught at all, especially the way the ATP handled his previous positive results.

The subject of carpet, Agassian is a hirsute character and had a carpet chest, yet the funniest revelation and best one of all is that he wore a wig in the final of RG against Andres Gomez. Wearing a wig before a GS final that is a combination of massive insecurity in his own appearance and arrogance in the way that he could beat Gomez wearing a wig. For the good of the game it was great to see Gomez win that final. But Agassi wearing the "Wig of Righteousness" is some funny shit. Worrying about your hair falling out or trying to win a Slam for the first time, the choice is difficult.

Agassi said he hated tennis. In this case, it's not so surprising that he was pushed into the game as a kid by his father, hitting balls when he was 2 years old and the combination of being pushed very hard as a kid, then to a point where it became a job, instead of doing something he loved. Yes, most of us hate our jobs at some point, this is natural, but we aren't as fortunate as the top pro athletes, who can make a great living out of the sport in the limited time they have and if they are financially astute won't have to work again once their career is over.

If Agassi wanted to get this all of his chest and really be honest about it, then he would have gone to a priest or a psychologist and then worked through it. But, no he chose to write this book, he did get a large advance in writing the book, so that is more money for the foundation. At the same time as Eric Bischoff (a figure in the wrestling business) said "controversy creates cash", these controversial moments have created a buzz and reaction, so the theory should be that individuals will want to buy the book in large numbers generating more revenue. At the same time Agassi fell out with his former agent Perry Rogers who knew a lot about Agassi and could reveal these negative things about him, so it looks like getting retaliation in first. By doing this now then Agassi can attempt manipulate and control the reactions as much as possible, just like when he was a player in the second phase of the career where he was treated like a demigod.

Personally, I won't buy the book, but when it comes to the library, then I will borrow it and read it at that time some of the hype will have died down by then. All these revelations by the man have not changed my opinion on the man at all. In fact it reconfirmed my previous view of Agassi. Insecure, need to be loved and in the limelight, while pretending to be modest and humble, when not the case. People like Thomas Muster, Marcelo Rios, Yevgeny Kafelnikov for example are truer to themselves, while being blunt, not always likeable and throwing platitudes around for the sake of it, at least it's not swimming in saccharine and people can take it or leave it, which is preferable to an individual being fake.

Wondering if Fernando Vicente is still happy with the shirt he stole from Agassi when he was a junior.

Gaudio and Lucho back on tour, Luczak reaches career high

This entry might come together in some form, and then again it might not, there are a few things that need to be commented on, but can't bothered writing a few different entries for them.

Gaston Gaudio has had a good couple of weeks since coming back to the tour after wasting his time playing in New York at the US Open qualies, when he was not in any form to play on clay, let alone hardcourts. The Babasonicos were in town, but he didn't go to see them, so it must have been for the holiday.

He took the time off to get over niggling injuries and made the final in his hometown of Buenos Aires defeating some very solid players, before losing to Horacio Zeballos the challenger king of 2009 and regular hitting partner. He followed that up with a semi final in Montevideo showing against Pablito Cuevas, who modelled his single hand backhand on Gaudio, and not a bad guy to learn from. There were of course some shenanigans as there usually are with Gaudio. He got a point penalty and then match point walked on the other side to check a mark that Cuevas said was out, the ump warned him about crossing the side to check the call, so Gaston does it, gets a point penalty and match over.

His semi final against Chela in Bs As was comedy central in the first set of 6-4, no one held serve for the first 6 games, then both held and Gaudio broke again. Of course the footfaultis was there, that is as natural to Gaudio as breathing.

This sums it up perfectly. Fred Stolle asking the questions.

Q. The foot faults, we’ve got to ask you a bit about the foot faults. There were a few of them. They were annoying weren’t they?

(Gaudio) It is, but it’s fun for the crowd...............

(Gaudio) Maybe I should move the line a little bit forward.

Q. Or maybe you should move your foot a little bit back?

(Gaudio) I’m going to try with that one. I never thought about that one before.

He is now ranked 201 and will finish inside the top 200 for the year and that is a great achievement from where he was at the start of the season. He can have a big off season and get the fitness side of things correct and then work from there, the serve is still his biggest liability, not just the footfaults. He doesn't have a big serve, so needs a high percentage and move it around, but the second serve will get pounded harder than a woman in a double anal porn scene by the better players. He still has a few events to play, maybe an early loss in Asuncion would be ok, then he can have a great time in Floripa (Florianopolis), which is Guga's town, fine beaches, good looking ladies, good courts, hehe.

As we are coming up to the end of the season, this part of the year is important and not just because of the races to the WTF aka (What The Fuck Did We Call it this for Championships) in London. Also at the lower end of the scale as to who will make the direct entry into the Aus Open and this is important for my tennis friends and I, it's not like it's a short trip to Australia, so they won't play unless in directly.
Dani Gimeno-Traver, the Valencia fan and man with no backhand, but cool guy won the Challenger in Tarragona to storm back in the top 100, he has modelled his game on Moya and yes that includes Moya's backhand. His serve is heavy kick and good forehand, but he has blown a lot of matches through an inability to close out matches. The Troicki farce at Wimbledon, where they needed miners helmets to see the ball, being one of the more memorable choke jobs. Thanks to Nathii for providing me the result of this final, while I was out and about.

Lucho Horna made the QFs in Montevideo losing to Gaudio, it has been a horrible year for him. He trained well over the off season, then hurt his foot and has been on the back foot ever since. He couldn't play singles for Peru in Davis Cup, after doing so much to get them into the World Group. Had a stop start season play a few tournaments then time off. One of the many low points of the year was the qualies at Roland Garros where he played the leather shorts wearing midget but pleasant individual Flavio Cipolla. Cipolla has the worst serve on tour, yes he can beat people with his unusual game, but the fact that Horna could not get a break point at all against the worst serve on tour, even allowing his poor returning skills. Yes, he couldn't return a phone call on his worst days, but this was bad. The lowest point was getting thrashed by Felder at home in Davis Cup and Peru got relegated so quickly after being in the World Group. Lucho said himself that was the worst match of his life playing for Peru, when something like this happens, it's not just about yourself, it's others who have been let down, hence the team aspect. He can try and play some matches this season, then train hard and make it back, he is good enough to do so, barring injury free, but he hasn't had a season like that in many years.

On a positive note, Peter Luczak who has been struggling of late, he is tired from a big season this year, good he is having some time off this week, will only have a few events now, then he can go home to Australia and play with the kids and train in the sand hills. He has reached a career high ranking of 64 this week, that is a great achievement to do it at this age and he has also proved some people in the Aussie establishment wrong after cutting him off this season.

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.