Some random fun quotes from the pressers of the day.

Q. It wasn’t a hostile gallery, but it was definitely a Justine gallery. How do you defend yourself against that or don’t you think about it or don’t you even hear it?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: To be honest, I didn’t even hear it. Yeah, like I said before, I’m pretty internal, I guess, and worry about what’s going on on my side of the court.
I didn’t even know what was going on, so you could tell me anything right now and I’d probably believe you.

Q. Are we going to have a Nadal/Federer final, or don’t you let yourself think that far in advance?
RAFAEL NADAL: I am in quarterfinals. I am very happy to be here, and you will have Nadal/Almagro, sure.

Q. What do you think contributed to your surge after two sets? Why did you seem to struggle in the first two sets?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I’m really not a morning person, so it took a lot of time for me to get into the rhythm and warm up basically for the match.

Q. What about the pressure for the next match? Would you say Rafa is unbeatable, or do you think you have opportunities to win this match?
NICOLAS ALMAGRO: Well, if I thought he was unbeatable I’d pack up and go home. But not at all. I know how to attack him. I’ve done so in Madrid, and at many times in the match. So I’ll continue on the same tracks.

Q. Talk about [Stosur's] game. She’s really been coming on, including on clay.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, she’s amazing. She’s fast, strong, and has a great serve. You know, I don’t know if she has a real weakness. She plays a real all around game, so I think that’s what makes her like a real modern, really good player.

Q. It seems that you have made a lot of progress in French, so maybe is it possible for you to tell us a few words about Paris and this tournament in French?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I get really nervous, and I hate my accent. I need to work on my accent. (Speaking French) I love it when I play in Roland Garros. It’s my favorite Grand Slam, because the city is beautiful and I live here. It’s wonderful. I love Paris.

Insanely impressive win today for Superhero as she knocks out Justine, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4. Sam was broken in the opening game of the match, and was broken again with a couple points that she should have won. All set long you got the sense that she was slowly chipping away at Justine, and was hitting some ridiculous Rafa-like run around forehand winners. the scoreline of the first set really doesn’t reflect exactly what was going on.

Sam carried the momentum into the second set and that’s when things got messy. Sam started using the kick serve to her advantage, using her power and topspin and the errors from Justine came out in full force. As did the second serves, which Sam jumped all over and was winning most of. It felt like it was only a matter of time.

Justine wasn’t going to give up that easily, however, and came out fighting. The errors came back, though, and Sam got the early break to go up 3-2. Arms and legs of steel, nerves of… back to back double faults. Couple of errors, and Justine got things back on serve. But Sam kept pumping herself up, kept using the forehand, kick serves, and keep Justine off balance on her forehand and eventually broke at 4-all and then closed it out.

It was super impressive stuff from Sam, who really used momentum and kept her compusure when serving for the match. Justine is still playing for broke and isn’t employing a whole lot of variety. I really only remember her using the drop shot twice, and she was void of solutions for the epic Superhero serves.

Next up is Serena, which is going to be quite the battle on clay, especially because the kick serve is working, and it should be effective in throwing off Serena’s power as well. Bring it.

Whether you like her or not, it’s definitely official. Justine is back, and she’s here to fuck shit up. Biga time.

Justine pulled out the three set win over Superhero winning her first title since returning to the tour. This is her third final in five tournaments since her return and her first clay tourney.

First off, props to Superhero, who has had an insanely awesome couple of week, with a championship and a final. Hello points, and hello awesome French Open ranking. She clearly outplayed Justine in the second set, and honestly thought she had the match under her belt. Unfortunately the concentration went out the window and before she knew it the match was over.

And yup, props to Justine, who is the overwhelming French Open favourite in my eye. Last year, Dinara/Kuz just seemed inevitable after drawing opposite to each other, but Dinara is still coming back and Kuz has been, well, down right useless this year (sorry to jurdge you girl, but I gotta). And Serena, who normally would fill that gap (even on clay) has been MIA since the Australian. Oh, and no Kim or Masha. Ick. Superhero, we need you in a big way. Unless you’re a Justine fan. Then get excited. Very excited.

An absolute forehand clinic from the new Queen Of Fungus Clay (oh come on, it has a ring to it!) to take out the Queen Of Headcases in straights, 6-0, 6-3. Another thousand forehand winners made the difference, and Sam pushed a frustrated Bepa into oblivion.

I think the really great thing for Sam comes out of her doubles. She can hammer the forehands, sure, but she’s also totally comfortable coming part way, or fully to net (unlike some players *cough* Caro) in which she can then easily finish points off. Oh, and the movement and serving ain’t bad either. Girl’s got the tools.

Sure, she can be wild or lose focus, but when she’s on, that’s one tough cookie to crack. Whatever that means. Here’s hoping she can use the movement to have a solid clay season.

Superhero Sam took care of business in a BIG way against Dani today. Near the end of the third set she had doubled up on Dani’s forehand winners, 32 to 16, and she hit at least 4 more (likely more) to my memory by the end of the straights set win. In other words, she had almost FORTY forehand winners all match. That’s what aggressive will get you.

For serious, I saw Sam live last year and was hella impressed, and her decision to really focus on singles was a positive one, I thought. It’s taken some time, but I think she’s starting to hit the groove. With the power in her forehand, and the spin she’s able to put on the ball, she really SHOULD be a top 10 player and damn well deserves it. She’ll take on Bepa tomorrow in the final. Hold on to your hats, there’s gonna be some big time hitting.

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.

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.

Well, well, well. Have a banana everyone.

Stupid ass Hanescu fell to Rusty Lawnmower, in what ended up being a rather epic match, that finished in a third set tiebreak. Rusty was looking… well, Rusty, but so was Hanescu. Which meant a lot of dumb errors, and a decent amount of solid rallies. And a whole lot of “come on!”s from Rusty, which was usually when I flipped to my stream. “Oh what the hell do you want Lleyton? Yeah that wasn’t THAT exciting.” Anyway, somehow, despite Australia having the best doubles player out of the four of them (Superhero) Team Romania came out 7-5, 6-1. Dunno, didn’t see it. But don’t mess with Banana, y’all. Kind of really hoping she can make a push for the top 20 this year, she’s got the game, easily.

In a sort of interesting match-up, Spain (T-Rob and MJMS) take on USA (Oudin and Tree). So pretty well, Spain just need to win one of their singles matches, and they’ve got it. Because Mel and Tree? Neither are that good, and chances are Queen Volleyer MJMS could beat the two of them with Bozo the Clown on her team. Whatevs, fucking tennis is back y’all, I’ll be watching (and MJMS’s throwback serve and volley can be fun to watch, and I’m curious to see how Mel is looking).

Hopman Cup got kicked off tonight (or this morning, since its actually the morning in Australia. Crazy backwards Australians) in what is the unofficial beginning of the season. Today is hometeam Australia vs. Romania.

Superhero came flying out of the blocks, not surprisingly, and Sorana Banana looked rusty. Damn rusty. She was having trouble hitting a first serve, generating serious power into the ball, and even just putting the damn thing in between the proper lines. Sam, on the other hand, was serving bombs out wide and dictating play. First set, easily, 6-3.

Then something strange happened. The first game of the next set took some 8 or 9 minutes. Sorana had a hell of a time holding serve, but she was starting to hit the ball, and after holding, she was jacked up, fist pumping, and hitting freely. And then she REALLY started hitting the ball, and hitting in the right spot. And damn son, when she unleashes that forehand, it’s a thing of beauty, and is going to cause anyone outside of the top 10 serious trouble. The hold serve until 4-5, Banana blows a set point, but gets a couple more, and gets handed the set as Sam gets nervous and Nando’s it away on a double fault.

And from there it was pretty well Banana’s match. She was broken early in the set, broke right back. Sam was making errors, sure, she wasn’t as solid as the first set, but Sorana was starting to push the ball around and dictate. She also hit a totally dirty spinning forehand return winner. At 4-all she broke and served it out rather calmly. And did she ever want it… yeah, for an opening Hopman Cup match, but there you go. Advantage, Romania.

Rusty Lawnmower (whose COME OOOON I just relived like three times in slo-mo) is taking on Hanescu right now.

So TOTALLY stealing FD Podcast’s idea on the “if players were stock, who would you buy, and who would you sell, going into 2010?”. I’m going to consider game improvement and achievement for next year, and not necessarily rankings, though one would assume that would go up as well. Going to do 3 for the men and the women. Feel free to call me a moron. Oh, and buy Justine and Kim. Duh.

Buy – Ana Ivanovic
What is there to say? If you’re Ana, the good news is that you can’t possibly have a worse year than you did last year, considering the often easy draws you got from an inflated ranking. The bad news is, you’re no longer in the top 20, and now have something to prove… which in turn is probably good news for us Ana fans. The French Open is her only slam, but she had years of success before that, it wasn’t a fluke. We all know she has the game to climb back to the top and become a contender, and considering this is her lowest ranking in about forever, buy.

Sell – Venus Williams
True, for any other player, it would have been a fantastic year. But interestingly, she (and Vika) only played 17 tournaments (one less than Serena, two less than Dina… 9 less than Caro…) and she had some pretty strange fails, like losing in the second round at AO after being up 5-2 in the third, and to K-Bond in Toronto. Sure, she made Wimbley final, has never been great on clay, and lost to eventual champ Kim at the USO… but she also turns 30 next June, and is pretty well no longer a slam contender other than Wimbledon. She’ll likely be around for a few more years, and still has great, top 10 stuff, but I’d look to sell as inconsistencies start to settle in.

Buy – Alize Cornet
For a player who had such an impressive 2008, its hard to believe that the Trumpet will be having a 2010 that’s anywhere close to 2009. After a fourth round loss at the AO to Dina, in an insane match that she could and should have won, she could only make it as far as the third round, once, in any other major tournament (being Miami, only taking 4 games off JZ). And she finished 2009 up ranked 50th. Jesus. She’s still young and has SOME promise, somewhere in her. Surely. If you’re in a gambling mood, buy, possibly even buy big.

Sell – Flavia Pennetta
Yeah, I know. I floves Flavs too. And I know, we all want a piece of that. But at the same time… a player who has her break out year at 27? She finished the year at 12th spot, and will be 28 in February. I’d love for her to keep rocking it, but something tells me she might not be hanging around the top 10 for that much longer, so it might be a good idea to sell. (Thanks to Steph from FD for the epic pic).

Buy – Sam Stosur
After having health problems and 2008, and being a mainstay contender in doubles, Superhero has decided she’s going to mainly focus on singles in 2010, and looking at her results in 2009, who can blame her? I got a chance to see her beat Kuz in Toronto, and then beat Gypsy 6-3, 6-1, in what was one of the biggest dominations I saw all year. Gypsy was powerless against Sam’s power, and when she would start to come in, Superhero would beast backhands cross-court, forehands down the line or cross-court. And then when it seemed like Gypsy might be on to something, Sam would just come to the net and start volleying the shit out of everything, and as I’ve noted many a time, all Gypsy could do was curse at the sky. Sure, it was just one match (two including the Kuz ownage). But at the same time, seeing that live, and the frustration it was causing Gypsy, the sheer power and variety in her game, whether to bash baseline or volley at the net… she finished the year at 13, and don’t be surprised if she breaks the top 10 this year.

Sell – Elena Dementieva
Perhaps I’m cheating a bit again, playing the “age card”… but yes, Lena had a solid year, winning the clusterfuck that was Toronto, and nearly making it to the Wimbledon final. But seeing her play this year just seemed endlessly frustrating, and most seem to think her chance at winning a slam is gone. Not that this is just about winning a slam, but its hard to see Lena’s game or ranking climbing much higher than it is now, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the inconsistencies, frustrations, and earlier round loses come in more often over the next year or two.