Monte Carlo DAY 2

A bunch of good matches occurred today. One of which was David Nalbandian's victory over Frenchman, Paul-Henri Mathieu. Nalbandian started off strong, but then fell in the second set, but he retained his game from the first set to close out the match, 64 36 63.

Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic floated through there second round matches. Murray admits that clay isn't his favorite, but he played well enough to take down Romanian, Victor Hanescu, 63 62. And Novak Djokovic defeated qualifier, Oscar Hernandez, 61 62.

The surprises of the day consisted of Gilles Simon, Gael Monfils, and Tommy Robredo. Gael Monfils was incredibly out of sorts today as he faced off against Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic. Tipsarevic dismantled Monfils, 63 61. Gilles Simon went against Germany's Andreas Beck. Beck came from behind big time to stun Nicolas Kiefer in the first round. This time, Andreas didn't need to come back. Beck struggled in the first set, but took control in the second. In the end, Beck pulled off another upset, 75 61. And Tommy Robredo has been on tour for many years. He has always been very comfortable on the clay, but Argentinian, Juan Monaco was playing beautiful tennis to easily eliminate Robredo, 62 64.

The most hyped up match of the day was the mouthwatering encounter between Marat Safin and Lleyton Hewitt. Hewitt came from a great run in Houston. But Hewitt arrived in Monte Carlo the night before he had to play. So the lack of sleep/jetlag could have affected Hewitt's movement. But credit to Safin, he played consistently and won the match, 64 75.

Other Scores of Day 2:
(Q) Fabio Fognini(ITA) def. Tomas Berdych(CZE) 16 63 63
Ivo Karlovic(CRO) def. Florent Serra(FRA) 64 64
(10) David Ferrer(ESP) def. Feliciano Lopez(ESP) 62 63
Albert Montañes(ESP) def. (16) Nicolas Almagro(ESP) 76(6) 46 76(5)
(WC) Jean Rene Lisnard(MON) def. Christophe Rochus(BEL) 62 62
Martin Vassallo Arguello(ESP) def. Igor Andreev(RUS) 26 76(5) 62


Who I Want to Win: DAVID NALBANDIAN

Who I Think Will Win: ANDY MURRAY

Barcelona DAY 2

The Barcelona Ladies Open in Spain kicked off yesterday. Not too many seeds were in action today, but yesterday there were some surprises. Although Flavia Pennetta eased through her first round match, the number one seed, Alize Cornet was demolished by Stephanie Cohen-Aloro. It was surprising because Alize Cornet played unbelievable tennis during last year's clay court season.

Carla Suarez Navarro and Maria Kirilenko had no problem with their first round matches against wildcard, Estrella Cabeza Candela and Camille Pin. They both won their matches, 62 60. But the surprises of the day involved fourth seed, Kaia Kanepi and eighth seed, Sorana Cirstea. Kanepi was knocked out by Slovenian lucky loser, Masa Zec Peskiric after being up a set, 36 62 64. Romanian, Sorana Cirstea has been showing promise on the clay, but she was outplayed by Belarusian qualifier, Anastasiya Yakimova, 76(2) 76(5).

My favorite player in the draw is Nicole Vaidisova. Vaidisova has been struggling for the past year. Her game has fallen. Vaidisova was once ranked as high as 8 in the world. But she is slowly getting into good form. It may take her a few more years to retain a top ten ranking, but hopefully I'm wrong. But Nicole defeated Ukrainian qualifier, Yevgeniya Savranska today, 62 64.

Other Scores of Day 2:
(Q) Tatjana Malek(GER) def. (WC) Nuria Llagostera Vives(ESP) 63 36 61
(LL) Emilie Loit(FRA) def. (Q) Mervana Jugic-Salkic(BIH) 76(3) 36 62
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez(ESP) def. Kirsten Flipkens(BEL) 62 62
Severine Bremond(FRA) def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld(GER) 76(4) 62
Francesca Schiavone(ITA) def. Lourdes Dominguez Lino(ESP) 76(4) 64


Who I Want to Win: NICOLE VAIDISOVA

Who I Think Will Win: CARLA SUAREZ NAVARRO

Alexandra's Quest For a Comeback

Another American player you made not have heard of, Alexandra Stevenson has endured much struggle to get back in the form she is in now. I immediately started to like her after I saw a story on her on ESPN. She was once a top 20 player and she reached the semifinals of Wimbledon in 1999 as a qualifier, but then suffered back injuries that strayed her away from the game. Since then she could not afford sponsors, but recently, her father, "Dr. J" Julius Erving came into the picture and helped her out with sponsorships. And thanks to their newly found relationship, Stevenson has been playing in tournaments this year. In Charleston, Alexandra got a wildcard entry. Her first opponent was Uzbekistan's Akgul Amanmuradova. Amanmuradova is only effective when it comes to her serve, but today, Alexandra tried her best, but her game still needs more tweeking. Amanmuradova won the match, 62 64. Although Stevenson lost the match, she should not give up and there is no doubt that she will be back in the form she was in when she was 18 in the world.

Charleston DAY 2

I'm very excited for the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina this week!!! I love it because I love the green clay and this tournament is actually on TV! (At least the semis and final). But Day two consisted of a bunch of my favorite players. The matches I looked forward to consisted of Sania Mirza, Marion Bartoli, Alexandra Stevenson, Shenay Perry, Dominika Cibulkova, and Bethanie Mattek-Sands. The seeds that played other than Bartoli and Cibulkova were Nadia Petrova, Vera Zvonareva, and Elena Dementieva.

The first matches of the day that ran simultaneously consisted of Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Shenay Perry. Bethanie Mattek-Sands came to Charleston after a defeat against number 13 in the world, Marion Bartoli. And she continued her solid clay court play against Colombia's Mariana Duque Marino with a 76(3) 75 win. Now many of you may not have heard of America's Shenay Perry. But I've always been intrigued by her unusual forehand and her one-handed backhand. She got through the qualifying rounds pretty easily and it looked as if she wouldn't be able to pass the Czech 15th seed, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova. But to Zahlavova Strycova's surprise, Perry has come back on tour with a more refined game and after a first set struggle, Perry dominated her Czech opponent, 75 61.

Vera Zvonareva and Sania Mirza were next up. Zvonareva followed Mattek-Sands on Stadium Court. Her opponent was Paraguay's Rossana De Los Rios. De Los Rios could have made a match against Zvonareva, but Vera wouldn't let Rossana in and took her out in just over an hour, 63 62. One of my favorite players, Sania Mirza faced Kazakhstan's Sesil Karatantcheva on Court three today. I've never seen Mirza have a great clay court season. But her wrist problems have usually taken her out of most of her clay court tournaments. Sania is more comfortable on the fast hard court because of the massive damage her forehand can do. And the only other time i've heard of Sesil Karatantcheva was when she shocked Venus Williams in Roland Garros a couple years back. But Sania played consistent tennis today to defeat Karatantcheva, 64 64.

The sixth seed from France Marion Bartoli was up next on stadium court. Her opponent was qualifier from Latvia, Anastasija Sevastova. Bartoli can produce good tennis on all surfaces, but after her appearance at the finals of Wimbledon in 2007, 2008 was an inconsistent year to say the least. Bartoli gained weight and lost some horrible matches. But Marion has brought her game back in 2009. And she asserted her improvement by reaching the finals at Auckland and beating Jelena Jankovic en route to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. And Bartoli showed promise on the clay today by dismantling her Latvian opponent, 61 63.

The other seeds on court today were Nadia Petrova, Dominika Cibulkova, and Elena Demtieva. Nadia Petrova faced off against Austria's Patricia Mayr. But Mayr put up a good fight. Ultimately though, Petrova overcame Mayr with a 61 26 62 win. Cibulkova had a potentially tough encounter with another Austrian, Tamira Paszek. But Dominika was a finalist here last year and she was not willing to fall early this time around. She had very little problems with her game and took Paszek out, 64 60. And the last match of the day was between the number one seed, Elena Dementieva and American lefty, Julie Ditty. Dementieva almost embarrassed Ditty winning the first 10 games of the match. After Ditty squeezed in a few games, Elena overall smashed her, 60 62.

Other Scores of Day 2:
Stephanie Dubois(CAN) def. Katie O'Brien(GBR) 46 62 61
Alla Kudryavtseva(RUS) def. (Q) Angela Haynes(USA) 64 57 60
(9) Aleksandra Wozniak(CAN) def. (Q) Abigail Spears(USA) 63 46 60
Elena Vesnina(RUS) def. Evgeniya Rodina(RUS) 60 62
Viktoriya Kutuzova(UKR) def. Mariya Koryttseva(UKR) 61 61
(16) Sabine Lisicki(GER) def. (Q) Marie-Eve Pelletier(CAN) 75 64


Who I Want to Win: MARION BARTOLI

Who I Think Will Win: VENUS WILLIAMS

Casablanca SFs

The semifinal matches began yesterday at the Grand Prix Hassan II in Morocco. And the four semifinalists were the first seed, Igor Andreev, the third seed, Albert Montanes, the fifth seed, Florent Serra, and unseeded, Juan Carlos Ferrero. The first match was between unseeded Juan Carlos Ferrero and the first seed, Igor Andreev. It was difficult to say who was going to win the first set because it was very tight. But Juan Carlos edged Andreev in a tiebreak, 11-9. And the momentum stayed with Ferrero until he closed out the match, 76(9) 63.

The other semifinal was a bit of a surprise. I was expecting Ferrero's opponent in the final to be Albert Montañes because he did pretty well on the clay last year and he took a set from Federer at Roland Garros. But Florent Serra has been coming out of his shell and proving himself as a threat. And he kept the good tennis coming with a straight set win over Montañes, 64 64.

Who I Want to Win: Juan Carlos Ferrero
Who I Think Will Win: Juan Carlos Ferrero

Marbella QFs

Quarterfinals day in Marbella. And all of the matches excpet for one lasted longer than two and a half hours. Three out of the four matches ended in either a third set tiebreak or a third set, 7-5. The match that lasted only fifty minutes was the Carla Suarez Navarro, Klara Zakopalova match. Zakopalova came into the match after beating number one in the world, Serena Williams. But Suarez Navarro's clay court prowess was too much for Klara. Suarez Navarro smased Klara, 61 62.

The seventh seeded Romanian, Sorana Cirstea was expected to lose against third seeded Kaia Kanepi. But Cirstea is another underrated player on the clay. Although it was a titanic struggle for Cirstea, she grabbed a spot in he semifinals with a 64 26 75 win.

One of the matches lasted an amazing three hours and five minutes. The match was a fight between the Spanish fourth seed, Anabel Medina Garrigues and Italy's Sara Errani. At the beginning of the match, it seemed that Medina Garrigues would have an easy passage into the semifinals after she won the first set, 6-2. But Errani fought to get to a second set tiebreak. And Errani grabbed the second set, 7-6(4). The third set was an immense struggle for both players. But Medina Garrigues outplayed Errani in the final stages of the match to clinch a 62 67(4) 75 win.

And the main event of the day was the match between Jelena Jankovic and Roberta Vinci. I thought, before the match started, that Jelena wouldn't have a problem dismantling Vinci, but to my surprise, Roberta won the first set, 6-3. But I wasn't surprised thatjelena used her experience to come back with the second set, 6-3. The third set on the other hand was a real tussle. They both broke each other twice. And ultimately, the match led into a final set tiebreaker. And the tiebreaker was even difficult for both players, but Jelena came out on top with an 8-6 tiebreak win.

Who I Want to Win: Carla Suarez Navarro

Who I Think Will Win: Jelena Jankovic

Ponte Vedra Beach QFs

Not a good day for my favorites at the MPS Group Championships at Ponte Vedra Beach. I like four out of the eight quarterfinalists. And all of them lost. Alona Bondarenko, Dominika Cibulkova, Tamira Paszek, and especially Daniela Hantuchova!!! Firstly, I was hoping that Alona Bondarenko was finally back on top of her game, and I'm not saying she's been improving, but it was very sad that she got so close to beating the first seed, Nadia Petrova. Petrova took out Bondarenko, 46 63 76(5).

Another dissappointing result was when Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak defeated Austria's Tamira Paszek. This match also resulted in a final set tiebreaker. Wozniak unfortunately was the victor with the score at 63 36 76(7).

I was fond of both Dominika Cibulkova and Elena Vesnina, but I was leaning more towards Cibulkova. Vesnina won it in a very strenuous couple of hours, 75 67(5) 63.

The worst part of the night was when Hantuchova lost to tough Dane Caroline Wozniacki. The only match of the day that lasted less than two hours. Wozniacki won comfortably 62 62. Hopefully hantuchova can recover and play better in the next tournament.

Who I Want to Win: Elena Vesnina

Who I Think Will Win: Caroline Wozniacki

Houston QFs

The US Men's Clay Court Championship kicked off it's quarterfinal matches yesterday. Unfortunately my pick to win and my favorite player in the tournament were knocked out. The tallest man in the draw at 6 foot 9, John Isner has exhibited his talent on the clay. And I thought that Isner could pull through against fellow American, Wayne Odesnik. But Odesnik just outplayed Isner by closing out the match in a final set tiebreak. The final score was 75 36 76(5).

Lleyton Hewitt is continuing his hot streak on the clay. He didn't have much of a struggle on his way to eliminate Argentine, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Hewitt won the match 63 64. I would like to say that I am not a fan of Hewitt. I don't admire his demeanor on the court. And after he said a racist comment about my boy, James Blake, I almost lost all respect for him. But anyway, Hewitt takes on Evgeny Korolev in the semifinals. Hewitt should skate through without struggle.

Although I believe Hewitt will beat Evgeny, I do want to rephrase and say that Evgeny could put up a fight. He proved himself after beating James Blake's slayer, Guillermo Canas, 26 63 64. I'm expecting Hewitt to beat Korolev with resistance on the way.

And the guy who I thought would win, Tommy Haas failed to reach the semifinals. Thailand's Bjorn Phau was his bane. Phau has been playing well on the clay and trly showed off his all court game after defeating Germany's Tommy Haas, 63 36 63.

Who I Want to Win: Bjorn Phau

Who I Think Will Win: Lleyton Hewitt

Casablanca QFs

A bunch of seeds were on court yesterday for the Quarterfinals of The Grand Prix Hassan II in Casablanca. And unseeded Juan Carlos Ferrero has surprised many to reach the quarterfinals without dropping a set. But I wasn't surprised. He has a lot of experience and he is very good on clay. I just knew he would go far after his easy win over Christophe Rochus in the first round. And in the quarterfinal, Ferrero faced Romanian fourth seed, Victor Hanescu. Ferrero served with 82% of his first serves in. His consistent strokes and mental strength led him to a solid 63 75 victory.

Ferrero's opponent in the semifinal will be he first seed, Igor Andreev. Andreev has been unpredictable for the past couple of days. He almost loses in the first round to a Moroccan wildcard, then he almost loses to a random Frenchman, Nicolas Devilder, then he easily takes out sixth seed Marc Gicquel, 61 63. I'm betting on a straight set win for Ferrero.

The third and fifth seeds, Florent Serra and Albert Montanes are the other semifinalsits. Now I thought that Serra's opponent, Teimuraz Gabashvili would easily pul off the mini upset, but it was quite the opposite. Serra wiped Gabashvili out, 60 64. And the Spaniard, Albert Montanes went up against Portugal's Frederico Gil. I was indifferent about this match, but I expected Montanes to pull through. And he did with some resitance from Gil, 76(5) 64.

Who I Want to Win: Juan Carlos Ferrero

Who I Think Will Win: Juan Carlos Ferrero

Marbella DAY 4

Carla Suarez Navarro and Jelena Jankovic led the field on day 4 of the Andalucía Tennis Experience in Marbella, Spain. Carla Suarez Navarro was set to easily eliminate Russian qualifier, Ekaterina Ivanova. Suarez Navarro played uncharacteristically in the first set only winning thirty percent of her first serve points. Ivanova was smart to take advantage of her out of sorts opponent and take the first set, 6-0. But Suarez Navarro used her experience to take the second set, 6-3. And the third set was all Carla. She got completely comfortable and easily bageled Ivanova in the third set. The final score was 36 60 63.

Jelena Jankovic went up against what seemed to be an easy encounter with Lucky Loser from Tunisia, Selima Sfar. But it took some time for Jelena to get settled in. Sfar went up an early break at 3-2 in the first set. But Jelena put it into overdrive and won the next 10 games to mangle Selima, 63 60.

Unfortunately the hopes of young gun, Arantxa Rus were stripped away from her after a tough encounter with the third seed from Estonia, Kaia Kanepi. Kanepi is a very good clay court player and actually made it to the quarterfinals at Roland Garros last year. But the Netherlands native was no match for the Estonian. But Arantxa did put up a solid fight in the first set. Kanepi won the match in just under an hour and a half, 75 62.

Other Scores of Day 4:

Klara Zakopalova(CZE) def. Renata Voracova(CZE) 76(7) 57 60

(6) Sara Errani(ITA) def. (Q) Polona Hercog(SLO) 60 76(7)

Who I Want to Win: Carla Suarez Navarro

Who I Think Will Win: Jelena Jankovic

Ponte Vedra Beach DAY 4

Day four of the MPS Group Championships consisted of some big names. Two of which were Daniela Hantuchova and Caroline Wozniacki. The Slovakian wildcard, Hantuchova faced off against the newly wed eighth seed from America, Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Mattek-Sands was well rested after overcoming a strenuous match against Marion Bartoli a few days earlier, but Hantuchova just played a little bit better than her. Hantuchova won the match, 63 75. I am very happy! Keep it up, Daniela!

Daniela's opponent in the quarterfinals will be the Danish second seed, Caroline Wozniacki. Wozniacki is another player who plays well on all surfaces. And she had a presumably tough encounter with France's Virginie Razzano. But Wozniacki was playing well. And she won the match without too much struggle, 63 75. I am ecstatic to watch this quarterfinal!

The other winners of the day were Canada's fifth seed Aleksandra Wozniak and Austria's Tamira Paszek. Paszek had trouble taking out Varvara Lepchenko, the American lucky loser who defeated Patty Schnyder in the first round. But Paszek came from behind using her beautiful backhands to win the match, 36 63 64.

Aleksandra Wozniak was a surprising winner at The Bank of the West Classic in Stanford by possibly playing her best tennis of her career. Since then, she has not risen to the expectations. But she is playing well on the clay and she struggled immensely to defeat Germany's rising star, Sabine Lisicki. Wozniak conquered with a 36 76(3) 64 win.

Who I Want to Win: Daniela Hantuchova

Who I Think Will Win: Caroline Wozniacki

Houston DAY 4

The fourth day of The US Men's Clay Court Championship in Houston, Texas wasn't too exciting. I was really excited to watch the Taylor Dent, Guillermo Cañas match. But it didn't live up to the hype. Argentina's Guillermo Cañas seemed so comfortable on the clay and didn't let Dent get any chance of a lead. Cañas beat the American, 62 62 in just over an hour.

I was also excited to see the Tommy Haas, Marcel Granollers match. I actually enjoyed watching it. The German wildcard, Haas was looking for a spot in the final eight, but he had to overcome sixth seed from Spain, Marcel Granollers. Granollers is ranked 22 places above Haas, but Haas has been playing well for a while and I was expecting him to win. The first set went Granollers' way, 6-4. But Haas stepped up his game to outlast Granollers in the end, 46 62 63.

Russia's Evgeny Korolev and Thailand's Bjorn Phau were the other winners. Korolev knocked out Spain's Daniel Gimeno-Traver, 63 76(4). And Phau played well to pass Atlanta's Scoville Jenkins, 64 76(2).

Who I Want to Win: John Isner

Who I Think Will Win: Guillermo Cañas

Casablanca DAY 4

The Grand Prix Hassan II tennis tournament launched its bottom half matches in the second round yesterday. And the number one seed, Igor Andreev faced a tremendously tough encounter with his French opponent, Nicolas Devilder. Although Andreev had five chances to break in the first set, he couldn't convert and they went to a tiebreaker. It was an enthralling tiebreak which eventually resulted in a 13-11 win for Devilder. The second set was pretty similar. Only they both traded breaks. A second set tiebreaker erupted. This tiebreak didn't last as long, but it was tight. Andreev won it though, 7-5. Andreev was serving tremendously well in the third set and he didn't allow Devilder a chance for a break. And one break was enough for Andreev to capture the match in3 hours and 16 minutes with the score at 67(11) 76(5) 64.

Marc Gicquel and Florent Serra were the other seeds that pulled through their matches quite easily. The victims were Germany's Mischa Zverev and Belgium's Olivier Rochus. Gicquel defeated Zverev, 64 75. And Serra defeated Rochus, 63 63.

Who I Want to Win: Juan Carlos Ferrero

Who I Think Will Win: Juan Carlos Ferrero

Marbella DAY 3

At the Andalucía Tennis Experience in Marbella, Spain, Serena Williams finally took center stage on the third day of the tournament. She was set to roll over her Czech opponent, Klara Zakopalova, who hasn't clinched a top ten win since 2003 when she beat Monica Seles. I was concerned for Serena because she's been having a speratic knee injury coming into the tournament. Zakopalova surprisingly took the first set, 6-4. But it looked like Serena was going to come back after she won the second set, 6-3. But Serena fell apart in the third, and Zakopalova capitalized on Serena's errors to clinch her first top ten win since 2003, 64 36 61. Due to Serena's loss, DINARA SAFINA WILL BECOME THE NEW NUMBER ONE NEXT WEEK.

Another match that didn't build to the hype was an all Spanish battle between tour veterans, Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual. The fourth seed, Medina Garrigues was ranked 86 places above Ruano Pascual. And it showed with an hour and a half match with the final score at 62 63, Medina Garrigues.

Other Scores of Day 3:
(3/W) Kaia Kanepi(EST) def. (LL) Silvia Soler Espinosa(ESP) 64 62
(7) Sorana Cirstea(ROU) def. Andreja Klepac(SLO) 46 61 61
Roberta Vinci(ITA) def. Nicole Vaidisova(CZE) 63 63

Who I Want to Win: Carla Suarez Navarro

Who I Think Will Win: Jelena Jankovic

Ponte Vedra Beach DAY 3

On Day 3 of the MPS Group Championships in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, four singles matches took place. Now the story of the week was youngster, Madison Keys. She went up against the number one seed, Nadia Petrova. Now I thought that Petrova was going to wipe Keys out. But although the match was pretty one-sided, Madison Keys played well under the circumstances. Petrova won the match 63 62. But for a fourteen year old, Keys has not a bright, but a flourescent future.

The slovakian, Dominika Cibulkova, seeded third in the tournament won her match as well. She is a magnificent player on all surfaces, but she seems to be most comfortable on the slow clay. Cibulkova defeated Russian qualifier, Anastasia Rodionova, 61 63. I met Dominika at this year's US Open and she was very sweet. And up close, she is very small, but she packs a lot of strength. I'm starting to think that Cibulkova has a chance to possibly win Ponte Vedra.

The seventh seeded Ukrainian, Alona Bondarenko took out her sister Kateryna on Day 3. I was expecting a straight set win for Kateryna because Alona's game has slumped for the past couple of months and Kateryna pulled off the upset over Radwanska at the Australian Open this year. But Alona showed off her clay court skills to come from behind and defeat her sister, 46 64 63.

And the Russian beauty, Elena Vesnina looked to be upset by her Austrian opponent, Patricia Mayr after Elena dropped the first set, 1-6. But Elena persevered to win the second set, 6-3. And the momentum stayed with Vesnina until the end of the match. The final score was 16 63 62, Vesnina.


Who I Want to Win: Daniela Hantuchova

Who I Think Will Win: Dominika Cibulkova

Houston DAY 3

The US Men's Clay Court Championship in Houston, Texas continued with its matches yesterday. And more surprises came about. The third and fourth seeds were knocked out in the second round. Jurgen Melzer, the left-handed Austrian third seed who has risen in the rankings for the past couple of months fell to another lefty, Wayne Odesnik(USA). The American, who is ranked 69 places below Melzer showed his brilliant clay court abilities by rampaging him, 64 60.

The other seed that lost yesterday was the fourth seed from France, Jeremy Chardy. Chardy was eaten alive by his Spanish opponent, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Jeremy Chardy has proved that he has a lot of talent on the hard courts by making it to the finals of Delray Beach, but it doesn't seem like clay is where Chardy's comfort zone is. He was smashed by the one-handed backhand Spaniard, 61 60 in just under an hour.

Lleyton Hewitt is still on a clay court hot streak after diminishing his Argentine opponent, Sergio Roitman in the second round, 61 63 also under an hour. Something tells me that Hewitt has a chance to get back to the top 10. Who knows? Maybe he could win another grand slam.

The only match of the day that lasted longer than an hour and a minute was the Paul Capdeville, John Isner match. Now I was expecting a straight set win for Capdeville. And it started off that way when Capdeville captured a break to take the first set 6-4. But not one more break occurred throughout the rest of the match. Isner started to play more aggressive in the second set tiebreak and won it, 7-1. The third set was exactly the same as the second. A final set tiebreak was inevitable. And Isner surprised many by winning the tiebreak, 8-5 and winning the match, 46 76(1) 76(5). I am honestly very surprised. I guess having an awesome serve can really help you. And Isner served an astounding 24 aces. His next opponent is Wayne Odesnik. I'm gonna say that Odesnik is gonna win in three sets.

Who I Want to Win: John Isner

Who I Think Will Win: Tommy Haas

Casablanca DAY 3

On Day 3 of the Grand Prix Hassan II in Casablanca, only four singles matches took place. The only small shock of the day was portuguese, Frederico Gil. He dismantled my favorite of the tournament, Ivan Ljubicic. The first set was very tight and it went to a tiebreak. Ljubicic didn't seem to struggle too much throughout the tiebreak and won it, 7-2. The second set looked to have another tiebreak, but as Ljubicic tried to serve into a tiebreak, Gil breaks and takes the second set from Ljubicic, 7-5. So far, the score was exactly the same to Ljubicic's previous match with Arnaud Clement. There weren't any breaks of serve for the most of the final set, but as Ljubicic tried to level the match at 5-5, he was broken, and Gil took the final set, 6-4. Ivan may not have won this one, but he is for sure gonna go far at Roland Garros.

And expected winner (for me), Juan Carlos Ferrero pulled through a tricky encounter with Italy's, Potito Starace. Ferrero played well and fought hard to come out with a straight set win over Starace, 64 76(1). 

Romanian, Victor Hanescu destroyed his Spanish opponent, Ivan Navarro yesterday whilst winning 86% of his first serve points. The final score was 61 60.

An all Spanish duel ensued on the slow clay courts of Casablanca yesterday. And the match turned out to be a real cracker. Spaniards, Albert Montañes and Santiago Ventura faced off in a 2 hour and 15 minute grudge match. The first set was tight, but Ventura won it, 7-5. But Montañes crawled back to break Ventura twice in the second set to take it, 6-3. In the final set, Montañes had a strong lead which led him to serve for the match at 5-2. But Ventura clawed his way to 5-5. But it wasn't enough for Ventura, and Montañes broke Ventura again to take the final set, 7-5.

    

The NEW player I want to Win: Juan Carlos Ferrero

Who I think Will Win:  Juan Carlos Ferrero

Marbella DAY 2

The Andalucía Tennis Experience held in Marbella, Spain is another women's tournament that just started a few days ago. This is the first year this tournament is held, and some big names such as Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic entered the draw. Day 1 consisted of only one minor upset. The eighth seed from Bulgaria, Tsvetana Pironkova was ousted by Italy's Roberta Vinci. Vinci defeated Pironkova, 67(4) 62 64. 

Throughout the plethora of matches throughout the entire day, not one seeded player lost. The main match of the day consisted of second seed, Jelena Jankovic. Jankovic had a very strong clay court season last year, and she will probably do the same this time around. She started off on the clay with a mutilating win over Italy's Francesca Schiavone, 62 61. The other seeds that passed the first round test were fourth seed from Spain, Anabel Medina Garrigues, fifth seed also from Spain, Carla Suarez Navarro, and the sixth seed from Italy, Sara Errani. 

Anabel Medina Garrigues has been very consistent in the rankings for many years, but she is very unnoticed. And she easily dismantled her opponent from Belarus, Anastasiya Yakimova, 61 63. 

Carla Suarez Navarro made her mark in the rankings after she reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros last year. Since then, she surprised Venus Williams at the Australian Open en route to another grand slam quarterfinal. She should come out with  some brilliant results this season. She started off well with a 75 75 win over her Estonian opponent, Maret Ani.

And Sara Errani has been playing on tour for a while now and she has maintained a solid ranking for a few years now as well. She has good results coming from all surfaces. And she played a solid match against Germany's Julia Schruff yesterday, pulling off a 75 76(6) win.

And I must say that I am a fan of Qualifier Arantxa Rus from the Netherlands. She is young, and there is a lot of good tennis that will come from her in the future. She defeated Spanish wildcard, Maria Teresa Torro-Flor 46 62 60.

 

Other Results from Day 2:

  Renata Voracova(CZE) def. Pauline Parmentier(FRA) 76(8) 46 64

  (Q) Ekaterina Ivanova(RUS) def. (Q) Masa Zec Peskiric(SLO) 60 64

  Andreja Klepac(SLO) def. Severine Bremond(FRA) 57 62 62

 (Q) Polona Hercog(SLO) def. Stephanie Cohen-Aloro(FRA) 36 76(4) 62

 Virginia Ruano Pascual(ESP) def. Tathiana Garbin(ITA) 61 26 61

 (Q) Selima Sfar(TUN) def. (WC) Estrella Cabeza Candela(ESP) 63 76(4)

  Who I Want to Win: Carla Suarez Navarro

  Who I Think Will Win: Jelena Jankovic

Ponte Vedra Beach DAY 2

The MPS Group Championships at the Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida started a few days ago. This tournament is held for women. Now the only story on Day 1 was 14-year old American, Madison Keys. She went down in the record books as the seventh youngest woman to win a WTA Tour main draw match. She took out an out of sorts Russian, Alla Kudryavtseva, who defeated Maria Sharapova in Wimbledon '08. Keys defeated Kudryavtseva, 75 64. This would definitely be the biggest win of her career. Let's see if she could pull off a top ten win over another Russian, Nadia Petrova, who knocked out Olga Govortsova yesterday, 62 64.

On Day 2, the only seeds that fell were sixth seed, Peng Shuai, and fourth seed Patty Schnyder. Peng Shuai lost to an up and coming star who made it to the quarter-finals in Dubai, Elena Vesnina. Vesnina defeated Peng, 26 61 63. The other upset was delivered by a Lucky Loser originally born in Uzbekistan, Varvara Lepchenko but she represents the USA. Anyway, she stunned the fourth seeded lefty from Switzerland, Patty Schnyder. Schnyder is a well rounded player and can deliver on all surfaces, but she drowned yesterday to Lepchenko. Varvara pulled off the upset by destroying the fourth seed, 62 60.

A few other eventful matches throughout the day consisted of Caroline Wozniacki, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, and Daniela Hantuchova. Wozniacki, The talented Dane dismissed Aussie Samantha Stosur in a tough three setter, 63 67(4) 61. Bethanie Mattek-Sands is coming back on tour after her leave from getting married. She pulled off a tough come from behind win against qualifier, ranked 14 in the world, Marion Bartoli from France. Bartoli is my third favorite tennis player in the world behind James Blake and Daniela Hantuchova. But it seemed that she was tired from her qualifying matches and seemed to weaken towards the end of the match. Mattek-Sands won the match 57 76(4) 63.

And Daniela Hantuchova has been a real enigma for the past several months. But for the most part, she has not been playing good enough tennis. She slumped from nine in the world last year to a depressing 43. But she kept her cool against Latvian qualifier, Anastasija Sevastova. Sevastova took the first set easily, 62. But Daniela powered back to a 64 second set win. and the third set was a topsy turvy set, but Hantuchova finally capitalized and captured the final set in a tiebreak.

Other Scores of Day 2:

Tamira Paszek(AUT) def. Melinda Czink(HUN) 67(5) 64 64

Sabine Lisicki(GER) def. (Q) Mariya Koryttseva(UKR) 63 76(3)

(5) Aleksandra Wozniak(CAN) def. Jill Craybas(USA) 64 64

(Q) Anastasia Rodionova(RUS) def. Galina Voskoboeva(KAZ) 64 62

Virginie Razzano(FRA) def. Akgul Amanmuradova(UZB) 62 64

Who I Want to Win: Daniela Hantuchova

Who I Think Will Win: Caroline Wozniacki

Houston DAY 2

The US Men's Clay Court Championship in Houston, Texas kicked off a couple of days ago. Day 1 was pretty uneventful with the exception of a few 2+ hour matches and the eighth seed, Maximo Gonzalez getting upset. But the real drama occurred on Day 2. Before I talk about the huge upsets, I want to mention the plethora of guys who played such wonderful tennis back in the day, but fell apart whether it was because of injury or just there game was not refined enough,  and now they are back on tour with new additions to their games and are proving to be serious threats this year. 

One prime example is Taylor Dent. Back in the earlier 2000s, Dent reached a career high ranking of 21 in 2005 with his strong serve and beautiful serve and volley technique. Dent has faded away since then, and now he is back with big wins in Miami. Dent won his first clay court match of the season against Brazilian, Marcos Daniel 46 63 62. Dent's better results have come off the hard courts, but there's no doubt in my mind that he can make a mark on the clay courts this spring. 

Other comebacks of the tour are Lleyton Hewitt, John Isner, Tommy Haas, and even Guillermo Cañas. Australian former number one, Lleyton Hewitt won a solid amount of grand slams earlier in the decade, but lately, his game suffered. But now everyone can tell that he has been working hard to rise in the rankings. The form that he exhibited in the early 2000s was revived on the night where he faced Cypriot, Marcos Baghdatis in the 3rd round of the '08 Australian Open. It went in the record books for the latest ending to a match in grand-slam history. Hewitt won the match. And he won his match against seventh seed Diego Junquiera yesterday 60 62. 

And John Isner showed up in '07 and faced Federer in the US Open. Isner took the first set but eventually fell to the then number one. Since then he has struggled to reach the expectations of his fans. But now he is back with a new found confidence. He played brilliantly in Indian Wells, but eventually fell to Juan Martin Del Potro in the 4th round. . Isner won his match yesterday, defeating qualifier Michael Russell 46 63 62. Clay is not Isner's forte, but we'll see what he can do. 

Tommy Haas has been around for a while. He was once number two in the world. But that ended quickly as well. Now, he has been playing in many tournaments and is almost up to the level he was at during the late 90's, early 00's. Haas was given a wildcard into Houston, but he surprised clay court specialist, Denis Gremelmayr, 63 63.

Most of the drama occurred on Centre Court. There weren't too many surprises on the outer courts. The first victim of the day was the second seed, American Mardy Fish. Fish faced Thailand's, Bjorn Phau. Although it seemed to be a shocking result, Fish's game does not suit well for the clay. He's not very fast and he could have better stamina if he loses some weight. (No offense, Mardy) And I'm getting tired of these players who can't deliver any strategy on clay. It may be a different surface, but it's still Tennis. Fish did succumb to Phau's elegant one-handed backhands and calm frame of mind with a 63 57 63 loss. 

The other upset of the day wasn't a surprise. Argentine, Gullermo Cañas who has struggled for the last year displayed some great tennis against number one seed, James Blake. Now Blake really falls apart on the clay because he relies on the speed of the hardcourts to attack with his powerful flat groundstrokes. It doesn't work on the clay. Cañas took advantage of Blake's inconsistent backhand and won, 64 64. Now James Blake is my favorite tennis player. He is incredibly classy on and off the court and he did not deserve to lose against the cheater, Fernando Gonzalez in the Olympics but I really wish he can get a little more well rounded on all surfaces. But I believe in him. 

   Other Scores of Day 2:

   (4) Jeremy Chardy(FRA) def.  (LL) Jesse Levine(USA) 63 60

     Guillermo Garcia-Lopez(ESP) def. (Q) Giovanni Lapentti(ECU) 16 60 62

     Sergio Roitman(ARG) def. Agustin Calleri(ARG) 63 63

     Paul Capdeville(CHI) def. Amer Delic(USA) 67(5) 76(5) 61

   (6) Marcel Granollers(ESP) def. Brian Dabul(ARG) 26 64 61

   (Q) Scoville Jenkins(USA) def. (Q) Alexander Peya(AUT) 06 64 63

          Who I Want to Win: John Isner

          Who I Think Will Win: Tommy Haas

Casablanca DAY 2

 The Grand Prix Hassan II in Casablanca, Morocco is a tournament only held for men. And now that Roland Garros is right around the corner, the clay court season is starting up. The prize money consists of 450,000 Moroccan Dirham (Morocco's Currency). In America, its about $54,000. But the winner gets a mere $9,000. Which isn't bad at all. The number one seed in the tournament is Russia's Igor Andreev who is currently ranked 21 in the world. Other seeds include German veteran, Rainer Schuettler, and well respected Frenchman, Marc Gicquel. 

Now I started my blog today so I didn't get a chance to discuss Day 1 of the tournament. The main things that happened on Day 1 were up and coming star, Sergiy Stakhovsky(UKR) bowed out of his match against Ivan Navarro(ESP) with a wrist injury. He should recover quickly though. And the only seeded player knocked out on Day 1 was another veteran on tour, Frenchman Arnaud Clement. He was downed by comeback kid, Ivan Ljubicic, a Croat who's ranking has severely dropped in the last several years, but lately has been playing very well at 68 in the world. The match was just three minutes short of being 3 hours long. The result was 76(6) 57 64 in Ljubicic's favor. But now, on to day 2. 

The biggest shock of Day 2 was the defeat of the second seed, Rainer Schuettler. The qualifier who delivered the upset was a Spaniard by the name of Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo. Hidalgo usually makes his marks on clay. And he exhibited his talent on the clay court by coming out with a straight set win over the number 31 in the world, 64 76(5). The only other time I've heard of Ramirez Hidalgo was when he had a 5-2 lead in the third set against Roger Federer in Monte Carlo last year. Unfortunately for him, Federer saved match points to pull out a win in a third set tiebreak. Hopefully Ramirez Hidalgo can show that kind of clay court prowess this season. 

Another unseeded Spaniard who is back on track with his game is Juan Carlos Ferrero. The former number one in the world has recently been showing good form for the past few months. And he exhibited his high clay court IQ yesterday against the seventh seed from Belgium, Christophe Rochus. Ferrero easily knocked him out, 62 63. I'm expecting much to come from Ferrero not only throughout the clay court season, but throughout the rest of 2009. 

 The number one seed in this tournament, Igor Andreev was probably expecting an easy win over wildcard from Morocco, Rabie Chaki. But the world number 482 put up an astounding fight. Chaki started out the match strongly, not letting Andreev take advantage of hardly any of his first or second serves. So he went up a crucial break in the first set and won it 63. But in the second set, Andreev stepped up his game and served very well not letting Chaki a chance for a break. And Chaki's consistency on his serve started to deteriorate. Andreev jumped on his chances and won the second set 63. Now the third set was quite intense. Chaki earned a break in the third set, but Andreev's two breaks helped him finally serve out the match just before a possible deciding tiebreak. The final score was 36 63 75, Andreev.

Other Scores of Day 2:

    Nicolas Devilder(FRA) def. Daniel Koellerer(AUT) 63 64

    Mischa Zverev(GER) def. Flavio Cipolla(ITA) 62 36 63

   (6) Marc Gicquel(FRA) def. Kristof Vliegen(BEL) 75 63

    Potito Starace(ITA) def. Oscar Hernandez(ESP) 46 63 63

   (Q) Santiago Ventura(ESP) def. (Q) Oliver Marach(AUT) 61 61

    Albert Montañes(ESP) def. (WC) Reda El Amrani(MAR) 62 75

    Olivier Rochus(BEL) def. (WC) Mehdi Ziadi(MAR) 46 62 61

    Teimuraz Gabashvili(RUS) def. Fabio Fognini(ITA) 62 61

      Who I Want to Win: Ivan Ljubicic

      

      Who I Think Will Win: Juan Carlos Ferrero