Top 8 seeds: Francesca Schiavone, Marion Bartoli, Alisa Kleybanova, Jarmila Groth, Lucie Safarova, Ayumi Morita, Kimiko Date-Krumm, Bojana Jovanovski
Points of interests: Well, top seed Schiavone has already lost, hampered by an ankle injury and upset by Jelena Dokic in the first round. So … Jelena Dokic? Also, say hello to the unseeded Dinara Safina in the draw. She plays Xinyun Han in the first round.
Top 8 seeds: Jelena Jankovic, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Aravane Rezai, Julia Goerges, Anastasija Sevastova, Sara Errani, Iveta Benesova, Polona Hercog
Points of interest: Well, I’d pay good money to watch first round meetings between Melanie Oudin and Vania King, Simona Halep and Alize Cornet, and Iveta Benesova and Gisela Dulko. But that might just be me. Also: JJ!
Late to the party, I know, but what can we say except that Djokovic was outstanding in the final, and after a less than stellar route there, absolutely dismantled Federer? I don’t think Federer was on top form, but I really don’t think the match was about him. From the beginning, Djokovic was all over him with the return, that lethal forehand of death, and kept putting the ball in fairly impossible positions. No wonder Federer butchered a couple of shots. That’s Djokovic’s third Dubai title, and he’s now been unbeaten for fifteen matches. You may, you know, worship him.
Vera Zvonareva d. Caroline Wozniacki, 64 64
Pretty impressive for Vera Zvonareva in Doha, who hasn’t won a trophy in … ages, and beat Wozniacki 64 64 in a straightforward final. Wozniacki has had a good two weeks, picking up the Dubai title and beating a couple of former bugbears in Jankovic, Peer and Bartoli, so she was a bit fatigued and reportedly ill, but Zvonareva’s game had more than a little to do with a petulant final performance, so well done to the world no. 3.
Congratulations to Gisela Dulko and David Ferrer, who took home the trophies in Acapulco this weekend.
I have to say, I did not call Gisela standing there with that trophy as she’s been uninspiring in singles recently, but maybe that Australian Open win (and no. 1 ranking) in doubles with Flavia Pennetta, although presumably that’s not the new love that Clijsters was referring to. She beat sixth seed Arantxa Parra-Santonja 63 76(5) in the final.
As for the men’s side, I’m absolutely gutted that I missed David Ferrer’s final against Nicolas Almagro (it was on at like five in the morning!). Almagro was going for the Golden Swing sweep, having already won in Santiago and Buenos Aires, while Ferru was the defending champion and it appears to have been kind of a classic:
If you didn’t watch that, Ferru won 76(4) 67(2) 62, and he was pretty happy about it.
That’s a 500 and a Grand Slam semifinal and it’s still February. Or as I’m now thinking of it, Ferruary.
JMDP won. He won. I’m just … there is sunshine in my heart right now and kittens gambolling along my veins, drowning in all the wine. It’s how they would have wanted to go.
Ahem. So that was a pretty terrible match. This wasn’t the JMDP we saw crushing Mardy Fish last night. He came out flat and lifeless, barely moving, and dropped his second service game to give Tispsarevic the break for 3-1. Both he and Davin had been talking before the match about how tired he was, making semifinals and then a final three weeks on the trot, which might have been it; equally, he had played all his matches in Delray Beach at night and I thought the different conditions in the heat might have been responsible. Or he could have been nervous. Whatever, this was genuinely-lethargic JMDP as opposed to that’s-just-what-he-looks-like JMDP (the way you can tell is that the former misses, a lot).
It was crushing; Tipsarevic had the lead at 4-1 and there looked like absolutely no reason why he shouldn’t run with it. I was mentally composing an agonised post-mortem which spoke defensively about the difference between winning a final and winning any other match, and publicly appealed to the tennis gods for just a little bit of luck to get him over the hump. Of course, the luck in question was already operating, because he was playing Tipsarevic. He flaked to drop his serve, JMDP dredged up the occasional big serve from the very depths of his being, and Tipsy just couldn’t get himself back into it.
JMDP said in his post-match interview that he was ‘completely tired’ and added that although Tipsarevic was the better player, he was a little bit luckier at key moments. That’s more or less how it felt. If JMDP was flat in the first set, he was frankly two-dimensional in the second. I have never seen him push the ball around like that; he couldn’t get any timing on it, was rolling in his serves and generally looking about to die on the court even when he was a set and a break down. Yet Tipsy couldn’t get his feet under him and Delpo kept – maddeningly – doing just enough to stay ahead. It was just about the most agonising, brain-dead tennis you can imagine.
But who cares? It doesn’t have to be pretty. A win is a win is a win, and when JMDP watched Tipsy’s ball out, dropped his racquet and lifted his arms in the air, no-one was thinking about how he got there. We were thinking about where he’s been; missing an entire season of tennis, sitting at home instead of defending his US Open title, dropping out into the hinterlands of the far 400s. Just in case we’d forgotten, he kissed his right wrist multiple times while acknowledging the applause of the crowd. I’d kiss it too. And, you know, carry on from there.
A word for our gallant loser though. Seriously, the fact that a player like Tipsarevic – who, as I tweeted in an attempt to pre-empt my own probable bitterness, has given tennis fans hours of entertainment and some of the most memorable matches of the last few years on the biggest stages – doesn’t have an ATP title, even a 250, just underlines how tough it is to perform in a final. There is no way he won’t get one before he retires. It just wasn’t his day today.
But it was Delpo’s. It should put him back in the top 85, and there will be (and already is) a lot of talk about what a ‘statement’ this is to the rest of the tour. I don’t care about that right now. He won. He won a final. He’s holding a trophy. He’s a champion again.
… Yeah. I’ll be crying.
(You can see video here of JMDP giving a victory speech in Spanish (thanks to everyone who tweeted and translated it for me) – reportedly he’s thanking the spectators for enduring the heat, the little kids in the crowd who supported him, the faithful Franco and Martiniano, and his friends and family back home.)
Juan Martin del Potro is in the finals at Delray Beach, and I’m totally calm about it.
He crushed Gabashvili 61 61, took care of Kevin Anderson 64 64, and last night beat second seed and world no. 16 Mardy Fish 61 75. He even came back from 1-4 down and in trouble on his own serve in the second set to nick it all. He’s in his first final since the WTFs in 2009 and will probably crack the top 100 if he wins. He’s in a final. I don’t care if it is at a tournament that sounds like a MarioKart race track.
He’ll be up against Janko Tipsarevic, who’s looking for his maiden title. So there’s that.
I liked this from Fish too:
He’s so tall. He’s a tall 6’ 6”. He has long arms and it feels that any penetrating ball I hit is still in his strike zone. I’ve got to almost shank a ball almost over his head to get it out of his strike zone. It seems like his strike zone is five feet… and pretty much any ball on his forehand is a deadly shot.
Delpo beat Richard Berankis 64 61 in Delray Beach. He plays Gabashvili next after Basher upset Isner in the first round. They played last week and Delpo won in straights. The news you need to know.
Oh, and it was his 150th ATP match win. Let us celebrate.
Singles – First Round
[2] M Fish (USA) d B Phau (GER) 50 ret. (illness)
[5] K Anderson (RSA) d [LL] D Young (USA) 67(5) 76(4) 62
[6] J Tipsarevic (SRB) d I Karlovic (CRO) 76(14) 76(1)
D Sela (ISR) d [Q] M Matosevic (AUS) 36 61 62
I Dodig (CRO) d I Kunitsyn (RUS) 64 26 63
[Q] B Kavcic (SLO) d [LL] R Farah (COL) 61 64
[Q] R Sweeting (USA) d I Andreev (RUS) 62 63
K Nishikori (JPN) d B Dabul (ARG) 62 76(5)
J Del Potro (ARG) d R Berankis (LTU) 64 61
[Q] A Falla (COL) d [LL] J Hajek (CZE) 61 20 ret.(illness)
Doubles – First Round
[1] E Butorac (USA) / J Rojer (AHO) d J Brunstrom (SWE) / I Zelenay (SVK) 63 64
A Fisher (AUS) / S Huss (AUS) d [WC] J Sock (USA) / D Young (USA) 63 46 10-7
B Becker (GER) / M Kohlmann (GER) d I Dodig (CRO) / I Karlovic (CRO) 76(1) 76(3)
M Ebden (AUS) / S Groth (AUS) d [WC] J Cerretani (USA) / A Shamasdin (CAN) 63 64
So as you may or may not know, the legendary Linz was at the Memphis 500 last week doing some behind-the-scenes camerawork, and she sent me this fantastic video of Delpo being interviewed by The Koz of indietennis.com.
That’s right, Linz was that close to that much adorableness and somehow survived the experience.
Courtesy of Racquet Required, Linz was also on hand to film Delpo’s pressers after his win against Ivan Dodig and a more dejected Delpo after the semifinal loss to Roddick.
OK, I was putting this off, but I’m knackered and off early in the morning and I just can’t wait for more photos to come through right now.
Ladies first: it was a sad ending to an exceptional tournament for Rebecca Marino when she was forced to retire, trailing by a set, in the final due to an abdominal injury she sustained during the semi-final. The young Canadian and female Delpo was in tears on the court, but comported herself fairly well and gave a very nice, mature press conference that you can see here. So congratulations to Magdalena Rybarikova, who clearly decided to have one of her somewhat rare good weeks and certainly deserved the title.
But let’s talk about tonight’s final between Milos Raonic and Andy Roddick, shall we? Actually, I don’t know if I can because I’m very tired and still buzzing too much from the match to be articulate about it. It’s easy, looking at the score (two tiebreaks and 75 in the third) that this was your basic big-serving contest coming down to a few clutch points here and there. And although the latter is true, it was such a fun match. Roddick, who was clearly suffering from a cold, followed on where he left off against Delpo, deciding to match Raonic in the neck-or-nothing (to paraphrase Georgette Heyer) department, and Raonic handled the entire match magnificently. Not for a moment did he look overawed by the occasion or, come to that, the second-best player even when he was trailing. Roddick said during the trophy presentation that he was outplayed for two and a half hours and just ‘hung in there’, and while that’s a little too self-deprecating, it also gives an accurate flavour of the match.
But then sometimes all you need to do is hang in there and seize your opportunity when it presents itself. Raonic after being down a break in the third set broke back, held fairly easily, pressed but was unable to get anywhere on Roddick’s serve, and looked as if he was on his way to holding serve at 5-6. A couple of errors and it was 30-40. And then … this happened.
(There’s a better quality version here, but I couldn’t embed it.)
That, ladies and gentleman, is one of the best balls-out death-or-glory match-point shots you will ever see. Let’s not pretend Raonic didn’t play that point well. His cross-court backhand volley was brilliantly executed and could - should – have been a winner. Roddick had no business getting to that ball, still less hitting it back for a winner. And yet.
I said after the match that if I was Raonic, I would be feeling gypped. And I would. But I would also learn a big lesson from this: that sometimes you just have to say ‘too good’, and one amazing shot from your opponent doesn’t mean you didn’t play some fantastic tennis. He did, he really did – and then had the gall to be adorable in the trophy presentation, saying (I’m paraphrasing) “at least I’ll be in one of the most-watched YouTube points of all time. I’ll be on the wrong side of the court, but at least my name will be in the description.” Be un-won over, I dare you.
But the day belonged to Roddick. It was his fiftieth final, his thirtieth title, and had to be one of the best points he’d played in his career. It was also funny in a poignant sort of way to see him cram his hat back on his head afterwards, as if to hide his receding hairline. (It’s OK, Andy. You still have an amazing bum.)
Roddick referred to himself as an “old guy” when he was congratulating Raonic afterwards, and while I wouldn’t go that far, it’s difficult to deny that he probably only has a handful of opportunities left to thrill the tennis-watching public at large like that. I was so glad to be watching. Thanks for a great match.
NB: Not to spoil the moment, but I’m away for a couple of days, so blogging may be light.
International, Venus Williams defending (but not); draw here.
Top 8 seeds: Julia Goerges, Polona Hercog, Greta Arn, Gisela Dulko, Simona Halep, Arantxa Parra Santonja, Carla Suarez Navarro, Olga Govortsova
Points of interest: Polona Hercog and Simona Halep disappointed me in Bogota. Will they do it again?! Probably, and Polona was a finalist here last year, so she’ll have no excuse. Melanie Oudin and a literal pair of Pliskovas (transitioning juniors, thigh tattoos) are also bimbling about in the draw.
Doha
Premier, defending … well, this tournament hasn’t been played since 2008, when Maria Sharapova won it before it was superseded by the Year-End Championships, so she’s sort of defending; Alisa Kleybanova also won a tournament this week last year; draw here.
Top 8 seeds: Caroline Wozniacki, Vera Zvonareva, Francesca Schiavone, Li Na, Jelena Jankovic, Victoria Azarenka, Agnieszka Radwanska, Shahar Peer
Points of interest: This is basically Dubai-lite with no number 1 ranking on the line. Still a pretty good draw with some exceptional first-round matches: Flavia Pennetta-Zheng Jie, Lucie Safarova-Agnieszka Radwanska, Alisa Kleybanova-Marion Bartoli, Svetlana Kuznetsova-Shahar Peer (who probably still won’t be allowed to play where people can see her), Azarenka-Hantuchova. It’s going to be insanity from day one. Enjoy.
Top 8 seeds: David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco, Nicolas Almagro, Stanislas Wawrinka, Albert Montanes, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Juan Monaco, Juna Ignacio Chela
Points of interest: How about a first-round meeting between Thomaz Bellucci and Fernando Verdasco? There’s also the question of how new kid on the block Milos Raonic, due to play Carlos Berlocq in the opening round, will respond after his astonishing last couple of weeks – and on a different surface too. And, you know, Ferru.
Oh, and there’s always the question of whether everyone will make it out alive, particularly after this.
Top 8 seeds: Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Tomas Berdych, Mikhail Youzhny, Ivan Ljubicic, Viktor Troicki, Marcos Baghdatis, Ernests Gulbis
Points of interest: This was the first title Novak had ever defended in his career, but he’s got a tough road to make it a third year in a row; starting off with Michael Llodra, match-tough from Marseilles. In contrast, Federer’s quarter looks rather lightweight. Keep an eye out for an unseeded Nikolay Davydenko lurking about, and note the first-round meeting of qualifier Grigor Dmitrov and Richard Gasquet. Battle of the Baby Feds …
Delray Beach
250, Ernests Gulbis defending (or not, given that he’s opted to go and lose in the first round of Dubai instead); draw here.
Top 8 seeds: Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish, Sam Querrey, John Isner, Kevin Anderson, Janko Tipsarevic, Benjamin Becker, Adrian Mannarino
Points of interest: Another American hard court tournament in spring, another brace of Americans, none of whom (with the exception of Roddick, who is clearly ill and may or may not play) particularly impressed last week in Memphis. But there’s a lot of interest in this draw: Dudi Sela, due for a rematch with Roddick; Julien Benneteau and Ivo Karlovic, both making their way back from injury, starting off with Ivan Dodig and Janko Tipsarevic respectively; former champion Kei Nishikori; and of course Delpo, Delpo, Delpo and Delpo, who will be playing Richard Berankis in the first round. Fair warning: he will probably lose to Berankis, who’s an infuriating bundle of counter-punching energy. Unfair warning: if he does, I’m cliffing myself.
