Challenger at KRC (Semi-finals)

It was a beautiful day for tennis on the windward side Saturday.

Three of the four singles semi-finalists were from Japan.  Soeda v Ito was the matchup of the highest ranked players. For stretches it was a clinic on how to rally at a high level while keeping the ball just barely over the net. But there would also be some ugly stretches as I'm sure these guys were wearing each other out with the relentless game. Very few clean winners.

In the second semi-final Robby Ginepri ran into a flawless performance from Yuichi Sugita. Sugita could not miss in the first set.  Robby had to weather the storm and come back in the final two sets to deliver us the ideal final between the former #15 in the world against Go Soeda, the top seed and current #99.   I think set one is a coin flip, but I like Ginepri as the match goes deeper.  He's got the bigger game.

Doubles final should also be really fun to see.  Jack Sock and his partner going up against Amer Delic and his partner.  Delic is the former NCAA champion for Illinois and Sock is too young and good to even bother with college tennis.

I asked Sock why he chose to come play this Challenger. He said that he has been playing well lately and wanted to keep the streak going. Wanted to get some more matches. I think he got what he wanted, because he played well and only went down to Go #99 Soeda in 3 sets. He'll be playing in Dallas next...

I've got a cool sequence of Delic serving with a butterfly. That plus more photos from the event here. All the guys Ito, Soeda, Delic, Sugita, Ginepri...

El Classico (Day 11)

What more can you say about this rivalry? Federer / Nadal is just off the charts for quality. Federer came out of the gates guns blazing. He took an early lead, but Nadal broke back on a couple loose serve-and-volley plays from Fed. You simply can't come to the net against Nadal. His running forehands can curl behind you or in front of you, it is ridiculous. Even though Fed's backhand was as good as it has ever been and he forced a few errors, Nadal just covers too much court. 
   Federer did have plenty of chances in the match. He even had a couple of break points in the final game of the match. On one, Nadal threw up a completely desperate lob which luckily fell on the baseline and Federer sliced his overhead wide. On two of Federer's breaks in the match, Nadal broke right back. 
   The overall feeling to me was that Federer's offense had to be so good to win a point against Nadal's defense. His passing shots from way off the court after good, even great, volleys were just insane. Keep in mind these shots would literally be off almost any recreational tennis court.
   I also think it really helps Nadal that he is a lefty. Federer can only go to his backhand so many times. His approaches are more based on his inside-out forehand which go right to Nadal's strength. Also Nadal's ad-court serve can easily swing way out wide to Fed's one-hand backhand.
   I wish that good offense were better rewarded, but Nadal & Djokovic are both just too great on defense.  Sit back and watch even more "D" tonight between Murray and Djoker.
-----  -----  -----  -----  -----


The Ladies Final is set with Maria Sharapova v Victoria Azarenka.  The winner will be the AO Champion and the new #1 ranked player in the world.


The Bryan Twins are in the Men's Doubles Final which, I believe, will follow the Ladies final on Saturday night (Melbourne time).
-----  -----  -----  -----  -----


At the Challenger at KRC on Wednesday night, Jack Sock looked strong. Big power from the serve and forehand. There were some incredible points in the first set, both players seemed to be on their game, but Sock just had too easy of a time holding serve, so it wasn't close. Overall he looked very tough, but his backhand is a little soft and his forehand is a bit wild. He moves fairly heavily around the court (lots of squeaking from his shoes). The way I see it, he has a lot of room to improve, and potentially be the next bright American star... 

the Generations of Tennis (Day 10)

Kei "Sweet Timing" Nishikori got swept by Murray. Murray should be as fresh as can be for the Semis... 

Likely Djokovic will be there to meet him (though no point is coming easy against Ferrer). Djoker/Murray are actually classic rivals only 7 days apart in age. A win for Murray could really legitimize him as not-just-perpetually-#4. So even though everyone is primed for Federer and Nadal, both semifinals are tremendous. Unfortunately for Murray, Novak is just moving too well. He looks untouchable. He's like playing against a computer, one that doesn't miss or let anything pass.

The generations of tennis.  Federer and Rod Laver (not the arena, the tennis great) join the ESPN2 studio.

FEDERER: I remember how happy I was when I had a chance to play Sampras, or Agassi still, and you know Moya and Henman and all these guys I knew from TV. For me that was the most exciting time of my life. To all of a sudden to stand opposite to Goran Ivanisevic, who I remember smashing racquets on TV. I'm playing him and he's smashing racquets against me. You know, that was big!

Challenger at KRC (Day 2)

At the Challenger at KRC this week we've got some really interesting talents and stories.  A few NCAA champs, some up-and-coming stars and junior champs, players directly from early round losses in Melbourne, international hopefuls from Japan to Zimbabwe, and past champs on the ATP World Tour.

Check out Hawaii's best player, Dennis Lajola, against US Open Juniors 2010 champion Jack Sock. I'll be there.

Wednesday Schedule

Welcome to the Fed FUn HOuSe (Day 9)

Roger had it all working against del Potro. Early and often. He went up 3-Love with 7 winners and zero errors. Note in the final stats:38 fun house winners against 22 unforced errors. Also he won 89% of his first serve points. He used the lethal one-two of serve and forehand to control the match. But it was the backhand pick-ups off the baseline and the backhand winners down the line that made this no contest. 6-4; 6-3; 6-2.

One tense moment came at 5-3 in the second set with Roger trying to serve out the set. These are the moments where he has faltered to Djokovic and Nadal in 2011. But this time at least he prevailed

We learned that Roger is a serious contender this season and Juan Martin is just not quite back to prime grand slam form. He should be able to build up his match toughness over the summer and be ready for the US Open.
-----  -----  -----  -----  -----

In between men's quarters, Kimmy took out the #1 seed and former #1 ranked Wozniacki. We know there will finally be a new #1 now, but exactly who will depend on how this tournament plays out.
-----  -----  -----  -----  -----

Berdych played some great tennis. He is legit, but this top guys are just so unbeatable. Nadal does it again with his unbelievable competitiveness. This match featured many questionable line calls which could have gotten him off track, but Rafa just kept coming and coming and overwhelmed Tomas by the end. Nadal is just hitting these great deep balls. Federer will need to pick those backhands clean. With this semifinal matchup coming, I have no idea what could happen!

The Grand Slam of Asia/Pacific (Day 8)

Last year Li "the girl with the rose tattoo" Na broke through into the Aussie Finals, endearing us all to her (remember). This year she is bitching out her husband/coach in the aftermath of her meltdown to Kim Clijsters. It's always going to be an excruciating loss when you miss on 4 straight match points to someone with a busted ankle.

But this year we still have another Asian break through. Kei Nishikori is the first Japanese man to make the quarterfinals of Australia in 80 years! He toughed out Tsonga in 5 sets. This is huge for Japan where according to Chris Evert, "The Japanese have the best tournaments. And they just love tennis." The problem is that to keep the momentum building he will have to beat Team Murray featuring Ivan Lendl, who earned so little of a workout (6-1;6-1;1-0{ret}) that he had to go back out for more practice.

And thank you Lendl for being humorless (not counting unintentional comedy). The important thing is that he's a real Louis C.K. in his own mind...

Lendl: Jokes are meant to be jokes, they're not jokes to be told on TV, they're jokes to make you laugh.

Ranking Points (info)

The $50K Challenger at KRC winner earns 80 ranking points. Compare that with earning 90 points by making the round of 32 (or 45 for making the round of 64) downunder.

From Wikipaedia...

Present-day prize money and ranking points

Challenger tournaments offer total prize money ranging from $35,000 up to $150,000+, which, along with whether the tournament provides hospitality (food and lodging) to the players, determines the number of points a player gets for winning each match in the tournament.

Hospitality bumps the points distribution up one level, and the points to the overall winner range from 75 points for a $35K tournament to 125 points for $150K with Hospitality, in contrast of ATP-level tournaments, which offer total prize money from $400K to over $6 Million and points to the overall winners from 250 to 2000.

As a point of reference, player rankings are based on points accumulated in the previous 52 weeks, and in any given week of rankings, a player who has earned 400 points in the last 52 weeks would be ranked around the 100th position. 200 points would get him a ranking near 200th, while with 100 points he would get to about the 350th, and 50 points would put him close to the 500th. So rankings points earned in Challengers can help a player to move up in the rankings quickly.

How you put the 3 grams (Day 7)

Nadal, DelPo, Federer (the Man) roll in straights... Berdych loses the crowd.

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.  (1 Corinthians 13:11)

Federer put away the young Aussie Bernie Tomic by making better shots with his backhand. Better topspin, better slice, and better winners down the line. Even though he did play well in the first set, and had already played 14 sets to Roger's 6, Bernie's off pace slice and push shots were just not going to work this time.  

"I knew I wasn't going to hit 10 slices in a row against him, like Alexander did."
-----  -----  -----  -----  -----

Nadal stands back farther for receiving the second serve than for the first serve. Counter-intuitive? The basic reason is that, on the second serve, it allows him more time to take a full cut with bigger topspin, while still keeping his shot in the court. This approach works well in doubles, too. On the first serve it takes away time from the net man for poaching, especially if one is just blocking a return back. Then for the slower second serve one can stand back to take that bigger cut (with spin) and "hold" the net man in place.

Chrissy Evert: You weighted your racquet with 3 grams more. Have you felt any changes in your game?

Nadal: I feel a change on my racquet that's sure. On my game...? We decided to make the change because we thought that that can help little bit in a few shots. Especially the higher balls or the serve... If we talk about that with the normal people 3 grams seems like a stupid, no but depends on how you put the 3 grams.
-----  -----  -----  -----  -----

Del Potro is on fire. He would be looking like the champion if he didn't have Federer next (this is only a quarterfinal!). That match is pretty much the first must see match of 2012. It will help determine how the season plays out for all of the top 4 + JMdP. Federer just said that he missed del Potro when he was out with injuries and that the big guy had a shot at the #1 ranking...
-----  -----  -----  -----  -----

Berdych lost the crowd in his match when he refused to shake Almagro's hand.  Nico had taken a hard shot which nailed Tomas in the right arm. Berdych was booed off the court for making such a stink. The Aussie crowd will not soon forget this incident. They say he could even be fined by the ATP, but to me it isn't appropriate to legislate good sportsmanship. It's better to let guys be jerks if they want to be, then we all see who they are. Hitting balls at players and being hit are both parts of tennis. Don't be a sitting duck, but if you are, don't be a turkey or a turducken. 
-----  -----  -----  -----  -----

The Challenger at KRC has the main draw posted.  Qualys are in full effect in Kailua, check it out!

Grand Slam Champion Jack Sock, winner of the Mixed Doubles at US Open 2011 with Melanie Oudin is in the draw to face Hawaii star Dennis Lajola... (Jack's coming from Florida where he just won 3 rounds in a Futures level tournament.)

Middle Sunday Sellout (Day 7)

Check it out, more Bryan Brothers doubles! That's right, it's not just ESPN2 anymore, even the Tennis Channel has Aussie coverage.  The Bryans just dropped their second set Love-6, yikes! But it's okay because they have rallied for a break in the deciding 3rd set (3-2). They may be getting bonus coverage since they could tie the most doubles Grand Slam titles with a win here (12).

Speaking of Tennis Channel, you gotta love commentary from Martina Navratilova. What other sport has such great announcers and commentators as Tennis? Their sense of humor sets them apart.

Wait, wait, chest-bump time for the B-Twins! Into the quarter-finals...

Nadal seems to have Lopez under wraps in the heat. The balls are jumping.

Featured tonight is Fed v Tomic
and last year's championship rematch Li Na v Kim Clijsters.

The unexpected (and disappointing) result of the past couple days was Raonic going down to Hewitt, after winning the opening set pretty easily. Fear the "Vicht" at 30, Hewitt's copyrighted pose (literally). C'mon!

Catch up (Night 5)

Del Potro has the look.  He is focused and ready to win this tournament. I like it.

5th set for Dolgo and Bernie. This is Dolgopolov's 3rd straight maximum match. This is what separates a Grand Slam from all the other events!

Tomic has such a flat and unusual forehand, but since he hits through it so well, his direction is amazing. He also seems to be able to pick up any shot off the baseline with a little stab. The slice backhand rallies from earlier in the match are still cropping up, though Dolgopolov seems less and less interested in them. What a strange match of pace and paceless shots, you just can't tell what ball will come over the net next. The home country hero marches on the play Federer next though. That should be an entertaining match. I expect Fed will have an epic day for shot-making against this guy. Hopefully it turn into a competitive battle of one-upsmanship for the hearts of the crowd. 

(Fed is so popular that 55% of a Tennis Channel poll picks him to win the tournament. Djoker 30%, Nadal 12%.)

Mesmerizing Tennis (late night 5)

Those of us who caught this exchange during the Tomic match had a good laugh.  If not, I'm sure I can't describe the look on a certain blond woman's face.

Chris Fowler called it perfectly though...

Fowler: Mesmerized by the tennis.

Killer Cahill: The lady in the dark hair is actually the girlfriend of Alex Dolgopolov. I'm not sure who (laughing) the lady behind was.

Fowler: Does she need a doctor over there? Is she okay?

U.S.M.I.A. (Day 5)

No U.S. men have made the round of 16 for the first time since 1973, a dubious year since none entered. (Even though Arthur Ashe won the 1970 edition, on grass courts.) Some sort of boycott of the Aussies?

Big John Isner had a chance after the rare 6-0 changeover in the 4th set tie-break. But Feliciano was a little bit better in the 5th set, which he took 6-1.

Puzzle, if one side of the tennis court were so severely disadvantaged (sun, wind, etc) that no player could win a single point on it, which side would you choose after the racquet spin to win the first set? The good side or the bad side?  Bonus: Who would win the match if it were played in the US Open?  Bonus Bonus: What is the minimum number of points you would have to win on the bad side to change the outcome?

I think Nadal will kill his Davis Cup teammate (Lopez) in the next round when they meet. I like the way his draw is shaping up...

Federer broke down Dr Ivo Karlovic and his huge serve, once he escaped the first set tie-breaker. (Tie-breakers were a theme today.) Fed made his first break in his 12th return game. But it was more than enough, since Dr Ivo has only broken Roger once in 28 sets (!). 

The other big matches turned out to basically be duds. (21)Wawrinka lost in straight sets to (10)Almagro. And (7)Berdych also moved quickly through 2 tight sets and 1 blowout. This leaves the stage wide open for our prime time entertainment Tomic and Dolgopolov.  The winner to face Fed.

But first, what's this! U.S. men! Truly these are desperate times for America when the Bryan brothers are getting some air time in the doubles. The reality is that watching the Bryans is amazing, and deserving of much more air time beyond the Tennis Channel's Davis Cup coverage.

I predict that Raonic is quickly adopted as our North American brother.

Dream a little dream (Day 4)

Here we are on serve in the 5th set of Ryan Sweeting versus (5)David Ferrer...

A match to look out for in the Mixed Doubles, Serena & Roddick vs (1)Mike Bryan & Kveta Peschke...

Stars shining bright above you,
Night breezes seem to whisper, I love you,
Birds singing in the sycamore tree,
Dream a little dream of me.

As sung by Little 5'5" Taiwanese-American Vania King. More known for her doubles prowess, winning both Wimbledon and the US Open in 2010, and now known for her singing, but she did win her second round match in 3 sets.

Eddie Vedder's ukulele version.

Well, David Ferrer took care of business in the 5th set, like we knew he would. The other top men also rolled easily on. Now it is time for the big match of former #1s: Hewitt against Roddick!  Raonic did actually get broken twice in his match today and awaits the winner here...

The Women's draw is still in flux but Serena and Sharapova are making hay.

The Men's draw is really shaping up for some high quality matches in round 3 and beyond. Fed will have his hands full with the huge serves of Karlovic, the extra rest won't be of much use. 

top competitions tomorrow (this is getting good):
Tomic v Dolgopolov
Almagro v Wawrinka
Isner v Lopez

Big John Isner (Day 3)

Mahut what! Big John strikes again with 10-8 in the 5th set. What Nalbandian's plan lacked in logic it achieved in audacity; he was dropping Isner in order to lob (!) the 6'10" player. Incredible that this strategy was very effective (until set point in the 4th). There was also an awful call by the chair at break point 8-8 in the 5th. And he disallowed Nalbandian's challenge. WTF!  "Can you be that stupid to do that in that moment? What the umpires need? Press? Name? Be on the picture tomorrow? Incredible." 


How could BJI have enough left in the tank for the next round against "Deliciano" Lopez?  I don't see it happening, but apparently it will just be serve-on-serve; more tie-breaks.


The internet may be blacked out today to demonstrate protest of piracy laws, but I'm still here for ya.


Americans Fish (#8) and D.Young bowed out with poor performances. Maybe Sam Querry can pull out a good win versus Aussie Tomic. Or maybe the aTomic kittens are too much to withstand. {Ed. yes, the kittens march on.}


Great news for Nadal fans. He played well against veteran Tommy Haas, with his wrapped knee not seeming to bother.


It has come to my attention that Lendl sawdust comments may have been off the radar of some. Do click to the videotape.


Federer took the harrowing walkover in stride. His opponent knew he had no chance so why risk further injury. It's a wise decision to "take", as the Euros say. On to round 3 with Fed Fan left with nothing to Tivo.


Not much else to report other than US Open champion and Aussie Sam Stosur sent packing in the very first round.

Major Major, myna myna (match days 1-2)

Here we are again Down Under!  Oy oy oy!

Also underway in Kailua with a concurrent Challenger level ATP event this fortnight.

And for the 6th consecutive year I'm saying, I will be there in [M[E[L[B|O]U]R]N]E] live-blogging next year... but this time I have the frequent flier miles to prove it!

For those of you who want to know what I know...

Dark horses:
Juan Martin del Potro started last season ranked in the 200s but pushed all the way uphill to #11 by year end. This year he should be ready for results out of the gate. He's in Fed's quarter but would have to get by Fish first.

Milos Raonic of Canada (age:21) was heating up last year before some injuries.  He was able to keep a nice ranking by year end of #31. He already has a title this year in Chennai with two top-10 Ws (Almagro, Tipsarevic). He reminds me of a young Sampras. Raonic / Roddick would actually be a fun match (round 3).

Only if Nadal isn't fully fit (banged up knees), Donald Young could be dangerous.  Either way it will be interesting to see him play Nadal or Haas in round 3.

Some Favorites:
Roger (president) has a new white paint job on his Wilson stick. The serve looks strong. He actually had a pretty tough qualy opponent, the type of guy you might find in a Challenger tourney, all the way down to the mismatched socks.

Nadal (vice-president) is not looking so hot. And Australia is not the place to have fitness issues. Last year he was partly bounced due to a bum leg muscle. Hopefully the knee remains "the strangest" experience of his life and nothing more. He also has a potentially tricky draw ahead.

Djokovic, defending champion of everything. He dropped 2 games in his opening match. I hope he can get his game back on track going forward. 

Coach Ivan Lendl to pupil Murray: more sawdust.  Ryan Harrison (USA) took set #1 from Andy, but that was all. Maybe he flies straight out to Hawaii for some more ranking points?

Tomic v Querry is probably the best 2nd round match after Nadal / Haas.

----  ----  ----  ----  ----
FEDERER, the man: [the off season workout regimen] has definitely changed from maybe 8 years back. Whereas in the beginning you are trying to build up a base, doing much more... trying to get stronger, doing much more weights potentially because you gain more, then eventually they say "your a man", right?

Tour players (Nadal, Davydenko) are also calling him "the man" for other reasons. As president of the Players Council they are worried about how he is handling revenue sharing (what else) between players and tournaments. Could there be a tournament boycott this season? We can only hope this isn't a distraction in Melbourne. But definitely stay tuned just before Indian Wells...