Monday Net Post

By TW Contributing Editor, Ed McGrogan

Last Week's Tournaments

AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships (ATP - Outdoor Hard - Tokyo, Japan)

• Singles Final: Tomas Berdych def. Juan Martin del Potro 6-1, 6-4.
  - Singles Semifinal: Juan Martin del Potro def. Richard Gasquet 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.
  - Singles Semifinal: Tomas Berdych def. Andy Roddick 6-7, 7-5, 7-6.
• Singles Draw

• Doubles Final: Mikhail Youzhny/Mischa Zverev def. Lukas Dlouhy/Leander Paes 6-3, 6-4.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Lukas Dlouhy/Leander Paes def. Robert Kendrick/Jarkko Nieminen 6-4, 7-6.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Mikhail Youzhny/Mischa Zverev def. Jordan Kerr/Robert Lindstedt 6-2, 4-6, 10-8.
• Doubles Draw

Open de Moselle (ATP - Indoor Hard - Metz, France)

• Singles Final: Dmitry Tursunov def. Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-6, 1-6, 6-4.
  - Singles Semifinal: Dmitry Tursunov def. Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-4.
  - Singles Semifinal: Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Adrian Mannarino 7-6, 7-6.
• Singles Draw

• Doubles Final: Arnaud Clement/Michael Llodra def. Mariusz Fyrstenberg/Marcin Matkowski 5-7, 6-3, 10-8.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Mariusz Fyrstenberg/Marcin Matkowski def. Marcelo Melo/Andre Sa 6-4, 5-7, 10-4.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Arnaud Clement/Michael Llodra def. Thierry Ascione/Marc Gicquel 4-6, 7-6, 11-9.
• Doubles Draw

AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships (WTA - Outdoor Hard - Tokyo, Japan)

• Singles Final: Caroline Wozniacki def. Kaia Kanepi 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.
  - Singles Semifinal: Caroline Wozniacki def. Jarmila Gajdosova 6-4, 6-3.
  - Singles Semifinal: Kaia Kanepi def. Aleksandra Wozniak 6-4, 6-4.

• Doubles Final: Jill Craybas/Marina Erakovic def. Ayumi Morita/Aiko Nakamura 4-6, 7-5, 10-6.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Jill Craybas/Marina Erakovic def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/Yanina Wickmayer 6-4, 6-1.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Ayumi Morita/Aiko Nakamura def. Vania King/Tiantian Sun 7-5, 6-2.

• Singles & Doubles Draws

Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (WTA - Indoor Hard - Stuttgart, Germany)

• Singles Final: Jelena Jankovic def. Nadia Petrova 6-4, 6-3.
  - Singles Semifinal: Nadia Petrova def. Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-4.
  - Singles Semifinal: Jelena Jankovic def. Venus Williams 6-7, 7-5, 6-2.

• Doubles Final: Anna-Lena Groenefeld/Patty Schnyder def. Kveta Peschke/Rennae Stubbs 6-2, 6-4.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Kveta Peschke/Rennae Stubbs def. Andrea Hlavackova/Lucie Hradecka 6-4, 7-5.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Anna-Lena Groenefeld/Patty Schnyder def. Victoria Azarenka/Agnieszka Radwanska 2-6, 6-4, 11-9.

• Singles & Doubles Draws

Tashkent Open (WTA - Outdoor Hard - Tashkent, Uzbekistan)

• Singles Final: Sorana Cirstea def. Sabine Lisicki 2-6, 6-4, 7-6.
  - Singles Semifinal: Sabine Lisicki def. Shuai Peng 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.
  - Singles Semifinal: Sorana Cirstea def. Magdalena Rybarikova 6-3, 0-0 (retired).

• Doubles Final: Ioana Raluca Olaru/Olga Savchuk def. Nina Bratchikova/Kathrin Woerle 5-7, 7-5, 10-7.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Ioana Raluca Olaru/Olga Savchuk def. Alexandra Panova/Magdalena Rybarikova 6-2, 6-2.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Nina Bratchikova/Kathrin Woerle def. Andreja Klepac/Urszula Radwanska 6-4, 7-6.

• Singles & Doubles Draws

By the Letter

(Thanks to TENNIS.com'sTicker, written by Kamakshi Tandon, for this week's news and notes.)

T...ENNIS.com is the new title sponsor of this year's Zurich Open, the 25th and final edition of the event.
E...xhibition event in Kooyong in January will include Roger Federer, Stanislas Wawrinka, James Blake, Fernando Gonzalez, Marat Safin, Marcos Baghdatis and Ernests Gulbis.  It will be held the week before the Australian Open.
N...ext coach of Paul-Henri Mathieu?  Possibly Loic Courteau, who recently parted ways with Amelie Mauresmo.  "An experience with Loic Courteau ould be interesting," Mathieu said after losing the Metz final to Dmitry Tursunov.  "It has to be seen whether we want similar things. Stay tuned."
N...ot a good start: Without warning in his first-round match in Metz against Ivo Karlovic, Marcos Bagdatis fell to the floor in pain (back) and eventually had to be carried off the court by medical personnel.
I...TF has announced that it will fine Croatia for hosting its Davis Cup playoff tie on a court that was too quick. Brazil, Croatia's opponents in the match in question, will also be financially compensated.
S...tockholm Open loses Federer, but it gets Joachim Johansson.  The big-serving Swede will come out of retirement to play in Stockholm, and may make a full-time return to the circuit next year.
W...illiams, Serena, has pulled out of Moscow.  In a statement to tournament organizers, she said she needs time to physically recharge and recover from a left ankle problem.
O...ne she'll never forget: Sorana Cristea wins her first tour title at Tashkent after saving a match point against Sabine Lisicki.  "I will cherish the title at Tashkent forever as it is my first title, I was desperate to take my first title," said Cristea.
R...afael Nadal will play an exhibition against Fernando Gonzalez in Santiago on November 25, a few days after contesting the Davis Cup final in Argentina.
L...osing in the Tokyo final won't stop Juan Martin del Potro from entering the Top 10 on Monday for the first time in his career.  He has won 29 of his last 31 matches.
D...avid Ferrer after losing 6-1, 7-5 to del Potro in Tokyo: "I really don't care about Shanghai... It will be hard for me to get there now.

McGrogan's Heroes

ATP - Tomas Berdych

Though there are exceptions, nicknames aren't very common in tennis today.  But I have one for Tomas Berdych, the towering Czech who won last week's Tokyo Open: The Snooze Button.  The guy seems to sleep through the Grand Slam season, leaving you to wonder how his talent hasn't equated to titles, but wakes up each autumn, making you a believer once again.

Berdych's first career title came in the fall, back in 2004 at Palermo.  It's a small (and woefully out of place) clay tournament, but Berdych's final three wins that week came against two hometown Italians and renowned dirtballer David Ferrer.  None of those victories should be taken lightly.  A year later, Berdych won his biggest tournament to date at the Paris Masters.  And who could forget in the fall of 2006, when Berdych silenced the Madrid crowd - both with his racquet and his finger - after upsetting beloved Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals?

Berdych reached the semifinals of last year's Tokyo Open, but lost to Richard Gasquet.  This year, Gasquet was bounced in the semis by Juan Martin del Potro, while Berdych headed to the final after taking out Andy Roddick.  In a groove after his win in Beijing, Roddick's exit was a surprise to many, especially since the American led 5-2 in the third set, before collapsing in a tiebreaker.

In the final, Berdych met an even hotter player in del Potro.  The Argentinean was pegged to prevail at this stage as well, having lost just one match in his last thirty.  But Berdych had no problems against his younger opponent, closing him out 6-1, 6-4.  These were not Berdych's only wins of note - he posted straight sets victories over Tommy Robredo (7-6, 6-2) and Fernando Gonzalez (6-0, 6-4).

Heading into Tokyo, Berdych's ranking was at No. 27; back in April, he was as high as No. 9.  Memo to Berdych: Wake up earlier next year!

WTA - Jelena Jankovic

Not too much to add from last week's notes on Jankovic.  But picking against her this week is simply impossible.  Jankovic won yet another loaded tournament (Stuttgart featured eight of the world's Top 10 women), and continued to build on her recent run to the U.S. Open final.  With Serena Williams suffering from an ankle injury, Jankovic appears to have the clear inside track on the year-end No. 1 ranking.

One thing that really impressed me from Jankovic this week was her ability to fight through in pressure situations.  In her quarterfinal match against Vera Zvonareva, Jankovic stayed resolute in both tiebreakers, prevailing to set up a semifinal with Venus Williams.  In that match, Jankovic lost the first set in a tiebreaker - now the pressure was really on.  But she stayed focused, besting Williams in a close second set (7-5) that turned the match around.  Jankovic rode the momentum to a comfortable 6-2 third set victory.

Jelena Jankovic - the total package?  At the moment, yes.  But as I said last week, Melbourne - and not Doha - will be what ultimately defines her as a player.

Tennis Theatre

Here's a clip from the final of the 1997 Hamlet Cup (a very young Carlos Moya vs. Patrick Rafter), a now-defunct tournament that was held in nearby Commack, Long Island.  Only a short train ride away from where I currently reside, I curse the tennis gods for this tournament's demise.

This Week's Tournaments

(TV Schedule)

Bank Austria Tennis Trophy (ATP - Indoor Hard - Vienna, Austria)

• Singles Draw
• Doubles Draw
• Website

If Stockholm Open (ATP - Indoor Hard - Stockholm, Sweden)

• Singles Draw
• Doubles Draw
• Website

Kremlin Cup (ATP - Indoor Hard - Moscow, Russia)

• Singles Draw
• Doubles Draw
• Website

Kremlin Cup (WTA - Indoor Hard - Moscow, Russia)

• Singles & Doubles Draws
• Website

Beyond the Bracket

I hope I'm not the only person that uses this site who also listens to This American Life, a thoroughly revealing look at all things...well, everything.  For those of you who've never heard of it, here's the format:

Host Ira Glass opens his hour-long show by introducing the theme, for which all the remaining stories (or acts, as they are referred to) will connect to in some way.  The theme is usually just a few short words, and as you listen to the acts, it becomes more apparent why that theme was chosen.  For example, in the episode titled "Enforcers," Glass starts by talking to former New York Rangers pugilist Joey Kocur about his role on the ice.  Then, Act One follows, which details the ways in which online patrollers try to dupe internet scammers.  Act Two then examines the policies of the Securities and Exchange Commission.  (Full episode description here.)

The show goes all over the map, which is half the fun of listening to it.  That's why I don't feel out of line comparing my most recent tennis match to yesterday's Buffalo Bills game against the Arizona Cardinals.  The title of my episode would be called "Stomach Punches."

Act One.  Lights Too Bright.

I play tennis in the New York City area most often against the same person, a good friend of mine who I'll call "Nikolay."  The last time I played him, I got off to a poor start, and lost the first set.  But I turned things around very quickly in the second set, winning six consecutive games to take it 6-1.  The reason this happened was that I believed in my shots and went for them.  I trusted a more aggressive forehand motion, and let loose on a two-handed backhand that turned into a weapon.  I also started to develop a poor man's kick second serve, which helped bail me out at times.

I couldn't wait to play Nikolay again and hopefully win in straight sets.  We met to play at 6 pm on a lit court in Farmingdale, Long Island.  After we both held serve through the first six games, I had incredible difficulty holding for the rest of the match.  The reason for this was that the same shots that inspired me before were killing me now.  They were going long and into net, but I didn't change what I was doing because I won before with those same shots.  But the execution never turned around.  I ended up saving seven or eight match points before finally succumbing in straight sets.  It was a very demoralizing match, and unfortunately, I won't have another chance at Nikolay for another two weeks, as he's off on vacation.

Act Two.  One Bad Loss.

The Buffalo Bills entered yesterday's game against the Arizona Cardinals at 4-0, which was their best start to a season since their Super Bowl years of the early 1990s.  Second-year quarterback Trent Edwards has brought a calming yet confident presence to a team that's grown used to losing - the Bills haven't made the playoffs this decade.  Arizona (2-2) would be a tough test on the road, but the Bills look different this year, and hoped to enter their bye week undefeated.

On the Bills' third offensive play, Edwards was leveled from the right side and suffered a concussion.  He wouldn't return to the game, leaving the ball in the hands of much-maligned backup quarterback J.P. Losman.  Losman had his moments, including an 87-yard touchdown strike to wide reciever Lee Evans.  But like the match points I saved, it were meaningless in the end.  The porous Bills defense let the Cardinals off the hook on nearly every third down, as hardly-mobile quarterback Kurt Warner picked apart Buffalo unfettered.  The Cardinals won 41-17, and the score doesn't do the game justice.  The Bills have two weeks to regroup before a slate of critical AFC games.

Both the Bills and I had tremendous confidence heading into our games, but were each blindsided when they came to pass.  We both have a bit of time to think about what to do next.  I'm cautiously optimistic going forward, in both cases.

Jelena Jankovic and Andy Murray also have a lot of time to think about their losses at the finals of the U.S. Open.  Although neither was the favorite in the final, they surely realized how close they came to winning a Grand Slam, and that those opportunities don't come around often.  How will they react at future Slams?  That's one of the biggest stories heading into 2009.

if...

you had to forecast, who wins a Grand Slam title next year - Andy Murray, or Jelena Jankovic?  (Or both?)