If there’s any similarity to be drawn between the men’s Miami and the women’s Miami, it would be Rafa and Kim. For realsies. Kim beat Sam today in straights, 6-3 7-5, with Sam being the first opponent to lose a set that wasn’t a bagel or a breadstick. And Sam has had a solid few weeks. In other words, Kim is on a roll.

She’ll face the other Waffle, who beat Caro. Caro really mentally and visibly faded in the third set (after taking the first) and could barely take a point off Justine’s serve. Have to wonder if that sickness that she was feeling before came back. The real interesting thing is that she even took a set off Justine; a player who should have the perfect game to take Caro at fast. Hmm. Justine/Kim is not before 9pm local tomorrow night, and should be one hell of a ride. The winner gets Mono or Venus.

Wowza. As soon as I can get off a “WTF dudes?” post, Rafa comes along and rocks my shit. Jo had one impressive win over JCF, and despite bringing the tool box and then some for Rafa… it wasn’t really going to matter. In fact, it wasn’t really a blow out like the scoreboard says (at 6-3, 6-2) but at the same time, there wasn’t much doubt that Rafa was taking this home.

Jason and Robbie were hyping this as his greatest performance of 2010… and from what I’ve seen, it’s hard to disagree. He never once took his foot off the pedal, and he played the important points like the Rafa of old. In other words, scary stuff. Especially considering Jo has a big forehand, and these are hard courts. What the hell kind of magic this guy could pull out of his ass over the clay season, I have no idea. Beware, peasants. The King of Clay may be eying his return to the throne.

Just had to comment on this. Messy, no? I wrote earlier that stuff is a bit crazy in the men’s game, but this makes things that much more ridiculous. Fed’s had two losses in a row when he had a match point, and looked a little absent last night…

But this happened last year, and he won Madrid and the French. And Rafa isn’t REALLY in his way. Or is he? Still, one has to wonder. Is it going to be the year where Fed misses a slam semi? How can you keep tempting fate, losing random matches such as this, and not lose in an earlier round?

Or is Fed just going to be out to prove everyone in Rome and Madrid, and eventually RG? Watching Rafa is going to be key. It’s hard to not take Rafa over Fed on clay in a heartbeat, right now.

And go figure, like I said earlier, Dick is playing solid, and has served himself into the semis. Bring it.

Oh Jo. Do this more often, won’t you? I didn’t see a ton of the match, but it sure is a treat to watch Jo kick ass when he’s confident (and healthy). The potential is there, and the dude is the whole package, and you could see it today, even with just a few points. Chasing down balls, then hammering them with the big forehand, tapping little half volleys. Only 50% serving, but he was broken once, and lost only 4 points on the first serve. And let’s be honest, JCF has been on fire, and didn’t play the best, but a 6-2, 6-2 win is an impressive thrashing to make it to the quarters. Rafa is likely up next, which would be a real treat of match. (And how about that Babolat switch? Seemed like a bonehead move, but it’s really working out for him).

If you haven’t made a mental note of Yanina Wickmayer yet (for reasons other than her “non-show scandal”) you probably should. While she’s been gifted with a nice draw so far, she’s been quietly and consistently destroying her opponents in Miami, losing only 11 games in 3 matches to reach the quarterfinals. She could really start making a name for herself if she can consistently beat players that she SHOULD beat. Because unlike, say, a Caro or an A-Rad, she can actually give the top names a run for their money too. She’ll get Mono (who bagelled Kuz… oh Kuz) in the quarter, and if she wins that, the winner of Venus/A-Rad. That could get messy.

As for the bottom half of the draw, it was all business this time around for Superhero, who took out JJ rather routinely, and accomplished vengeance from Indian Wells. Though, let’s be honest, how often does JJ have two really successful back to back tournaments? Yeah… Justine took out Bepa, Kim demolished defending champ Vika 4 and 0 (and has lost SEVEN games in THREE matches. Not a bad stat) and Caro killed Pavs 2 and 2. Which makes me a little sad, cause Pavs really has the game to take advantage of Caro’s weaknesses. So what up with that? So Sam/Kim, Justine/Caro in the bottom. Should be some damn good matches coming our way for the WTA.

Poor Pico. His hotness, nor the fact that it was his 26th birthday could help him against a well rested, inspired 29 year-old. (That’s Gonzo). Still some pretty solid hard court results for Pico here and in Indian Wells, and it should set him up perfectly heading into the clay season (he’s ranked 26th right now).

This goofball finally got his act together, despite drawing Fed AND the disaster of last week, knocking out Baggy in straight sets, to advance to the fourth round. Youz (wow), Berd, and Nando won, as well as Fed, Sod, and Home Wrecker Fish (ew).

Despite working at a snail’s speed, I’ve made a couple updates to the site. First, and most importantly, comments are FINALLY fixed. So they don’t run underneath the sidebar, and you can actually read them all. Madness.

Second thing is that the headline up top “What’s Up Miami, What’s Up?” will now link to the “The Week Ahead” post for each week. Which is sort of two weeks right now, but you get the idea. Hopefully I’ll be able to figure out how to have the top banner link to the homepage, for when you’re in a different section of the site.

From Ana Land.

In mutual agreement with the Serbian Tennis Federation, Ana will not take part in the Serbia versus Slovakia Fed Cup tie next month.

“I spoke with the captain Dejan Vranes, and the President of the Federation Slobodan Zivojinovic, and together we decided that under these circumstances, and after all that has happened lately, it’s not the right time for me to be part of the team,” said Ana.

“Despite my non-presence, I believe that we have a good team, led by Jelena, and this is a great opportunity for one of the young, upcoming players to play on the biggest stage.

“I know that Serbia will put up a performance of great commitment and passion as always.

“I will continue to make all necessary steps to find my form, and the key to that is training with my team and playing tournaments.”

No shit, son. As if the pressure of a new coach and herself aren’t enough. It would be dumb to stack on the pressure of her country… and JJ. Not to mention, it’s against Slovakia… for pretty well nothing. Good move kid.

I don’t mean to over react, but I didn’t get any solid posts in after the ridiculous losses by Nole and Muzz, so I feel like I need to comment. Cause I got shit to say! (As always…)

Really, I’m just curious as to what’s going to happen with the clay season. Delpo and Kolya both have effed up wrists, Muzz is still sad from AO (and not that great on clay), Nole is all over the place, Dick sucks on clay… I hate to say “Rafa and Fed”… may be the REAL big guys, at least for a period here, but it’s hard not to imagine so. Rafa is starting to find his groove (and his grind) and Fed is starting to fall back into a rhythm, one would assume. Ljubs and Dick showed last week that with big players faltering, all you really gotta do is play consistent, well serving tennis and you can find yourself very deep in a tournament. And with clay specialists… hmm.

This post sure doesn’t have a lot of actual substance, but it’s an idea. And it also kind of shows how ready I am for clay courts. So should you.

Poor Tree. I like you dude, I really do. First you seemed like the next Ivo. Huge, big serve. Not fair. Then, I started realizing that you have a lot in common with the Big Elf (maybe I’m just projecting, I miss him dearly). Then I realized that that isn’t quite realistic. Yet.

JCF played to John’s weakness all day long, and it showed. He played a patient game, and even after dropping the second set, looked pretty control the whole time. Mad props to you dude, you’re having a hell of a 2010.

Tree’s backhand needs some serious work, however. By the end of the match, JCF was hammering on it past the point of insisting. Go figure, Tree lost the last game with four backhand UEs. Elf (like we saw against Blah at AO) can use his backhand for direction, setting his opponent off balance and getting him back into points which he can then finish with the forehand. Tree needs to figure that out, much like Dick seemed to do last year. Get on that dude, pretty sure American tennis needs you.