This is going to be short and sweet because, well, it’s not a surprise and do we care anyway? No, I didn’t think so. Because like any other sport, seedings and rankings are only a number. Once Wimbledon starts, then it’s all about who wins and who loses.
But for now, since Wimbledon hasn’t started yet, I’m reduced to talking about the seedings for the Slam. Roger Federer and Ana Ivanovic got top billing. Of course. Now maybe if those two were having a little “extra-curricular” fun then I’d have something juicy to talk about. But I think Roger’s pretty into …read more

The early morning update (for me anyway – darn west coast time!) – Roger Federer ousted the American Sam Querrey in the first round of the French Open. Bummer dude. I liked Querrey but he had one heck of a hard first round draw. Even when Federer is off his game, he’s formidable and not a player you’d like to face in the first round of a Grand Slam. Maybe Q was overwhelmed. Maybe he just wasn’t feeling it. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was playing the world’s number one, but Federer didn’t have …read more

There’s another job opening for all you tennis coaches out there. Yiannos Hadjigeorgiou cited personal reasons when he stepped down from his perch as Marcos Baghdatis’ coach and really didn’t have much to say beyond that. Hadjigeorgiou will continue coaching Baghdatis as the  Davis Cup team captain.
Hadjigeorgiou took the Baghdatis job in May of 2007 – so he’s not even a true “one and done”. That phrase implies there was a whole unit of time completed and Hadjigeorgiou was only coaching Baghdatis for about nine months. Lame.
(I also copied and pasted “Hadjigeorgiou” every time I used it…also kind of lame …read more

I have been dying to write about the 2008 Popcorn Tennis Awards but it has been overshadowed by things like Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova winning Australian Open titles. Like that is a big deal or something.
(By the way – the “t” on my keyboard is being a bit obstinate and not wanting to work so I am not liable for any missed “t’s” following this disclaimer.)
This is the inaugural edition of the Popcorn Tennis Awards and is aimed at those who have made a valuable contribution to the Australian Open…but not necessarily on the court. Here are some of …read more

The chips are in and the cards are down. The fortnight at the Australian Open is a closed book, but there are 10 moments from Down Under that were pretty special.
10. No Americans at the Australian Open past the quarterfinals.
I should take that back. There was one American who lost in the semifinals and that was Ryan Harrison in the boys’ singles. The boys’ singles! Otherwise, James Blake lost to Roger Federer in the quarters and both Serena and Venus Williams gave the queen wave on the women’s side as they bowed out. Forget Andy Roddick – he left in …read more

Wow. It’s amazing what happens in the tennis world over night, especially during the Australian Open.
Perhaps the biggest news is that Roger Federer got pushed to five sets. It would have been monumental had Federer lost, but we won’t go there. It took the Big Man over four hours to finally push Janko Tipsarevic (a Serbian…where did all these Serbian tennis powers come from? I mean, obviously Serbia, but you know what I mean.) out of the Australian Open with a 6-7, 7-6, 5-7, 6-1, 10-8 victory.
The big question really is: will the vigorous five-set exertion play a role in …read more

I knew it was coming, you know. But it doesn’t make it any easier now that Andy Roddick is out of the Australian Open at the hands of Philipp Kohlschreiber in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-8 battle. The nearly four-hour match saw Roddick fire 42 aces. Sadly for him (and me) it wasn’t enough.
Rafael Nadal won handily, giving Gilles Simon a 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 ticket out of Melbourne. Mikhail Youzhny, Nikolay Davydenko and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also have moved on to the fourth round.
Tsonga – wasn’t he supposed to be gone way back when? Maybe I’ll have to put my …read more

I’m watching the replay of the Marcos Baghdatis/Marat Safin match. How nerdy is that? I already know who wins – Baghdatis in a 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 battle – but here I sit, glued to the television as though it were live.
I love tennis; what can I say?
With the victory, Baghdatis will face Lleyton Hewitt. I was going to throw my support behind Baghdatis but comparing the match statistics, Hewitt was more solid in his last match than Baghdatis was against Safin. So – who knows? We all saw what happened when I picked Andy Murray to make a …read more