[Pete Bodo is on vacation, Thurs Feb 14th to Monday Feb. 25th. Meanwhile, enjoy the guest posts!]
By Rosangel Valenti, TennisWorld Contributing Editor
Morning. This is your thread for discussing the tennis being played today. For off-topic discussions, there is, as always, the Deuce Club thread.
Today we have several finals to concentrate on. Indoor hard courts first. Justine Henin plays the 20-year-old Italian Karin Knapp in Antwerp, with a home crowd to support her. The two have never played before. As I write, the first set has just ended, with Henin taking it 6-3. Later, Andy Murray faces Mario Ancic in the Marseilles final - it's Murray's second final of the year (he won in Doha) and Ancic's first tournament of the year. The two have played only once before - in Auckland in 2006 - Ancic won in two sets. Former world number 7 Ancic has slipped down the rankings to number 135, following a year disrupted by illness and injury, but his form this week suggests that he could be back to something like his old best.
Crossing the Atlantic for our next helping of live tennis, this time on an outdoor hard court, in Delray Beach the other Murray (Jamie) partners Max Mirnyi to face the Bryans in the doubles. Then James Blake takes on the 18-year-old Japanese qualifier Kei Nishikori. Nishikori (another Bradenton resident) had, before this week, played a total of 8 matches at ATP level - his only other tournament of 2008 was a Challenger in Miami, where he reached the semifinal. He showed cool nerves under pressure yesterday to deprive Sam Querrey of what would have been his first-ever ATP final, saving four match points in the process.
Moving to clay, Carlos Moya and Nicolas Almagro are in the final in Costa do Sauipe, Brazil - will the Saturnian Year of Carlos miss a beat here? Moya is 2-1 against Almagro, with their head-to-head on clay at one apiece (both in 2007). Staying on clay, in Vina del Mar number one seed Flavia Pennetta plays the Czech Klara Zakopalova. Pennetta is 3-1 in their head-to-head, including 2-1 on clay, though Zakopalova won their last encounter in straight sets, back in 2005.
As always, enjoy the tennis.