Monday Net Post

By TW Contributing Editor, Ed McGrogan

Last Week's Tournaments**

Ordina Open (ATP - Grass - 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands)

• Singles Final: David Ferrer def. Marc Gicquel 6-4, 6-2.
  - Singles Semifinal: David Ferrer def. Juan Martin del Potro 7-6, 6-1.
  - Singles Semifinal: Marc Gicquel def. Guillermo Canas 3-6, 6-0, 6-4.
• Singles Bracket

• Doubles Final: Mario Ancic/Jurgen Melzer def. Mahesh Bhupathi/Leander Paes 7-6, 6-3.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Mario Ancic/Jurgen Melzer def. Steve Darcis/Marc Gicquel 7-6, 7-6.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Mahesh Bhupathi/Leander Paes def. Guillermo Canas/Juan Martin del Potro 6-7, 6-3, 10-7.
• Doubles Bracket

The Slazenger Open (ATP - Grass - Nottingham, England)

• Singles Final: Ivo Karlovic def. Fernando Verdasco 7-5, 6-7, 7-6.
  - Singles Semifinal: Ivo Karlovic def. Gael Monfils 7-6, 7-6.
  - Singles Semifinal: Fernando Verdasco def. Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-1.
• Singles Bracket

• Doubles Final: Bruno Suares/Kevin Ullyett def. Jeff Coetzee/Jamie Murray 6-2, 7-6.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Bruno Suares/Kevin Ullyett def. Paul Hanley/Todd Perry 6-4, 6-4.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Jeff Coetzee/Jamie Murray def. Marcelo Melo/Andre Sa 6-4, 7-5.
• Doubles Bracket

International Women's Open (WTA - Grass - Eastbourne, England)

• Singles Final: Agnieszka Radwankska def. Nadia Petrova 6-4, 6-7, 6-4.
  - Singles Semifinal: Nadia Petrova def. Samantha Stosur 6-3, 6-3.
  - Singles Semifinal: Agnieszka Radwankska def. Marion Bartoli 7-5, 6-3.

• Doubles Final: Cara Black/Liezel Huber def. Kveta Peschke/Rennae Stubbs 2-6, 6-0, 10-8.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Cara Black/Liezel Huber def. Jill Craybas/Olga Govortsova 6-1, 6-4.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Kveta Peschke/Rennae Stubbs def. Vera Dushevina/Alicja Rosolska 6-2, 7-6.

• Singles & Doubles Bracket

Ordina Open (WTA - Grass - 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands)

• Singles Final: Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Dinara Safina 7-5, 6-3.
  - Singles Semifinal: Dinara Safina def. Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-2.
  - Singles Semifinal: Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Alona Bondarenko 6-2, 6-4.

• Doubles Final: Marina Erakovic/Michaella Krajicek def. Liga Dekmeijere/Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-2.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Marina Erakovic/Michaella Krajicek def. Andreea Ehritt-Vanc/Tamarine Tanasugarn (walkover).
  - Doubles Semifinal: Liga Dekmeijere/Angelique Kerber def. Sophie Lefevre/Auriele Vedy 6-4, 6-4.

• Singles & Doubles Bracket

By the Letter

T...wentieth on the NY Times Hardcover Nonfiction list is Pete Bodo's book on Pete Sampras, A Champion's Mind.  Get yours now and don't let Freakonomics pull ahead - that book's been around forever!
E...SPN has brought their Power Rankings to tennis.  If you thought the football and baseball versions stirred up controversy, consider that the tennis version incorporates both men and women.
N...ews You Can Use (Men): Playing in his first tournament since withdrawing from Casablanca in May (calf), Younes El Aynaoui reached the second round at the Braunschweig Challenger.
N...ews You Can Use (Women): A $10,000 Tournament takes place this week in Wichita, KS, for those of you who can't wait for tennis to return to the States.
I...nternational Herald Tribune forum was at it again, this time to talk about Wimbledon.  Read parts one, two, three, and four.
S...outh Africa is getting an ATP Tour event, but why is everyone calling this Africa'sfirst tournament?  There's been one in Casablanca, Morocco for years.
W...imbledon's architectural changes (roof, scoreboards) are detailed by Sky Sports.
O...n Monday, Juan Ignacio Chela, Carlos Moya, and Juan Monaco - all potentially seeded players - withdrew from Wimbledon due to injury.
R...egister on Thursday if you'd like to try to become a ball boy at this year's U.S. Open.
L...awn Tennis Association, British players, and the sport's perception in the UK were spoken poorly of in Andy Murray's new autobiography, Hitting Back.  As if the pressure on him to perform at Wimbledon wasn't high enough already...
D...on't like the name "ATP World Tour Finals?"  It's changed - to the Barclay's ATP World Tour Finals.  The international bank is not new to the world of sport; they are the title sponsor of the English Premier League.

McGrogan's Heroes

ATP - David Ferrer

Nikolay Davydenko has held the title of "Most Unappreciated Player" for a while now, but David Ferrer is not far behind.  Both players regularly produce solid - though not spectacular - results at Slams, have each won big tournaments, and play an extremely effective brand of grinding tennis.  After  Davydenko won at Miami this year, we witnessed an outpouring of compassion for him. Those feelings have faded, but maybe Ferrer can pick up the slack after his win at the Ordina Open in s'Hertogenbosch.

Ranked No. 5 in the world, Ferrer was the top seed in this tournament.  But on grass, he wasn't a commanding favorite over any of the next four seeds (Richard Gasquet, Ivan Ljubicic, Igor Andreev, and Mario Ancic).  In fact, many would call him the underdog against a few of these hard-serving, fast court gunners.

However, like fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal at Queen's Club, Ferrer lived up to his top seed.  After he dispatched a wild card and a qualifier in the first two rounds, he faced a greater challenge in Mario Ancic. But surprisingly, Ferrer won that quarterfinal in straight sets - a score that couldn't have sat well with Ancic, whose game is suited to grass.  In the semis, Ferrer doused another player who can get hot on a quick surface, Juan Martin del Potro.  Finally, Ferrer handed Marc Gicquel his third consecutive loss in a final. It was well-earned title indeed.

WTA - Tamarine Tanasugarn

The way Ferrer won the Ordina Open was surprising, but the fact that Tamarine Tanasugarn won at all at the same event was simply shocking.  Tanasugarn, a 31-year old from Thailand, had a strenuous but very successful week.  After getting through qualifying, she danced around many landmines in the main draw.

The Ordina Open had an impressive turnout on the women's side, with eight of the world's top 29 players in town.  But even the non-seeded players were noteworthy, and Tanasugarn was forced to deal with a few of the better ones.  Her first three opponents were Kateryna Bondarenko, Ashley Harkleroad, and Michaella Krajicek - hardly pushovers.  But Tanasugarn survived to make the final four.  There, she met the other Bondarenko sister, Alona, but the result was the same - straight sets to Tamarine.  In the final, Tanasugarn played Dinara Safina, one of the hottest players on tour.  Coming off a great run at Roland Garros, Safina made enough noise on grass to position herself as a viable threat at Wimbledon.  Yet Tanasugarn beat her, to claim her second career WTA title.

You all know Tanasugarn's name, but have  you checked out how well she's done at majors?  The veteran Thai has reached the fourth round of every major except the French Open, where she's failed to penetrated beyond the third round.  She's done best at Wimbledon, making the fourth round a whopping six times (1998-2002, 2004).  Keep on eye on her this week.

Tennis Theatre

The Ordina Open wasn't televised in the U.S. this week.  Here's what you missed from the women's final (good quality, lengthy highlight):

This Week's Tournament

Wimbledon (ATP & WTA - Grass - Wimbledon, England)

• Gentlemen's Singles
• Ladies' Singles
• Gentlemen's Doubles
• Ladies' Doubles

Beyond the Bracket

I give you eight thoughts about the '08 Wimbledon Championships:

1. It's no secret that I'm a fan of tennis fashion. I believe that if you feel good, you'll play better, and part of feeling good is looking good.  I wasn't a big fan of Roger Federer's outfit at the French Open.  I understand what Nike is going for with the classic, retro look - it's an obvious contrast to Rafael Nadal's louder apparel.  Still, I don't think it did Federer any favors, and his 2007 garb was even worse.  But Nike - and Federer - always seems to redeem themselves at Wimbledon.  I'm not sure what they have planned for tomorrow's opening match (Roger spoke of a "cardigan" in his press conference), but so far, I like what I see in the shoes.  The grass is going to help Roger's game.  I think the clothes will too - it feels like he actually belongs in them.

2. From what I saw of Dinara Safina at Roland Garros, she can succeed at Wimbledon.  A hard and relatively compact swing, and her obvious surge of confidence, will get her through many women in the field.  And she played well at Den Bosch. But at Wimbledon, she's in a very deep part of the draw.  Unlike some of the women's seeds, those floating around Safina are experienced veterans (Davenport, Peer, Petrova).  I'll take Safina against Dementieva, and I don't think it would be wise to bet against her in a re-match with Sharapova.  But she'll need to play a lot of great tennis just to get to that point.  And that's just through the quarters.

3. Mario Ancic gets a lot of publicity during Wimbledon, and for good reason.  He has a game that's suited for the fast surface, and he was the last player to beat Federer at the All England Club.  But not a lot has been said about Marin Cilic thus far.  It's surprising, given how the media and fans tend to grasp onto young talents.  Of course, Cilic his down significantly since his hot start this year (semis in Chennai, fourth round at Australian Open).  But last week, he made the semis in Nottingham and he may be getting hot at just the right time. So I'm really bullish on him this week.  His section of the draw is loaded with talented players who have underperformed at majors (Paul-Henri Mathieu, James Blake, Jarkko Nieminen).  Andy Roddick is the exception, but Cilic wouldn't meet him until the quarters.  We'll re-visit Cilic next week - if he's still around.

4. In Federer's press conference yesterday, he was asked about the pressure that Andy Murray - the lone British hope - is dealing with.  Here's what he said:

Q. Having seen up close Tim Henman being under the constant spotlight of the British public, do you have sympathy for Andy? Yet again one person is basically carrying the entire British support with him.

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, it's a tough thing, you know, because you go to the French Open, to the US Open, you know, you have 15 guys in the main draw. Here you have, I don't know, one guy making it in, maybe other ones who get wild cards. I don't know exactly how it works.

It's hard, you know. But I think Andy or Tim, they were guys who could handle it. Also it would be obviously nice if the Brits had also more on the women's side. It would take away some pressure, but that's not the case here.

After I read this, I started thinking about British women players...and I couldn't name a single one.  I consulted the WTA rankings, and the highest Brit is Anne Keothavong at No. 92.  She's also the only female from Britain to automatically qualify for the main draw (four others were given wild cards).  The disparity between the stature of Wimbledon and the performance of players from the UK is one of the greater ironies in all of sport.

5. I've never been to Wimbledon, but it's the next Slam I want to attend.  As a history buff, I enjoy the tradition that comes along with the tournament.  But the real reason I want to go is to see how the pros play on grass.  I'm intrigued, because there are so few tournaments on grass anymore.  I used to clamor for a longer grass court season - possibly even a grass court Masters Series event.  But I've embraced the notion that the paucity of grass events only heightens the charm and unique nature of Wimbledon. The timing and build-up to The Championships could not have been better by design.

6. Federer is going to be running through the gauntlet from start to finish at this year's tournament, just like in 2006, when he played Gasquet and Henman in the first two rounds.  Check back to TENNIS.com around Thursday for my thoughts on where Federer's performance in '06 ranks with his best overall performances at Wimbledon.

7. No promises here, but I'm going to see if I can schedule some time on the grass courts of the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills (where I'll be calling home in a few weeks).  I've never played on grass, and I'd like to report on my experiences here next week if I can arrange a quick hit.

8. Predictions:

Ladies: Ivanovic/S. Williams/Safina/Jankovic --> Ivanovic/Jankovic --> Ivanovic.
Gentlemen: Federer/Djokovic/Roddick/Nadal --> Federer/Nadal --> Federer.

if...

you could read a biography on a tennis personality who hasn't written one, who would it be?