Game, Ms. Noelle

Priorities

2006-05-01T20:40:00.000+08:00

I started Game, Ms. Noelle as a venue where I could spout off about tennis, compile the news I found interesting, and interact with other tennis buffs. It was to be my outlet for thoughts that I couldn't share for whatever reason on the tennis boards I frequented. It was also to be my personal experiment in sports writing and commentating.

However, recently I took some time to evaluate my priorities in life. There have been some developments in my participation on (or waning of interest in) tennis boards and in my own real-life/meatspace activities; as a result tennis has fallen down my list of priorities. I have also realized that I don't want to write halfheartedly about tennis; it would be a disservice and a waste of time for those who have been following this blog for the past ten months.

So, I would like to say thank you for reading and commenting. Thank you for giving me a space to talk about something I love. I'm not really sure what I've accomplished here, but it's been fun and I learned a lot about professional tennis, its quirks and its gems, and its player fandoms.

God bless you all.

Housekeeping

2006-04-11T13:24:00.000+08:00

Greetings, readers! This is to inform you that Game, Ms. Noelle will be on hiatus for the next two weeks. I need to evaluate whether I can still keep up this blog. As you can probably tell, I have increasingly had less time to devote to hunting down tennis news and information. Also, not having good tennis coverage on television impacts any desire I have to talk about tennis, and write about it on a daily or weekly basis.

Thank you for reading. I highly recommend the tennis blogs listed on the sidebar for your daily fix of tennis news and commentary. ¡Hasta luego!

No Time to Watch Tennis

2006-04-05T14:19:00.000+08:00

Hello! I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while; I just completed the defense of my graduate thesis and I was only able to watch two NASDAQ-100 Open men's quarterfinals in an airplane ticketing lounge. (For those who've been living under a rock, Roger Federer defended his title against Ivan Ljubicic, and Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Maria Sharapova.)

Davis Cup weekend is coming up again. I won't be getting World Group matches on television, so my only recourse will waiting for news articles on match results to appear. Alternatively, I could do what many tennis-addicted people around the world do when denied of tennis on TV: turn to the Internet.

In the past, tennis fans who couldn't get matches on TV turned to LiveScore.com, which provided scores for punters (AKA those who bet). If you think watching a good live match on television is nerve-wracking, "watching" a match through live-scoring is even more frustrating since you only have the score to go by. Follow a match on live-scoring long enough, and your imagination can start to play games with you. A long break between points can be taken to mean: a) the score board has stopped working; b) someone's stalling; or c) the player you're rooting for is hurt! Oh, no!

International Series and Tier 1 tournaments have increasingly adopted javascript-enabled live-scoring on their official websites. Some of these score boards -- particularly those for the Slam tournaments -- have play-by-play descriptions of how each point was won, and thus give a better impression of how each player is performing.

Nevertheless, what's missing on live-scoring is the human element. You don't get to see the players sweat, toss their racquets, lose their footing, scream in delight or yelp in anguish. (Those who object to Maria Sharapova's grunting may find comfort in the silence of live-scoring.) You don't see how players who are masters at strategy work a point to hit a winner or force their opponent into an error.

This is where streaming audio and video come in. RadioTennis.com offers live audio play-by-play of tennis, not just at the pro level but also at the collegiate (NCAA) level. Sign-up is free and they send notification through email when the website is scheduled to cover an event.

For those who prefer television, some enterprising websites have set up services where you can watch cable channels for free over the Internet. Watching over TVAnts.com involves having to download their program installer and using Windows Media Player 9 to watch streamed broadcasts from a variety of cable channels. Spanish-language TVMix.net offers "toda la televisión mundial a la click" and hosts feeds for many other sports aside from tennis.

The disadvantage of such streaming services is that these are bandwidth hogs and are not for the dial-up warriors such as myself. Also, some users have reported being unable to access the streams at all during high-profile and high-traffic matches.

Still, having these options available means never having to wait too long to find out who won. If it's a Roger Federer match, though (and he's not playing Rafael Nadal), you don't even have to watch live-scoring to know who's going to win.

Desert Exposure

2006-03-20T10:26:00.000+08:00

Roger Federer def. James Blake 7-5,6-3,6-0: Federer missed a rematch with emerging nemesis Rafael Nadal when Blake defeated the young Spaniard in the semifinal. As expected, the world number 1 resoundingly took the title and handed Blake a bagel in the process.

From Tennis.com:

After falling behind 4-1 in the opening set, the top-ranked Federer came back to beat Blake 7-5, 6-3, 6-0 Sunday for his unprecedented third consecutive Pacific Life Open championship.

"He really got the better of me in the beginning, so I had to react and not panic," Federer said. "I did a good job there.

"In the end, I played fantastic tennis, with some great shots once again. To pull them off in a final, it's always a nice feeling. The form is excellent right now."

Still, it was a good week for the American, now ranked 9th in the world after his great runs at Las Vegas -- where he beat Lleyton Hewitt in the final -- and at Indian Wells. Blake has overtaken Andre Agassi in the rankings and is nipping at the heels of higher-ranked but slumping compatriot Andy Roddick. Come to think of it, Blake seems to have had better results this year than Roddick, who lost to Igor Andreev in the third round. (Blake dispatched Andreev in the next round.) Roddick has slipped to 4th in the world, overtaken by David Nalbandian by 25 points. However, Roddick has a chance to make up the difference at the upcoming NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami, where he has exactly one point to defend because he retired in the second round last year.

Maria Sharapova def. Elena Dementieva 6-1,6-2: Last year, Sharapova went out in two bagel sets to Lindsay Davenport in the semifinals, but this year she showed no sign of being the willing double bagel victim the second time around. In her route to the final, Sharapova steamrolled opponents Jamea Jackson, Lisa Raymond, Shahar Peer, Anna-Lena Groenefeld, and Martina Hingis. Yes, the Russian has beaten the Swiss Miss twice in a row now, but at least Martina took home the scalp of second-seeded Lindsay Davenport in the fourth round (I want to say I predicted it, but I didn't really).

From Telegraph.co.uk:

"This feels really great," Sharapova said. "I had a really tough end to last year. Not a lot of people know about it, but it was very frustrating because, tournament after tournament, I'd be working hard, I'd be trying to get back in shape, and all of a sudden my injury would kind of bring me down again.

"So these kind of tournaments, they mean a lot to me, they give me more confidence because I've known I've put in the hard work. It's good to see that it did pay off today."

Here are the full results for the 2006 Pacific Life Open. This week the players move to warmer, possibly more humid conditions in Miami. Kim Clijsters and Roger Federer will be defending their singles titles, but there'll be at least one player who won't be around. Serena Williams, one of last year’s quarterfinalists, withdrew from the NASDAQ-100 Open citing a knee injury and lack of training. She has fallen to 58th in the world and has not played since her third-round exit at this year's Australian Open.

TennisReporters.net gives her a tongue-lashing:

It's gotten to the point where it's become incredibly boring announcing Serena Williams' withdrawals. This time, it's Miami, but it's the same reason: She's out of shape because she's not committed enough to rehab her chronically sore knee.

If she was committed, like she was at the turn of last year when she won the Aussie Open, she could rehab, but she's not. It's the least well kept secret in the sport that she's found plenty of time to hit the New York and LA party circuit, but has devoted little time to get in shape and practice her sport.

Blocking off the Days

2006-03-10T09:57:00.000+08:00

Lent preparations are underway in my country, and the special days have already been marked out on the calendars. I'm also preparing to block off the next few weeks on my calendar, because the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells started today and will last for a fortnight. Then it'll be followed by another fortnight of tennis at the NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami. These are probably my favorite weeks on the tennis calendar aside from the Grand Slam tournaments because they showcase both men's and women's tennis. Also, after the mishmash of smaller competing tournaments after the Australian Open, it's convenient to have all the players converge to play one event.

Andre Agassi will be back after his long absence: he headlines the Pacific Life Open website and will be a major crowd draw. He will have to fight through his section of the draw, though: potential opponents include Tommy Haas in the third round, James Blake in the fourth round, then Andy Roddick in the quarterfinal. Of course, players will always take tournaments one match at a time, and potential may yet go unrealized.

Other players looking to make a splash at the Wells include my favorite female player, Martina Hingis, and Britain's new hope Andy Murray. Can anyone shed light on what the Pacific Life Open website means by these pairings, though? This inquiring mind wants to know.

***

HOLY INSTANT REPLAY, BATMAN!: After Indian Wells, the players will descend on Miami, where the ATP, WTA, and USTA will be premiering the use of HawkEye technology in line-calling. TennisReporters.net has the details and analysis on why this is being implemented, and what some players have to say. Always opinionated, Marat Safin (who returned to action at the Dubai Duty Free Open last week) had some pretty strong words about it: "Who was this genius who came up with this stupid idea?... It is bull."

I'm reserving judgment on the electronic line-calling, as it was used to review line calls (but did not overturn them) without much fuss at the Hopman Cup earlier this year. I wonder if HawkEye has sharper eyes than those line judges we see wearing coke-bottle eyeglasses.

***

MEN'S DOUBLES: I found this button on the Pacific Life Open website. Being one of the people the ATP duped into taking the survey which they used to justify the radical changes proposed last year (most of which were later junked, thankfully), I'm really very pleased that doubles is getting promoted not only on the ATP website, but also on the various tournament websites. I think there is a market for doubles: the recent addition of a forum for Mike & Bob Bryan on one of the biggest tennis forums on the Internet is a testament to this.

I hope that my television tennis coverage over the next few weeks includes some doubles!

Sabbatical

2006-02-28T19:25:00.000+08:00

I'm currently in the last stages of preparing my thesis, so this blog is on hiatus in the meantime. I may still post an article or two per week for the next month or so. Thanks for visiting!

Looking Good

2006-02-21T10:18:00.000+08:00

What does a tennis player do when not on court? Pose for Sports Illustrated, that's what. Although she tries to avoid the Anna Kournikova comparisons and has surpassed the earlier blonde's career achievements in singles, Maria Sharapova can't help being the marketable poster girl for women's tennis. This year's SI swimsuit issue has Sharapova as the featured athlete. There's a nice cross-promotional deal for Nike as well: they provided the strings-and-triangles -- I mean, the swimsuits -- for the shoot.

Sharapova will be back on court this week, playing at the Dubai Duty Free Women's Open alongside Amelie Mauresmo, Lindsay Davenport, and Justine Henin-Hardenne. Aaress at On the Baseline gives a good preview of the action to come. Hopefully Sharapova will not only look good, but play good as well. (Please ignore the grammatical error.)

Last week saw some good play on the men's tour. Carlos Moya surprised all observers by winning a title in Argentina, beating Juan Carlos Ferrero on the way to it and besting Filippo Volandri in the final. Moya has been plagued by a shoulder injury and lately had been exiting tournaments in early rounds; this was a good win for him.

Andy Murray furthered his case as the next British hope by winning his first ATP title and beating two top players in a row at the SAP Open. He toppled Andy Roddick in the semifinal and outlasted Lleyton Hewitt in the final.

At the same tournament, John McEnroe and Jonas Bjorkman had entered the doubles draw and ended up winning the whole thing. McEnroe had not played tennis on the tour since 1994 and turned 47 years old on the night of their first-round match, but showed he was still capable of his trademark mastery of the ball and court. I can't help thinking his run at this tournament was another shot in the arm for men's professional doubles. Things are looking good.

Davis Cup First Round

2006-02-14T10:38:00.000+08:00

Here in this part of the world, Davis Cup World Group ties aren't broadcast live, so I've had to make do with news reports and fan reports. By all accounts, it was an eventful weekend with quite a few stunning upsets and an an unexpected exhibition.

There were, however, two teams that accomplished a whitewash of their opponents in their first-round ties. Argentina steamrolled Sweden despite David Nalbandian losing one set to Robin Soderling in the first singles match, and the doubles team of Agustin Calleri/David Nalbandian losing the third set in the clincher doubles match against Simon Aspelin/Jonas Bjorkman. Last year, Argentina had gotten to the semifinals before losing to the Slovak Republic, this year's defending finalist. Argentina now moves into a quarterfinal tie against Croatia, the defending champion. Croatia comfortably beat Austria 3-2, despite the team-up of Ivan Ljubicic and Mario Ancic having to fight back from being down 2 sets to love in the clinching doubles match.

Russia also beat the Netherlands with a 5-0 score. Having lost to Croatia last year in the semifinal, the team of Nikolay Davydenko (now the top-ranked Russian as a result of Marat Safin's long-term absence due to injury), Dmitry Tursunov, and Igor Andreev/Mikhail Youzhny for the doubles will face France in the quarterfinals.

France moved into the quarterfinals after defeating Germany 3-2; Germany scored the two dead rubbers after France's Sebastien Grosjean pulled off his grudge match against Nicolas Kiefer, and Tommy Haas fell in five sets against Richard Gasquet. Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra sealed the deal upon defeating Haas and doubles partner Alexander Waske in four sets.

From BBC:

Haas looked set to repeat the easy victory over Gasquet he took in Australia, storming through the first set with the loss of just one game.

But the Frenchman came back to win 1-6 6-4 6-4 6-7 (1-7) 6-3, silencing the boisterous local support at the Gerry Weber stadium in Halle.

Grosjean lost a bad tempered quarter-final to Kiefer in Melbourne last month and there was more controversy in this game, before the Frenchman came through 7-5 7-6 (9-7) 6-0.

Kiefer - who lost to Roger Federer in the semi-finals in Australia - appeared to lose concentration after a couple of line calls went against him at the end of the second set.

Amid booing and whistling from the 10,000-strong crowd, Kiefer and German coach Patrick Kuehnen berated the umpire and match referee, but the decisions stood.

It's a shame that Germany was knocked out of contention so early; they knocked the Czech Republic out of the World Group last year.

Spain fell in first-round action for the second consecutive time, this year to Belarus.

From Davis Cup.com:

In the absence of Rafael Nadal and Juan Carlos Ferrero, the Spaniards were unable to compete with the Belarus team, which has now won its last 11 home ties on the fast Taraflex, which suits both Mirnyi and Voltchkov. Tommy Robredo was the only Spaniard to offer any resistance.

Mirnyi, 'The Beast' drove through both singles and doubles rubbers masterfully, killing his opponents' hopes with deadly serves and superior net play: "We are a united team which is able to earn the three points necessary for victory. It doesn't matter what order we would play in."

The central figure of the whole tie, however, was Belarus No.2 Vladimir Voltchkov. Undergoing a career crisis and currently ranked No. 301, Voltchkov competed hard from the baseline against David Ferrer, directing one ball after another to different corners of the court with ease. He made us remember the time when he reached the 2000 Wimbledon semifinals as an unknown and remains one of the most unpredictable players on the world stage.

Belarus will be competing in the quarterfinals against Australia, whose lack of Lleyton Hewitt's participation in their first-round tie against Switzerland gave opportunity for Chris Guccione, Peter Luczak, and Wayne Arthurs/Paul Hanley to rise to the occasion. Australia defeated Switzerland 3-2 with Guccione winning the deciding live fifth rubber. Switzerland was playing on home soil but without the participation of world #1 Roger Federer.

Chile upset defending finalist Slovakia 4-1. With Slovakia reeling from the loss of Karol Beck's services (he's been banned two years for doping), Chile's Fernando Gonzalez and Nicolas Massu made quick work of Michal Mertinak and Dominik Hrbaty in the singles, and teamed up in doubles to clinch the tie against Mertinak and Lukas Lacko. In 2004 Massu won the Olympic gold medal in men's singles, and he and Gonzalez also won the men's doubles gold medal. Chile will face the USA in the quarterfinals.

The USA split the first two singles matches in their tie against Romania. USA team #1 Andy Roddick had already won two sets against Andrei Pavel in the first singles match when nausea, vomiting, and dehydration took their toll. Pavel took the next three sets and scored the first win for Romania. James Blake quickly evened the score for the USA by beating Victor Hanescu.

The following day, the doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan were counting on winning their match against Hanescu and Horia Tecau, but were surprised at the ease of it when Hanescu retired after the first set due to injury. As a conciliatory gesture to the crowd for the lack of a match to watch, an impromptu doubles exhibition was then staged between the teams of Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan and Patrick McEnroe/John McEnroe. They played a pro-set, with the Bryans coming out on top 8-4.

From an eyewitness account:

...the announcer said they were looking at putting together an exhibition match.

At that point, the whole crowd looked at the broadcast booth, and started yelling "John McEnroe," "John McEnroe." John took off his coat and tie, and we thought well, maybe... We also thought that perhaps Rod Laver would come out, as he was there for the coin toss yesterday.

And then Patrick McEnroe started hitting with the Bryans, and then a short while later it was announced that the McEnroes would take on the Bryans in a doubles exhibition. And the crowd went wild. In fact, if anything, there were more people in the stands then than there were for the earlier match.

Bud Collins was designated the chair umpire, and the McEnroes took the court. It was one of the most entertaining matches I have ever seen. They played one set, winner to get 8 games.

And they did all the usual gags. The McEnroes protested line calls, with hands of their hips. We were cheering them, yelling "You can't be serious." They were throwing racquets, and threatening the Bryans, saying they were going to lose their Davis Dup positions if they don't the Macs win.

Now, Patrick is a bit rusty, especially with serving. But it was no problem, when he got down 0-40, John would step in as the designated server. And as Bud Collins said, for the Macs, they can take as many serves "as needed."

But the Macs' volleying is still pretty good. And they were up 2-0, until the Bryans started getting serious. We had the cheers timed with the Bryan Bunch -- earlier we were yelling "Bob," and the other side of the stadium would yell "Mike." Now we were yelling "McEnroe" and they would respond, "Bryan." It was really fun.

Roddick was able to recover enough to clinch the tie for the USA by beating Razvan Sabau, the replacement for Hanescu. Blake defeated Horia Tecau in the dead rubber, giving the USA a 4-1 win over Romania.

Davis Cup action will recommence on April 7-9, when the quarterfinals will be played between Argentina and Croatia, USA and Chile, Australia and Belarus, and France and Russia.

Go Fish

2006-02-08T16:07:00.000+08:00

A friend of mine sent me this picture, but I have absolutely no idea why Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils are dressed that way:

Any ideas? Comment away!

(yes, I know it was a photo op.)

UPDATE: Thank you to Loreley, Ellen, Rob, and Manu for the replies. Loreley also provided us with a link to her blog, which has more fabulous pics from Doha.

Moving Along Now...

2006-02-03T11:29:00.000+08:00

While I've been suffering from a post-Australian Open hangover, the pro tennis world has been turning. Martina Hingis, who went out in the quarterfinal of the AO to Kim Clijsters but won in the mixed doubles, is playing in Tokyo at the Toray Pan Pacific Open. After defeating world # 61 Yoon-Jeung Cho in a first round drubbing (6-0,6-0), Hingis faced the much tougher Nathalie Dechy (ranked #21 in the world) in the second round.

From Asahi.com:

Hingis acknowledged that she got off to a shaky start against Dechy, but as the match wore on she started to find her groove. In the third set, she broke Dechy's serve in the second game and broke her again in the eighth game to seal the victory.

"I was a little nervous going into (Thursday's) match," said Hingis, who recently returned to pro tennis after ankle injuries forced her to take a three-year sabbatical. "I hadn't played (Dechy) in a while and she pushed me right away, but I adjusted to the way she was returning and I started reading her returns a little better Thank God I still have those skills, that was my saving grace."

Martina's won four Pan Pacific Open titles in the past, but she'll need to face Maria Kirilenko in the quarterfinal before possibly meeting defending champion Maria Sharapova in the semifinal. Sharapova's quarterfinal opponent is Samantha Stosur, whom Hingis defeated in three sets at the Australian Open.

Meanwhile, sunny Florida is hosting part of the men's tour at Delray Beach. After a brouhaha concerning whether Andy Roddick would play the qualifying rounds and the later revelation that he wasn't, the tournament certainly got itself off to a flying start with regard to media coverage. (If you're interested, there's a full wrap-up of the incident in two posts at Roddick Watch.)

Andre Agassi is the tournament's headliner, but almost crashed out in the second round to Ramon Delgado. The #1 seed won the match with a scoreline of 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-0. From the tournament website:

Agassi found himself down quickly in this match despite an early break in the first set. He was leading 4-2 when Delgado won four straight games and the set to the surprise of the more than 5,000 who came out on a cool night in South Florida.

In the 10th game of the second set with Agassi serving and Delgado leading 5-4, Agassi faced two match points but erased both with winning volleys. The 35-year-old went up 4-1 in the tie-breaker before closing it out 7-4.

The third set was all Agassi as Delgado won only eight points.

The only other American left in the singles draw is Vince Spadea, who is now a quarterfinalist after defeating fellow American Robert Kendrick. Spadea, who at one time held the longest losing streak in the history of the ATP, is compiling his first set of consecutive victories in singles since the beginning of 2006.

***

UPDATE: Unfortunately for all the players I discussed previously, none of them won the titles for which they were contenders. Hingis blew past Sharapova 6-3,6-1 in the Toray Pan Pacific semifinal and moved into the final where she faced Elena Dementieva. The two players had met 4 times previously in their career, with Dementieva taking the last two matches. This match proved to be no different, as Dementieva overwhelmed Hingis 6-2,6-0.

From CNN.com:

Dementieva had beaten the Swiss 6-3 6-1 in Filderstadt in October 2002 in what was Hingis's last match before chronic ankle trouble forced her into early retirement.

[...]

Hingis was unranked three weeks ago but climbed to 117th after her strong run in Melbourne.

Her ranking is still set to rise to just outside the top 50 after reaching her seventh Tokyo final.

Dementieva will climb from ninth to eighth following her first tournament win since 2004 when she also reached two grand slam finals.

Prior to the beginning of the Toray Pan Pacific tournament, Sharapova said that Hingis could soon be in the Top 10. If Hingis keeps racking up these results and troubling the world's top women players, I trust that she could very well make Sharapova's prediction come true. It seems to me that Hingis has trouble with the match-up against Dementieva, but it was a satisfying run nevertheless. Dementieva is also making up lost ground after her shock first round upset at the Australian Open this year. From various reports, I've read that Dementieva served very well against Hingis, but I didn't see the tournament on TV. Has she finally fixed her serve, which has been the butt of many jokes since she jumped into the Top 10?

As for Agassi and Spadea at the Delray Beach tournament, neither of them made the final. Agassi was upset in the quarterfinals by Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain. Spadea went one round better than the top seed, making the semifinal by beating unseeded Hyung Taik-Lee. Spadea and Tommy Haas faced off in the semifinal, and it seemed as if Haas was taking revenge on Spadea (for beating him in a practice match 6-3,6-0) by easing through in straight sets. Garcia-Lopez was defeated by Xavier Malisse, which would have set up another Battle of the Ponytails between himself and Haas, had Tommy not gotten rid of the ponytail. So it was the Battle of the Bolletierri kids (both players being alumni of the famous/infamous academy), and by all accounts it was a close one.

From the tournament website:

"It was extremely good tennis from beginning to end," understated Haas. "Based on Xavier's record in Delray Beach I'm proud to beat him here. He's a solid player, moves well and it showed today. I thought I was playing pretty good and when I needed to step it up a level, I did."

[...]

"He wasn't making any mistakes, " said Malisse, who has played in two finals in his first three tournaments of 2006. "I just had to keep grinding and I had to play more aggressive in the second and third sets and it worked well for me."

Both Haas and Malisse played close to textbook tennis in splitting the first two sets. Haas went up a break in the sixth game to win the first set and Malisse got his break in the eighth game of the second set.

"I was pleased with my game overall (this week)," said Haas. "I could have lost two matches here so this is a good result."

Despite the loss, Malisse was positive about his week in Delray Beach and his fourth trip to the finals here. "I'm feeling good about my game--two finals in three touraments. I didn't expect that great a start."

Haas certainly seems to be in a good groove lately, and he's been fortunate so far this year to avoid injuries and tragedy which have dogged him through the past few years.

The first round Davis Cup world group ties are to be played from February 10 to 12. That's this weekend, folks. I'm taking a break but will be back to write about the results of that.

Pro Player Bloggers

2006-01-30T17:32:00.000+08:00

Many of you may be aware of Justin Gimelstob's blog for Sports Illustrated, but other professional players have joined in the fun. This year the ATP official website started to have players writing for its blog; each player writes for one week. So far they have had Ivan Ljubicic, James Blake, and most recently Jarkko Nieminen. Smash Tennis Magazine, the TENNIS Magazine spin-off geared toward younger players, has also recruited Vince Spadea to write for its blog. Check these out for real insight into the life of a player on the pro tour.

Australian Open Final Words

2006-01-30T17:14:00.000+08:00

Well, the fortnight in Melbourne has come and gone. Fantastic and appalling tennis was played (beauty is in the eye of the beholder) and new champions have been crowned. I have to say the finals of the singles events were not what I had expected going into the tournament, but in the end the players who deserved to win got the title. The doubles finals were every bit as exciting as (if not more so than) the singles as well. I have to say that after the disappointment of Justine Henin-Hardenne retiring in the women's singles final, the men's doubles final between Bob Bryan-Mike Bryan and Leander Paes-Martin Damm redeemed the night session.

I'm getting ahead of myself though. Let's first look at the women's doubles results. The women's doubles final on Friday was the first final to be played. Australia's Samantha Stosur and partner Lisa Raymond of the USA faced off against Chinese duo Zheng Jie and Yan Zi. From the Malaysian Star:

Yan Zi and Zheng Jie, who both won singles tournaments last year and were seeded 12th in the doubles at Melbourne, came from a set down and saved two match points in a second set tie-break before going on to win 2-6, 7-6, 6-3.

"We feel very excited and very happy," Yan Zi told reporters. "Little bit nervous. Because first time in the centre court. It's so big and so many people."

Yan Zi said the match, which was broadcast in China, would help strengthen the game there, although it was too early to tell if their win would have any impact on the Beijing Olympics.

"It will be good for Chinese tennis," Yan Zi said through an interpreter.

"In the near future, we think we could be better, make progress, improve a lot, and it can stimulate (tennis)."

Australia's Stosur and American Raymond had been seeking their second successive Grand Slam title after winning the US Open in New York last year.

[...]

China has been making big strides in women’s tennis in recent years, highlighted by Li Ting and Sun Tiantian’s victory in the women’s doubles at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

They have also won three WTA singles titles in the past two seasons.

“There are so many Chinese girls now,” Raymond told a news conference.

That's what was said about the Russian girls a few years ago as well.

As Saturday dawned for the women's singles final, I found myself looking forward to a clash between two excellent one-handed backhands: Amelie Mauresmo versus Justine Henin-Hardenne. Instead, what I got was a tame first set where Henin-Hardenne was blown away by a determined Mauresmo. After a bathroom break before the start of the second set, Henin-Hardenne lost two successive games, then called the doctor. She played only one more point before approaching the net and shaking Mauresmo's hand to retire from the match.

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

Henin-Hardenne says a severe reaction from a nagging shoulder injury caused her to pull out.

The Belgian says she was nearly forced to call a doctor at 3am this morning because she was feeling so sick.

She believes anti-inflammatory tablets she takes for her shoulder pain may be the cause of her stomach illness.

"I'm feeling very disappointed to end the tournament this way," said the eighth-seeded Henin-Hardenne.

"I was feeling so sick and I couldn't stay any longer on the court."

The match lasted just 52 minutes.

It was the first time since 1966 that an Australian Open women's singles final had failed to go the distance.

On that occasion, Australian Margaret Smith beat American Nancy Richey by walkover.

Now, I'm fully aware of the media and fan backlash that surrounded this result. People have said that Henin-Hardenne denied Mauresmo the chance for a full-blown celebration after winning match point. I agree to that, but I disagree that Henin-Hardenne retired from the match on purpose to avoid a bagel or because she was being beaten already. Anyway, a win is a win whether it be by winning a matchpoint or through an opponent's retirement, and I'd rather a player retire than tank the rest of the match. Still, it was a lackluster final, and a short one, too.

The crowd stayed on for the men's doubles match to get the most out of their ticket to Rod Laver Arena, and from what I saw on my TV they got their money's worth anyway. Bob and Mike Bryan were in the Australian Open men's doubles final for the third time in a row but had never won it. This year, they faced Leander Paes and Martin Damm. From the outset it was a competitive match, with Paes and Damm performing a celebratory chest bump after breaking the Bryan twins' serve in the first set. After losing the first set, the twins battled back to level the match at one set apiece and then went on to win the decider. The stadium remained packed until the end of the match and ensuing award ceremony. After men's doubles seemed threatened with extinction last year, I think this match was a wake-up call to those who said doubles is boring.

From Slam! Sports Tennis:

"It's unbelievable. I had nothing left in my body by the end of that match," said Bob Bryan. "It was so emotional. There was a lot of energy there, they were doing chest bumps, we were doing chest bumps.

"We were down break points pretty much every game in the third. It was just pure relief and happiness and excitement at the end."

There was some animosity afterward, with Mike Bryan saying the brothers were unhappy to see Paes and Damm "steal" their chest-bump celebration, and Paes responding that the Bryans were "in diapers" when he and another partner, Mahesh Bhupathi, began performing the celebration in matches.

The Bryans, who have played together for 10 years, were contesting their fifth consecutive Grand Slam tournament final.

"It feels good to get this notch, the last two years we came up short," said Mike Bryan. "There's nothing more special than to win with your brother."

Mixed doubles the next day resulted in Martina Hingis winning a Grand Slam title with partner Mahesh Bhupathi against Daniel Nestor and Elena Likhovtseva. For someone who's only been back in the pro game for a month, Ms. Hingis has definitely achieved much, making the quarterfinal of the women's singles event as well.

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

Martina Hingis' comeback has only just begun, and already it has yielded something she never achieved in her previous nine years on the professional tennis tour - a mixed doubles title.

The former world No.1 today capped her return to grand slam tennis after more than three years by combining with Indian Mahesh Bhupathi to win the Australian Open mixed doubles final in Melbourne.

Hings and Bhupathi, wildcard entrants, beat Canadian Daniel Nestor and Russia's Elena Likhovtseva 6-3 6-3 in just 65 minutes.

While Hingis already had 40 singles titles and 36 women's doubles tournament victories to her credit - including three singles and four doubles at the Australian Open - she had never before even reached the final of any mixed doubles tournament.

It capped a great fortnight for the Swiss Miss, who admitted she had already exceeded her expectations by making the quarter-finals in the singles.

She said she had entered the mixed doubles with Bhupathi largely because she feared an early exit in the singles competition might leave her needing to fill in some time.

The Swiss definitely had a lot of celebrating to do after Sunday's finals. Roger Federer came through against Marcos Baghdatis in the men's final, as many had expected. However, no one expected the flood of tears Federer shed after being awarded the trophy by Rod Laver himself, winner of two career Grand Slams.

From Scotsman.com:

The world No1 was a prohibitive favourite but was made to battle hard before securing a 5-7, 7-5, 6-0, 6-2 win over his 20-year-old opponent.

[...]

Federer, a model of on-court composure, clawed his way back from losing the first set and trailing 2-0 in the second. But he was unable to contain his emotions when he received the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup from Australian Rod Laver, the last player to hold all four major titles simultaneously.

"I guess it's all coming out now," said Federer, with tears streaming down his cheeks. "I've had some hard speeches but this one is really tough."

Later, Federer explained that the magnitude of his latest achievement had been overwhelming. "It was a different type of grand slam victory, and I think that's why it was so emotional for me," he said. "I felt very nervous going into the match again. I was incredibly nervous, actually."

[...]

Federer eventually proved too good for the unseeded Baghdatis, but his defeat did nothing to dampen Cypriot pride.

All over the island, traditional Cypriot coffee shops and trendy cafes were packed. Each time Baghdatis won a point, wild cheering would break the silence.

In Baghdatis' home village of Paramytha (Greek for fairytale), shots were fired in the air and, once it was all over, neighbours and well-wishers headed for the besieged Baghdatis house to pass on their commiserations.

To his compatriots Baghdatis is a rare success story for a divided island dominated by partisan politics.

"He's a real fighter. We are so proud," said Andreas Stavrou, 28.

"He gave it all he had," added Christos Panayides, 50. "Roger Federer may have won the match but Marcos has won our hearts."

Maybe you know about my predilection for fairytale endings (I was disappointed when Andre Agassi's great run to the 2005 US Open final was ended when Federer beat him for the title), and I wanted Baghdatis to win this after beating four seeded opponents. However, the Cypriot had never before won a professional tour final and I knew that in the end Federer's experience and the lesser amount of hours spend on court through the earlier rounds would prove to be Baghdatis's master.

With this win, Federer now owns seven Grand Slam tournament titles; he's only got seven more to go if he wants to equal Pete Sampras's record. Mauresmo won her first major title, finally shrugging off the "Best Player Never to Win a Slam" title that's dogged her through the years. Martina Hingis, with the help of Mahesh Bhupathi, added her first Grand Slam mixed doubles title to her collection. Zheng Jie and Yan Zi became the first Chinese to win a Grand Slam title. Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan finally won an Australian Open doubles title.

History was made at this year's Australian Open. The players answered the tournament's challenge: bring it on.

Going the Distance

2006-01-26T22:37:00.000+08:00

Today's singles matches at the Australian Open were decided by which player could outlast the other, as all three matches went to a deciding set. The real highlight of today, in my opinion, was the men's semifinal featuring the last two players from the bottom half of the draw: David Nalbandian vs. Marcos Baghdatis.

Bagdatis and Nalbandian came out for their semifinal match attired in similar outfits: white shirt with orange trim, black shorts, hair in a ponytail, and a white headband. When the two players began to battle it seemed as though there was not much to separate the two of them. Both had excellent two-handed backhands and neither would willingly surrender a point. As the match progressed, there was a marked decrease in Nalbandian's serve speed, and he seemed to be using his serve merely to start the point rather than to enforce himself on the point. Still, Nalbandian won the first set. The Argentinian then wrested the second set away from the Cypriot, whose concentration while serving for the set was broken by Australia Day's fireworks in the sky above Rod Laver Arena.

While the quality of Nalbandian's serve wavered, his groundstrokes retained their sting and gave Baghdatis fits on his own serve. Still, Baghdatis managed to secure breaks on Nalbandian's serve in the third and fourth sets, pushing the match to a deciding fifth.

With both players running on fumes, Nalbandian tried to pull away from his opponent and led the set at 4-2 before Baghdatis began breaking down the Argentinian's serve again. The crowd (particularly the Greek Australians who had come out to support Baghdatis) had been cheering throughout the match, but they went wild as Baghdatis broke Nalbandian's serve at love. He was to serve for the match.

It had been a dramatic match up to that point; Baghdatis had been playing from behind during the whole match and had only just gotten his nose in front. The Australian weather decided to show its twisted sense of humor and left viewers and players in suspense: at 5-4, 15-all, it began to rain. Nobody had bothered to consider the possibility of rain after a hot and humid day, and the roof was partially open. Play was halted for twenty minutes while the roof was drawn closed and the court was dried manually with towels.

Could Nalbandian again wrest the momentum from Baghdatis with this interruption? There would be no such mistake this time, though Baghdatis had to win the match twice. At 40-30 Baghdatis played a ball deep down the line on Nalbandian's forehand side for a seeming winner, but chair umpire Andreas Egli overruled it and said it had gone long. The computer-assisted replay of the point, however, showed that the ball had hit the back of the line. Nalbandian then committed an unforced error and gave another match point to his opponent. Baghdatis closed the match out with an ace down the T and fell to his knees. The unseeded 20-year-old, a former junior number one, had beaten the #2 seed Andy Roddick, the #7 seed Ivan Ljubicic, and the #4 seed David Nalbandian. He had secured himself a place in the final.

Baghdatis, a first-time Grand Slam finalist, will play the winner of the semifinal between Roger Federer and Nicolas Kiefer. The German Kiefer will fight for a first-time berth in a Grand Slam final. Federer has never yet lost a Slam final.

***

AGAIN: In one of the other singles matches today, Maria Sharapova crashed out of the Australian Open in the semifinal for the second year in a row. This time, she was beaten by Justine Henin-Hardenne. Though Sharapova took an early lead winning the first set, she faltered and allowed Henin-Hardenne back into the match. The Belgian Henin-Hardenne prevailed over the Russian 4-6,6-1,6-4.

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

A disappointed Sharapova also berated the media for focusing on issues such as her grunting and fashion rather than tennis.

"Take your note pads, take your pencils down, take your grunt-o-meters down, the fashion police, put everything away and just watch the match â€� I seriously think the quality of the match today was great."

Upon learning that the electronic "hawkeye" had revealed that two important calls had incorrectly gone against her in the final set, the Russian could not conceal her disappointment.

"That was wide? That's great, I mean, what can I say," she said of an Henin-Hardenne ball that was wrongly called in. "I thought that was a pretty important point in the match. But I mean, I'm not going to argue about that shot. I'm not going to make excuse about that."

Yuri Sharapov's behavior during the match also overshadowed the loss; the Russian's father had been making hand signals and yelling out to Sharapova throughout her past matches, and at one point a scream from his vicinity had distracted Henin-Hardenne as she was about to serve.

Henin-Hardenne will be facing Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo in the final. Mauresmo progressed to the final when her opponent Kim Clijsters retired from their match in the third set after twisting her ankle.

From Reuters.co.uk:

For the Belgian it was a slice of cruel luck, but one which gives Mauresmo a chance to win her first grand slam.

"It's very strange," third seed Mauresmo said in a courtside interview. "We had such a great battle till she twisted the ankle.

"It's a little bit of an unfinished match. I hope she gets better and it's not too bad but that's the way it is."

[...]

Clijsters has been plagued by injuries since she lost the 2004 Australian Open final to Henin-Hardenne but thought her luck had taken a turn for the better when she won last year's U.S. Open.

But she hurt her back and hip during a warm-up event in Sydney earlier this month and failed to regain full fitness during the championship.

"I'm not the kind of player who is going to quit for nothing," Clijsters told a news conference.

"I really felt like I was ready from the first ball. I think I played a lot better, too. That's what makes this even more frustrating."

Clijsters ascended to the world #1 ranking on Monday and made the semifinal by beating Martina Hingis in their quarterfinal match. (Hingis is still at the Australian Open, having just made the semifinal of the mixed doubles event with partner Mahesh Bhupathi.)

Mauresmo has once been a finalist at the Australian Open, losing to Hingis in 1999. Henin-Hardenne won the tournament in 2004.

***

JUSTIN, YOU JINX! In what may be an extension of the Sports Illustrated cover curse, SI contributor Justin Gimelstob has noted a disturbing pattern of events linked to his blog. In his own words:

I've been taking a lot of heat regarding my predictions, and rightfully so. Andy Roddick was the first guy in the locker room to call me out on my "Six young players to watch" debacle, as five of my picks crashed out in the first round. Then, to add further fuel to the jinx theory, Aussie native son Lleyton Hewitt was bounced in the second round by Juan Ignacio Chela after I predicted his safe passage to the later rounds of the tournament.

The icing on the cake was James Blake losing on Thursday night to Tommy Robredo. I gave James props in this column at last fall's U.S. Open. Robredo is a great player, but Blake had dominated him 3-0 head-to-head -- until Friday, when the added weight of my prognostication proved too much to contend with.

[...]

Since many of my loyal readers are well aware that I already alienated Lindsay Davenport last fall with my, uh, controversial first column, I don't have to worry about her fearing or even being aware of the jinx. That leaves only one player who remains in jeopardy: Roger Federer.

The good news for him is that certain things aren't subject to cosmic influences. Once in awhile, individuals come along in their particular profession or walk of life and have that rare combination of physical talent, emotional balance and desire to fulfill their potential. Nothing, not even the Gimel's Blog jinx, can affect that inevitable outcome.

So next weekend, when both Davenport and Federer are basking in their Grand Slam glory, the Gimel's Blog jinx will be officially extinguished. Hopefully then the ridicule with [sic] cease!

Since that blog post, the Gimel's Blog curse has struck again and again with Ivan Ljubicic, Lindsay Davenport, and most recently Kim Clijsters bouncing out of the tournament. You know who may be next.

***

BEST OUT OF FIVE: I think this Australian Open has been a study in why best-of-five matches should still be played at the Grand Slam tournaments. I don't see how some tennis journalists can even suggest (repeatedly in their weekly columns) reducing Grand Slam matches to the best-of-three format. I understand it will please television broadcasters since they can time when a match starts and ends more precisely with three-setters and set advertising rates accordingly, and people supposedly won't lose interest and tune off during shorter matches. However, tennis shouldn't be all about what can attract and keep ratings.

Five-setters showcase both players' strengths and weaknesses and allow dramatic comebacks that would not be possible in best-of-three matches. Most times a five-set match resembles theater in all its ups and downs. In my recent memory I have enjoyed five-set matches the most: both players wrestling with each other and with themselves--figuratively, of course. Five setters are like churning milk for butter: the cream rises to the top.

Swiss Bliss

2006-01-24T10:46:00.000+08:00

Yesterday's night matches featured Switzerland's pride: Martina Hingis and Roger Federer. The two started off their matches with displays of precision and class, but the two players across the net were determined to make both of them work for the win. Samantha Stosur of Australia had the home crowd behind her as she played Hingis, while Tommy Haas of Germany had momentum and fire going into his match against Federer.

Stosur quickly succumbed to pressure from Hingis in the first set. The second set proved to be more of a dogfight, with both players breaking each other's serve back and forth. Stosur, with the crowd cheering for her, forced the set into a tiebreaker by breaking Hingis's serve as the former world no. 1 was serving for the match at 6-5.

From Scotsman.com:

Stosur raced out to a 5-2 lead, but the experience of Hingis eventually told and she fought back to seal victory on her fourth match-point, setting up the mouthwatering clash with Clijsters.

"I played really well for the first one-and-a-half sets," added Hingis, who only made her return to competitive tennis earlier this month at the Australian hardcourt championships on the Gold Coast and is competing at Melbourne Park as a wild card.

"It took me a while until we finished that match. She's a great fighter. She started attacking more. Also, partly because I was getting tired or just loosened up a little, it was all nerves just toward the end, and after being down 5-2 in the tie-breaker I was just happy to finish it off."

Stosur said she noticed Hingis' weaknesses and tried to exploit them. "As the match went on, I kind of found what I needed to be doing a bit better," she added. "I think she started getting a little bit tired. I just started grinding it out and just fighting for every point and came within two points of getting the set."

Hingis will be facing Kim Clijsters in the quarterfinals. At Clijsters's on-court interview after winning the fourth-round match against Franchesca Schiavone, the Belgian said that she had not been training on her days off. Clijsters has been nursing a back and hip injury but so far has gone through the draw comfortably.

Sports Illustrated contributor Justin Gimelstob writes in his latest blog entry:

Hingis has been up early practicing every morning at a private court at the same hotel where I'm staying, and has improved in every match. She has been fortunate to stay away from the big hitters so far, but she has displayed the same consistency and court management that enabled her to become the youngest holder of the No. 1 ranking in women's history.

One problem: Hingis has a date with Kim Clijsters on Wednesday, a player who is one of the biggest of those big hitters. If Clijsters is healthy -- and she looks like she is -- Hingis' biggest weakness will be exposed.

As for the featured men's match later that night featuring Federer and Haas, it seemed a foregone conclusion that the top seed would get through to the quarterfinal. The first two sets (complete with a bagel in the second) was business as usual for the Swiss, but Haas began showing his mettle. He worked hard for every point and dove for seemingly unmakeable volleys, overpowered and wrongfooted his opponent, and began showing a worthy contest for the match.

From Telegraph.co.uk:

Federer had not lost a set all tournament until last night, and the truth was that he perhaps could have continued into the last eight in much simpler fashion. After establishing a two-set lead, he appeared to have been in a position that was as impregnable as one of his home country's famed bank vaults.

But it was then that the match acquired its complications and its drama. The increasingly effective tennis from Haas, who was swinging with abandon and diving about the service box like a dark-haired Boris Becker, had Federer making uncharacteristic errors, fretting about the mistakes, and muttering into the night.

Federer matches in the early stages of a slam are generally close to exhibition tennis, with the crowd having a fair idea of the result before the first rally but able to enjoy the racket skills and extravagant strokes all the same. Yet suddenly here was a Federer fourth-round match filled with plot. "It was a different atmosphere, with the crowd getting into the fifth set, and that's not something I'm used to," he said.

Haas didn't accomplish the upset, but he certainly stretched Federer and competed until the last moment. Federer will play Nikolay Davydenko, who was taken to five sets by Dominik Hrbaty in their fourth-round match.

Yesterday, the last of the fourth-round matches were played. The men's singles quarterfinal match-ups are: Roger Federer vs. Nikolay Davydenko, Nicolas Kiefer vs. Sebastien Grosjean, Fabrice Santoro vs. David Nalbandian, and Ivan Ljubicic vs. Marcos Baghdatis.

Most of the usual suspects on the women's side are into the quarterfinals, but there are some nice Swiss surprises with the presence of Hingis as well as Patty Schnyder. The women's singles quarterfinal match-ups are: Lindsay Davenport vs. Justine Henin-Hardenne, Maria Sharapova vs. Nadia Petrova, Patty Schnyder vs. Amelie Mauresmo, and Martina Hingis vs. Kim Clijsters.

***

HUMOR ME: Comparisons between Hingis and Federer are bound to occur at some time. Federer himself has said that he looks up to Hingis, but after Hingis's comeback people have said that Hingis is the female version of Federer. See this forum discussion at Tennis Warehouse for some insightful comments and revealing (*cough*Photoshopped*cough*) photo comparisons.

I also ran across a joyous ode to Hingis. If I'm glad she's back, this guy is ecstatic about it.

I figured now would be as good a time as any to alert people to the existence of a Vince Spadea fan site. Spadea Ain't Afraid of the Top Ten takes on Vince Spadea's tennis, rapping, and writing career. Created by a fan with a sense of humor, it has some great content you won't find on the official Vince Spadea website.

Speaking of official player websites, check out MatsWilander.com. It contains, among other things, a blog with content by none other than the multiple Grand Slam champ Mr. Wilander himself (with occasional updates by his webmaster Chris).

Roddick Upset

2006-01-22T16:55:00.000+08:00

I missed this morning's Australian Open matches because I was out all day, but I came home happy after finding out that Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao defeated Erik Morales of Mexico in their super featherweight match in Las Vegas. I had high hopes when I checked the Australian Open website for scores, expecting that my favorite tennis player Andy Roddick had done just as well in his fourth-round Australian Open match against Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus. Unfortunately, he had not.

According to the statistics for the match, Baghdatis hit 63 winners and only 23 unforced errors, while Roddick hit only 39 winners against 31 unforced errors. Roddick attempted to sum up what had gone wrong.

From Reuters.co.uk:

"I just thought maybe I was a little bit spacy out there. Maybe I just wasn't totally on top of things.

"A lot of times I was in control of the point, and he came up with the goods. A couple times I was sloppy at the wrong moments."

The four-set match is a testament to the importance of capitalizing on big points; though Roddick won one more point than Baghdatis overall, the Cypriot won on his ability to convert his break points in each of the three sets that went to him.

I can't explain the feeling of having one's hopes dashed, especially after I had dismissed Roddick's disappointing first-round loss at the 2005 US Open as nothing more than a bad memory. Today, I learned you can always make new bad memories. Roddick Watch has a wrap-up and short analysis of the match that sums up Roddick fans' reactions to the loss.

This is turning out to be a banner year for Fabrice Santoro, though. He's in the quarterfinal of a Slam for the first time in his career, upsetting the 11th seed David Ferrer in straight sets in their fourth-round match.

Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi Oi Oi!

2006-01-21T20:59:00.000+08:00

The Australian Open is my favorite Grand Slam tournament to watch because it's the only Slam that's played in a timezone that won't reset my body clock. I can watch the day session turn into the night session without watching the night turn into morning here. For the past few days it's been Australian Open all day, all the time, courtesy of Star Sports, and I've been a happy tennis fanatic glued to my television.

***

STEAMROLLER: Roger Federer has been flinging aside his opponents so far. His most recent result has him bageling Florian Mayer of Germany. However, another German could prove to be a road block for the top seed, should Federer make their fourth round match by beating Max Mirnyi later today.

The player in question is Tommy Haas, who had a stellar warm-up to the Australian Open by beating Federer in first-round action at the Kooyong Classic last week. That tournament, while an exhibition, has been the stomping ground of the world's top players seeking some match play in the week leading up to the Australian Open. Haas made the Kooyong final where he fell to Andy Roddick in straight sets. Nevertheless, Haas seems to have carried over the momentum from beating the world number one into his first week at the AO. Sans ponytail and longtime coach Red Ayme, the unseeded Haas defeated 14th seed Richard Gasquet in the first round, bageled American Paul Goldstein in the second round, and dashed Australian hopes by defeating home wildcard Peter Luczak in four sets. Haas likes his chances, should the match-up with Federer materialize.

From BBC Sport:

"I obviously would have liked to play Roger later in the tournament should he win tonight, but I'm unseeded and had no choice," said Haas.

"But I believe I have the variety in my game to give him some trouble. I like to think I'm playing some good tennis."

***

BACK IN THE SADDLE: Martina Hingis's first-round match had many a longtime tennis fan salivating (myself included). In the weeks prior to the Open, she made the semifinal at the WTA Gold Coast tournament, but crashed out to Justine Henin-Hardenne in the first round at the Sydney International tournament the following week.

Could she play at her best level in a Slam again? Would the Australian Open tournament committee get their wildcard’s worth? Rod Laver Arena at night seemed a pretty big stage for a match between wildcard and the number 30 seed, but Hingis showed her class as a multiple Slam winner. In her 6-1,6-2 defeat of Vera Zvonareva, the Swiss Miss moved the Russian to tears (literally) with her wide array of angles and strokes. The same style of play brought her through a 6-1,6-1 victory over Emma Laine. Hingis would have faced Mary Pierce in the third round, but the fifth seed Pierce had been upset by Iveta Benesova.

This morning, Benesova pushed Hingis in their first set with her leftie serve and powerful strokes, but Hingis still prevailed in straight sets and moves on to the next opponent. That will be Australia's own Samantha Stosur. The crowd may be on the Australian’s side, but bookies have put Hingis as their second favorite behind Justine Henin-Hardenne to win the Aussie title.

***

RUSTY WAS RUSTY: Last year, Lleyton Hewitt broke his pattern of early exits from his home Slam by battling through many a five-setter and making the final. This year brought no such performance from him, though he did play a five-setter in his first round match. He squeaked out the win against Robin Vik in the first round, losing the second and third sets before rallying back to win the last two sets. Hewitt then faced Juan Ignacio Chela in the second round, a rematch of a bad-tempered third round match from last year's Open. To refresh our failing memories, here's how last year's match went, courtesy of The Tribune India:

A bristling Lleyton Hewitt won a bad-tempered encounter with Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 to reach the fourth round.

[...]

The first three sets were of high quality but the match burst into life early in the fourth with some unsavoury scenes.

Chela appeared to get angry with Hewitt for his on-court gesticulations, fired a serve which the Australian had to jump to avoid being hit by.

After Hewitt had broken for a 2-1 lead, he seemed to mutter an obscenity towards Chela and the Argentine was then seen to spit in Hewitt’s direction.

The spat galvanised Chela and he broke back for 4-4, only to drop his own serve immediately, and Hewitt held on to reach the last 16.

There was no such hostility this year, but this time around it was Chela who won the match.

From The Scotsman:

Hewitt has failed to make the third round of a grand slam event only once since 2002, at Wimbledon in 2003 when he was defending champion. The 24-year-old was a losing finalist here in 2005 and has been struggling to regain his best form after missing the last two months of last season with leg and foot injuries, and the birth of his first child.

He may be renowned for his doggedness, but Hewitt's loss to Chela also followed early departures in warm-up events in Adelaide and Sydney. "I was giving it everything I had out there, I just wasn't up to it," Hewitt said.

***

BREAKTHROUGH: After threatening twice last year to win a Masters Series title, Ivan Ljubicic seems poised to make a breakthrough at the Australian Open. The Croatian player had never been past the third round of a Slam before his resounding win yesterday over Feliciano Lopez put him through to the fourth round. Ljubicic is seeded to meet second seed Andy Roddick in the quarterfinal.

Roddick, who faces Marcos Baghdatis in the fourth round, hasn’t exactly been put through the wringer in his matches. Although there was some trepidation that he could go out in the first round as he had done in the 2005 US Open, Roddick banished those memories to the past by straight-setting his last three opponents. His third-round clash with Julien Benneteau was an exercise in confidence: Roddick had it, and Benneteau didn’t. I was in a chat with fellow tennis fans when Benneteau tried a dropshot.

Adam: good drop shot!
deb: ???
Noelle: not!
Adam: benneateau hit the worst dropshot ever
Noelle: and it landed in the service box
Noelle: on his side of the court
Adam: it bounced before the net

Ljubicic won his two meetings versus Roddick last year and has showed a steady improvement in his play over the past year. Could this late bloomer be a dark horse contender for the title? He’ll have to face 2002 Australian Open champ Thomas Johansson first.

***

WITHOUT WILLIAMS: Both Serena and Venus Williams won a Slam tournament last year, but they aren’t in contention for the Australian title anymore. Venus was the first to fall, knocked out in the first round by Bulgarian qualifier Tsvetlana Pironkova. Serena’s first round opponent Na Li and second round opponent Camille Pin didn’t have the consistency or the power to topple the defending champion, but Hantuchova took advantage of Serena’s poor fitness to win their third round match in straight sets.

From the NYTimes:

"I think we all know how well she can really play," said Hantuchova, who had not won a set in her three previous matches with Williams. "But to her credit, I thought she kept fighting until the end. She never gave up, and at the end of the second set, it could have gone either way, so I really did feel the pressure of her really competing."

***

As the Slam is set to go into its second week in two days, there have been the standard steamrolling of opponents as well as expected and unexpected upsets. Ladies and gentlemen, it's Aussie Open time. As they say: bring it on!

Nalbandian Denies Udomchoke

2006-01-16T13:23:00.000+08:00

David Nalbandian toughed through his first-round match at the Australian Open; after going up two sets to love, he dropped the next two sets against Thailand's Danai Udomchoke before picking up his game to win the match in the fifth set. The score was 6-2,6-2,1-6,6-7,6-1.

When I started watching this match, I wondered why Nalbandian was grinding out the match; almost all games in the first set went to deuce although he broke Udomchoke twice to win the set. I didn't watch most of the third and fourth sets (I did some errands) but the commentators noted that Nalbandian had slightly changed his game plan in the fifth set. Udomchoke was attacking the Nalbandian forehand (the weaker of the two wings) during the two sets he won, but in the fifth set Nalbandian began hitting his returns with authority, getting a few return aces in the bag, and his down-the-line backhand began to get the better of the Thai player.

I'll put up more information on this match in a little while; I just thought the phrase had to be said: Nalbandian Denies Udomchoke.

Interview with the Tennis

2006-01-09T19:35:00.000+08:00

TENNIS: Why haven't you been writing about me lately?

NOELLE: Well, I haven't seen you around lately.

T: What are you talking about? The Hopman Cup, Qatar Open, Adelaide, Chennai... And that's only for the men's and mixed doubles events. I am here, baby. It's the new year!

N: Well, I really don't know what to write--

T: Why haven't you said anything about Mariano Puerta being banned for eight years after his positive test for etilefrine was confirmed?

N: I don't know. There doesn't seem to be much left to say rather than "His excuse is muy flimsy." Other than that, I'm practically uninformed on the rest of your doings this January.

T: Hey! What kind of tennis blogger are you?

N: A bored one. I can't seem to catch any of your matches on TV lately. I haven't played in four weeks, either.

T: Don't they say "Absence makes the heart grow fonder?"

N: They also say "Out of sight, out of mind." To think I was one of the people who thought you needed a longer offseason. Psh.

T: But I do! Or at least my players do so they can rest and recover and train and all those things. Maybe I just need to be on TV more?

N: I guess. Because last year your television coverage sucked. Aside from the Australian Open, I couldn't catch any matches live during normal hours, there were virtually no replays of the matches that came on late at night or too early in the morning--

T: The Australian Open starts next week, you know.

N: It will?

T: Although Andre Agassi isn't playing because of that ankle injury he was suffering from during the 2005 Tennis Masters Cup.

N: And Marat Safin?

T: In doubt.

N: Oh, that's really bad. Any other news?

T: Rafael Nadal is also in doubt, and... Hey! What's with all the questions? You're just asking them so you can write about, uh, me!

N: Wasn't that the whole point of this conversation?

T: Uh...

N: You're such a demanding sport.

New Year

2006-01-02T14:16:00.000+08:00

I hope everyone had a great New Year's celebration. I temporarily lost access to the internet for the past two weeks, hence the lack of any updates. I'm looking forward to writing more about tennis this year and I hope you'll join me. Thanks for stopping by. I'll write more over the course of this week.

Un-Retirement Watch

2005-12-16T19:35:00.000+08:00

Shortly after Martina Hingis announced her intended comeback, related news started pouring in about other tennis stars long absent from the game. John McEnroe intends to play doubles with Jonas Bjorkman at the SAP Open in February 2006, and Anna Kournikova and Monica Seles have both made statements regarding their respective comebacks.

McEnroe's return (even if it is for just one tournament) seems legitimate. " Doubles has been struggling and I thought if I could get a little attention focused on it, it might help," McEnroe told ITN. He continued, "I still have a lot of events I play on the Champions Tour, which keep me busy, but the option to play more doubles is there. We'll see what happens when I get out there." Some reports and commentaries have been interpreting McEnroe's one-tournament return as something that could lead to a Martina Navratilova-like career. Navratilova had retired and was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame, but returned to the game and still competes in doubles on the tour and in Grand Slams. I'm adopting a wait-and-see position on this one.

Kournikova seemingly has been repeating the same sentiment for the past few years that she might return to playing tennis on the WTA Tour. This latest statement could have been brought about because the same line of questioning keeps coming up at her press conferences: will she or won't she return? Anna has always remained vague and coy about when that time will come, and this latest statement is just as non-committal. Sorry to burst your bubble, boys, but you'll just have to book tickets to World Team Tennis if you want to see Anna play.

Seles's most recent statement is more definite, but not in saying that she will definitely return. In fact, she says that if she doesn't return in 2006, she'd have to move on. "I'm still training and still trying, but at the same time I'm realistic," Seles told the AP. Monica, now 32 years old, seems upbeat about the possibility she may never return to professional tour play. The same wire service article that reports such statements bears the headline Seles aims for comeback when Monica's language is not that positive about her return.

I guess it's a slow news month for professional tennis. At least the Hyundai Hopman Cup begins in about two weeks, and then the tours begin to pick up steam again before the Australian Open.

Odds & Ends

2005-12-08T12:07:00.000+08:00

It's the off-season so there's not much to write about with regard to the professional tennis tours. Still, there's a wealth of fascinating tennis-related news out there. I let some slip through the cracks and never ended up writing about them earlier, so this is my chance.

CARDIO TENNIS: Some people use tennis as a way to burn calories and improve fitness, and that was one of the premises of Tennis Welcome Centers. Here's something that goes it one better.

From Sports Geezer:
Can Beyonce save tennis? How about Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez? The United States Tennis Association and the Tennis Industry Association seem to think so. The two organizations, concerned about their sport's failure to thrive in recent years, have created a new and way more extreme tennis workout, and it often includes blasting music from at least one of the two young ladies. What else does in [sic] include? There's a 10-minute warm-up, 45 minutes of cardiovascular conditioning--including team games and forehand, backhand and volley drills--and a five-minute cool-down....[I]t's called cardio tennis, and it seems to be less about tennis than it is about cardio. The main selling point is that it is a high-energy workout that burns more calories than singles or doubles by elevating the heart rate into the aerobic training zone. And if you think no one will buy that selling point, think again. Cardio tennis workouts are offered at 760 public and private courts across the country.

I don't know about you, but I'd rather play the real thing. I can get my cardio workout from other activities; nothing beats the rush of opening a fresh can of balls and smacking them hard back and forth across a net. Still, the cross-promotional aspect of this with tennis may inspire other people to pick up racquets and actually start playing. It's all good.

TENNIS ELBOW: Tennis elbow sufferers may have yet another weapon to add to their pain-killing arsenal. According to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, injecting Botox into the affected arm could alleviate the condition.

From Reuters.co.uk:
There are many options for treating tennis elbow, including rest, anti-inflammatory pain medications, braces and injections of corticosteroids. But in studies, only anti-inflammatory lotions or ointments have proven effective, Dr. Shiu Man Wong told Reuters Health.

For their study, Wong and colleagues at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Prince of Wales Hospital recruited 60 adults who'd suffered tennis elbow pain for at least three months. Half received a single injection of botulinum toxin type A in the affected area, and half were injected with saline.

One month and three months later, patients who'd received the toxin showed greater improvements in their pain than placebo patients did, the researchers found. In the botulinum toxin group, the average score on a standard pain-rating scale fell from 65.5 to 23.5 over three months. Among placebo patients, the average score dipped from 66.2 to 43.5.

For a few patients, though, the toxin did cause muscle weakness in the fingers; muscle weakness is a typical side effect of Botox in general.

More studies are needed to confirm the toxin's effectiveness for tennis elbow, Wong said. It's not clear why it may aid the condition, but direct analgesic effects may be at work, according to the researcher.

In tests of grip strength, Wong noted, there were no overall differences between the two study groups - suggesting that the pain relief was not just a product of reduced muscle tension around the elbow.

Botulinum toxin may eventually prove useful for painful conditions like chronic headache and tennis elbow, according to Dr. Seth L. Pullman of Columbia University in New York City. But for now, doctors should reserve it for conditions marked by abnormal muscle spasms, he writes in an accompanying editorial.

Will it reduce wrinkles on my arm, too? But seriously speaking, tennis elbow is a very painful condition that knocks players out of competition for months on end. I wonder what spurred Dr. Wong's interest in the matter.

MOON TENNIS: Shortly before the 2005 US Open commenced, NASA released an article about how the Moon's atmosphere and gravity would affect topspin, any tennis player's staple for keeping the ball in court. To complement this article, NASA also shot a video starring Andy Roddick, the US Open Series' "Rocket Man."

From NASA:
They call him the "Rocket Man." Tennis pro Andy Roddick holds the world's record for fast serves: 155 mph. By the time opponents realize where the ball is going, very often, it's already gone. Ace! His groundstrokes are like rockets, too.

Believe it or not, this can be a problem. Balls hit so hard want to go long, flying straight out the back of the court. Out! It's hard to win a game that way.

So what do you do when you're so powerful? Roddick has a trick up his sleeve: topspin. By hitting the ball obliquely (at a slant), he causes it to spin. Topspin makes the ball curve downward. Instead of going out, it drops neatly into play on the other side of the net.

Now the Rocket Man is wondering, "What if the US Open were played on the Moon? Would topspin do me any good?"

Andy's acting may be wooden, but his participation in the video anchored the NASA article's spacey speculation in tennis reality. Now if only he could stop foot-faulting in the video...

Ancic Clinches the Cup for Croatia

2005-12-05T16:20:00.000+08:00

Mario Ancic has been branded as a choker for losing matches he had dominated in the first set. He'd been dubbed the "Ancichoke" in October on MensTennisForums; when he lost to Dmitry Tursunov two weeks later in Paris after having numerous chances to win in the deciding set's tiebreaker, that nickname seemed confirmed.

Nobody was putting any bets on Ancic pulling his weight in Croatia's Davis Cup final against Slovakia. Most articles written gave Ivan Ljubicic credit for single-handedly carried Croatia to the final.

From Reuters.co.uk:
Ljubicic, who launched Croatia on the road to the final with stunning wins over Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi in the first round in Los Angeles, is playing down his heroics, at least until the mission is accomplished.

"They were great wins but if we lose in the final it's going to be easy to forget them," said the 28-year-old, who fled war-torn Bosnia as a teenager to pursue his tennis career.

[...]

With the 21-year-old Ancic struggling of late, the pressure will be on Ljubicic to spearhead Croatia's challenge in the Sibamac Arena on the banks of the Danube.

First-day action saw Ljubicic carry out what he'd been expected to do, which was win his rubber against Karol Kucera. Ancic lived up to the low expectations, falling to Dominik Hrbaty. The second day, Ancic and Ljubicic won the doubles rubber, defeating Hrbaty and Michael Mertinak.

On the final day of the final, though, Hrbaty pulled off a five-set victory over Ljubicic despite being 0-5 in career win-loss against the Croat. This left Ancic to play the make-or-break rubber against Mertinak.

From Davis Cup.com:
The Davis Cup produces heroes, often unlikely ones, and there is no bigger stage in tennis than the deciding fifth rubber in the Final of the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas...

...It was always going to be a tall order for the world No. 165, up against No. 22 Ancic, but Davis Cup habitually pits players from different worlds, in tennis terms, against one another and then produces the unexpected.

"Of course, I felt the pressure," said Mertinak. "I was a little bit shaky at the beginning, but then I cooled down. I tried to do my best. Unfortunately, it didn't work the right way today."

Mertinak did in fact play well above his usual level in singles, and somehow held on to his serve throughout the first set, saving four break points including two in the fisrt game, to eventually force a tiebreak.

That was the cue for Ancic to show his class, and he went up a gear, playing aggressively and grabbing the initiative. He surged to a 6-1 lead, and took the set with a crushing 1-2 combination, a deep return setting up an easy put-away volley after one hour five minutes.

"It was a very nervous start," said Ancic. "[I] Had a lot of breakpoints which I couldn't use. But then I think I really stepped up in the tiebreak. From that moment, I think I was in control of the match."

The rest of the match was by no means a procession, even if Ancic was as he said in control for most of it. He broke in the second game of the second set, but Mertinak earned a break-back point at 1-3. Ancic saved it, then went on to seal the set with an ace, before breaking the Slovak to love at the start of the third set.

To his credit, Mertinak continued to fight bravely, and broke back for 3-all. It seemed that Ancic might be wobbling in the Davis Cup once more, but he regained his composure to break again for 5-4.

Ancic served it out confidently, and although Mertinak saved one match point, a miss-hit forehand on the second floated inches long. The Davis Cup by BNP Paribas belonged to Croatia.

It's been a hard-fought and well-deserved Davis Cup victory for first-time finalist Croatia. Credit should also go to the Slovak Republic, also a first-time finalist. The two countries defeated defending finalist and champion USA and Spain respectively in the first round of World Group action this year.

The year 2006 will see both countries play their first round as away games: Croatia will face off against Austria, and Slovakia will play Chile.

RP Tennis is Gold

2005-12-04T22:03:00.000+08:00

I have a feeling I'm going to have a lot of competition for tennis court time after this year's South East Asian Games. I'm expecting a boom in recreational tennis after the Philippines's Fil-American players raked in two more gold medals after the men's team tennis gold.

Last night, Cecil Mamiit set the local crowd on fire after defeating defending champion Danai Udomchoke of Thailand in three hard-fought sets (6-3,5-7,6-4). The Thai roared into the final by besting Eric Taino, another Philippine player, in the semifinal 7-6(5),6-4. Udomchoke had earlier assessed the match-up against Mamiit to be a difficult one, as the Filipino held a 2-1 career win-loss record against him. His assessment proved to be correct.

From Tempo:
Udom Chokes!
[...]
With an overflow crowd and hundreds more in and out of the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center egging him on, Mamiit, a member of the gold medal-winning men's team, gave out the performance of his life, breaking the Thai's serve in the eighth game of the second set, reeling back after losing a 3-1 lead in the second and summoning all his energy and experience in the third and deciding set to claim the victory in two hours and 30 minutes.

"I think this is the best tennis I've ever played. All the tennis the whole week made me feel better and play better and better," Mamiit, the world No. 211, said. "All these crowd [sic] supporting the team, I'm glad we delivered and let them enjoy tennis."

"We (Udomchoke) were talking right after the match and we agreed that it was a perfect day for tennis. We really played out those points and never let up even when someone is down. It's a good thing that I was able to regain my energy in the third set, with the help of the crowd and my experience."

It was the first men's singles gold since Felix Barrientos registered the feat in 1991, also at the Rizal Tennis center, in a three-gold medal performance, and the 14th overall for the country since it started participating in the biennial event in 1977.

Udomchoke apologized to Thai fans for failing to win the gold medal, citing exhaustion and a groin injury which a trainer attended to in the third set.

In celebration, Mamiit danced with two Thais in national costume to the tune of the Pinoy Big Brother theme song. Later that night, he and Eric Taino also celebrated a semifinal victory in men's doubles over Indonesians Prima Simpatiaji and Wahyu Trijati. Taino and Mamiit played the final against twin brothers Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana of Thailand today but lost 4-6,2-6. (I could probably insert a Siamese twin joke here, but I won't.)

Earlier today, Taino and partner Riza Zalameda posted a win over Indonesia's Suwandi Suwandi and Wynne Prakusya for the gold medal in mixed doubles. Displaying a mix of power, finesse, and good teamwork from the baseline and the net, the Filipinos rallied from a one-set-to-love deficit to push the match into a deciding third set. The final score was 2-6,6-3,6-4.

***

In related news, a bomb scare held up match play yesterday at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Stadium as an unattended travel bag was found around 1pm. Audience and players alike were evacuated as bomb squad members searched for explosives. When they opened the bag, though, all it contained were a tennis player's clothes and shoes.

And on that note, this concludes my coverage and commentary of Philippine tennis at the SEA Games. I'll be back to the regular tennis fare this upcoming week to talk about Davis Cup final results and other offseason topics.

More SEA Games Tennis Action

2005-12-01T21:25:00.000+08:00

I'd like to apologize to my international readers (all six? three? of you) for writing so much about the Philippine contingent at the South East Asian Games. The SEA Games is a huge event over here in the Philippines and the fact that our local (well, not-so-local) tennis bets are doing well is just something I enjoy writing about a lot.

So, bad news first: Riza Zalameda and Denise Dy both lost today, effectively ending the Philippine campaign for a gold medal in women's singles. The #2 seed, Indonesia's Wynn Prakusya, defeated Zalameda with a convincing 6-1,6-2 scoreline. Dy fared slightly better against #1 seed Suchanan Viratprasert of Thailand, losing 4-6,5-7.

Zalameda still has a chance to score a gold medal in mixed doubles with "Dancing Netter" Eric Taino. The two sallied into the semifinals by beating Quang Huy Ngo and Thuy Dung Nguyen of Vietnam 6-2,6-1. This semifinal berth has already guaranteed Zalameda and Taino an automatic bronze medal.

Taino and Cecil Mamiit both steamrolled through their quarterfinal singles matches. Mamiit made quick work (6-0,6-0) of Vivongsay Vongsouthi of Laos, and Taino overpowered Sunu Wahyu Trijati 6-1,6-0. Meanwhile, homegrown doubles team Johnny Arcilla and Patrick John Tierro double-bageled Ekalath Phonepraseuth and Daliya Saidara of Laos, proceeding into the doubles quarterfinal where they face Indonesia's Suwandi Suwandi and Bonit Wiryawan.

All matches are played on Rizal Memorial Tennis Stadium's courts, which have been painted with the US Open color scheme of blue courts surrounded by green.

Tennis in Any Language

2005-11-30T23:13:00.000+08:00

Apart from the English-language tennis blogs I read, there are tennis blogs out there written in other languages. These are just some of the more enthusiastic ones I've seen. Leave me a comment if you know of any others, and I'll add them to the list.

SPANISH:

Tenis 365
Tenis.ws

JAPANESE:

Balle de Match

FRENCH:

ITALIAN:

Slam-Blog

NORWEGIAN:

Tennis Bloggings

Tennis truly is an international sport.