WombleTown: Assorted, Unhelpful, Unholy Thoughts

 

Braindump of various (unholy) thoughts…….GO.

-- “Isnut Redux” will be over in under 3 hrs, with Isner winning, very likely, in straight sets. Meh.

-- Isnut aside, Fed’s draw looks like a snapshot from 2005.

-- Progress at an event being inversely proportional to points being defended....Berd goes out in week one. Perhaps even to Donald Young.


-- Murray just had his best FO ever. His Queens match against ARod was likely the best he’s ever played. Anywhere. Winning Queens in its entirety was, on the other hand, a clear case of not knowing when to stop, in the foulest of taste, and amounts to cashing in his chips too early. Just a feeling I can’t seem to dismiss.

-- Fernando Gonzalez in a GS draw: thine eyes doth not deceive thee

-- Federer/Nalbandian scheduled to meet in R3: thine eyes doth not deceive thee

-- New game: Pick a farce, any farce. Chances are AbFab’s already done it, or will find a way of doing it before the end of week one. Expect Milos to get very pissed off, which ought to be interesting as I’m not familiar with that phenomenon.

-- Point and laugh all you want, but I can totally see Rafa going down to Delpo (R4) or Berd (QF).

-- James Ward will continue his Union-Jack-coloured epiphany, and come close to knocking out Michael Llodra, before the latter remembers how great he is at coming through these early round, 5-set (late night) raves. Needless to say, he'll go out meekly in his next match.

-- “Pova is the favourite”. Playing her best post-shoulder-op tennis certainly, but favourite? [in my best, whiney call-waiting voice] “I’m sorry, I’m afraid I don’t know what that word means – please try again later…”


-- I’m looking for a strong run from Serena, but I don’t expect her to win it. It’s simply been too long and the health scare is not something she’s ever had to contend with. Venus represents the more intriguing choice…..

-- Can *just* about see Marion preventing Serena from reaching the quarters. Just. And she’ll need to be lucky.

-- Out of Tsvetana (SF), Kaia (QF) and Petra (SF) – last years result in brackets – only the latter has a chance of not being plunged into rankings free-fall come two weeks time. Which probably means the exact reverse will take place.

-- Incidentally, why is no one talking about Kaia Kanepi? All I’m saying is there’s a lot of hoopla surrounding, say, Tsvetana (who I like btw), who’s only won 4 matches in the 14 events she’s entered since Wimbledon last year.

-- Since the media have done a bout turn and are suddenly shitting on Caro as an early “flameout”, almost as forcibly as they plugged her in RG – I’m gonna put myself out there, and say that she’ll do “great things”. Only, there’s a small chance that most of them take place in the first week.

-- Make no mistake about it: by far the absolute worst thing that could happen next week, is for Li Na to exit the party early. All those euphoria-tinged RG epilogues on how she might now be ready to make good on her talent, will look like nothing more than romantic fallacies. I’ve seen it happen to better players. Of course it may not happen at all. Except it might.

-- Declare thy allegiance then (remembering to balance romance with actual credibility). Here’s mine: Murray, Sod, Fed, Nole (in that order)…..Marion, Pova, Venus, Li, Serena, Petra, Yools (in that order)…..GO.

Miami: “Lose” Cannon.

(Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

Soderling d. Gonzalez 6-0 6-7 6-2

Bit disappointed with this one. For a match that threatened to bring the house down in no uncertain terms, it was all strangely subdued and anything but certain – from Gonzo at least.

You could argue Big Rob didn’t allow him to settle into any kind of rhythm - to which I say he shouldn’t have to.

Whatever else you might say about The Gonz, he’s not generally known as a shrinking violet. It’s unqualified folly to speculate on what might have been, but had he displayed even half the intent shown in set two throughout the match, we might at least have had one.

I never thought I’d hear myself saying this, but for one night only, Gonzo’s cannons weren’t loose enough.

Nadal d. Ferrer 7-6(5) 6-4

A hugely visceral and entertaining match made much more so by how scrappy both players allowed things to get.

Ferrer didn’t convert the chances he got in the first set, and Rafa didn’t appear anywhere near as penetrating or assured as he was in IW.

I don’t like it – it doesn’t bode well for Rafa to have this much trouble against someone he has an 8-2 H2H against.

(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Tsonga d. Ferrero 6-2 6-2

Quite possibly the best performance from anyone this week. I know he was “only” playing Ferrero, but it’s not often you see him bring it together so confidently – heads tend to roll when he does.

There were points during this match where it appeared he could do no wrong. We’re all acutely aware however, of just how much wrong he’s capable of.

Still spells trouble for Rafa.

Indian Wells Drying Out.

As Arid as a Desert.

Or very nearly so. We do still (supposedly in the case of Fed) have our top four male players – after which levels of precipitation really do begin to dry up.

Delpo’s wrist is still in rehab, ditto Davy (though he’s still apparently scheduled to play) and Gonzo, as expected, has signed up to the Chilean Relief effort, which btw you can donate to here and here.

He’s also looking to arrange a “Hit for Chile” held sometime around Miami.

Chilean tennis player Fernando González is making efforts to play against Spanish Rafael Nadal and Switzerland Roger Federer to raise funds in benefit of Chile earthquake victims.

Gonzalez made contact with both players, as published by the Chilean newspaper El Mercurio. In addition, the athlete is heading a campaign to help those affected by Chile’s earthquake measuring a magnitude of 8.8 º in the Richter scale and the ensuing tsunami.

The Chilean did not participate in Indian Wells Master in order to help his country in the midst of this terrible tragedy and he hopes that both Federer and Nadal can join this crusade that would benefit many people in great need right now.

The games, according to Gonzalez’s plans, would be disputed in the vicinity of the Miami Masters.

Momento24

Tennis seems to me to be in a wonderful place right now – but it also seems appropriate to ask why we’ve not seen something of this magnitude in the past.

Ever since ‘Hit for Haiti’, the tennis ether has been infused with something altogether more agreeable - fashioning a climate in which one rather expects to find such spiritually attuned efforts to reach out, to be more commonplace.

Plate-tectonics has undoubtedly had something to do with that.

But suddenly it becomes a whole lot easier to organise a second ‘Hit for Haiti’, featuring the most intimidating line up of illustrious personages outside of Madame Tussauds.

Both Gonzo and Fed, must be applauded for proactively raising the profile of the recent devastation, that might have otherwise only received the most meagre of coverage within tennis circles.

You’d think the powers that be, might have readily seized upon the opportunity to stage such events themselves, without having to be prevailed upon by it’s most influential players.

Haas, in the meantime, has been sidelined for as long as six months having had to undergo a hip operation – bad news whichever way you look at it but particularly injurious to the remaining career of a 31 year old.

Did I mention that rules him out of IW too?

Perhaps even more jarring to the German ear, would be the news that he’s recently picked up American citizenship, which a) makes him the current American #2, b) makes him eligible for the US Davis Cup team as soon as September of this year – which by his own account is not a prospect he’s displeased with.

Having lived in Bradenton, Florida for two decades, one might understand why he feels such an itch – I can’t help feeling however that the news may be less well received “back home” (wherever that is these days).

It doesn’t get much better in the women’s draw – with Safina still struggling with that back of hers and the Williamses ensuring their regular quota of unpaid leave falls squarely within the next two weeks.