Doodles from sunny Palermo.

We ought to tell the truth: Palermo gives players a way to escape from hard-court / indoors and find some sunny retreat on clay courts. And Italians, Spaniards and South Americans guys are used to be there. That’s the last dance on clay of the season, a surface all these guys have a particular love for.
When we say “a clay court player”, what does it make you think about? Someone speak of clay court specialists in such a way that sounds a bit irreverent, as they all were “the biggest dirt rats”. That’s a sort of unfair play. In order to render dignity to this kind of players, Pemulis likes to quote Mr Brad Gilbert, who -talking about Franco “Toto” Squillari (an Argentinean who was ranked around top ten on early 2000) -remarked: "This guy had a huge forehand, and he ran around every backhand to hit a putaway with his money shot. He ran down everything – and on the slow clay, a lot more balls can be run down. He was the dirt-baller supreme”. That’s a somewhat more fair generic profile of a clay courter.
That said, we manage to put an eye on the last eight of Palermo 2006: 4 Spaniards (Verdasco, Ramirez Hidalgo, Almagro, Montanes), 1 Italian (Volandri), 1 French (Simon), 1 Argentinean (Vassallo Arguello), 1 Ecuadorean (Nico Lapentti). A typical clay court menu. Lol. How are the things in Palermo? Not so good for the Italians, being Volandri the only that has survived the first two rounds. Filo won 2 three sets in a row but is not at his best ‘cause he’s struggling with some bug he got in these days. And just at the time of writing Filo is playing against Albert Montanes, who ousted a weary ‘Poto’ Starace. We think Nicolas Almagro was the best player so far, who also benefited from a nice draw. Fernando Verdasco seemed very good at defeating Bracciali in the first round, and today is gonna take on the fellow countryman Ramirez Hidalgo for a spot in SF. Nico Lapentti's come-from-behind win against Fabio Fognini was a crushing blow to the Italian hopes. The final might be a clash between Spaniards. But before getting the final someone (Almagro?) has to roll past Volandri. We have a wait-and-see approach about it.

Welcome to the slumping players Club

Pemulis and Gonzo are sitting on a couch; they both are glued to the TV. Gonzo moans something in a possibly foreign tongue: “What’s wrong with Ana? Two 1st Round losses in a row, 2-3 record since Montreal, she’s playing like a crap... steamrolled by the Williams Sister, first Serena, and then Venus..hmhmmm...”
Pemulis is positively strip-mining his right nostril when he yells at Gonzo: “Don’t mess with me, OK?”
Gonzo: “Pardon ? ‘”
Pemulis: “And I don't wanna get fuckin' bothered by the same shit, slumping players, upcoming players, underrated vs overrated. C’mon Gonzo, how long does it take to stop believing the hype ?”
Gonzo: ”I don’t understand, a couple of days ago You told me...”
Pemulis: ”Never Mind, Gonzo. Never mind. But what's on my mind at this moment isn't the last slumping player on the Pro-tour, it's the last episode of “Lost”. But it's shit like this that's gonna bring this situation to a boil. Relating to Ana, I’m gonna make the same arguments made about James Blake: don’t wanna say she is a one-dimensional player, (she) is talented, just a little unbalanced: her game relies too much on serve and cracking forehand, and over all, on his speed of the ball. She has little patience in long rallies. As far as I know in every match since Montreal her first serve % has been around 40% which is pretty disappointing. That’s why when Ana is in a good day plays awesomely (Ask Martina Hingis to explain what does it means), and when she is bad, she can lose seemingly easy matches. Winning or losing. She cannot play defensive. That’s about it. So we're cool?”
Gonzo: “Yeah man, we're cool”.
Pemulis: “Now, let me watch the “Lostees”, please, 'cause I luv it”.

Upcoming players in action

No doubt which were the upsets of the day: the teenagers Karin Knapp and Juan Martin Del Potro beat higher ranked and and well-known players like Ana Lena Groenefeld (Luxembourg – first round) and Carlos Moya (Mumbai – first round) respectively. There’s more: the both Karin and Juan Martin scored the best win in their young career.
Karin won with an impressive score: 6-0 6-4. The Italian is doing better and better every day. What a serve, guys. Anna-Lena: what a slump. She has a 5-9 record since Roland Garros, with five first-round losses in her nine appearances. It seems an identity crisis, rather than a technical regress. Ana Lena reminds me Jelena Jankovic in the first part of the season.
Relating to Juan Martin Del Potro, The 18-year-old talented Argentine defeated a former World No.1. All right. Congrats but Carlos Moya had a bad day, to say the least. Hopefully the Giant Argentine (6 ft 5 in. tall) will keep his feet on the ground, ‘cause he is top material and has more than a chance to move up and climb the ranking.

Travel to Asia and experience the value of it.

Martina Hingis won Tier III Sunfeast Open title in Kolkata (former Calcutta) and boosted her ranking to No.8 in the world. She is also a step closer to Sony Ericsson Championships scheduled in Madrid next November, having clinched 6th spot in the 2006 Race. This week she’s gonna play Seoul, a Tier IV tournament. So far, no stunning news. So we can get it over it. But the haters always on the back and more than someone complained she faced so low ranked players in Kolkata and keeps on playing those kinds of ‘cheap’ tournaments. Someone yelled: “Martina ought to stop playing low tiered events with only one other top 50 player just to move a spot in the rankings. It doesn’t make sense”. Someone has even said that playing too often just for ranking points might be dangerous: the more you play the higher is the risk of injury you run. “Elementary, my dear Watson”, said Holmes.
Pemulis is wondering why so much rage for this woman. Whether she loses to low ranked players (Razzano and Sugi above all) or steamrolls them (Mirza, Poutchkova above all), the haters are always out there, complaining all the time. This is getting kind of boring. Pemulis thinks some people are missing the point, which could be very simple. Have you ever heard of appearance fees? Money off-the-charts, undeclared appearance money that some players receive just for play in a certain tournament. As far as Pem knows, appearance fees are not forbidden on the WTA Tour. And I wouldn’t shout “SHOCKING BEHAVIOUR” a lot. Great champions, symbols of their sports, are sometimes hired to promote events they are competing in. Have you ever watched the TV spot on Dubai tournament? Moreover, there are 2 more possible good reasons to travel to Asia: the clever Hingis is gonna scout out the youngster players (like Olga Poutchkova); the clever (?) Hingis keeps on training and playing as much as possible, in order to get ready for the Sony Ericsson Championships. Avoiding injuries, of course! Does this make any sense?

Other doodles from the Davis Cup week-end

An indignant Federer censured Novak Djokovic for faking injuries during the match the Serbian won against Stanislav Wawrinka 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4. A strangely stern-faced Roger Federer complained Djokovic's health issues on Friday. “You know, I don't trust his injuries...” he said in the after match press conference “I think it's a joke when it comes down to his injuries. I mean, the rules are there to be used but not abused. He was doing it many times, that's why I was not happy to see him doing that and then running around like a rabbit again, so...Yeah, it was a good handshake for me. I was happy to beat him”. That’s why, when it came his turn The Fed had no pity for the Serbian kid, allowing him the little of 8 games in a 3 sets cakewalk (6-3 6-2 6-3). Quite unusual for Federer to say something like that ! I didn't watch the indicted match, but I know Novak, so I can figure out how annoying can be; he is often getting something treated, so (he) has been building a bit of e reputation for supposedly faking injuries.
Argentina cruised through to Davis Cup final. If at the start of Friday someone had forecasted a 5-0 win over Australia, few would have believed it. But that’s it. Jose Acasuso, pulled by the local crowd, won the match of his life against Lleyton Hewitt; Calleri and Nalbandian made the effort to defeat in straight set (6-4 7-5) the Aussie doubles pairing of Wayne Arthurs and Paul Hanley.
Belgium got back in the World Group of the DC to the detriment of Slovak Republic, which made the finals last season and next year will be relegated to the Zonal Group I in 2007. Congrats to Olivier Rochus and Kristof Vliegen. The key factor was winning the doubles, it gave Belgium a considerable confidence for the last 2 rubbers, so Oli Rochus steamrolled Hrbaty 6-2 6-3 6-3 and wins 3rd decisive point for Belgium.
In the end, the Nadal thing: Rafa keeps on improving his own record on clay court. Outlasting a good Volandri (the Italian was 2 points away from a 2 sets to love leading) has extended its record-setting winning streak to 62 matches (undefeated in 2006).

Davis Cup: Russia pulled through after dramatic moments.

Hi there, guyz.
Just to say I was basically to whole weekend glued to the satellite TV following too many Davis Cup matches.
It was not boring at all. But I'll go in order of importance, starting from where we left off on last Friday.
Safin and Youznhy cruised past A Rod and Blake respectively in the first 2 rubbers on Friday; then, the Bryans’ gave Americans a chance to come back from 0-2 down; in the fourth and decisive rubber, just try to ask yourself rubber who was picked by captain Tarpishev to carry on his shoulders Russian hopes to reach the final of the Davis Cup World Group. Neither Youzhny nor Davydenko. The Russia’s captain chose the worst (on the papers) player on clay he had at disposal, he chose Dima Tursunov. And we must say his strategy, in the end of the day, was so scarily good:
Dima played 2 sets and a half of brilliant tennis, with a perfect mix of power and tricks, and then, after an unbelievable fight back by A Rod who wasn’t played badly at all, won a 4 hours and 48 minutes epic battle (6-3 6-4 5-7 3-6 17-15) and gave “the country of his birth” the ticket to the DC final. Just for the record: Dima was born in Moscow nearly 24 years ago, moved to California at the age of 12, took a green card and was just a step away to take the US citizenship. For the record again: A Rod and Dima equaled the longest-ever singles fifth set in the history of World Group (ex aequo with the final set played in 1985 between the German Michael Westphal and the Czech Tomas Smid).
Hence one may come to one conclusion: Tarpishev is the strategy king! A gambler movin’ on the razor edge whose all the picks worked out. Congrats Shamil, and good luck for December, when Russia will host Argentina to play its third Davis Cup final ever.

Russia vs USA: no place in the line-up for the ugly duckling Kolya.

At this time every tennis fan should know Kolya Davydenko won’t play in the opening day of Davis Cup semifinal between Russia and United States. Some people think he’d have played. He’s n. 5 in the rankings, had a great run in Us Open (where he surrendered himself only to Fed Ex. in the SF).
So, why did the Russian captain Shamil Tarpishev manage to sidestep Kolya? Too dizzy? Too tired after travelling around the world and playing hundreds of matches? Nope, I don’t think it matters. I think the selection of Marat Safin and Misha Youzhny for the first two singles is somewhat strategy based. I mean, Shamil Tarpishev has at his disposal four good players – Marat, Misha, Kolya and Dima – whit different games and different track records against the America opponents. Kolya is an excellent runner and a very consistent ground-stroker, but he struggles a bit against the hard hitters. On clay court too. Too little variations on a straight baseline tennis game to make troubles. And today’s American opponents are A Rod and Blake, two of most popular hard-hitting “maniacs” of the tennis circuit. Now, let’s take a look to the track records. Kolya has 0-4 record against both Blake (all matches on hard court) and Roddick (even one match on clay). Safin has a 2-3 record against A Rod (they never played each other on clay), and a 2-0 record against Blake. That’s about it.
Another important thing: in the last US Open Davydenko defeated Tommy Haas who defeated Marat Safin. So the transitive law says Davydenko is better than Safin, transitive law does not apply in any sports activities.
The Russians have to win at least 3 singles matches, ‘cause the Brians’ will nearly for sure win the doubles. Therefore, they needed a strategy. On Sunday night we will see if this one – sidestepping Kolya at least on the opening day - will have worked out.

Deea’s doodles from Bucharest (part 2)

Time for my report
Yesterday I took my sister with me at the tournament. She isn't a big fan of tennis but enjoys it too from time to time. So we were heading for central court for Serra's match when we passed by the training courts where I saw Pavel practicing. We didn't stop until I noticed a blond guy practicing with him. I stood in shock a bit and then started screaming to my sister: OMG OMG, that's Tursunov!!! I was very happy because I didn't see Dima's match against Waske. So of course, who cared about Serra anymore???? We remained watching Dima's practice and took loads of pics. He was so funny when he was getting mad. He always yelled: Shit! Shit! But Pavel wasn't very calm either...once he got so mad that he threw his racquet into the fence. He couldn't use it after that. And Dima was always saying: Calm down man, calm down, it's going to be ok! After the practice I took my chance and got a pic with Dmitry. Needless to say I was really happy! I wished him good luck in his next match and promised I'll cheer for him. Poor Dima, he was assalted after his practice finished. Everybody wanted a pic, an autograph...but he didn't seem to mind all the attention.

Okay, so we finally got to central court where we saw the last 3 games of Serra's match...can you say boooooring??? But the next match was really exciting. Gilles Simon vs Jurgen Melzer. Though 3 setter, won by Melzer. He was driving poor Gilles mad with his dropshots. And Simon was always screaming and mumbling to himself. But he was so cute when he was doing that. A friend of mine, who was with me at the match said: "I wish I had a French friend so I can piss him off like that!!!" The truth is that Simon was really funny and got the sympathy of the crowd. Everybody was yelling Allez Simon!!! Allez Gilles! or simply Allez!!! There was a funny moment. While everybody was screaming the Allez's, all of a sudden a guy finds himself screaming Gooooooo Jurgen!!!! Everybody started laughing, including Melzer.
After that, we saw Mayer vs Roitman. Again, not very interesting. But the Argentinians came to cheer for Roitaman and as we were very close to them I started taking pics...about 30 minutes until one of them noticed me. And he told the other guys...I turned deep red as all of them started looking and smiling at us! Oh yeah, Mayer won in straight sets.
I had to go after this match and while me and my friend were heading to the exit she bumped really hard into Alexander Waske! He smiled at her and said Sorry...after that my friend was totally: OMG, who was that guy??? did you see what blue eyes he had??? I was LMAO of course. That's about it... Pics coming soon.
New report time...Thursday (I didn't have time to do it yesterday)
First match of the day, Paulo kicked Victor Crivoi's ass. 2 straight sets 6-1 6-1!!! I didn't see the whole match, just the second set...and Paulo was like totally on fire. Well, except that moment when he almost twisted his ankle. Thank God nothing serious happened. PHM is really loved in Bucharest. I mean, even though he was playing with a Romanian, half of the crowd was cheering for him. And that's really something!
The most awaited match of the day was of course, Pavel vs Moya. The atmosphere was absolutely fantastic. The stands were full. It was like a final. I don't think they are going to be as full in the final this year. Of course, Andrei got all the support...well, almost! There was this lady who was a big fan of Moya and kept yelling VAMOOOS!! She was sitting right next to us and angry looks were coming from everywhere. Unfortunately, as all of you already know all the support and cheering didn't serve Andrei very much. He lost in straight sets... After the match more than three quarters of the spectators left...it was kind of disappointing and sad, but Dima's match was next so of course I wasn't going anywhere.
Dima didn't start his match against GG Lopez very well...actually during the whole first set he was kind of struggling. Well, he came back and won the second one. And oh boy, the third set was fantastic. Awesome shots by both players. Especially strong forehands. Dima has such an amazing forehand. GGL's isn't bad either! The crowd was kind of divided...some cheered for Dima, some for GGL. Of course, there's no need saying who we cheered for, right? Oh man, to the end of the match we were screaming really loud!! I did something stupid though...at one moment the girls started talking about Igor and how bad that he didn't come this year...and in the very next moment, instead of yelling DAVAI DIMA, I shouted DAVAI IGOR!!! Of course the girls were laughing their asses off and I turned deep red. I couldn't believe what I said! To the great sorrow of all of us, Dima lost... But he was very nice as always and gave autographs to all the kids, even if he lost.
We waited for him until he came out of the locker room wished him good luck in the Davis Cup against USA and asked him to come back next year too. And bring Marat with him, if possible. He laughed and said he'll see about it!
Today mini-report...
Well, I saw the last few games of Serra vs Mayer. Florent won in straight sets. And Mayer got really pissed in the tie-break of the last set. He smashed his raquet... well, I can't blame him. He did a few stupid mistakes.
After that we watched in the burning sun (oh man, it was soooo hot ) PHM vs GGL. It was an interesting match. It started terrible for GGL, because Paulo was leading 5-0 in the first set. Very good shots from Paulo. He seems to be in form! I hope he wins the tournament. In the second set the situation was far more equal. GGL's forehand produced great winners. But Paulo didn't choke!!! Thank God! And won 6-1 6-4! There was a funny moment...some people kept moving through the stadium, even if play started and Paulo was serving. He saw them.....waited...waited some more....and finally burst: SITTTTTTTT!!!! He was really funny!!!
Because of the strong sun I got a headache and couldn't stay for the last matches
Okay final report...the BIG FINAL.
Before the singles final today a demonstrative match took place. A very interesting mixed doubles match between M.Bahrami/Virginia Ruzici (former RG winner) and Ilie Nastase/Raluca Olaru (a very promising Romanian junior) they certainly had a blast. Nastase and Bahrami are soooo funny! You should have seen them..."Come on Bahrami!!!"..."No!!!! You come on, Ilie!!"
After that the big final begun. The match was very exciting from the beginning. Both players were hitting the ball really great. But Meltzer concentrated better in the more important moments and won the first set 6-1. But believe me; it wasn't as easy as the score shows it. The second set was more equal...no breaks until 5-5. Wonderful play from both players. Volandri's game was really spectacular, but unfortunately he was making too many risky shots. And that cost him in the end. His serve started going wrong at 5-5...he got broken and then Jurgen served out the match and therefore the title! The first title of his career. He played very well through the whole week. My favourite was the match against Simon, even though I wasn't happy that poor Gilles lost. Congrats Jurgen! Even though I was cheering for Fillipo!

Tennis Insiders: Sears has Kirilenko in his sights.

Unofficial:
It's rumored Maria Kirilenko is gonna hire the british coach Nigel Sears, who in the past years worked with the likes of Barbara Schett and Amanda Coetzer; recently he splitted from Daniela Hantuchova. If the rumors are true we can say Sears is becoming a “stumbling players” specialist. Will be a good pairing ?

Players said: Martina Hingis talked about her chance of winning another Slam

Question: Can Martina Hingis win another Grand Slam?
Answer: “That’s a difficult question, there’re so many other girls in the fray now who have the ability and desire to win but I would definitely like to.. It will come at the Australian Open or the French Open. The other two (Wimbledon and the US Open) are getting faster..” Well said Martina, her words are a perfect mix of pride and honesty.

Deea’s doodles from Bucharest (part 1)

Proud to present one of my fav buddy, Deea from Bucharest, a smart girl who followed BCR Open Romania 2006 with great interest and posted the following doodles:
Small report - we watched the match between Tecau and Ungur. Unfortunately, we were cheering for Horia and he lost in 3 pretty tight sets. It was an ok match for Horia, but Ungur's forehand was very, very good today... after that we watched a bit some of the players practicing...Horna, Volandri and Christophe Rochus! We went back to Central court and watched the match between Craciun of Romania and Naso of Italy. Our country-man lost in straight sets. And to end the day on a high note we stumbled upon a very, very cute Italian coach and took pics with him.
Day 2 at the BCR open 2006
First thing we saw today was the practice of Moya and Montanes. They were both hitting the ball very well, but I must say that Montanes really impressed me. He has such powerful shots. Well, at least today in practice he had. I hope he gets far in the draw. I will cheer for him, of course! His first match is against G. Garcia Lopez. He also seems a very nice guy. He took pics with a lot of girls after his practice. And when I say a lot of girls, I mean a lot!!! After that we went on central court and watched the match between Ungur and Azzaro. Our Romanian won in 3 sets! Awesome forehand and good dropshots!
After that we saw a bit Zabaleta and Monaco practicing. Zabaleta is such a nice guy. Always joking and smiling. I took a pic with him, of course!! I really liked his four leaf clover tattoo!
We went back to central court and watched the match between Italian Fabio Fognini (a.k.a SuperFabio) and our country man, Victor Stanica. Our boy won, to the sorrow of dear Sandee! After that we watched an all-Italian battle between Naso and Vagnozzi! Vagnozzi is the guy with the really cute coach! And he won! 6-1 6-1! That’s one good coach, right?? (He’s the guy from the last pic)
Back to the practice courts where we saw PHM practicing with Volandri. But we couldn't take good pics of Paulo because he was too far. Oh well, maybe tomorrow. This was Volandri's second practice session of the day. He also practiced in the morning with Luis Horna!
That's about it...oh, one last thing...I saw the last points of the last match on Central Court between Florin Mergea and M.Mertinak. Mergea lost 1-6 3-6.
Hello everyone!!!
I'm kind of busy right now, so I don't have enough time to post a long report on my day but here goes a short one!
First thing I did yesterday was getting a pic with Andrei Pavel! He is such a nice guy! I'll cheer for him today in his singles match. I saw the match between Pico Monaco and Gilles Simon yesterday. It was a pretty good match. Gilles was really funny, always getting mad and cursing in French when he lost a point...okay, when he lost a stupid point. But eventually he won in straight sets. After that match I went and saw a couple of games from Paulo/Ch.Rochus match against the Italians Volandri/Di Mauro. Paulo and Christophe totally kicked ass! Oh and Paulo is sooooo cute after that I watched the first set between Montanes and GG Lopez. Albert won the first set quite easily but lost the following two...so bye-bye mini-Raul Yeah, that's how we were calling him. Back to central court where I watched a bit of the match between V.Ionita and RR Hidalgo. Ionita lost in straight sets. There was a funny thing about him too. He is Romanian but instead of yelling HAIDE in our language he was yelling Come on!!! That was so We were making jokes, saying that maybe he's yelling in english so that his opponent doesn't think he's cursing him or something!!!!
During the night session we watched and cheered really loud (and I mean REALLY LOUD ) for our favourite doubles team Pavel/Tecau vs Horna/Garcia. Unfortunately our boys lost in straight sets. And I totally disliked Horna's conduct on court. He was being an asshole!
After this match everybody left even though there was still one match to be played. The double Monaco/Zabaleta vs Waske/another german guy I don't remember right now. So we decided to stay. It was so funny! The stadium was practically empty. And we were yelling Vamos Mariano! Vamos Pico!!! Unfortunately I couldn't stay until it ended because it was getting really late. I got home at around 11 pm and my parents were totally That means less tennis for me today! Damn it! I have to go at 5:30 and I'm gonna miss Dmitry! I hope I'll see him in practice though!
I have time to post only one pic (gotta hurry to the tournament, don't wanna miss Vagnozzi vs Volandri or better said the cute coach ) Me and Andrei Pavel!!!
I said I'll post a small report but looking at it now I realize it's not as short as I thought it will be!
Today I couldn't stay very long at the tournament, but the time I spent there was very well spent. I first saw the match between Vagnozzi and Volandri! It was interesting. Volandri won in 3 sets. I was really sorry for Vagnozzi...well, actually more sorry that I wasn't going to see his cute coach anymore! But he took one set from Volandri, so that must be something. After this match was over, I went on central court where I watched the last 2 sets of the match between Crivoi and Massa. My country-man played very well (good dropshots and voleys ) and won in 3 sets to the sheer delight of our home crowd! After that we hurried to get something to eat before one of the most important matches of the day...Moya vs Horna. It lasted 3 hours and it was quite a battle of nerves between the two. Moya won 6-7 7-6 7-5. It was a perfect clay match...long rallies, wonderful dropshots and clever voleys. One rally was so long that my neck started aching from turning from one side to the other! Carlos will now meet dear Andrei Pavel on Thursday! the crowd was basically rooting for him in this match, but I don't think there's any doubt on who they'll be cheering next match, right? Unfortuanatelly I had to leave after this match but tomorrow I will stay longer. Good news come from Alekutza: Dima won his match against Waske, and that means I'll see him too! Thank God! When the girls told me I missed him at practice I was so furious but now I'm okay

Go to Bucharest and then you will never lose the sense of winning your 1st title in career.

At the beginning was the spaniard Juan Balcells the one who won his first ATP title in career, at Open Romania 2000. He fended off two match points in final set against the german Markus Hantschk before winning tie-break. Since then, Romania became a kind of “Promised Earth”, where to come and taste the flavour of grabbing the first or the second ATP trophy in career. It breaks down like this: in 2001 El Aynaoui (his 2nd win); in 2002 Ferrer (his 1st win); in 2003 David Sanchez (his 2nd win); 2004 Acasuso (his 2nd win); in 2005 Serra (his 1st win); in 2006 Melzer (his 1st win). That’s why an up and coming player shouldn’t miss this tournament. I'll give you an example of Bucharest positive impact: the 2006 defending champion Florent Serra won in Bucharest last year in September and afterwards won in Adelaide his 2nd career title less than three months later. This year was Jurgen Melzer’s turn to be placed on such a “blessed list”. Just joking! Actually...maybe half joking, ‘cause I love BCR Open Romania and we always had enjoyed great tennis out there, during his 11 years time of existence.
As Italian, I'm just a bit disappointed by the scores, ‘because I cheered for “Filo” Volandri. I must say I believed he would have won this one. I’m still sure Filo has the game to overcome Jurgen. He was nearly perfect in the 2 matches against Moya e and Serra, I dunno why used the wrong tactics against Jurgen. Specially during the first set he tried to outpower his opponent, probably just because he felt not to be
able to win the long rallies or dictate points. You know Jurgen is a lefty with a strong serve (what a 2nd serve, guyz) and a freaking dropshot, with which can get people out of their rhythm. Therefore, Filo decided (so badly) to shorten the rallies and go for winners, instead of keep on building up patiently the points with his dazzling cross-court backhand and closing them with awesome down-the-line winners. In the end won the player who deserved to win. Jurgen served too good, so it was almost impossible for Filo to break him.

Just a strange flashback: this match reminded me (in terms of scoreboard) the Open Romania 1997 final, when the Aussie Richard Fromberg beat Andrea Gaudenzi (another italian, it’s runner-up destiny) straight sets 6-1 7-6.
Anyways, Volandri, after a forgettable US hard court swing, had a pretty good tournament overall, even not being able to improve his pathetic record in finals (1-6)!

Pictures speak themselves

She didn’t fake at all, this time it seems to be a serious injury. These pics show how serious it was. We have often criticized Justin for her bad attitude to retire from the court when the match is endangered. The criticism is ok, irrational and visceral hate is not ok. Someone said hate is blind, and haters cannot see the pretty follies that they commit.


On the other hand, we must say Justine’s frequent hurts or injuries are for real. God gave her an awesome talent as well as a slender and weak body to cope with. That's harsh but true.

They said what they said

"I'm very proud of my team and it's an honour for me to be captain of this group," said Corrado Barazzutti afterwards the last match of the fed Cup finals.
"The best team has won, let's be clear about that," said Belgian captain Carl Maes.
What else to say?

Standing ovation to the Italian Queens.

There are no words to describe my happiness. Charleroi 2006: The Italian team made history. 30 years after winning the Davis Cup tournament, once again the Italian flag waves over the world. The 2 triumphs have in common just a man: Corrado Barazzutti was there, at Estadio Nacional in Santiago, Chile, back in those days, beating Jaime Fillol in the first round of DC finals, when Italy defeated Chile 4-1. The same Corrado this time has been the Captain of the Italian ship, which “landed” at Charleroi and took home the “pirates” treasure, better than Captain Jack Sparrow did in “Pirates of the Caribbean”. It gave us the goosebumps. Will remain memories to us all for many years to come.
Francesca (the Italian Lioness who breezed past Amelie Mauresmo in this Fed Cup run), Flavia (the cute and tough player we all hope to seeing soon bride to be, who leaded the team in Saragozza), Mara (a player still too often neglected that recently has level up her game), Roberta (unlucky year for her, but still hard to defeat in doubles), Tatiana, Maria Elena, Romina, Antonella and all the players who played over the past years...Thank for all. And let's enjoy the challenge of realizing our dreams for real. You showed the world that Italy is not only the best in soccer, spaghetti, pizza, wine and fashion.
Relating to the matches played in the hell of Spiroudome, the Italians deserved the win: didn't play the best matches of their lives (too many unforced errors in every match but the schiavone vs flipkens), but played better than Belgian opponents in all. And overall they played with heart and soul, giving their best even in the 2 matches lost to Justine, who grabbed the big points that always make the difference. The Belgian flagship player retired once again from the decisive doubles match. What to say: the knee injury that forced her to withdraw seems to be serious (a problem with the knees’ cartilage), something different from the stomach-ache (?) she got during the Aussie Open final.
Now the last challenge for the Italians is to break the top 10 wall in the rankings, a kind of tabu that has to be broken. And hopefully this win will give the Italian tennis movement a bit of momentum and can encourage the male (italian) players who didn’t so well lately.

The flipside of Elena Dementieva.

Pemulis and Lenafan still wait, and Elena sends a promising message. The 2 guyz try to hang themselves and then declare their intention of leaving, but they have no energy to move.
LENAFAN: We have to come back tomorrow.
PEMULIS; What for?
LENAFAN: To wait for Elena D.
PEMULIS: Ah! (Silence.) She didn't come?
LENAFAN: No.
Without Elena, their world does not have purpose, but suicide won't be the solution to their existential dilemma. So, they start talking ‘bout the Russian heroine.
LENAFAN: I’m depressed today.
PEMULIS; I’m disappointed by Elena’s run at US Open.
LENAFAN: Ya, disappointed with not being to get back to Semis or Finals like in the past years.
PEMULIS: I’m wondering why all that crap happened. She’s in a good shape. That’s why it’s sad. What’s wrong with her serve?
LENAFAN: It's not her dumb serve. She has made 2 Grand Slam finals with that serve. She has no Plan B. That’s why she was destroyed by Jankovic. She has no Plan B when her opponent actually has a gameplan and executes it. I saw Golovin match in person. Golovin had a similar game plan to Jankovic. I saw the Rezai match in person. Rezai is like every other player. Let's hit as hard as possible. And if that doesn't work. Oh well. And maybe she should. She's out of shape.
PEMULIS: So, what’s wrong ?
LENAFAN: Problem with Elena is she has ALL the tools. She has better fitness than people. She has better volleying skills than people. She is mentally tougher than people. This is why the Capriati match was so memorable. She used all three of those to beat her. When does she ever use these tools to beat anyone? Why did she choose that match for her volleying? Cause she had injury problems and needed to finish points at net. And enough about the mentally tough part. Her record in 3 sets speaks VOLUMES. So give me a freaking break about this mental garbage. Becker always said the 5th set isn't about skills. It's all mental. Federer doesn't even practice tiebreakers. He says it's mental. Plus how does she make the top 5 without a serve and not being mentally tough ?
PEMULIS: The women’s game is full of chokers. You can always have a chance to come from behind.
LENAFAN: Ya, exactly. That’s why I’m depressed today. I didn't expect Elena to win this tournament, but the way she lost this leaves a very sour taste in my mouth. After watching her, I am convinced more than ever she has talent to be #1. After all, she has beaten Henin, Clijsters, Pierce, Sharapova, Hingis, Ivanovic, Vaidisova, Mauresmo all in one calendar year. She played well on hardcourts, beat Sharapova(great win) and Jankovic and she beat dangerous players like Peer and Zvonerava in straight sets and bageled Hantuchova in 3 sets. These are all players she could have lost to in the past. It was a good season but it's hard to feel good right now in the aftermath of an error filled match where her weakness were exposed.
I am also convinced more than ever she won't win a Grand Slam. She needs a Gilbert, not a Krajicek. She has to try something different. Gilbert might have turned Agassi's career around. Even Roddick tried to do something to snap out of his rut in forming alliances with Connors. If she's content to be a top 10 player she will be until she retires cause she's in great shape and she's a fighter and if that's what she wants deep inside, I am happy for her, but if she wants to win a Slam or be #1 as she says she does, she has to change something.
PEMULIS: Yo, she ought to make a move. It’s time. Would you be interested ?
LENAFAN: She will always be my favourite player and I will always root for her. Besides, I know I could take her to another level.

Us Open 2006: Who was the biggest server of the realm?

There were a lot of matches with big servers out there at Flushing Meadows. During some matches serves were regularly clocked at over 120 miles per hour. Successful returns were rare. Rallies, almost unheard of it. It sometimes was just the big server, winner or miss.
So, let’s take a deep look into the stats to discover who dropped more serve bombs. Almost all of you would say A-Rod. Yeah. Andy fired 102 aces in 7 matches. That’s the highest number in terms of absolute value. Now let’s try to look into aces related to total first serves “in”, where the amount of first serve “in” is considered representative of the total points played “available for aces” (You know, second serve bomb is also possible but it’s rare and can be neglected in this case). And here are some surprising results as well as some confirmations. The player with the highest ratio “aces out of first serves played is...Mardy Fish. Ya, exactly. Not Andy, not Roger. In only 2 matches Mardy served 39 aces out of 124 points played with the first serve (31,5%). So, the Oscar goes to Mardy. The runner up is Feliciano Lopez who sent down 32 aces out of 136 points played (23,5%). So far, no stunning news, ‘coz both players standing at 6 foot 2 inches and have ever served well. I would go far to say their game plan is serve based. The third spot in the ranking goes to Marcos Baghdatis, the youngster but charismatic shot-maker who fired 34 aces out of 151 points played. Not bad, for Marcos. And then comes Marc Giquel. The french qualifier in 4 matches served 50 aces out of 234 first serves played. What an amazing score! Better than A-Rod who is only fifth in this special ranking. To not talk about Roger, who is even lower. Freakin’ results, guyz! But what is the weakness of Pemulis’ method? The lack of track record. Since some players played only 2 matches, it remains difficult to analyse their serve stats in absence of a meaningful track record.

Important disclosure: this post is based on current public information the Pemulis considers reliable, but he makes no representation that it is accurate or complete, and it should not be relied on as such.

Via's Tennis Photos BLOG: more pics from atp china open

Via's Tennis Photos BLOG: more pics from atp china open

Did you know that..

The mascot of Wismilak International "Winni" is a figurine of a critically endangered bird species, Leucopsar rotschildi. This rare bird - almost wholly white with a long, drooping crest, black tips on the wing and tail - is locally called Jalak Bali or Bali Starling, ‘cause became faunal symbol for Bali.
For the record, we can call the Wismilak International 2006 “The fall of the cutest girls”, indeed.
Two of the most beautiful girls competing for the Bali-starling shaped trophy were ousted by fierce (?) opponents. In details, Hantuchova choked in an “usual” way: led 5-2 in first set, squandered 3 set points, and then drowned down pretty quick in the second. The cute teen-ager Ana Ivanovic won a set but surrendered to the 18 y.o. Russian Olga Poutchkova, who is now the most beautiful (?) in the tournament. Indonesian crowd is so sorry for that. So would rather say “the ugly will win” (Lindsay?) than “someone is gonna win ugly”. It’s a joke, but Ana and Daniela are not laughing. That’s for sure.

US Open 2006 : Pemulis Awards.

I’ve tried to assess how the most interesting players performed in the US Open.
I think we can break the players down to a few groups.
A-1): Federer, Sharapova.
A-2): Roddick, Jankovic, Youzhny.
A-3): Mauresmo, Henin-Hardenne, Davydenko, Haas, Blake, Hewitt.
B): Golovin, Gasquet, Murray, Safin, Safina, Rezai.
C): Gonzalez, Ginepri, Tursunov, Ivanovic, Vaidisova, Peer.

Rating definitions

A-1) Players that performed fantastically. That’s the highest ranking assigned by Pemulis.
A-2).Talented players whose form/confidence has dramatically improved during the tournament. An A-2 player differs from the highest-rated only to a degree, not only in terms of performance in the tournament. Pemulis award is driven by the players’ capacity to fulfil their potential.
A-3). Tried and trusted players that performed well and were more consistant in this tournament. That’s related to players still solid, oncourt fitghters, hard to defeat.
B). Improving players. They’re talended, but just becoming to fulfil their potential.
C). Needs improvement. They have skills, shots but usually are limited to one game plan. If they are on or their opponent is weaker, they will prevail. Otherwise, they can rapidly choke.