Nole and Muzz have easy straight set wins (I'm assuming -- Muzz/Blah is still in the second set), Rafa plays like shit but survives 5 match points to beat Nico, and Fed is out of Paris at the hands of a teary and bloody Apricot.
Fantastic performance by Julien. I really thought he'd choke when he served for the match at 5-4. But he held his nerves and it was Fed who seemed all out of sorts. The guy looked listless and uninspired. Perhaps those late night feedings are taking their toll?
Or maybe he just wanted out of the tournament so he could celebrate with Marat? All I know is, Roger better throw down his AMEX Black Card for this one. Only the best for Maratski.
So that was a damn ugly match. Rafa saved 5 match points to eek out a 36 76(2) 75 win over Nico, but not before putting on a pretty awesome display of poor serving, bad timing, and general futility sundae with an awesome "Yes, my foot blisters are still a problem" cherry on top.
But even when his game is shit you always know Rafa's going to bring the fight. So good win, dude. Now please get it together.
The always entertaining and forever frustrating career of the Big Man is over, after he fought and fell to JMDP (trivia answer!) in three sets, 64 57 64. That's not a shabby way to bow out.
And Elfie was a whole lotta adorable about it.
Match point and ceremony. Marat, self-deprecating to the end.
And so this long drawn out Dead Man Walking saga ends not with a bang or a whimper, but with smiles and warmth. Sure, it wasn't the pull on the heartstrings hoopla that Shanghai brought, but the Paris goodbye, which was just as heartfelt, just seemed right.
This is the tribute video put together by the ATP.
Bepa will have surgery on her incredibly eff'd up ankle tomorrow. You know she rolled up to the hospital with two suitcases: one with clothes, and the other full of historical reading.
(Couldn't find a pic from today. So we're going to go with this one.)
I have no idea how Commodus survived this match, but big ups to him. After splitting the first two sets against Lubes, Gilles suffered a rough knee injury in the third set that required him to call a trainer in the middle of the game. He was hobbling and really, had no business continuing to play, and had it been a tournament in any other city I'm sure he would have retired. But he gamed up and finished the match. He somehow kept holding serve to force a tiebreak, and in that tiebreak he played extremely intelligent tennis to take the match. I don't know what happened to Lubes. You'd think he'd start moving Gilly around but he didn't. He just kept puffing the ball back with no pace in the middle of the court. It was so odd.
Afterwards, Gilles seemed almost embarrased about the win. It isn't clear whether he'll be able to play his next match.
Earler, Fernando survived a scare and kept his WTF dreams alive by gutting out a three set win over Seppi. Don't fuck this up, Fer. I want to see you in London.
Oh, and before I forget, what the fuck, Feli?
Singles - Second Round [6] N Davydenko (RUS) d B Becker (GER) 62 61 [7] F Verdasco (ESP) d A Seppi (ITA) 67(3) 64 64 [8] J Tsonga (FRA) d A Montanes (ESP) 61 75 [11] G Simon (FRA) d I Ljubicic (CRO) 63 36 76(4)
Singles - First Round N Almagro (ESP) d M Chiudinelli (SUI) 62 64 [Q] D Guez (FRA) d S Wawrinka (SUI) 63 64 J Monaco (ARG) d J Chardy (FRA) 76(6) 75 J Benneteau (FRA) d P Petzschner (GER) 46 75 63 [Q] A Clement (FRA) d F Lopez (ESP) 63 61
He's the closest thing we have to a Don Draper on the ATP tour.
And just like D2, right when you thought he was on the brink and about to pack it up, he sacks up and shows everyone why we love him: His Balls. Serving to stay in the match, Marat was faced with double match point. What'd he do? He reached back and fired a bunch of aces to get himself out of the jam. All in all he would save 3 match points and go on to win the match in a tiebreak.
And so he lives to fight off retirement. But not for long. He plays Elfie on Wednesday.
Try not to get kicked in the face, k?
Singles - First Round
A Seppi (ITA) d P Kohlschreiber (GER) 63 63 I Karlovic (CRO) d P Cuevas (URU) 76(3) 64 T Berdych (CZE) d [Q] V Millot (FRA) 63 76(4) [Q] L Kubot (POL) d A Beck (GER) 64 36 64 V Troicki (SRB) d P Mathieu (FRA) 76(4) 30 ret. (right calf) A Montanes (ESP) d V Hanescu (ROU) 36 63 76(3) J Isner (USA) d [Q] A Falla (COL) 46 76(10) 75 - saved 3 M.P. [WC] M Safin (RUS) d [Q] T Ascione (FRA) 64 46 76(3) - saved 3 M.P. I Ljubicic (CRO) d [WC] S Grosjean (FRA) 76(2) 64
I wanted to come here. I
wanted to play for my country. Other people choose different things.
Some people I guess didn't want to play as badly as I did.
But
I think that the team that we had here really wanted to be here. You
don't want people here that don't want to be here. Even if you lose, if
you give it everything you have, then that's the best you can do.
-- Melanie Oudin, on the privilege of Fed Cup...or something.
1. Race To WTF: 7 players are still in the running for the final two spots for the ATP year-end championship in London. Kolya and Fernando currently hold those spots, but they're definitely not a lock. Sods, Gonzo, and Jo have to reach the finals in order to have a chance and Radek and Marin need to win the whole shebang (and Fer has to lose his opening match). So if Fer wins his first match, Radek and Marin are out. Past that, we'll have to wait and see. The ATP put together a pretty handy chart to plot out everyone's chances:
The chart calculates each player's point total per round.
2. Marat's Last Stand: Get ready for it ladies. This is Marat's final tournament as an ATP professional. May your vaginas weep accordingly. He plays tomorrow.
3. The Big Boys Duke It Out: A-Rod has withdrawn but otherwise it's the first time since the USO that all the top guys will be present. Muzz, Delpo, and Fer are in Roger's half, while Nole, Kolya, and Jo are in Rafa's half. But much like the ladies, the ATP trainers better be on alert. Delpo and Jo have withdrawn from recent tournaments due to injury, and Nole, Muzz, and Rafa (and probably Fed) are struggling with injury as well. That combined with the WTF could lead to some early retirements/withdrawals/losses.
4. Dubs: How's this for some awesome: Rafa teams up with Pico and Elf teams up with Gonzo. Hilarity.
Hate the trophy. Love the jacket and the ugly mug in it.
Congrats to Muzzard for his 6th title of the season after beating Misha in straight sets. And congrats to Misha for having a great tournament, beating Gilles and Kolya to get to the final.
If you're a Nole fan and a...um...Roger non-fan, there can be nothing sweeter than seeing Nole beat Fed for the Basel title. It was a sweet three set win wherein Nole truly played some solid tennis. It's the best I've seen him play against a top player in a really long time.
I have no idea if this loss will bother Roger. I mean, really, at this point nothing should. But losing to a guy that you sincerely dislike at your home tourney? That can't be an ideal way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
Nole's win of course would make the entire town of Basel cry. No pizza for the ball boys, no 6th straight Basel title for Roger, and apparently, someone just shat in the tourney director's hat.
One last thought on Basel: Did anyone else see that its title sponsor is Davidoff, a tobacco company? The EU forbids tobacco companies from being title sponsors of sporting events or teams, but Switzerland isn't part of the EU. I found it...odd.
For a second there I thought Bali was immune to the "limping to the finish line" theme. Shame on me for forgetting that Marion was involved.
I didn't see the match, but from the pictures it looked like Mono was in some real pain and did try to fight through the injury. She actually had set point at 5-2 in the first before Rezai was able to reel off the next 5 games. After that, Mono retired in tears, giving Rezai the title and her Top 30 ranking.
And as if it couldn't be more ironic, the retirement means Mono will stay outside of the Top 10, allowing her the opportunity to play as many tourneys as she wants next year.
Look, I have no doubt that she was hurt this time. But at what point do you not look around and realize that you've retired from so many frickin' matches relative to other WTAers, that clearly there is something wrong with your training regimen. It's really ridiculous and, honestly, irresponsible.
All that said, mucho congrats to Aravane! A nice little cap to the season.
Tough day for both Fernando and Kolya, who are still trying to secure spots to the WTF. Fer was able to come back from dropping to take the second, only to play one bad game in the third to lose 63 26 63. Too bad. He really wanted to impress the home crowd on this one.
Kolya on the other hand took the first set only to drop the next two, 64 63. So the two who are still playing for something get bounced on the same day. On to Bercy!
An all French final in Bali as both Mono and Rezai go undefeated into the final. It's an unlikely final but a satisfying one, I think. I wonder what the FFT is thinking, though. These aren't exactly their favorite Frenchies.
And correct me if I'm wrong here, but don't these two not get along? Or am I just trying to build in some drama where there is none? It's happened before.
If Marion wins, she's in the Top 10 and subject to the Roadmap (heh). If Aravane wins, she'll crack the Top 30.
He already had to mount a comeback to overcome Stan. But this time, Nole looked like a goner. Serving to stay in the match at 4-5, Nole faced triple break point. He would then play 5 solid, confident points to save the game, which basically amounted to a swift kick in the nuts to Radek, who wasn't the same after that. Nole would go on to break and take the second set 75 and the third 62.
Well done, Falcon!
He'll face Fed in the final, who won the Battle of the Basel Ball Boys in the other semi. All credit to Chiuds, who forced a really well-played tiebreak, which Fed won 9-7. From there, Fed rolled to the win.
At 2am this morning, I was reminded how much I love watching clay court tennis.
As expected, Team Italy is well on its way to hoisting the Fed Cup after two straight set wins by Flavia and Tranny.
It didn't take much from Flavia to beat Glatch 3 and 1 in a little over an hour. I really don't know why Alexa says clay is her favorite surface. She. Can. Not. Move. Solid match from Flavia, who constructed points and used the slow clay to perfection. Nothing Glatch could do, really. She was just completely out of her league on this one.
The key match was Franny vs. Melanie. Franny's been on a roll lately and Melanie, well, she's well-rested and a fighter. She's proven us wrong before.
But not this time. Mel came blasting out of the gate and held a 4-2 lead before rain suspended play and the wheels came off the Believe Train. She'd get broken and would drop the tiebreaker and the second set, 62.
So Italy has their 2-0 lead and it's all smiles times for the Poker Team.
I love Julia Stiles. She doesn't do much anymore but I will love her forever simply because of 10 Things I Hate About You, a movie that was instrumental in bringing my kid sister and I closer together (you can guess which one of us is Kat and which is Bianca). I think she's intelligent, grounded, and yeah, kinda pretentious at times, but hey, chick took some time off and went and got a degree at Columbia. So no hate from me.
So I had to laugh when I read this article from the Wall Street Journal, which discusses the dressing room demands of a number of different celebrities on Broadway:
Backstage at "Oleanna," a play about sexual harassment, the most
striking feature of Julia Stiles's dressing room is the photo of Serena
Williams screaming at a line judge during the U.S. Open in September.
"It is a reminder for me to go out there and not censor strong emotions
that I might be having on stage," says Ms. Stiles.
According to reports, Serena and Caro are planning to play an exhibition in Barbados at the end of the month. Yes, this is the same Caro who retired from her match against Serena a week ago due to injury, played more matches than anyone on the tour, and who Stacey Allaster has picked out as someone who should reevaluate her schedule next year. And a Serena who is already hobbled and refused to play Fed Cup this week.
Fer in, Tommy out. No real surprise there. It was a clean kill. But I love with Sergio Tachini decides to abandon navy blue and rock out some colors. And I LOVE Tommy's red and white kit.
Same goes for Fred Perry. Love the red accents on Muzz's kit, even if it looks like Muzz is bleeding from the pits. He also had a clean win, 4 and 2 over Montanes.
And of course, the Russians are in the mix. Koyla took out Garcia Lopez in straights and Mischa upset Gilles, 4 and 4. They'll face off in the other semi.
I love it when Gilles gets all veiny. It makes me laugh.
Not sure people thought the two Swissers to make the semis in Basel would be Fed and Chiuds, but there it is. Marco summarily dismissed a very flat Reeshie, 1 and 3.
And then there were the comeback kids. Nole pulled a rabbit out of his hat, coming back from a set and a break down to beat Stan. And Radek pulled off a bit of an upset, coming back from a set down to beat Marin. And Jelena's still pretty.
[1] R Federer (SUI) d [Q] E Korolev (RUS) 63 62 [2] N Djokovic (SRB) d [6] S Wawrinka (SUI) 36 76(5) 62 [5] R Stepanek (CZE) d [4] [WC] M Cilic (CRO) 46 63 63 [WC] M Chiudinelli (SUI) d R Gasquet (FRA) 61 63
So it'll be Fed vs. Chiuds (yawn) and Nole vs Steps (intriguing).
Interestingly, the win keeps Radek in the hunt for the WTF. The loss means Marin has to win Paris to have a chance. I'm sure none of you care about this fact. But I thought it was interesting. So there.
Pete's ESPN piece on the Wickmayer/Malisse suspensions. I'm generally a rule-oriented person. If you disagree with the rule, change it, but once it's in place, it is what it is. So thanks to Mrs. Saifn for pointing out that the 1 year suspension was actually mandatory. Them's the rules.
As for Pete, he makes a great point here:
Wickmayer's infraction was, literally, three times as serious. She went
AWOL three times, and that's a little disturbing. You can't expect the
teacher to believe that your dog ate your homework three nights in a
row. And there's this: These two players aren't the only ones who have
to jump through the doping hoops. If Roger Federer, Serena Williams & Co. all have abided by these demands, why should Wickmayer and Malisse get an exemption?
If bat-shit crazy Serena can focus long enough to check in with the authorities, and really, is there any doubt that not even Serena knows where the hell she is at any given point in time, then why couldn't Wickmayer and Malisse?
I think it's still unfortunate. The penalty just doesn't fit the crime here. But dem's the rules, I guess.
The one year suspension could mean the end of a career for Malisse, who'll be 30 next year.
"A procedure before Cas is very costly and lasts a very long time," he said.
"I
currently don't have the financial means to take on such a battle. I
still don't know what I'm going to do, but if the suspension is
maintained that means the end of my career."
The draw for the Fed Cup final took place today, and yeah, Italy's still in a good spot.
Round 1: Flavia Pennetta vs. Alexa Glatch
Round 2: Francesca Schiavone vs. Melanie Oudin
Round 3: Flavia Pennetta vs. Melanie Oudin Round 4: Francesca Schiavone vs. Alexa Glatch
Round 5: Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci vs. Liezel Huber/Vania King
It's a good draw for Italy. Flavia on clay is always tough, though Alexa Glatch claims its her favorite surface because it gives her time, but more importantly, Tranny has been on a roll as of late, winning 9 of her last 10 matches. If she can take out the US #1 on the first day, then Italy's golden after Day 1.
All that said, I'm looking forward to this final. You know Italy's going to bring it. Here's hoping MJ finds a way to inspire her kids one more time.
Mono and her ratty hat beat Shahar in straight sets to secure the final spot in the Bali semis. So it'll be Mono, Kimiko, MJMS, and Aravene.
Uh...GO KIMIKO AND ARAVENE!
Bali Scores:
Group A: (1) Marion Bartoli (FRA) d. Shahar Peer (ISR) 63 62 Group B: María José Martínez Sánchez (ESP) d. (2) Samantha Stosur (AUS) 76(4) 75 Group C: Vera Dushevina (RUS)* d. Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) 26 61 75 Group D: (4/WC) Sabine Lisicki (GER) d. Melinda Czink (HUN) 62 67(1) 64
Results – Thursday, November 5, 2009
Round Robin – Day 2
Group A: Shahar Peer (ISR) d. Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) 61 76(4)
Group B: María José Martínez Sánchez (ESP) d. Agnes Szavay (HUN) 46 64 60
Group C: (WC) Kimiko Date Krumm (JPN) d. Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) 64 63
Group D: Aravane Rezai (FRA) d. Melinda Czink (HUN) 63 75
With Rezai's win over Czink, she goes 2-0 in round robin play and advances to the semis. Kimiko's win, combined with Yanina's withdrawal due the doping suspension, means Kimiko also advances to the semis.
Here's the OOP for Friday.
Bali:
Centre Court (from 14.00hrs)
1. Samantha Stosur vs. María José Martínez Sánchez
2. Sabine Lisicki vs. Melinda Czink
3. Marion Bartoli vs. Shahar Peer (NB 18.30hrs)
4. Yanina Wickmayer vs. Anabel Medina Garrigues
Play has already started and MJMS beat Sammy, 76(4) 75, which means Sam is out and MJMS will advance to the semifinals. The winner of the Mono/Peer match will advance out of Group A.
I'm a little late on this (sorry Eric!) but I'm going to do my best Casey Kasem impression:
This is Eric. He and his wife Gwen are longtime FD readers who had the most adorable wedding ever. I mean, have you ever gone to a wedding and needed to bring your racquet? Probably not. But the Crawfords did. And from all the pictures, it was awesome.
FD Viewers: We were married on the beach next to one of the most beautiful public tennis courts in the country (Lowman Beach Park, Seattle). So, of course, we brought our gear and rallied as newlyweds with friends and family. It was awesome! If you're ever in Seattle and want to hit, just get in touch!
Eric and Gwen were married a little over a month ago, and he, being the adorable catch that he is, wanted to do something to celebrate their 42nd-Day Anniversary, which was November 3rd. Here's his message to his beautiful bride, Gwen, which I was supposed to post a couple of days ago:
Gwen: As I'm sure you know, today is our 42nd-Day Anniversary and,
I thought, what better place to celebrate than on our favorite site,
FD! I love you! -Eric
So to Eric and Gwen, congratulations and thanks for sharing your amazing day with the Forty Deuce nation.
And Gwen, you're a effin' rock star for playing in your dress. I can't wipe the smile off my face. Amazing.
It wouldn't be the end of the WTA season without one more chance to laugh at people for being completely incapable of dressing themselves. Some of them are getting distressingly (read: boringly) good at it, but you know there'll always be one WTFer in the group. Or two, or three.
A lot of things about this frighten me. Mainly that, with the faces upside down, it looks like she's wearing a minidress with a Marilyn Manson print. Also, the eyes. Freaky.
This looks kind of like a bridesmaid's dress I had to wear once, if you cut the skirt off about three and a half feet from the bottom.
[snicker]
Oh dear. Someone needs to introduce Bepa to these.
I'm not gonna lie: something about the geranium over her ladybits weirds me out.
I need to know what Lena did that they decided she needed a mug shot.
I totally picture Dinara's closet having a "little black dress" section and a "big pink t-shirt" section and... that's it.
LOLZ.
Dig in, Caro.
But really, learn to cross your legs when you're sitting in a dress, honey. Your wantonness is making Dina sad. (Then again, what doesn't?)
Stubbsy! Oy, Ula, we'll talk later.
And, for the creme de la creme, cherry on the sundae, there is the video. I watched it like 18 times. Don't make me start liking you, girls. You know who you are.
It makes me happy to see him again. Donkeygrooming keeps trying to call me out on my love for Muzzard. She totally thinks I'm FOS. "Come on, you would bang that guy over Nole? You've seen the Speedo pics!" Yes, of the top 4, he is #1 on my list of dudes I would bone down with. I can't explain it. I love me the pasty, broody, SexyUgly.
The Muzzard is back in action in Valencia, bum wrist and all, and he's into the quarterfinals after a three set win over Mayer today. The other top seeds came through as well, except for 8th seed Daveed, who had to retire with a hammy injury.
In other Muzzard news, as rumored, he'll be leaving Fred Perry for Adidas next year. It's a huge deal, worth $25 million over 5 years. Not sure what this means for Nole, whose Adidas contract is up and is rumored to be thinking about K-Swiss. Here's hoping Adidas has the cash to keep him. They've already invested so much in the Falcon line. Though, I guess they can always turn the Falcon into a Buzzard.
Roger's back from a 6 week layoff in his hometown tournament in Basel. From what I can tell his back seems better.
But what's up with his obsession with brown? First the 2008 USO UPS man gear, and now he just come out looking like shit. Literally. I mean, I know he just signed a deal with Lindt, but come on, dude, there's a line you have draw when cross-marketing. Though, it does remind me of this:
Anyway, the Swiss are cruising in Basel, with Fed winning his first two matches easily and Chuids and Stan following suit.
On the other side of the draw lies Fed's favorite foe, Falcon, who issued a heartless double-bagel today. I would be so OK with a Fed/Nole final. Hopefully Nole eats all his pizza.
In other noteworthy results, Richie and Halpert had themselves a highly competitive match that really showed off their skills. In the end, Richie was able to stay with the tall guy through that second set breaker (saving 2 MPs) and once he was able to take the second set, Isner fell away. Good on both guys.
And Viktor made Marin work, as Marin had to save 3 MPs to win, 76(7) 67(8) 76(6). Tough loss for the kid.
WTAers tell you about their love (in Vania's case) or not (Jesus, calm the fuck down, Liezel) of video games:
Ana Ivanovic: "I never did until I was introduced to Guitar Hero, and I love it."
Vania King: "YES. I love video games. I play mostly RPGs, MMORPGs and action/adventure games."
Aleksandra Wozniak: "When I was little, my sister Dorota and I would play Nintendo for hours. Now I just travel around the world with a PSP!"
Katarina Srebotnik:
"No, not at all. When I was younger I used to love them and I have to
say I was pretty good because I couldn't stand the words GAME OVER on
the screen! I played the games over and over again until I would go all
the way or at least reach a very high score."
Dominika Cibulkova: "I do - I play tennis video games! I'm not very good at them though, everyone is always beating me..."
Caroline Wozniacki: "I do, with my brother. Race car games, singing star... it's a lot of fun!"
Cara Black: "I don't play video games."
Liezel Huber: "NO!"
Vera Zvonareva: "Not really. I used to play Super Mario and Tetris on Gameboy. I would play Tetris for such a long time..."
Elena Dementieva: "I don't play video games. My brother is a big fan of them though. I could never understand his passion for them!"
Thoughts:
We get it, Ana. You LOVE Guitar Hero. That answer is getting as canned as her pool story, through no fault of her own, really.
I can totally see Bepa dominating on Tetris. I can also see her banging her head into the controller when she realized she flipped the "S" piece one too many times.
I didn't really report this story initially because honestly, I didn't think it was that big of a deal. Yanina Wickmayer failed to report her whereabouts to drug-testing officials. Ok, I mean, shit happens. She'll get a slap on the wrist and we'll move on. She had, at least to me, a pretty plausible explanation for the whole SNAFU:
Wickmayer said last month she has had trouble with her password in the
computerized system overseen by the World Anti-Doping Agency. She also said
registered mail at her home could not be signed off on because she was traveling
to WTA tournaments.
She has insisted she never missed an anti-doping test and her samples were
always negative.
Welcome to the post-Andre Agassi "I methed and lied about it, suckas!" Era.
Now to be fair, I didn't know that this had happened three times. So it wasn't an isolated incident. And yes, I do understand the whole "All you had to do was make a telephone call, idiot" argument. So yes, while I think a suspension may have been warranted...ONE YEAR???
This is especially shocking considering the prosecutor only recommended that she receive a warning. So to go from the prosecution recommending what amounts to a citation, to ONE YEAR off the tour? That's a rogue tribunal, if you ask me. That's like getting arrested for a misdemeanor, the DA recommending 30 hours of community service, and the judge throwing that out, elevating the offense to a felony, and throwing you in prison for a year.
Or maybe I've been watching too much of The Good Wife.
Tough break for Wickmayer though. Even though she plans to appeal immediately, the suspension takes immediate effect. So she's out of Bali after winning her first match over Kimiko. She'll probably be replaced by Vera D.
This is seriously a tough break for a woman who has had enough tough breaks in her life. I have no doubt that on appeal she'll be vindicated. Then again, in this age of "HOW THE HELL DID YOU LET A GUY GET AWAY WITH SMOKING METH FOR A YEAR!!!" who knows what a tribunal will do.
Pretty sure Shahar's rockin' a flak vest under there. Can't blame her.
The confusingly named Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions has kicked off in Bali. I'm not sure anyone would describe Melinda Czink as a "Champion" per se, but whatever. I'm tired, it's the end of the season, I'll go with it.
Here's your 12 woman field:
Vera is actually there as an alternate. Sammy Stones and MJMS are also in the draw, though they were probably still on the boat from Doha.
Speaking of which, I'm craving a Pina Colada all of a sudden. Not virgin.
Here are the groups:
GROUP A
Marion Bartoli
Shahar Peer
Magdelena Rybarikova
GROUP B
Samantha Stosur
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez
Agnes Szavay
GROUP C
Yanina Wickmayer
Anabel Medina Garrigues
Kimiko Date Krumm
GROUP D
Sabine Lisicki
Melinda Czink Aravane Rezai
The ladies will play Ring around the Robin, and the top player from each group will advance to the semis.
For more on how Indonesia knows how to throw a party, read this.
Over the weekend, Douche Stamp took his first title of the year in Vienna. Since the picture is only from the waist up I can't tell you if Domi was there or not.
The old man still has some spring in his step, as he won his first title in two years in Lyon, beating Michael Llodra in straight sets.
And a day after breaking MaratKADS' hearts by ousting the old lug and preventing him from reaching an ATP final, 1812 took the title in St. Petersberg over 8th seeded Argentinian, Zeballos.
So Serena wins Doha, captures the year-end #1 (which, as we learned last year, is the only #1 ranking that matters), and rides off into the sunset. The sunset that is not anywhere near Italy, mind you.
Congrats, Serena. You have what is rightfully yours. Can't wait for next year when everyone comes back gunning for you. Should be fun.
All in all, it was a good Doha. Really inspired performances from the young guns, Sveta, Lena, and Agi had some nice wins to build on, Venus defended a lot of her points, JJ made the semis (somehow), and Dina and Bepa...were there.
