Serena hurt herself again. Venus is on crutches. JJ is sick and tired (literally). Elena has a screwed up foot. Justine can’t step in, she’s still out.

What the hell are we doing here people?!

It’s supposed to be the next biggest event to the slams. The showcase of your greatest players. Now, instead of having trouble attracting fans, you can’t even attract the players. Not to mention, they sometimes get hurt once they get there anyway (Ana, 2008, Dinara, Caro, 2009).

It’s a tricky situation, and no option is easy. I’ve got a bit of a crazy one, it’s not do nothing or move it back to New York, but it might work.

Move it to the beginning of the year.

Huh?

Yeah, you heard me. This can apply for the ATP too. Think about it. It’s the end of the season. Players are exhausted, injured. For the guys, they’re even more exhausted and have to play two Masters tournaments post USO. Poor Nole has to play Davis Cup and in London. There’s a lot of points and money at stake, sure, but how much do players really want to have to battle it out against the toughest opponents in the world at the end of the year when they want to go home?

What about players at the beginning of the year? It’s quite the opposite. They want to get ready for Australia, they want to get some matches in, they want to get rolling. They’re rested and healthy. Hell, top guys have been playing exhibitions so they can get in match play against top guys by-passing having to play much lower ranked players.

Why not throw them the carrot of all those points (and cash) and have them go at it?

I think us sports watching folk have it in our brains that all seasons must come to an end with a bang. The final series, the final round, the final game. There should be nobody but the best standing. Other than the obvious fact that tennis isn’t a team sport, how necessary is that for a season that lasts longer than any others? How bad does Rafa really want those 1500 points when he already knows he’s the year end number 1? Does Kolya winning the WTF mean that he was the greatest player of 2009?

Exactly. Instead of quietly kicking off the tennis season with events like Brisbane, Hopman Cup, or non-tour exhibitions, why not start with a bang? Get your best players together and say “this is what we’re all about, and this is why you should watch tennis this year.” Then follow it up with the Australian Open.

It’s food for thought. I understand there are a lot of hoops to jump through here. “Is it fair to have them play in London and then fly to Australia?” “Does that mean all the WTF/YECs will be held in Australia now?” “What if someone, like Fed, doesn’t want to play matches before the Australian Open?” All fair points. But I also don’t think a sick and tired JJ wants to have to grind herself into the ground at the end of the year in front of a half empty stadium against the best players out there. There’s probably some marketing issues too (though I can’t imagine London selling out in December and comparatively half empty in January).

In all honesty, this blog has been lonely, and this is the first time I’ve written something with some serious opinion behind it. I’d love to read some comments.

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.

It was supposed to be wonderful. After his heart breaking loss to Sod at the French Open (not to mention the Wimbledon antics he pulled on him) Rafa would have sweet revenge in London in his first round robin match… right?

Not to be the case. Rafa apparently had a hell of a time with his first serve in the first set, with Sod pushing him around the court. And despite trying to mount a comeback, Sod would call forth the power of the anti-Sven that is Fed’s children and the spirit of Brad Gilbert and down Rafa, 6-4, 6-4. Well at least he came to play, right? One has to wonder how Rafa would have faired against a healthy Dick.

Overall, I wouldn’t be too worried about Rafa. Its late in the season, he’s clearly having trouble finding his form, and especially his consistency. And yes, he has to play Davis Cup. But he’s also going to have a whole month to recover, to work on stuff, and figure it out. He couldn’t defend RG, he didn’t have a chance to defend Wimbley… oh, he’ll be focused and ready to go for Australia, don’t worry kiddies.

Of course you did Fer. Be on your game, with Fed looking beatable, fail to capitalize on match turning points, blow the set, and there’s the match.

Fer got off to a rock solid start, with a cracking forehand and a serve that just seemed to confuse the hell out of Fed, to be honest, especially on backhand returns. He got an early break and took the set 6-4. He was right there the second set too, wobbly on serve at points, but fighting, and staying with Fed until 5-5. Then an early 0-40 chance on Fed’s serve… couldn’t capitalize. And you just got the feeling like that could be the match there, Fed doesn’t offer many openings… what do you know, Fed fights back, pumps himself up, and breaks Fer, who would only win one more game all match. Oh Fergasm, are you turning into the Lena of the ATP? I sure hope not. But that’s just Fed being Fed, 2009 style, no?

Here’s the OOP, 12:30 local:

No. 2 Bob Bryan (USA)/Mike Bryan (USA) vs. No. 7 Max Mirnyi (BLR)/Andy Ram (ISR)
No. 2 Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. No. 8 Robin Soderling (SWE)
At 7:00 pm
No. 4 Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)/Leander Paes (IND) vs. No. 6 Lukasz Kubot (POL)/Oliver Marach (AUT)
No. 3 Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs. No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)

Both highly intriguing matches, we’ll see how Rafa is looking, and if Sod can make an impact on this tourney. And of course the red hot Nole will take on the … partially crimson hot Koala Bear in the final match.

Well, isn’t that what we were expecting? A scrappy match, with some great winners, some crappy errors, and a Muzz win in three sets. Muzz actually said that he was expecting a scrappy match since neither have played much since the USO. Ah, indeed. The good news is that Elf took a set and clearly isn’t injured to the point where he’s completely useless, even if he is rusty.

And how bout a sold out O2 arena? I know Muzz is at home, but come on. Fer will take on Fed later, 9:15pm local time, a match I will watch hopefully all of (at least the first set). And yes, the year sum up posts will come, wasn’t expecting to be this busy this weekend, but I’ll finish em up over the next couple of days, along with everything else.

(Bigger version of the pic here) Its so great how ATP guys look in suits. Especially if you remember the Paris pics from last year. This looks like some sort of international super star mafia or something.

Fer looks like he knows he killed someone, and is damn smug about it. Elf looks like he’s about to come flying at you and pull you up by your throat. Nole is probably the only one in this pic who doesn’t look like he’s actually killed someone… he looks kinda boyish… Fed is well, who knows what’s going through his mind, but he’d probably like to kill you. Rafa and Sod are both totally eyeing someone over there who needs to be killed. Muzz looks constipated… maybe just sick, cause he just killed someone. And Koyla probably has someone stuffed in his trunk and his trying his damnedest to not look totally guilty. Oh, this is going to be a fun week.

My second of third essay this term is officially DONE (BOOM) and I have a pretty free week next week, so I’ll be catching tons of action, probably even more than the WTA YEC, class schedule permitting. I’ll finish up my final 5 WTF look aheads tomorrow. Bring in the fuck on.

This post serves two purposes: one, to wrap up his year, and two, to yes, acknowledge that he won’t actually be in London. Its kind of too bad, to be honest, he’s had a great year. The point of these is to wrap up the top players year, and I might do a Sod one if I get time/am interested. Dick’s year can probably be summed up in one interesting stat. His record against Fed, Elf, and Rafa? 0-7.

Tournaments Won in 2009: Regions Morgan Keegan Championships
Year End Ranking Points: 4410

The Land of Oz and American Hard Stuff

Dick’s season got off to a solid start, taking out Monf in the semis of Qatar before falling to Muzz in three in the finals. He then went to Australia, tore up T-Rob, forced defending champ Nole to retire after taking the second and third set, and was then ripped in half by Fed in the semis, in straights. As the top seed in San Jose, he fell to Steps (I mean wut?) in the final, in three sets. He then turned around and got revenge the next week in Memphis, where yes, he beat The Sex in the finals, this time in straights. He had a convincing win over Nole in the quarters of Miami, but then fell to Rafa in straights in the semis. And then of course was Miami, with the classic ACE HIS ASS quarter final loss to Fed.

Gettin’ Dirty

Figure this out: Dick played more matches at Wimbledon than he did on clay. Something tells me he might prefer grass to clay… hmm. Only Madrid and the French, quarterfinal loss to Fed (re-occurring theme) and a “you’re not good enough to be that cocky… but you still beat my sorry ass in straight sets” loss to Monf in the fourth round of the French, which is actually a pretty solid result for him.

High On Grass

Or you know, low on grass… first Queens, where he retired to Blah in the semis at 4-4. Then of course came Wimbledon. Many people actually don’t remember his tight 5 set win (6-4 in the fifth) over fellow flat serving, hat wearing, fist-pumping whitey the Rusty Lawnmower, which was actually a really entertaining match, from what I saw. Of course he then took out home favourite Muzz in a really tight and entertaining match (even if it wasn’t the outcome I or everyone in the stands wanted). And then yes, 16-14 to Fed, in the longest fifth set of a final in Wimbley history.

Hard For America

Andy’s year is pretty sparse after Wimbledon, with a crazy third set tiebreak loss to Elf in the Washington final (I was in Toronto, definitely need to watch the final set of this match over Christmas, methinks) and then again to a hard fighting Elf in Montreal, after basically losing his shit in the third set (and beating Fer and Nole in previous rounds). Then the really weird shit. An opening round loss to Sammy Q in Cincinnati (two tiebreak sets) and then of course the absolutely ridonkulous loss to big man Tree in the third round of the USO, where he was seen as a serious contender.

Asia and Beyond

Yeah, not much Asia, and not much beyond. He fell to Kubot in the first round of Beijing, retired in his first match in Shanghai, and hasn’t played since, due to a left knee injury, which despite all his complaining about the length of the season and the injuries it induces RIGHT before hand, seems pretty legit. This is his 7th time in a row qualifying for the WTFs, by the way, an event which he has never wo.

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.

Tournaments Won in 2009: Pilot Pen
Year End Ranking Points: 3300

The Land of Oz and American Hard Stuff

Oddly enough, Fer’s year will best be remembered for the beginning of it, and specifically for a match that he ended up losing in 5 hours and 14 minutes. He started the year in Brisbane where he made a run all the way to the final before losing to The Sex Stepanek in three sets. It wasn’t until the slam where shit started getting rolling for Fergasm, and his off season training really started to pay off. He demolished The Sex in the third round, 4 and two bagels, and then downed Muzz in five and Jo in four. And then of course the semi… 7-6, 4-6, 6-7, 7-6, 4-6. Insanely long. Apparently the first match ever where both players reached triple digits in the winners category. I still remember waking up, throwing on the computer to check to see who had won, at around 8am my time… the thing was still going on, and I saw most of the fifth set. Holy drama. Will definitely be watching that match over the Christmas break, in increments. I’ve seen youtube clips, the shot making is just insanity. As for Miami and Indian Wells, Fer lost to Fed and Muzz in straights respectively.

Gettin’ Dirty

Pretty safe to say, unlike a lot of his fellow country men, Fer isn’t exactly gasming over clay. He fell in the quarter finals of Barcelona to Gonzo and Rome and Madrid to Rafa… so crap luck of the draw, literally. Though the matches against Rafa weren’t nearly as close as Australia. He lost in the fourth round of the French to the Koala, in straights.

High On Grass

Oddly enough, Fer played two grass warm up tournaments, but didn’t find success until he hit Wimbledon. He lost in the always prestigious “Gerry Weber Open” to Pesky Petz in the first round, and Becker in Ordina in the second round. As for Wimbley itself, he was sent to four tiebreaks against Dr. Ivo, and lost in the fourth set TB 9-11.

Hard For America

Fer found mixed results pre-USO, losing in Montreal in the third round to Dick (in a third set TB) and Garcia-Lopez in the first round of Cincy. From there he captured his only title of the year in New Haven, the week before the USO, without losing a set, and beating Sammy Q in the final. Not a bad USO run either, losing to Nole in the quarterfinals.

Asia and Beyond

As the second seed in Malaysia, Fergasm made a run to the final where he lost to the heating up Koyla. In Beijing he lost to Nole again, in the quarterfinals, and bowed out in the second round of Beijing to the rallying Old Man Ljubs. And of course in the past couple of weeks, he lost in the semis of Valencia to eventual champ Muzz, and the third round Paris to Marin.

No insanely impressive results from Fer, but he’s clearly upped the quality of his game over this year, and has incredibly consistent results. This will be his first ever YEC and obviously his highest rank to end the year.

You want drama? We’ll give you some fucking drama.

The first match of the day didn’t start things off too surprisingly, Caro dropped to JJ 2 and 2, and after the gimpfest that was her last match, pretty safe to have seen that coming.

A win by Lena would book her into the final semis spot in the Maroon Group… but she instead lost to Kuz, in what was a dead rubber (minus the cash) for her. Sure there’s ending the season on a positive note, but this is ending the season on a win… though not a tournament win. Doha is a magical land my friends.

And then this crazy shit. Unfortunately for Vika, praying to Sven wouldn’t end up helping. She took the first set pretty convincingly, and ran up to 5-2 in the second set, and it seemed all but over. And then things changed. A-Rad had little trouble holding serve (for the most part) and Vika’s serve absolutely abandoned her, and the Iron Chef was just chasing down every damn ball out there and Vika couldn’t cope. A-Rad busted the thing out 7-5 and onto a third we went.

After a change of clothes, Vika returned kind of teary eyed, and Rad Big Sis held serve. Then Vika called a medical timeout (yes, a justified one) and shit started falling apart. She returned to the court with a huge wrap, exactly like that of Caro’s, on her left thigh and was pretty hobbly (that’s totally a word). She managed to hold serve, but things kept getting progressively worse, and the tears kept coming faster. Not to mention Agi was pushing Vika all around the court, and then busting dirty drop shots (she has to have the best drop shot in the game, I think) that Vika wouldn’t even bother running too. In the cruelest twist of Svenatarianism fate, A-Rad made a drop shot up 4-1, that just tapped the net cord and fell onto Vika’s side… in which case she decided she had had enough, and that was that. Pretty rough ending to Vika’s year, obviously. Clearly people had a point with Caro, “well she plays so many damn tournaments…” “why was she in Luxembourg last week?” but Vika hasn’t played nearly the same amount of tournaments as Caro, and suffered basically the same fate in the hot and humid weather of Doha. And that’s not even touching Dina (and the insane fact that the tenth ranked player is subbing in…). Yo WTA, your top two young stars are cramping up at the Year End Championship held in a place where you can’t even sell tickets (as seen above). Um, maybe get on that.

This of course means that Caro and JJ are into the semis (what ridiculous journeys the two of them have had) to represent the White Group, and Serena and Venus are for the Maroon Group. The semis kick off tomorrow a half an hour EARLIER than what has been going on this week (the WTA now standing for “What The? – Arbitrary”) at 4:30pm local time with JJ vs. Venus and then Caro vs. Serena. Oh, its gonna be fun.