Seen Around

by Savannah

Hey Savannah, following on from our discussions recently, are you thinking what I am thinking regarding the exceedingly strong field at Charleston and Memphis and the pull outs from Dubai?

One of the regulars here, Karen, posed the above questions about Dubai, Memphis and Charleston. Her comment sent me to look at the draw for Charleston so I'll talk about that last.

Memphis is a very weak draw. The main attraction is Maria Sharapova. Melanie Oudin, who just finished playing Fed Cup and the GDF Suez semi final is the second seed. I'm having trouble deciding whether back in the day this would've been a Tier III or Tier IV. Think I'm kidding? Here's the draw.

[1] Maria Sharapova vs Shenay Perry

[WC] Bethanie Mattek-Sands vs Katie O'brien

Monica Niculescu vs Qualifier

Renata Voracova vs [8] Elena Baltacha

[3] Kaia Kanepi vs Arantxa Rus

Laura Granville vs WC Nicole Vaidisova

Julia Schruff vs Michaella Krajicek

Stephanie Cohen-Aloro vs [5] Petra Kvitova

[6] Kristina Barrois vs Anne Keothavong

Michelle Larcher De Brito vs Qualifier

WC Ajla Tomljanovic vs Kristina Kucova

Karolina Sprem vs [4] Lucie Hradecka

[7] Vania King vs Kathrin Woerle

Qualifier vs Marta Domachowska

Stephanie Dubois vs Lilia Osterloh

Qualifier vs [2] Melanie Oudin

Don't get me wrong, there are some interesting players here but if the top seed doesn't make the final there are serious decisions that will have to be made in that camp. Oudin has a cold and it remains to be seen how fresh she'll be coming into this event.

Dubai is a Premier tournament. This is the draw.

[1] Wozniacki vs Bye

Shvedova vs Cibulkova

Razzano vs WC Sfar

Peer vs [13] Wickmayer

[11] Bartoli vs Q Makarova

Schyder vs Dulgheru

Martinez Sanchez vs Safarova

[8] Na Li vs Bye

[3]Venus Williams vs bye

Lisicki vs Q Chan Y J

Benesova vs Govoertsova

Cirstea vs [14] Schiavone

[9] Stosur vs Garbin

Srebotnik vs Pavlyuchenkova

Hantuchova vs Q Manasieva

[5] Dementieva vs Bye

[6] Jankovic vs Bye

Bammer vs Rezai

Bacsinsky vs Q Flipkens

Vesnina vs [12] Zvonareva

[16] Zheng vs Q Molik

Kleybanova vs Q Groenefeld

K Bondarenko vs Rybarikova

[4] Azarenka vs Bye

[7] Aga Radwanska vs Bye

Q Sevastova vs Dushevina

Petkovic vs A Bondarenko

Czink vs [10] WC Pennetta

[15] Petrova vs WC Vogele

WC Kirilenko vs Q Kulikova

Mirza vs Medina Garrigues

[2] Kuznetsova vs Bye

Dubai is a much stronger field than Memphis as it should be. There are several unseeded players who can get hot and make a run toward the semi's. The Bansidhe's fans say it was smart of her to play Memphis instead of Dubai. As I said we'll see.

The South American clay season is underway and a tournament is being played in Bogota. I haven't seen a MD for this event yet but I wanted to mention it so that no one thinks I'm ignoring South America.

The Family Circle Cup's official website hasn't updated for 2010 yet. So far the official site lists defending champion Sabine Lisicki and Jelena Jankovic as confirmed. Of course the big names are supposed to be entered but nothing official that I've found so far. I'll keep an eye out for an entry list.

A Dish Best Served Cold

Melanie Oudin defeated Elena Dementieva at the US Open last year. After a dramatic come back by the 18 year old Georgian yesterday their matchup today was expected to be close with American hopes pinned on Oudin. When Oudin won the first set it looked as if she might pull off another upset and make the final. What happened wasn't part of the Cinderella script.

Dementieva pulled herself together and systematically wore down her opponent. By the third set Oudin, who does have a cold, was mentally fried and visibly tired. The veteran showed how to put a bad set behind her and go on to win the match. Oudin showed that she is a couple of years away from being able to hang with the big girls and has nothing to be ashamed about.

Karen spoke about the WTA tournaments but there is some fascinating stuff going on in the ATP.

In support of those who believe draws are totally random at Memphis Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish, James Blake, Robbie Ginepri and Sam Querrey are all in the same section. The TD must be pulling his hair out.

The TD in Marseille might be in the ICU though. Top seeds [1] Andy Murray and [2] Juan Martin del Potro both pulled out with injuries. Del Potro is said to be out until May. The top seed is now Robin Soderling who has gone deep in Rotterdam. Film at eleven.

Richard Gasquet says he is playing the South American clay swing to improve his chances at the French Open.

End Note

I haven't written a lot about tennis this week but I have been watching. I have to say I haven't been impressed. It's hard to do commentary when you keep falling asleep on the matches don't you think? I'm talking about both tours here.

I'm also annoyed that TennisTV has picked up where it left off last year. It simply dies and there's nothing you can do - clear you cache, log on and off, restart the feed - that brings it back. Ironic that the best feed comes from Russian television isn't it?

Lucie Safarova wins this weeks what not to wear prize. She'll face Elena Dementieva tomorrow in Paris.

It's nice to end on a happy note. Stan Wawrinka and his wife welcomed a new baby girl into the world on Friday. Congratulations to them both.

This and That

by Savannah

Maria Sharapova's website has been updated to show the following schedule:

Warsaw Open
Roland Garros
AEGON Classic - Birmingham
Wimbledon

An aggressive schedule no?

Match Fixing in Tennis

Hannah Karp has posted the following article on the Wall Street Journal's online site.

Four months ago in a hotel room overlooking the landscaped gardens of the luxurious Dusit Thani hotel in Pattaya City, Thailand, Dmitry Avilov sat deep in thought for several hours, he recalls, nervously composing a message in Russian to Ekaterina Bychkova, a tennis player now ranked No. 169 on the WTA Tour.

Mr. Avilov, 25, who says he makes a modest living betting almost exclusively on women's tennis, had decided, for the first time, he says, to approach a player about fixing a match.

While Ms. Bychkova refused the overture and no money ever changed hands, Mr. Avilov's story highlights a growing concern among some coaches, officials and corruption experts: that lower-ranked tennis players are easy targets, especially with the rise of social-networking sites that make it simpler for strangers to contact them.

In the U.S., tennis bets can only legally be made in person at Nevada sports books. While online betting is legal in many countries outside the U.S., including Russia, match fixing is prohibited almost everywhere. In Russia, however, the penalties are relatively light. Individual violators are subject to arrest and to a fine of up to 200,000 rubles (about $6,000).

"I feel like I can just do whatever I want," says Mr. Avilov, a father of two who lives in a one-bedroom flat in western Russia. "Professional tennis doesn't want to deal with fixes, period."

The article comes complete with pictures and makes it seem like there are guys like this all over the world plotting to fix WTA matches. This is one of the many issues the new WTA CEO will have to face. Jon Wertheim tweeted today that based on news out of Madrid the search could get quite nasty. Between this, the lack of popularity among tennisheads let alone the casual fan for the WTA product, the uproar over mandatory or be fined events and on court coaching the incoming man or woman will have their hands full.

The Dust Bowl

Reports are still filtering out of Madrid about player dissatisfaction with conditions on the ground at the Magic Box. One of the problems has to do with climate and location. Let's not forget that this is the event that replaced Hamburg, a locale infamous for it's damp wet weather and heavy slow clay courts.

I noticed during Rafael Nadal's match yesterday that as he slid to make a shot a mini dust storm erupted. The effect is seen in the above picture of Novak Djokovic. The grounds crew is being maligned by the TennsTV commentators and while they acknowledge that the courts have yet to settle and that once they do things will be better it's to the point now that at every changeover the court is being watered. This results in the surface being too wet to play on. Once it dries however it's back to the dust bowl. It also appears to be very windy in Madrid this time of year. One fan noted that her car was pushed sideways by the wind as she drove to the site yesterday. This same fan also noted that she had a wonderful time at the complex and posted the pictures to prove it.
Please click HERE to read Elisat's blog post and view her wonderful pictures.

One of the things this fan posted in her blog was about the on court coaching given Juan Martin del Potro and Fabio Fognini. I thought about this as I watched Caroline Wozniacki destroy Alisa Kleybanova. It wasn't even a contest. All Caroline had to do was wait for Alisa to make a mistake. The match stats showed Kleybanova had 44 unforced errors compared to 21 for Wozniacki but I digress.

Caroline was cruising along up 4-0 in the second set when horror of horrors Kleybanova won a game. Totally flummoxed Caroline called on her coach to explain what happened and what she should do to avoid it happening again. Lo and behold Kleybanova won another game. I expected to see Caroline come totally unglued but she managed to pull out the set 6-2. I'm sure she drank a cup of chamomile tea and took immediately to her bed. For me all I could think of was Venus Williams inability to play "military tennis" as Robbie Koenig and Jason Goodall call it. When Wozniacki wasn't benefiting from a Kleybanova error she was moving her opponent side to side, left, right, left right, along the baseline. Ms Kleybanova, a throwback to the days of the unfit woman player, didn't have the stamina to keep up.

Seriously though the hand holding for WTA players is getting to be a bit much. If a player has to have her hand physically held to get through every point of every game why is she playing tennis? This is not to say that the situations noted above are better but I doubt if we'll ever see an ATP player calling down his coach to tell him what to do. There may be examples of coaches and players seemingly talking to themselves - something I've seen personally - but on court coaching sucks. Sorry. One of the reasons I feel the women's field at Roland Garros is wide open is because of this reliance on "Big Daddy" holding a players hand. Maybe Carlos Rodriguez can give a crash course to the coaches of these players on the proper way to "guide" your player through a match.

Richard Gasquet

There's really nothing new to report. Some fans are citing the revised figures of 151 nanograms over a base of 50 but the figures still show a level three times the base rate that was originally reported. The outgoing head of the French Olympic committee chimed in in support of a reduced sentence for Gasquet while the head of the FFT said he wished Gasquet had withdrawn from the tournament with his shoulder injury the day before the party and therefore avoid the test being categorized as "in competition". I guess he's not trying to see that the very fact that Richard withdrew AFTER the party leads to some disturbing conclusions about the timing of the withdrawal. Meanwhile Richard's fans are citing everything from a change in his anti inflammatory to his being duped by nefarious beings at a party. They're ignoring drug abuse forums that say orally ingested cocaine numbs the mouth and the esophagus and results in poor absorption of the drug. That is why the drug is either snorted, smoked or injected.

I wonder if all of this sympathy for Richard is because this was supposed to be the man at the top of the tennis heap now? Instead, if he is given a two year suspension it looks as if his career would be over. This has to be a blow - no pun intended - to his Federation and his financial backers. What if one of the Spaniards or South Americans had tested positive for cocaine in Miami? I don't have to go into the snide remarks and winking that would be going on do I?

In case you're thinking I'm exaggerating think about the reported drug use of John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg? No big deal right? What about the seven ATP players who were caught using nandrolone back in the day but whose names were never made public? What about the oft rumored drug suspension of a very popular male that was said to be covered up as an injury break? The rules were changed in January of this year to make the names of drug offenders in sports public. The only names we've heard recently were South American, which have been proven or suspected to be false, and Richard Gasquet. There was Greg Rusedski but for some reason his offence was/is overlooked while another man's career was stolen from him.

Don't get me wrong. There is tragedy in L'Affaire Gasquet but in the end he was caught with three times the base level of cocaine in his system. Maybe this is the universe's way of forcing him to take a time out, to decide if he really wants to play tennis, I don't know. I remember in the wake of the Davis Cup incident versus the United States there was a lot of talk about Richard being coddled by both his parents and his Federation. With the head of the FFT coming out and saying that Richard shouldn't be given a two year suspension doesn't this give credence to those arguments?

Cocaine is a hell of a drug.

TennisTV and the WTA - Again

I have truly enjoyed the coverage of the ATP provided by TennisTV this week. I had a problem with my transmission once and it was solved quickly by the tech support staff. I've seen men's matches on all three show courts up to and including the final match of the day. Even with today's double withdrawals the commentators kept their audience informed as to what was happening to the schedule and reassured viewers that they would see the substitute match which was a very good one.


Agnes Szavay
I wish I could say the same about the WTA coverage. I think they've managed to show two matches a day, three at the most. So what since I seem to be bitching and moaning about the state of the WTA ad nauseam? Let's take today for example. What did paid subscribers miss? There was this match between Victoria Azarenka and Agnes Szavay. Agnes was being touted as an up and comer a couple of years ago but due to injury had fallen off the radar. She's been playing well, WTA well anyway, of late and the match up was intriguing. I've posted action shots from the match which was all I could see here in the States.

Victoria Azarenka
Then there was this little set to between Dinara Safina and Lucie Safarova. It went three sets. It was nip and tuck for Dinara for awhile there. Guess someone decided it wasn't worth viewing by potential fans. Here's a picture of Lucie so her family knows where she was this afternoon.

I seriously don't get it. It seems that once again if there is an interesting men's match somewhere on the grounds the fans - and TennisTV, try to cover it. If it's not on a television court you're kept informed. With the WTA you can't keep informed because they're not broadcasting the daily matches. Apparently attendance was low - even for an early in the day match in Madrid between Jelena Jankovic and Elena Vesnina. I missed it this morning so I have to go by fan reports. Something is very very wrong with the live streaming approach of the WTA. Why pay for such minimal coverage?

Mountains out of Mole Hills

Andy Murray
This morning I read the following comments by Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic on the ATP ranking system as reported by The Ticker

Andy Murray on the ranking system: "I don’t think it was a problem for the last few years, I think that it has only become a problem for Novak in the last few weeks."

A day earlier, Djokovic had said, "Playing three Masters Series finals in a row and winning a 250 event is incredible success and even then you are dropping a spot down in the rankings.

"That shows how cruel the ranking system is in this sport."

Sounds like an "a" and "b" conversation right? Well here's how the same situation was reported on TennisReporters.net

"Playing three Masters Series finals in a row and winning a 250 event (in Belgrade) is incredible success and even then you are dropping a spot down in the rankings," "That shows how cruel the ranking system is in this sport. Federer or Nadal have been winning four or five grand slams in a row and they haven't [added] a single point. I think this is an issue we have to talk about."
Interestingly, but oddly, Nadal said he had talked to Djokovic about the issue and agreed the system needs changing, to what appears to be a more complicated one. "I think a ranking based on two years would be much better in terms of being relaxed and, from my point of view, would allow me to lengthen my career,"...
(...)
The reality is that while Djokovic has played very well, so has Murray, who by the way, is still carrying a zero-pointer in his 18 tournaments fro putting out of Indianapolis last week. And, had Djokovic won just one of the recent Masters Series, it would not even be an issue.
But Djokovic wasn’t getting on Murray's back, just the system. "I think that I have played fantastic tennis and have had huge success on both hard courts and clay courts so I will be very patient and I am sure that if I continue this way I will get my spot back," said Djokovic. "Andy absolutely deserves that place because he's been winning a lot of matches lately and playing good tennis but it is still a long way for him and for me."

Guys, keep hoping that the chances of the ATP merging with the WTA still seem slim to none. Be very very careful what you wish for.

Tennis Talk

by Savannah

Tomorrow the cameras will be turned on at Indian Wells and tennis fans will finally be able to watch real live tennis. Of course this depends on several things. I can only speak for what will be going on here in the States but I've read that European coverage begins Saturday as well.

If you have the Tennis Channel you will get coverage this weekend, March 14 and 15. If you don't then you're shit out of luck and have to wait until Monday when "regional" coverage will be provided by FSN/Comcast. What this has meant in the past is that some locales will get live tennis and others won't. Thems the breaks.

If you have purchased TennisTV you will have coverage starting March 14 with no interruption. You can purchase daily passes, tournament passes, or season passes. In these troubled times some can't afford cable let alone purchase access to TennisTV. If you have access to tennis via cable one could be excused for asking why it's necessary to purchase online access for two days when you're already paying for cable service.

It should be mentioned here that I hate scoreboard watching. It's an anachronism that should have been long gone. Yet it is still needed because some cable companies don't carry the outlets that feature tennis play while other areas don't have broadband access that would allow video streaming.

Anna-Lena Groenefeld
I make the sacrifice and purchase TennisTV (I had Masters Series TV for quite some time and valued it. The WTA was late to the party hence the new carrier TennisTV. There is something I really don't understand though. If someone like me pays for online access why should I have to wait until the third day of the tournament to begin watching live tennis? I know the suits think no one wants to see Qualifying or early round play and that they're saving money by waiting until the big boys and girls take the court.

It may come as a surprise to those bright young things making these decisions but there is a following for tennis of all kinds. I know that interns are tasked with monitoring fan sites and at times using the anonymity the internets can bring float ideas the marketeers want to get opinion on. Surely these people notice that a player like Danny Koellerer who may be new to them has quite a fan following. Players like Bjorn Phau or Anna-Lena Gronefeld are tracked and people do know their records. Sure the big marketing firms don't give a rat's ass about them - they're still pushing Anna Kournikova for crying out loud - but fans do. There are Asian players from India, China, and Japan who fans know and care about. But we don't often get to see them because they're just not the NEXT BIG THING in some marketing managers eyes. This is not fair to the players and it's not fair to tennis. Roger Federer didn't emerge full blown from the head of a Wilson racquet, he has a history that many of his fans delight in telling. Why have Jelena Dokic and Lindsay Davenport remained fan favorites? Because of their histories in the game. The only way many tennisheads get to know and follow these players is because of fanboards. David Nalbandian and Juan Martin del Potro pIaying doubles is big news because of their recent history. Thanks to South American fans tennis heads all over the world know about it and would like to see how they play together. The same situation exists with Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes of India. Once again fans from their country keep all of us informed.

Nishikori Kei
I know I kind of went off on a tangent but it's annoying that the match between Marion Bartoli and Shahar Pe'er or Jeremy Chardy and Victor Hanescu are not available for viewing anywhere. A service like TennisTV would attract more fans if these early round matches were available. I want tennis to grow as much as the next tennishead does. It's just that myopic decisions like this one, and the one that blacked out all WTA play at Memphis continue to hinder tennis growth.

Miscellany

Andy Murray on his recent illness:

"I took a full 10 days off. Because of that I've lost a little bit of fitness," he said at a press conference ahead of Indian Wells. "Hopefully I can get through a couple of matches and start to work my way into the tournament."

Murray said it had been difficult to diagnose the nature of the virus, but blood tests had eventually ruled out his initial fear that it was mononeocleosis. "I'd never felt that bad before," he said. "My first blood tests came back and the signs showed it could be glandular fever [another name for mononucleosis] so I had to take more tests to find out some different things. They came back and showed the glandular fever was negative.

"I don't know what exactly it was because my symptoms changed a lot. I went from having a sore throat and temperature, sweating during the night, bad stomach, nose bleeds and was throwing up, which I hadn't been at the start."

Glad that's over Andy.





Maria Sharapova is not setting a timetable for her return to tennis. Seen at her post match presser above, she said that she will return when she has no pain in her shoulder putting her appearance in Miami in doubt. Maria has taken on the powers that be in the WTA before and won. See you in London Maria.

World Team Tennis announced today that Kim Clijsters will play for their St. Louis Team for two matches this summer.

It's official. Darren Cahill, left, seen with Gil Reyes and Sven Groenveld has signed onto the Adidas program.

The adidas Player Development Program offers a mix of advice and support, from coaching and fitness training through to hitting partners, nutritional advice and career management plans. Cahill will work with Sven Groeneveld, who coached Ana Ivanovic to the Roland Garros title and World No. 1 ranking last season, as on-court coaches and advisors, while Gil Reyes provides players with off-court fitness training and mentoring.

SOURCE

Tennis Talk

by Savannah

The BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden has started. The women qualifiers started play on Monday. The men begin today. Main Draw play begins Thursday and Friday respectively. The new online service TennisTV begins it's coverage on March 14 when the men's seeds commence play.

High School Drama

Colette Lewis is reporting on some news out of Miami regarding the men's draw and the Sony Ericsson event.

India's Yuki Bhambri, the world's top-ranked junior and the reigning Australian Open Junior champion has received a main draw wild card into the Sony Ericsson Open, which begins on March 25. That news, first reported by The Hindu, was confirmed by IMG Vice President Olivier Van Lindonk. The 16-year-old had earned a qualifying wild card by virtue of his victory at the Orange Bowl, on the site of the Sony Ericsson, but IMG, who owns the tournament, has decided to upgrade him. He'll join Marcos Baghdatis and Lleyton Hewitt, who have already been announced as wild card recipients.

Bhambri recently came in for some criticism for choosing to play in this week's Pro Circuit event in Texas rather than serve as a practice partner in India's Davis Cup tie with Chinese Taipei this weekend, according to this story from DNA. (University of Virginia's Sanam Singh, who is mentioned here as a part of the Davis Cup team, is not participating). Bhambri, using a junior exemption gained by finishing in the Top 10 of the ITF Juniors last year, lost in the first round of the Futures event to Lester Cook 6-4, 6-2. He also lost, in three sets, to Singh in the first round of qualifying for the ATP's Chennai Open back in January. IMG needs to use some caution in handing out a wild card to such a big tournament--it worked fine with Michelle Larcher de Brito, who last year used hers to win two Sony Ericsson matches before losing to Shahar Peer, but Bhambri is well behind her in terms of physical maturity. No one wants to see the Donald Young scenario repeated with another precocious and talented teen who is being viewed as the best hope to improve his country's tennis fortunes.

I recently spoke with Chris Woodruff, the associate head coach at the University of Tennessee (this is a teaser for my Tennis Recruiting Network article next week) and he made it very clear to me the danger of playing at the wrong level--and this was as an NCAA champion who felt in over his head. The occasional wild card is generally not harmful, but as Woodruff said, word gets around that you haven't earned your way in and there's not much sympathy from professionals for that circumstance.

The highlighted section regarding Donald Young is especially relevant since Donald, once the great American hope, was passed over for a Main Draw wild card at Indian Wells while lower ranked Ryan Sweeting and John Isner got in. Boys grow at a different rate than girls do as indicated above. I hope that someone somewhere slows young Bhambri's roll so that he grows both mentally and physically into his game.

Speaking of juniors Bernard Tomic of Australia has been fined and suspended from ITF sponsored events until April 6, 2009. Rumors were that he was looking at a life long suspension after following his father's instructions and walking off the court during a Challenger event so I guess this relatively light sentence will be accepted with grace by the Tomic clan. Bernard is also sixteen by the way. He also won a Challenger event last week.

Coaching News

Brad Gilbert will be working at Nick's place. With the USTA working hard to put in place a team that will teach an all court surface, thinking form of tennis to the best and brightest the United States has to offer this has to be a step backwards. It's one thing for Brad to try and hone an already developed mature player. It's another thing to have him shaping young minds.

David Nalbandian has hired Juan Monaco's coach. We all know how David likes to share. Lets see how this works out.

Davis Cup/Fed Cup News and Talk
Fed Cup semi finals take place April 25-26, 2009. Italy vs Russia will take place on clay at the Castellaneta Marina in Puglia, southern Italy. The Czech Republic vs United States will take place indoors at Brno in the Starobrno Rondo Arena.

The Fed Cup World Group Playoffs take place the same weekend.

As for Davis Cup the World Group Quarterfinals take place in July. The draw will be done May 12, 2009 in London.
Will Croatia choose clay even if it's not their players best surface? Will Captain Patrick McEnroe go with James Blake or will we see someone like Sam Querrey or Robby Ginepri if the surface chosen is indeed clay?

Does anyone remember the Fed Cup tie between Russia and Israel in Israel and how the crowd behaved? People said it was because they're not used to the rules of tennis. They know the rules in Argentina and that's never stopped them there. I'm just sayin'.

Apples and Oranges

Why is there so much virtual ink being spilled over the continued boycott of the tennis tournament at Indian Wells by Number One in the world Serena Williams and Number Five in the world Venus Williams? Why is almost all of it negative? These postings started appearing last week and have increased in vitriol as the time for the tournament to begin approaches. Here are excerpts from Martin Rogers Blog on Yahoo that are in wide circulation.

It's bad enough for a professional sports tour to implement a toothless, useless and self-defeating piece of legislation. To make sure that its idiocy generates a flurry of media attention and overshadows one of the biggest tournaments of the year, however, takes a special brand of ineptitude.
The WTA Tour tried to get tough at the start of this season by attempting to force leading players to compete in "premier" events or risk penalties of ranking points or suspension.
But as soon as Venus and Serena Williams stood up for themselves on a point of principle, the Tour cowered into submission and rendered its own "Roadmap" program utterly ineffective.
(...)
While the actions of some fans all those years ago can never be condoned, it is time for Venus and Serena to either forgive and forget, or be prepared to face the consequences of a continued boycott.

Under "Roadmap" rules, any top player skipping Indian Wells should receive zero ranking points and be ineligible for the following two tournament weeks. If WTA Tour chairman Larry Scott was serious about making his policy work, he had the ideal opportunity to lay down the law.
Instead, he has allowed the Williamses to exploit a loophole that permits them to avoid suspension by performing promotional duties for the tournament.

What is Mr. Rogers saying here? Yes the situation seven years ago was allowed by the powers that be to get out of control. Yes the Williams family has stood on principle and boycotted the event ever since. BUT the Williams family should abide by the WTA rules and either forgive and forget or accept the penalty of 0 points for the IW event and not be able to play in Miami. That insolent Williams family is being allowed to "exploit a loophole" and get away with thumbing their noses at the tour.

I wonder where Mr. Rogers, and all the other pundits, outrage was when one Maria Sharapova announced publicly last year that she couldn't be bothered doing some p.r. work for the tour, pulled out of a tournament late, and was -gasp- allowed to do promotional work for the tournament involved by one Mr. Larry Scott. And just to show it's not just the WTA that bends over backwards for it's superstars Mr. Roger Federer pulled out of Dubai just because and avoided the 0 points for that event by attending the players party while the injured Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco received 0 points for that week. Andy Roddick also withdrew from Dubai. Let's just say he didn't attend the players party.

I know how old I am and there are days I feel like I'm up to the "h" in Alzheimer's but I try not to cherry pick what I remember and what I don't remember. I'm not paid to write this blog. It's something I do because I love tennis. Mr. Rogers is being paid to write his blog and it would behoove him to mention, even in passing, that exceptions have been made and continue to be made for certain players. It doesn't matter if it's Roadkill or Brave New World. Those of us who criticized the WTA in the Sharapova situation were vilified. No one dares mention the get out of jail free card Roger got regarding Dubai nor the statement by his trainer that there wasn't really anything wrong with Roger's back and that the withdrawal was precautionary. I wonder what the reaction would've been if any other coach or trainer came out with something like that?

At no point did the Willams family say they were unwilling to accept the rules of Roadmap. They simply restated their position that they will not step foot on the premises again. No one has ever said differently on either side. In this case I think the tour did the right thing and all the "pundits" need a big cup of the stuff the guy in the picture is offering. It seems he's going to be quite busy this year.

It should be stated that I'm not singling Mr. Rogers out. He's not the only one who's pushing this. It's just that the selective outrage of the tennis press is mind boggling at times.

End Notes

Congratulations to Marion Bartoli who won the only tournament last week in Monterrey Mexico. Marion is newly svelt and getting moreso. It's Marion's first title in three years.

The doubles at Monterrey were won by Nathalie Dechy and Mara Santangelo.

Remember her? Kim Clijsters is working on her tennis six hours a day four days a week according to a report by The Times Online. Her fans are ecstatic. If she returns can the other Belgian be far behind?

With Serena not playing at IW Dinara Safina is poised to become Number One. Is she ready for what that means? Somehow I can't see her and Ana Ivanovic having a girlfriend chat but Ana is Exhibit A for not being ready for the demands on the top player.

Breaking News

by Savannah

ATP’s $3 Million Dollar Bailout
March 6, 2009 ·

LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) - The ATP is returning around $3 million in fees to tournaments to help ease the effects of the global economic crisis. “In these difficult times the ATP has decided to give the tournaments a reduction in tournament fees to help them financially,” a spokesman for the ATP said on Friday.

“This allows the tournaments to take some pressure off their bottom line while waiting for economic circumstances to improve,” he said, adding that the total reduction was about $3 million.

The decision was made at an ATP board meeting in January and at the moment applied only to this year, he said.

The ATP World Tour, which this year features 63 tournaments in 31 countries, lost an 11-year sponsorship deal with Mercedes-Benz at the end of 2008.

The luxury car unit decided not to renew the agreement when it expired last year, saying it wanted to shift the focus of its marketing activities to sports such as golf, equestrian events and soccer.
The ATP spokesman said the fee reductions would come from ATP resources, so prize money for the tournaments should not be affected.

A spokesman for the WTA said the women’s tour would not be making similar reductions as it was in a healthy position financially, having achieved a 500 percent increase in sponsorship revenues over the past five years.

“The Tour is closely monitoring the impacts of the current economic environment,” he added. “We are taking proactive steps to manage expenses and monitor the health of our events.”

The original source on this is tennisreporters.net which is a subscription only service. This excerpt can be found HERE

The combined Masters Events are putting pressure on the WTA to do the same thing.

The Sick Bay



Andy Murray doesn't have mono. That's the only definite result from tests that were carried out on Thursday. As of now no one knows what's wrong with him and the whispers are getting louder that he may not play the BNP Paribas Open formerly known as Indian Wells where play gets under way March 9.

SOURCE

Monday Tennis Talk

by Savannah

Blame "Slumdog Millionaire". Oh I know! Blame Brangelina! Mickey Rourke? You can blame him for just about anything. I was kind of pulling for him to win but after his nasty remarks about Sean Penn after the nominations were announced I knew he was out of the running.
See? There's a reason I didn't post on Sunday. I have to see the Red Carpet at the big award shows and this time I stuck around to actually watch the award show. Sound plausible? Good.

Tommy Robredo 2009 Champion Buenos Aires

The Controversy Part II
So after all the drama surrounding the UAE and Shahar Pe'er not to mention fines and all that imagine my surprise when I read this on The Ticker this morning.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says he feels Andy Ram should boycott this week's tournament in Dubai. "I was a bit surprised to discover that Andy Ram did intend to go there," Olmert was quoted as saying by Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz. "It would be highly worthwhile for someone to advise him to demonstrate patriotism and solidarity and boycott the tournament."

The UAE government granted Ram a visa in the face of international pressure following its decision to deny one to Shahar Peer for the women's event last week.

If this is how the Israeli government feels why didn't it comment last week before everything went down the way it did?

In other Middle East related tennis news The Ticker also reports that the city of Stockholm has offered to replace Malmo as the host city of the Sweden-Israel Davis Cup tie next week, which would allow the matches to be open to the public.

The city council of Malmo had decided not allow spectators into the arena during the tie, citing security concerns over planned protests against Israel's actions in Gaza.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 2009 Champion Marseilles

This and That
With the changes in how ranking points are doled out it seems paying attention to who is playing where and when is going to be very important this year. Exhibit A is what happened to the ATP 500 event scheduled in Dubai this week. The original draw looked like a who's who of the top ten men. The tournament that is actually being played features a field minus Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Nikolay Davydenko,
Andy Roddick and Fernando Verdasco. As I mentioned before Roger Federer will not play a 500 event before the US Open and will receive "0" points for each event not played. Clarification is needed. All of the men who withdrew will receive a "0" for the missed event with no chance of making it up. If they had come and all lost in the first round they'd still get a "0" but that could be erased by playing in another event. Clear? Here's a look at how the men stand this week.

D = Dallas
DE= Delray Beach
A= Acapulco

Thanks to ""Judio" for putting this information together and updating it every week.

New Old This Project Low
Rank Rank Player Week Points Opt
1 1 Nadal 0 14360
2 2 Federer 0 10910
3 3 Djokovic 0 8920 D
4 4 Murray 0 7310 D
5 5 Davydenko 0 4715
6 6 Roddick 0 4440
7 7 Del Potro 0 4290 220
8 8 Simon 0 3745 D
9 9 Verdasco 0 3330
10 11 Tsonga 0 3300 200
11 10 Monfils 0 3250 A
12 13 Blake 0 2990 150
13 12 Nalbandian 0 2895 A
14 14 Ferrer 0 2725 D
15 17 Wawrinka 0 2660 0
16 18 Gonzalez 0 2650 120
17 15 Robredo 0 2620 A
18 16 Stepanek 0 2530 50
19 19 Cilic 0 2420 D
20 20 Fish 0 2305 50 De
21 23 Berdych 0 2230 100
22 24 Andreev 0 2060 D
23 25 Safin 0 2040 D
24 22 Soderling 0 2015 90
25 27 Lopez F 0 1995 45
26 26 Gasquet 0 1920 D
27 29 Karlovic 0 1880 D
28 28 Tursunov 0 1875 D
29 30 Ancic 0 1795 45
30 21 Almagro 0 1780 A

Mark Knowles and son Graham celebrate Mark and Mardy Fish' Doubles Victory in Memphis

What makes a match must see? Well Marat Safin faces Richard Gasquet tomorrow in Dubai. Train wreck or instant classic? Won't you kick yourself if you miss it?

Victoria Azarenka 2009 Women's Champion Memphis

Andy Roddick overcame the challenge that is Radek Stepanek and eked out a victory over the man known in some circles as Mack Daddy. I saw the Roddick temperament - I mean what's a Roddick match without a racquet throw or two - but I didn't see the maniacal panicked back and forth, the groin picking (well maybe once or twice) and the arguing for arguments sake from Andy. What I did see was a game plan, stuck to and well executed. He obviously still wants it because he's listening to what new coach Larry Stefanki is telling him and seems to have incorporated what his prior coaches were trying to teach him as well. It is true that the field at Memphis didn't feature any of the big boys - they're over in Europe but will be here for the BNP Paribas Indian Wells and Miami - but it was still a good out of town tryout for Andy. The proof of the pudding will be during those back to back Masters events.

Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra 2009 Doubles Champions Marseille

Maria Sharapova is hitting at Nicky B's place in Florida. There's video on YouTube to prove it. Will she come back for Indian Wells? Maybe. She's not a big fan favorite in Florida - many still remember the incident with Tatiana Golovin a few years back - but her fans are beating the bushes everywhere you turn for her to come back and "stop" Venus and Serena Williams.
Why does someone have to "stop" Venus and Serena when they're the biggest draws on the tour? A lot of these screeds are written by American "fans" of women's tennis. Wonder why the Russian's aren't baying for Maria's return since she carries Russian, not American citizenship? Maybe it's because the Russian women - minus Maria - seem to be doing very well on the tour thank you very much? I claim no inside knowledge as to what Maria will do and make no predictions as to when she will come back. I just wish some of these "fans" would get behind the top American women as vociferously as they do a Russian woman.

Marcel Granollers and Albert Martin 2009 Doubles Champions Buenos Aires

By the way they're still writing essays on how Roger can beat Rafael just in case you thought that cottage industry had gone away. Roger has now stated that he will only play when he's totally fit.

Liezel Huber and Cara Black with Princess Princess Haya Bint al-Hussein 2009 Doubles Champions Dubai

Yet another tennis player is making the pilgrimage to Las Vegas. The Times of India" is reporting that Sania Mirza will spend a week with Gil Reyes at his training center. She will also get to work with Sven Groeneveld who has made working for Adidas famous. Sania is hoping for wild cards into both Indian Wells and Miami.

Andy Roddick 2009 Men's Champion Memphis

There was a women's event in Bogota Colombia last week that seemed to be the tournament that time forgot. I'm sure the winner, María José Martínez Sánchez (seen below) will remember it. There was also a women's event in Memphis. If you're a casual fan you can be excused for not being aware of it. Two of the top new generation women, Caroline Woznicaki and Victoria Azarenka duked it out for the championship. Ms Wozniacki also had a go at this years feel good story star Jelena Dokic at the beginning of the tournament. There was a lot of interest in the women's side of the event but I guess the wiz kids of the WTA missed that memo. There was absolutely no coverage of the women's event to be found. Zero. Zip. Nada. The entire world, except for the United States, could see the men's event via TennisTV for a fee. Great marketing there too kids. You could, if you looked hard enough, find coverage of the men's event, including the final, if you looked hard enough.

Some tennis heads reported that the camera's were turned off during the women's events in Memphis. The only reason I didn't think this was a joke was because there was really a media blackout for the women. One would think with the WTA only holding on to die hard fans right now they'd look for every chance to put their product out there not hide it. It's not like people were going to descend on Memphis in droves to see the new kids but the tennisheads really wanted to see the play here. Instead they were reduced to scoreboard watching and wild guesses as to what was taking place on court. For a tour that consistently ignores it's top players in favor of one, for a tour that is more the butt of jokes among tennisheads instead of being known as a bastion of good play I find it amazing that every chance isn't taken to push the new generation. I know they're looking for a "savior" but in the meantime push the good product you've got. For every final where one contestant has thirteen double faults(that's you Gisela) there is play like that seen in the Dubai quarters, semis and Final. I'm just sayin' guys. Come on already.

Serena Williams was in the stands for her sister's win at Dubai but wild horses (and several time zones) wouldn't keep her from an Oscar's event. She may be bleary eyed. She may be dog tired but here she is attending Elton John's party. I remember those days when mere mention of the word "party" revived the spirit and sleep could be made up tomorrow. Good times.

Meanwhile, in the "Caption This" photographs of the week Venus was seen working out with her (unidentified) coach.


End Note
I leave you with this question. Why do people laugh when Richard Williams is mentioned as a potential Davis Cup coach for the United States? To steal a phrase enquiring minds want to know.

Tennis Talk

by Savannah


From tennis.com

Veteran coach Nigel Sears, speaking to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, on the WTA on-court coaching rule:

"What if a coach is doing something properly? He will expose the weaknesses of the opponent, not just to your own player but to the locker room, the whole of the tournament. That cannot be popular with the players. Yes, it sorts out the monkeys from the good coaches. And there are plenty of monkeys out here, OK? But I think it's purely a commercial exercise.

"When they're under stress and start being irrational or whatever, you've got an inflammable situation. When players get their games dissected by coaches in front of everybody, they're not going to like it. It'll become more and more cutthroat: 'So-and-so's coach said my forehand was crap, so-and-so said I was a choke, so-and-so said I had no talent at all.' You'll get to that stage.

"
Some coaches don't turn on their mikes while counseling their player which is a violation of the rules regarding on court coaching. I think the whole thing should be scrubbed. It's idiocy and takes away from the sport.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Tennis Channel was widely applauded for deciding not to broadcast any coverage of the WTA Dubai Open due to the Shahar Pe'er situation. In doing so however unless you paid for TennisTV you missed three great women's matches, all involving Venus Williams and Serena Williams.

In yesterdays quarter final match against Elena Dementieva Venus Williams showed why her rank really doesn't matter. Venus, totally dialed in dominated Elena who has been playing very well of late. There was no second set walkabout, no spraying the ball all over the court. Instead there was just an awesome display of Big Babe Tennis by the older of the sisters Williams. A distraught Elena left the court and the arena so quickly her mother couldn't even find her after the match. Along the way Elena cursed out someone or everyone in her box but not speaking Russian I can't tell you what she said. It was a pretty long jag she went on too.


Not to be outdone Serena Williams took the court against media favorite Ana Ivanovic. These days you never know which Ana will be taking the court but the version that showed up yesterday came to play. It was unfortunate that she ran into a determined World Number 1 who was not going to miss the chance to play her sister in the next days semi final. Ana's work with her new coach is already paying dividends. She played confidently and refused to let Serena intimidate her. In the end it didn't matter.

The semi-final match was a roller coaster affair. Venus rode Serena's unforced errors to a 6-1 first set lead in twenty one minutes. Serena returned the favor and powered her way to a 6-2 second set victory. I came in on the middle of the second set with Serena up 3-2 and a murderous look on her face. Two sets had been played in 51 minutes. There was no clear favorite going into the third set.

Serena's left knee was giving her problems but she refused to give into the pain or complain about it. Venus meanwhile decided she wanted to win the match and proceeded to impose her will on the set. Staying focused and making her sister run Venus was hitting winners seemingly at will. Not that Serena was standing there letting her do this. The shot making at one point was vicious and beautiful. It was fitting that the match be decided by a tiebreak which Venus won.

Tomorrow Venus will play Virginie Razzano for the title.
I'm not downplaying Razzano's chances. You never know which Venus will show up.

Venus will be ranked number five in the world after this tournament, her highest ranking since 2003.

ATP Dubai

Rafael Nadal is out.
Roger Federer is out.
Nikolay Davydenko is out.
Fernando Verdasco is out.
Andy Roddick is out.

Replacing them are Ivan Ljubicic, Fabrice Santoro, Teimuraz Gabashviil, Jan Hernych and Sergiy Stakhovsky. Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are the top players remaining. Murray is already in Dubai. Djokovic is playing a 250 at Marseille.

Did the ATP really think that schedule would hold? I mean Roddick pulled out for what amounts to general principles and is taking the "0" against his ranking. I mean he won this last year. There are back to back Master's 1,000 events coming up in the States. On hardcourts. Davis Cup is next week.
Verdasco has pulled out of Davis Cup and Rafael says he's playing. Roddick, who is now playing in Memphis, would've had to play in Birmingham Alabama, fly to Dubai and then fly back to California for what is now the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. Federer has pulled out of Davis Cup as well.
What was that line about shortening the season and making things easier for the players?

Speaking of ranking points part of Brave New World requires a player ranked in the top 30 to play a total of four "500 Series" tournaments, three before the US Open. Roger Federer isn't playing any before the US Open and is scheduled to play Tokyo and Basel after the US Open. He seems to be relying on doing well at "1,000 Series" events and Slams which give winning points of 2,000.

End Notes

Anne Keothavong (above) is quietly having a pretty successful first part of the season for Britain. She plays Caroline Wozniacki for a spot in the Memphis final.

Victoria Azarenka is in the Final at Memphis.

Venus strikes a pose for her sister before a photo shoot for Marie Claire magazine.

Breaking Financial News

by Savannah



"Kourtin Karen" posts the following news item on her board.

Stanford Financial's Fraud Allegations Mean Less Money for Tennis Sponsorships

From the New York Times web site:

HOUSTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission accused Robert Allen Stanford, the chief of the Stanford Financial Group, on Tuesday of conducting “a massive ongoing fraud” in the sale of about $8 billion of high-yielding certificates of deposit held in the firm’s bank in Antigua. Also named in the suit were two other executives and some affiliates of the financial group.
(...)
So what does this mean in terms of tennis? Stanford Financial is the "Official Investment Adviser" of the ATP through 2011, at least according to their web site. In addition, Stanford Financial sponsors some ATP tournaments and the Outback Champions Series. Stanford Financial is also slated to be the "Host Sponsor" for the upcoming Sony Ericsson Open Tournament. Miami is considered the "Fifth Slam" in tennis circles. More tennis sponsorships lost. How do you replace them in these tough economic times? Will we see a "shrinking" of both the ATP and WTA tours due to this economic environment? Time will tell, let's see who the next major tennis sponsor is to fall on hard times.

The link to the complete NY Times article is on her site.

Reuters also reports the following:

The fraud case against Texas billionaire Allen Stanford may raise new questions about the aggressiveness of U.S. securities regulators, who according to an earlier lawsuit had begun examining the financier's sales practices in 2007 or earlier.

A complaint filed last year against Stanford's firm by two former employees contended they were aware of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry into the firm's sales practices while they worked there.

The employees, Mark Tidwell and Charles Rawl, said in their Texas state court lawsuit that they left rather than participate in unlawful business practices. They departed in late 2007.

They said the SEC was looking at the marketing of certificates of deposits and that the Stanford firm had purged files and destroyed documents "with knowledge of an ongoing SEC inquiry."

These high-yielding CDs were at the heart of the SEC's fraud case on Tuesday, when regulators accused Allen Stanford and three companies he runs of operating a worldwide fraud of "shocking magnitude" involving $8 billion in securities that were allegedly falsely marketed to customers.

Tennis Tallk

by Savannah

Oh Serena. You played a grueling three set match against one of the women knocking on the door of superstardom which saw you come back from three match points and after Elena Dementieva easily takes you out you say fatigue had nothing to do with it?

Come on lady. It's a furnace down there right now. Only someone with super human strength could play a match like you did against
Caroline Wozniacki and come back to win the next day. We know you don't like to lose and that you blame yourself when you fall short of your high expectations. You should know by now though that your blaming yourself publicly comes across as not giving your opponents their due. It makes it easy for nonfans to take potshots at you and fans have to go on the offensive defending your statements.

Kick yourself all you want away from the cameras. I'm not saying you should wear sackcloth and ashes but Elena has played very well so far this year and yes, she has looked like a champion. Look on the bright side. She's played a hell of a lot of tennis coming into Melbourne. Unless she's got superhuman strength she's going to stumble at best into week two. And this is coming from someone who picks her to be in the final four at Melbourne.

So take your few days of non tournament play as a gift from the tennis gods. Nurse your anger at losing. Bring it to Melbourne. See you in the semis.

The Australian Whine

Every year about this time some official from Tennis Australia starts in about the threat from Asia in relation to the Australian Open. Last year the concern was about China swallowing the Open whole and taking it to Shanghai. This year it's about the run up tournaments and the threat from the United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi, Doha) to these events.

The designated whiner this year is Colin Stubs described as an "experienced tournament promoter". He is the tournament director for Kooyong. He has the following to say about the new exho at Abu Dhabi.

Stubs...said Australian lead-up tournaments to the Open may be under threat.

"The jury is out as to whether they will ultimately do so. It might just be a honeymoon period," Stubs told The Australian newspaper.

"We don't know, but at the moment, on the face of it, it looks like we do have an issue to address there.

"It is not only this tournament. Brisbane is in the same boat, as is Sydney and Auckland (in New Zealand)."

Stubs's warning follows increasing interest across Asia in hosting a grand slam event.

Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said recently that the Australian Open would not be lost to Asia.

But the tennis series in Abu Dhabi and Doha have already had an impact on the quality of local fields leading into this year's Open.

"I think the dynamics of the early part of the year have changed a little bit," Stubs said.

"It looks to me as though there is a fair bit of money changing hands in Abu Dhabi and as a result of that, you've got to play Doha.

"Now I suppose they (players) have to reassess what they want to do in this particular week. That is one of the issues."

Source
Seriously I understand his concern. Kooyong has been "THE" warmup exhibition for a long time now and to see it's importance diminished has to be alarming to everyone associated with Tennis Australia. The thing is I've read reports that the ATP is looking for Abu Dhabi to take the place of Mercedes Benz in sponsoring the tour. Would it not then follow that the ATP would encourage the big boys to play in the Middle East? Have you spoken to your peers in Germany? As the folks in Berlin what happens when the folks in the Middle East lose interest in a tournament.

I think that the warm up events have been well populated by top ATP players so far. The field at Kooyong isn't bad given when it takes place. Roger Federer is there isn't he? Oh I forgot that he wants to move the Australian Open to February, something Tennis Australia does not want to do. It would change the face of the Slam with all the young people back in school and all. And I understand the weather is more brutal in February than in January in Australia. Meanwhile it's kind of cool in the Middle East in January from what I saw.

It remains to be seen what happens going forward with the Australian Open.

Australian Open News

I mentioned here yesterday that there were reports in French media that Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's back problem had flared up. He withdrew from Sydney yesterday and now
The BBC is reporting that he may be doubtful for the Australian Open. Tsonga is quoted as saying the following:

"I saw my physio a lot yesterday," he added. "I saw the physio from the ATP. I saw the doctor and they told me it's difficult to play like that.
"I just have to wait and come back on the court when I feel better.
"I can't do anything for the next two days. I will stay maybe in my bed and hope I will be better."

Fernando Verdasco played Roger tough in their Kooyong face off winning a set and forcing a third set. Roger said long matches don't bother him at this stage in his career. The score was 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-5). You decide. Next up for Roger at Kooyong is his friend Stan Wawrinka.

David Nalbandian took out Lleyton Hewitt 7-6(3), 7-5. Glad to see Carnival is over David.


Well, well, well, look who's working with who in Australia. Guess someone dragged someone out of the Twilight Zone.

Idle Chit Chat

by Savannah

It's early in the 2009 season and already the off the court games have begun.

Andy Murray said after his win over Roger Federer at Doha that his back was in very bad shape implying that Andy Roddick would win the trophy in a walkover. He played.

Jelena Jankovic, after getting her ass handed to her by Venus at Hong Kong has now said she is so deathly ill with some kind of bug (take your pick here) that she may miss the Australian Open. If she doesn't play the Open her current ranking would be in jeopardy. This is the same ranking that she implied in the off season would have to be pried from her cold dead hands. If you believe her give me a call. I have some prime land in Florida you might be interested in.

Novak Djokovic blamed his early exit from Brisbane on the change he made from a Wilson racquet to a Head racquet. That's interesting because I watched that match and Djoke, to say the least, was only mildly interested in what he was supposed to be doing with that racquet. Whispers abound that he really didn't want to play Brisbane to begin with. Now he's the top seed at Sydney.

In the first real controversy of the young season Richard Gasquet staged a remarkable comeback in his quarterfinal match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at Brisbane. His fans saw the win as proof that 2009 will be Richard's season. I didn't see that match but there are a lot of fans who think something fishy went on and that Gasquet's play didn't have anything to do with it. As proof they could cite Richard's semi final match against Radek Stepanek. Radek did his usual schtick, fist pumping and celebrating wildly after every point he made. This hasn't stopped most of the top players from beating him in the past but Richard came totally unglued. I did watch this match and I was stunned at Gasquet's appeals to the chair to make Radek stop. The chair rightfully ignored the requests. Needless to say Gasquet lost his concentration and the match. His fans are calling Radek a clown in purple pajamas. The clown is in the final. As far as I know Richard isn't blaming his racquet or saying he was sick.


The Week That Was

Victoria Azarenka won her first WTA title over Marion Bartoli at Brisbane. She played very well and if she holds her present form will be a dangerous floater at Melbourne. I still can't get that match where she did everything but show her ass to the chair. I'll have to be convinced she's all that and two bags of chips.

Elena Dementieva is the one to watch in my very humble opinion. She played take no prisoners tennis at Auckland and there was no one there who was able to stop her.

The best match I saw was the one between Anne Keothavong of Great Britain against Elena Vesnina of Russia. This was a battle of relative equals and a lot was on the line for both women. Vesnina won that war but had nothing to fight Dementieva with in the final. Ms Keothavong showed a lot of guts and potential.

The worst match I watched last week was the one between
Amelie Mauresmo and Julie Coin, both of France. Some saw it as a valiant struggle by Amelie against a valiant opponent. All I kept saying was "Julie Coin Amelie?" I was bored to tears and despite Amelie's win the next day against Ana Ivanovic felt that she wasn't playing her best tennis. She retired with a back injury in her match against Marion Bartoli in the first set at 4-4.

The surprise of the week has been Somdev Devvarman of India. Devvarman is the first Indian to reach the Chennai final in quite some time. On his way to the final Somdev defeated Carlos Moya and Ivo Karlovic. Rainer Schuettler withdrew with a wrist inflammation putting Somdev in the final where he'll face Marin Cilic.

Do you see the pattern here? I hope so.

Andy Roddick played very good tennis on his way to the final in Doha. It's been said you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Faced with Murray's heightened level of play Roddick showed he still has trouble thinking on court. Not sure what new coach Larry Stepanki can do about that.

Raise your hand if you picked Slovakia to win the Hopman Cup. Congratulations to Dominika Cibulkova and Dominik Hrbaty for their win over Russia in the final. I didn't see the men's play but Dominika was moving Safina all over the court with ease. Let's see how deep she goes in Oz.

Team Americas, Gisela Dulko, Venus Williams and
Coco Vandeweghe won the Hong Kong Exhibition. Venus defeated Vera Zvonareva to secure her teams victory. Nice work ladies.

All in all this was a hell of a week for tennis fans. There was tennis all hours of the day and night, most of it available online. My daughter and I set up our laptops side by side watching live streams and still had a third stream going. With the Australian Open coming up it was good practice to be watching a match that started at 4a EST in the United States. We'll be doing a lot of that over the next three weeks. Sleep is a very overrated activity.

I wasn't looking to go into the shallow end of the pool so early in the season but hey, sometimes a blogger's got to do what a blogger's got to do. That said could someone explain to me what the hell is going on with Vera's outfit? I know it gets cool in Hong Kong this time of year but this out uglies Aravane Rezai's get up in Auckland. Sorry Vera. You get the Golden Finger this week.