Thanks for all of the posts about Kooyong and the tournaments. I wish that TTC would show some of the tournaments as they were happening and not on tape delay.

My heart is breaking for Haiti right now. I hope that if anyone here has loved ones in the country they are safe

I do love a great Davis Cup match but really, it feels like a real outsider in the tennis schedule. Too many problems with it. Top players often skip it; it isn't easy to catch on TV; it's biased as someone mentioned before, by the home nation picking the surface; its schedule (at least to me) is hard to follow and plan to watch.

The good things about it are national pride; teamwork (although that's a bit of a stretch since most of it is singles); and best-of-5 (in fact that's the best thing about it. If it was best of 3, would ANYONE care at all? By having best-of-5, it puts the physical challenge at the level of a grand slam, which no other tournament does, except for the occasional Masters final (I still don't quite understand the reasons/rules/standards for that. Why don't ALL Masters go with best-of-5 to generate some excitement/prestige in the semis and finals?))

If I happen to catch a good DC match on TV, I'm happy but I certainly wouldn't put effort into following it. It's (sadly) almost like, you don't care whether the journos cover/mention it at all, unless there is no other tennis action going on.

I would be very happy to see DC be reformed into a real contender for our attention, but right now, it just... isn't.

In my view, there are several things that might help:
1) Better scheduling - the semis/finals in one place might be a plus to cut the travel requirement. Avoid clashing with majors and the lead-up times to majors.
2) Prize money??? (some top players say they are motivated by $)
3) Ranking points - I see no reason why you shouldn't get ranking points for playing someone in a recognised tournament, and beating them. The formula should be based on how tough your opponent is, I think. Regardless of what round you're in. So people would be equally motivated to play in 1st round or Final, at least if we refer to the effect of this one change in isolation
4) Commitment - it can be that committing to 2-3 matches is exhausting (depending on the timing of the event). However, you'd rather have Fed play 1 match then none, right? So perhaps given the team nature of the event, a player can be scheduled to play one singles and in his reverse singles, he can be substituted. Substitution sometimes happens due to injury or other reason for withdrawal, in any case. So, for example, Switz could negotiate for Fed to play the 1st singles match, then leave if he has other commitments.
5) Enforcement - there is a certain number of mandatory tournaments if I understand correctly, that a player must be in, to maintain their ranking (haven't looked deeply into the rules here). Can DC negotiate with ATP to get some kind of rule in place that encourages (carrot and/or stick) top players to play DC? This is the weakest of my suggestions so don't hold me to this but... you could make it one of the set of mandatories that can be counted toward a minimum quota required to satisfy the rankings maintenance requirement, for all players in top 20 (the only exception being if you have too many players in the top 20 in your country, then the lower ranked one is exempted - this means your top players must play; giving an accurate representation of the true collective strength of your country's players. It doesn't make sense to me that Swiss should compete without Fed; what is the point? What if Wawrinka decided he was focused on the Slams as well? What if all the decently ranked players acted like this and all you had left were some guys who play Challengers or perhaps just your best club pros? I think you get the point. US w/o Roddick/Blake - that's not a good representation of USA either)

Carrie, me and you both on Haiti. Makes you wonder how much more those poor people can take. It is like every hurricane season they get hit and now earthquakes. Just breaks my heart

One of the real benefits of working from home, I dont have to get up early in the morning to fight traffic. I can basically roll out of bed at 8, have a shower, coffee and I am at work. It therefore makes this crazy tennis watching schedule in the AO easier to deal with

That match between Taylor Dent and Benneteau seems like it has been going for hours on end. Just strange to see Benneteau struggling against Dent after seeing him play out of his mind to beat Fed last season.

Am I the only one here for the Serena/Vera match. I guess I may just do a match call so that people can see how the match went. Please Lord let Serena win in straights. That way I can get my beauty sleep

ReRe ready to go!! I cannot believe i am still up writing this essay :(

Im here Karen, we can frazzle together! (im kidding im sure she'll be fine)

Ladies are on court. Serena won the toss and elected to serve. Ladies doing warm ups. At the pre-match interview Vera seemed a bit put out by the interviewer asking her about her opponent. Serena said that Vera is a very tough opponent. Both ladies not very talkative.

kchow, thank goodness you are here. Yes, we can frazzle together. Sometimes I know she will do well but it is like evil Serena comes out to play sometimes. I like when happy Serena plays, she just plays better. I hope she was able to get that pedicure

Anybody have a stream for ReRe's match?

http://www.livescorehunter.com/streams/1/001.php stream 4 serena as she holds with some good serving 1-0

thanks.

haha Karen i know what u mean, i hope she got it 2
Vera bh cc after ds 15-0
Serena smash 15 all
Vera nets bh 15-30
Serena bh wide 30 all
Serena nets bh on 2nd serve, gp vera
Vera holds when serena nets fh, 1 all

1 game all first set -
Serena holds at 15, Vera at 30

live stream
you can try atdhe.net

Good first serves get serena to 30-0
slice drifs wide from Vera, 3 gps
Wide fh for Vera, she holds, 2-1

U can match call Karen i got this essay 2 do, please win ReRe!

Pretty good match so far. Both ladies showing no signs of nerves. Serena's serve seems to be clicking.

Just getting a glimpse of the new leaner (and meaner?) Serena. She looks GOOD.

Come on serena i know its windy but get some returns in please!

Serena's return game was non-existent in that game

Great fh from serena, get those groundstrokes clicking as well your serve!

kchow, I am really bad at this but I will try.
deuce on Serena's serve, but she holds for a 3-2 lead first set.
Serena not getting her return game going just yet but ground strokes are ok so far. Vera doing what she does best which is keep the ball in play.

Yeah Vera's serve is not exactly pacy but she making serena play which is the right thing to do

Some lose shots and a df give serena a bp and she misses another return! Come on serena, get that return game 2gether

Stream has frozen

Finally she breaks, this match is pretty boring, serena isn't quite on the pace yet (but serving gr8) and Vera cannot take advantage, serena leads 4-2

Serena starts with her 2nd df and follows with 2 aces (it is v. windy there) and after a good hustle hits a bh and holds when vera hits long, 5-2.

ReRe up 5-2. Won't comment about the quality, (don't want to jinx her)

kchow thanks for that. I had to go to another site to get a different stream as the other one froze. Some good serving by Serena and yes the match is boring. I would love to see the Vika match as that looks like a battle right now

Wow, Rere looks fab.

Yeah the stream i posted is pretty good, but i might go bed if it cuts out lol.
Some return errors from serena bring up 2 gp for vera but her errors bring it back to deuce, serena to hits a great bh dtl but misses sp on another fh error. Vera bh error brings up another and serena takes the set 6-2 on a double. Wow what a boring set!

Man, what a way to win a set, on a double fault by your opponent. Serena seems to be finding her return of serve, at least it looks like she is getting her timing to where she wants it. Not much to write home about in this set. 6-2 Serena. she will serve to start the second set

Hopefully serena will keep serving well and get a few more returns in this set, you're right karen it did look like she was getting her rhythm a bit more towards the end.

Good first set between Tsonga and Soderling; Jo won it 7-6 (7-0). Both held serve easily, no break points, until 5-5, when Sod barely survived several break points and 7 deuces. Then Tsonga held his serve to love, and won tiebreak to love.

Tsonga is simply a better player, more versatile, quicker, more cunning, though slightly less consistent; can volley, can return. Sod is wooden (even more so than JMDP), metronomic, but can pummel that FH; CANNOT volley. Once Jo stears clear of Sod's FH and starts to move him even a little bit, it's all Jo.

Both guys have crew cuts; Jo is too chubby; Sod cannot handle sun.

Second set, Jo with a break, 3-0, Sod to serve.

Dushevina is awful in this match, her leg wrap must be because of a injury rather than preventitive, she's not even running for balls, and nevermind about her craptastic serving.

Serena takes the ball so early that she forces her opponent to go for more on their shots too soon. Her serve and groundstrokes are just fantastic right now

Serena holds leading 3-0, serving has got even better and the return game has returned. amazing athletisim in the last point corner to corner, got to a drop shot and reached up and killed a smash, go ReRe!!!

Kchow did you see that point to hold for 3-0.
second serve by Serena, good return on the forehand by Vera, cc rally by both players, followed by drop shot by Vera, chased down by Serena who does a little chip volley, Vera tries an overhead, which is put away by Serena.

Posted by Jamaica Karen 01/13/2010 at 12:55 AM
Serena takes the ball so early that she forces her opponent to go for more on their shots too soon. Her serve and groundstrokes are just fantastic right now "

Good lord, I know you are a HUGE fan of Serena, but lets be real... Dushevina is playing really bad, alot of the errors are just either total mishits of the ball or caused by the fact that the girl just isn't moving.. I'm surprised she hasn't retired

There is a reason Federer is not Rios or Muster or Chang or even Hewitt. It's because he's dedicated to winning the slams. He's from a country that doesnt factor into Davis Cup, which just makes it that much easier to focus on slams.

Roger's life was designed to avoid Davis Cup - not only by his decisions but by default. The Swiss Davis Cup tradition is....

(exactly. There isnt much of one).

lol yeah Karen, thats why it makes me laugh when ppl say shes out of shape and unfit, JJ would have struggled to win that point!

and it was Vera trying a LOB over Serena's head not an overhead, and she hit it right to Serena rather than over her head, there was no oomph in it at all

Domi fights off at least 2 match points in the third to even things at 5-5.

I wish i could see that Domi Vika match is sounds great

Cosi, please let me have my fun, even if I am doing a poor job of calling the match. Serena was playing really awful in the first part of this match and her game has really picked up. give me a break and let me celebrate a player playing good tennis, regardless of what her opponent is doing at the other side of the net.

So the Dush actually keeps the ball in play for a few shots, and she breaks Serena...lol

See you brought your bad karma - oy vey - broken at love - aiiiii

Wow what a sloppy game from serena, gets broken 2 love, leads 3-2

Vika to serve for the match again after breaking Domi at 15.

Sorry Karen, but I call it like I see it! lol I hate "yellow journalism".. if you want to call it as you WISH IT WERE, can you put a disclaimer on your posts or something? Something like "KAD ALERT, TAKE COMMENTS WITH GRAIN OF SALT" ;-)

Vika d. Domi 2-6, 6-2, 7-5

Serena misses 3 bp with 3 bad errors, really not good considering how well she played to get them, odd match from her very in and out. Good rally finishes with a cc fh winner from serena and she finally breaks with a another great cc fh 4-2

some really good rallies - she is really hitting her groundstrokes really well. It always looks like Vera is not hitting the ball with a lot of pace and depth, but she is

Can't sleep but Serena is on my PC. Nice tradeoff.

KAD ALERT!! lol

Fh really firing 2 consecutive winners get her to 30-0, a vera wide shot brings up 3 gps and serena holds with fh error from vera, she leads 5-2.

Does anyone know what language the commentator is speaking in the Serena match?

LMAO - Cosi, I dont know why people think that I am a Serena KAD. I am a Venus KAD. I am so going to change my moniker. I love Serena's fight and I admire her game, and I guess you could call me a fan but I have always been a Venus girl. If you are a fan of tennis, you have to really admire Serena's game as it flows so smoothly

Serena's pretty sloppy and Vera is horrible, but that's typical of a quali performance I guess. At one time Vera seemed to have alot of potential, but in the last three years I think I've only seen her play one or two really good matches, otherwise she's pretty much just been "draw filler" on the tour.. it's a shame but happens to alot of them.

ok heading to bed guys, as this match looks to be over. Good luck to the other ladies who play later tonight. Night all

Bye Karen. I'm glad you are safe.

Tsonga won, 7-6, 6-1. Towards the end of set one, Sod was already cooked by the heat, blinded by the bright light, distracted by the wind. His serve gradually left him. He got grumpy when he was forced to unsuccessfully run forwards and UFEs mounted.

Jo served some aces, put some ROS winners and then started to apply some net rushing. He got passed twice, but then managed to pop in a mass of drop volleys. Cool and calm. Better player. Too bad his big frame is not ideal for tennis.

Couple of sloppy shots from Vera bring up 2 mps and serena takes it with an awful df from vera! Serena wins 62 62. Not a great match from her but she served weill and returned better in the 2nd set

Comfortable straight set win, just the way I like it.

If you are a fan of tennis, you have to really admire Serena's game as it flows so smoothly"

hmm flowing smoothly is never a description I would have for her game, even at her best, she's not smooth like a roger or Justine or even JJ when JJ plays well.. she seems to scrap to win more than to flow. She's a fast mover but not a graceful liquid mover, and she's a powerful hitter, not a hitter with alot of touch, those are the things I think of when I imagine a smooth flowing player. Roger is probably the ultimate smooth flow player

Glad ReRe won, night everyone, thanx for keeping me company KAD Karen!

Serena's serve is a thing to be truly admired IMO and it DOES " flow so smoothly "

So Karen, what is Venus going to do this year? Start to succumb to age/injury/ burnout? Or have a strong year? Your lady is going to be thirty this year, hard to believe, time has really passed quickly

Posted by phillykat 01/13/2010 at 01:18 AM
Serena's serve is a thing to be truly admired IMO and it DOES " flow so smoothly "

Hey, I'll give you that, her serve motion is one thing she does smoothly

Cosi, I was still around. If you think that Serena's game is not smooth flowing, please go to youtube and take a look at the Australian Open final against Sharapova. That was Serena playing some of the best tennis I have ever seen. She may not have the grace of a Federer (who does really), but she gets to her shots and she makes them majority of the time. Her transition game is one of the best on tour (even better than most of the men who are afraid of the net) and her serve is fluid and effortless, unlike Justine's which is prone to double faults etc. Anyway, to each his own.
Really off to bed now.
Adicecream: thanks for that. I feel more for those folks in Haiti. I hope that the international community really goes all out to help as well as artistes and athletes. I saw that Wyclef Jean is organising aid etc and I am sure that Jamaica will be sending some form of humanitarian aid.

Anyway, really out for the night. Night guys

Karen, you may really be gone but....I have been looking at pictures from Haiti and the devastation is horrifying. From reading various news reports I gather US and Red Cross among others are getting ready to send aid.

Karen, I've seen Serena play for years. She's no ballerina.. lol and she usually has quite a high error count, and the delicacies of the game are not her forte.. Juju has her beat there... example, when she played a point she won in the second set, she had to lunge for a ball forward (not THAT hard of a get), got it over the net and then just took a step back and nearly fell backward, really for no reason, totally awkward. Her footwork is really one of her weaknesses.. some people exploit it and beat her by exposing that

Posted by adicecream 01/13/2010 at 01:24 AM
Karen, you may really be gone but....I have been looking at pictures from Haiti and the devastation is horrifying. From reading various news reports I gather US and Red Cross among others are getting ready to send aid."

how horrible, and what is worse is it happens in a country where people have little money for resources, medical care to start with, let alone the resources to deal with this

Thanks for the info on the Sod-Jo match, malimeda. Bet there are a lot of players hoping that Sod continues to play this way in the heat. But I'm sure he'll be spending his extra time off getting used to the Oz weather.

Good night, all.

Wow...surprised that Jo beat Zod so "easy"...exo disclaimer notwithstanding. So, he's this year's Nole in terms of grumbling about the heat? Jajaja.

Does any1 know when the draw is going to be made?

So...Grigor lost to Kendrick who had 22 winners and 2 UFEs (!!!) in three sets. Oh well. Grigor's rank is up to 260...one good result and he could avoid quallies.

Morning. :)

What happened to Wawrinka or even Chiudinelli? If all the players could commit at the same time, I don't see why they shouldn't have a team that could do well. (I realise sometimes injuries and the birth of babies etc are getting in the way of that) But I am not sure it's true to say that Roger is the only player capable of doing anything on the Swiss team.

Hm - for me, Serena has a kind of muscular flowing grace when she's playing well.

Happy for wins for Gasquet and Baghdatis, and for CSN, too. I am a bit surprised that Rezai beat Flavia quite so comprehensively. And isn't that the third three set match for Vika?

2 secs of Rafa practicing on the News!

Pspace: Just that it's on Friday. The site has no info about the time as yet.

I seem to remember it being Friday last year.

Hi GB, how are you doing?

Hey Jewel! Am lazy, dropped out of my degree (cause I hated it) and, as it's technically uni holidays here now, am pretending am on holidays to avoid thinking about what job/different degree I want to do. Lots of time for tennis, but also lots of time for frazzle:)

How are you?

GB: hope you don't mind my 2cents but if you hated it you did the right thing by dropping it. I'm worried about my son right now who's in first year of uni and i don't think he's too happy. it's a real pressure cooker of a school. all work no play and i don't think that's good for you. anyway, we'll see what he decides to do. you can go back and major in something else?

hey jewell! are you going to be able to watch alot of AO this year or does work interfere?

I'm good, wishing it would stop snowing for five minutes together. :)

It's probably good having a bit of a break before making any decisions, anyway. :) Will you be on holiday for the AO itself?

Hm...seems to be raining in Auckland, Ferru-Clement is suspended.

Morning Annie!

It's quite difficult for me as the first session of play happens mostly while I am sleeping and the second mostly while I am at work, but I think the BBC will show some repeats and highlights after live play is done, and I should be able to watch at the weekends as there isn't that much on work-wise.

last year i got up a couple of times in the middle of the night to watch rafa live. and it was totally worth it. particularly to be able to post on tw while the match is going on. so you're a little sick of the snow finally? i remember last year you were so excited to see the white stuff since it was such a rare thing. amazing how fast the snow thing can get old. I love it if i can stay home all day and just cozy by the fire. but don't much want to go out in it. it's freezing cold here in new york right now.

time for me to catch some sleep. have a good day!

"I remember last year you were so excited to see the white stuff since it was such a rare thing. amazing how fast the snow thing can get old."

LOL - I know, I have done a complete about-turn. :)

I just can't get up in the middle of the night, not even for Rafa. *apologetic face* And if I did I'd be horribly bad-tempered. :)

Don't know if anyone's posted this and it is a bit off topic, but there are ideas going around about a tennis world cup, which would effectively sound the death knell for Davis Cup http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/tennis/article6985410.ece

Jewel: I dropped out 2 months ago, so have already had plenty of time to avoid making decisions:) Having my priorities in order, am going to wait until after the AO and then think about temping, although friends tell me there isn't much work.

Given the heat here, it's v hard to imagine hating snow right now...Hopefully it'll stop at some point soon for you.

Hi all,
Had a great day at Medibank....our seats were fourth row, right behind the players box, so we saw all the tennis on Ken Rosewall and also heard all the coaches coaching!

Have to make this short as we are with friends in the lounge and my battery is about to run out.

Serena looks thin, Hewitt had an easy time, Gasguet has a great backhand and ....oh well. we are leaving for dinner, wish I had time to tell you more!

Hey Diane - glad you had a good time today.

Aussiemarg, sorry I have had limited time on the computer, hubby is hogging it to work !

Hate that we didn't meet up, maybe the next time I come to Australia! Love this place so we surely come back.

Haven't left for dinner yet as we are all trying to finish off Marriott's vodka supply. Will sleep in tomorrow.

Thanks Nic, Australia is fabulous, we have been having so much fun. Sitting here drinking with people we met here in the hotel and having a ball.

They will also be in Melbourne next week for the Open so we will get together there and continue the party!

My son flys in from LA tomorrow so we will have fun meeting up with him also. Weather is great, hot and sunny, tennis was fun so it's a great vacation!

Sorry, GB, I went out to look at the roads - by the state of it I'm guessing my local council doesn't have much grit or road salt left. :)

What degree were you doing before, if you don't mind my asking? I tend to agree with Annie that doing something one is really hating is pretty pointless.

Looks like Peer beat Dokic very comprehensively, 6-2, 6-2.

It was nice to see Federer and Justine practicing together. They were both hitting the ball hard to one-another, trying different shots and joking around. If you go onto You-Tube and put in Federer practicing Australian Open 2010, you can bring it up.

Does that mean you can't drive anywhere Jewel? *totally clueless about such weather, even though the whole fam is Irish* I was doing a law degree.

Annie: Thanks for the advice! Sorry I missed it before. Yeah, that's what I finally thought. Am uber indecisive and was almost just going to keep going and worry about it later. There was heaps of pressure at mine too, plus they kept going on and on about how it'd only get worse once you'd graduated. Hope your son gets the balance right or finds something he'd rather do.

Its a very simple equation - if Federer wins the Davis Cup for Switzerland then he may be the GOAT but until he does so the likes of Laver, Budge, Tilden, Perry certainly rank ahead of him. None of those players shirked the Davis Cup (well Budge, Tilden and Perry had no choice). It is simply a major blot on Federer's career that he has not won it. Maybe he looks at the traumatic loss he suffered to Hewitt, he lost a two sets to love lead, and is of the view the effort is too great. Several players have won the Davis Cup virtually single handed. Borg did in 1975, Sweden simply did not have a good number 2, yet they won thanks to a young Borg who then really didn't bother with it. Federer can be compared to Tiger Woods who clearly is not into the Ryder Cup, it means nothing to him, he only plays because his sponsors insist on it. Who can blame Woods as the Ryder Cup is pretty much a WASP event, the colonialists v the mother country - well originally at least. Davis Cup is different. And t he Swiss have a very good Number 2 player - if Fed played they would have a great chance at least. To my mind the different surfaces argument is rubbish. Borg won three tournaments in a row on different surfaces (1979 I think) in consecutive weeks. I think it has more to do with the risk of embarrassing or traumatic losses. I also believe at this stage Fed is ducking the top players until he has to. Maybe he feels they have figured out aspects of his game and he wants to avoid exposure to them, ie he is the hunted. It was different last year on clay where Fed turned up to more clay tournaments than he does usually to prepare for a major. He was hunting Nadal and trying to figure out how to beat him on clay, losses didn't matter, he needed clay court match play. And it worked. Is he cowardly? Probably not - just playing it smart. Unfortunately I think he is playing it too smart and his lack of Davis Cup participation is a serious blot on his record, as it is for Jimmy Connors. For all of his faults, McEnroe is the greatest Davis Cup player of the modern era, never shirking his duty, as he saw it. McEnroe had his fair share of losses, 1984 final to Sundstrom springs to mind, some heroic (usually on clay) and often when he must have been tired or simply not in the mood, but he still gave it all. Sad really for Fed when he looks back and wonders what might of been. How many great matches has he missed, how many great victories or noble losses. Does anyone think less of Von Cramm for losing to Budge in his epic loss - no it elevated him to a level of greatness he may not have otherwise achieved and he is remembered, rightly, as a great player. Fed will be remembered as a great player who did not give his country his all.

"Fed will be remembered as a great player who did not give his country his all"

Don't think so. Roger will be remembered as one of the most outstanding sportsmen of the Switzerland winning 60+ titles, including 15 Slams and Olympic Gold. That's for now.

Peter, you said: "A tennis match featuring a gazillion service breaks and double-faults galore addresses our appetite for sensation, which the purveyors of media have been feeding and increasing in what amounts to an escalating cycle for a long time now."

What I find interesting about this statement relates to the role of the media in how we think about tennis. For example, you have no problem calling Federer the GOAT, notwithstanding the fact that, other than Nadal, his contemporaries sucked (compared to those of Sampras). But you purveyors of media (were you exempting yourself from this moniker?) have elected to confer this title on him to ginney up interest in our sport. To give a comparison of why Federer is not the GOAT, just look at Steffi Graf. Why is she NOT considered the GOAT in the women's game? She's the only player male/female to win all FOUR GS not once, twice, or even three times but FOUR, count them FOUR times. And with 22 GS, one might think it a no-brainer that she'd be the clear GOAT for women's tennis. Yet one woman stands in her way and it's not the one you're thinking. It's not she of the power game and of the ageless ability to hit a tennis ball. Rather, it's Chris Evert. For without Chris, Martina would not have been considered as highly (regardless of the additional take in GS) as the Martina of the Chris & Martina era was. Similarly, because Graf lacked a singular and implacable opponent (esp. after the Seles stabbing), she's generally considered to have been a great player who lorded over a nobility comprised of scrubs. So too Federer. Sorry but Federer's contemporaries, excluding Nadal: Roddick, Blake, Davydenko, Nalbandian, Safin, Haas, and Hewitt don't come anywhere close to: Becker, Agassi, Edberg, Courier. They are more similar to Rafter, Ivanisivec, Muster, etc. At the top of the game, however, Sampras had contemporary rivals that were simply much, much better than those faced by Federer.