first

Will be interesting to see if Gilles can maintain his form from Indianapolis. On the surface, this is a match that Gilles should win but Donald can be dangerous on the USO Series HC.
The crowd was really into Frank's match against Mario last night and will be more louder tonight against Novak then after that match, Marat and Sam plays.

I have just seen all the photos they are great. Oh and I am 3rd.

I had a pretty full plate yesterday and I thought TW types might be interested in what I saw.

I arrived at 11:30 and went to Centre court first, catching the second set of Gasquet vs. Llodra. The dynamic between them was fairly obvious: Gasquet could push Llodra around from the baseline, so Llodra had to either come into net or try to unload on something if he could, otherwise he would be in trouble. Llodra hit some great volleys – he has fantastic touch. Gasquet got broken in the middle of the set – Llodra made a couple of great shots in the middle of the game, including one forehand he absolutely unloaded on from a somewhat defensive position and painted the deuce sideline with. Gasquet upped his aggression to try and save the break points, but missed wide with an aggressive forehand.

After that set I went to the Grandstand to see Bollelli and Wawrinka. Bollelli has very smooth strokes, and the two of them have quite similar games. I found the points somewhat repetitive, as both were largely playing the Davydenko-approved style: hit the ball really hard and deep without going for anything too spectacular, and don’t back off the baseline. The points went one of two ways: either the server would get the upper hand off the return and put the point away quickly, or they would slam the ball back and forth at a million miles an hour until someone hit it into the top inch of the net. I exaggerate, obviously, but most of the points were like that. I did see Wawrinka hit his signature shot a few time: his cross-court topspinny backhand that lands on the ad sideline near the service line and opens the court right up. The difference between Wawrinka and Bollelli seemed to be that Wawrinka was a better returner – once they got into a rally it was pretty much 50-50, but Wawrinka hit a few return winners and generally didn’t give up as many free points off of his return.

I left after one set of that and saw Davydenko and Djokovic hitting on a practice court very briefly before a rain delay came up. Djokovic has a very extroverted, jokey attitude – when the rain started, he let out a big roar of annoyance. His golf cart was swarmed as he left the court, while Davydenko’s was basically ignored – Davydenko’s brother looked amused by the horde that ran past pursuing Djoko.

Gonzales vs. Benneteau was the first thing I saw after the rain delay. I only stayed for the first set. The difference I saw was this: when Gonzo went down love-40 on his serve, he hit three good serves and backed them up with monster, aggressive forehands. When Benneteau went down 15-40 on his serve, Gonzo unloaded on the first good forehand chance he saw to take over the 30-40 point and break. The players were pretty even playing backhand to backhand, but Benneteau was usually in trouble when the ball went to Gonzales forehand unless he hit an error. Neither was playing particularly cleanly.

From there I went to see Robredo vs. Niemeyer (aka the hometown hope mk. 2). Robredo looks like he’s made out of leather straps. They were pretty even in the service department, but Robredo had a better, more consistent forehand. I was actually quite impressed with Robredo’s forehand – he’s able to really place it where he wants, with tons of pace, and doesn’t give up errors with it either. After he broke Niemeyer late in the first set, Niemeyer said something about Robredo ‘shoving his forehand down my throat’. The old woman manning the cord at the entrance reassured him that he could do it. (I don’t know if he was actually addressing the remark to her, but it looked like it. I wondered if she was his coach for a moment, but she was wearing the tennis Canada volunteer shirt, so I’m pretty sure not).

After that I caught a little bit of Ginepri vs. Matthieu, but I found it kind of boring. Matthieu was hitting a few too many errors.

From there, Roddick/Fish had won their match on court 1, so I went there to see if I could see Federer and Wawrinka play doubles. I had to wait an hour and a half in the stands, because I was pretty sure otherwise I wouldn’t get a glimpse. The monotony was relieved by Youzhny doing a half-hour warm-up with a hitting partner.

Eventually Stan and Roger came out to applause. They were against Niemeyer and Benneteau, so it was sort of a reunion of players I’d already seen play. The match was extremely entertaining – I was kind of surprised how much fun it was. Some point form notes:

During the warmup, Roger amused himself by receiving some serves with a weird slice forehand. Basically, what he did, was hit the ball sharply down, so that it bounced only a few feet in front of him, but with so much backspin that it then bounced back toward him and he could catch it for his own practice serve.

Another cool Roger trick: a dead ball was bouncing very low, so he kind of kicked it by almost stepping on it. That bounced it up high and it landed on his shoulder, where he balanced it for a few seconds before letting it roll off.

Stan and Roger played both back to receive first serves.

Several times Stan and Roger both ended up in the backcourt and Niemeyer and Benneteau at the net, with Stan and Roger both hammering backhand passing shots and Niemeyer and Benneteau getting them back for several strokes. This was extremely cool, as you might imagine.

Roger hit several really nicely placed volleys under pressure. I remember one where he split right between B. and N., and another that he put between N.’s feet for a winner.

Roger was hit extremely hard by passing shots while at the net twice. The second time he yelled. No kid gloves for the number one, that’s for sure.

Stan had two gets on bouncing smashes that didn’t bounce quite far enough. On the second, he was right against the back wall hitting a backhand lob backward over his head. He looked like an outfielder saving a home run over the fence.

Stan and Roger hit rackets one time going for a shot down the middle of the court.

Both Benneteau and Niemeyer had some great net play. They did some really impressive corkscrewing backspin drop volleys, which Fed and Stan were vulnerable to because of their relative tendency to be at the baseline.

The doubles match, so I went to the grandstand hoping Tipsarevic and Mahut were still playing. They weren’t, but Gulbis and Acasuso were on, and I had wanted to see Gulbis in person. It was a little disappointing – he was clearly not on form. Almost all the points were decided off his racket, either with blistering winners, or, more commonly, with disappointing errors. In the first set, his errors were pretty much exclusively of the ‘hitting 6 inches long’ variety. I caught some of the end of the match too, by which point he had apparently flipped switches into ‘hitting into the top of the net’. The only time I saw him playing really well was after he went down love 40 on his serve, at which point he went, if I recall: Ace, Forehand winner, ace, ace, forehand error, ace, forehand winner. He definitely has an extra gear on his forehand: sometimes he would crank it and the audience would gasp. Acasuso didn’t have too much trouble with the pace, though – he anticipated well where Gulbis was going to go.

Acasuso seemed happy to get the ball back in play, except on his serve he sometimes got Gulbis on the run, and enthusiastically worked him from side to side until he could put the point away. Acasuso in person was the only guy I saw who really didn’t look like an athlete: his hair was messy and he hadn’t shaved, and his body is rangy. He makes me think of Otto, the truck driver from the Simpsons, if Otto had a few days growth of stubble.

I got bored of watching Gulbis hit balls long after a set or so and went back to court one, where Youzhny vs. Seppi had started. It retrospectively made Acasuso/Gulbis look like half-price wings night at a declining karaoke bar. It was the best singles play I saw of the day – both were mixing it up, hitting bombs, making winners, playing lights out. Seppi seemed to have a slight edge at the baseline, which surprised me, since Youzhny is higher ranked (I knew nothing about Seppi going in). Seppi was rarely on the defensive, however, whereas he could turn it up and get Youzhny stretching from an even position in the rally. Youzhny seemed to be somewhat prone to errors off of his topspin forehand, and all of the same variety – keeping the racket too closed and hitting it into the top of the net. When he made them, though, they were beautiful shots, with tons of pace, very flat arc. Youzhny’s slice was absolutely astounding (Seppi’s was excellent too, but he didn’t use it quite as much) – it is very fast, and hardly bounces at all, and he gets it very deep and rarely makes errors from it. He used it both to slow down points and change things up, and for defense, and as an approach shot, which worked very well. Youzhny won the match in straight sets, and his advantage was net play. He stoned a couple of volleys, but made others, and he had enough of an edge at the net overall to turn around several games where he was able to approach behind that gorgeous slice. He could have easily lost either set, however: there were a couple of key points where he was playing with fire (mostly iffy drop-shots) but got away with it.

The last match I watched was Lopez/Stepanek on centre court. Technically I didn’t have a ticket for that, but I ‘snuck’ in. Lopez seems to have problems off both wings when he is under pressure, but he hits out fine when he has time to work with. His errors are weirdly over-the-top. He doesn’t hit long by six inches: he hits long by six feet, at least. Consistently. It’s quite strange. Stepanek’s game actually reminded me of Niemeyer’s, who I had seen earlier – great serve, great at net, can hit for power off the baseline but makes errors when he tries. Stepanek is trickier than Niemeyer, though, and his groundstrokes are probably a bit better. I was very tired by this point (12 hours straight, pretty much), so I left after the second set.

This was the first time I’d seen ATP tennis live and it was pretty amazing. I definitely think I got my money’s worth ($30 Canadian, with tax).

Malefax,
Thanks for your observations yesterday seeing parts of matches. Are you going back this week?

malefax, thanks for the detailed report. especially about the doubles. too bad really that we can't watch any of it, even on masters tv.

correction: when I said Youzhny was prone to making errors off his topspin forehand, I meant topspin backhand. I wish we could edit these things

Malefax thanks for the updates on your day at the tennis. I think you did well for $30.00

malefax, thanks for the match recounting. 'Twas almost as good as being there myself :)

Oh man, I'm sorry I've missed Rog and Stan.

How does Roger seem to you? Was the serve on?

Master Ace,
"Jelena becomes number 1 if she makes the finals of LA this week."

Hm... now I see last year LA was played Aug 13. So that means Ana keeps her 275 LA points for several more weeks?

I'm going tonight to see The hometown hope mk. 1 take on Djoko. And I'm seeing the evening quarterfinals and the finals as well. So lots of tennis for me this week. I might even go on Thursday all day again -- but we'll have to see about that.

Ok I am going to bed.

Vamos Willy and Carlitos and Verdasco and off course Marat but I will be back on board before then.

Enjoy the tennis everyone may your fav wins.

Man Lopez has a sexy voice when he is yelling at himself. And on that note it is goodnite.

nite aussie angel, sleep well, just not too long :)

malefax, that should be a great match. Hope F.Dan can keep it up from last night, some of his shots were spectacular!

malefax, good luck! Please report and take pictures :)

Wow Malefax, sounds like a great day. I'm going to try to go to the Rogers Cup in Montreal next year, so knowing how much you can see for not that much money is a good thing to hear.

Glad to hear an in-person report that Youzhny's slice is impressive, I've always been impressed by it on tv. As for Seppi, I dunno if you saw the Safin-Seppi match. While Seppi didn't win, it was a match of astounding quality, with Seppi forcing Safin to hit beautiful winners and hitting some of his own.

Dancy will have too much pressure and I give Djokovic 85% chance to advance, but I don't mind being 'dissapointed'. Go Dancy! It's nice to see some Canadian talent making it in Canadian tournaments.

Roger was serving very well. The one time I remember him getting down 15-30 on serve he hit an ace next up. Stan seemed to be returning a bit better than Roger -- fewer return errors. I don't think I saw Roger hit any forehands -- it was all backhands and volleys. I saw him put away a wicked smash at net -- I remember it because he got up to the ball so quickly and just killed it cross court. The guy sitting in front of me said something about how aggressive the players were. Stan got more play, as you might expect, because they were trying to pick on him, especially at the net.

Thanks for the reports, all. And have fun, malefax! :)

neil, how was the view from the roof? were you able to blow off the clouds?

malefax, thanks for the report of the day, I just read the whole thing, particularly liked your description of Roger/Stan doubles!

Mowse,
Yes, Ana keep those points until the Olympics. LA is played earlier this year due to the Olympics.

loved your report, malefax. glad you had such a good experience. did you get a grounds pass and were able to go to all the matches?

Bluebird, from the prev thread, i LOVE the Lemony Snicket series. i used to go to the children's library at uni to check out the books :) IMO they progressively get darker and are less and less of children's books halfway through the series. sort of like Harry Potter.

18 mins till live tennis??

LOL abbey, trust me, i'm trying, the clouds are still pretty high so far. I think we'll probably get some rain later on in the afternoon despite my bestest efforts .

Thanks Steve; and thanks to Malefax; it's all good.

A little worried though that Roger is continuing with the return errors. What is up with that, I wonder.

So far so good, neil, no rain in sight. Please do your best tomorrow night session ;-)

Ed, I meant to say, that you Ed, for your report.

btw, Moderator, there's once again a 'Pete' in the steve's blog, but I don't think it's PB.

malefax:

Nice reporting.

ks

wow thanks for your account of what you saw yesterday, malefax.
certainly sounded like you got your money's worth there.
the opening days of a tourney have got to be the most fun and action packed.
so wish I'd gotten to see the Youznhy/Seppi match. I haven't seen Seppi since Wimbledon and miss him.

and The Worm lost?
aw man. my bracket is screwed.

looking forward to Moya v Haas and seeing the old boys going at it. and have flashbacks of Moya hitting his balls at my face.

LOL Sher, maybe i should take up a collection for some bellows. My little lungs are on fire. I will keep at it at least until i pass out once or twice! I'm also gonna send some vibes to the tourney site so that there will be no more power outages!

Rachael - what's your gut say on Roddick today? Will he beat Mahut?

After the disaster at Wimbledon, I'm not sure if I can accept anything less than a 6-1, 6-1 beatdown. But as it's Roddick, a 6-7,7-6,7-6 repeat of Queens is more likely.

malefax, thanks for the reports.
lots of interesting matches coming up today, toronto is helping me to put the wimby behind and move on..
any one in top in the atp bracket?? i am close to 1000 place now:-)

wow...pretty clear now at least downtown, man, maybe i've got a little voodoo of my own going on :)

Black Matt - well I dreamt that Roddick lost. it wasn't Mahut he was playing. I don't think it was even human. but he lost.

I think he's going to do it. and based on how Mahut played yesterday, in 3. not as tight as Queen's though. hopefully not as tight as Queen's. because Queen's was a pain in the ass to watch and remain sane.

I think I *could* accept a tight loss. if Andy is making his shots, not effing up the big points, and covering ground well. if there has to be a loss I want to be able to take positives out of it.
but as I said, I have faith in him. surface favours him, he played well yesterday (I assume) and is talkin' the talk.

kinda annoyed that he's on so early, when the atmosphere is going to be pretty dead.
same for these two veterans.

malefax: Thanks for the reports!

neil, LOL at your 'bestest' efforts. I think peoples of Wimbledon will want talk to you regarding your m4d sk33lz.

interesting that these two oldies (haas and moya) haven't met since 2002. h2h is 5 each.

great work, neil!

malefax, thanks for the report.. should be fun today watching the localboy playing against one of the tournament favorites.

Hey all......10 more days in spain....just in time to go to cincy for the final....assuming that either roddick or nadal (or both) is playing.

I got to see very few matches yesterday and was slightly disappointed to see that Gulbis lost after I watched him play a great first set.

Dave

so- was the Superman theme warmup for Carlos or Haas?
this should be a good match - for so many reasons:)

And for all those interesting in Nadovic (jaja). All of the papers here are speculating, but to my knowledge, I thought Nadal has a girlfriend.

Morning folks...
why do nice guys meet in the first frickin' round?? I donno who to cheer for between Moya & Haas..

marcela's live stream link from yesterday is still working:
http://tinyurl.com/6ev37d

LIVE tennis!!!

http://www.justin.tv/banki

simon's giving young a break point here in the first game of the match. so much for winning indianapolis :)

hmm out of moya and haas, who do i want to win? i'll go with haas but carlos has every bit a chance to win.

haha greenhopper!!! great minds think alike :-)

Ed: Will you even see this?

Why do you think Llodra tends "to ride the emotional rollercoaster?" That's interesting to me. He's never really struck me that way. I guess he's sorta emotional, but I'd say only in an expressive way -- more ham (which cracks me up) than headcase. ;) Llodra doesn't really ebb & flow mentally, IMO. I guess I'd attribute the match going 3 sets to only one guy riding the emotional rollercoaster, while the other doesn't. ;) And I'd put the end result up to Llodra simply being overmatched. No knock on Llodra there (I count myself a fan)...juss sayin'.

Beth or anyone watching Tennis Channel,
I noticed that we are getting the USO Series music instead of the traditional ATP music when matches are over.
Anybody watching ATP TV via livestream, what music is being played at the end of the match when they are showing the stats?

Cilic is playing now - where is Bismarck?

@DHAMM411, i am planning to attend cincy semi's and finals assuming roger will be playing them. i don't care who is on the other side, but i would prefer nole/nadal:-)

Master Ace - it's still the same music that's always been used on the ATP TV webstream.
that infuriatingly jaunty tune.
I remember being extremely annoyed at it last night.

I think I have my found my perfect tennis job.
I need to be the DJ.
Beyonce while they were warming up. Smash Mouth during the sit down.
who is picking this crap??

Hey D-Wiz - I saw it. Posting earlier in the day helps though - these comment boards get loaded by midday!

I agree that Llodra - as well as Gasquet - are not very 'expressive' emotional players, as you put it. But from what I saw in the match, and at Davis Cup earlier this year, they aren't completely stoic either, like many other pros I've watched. I think both have a tendency, at times, to let the negatives really get to them, based on what's happening. Just something I've noticed in the few times I've seen them live.

Thanks for stopping by - enjoy today's matches.

Carlos' tennis is not looking good today

malefax- thanks for the report
sounds like you sure got your money's worth -glad you enjoyed it

Ed - enjoyed reading your report - and you get to be in the press room now that you work for the magazine - cool -you get to talk to the players -

malefax -- enjoyed reading your reports. Thanks.

i'm enjoying donald's game (more than moya's rigth now, that's for sure). but i could never take him seriously with that sideways cap. urgh.

The word jaunty makes me laugh. Wait - any word Rachael uses makes me laugh.

Go Tommy!

marcela :)

Ed & malefax - thanks for your reports.. still haven't gotten around to reading them yet, I'll check it out soon.
Go Haaaaaaaas & c'mon moyaaaaaa.

When's the last time Moya's won a match?

Poor old Carlos; really, he needs to retire the muscle shirts. Announcer saying he might be carrying an injury.

Thanks abbey and mowse. You're right Mowse, i should probably pimp myself out to the organizers of SW19 for next year. Just travel, hotel, and a two - week all access pass. Don't wanna be too greedy :)

Alright, what's the secret to get the live feed working ??

crazyone - he beat Troicki in Umag last week.
just.

Ok, he beat Victor Troicki in Umag. And did OK in Hamburg. But otherwise, there are a lot of 1st round, 2nd round defeats this year.

oh wow, carlos is having an off day, huh?

haha the only reason i like young is 'cos he is from chicago (or lived there for a while or something). plus i have a thing for lefties.

simon with double BP!

Rachael - I think you should be the tennis dj- they do have some of the weirdest song choices on changeovers

come on ,Carlos, make a match out of this

Speaking of yesterday, did anyone know that Clement/Llodra has lost all 4 of their matches(Monte Carlo, Rome, Roland Garros, Toronto) since they beat The Bryans in Davis Cup?

harini, after Chennai and that one tournament in Latin America, he's pretty much had an off-YEAR.

neil: if you can work the weather with your bestest efforts then... can i, ummmmm, get you to ummmmm, make certain player, of my choosing, um,, ... not lose? but dont tell anyone

Oh and 'Teh' secret to live feeds is to not try it from work. Like in, try from home. I know it was not helpful ;>

Hi, Harini. :) And hey, living in Chicago is reason enough.

Already foaming at the mouth for Fed-Simon. (Where's Sam? Need that bib.)

Thanks for the report, malefax. Really enjoyed reading it.

I'm afraid last year was Moya's swan song...

Jackie: Do you need a rabies shot to go along with the bib? ;-)

crazyone: Since the start of 2005, Moya has 3 titles (and has lost 5 other finals).

LOL Mowse, if i have any power, certainly its just over the weather. Wouldn't want to use my voodoo against or for any certain player. I want clean tennis.

but tell me who the player is and i MAY give it a go heheheheh

back@suri......I'd prefer to have Andy and Rafa but if I have to replace one with Fed it would be Rafa.....

well, that set was over quickly for Carlos
Haas just played solid tennis
I think maybe the Year of Carlos has ended

wish I could see Young in the sideways cap
he is so not gangsta - i bet that look is pretty funny on him

May I point out that men... do change girlfriends now and then? And vice versa too. Plus what kind of relationship you can have with your university-attending darling when you are away 50 weeks a year. Like, text messaging is not exactly 100% fulfilling. Plus wherever you go you have thousands of superexcited fans standing at the ready? Meh. If I was Xisca I wouldnt be booking the chapel just yet.

Sam, LOL!!! That might make more sense.

See-mon is just steamrolling Young.

crazyone, you've got mail! ;)

Malefax, thanks for the reports, please keep them coming! and I loved the story about Rog's little tricks!

'Morning all.

I woke up, looking forward to the Moya/Haas matchup, but this is painful to watch. Carlos just looks slow and generally "off" out there. The age difference between the two looks a LOT larger than just a year.

OK WOW. no kidding crazyone, carlos is just...i dunno what he's doing out there!

hey Jackie! haha yup, ever since i read an article on him in the Chicago Tribune Magazine, i've supported young! oh wow, simon takes the first set. but after last week's win at indy, even my chicago love gets surpassed for Simon.

and cilic wins the first set too. so far a good start to the day.

* but this is painful to watch. * Agree.

Carlos making a lot of easy unfroced errors.

But Tommy playing beautiful tennis.

Haas is really covering some ground here in this match
did not realize he was such a good mover and so solid at the net
maybe Carlos is just making him look good though

Mowse- you are right ,of course. Both Rafa and Xisca are pretty young - I would be surprised if she is the only serious girlfriend he has. But I would be even more surprised if he were to become involved with some one who is not a native spanish speaker. In spite of all of his efforts , he is still not terribly comfortable conversing in english

'Morning all.

I woke up, looking forward to the Moya/Haas matchup, but this is painful to watch. Carlos just looks slow and generally "off" out there. The age difference between the two looks a LOT larger than just a year.

malefax - thanks for the post! when i requested more info - i didn't quite expect you'd respond with such bountiful posts! please keep attending?! :)

Neil, I see you are in form?

Beth,

Tommy, very talented all court player; if not for injuries and tragedies he would have had a much bigger career.

oy vey...carlos is gettin murdalized.

@DHAMM411, no probs, i like roddick too, lets hope for a fed-roddick final in cincy;-))
is haas on fire or is it moya playing bad, can't make out from scoreboard..

how sad to come all the way to Toronto, and go out in the first.

morning aussimarg, so far so good, i'll be spending the rest of the day in my hyperbaric chamber LOL.

suri, and DHAMM411...sorry I'll miss you both! Only going for the QFs in Cincy this year. Have fun. :)

Pretty painful to notice Moya fading. Though, I've never been his fan I still remember the tournaments he played in Chennai (my hometown) in 1998 (he'd been crowned the World #1 then) and 1999. He was just so entertaining there and he was the favorite among the ball-boys, had fun off the court with some kids, and some wild animals (particularly, baby elephants) - wow!

And, not to mention the classic semifinal match he played @ against Rafa this year..

Syd -so true - he has had more than his share of bad inuries
guess I just never really thought about him as a player who finishes so many points at net with such solid volleys
I saw him win at LA a couple of years ago - and I could have sworn he was more of a baseline player .Then at IW this year , I saw him beat Roddick - but there I guess I was focusing on Roddick 's play - and just did not really notice
but whatever- he is sure playing well

sblily, hi yes carlos days i thinkl are slowly,over,but he is still very much eye candy.

Phew, thanks god he avoids the Bagel! Vamos Charrrrrly!
and...
Vamos Hott Sauce
Come on Andy
Vamos Willy
Ajde Marin (Where are you Bissy)
And vamos Nico L

The only consolation for Moya abt this match - Tommy Haas is a very good player; I think the best player of this decade (other than Nalby) to have not won a slam..

Haas has a solid game and a nice backhand. I think he's been held back to some extent by the lack of a big weapon and injuries (multiple shoulder surgeries).

SurI;

Moya is just not there. Tommy's playing well, but he really does not have much of an opponent out there. Unfortunately for Moya.

Neil, may i join you,it is so cold here in oz at the moment,yeah i am a summer type of gal,