Monty-real Tennis, Pt 2

Any one else hit by the amount of potential first/second round corkers we seem to be having? Or how many of them have been blighted by injury?

(Photo: AP)

Nadal d. Ferrer (Ret.) 4-3

A real shame this. There were actually a number of quality exchanges in the few games they did manage to contest. Rafa looked to be swinging freely. Or as freely as is realistically possible after two months out. Mind you, a 'David-unplugged' might have been exactly the kind of court time Rafa could do without. Not often you see Ferrer, retire hurt.

Gonzales d. Haas (Ret.) 7-6

I say 'defeated' Haas, except that Haas was for me, the better player out there, weathering Gonzo's out-of-the-block intensity with some carefully crafted net play of his own. There's no knowing what might have happened had the match not been curtailed by Tommy's hand blisters. Second potential 'corker', bunged up.

Hanescu d. Kohlschreiber 6-3, 4-6, 7-5

Oh that's good. One of the few remaining credible threats in this section of the draw out. Apologies to all Romanian Tennis fans. No disrespect to Victor intended. It's just that Phillip happened to be my dark horse in this section of the draw; he also happens to be one of my faves.

With Ferrer out too, I'd say del Potro's route to the quarters is now all but clear. All but clear of Rafa that is.

del Potro d. Hanescu 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

'All but clear', you say? Almost.

Far too many scary moments from Juan for one set and a bit.

Hanescu belongs to that category of players that do just about everything well, just not any one of them spectacularly so. For a moment I thought Victor was about to pull off an even bigger upset than he did in the last round.

Fortunately, Juan pulled out some of that big-gun artillery just in time. Let's hope this is his last big wobble of the week.

Murray d. Ferrero 6-1, 6-3

No problems with big gun artillery here. Not at all surprised with the result. Serve and backhand as potent as ever. Perhaps a little surprised by how well Murray used his forehand, often a more defensive stroke, but fast developing a big-gun quality of it's own.

Djokovic d. Youznhy 6-4, 6-3

I'm not at all sure what all the fuss is about re Djoko's supposedly suspect form. He's not at the top of his game. Any Djoker could tell you that. Does he really have to be at this stage in the game? I'd be more concerned if he dropped a set, which he hasn't yet. Little sorry for Mikhail, who had some momentum going there, after many troublesome months.

Roddick d. Verdasco 7-6, 4-6, 7-6

An evenly contested match as expected. A bit too evenly contested for my liking. I switched over early on. When I switched back they were about to enter the final set tie break with Nando firing groundstrokes similar to 'that match' in Melbourne this year. This could've gone either way, but I'm kinda glad it went Andy's.

Monty-real Tennis: 50 Stroke Rally

Gael Monfils is clearly still on the comeback, but he and Juan-Carlos did manage to put together this little gem of a rally in Montreal yesterday (apologies for the seventies nightclub jingles).



Alas, not quite enough to avert defeat for young Gael. Ferrero's resurgency is, well, resurgent as ever.

I say they're not trying hard enough.

Monty-real Tennis, Pt 1

Back to the world of 'real' tennis.

And time to be resurrecting those vaguely meaningful round ups.

Simon d. Falla 4-6, 6-2, 6-2

I don't like it that Simon dropped a set, but all but drooled over the way in which he stepped up and took control thereafter.

The movement and timing seem to have picked up from where he left off at the end of last year. Still early days, but I rather like the sound of a quarter final against one Roger Federer.

Tsonga d. Scheuttler 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

Dead Horse? Rod. Rod? Dead Horse.

Apologies in advance to any Jo-Willy fan, but this was full of exactly the kind of play I find so troubling. Scheuttler's a veteran and it showed.

By playing more or less solid tennis he was able to expose Tsonga's lack of consistency that is fast becoming the trademark of his early round losses these months gone by.

There was some big serving and a few of those frabjous inside out forehands, but there's still no reason this should have gone to three sets. Be looking out for him to step it up next round.

Youzhny d. Isner 6-7, 6-1, 6-3

Well looky looky here.

Here's me thinking that the win over Cilic was an anomaly. It took three sets, but there's no doubting this is an impressive win for Youzhny. Don't expect him to get past Djoko, but I'd like to see him give some trouble.

I've kinda missed having Mikhail around. Sans headbanging.

del Potro d. Hernych 6-2, 7-5

I switched over to this during one of the changeovers in the Jo-Willy match. They had only just started practicing and del Potro was lumbering around in that way he normally does.

The next time I switched over del Potro was still lumbering around, except this time the score was 6-2 in his favour.

I continue to marvel at the way this guy has matured - I honestly had him down as a hothead.
Like I said before, I don't forsee many problems for him until he's made to square off with Nadal. And maybe not many more even then.

Verdasco d. Mayer 6-1, 6-1

Exactly the way I think top tenners should be conducting themselves in their opening rounds.
Didn't catch very much of this, but from what I saw, the other Fernando's forehand is in fine working order. I've never liked the look of his double hander, but that extended take back doesn't seem to be doing him much harm. Shows how much I know.

Davydenko d. Mathieu 7-6, 7-6

Didn't see any of this. But it seems to have the air of a Davydenko match, with its path-of-most-resistance-like journey into two tie breakers. And with Mathieu proving once again, that he nearly has what it takes not to be a nearly man.

Federer d. Niemeyer 7-6, 6-4

Ok this probably took a little longer than it should, but I'm not at all convinced that all is not in fully functioning order in Camp Federinec.

This match had all the airs and graces of his early round matches of years gone by. Not his best performance, but more than sufficient at this stage of the game.

Djokovic d. Polansky 6-4, 7-6

I switched over after the first set; which by the sounds of it is when things got interesting. Djoko looked about where he should be from what I could tell, and maybe I'm a teeny-bit concerned it got a little sticky in the second set. But give the man a break: he didn't drop a set, so all's well that end's well.

Murray d. Chardy 6-2, 6-2

An ideal start against an underrated opponent. The talk rages on about the possibility of a number 2 ranking by next week. I don't like any of it. But I did quite like the way Murray's chosen to deal with it.

"Rafa's missed quite a bit of tennis and if I get the opportunity [to move up] I would like to try to maintain it, and not just stay there for a couple of weeks."

(BBC)

Like the man says, what good will a transitional ranking attained on the back of Rafa's dodgy knee do him?

Montreal Masters: How they stack up

I've rather taken to writing predictions.

It's not about the results, but the taking part that counts, as we're often told.

With my record of making picks however, it's only the taking part that counts. Not that, that'll prevent me from having another stab. Fashionably late as ever.

Usual rules apply. A winner and a dark horse from each quarter.



1st Quarter

My love-hate relationship with Jo-Willy has been in serious danger of veering into hate-hate territory of late. I'd love to see him square off against Federer at the height of his abilities, which are considerable.

It just never seems to happen. And I've gotten quite bored of waiting, and tired of watching him squander away his chances.

Also in this section of the draw are Stanislas, who got the better of Kiefer yesterday and Stepanek, whom I'm guessing will have an easy opener against a qualifier.

The result that interests me though is Gilles Simon, who took out Frank Dancevic 6-1, 6-2. An encouraging result. SO encouraging in fact, I've decided to call a truce and temporarily suspend bandwagon hostilities with Gilles, who I think tends to do rather well in three setter hard court events during this spell of the season.

(Winner: Federer)
(Tentative Dark Horse: Gilles Simon)

2nd Quarter

Marat Safin already out to Gael Monfils in three sets in what was by most accounts a high quality match. That said, I'm not expecting very much from Monfils given it's his first match back from a wrist injury that saw him withdraw from Wimbledon.

Andy Murray did his usual extensive spell of trauma-tastic physical training in Miami, which I do approve of (it did wonders for him last year). I'd also approve of him taking part in tournaments like Washington however. Not yet convinced he's at the stage where he can ignore everything except the Slams and Masters events. He's doing a great job of dispatching Chardy as I speak.

I'm also very into Kolya's dorky title grabbing spree he's been on of late. I don't pretend to read too much into Umag, but Hamburg was a fine win, featuring quite a strong field.

(Winner: Murray)
(Dark Horse: Nikolay Davydenko)

3rd Quarter

The way things stand right now, I'd say both del Potro and A-Rod have usurped Djoko's #4 standing, which is why I have to pick A-Rod in this quarter, even though he'll have to get past Verdasco to make the quarters. Not sure where Nando is - he almost looks to have got the better of Lopez, though it's not quite over yet.

I saw a few games of the Cilic-Youzhny match yesterday, and nothing I saw from Youzhny convinced me he's back to his form of two years ago, or that he should have got the better of Cilic. Maybe I should have watched all of the match. It's just I've seen this happen all too often with Cilic recently.

Djoko hasn't won a title since Dubai, but I'm finding it difficult to dismiss him after that rather splendid little clay court stint he had in May. You can find plenty of theories that suggest he enjoys being under the radar, with all the attention on Father-Fed, and Rafa's knee. Probably all true, but I also believe a player of his calibre, the odd questionable result not withstanding, simply never loses the old fashioned will and ability to get through matches. All that said, you simply don't make the #4 player in the world a dark horse. Expect things to get very interesting if he gets past Isner, a match that will answer a lot of questions.

(Winner: A-Rod)
(Darkish Horse: Fernando Verdasco)

4th Quarter

It's almost impossible to predict where Rafa is right now. I've said before that I'm not expecting much and I don't think he is either. That's what's probably behind his decision to play doubles this week, the objective at this point being to maximise the time spent on court, without worrying about what that'll do for his chances in singles. That said, guys like him have a rather annoying habit of steamrolling the competition if they somehow manage to settle into a rhythm. Comeback or no comeback.

My feeling, and I may be wrong about this, is this is the easiest section of the draw. Which means I'm expecting good things for and of Juan del Potro. And not sure who to pick as a dark horse.

It's difficult to see anyone except a fully fluent and functioning Rafa stopping him. And somehow, I don't see that happening.

(Winner: del Potro)
(Very Tentative Dark Horse: Phillip Kohlschreiber)

Semis:

Murray over Federer in three
A-Rod over del-Potro in three

Final:

A-Rod over Murray in three

OMG, I think I just picked A-Rod to win his first Masters Title in three years!

Kimmaculate.

(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

So Clisjters' well-publicised comeback at the Cincinnati Open began with a plomb yesterday with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Marion Bartoli.

"It was very difficult to expect anything," she said. "I haven't seen her in two years. That's the reason I didn't start well. I was trying to figure out what she was doing instead of playing my game.

"By the time I figured out her tactics, I was down 0-4. It's just a really bad draw, I guess."

She was stunned by the standard of play that Clijsters produced, saying, "Two years without playing a match - it's pretty amazing the level she has already right now. I guess the level of play, yes, it's inside the top 10 already. I can tell you that.

"The way she was moving and hitting and her physical strength after two years without playing a match it's just amazing."

I won't get a chance to see what she's about until Thursday, assuming she's still in the tournament by then.

There's certainly a grumpy comment or two to be made on whether such a smooth comeback might have been possible even five years ago; I think I might prefer to welcome her return to the tour, which could do with a restorative agent right now.

Besides, much as I like her anomalous style of play, Marion Bartoli is exactly the kind of player I expect to go from winning a tournament one week to crashing out in the first round of the next.

And whatever else you may think of Clijsters, she possesses the kind of organic talent that made it possible for her to win a Slam in an era (funny how that can be as short as a couple of years nowadays) that included Henin, Sharapova, and both the Sisters at the top of their game. It shouldn't be surprising what players with that sort of pedigree can achieve. Just look at what Hingis did in 2006.

Most of the players seem to agree.

I think she will do top ten for sure," Svetlana Kuznetsova, the French Open champion, said. "She seems exactly the same as she was before. I think it's great she comes back and I think tennis needed somebody like this. I am really excited. There are not many girls who really had a birth of a child and come back."

"I look like I had a kid more than she does,"[Serena] Williams said. "She looks amazing."

Venus Williams:

"I think it's great. I think she's happy to be back and be here and I hope it goes really well for her. I think she will do well, definitely. She's a great athlete and a great competitor."

Jelena Jankovic:

"It's always nice to see a well-known face come back again," she said. "She was a great athlete and one of the best movers on tour. If she could be number one before, she can do it again."

(Quotes: The Times)

Chargrilled Haystacks and other Warm Things...

“Coming in here after being off for a month, you want to find out where your form’s at, you want to get a bunch of matches in,” Roddick said. “I feel I’m on the right path toward the Open.”

(tennis.com)

I think so too. I wasn't even sure who to root for, and found my levels of support divided keenly along the lines of form, talent and brand loyalty.

Evenly poised matches like this tend either to be char-grilled affairs, laden with the kind of skill and emotion usually reserved for the second week a Slam, or like one of those insipid productions that never seem to end, that you regret ever having signed up to, full of needlessly protracted rallies that demonstrate little talent and about as much flair as a haystack that's not even interesting enough to be hoarding a needle or two.

(Photo: AP)

This one was neither.

Truth be told, it hasn't been the most enthralling week of tennis I've seen in either the ladies or mens' events, but it's difficult to complain when the fifth and sixth best players in the world (and the top two seeds) make the final and neither has a let off.

Penetta capped of a near perfect week that's seen her score wins over Zvonareva, Sharapova and Stosur. Not bad.

But both Zvonareva and Sharapova are on the comeback trail and Stosur....well, that's now 5 and oh, in finals.

I'm not about to bash on what's been a very convincing year for her. She's more or less followed up on her well publicised statement of intent to focus on singles.

If there's one criticism I have though, it's that she seems to be approaching matches with the same risk-averse brand of structure and discipline that have done wonders for her on the doubles court. It's not very daring and allows players like Flavia to run away with the match if you're not having a good day.

(Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Again though, it's difficult to criticise when two of your faves make the final in what seemed to be quite a strong field. Besides, I like my tennis players to exude warmth and humility. Female Italian Tennis players tend to score well in both those categories. And in coming out on top in what she describes as 'her biggest win ever', Flavia has given me further reason to warm up to her very earthy brand of warmth.And to feel warm in doing so.

Not that I ever needed a push in that direction.

Sam Stosur: No longer a doubles specialist

I know that taking down big servers might rightly be considered up Roddick's street. But there's still something incredibly sensationalist in having consecutive wins over three of the biggest baddest servers in the game. The only downside might be that he's been conditioned to receive nothing more than 130mph serves over the past few days.

(Photo: AP)

Sharapova's fine run came to an end with a three set loss to Flavia Penetta, who has an odd way of reappearing whenever there's a gap to be filled. Not that there's not much to appreciate in her game.

"It's almost like new territory for me. With every tournament I feel physically I'm getting better and getting a good sense of the court, but it's still a work in progress."

(BBC)

16 doubles and 61 UFEs certainly is a work in progress, and that serve still needs a lot of work without which a strong showing at Flushing Meadows might prove difficult.

Stosur meanwhile continues to impress with her newfound dedication to singles.

"My whole career I've been trying to get to this point," said Stosur, who was widely regarded as a doubles specialist before a superb recent run of form.

"It kind of looks like I've done it late, but I don't worry too much about that. I took a little longer to develop."

(BBC)

And with her ability to hit shots like this, I'd say the title is now hers for the taking.