Game, Steps & Match.

Milos Raonic: still happening. Fresh from his victory over Fernando Verdasco in the finals of San Jose, the pair met in the first round of Memphis and the result was the same, Raonic winning 64 36 76(5).

Verdasco, with a hint of sour grapes, was less than complimentary:

“For me that’s not a real match in tennis,” Verdasco said. “I hope to play soon against him in clay court to show him what it is to play tennis, and play rallies, and run, and not only serve.”

source

Saucer of milk, etc. Anyway, Raonic’s run continues after defeating Radek Stepanek tonight in the second round. Steps was on ebullient form, coming up with some superb play to save match points and snatch the second set tiebreak out from under Raonic’s feet, 10-8.

He celebrated thusly.

The third set also went to a tiebreak, but Raonic showed impressive composure to close it out with an ace even when some typical Steps-like antics were employed (going around high-fiving the linespeople at 1-6 down, for example). The Canadian has to be feeling the effects of so many matches now, emotionally and physically, but his confidence is frankly absurd and this mini-tear continues to be so much fun to watch. It may not be real tennis, but it’ll do me.

A Combined Age of 42.

Radek Stepanek and Nicole Vaidisova tied the knot in Prague this weekend.

According to my Bistromathics, they’re guaranteed to be together forever. So gratulace are in order.

ATP Injury Count Rises

First, the worst: Juan Martin del Potro has withdrawn from Monte Carlo and Barcelona because the tendonitis in his right wrist still won’t allow him to train properly. After spending Easter in Tandil he’s gone to Rochester, Minnesota (the town where I was born! OK, not important) to consult a specialist called Dr Richard Berger, and been diagnosed with a ‘small residual tendonitis’. So … more rest until Rome at the earliest? I don’t even know what to say any more.

I’m starting to seriously wonder if we’re ever getting him back. And seeing as how I’m a hollow shell of a woman and this blog is a shallow facsimile of a hollow shell of a woman’s blog without Delpo, that really isn’t good news for anyone except my enemies. And I hate those guys.

OK, enough Futurama references. Life goes on. Except not really if you’re any one of these guys: Gilles Simon, who will be out for a month with his ongoing knee problems and may miss Roland Garros; Robin Soderling, whose S&M-style knee strapping in Miami was the result of a knee strain that will keep him out of Monte Carlo; or Radek Stepanek, who’s out for a couple of months with exhaustion (in the interests of gender equality, we really should start talking about how Nicole Vaidisova is clearly ruining his career). And I haven’t heard any further update on Fernando Verdasco’s back problem either.

Can we just call the tour off for a couple of weeks? Maybe a month?

We could call it an ‘off season’.

Wait, She Wasn’t Retired?

According to people, Nicole Vaidisova has retired at the age of 20 and plans to marry boyfriend Radek Stepanek in July.

Er … congratulations?

D Cup: Czech Republic 3, Belgium 0

Congratulations once again to the well-oiled Davis Cup machine that is the Czech Republic’s Team Birdworm, a.k.a Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek.

After fairly destroying Belgium’s Olivier Rochus and Xavier Malisse in Friday’s singles, the fearsome doubles duo sealed the deal over the Rochus brothers in three sets, one of them a bagel.

Birdworm bump.

I’m probably wrong and I’m a bit too disguised to check, but I believe this means that Stepanek and Berdych as a team have lost just the one doubles rubber (in last year’s final against Spain). Anyway, they face a very winnable tie against either Chile or Israel next. Will it be another semifinal showing for team Birdworm? Probably.

R1 – T.BERDYCH (CZE) def. O.ROCHUS (BEL)
6-3  6-0  6-4
R2 – R.STEPANEK (CZE) def. X.MALISSE (BEL)
6-2  6-4  7-6(3)
R3 – T.BERDYCH / R.STEPANEK (CZE) def. S.DARCIS / O.ROCHUS (BEL)
7-6(0)  6-0  6-3

ATP Week Ahead: Rotterdam, Costa do Saiupe, San Jose

One 500 in Europe and two 250s in the Americas this week …

Rotterdam

Draw here.

Even with Murray not returning and the withdrawals of Nadal and Tsonga, this is a really fun draw. Top seed Nole has a quota of dangerous floaters (Stakhovsky, Chiudinelli, Tipsy) but no-one that should cause him any real problems, including probable quarterfinal opponent Robredo. In the second quarter, Monfils should be OK despite having reinjured his knee in Johannesburg, unless of course Youzhny’s healthy and on good form. I’d anticipate maybe a Nole-Youzhny semifinal.

In the bottom half, the third quarter is the real question mark: seventh seed Ivan Ljubicic has a tricky encounter with Julien Benneteau in the first round, while Robin Soderling has had an abysmal start to the year and there are real questions over the state of his recurring elbow injury. Someone totally random could easily come out there. And the fourth quarter is loaded, with Troicki-Melzer, Baggy-Blake, and Kolya-Lopez all meeting in the first round. Still hard to bet against Mr. Consistency, Kolya, though.

Predicted champion: Novak Djokovic. He really should.

Costa do Saiupe

Draw here.

With defending champion Robredo not returning, the top four seeds are Juan Carlos Ferrero (Boss! looking to get off the mark in 2010), Albert Montanes, Igor Andreev and last year’s finalist, Thomaz Bellucci. Richard Gasquet is hanging about in Boss’ quarter, looking to cause trouble no doubt, and Victor Hanescu could do well if he can get past last week’s revelation Joao Souza.

Predicted champion: Montanes. He’s got a really nice draw.

San Jose

Draw here.

Actually a brilliant draw for a 250; the top eight seeds are Roddick, Verdasco, Steps, Haas, Berdych, Kohlschreiber, Querrey and Chardy. Last year’s finalists Steps and Mardy Fish should meet in the second round, with the winner potentially having to contend with Taylor Dent or Sam Querrey in the quarterfinals. Top seed Roddick should handle the winner of Mayer-Gulbis in the second round without too much trouble and I wouldn’t count on Berdych upsetting him in the quarters, so should be a safe bet for the semifinals at least. In the bottom half of the draw, Verdasco has a smooth path, while the third quarter is packed with players who could do anything but probably won’t …

Predicted champion: Verdasco. His draw is very nice. 

Roddick Tops Radek in Brisbane

Please note the management accepts no liability for any unintended double entendres.

Andy Roddick d. Radek Stepanek, 76(2) 76(7)

Can we just pause to acknowledge that this guy is thirty?

Thirty.

Great way for Roddick to start off 2010 with a trophy, particularly after the somewhat disappointing way last season ended for him.

Pretty. Also an apt illustration of just how overly baggy that shirt is.

Is this good or bad? I can’t tell.

Somewhere Linz is smiling beatifically.

Rod vs. Rad, Stan vs. Ma(ri)n

So tonight / tomorrow’s finals are set in Brisbane and Chennai.

Defending champion Radek Stepanek takes on Andy Roddick in the Brisbane finals after Steps demolished a shoulder-taped Bambi and Roddick survived a tough three-set clash with Tomas Berdych.

Another defending champion in the finals at Chennai, as Marin breezed through over Janko Tipsarevic, 61 63. He’ll face Stan Wawrinka, who battled through against little Dudi Sela in three. Wawrinka is 4-0 in the H2H against my skinny love Marin. Worried face.

ATP Week Ahead: Brisbane, Chennai, Doha

Brisbane

Draw here.

Top seed Andy Roddick has a nice ride for his newly-recovered knee and should sail (to mix a metaphor) through to the quarter-finals, where he should meet either Richard Gasquet or Jurgen Melzer. The second quarter is a little less predictable, with Tomas Berdych and the unbelievably seeded Nose Job mixing it with Fish, Baghdatis and Llodra, but I don’t se any of them troubling Roddick unduly this early in the season. The third quarter features an all-American first round clash between Querrey and Blake, but if Gael Monfils can avoid being upset by Taylor Dent in the first round, I see him coming out on top. And defending champion and second seed Radek Stepanek has perhaps the easiest quarter, with the toughest opposition likely to come from quixotic Jeremy Chardy or a possible meeting with swine-flu survivor and wildcard Bernard Tomic. My money is on Roddick to win the title, though.

Chennai

Draw here.

Definitely looking a little underpowered in comparison to the other tournaments this week, Chennai still offers the potential for a clash between Robin Soderling, the top seed, and defending champion Marin Cilic in the final. I’d be astonished if the newly mentally-solid Soderling didn’t make the final, with his toughest test likely to come in a potential Abu Dhabi rematch with third seed Stanislas Wawrinka. Marin, on the other hand – bless him – isn’t quite as reliable and has a trickier quarter with the likes of Rajeev Ram, Rainer Schuettler, last year’s finalist Somdev Devvarman, Janko Tipsarevic and wildcard Carlos Moya knocking about, all of whom are capable of both the sublime and the ridiculous (often within the space of a single match). Soderling for the title.

Doha

Draw here.

This is where the big boys are hanging out this week, presumably lured by the climate or something. Roger, Rafa and Kolya are the top three seeds, with a definitely perceptible drop to the likes of Troicki, Montanes and Karlovic. Hard to feel a big sense of suspense about this, really. Can Kolya overcome Dr. Ivo and repeat his WTF victory over Federer? Probably not. Will anyone, up to and including Mikhail Youzhny, stop Rafa? Probably not. Will Ernests Gulbis make it to the second round? Probably not. Will Daniel Koellerer refrain from being a dick? Probably not. You see my dilemma. Rafa for the title.   

D Cup Final: Domination

Spain 5, Czech Republic 0

Rafael Nadal d. Tomas Berdych, 75 60 62

Well, hello there, Rafa. Nice to see you.

Big statement from Rafa in his penultimate match of the year. Can we stop with all the ‘Rafa is done’ talk now? He obviously thinks he isn’t, and that’s the only opinion that really matters:

I am lucky to play tennis. Is my hobby and at the same time my job. So for me is not very difficult wake up every day and practice hard. Always the motivation is important, wake up every day with the goal to improve something. The day when I wake up and I don’t feel this thing, I going to play golf or another thing.

source

David Ferrer d. Radek Stepanek, 16 26 64 64 86

Oh, Ferru. You little five-set warrior, you. One of my favourite matches of last year was watching him come back from 1-2 down against Roddick in the semifinals (a match that also ended 8-6 in the third). I didn’t get to see this one, but he basically clinched the tie with his comeback victory, ensuring that Navratil was forced to tap Berdych and Stepanek for the doubles, leaving them exhausted even if they managed to keep the tie alive into Sunday. (Which they didn’t.)

And of course the cheering!Boss photoage was just a bonus:

Feliciano Lopez / Fernando Verdasco d. Tomas Berdych / Radek Stepanek 76(7) 75 62

You kind of knew it was going to end up this way.

I don’t know what it is with Lopez, Verdasco and Davis Cup, but whatever it is, it seems to work. They handed Berdych and Stepanek their first ever Davis Cup doubles defeat, and they did it to clinch the tie and the defense of the trophy. Cue the celebrations that slashers love …

The dead rubbers were also efficiently wrapped up by Spain, with Nadal beating Hajek, 63 64, and Ferrer beating Dlouhy, 64 62.

Really tough weekend for the Czechs, but they’ve done amazingly to get this far. Spain just have too many good players who have the ability to rise to the Davis Cup occasion. Once Ferrer beat Stepanek, it was really all over bar the shouting, hugging, champagne-spraying and trophy-biting …

So that’s the Davis Cup done and dusted for 2009, remaining firmly in the hands of Spain. I do just want to say how pleased I am for Jewell, AmyLu, Rafadoc and the other Rafa/Armada fans who comment here and have not had the best time of late … hope you’re smiling now