Can't believe no one has posted about this week yet!!! The draws are AWESOME!

Buenos Aires
- Coria is the #1 seed
- Canas opens against Volandri, with the winner getting Massu in the second round - Yeouch!
- also in the draw: Moya and Kuerten

Memphis
- Incredible first round match ups:
Roddick vs. Todd Martin
Dent vs. Gambill
Saulnier vs. Ginepri (again!!!)
- Hottie Joachim Johansson might get James Blake in the second round
- Mardy Fish (who I love more and more each waking day) is seeded #2; Dent is #3, and Ginepri #4.
- dangerous "floaters": Malisse, Enqvist, and Haas

Rotterdam
- hands down the BEST draw of the year so far, with incredible first round matches like this:
Federer v. Clement
Robredo v. Henman
Gonzalez v. Hewitt
Schalken v. Ivanesevic
- the seeds are Federer (1), Ferrero (2), Schuettler (3), and Srichaphan (4)
- the unseeded players I'm keeping an eye on: Koubek and Kucera; it'll be interesting to see how Hewitt and Johansson manage, too, if they're able to tangle in the second round

Lots of great action on the courts today ...

In Memphis, Saulnier beat Ginepri for the 2nd straight week, in 3 sets. Nice win for Cyril and I'm worried for Robby since he has 2 TMS Quarterfinal results to defend next month. Cyril is a tough draw, but the draws will be even tougher at Indian Wells and Miami.

Malisse picked up a nice win over the NCAA Champion, Amer Delic. Delic has a HUGE game, a booming 135+ serve and a solid attacking netgame. However, he plays right into Malisse's counterpunching style.

Swedish hottie Joachim Johansson ousted Lee in 3 sets. My favorite Swedish sextoy, Thomas Enqvist, ousted Spadea in straight sets as well. Gotta love the Swedish players ... blonde hair, blue eyes, and great bodies. It's now time to learn some Swedish before the RCA tournament this year.

Nick

I was wierdly satisfied that Saulnier beat G-Loveable again this week.

I thought Koubek could upset Schuettler, but that didn't happen. Damn. Great win for Rainier, though.

Canas lost in three sets to Volandri. Damn! I picked the wrong guy!!! I think Willy C. is on the road back, though...

How bizarre is this:

Fernando Gonzalez plays and wins his home tournament on CLAY. He then has two options ...

Play another clay court tournament in an adjoining country where everyone speaks Spanish and it's warm and beautiful.

OR ...

Fly thousands of miles to ANOTHER CONTIENT over a VAST OCEAN to play a tournament indoors on hardcourts where it's COLD outside and nobody speaks Spanish.

I don't really care how far in advance he scheduled this or how much cash & swag ABN-AMRO is paying him or whether his agency runs the damn tournament, it just seems SILLY! Particularly because the schedule is set up so nicely for him to go from Argentina to Mexico in 2 weeks (or Brazil next week), leading to the hard court spring season in the US. Yeesh! Can someone please explain this?

I expect he'll learn his lesson against Hewitt in the first round. Or not even go to Rotterdam.

Go James Blake!!! Go Pavel!

I agree b-portjake, so I picked Hewitt as a Tennis Stock Market pick this week: Gonzo will go, but if the match is close, I wouldn't expect him to be able to sustain focus.

Thing is, if he withdrew this late, he'd almost certainly be fined. The Rotterdam event is very prestigious, and there is a lot of $$$ at the event, too.

Part of me thinks he didn't think he'd actually WIN Chile... now, you're right, he's kinda stuck. I'd totally be UNmotivated to get on a plan, too. Esp. since he probably partied up! (A Yahoo photo depicted him splashing what looked like an entire bottle of champagne on his face...)

With Buenos Aires this week, though, he really should have stayed local and played another clay event...

Very suprised to see that Gambill got the best of Dent. Hewitt and Gonzalez *still* haven't played.

What's going on with Taylor Dent? Could the beating he took from Roddick in Melbourne still be affecting his head? Gambill has a big game, but he shouldn't oust someone like Dent. Taylor needs to get his head and game in gear since he won't be doing much on the clay court season.

The Cute Canuck Niemeyer won a match on the ATP tour for the first time since Toronto in 2003 ... or was it 2002? In any event, it's nice to see him playing well again. He doesn't really stand a chance against Mardy Fish ... Fish's return game is too good for Fred ... but he should get near the Top 150 with the win.

Nick

In all fairness to Gambill, the only time he and Dent played, the match was decided in two tie-breakers. I'm sure Gambill was drawing on confidence gained since he beat Ferreira...

For what it's worth, I was kinda hunching that Fish *might* have an edge against Agassi last week, only because Andre has had a tendency to punk out of the San Jose event, losing unceremoniously to players like Rusedski in years past.

I mention that because IF Fish can get to the final here - he did, after all, put together a great run last fall - maybe Fish can finally break thru against A-Rod. Roddick did lose to Dent last year... Could this be Fish's time?!?

I hope so.

I just want him to do something with that hair.

Hewitt d. Gonzalez, 6-2, 6-1.
Fernando should have entered the doubles, just to make the trip worthwhile and get some practice in...

B Man ... Dent was 2-0 against Gambill before Jan-Mike's win last night ... they met at Wimbledon in 2002 and Memphis in 2003. The significant thing in each of those matches was that Gambill was unable to break Dent's serve. For Jan-Mike to FINALLY get a break ... let alone 2 breaks against Taylor is a bit of a surprise. Nice win for Jan-Mike and it shows that he COULD start producing better results.

I would like for Mardy to beat Andy because I think that Fish has a more complete game. Andy is more mentally tough, but I love Mardy's game ... smile, abs, butt ... .

Nick

I totally forgot about their Wimbledon match, you're right, Nick.

There is a photo on Yahoo of Gambill hitting a backhand. Intuitively, it looks textbook WRONG - I don't understand how Jan-Mike's game works!!!

Can't wait to see what Martin does to Roddick's game today in Memphis. Or will it be the other way around? Will journeyman Martin wear him down, can he control A-Rodd's serve. Really intersting. Hope to see it somewhere on tv.

Martin is not a journeyman. He's an elite player (or at least he was) who got overshadowed by his spectacular peers. If someone with 8 career titles (on all surfaces), a gorgeous house in Florida, 400+ wins (including 100+ Grand Slam wins), TWO Grand Slam finals, four additional GS semis, a #4 ranking, and $8m+ in prize money is a journeyman, then the filmmakers hawking their wares in the advertisement on this site must have been ... well, I don't know, what's 50 steps below a journeyman?

Todd Martin a journeyman? Ummm ... No. Incredibly offbase peanut gallery comment. He has great credentials, his 7-5 loss in the 5th against Safin in Melbourne showed that he still has an incredible game, and most importantly, he went to my highschool. Todd has had success against Andy ... I think he beat him in the 3rd round last year in Miami, so I'm hoping for a great match tonight.

Nick

Todd Martin isn't a journeyman, but I wouldn't call him an "elite player" either...he's somewhere inbetween. Always a threat to the elite, but never quite there himself.

I mean journeyman in the sense of one who does an honest day's work--and Martin is an incredibly hard working man. So, who won the match last night? I haven't seen the results.

ABN Results so far:

Henman, Hewitt, and Niemenen all advance to the quarters. Juan Carlos, Federer, and Schalken will play later today.

GO HENMAN!

Roddick won, but it was close. 7-6, 1-6, 7-5.

Wildcard Monaco has now beaten Lapentti & Chela in Argentina. He's got Coria next, who struggled against Squillari but won. Gasquet shocked Calleri and now gets Massu. Fun little tournament, it seems, with teenagers rising to the fore.

Gambill/Baker today should be interesting in Memphis. Saw Brian play doubles last year in Champaign and he's a tall one! Someone needs to talk to him about his hair though.

Joachim Johansson beat Blake, again. Not as happy as this win as I was with Saulnier over Ginepri. But I did pick Joachim as an "up" pick in the tennis stock market this week...

Fish dropped the first set to Niemeyer, 1-6. Mardy, dude... Fish is up 4-1 in the second, though.

Fish finally prevailed. Phew!

BUT! I wasn't so lucky with Schalken, who was beat by Ramon Sluiter. Damn.

Kiefer has had his hands full with Melzer today, too. Come on Nic!

Is Ferreira on a BAGEL diet or something this year? He lost today to Tursunov, 4-6, 0-6.

0-6??!???

What the f**k, Wayne?

This is the second time this year he's lost a set without winning a game. Is it injury, or what?

Other Memphis Winners:
Kiefer (yay!)
Fish
Enqvist
Malisse

Mardy is quite the schizo on the court. In Cincy last year, he was manhandled by Philpoussis 6-1 in the 1st set, yet he came back to win the match. The same thing happened today against the cutie Canuck, Niemeyer. Why do I have to lust after all of the headcases?

Tursunov is a pretty solid player ... He had a great result at the US Open last year ... IIRC, he lost in the 3rd round to Malisse after ousting Kuerten (I remember Guga had a fan kicked out of the stadium for taunting during the 5th set of that match) and he kicked major butt on the USTA Challenger circuit as well. He's proving himself to be an up and coming player for the US. I wouldn't be surprised if he soon surpasses Vahaly as a hitting partner for the US Davis Cup team. (While I like Vahaly, he is a marginal Top 100 player.) Ferreira is a great counterpuncher, but when he plays someone who is on fire, there isn't much he can do to change the course of the match.

Nick

This just in!:

Henman d. Federer at Rotterdam

Wow...GREAT win for Tim.

Henman has now faced Federer, what, 7 times, all on fast surfaces, and has won six of those matches. I think we finally found Roger's weakness (now that Nalbandian seems to have been subdued).

Unfortunately for Tim, Hewitt owns him (0-6).

HOW BOUT MY BOY!!!!! 6 out of 7 vs Federer!! I f only Timmy could win Wimbledon now I can die happy.

Tim plays so well vs Federer always and he knows he's lost every time to Lleyton so that gives him the mental dissadvantage. I think Hewitt will take this one and meet Mirnyi in the finals is my prediction and Hewitt wins it all. GO HENMAN!

And ANOTHER big upset:
Enqvist d. Roddick, 7-6, 6-3


I'm not usually on the board on the weekends, but thought this news was worth posting, for certain. Another draw stacked with Americans this week, and only one left standing in the semi's. I actually like all four of the players remaining, so I can't complain. I do hope Fish pulls out the title win, though.

Wow, how loaded is the Rotterdam semis? Hewitt, Mirnyi, Henman and Ferrero. Glad to see Hewitt winning and would love for him to be a force for real this season. Roddick's defeat is just a little less surprising than Federer's--reminding me of early Pete's losses after winning his first slam. Oh the evil cycles of competition.

Tennis Channel is showing the Diamond Games this morning--Farina Elia v Sprem. So love seeing these matches. And how well dressed the audience is for the match--men in ties and jackets, ladies with scarves and nice sweaters--not a sweatsuit to be seen.

[ February 21, 2004, 05:17 AM: Message edited by: shore ]

That's how they go to tennis matches in Europe-look how they dress at the French Open and Wimbledon.

When I lived in Germany, we would go to the Hannover tournament, men and women then, and everyone would dress up, so you would just go along with it.

They used to always say, "The Americans are such slobs when they go to tennis tournaments," but I would counter by saying "The Australians also dress casually and no one says anything about them." Plus, I would just tell them that they are "stuffy Germans" and that they can't do anything to help their image. And, I'm not bagging on Germans, as my parents emigrated from there and I lived there for 8 years! I just feel more American!

Hewitt and Ferrero are locked in a REAL FIGHT. Ferrero won the first set in a tie-break and really gave Hewitt and handful in the second set before Lleyton finally broke away 7-5. Let's see if Juan Carlos has the endurance for another grueling set, after having played so many long, close matches already this week.

What a win for Lleyton! While I'm not a huge fan of Hewitt, it's nice to see him win an important tournament. As of late, Hewitt-Ferrero has been a hotly contested match, so Lleyton's win bodes well for his mental state.

Lots of surprises in Memphis ... Enqvist ousts Roddick in straight sets. I love Enqvist's sexy bod, but I never would have expected him to beat Andy. Granted, he lost his next match to the equally sexy Kiefer, but it's a sign that he is starting to play well again.

As for Joachim, he is really coming on strong this year. He's had a great past few weeks, although I don't think that his game will transfer well to the clay court season. (Granted, I've only seem him play twice, but I don't think that he covers the court all too well.) Fortunately, he'll have another month on the US Hardcourt season to improve his ranking.

Given the poor results by the Americans over the past two tournaments, I'm concerned about their chances of posting the types of results that they posted last year in Indian Wells and to a lesser extent, Key Biscayne. IIRC, there were 5 or 6 Americans in the quarters of Indian Wells last year ... Vahaly, Ginepri, Spadea, Agassi and probably Blake. However, I would be more than pleased if all of the struggling on the hardcourts this year means that we will see some success from the US Men on the red clay of Europe ... heck, on any sort of clay court event.

Nick

Did anyone else with the Tennis Channel notice how all week long Barry Mackay was calling Joachim Johannson "Thomas Johannson." It was embarrassing and actually confusing...I was expecting the former Aussie Open champ to be in the final after I watched the semi between Keifer and Enquist. I remember thinking, "Hmmm...I didn't even know he was playing this event. Good for him!"