Melbourne Mash-Up

by Savannah

Calm down kiddies. The bromance isn't over. Fans of "FedAl" - the name given to the Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal friendship, were apparently heartbroken at press reports that a difference of opinion between the two men had led to an irreparable rift. Federer himself called bullshit on the reports as did Rafa.



Nikolay Davydenko picked up where Rafa left off however and rhetorically questioned why Federer was not with the players on this one.

This REPORT covers all bases.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A day after a rare show of discord, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal quickly closed ranks.
Nadal had criticized Federer for his unwillingness to speak out on issues affecting the men's game, allowing others to "burn themselves" as they seek improved conditions for players.

After joining Nadal in the second round of the Australian Open with a win on Monday, Federer said "things are fine" between the two longtime rivals, although he concedes that they disagree on a way to resolve a list of player grievances that includes the length of the season and the distribution of prize money.

"We can't always agree on everything," Federer said. "So far it's always been no problem really. Back in the day he (Nadal) used to say, 'Whatever Roger decides, I'm fine with.'
"Today he's much more grown up. He has a strong opinion himself, which I think is great."

For his part, Nadal apologized for airing his disagreement with Federer in public — although he didn't back down on the views he expressed.
"Probably I am wrong telling that to (the media), especially because these things can stay, must stay in the locker room," Nadal said.
"I always had fantastic relationship with Roger. I still have fantastic relationship with Roger. Just I said we can have different views about how the tour needs to work. That's all."

The rift emerged following a player meeting on Saturday that sparked talk of a possible strike for the second time in six months.
Nadal wasn't alone in questioning Federer's stance. Former No. 3-ranked Nikolay Davydenko said Monday he didn't understand why the 16-time Grand Slam champion wasn't supporting his fellow players.

The Russian said that while Nadal and No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic had been leading the push for changes, Federer had been reluctant to get involved.

"I don't know why Roger is not supporting the players," Davydenko said. "Because he don't want ... any problems. He's nice guy. He's winning Grand Slams. He's from Switzerland. He's perfect.
"He don't want to do anything, he just try to be an outsider from this one."

However, Federer said his reluctance to speak out shouldn't be construed as a lack of support.
"I was in the meeting. I completely understand and support the players' opinions," Federer said. "I just have a different way of going at it. I'm not discussing it with you guys in the press room. It creates unfortunately sometimes negative stories."
The players plan to meet again at the Indian Wells Masters tournament in March when they will assess how much progress has been made before deciding on a course of action.

Davydenko said a strike remained a remote prospect, but that "the ATP should try to do something between now and Indian Wells." Federer wants to avoid such drastic action if possible.

"(Strike) is such a dangerous word to use," Federer said. "It's not good for anyone really. We've seen it in other sports happening in the States. That's why I'm always very careful about it.

"If there's no avoiding it, I'll support the rest of the players. But I just think we have to think it through how we do it, if we do it, can we do it, whatever it is, instead of just going out and screaming about it."

Federer said there are "two or three" big issues that the players have been discussing. They include the length of the season and prize money at Grand Slam tournaments, which some players believe has not increased proportionately with growing profits.
American John Isner said he had been to the meeting and felt the players had a "legitimate beef" over prize money, which is also an issue at the Indian Wells tournament, where Davydenko said those players who lose in the first round can sometimes lose money after paying tax and travel costs to compete.

Federer said he was confident "a good solution" would be reached and he welcomed the healthy debate. Nadal, meanwhile, vowed that he wouldn't be speaking about it in public again.

"I do not talk anymore," he said. "Yesterday (Sunday), I started, and I say I don't want to talk anymore about this. Finally I talked too much as usual. That's not going to happen again. You can try hard, but I'm going to talk about tennis."

I read a lot about this situation yesterday and I agree with the tennishead who pointed out that those who feel nothing is wrong with the present schedule are living in the past. The game has become much more physical than it was thirty or even twenty years ago. Racquet technology allows for levels of play not dreamed of when the schedule was formatted.

As expected a lot of criticism is directed at the Rogers Cup/Cincinnati swing in the summer. I also point to the spring hardcourt swing where Indian Wells and Miami are pretty much back to back. If you've been reading this space a long time you know that a lot of the current discontent came about when the USTA made a push to shorten the clay season by getting rid of Monte Carlo and Hamburg in an attempt to give it's mostly hardcourt players a chance to move up in the rankings. Both Monte Carlo and Hamburg are still there and the rankings thing, well, it hasn't happened. The people behind the move didn't seem to be aware that the rest of the world they hold in such disdain was learning how to play on concrete while their players were aging and sagging under the weight of expectations.

Water under the bridge? Maybe. Maybe some of the Axis based press has been looking for a chink in the armor of European solidarity and were hoping this was their dream come true. I don't know. I remember both Federer and Nadal coming together over Monte Carlo and Hamburg and while as in any adult relationship, friendship or otherwise, there are disagreements. I for one still maintain that the real anger against Federer comes from his not supporting Richard Krajicek. No one in the tennis press is talking about that so a casual observer can be forgiven for thinking this came about all of a sudden.

There are many fans who think there will be some kind of action taken in 2013. 2012 has barely begun. There is still time for negotiation.
Let's hope so.

Weekend Winners

by Savannah


Nikolay Davydenko proved the deathwatch is a little premature. His win in Munich is his first in a long time but it came over local favorite Florian Mayer who had played well all week.

Think he wasn't happy?

Urged on by rapturous fans Novak Djokovic won his own tournament over Feliciano Lopez in straight sets.

Juan Martin del Potro schooled Fernando Verdasco in Estoril. I don't think Fernando had a chance to get the license plate of the truck that hit him.

Anabel Medina Garrigues won the ladies title in Estoril, her first in quite some time.
Ladies doubles champions in Estoril are Alisa Kleybanova and Galina Voskoboeva.

Roberta Vinci of Italy was the victor in Barcelona.

The doubles team of Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova took the crown in Barcelona.

Welcome to the Club...

by Savannah

There were some first timers among the winners on Sunday.

Pablo Andujar of Spain won his first title playing on the African continent. He defeated veteran Potito Starace in straight sets 6-1, 6-2. Starace is now 0-4 in finals.

Bahamian born United States resident Ryan Sweeting overcame nerves and outplayed Nishikori Kei to win the United States Mens Clay Court Championship in Houston Texas. At 23 Sweeting may just now be living down his past, a past that includes a DUI and possession of Adderal without a prescription. This isn't to say the United States has a legitimate clay court player. Sweeting has the impatience of a born and bred hard courter and got in trouble during the match trying to use hard court tactics to end points early.
In the end it was Nishikori who looked as if he were new to finals though and Sweeting was the one lifting the trophy.

Staying stateside Caroline Wozniacki won at Charleston for the first time. She defeated Elena Vesnina to win the Family Circle Cup. In a bizarre bit of scheduling FCC officials had to rush Caroline through her presser - she only answered two questions - in order to catch a flight that would take her to Monte Carlo where she'll play an exhibition with Francesca Schiavone later today. Some press hounds were a tad upset.

The doubles team of Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina won the Family Circle Cup doubles crown. Vesnina played two matches today.

Heading back to Europe Victoria Azarenka defeated 18 year old qualifier Irina-Camelia Begu at Marbella to win her second championship in a row.

The doubles crown at Marbella was won by the team of Nuria Llagostera Vives and Arantxa Parra Santonja

Lastly the doubles crown in Houston was won by Americans Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan. It's fitting to end with them since they will be the only Americans playing Monte Carlo.

Miscellany

Americans will go wherever and whenever the better players aren't regardless of surface

I read this quote on a fanboard and it gave me pause. The fan was talking about the lack of American singles players in Monte Carlo following up the fact that for the third year in a row American men, except for the Bryan twins, are sitting at home for the start of the European clay season. I've also noted lots of fans citing the fact that the Europeans come to the States and play the spring hard court swing but Americans don't play on European clay unless they have to.

It shouldn't be forgotten that the American tennis establishment tried very hard to get rid of Monte Carlo altogether and that the Europeans fought back and saved it. The compromise was that it would keep its status as a Masters 1000 event but no longer be mandatory. That gives Americans the cover they want and need.

I posted this picture back in 2008 showing Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer walking together into Monte Carlo, an image that startled the press at the time. Both men were campaigning for the ATP to leave Monte Carlo alone. Up until this picture was taken it had seemed that Rafael and Nikolay Davydenko were the only ones who were up front about how they felt about the tournament. Click the above link to read what was going on back then.

And just in case you think that the Americans are getting over their clay phobia all you had to do was listen to the commentary during the Houston final. Every chance he got Jimmy Arias was praising "American style tennis" against the more patient style required to play on clay. This went on throughout the match.

It's sad that those who see the need for the United States to get off it's high horse about clay court play have to fight such a hard battle.

What A Long Strange Trip It's Been

by Savannah

Never take anything for granted. I had no intention of staying away from blogging as long as I have but sometimes you're dealt an unexpected hand.

Back in December I got sick at home and was rushed to the hospital thanks to the quick thinking of my daughter who goes by the name Haruka in these parts. To make a long story short a medicine I had been prescribed was poisoning my system. It was only through the insistence of my doctor of over twenty years that the true reason for me being sick was found and treated. I'll talk about this more in my non tennis blog "A Reclaimed Life".

I missed doing my year end coaches review and players of the year. I missed talking about Nikolay Davydenko winning the ATP WTF. I'll just list them briefly. No pictures.

Coach of the Year - ATP

Francisco Davin, coach of Juan Martin del Potro. His charge won the US Open. Eduard Davydenko gets honorable mention.

ATP Player of the Year

If you go by stats there is only one man who can be chosen. When you win two Slams that means something no matter what. Congratulations to Roger Federer.
Honorable mentions go to Andy Roddick who has really started to play modern tennis and Juan Martin del Potro

WTA Coach of the Year

Once again my hat goes off to Richard Williams and Oracene Price. Their daughters, one of whom ended the year with the number one ranking while the other is in the top ten show that all the unorthodox things Richard and Oracene did with their girls, especially having outside interests, proved to be right.

WTA Player of the Year

Serena Williams. If I have to explain you're not a tennis fan.

Match of the Year

ATP: Fernando Verdasco vs Rafael Nadal Australian Open Semi Final
WTA: Elena Dementieva vs Serena Williams Wimbledon Semi final

The Australian Open

ATP: We'll find out just who Nikolay Davydenko is. If Roddick is patient he will be the only American in the second week. As for Delpo i really don't know.
WTA: I expect seeds to fall llke rain on the women's side. Serena will either go out early or make the Final. If Venus makes the quarters I'll be happy. I expect to see Elena go deep but I said that last year.

You can tell I've been sick. I don't normally make predictions but this is what I'm thinking as the Australian Open begins at 7p Eastern time. This is the quirkiest of the Slams so it's hard to say anything with certainty.

I will try and do my usual thing for a Slam and give daily or every other day reviews. It feels good to be back.

World Tour Finals Final

by Craig Hickman


Reuters/Getty

The one who defeated Roger Federer en route to this final should take the title.

Oh, wait. They both did that.

Okay. So. The one who returns serve most aggressively should take the title. Nikolay Davydenko is capable of serving into the corners when you least expect him but Juan Martín del Potro won't be as frustrated by the Russian's delivery as he was by the Swede's so he should find himself with more looks to break serve. But Kolya returns serve about as well as anyone, leads their head-to-head 2-1, and gave del Potro quite a shellacking at this event last year. Still, the Tower of Tandil is a different player now than he was a year ago.

I've no doubt both of them can hoist the tour's final 2009 trophy, so I'll take another third-set breaker, a tub of popcorn, and may the most composed man win.

World Tour Finals Day 7 Preview

by Craig Hickman


Getty

Group A has the advantage. Roger Federer and Juan Martín del Potro had a day off, Robin Soderling and Nikolay Davydenko did not.

The Russian has the shortest turnaround and the worst record of all against his opponent. I still don't understand why Kolya hasn't been able to defeat the world No. 1 even once. They have played tight sets, but Kolya always manages to find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. I'm not sure Raja will be in any mood to even allow him to get close today. I'll be surprised if the Swiss doesn't win in straights.


Getty

Getty

I, for one, am going to thoroughly enjoy watching the Rude Power boys duke it out. They've split their only two meetings with the Argentinean winning their only match in 2009. But that was way back in Auckland, which seems like a lifetime ago. The Swede won a set last night to avoid facing Raja in this round, so let's see what he has left to bring against del Potro. I see a third set breaker. Bring on the popcorn.

Getty

Day 7 - Semifinals Order Of Play

Day Session: 12.30 pm GMT (7.30 am ET)

Mirnyi/Ram vs. Cermak/Mertinak

Followed by
[1] Roger Federer vs. [6] Nikolay Davydenko

Night Session: 7 pm GMT (2 pm ET)

Bhupathi/Knowles vs. Bryan/Bryan

Followed by
[8] Robin Söderling vs. [5] Juan Martín del Potro

There should be no night session for the semifinals. In both singles and doubles, it gives the day-session winners an advantage they don't need heading into the finals tomorrow.

Weekend Winners

by Savannah

Maria Sharapova was handed the Championship trophy of the Pan Pacific Open by Jelena Jankovic who retired during their final with a wrist injury.

Gilles Simon proudly hoists the winners trophy he earned by winning the Thailand Open over Victor Troicki.

Nikolay Davydenko (right) holds the winners trophy for the first Malaysian Open Tournament that was held in Kuala Lumpur. Fernando Verdasco was the runner up.

Rajeev Ram and Eric Butorac won the doubles crown in Bangkok

Alisa Kleybanova and Francesca Schiavone are the PPO doubles champions for 2009

Mariusz Fyrstenberg (L) and Marcin Matkowski (R) took home the doubles championship at the Malaysian Open

Seen and Heard Around - US Open Day 7

by Savannah

Player Talk

Before all the hoopla of the day starts I'd like to post some statements made by players that may have gotten lost in the sauce over the last couple of days.

Let's start with Kim Clijsters interview after defeating Venus Williams. It should be noted that Kim, during her on court interview with Mary Jo Fernandez, when asked how it was juggling a child and a career said flat out that she has help so it's not so bad. Mary Jo didn't follow up on that. Wonder why?

Anywho here's what she said at the end of the interview posted on the official US Open Site

Q. You needed to measure yourself against some of the bigger names in tennis. Today you defeated Venus. How does this affect your confidence?

KIM CLIJSTERS: Well, you know, I know today that Venus wasn't playing her best tennis. In that sense it's hard to kind of compare anything in today's match. But there's a lot of other things personally that I'm taking out of this match. That's just the mental strength that I kept focusing on and just trying to although in that second set I wasn't hitting the ball, I was just trying to regroup.
Those kinds of things. Reading the game a little bit, adjusting my game a little bit to a couple of weaknesses that I had out there. That's a very positive thing for myself, where in the past I maybe could have just let it slip away a little bit.
Now I really felt comfortable at just getting back and just fighting through that match.

FastScripts by ASAP Sports

Nikolay Davydenko, you remember him don't you, was interviewed by the Russian press and made the following statement. Thanks to "Oddman" and "HelenW" for the quotes that were originally posted on vamosbrigade.com

Kolya Davydenko has just finished his interview to Russian TV. He wasn't exactly complaining, because he smiled nicely all the time, so let's call it "he described some problems". He said that regardless of what organizers stated, all the courts in the US Open played differently. And a player who is placed in one and the same court has an advantage. Kolya played three rounds in 3 courts: Nos.4, 7 and 11. So he played 3 matches on 3 different surfaces, and every match was like the 1st one for him in terms of feeling the surface.

When asked whether he preferred playing against Soderling or Querrey, he said that he'd rather play against Soderling whom he hated, than vs Querrey, because there's a very good chance that Sod's match will be placed in Court 11, while Querrey's match will be definitely placed in one of the bigger courts.

Then his smile broadened to its extremity, and he said: "You want somebody to lose? Relocate him to a different court. From Ashe to Armstrong, for example". The next question was: "Are you speaking about Dinara?". The answer was: "Is that what they did to her? No, I was thinking about last year semifinals".

No wonder the American press avoids him like the plague. By the way he'll be playing on Armstrong today.

The last statement is from Dinara Safina. I have to say that watching Dinara take the court the other night the look I saw on her face was one of sheer terror. At least I thought it was. Maybe she was just past pissed.

At any rate this is a verbatim report by Diane Pucin that was posted to the LA Times.

Safina said she wasn't asked. She was told by tournament officials. "They came to us at 9:10 p.m. and just told us to switch to Armstrong," she said. "Basically, that's it. It was very unfair. The best player in the world to put on Armstrong. Their answer was that they prefer a five-set match to a three-set woman match."

Turned out the men's match was three sets too, Blake went out without much fight and the men's match ended up 10 minutes after Safina's upset.

"That's it, they don't want to listen, just move to Armstrong," Safina said. "I keep asking why we're playing on Armstrong at 10. They tell us just play, go on, go on 10 on Armstrong."

After speaking about the match and about how she had a game plan to go on the court and make Kvitova move all around, she instead came on the court, stood still and let Kvitova dictate play. "It's my brain," she said.

But then she went back to the other subject.

"I'm No. 1 player in the world," she said. "Why move me? American Blake because they want five sets instead of three. I always look forward to play night session on Arthur Ashe, it's best thing in the U.S. Open."

Kvitova didn't complain at all. "Yeah, doesn't matter to me," the 20-year-old from the Czech Republic said. "I'm not a star."

The problem was that thousands of night session ticket holders had to stand outside until the Roddick match ended after nine.

Tournament officials said they didn't want to delay the Robredo-Blake match because the winner was slated to meet Roger Federer next. Federer had finished his match about 2 on Saturday.

U.S. Open spokesman Chris Widmaier said, "You've got to balance safety issues, a big crowd, but the No. 1 factor is competitive integrity," he said. "If we had not split matches, the women's match would have been started at about 10:30 and who knows what time Blake and Robredo would have finished?"

European players have had beef with the US Open since about 2003 when an exhausted Juan Carlos Ferrero played the final after playing several days straight while his opponent got favorable treatment. Look it up folks.

Bizzaro Tennis World


This is a shot of Vera Zvonareva's knees at some point during her match against Flavia Pennetta last night. I have to say at some point because the wrapping ended up in quite a different state later in the match as can be seen below.

There are good matches tennisheads talk about for years where the players play sublimely, the on court intensity is fierce, and the eventual winner looks like he or she has been through a war.
Then there are the matches that go into the "What the fuck was that" category. Unfortunately for Vera her match last evening will forever be in that category.

Vera was once known only for her emotional outbursts on court not her tennis. She had turned that image around recently playing very well and containing her emotion. Last night she played great for a set and a half. Then Flavia woke up and began to play tennis the way she had been coming into the Open. Forcing and then winning a second set tiebreak despite Vera having had multiple match points Flavia stood by watching as her opponent literally came apart at the seams.

It was not a pretty sight folks but like the proverbial train wreck you're horrified but can't look away. All Flavia did in the third set was keep the ball between the lines while Vera flailed around unable to let go of that second set melt down. Flavia served her a bagel.

My main criticism goes to the commentators though. Cathy Rinaldi had impressed me a couple of days ago with her work but last night I think she let her partner, not sure who he was, have run of things. I'm not a broadcast journalist let alone a commentator so I don't know the etiquette involved in who does what in the booth. I do know that Cathy was the professional last night and that at some point she should've done a Virginia Wade and just cut the idiot off. Most fans know about Vera and her towel. If you've never seen it before it's striking and a little off putting but you're being paid to commentate. Move on. It's not a running gag, especially when the player is in the middle of a complete meltdown. Is it too much to ask that the people commentating on tennis have some familiarity with the sport and its players? Like him or not Chris Fowler has come a long way from when he first started and he did it by asking questions. Mike Tirico came to work prepared and can talk with the egomaniacs of the ESPN booth as an equal. It seems that the people who are working the live streams aren't held to such a high standard. Shame since for those of us without Tennis Channel the online streams were all that was available.

Thoroughly Modern Tennis

I get it. I really do. Serve and volley tennis is the preferred style of play for Australians and Americans. Maybe the Brits get thrown in there too. Nothing makes me roll my eyes more than when a commentator, seeing the style used as a tactic by modern era players goes on for twenty minutes about how wonderful it is to see it and if only more players would use it the game could be what it was in their youth.
Newsflash folks. It ain't coming back as the only way to play. It can be part of a players arsenal and should be, but no one is going to take the court and only play serve and volley. That's why it was painful to watch Taylor Dent last night. His story is compelling and you can't help but pull for him knowing that he didn't have a snowballs chance in hell with his anachronistic playing style.
Whichever Jensen that was doing commentary last night was flogging that dead horse to no end however and in the end I turned the sound off because of his cheerleading. Once again his partner let him run with it. The commentary was less about the match and all about Taylor, his parents, who he came on the scene with and serve and volley.
If Dent is going to try and make a go of it in the modern world of tennis he's going to have to learn to use serve and volley as a tactic. This is what some of the old warhorses don't want to discuss. They want to ignore the technology that has changed the game, some even started a push to go back to wooden racquets awhile back, but time waits for no one. Taylor has talent. He's going to have to do what Andy Roddick has done and embrace the modern.

Order of Play Day 8 (Singles Only)

Arthur Ashe Stadium 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - 4th Round
Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) v. Gisela Dulko (ARG)
2. Women's Singles - 4th Round
Melanie Oudin (USA) v. Nadia Petrova (RUS)[13]
Not Before:14:30
3. Men's Singles - 4th Round
Roger Federer (SUI)[1] v. Tommy Robredo (ESP)[14]
Arthur Ashe Stadium 19:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - 4th Round
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)[9] v. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)[6]
2. Men's Singles - 4th Round
Novak Djokovic (SRB)[4] v. Radek Stepanek (CZE)[15]

Louis Armstrong Stadium 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - 4th Round
Robin Soderling (SWE)[12] v. Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)[8]
2. Women's Singles - 4th Round
Petra Kvitova (CZE) v. Yanina Wickmayer (BEL)
Not Before:15:00
3. Men's Singles - 4th Round
Fernando Verdasco (ESP)[10] v. John Isner (USA)

End Notes

American juniorAsia Muhammad wiped up the court with French number one Kristina Mladenovic yesterday. Major surprise.

Sloane Stephens also won her opening round match. Heather Watson of Great Britain and Noppawan Lertcheewakarn also won on the girls side.

As for the boys number one Yuki Bhambri won easily while Chase Buchanan needed three sets to move to the next round. Bernard Tomic won in straight sets.

Sunday's Stars

by Savannah

Bank of the West Classic

Marion Bartoli reminded tennis fans why so many were expecting so much of her. With surgeon like precision Bartoli dismantled Venus Williams the way Venus had dismantled her previous opponents. Sure Venus forced a third set but she was never really in the match. It was as if Bartoli took her by surprise with her off kilter approach to play. In the end Marion deservedly won.

The Williams sisters didn't come away empty handed though. They won the doubles crown, their first outside of a slam in a long, long time.

Umag

Nikolay Davydenko is letting more than just his personality show these days. He totally dismantled Juan Carlos Ferrero in Croatia winning the final in straight sets. It was a masterful performance by Davydenko who didn't let Juan Carlos into the match to win his second title in as many weeks.
F Cermak and M Mertinak won the Doubles.

Gstaad

Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil won his first main tour tournament defeating Andreas Beck. Congratulations to Thomaz.
M. Chiudinelli and M. Lammer won the Doubles

Los Angeles

The third time was the charm for Sam Querrey. He defeated fellow Californian Carsten Ball in three sets. Ball, who plays Davis Cup for Australia lives in California and the two have known each other for some time. This was Querrey's third final in a row.
Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan won the Doubles.

Istanbul

Vera Dushevina won the Istanbul title.
Lucie Hradecka and Renata Voracova won the Doubles.

Seen and Heard Around

by Savannah

So, who else watched Venus absolutely own Dementieva today? It was a pretty thorough ass whupping.

Frequent poster sG made the above comment and I don't think there's much more to say. I mean Venus didn't let Elena breathe imposing her will from the opening shot of the match until it's merciful end. Elena did manage to hold serve once hence the 6-0, 6-1 score. If that's how Venus is doing her second set walkabouts these days the tour had better look out.

I expected a knock down drag out three set match that Venus would win in the end. I didn't expect ownage. I didn't expect Elena to look like a newbie on the court with no answers for what Venus was throwing at her. None. Elena didn't have a chance to unleash her powerful ground strokes and when she did Venus went "nuh-uh, not havin' it", and that was that.

Venus opponent in the final will be none other than recently slimmed down Marion Bartoli. Marion has stated that she would do anything to replay her Wimbledon Final match. Here's her chance, on a hardcourt in the United States.

The player pictured above was expected to make an appearance in the men's final in Los Angeles. He showed a lot of fire and passion during the match. Too bad it wasn't on the court. If he'd shown the same fire there as he did towards his box maybe he would've beaten Sam Querrey.

I'm not quite sure how Sam got to the Final, I find it difficult to watch him play let alone take him seriously but here he is in his third straight final. He's playing a guy named Carsten Ball. Ball is from Australia and as far as I know this is his first main tour final. He hasn't used racial slurs against opponents, stormed off the court in a fit of pique, or engaged in any of the usual shenanigans Aussie players are known for. Someone will win the match.

By the way these are not drunken frat boys who wandered into the stands. These are the "Sam"urai. American tennis marketers seem to have a thing about a bunch of drunks cheering on American players. Remember the late and unlamented "J" Block? The"Sam"urai were so bad that the chair had to tell the to shut up the other night. Let's hope these guys go the way of the "J" block and quickly.

Former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice has been showing up at tennis matches lately. She was at Stanford yesterday. She used to work there.

I've been focusing on the US Open Series but there is a nice little match that will take place in Europe today.

Nikolay Davydenko will face Juan Carlos Ferrero at Umag. Both men have been playing very well of late and it should be a beautiful clay court match between two veteran players.

I don't favor either man. In my opinion the match should go the distance but then again opinions are like anal apertures. Everyone has one.

The other clay court final features two newbies, Andreas Beck(above) and Thomaz Bellucci. They're playing for the trophy at Gstaad.

I've seen Brazilian Bellucci play and remember that he has a nice game. I've never seen Beck play.

Draw-capades

The women play in Los Angeles next week. This is the draw. Some are already whining about Maria Sharapova having to face Victoria Azarenka if she gets past Jarmila Groth who is playing the role of sacrificial lamb in this little drama. Trust me the US Open draw will not have someone like Azarenka anywhere near the Golden Child. By the way if that match does end up taking place bring your ear plugs.

(1) SAFINA, Dinara RUS vs BYE
LISICKI, Sabine GER vs HANTUCHOVA, Daniela SVK
SZAVAY, Agnes HUN vs VESNINA, Elena RUS
QUALIFIER vs (14) ZHENG, Jie CHN

(9) BARTOLI, Marion FRA vs NICULESCU, Monica ROU
QUALIFIER vs KIRILENKO, Maria RUS
(WC) KING, Vania USA vs BAMMER, Sybille AUT
BYE vs (6) IVANOVIC, Ana SRB

(4) WOZNIACKI, Caroline DEN vs BYE
CIRSTEA, Sorana ROU vs (WC) LARCHER DE BRITO, Michelle POR
CZINK, Melinda HUN vs MAKAROVA, Ekaterina RUS
QUALIFIER vs (13) STOSUR, Samantha AUS

(11) RAZZANO, Virginie FRA vs CHAKVETADZE, Anna RUS
KLEYBANOVA, Alisa RUS vs KUDRYAVTSEVA, Alla RUS
QUALIFIER vs SUGIYAMA, Ai JPN
BYE vs (8) RADWANSKA, Agnieszka POL
----------------------------------------------------

(7) CIBULKOVA, Dominika SVK vs BYE
RADWANSKA, Urszula POL vs COIN, Julie FRA
WOZNIAK, Aleksandra CAN vs MATTEK-SANDS, Bethanie USA
MORITA, Ayumi JPN vs (12) LI, Na CHN

(15) KANEPI, Kaia EST vs SAFAROVA, Lucie CZE
SHAUGHNESSY, Meghann USA vs BONDARENKO, Alona UKR
SHARAPOVA, Maria RUS vs GROTH, Jarmila SVK
BYE vs (3) AZARENKA, Victoria BLR

(5) PETROVA, Nadia vs BYE
PEER, Shahar ISR vs QUALIFIER
GARBIN, Tathiana ITA vs (WC) VANDEWEGHE, Coco USA
QUALIFIER vs (10) PENNETTA, Flavia ITA

(16) SCHIAVONE, Francesca vs QUALIFIER
WICKMAYER, Yanina BEL vs VAIDISOVA, Nicole CZE
QUALIFIER vs PENG, Shuai CHN
BYE vs (2) ZVONAREVA, Vera RUS

Too bad Sabine Lisicki vs Daniela Hantuchova is taking place so early. I've made a vow never to watch Daniella play again unless I've had a sleepless night. If Lisicki lets Dani set the pace she's a goner. Agnes Szavay could be a dangerous opponent in Safina's section. I'm surprised that Ana Ivanovic is seeded high enough to get a Bye. Then again Nicole Vaidisova is in the main draw.