Weekend Winners and some news...

by Savannah

Interesting news from the ATP last week.

Julio Silva was disqualified at Costa do Sauipe after throwing a racquet and it hit a linesman in the mouth and he was bleeding.

In Dubai qualies Michael Lammer was disqualified while playing Stefan Koubek. Koubek lost the first set 7-5 and then he won the 2nd 7-5. Lammer got pissed off (I guess at himself) and when he tried to hit racquet against the ad boards it fell out of his hand and hit the linesman. Fines pending?

The big news today is Roger Federer pulling out of Dubai with what is being called a chest infection. Roger blames his hectic schedule away from the courts including a recent trip to Ethiopia for his illness.

The world number one who has not played since beating Andy Murray for the Australian Open title, picked up the problem in recent days after returning to Switzerland after his Melbourne title, heading to Dubai and and then visiting a school his foundations fund in Ethiopia last week.

'I'm hoping to be back for Indian Wells said the 16-time Grand Slam winner. 'But of course there are no promises.

'This is something that with proper treatment will be finished,' said Federer, whose 2008 season was compromised by a case of glandular fever.

'I've been taking it easy, relaxing as much as possible. My breathing is a bit difficult and everything feels a bit slow. I can't take any chances until I'm fit again.

'It could be better, it could be worse.'

The Swiss player's place in the draw for the 500 series event which begins Monday was taken by Spaniard Tommy Robredo.

SOURCE

In case you were wondering why play was suspended a couple of days last week in Buenos Aires due to rain here are some pictures that clear up any questions you may have.


This young man seems to be the only one happy about the situation. To be a kid again.

The Winners Circle

Venus Williams successfully defended her title in Dubai. She is scheduled to play next in Acapulco.

The Spanish team of Nuria Llagostera Vives and M.J. Martínez Sánchez won the doubles at Dubai.

Michael Llodra defeated countryman Julen Benneteau to win the trophy at Marseille.

A title is a title and Maria Sharapova proudly holds the trophy she won at Memphis. She is also dressed better than she has been in recent memory. Keep it simple Maria.

Vania King and Michaella Krajicek won the women's doubles crown.

Sam Querrey, holding the winners trophy, looks at runner up John Isner. Sam also wins the what not to wear award for this week.

Mariana Duque Marino hoists the winners trophy for the WTA Bogota Tennis Championship held in her home country of Colombia.

Juan Carlos Ferrero kisses his second winners trophy in as many weeks. Juan Carlos has battled back from illness and ignored the folks who whispered it was time to hang it up and is playing some of the best tennis of his career.

The Weekend Wrap Up

by Savannah

Shahar Pe'er is the Guangzhou 2009 Champion

Olga Govortsova and Tatiana Poutchek won the Doubles Championship at Guangzhou

Vania King and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova

Melinda Czink 2009 Quebec City Champion

Davis Cup Results


It will be defending champions Spain against the Czech Republic December 4-6 in Spain.
Complete results are listed below.

WORLD GROUP SEMIFINALS

CZECH REPUBLIC defeated CROATIA 4-1
Venue: Sportska Dvorana “Zatika”, Porec, CRO (clay - indoors)

Radek Stepanek (CZE) d. Ivo Karlovic (CRO) 67(5) 76(5) 76(6) 67(2) 1614
Tomas Berdych (CZE) d. Marin Cilic (CRO) 63 63 36 46 63
Tomas Berdych/Radek Stepanek (CZE) d. Marin Cilic/Lovro Zovko (CRO) 61 63 64
Jan Hajek (CZE) d. Roko Karanusic (CRO) 76(4) 64
Lovro Zovko (CRO) d. Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) 63 64

SPAIN defeated ISRAEL 4-1
Venue: Polaris World la Torre Golf Resort, Torre Pacheco, Murcia, ESP (clay - outdoors)

David Ferrer (ESP) d. Harel Levy (ISR) 61 64 63
Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) d. Dudi Sela (ISR) 64 62 60
Tommy Robredo/Feliciano Lopez (ESP) d. Jonathan Erlich/Andy Ram (ISR) 76(6) 67(7) 64 62
David Ferrer (ESP) d. Andy Ram (ISR) 63 61
Harel Levy (ISR) d. Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 75 62

Spain to host Czech Republic in 2009 World Group Final in Spain on 4-6 December.

WORLD GROUP PLAY-OFFS

CHILE defeated AUSTRIA 3-2
Venue: Medialuna Monumental of Rancagua, Rancagua, CHI (clay – outdoors)

Nicolas Massu
Nicolas Massu (CHI) d. Jurgen Melzer (AUT) 46 64 64 63
Paul Capdeville (CHI) d. Stefan Koubek (AUT) 64 64 36 16 64
Julian Knowle/Jurgen Melzer (AUT) d. Paul Capdeville/Nicolas Massu (CHI) 62 64 63
Jurgen Melzer (AUT) d. Paul Capdeville (CHI) 76(2) 46 62 57 64
Nicolas Massu (CHI) d. Stefan Koubek (AUT) 64 46 64 76(6)

BELGIUM defeated UKRAINE 3-2
Venue: Spiroudome de Charleroi, Charleroi, BEL (clay – indoors)

Christophe Rochus (BEL) d. Illya Marchenko (UKR) 63 64 36 62
Steve Darcis (BEL) d. Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) 62 63 64
Sergei Bubka/Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) d. Xavier Malisse/Olivier Rochus (BEL) 76(5) 36 64 76(4)
Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) d. Xavier Malisse (BEL) 63 36 06 61 63
Steve Darcis (BEL) d. Sergei Bubka (UKR) 62 61 60

ECUADOR defeated BRAZIL 3-2
Venue: Ginasio Gigantinho, Porto Alegre, BRA (clay – indoors)

Marcos Daniel (BRA) d. Giovanni Lapentti (ECU) 76(3) 36 76(4) 62
Nicolas Lapentti (ECU) d. Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) 76(2) 64 75
Giovanni Lapentti/Nicolas Lapentti (ECU) d. Marcelo Melo/Andre Sa (BRA) 36 63 64 46 64
Nicolas Lapentti (ECU) d. Marcos Daniel (BRA) 64 64 16 26 86
Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) d. Julio-Cesar Campazano (ECU) 62 64

FRANCE defeated NETHERLANDS 4-1
Venue: MECC Maastricht, Maastricht, NED (clay – indoors)

Thiemo de Bakker (NED) d. Gael Monfils (FRA) 63 57 63 64
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) d. Jesse Huta Galung (NED) 76(2) 62 76(3)
Michael Llodra/Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) d. Thiemo de Bakker/Igor Sijsling (NED) 63 36 76(2) 64
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) d, Thiemo de Bakker (NED) 76(5) 62 36 76(4)
Jeremy Chardy (FRA) d. Jesse Huta Galung (NED) 63 62

INDIA defeated SOUTH AFRICA 4-1
Venue: Ellis Park Indoor Arena, Johannesburg, RSA (hard – indoors)

Somdev Devvarman (IND) d. Izak van der Merwe (RSA) 76(5) 63 64
Rohan Bopanna (IND) d. Rik de Voest (RSA) 26 64 62 64
Jeff Coetzee/Wesley Moodie (RSA) d. Mahesh Bhupathi/Rohan Bopanna (IND) 63 36 40 ret. (Bhupathi right groin injury)
Somdev Devvarman (IND) d. Rik de Voest (RSA) 36 67(3) 76(5) 62 64
Yuki Bhambri (IND) d. Izak van der Merwe (RSA) 36 63 64

SERBIA defeated UZBEKISTAN 5-0
Venue: Belgrade Arena, Belgrade, SRB (hard – indoors)

Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) d. Denis Istomin (UZB) 62 57 61 64
Viktor Troicki (SRB) d. Farrukh Dustov (UZB) 64 36 63 46 62
Janko Tipsarevic/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) d. Farrukh Dustov/ Denis Istomin (UZB) 62 63 62
Viktor Troicki (SRB) d. Murad Inoyatov (UZB) 46 64 63
Ilia Bozoljac (SRB) d. Vaja Uzakov (UZB) 61 64

SWEDEN defeated ROMANIA 3-2
Venue: Idrottens Hus, Helsingborg, SWE (hard – indoors)

Victor Hanescu (ROU) d. Andreas Vinciguerra (SWE) 76(5) 76(10) ret. (sprained ankle)
Robin Soderling (SWE) d. Victor Crivoi (ROU) 62 61 75
Robert Lindstedt/Robin Soderling (SWE) d. Victor Hanescu/Horia Tecau (ROU) 61 76(7) 76(5)
Robin Soderling (SWE) d. Victor Hanescu (ROU) 75 61 60
Marius Copil (ROU) d. Andreas Vinciguerra (SWE) 46 ret. (ankle injury)

SWITZERLAND defeated ITALY 3-2
Venue: Centro Sportivo "Valletta Cambiaso", Genoa, ITA (clay – outdoors)

Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) d. Andreas Seppi (ITA) 64 61 62
Roger Federer (SUI) d. Simone Bolelli (ITA) 63 64 61
Simone Bolelli/Potito Starace (ITA) d. Marco Chiudinelli/Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) 62 64 76(3)
Roger Federer (SUI) d. Potito Starace (ITA) 63 60 64
Fabio Fognini (ITA) d. Michael Lammer (SUI) 75 76(4)

Belgium, Chile, Ecuador, France, India, Serbia, Sweden and Switzerland qualify for 2010 World Group.

EUROPE/AFRICA ZONE GROUP I SECOND ROUND PLAY-OFFS

POLAND defeated GREAT BRITAIN 3-2
Venue: Echo Arena, Liverpool, GBR (hard – indoors)

Andy Murray (GBR) d. Michal Przsiezny (POL) 64 62 64
Jerzy Janowicz (POL) d. Dan Evans (GBR) 63 63 76(5)
Marius Fyrstenberg/Marcin Matkowski (POL) d. Ross Hutchins/Andy Murray (GBR) 75 36 63 62
Andy Murray (GBR) d. Jerzy Janowicz (POL) 63 64 63
Michal Przsiezny (POL) d. Dan Evans (GBR) 62 61 75

SLOVAK REPUBLIC defeated F.Y.R. MACEDONIA 5-0
Venue: Sibamac Arena, Bratislava, SVK (hard – indoors)

Dominik Hrbaty (SVK) d. Dimitar Grabuloski (MKD) 62 64 64
Lukas Lacko (SVK) d. Lazar Magdincev (MKD) 61 61 63
Martin Klizan/Filip Polasek (SVK) d. Dimitar Grabuloski/Lazar Magdincev (MKD) 63 63 63
Lukas Lacko (SVK) d. Shendrit Deari (MKD) 63 60
Dominik Hrbaty (SVK) d. Tomislav Jotovski (MKD) 60 60

Great Britain and FYR Macedonia relegated to Europe/Africa Group II in 2010.

AMERICAS ZONE GROUP I SECOND ROUND PLAY-OFFS

URUGUAY defeated PERU 4-1
Venue: Club Tennis Las Terrazas De Miralores, Lima, PER (clay – outdoors)

Marcel Felder (URU) d. Luis Horna (PER) 62 63 61
Pablo Cuevas (URU) d. Mauricio Echazu (PER) 64 63 62
Pablo Cuevas/Marcel Felder (URU) d. Luis Horna/Ivan Miranda (PER) 76(2) 36 63 62
Federico Sansonetti (URU) d. Ivan Miranda (PER) 75 76(2)
Mauricio Echazu (PER) d. Ariel Behar (URU) 62 63

Peru relegated to Americas Group II in 2010.

ASIA/OCEANIA ZONE GROUP I THIRD ROUND PLAY-OFFS

CHINA, P.R. defeated THAILAND 4-1
Venue: Jiaxing International Tennis Center, Jiaxing, CHN (hard – indoors)

Shao-Xuan Zeng (CHN) d. Kittiphong Wachiramanowong (THA) 57 61 62 64
Danai Udomchoke (THA) d. Ze Zhang (CHN) 63 63 62
Shao-Xuan Zeng/Ze Zhang (CHN) d. Sanchai Ratiwatana/Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA) 26 46 64 75 62
Shao-Xuan Zeng (CHN) d. Danai Udomchoke (THA) 26 64 36 61 64
Mao-Xin Gong (CHN) d. Kittiphong Wachiramanowong (THA) 75 36 63

Thailand relegated to Asia/Oceania Group II in 2010.

EUROPE/AFRICA ZONE GROUP II FINAL ROUND

LATVIA defeated SLOVENIA 3-2
Venue: Tennis Centre "Lielupe", Jurmala, LAT (carpet - indoors)

Grega Zemlja (SLO) d. Andis Juska (LAT) 61 61 64
Ernests Gulbis (LAT) d. Luka Gregorc (SLO) 46 67(3) 64 64 86
Luka Gregorc/Grega Zemlja (SLO) d. Ernests Gulbis/Deniss Pavlovs (LAT) 67(5) 64 62 26 64
Ernests Gulbis (LAT) d. Grega Zemlja (SLO) 62 36 63 75
Andis Juska (LAT) d. Blaz Kavcic (SLO) 63 64 62

FINLAND defeated CYPRUS 3-2
Venue: Salohalli, Salo, FIN (hard – indoors)

Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) d. Photos Kallias (CYP) 62 61 60
Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) d. Henri Kontinen (FIN) 63 63 62
Henri Kontinen/Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) d. Marcos Baghdatis/Photos Kallias (CYP) 67(4) 16 62 63 75
Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) d. Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) 75 63 36 64
Henri Kontinen (FIN) d. Photos Kallias (CYP) 60 75 60

Latvia and Finland promoted to Europe/Africa Group I in 2010.

AMERICAS ZONE GROUP II FINAL

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC defeated VENEZUELA 3-2
Venue: Santo Domingo Tennis Club, Santo Domingo, DOM (clay – outdoors)

Jhonson Garcias of the Dominican Republic
Victor Estrella (DOM) d. Daniel Vallverdu (VEN) 64 63 46 75
Jose de Armas (VEN) d. Jose Hernandez (DOM) 63 61 36 61
Jose de Armas/Daniel Vallverdu (VEN) d. Victor Estrella/Jhonson Garcia (DOM) 64 76(6) 61
Victor Estrella (DOM) d. Jose de Armas (VEN) 63 26 76(6) 36 61
Jhonson Garcia (DOM) d. Daniel Vallverdu (VEN) 63 63 75

Dominican Republic promoted to Americas Group I in 2010

ASIA/OCEANIA ZONE GROUP II FINAL

PHILIPPINES defeated NEW ZEALAND 4-1
Venue: Philippine Columbian Association, Manila, PHI (clay – indoors)

Treat Conrad Huey (PHI) d. Daniel King-Turner (NZL) 64 67(5) 60 ret. (cramping)
Cecil Mamiit (PHI) d. Jose Statham (NZL) 64 75 62
Treat Conrad Huey/Cecil Mamiit (PHI) d GD Jones/Mikal Statham (NZL) 76(4) 63 75
Johnny Arcilla (PHI) v Mikal Statham (NZL) 63 26 64
Jose Statham (NZL) d. Vicente Elberto Anasta (PHI) 61 75

Philippines promoted to Asia/Oceania Group I in 2010.

Miscellany

The hype about Justine Henin coming back is reaching fever pitch. Do we really need this lying, cheating player back on the tour? Do we really? You don't get to be the head of the WTA by being Mr. Nice Guy but you do get there knowing how to do public relations work and how to schmooze the press. When Larry Scott basically said "don't let the door hit you on the way out" after Henin's sudden "retirement" you know something stunk to high heaven.

It's going to be interesting to see how Kim Clijsters cherry picks her way through next year. Roadkill doesn't affect her unless she's top ten. Let's see where she chooses to play before we start seeing angels dancing on the head of her racquet.

Liezel Huber, after she and Cara Black lost to Venus Williams and Serena Williams at the US Open said they won because "they're bigger and stronger than us". I turned it off after that since she could've gone on to say that they are a better doubles team than we are. Don't think she did though.

It's amazing to me how all of a sudden there is no good angle to prove or disprove that Serena foot faulted. I clearly remember that CBS showed conclusively that there was no foot fault. They had the angle. Now everyone says there's no conclusive proof. Right. Just remember people Mariana Alves is still working as a chair umpire in professional tennis. I know if I were playing and I saw that lines person I'd be just a wee bit wary of her calls. I'm being honest. The other thing that was funny about that incident was that the chair was totally oblivious to what was going on until someone said something to her. Can you imagine Lars Graf, Mohammad Lahyani, Carlos Bernardes or any of the top chair umpires not noticing the commotion? Again, I'm just saying.

Caroline Wozniacki is now a top five player.

WTA Top-10

1.Dinara Safina, Russia, 8,340 points

2.Serena Williams, United States, 7,807

3.Venus Williams, United States, 6,645

4.Elena Dementieva, Russia, 6,015

5.Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark, 5,850

6.Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia, 5,580

7.Vera Zvonareva, Russia, 5,330

8.Jelena Jankovic, Serbia, 5,300

9.Victoria Azarenka, Belarus, 4,592

10.Flavia Pennetta, Italy, 3,490

So CBS had to issue a statement about the cavalier treatment given Juan Martin del Potro by Dick Enberg. Again it has to be said the the anger should be directed at the producer who was telling Enberg to speed it up so that the sponsors could get their say. Tennis fans unite! Do you think they would've said jack if tennisheads hadn't flooded their email accounts in protest? Yay us!

Thanks to Tennis Grandstand for posting the following information.

Apparently apparel company Fila has deep pockets. According to reports, Kim Clijsters was given a significant bonus by her shoe and clothing sponsor for her surprising US Open singles championship. And where companies usually insure these bonuses, CNBC says Fila did not. The bonus is reported to be in the range of USD $300,000, which could buy a lot of shoes for Clijsters’ young daughter. Darren Rovell of SportsBiz says that while it’s standard practice for companies to insure their big incentive bonuses to minimize the risk, Fila didn’t do it with Clijsters since she had played just two tournaments following a two-year retirement. The odds on Clijsters winning were as high as 40-to-1.

Zina Garrison has settled the racial discrimination suit she brought against the United States Tennis Association (USTA). A deal was signed on August 27, although its terms were not disclosed. A former Fed Cup captain, Garrison filed her lawsuit in February, saying she was unfairly treated, paid a lower salary than Davis Cup coach Patrick McEnroe while being held to higher standards. As a player, Garrison was the 1990 Wimbledon runner-up, at the time becoming the first black woman since Althea Gibson to play in a Grand Slam tournament singles final. She became the first black captain of the US Fed Cup team when she replaced Billie Jean King in 2004. Spokesman Chris Widmaier said the USTA is happy the case was resolved and looks forward to working with Garrison in the future.

Heard Around

by Savannah

Maria Sharapova has been granted a wild card into next weeks WTA Warsaw tournament. She will be seeded fourth with a protected ranking of 30. Her actual ranking is 125. I can't believe she's coming back on clay.

Vania King blogs about some of the strange goings on at La Caja Magica.

So some of the most amazing things have happened at this tournament (and I'm not talking about the disorganization). There have been three "mini" tornados. One I saw three days ago when we were practicing in the afternoon. Alla and Christian were serving on the far back practice court, and we were on the court practicing in front of them. The wind was blowing a bit but not gusting. Suddenly, the wind switched direction and started gusting heavily, tossing around three large umbrellas (with stands) up high in the air. I was already scared for Alla and Christian (and myself, too, but I was watching this from another court), but then a huge gust of wind started a "mini" tornado on her court, just feet away from her. She and Christian crouched in a fetal position, while the tornado ripped apart the back of the court. And then five seconds later, all was calm. It was the most amazing thing.

These "mini" tornados happened three times already. Today on Center Court, apparently one person had to be hospitalized in intensive care because they were hit in the neck by something that was picked up by the tornado.

OK, so amazing thing No. 2... It was raining off and on today, so the matches were postponed at times, and around 3 or 4 p.m., the matches went back out on court. However, after around 30 minutes, court 4's match had to be suspended. The reason? Hundreds of bees swarmed the court, and firefighters had to be called to clear them out. An hour later, the match hadn't been resumed. Hopefully the bees didn't choose to go to court 5 after.

Just in case you thought Serena was talking out of her, uh, asset when she made her comments about the why of playing when injured in today's WTA here are a couple of pics from her match today.





James Blake had two match points in the second set of his title match at Estoril yesterday. He ended up losing the third set to love. I'm giving James a pass on this one since he had to play two matches yesterday after rain and darkness delayed his semi final. He got a good win over Nikolay Davydenko in the semi final. He has to be feeling good about his chances on the dirt going forward.

Andy Roddick and his team have joined Team Lagardere of France. This actually happened last week but with everything else going on I neglected to report it. Andy seems enamored of all things French. He wears Lacoste instead of Adidas or Nike.


Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was awarded a trophy for Most Promising Young Tennis Player today in Madrid.

I've been watching the matches today on TennisTV, the first ones broadcast from the Magic Box (La Caja Magica) in Madrid. It's a beautiful facility notwithstanding mini tornadoes and swarms of bees. The interesting thing is that even with the roof open the court gives the impression of being indoors. The crowd was almost nonexistent this morning but that's not unusual. Spain is a nocturnal country. The stands are in the process of filling up as I type this since the afternoon break is just about over and people will be out and about.
How is the court playing? More on that tomorrow.

Ladie's Day

by Savannah

The WTA showcased a Tier I event in Tokyo and a Tier IV event in Guangzhou, China this week.
Tokyo was won by the woman who is still the hottest player on the planet, Dinara Safina.. Dinara beat fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova. How many different ways are there to say congratulations? I think we're going to have to learn that this is how the word looks in Cyrillic. поздравлений. Thanks Google!

The doubles event at Tokyo was won by a relatively new doubles pairing, Vania King of the United States and Nadia Petrova of Russia. An extra congratulations goes to Vania for winning her first Tier I event.


In Guangzhou another woman who is having a very good year hoisted the championship trophy.
Vera Zvonareva of Russia won her second title of the year beating local favorite Peng Shuai. поздравления Вера!

The doubles was won by the team of Maria Koryttseva of Russia and Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus in a match that featured a third set super tiebreak score of 10-8.

Here's To The Ladies Who Play!

Congratulations to this weeks champions!

Agnes Szavay Champion 2007 China Open Beijing, China


Maria Kirilenko Champion WTA Sunfeast Open 2007 Kolkata, India

Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva Doubles Champions WTA Sunfeast Open 2007 Kolkata, India

Tatiana Golovin 2007 Champion Portorz

And The Winners Are...

Roger Federer 2007 Champion Hamburg Germany





Jelena Jankovic Champion Roma 2007




Milagros Sequera Champion Fes 2007 (Maiden Title)



Nathalie Dechy and Mara Santangelo Doubles Champions Roma 2007




Vania King and Sania Mirza Doubles Champions Fes 2007

Note: At the time this was posted I couldn't find any pictures of Milagros Sequera with her first championship trophy. The pictures of Vania nd Sania with their trophy were not of them alone. Still looking!




Bob and Mike Bryan Hamburg Doubles Champions

The Power of Perception

Sam Querrey is being touted as American tennis next great male star. At nineteen he’s been taken under the wing of the best minds the American tennis establishment can offer. Training at Andy Roddick’s place in Austin with Jimmy Connors sometimes in attendance has occurred. He could be playing for Stanford but has opted to go pro instead. He’s been doing well and playing as well as can be expected at this stage of his career.



Vania King is a young American who has opted for the tennis court choosing it over a career in the concert hall. A fine singer she would rather use her body than her vocal cords. She turned pro towards the end of last year and also has a bright future ahead of her.



Chan Yung-jan from Taipei is seventeen and despite her age is now ranked at number 93 in the world. She is a fierce competitor and there has been some buzz about her on the women’s circuit.

What do these young people have in common? Ms Chan beat the Spanish woman Nuria Llagostera Vives to move into the second round and a chance to play Maria Sharapova. Vania King beat Sun Tian-tian in the first round for a chance to meet Justine Henin. And Sam Querrey won his first round match for the chance to meet Roger Federer in the second round. Vania lost to Henin 6-4, 6-1. Chan lost to Sharapova 6-3 and 6-2. And yes Sam lost to Roger 6-4, 6-3. I didn’t see Vania King’s match against Henin. I did see parts of Chan/Sharapova and Querrey vs Federer.

One of my guilty pleasures on television is the TLC show “Moving Up” which features people moving from smaller homes or apartments to larger ones or people leaving the nest for the first time and striking out on their own. Last night’s edition featured a couple who bought a home from an older couple who were moving out of the house where they'd raised their children. When the new owners started in on the kitchen which had a sloped floor the previous owners claimed was a figment of their imagination they found that there was a flaw their inspection hadn’t turned up. When they pulled up the floor they found that they’d been deceived and that at any time they, or one of their children, could fall through it to the crawlspace. Even worse, electrical wiring had been jury rigged and was not shielded, a fire hazard. It cost them twelve grand to get the hazards fixed. The previous owners swore up and down they had not known about the hazards. We see the contractor the couple had hired telling them the wiring was jury rigged to put the dishwasher in and that if they noticed the cabinets were painted white so that the visible now visible water damage could be concealed. The previous owners wife swore she spent all of her time in the kitchen and had not noticed the sloped floor or that there was any water damage. They just happened to paint the cabinets white to hide the water damage the viewer is forced to conclude.

So what does this have to do with tennis? For some reason TTC is not showing the WTA matches during it’s regular schedule. This isn’t a column about that but I should mention that fans of the WTA are mad as hell and want to know why. After Fed’s match late last night suddenly a woman’s match appeared on TTC. Did we see the Kuznetsova match which ended after one in the morning with Sveta pulling out a gutsy win? Did we see Venus match against Maria Kirilenko one that had fans salivating? Did we see Serena’s match against up and comer Anastasia Rodionova? Nope. We saw Maria Sharapova vs Chan Yung-Jan. It should be mentioned that this is an IMG sponsored event and that it should come as no surprise that they’d go with the Sharapova match over any number of matches available, including a live one that had gone to a third set. I should mention in passing that I was watching Star Sports. My cable provider doesn’t provide TTC. I send begging emails every month or so but they’re busy doing other things. I can get Gol TV, the Golf Channel, and bass fishing but no Tennis Channel. But I digress.

It is the job of a tennis commentator to comment about the match in front of them. The best at this are the BBC announcers who have this quaint notion of discussing the match at hand. I know about them again because without TTC I have to rely on internet live feeds. MastersSeries TV doesn’t work for me. But again I digress. This young woman, I never got her name, who was one of the commentators for the Sharapova match did nothing but try and sell us on the product named Maria Sharapova. Maria works so hard. I played against her when we were younger and she would be out there all day hitting balls and playing harder than anyone else she said. She’s dedicated to tennis. She’s really a champion. She’s worked hard to get everything. Even the male commentator jumped in from time to time to say that while Maria is truly beautiful she is really a competitor. All of this while double faults were flying off of her racquet left and right. I didn’t hear any discussion of what was going on in the match. I have to say I didn’t hear it because I didn’t make it through fifteen minutes of commentary before turning the sound off which meant I turned the match off since I wasn’t watching television I was watching an internet feed. If Ms Sharapova had been playing someone like say Maria Kirilenko she would probably have been out of this event. Instead the young and still inexperienced Ms Chan was thrown under a bus and allowed the commentators to declare Maria Sharapova was a world beater last night.

From what I heard of the Federer/Querrey match the same form of commentary was being used. No one who follows tennis thought that Querrey had a snowballs chance in hell of beating Roger. Instead of showing the much more exciting conclusion to the Guillermo Canas/Juan Carlos Ferrero match and cutting back to show how badly Roger was dismembering Querrey we got Roger beating up on Sam. I do have to say they weren’t totally stupid on the men’s side. Once Roger’s match was over they switched to Canas/Ferrero and fans got to see Canas pull out a win over a determined Ferrero. Every tennis fan knows Canas kicked Roger to the curb at IW in the first round. Canas next opponent is Richard Gasquet. I should mention that Roger’s new BFF, Tiger Woods, and his wife were in the stands. There were lots of shots of Tiger and his Missus just in case you forgot these two are now BFF. (Best friends forever. I have a teenager.)

The commentators did their equivalent of painting the cabinets white. IMG as a sponsor has every right to showcase their talent. What bothers me is that there are plenty of stars in the tennis universe and they are getting short shrift. As a fan I wanted Juanqui to do well even though I wanted Willy Canas to win if that makes sense. I wanted to see Sveta fight through fatigue to win her match. I wanted to see Venus, serving at 42% on her first serve win every one of them. I wanted to see Serena play because of the rumors floating around that she was going to withdraw. I want to see the Mattek’s, the Bondarenko’s, the Larcher de Brito’s of the tennis world. Henin is the woman’s number one. I’m not a fan of the woman but I like her tennis. Didn’t she deserve some air time? I want to see Marion Bartoli play because somehow she keeps winning. I want to know how long it’s going to take for the light bulb to go off in her head that if she gets fitter she can go deeper in events like this and maybe hit the top ten. I would love to have seen Schnyder go down to Kaia Kanepi in straights. What about Haas losing to Falla? None of this made television except for Juanqui and Willy and they made it because Willy managed to beat the men’s number one, the man some are declaring the greatest of all time.



There is talk of John McEnroe becoming some kind of tennis commissioner, the Paul Tagliabue of tennis I guess. In view of the moves the ATP and WTA are making which seem to favor American tennis over tennis played anywhere else I don’t think this would be a good idea at this time. The players haven’t gone for the okey-doke and the fissures that are being created threaten the sport of tennis which has always been an international sport. Tennis fans keep world clocks to give the time in London, Paris, Barcelona, Melbourne, Tokyo, Dubai and Shanghai. Favorite players can come from any part of the globe and be of any nationality or ethnic group. And this will continue to happen. Personally I'd love to see former NYC Mayor David Dinkins take on this role. He's a fan and has been known to move heaven and hell to give tennis it's due. And after being mayor of New York City I think he's ready to tackle some of the issues facing tennis with a much cooler head and fewer ties that bind than a former player would.

The tennis powers that be can keep painting the cabinets white. Someone is going to come along and pull up the floor and see the mess underneath. And they’re not going to eat the cost of the repairs.