Another seed down. Kolya is out of the US Open. He lost 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to Gasquet. It’s his quickest US Open exit since 2005.

This is awesome for Richie considering his latest results at Slams. It’s the first time since 2006 that he has reached the 3rd round at Flushing Meadows and the first time since the AO 2009 that he has advanced past the second round at a major. Let me just say he came to US Open with only 2 wins on the North American hard courts. He’ll face Kevin Anderson, who played 5 sets to beat Bellucci. I honestly think Richie has a solid shot of reaching the 4rd round.

Back to the match. Richie broke Kolya in the 6th game of the first set with a deep crosscourt backhand after the Russian had a 40-15 lead. He faced a break point in the following game but managed to consolidate the lead with a crosscourt backhand winner and closed out the set with a 127 MPH serve.
In the 2nd set, Kolya couldn’t convert a single break point and got broken after netting a backhand. The Frenchie didn’t miss the opportunity and served it out again with another ace. Things only got worse in the third set with him breaking twice to win the match.

As expected Richie’s backhand played a huge role in this match. There’s not much Kolya could do about it. His return let him down and he got really frustrated over failing to convert the break points he had. The Russian’s still struggling after being out for so long due to a broken left wrist and Richie seems to have found his old form. He lost only seven of 52 points on his first serve (87%). Allez to that.

“You guyyyyys. Don’t worry. I’m just doing this to trick you. I’ve got this. Fo’ serious.”

Of course you do Fed. I’m pretty damn glad I missed this match, because I so super excited for Igor when he almost beat Fed at AO… and it ended in crushed dreams and tears. Boo. I still have a hard time believing this happened. The old man never takes this long to get out of first gear. I’m curious if he paid him off.

“OK, here’s how it will go. You take the first two sets, I’ll look screwed. Then in the fourth set, you’ll serve for the match, but I’ll break back. I’ll even give you a break point in my next service game, but don’t take it! Then we’ll go to a tiebreak, it will be epic, people will have their fill, and I’ll bagel you and we’ll get the hell out of there. Sound good?”

That’s probably as good an explanation as you’re going to hear.

In slightly less depressing, far less sarcastic news, how about Nikolay Davydenko?! Hell, the guy is fist pumping and making an epic face. This match must mean something to him. Likewise, he crawled out of a 0-2 hole to take the match in five. After the match, he was all awesomeness.

“For me today, winning Court 1—first match, I never played before, I appreciate it from tournament director.”

You never know what you’ve got till it’s gone. We missed you, Koala Bear.

The MRI results are in. One of those babies is broken. I’m thinking you probably shouldn’t have played this tournament, and waited for the results. Because that doesn’t look very kind to either of your wrists.

Kolya is out up to 3 months, and is getting a soft cast put on. Probably missing the whole clay season. Again. Freaking crap. Get well, Playstation.

Youz typically salutes the crowd after a win, but this time it’s my turn to give the Youz a salute and an official nickname (“The Iron Commander”.) A high honour in MTR land… or something. Sure, the guy only turns 28 this year and was at his highest ranking in January of 2008. But at the same time, the guy has only ever made one slam semi (USO 06), never won a Masters tournament and only won one 500 event. But the guy was just injured, and despite seeds falling left and right, he continues to toughen things to reach the semis of Dubai with a win over Janko 3 and 4. Not to mention the guy seemed to be one of the few winning constants in the smaller, later tournaments of last year.

And yes, it’s been a hell of a week for the seeds in Dubai. Meaning they’re either hurt (Kolya), hurting inside (Muzz – sadness, Jo – tummy), or just don’t give a damn (Nole?).

Marin lost to Melzer today in straights, who also beat T-Rob in the second round. And in the second round, Janko beat Muzz in 3, Old Man Ljubs beat Jo in straights, and Kolya retired a set down with wrist problems. Yo man, a buddy of mine is having the same problem. The wrist thing. You might have heard of him. Give him a ring. Oh, and Nole is down a set to another sort of Ironman, Old Man Ljubs.

So much for that. When we saw the draw, we got excited… but we all REALLY knew it wasn’t going to happen. And there was the first set… and then it totally didn’t. Oh those Russians. Not that it messed with Kolya like it did Igor. Not in the slightest.

Q. You had three brilliant points to save the match in the 11th game of fourth set. There were two returns that were particularly breathtaking.

NIKOLAY DAVYDENKO: Yes, I have chance again. If you see in fourth set 4‑3 for me and I have Love‑40 of serve Federer, but I have no chance. He have all five serves so good. But like say, bad luck for me again in the fourth set.

Yes, I again have chance by 5‑All. I lost my serve fighting. But, again, bad luck. I don’t know why. Maybe Federer was really lucky today. (Laughter.) Again.

Q. What was going through your mind as you were losing all those games?

NIKOLAY DAVYDENKO: Pissed off. (Laughter.) What else? Yeah. Like say I’m pissed off of my serve. Pissed off. I didn’t realize this point, I didn’t realize this point. It’s like everything was shit (laughter.)

But what else? Bad luck. Go home tomorrow, relax.

You, you’re awesome. Also, when you retire in 2 years, can you coach Ana? Maybe full time? Bring some of that humorous hippy attitude with you.

Or so they would have you think.

Kolya absolutely destroyed yet again, and Fed had a routine win over Hanescu. It’s really quite hilarious how ESPN will show Kolya highlights, once again acknowledging the destruction of his opponent, and then noting “hey, we should probably be watching out for this guy!”

What’s even more hilarious is the fact that the press seem to be getting on to his sense of humour and overall ownage (as if it wasn’t there). Delpo said that The Slamless Bear plays “like Playstation”… and then Kolya said pre-Aussie that he’s going to have to play like Playstation 4 if he wants to up the ante for the slam. Fergasm had an easy win last night (and there likely fourth round match-up is going to be insanity) but regardless of who Fed gets, he’s probably going to have a hell of a time. Funny how a slight deconstruction (2 wins over each) of the Fedal rivalry will FINALLY get you noticed. Do er, Fuzzy.

First he ruined Fed and a possible Fedal final, then he ruined Rafa. Wow. 0-6, 7-6(8), 6-4. Quite a scoreline, quite a feat. And we shouldn’t start hyping him TOO much for Melbourne, but let’s be honest, this dude is hot, and can beat anyone right now. And if you’re a Rafa fan, he’s playing like he’s got something to prove, destroyed basically everyone else he played… AO is going to be fantastic.

Hmm. 6-4, 6-4 for Kolya, his second straight victory over Fed after never being able to beat him in about a million years.

I didn’t see the match, but I DID see the last match each of these guys played, and it’s not surprising. It’s about Kolya playing well AND Fed struggling. And I’m not even sure what to say about Fed. Dropping a set to Ernie, his backhand looked vulnerable, perhaps his shot selection a bit. When he lost in the USO final he struggled with his first serve, but he served 55% today and 61% against Ernie. Though, Fed is Fed, and just like last year, is definitely not a write off for Melbourne, as he always ups his game for the slam, will have a great draw with the top rank, and has his insane semi streak to keep going too.

At the same time, Kolya is on a total roll, and if you were to pick anyone outside of the top 5 to win AO, I think he’s a no brainer. Which is sort of hilarious, because a lot like Lena, he’s seemed sort of like a write off for a slam, “his day as passed”. The dude just seems to be moving so well and making the correct shot selection decision every time. Ivo was close with him yesterday, but it was like “well, Kolya is playing smart and solid, he’s got this fine.” Indeed he did. At the same time, Rafa has been mercilessly ripping his way through the draw and is out to re-prove himself, so this will be a really great test as to where the two of these guys sit, heading into Melbourne.

WTF is going on in London? …oh, the WTF. WTF? … ok now this is turning into a bad Monty Python joke…

I only saw the third set, but a hell of a match. Nole fought in the middle of the set to hold serve in a 12 minute game (4 of which Nole spent bouncing the ball before serving) and then Koyla somehow managed to break back to stay in the set… only to be broken the very next game, pretty handily, for Nole to serve it out. They then swapped shirts and totally non-homoerotic man sweat. Of course all Rafa fans want this to become a ritual, so they can show how much hotter Rafa really is than Fed. I’m assuming.

Unfortunately for Nole, after a match over 2 and a half hours, he said he’s having “physical problems, you can’t fight nature”, which I believe is Serbian for either injuries or being really tired. Tough to blame him for either really. I haven’t the slightest clue who the favourite is anymore, in this group… or overall really. Muzz? Fed? Will Nole be able to fight through it all? Will Rafa step it up next match? STAY TUNED!

Tomorrow’s OOP is Delpo/Fergasm at 12:30, and Fed/Muzz at 7pm. I’ll likely miss all of the first match, and miss the first hour of the second and catch the rest. Bring it on.

Tournaments Won in 2009: ATP Studena Croatia Open Umag, International German Open, Shanghai ATP Masters 1000, Proton Malaysian Open
Year End Ranking Points: 3630

The Land of Oz and American Hard Stuff

The Fuzzy Koala’s ranking is pretty insane when you consider how much time he missed early this year. In Chennai, he was forced to exit in the second round due to a heel injury. He would miss the Australian, and wouldn’t get back into action until February 9th, where he would then lose to Julien in straights, and then also miss Indian Wells and Miami due to injury. That’s a pretty huge chunk of time and a hell of a lot of points.

Gettin’ Dirty

Koyla wasn’t back into proper action all the way into April, where he managed to topple Feli and Steps on the clay in Barcelona before falling to Rafa in the semis. He was dinged out early in the second round of Rome to the Melz. At the Estoril Open in May, he was the second seed, but fell to fourth seeded Blah in the semis (lolwut). He gave a walkover to Dick in the third round of Madrid, but managed to put a solid run together at the French, taking out Stan and Fergasm before falling to the Rafa-killer Sod in the quarters.

High On Grass

Only Wimbledon, and only the third round, falling to the T-Berd in the 3rd round.

American Hard Stuff

Oddly enough, Koala managed to find his form in the strange “wtf there’s still clay tournaments?” following Wimbledon, winning Hamburg by taking PHM out in the final, and then taking out JCF in the Umag final (and winning the biggest trophy for the most insignificant tournament, as seen above). As for the ACTUAL hard court season, he managed to take out Gonzo in the third round of Montreal, but fell in the quarters to Muzz. In Cincy he fell in the third round to Gilles, and got to the New Haven quarters, losing to finalist Sammy Q. The US Open was more of the same, falling in the fourth round to Sod, once again.

Asia and Beyond

Koala has been wrapping up the season nicely, and earning himself a spot in the WTFs. In Malaysia, he toppled Gael, Sod, and then Fer in the finals to take it. After falling to Marin in the third round of Beijing, he brought out the big guns, and won his third Masters shield in Shanghai, beating Nole in the semis and Rafa in the finals. Of course after that he kindly lost to Marat in three in the first round of the Kremlin Cup (or was tired, or whatever). As for his last two tournaments, he lost to Youz in the semis of Valencia, and the third round of the Paris Masters to Sod, once again.