Day 3: Moving

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I feel for Dinara Safina. I know. I know. I'm not a fan and some have suggested I've said insensitive things about her. I disagree with the latter, but it's not nice to watch a player struggle as she has struggled in recent months. She's been haunted by a back injury and mental frailty. She can't serve. She's in the running for the most undeserved No. 1 player in the world in the Open Era and she knows it.

Today she fought like she always fights, but she couldn't hold on. Spirit willing. Flesh weak.

She collapsed.

The two-time defending runner-up was ousted in the first round. Her ranking will drop like an anchor. It was tough to watch.

Juxtaposed to the Russian tragedy, a Japanese veteran added another historical chapter to a remarkable story. Kimiko Date Krumm, 39-years-old and nursing a leg injury, hung around until Safina broke down and then fought her own way to victory.

The second oldest player to ever win a match at Roland Garros.

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The pure joy she, her husband, and her supporters displayed after the war made it appear as though she'd just won the whole Slam.

It was as moving as Safina's unraveling, just in a different direction.

This is tennis.

KarenFed brings us some highlights for the day.

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How can you tell when a major is rounding into form? Most fans start missing their alarm clocks and start pulling the covers a little tighter. It is only day 3 but already my internal body clock is telling me when to get up and when not to. However, I did get up and this is what I caught today:

First match up on Centre Court was 4-time Roland Garros champion Justine Henin going up against Tsvetana Pironkova. I caught this match in the second set. Justine won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3 but I got the feeling that against a stronger opponent who was more forceful off the ground and who was able to hold serve and break serve, the outcome perhaps would still be the same or we would have had a 3 set match. As it was, Pironkova played well and has nothing to be ashamed of in my view.

Nicolas Mahut vs. Mischa Zverev - I have seen many discussions on message boards that talk up Mischa Zverev. I have to say that I have been quite disappointed about his performances each time that I have seen him play. Mahut, who is not known for his clay court prowess, but rather for his formidable grass court skills, served and volleyed his way to a straight set 6-1, 6-2 and 6-4 victory over Zverev.

Vania King v. Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Mattek-Sands can play on clay and Vania King was tired. Mattek-Sands won in straight sets 6-2. 6-2. Vania King is coming off a brutal clay court season which saw her reaching the semifinals in singles at Strasbourg and the finals in doubles at the same event. She has played a lot of tennis this clay court season. Mattek-Sands came into the main draw as a lucky loser. She is nursing a sore ankle but is still in the doubles.

Sam Querrey v. Robbi Ginepri. I read a recent interview by John Isner where he said that he and Sam Querrey had been talking to their fellow US colleagues about the USA’s performance during the clay court season. He said that they should really change the perception that Americans cannot play on clay. It was against this background that I was quite disappointed at Querrey’s performance during this match and even moreso by his comments afterwards. To pull out of doubles at a Grand Slam and leave your partner high and dry just because you are not feeling it is a disservice to your sport as well as to your colleagues. Querrey has been acting up lately. He has posted some really unfortunate comments on Twitter and his press conferences and on-court demeanor leaves a lot to be desired. I wish he would make up his mind whether he wants to play tennis or not. Robbi had a well earned victory in 4 sets. The final score line was 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-3, 6-2.

Yanina Wickmayer vs. Sandra Zahlovova. The thing that struck me about this match. The noise. Awful, ear splitting shrieking disgusting noise from both women as they not only attempted to hit the fuzz off the ball but also attempted to deafen the spectators both at home and on the grounds with the ear splitting grunts and groans. It was awful. Wickmayer won in straight sets, 1 and 1.

Juan Carlos Ferrero vs. Pablo Cuevas. I admit that I expected more from this match than I got. I have never seen Cuevas play and thought he would give Ferrero a nice run. No such luck. Ferrero advanced in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3 and 6-1.

Rafael Nadal v. Gianna Mina. Nadal opened his account at Roland Garros by playing his first match on Suzanne Lenglen court. As usual he played to a packed house. Before I describe the match, Nadal’s team will have to let him know that for some reason he has a love/hate relationship going with the crowds in Paris. Today, as he is wont to do, he kept the umpire and his opponent waiting while he went through his pre-match rituals. The crowd did not like it and they made him aware of it. Judging by his reaction, I think Nadal was as surprised as I was by this. On to the match. There is really nothing left to say about Nadal on a clay court. He did not play well. He had a feisty opponent and a crowd that was 100% behind him. He had his chances on 9 occasions on Nadal’s serve but could not capitalize. Nadal was dropping his forehand short and he made quite a few unforced errors. I expect as the tournament progresses and barring any unforeseen circumstances, Nadal will get better. The final score line of 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 speaks to exactly what happened.

Match of the day

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Andy Roddick did the impossible. He came back from 2 sets to 1 down against Jarrko Niemenen on Centre Court. The only thing is this Centre Court was not Wimbledon or the US Open or any other surface on which one would expect Roddick to do well. He came back from 2 sets to 1 down on Court Philippe Chartier. The final score of 6-2, 4-6, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 speaks clearly to how the match went. There were ebbs and flows. There were moments of excellent play and moments when both men despaired because their ground strokes abandoned them. It was a wonderful match to watch and I really enjoyed it.

Doubles

Mlle Williams and Mlle Williams opened their account in doubles today against Tamarine Tanasugarn and Kirsten Flipkens. Their opponents won 1 game. It was brutal. Venus is playing very well. The crowd was 6 deep for this doubles match and was the only doubles match on a show court.

Historic First

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David Nalbandian of Argentina holds the trophy after defeating Jarkko Nieminen of Finland during the Sydney International men's singles final on January 17, 2009. Nalbandian won 6-3, 6-7 (9/11), 6-2. Nalbandian is the first Argentinean to win the Sydney tournament in history.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2008: Men's semifinals

by MadProfessah

I previewed the 2008 Australian Open Men's quarterfinals a few days ago. Here are my thoughts on the semifinals.

Roger Federer SUI (1) versus Novak Djokovic SRB (3). This mouthwatering match is a reprise of the 2007 U.S. Open final which somehow Federer won in straight sets despite being outplayed by the Serbian youngster for the first two. I predicted that David Ferrer would continue his scintillating play from the end of last year and stop Djokovic, whose personality and demeanor I'm not a fan of, but whose games never fails to impress. Instead, Djokovic stuffed a pastele in the mouth of Ferrer and dispatched him in straight sets 6-0, 6-3, 7-5. Much has been made of Federer's near-death experience with a far less heralded Serbian player Janko Tipsarevic who, on a Federer off-night, took Federer to 5 sets and nearly sent him packing from the tournament in the 3rd round. However, Federer is well aware that Djokovic is his heir apparent and looks forward to the task of demonstrating that "he's not dead, yet." After a comfortable evening workout of excellent tennis against his personal manservant James Blake where the Swiss World #1 improved his career lifetime record over the American to 8-0 and insured he would reach his record 15th conscutive Grand Slam semifinal and 209th consecutive week at No. 1. It's true that the only time Federer has lost in Melbourne in the last 5 years was in the 2005 semifinals to Marat Safin--and he was up match point and lost in 5 sets. I suspect Federer will want to send a distinct message to Novak and the rest of the young guns and raise his intensity a notch. Djokovic has not lost a set in his path to the semifinals and if he can find another gear he may be able to show Federer that youth is always served, in the end. PREDICTION: Federer, in four sets.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga FRA vs. Rafael Nadal ESP (2). Tsonga is the great story of the 2008 Australian Open. He is an unseeded player who has made it as far as the final 4 players and is within one match of a historic Grand Slam final. Just by being in the semi-final, Tsonga makes history as the first Black male player to be in the semi-final of a major since American MaliVai Washington did it at Wimbledon in 1996.
Tsonga dispatched the very hot (in multiple senses of the word) Mikhail Youzhny in straight sets in the quarterfinals while Nadal took out fellow leftie Jarkko Nieminen pretty easily. The two have played each other only once (fairly recently) in the 3rd round of the 2007 US Open, and Nadal won fairly easily 7-6(3) 6-2 6-1. Since Tsonga was not overwhelmed by making his first Grand Slam quarterfinal somehow I don't think he'll be overwhelmed by his first major semi and so the match may be decided by what happens on court instead of what's happening inside smoeone's head. This is a good thing. Does Tsonga have the game to defeat Nadal? Definitely. Will he? It's doubtful. All the intangibles go the Spaniard's way. Nadal usually has a problem with people who hit very flat, very hard, limited spin strokes on both wings, like a Blake, a Youzhny or last year's finalist Fernando Gonzalez. PREDICTION: Nadal, in five sets.