Ain’t that right kids? Holla!

Sabine came out firing against Venus in the first night match, and holy crap girl. It’s really too bad that she lost, the scoreline (2 and 3 for Vee) doesn’t do just to how great of a match it was. Sabine hit about a thousand cross court forehand winners, however Vee was just too consistent and was able to push Sabine around the court when she needed to to save break points. Even after Sabine broke back in the second set (after a ridiculously awesome point) Venus got pissed and started spanking the ball to get it right back and then close out the match.

Oddly enough, it was the most consistent I’ve seen Venus, and maybe even Sabine, play in a while. The errors were way down, and while Beanie Baby did have her usual errors, she was agressive and was hitting a crapton of winners. Great to see. She’s damn close to really breaking through in one of these tournaments.

In other news, Caro brought the sexy(hitface)back with a straights win over Domi. More injures, AMG handing a walkover to Kuz with a lower back injury, and K-Bond retiring against Vika who was up 4-1.

Most seeds won, including Nails and JJ surviving MJMS and Aravane in 3 respectively, Bepa double bagelling Flipkens, and Flavs and Mono both won. Franny lost to Govortsova, and Shahar knocked out last year’s finalist Gypsy 2 and 2. Lena and Dani are just getting underway now.

Full action got underway today in Dubai, and, well… the demographic mindfuck that are these UAE tournies really got going. And go figure, they let Shahar in, and she gets an upset in her first match, taking out a struggling Wicky in three sets. Good on ya girl.

Speaking of upsets, Superhero Sam continues to be having trouble with this “singles only” thing, losing to Grammy Garbin in the first round. Dude, she was just playing the Pattaya City final for God sakes. Start playing doubles again… especially if you plan on making any sort of regular income.

Flavs czunk Czink in straights, Bepa took out Vezzie in three, AMG, Aravane, Gypsy, MJMS, and Domi all won. Nads was dinged out in two tiebreaks to Voegele.

Women – Dubai (Premier 5)

Official Site: Here
Draw: Here
Top Seeds: Caro, Kuz, Venus, Vika

Really solid draws for the top 4 ladies, save for possibly Caro, who has Nails in her quarter, the only player she’s lost to this year. Venus has Sabine in her first match, and a potentially tired Lena in the quarters. Could be tough, could be easy. Chance for Sabine to make a solid break through. Love Vika’s draw, Bepa or JJ in the quarters, both who are easily beatable for her, realistically.

As for some dark horses, don’t mind Sabine, though she sucked last year. As well in that quarter is Sam, who could start putting together solid results. I might have been tempted to say Kiri, but she already lost 3 and 0. Nails is a great idea considering Caro’s problems with her, and Flavs in the fourth quarter isn’t a bad idea either. If you’re talking pool, take a solid look at it. There’s some great players (like Aravane) damn close to a whole bunch of top players, which could upset your top players, or be good investments to make an upset or two and grab you some points.

Joint – Memphis (500 and International)`

Official Site: Here
Draws: Men & Women
Top Men Seeds: Dick, Nando, The Sex, HaasSauce
Top Women Seeds: Masha, Mel, Kanepi, Hradecka

Draw for the men isn’t a whole ton different than last week. Dick, Nando, The Sex and T-Haas are the top seeds once again. I absolutely love Tree for this draw however, he has a chance to do serious damage and I would be surprised to not see him in the semis, considering his awesome start to the year. Um, yeah, pretty boring draw considering it’s nearly the exact same as San Jose and it’s a 500 tourney and there’s no one there.

For the women, Masha has one hell of a draw, and may be out for blood after the epic failure of the AO. Second seed is Mel, who has proven the USO wasn’t a fluke, and also has a great draw, and really isn’t a bad idea either. Otherwise, I’m skipping this one for the points at Dubai.

Men – Marseille (250)

Official Site: Here
Draw: Here
Top Seeds: Sod, Jo, Gael, T-Rob

Everyone who picked Sod for Rotterdam will feel like a genius with this draw, as Muzz is out and Sod is indeed the top seed. I’m afraid to even touch this draw. Gilles is in Jo’s quarter, no idea how either of those guys are. Gael is back at it… and Youz, who is injured… but how injured? Hell if I know. This has a way better draw than Memphis, and it’s 250. So go crazy.

Men – Buenos Aires (250)

Official Site: Here
Draw: Here
Top Seeds: Ferru, JCF, Almagro, Pico

Claaaaaayyyyyy. Interesting notes, Nalby makes his return at home, and Richie continues to be a solid pick for how cheap he is. I don’t mind Pico here, but I don’t mind Pico any time of the day, so that’s a biased and pointless choice. JCF coming off a solid week ain’t bad either, and of course Ferru loves the clay. Otherwise I wouldn’t bother much with anyone outside of the top 4 seeds and Richie.

Women – Bogota

Official Site: Here
Draw: Here (click Draws)
Top Seeds: Dulkbag, CSN, Errani, Hercog (wut?)

Um… this exists? The WTA has two other tournaments going on when there’s a Premier 5 going on… um, ok. This tourney is lame. That is all.

Tennis pool points not fully updated yet, but here’s where we’re sitting right now for the top 10:

1 ally_r (managed by Alison) 9567
2 Dogtown (managed by Tracey) 9310
3 repoman13 (managed by Miguel) 9301
4 eastcoast (managed by Renee) 9203
5 AnaTennisGirl (managed by Ana) 9167
6 downtwo22 (managed by Joe) 8931
7 phillies07_08 (managed by Brian) 8795
8 MindTheRacket (managed by Brodie) 8510
9 RagingBitch (managed by Jills) 8492
10 Becky2705 (managed by Rebecca) 8087

The United Arab Emirates has said they will rather ironically (considering what’s been going on in Auckland and the original ridiculousness) be granting Shahar a visa to get in to the country to play Dubai, home of the recently opened world’s biggest phallic symbol. And even more ironically, Captain Phallus himself, Dick, will be playing now too. No news on whether or not Venus will be getting another award.