Forty Deuce

pleasebeokpleasebeokpleasebeopleasebeok

Delpo's gone, out in four sets to Baggy.  But that's not the point.  He called the trainer to check his right wrist.  THE WRIST.  He ended up playing fine afterwards, cranking serves and hitting through his forehand.  And he said afterwards that it was just to be safe and that he was fine.

But...augh.

(Pic: Getty)

So That's How It All Shook Out.

I still have to do a double take when I see Ana ahead of Masha.  It seemed as Masha was actually part of the conversation at every Slam, while Ana had an eight month pity party.  Solid years from Nails and Shahar (though really, how did that happen?) and nice to see Lil' Mash and Pavs finish the year with the highest year-end rankings of their careers.  Hell, that can be said of a lot of the ladies: Caro, Bepa, Sam, Fran, Nails and Shahar, to name a few.

As for the guys, it's still weird to see Mischa in the top 10 and I'm shocked that Marin's first six weeks basically carried him to a top 15 ranking.  But what's really surprising is the Tournaments Played stat. 

Muzz played the fewest number of tournaments in the top 25, only 19, which is two fewer than the three big boys ahead of him.  Sod played 24 tourneys and Tomas played 26(!), and I don't think this includes Davis Cup ties. 

Marcos played 29 tournaments?  That just makes his participation in New Haven either Herculean or Dumb and Dumber, depending on your take.  Speaking of Dumb and Dumber, Sam Q really needs to take a look at his schedule next year.  27 tournaments?  No wonder the guy was gassed through the second half of the year.

I'm still blown away that Andy only played 19 tournaments.  That explains my state of constant longing. 

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!"

I expect huge things from the video departments of both the ATP and WTA in Beijing. The gauntlet has been thrown. Who will step up?  

I mean, it's really an unfair competition. The WTA will always have JJ. If they play their cards right, they'll always win.  She's the nuclear option.

Thanks for posting this, Centac!

Pic This: Hitchcock Was On To Something.

Thanks to Christina for tweeting this sure-fire nomination for picture of the year.

Promise Keeper.

Last year, when Marcos was on his comeback trail, he couldn't buy a wildcard.  No US tournament would give him one, which is pretty fucking ridiculous when you think about it.  But New Haven did and Marcos told them that if they gave him one he'd come back the next year. 

So despite his deep run at Cincy, and the fact that he has plenty of US hardcourt matchplay (he made the finals in D.C., after all), he's kept his commitment to the tournament and actually comes in as the top seed.  He admitted in his presser that he doesn't know whether or not this might be too much match play, leaving him tapped by the time he gets to NY.  But a promise is a promise.

There's a lot to be said about loyalty and taking chances.  Kudos to the tournament for granting him the card, knowing that he's got charisma out the yin-yang and giving him an opportunity to work his way back into the game (though, he did lose to Gil in the first round last year).  And kudos to Bags for keeping his promise, even if it might hurt him down the road.

Sure, a lot of people will say it's a dumb decision and that he should put his self-interest first.  But isn't that the kind of selfishness that we all constantly rail against and, in truth, has caused so many problems not just on the tours but in all our jobs?  Corporations who have no loyalty to their clients or employees?  Employees who have no loyalty to their companies?  When you can actually trust someone at the word, doesn't the world run better?

I don't know.  Maybe I'm projecting a bit here.  But I give big ups to Marcos. 

Now please lose tomorrow so that you're not tapped for NYC.  Because seriously, I think you will be.

Game Changer.

To quote myself via Twitter: "The ATP needs Nalby like he needs cake."  The dude showed impeccable form this week in D.C., showing off that effortless backhand that we all know and love.  He took out Marcos in straight sets in the final and secured his first title of year (obvs) and first title on U.S. soil.  

Tennis needs Nalby.  He's one of those players who, regardless of rank or seeding, can beat anyone on any given day.  Granted, he can lose to anyone on any given day, too, but let's set that aside for now.  Going into the North American hard court season and the US Open, the Nalby resurgence is a huge storyline.  With the win he's cracked the top 100, will clearly get direct entry into the USO, and everyone should and will be looking at where he ends up in the draws. 

He matters.  And that's a good thing.

(Pics: Daylife)

Pic This: RG Day 2

It was a warm on in Paris today.  And the heat brought out the crazy.

It's not so much that Feli likes to show leg, it's that his legs refused to be contained.

 

I'm flattered by the offer, but no.

Oh no you di'n't, JJ.  Allison will cut you.  She'll do it.

DonotlookherintheeyeDonotlookherintheeyeDonotlookherintheeye...

Fuck!  Too late.

More after the jump.

Pic This: FD Yearbook

Best Smile.

 

Most Likely To "Just Be Breezy".

 

Most Likely To Smell Like Bong Water.

Most Likely To Bake You a Cake On Your 16th Birthday and Sit Dangerously on a Glass Dining Table With You.  Probably Drives a Porsche, Too.  Wears Argyle.  

Most Likely To Own a Flowbee.

See more after the jump.

It Was The Best of Times, It Was The Worst of Times

Marcos fought off food poisoning and won in Dubai!

He beat Gilles. 

Sigh.

Playstation Reboot

A valiant effort, Marcos, but the Playstation is back online.

And Nole's making some easy money this week.  He's into the semifinals after only having play a little more than a 3 sets of tennis.  He beat Chiuds today and already advanced to the semis with a walkover when Mayer withdrew.

Singles - Second Round
[1] N Djokovic (SRB) d M Chiudinelli (SUI) 64 62
[2] N Davydenko (RUS) d M Baghdatis (CYP) 63 62
[4] G Monfils (FRA) d [WC] T de Bakker (NED) 63 62
[6] M Youzhny (RUS) d [Q] M Ilhan (TUR) 64 64
J Melzer (AUT) d A Seppi (ITA) 62 62
J Benneteau (FRA) d M Berrer (GER) 64 64

Tommy Haas (USA)

I don't know if beating Blah is noteworthy, but Marcos winning anything sure does seem to be newsworthy.  I can't think of any reason why anyone wouldn't root for this guy to get back into the top 20 and start busting some brackets.  Nice win for him today.

The same can't be said for Boredo, who hasn't been able to get his season on track after taking the Hopman crown.  He was seeded fifth in Rotterdam and lost to Mayer in three.

Rotterdam:

Singles - Second Round
[3] [WC] R Soderling (SWE) d [Q] I Sijsling (NED) 76(6) 62
F Mayer (GER) d [5] T Robredo (ESP) 64 36 63

Singles - First Round
[2] N Davydenko (RUS) d F Lopez (ESP) 64 62
[4] G Monfils (FRA) d O Rochus (BEL) 46 61 62
J Melzer (AUT) d [8] V Troicki (SRB) 63 30 ret. (right arm)
M Baghdatis (CYP) d J Blake (USA) 64 62
M Berrer (GER) d A Clement (FRA) 76(16) 46 64

Well I can't think of a more appropriate way for Tommy to embrace his American citizenship than a second round loss.  You'll fit right in, Tommy.

San Jose:

Singles - Second Round
D Istomin (UZB) d [4] T Haas (GER) 76(3) 62
[5] T Berdych (CZE) d J Nieminen (FIN) 63 62
[6] P Kohlschreiber (GER) d D Sela (ISR) 62 60

Singles - First Round
[1] A Roddick (USA) d [Q] R Deheart (USA) 61 76(1)
[2] F Verdasco (ESP) d Y Lu (TPE) 63 67(6) 63
X Malisse (BEL) d [3] R Stepanek (CZE) 63 64

Because it's not tennis in Brasil without Guga.  So lovable.

Brasil:

Singles - Second Round
[1] J Ferrero (ESP) d N Massu (CHI) 62 57 62
[4] I Andreev (RUS) d [Q] R Machado (POR) 63 57 64
[6] P Cuevas (URU) d F Gil (POR) 75 46 76(3)
[Q] C Berlocq (ARG) d J Chela (ARG) 76(5) 62

Pic This: Things In Rotterdam That I Love

 

 

And we haven't even gotten to Nole and Kolya yet...

Let Down

We were all buckled in for an entertaining rematch of the 2008 late-night epic between Bags and Lawnmower.  Unfortunately Baggy's shoulder didn't get the memo.  After getting bageled in the first set and looking all out of sorts, Bags through in the towel after getting broken in the second.

And so we must now live with the two-day hype towards futility known as Lleyton vs. Fed. 

Gag me.

Pic This: Beachin' With Baggy

 
Marcos went to the beach. 

I want to go to there.

Too too cute.

Pic This: AO Day 4

I mean, really, Aga?  REALLY?

BOOBIES!!!

Who has two thumbs and is adorable?  THIS GUY.

Oh, Daveed.  You try so hard.

Robbie!

Boys and their balls.  Quite a theme so far.

Totally climbing my list. 

"So you come here and you ask me for a favor..."

Yes, Nole.  As a matter of fact I do have tickets to the gun show.

Sunshine in the house.  If she wins a Slam...good Lord the sponsorship blitz...

You and me both, dude.

Ring and a track jacket?  Shabby chic, indeed.

Um, ok.

Someone's looking woooz....

Oh, nevermind.

Mar-cos Baghda-tis! *clap clap clap clap clap*

There is no unbridled joy like Baggy-Joy.

Yet another epic five setter from Baggy, who came from two sets and a break down to beat Daveed, 46 36 76(4) 63 61.  Both players cramped through the match (brain and legs), but you have to love the new cramping rule, which has played quite a role in a number of matches. 

Fun fact: Baggy gets Lleyton next.  Wanna guess if that one's going to be the second night match on Laver?  Anyone want to wager whether it finishes after 2am? 

 

Pic This: Gravity-- It's The Law

 
See, it's not like how water swirls the other way.  It works exactly the same Down Under, Marcos.

Sara just won't stop complaining about those Samurai assholes.

Crib notes?


The scariest of the scary places-- inside a Safin's head.


Kind of like one of those optical illusions-- some people will look at this and see a picture of Ana Ivanovic.  I look at it and see a picture of Sven.  And start giggling.  Those shorts, dude.

One of the things that makes this photo great is that you can barely tell who its of.

Apricot Bars NOM NOM NOM.

Well-framed.  But I miss the hair.


One more Marcos, just for good measure.  That's a whole other kind of "OPA!!!"

OPA!!!

There's something just inherently happy about Marcos. And it's even inherently happier when he wins. Of course, big bonus if he beats someone like Mardy Fish, Sockless Wonder on the way. Also, he really brings the, um, "atmosphere" to AO, so it's so great that he's back and seemingly playing pretty well.

One more, for good measure.

 

Auckland
Singles - Semi-finals
A Clement (FRA) d [5] P Kohlschreiber (GER) 63 76(2)
J Isner (USA) d [8] A Montanes (ESP) 62 76(5)

Hobart
Singles - Semifinals
(4) Alona Bondarenko (UKR) d. (1) Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) 46 63 64
(2) Shahar Peer (ISR) d. Sara Errani (ITA) 62 60

Kooyong
Fernando Gonzalez CHI (11) d. Ivan Ljubicic CRO (24) 64 76(9-7)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga FRA (10) d. Tommy Haas GER (18) 64 63
Sergiy Stakhovsky UKR d. Sam Querrey 75 63

Sydney
Women's Singles - Final
(5) Elena Dementieva (RUS) d. (1) Serena Williams (USA) 63 62

Men's Singles - Semi-finals
R Gasquet (FRA) d J Benneteau (FRA) 64 75
M Baghdatis (CYP) d M Fish (USA) 64 67(7) 76(5)

Come Aboard, We're Expecting You!

He doesn't go that deep in tournaments much anymore, so any chance to throw out that karaoke video must be taken advantage of.

The men's tournaments joined the women's in general WTF-itude today as top seeds (Tommy Robredo) fell, people withdrew-- injured-- from exhibitions days before the start of the first Slam of the year (JMDP, Sod), and Marcos Baghdatis won yet another match. This close to the first Slam, it always seems like withdrawls (and even losses) are hard to read-- are you really that injured/playing that badly, or are you just trying to save yourself for the Big Event?  We'll all find out soon enough.

Auckland
Singles - Quarter-finals
J Isner (USA) d [1] T Robredo (ESP) 76(5) 36 64
[5] P Kohlschreiber (GER) d M Gicquel (FRA) 63 61
A Clement (FRA) d [6] J Melzer (AUT) 62 75
[8] A Montanes (ESP) d [Q] M Lammer (SUI) 63 63

Hobart
Singles - Quarterfinals
(1) Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) d. (8) Gisela Dulko (ARG) 61 57 61
(2) Shahar Peer (ISR) d. (5) Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) 46 76(4) 75
(4) Alona Bondarenko (UKR) d. (7) Zheng Jie (CHN) 75 75
Sara Errani (ITA) d. (Q) Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) 63 64

Kooyong
Fernando Gonzalez CHI (11) d. Tommy Haas GER (18) 62 64
Fernando Verdasco ESP (9) d Novak Djokovic SRB (3) 61 62
Ivan Ljubicic CRO (24) d. Robin Soderling SWE (8) 64 ret.
Andy Murry SCO d. Sam Querrey USA 61 64

Sydney
Women's Singles - Semifinals
(1) Serena Williams (USA) d. Aravane Rezai (FRA) 36 75 64
(5) Elena Dementieva (RUS) d. (6) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 63 61

Men's Singles - Quarter-finals
M Baghdatis (CYP) d [4] L Hewitt (AUS) 46 62 63
M Fish (USA) d [WC] P Luczak (AUS) 76(5) 62
R Gasquet (FRA) d P Starace (ITA) 63 76(7)
J Benneteau (FRA) d [Q] L Mayer (ARG) 64 67(5) 60 

Pic This: Shiny, Happy People

Emphasis on "shiny".  Jesus, Australia looks hot.

 

I can't decide if I hope that's Irina's bag or not.

Just a couple of d-bags, chillin'.

Happy and shiny.  Love the shorts.

That seems like it might be a bad idea.

Few people do pure joy like Sabine.  I saw this picture and forgot that she lost that match.

To quote the lady herself, "hahahaha."

So much awesome that you should probably avoid looking directly at it.

And, finally, some more belated C Note birthday presents.

 

Hey, Dassler, You're Really Slimming Down!

Did Adidas make a New Year's resolution to drop some weight?  Because they keep shedding players left and right.  First Novak, then Pavs, and now apparently Marcos, whose contract expired on 12/31/09 and was not renewed.  Which is why Baggy was sporting the Cypriot flag over the Adidas logo on his shirt during his win against Fish today. According to this French article, Marcos is without a clothing sponsor and decided to play with his country's colors instead.

Maybe Casey Dellacqua can show him where the Target is in Melbourne.

(via mrs. saifn)

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

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.

Men at Work

Somehow I always forget Brisbane is a combined tournament.  So I was pretty surprised to wake up this morning and see that the men's draw was out.  Obviously this "new season" thing is going to require a couple days' adjustment.

Good to see Andy got some clothes that fit.  Well.  "Fit".

Draw

Top Seeds: A-Rod, Steps, Gael, Tomas

Potential Quarterfinals: A-Rod/Melzer, Tomas/Bellucci, Gael/Sammy Q, Steps/Chardy

Potentially Interesting First Round Matches: Mardy/Marcos, Gasquet/Nieminen, Sammy Q/Blah, Dent/Monfils

Interesting Questions: How's A-Rod's knee?  How's Sammy Q's arm?  What kind of shape are Gasquet and Baghdatis in?  Can any match involving James Blake actually be interesting?

Fresh and Tasty

 

I'm going to assume that Rafa's giving the actual "thumbs up" and not the HIMYM "thumbs up" from last night.  Because that would be rude.

 

Rafa and Baggy locked horns in a pretty fun match, with Rafa coming out on top 64 36 64.  

And he debuted his neon green kit, which I love.  He looks like a Listerine breath strip.  You just want to put him on your tongue and let him...

 

Wait...what were we talking about?

"F before I, F before I..."

Much love to Mrs. Saifn's boss for giving her the afternoon off to go catch her future husband in LA:

• I got to the stadium during the Isner/Baghdatis 2nd set tiebreaker. At 10-all, Isner had a nasty fall and grabbed his leg in pain. Marcos immediately jumped the net and was the first to reach him. After a short timeout, Isner came back on court. He was having trouble putting weight on his left leg, but managed to win the next few points and the match. Marcos shook hands nicely, walked to his chair and smashed his racket. 

• For Marat I sat in the first row behind the baseline. At first it was a little embarrassing to do the S-A-F-I-N cheer by myself, but after a few beers it was less about embarrassment and more about "F before I, F before I". Towards the end of the match, a group of people at the top of the stands started using the cheer, which is awesome, unless they were making fun of me.

• I was getting worried that my good luck charm status was used up with the 3 wins in two days, but just after I texted you that Karate Kid was looking too good, Marat came back. In his on-court interview after the match he said he's staying in LA until next Thursday and that his ex-girlfriend is from here ("So is your future wife," I shouted. OK, whispered).

• There were only a few people waiting for him after the match so I stuck around and got him to sign the playing card Love All gave me at IW. I couldn't ask about the monkey because when he looked at me all I could think was, "Did he just recognize me? Does Marat know me?"

• I stayed to watch Tursunov and Gulbis play doubles against some other guys. They were laughing and joking the whole time, and they won easily. Dima got pulled wide on one shot; when the point was over he picked a flower from one of the pots lining the side wall and presented it to Ernie as a gift, who knocked it out of his hand laughing. It was a really funny moment. They are a super-cute doubles team.

Dear Mr. Mrs. Saifn's boss.  Please recognize that she has been present at all of Marat's 4 wins in three days.  She needs to be there for all his matches.  Do your part and let her go.

Cuz Tranny'll Cut You

Is anyone else as shocked as I am that Tranny is ranked below A-Bond?  Just me?  
I don't know, I guess I'm just way more scared of Tranny than A-Bond.  Tennis-wise, I mean.  Non-tennis-wise I *know* I'm way more scared of Tranny.

Singles - Second Round
(1) Dinara Safina (RUS) d. (Q) Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 63 63
Francesca Schiavone (ITA) d. (5) Alona Bondarenko (UKR) 46 75 63
(6/WC) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) d. Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) 26 62 61
Olga Govortsova (BLR) d. Nathalie Dechy (FRA) 61 63

Doubles - Quarterfinals
(3) Dekmeijere/Kops-Jones (LAT/USA) d. Camerin/Coin (ITA/FRA) 64 76(5)
(4) Dechy/Pelletier (FRA/CAN) d. Lefèvre/Védy (FRA/FRA) 62 63
Errani/Pennetta (ITA/ITA) d. Cirstea/Safina (ROU/RUS) 76(4) 61
Krajicek/Wickmayer (NED/BEL) d. Cetkovska/Uhlirova (CZE/CZE) 61 76(1)

As for the guys it was straight up sadness as Baggy went down with a knee injury and was forced to retire.  Why did this guy do to deserve all this?

Singles - Second Round 
[3] D Ferrer (ESP) d O Hernandez (ESP) 64 63 
[4] R Schuettler (GER) d [Q] T de Bakker (NED) 63 76(3) 
[7] J Chardy (FRA) d [Q] D Norman (BEL) 36 63 63 
[WC] R Sluiter (NED) d M Baghdatis (CYP) 43 ret. (left knee)

Doubles - Quarter-finals 
[1] W Moodie (RSA) / D Norman (BEL) d A Clement (FRA) / M Gicquel (FRA) 63 64 
J Brunstrom (SWE) / J Rojer (AHO) d [3] C Kas (GER) / P Petzschner (GER) 26 62 12-10 
E Butorac (USA) / S Lipsky (USA) d I Kunitsyn (RUS) / D Sela (ISR) 63 36 10-8

1-1

That's Serena's new record against Klara Zakopalova for the '09 clay court season.  So... there's that.  I can't really say anything about anyone's level of play since I didn't watch very much of it, but I can say that Serena's knee wrap looked oddly high tech.  Although I could be making that up in my head.

I don't think she's even wearing jewelry from her own line. What kind of marketing strategy is that, Serena?  

There were other matches this morning, of course, mostly wrapped around a two hour rain delay...

Jelena's new not-entirely-horrible, but not-entirely-awesome Anta dress made its debut today. That's also a pretty good summary of how she played against Petra Cetkovska-- it's kind of like her game is currently on a factory reset: the big problem is gone, but none of the old programming has been reinstalled yet. Competent, and certainly enough to get her through the first two or three rounds, but not entirely solid yet. Meanwhile, look who's wearing pink!

Man. If, in some alternate universe, it ended up being a Dinara/Sveta final, Sveta would immediately have the upper hand because Dinara would be so. Jealous. Sveta played a really solid match against Claire Feuerstein, a French journeywoman who turned out to be much better than anyone thought she'd be-- possibly including Feuerstein herself.

'Round the ATP side, Nicolas Lapentti did his part to get Philippe Chartrier back on schedule by retiring down 4-6, 1-3 to Nole.  

  

Lapentti rolled his ankle-- which was already heavily taped-- towards the end of the first set, and obviously never got comfortable again. Nole looked calm and collected, had some silly misses, but mostly looked in perfectly good shape for the beginning of the tournament. 

Other results thus far: Monfils, Kohlscreiber, JMDP, Gicquel, Seppi and Disco Tommy all through easily in straight sets. Juan Monaco just knocked out Marcos-- Marcos, we hardly knew ye.  Caro, unsurprisingly, took the third set against Vera D fairly easily (6-1). The Gypsy prolonged Dani's misery by beating her in straight sets, Ruano Pascal did the same to Nikki V. Aleks Wozniak went through in 3, U-Rad went out in 3. Lena D through in straights, but went down a couple of breaks in the first. Sania's out and Dokic is through (only her second win since the AO?!). Quality guy Ivan Ljubicic is in a deciding set with Ferrero and Jo Willy and Apricot Bars are locked down in battle on Chartrier, but ESPN2 has decided I'd rather watch Blah. They are incorrect. Thank god for livestreaming. One note: conditions today have been terrible-- hours of rain delays this morning, terrible wind ever since. It looks like hell out there.

Players Who Suck Take The Practice Court

How dare you show your face around these parts?  Loser.


I would kill for those legs.


I had to do a double take to recognize who this was. 


Gael is questionable for RG. He said he's hoping for a miracle in the next 6 days.  Then again he's such a drama queen, though, considering he's French, isn't saying much.


Aww...Americans on clay.  They try so hard but it still doesn't look right.


Pretty.


Anyone know what his shirt says? 

(Pics from RG website)

Baggy Checks His Smile At The Door. Thankfully.

I have to say, for all the crap promotional stuff the ATP/WTA makes the players do, I'm really impressed that they chose to have someone visit the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg.  I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that professional tennis players aren't the most highly educated bunch (not that they're not smart or intelligent) and if left to their own devices, probably wouldn't take time out of their busy schedules to get a history lesson.  So promo visits like this one are nice to see. 

The Smiling Cypriot was clearly moved by what he saw:

“It’s weird knowing that they separated people for everything,” he said. “They had different toilets, black people had toilets, white people had other toilets, but it was not only that, it was everything - beaches, houses, taxi queues, entrances, bus stops. Mainly the black people suffered a lot and that’s sad to hear.”

Moving through the museum, Baghdatis was clearly moved by the overwhelming experience. “It’s sad to hear that people suffered, and I also watched some videos which showed how they were treated and it wasn’t really nice, it hurt a lot to see that and all I can really say is for them to forgive - forgive them for what happened and move on, to have peace, love and everybody together. It’s like Mandela says 'One Nation One Country'‘, in the end we are all the same,” said the Cypriot.

The SA Tennis Open No.8 seed was taken through a visual and physical explanation of the life of Nelson Mandala, one of the most influential and inspirational men in history. Mandela was incarcerated in 1964 for alleged crimes of sabotage against the country, a crime he never committed but saw him remain in prison until 1990. Four years later, Mandela was voted in as the first democratically elected president of the Republic of South Africa.

“I can understand now why he is a hero to so many people. The guy is an amazing person and whatever he wanted to and whatever he wanted to help those people he did it even if it meant death for him. He spent 30 years of his life in prison and he suffered a lot to maintain what he maintains today, and I have a lot of respect for him. I can understand now why people see him as a hero,” Baghdatis remarked.

...

“It was great, you know, it’s something that we don’t get to do so often and you know it was great learning about one country’s history and about how people suffered so much, it’s a bit shocking when you’re in there and watching that, but it’s also nice to see because it is a small wakeup call and it does wake you up, you see life a bit differently and people a bit differently and it’s a great experience,” concluded Baghdatis.

USO Redux

Is anyone else weirded out by how skinny Andy looks?  I just want to give the guy a sandwich.  He doesn't look healthy to me.  I'm not implying anything.  I just liked Heavy!Andy better.

But Skinny!Andy is quietly tearing through the field and he's looking great.  He destroyed Disco to move to a 10-0 record against him, 75 61 63.  I don't love his style of tennis to watch, but good on him for making changes in the off-season to address his game.  I have a lot of respect for that.

But he'll get his first major test when he meets Nole in the quarterfinals.  I've always maintained that the "non-elite" players always look great when they're playing "non-elite" players, but when they play the top guys the gap in quality is ridiculous.  I have a feeling it's going to be a pure grindout, with the deciding factor being how well Andy can serve.

Nole has to come in with some confidence in coming through after being tested by the always dangerous Baggy.  It took him four hard fought sets, but he won, 61 76 67 62.  And when you 're talking about two of the more charismatic and emotional guys in the game, you know there's gonna be some love at the net:

The face stroke is money. 

The Smiling Cypriot Fights On

Welcome back, Baggy.

He's slimmer and trimmer but the smile and the heart are as big as ever.  After dropping the first set to General Sod 6-3, he came back to take it in four sets, 36 75 63 63.  Here's hoping that body of his holds up to keep him playing in the tournament.  He's a joy to watch.