KickServe

Fed and Rafa to play twice for charity

2010-12-18T07:49:00.004+10:00

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will go head-to-head LIVE twice over two days, after the pair announced a charity double-header in aid of their respective foundations.

After only four matches between the pair in the last two seasons, including the recent meeting at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London, the world's top two players now play for charity in Zurich on 21^st December 2010 from 19:30 GMT and then Madrid on 22^nd December 2010 from 18:00 GMT.

*TennisTV.com will stream both matches LIVE and in high quality!

All proceeds raised from both matches will go to the Roger Federer Foundation and Fundación Rafa Nadal.

You can watch these unmissable matches LIVE on TennisTV.com for $9.99/ €7.49 giving you access to both matches plus access to all TennisTV.com videos, including both matches available in full on demand, until 31^st December 2010.

Alternatively if you wish to donate directly to the foundations please see below for details:

Click here to donate to the Roger Federer Foundation.

Click here to donate to the Fundación Rafa Nadal.

Please visit TennisTV.com for further details on how to watch this fantastic finale to the tennis year.

* Unfortunately both matches are not available to watch in Spain due to rights restrictions -

Serbia beat France

2010-12-09T13:04:00.006+10:00

Serbia beat France to win the biggest event in tennis - unless you're an American in which case Serbia won some meaningless Euro-centric thing which no one cares about. Whichever.

It was a huge effort by the Serbian team of Novak Djokovic, Janko Tipsarevic, Viktor Troicki and Nenad Zimonjic with Troicki stepping up to win the deciding rubber against Llodra in Tipsarevic's place. They then celebrated by shaving their heads like all serious sports nuts should. Great effort guys.

Pete Sampras lost all the tennis trophies that he won but didn't like enough to keep in his house where he could see them, all his memorable ones are still safe. Only one Major trophy was lost - the 1994 Australian Open - what was wrong with that one, we wonder?

Presumedly they'll turn up as they are a little too unique to be sold by the thief.

Federer king of the world again

2010-12-03T12:48:00.004+10:00

Roger Federer demonstrated that it matters not how many Majors you win in a year as long as you beat your nemesis in the final tournament. We'll give him a pass then. Still it was nice of Nadal to show up and win a few matches at least. So Fed's the man until we do it all again in January.

Murray was the big disappointment of course and will continue to be right up until he wins something and then we will all dance about in congratulations, tweeting that we knew all along. Some of us may even learn to whistle.

Next up is France versus Serbia which every analyst and their dog is saying will be an easy win for Serbia. Of course this depends which Janko Tipsarevic turns up. In other words France could do something here.

Video: Caroline Wozniacki wins!

Nadal beat Roddick

2010-11-23T13:50:00.011+10:00

Nadal beat a serve and volleying Roddick in three sets, so he's already one win ahead of last year. No doubt Maradona's presence inspired them all to greater heights (but hopefully not drug taking or cheating). Kylie Minogue was there too.

Fed and Murray won their openers against Ferrer and Soderling. Ferrer is presumedly just there to make up the numbers but Murray appeared to play very well against Sod. He usually does this time of the year, it probably helps that it's not a Major and few people aprt from him and a lot of Brits care about who wins the end of year title.

The Djoker beat Berdych also, showing at least he thinks he's in contention for the title. Does Roddick still think he is?

Meanwhile Wozniacki used all of her skills at a exo against Azarenka.

I'm pretty sure tennis was the winner.

Monfils carves up Fed then chokes

2010-11-16T12:51:00.009+10:00

The dancing wonder Gael Monfils carved up the Greatest player of all time Roger Federer then choked before his adoring home crowd, losing the Paris final to Robin Soderling. Typical.

Monfils has a load of charm, plays brilliant shots and entertains the crowd but lacks a certain consistancy - a bit like Fed used to be before he became Fed. The young Federer burst on the scene approximately 230 years ago as a talented shotmaker with no consistancy or discipline but then matured into the great unruffled perfectionist that we know and love and won himself countless titles and prizemoney. And now only a ruffled Spaniard stands between himself and immortality.

Are we likely to see the same career progression for Monfils? Can he tame the wild beast within and advance from the entertainers to the winners?

Elena Dementieva has left the building

2010-11-02T13:51:00.006+10:00

The almost great Elena Dementieva has retired (near) the top and we are one classy Russian the lesser. Much paper and cyberspace volume has been wasted describing how she failed to win a Major but all she ever wanted was an Olympic Gold medal (and a serve) and she won that years ago. Now mummy Vera can finally relax and Elena can start a family and begin a new life. All the best Elena.

Meanwhile some other former retiree won the glamour bash in Doha. Poor Woz.

Maria Sharapova is engaged

2010-10-22T12:19:00.018+10:00

Sharapova looking confident of a win

New balls please!

Sharapova looking stylish

Sharapova thinking of a career change?

Sharapova like a cow on ice.

Ave Maria

Sharapova's back

Maria Sharapova is engaged to some basketballer who is even taller than her. I assume that narrowed the search down to basketball players and fairytale giants.

So it's the Masha and Sasha show. Hopefully this is a good thing and Maria gets some well-needed support as she attempts to climb back up the rankings and seriously contend for the Majors again. Otherwise if it's another distraction like her marketing ventures and grunting controversies, then it probably won't last while also giving her morale a painful kick.

All the best, Maria!

Ana Ivanovic wins something!

2010-10-19T13:24:00.004+10:00

Ana Ivanovic finally won something. The glamorous former trainwreck has at last regained some of her poise and confidence may have actually gained some speed around the court. She certainly ran over poor Patty Schnyder in the final of Linz.

Is she now finally back to her best? Or will she hook up with a new boyfriend tomorrow and slink back down into the maelstrom of doubt, self-loathing and missed forehands? Stay tuned for the complusive viewing that is Ana Ivanovic. Not until next year though, she's finished with this one. See you in Perth Ana.

Caroline Wozniacki is the World Number One

2010-10-08T12:00:00.010+10:00

Caroline Wozniacki is the World Number One and it's all Serena's fault. Wozniacki has ascended to the WTA Penthouse suite due to Serena Williams' inactivity (although she has a very good excuse since she cut her foot after Wimbledon).

Wozniacki will be flamed for her achievement since she has not yet won a Major tournament. However unlike other recent slamless wonders Safina and Jankovic, at least Wozniacki may have the constitution to stand it and not crumple into cringing apology whenever it's mentioned. The Woz is stilll only twenty years old too.

The marketing chaps at the WTA will be falling over themselves in excitement at actually having a No. 1 player to promote who actually plays tennis regularly and is personably, attractive and willing to promote tennis. The downside is that she's not American, speaks in a slightly silly voice and flirts too much with Fernando Verdasco (and John Isner?). But perhaps these are also good things.

The other player often thought of as a Slamless wonder (no not Murray) is Ivanovic whose flameout as number one was both complete and instructive. But Ivanovic did actually win a Major (no, really she did - look it up!) first. Now she finally emerges from this malaise (no, not the Belgian tennis player) and is starting to string together some wins, even beating Dementieva yesterday. Welcome back Ana. Oh and she's dumped her golfer boyfriend. Coincidence?

Fernando Verdasco shirtless in Thailand

2010-09-30T22:40:00.004+10:00

Fernando Verdasco lost his shirt but still turned up for some promo shots for the Thailand Open. What a trouper. He did some kick boxing too. It didn't help him with his tennis though as he lost to Becker in the second round. Unfortunately the unpire didn't allow any kickboxing on court or I'm sure Verdasco would have won easily.

Nadal is somewhere in Bangkok too but unfortunately keeping his shirt on though he is smiling a lot.

The Woz cruised in Japan, Schiavone rolled Kanepi, Azarenka did what we expected to Vandeweghe and Zvonareva played wonderfully but still lost to Dementieva.

There's some tennis in Malaysia too. Apparently Soderling won and Davydenko didn't.

France and Serbia

2010-09-21T13:01:00.006+10:00

France and Serbia will contest the final of the Davis Cup, which is only important to those nations argues a silly Yahoo blog. Thanks for showing you care.

Roger Federer doesn't, as he pulled a no-show and his country crashed to the might of Kazakhstan. Fed usually plays once a year - in the relegation playoff to get his country back into the top group after they were earlier beaten without him. But this year he didn't play at all and the Swiss were beaten twice. Now that they are out of the top tier maybe Fed won't have to play at all.

Lleyton and the Aussies went down to Belgium (again) and little Ollie Rochus. That's got to hurt.

Spain cares so much about women's tennis that the entire Fed Cup teams will boycott next year.

Nadal wins everything

2010-09-14T12:59:00.006+10:00

Yes, it's official Rafael Nadal can win on hardcourts! And he can be the best player in the world, despite the presence of the other fellow. Rafa now has a career Slam (if not a Grand One) and if knees hold up, many more Majors to come.

Djokovic was brave but when he did win a set that seemed only to annoy Nadal and the latter stepped up a gear and at times played the Djoker off the court.

The major disappointment of the tournament as usual was Murray who is making a habit of beating the top players when it doesn't count and underwhelming at the Majors. remember the career of Tim Henman young Scot, surely you can do better?

Grats too to Clijsters who thumped poor Bepa Zvonareva and paraded her daugther with the trophy like last year. Why not?

The Woz did a Murray while Stosur exceeded expectations by actually reaching the second round. Please can Serena play next year? We promise not to be too critical.

Wozniacki rips Sharapova, Monfils the last French standing

2010-09-08T00:25:00.009+10:00

Men:
Monfils looking better and better but they all did: Fed destroyed Melzer - apart from his lucky tiebreak... Djokovic took the sockless-wonder down and Soderling doesn't care that nobody likes him, he just keeps winning.

We picked all yesterday's winners (and only missed one of the women's). Today it's Nadal's turn to shine (over Lopez). Let's have Youzhny over Robredo, Querrey over Wawrinka and Verdasco over Ferrer.

Murray's Quarter
Matches to watch: Querrey over Wawrinka, Verdasco vs Ferrer
Winner: Querrey

Nadal's Quarter
Matches to watch: Nadal's vs Lopez, Youzhny vs Robredo
Winner: Nadal

Djokovic’s Quarter
Bye bye: Gasquet, Fish
Winner: Djokovic

Fed’s Quarter
Bye bye: Montanes, Melzer
Winner: Federer

Women:
The Woz shrugged off Sharapova's challenge rather easily. It's good to be the top seed. Cibulkova next - her old sparring partner in juniors. She used to beat her there too.

Cibulkova was too much for the Kuz though, which seemed to surprise some people but Kuznetsova has been a shadow of herself since last year's French. Wicky lost to the ever improving Kanepi and Bepa thumped Petkorazzi despite the old last-minute closing yips.

Stosur against Clijsters should be good but probably won't be. Stosur in a tense bash-a-thon. Venus to wake up, remember she's in the last eight of a non-Wimbledon major and wilt before Schiavone. That and the dress which isn't a distraction but just has to be tugged 50 times during a match.

Wozniacki’s Quarter
Bye bye: Sharapova, Kuznetsova
Winner: Wozniacki

Jankovic’s Quarter
Bye bye: Wickmayer, Petkovic
Winner: Zvonareva

Venus Williams' Quarter
Matches to watch: Williams vs Schiavone
Winner: Schiavone

Clijsters’ Quarter
Matches to watch: Stosur vs Clijsters
Winner: Stosur

Murray to wait another year, Elena always

2010-09-06T22:30:00.014+10:00

Men:
Well out of the big four we all thought the Djoker would be the one to fall, but Murray did do this last year. Is Querrey now a reasonable shot? Verdasco finally wins a (reasonably) big one, Isner finishes his 15 minutes and Simon and Llodra bow out.

Let's assume Monfils can win the Battle of France and Djokovic goes Fishing, Soderling destroys Montanes and Fed dines out on Melzer's dropshots.

Murray's Quarter
Bye bye: Isner, Murray
Winner: Querrey
Nadal's Quarter
Bye bye: Nalbandian, Simon
Winner: Nadal
Djokovic’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Gasquet vs Monfils, Fish vs Djokovic
Winner: Djokovic
Fed’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Soderling vs Montanes, Federer vs Melzer
Winner: Federer

Women:
Stosur beat Dementieva in a break-fest (but both served well) to show that she can go hard in New York, but closing is still a big problem for both girls. Schiavone is still outstaying expectations, but Ivanovic finally lived up to hers. Venus too is belaying the doubters and presumedly will expect to advance over the Italian (which means she will lose). Clijsters looks good and may even still be improving.

All eyes on the Battle of the Blondes. When they asked the Woz if she admired Moody Maria as a youngster she said no, Kournikova. That should inspire Sharapova to teach her a lesson but let's tip Wozniacki for the win though with more lost games then usual. In the others the red-hot Cibulkova over the Kuz, angry Wicky over the much improved Kanepi and Bepa over Petkorazzi though we would hope for a Petkovic win just to see her dance again.

Wozniacki’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Wozniacki vs Sharapova, Kuznetsova vs Cibulkova
Winner: Wozniacki

Jankovic’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Kanepi vs Wickmayer, Petkovic vs Zvonareva
Winner: Zvonareva

Venus Williams' Quarter
Bye bye: Peer, Pavlyuchenkova
Winner: Schiavone

Clijsters’ Quarter
Bye bye: Ivanovic, Dementieva
Winner: Stosur

Kirilenko out, Fish wins

2010-09-05T22:16:00.007+10:00

Men:
Mardy Fish made long work out of Arnaud Clement, Monfils made Roddick unhappy (by beating Tipsarevic), Blake woke up, Gasquet continues on, Federer is in his groove and Soderling is nicely under everyone's radar.

Murray's Quarter
Matches to watch: Youzhny vs Isner, Murray vs Wawrinka
Winner: Murray

Nadal's Quarter
Matches to watch: Nalbandian vs Verdasco, Nadal vs Simon
Winner: Nadal

Djokovic’s Quarter
Bye bye: Blake, Tipsarevic, Clement
Winner: Djokovic

Fed’s Quarter
Bye bye: Mathieu, Nishikori, Ferrero
Winner: Federer

Women:
Yes, Jankovic is that ordinary, apparently Wozniacki is that good and Sharapova is even better. Those two can sort it out next round. Wicky sneaked past Schnyder which doesn't bode well for her continued presence in this tournament and who is this girl impersonating Cibulkova and actually winning? As usual the new look Bepa performs.

Wozniacki’s Quarter
Bye bye: Capra, Kirilenko
Winner: Wozniacki

Jankovic’s Quarter
Bye bye: Jankovic, Dulgheru
Winner: Zvonareva

Venus Williams' Quarter
Matches to watch: Williams vs Peer, Schiavone vs Pavlyuchenkova
Winner: Pavlyuchenkova

Clijsters’ Quarter
Matches to watch: Ivanovic vs Clijsters, Stosur vs Dementieva
Winner: Clijsters

Llodra reborn, Venus sparkles

2010-09-04T19:53:00.004+10:00

Men:
Harrison missd a great opportunity, Nadal rolled, Llodra looks very good and Isner is still here. Lopez took five and is probably only good for one more round (against the similarly tired Stakhovsky) before Rafa ends his run.

Nalbandian, Murray, Verdasco, Querrey and Wawrinka all smashed their opposition while Simon took the longer route.

Hopefully there won't be any more fights in the stands to upstage the tennis.

Murray's Quarter
Bye bye: Hanescu, Granollers, Brown, Chela
Winner: Murray

Nadal's Quarter
Bye bye: Kohlschreiber, Becker, Harrison, Chardy
Winner: Nadal

Djokovic’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Djokovic vs Blake, Monfils vs Tipsarevic
Winner: Djokovic

Fed’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Federer vs Mathieu, Montanes vs Nishikori
Winner: Federer

Women:
Stosur sneaking under the radar, so is Schiavone, Peer ousted Pennetta and Dementieva sent Hantuchova back to doubles. The resurgent Ana Ivanovic continues to surprise. Venus' dress almost as good as her tennis.

The depressingly talented Kvitova won the first three games against Clijsters including two breaks and the surrendered the next twelve - Ouch.

Wozniacki’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Capra vs Sharapova, Kuznetsova vs Kirilenko
Winner: Wozniacki

Jankovic’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Jankovic vs Kanepi, Dulgheru vs Zvonareva
Winner: Zvonareva

Venus Williams' Quarter
Bye bye: A Bondarenko, Minella, Pennetta
Winner: Pavlyuchenkova

Clijsters’ Quarter
Bye bye: Razzano, Hantuchova, Kvitova
Winner: Clijsters

Gasquet wins, Wozniacki bagels

2010-09-03T13:18:00.006+10:00

Men:
The Djoker stayed up late. Davy wimped out to a resurgent Gasquet. Soderling destroyed Dent, Fed strolled. Clement continues, James Blake came back and Melzer took five

Murray's Quarter
Matches to watch: Llodra vs Hanescu, Querrey vs Granollers
Winner: Murray

Nadal's Quarter
Matches to watch: Simon vs Kohlschreiber, Ferrer vs Becker
Winner: Nadal

Djokovic’s Quarter
Bye bye: Davydenko, Petzschner
Winner: Djokovic

Fed’s Quarter
Bye bye: Cilic, Dent
Winner: Federer

Women:
Wozniacki continues to impress, smashing poor Chang with a double bagel. Now if only she can play like that against the good players in the second week...

Cibulkova took down Bondarenko the Giantkiller, Rezai lost to Capra? Who's Capra? Bepa and Wicky eased through, Jankovic toughed it out and little Masha finished strongly. Big Masha made a mess of everything but still won easily.

Wozniacki’s Quarter
Bye bye: Benesova, Sevastsova
Winner: Wozniacki

Jankovic’s Quarter
Bye bye: Lisicki, Goerges
Winner: Zvonareva

Venus Williams' Quarter
Matches to watch: Schiavone vs A Bondarenko, Minella vs V Williams
Winner: Pennetta

Clijsters’ Quarter
Matches to watch: Ivanovic vs Razzano, Hantuchova vs Dementieva
Winner: Clijsters

Vika down, Roddick out

2010-09-02T21:11:00.008+10:00

Men:
Roddick tried a dummy spit but failed miserably compared to Serena. Who'd be a line judge these days? Berdych showed exactly why he's regarded as a waste of talent. Ljubicic's down in the gutter but Simon may be looking up at the stars.

Monfils entertained, Murray thumped and Isner served but today it's all Roddick (and Azarenka).
Murray's Quarter
Bye bye: Starace, Berdych
Winner: Murray

Nadal's Quarter
Bye bye: Young,
Winner: Nadal

Djokovic’s Quarter
Bye bye: Roddick, Andreev
Matches to watch: Davydenko vs Gasquet, Petzschner vs Djokovic
Winner: Davydenko?

Fed’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Nishikori vs Cilic, Soderling vs Dent
Winner: Federer

Women:
Venus Williams' quarter is now wide open thanks to the ~~heat sickness~~ concussion suffered by Azarenka. Get better quickly Vika. Courage unable to help Oudin whose extraordinary downward spiral continues to confound US media types.

Stosur did enough to pass, Errani dumped Kleybanova, Bartoli took a hit from the gypsy, Ivanovic continues to surprise - how soon we forget she's a Major winner - and Clijsters thumped Peers despite playing woefully.

Wozniacki’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Benesova vs Sharapova, Kuznetsova vs Sevastsova
Winner: Wozniacki

Jankovic’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Zvonareva vs Lisicki, Goerges vs Wickmayer
Winner: Zvonareva

Venus Williams' Quarter
Bye bye: Oudin, Szavay, Azarenka, Pironkova, Mirza
Winner: Pennetta

Clijsters’ Quarter
Bye bye: Rodionova, King, Bartoli, Kleybanova
Winner: Clijsters

Petrova out, Djokovic wins

2010-09-01T22:27:00.009+10:00

Men:
Baghdatis lost to Clement. Djokovic, Nalbandian and Verdasco barely survived, while wild card Blake won in straight sets. The newly married Stepanek can spend more time at home and Chardy took out Gulbis.

Murray's Quarter
Bye bye: Benneteau
Matches to watch: Starace vs Almagro, Berdych vs Llodra
Winner: Murray

Nadal's Quarter
Bye bye: Dolgopolov, Gulbis, Fognini
Winner: Nadal

Djokovic’s Quarter
Bye bye: Baghdatis, Troicki, Vliegen
Matches to watch: Roddick vs Tipsarevic, Monfils vs Andreev
Winner: Roddick

Fed’s Quarter
Winner: Federer

Women:
Petkovic dumped Petrova (it was probably the dress, though the Serena like foot fault helped), the Woz showed she knows what the top seed is supposed to do and Jankovic just survived Halep. Li Na's off home, taking with her Chakvetadze, Cornet and Shvedova. Sharapova took some time to find her groove.

Meanwhile Myskina now has a second child.

Wozniacki’s Quarter
Bye bye: Rybarikova, Groth, Strycova
Winner: Wozniacki

Jankovic’s Quarter
Bye bye: Halep, Molik, Petrova
Winner: Zvonareva

Venus Williams' Quarter
Matches to watch: Oudin vs A Bondarenko, Szavay vs Pennetta
Winner: Azarenka

Clijsters’ Quarter
Matches to watch: Stosur vs Rodionova, Hantuchova vs King, Bartoli vs Razzano
Winner: Clijsters

Hewitt loses, Ivanovic wins

2010-08-31T13:25:00.012+10:00

Men:

Hewitt and Gonzo stuffed it. Tursunov still isn't back but Davy may be. Fed put on a show. Soderling took five as did Monfils, Melzer, Montanes and Mathieu (try saying that fast).

Ball justified his WC, Roddick and Cilic cruised and Gasquet won.

Murray's Quarter
Matches to watch: Stepanek vs Benneteau
Winner: Murray

Nadal's Quarter
Matches to watch: Lopez vs Giraldo, Ferrer vs Dolgopolov, Chardy vs Gulbis
Winner: Nadal

Djokovic’s Quarter
Bye bye: O Rochus, Russell
Matches to watch: Baghdatis vs Clement, Troicki vs Djokovic, Vliegen vs Blake
Winner: Roddick

Fed’s Quarter
Bye bye: Tursunov, Hewitt
Winner: Federer

Women:

Ivanovic triumphed while Safina continued to fall. Azarenka strugged, Oudin took charge and Venus and Clijsters cruised.

Stosur struggled, little Sally Peers continued her run while Sophie Ferguson wasted the wildcard she received over Jelena Dokic.

Wozniacki’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Rezai vs Rybarikova, Sharapova vs Groth, Strycova vs Kirilenko
Winner: Wozniacki

Jankovic’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Jankovic vs Halep, Molik vs Lucic, Petkovic vs Petrova
Winner: Zvonareva

Venus Williams' Quarter
Bye bye: Savchuk, MLDB
Winner: Azarenka

Clijsters’ Quarter
Bye bye: Vesnina, Safina, Makarova
Winner: Clijsters

Love means nothing to a tennis player

2010-08-30T22:55:00.008+10:00

Men:

So Fed's hired his fifteenth coach in the last three weeks and Nadal can't play on hardcourts and is unliked in New York. Murray's the man and Djokovic has breathing problems. Don't you love the US media. Nadal's the favourite until he loses, then you can take your guess.

Djokovic’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Tipsarevic vs O Rochus, Davydenko vs Russell
Winner: Roddick

Fed’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Melzer vs Tursunov, Hewitt vs Mathieu
Winner: Federer

Women:
Has the Woz earned her top spot? Sure, will she win? Let's wait till she cruises the first week before we need to answer. The tournament winner of the last two weeks is strong, consistent and probably injured.

Ivanovic and Hantuchova have tough first rounds, but don't they all... For real pressure go and check out Oudin though. If she plays like she's been playing ever since last year then the fairytale is over. Have Courage. (it's a kind of beer isn't it?)

Venus Williams’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Oudin vs Savchuk, MLDB vs Mirza
Winner: Azarenka

Clijsters’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Stosur vs Vesnina, Hantuchova vs Safina, Ivanovic vs Makarova
Winner: Clijsters

US Open 2010 - The Slacker's Guide to win might win

2010-08-27T12:57:00.024+10:00

Men:

No Del Po, only Fed and his nemesis: Rafa. There's talk of Murray of course, there will always be, but it's only talk until he does a Del Potro and wins something (or gets lucky like Djokovic). everyone else is just holding the coats. Fed vs Rafa for the title (assuming Jet Boy gets past Murray, which he probably won't) and another title for the master. Unless Murray really means it...

Nadal’s Quarter
Seeds: Kohlschreiber, Lopez, Ljubicic, Ferrer, Gulbis, Verdasco
Players to watch: Young, Simon, Schuettler, Nieminen, Becker, Chardy, Fognini, Nalbandian
Winner: Nadal

Murray’s Quarter
Seeds: Querrey, Wawrinka, Isner, Stepanek, Berdych
Players to watch: Lu, Seppi, Starace, Robredo, Benneteau, Llodra, Hanescu
Winner: Murray

Djokovic’s Quarter
Seeds: Davydenko, Monfils, Roddick, Andreev, Baghdatis, Fish, Monaco
Players to watch: Russell, Gasquet, Anderson, Tipsarevic, Clement, Ginepri, Troicki, Blake
Winner: Roddick

Fed’s Quarter
Seeds: Soderling, Gonzalez, Montanes, Cilic, Melzer, Hewitt, Ferrero
Players to watch: Dent, de Bakker, Ball, Phau, Mathieu
Winner: Federer

Final: Federer vs Murray

Winner: Roger Federer

Women:

No Serena, no Henin, top seed is a Danish glamour puss who no one expects to win. How wide open does it have to be before anyone takes notice?

Sharapova's here but nobody expects her to threaten (nobody serious anyway - she's all over Yahoo), Clijsters is the defending champion - no really she is - but nobody is interested in her chances. Venus is a proven champion who hasn't won anything this big for years. Russians Dementieva and Kuznetsova have been here before but have their own form problems. Elena must be privately salivating at her prospects here if only she can master her nerves, her serve...

Azarenka and Wozniacki are contenders and will probably remain so. The wipeout trio Safina, Ivanovic and Jankovic will no doubt lose in the first week (as last year). Ivanovic can now blame her's on injury though. The new look Bepa Zvonareva could be a dark horse.

Wozniacki's Quarter
Seeds: Safarova, Rezai, Sharapova, Kuznetsova, Li, Kirilenko, Shvedova
Players to watch: CSN, Chan, Rybarikova, Sprem, Benesova, Groth, Date Krumm, Kulikova, Strycova, Chakvetadze, Urszula Radwanska, Voegele, Cibulkova
Winner: Wozniacki

Jankovic's Quarter
Seeds: MJMS, Wickmayer, Agnieszka Radwanska, Peng, Petrova, Dulgheru, Zvonareva
Players to watch: Halep, Cornet, Coin, Cirstea, Lisicki, Schnyder
Winner: Zvonareva

Venus Williams’s Quarter
Seeds: Schiavone, Alona Bondarenko, Pavlyuchenkova, Azarenka, Peer, Pennetta, Pironkova
Players to watch: Ferguson, Oudin, Dushevina, Barrois, Dulko, Kerber, Parmentier, Zahlavova, Winner: Azarenka

Clijsters’s Quarter
Seeds: Stosur, Kleybanova, Hantuchova, Kvitova, Dementieva, Bartoli, Zheng
Players to watch: Safina, Vesnina, King, Bammer, Ivanovic, Martic
Winner: Clijsters

Final: Zvonareva vs Azarenka

Winner: Vera Zvonareva

Serena out

2010-08-21T10:01:00.008+10:00

Serena Williams pulled out of the US Open with an injured foot which will make it easier on the linespeople. Without her the field is wide open, unless you believe the Clijsters hype. Apparently Henin isn't coming either but no one will miss her much. Can we call Caroline Wozniacki a favourite?

Agassi plays Sampras in another chapter of their ongoing feud. Do you think they sat in a room somewhere with all their agents and said "Ok, yeah, we don't like each other, but think of all the money we can make? Really? that much? Ok, let's put on a show for the punters still dreaming of when America ruled men's tennis."

Iveta Benesova celebrated her greatest win (against a flailing Jankovic) by taking it easy in the next round with predictable results. That's the Iveta we love.

Schiavone finally got a win, but only against Safina, Bepa took care of Clijsters. The Woz rolled against Schiavone and we have a Woz Kuz matchup.

Andy Murray managed to lose to Fish screwing up my chance of winning the ATP tipping comp. Fed beat Davydenko but who can't? And Roddick beat the Djoker. Is it too early for Roddick hype?

Coco Vandeweghe got herself a US Open wildcard and celebrated by losing in New Haven qualies. As expected Sophie Ferguson got the TA nod over Dokic.

Simona Halep is back playing and winning in New Haven.

Do you know there's a male player called Venus? (No idea who he is but he's playing in Karshi)

Three tournament wins for Jelena Dokic!

2010-08-12T18:09:00.008+10:00

Jelena Dokic won yet another tournament with another Challenger win in Vancouver. She beat Virginie Razzano 6-4 6-1 in the final showng that she should be playing back on the WTA tour and hopefully getting a US Open Wildcard courtesy of ~~her pals back in~~ Tennis Australia.

Dokic has finally hired a proper coach - Glen Schaap - and she thanked him for helping her.

“I’ve always been interested in working with him,” says Dokic of Schaap, who used to coach former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic. “He’s very tough, which I like. Glen has changed a few of my strokes, tried to shorten them up a bit," she said. "But he and I have been working mostly on my fitness." This is a good sign because Dokic has been noticeably unfit in recent times...

"There's nothing like being match fit," she said. "I isolated myself from everyone and everything and just focused on training. I've got it together now and I'm happy there's still three or four months left to play. I feel good coming into the U.S. Open."

Dokic has now withdrawn from Montreal and the rumour is that Sophie Ferguson will get the TA wildcard, meaning that Jelena will have to play qualifying in New York despite her new ranking of 82.

Serena Williams still using twitter to promote tennis

2010-08-03T10:12:00.004+10:00

Good to see Serena Williams is still out there promoting tennis any way she can. She really thinks outside the box and good luck to her. So she didn't score some freebie tickets to the whatever classic that James Blake is playing in. She still used her status and influence to ensure that the tournament got a heap of publicity by slagging it off on Twitter. Good girl. That's so much better then threatening to shove tennis balls down people's throats. As she said: "Anywho don't go if u r in LA" - real champions don't need to use grammer.

http://twitter.com/serenajwilliams - much better then the actual tennis tour. Get better and come back soon Serena.