Face Of The Day

by Craig Hickman


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Another emotional victory for a woman on the mend. Another great match under the roof on Centre Court. The slugfest between Sabine Lisicki and Li Na didn't have quite the variety from both sides of the net as did the Venus Williams Kimiko Date-Krumm instant classic, but boy were the rallies scintillating.

The woman who was carried from the court in a stretcher in Paris outlasted the woman who won the whole thing 3-6, 6-4, 8-6 after saving two match points on her serve. Li served for the match twice. Like Serena Williams, Lisicki cried in her towel on the sidelines when it was all over.

Another player the WTA needs to keep it real is back and taking names.

Standing O.

Match Of The Day

AP


I wasn't able to see most of it, but from what I saw and the match reports that followed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's four-set defeat of Grigor Dimitrov was a high-quality, dramatic affair that the crowd lapped up like cream.

Surprise Of the Day


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Robin Söderling rallied from two sets to love down to defeat Lleyton Hewitt. The result wasn't exactly a surprise, but the path to victory certainly was. Surely Hewitt wouldn't squander such a big lead. Surely Söderling wouldn't dig deep to beat a former Wimbledon champion on a surface he's not particularly fond of. They did. My eyebrows rose.

WombleTown: Oh Please. Why did we think this was NOT going to happen?

 
Soderling d. Hewitt 6-7 3-6 7-5 6-4 6-4

It was GRASS. And we all know what Lleyton does to top tenners in the first week of ANY Slam. Having picked him isn't quite the 'punditry' being suggested.

I’m not sure putting out Sod would be #GoodForTennis. But then neither would Lleyton retiring.


 

So proud of my guy. He came back from two sets down in a match most expected him lose. But he can’t fist pump to save his life – it just doesn’t come naturally to him.

There isn’t a fist-pump “finishing school”.  There should be.

Oz: Over before sunrise. Call yourself a “night” session?

 

 

 

 

Nalbandian d Hewitt 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(1), 9-7

 

Hewitt and Nalby last on court in a night session at the Aussie Open – how else was this meant to “go down”?

No Country For Old Men

by Craig Hickman


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I know that Lleyton Hewitt, a man who bears the weight of a nation on his shoulders every time he steps into Rod Laver Arena, and David Nalbandian, a man whose body has betrayed his gifts more times than the sport ever needed, are not old, actually.

But by the end of their intense, though sometimes devoid of energy, first-round battle under the lights at Laver Arena last night, the 29-year-olds looked decrepit. Once the match entered overtime at 6-6 in the fifth, after Hewitt failed to hold his fourth-set lead to close out the affair in four; failed to convert 4 break points that would've allowed him to serve for 5-1; after Nalbandian failed to serve out the set at 5-3 taking it instead in a lopsided breaker; failed to serve for the match at 5-4 in the fifth; one thing became clear: whoever prevailed wouldn't live to fight past the third round.

Age isn't really the factor. After all, it was just day before yesterday that world No. 2 and defending champion Roger Federer looked as lithe as a prepubescent school boy. His post-match interview in ESPN's studio revealed an animated, almost agitated demeanor I've never seen from the great champion. Never. It was as though he'd just ingested a pound of sugar, ready to play his second round match right then, right there.

But I digress.

The man who bears the weight of a nation of his shoulders and the man whose body has betrayed him too many times have both had hip surgery at least once. Remember how we lost the great Gustavo Kuerten to such deterioration? It was a long and painful departure from the sport and both of last night's warriors, no matter what they might say, are clearly on their last legs.

They both know it.

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Which is why most of the tennis late in the match, despite the costly coming-in-patches mental lapses, displayed some of the biggest gonads you'll ever see from both sides of the net. Angles. The match was all about angles. Nalbandian and Hewitt can create them out of almost nothing, especially with their backhands, but it was the serve and return angles that predicted the perfection of a point. I can't describe it any further. Perhaps a highlight video will emerge to show you exactly what I'm talking about.

When Nalbandian, who had saved two match points at 5-6 in the fifth, one with a ballsy serve and drop volley, hit the final topspin lob winner that shattered the hopes of a nation, a family, and their aging son, 9-7 in the fifth, no less, we knew we had witnessed a classic.


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Rally For Relief: As Good As It Gets…

 

 

 

Everything you need to know about Rally for Relief can be found here and here.

 

You can still view the entire event here.

 

For what it’s worth (over $1.8M in flood relief), and if it is at all possible, I liked this even more than Hit for Haiti.

 

It was, perhaps, less well-managed, though there actually seemed to me to be more spontaneity from all players, including those non-limelight types. Needless to say, I loved it and we cannot have enough of this sort of thing.

 

 

Stuff we should already have known:

 

For a girl that is supposedly “out there”, Vika came across as the most demure, camera-shy, and, dare I say it, the cutest of the bunch.

 

Mandy Footy-Tennis pwns Nole Footy-Tennis. Mandy Footy-Tennis blows holes the size of Scotland in Nole Footy-Tennis.

 

Ana-Mandy sex-grunts? Ping-pong, Footy and quarterback throws all in one point? Tennis does all of that and more.

 

Bepa in Sunnies will save the world. Mark my words.

Federer Defends Cincinnati Title Over Fish

Roger Federer won his first non-major final of the year after losing 3 finals in a row (on 3 different surfaces: Madrid to Rafael Nadal, Halle to Lleyton Hewitt and Toronto to Andy Murray) in Cincinnati on Sunday over American Mardy Fish. The title was his 53rd overall, tying Bjorn Borg on the all-time list at 5th. It was Federer's 17th ATP Masters series title, tying Andre Agassi but still one behind Nadal's 18.

Federer has now won the Cincinnati title in 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2010. Next year it will become a combined male-female 8-day event (immediately following simultaneous men's and women's tournaments in Toronto and Montreal).

The match with Fish was a close, high-quality 3-set affair featuring 2 tiebreaks, one break of serve and only 6 breakpoints between the two players. The final score was 6-7(5) 7-6(1) 6-4. In the first set, Federer had 4 breakpoints and failed to convert any of them due to brilliant serving by Fish. Federer faced one breakpoint in the second set but was able to get through to a tiebreak. In the first set tiebreaker Federer held a 5-4 lead, but Fish played a brilliant point to even the breaker at 5-all and Federer played a loose point to be down 6-5. Fish won the first set on a service winner. In the second set tiebreaker Federer was much sharper, jumping to a quick 4-1 lead and never looked in danger of losing that breaker. The only break in the match came in the 9th game of the third set where, for once, after facing a break point Fish was unable to make a first serve and eventually lost the breakpoint and the game, and eventually the match when Federer served it out pretty easily on his second match point.

WIMBLEDON 2010: Men's Quarterfinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the men's quarterfinals at the Wimbledon Championships for 2010.

(By the time you read this I will be in the air from LAX to London Heathrow on my way to Wimbledon. Depending on the vagaries (and expenses) of internet access, I may or may not have semifinals predictions for the men's and women's draws tomorrow.)

Roger Federer SUI (1) vs. Tomas Berdych CZE (12). The 6-time champion had started off his quest for a record 7th title weakly but in his last two matches his game has looked strong. Berdych is a very talented, huge serving, huge hitting 6'5" Czech player who has already beaten Federer once this year (even though he needed 5 match points to do it). He is a very similar player to Robin Soderling who beat Federer at this same stage of the tournament at the French Open a month ago, although possibly Berdych is not as good a mover as Soderling (which he demonstrated by beating Berdych in Paris). Before beating Federer earlier this year in Miami, Berdych had lost 8 straight times to Federer, including once at the 2006 Wimbledon. The Mighty Fed will find a way to win. PREDICTION: Federer in 4 sets.

Andy Roddick USA (5) Yen-Hsun Lu TPE vs. Novak Djokovic SRB (3). This is Novak Djokovic's dream draw and Andy Roddick's nightmare. Roddick lost to the unseeded player from Taipei despite losing his serve only once, a repeat of what happened in his loss last year inthe thrilling final against Federer. This time, however, Roddick was much less aggressive at attacking his opponent's serve and mentally was only able to hold his serve until the 16th game of the 5th set, not the thirtieth game like last year, nowhere near the amazing 138th game thatNicolas Mahut was able to do in his jaw-dropping performance against John Isner. Some wags were flogging Lleyton Hewitt's chances of penetrating deep into the draw, since the Aussie had finally ended his 16-match drought against Federer last week by winning the grass court title in Halle. I was not one of them. Djokovic is the #3 best player in the world, and made sure that Hewitt knew it. By the end of this match, Lu will know it as well. PREDICTION: Djokovic in 3 sets.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga FRA (10) vs. Andy Murray GBR (4). This match should be the highlight of the 2010 Men's Quarterfinals. Tsonga and Murray have only played three times, with Murray leading 2-1. That one loss came at the 2008 Australian Open, where Tsonga made his breakthrough to his first major final, eventually losing to Djokovic. There's no question that Tsonga has the weapons to beat Murray. This match should come down to the intangibles, which for Murray at Wimbledon are always difficult to evaluate. Does the fact that the British crowd will be overwhelmingly in his favor help him over the hump to victory, or will their outsize expectations smother his chances? I think it is no coincidence that the two places that Murray has reached major finals (Melbourne 2010 and New York 2008) were in cities where he does not carry the weight of a nation on his shoulders. Last year, he was curiously flat against Andy Roddick in the Wimbledon semifinals. I had picked him to win that match last year but this time I think if the match gets "complicated" it will be the Frenchman who will come out on top. Murray is the only player in the draw not to drop a set and it's possible (but unlikely) that this will happen again. PREDICTION: Murray in 3 sets or Tsonga in 4 or 5 sets.

Robin Soderling SWE(6) vs. Rafael Nadal ESP (2). This is a repeat of the 2010 Men's Final at Roland Garros where Nadal did not lose a set for the entire tournament. There's no question in my mind that the Spaniard is the greatest clay court player of all time. But this match-up is on grass, and of course, these two have a troubled history at Wimbledon. In 2007 the two played a much-delayed 5-set match over 5 days where Soderling made a fool of himself by mocking Nadal's quirks. He has since apologized. Up until his previous round's 5-set match against David Ferrer, Soderling had not dropped a single set in this tournament, the only top player (besides Murray) to have done so. Another problem for Nadal is that he has been troubled this tournament by two youthful, big servers in Robin Haase of the Netherlands and Philipp Petzschner of Germany. Soderling can not only serve regularly in the 130 mph range but he can back it up with power on both wings. But then again, if Ferrer gave Soderling that much trouble and his game is really a weak imitation of Nadal's then surely Nadal will give Soderling trouble as well. Out of the Top 4, I think Soderling (and Tsonga if he can stay healthy) are the most likely to break through to a major title in the near term. Here is where Sodelring will need to show if he can get through Nadal (and later, possibly Federer) to do it. I think he has a fairly decent chance of succeeding. PREDICTION: Soderling in 3 or 4 sets, Nadal in 5 sets.

Lawn Champions

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Li Na of China celebrates with the trophy after defeating Maria Sharapova of Russia in the Women's Singles final during the AEGON Classic Tennis at the Edgbaston Priory Club on June 13, 2010 in Birmingham, England.

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AP

Australian Lleyton Hewitt kisses the trophy after he won the final match against Switzerland's Roger Federer at the Gerry Weber Open ATP tennis tournament in Halle , Germany, on Sunday, June 13, 2010. Hewitt won 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.

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Sam Querrey of US holds the trophy after winning his match against Mardy Fish of US, 7-6, 7-5 during the final singles match on the seventh day of the AEGON Championships tennis tournament at Queen's Club, in west London on June 13, 2010.

Americans In London

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Mardy Fish and Sam Querrey emerged from a strong field as the last two men standing at the AEGON Championships, Queen's Club. The clay season gave us an All American final in Europe and now the grass season repeats the endeavor. Querrey won the match on clay. Can he repeat on the lawns and beat Fish for the first time?

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Across the Channel, Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt will face off in their first ever grass court final. Federer always plays Halle, Hewitt always played Queen's until this year. What's old is new. Does Hewitt have a chance to win their 25th meeting and end a 15-match losing streak?


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Back in Birmingham, Li Na will face Maria Sharapova to crown the first grass court titlist of the WTA this season. Will Maria exact revenge against the woman who sent her packing in the semis here a year ago?

Australian Open 2010 Awards

by Craig Hickman

The Uluru/Ayers Rock Award
For the player who emerged almost out of nowhere and glowed red at sunset



Nicolas Almagro for his late-match, red-hot surge against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the fourth round.

The Red Kangaroo Award
For the player who made the biggest leap



Marin Cilic finally jumped over Juan Martín del Potro at a Slam and landed in his first major semifinal. Too bad all his five-setters caught up with him after winning the first set against Andy Murray.

The Twelve Apostles Award
For the player who rose up to produce the most rock solid game amidst the imminent threat of being washed away



Serena Williams for yet another ledge-end-ary comeback Down Under against Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals.

The Koala Award
For the player you just wanted to pick up and hug



Zheng Jie after being stampeded by her idol in the semifinals.

The Great Barrier Reef Award
For the player who created the largest tectonic uplift in the draw



Nadia Petrova for severely eroding Kim Clijsters in the third round.

The Aboriginal Award
For the veteran player who achieved the most success with his native talents



Roger Federer's movement throughout this fortnight was surprisingly efficient. Wasn't that long ago I thought he'd lost a step. If his training regimen doesn't include some combination of ballet, tango/mambo, waltz, tap or Tai Chi, I'd be shocked.

The Tasmanian Devil Award
For the player who delivered the best nocturnal performance



Jo-Wilfried Tsonga against Tommy Haas in the third round.

The Outback Award
For the wildest match of the fortnight



Li Na def. Venus Williams 2-6, 7-6(4), 7-5, Quarterfinals

Venus opened as though she'd run through the match like a river. But the last set and a half was one exhausting expanse of barren terrain. How many times did you think it might never end? Arguably the ugliest televised match of the fortnight, it becomes an early frontrunner for worst match of the year.

The Three Dingoes Award
For the players who fell prey to their own hunting



Igor Andreev and Nikolay Davydenko for their gigantic chokes against Roger Federer in the first round and quarterfinals, respectively, and Alisa Kleybanova for her total collapse against Justine Henin.

And for a few of our more traditional awards:

Best Dressed
Lleyton Hewitt and Samantha Stosur, Australia

Reuters

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Best WTA Match
Serena Williams def. Justine Henin 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, Final

Reuters

I didn't realize how riveting was this tug of war between two of the tour's most decorated champions till watching it a second time.

Best ATP Match (Tie)
Juan Martín del Potro def. James Blake 6-4, 6-7(3), 5-7 6-3 10-8, Second Round

Reuters

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Nicolas Almagro, 6-3 6-4 4-6 6-7(6) 9-7, Round of 16


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Both featured one tiebreak and went into overtime in the fifth set. Both featured surprisingly exquisite performances from the losing warriors. Both could have continued for another hour. The electrifying tennis sticks in my memory like good preaching.

Speaking of preaching.
I need a day of rest.
At least.

See you when I see you.

Australian Open 2010 Day 8 Order Of Play

AP

Rafael Nadal of Spain signs autographs for fans after beating Ivo Karlovic of Croatia during their Men's singles fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday Jan. 24, 2010.

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Can today's matches hold up to yesterday's? Um.... No. This is the boring half of both draws, relatively speaking.

I suppose the most intriguing matchup is Fernando Verdasco and Nikolay Davydenko. I suppose. Folks on Twitter have taken to calling Kolya XBox360 because he never misses. I haven't seen him strike a single ball at this event. Nor have I seen the swollen-faced Spaniard. But I suppose, based on current form and past history, it could be a barn burner. But I'm going with XBox360 in straights.

For the rest, I'm picking Venus Williams in straights, Serena Williams in straights, Roger Federer in straights, Vera Zvonareva in straights, Li Na in three, Novak Djokovic in straights, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straights.

Schedule for Day 8: Monday, 25 January 2010

Rod Laver Arena 11:00 Start Time

1. Women's Singles - 4th Round
Francesca Schiavone (ITA)[17] v. Venus Williams (USA)[6]
2. Men's Singles - 4th Round
Fernando Verdasco (ESP)[9] v. Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)[6]
3. Women's Singles - 4th Round
Serena Williams (USA)[1] v. Samantha Stosur (AUS)[13]

Rod Laver Arena 19:30 Start Time

1. Men's Singles - 4th Round
Roger Federer (SUI)[1] v. Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)[22]
2. Women's Singles - 4th Round
Vera Zvonareva (RUS)[9] v. Victoria Azarenka (BLR)[7]

Hisense Arena 11:00 Start Time

2. Women's Singles - 4th Round
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)[4] v. Na Li (CHN)[16]
3. Men's Singles - 4th Round
Novak Djokovic (SRB)[3] v. Lukasz Kubot (POL)
4. Men's Singles - 4th Round
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)[10] v. Nicolas Almagro (ESP)[26]

Faces Of The Day

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Casey Dellacqua of Australia celebrates winning her second round match against Karolina Sprem of Croatia during day four of the 2010 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 21, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia.


Reuters

Australia's Lleyton Hewitt celebrates match point over Donald Young of the U.S. at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 21, 2010.


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Bec Hewitt watches her husband Lleyton Hewitt of Australia in his second round match against Donald Young of the USA during day four of the 2010 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 21, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia.


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Australia's Samantha Stosur waves after defeating Kristina Barrois of Germany at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 21, 2010.


AP

Argentina's Juan Monaco reacts after winning the third set against Michael Liodra of France during their Men's singles match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010.


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Gisela Dulko of Argentina reacts after defeating Serbia's Ana Ivanovic at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 21, 2010.


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Columbia's Alejandro Falla gives a thumb's up to the crowd after winning his match against Marcel Granollers of Spain at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 21, 2010.

AP

Italy's Alberta Brianti celebrates a point won against Germany's Sabine Lisicki. during their Women's singles match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010.


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Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus celebrates after winning his second round match against David Ferrer of Spain during day four of the 2010 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 21, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia.

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Men's Singles - Second Round

[1] R Federer (SUI) d V Hanescu (ROU) 62 63 62
[3] N Djokovic(SRB) d M Chiudinelli (SUI) 36 61 61 63
[6] N Davydenko(RUS) d [Q] I Marchenko (UKR) 63 63 60
[9] F Verdasco (ESP) d [Q] I Sergeyev (UKR) 61 62 62
[10] J Tsonga (FRA) d T Dent (USA) 64 63 63
M Baghdatis (CYP) d [17] D Ferrer (ESP) 46 36 76(4) 63 61
[18] T Haas (GER) d J Tipsarevic (SRB) 46 64 63 16 63
[20] M Youzhny (RUS) d J Hajek (CZE) 62 61 61
[22] L Hewitt (AUS) d [Q] D Young (USA) 76(3) 64 61
[26] N Almagro (ESP) d B Becker (GER) 64 62 36 46 63
[30] J Monaco (ARG) d M Llodra (FRA) 36 36 76(5) 61 63
[31] A Montanes (ESP) d S Robert (FRA) 46 67(3) 62 63 62
A Falla (COL) d M Granollers (ESP) 64 61 63
L Kubot (POL) d S Giraldo (COL) 64 36 63 61
[Q] S Koubek (AUT) d [Q] I Dodig (CRO) 76(4) 61 62
D Istomin (UZB) d M Berrer (GER) 75 63 64

Women's Singles - Second Round

(1) Serena Williams (USA) d. Petra Kvitova (CZE) 62 61
(4) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) d. Julia Goerges (GER) 63 61
(6) Venus Williams (USA) d. Sybille Bammer (AUT) 62 75
(7) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) d. Stefanie Voegele (SUI) 64 60
(9) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) d. Iveta Benesova (CZE) 60 63
(10) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) d. Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) 60 62
(13) Samantha Stosur (AUS) d. Kristina Barrois (GER) 75 63
(16) Li Na (CHN) d. Agnes Szavay (HUN) 36 75 62
(17) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) d. Julie Coin (FRA) 63 64
Gisela Dulko (ARG) d. (20) Ana Ivanovic (SRB) 67(6) 75 64
Alberta Brianti (ITA) d. (21) Sabine Lisicki (GER) 26 64 64
(22) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) d. (Q) Sofia Arvidsson (SWE) 64 61
(29) Shahar Peer (ISR) d. Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) 61 64
(32) Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) d. Andrea Petkovic (GER) 61 64
Tathiana Garbin (ITA) d. Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 67(5) 62 60
(WC) Casey Dellacqua (AUS) d. Karolina Sprem (CRO) 76(4) 76(6)

Men's Doubles - First Round

[3] L Dlouhy (CZE) / L Paes (IND) d L Friedl (CZE) / D Skoch (CZE) 63 61
M Kohlmann (GER) / J Nieminen (FIN) d [4] M Bhupathi (IND) / M Mirnyi (BLR) 64 64
F Gonzalez (CHI) / I Ljubicic (CRO) d [6] F Cermak (CZE) / M Mertinak (SVK) 63 76(7)
I Karlovic (CRO) / D Vemic (SRB) d [9] C Kas (GER) / D Norman (BEL) 64 36 64
[11] S Aspelin (SWE) / P Hanley (AUS) d M Daniel (BRA) / D Koellerer (AUT) 61 62
J Benneteau (FRA) / S Darcis (BEL) d [13] M Llodra (FRA) / A Ram (ISR) 75 36 75
[14] M Damm (CZE) / F Polasek (SVK) d [WC] M Matosevic (AUS) / B Tomic (AUS) 62 61
J Isner (USA) / S Querrey (USA) d J Coetzee (RSA) / R Wassen (NED) 64 61
C Ball (AUS) / S Huss (AUS) d B Becker (GER) / F Mayer (GER) 76(6) 76(3)
E Butorac (USA) / R Ram (USA) d T Bellucci (BRA) / A Sa (BRA) 63 64
I Andreev (RUS) / E Korolev (KAZ) d S Stakhovsky (UKR) / M Zverev (GER) 61 76(6)
F Lopez (ESP) / R Schuettler (GER) d F Gil (POR) / K Vliegen (BEL) 63 62
F Fognini (ITA) / P Starace (ITA) d J Chardy (FRA) / M Gicquel (FRA) 51 ret. (Chardy - wrist)
S Bolelli (ITA) / A Seppi (ITA) d L Lacko (SVK) / M Russell (USA) 64 62
I Kunitsyn (RUS) / D Sela (ISR) d M Chiudinelli (SUI) / V Troicki (SRB) 64 62

Women's Doubles - First Round

Dushevina/Rodionova (RUS/AUS) d. (5) Petrova/Stosur (RUS/AUS) 36 64 61
(7) Kleybanova/Schiavone (RUS/ITA) d. Brianti/U.Radwanska (ITA/POL) 46 75 76(3)
(9) Vesnina/Zheng (RUS/CHN) d. Cornet/Fichman (FRA/CAN) 75 63
(10) Mirza/Ruano Pascual (IND/ESP) d. (WC) Basuki/Date Krumm (INA/JPN) 64 62
(12) Chuang/Peschke (TPE/CZE) d. Senoglu/Shvedova (TUR/KAZ) 60 75
(13) Dulko/Pennetta (ARG/ITA) d. Bondarenko/Bondarenko (UKR/UKR) 64 26 63
(14) Groenefeld/King (GER/USA) d. (WC) Golds/Mirkovic (AUS/AUS) 60 61
(15) Kirilenko/A.Radwanska (RUS/POL) d. Cirstea/Pavlyuchenkova (ROU/RUS) 60 67(4) 62
(16) Benesova/Zahlavova Strycova (CZE/CZE) d. Errani/Suárez Navarro (ITA/ESP) 62 61
Azarenka/Kuznetsova (BLR/RUS) d. Kanepi/Woehr (EST/GER) 76(5) 64
Olaru/Savchuk (ROU/UKR) d. Amanmuradova/Tanasugarn (UZB/THA) 46 61 62
Peer/Voskoboeva (ISR/KAZ) d. Rybarikova/Voracova (SVK/CZE) 62 75
Szavay/Vinci (HUN/ITA) d. Govortsova/Poutchek (BLR/BLR) 75 64
Jankovic/Perry (SRB/USA) d. Cibulkova/Krajicek (SVK/NED) 61 64
Czink/Grandin (HUN/RSA) d. Lisicki/Rezai (GER/FRA) 63 62
Razzano/Wickmayer (FRA/BEL) d. Kondratieva/Sevastova (RUS/LAT) 75 36 62
Gullickson/Uhlirova (USA/CZE) d. Dulgheru/Gallovits (ROU/ROU) 63 36 63
Borwell/Kops-Jones (GBR/USA) d. Hercog/Martic (SLO/CRO) 64 76(3)
Baltacha/Dekmeijere (GBR/LAT) d. Safarova/Wozniak (CZE/CAN) 75 62
(WC) Peers/Robson (AUS/GBR) d. Craybas/Spears (USA/USA) 63 75

Face Of The Day

Reuters

Lleyton Hewitt of Australia reacts after losing a point against Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus during the Sydney International tennis tournament January 14, 2010.

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Singles - Quarterfinals
M Baghdatis (CYP) d [4] L Hewitt (AUS) 46 62 63
M Fish (USA) d [WC] P Luczak (AUS) 76(5) 62
R Gasquet (FRA) d P Starace (ITA) 63 76(7)
J Benneteau (FRA) d [Q] L Mayer (ARG) 64 67(5) 60

Doubles - Quarterfinals
[1] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) d C Kas (GER) / D Norman (BEL) 62 46 10-5
S Aspelin (SWE) / P Hanley (AUS) d [WC] C Ball (AUS) / S Huss (AUS) 36 76(5) 10-8
I Andreev (RUS) / E Korolev (KAZ) d [Alt] B Becker (GER) / S Lipsky (USA) 75 10 - ret. (Becker - arm)

Women's Singles - Semifinals
(1) Serena Williams (USA) d. Aravane Rezai (FRA) 36 75 64
(5) Elena Dementieva (RUS) d. (6) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 63 61

Women's Doubles - Semifinals
(1) Black/Huber (ZIM/USA) d. Granville/Spears (USA/USA) 61 61
Garbin/Petrova (ITA/RUS) d. (4) Groenefeld/King (GER/USA) 63 75

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Heineken Open

Singles - Quarterfinals
J Isner (USA) d [1] T Robredo (ESP) 76(5) 36 64
[5] P Kohlschreiber (GER) d M Gicquel (FRA) 63 61
A Clement (FRA) d [6] J Melzer (AUT) 62 75
[8] A Montanes (ESP) d [Q] M Lammer (SUI) 63 63

Doubles - Semifinals
M Melo (BRA) / B Soares (BRA) d T Bellucci (BRA) / A Sa (BRA) 75 63

Doubles - Quarterfinals
M Melo (BRA) / B Soares (BRA) d R Wassen (NED) / H Zeballos (ARG) 61 75

::

Hobart International

Singles - Quarterfinals
(1) Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) d. (8) Gisela Dulko (ARG) 61 57 61
(2) Shahar Peer (ISR) d. (5) Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) 46 76(4) 75
(4) Alona Bondarenko (UKR) d. (7) Zheng Jie (CHN) 75 75
Sara Errani (ITA) d. (Q) Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) 63 64

Doubles - Quarterfinals
Chan/Niculescu (TPE/ROU) d. (3) Dulko/Zheng (ARG/CHN) 63 64

::

2Hander's Take: The Quarters

Federer V Karlovic

In many ways, this was Federer at his best. Clinical, doing just enough to take a set, i.e. one break of serve. Apart from the last set where Jeff Goldblum (i.e. The Tall Guy - sorry, late 1980s joke) went all out with his serving (actually, so did Fed) to force a tie-break, which Fed took fairly comfortably.

At times the match just seemed to roll through service games, although there were flashes of brilliance from Fed. Actually, the commentators showed that the key was Federer stepping in by about a half a metre to take the Karlovic serve early - seems as though it worked, job done.
It did show that our Swiss friend did what Djokovic could not today...handle a serve and volleyer - more on that one later. Next, in fact...

Djokovic V Haas

During this match, I coined a new phrase for the 4th seed and it was after he lost the 2nd set breaker despite being 6-3 up. Wanna know what it is? Are you ready...Chokovic!! And get this, after the 2nd set, Nole made some sort of gesture to his camp and they then disappeared!! Dunno what that was all about! Anybody...?

Anyway, Haas is reproducing the form that got him to the 2007 AO semis and the Indian Wells semis soon afterwards. He played fantastically, rushing to the net, great volleying and a SICK SHBH (See Top? Another one...). I am very pleased for him as he looks as though he will trouble Federer more than Chokovic would have. Just goes to show that the net is still key to success at Wimby.

However, he will have to exorcise the odd demon after RG - nuff said! Then again, the way Fed is playing is that he is King Roger and Wimby is his palace!

Murray V Ferrero

JCF was out of his depth as soon as the first set was over, I felt. However, he was well in the rallies with fairly deep and solid groundstrokes. Then Murray would, at will, crack a backhand winner down the line. A fantastic shot, so it is. His forehand cross-court was also doing the biz. He plays (a probably knackered!) Andy Roddick, who I don't think will take more than a set off him - unless Andy M melts down...which I doubt.

Hewitt V Roddick

Definitely the more thrilling match with a lot of intense end-to-end rallies. High quality groundstrokes from both with Roddick coming to the net more and Hewitt showing his grit from the baseline.
Again I saw a shot at court level of a serve by Andy Roddick where he fired a serve down the middle, Lleyton didn't even move a muscle! Rather reminiscent of the Murray-Roddick match again at Wimby (2006 I think) when Top and I were watching a similar shot at court level of the Roddick serve. Once again, his opponent didn't move a muscle and we were laughing - dunno why. It was something like "I ain't even gonna bother beginning to attempt to get that serve back!!".

TBH, I got a bit fed-up of this match by the time it got to the 5th set and I went off to do something else. Turns out Roddick got a break of serve and took it 6-4. Both, who were rivals at their peak, played at their current peaks which, although ain't Slam winning stuff, was still of a very high standard. The Aussie did well, hats off to him.

So, I guess it hasn't been that bad without Nadal, has it...?

Roll on the lasses and then...Super Friday!! COME ON!!! (Lleyton Hewitt style)

2Hander's Take: The story so far...

I, too, am having mixed feelings about this year's Wimby - compared to last year, that is. Firstly, I can't relate to a first week without rain!! Secondly, none of the matches have really done it for me! Seldom am I falling out of my chair whooping or putting my hands on my head after a sick winner c.f. the Aussie Open earlier this year. (The reader is kindly referred to the response from any David Blaine street trick if they are unfamiliar with such a reaction)

Rafa pulling out has somewhat put things into a strange time warp. For a start, Federer's swagger on court, like the Centre Court is HIS house and Wimby is HIS party, is somewhat back. What is it? Is it the fact that Rafa's not around? Has he finally 'eased up' (after tensing up) after RG? Maybe a bit of both...

Another couple of factors suggesting to me that we are in some kind of time warp is that Lleyton Hewitt actually looks as though he can comfortably make the quarters if not the semis - especially seeing how he dispatched Del Potro in straights! I know we all laughed (well, I did!) when he suggested after RG that he believed that he can win Wimby again, but now it don't seem as funny. Kudos to him though!

Now onto one of Top's faves (and mine too, I guess)...Herr Tommy! He's also rewound the years back. After the AO semis of 2007, Haas was playing a blinding spell of Top 5 tennis for a fair few Masters events, where he won my support. Plus he does have ants in his pants about coming to the net...even serving and volleying! Since winning Halle, it looks like some considerable amount of rejuvenation has gone on. Fed's rejuvenated after RG, Lleyton's rejuvenated after beating (an albeit injured) Nadal - I'm not quite sure what's going on, but I think I like it!!

Also, looking generally across the board, the SHBH looks like it's back in the game in a big way! It's nearing 50-50 I'd say. Are people trying to revive da old skool? Are people trying to emulate The Fed? I mean, seeing Fed play a Spaniard with short hair, no headband, no DHBH and flatish strokes was a novel experience for me. Once again...oh, just read the last sentence of the paragraph above!

Finally, looking at the draw for the 4th round, I do have some hope for some sick tennis which throws me off my seat.

Lleyton Hewitt AUS
v
Radek Stepanek CZE (23)

Tomas Berdych CZE (20)
v
Andy Roddick USA (6)

Andy Murray GBR (3)
v
Stanislas Wawrinka SUI (19)

Juan Carlos Ferrero ESP
v
Gilles Simon FRA (8)

Igor Andreev RUS (29)
v
Tommy Haas GER (24)

Dudi Sela ISR
v
Novak Djokovic SRB (4)

Fernando Verdasco ESP (7)
v
Ivo Karlovic CRO (22)

Robin Soderling SWE (13)
v
Roger Federer SUI (2)

As for the gals, I think Dementieva and...wait for it...Ivanovic will go far this year, possibly the distance. Oh hold, Da Sistaz are still in aren't they? Hmmm...Venus made rather short work of Suarez-Navarro as revenge from Melbourne, bagel and all! Perhaps there is still a more than odds-on chance she'll blow Darling Ana off the court too...we'll see.

Any WHY (pronounced HWY!) is Dinara being put out on Court 2 when she's the No.1 seed?! That said, a choking Dinara (we've seen THAT before) could get beat by Amelie. I'm going out on a limb here and say that Serena-Elena D will be one semi, the other will be Venus with...erm...any one out of Dinara, Amelie or Caz Woz (OK, not so outlandish but it is quite unpredictable, come on!).

So to conclude, the outbreak of H1N1 and/or the Iranian Presidential Election has rejuvenated Men's tennis!!

(Oh come on! You cannot argue with the stats! The correlation is impossible to refute!)

(Aaaarrrggghh! I gotta select all the tags to this post! I really can't be bothered! Oh...here goes!!)

Love Thy Enemy...

I'm beginning to think I should dub this my "Feelgood Season" or "The Year of the Living Affectionately". It's certainly turning out to be one in which I begin to adopt a more tolerant approach in my treatment of trends and personalities I simply didn't have time for before.

First there was my hate-hate relationship with Azarenka - one that left me unsure of whether I was repelled more by her 'crash and burn' histrionics or her one-dimensional monotoned style of play. Both in equal measure. Or so I thought.

That quickly thawed when I realised that super efficient robotic style of play resulted in her hitting more lines on average than I think I remember from anyone else recently. Can't argue with that. Be stupid to try.

And the way in which she dealt with the French crowd put paid to any objections I might have had about her conduct.

Then there's Juan del Potro, who began the year as what I described as "a surly Argentine", with seemingly little imagination or thought going into any shot.

He then had those wins over Murray and Nadal earlier this year and took Federer to five sets in Paris.

(Photo: CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images)

He now tops my list of 'Tennis Nobility'. A rolling week on week measure of all round feel-good, loveliness. It runs alongside the conventional ATP rankings. Rafael Nadal recently vacated the top spot.

Concede a line call to your opponent without calling down the umpire in a clay court match, or play your way through injury and you shoot up. Taking conveniently timed injury timeouts/bathroom breaks, or making unnecessary comments about someone's mum on the other hand, will see you plummet fast.

It's not just the vastly improved levels of maturity, astonishing for a guy that's just turned twenty.

It's how he's always prepared to go that little bit extra. Those warm, lengthy congratulatory words he has for his opponents at the net. That entertaining moment we had in his match against Hewitt today, when he ran into the net post, and enamoured the crowd with a smile. Keep in mind that the few here that know anything about him, only tend to do so because of that highly publicised acrimony between him and Murray last year.

Nadal better watch himself, because Juan's also outdoing him in that other key measure of feel-good proficiency - praising thy opponent.

The day however surely belonged to Lleyton who came out and played the best three sets of grass court tennis I think I've seen from him in many years. I'm actually tired of hearing him described as 'a dogged competitor' or 'that little terrier'.

Apart from the very unflattering canine images that spring to mind, it's selling him a little short. For me, with his ability at the net and the many different shades of spin he can put on the ball, there's still a lot he can bring to the game most notably on grass, but also against other less experienced opponents on other surfaces.

One thing is for certain: that hip looks to be in fine nick. I don't know how long this spell is set to last, but if he somehow manages to keep most of his matches short, it won't be burn-out that'llbe responsible for his exit.

Juan however, is evidently not a grassie. Though I think he belongs to that category of players that quickly find their feet and very soon excel on all surfaces. He wasn't after all what many would consider a clay court player either. Anyone care to now ask Federer his opinion on Juan's clay court proficiency?

There was further loveliness to be had in the way Murray dispatched poor young Ernie Gulbis today. Apart from that second set, that was pretty cold and pretty efficient. At least from Ernie's point of view.

Gulbis powered his way out of most what Murray threw his way, but you had to think he was in trouble when he tried to take on Murray in the battle of the backhand slices.

There's plenty to admire in Ernie's game, most notably that serve. But feathery touch is evidently not part of it. And he's still too impatient and erratic with those explosive groundies.

There's also plenty to admire in Murray's game. This performance made good on his dodgy opener against Kendrick a couple of days back. But the real reason I'm enraptured with him tonight is he also made good on that other miscue of his opening match by wearing that sleeveless woolly jumper on court. No jacket, just starchy white cable-knit in all it's comforting and highly decadent glory.

Breath deeply. All is well once again.

More History in the Making...

You'll not be surprised to learn that last weeks rather hallucinatory tennis venture left me a little hung over.

So much so that I almost missed the week's action at Queens this year. It wasn't until Thursday that the matches began to vaguely interest me. And it took what I'm pretty sure qualifies as a once in a lifetime experience to get me fully on board: Andy Roddick hit a single handed backhand winner down the line.

I'm not even sure whom he was up against. Thinking back now I'd say it was in his match against Hewitt. But that's neither here no there. Grass makes things like that happen. The combination of the low bouncing, speedier and more slippery feel of the surface seems to connive together mischievously with the occasional imperfect bounce to yield a tennis experience that forces desperate plays like that. As well as players out of their comfort zone.

He was stretched out wide and found himself robbed of the time and court positioning he'd need to set himself up for that much improved double-hander we know (and don't always love) so well. I was expecting a desperate shot. And yes, instincts did take over, but not in the predictably unregulated way you might imagine. This was the A-Rod exuding confidence, with an almost craftsman-like air, knowingly going through the motions of the only aggressive shot possible under the circumstances. Rather like he's been all year.

Blake hit a single handed backhand slice winner down the line later that day that wasn't nearly as good - but in a split second that unique slice of Parisian history was, not forgotten, but tagged and suitably archived, to be enjoyed again another day, as I was suddenly reminded of my love affair with grass court tennis.

Sure, the rallies are considerably shortened, sometimes over in the blink of an eye - you sometimes think the authorities' intransigence to increase upon that 5-week 'season' is because it serves as a deliberate 'blink and you'll miss it' metaphor for those shortened rallies.

But like clay, grass rewards a particular style of play - to take advantage of it, you either need to be naturally gifted, or skilled enough to play to the needs of the surface.

No coincidence then that 70% of the field (hard courters, every last one of them) suddenly begins to look very ordinary out there.

And as entertaining a take on Wimbledon as it was, Lleyton's observation that "there's only a handful of players capable of winning Wimbledon each year", is unreservedly, spot on.

***

I suppose I should say something about Andy Murray, seeing as he won the Queen's Club Title today, the first Brit to do so in 71 years, when the trophy was lifted by someone calling himself 'Bunny' Austin.

(Yes alright, my sides split too the first time I heard that name. Now stop rolling around, and let's be adults please.)

"Stop pratting about with that arty shot of a clothes hanger and get a pic of this'ere piece of silverware..."
(Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images)

"Alright that's too close boys..."
(Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images)

Such a resoundingly colourful name seems to reflect all the swagger of the age, the considerably different attitudes to the game - not at all out of place in a Golden Era of British Tennis in which you could count Fred Perry amongst your contemporaries. And sure enough his equally colourful Wikipedia bio makes mention of conscientious objection, tennis matches with Charlie Chaplin and a friendship with Daphne du Maurier.

Not to mention winning the Davis Cup for Britain alongside Fred Perry four times (1933-1936) and forming one half of the celebrity couple of the age.

And Tennis-Celebs these days think they know a thing or two about living it up.

You've got a lot to live up to Andy. And with a mundane sounding name like 'Andrew Murray' you might need some help jazzing it up. Which is where I think his game (and in particular his backhand) comes into it's own.

When Nadal pulled out of Queens last week, Andy suddenly found himself the top seed. Which was great, but I also remember thinking what presumably anyone who follows the sport for the other 48 weeks of tennis we have all year might think: with the big wins Murray's had since last year, with the title's he's won and his appearance in the US Open final, he should go on to win this thing with consummate ease.

Anything less would qualify surely, as a disappointment of the severest kind.

The good news is he did exactly as I'd hoped, serving his way to the Title without dropping a set.

Under the gaze of a very discerning and annoyingly expectant media eye.

No nerves. No expletives. No facial contortions. And not too many 'Andaaaaaaieeees'.

Just big serving, a repeat of his Wimbledon showing last year where he served on average at around 132mph, and a mixture of those crunching groundstrokes and feather light touch, that gave us amongst other things, two very special contenders for 'play of the week'.

Can't find a video but if you've seen it you'll know the ones I mean.

One was a perfectly timed lob off an aggressive net rush by Mardy Fish, a rush that actually saw Murray pushed far back. A position that would have caused other players to panic, but which instead saw Murray pull off a shot we all know he's capable of, but often recently seems too inhibited to try.

The other was a repeat of one of the shots Federer used en route to his first Wimbledon Title - a shot that lead the press to gush that he was reinventing tennis - a short half volley cross court winner flicked effortlessly by a player that demands more of his tennis.

All of which got me thinking. Murray often goes to great lengths to convince us that hard courts are his 'surface of choice', and that though he'd like to win Wimbledon, it's at the US Open that he feels most comfortable of winning his first Slam.

I dunno. Anyone that can transition to grass that seamlessly and begin to pull of the outrageous winners he did after what is after all a 'minimalist' grass court practice regime, surely must be considered a contender. More so, considering the wins he's had over Federer and Nadal.

And Andy might have more than the pressure of the British Press and Public this year. As if that weren't enough, it's also the one-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Fred Perry. The last Englishman to win Wimbledon.

Think Federer's win in Paris was historic? Hold your horses.