Monday Net Post

By TW Contributing Editor, Ed McGrogan

(Hey everyone - sorry for publishing this so late, but this Monday 'Night' Post will be added as the evening progresses.  Just the core this week though - last week's/this week's tournaments, an "if..." question, and of course, the McGrogan's Heroes selections.  Thanks - Ed)

Last Week's Tournaments

Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid (ATP - Indoor Hard - Madrid, Spain)

• Singles Final: Andy Murray def. Gilles Simon 6-4, 7-6.
  - Singles Semifinal: Gilles Simon def. Rafael Nadal 3-6, 7-5, 7-6.
  - Singles Semifinal: Andy Murray def. Roger Federer 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
• Singles Draw

• Doubles Final: Mariusz Fyrstenberg/Marcin Matkowski def. Mahesh Bhupathi/Mark Knowles 6-4, 6-2.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Mahesh Bhupathi/Mark Knowles def. Jonas Bjorkman/Kevin Ullyett 6-2, 6-4.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Mariusz Fyrstenberg/Marcin Matkowski def. Jeff Coetzee/Wesley Moodie 6-7, 7-6, 12-10.
• Doubles Draw

TENNIS.com Zurich Open (WTA - Indoor Hard - Zurich, Switzerland)

• Singles Final: Venus Williams def. Flavia Pennetta 7-6, 6-2.
  - Singles Semifinal: Flavia Pennetta def. Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 7-6.
  - Singles Semifinal: Venus Williams def. Ana Ivanovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

• Doubles Final: Cara Black/Liezel Huber def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld/Patty Schnyder 6-1, 7-6.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Cara Black/Liezel Huber def. Maria Kirilenko/Flavia Pennetta 6-2, 4-6, 10-6.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Anna-Lena Groenefeld/Patty Schnyder def. Katarina Srebotnik/Ai Sugiyama 6-4, 0-6, 10-8.

• Singles & Doubles Draws

McGrogan's Heroes

ATP - Gilles Simon

Andy Murray won the Masters Series shield in Madrid, but Gilles Simon won something else - he won a lot of people over.  In spite of winning three tournaments and reaching the AMS Toronto semifinals this season, many were hesitant to put Simon's into the ATP's upper echelon.  There may have been good reason for this.  The highest ranked player Simon defeated in any of the three title runs was Dmitry Tursunov, ranked No. 32 in the world during the Indianapolis final.  As for Simon's shocking win over Roger Federer in Canada?  Chalk that upset up to "Wimbledon-lag," they said.

Simon's latest run, this time to the Madrid final, will surely make some reconsider their position on the Frenchman.  There were no soft opponents for Simon this week - Robby Ginepri was the lowest-ranked at No. 63; Simon's other opponents were all ranked No. 21 in the world or higher.  His victims included such names as Igor Andreev, James Blake, Ivo Karlovic, and Rafael Nadal.  Simon bested them all, four of them by way of a final set tiebreaker.  Simon played great and showed a killer instinct that matches his trademark scowl.

In the final against Murray, I felt like I was watching identical players.  Simon and Murray make a living by retrieving balls from well behind the baseline, and eventually counterpunching to give them the advantage in the point.  Murray had a little more going for him though - a little more power and spin on his shots, a little more pace on his serve, and a little more experience in this type of pressure situation.  Simon played tentatively on his two set points in the second set tiebreaker, but he should learn from this experience, just as Murray has from past Masters Series tournaments.

Still, many will downplay Simon's win over Nadal, citing the Spaniard's battle fatigue from an incredible 2008 campaign.  Are they right about that?  It will be up to Simon to prove them wrong, and qualifying for the Tennis Masters Cup - which isn't that far out of reach - would go a long way towards that.

WTA - Flavia Pennetta

Tough call here, but much like Simon, I think Pennetta's body of work last week was a little more impressive than that of the opponent she lost to (in this case, Venus Williams).

To start, Pennetta defeated the two hottest players on the WTA Tour in her opening two matches.  We all know about the white-hot Jankovic, who Pennetta ousted in the second round in three sets.  For those of you counting, that marked the first loss for Jankovic since chlorophyll started to decline in leaves.  But Nadia Petrova, Pennetta's first round opponent, has also been in the headlines lately.  Since the grass court season started, Petrova has had all kinds of good results on tour, and was certainly favored against Pennetta in the opening round of Zurich.  The result?  Pennetta, 6-1, 6-1.

Pennetta then reached her fourth final of the year (two of these were before April, if you forgot) after beating both Katarina Srebotnik and Anabel Medina Garrigues in straight sets.  She then lost to Venus 7-6, 6-2, giving Williams her first title since Wimbledon.  But Pennetta has now reached finals on three different surfaces this year (clay, outdoor hard, indoor hard) and is nearing the Top 10.  She's currently ranked No. 14, but is really closer than that; Pennetta is No. 11 in the points race.  Maybe it's because Pennetta's last name includes one of my favorite Italian foods, but she gets the nod this week after yet another strong tournament of consistent tennis.

Pennetta's win-loss record in 2008 is now 48-23, but in that stretch, she's reached six semifinals, four finals, and won two tournaments.  Where Pennetta has come up short is at the Slam level, but she did make the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, her best career performance at a Slam.  Add Pennetta to the list of players to watch for at the Australian Open, even if she's not a likely threat to go all the way.

This Week's Tournaments

(TV Schedule)

Davidoff Swiss Indoors (ATP - Indoor Carpet - Basel, Switzerland)

• Singles Draw
• Doubles Draw
• Website

Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon (ATP - Indoor Carpet - Lyon, France)

• Singles Draw
• Doubles Draw
• Website

St. Petersburg Open (ATP - Indoor Hard - St. Petersburg, Russia)

• Singles Draw
• Doubles Draw
• Website

FORTIS Championships Luxembourg (WTA - Indoor Hard - Luxembourg, Luxembourg)

• Singles & Doubles Draw
• Website

General Ladies Linz (WTA - Indoor Hard - Linz, Austria)

• Singles & Doubles Draw
• Website

if...

you had to guess, will Federer play in Switzerland's Davis Cup tie against the United States?