Forty Deuce

Pic This: This Is How You Bust a Gut.

Ana's back on the courts practicing in Melbourne (yay!), but let us not forget how this abdominal injury  happened.  It's a cautionary tale for us all.

I'm shocked she didn't sprain her face muscles, too.

(Pics: AP, Hopman Cup site)

Two Words, Bethanie: Prince Albert.

I love love love love love that Bethanie was able to bag herself some solid wins this week and rock the mixed doubles to help the US grab the Hopman Cup over Beligium (SUCK IT).  She's just such a grinder and came up on the wrong end of some tight matches last year.  I hope this gives her that extra pep as the year kicks off.  She's more than just an awesome blogger and crazy dresser.  She's also a damn fine tennis player who I genuinely enjoy watching.

You know she's going to something gangsta with that ball.  Buckle up, Justin.

Oh, and you're cute, John.  In a little brother kind of way.

(Pics: Getty)

#wildcardforMahut

But really, THIS:

Air Quotes: Good Boy.

 

On that note Novak in the Davis Cup or the Hopman Cup, which match do you have the best team-mate?

 

(Ivanovic) Well you can’t ask that question with me sitting here.

 

(Djokovic) Honestly. What do you think?

 

(Ivanovic) You’ll have to ask that when I’m not here.

 

(Djokovic) I mean I like my colleagues from the Davis Cup team, but you know I’d rather chose Ana.

 

(Ivanovic) Thank you.

Gold.

Pic This: All You Need To Know.

 

 

(Pics: Getty)

That's Entertainment.

With pretty much everyone injured, the Hopman Cup organizers decided to put on the US vs. France for a mixed doubles set.  I was actually standing on the train platform ready to leave when I got a tip (thanks, Laura) that I should probably get my ass back to the Dome to watch it. 

Thank goodness I did.  It was, hands down, the most entertaining set of tennis I've seen live.  I mean, when a dude comes out in drag, you know you're in for a good time:

Sam?  Is that you?

Neeeevermind.

It was just a laugh-filled entertaining exo with Nico and Bethanie leading the charge.  Nico was jumping nets, hitting trick shots (two tweeners in one point), and just encouraging everyone to act a fool.  As for Bethanie, she was jumping into the crowd, grabbing a seat for a massage from a fan, playing points with a wine bottle in her hand, and just running around and laughing.  Even John got into it, goosing Nico and giving him a full on boob squeeze at the net.  It was just joyous.

I have some video that may take some time to upload, but I really hope this exo finds its way on the internet soon.  Would hate to think only a few thousand people in the world got to witness it.

GIVE NICO A WILDCARD, MELBOURNE!!!

WTF Is In The Water in Perth???

Serbia had to withdraw from the Hopman Cup final (Belgium will take their spot) because Ana's got an abdominal tear, suffered during her match against Justine, which has also forced her out of Sydney next week.  Fran had to retire from her match with a groin injury.  Robbie had to fight a right glute injury in her loss to Bethanie, which forced her to withdraw from mixed doubles and puts her qualifying campaign for AO, which starts next week, in jeopardy.

All this and Shveddy wound up in the OR after her first match with a torn meniscus that required surgery.

Anyone got a spare liver?  Mine is shot.

(Pics: Getty)

Wiggle It, Just A Little Bit...

With Nole clinching a spot for Team Serbia in the Hopman Cup finals, our lovely duo went into the mixed doubles in full exhibition mode. The Djoker was in full effect, dropping to the fetal position at the net, trying trick shots, and Ana was a smiling, giggly schoolgirl throughout. It was absolutely glorious.

But the exchange of the match was when Nole, with Ana serving, started deliberately wiggling his ass at Ana while she readied to serve. She hit a huge fault and stood with her hands on her hips staring him down (I mean, "staring down" in an Ana way, which is to say "giggling embarrassingly"). She would drop her serve and make a move to literally kick Nole's ass.

And Nole didn't let her forget it in the post-match interview.

Overall, a good day for the Serbs.  Ana lost her highly anticipated match against Justine 64 63, but she didn't play horribly, had her break chances, and the Justine was just steadier.  I think the scoreline and the match was a good reflection of the gap between them at the moment. 

:(

With GB and France splitting the singles matches, my hopes of a Serbia/GB final hinged on the mixed doubles.  Unfortunately it didn't work out great. 

I think the match could be summed up in one single point.  Mahut, who seriously, should be brought in for every single exhibition ever (he's so entertaining and fantastic), went down awkwardly trying to dig out Robbie forehand and injured his ankle.  Play was stopped so he could get it looked at and taped.  Robbie looked super concerned and as Andy headed back to the baseline, she hung out around Nico and asked to make sure he was ok and they exchanged some words and smiles.  So after that long break in play in the middle of her serve, Laura goes back to serve to the Mlad, she kind of spins the first serve in, and the Impaler steps up and thwacks it for a winner.  I burst out laughing.

As the match wore on it became clear that the ladies were hell-bent on pummeling each other.  Everyone on Twitter was talking about it.

The Impaler was the clear star of the show.  She was nails.  But I thought it was hilarious that Andy and Robbie both gave her a cold fish netshake but were totally huggy, chatty, and kissy with Nico. 

I don't think she'll be dining with Team GB anytime soon.  Or if she does, she should probably bring a food-taster. 

Pic This: Jay Z and Beyonce Ain't Got Nothin' On These Two.

 

YOU GUYS.  STOP IT.  YOU'RE KILLING ME.

It's like they're reading FD and doing this just to toy with me.  Which I'm totally ok with.

Siiiiiiiiigh.  Dreamy.

 

Oh, Antonio.  You had no idea what you were getting yourself into, huh?

Adorable.  All of it.  But you're still my fave, Leather.

(Pics: Hopman Cup site)

Air Quotes: She's British. Let It Go.

Laura – Andy has talked a lot about the difficulty of acclimatising to the conditions, do you feel that you had a bit of a head start because of the fact you have been here for an extra couple of weeks?

(Robson) I think Mauritius was kind of the same weather and so I was already used to it. As you can see I’m quite tanned, so I’ve been in the sun a lot and I think I’m quite used to it anyway. It never really bothers me.

It must be the Australian blood in you.

(Robson) Who knows.

-- Robbie, not taking the bait.  Between this and her singing along to God Save The Queen before her match, I think it's time to let it go Australia.  Besides, I know I've only been in the country for a few days but I ain't seen any Australians with a tan that rivals the Robsons.  Are we sure she's not part Serbian?

Make Me a Sandwich.

Andy mentioned that he would be practicing with Nole today at 1pm, so with a bit of sleuthing (thanks, Alex!) I found out that they weren't practicing at the Burswood Dome but at the State Tennis Centre, 3/4 of a mile up the road.  So I did the walk under the midday sun (which oddly felt like a walk of shame but in reverse) to see my two boys futz about on a tennis court.

After almost getting run over by Robbie's driver (not really, I exaggerate), I walked up to see my boys already sweaty and chatting about life, love, and other mysteries (read: soccer).  They had a light hit (Isner was practicing with Mahut one court over) and then called it a day.

But not before kindly stopping to take some pictures with fans.  Really cool of both of them.  The only thing that stopped me from hopping in there was the fact that I unintentionally wore a t-shirt with hearts and arrows on it. 

Well, that and my self-respect.  Equally.  I think.

(Pics: Forty Deuce)

Box Watching, With C Note.

I shelled out the good stuff for a solid courtside ticket to last night's Serbia/Australia tie and boy, it did not disappoint.  My seat was about 45 feet from the Serbia box, which meant I spent little time watching the tennis and most of the time monitoring the happenings in the box.

Ana tweaked her knee toward the end of her singles match and after visiting the trainer she reunited with Mom and Pops.  Papa Ivanovic, the big teddy bear, gave her a big hug and squeezed her shoulder and Dragana gave her a hug and a big smile (yes, Dragana is capable of smiling), and then literally looked like she was pulling her onto lap.  Instead, she put her arm around Ana as Ana told her what happened and what the physio said.  The she patted her on the butt.  Which, I don't know, all of it just seemed so MOM.  I've never really seen Dragana pull the "Mom card".  It was really sweet.

From there it was box time.  Ana ordered everyone an ice cream (heh) and a coffee for herself.

Check that.  She got some ice cream for herself, too.  I sat there watching her patiently eat her ice cream, cursing the fact that I was by myself and had no one to laugh with.  For the record, she bit off all the chocolate first, let it land in her lap, picked up the chocolate, ate it, then ate the ice cream.

I will give her the benefit of the doubt that the second and third steps were unintentionally.  Otherwise, that's a really convoluted way to eat ice cream.

From there it was edge of the seat Nole-watching.  Lleyton would double fault to give Nole match point.  After the first serve fault, Ana leaned forward, tapped Leather on the shoulder and whispered something.  Lleyton double faulted and Ana got a gleaming smile as Marija whirled around and laughed and told Marian and they all laughed as Ana kept nodding.

THEN, on match point, Lleyton hits another first serve fault.  The whole box turns to look at Ana who smiles and nods her head.  Lleyton serves, hits the double fault to end the match, which led to this:

And she ran off to warm up for doubles.

Best seat in the house, people.

I Hope You Were Well-Compensated.

Yaroslava Shvedova had to pull out of Hopman with a knee injury and may even be doubtful for the AO.  So the Hopman organizers phoned the next Kazakh on their list: Sesil Karantcheva, who was in Brisbane, put her on an immediate flight to Perth where she got in at midnight, only to have to wake up at 9:30am to play Justine.  So...this was really going to work out well.

Justine won.  Belgium won.  That's all I really have to say about that.

(Pic: Getty)

Seriously. How Did That Happen?

Team Serbia already clinched the tie (generally solid fist-pumpy match from Ana, unbeatable stuff from Nole) but a clean sweep over Australia would mean they only had to win one match in their next tie against Belgium to make the finals.  With that Justine chick lurking, getting two wins wouldn't be a Slam dunk.  So in the grand scheme of things (as grand as exos can be, really) the mixed rubber against Australia was kind of huge.

Things started out fine, as Ana and Nole were pretty laid back and giggly.  But Australia was taking this all seriously and shit and the sitch got real pretty quick.  After dropping the first set in a tiebreak, the Serbs looked pretty much done.  Nole couldn't hit a return in to save his lif and the only way they kept it close was...wait for it...BECAUSE ANA WAS NAILS.  Yes, Serbian Barbie was pretty much carrying this team through much of the match (uh...which was why they were losing, frankly) with some absolute pwnage of Lleyton's serve.  Even I felt embarassed for him.  She was killing the ball.

But late in the second set fatigue seemed to set in for both Serbs and it looked like Australia was going to be able to close out the match fairly easily.  Ana wasn't moving for balls and Nole couldn't execute for shit. But then, all of a sudden, the two played some pretty impeccable tennis for 20 minutes and were able to come back from a break down to win the second set and then take the super tie-break. 

They were, deservedly, pleased.

(Pics: Forty Deuce)

Pic This: That Ain't No Girl. That's a Lady.

No idea why, but at one point during the mixed rubber Ana went to her chair and, instead of utilizing her generally impeccable posture, just slumped into it as though she were a blogger in front of the TV or something.  I couldn't get my camera out fast enough (because I was laughing too hard) but about 5 seconds before this picture was taken she had her head back and was just sitting there, slumped, staring at the ceiling.

This goes down as the funniest goddamn thing I have ever personally witnessed from Ana Ivanovic.  Hopman Cup rules.

Pic This: More Serbtastic Sundays.

What I lack in photography skill I make up for with recognition and quick hands. 

Papa Ivanovic, making a quick run to the car 30 minutes before Ana took the court.

Pretty damn near impossible to take pictures at an Ana match and not get a load of fistpumps and ball toss catches.

I totally "awwwwwwwwed" when I saw Papa Ivanovic put his arm around Dragana.  When do you ever see that from tennis parents?  I can't think of one instance, honestly.  At one point, Dragana had her arm around him, too.

Or they were airing out their pits.  It was hot in there.

Ana smiling and chatting with the 'rents.

THIS was the shot I was waiting for all night and I was bummed that the photoagencies didn't get a good shot of it.  Happy times.

Speaking of happy times...

I'm going to pretend Nole's kissing her hand. 

Man hands, 12 o'clock.

Just a couple of kids.  Playing Ken and Barbie.

 

Ken and Barbie. Ajde.

Well I know he’s a good friend because you have known one another since you were five years old.

(Ivanovic) I think four.

Four?

(Djokovic) Yeah basically we started playing tennis together – we also played with Barbie and Ken as well. So we have been through a lot, you can say.

(Presser link)

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!  They were so cute!

It was all smiles for Serbia as they started their HC campaign with a 3-0 win over Kazakhstan.  So many great moments.  Ana's raised arm celebration at her box after a particularly nifty pick-up volley.  Nole's stunned reaction at said pick-up volley.  Ana's vibration dampner somehow flying across the court.  The smiley changeovers.  The totally fake discussion of tactics.  It was all groovy.

But my favorite moment was when Nole hit a winner in his singles match and turned to fistpump at Ana, who was sitting in the box.  It wasn't just *any* fistpump.  It was *the* fistpump.  It was adorable.

Speaking of *the* fistpump, it didn't take the off-season lightly.  It's back on a mission:

Someone's been using the Shake Weight.

(Pics: Getty)

 

Hot, Hot, Heat.

Let me just say that the Burswood Dome was crazy hot today.  I used to always wonder why people were fanning themselves like mad when I watched this tournament on TV.  I wonder no more.  The only thing I can compare it to is a super humid and hot night match at the US Open.  You know that heat and humidity that is just plain inescapable, compounded by absolutely zero air circulation?  Yeah, it's like that.  You're breathing but you don't feel like you're taking in any air. 

So if you're 16 years old and feeling under the weather (who didn't notice Laura hacking and snot-wiping throughout the match) and you're playing a crafty Slam-winning veteran, it's a pretty tough ask.  As would be the theme for the day, Laura definitely had a chance.  Fran gifted her a break in the first and Robbie had a chance to serve it out.  She couldn't close it out, though, and Fran played some pretty ridiculous Fran-like tennis when it counted. 

Bad luck to Robbie for getting ill, but I enjoyed what I saw.  The forehand was cracking and she looked quicker than when I saw her last in New York.  So woot.

As for Andy, he was feeling the conditions as well, sucking air for most of his match with Potito.  He eventually took it in straights but it wasn't the most dominating performance.  Not that it's entirely his fault.  I thought Mr. Potito Head played really well in that first set.

And so on to doubles.  Team Tan/NotTan had no business winning that first set but they somehow hung in there to force a tiebreak, which they completely dominated behind some clutch hitting from Robbie and some aggressive volleying from Andy.  On to the second, and the Brits found themselves up a break.  But, as was the trend for the day, they couldn't consolidate and let the Italians back in it.  From there Italy was able to win the second in a tiebreak and then dominate in the match tie-break.

Unless something really flukey happens to Team Pasta, Moose is going to have to play Hopman Cup again next year to get Laura those diamonds.  I just don't see Italy losing to the USA or France.

BUT, that's the glory of Hopman Cup.  We'll still get to see these two crankypants team up two more times.  Works for me.

This is why these two need to always play doubles together.  Robbie can make Andy crack a smile.  That's, like, a miracle.  In fact, they should make a movie about it and call it Miracle.

I am a genius.

Quite Possibly The Greatest New Year's Picture Ever Taken.

If this picture is any indication, 2011 is going to be an awesome-sauce cocktail.

Every. Single. Day.

Here's the Hopman Cup schedule.  Play starts on New Year's Day, though I'll only be attending the Serbia and GB ties.  Ana will take on Slava, Molik, and Justine (!) and Robbie opens up on Monday against Fran (!), and then has Mladenovic and Bethanie.  As for the boys, Nole vs. Lleyton could be interesting and Moose vs. Halpert will be fun.

Let's do this, PERTH.

Works For Me.

Bethanie will replace Serena at Hopman Cup.  I think we all know how I feel about this.

Um...cuz I put it in the post title.

(Pic: AP)

It's Official. You're Avoiding Me.

 

Was it something I said?

Here's a funny stat.  I have attended eight WTA tournaments over the past three years.  Serena's been at one of them (Stanford, 2009). 

Now, only a week after I announce my 2011 schedule, she pulls out of Hopman Cup and is looking even more questionable for the Australian Open.

No word on who will replace her but a formal announcement will be made tomorrow.  But from a selfish perspective I'll just say that Andy and Laura's group has gotten a tick easier, no?

(Photo: Life.com)

Hop Scot-ch.

Group A:

Group B:

I know I've already ranted about this on Twitter but I really do wish the seedings for the US and Serbia were swapped so that the US got Belgium in Group A and Serbia got Great Britain in Group B.  That would have given us a guaranteed Serena vs. Justine match, which I would actually pay to watch, and Ana vs. Robbie, which would have been fun for no one but me.  As it were, the seeding committee, through some "interesting" rationale, put Serbia first, then the US, GB, and Belgium.

And while I'm getting my complain on, I'm still bummed that Sam's playing Brisbane instead.  And that it's not Shveddy and Evgeny.  Or Gael and Aravane.  Or Jo.  Or even The Cone! 

Oh, Cone.  I miss you.  Team France really could have done better here.

Overall, those are pretty balaned groups, I'd say.  In terms of AO preparation, Andy's got a solid slate of matches lined up with Halpert and Gael, whereas Nole should cruise through his group play.  The ladies draw sets up some interesting matches, with Ana vs. Justine, Serena vs. Fran, and Robbie's first bite of the big apple vs. Serena. 

Mixed doubles is always the wildcard and more often than not, the decider.  And really, can you bet against these two geniuses?

ANYWAY, is it January yet?

 

 

Whatever. Domi Will Probably Just Ruin It Again.

Preliminary team announcements for the 2011 Hopman Cup have been made.  And it's time to do a happy dance:

Serbia: Ana/Nole
USA: Serena/Isner
Belgium: Justine and someone who has a wiener and a Belgian passport
France: Monfils and hopefully a chick who is as crazy as he is
Australia: Lleyton and I'm guessing someone who's name does not rhyme with Ham Hoser.

That's pretty exciting.  They're still trying to get Muzzard and my Twitter bestie L-Rob to confirm for the UK.

Make it happen, Tennis Australia.  You will have me forever if you can get the Muzzard, Robbie, and Sam into the mix, though I'm almost certain that Sam's now ranked too high to play.

Welcome Back (Kinda)

So nice to see Yanina bounce back from what could have been a really traumatic and destructive experience during her off-season.  Yeah, Flavia really dropped her game (or, more accurately, stopped playing it) after being up 3-0 in the first, but I was still impressed with how Yanina came back to play last week like nothing ever happened.  And crap, Belgium would be looking pretty good for Fed Cup right now in a perfect world where people actually play Fed Cup.

Auckland

Singles - Final
(3/WC) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) d. (1) Flavia Pennetta (ITA) 63 62

Brisbane

Women's Singles - Final
(1) Kim Clijsters (BEL) d. (WC) Justine Henin (BEL) 63 46 76(6)

Men's Singles - Semi-finals

[1] A Roddick (USA) d [4] T Berdych (CZE) 16 63 64

[2] R Stepanek (CZE) d [3] G Monfils (FRA) 62 61

Chennai

Singles - Semi-finals 
[2] M Cilic (CRO) d [4] J Tipsarevic (SRB) 61 63
[3] S Wawrinka (SUI) d [5] D Sela (ISR) 64 26 75

Doha

Singles - Final 
[3] N Davydenko (RUS) d [2] R Nadal (ESP) 06 76(8) 64

Hong Kong
Silver Group Final
Team Americas d Team Asia-Pacific 2-2 (there must be some tiebreak system, but who knows what it is)

• Team Americas (Williams/Chang) d Team Asia-Pacific (Zheng/Srichaphan) 6-4, 3-6, 11-9

Gold Group Final
Team Russia d Team Europe 2-2 (Again with the mystery tiebreaks.)

• Team Russia (Yevgeny Kafelnikov) d Team Europe (Stefan Edberg) 7-5, 6-4 
• Team Russia (Maria Sharapova) d Team Europe (Caroline Wozniacki) 7-5, 6-3 
• Team Europe (Wozniacki/Edberg) d Team Russia (Zvonareva/Kafelnikov) 6-4, 6-3   

Hopman Cup
Final
Spain d Great Britain, 2-1

• Laura Robson d Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-1, 7-6 (8-6) 
• Tommy Robredo d Andy Murray 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 
• Martinez Sanchez/Robredo d Robson/Murray 7-6 (8-6), 7-5

Fuego! Fuego!

You.  Were.  Awesome.

You were fabulous also.

Hopman Cup was warm fuzzies.  Too bad they couldn't all win.  L-Rob was a completely different player by the end of the week than she was at the beginning.  So awesome to watch her develop the nerves and confidence to really impose herself by the end of the week.  MJMS is the highest ranked player she's ever beaten, and since MJMS is ranked #26, that's no mean feat.  It'll be interesting to see if she can ride this into the regular season-- she was awarded a wild card into AO qualifying, which will be the perfect storm of riding the confidence wave + encountering the mounting stress of almost outlandish expectations.  Godspeed, young L-Rob.

Tommy was playing like he thought he was at Davis Cup.  Team down a point + clutch situation = Spanish players en fuego.  He wasn't playing poorly in the first set, but by the second set it was more like he refused to lose.  Amazing stuff.  Andy's level fell off a little in the third set, and he seemed to have a muscle niggle, but Tommy still stepped it up above and beyond.

Saturday OOPs

Auckland
Centre Court (from 13.00hrs)
1. Doubles Final: Black/Huber vs. Grandin/Granville
2. Singles Final: Flavia Pennetta vs. Yanina Wickmayer (NB 14.45hrs)

Brisbane
Pat Rafter Arena (from 11.00hrs)
1. ATP: Monfils vs. Stepanek
2. ATP: Roddick vs. Berdych (NB 12.30hrs)
3. ATP: Blake/Roddick vs. Chardy/Gicquel (after suitable rest)
4. Singles Final: Kim Clijsters vs. Justine Henin (NB 19.00hrs)
5. Doubles Final: Hlavackova/Hradecka vs. Czink/Parra Santonja

Chennai
 

Doha
 

Hong Kong
Silver Group Final

• 11:00 am: Team Americas (Williams/Chang) vs Team Asia-Pacific (Zheng/Srichaphan)

Gold Group Final

• NB 2:00 pm: Team Europe (Stefan Edberg) vs Team Russia (Yevgeny Kafelnikov)
• Followed by: Team Europe #1 (Caroline Wozniacki) vs Team Russia #1 (Maria Sharapova)
• (15 minute break)
• Followed by: Team Europe (Azarenka OR Wozniacki/Edberg) vs Team Russia (Zvonareva/Kafelnikov)

Hopman Cup
9:30 am: FINAL Spain vs. Great Britain

The Face of Awesome

Flava Flav.  That is all, people.

 

She's been playing amaaaazing.  It's like the fall never happened.  Totes fabulous.  It'll be very interesting to see if she continues that kind of domination over Yanina.  Speaking of whom, it's too bad Shahar's run ended, but she still played better in Auckland than she's played for a long time.

Auckland
Singles - Semifinals
(1) Flavia Pennetta (ITA) d. (4) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 63 60
(3/WC) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) d. Shahar Peer (ISR) 64 75

Brisbane
Singles - Semifinals
(1) Kim Clijsters (BEL) d. Andrea Petkovic (GER) 64 62
(WC) Justine Henin (BEL) d. (3) Ana Ivanovic 63 62

Chennai
Singles - Quarter-finals
[2] M Cilic (CRO) d S Giraldo (COL) 76(3) 61
[3] S Wawrinka (SUI) d [7] M Berrer (GER) 76(5) 64
[4] J Tipsarevic (SRB) d T de Bakker (NED) 75 75
[5] D Sela (ISR) d L Lacko (SVK) 76(3) 75

Doha
Singles - Semi-finals
[3] N Davydenko (RUS) d [1] R Federer (SUI) 64 64
[2] R Nadal (ESP) d [5] V Troicki (SRB) 61 63

Hong Kong
Silver Group Final

• Team Asia-Pacific (Ayumi Morita) d Team Americas (Gisela Dulko) 7-5, 4-6, 7-6
• Team Americas (Venus Williams) d Team Asia-Pacific (Zheng Jie) 6-3, 6-2
• Team Asia-Pacific (Paradorn Srichaphan) d Team Americas (Michael Chang) 6-4, 2-6, 7-6

Gold Group Final

• Team Europe (Victoria Azarenka) d Team Russia (Vera Zvonareva) w/o (I think, info is pretty hard to find.  Isn't this what Vika's Twitter is supposed to be for??)

Hopman Cup
Great Britain d Russia, 2-1

• Elena Dementieva d Laura Robson 6-4, 6-0
• Andy Murray d Igor Andreev 6-1, 6-0
• Robson/Murray d Dementieva/Andreev 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (10-6)

Kazakhstan d Germany, 2-0

• Yaroslava Shvedova d Sabine Lisicki 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
• Andrey Golubev d Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 6-1
• Mixed doubles not played

Pic This: First 10 Pictures I'd Starred In My Google Reader

 

Andrea Petkovic.  Just so you know what she looks like.  I, uh, didnt.



Looks like someone could use some body heat.

Rad hair.



And this is him "celebrating" after he won.  Dude, do not cross this guy.

I know a place where you can get away, it's called a dance floor, and here's what it's for...



Heh.  Bending down that much, he and Kolya might be around the same height.  Maybe.

Shoulda tried a Sham-Wow.

Ohhhh Luuuuuuciiieeee...

Exactly.

Hopman Cup or the biggest crowd ever for the Early Bird Special?

Friday OOPs

Auckland
Centre Court (from 12.00hrs)
1. Yanina Wickmayer vs. Shahar Peer
2. Flavia Pennetta vs. Francesca Schiavone
3. Black/Huber vs. Pennetta/Schiavone (after suitable rest)

Brisbane
Pat Rafter Arena (from 11.00hrs)
1. Ana Ivanovic vs. Justine Henin
2. ATP: Berdych vs. Bellucci
3. Kim Clijsters vs. Andrea Petkovic
4. ATP: Roddick vs. Gasquet (NB 19.00hrs)
5. ATP: Dlouhy/Paes vs. Melzer/Petzschner

Court 1 (from 12.00hrs)
1. Hlavackova/Hradecka vs. Amanmuradova/Chan

Chennai

Doha
(Having trouble getting it to come up.  Will keep trying.)

Hong Kong
Silver Group Final

• 4:30 pm: Team Americas #2 (Gisela Dulko) vs. Team Asia-Pacific #2 (Ayumi Morita) 
• Followed by: Team Americas #1 (Venus Williams) vs. Team Asia-Pacific #1 (Zheng Jie) 
• (30 minute break) 
• Followed by: Team Americas (Michael Chang) vs. Team Asia-Pacific (Paradorn Srichaphan)   

Followed by Gold Group Singles Final

•  Team Europe #2 (Victoria Azarenka) vs. Team Russia #2 (Vera Zvonareva)

Hopman Cup
10:00 am: Russia vs. Great Britain; Germany vs. Kazakhstan 

Feeds, comments.

Thursday Results

Sorry, bare bones again.

Auckland
Singles - Quarterfinals

(1) Flavia Pennetta (ITA) d. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 61 62
(3/WC) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) d. (WC) Kimiko Date Krumm (JPN) 62 62
(4) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) d. Alizé Cornet (FRA) 62 63
Shahar Peer (ISR) d. Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 60 36 61

Brisbane
Women's Singles - Quarterfinals
(1) Kim Clijsters (BEL) d. Lucie Safarova (CZE) 61 06 64
(3) Ana Ivanovic (SRB) d. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 62 76(6)
Andrea Petkovic (GER) d. (4) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) 64 62
(WC) Justine Henin (BEL) d. (7) Melinda Czink (HUN) 62 36 76(5)

Singles - Quarter-finals
[2] R Stepanek (CZE) d W Odesnik (USA) 76(2) 61
[3] G Monfils (FRA) d J Blake (USA) 36 63 64

Chennai

Singles - Second Round
[3] S Wawrinka (SUI) d M Russell (USA) 63 64
[5] D Sela (ISR) d K Kim (USA) 76(3) 62
[7] M Berrer (GER) d S Robert (FRA) 76(7) 63
L Lacko (SVK) d R Ginepri (USA) 76(3) 64

Doha

Singles - Quarter-finals
[1] R Federer (SUI) d E Gulbis (LAT) 62 46 64
[2] R Nadal (ESP) d [Q] S Darcis (BEL) 61 20 ret. (back)
[3] N Davydenko (RUS) d [7] I Karlovic (CRO) 76(4) 76(7)
[5] V Troicki (SRB) d L Kubot (POL) 46 64 76(1)

Hong Kong

Team Europe d Team Americas, 3-1

• Victoria Azarenka d Gisela Dulko 6-1
• Venus Williams d Caroline Wozniacki 6-4  
• Wozniacki/Edberg d Williams/Chang 7-5 
• Stefan Edberg d Michael Chang 6-4 

Hopman Cup

USA d Romania, 3-0

• Melanie Oudin d Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-3
• John Isner d Victor Hanescu 6-0, 6-0 (walkover) 
• Oudin Isner d  Cirstea/Hanescu 6-0, 6-0 (walkover)

Spain d Australia, 3-0

• Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez d Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-1
• Tommy Robredo d Lleyton Hewitt 6-2, 6-4 
• Martinez Sanchez/Robredo d Stosur/Hewitt 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (10-7) 

Pic This: We're Beautiful...

... and dirty rich.


Still can't believe he married Miss World Universe.


Love how apathetic the ballkid looks.


Something about this brought the lulz.


This too.


And this.  Whatta dork.

 

Uh... yikes.


Cas-per, the friend-ly ghost, the friend-li-est ghost you know... or something.


Tasty.

And now, for your daily dose of crazy adorableness.

 





I can't deal.

Thursday OOPs

Auckland
Centre Court (from 11.00hrs)
1. Shahar Peer vs. Maria Kirilenko
2. Kimiko Date Krumm vs. Yanina Wickmayer
3. Flavia Pennetta vs. Dominika Cibulkova
4. Black/Huber vs. Niculescu/Olaru
5. Francesca Schiavone vs. Alizé Cornet (NB 19.30hrs)
6. Uhlirova/Voracova vs. Grandin/Granville

Brisbane
Pat Rafter Arena (from 10.30hrs)
1. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Ana Ivanovic
2. ATP: Odesnik vs. Stepanek
3. Melinda Czink vs. Justine Henin
4. Kim Clijsters vs. Lucie Safarova (NB 19.00hrs)
5. ATP: Blake vs. Monfils

Court 1 (from 10.30hrs)
1. ATP: Dlouhy/Paes vs. Fisher/Huss
2. Daniela Hantuchova vs. Andrea Petkovic
3. Amanmuradova/Chan vs. Pavlyuchenkova/Voskoboeva
4. ATP: Llodra/Ram vs. Melzer/Petzschner
5. ATP: Berdych/Stepanek vs. Chardy/Gicquel
6. Czink/Parra Santonja vs. Rodionova/Rodionova

Chennai

Doha

Hong Kong
4:30 pm: Team Americas #2 (Gisela Dulko) vs. Team Europe #2 (Victoria Azarenka)
NB 6:00 pm: Team Americas #1 (Venus Williams) vs. Team Europe #1 (Caroline 
        Wozniacki)
                   (30 min break)
                   Team Americas (Michael Chang) vs. Team Europe (Stefan Edberg)
          Team Americas (Williams/Chang) vs. Team Europe (Wozniacki/Edberg)

Hopman Cup
10:00 am: Australia vs. Spain; Romania vs. USA

Feeds in the comments, please.

Wednesday OOPs

Auckland

Centre Court (from 11.00hrs)
1. Flavia Pennetta vs. Carla Suárez Navarro
2. Francesca Schiavone vs. Sania Mirza
3. Dominika Cibulkova vs. Aravane Rezai
4. Virginie Razzano vs. Kimiko Date Krumm
5. Grandin/Granville vs. Cibulkova/Wickmayer

Court 4 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Magdalena Rybarikova vs. Shahar Peer
2. Ioana Raluca Olaru vs. Yanina Wickmayer
3. Alizé Cornet vs. Elena Vesnina (NB 13.00hrs)
4. Pennetta/Schiavone vs. Borwell/Kops-Jones
5. Uhlirova/Voracova vs. Vesnina/Zalameda

Court 6 (from 13.00hrs)
1. Maria Kirilenko vs. Kaia Kanepi
2. Niculescu/Olaru vs. Medina Garrigues/Suárez Navarro

Brisbane
Pat Rafter Arena (from 10.30hrs)
1. Daniela Hantuchova vs. Agnes Szavay
2. ATP: Blake vs. Gicquel
3. ATP: Roddick vs. Ball
4. Sesil Karatantcheva vs. Justine Henin (NB 19.00hrs)
5. ATP: Berdych vs. Baghdatis

Court 1 (from 10.30hrs)
1. Lucie Safarova vs. Aleksandra Wozniak
2. ATP: Dolgopolov Jr. vs. Stepanek
3. ATP: Gasquet vs. Ebden
4. ATP: Serra vs. Monfils
5. Govortsova/Poutchek vs. Hlavackova/Hradecka
6. ATP: Blake/Roddick vs. Melo/Soares

Court 2 (from 10.30hrs)
1. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Roberta Vinci
2. ATP: Falla vs. Odesnik
3. ATP: Levy vs. Bellucci
4. Rodionova/Rodionova vs. Bacsinszky/Garbin
5. Koryttseva/Kustova vs. Czink/Parra Santonja
6. ATP: Llodra/Ram vs. Luczak/Sirianni

Chennai

 

Doha

 

Hong Kong
4:30 pm: Team Russia #2 (Vera Zvonareva) vs. Team Asia-Pacific #2 (Ayumi Morita)
6:00 pm: Opening Ceremony
              Team Russia #1 (Maria Sharapova) vs. Team Asia-Pacific #1 (Zheng Jie)
              (30 min break)
              Team Russia (Yevgeny Kafelnikov) vs. Team Asia-Pacific (Paradorn
      Srichaphan)
              Team Russia (Sharapova/Kafelnikov) vs. Team Asia-Pacific
      (Morita/Srichaphan) 

Hopman Cup
10:00 am: Great Britain vs. Germany
5:30 pm: Russia vs. Kazakhstan

Feeds in the comments, please!

Well, Isn't That Nice? (UPDATE)

So smiley!

It's so good to see Marcos back and winning matches.  I don't usually go for the "tennis needs [whoever]" arguments, and it's certainly true that tennis doesn't really need Marcos Baghdatis, but it somehow just wasn't as much fun without him around.  Welcome back, Marcos, and this time try not to get caught shouting anti-Turkish slogans on Youtube.

 

And you should always win just because you're pretty.

Auckland
Singles - First Round
Kaia Kanepi (EST) d. (2) Li Na (CHN) 61 63
(4) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) d. (Q) Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro (FRA) 62 63
(5) Virginie Razzano (FRA) d. (Q) Monica Niculescu (ROU) 75 64
(6) Elena Vesnina (RUS) d. Alberta Brianti (ITA) 61 64
Shahar Peer (ISR) d. Polona Hercog (SLO) 75 63
Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) d. (Q) Edina Gallovits (ROU) 64 75
Alizé Cornet (FRA) d. (WC) Marina Erakovic (NZL) 64 63
Sania Mirza (IND) d. Stefanie Voegele (SUI) 57 61 75
Maria Kirilenko (RUS) d. Tatjana Malek (GER) 62 63
Ioana Raluca Olaru (ROU) d. (Q) Elena Baltacha (GBR) 62 62

Brisbane
Women's Singles - Second Round
(1) Kim Clijsters (BEL) d. (WC) Alicia Molik (AUS) 60 63
(3) Ana Ivanovic (SRB) d. Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) 62 26 64
(7) Melinda Czink (HUN) d. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) 63 26 61
Andrea Petkovic (GER) d. Vania King (USA) 46 62 61

Men's Singles - First Round
[3] G Monfils (FRA) d T Dent (USA) 76(1) 67(5) 62
[4] T Berdych (CZE) d [Q] N Lindahl (AUS) 62 64
J Blake (USA) d [5] S Querrey (USA) 46 63 64
[Q] M Ebden (AUS) d [6] J Melzer (AUT) 75 61
M Baghdatis (CYP) d M Fish (USA) 75 75
[WC] C Ball (AUS) d M Zverev (GER) 75 61
F Serra (FRA) d [Q] J Reister (GER) 67(3) 76(5) 75
[Q] O Dolgopolov Jr. (UKR) d [WC] B Tomic (AUS) 64 64

Chennai
Singles - First Round
R Ginepri (USA) d [1] R Soderling (SWE) 64 75 
[3] S Wawrinka (SUI) d [WC] R Bopanna (IND) 61 64
[5] D Sela (ISR) d D Istomin (UZB) 61 62
[7] M Berrer (GER) d S Ventura (ESP) 63 62
[WC] S Devvarman (IND) d R Schuettler (GER) 75 62
L Lacko (SVK) d Y Lu (TPE) 64 63
K Kim (USA) d D Brands (GER) 62 62
M Russell (USA) d [Q] P Amritraj (IND) 63 61
M Granollers (ESP) d [Q] J Ward (GBR) 57 62 62
R Haase (NED) d [Q] T Yang (TPE) 64 63
S Robert (FRA) d [Q] L Sorensen (IRL) 62 61

Doha
Singles - First Round
[1] R Federer (SUI) d C Rochus (BEL) 61 62
[2] R Nadal (ESP) d S Bolelli (ITA) 63 63
[3] N Davydenko (RUS) d [Q] M Kukushkin (KAZ) 62 60
[Q] S Darcis (BEL) d [8] G Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 64 61
[Q] B Becker (GER) d D Koellerer (AUT) w/o (abdominal strain)
[WC] Y El Aynaoui (MAR) d [Q] R Deheart (USA) 76(3) 76(4)
A Seppi (ITA) d O Hernandez (ESP) 64 75
L Kubot (POL) d [WC] K Maamoun (EGY) 60 62

Hopman Cup
Australia d USA, 2-1

• Samantha Stosur d Melanie Oudin 6-2, 6-4 
• Lleyton Hewitt d John Isner 6-1, 7-5 
• Oudin/Isner d Stosur/Hewitt 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(10-5) 

Spain d. Romania, 3-0

• Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez d Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 6-3 
• Tommy Robredo d Victor Hanescu 6-3, 6-0 retired
• Martinez Sanchez/Robredo d Cirstea/Hanescu 6-0, 6-0 walkover

Air Quotes: Ah, God, It Never Stops!

Q: You hit some great winners prior to that, some superb shots
     before that. You did perform tonight at times.
Robson: At times? Yeah?
Q: Well just being a realistic observer, but what will you take out 
     of the evening?
Robson: Um, that I should work more on my serve and that we should
     communicate more so then he doesn’t hit me.
Q: Fifteen, no shortage of confidence really. A question about the
    expectation though, I might ask Andy about this one – he’s probably
    given you some advice. Great Britain, they love the winners don’t
    they?  How are you coping with that on the way up because the
    Wimbledon juniors are crazy, last year was crazy as well. How are
    you going to cope with that over the next few years?
Robson: Um, well he hasn’t given me any advice but I don’t really pay 
    attention to any of the media malarkey and what not.
Q: Malarkey?
Robson: That’s the only word I could come up with.

Q: Yes at 5–0 in the first set did you imagine such a finish? It was
     knife-edge stuff, the heart would have been going strongly.
Murray: Well I’m going to blame it slightly on my partner. She took the
     start asking me if I moisturise my hands and I think maybe she lost her
     concentration a little bit. She’s only fifteen so I’ll let her away with it.
Robson: Have you seen his hands? They are pretty disgusting. It was a good
     question I thought.
Q: It was great. Are you ok fitness wise? You were grabbing a couple of
    body parts here and there, are you alright?
Murray: Yeah I’m just stiff and she hit me on the back with her racquet as
     well. I didn’t think I deserved it. It was sore already because I was
     carrying it.

 

"Sorry To Wake You Up, Big Brother, But I've Been Thinking..."

Well, fuck me if they aren't just the cutest little mixed doubles team ever.

The adorableness started even before the matches.  I want them to start tweeting each other.


And they did not disappoint once they hit the court together.  Plus, they match!  Good work, Laura!

A decent 2-1 win for Great Britain over Kazakhstan.  L-Rob was up a set on Shvedova but eventually lost the next two sets 4 and 0.  Nice to see her play with the big kids, though.  I think if she gets a couple sets under her belt she can gain some confidence and start to believe she belongs.  Andy, as expected, won his singles match easily 6-2, 6-2 over Golubev.

The tie came down to the mixed doubles match, which Great Britain took in a tight match tiebreak, 12-10.

 

Next up for Great Britain is Germany.  If you add Sabine to this mix, Perth might go into sugar shock.

(via sodapop)

Tuesday OOPs

Auckland

Centre Court (from 11.00hrs)
1. Francesca Schiavone vs. Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro
2. Alizé Cornet vs. Marina Erakovic
3. Kaia Kanepi vs. Li Na
4. Alberta Brianti vs. Elena Vesnina
5. Tatjana Malek vs. Maria Kirilenko (NB 19.30hrs)
6. Craybas/Spears vs. Vesnina/Zalameda

Court 4 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Shahar Peer vs. Polona Hercog
2. Virginie Razzano vs. Monica Niculescu
3. Pennetta/Schiavone vs. Gallovits/Peer
4. Cibulkova/Wickmayer vs. Mirza/Ruano Pascual

Court 6 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Carla Suárez Navarro vs. Edina Gallovits
2. Stefanie Voegele vs. Sania Mirza
3. Elena Baltacha vs. Ioana Raluca Olaru
4. Coin/Pelletier vs. Uhlirova/Voracova

Brisbane
Pat Rafter Arena (from 10.30hrs)
1. ATP: Fish vs. Baghdatis
2. ATP: Querrey vs. Blake
3. Kim Clijsters vs. Alicia Molik
4. ATP: Dent vs. Monfils (NB 19.00hrs)
5. Timea Bacsinszky vs. Ana Ivanovic

Court 1 (from 10.30hrs)
1. ATP: Berdych vs. Lindahl
2. ATP: Ball vs. Zverev
3. Melinda Czink vs. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova
4. ATP: Berdych/Stepanek vs. Bellucci/Hanley
5. ATP: Serra vs. Reister

Court 2 (from 10.30hrs)
1. ATP: Tomic vs. Dolgopolov Jr.
2. Vania King vs. Andrea Petkovic
3. ATP: Ebden vs. Melzer
4. Moore/Peers vs. Pavlyuchenkova/Voskoboeva
5. ATP: Dlouhy/Paes vs. Ball/Querrey

Court 4 (from 10.30hrs)
1. Dekmeijere/Senoglu vs. Hlavackova/Hradecka
2. ATP: Hutchins/Kerr vs. Melo/Soares
3. ATP: Chardy/Gicquel vs. Knowle/Lindstedt
4. Szavay/Vinci vs. Rodionova/Rodionova
5. Kudryavtseva/Makarova vs. Govortsova/Poutchek
6. Amanmuradova/Chan vs. Benesova/Errani

Chennai

Doha


Hopman Cup


You know where the feeds go!

One For You, One For Me (UPDATE)

Programming Note: I'm super tired today and expecting a long day at work.  I'm trying to enlist some help so y'all won't be left with just results and OOPs today, but... if it happens, my apologies.

Anyhoo.

One for you...

Aaaaaaaaaand... one for me:

Not that I actually saw either of those matches.  I did see a few others, though, and I have to say that I was more impressed by the way Sabine took down Elena than I was by the way Sorana took down Sam.  Jesus, that was a shellacking, even if Elena was serving like... Elena.  Flavia looked decent for her first match out, and Reeshard looks like he continues to be his nutty self.  [yawn]

Auckland
Singles - First Round
(1) Flavia Pennetta (ITA) d. Jill Craybas (USA) 62 64
(3/WC) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) d. Julia Goerges(GER) 63 75
(7) Aravane Rezai (FRA) d. Julie Coin (FRA) 64 63
Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) d. (8) Anabel Medina Garrigues(ESP) 62 63
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) d. Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU) 60 63
(WC) Kimiko Date Krumm (JPN) d. Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) 61 62

Brisbane
Women's Singles - First Round
(WC) Justine Henin (BEL) d. (2) Nadia Petrova (RUS) 75 75
(3) Ana Ivanovic (SRB) d. Jelena Dokic (AUS) 75 16 63
(4) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) d. (Q) Ekaterina Ivanova (RUS) 61 67(5) 61
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d. (5) Alisa Kleybanova(RUS) 64 26 62
(6) Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) d. (Q) Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ) 62 62
Lucie Safarova (CZE) d. Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER) 67(5) 64 61
Agnes Szavay (HUN) d. Peng Shuai(CHN) 57 64 62
Roberta Vinci (ITA) d. Sara Errani (ITA) 64 26 62
Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) d. (Q) Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) 64 76(3)
(Q) Sesil Karatantcheva (KAZ) d. (WC) Casey Dellacqua (AUS) 62 06 76(1)

Men's Singles - First Round
[1] A Roddick (USA) d P Luczak (AUS) 76(5) 62
[2] R Stepanek (CZE) d [WC] J Millman (AUS) 64 60
A Falla (COL) d [7] J Chardy (FRA) 64 64
[8] T Bellucci (BRA) d J Chela (ARG) 63 36 61
R Gasquet (FRA) d J Nieminen (FIN) 63 46 64
W Odesnik (USA) d A Clement (FRA) 64 76(2)
M Gicquel (FRA) d P Petzschner (GER) 63 61
H Levy (ISR) d M Llodra (FRA) 62 60

Chennai
Singles - First Round
[2] M Cilic (CRO) d I Kunitsyn (RUS) 62 64
[4] J Tipsarevic (SRB) d [WC] C Moya (ESP) 63 76(2)
J Hajek (CZE) d [6] S Greul (GER) 36 62 64
T de Bakker (NED) d [8] R Ram (USA) 61 61
S Giraldo (COL) d B Phau (GER) 64 67(6) 63

Doha
Singles - First Round
S Stakhovsky (UKR) d [4] M Youzhny (RUS) 76(11) 62
[5] V Troicki (SRB) d D Gimeno-Traver (ESP) 61 75
E Gulbis (LAT) d [6] A Montanes (ESP) 62 75
[7] I Karlovic (CRO) d F Fognini (ITA) 64 64
O Rochus (BEL) d [WC] A Hajji (QAT) 61 60
M Chiudinelli (SUI) d P Lorenzi (ITA) 75 63 
P Starace (ITA) d F Gil (POR) 62 60
E Korolev (RUS) d M Vassallo Arguello (ARG) 62 63

Hopman Cup

Russia d. Germany, 2-1

• Sabine Lisicki d. Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-1
• Igor Andreev d. Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-7, 6-3
• Dementieva/Andreev d. Lisicki/Kohlschreiber 6-4, 7-6 (9-7)

Great Britain d. Kazakhstan, 2-1

• Yaroslava Shvedova d. Laura Robson 4-6, 6-3, 6-0
• Andy Murray d. Andrey Golubev 6-2, 6-2
• Robson/Murray d. Shvedova/Golubev 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (12-10)

OOPs: Monday (UPDATE)

Shit steps up today, y'all.  Figured I should go ahead and post it since play in Auckland starts in two hours:

Auckland

 

Brisbane

 

Chennai

 

Doha

Hopman Cup

Again, if you find live streams, please post them either here or in chat.

Pic This: Weekend Wrap-Up

 
Self-referential stereotyping: ur doin it rite.

Hmm... someone spent her time out of tennis taking some modern dance.

Come on, Kim, it hasn't been that long.  Use that thing you're holding, not your foot.

Brisbane Draw: Before...

... and after.  Whoops.

"Hmmm.  No, the sign in for Awkward Couple of the Week isn't closed yet."

Agnes, don't think you're off the hook here, but what the hell is Timea wearing?

And, because they're so special they deserve their own category [cue circus music]...

 
I wish I'd watched this.  Does she even have to crouch down when he serves?

 
"Look in my eyes! ... if you can tilt your head back that far."

LOL indeed, Melanie.  L.O.L.

Comeback Kids (Part Three)

It's not all Kim and JuJu, peeps.  (Does Kim still count, really?)  Alicia Molik is back, too-- hey, she used to be top 10.  Back in the day. 

My God, I wish Adidas didn't make their people wear the same thing from USO to AO.  Get with it, Adidas.

In other news, Spain blitzed USA at Hopman Cup.  And Tommy looked pretty doing it.

Hopman Cup

Spain d. USA, 3-0

• Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez d Melanie Oudin 6-4, 6-4 
  
• Tommy Robredo d John Isner 6-7, 6-3, 7-6(7/4)   
• Martinez Sanchez/Robredo d Oudin/Isner 6-4, 7-5   

Brisbane

Singles - First Round
(1) Kim Clijsters (BEL) d. Tathiana Garbin (ITA) 62 61
(7) Melinda Czink (HUN) d. Lucie Hradecka (CZE) 64 36 63
Andrea Petkovic (GER) d. (8) Iveta Benesova (CZE) 67(6) 62 61
Vania King (USA) d. Sybille Bammer (AUT) 64 61
Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) d. Olga Govortsova (BLR) 64 61
(WC) Alicia Molik (AUS) d. Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) 64 16 64

Well, That Was Rude

They invite you to their house to play a game, and this is how you repay their hospitality?

Romania d. Australia, 2-1

Sam/Sorana was a little confusing.  Sam played well for about a set and a third, and Sorana played well for about a set and a half.  When Sorana's playing well and reading her opponent's game correctly, she's really exciting to watch.  But, personally, it seems a little early to be guessing at great things in Sorana Cirstea's future because she played a good match.  Girlfriend's played good matches before.  First round at Hopman Cup does not a career make.  That said, watching her when she's on is a lot of fun.  Also, she is purty.

I actually didn't see any of the rest of the tie, somewhat because I can't be bothered to watch Lleyton Hewitt do much of anything.  But apparently the Hewitt/Hanescu match was pretty good.  I've always thought Hanescu had the potential to be an interesting player, and of course Hewitt's track record speaks for itself (although he's not the same player since all the injuries).  But it's nice to see a couple of more creative players play really well against each other.  You know, theoretically.

OOPs: Sunday

My boyfriend Tommy returns to Hopman Cup!  Yay!

"More oil!"  "Fuego, fuego!"  Ahem.

Hopman Cup
 

Brisbane

If people stumble upon live streams, please feel free to post them either in chat or in the daily OOP threads.  Hopefully having the links in predictable places will make it easier for everyone.

It's Ba-aaaaaack!

I guess it technically started in Abu Dhabi a couple of days ago, but somehow I can never quite count exhibitions (not that I won't be posting about them).  But now, RIGHT NOW, Hopman Cup is starting with Australia v. Romania.  Sam vs. Sorana.  

Bring it.

As you see, Sam is Photoshopped and rarin' to go.

Now, to find a damn stream...

Hippity Hop

Hopman Cup teams have been finalized, with Asia to be announced after their qualifying tourney.  I am obviously very excited for the pairing of Eeyore and Lefty.  I hope he doesn't make her cry.

Germany -- Sabine Lisicki and Philipp Kohlschreiber
Romania -- Sorana Cirstea and Victor Hanescu
USA -- Melanie Oudin and John Isner
Russia -- Elena Dementieva and Igor Andreev
Australia — Samantha Stosur and Lleyton Hewitt
Great Britain -- Laura Robson and Andy Murray
Spain -- Maria Jose Sanchez Martinez and Tommy Robredo

Over under on how many racquets go down?

Marat Safin and Dinara Safina are going to play mixed doubles at the Hopman Cup in 2009.  That will be a sight to see.