Well, I'll Be...

Reuters

Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus celebrates his victory over Roger Federer of Switzerland at the Indian Wells ATP tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California March 16, 2010.

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Our own Karen predicted that the top 4 players on the ATP wouldn't advance to the semifinals and the first one to fall is none other than the world's top player.

I went to bed after the first set, trying to get back on my farming schedule, so I only found out a few hours ago that Marcos rallied from a set down to upset the name that had befuddled him on the tennis court through six matches.

Raja had two match points in the second set? Was up a break in the third? Had a third match point? And still lost?

What's that saying about frozen infernos?

While I thought Marcos would beat Raja in Melbourne, which never came to pass because the Cypriot lost early, I didn't give this matchup at this event a second thought.

Color me surprised. Very.

Standing O for Baghdatis.

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Women's Singles - Fourth Round
(2) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) d. (16) Nadia Petrova (RUS) 63 36 60
(4) Elena Dementieva (RUS) d. (19) Aravane Rezai (FRA) 63 63
(5) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) d. (11) Marion Bartoli (FRA) 63 62
(6) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) d. (17) Shahar Peer (ISR) 62 62
(8) Samantha Stosur (AUS) d. (12) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) 62 75
(28) María José Martínez Sánchez (ESP) d. (13) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) 64 64
(18) Zheng Jie (CHN) d. (WC) Alicia Molik (AUS) 63 46 76(1)
(23) Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) d. Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) 26 76(2) 64

Petrova is probably still berating herself.

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Women's Doubles - Quarterfinals
Chan/Zheng (TPE/CHN) d. (1) Black/Huber (ZIM/USA) 76(5) 62
Peschke/Srebotnik (CZE/SLO) d. Kirilenko/Radwanska (RUS/POL) 46 76(4) 10-5

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Men's Singles - Third Round
[27] M Baghdatis (CYP) d [1] R Federer (SUI) 57 75 76(4) - saved 3 M.P.
[4] A Murray (GBR) d M Russell (USA) 63 75
[6] R Soderling (SWE) d [28] F Lopez (ESP) 76(3) 64
[7] A Roddick (USA) d T de Bakker (NED) 63 64
[9] J Tsonga (FRA) d [24] A Montanes (ESP) 46 63 63
[18] T Robredo (ESP) d D Sela (ISR) 63 60
[22] J Melzer (AUT) d S Greul (GER) w/o (illness)
N Almagro (ESP) d J Blake (USA) 64 36 63

Still standing.

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Men's Doubles - Second Round
[5] F Cermak (CZE) / M Mertinak (SVK) d T Bellucci (BRA) / P Cuevas (URU) w/o (Bellucci - back)
J Isner (USA) / S Querrey (USA) d I Andreev (RUS) / E Korolev (KAZ) 75 67(5) 10-4
[WC] M Lopez (ESP) / R Nadal (ESP) d F Lopez (ESP) / F Verdasco (ESP) 64 76(4)
J Brunstrom (SWE) / J Rojer (AHO) d T Berdych (CZE) / P Kohlschreiber (GER) 63 46 10-4

Australian Open 2010 Men's Preview

Getty

Roger Federer SUI (1) v Igor Andreev RUS
Juan Ignacio Chela ARG v Victor Hanescu ROU
Stephane Robert FRA v Potito Starace ITA

Oscar Hernandez ESP v Albert Montanes ESP (31)

Lleyton Hewitt AUS (22) v Ricardo Gocevar BRA (Q)
Christophe Rochus BEL v Donald Young USA (Q)
Paolo Lorenzi ITA v Marcos Baghdatis CYP
Frederico Gil POR v Gilles Simon FRA (15) David Ferrer ESP (17)

Fernando Verdasco ESP (9) v Carsten Ball AUS
Ivan Sergeyev UKR (Q) v Dudi Sela ISR
Rajeev Ram USA v Stefan Koubek AUT (Q)
Ivan Dodig CRO (Q) v Juan Carlos Ferrero ESP (23)

Juan Monaco ARG (30) v Ernests Gulbis LAT
Martin Vassallo Arguello ARG v Michael Llodra FRA
Carlos Moya ESP v Illya Marchenko UKR (Q)
Dieter Kindlmann GER (Q) v Nikolay Davydenko RUS (6)

Well, looky here. Donald Young has qualified for the Australian Open without dropping a set. Too bad he got placed in this quarter in that particular section. He should be no match for Christophe Rochus, and even if he is, Lleyton Hewitt will end his run in round 2. Still, a nice result for a young man told that he's got to stand on his own two feet if he's to continue receiving support from the USTA.

But I digress.

In his quarter, Roger Federer has drawn his new-found nemesis Nikolay Davydenko. Will Raja's extraoridinary streak of Slam semifinals end? Will Davydenko finally breakthrough and make a semifinal Down Under?

Yes and no. Raja looks to have tennis elbow on his right arm, and the Iron Man really can't stand the heat.

Who will stop them? Veteran Stefan Koubek is always good for a great Slam match and he'll probably give Fernando Verdasco all he can handle, if the Spaniard gets past big-serving homeboy Carsten Ball. Still flimsy in the head, though, Verdasco may cause one big upset, but not two. Marcos Baghdatis is playing some good ball again and this is the place he made a name for himself. If he can keep up his form and ride the wave of his boisterous fans, he makes another Australian Open semifinal and becomes the first surprise finalist of the decade.

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Getty

Novak Djokovic SRB (3) v Daniel Gimeno-Traver ESP
Marinko Matosevic AUS v Marco Chiudinelli SUI
Kristof Vliegen BEL v Michael Berrer GER
Denis Istomin UZB v Jeremy Chardy FRA (32)

Mikhail Youzhny RUS (20) v Richard Gasquet FRA
Jan Hajek CZE v Robby Ginepri USA
Lukasz Kubot POL v Mischa Zverev GER
Santiago Giraldo COL v Tommy Robredo ESP (16)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga FRA (10) v Sergiy Stakhovsky UKR
Fabio Fognini ITA v Taylor Dent USA
Ryan Harrison USA v Janko Tipsarevic SRB
Simon Greul GER v Tommy Haas GER (18)

Nicolas Almagro ESP (26) v Xavier Malisse BEL (Q)
Benjamin Becker GER v Grega Zemlja SLO (Q)
Alejandro Falla COL v Marcos Daniel BRA
Marcel Granollers ESP v Robin Söderling SWE (8)

Somoene called this the weakest quarter of the draw and a practical shoo-in for Novak Djokovic to claim. With Robin Söderling and Tommy Haas nursing injuries, I got his point.

But despite Djokovic's victory Down Under in 2008, he struggled mightily with the heat last year and had to retire in his quarterfinal. His strong run at the end of 2009 makes that retirement seem ancient, but it registers like yesterday. He'll win his section, but whoever emerges from the second section could give him ulcers. They won't beat him (unless, say Tommy Robredo serves out of a tree as he did in Hopman Cup to beat Andy Murray) but they will wear him down for the quarterfinals where Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who also happens to love playing in Melbourne, will get his revenge from that 2008 final.

Darkhorses: Xavier Malisse

Reuters

Andy Roddick USA (7) v Thiemo de Bakker NED
Teimuraz Gabashvili RUS v Thomaz Bellucci BRA
Feliciano Lopez ESP v Pablo Cuevas URU
Rainer Schuettler GER v Sam Querrey USA (25)

Tomas Berdych CZE (21) v Robin Haase NED
Daniel Brands GER v Evgeny Korolev KAZ
Sebastien Grosjean FRA v Marsel Ilhan TUR (Q)
Olivier Rochus BELv Fernando Gonzalez CHI (11)

Marin Cilic CRO (14) v Fabrice Santoro FRA
Guillaume Rufin FRA (Q) v Bernard Tomic AUS
Igor Kunitsyn RUS v Jose Acasuso ARG
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez ESP v Stanislas Wawrinka SUI (19)

Viktor Troicki SRB (29) v Nicolas Lapentti ECU
Philipp Petzschner GER v Florian Mayer GER
James Blake USA v Arnaud Clement FRA
Michael Russell USA v Juan Martín Del Potro ARG (4)

This quarter feels overly crowded. Most of the seeds have shown some good form recently, and the "no-names" are dangerous: Thiemo de Bakker, Feliciano López, Robin Haase, José Acasuso, Guillermo García-López, and Philipp Petzschner all have huge games and can cause an upset if their opponents are even slightly below par. And then there are veterans Michael Russel, Nicolas Lapentti, and Rainer Schuettler with the games and the guile to crash many a party. Each tends to produce his best tennis at Slams. Anyone remember Russell taking Hewitt the distance after losing a 2-sets-to-love lead in 2007? It was the best underrated match of the year.

How far will Andy Roddick's head and heart take him? Clearly he has the game to get out of this quarter (even his latest losses to the USO champion were tight, tight affairs) and loves to play in the heat. But no matter what he or anyone else says I remain convinced Wimbledon broke his spirit. At least he already has a win on the year. Maybe redemption awaits....

We might get a rematch of the Chennai final in round 3 and a rematch of the USO quarterfinal in the Round of 16, not to mention a repeat of last year's Round of 16 right here in Melbourne. Will there be revenge?

It's tough to pick against Juan Martín del Potro to advance to his first semifinal in Melbourne.

Darkhorse: Any of the aforementioned "no-names"

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Getty

Andy Murray GBR (5) v Kevin Anderson RSA (Q)
Marc Gicquel FRAv Simone Bolelli ITA
Jarkko Nieminen FIN v Nick Lindahl AUS
Florent Serra FRA v Jurgen Melzer AUT (28)

John Isner USA (33) David Ferrer ESP (17) v Andreas Seppi ITA
Louk Sorensen IRL* (Q) v Yen-Hsun Lu TPE
Daniel Koellerer AUT v Antonio Veic CRO (Q)
Matthew Ebden AUS (Q) v Gael Monfils FRA (12)

Radek Stepanek CZE (13) v Ivo Karlovic CRO
Julien Benneteau FRA v David Guez FRA (Q)
Mardy Fish USA v Andrey Golubev KAZ
Jason Kubler AUS v Ivan Ljubicic CRO (24)

Philipp Kohlschreiber GER (27) v Horacio Zeballos ARG
Blaz Kavcic SLO (LL) v Wayne Odesnik USA
Lukas Lacko SVK v Leonardo Mayer ARG
Peter Luczak AUS v Rafael Nadal ESP (2)

Land of the giants. The top seeds must start well to subdue their opening round opponents. Andy Murray's section looked like a dream until the qualifiers were placed. Kevin Anderson, the South African giant who spent most of 2009 on the challenger circuit and who made an ATP final two years ago, is no pushover. He serves big and moves well for a man his size. If Murray is too passive, he'll find himself in a dog fight. Rafael Nadal will have to play the crowd as well as a huge server in the round 1. A challenging mix, but the defending champ should be up for it.

Despite the presence of so many extra-tall players with huge serves in this quarter, the top seeds should make the quarterfinals where they will reprise their 2007 round of 16 encounter with the same result.

Darkhorse: John Isner

*I've never seen a player from Ireland in a Grand Slam main draw.

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The Women

Welcome Baghdatis

Getty

Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus holds the winners trophy after defeating Richard Gasquet of France in the men's final at the Sydney International tennis tournament on January 16, 2010. Baghdatis won 6-4, 7-6(2).

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It's been a long time between drinks.

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Doubles - Final
[1] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) d R Hutchins (GBR) / J Kerr (AUS) 63 76(5)

Indoor Champions

Reuters

Francesca Schiavone of Italy holds her trophy after winning in her final Kremlin Cup match against Olga Govortsova of Belarus at Olympic stadium in Moscow October 25, 2009.


Reuters

Mikhail Youzhny of Russia holds the trophy after winning his Kremlin Cup final match against Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia at Olympic stadium in Moscow October 25, 2009.


Reuters

Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus lifts the trophy after defeating Olivier Rochus of Belgium in the Stockholm Open tennis final in Stockholm October 25 2009.


Reuters

Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky kisses her trophy after defeating Germany's Sabine Lisicki in their final match at the WTA tennis tournament in Luxembourg October 25, 2009.

Walking Through History

© SA Tennis Open/Reg Caldecott

Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis visited the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg on Tuesday to gain a greater understanding of the particular era of South African history and the legacy created by Nelson Mandela.


© SA Tennis Open/Reg Caldecott

Baghdatis, his coach Oliver Sounes and agent Jean-Phillipe Bernard were all labelled as either white or non-white prior to entering the museum and forced to enter through separate doorways.


© SA Tennis Open/Reg Caldecott

Baghdatis was taken through a visual and physical explanation of the life of Nelson Mandala, one of the most influential and inspirational men in history.


© SA Tennis Open/Reg Caldecott

During the tour Baghdatis was also asked to take the walk of freedom, an experience that saw him choose a series of coloured sticks which represent various characteristics of Nelson Mandela’s life.

McCurse?

I don't know if Andy Murray should be too excited that John McEnroe has tapped him to win a Slam in 2009. After all, he predicted Novak Djokovic would become the next No. 1 after Roger Federer. That didn't work out too well.

Meanwhile, Marcos Baghdatis (remember him?) has pegged Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as the next first-time Slam champion.

I hope the player on the verge of dropping out of the Top 100 is more prescient than the multi-Slam winning tennis legend.

Day 5: Classics

As much as we can have true tennis classics on the slowed-down lawns of SW19, today was the day. On Centre Court, a resurgent Mario Ancic, the last player to defeat Roger Federer on grass in the same venue in 2002, electrified the crowd against the dogged Spaniard David Ferrer, who, for all of his grit, had few answers for the old-school, serve-and-volley, chip-and-charge play of the giant Croatian also known as Baby Goran (Ivanesivic), the first and last Croat to hoist the Wimbledon trophy. Mario outlasted David 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-3). And he never lost his serve. Against one of the best returners in the game.

At the same time, Marat Safin was in devastating form against the unheralded grass court lover Andreas Seppi of Italy, pushing him aside 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4. This was nothing short of a tremendous match on Court 1.



I thoroughly enjoyed both of these classics. The players battled each other as they battled the darkness falling over London after 9:00pm London time. (Note to the AELTC: either start matches earlier in the day, or invest in some damn lights. There's no reason the players should be fighting as though they're on a playground in some poverty-ridden, inner-city. Not with all the pomp and circumstance and money that girds the most hallowed event in one of the world's most elite sports.) Simply put, there was no better tennis on display at this year's Wimbledon so far than that from the racquets of the above warriors.



I was so full when the men finished, that I almost forget that Serena Williams, my girl, beat back Amelie Mauresmo, a fading light in women's tennis to be sure. Forgot that Ana Ivanovic, the new world No. 1 and Roland Garros champion, was picked apart by Jie Zheng, a Chinese woman who refused to be impressed by the game of a woman who won her Slam too soon, rose to No. 1 too soon, and who clearly, in all her giggly girlishness and manufactured fist pumps, is simply not ready to own the mantle of the world's best. Nathalie Dechy ought to have been playing the determined Chinese woman, but that's not the way the script played out. No matter. Ana will need to mature emotionally and mentally if she is to repeat her recent success. Otherwise, she'll turn into another Svetlana Kuznetsova, who also won her first Slam before she was ready.



Bobby Reynolds put up a good fight, but he as no match for Feliciano Lopez, the only Spaniard of the current crop who actually prefers grass, slow as it has become in London, to any other surface. There are no more American men in the Wimbledon draw after the third round. If I didn't know better, I'd think we were in Paris and crushed red brick was swirling into the eyes of the players, blinding them to the task at hand.



But American women's tennis has something to celebrate in the exquisite play of Bethanie Mattek, the woman who made headlines when she appeared in gypsy basketball garb on Centre Court against Venus Williams in 2006. She demoralized defending finalist Marion Bartoli with a game so solid, so deceptively powerful, the French woman who considers Wimbledon her favorite tournament could never get comfortable in her own exquisite game. Despite the 6-1, 6-4 scoreline, this was the best women's match of the day. Some of the games lasted for double-digit minutes, a trademark in most matches featuring the moody Marion.




Overheard

Keeping with the sex talk so prominent in this forthnight, I couldn't fail to report that Chris Fowler and Darren Cahill had an extended conversation about Raja's opponent Marc Gicquel who, last year in Halle, took a tennis ball in the balls and had to pullout from his next match. Fowler even wanted to know if Cahill had ever experienced such excruciating pain by tennis ball. Cahill admitted that he had and when Fowler asked him how long he wanted to talk about the subject, Cahill answered: "Only as long as you do, Chris."

No disrespect to Raja's fans, but this is what the boredom of so many of his early-round Slam matches conjures up in those employed to cover them.

Darkhorse Nation

With so many of the top seeds falling like dominoes, there's a lot of talk of who's actually going to survive this thing and make it to the final weekend. Agnieszka Radwanska, Eastbourne champion, is doing her thing under the radar and might be the author of some more big headlines. But if any of the remaining Big Babes are still around and bring their A-games, the gutsy Pole won't have a chance. (For the darkest of darkhorses see Sugiyama Ai, who's celebrating her record-setting 57th consecutive appearance in a Slam event. I know, I know. I just wanted to give her her props.)

Remember Marcos Baghdatis? The Greek-Cypriot with the big gut and bigger smile who wowed the world in Melbourne in 2005? Well, the ut isn't so big right now, while his face is all business has he soldiers on. He has declared grass his favorite surface and his current form and draw tell me I shouldn't be shocked if he's playing on the final Sunday.

You heard it here first.

Photos of the Day


Marcos


Feliciano


Serena


Sugiyama Ai


Misha Zverev, who retired against Stanislas Wawrinka


Bethanie


Ana

WIMBLEDON 2008: Men's Top 10 Seeds Preview

BY Mad Professah

The 2008 Wimbledon Championships begin on Monday. The following preview was begun before the draw was released today, but updated afterwards.

1. Roger FEDERER (SUI). The 5-time Wimbledon champion has had a horrible 2008 (for him), coming into The Championships for the first time since 2003 without having won either a major or ATP Masters Series title. In addition, the last Grand Slam match he played, at the Roland Garros final a scant few weeks ago, the World #1 suffered his worst defeat ever, losing 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 to his arch-nemesis and World #2 Rafael Nadal. All of these factors multiply to increase the odds against Federer winning his sixth consecutive Wimbledon title. However, he has won 59 grass court matches in a row, and if there is any court in the world where he can still impose his will by sheer determination, it is Centre Court at Wimbledon--but this time he will have the person who took him out of the 2008 Australian Open in his half of the draw, Novak Djokovic. I think Roger will appreciate the opportunity for revenge. PREDICTION: Champion.



2. Rafael NADAL (ESP). The 4-time consecutive French Open champion has also managed to be in the Wimbledon final for the last two years and in 2007 was a point or two from an unassailable lead in the 5th set. Miraculously, Federer was able to escape to win the title. In the year since that unlucky defeat Nadal has improved his game by quantum levels: his two-handed backhand is now a dangerous weapon, his serve which was previously merely effective is now occasionally lethal and his confidence is at near stratospheric levels. He really believes that he can beat anyone on any surface at any time. At Queen's Club he proved that he could beat the #4 and #3 best grass court players in the world (Roddick and Djokovic). Whether this can be repeated at Wimbledon will be revealed in the next fortnight. PREDICTION: Finalist.


3. Novak DJOKOVIC (SRB). For most of this year, Djokovic has been considered the hottest player on tour having won the 2008 Australian Open title and two ATP Masters Series titles (Indian Wells and Rome). There was much discussion that the ever decreasing gap between the World #3 and the World #2--until the clay court season. Nadal has now defeated Djokovic relatively easily in three consecutive matches and the two have played an astonishing 11 times in the last year with Nadal winning 8 of their showdowns including every Grand Slam match The only way the two will meet at Wimbledon is in the Men's Final which would be a repeat of the Queen's final which was won by Nadal. PREDICTION: Semifinalist.


4. Nikolay DAVYDENKO (RUS). The hapless Russian finally broke through at "the fifth Slam" this year to capture his second ATP Masters series title in Miami. However he has never been able to get past the semifinal round of any major--it's highly unlikely that will change at Wimbledon. PREDICTION: Early round loss.


5. David FERRER (ESP). Although there are now two Spaniards in the Top 5 players in the world, only one of them really has a chance to win the tournament. David Ferrer is not that Spaniard. PREDICTION: At best Quarterfinalist.
   


6. Andy RODDICK (USA). The 2-time Wimbledon finalist has the game to win the title this year, but does he have the belief? The resurgent Nadal took out the American at Queen's, where Roddick had previously won the title 4 times before. And Djokovic has the weapons and tennis acumen to take out the American's more rounded game. If Roger Federer did not exist Roddick would probably have 5 Grand Slam titles (3 Wimbledons and 2 US Opens) instead of the sole 2003 US Open title. Unfortunately for Roddick, Federer does exist but fortunately they are in opposite sections of the draw thus year. PREDICTION: At least Semifinalist.


7. David NALBANDIAN (ARG). A surprising Wimbledon finalist (losing to Lleyton Hewitt in 2002) at age 20 a year ahead of his arch-rival Roger Federer, the hard hitting Argentine with impeccable timing and questionable stamina has long been a thorn in the side of the winner of every Wimbledon Men's singles title since 2003. Last year Nalbandian evened out their head-to-head rivalry by winning two consecutive matches on hard courts on his way to winning consecutive ATP Masters Series tournamenys in Madrid and Paris. Unfortunately, Nalbandian has not been able to find his late 2007 form this year and it is unlikely that he will make a mark on the 2008 Championships. PREDICTION: 4th Round.
   


8. Richard GASQUET (FRA). Last year's surprising Wimbledon semi-finalist (by defeating Roddick in a garish display of over 90 winners) has not been making much of a splash on the ATP Tour or in the major tournaments since then. Although perhaps it was the Frenchman's breakthrough that spurred his countrymen Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils to great success in the first two major tournaments of 2008. However, since his pitiful performance in Davis Cup against the U.S. this spring "Richie Red Shoes" has been worse than pitiful, he has been absent. PREDICTION: Early Round Loss.


9. James BLAKE (USA). The second best American player has long been in the shadow of his lightning-serving compatriot but has managed to follow up his breakthrough year in 2006 to maintain his berth in the Top 10 for nearly two years. Unfortunately he has not been able to bring his best tennis to the majors so far (except at his hometown Grand Slam in New York City). He definitely has the game and the physical athleticism to do well on grass. Tough break being in Roddick's quarter of the draw. PREDICTION: 4th Round.


10. Marcos BAGHDATIS (CYP). Being a finalist at the 2006 Australian Open has been a career highlight so far for the flashy Cypriot who has repeatedly been involved in some of the best matches in Grand Slam tournaments (v. Hewitt in Australia this year, v. Djokovic at Wimbledon in 2007 and v. Agassi at U.S. Open in 2006) but rarely actually winning these thrillers. Hopefully he will bring his brilliant game and desire-to-win to Wimbledon and perhaps this time he'll win a repeat thriller against Djokovic in the quarterfinal, although a possible 4th round match against Nalbandian could have even more fireworks. PREDICTION: Quarterfinalist.

American Hero

(AP Photo)

I apologize for being a day late and a dollar short. But you can blame the rain in southern California for delaying the second day of Fed Cup action between USA and Germany until yesterday. By the time the matches ended, I had to be en route to Boston, where I now sit and throw together this scattered post.

Here's to Ashley Harkleroad, who came into her own once more and led the USA to a 4-1 victory in her Fed Cup debut. I said all I can say about her game and poise and composure in my last post, and it was nice to see her fight through her nerves and close out the tie on serve on her first attempt. Especially against the hot-ticket-of-the-moment in Sabine Lisicki.

For a woman so young, she is a tennis veteran of sorts. What with a marriage a divorce a broken engagement (I'm typing from memory here so if I'm wrong about these personal matters, someone correct me), a retirement from tennis because she couldn't handle the pressure of being America's Next Big Thing on women's side, and her comeback to the tour through challengers as the game seemed to have passed her by and we've got a gritty fighter who showed all that and more in for her team and her country.

Lindsay Davenport bounced back, as expected, and put a 46-minute beatdown on Julia Georges, a last minute substitution of Tatjana Malek who showed she could not handle the stress of Fed Cup. After the final singles rubber, Lindsay and veteran Lisa Raymond but on a brief doubles clinic against Anna-Lena Groenefeld (what the hell ever happened to her?) and Goerges, losing just two game.


(AFP/Getty Images)

Next up for the USA is a trip to Moscow to face Russia who overcame all of Israel in a 4-1 victory.

I watched the reverse singles of the Russia-Isreal tie and the Israeli crowd was back in full force trying to do whatever it could to get their players a victory. But Maria Sharapova and Anna Chakvetadze were having none of it.

For her part, AnnaC went practically bonkers out there. But that was her way of telling the crowd to go screw itself.

Vlad corrected my match facts. I hate when I get a fact from a match wrong, because there's really no excuse for that, but I stand by everything else I wrote. In particular, I've seen worse from crowds. That is my perception. I said I wouldn't go there, but I've changed my mind. Consider this a Tuesday Tirade if you must (you hear me, helen w?).

Agree or not, but I consider it worse when your home fans turn on you, boo you, and shout racist slurs at you in the finals of a Tier 1 event virtually in your own backyard as they did against Serena Williams at Indian Wells in 2001. I consider it worse when the French fans act like a lynch mob simply because you are trying to defend your title by beating a desperate and cheating woman in the 2003 Roland Garros semifinal. And lest you think I feel this way only because I'm a fan of Serena, I will point out that the Madrid fans were worse to Tomas Berdych, whom I no fan of, simply because he was beating homeboy Rafael Nadal at the Madrid Masters in 2006. Tomas had to serve through jeers and hit his groundstrokes through boos. And this was before his infamous finger shush to the crowd after the match, much like the one Sharapova gestured to the Israeli crowd after the first day of the tie in question. Tomas was chastised by fans; Maria, applauded. And who can forget the way the Flushing Meadows fans booed and hissed at a cramping Marcos Baghdatis in the the second round on the 2007 US Open simply because it was Andre Agassi's last Slam event? There's more, but I'll stop. You get my point.

None of the events above were venues where any such fan behavior was expected (well...) or ought to have been tolerated. Davis Cup and Fed Cup remain the only tennis competitions where such roudy and rude fan behavior is part of the attraction of the event. All players know what they're getting into. Know that they have to beat their opponents and the fans. No player expects to be coddled by the opposing team's fans because of what he or she might have gone through off the court during the off-season. This references a fan who suggested the crowd should be ashamed of itself if it knew that AnnaC's family home had been robbed at gunpoint in December. But AnnaC didn't back down from her attackers then. With her life on the line. That experience, which she emerged from physically unscathed, makes what she had to deal with on a tennis court a stroll in the park. Take a look:



Ultimately, how a visiting team deals with hostility can ultimately decide the outcome of a tie. Maria and AnnaC were defiant and antagonistic and it worked for them. Both admitted that the atmosphere motivated them even more to win their matches. Weaker-minded players may have cowered. But not these women. Oh, no. They held their ground, stood strong, and prevailed anyway.

So who, exactly, was harmed by the crowd's behavior?

And lest we also forget, the officials in Davis Cup and Fed Cup have the discretion to give the visiting team points or even games if the crowd's behavior crosses whatever line it needs to cross for the point and game penalties to be given. How often did they use that discretion during this tie?

Mob behavior is just that. If the tie officials don't do their jobs, well, then....

Day 6: Epilogue

Marathon men. That's what they are. More than four-and-a-half hours. Two titanic chokes. An ankle injury. Five match points. Unruly fans. Weary ball kids. Blind linespeople. Delirious commentators. Dozing-in-and-out-in-front-of-the-TV-all-night fans. An Australian Open five-set winning streak broken. Great sportsmanship. The latest-ending Slam match in the Open Era. 4:35AM. The hometown hopeful prevailed. The vanquished wept.

Exhale.

How do they do it?



How will he go on?

Day 4: More Of The Same

Highlights


Upset Special



Sam Querrey upset No. 32 seed and Sydney champion Dmitry Tursunov with a surprising display of patience and defending and his signature big serve and forehand. It was great to see that the young American, who had been quoted last year as being more interested in his mother's Porsche than in practicing, had changed his mind and worked hard in the offseason on his fitness. He even turned down an invitation by Patrick McEnroe to be a practice partner for the Davis Cup final so he could work with his team on his game. Tursunov didn't appear to know what hit him as Sam court coverage forced the Russian into error.

Sam will be joined in the third round on Day 6 by Vincent Spadea, who won his second grueling 5-set victory in a row, this time over German qualifier Denis Gremelmayr; James Blake, who blitzed compatriot journeyman Micheal Russell; and Venus Williams, who struggled to hold serve but managed to pull off a straight-set win over Camille Pin to move into the third round.

Double Trouble



Speaking of Venus. I have never seen Venus in a chair umpire's face. But in her doubles match with Serena against the Australian team of Monique Adamczak and Christina Wheeler, the chair umpire failed to overrule a call on a Adamscak's serve that was clearly a fault, and when the umpire said she'd seen the ball out but refused to call it as such, Venus went off. It probably didn't help that a few points before, the umpire overruled a call on the baseline against the sisters, causing them to drop serve and give up their break advantage in the first set. "What are you even doing there? Right is right, wrong is wrong. I'm not a fool!" There was a whole lot more said than that, but you get the gist. I must say, it was lovely to see that side of Venus. Perhaps the chair umpire didn't want to be booed by the hometown crowd. Whatever the case, the sisters regrouped and took all their anger out on the Aussies. Serena's ferocious volleys were punctuated with louder grunts than normal. Venus gritted her teeth after every shot and the sisters moved into the second round with a straight-set beatdown. And they even shook the umpire's hand.

Daily Discovery



Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan earned his wildcard into the main draw by winning the Asian play-off. With a game reminiscent of Yvgeny Kafelfnikov, he gave Lleyton Hewitt all he could handle on Rod Laver arena. A solid serve and return, a potent backhand, and an all-court game earned him a set off Australia's only hope to win the title. With a little more experience on the big stages of tennis, he might become a player no one wants to see in their draw. Here's hoping he graduates from the challenger circuit.

Match Of The Day



The nighttime second round showdown between Marcos Baghdatis and Marat Safin didn't fail to deliver, but despite patches of great shotmaking, it didn't have as much tension and drama as I wanted it to have. Probably because the final three sets were virtual blowouts.

After Marcos took a two-set-to-love lead 6-4, 6-4, he lost his concentration. His forehand broke down. Safin fought back by elevating his game and took the third and fourth sets 6-2, 6-3. Somewhere in there, he won a big point with a dive and roll stretch volley that brought a roar from the crowd.



Marat had never come back from a 0-2 deficit in his entire career; Marcos had never lost a match from a 2-0 lead. Neither had ever lost a fifth set at the Australian Open. Something had to give.

As it was, Marat had run out of fight. He gave up an early break in the fifth set and that was all she wrote.

The tournament needs some electricity. Yes, this was the best men's match so far on a show court (though I'm not willing to dub it a classic, tangerine), but I want more excitement. I'm greedy that way.

What Did You Say?

In the middle of the over-the-top Roger Federer love fest bestowed upon us by Tennis Channel's Martina Navratilova, Bill Macatee and Justin Gimelstob, Justin, who delivered his valentine from courtside, shouted, "Challenge it, Roger! I'm sitting on that baseline and Santoro's shot was clearly out." Raja heard him, challenged the call and got the overturn. We ask for some objectivity from the commentators, no? But when they are cheering so overtly for a player who's already delivering a dismantling that they help him win a point he doesn't even need, surely a line as been crossed. But what can you expect from the same man who said that Santoro was playing the best match of any player in tennis history and was still down 1-6, 1-5. Hyperbole much? And get a thesaurus, people. English has more adjectives than ridiculous, insane, and sick.

Photo of the Day

Roddick Completes Hat-Trick in Kooyong

(AFP/Getty Images)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Andy Roddick started and finished with aces in a 7-5, 6-3 win over Marcos Baghdatis on Saturday to claim his third consecutive Kooyong Classic title.

Roddick beat Tommy Haas in 2006 and top-ranked Roger Federer in last year's final of the exhibition event.

Federer avenged that loss 13 days later at the Australian Open, beating Roddick in the semifinals en route to the title.

Roddick and Michael Chang (1995-97) are the only players to win three straight titles at the Australian Open tuneup event.

Andre Agassi won three in four years, with the sequence broken by Pete Sampras.

Roddick beat Ivan Ljubicic and 2005 Australian Open champion Marat Safin in the earlier rounds here and went straight to business in the final, firing the first of his 10 aces on his first serve of the match.

He will face a qualifier in the first round of the Australian Open and a possible second-round match against young American Donald Young.

Roddick broke Baghdatis' serve in the 12th game of the first set after a small blip in the 11th, when he wasted three game points with some forehand errors and disputed a line call on what he thought was an ace.

He broke Baghdatis' second service game in the second set and closed out at love with an ace.

Safin, the only man to beat Federer at Melbourne Park in four years, finished off his preparations for the season's first major with a 6-3, 6-3 win in the third-place match against Fernando Gonzalez, losing finalist at last year's Australian Open.

No. 7 Gonzalez is seeded to meet Federer in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open.

Federer will begin his bid for a third consecutive Australian title without a competitive match in the leadup, hoping to be the first man since Andre Agassi achieved that in 1995.

He missed the Kooyong tournament because of a stomach virus, creating the spot for Baghdatis in the elite eight-man invitation draw.

Source

Roddick Routs Ljubicic, Nalbandian Withdraws

Andy Roddick took care of business against Ivan Ljubicic in quick fashion with a 6-3, 6-0 rout in his first round-robin match at the AAMI Classic. The live stream I posted yesterday didn't work for most of the match, so I didn't get to see what happened. Apparently, however, Jimmy Connors was in the stands, so the rumors that they were no longer working together have proven false.

In today's other matches, Marcos Baghdatis beat Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 4-6, 6-1; Marat Safin dismissed Andy Murray 6-1, 6-4; and Fernando Gonzalez got a walkover when David Nalbandian withdrew from the event with a back injury. Just when the Argentine looked poised to do damage at a Slam, he suffers another injury. Now, his participation at the Australian Open is in doubt.

AAMI Classic Kooyong

The year's best exhibition is back. David Nalbandian, defending champion Andy Roddick, Fernando Gonzalez, Marat Safin, Andy Murray, Nikolay Davydenko, Marcos Baghdatis, and Ivan Ljubicic will play the AAMI Classic in Kooyong as their final preparation for the Australian Open. Roger Federer withdrew with a stomach virus and Tommy Haas's recent shoulder surgery hasn't healed. Kolya and Baghs took their place in the field.

Schedule of play for the event is as follows:

Wednesday January 9 - 4 matches from 11am

Davydenko vs Baghdatis

followed by
Roddick vs Ljubicic

followed by
Gonzalez vs Nalbandian

followed by
Murray vs Safin

Thursday January 10 - 3 matches from 11am

Friday January 11 - 3 matches from 11am

Saturday January 12 - 2 matches from 1pm

An Internet live stream of the AAMI Classic in Kooyong can be found here on Channel 6543.


"Right here? Right now? Close your legs."


"If you say so, Marat. If you say so."


"Yes, I do think Andy needs a haircut."


"Did you know Marcos wears a pink thong for good luck during his matches?"


"How much you wanna bet neither of us'll win this thing this year?"


"Don't hate me because I'm gonna have more fans in Melbourne than any of you."

‘Jingle Bells’, ATP Style

Such good sports, no? Bob and Mike Bryan are cool, Marcos Baghdatis is delightful, Jarkko Nieminen can't do "dashing", dare I say Ivo Karlovic is charming, and Tommy Robredo seems to like riding in a whore's open sleigh.

Mardy Fish, Andy Murray, and Roger Federer make cameo appearances.

Who The Hell Is This Guy?

by Savannah

"He's way better than being ranked 25 in the world. I don't know what the hell he's doing at the other tournaments, but it worked these two."

- Roger Federer after his loss to David Nalbandian in Bercy

The folks who run the Bercy Masters were tired of their event being known as the one at the end of the year that no one comes to play in and went out to establish themselves as a TMS event worthy of the name. Whatever they did to get the big boys to come and play they did. The fans in Paris got to see the wolrd No. 1 and No. 3 go down to defeat while the world No. 2 fought and outlasted a gutsy Marcos Baghdatis to make the final in his first attempt at this event.

As for the man he will play David Nalbandian, once derided by fans as “Fat Dave” is suddenly playing as if he’s part of the Top 3 and not as number three. For the last two weeks he’s been playing No. 1-caliber tennis taking apart Nadal and Federer in Madrid, and Federer once again in Paris. In a tennis tour de force he destroyed Richard Gasquet, picking him to pieces as if Gasquet was a junior playing his first main tour match. Gasquet seemed to revive at the end of the second set but it was too little way too late.

Nalbandian has to be favored going into tomorrow's final. The French tennis crowds don’t care for either Rafa or David so it’ll be interesting to see what they do. Somehow I don’t think the conga drums will be played to support either of the players.