Well well well we're finally here, in a year capped with unexpected disasters we finally reach the Year Ending. Highlights of the Top 8 players are definitely Jelena reaching Number 1 without having won a Grand Slam - very Kim Clijsters/Amelie Mauresmo esque! Dinara Safina shocking the world by becoming Number 2, Serena Williams returning to the No.1 for the briefest moment - her Us Open victory is close! Ana Ivanovic winning Roland Garros but then failing to live up to expectations, Elena Dementieva returning to the elite of tennis with very little press coverage here in Britain, Maria Sharapova collapsing after what I thought would be a handover year to her. Svetlana Kuznetsova continuing her run as player you never knew existed but in the Top 8! Finally Venus Williams winning another Wimbledon title! But all have been overshadowed by the shock retirement of Justine Henin!
Anyway who will win in the Final showdown! Jelena will definitely be on everyone's top 3 lists I think whilst Dinara Safina has a strong chance. You can never discount the Williams sisters either. Then we have the ones I doubt will make it. Though Ana won in Geneva I think against the top tier opponents she will crumble away as usual. Svetlana and Vera are likely to be mentioned as possible outsiders but I doubt they will actualy win the title. Whilst Elena I just think will not win! This is what I want the groups to be.
Jelena/Ana/Elena/Venus
Dinara/Serena/Svetlana/Vera
Ok this is because we have the more powerful opponents on one side and the others on the other side! Nope there's actually more to it! I think Jelena will be sure to make the semis so the group will be left with Ana, Elena and Venus. Venus should be able to take on both Ana and Elena as Ana is on bad form and I think Venus has an advantage against Elena. Whilst on the other side I think Serena is more likely to win against Dinara than win against Jelena whilst Kuznetsova and Vera shouldn't be a problem. As Safina has a 7-4 lead over Kuznetsova I think Dinara will continue on a positive note - the only problem may be Vera Zvonareva who Safina has lost to in their past three meetings - all on Hard courts by the way. However I think Svetlana should have the upper hand against Vera so Dinara should be able to get in the semis as 2nd in the group. This means Jelena will face Dinara and Serena will face Venus - I think that will be the best semi as if Serena faces Venus in the finals I think Serena will win for sure but in the semis I don't know! Weird isn't it! Whilst Jelena and Dinara are left to destroy each other! The thing is this draw is actually possible!
As the mens aren't fully developed I cn only say what I wish to happen which is Simon, Del Potro and Roddick making the final 8 - though I think Ferrer may kick out Simon!
Anyway the draw will be
Nadal/Murray/Del Potro/Simon
Federer/Djokovic/Davydenko/Roddick
Nadal/Djokovic/Davydenko/Simon
Federer/Murray/Del Potro/Roddick
Ok yes I'm indecisive on this one. Here's what I'm thinking. Nadal is quite likely going to win his group - if not he'll at least be 2nd therefore his section needs to be easier for Djokovic and Murray to have a definite chance of going through, therefore I've stuck Djokovic to Davydenko and Murray to Del Potro and as I really want Roddick to have a chance to play Federer he is in Federer's group for both. If Nadal is with Murray then i think it would be Nadal and Murray to make the final 4. However it would be difficult to predict who would win out of Federer and Djokovic. However if Djokovic was in Nadal's group I think Djokovic will face Nadal and Murray will face Federer. But this is what I truly want
Djokovic Vs Murray, Nadal Vs. Federer. This would be the most interesting semis I think but I really want Djokovic to get to the final! It's so difficult! We'll just have to see.
Tuesday 28 October 2008
One more week
One more week until the end of the season! The BNP Paribas marks the final event where the top players have come out in force, whilst the womens have decided to take an early holiday with the Bell Challenge marking the penultimate showdown. Lets quickly cover the Bell Challenge so I can get onto the exciting stuff! Well actually I'll be amazed if Nadia Petrova doesn't win here as her opponents seem to pail in comparison to her ranking! I don't see any possible threats in her half of the draw - sorry Tanasugarn, Groenefeld and King! This then expands to the bottom half of the draw also! Her toughest opponent Sybille Bammer has already been knocked out so Nadia if you don't win this the whole of Russia wll laugh at you! And isn't it amazing how many Canadian players are playing in this tournament! I didn't even know there were that many Canadian players!
Now we move onto the seriou stuff - BNP Paribas. 3 berths ae up for grabs here and I hope it's not Ferrer who gets one - anyway that will be for the next post! Nadal has Monfils in his close vicinity, sadly Safin is out - but at least it was Monaco who beat him. So sad that 3 players that I like are eliminating each other! Anyway the winner; who I think will be Monfils, will take on Nadal - good luck! Wawrinka will face Berdych - who beat Ginepri (again two players I like - luckily Wawrinka isn't one of them!) Davydenko is also in this draw but he's been more than underwhelming lately - I didn't even remember he existed half the time. Also Ljubicic is in this draw - had to comment on him or it would seem like he vaished from the face of the earth! These 4 players are unlikely to challenge Nadal for the Semis spot and to be honest they seem unlikely to be in the QF's end of! Murray must be the talk of Nadal's fear as he is on fine form currently. Though I still doubt Murray has enough to beat Nadal I think he is well on his way to making that upset. His opponents shouldn't be too challenging - also of note Baghdatis has truely vanished from tennis! Whilst Robredo is trying to stay on the turf! Ancic is on the next side but it looks gloomy for him as he's got Del Potro to look forward to. But the potential winner in this section (Del Potro/Ancic, Kiefer/Nalbandian) could be tough opposition for Murray, however I think the semis here will be a Nadal/Murray affair. Roddick is on Djokovic's turf - boo hoo. Even more boo hooey is that Feliciano Lopez and Dmitry Tursunov face them in Round 2! Hopefully Djokovic will stay strong as recently he's been in wavering form. What is most interesting is that Simon and Roddick are scheduled to face each other - if that does happen it would be interesting to see who wins. Tsonga is also here by the way. Ferrer has the added luck of Blake being in his draw, meaning out of the potential Year End Championship players he has probably the easiest route - it may mean Simon is kicked out of the Championships! Anyway Mikhail will hopefully beat Ferrer - hopefully! Sadly Gasquet has decided enough is enough and withdrawn from the tournament, it means Federer has probably the easiest route to the semis - it wouldn't have been that much more difficult if Gasquet was around anyways! But Soderling may force Federer into three sets if Soderling is feeling up for it and you never know the youngster Marin Cilic may fancy a stab at glory! However it seems that the top seeds are likely to face each other in the semis - sadly I think Djokovic may have the smallest chance out of the 4 of getting to the semis. Anyway DJOKOVIC for the FINAL!
Now we move onto the seriou stuff - BNP Paribas. 3 berths ae up for grabs here and I hope it's not Ferrer who gets one - anyway that will be for the next post! Nadal has Monfils in his close vicinity, sadly Safin is out - but at least it was Monaco who beat him. So sad that 3 players that I like are eliminating each other! Anyway the winner; who I think will be Monfils, will take on Nadal - good luck! Wawrinka will face Berdych - who beat Ginepri (again two players I like - luckily Wawrinka isn't one of them!) Davydenko is also in this draw but he's been more than underwhelming lately - I didn't even remember he existed half the time. Also Ljubicic is in this draw - had to comment on him or it would seem like he vaished from the face of the earth! These 4 players are unlikely to challenge Nadal for the Semis spot and to be honest they seem unlikely to be in the QF's end of! Murray must be the talk of Nadal's fear as he is on fine form currently. Though I still doubt Murray has enough to beat Nadal I think he is well on his way to making that upset. His opponents shouldn't be too challenging - also of note Baghdatis has truely vanished from tennis! Whilst Robredo is trying to stay on the turf! Ancic is on the next side but it looks gloomy for him as he's got Del Potro to look forward to. But the potential winner in this section (Del Potro/Ancic, Kiefer/Nalbandian) could be tough opposition for Murray, however I think the semis here will be a Nadal/Murray affair. Roddick is on Djokovic's turf - boo hoo. Even more boo hooey is that Feliciano Lopez and Dmitry Tursunov face them in Round 2! Hopefully Djokovic will stay strong as recently he's been in wavering form. What is most interesting is that Simon and Roddick are scheduled to face each other - if that does happen it would be interesting to see who wins. Tsonga is also here by the way. Ferrer has the added luck of Blake being in his draw, meaning out of the potential Year End Championship players he has probably the easiest route - it may mean Simon is kicked out of the Championships! Anyway Mikhail will hopefully beat Ferrer - hopefully! Sadly Gasquet has decided enough is enough and withdrawn from the tournament, it means Federer has probably the easiest route to the semis - it wouldn't have been that much more difficult if Gasquet was around anyways! But Soderling may force Federer into three sets if Soderling is feeling up for it and you never know the youngster Marin Cilic may fancy a stab at glory! However it seems that the top seeds are likely to face each other in the semis - sadly I think Djokovic may have the smallest chance out of the 4 of getting to the semis. Anyway DJOKOVIC for the FINAL!
Last Week
Ok yet again I'm slightly late but it seems that nowadays that is the norm for me! Anyway did anyone realise that besides Andy Roddick the Top seeds of every other tournament won! Now when have you seen something like that happen! Especially when there were 5 tournaments last week! Anway first off is Geneva. Ok Ivanovic did win but I don't think it is enough to say that she has been doing good this year on the whole, yes this may be a comeback but I don't think she'll get back to Number 1 next year; maybe she'll have a chance in 2010 but not 2009. Anyway bravo to Flavia Pennetta for beating two strong opponents and then doing well against Ivanovic, if she can continue her form she may break the Top 10 next year! Besideds that I've got nothing much more to add here.
Elena won in Luxembourg also and I think I tipped the Semifinalists since the beginning so I'm happy. However It's sad to see how Amelie Mauresmo has seemingly no chance of returning into the Top 10. It seems like I didn't like her when she was good but I like her when she is lying low! Weird isn't it! Anyway I'm also happy for Na Li here as she performed well, hopefully she'll do better next time.
The mens saw Federer win the title but honestly besides the US what large tournament has he won? Anyway enough of that lets move onto Feliciano Lopez - good going for him he got to the Semis! All his matches were so tight! But hopefully he'll move from strength to strength here. Also reading an article saying Wawrinka has a chance of winning and then seeing him lose in the first round was quite comical!
As I said Roddick lost - this time to Soderling! Well there's always next time - wait there's only Paris to go! Gilles SImon is quickly making my Top players, I don't know what it is but I just like him nowadays! But the French must have been happy to see three of the four semifinalists as natives however the winner was Soderling so I guess it was slightly in their faces! I also long to see Gasquet become more consistent - to think that Simon is now No.1 French after so many French guys making headlines this year is truely extraordinary.
Yeah Murray Won! But that seems common this month! However it wasn't enough to cover the loss of Mario Ancic, Dmitry Tursunov, Marat Safin and Mikhail Youzhny all leaving before the QF! The Russians must be fully dissapointed - besides some unknown Russian named Michail Elgin no other Russian made it into the QFs!
Elena won in Luxembourg also and I think I tipped the Semifinalists since the beginning so I'm happy. However It's sad to see how Amelie Mauresmo has seemingly no chance of returning into the Top 10. It seems like I didn't like her when she was good but I like her when she is lying low! Weird isn't it! Anyway I'm also happy for Na Li here as she performed well, hopefully she'll do better next time.
The mens saw Federer win the title but honestly besides the US what large tournament has he won? Anyway enough of that lets move onto Feliciano Lopez - good going for him he got to the Semis! All his matches were so tight! But hopefully he'll move from strength to strength here. Also reading an article saying Wawrinka has a chance of winning and then seeing him lose in the first round was quite comical!
As I said Roddick lost - this time to Soderling! Well there's always next time - wait there's only Paris to go! Gilles SImon is quickly making my Top players, I don't know what it is but I just like him nowadays! But the French must have been happy to see three of the four semifinalists as natives however the winner was Soderling so I guess it was slightly in their faces! I also long to see Gasquet become more consistent - to think that Simon is now No.1 French after so many French guys making headlines this year is truely extraordinary.
Yeah Murray Won! But that seems common this month! However it wasn't enough to cover the loss of Mario Ancic, Dmitry Tursunov, Marat Safin and Mikhail Youzhny all leaving before the QF! The Russians must be fully dissapointed - besides some unknown Russian named Michail Elgin no other Russian made it into the QFs!
Sunday 19 October 2008
WTA next week
Well the Linz tournament is lacking some big names but Flavia Pennetta will be here hoping to win a title - however she faces stiff competition.
Ivanovic leads the seeds here but I highly doubt she'll win. If I was to put a safe bet I would go for Vera Zvonareva making the final. Anyway Flavia Pennetta will have Agnes Szavay to look out for in the 1st round. Ok Agnes is not great currently but you still need to look out for her in case she has a sudden burst of greatness! But Dominika Cibulkova is my main worry here. If it comes down to it I think Pennetta will have enough momentum to beat Ivanovic the only thing that would stop her is her stamina as most players who win one tournament find it difficult to get far in the next because of their stamina. Radwanska leads the next draw but she has the threat of Petrova. I doubt she is a title threat after her loss against Pennetta but she is capable of upsetting the crowd. I will be looking at Kaia Kanepi to make a splash but Srebotnik could also be a dark horse for the semis spot though I'd love to see Tanasugarn up there.
Bartoli wll face Sugiyama - hopefully Sugiyama's experience will crush Bartoli whilst former young hopeful Tamira Paszek has basically lost her way and seems to be going down the drain. Alona Bondarenko will also be here. Alize cornet is the seed alongside Zvonareva but Cornet seems to have lost her momentum and with the threat of Jie Zheng I'm not sure if she can win. Hopefully Maria Kirilenko will have enough to beat the winner of that match and have a go at the semifinalist spot.
The tier 3 tournament doesn't seem much weaker than the Tier II, anyway Elena Dementieva head this draw - it seems like ages since she has done so. Anyway Anna Lena Groenefeld could be her biggest challenge in the early stages as I don't see Amelie Mauresmo making an impact. So I'd expect to see Dementieva in the final 4 at least. Hantuchova is one of the most unpredictable female players in the Top 20 so I wouldn't like to guess, but if she's on form her opponent aren't that difficult to tackle. My eyes will be pealed for Sorana Cirstea though. Garrigues and Wozniacki will probably head the most tight section of the draw. Shuai Peng and Vera Dushevina could be possible threats to the two making a clash - luckily the two will eliminate one another by playing in the first round. However I think Wozniacki is a safer bet for the semis spot. Finally we have Na Li! and Chakvetadze making a scene but Laura Robson is the centre of attention here. She doesn't have too difficult a draw so hopefully she could at least get to the 2nd round. But I think Na Li should have enough to get to the semis here seeing Chakvetadze will probably succumb to Na Li when they clash.
Oh yeah forgot to say it's great to see doubles partners play each other (Medina Garrigues Vs Ruano Pascual) - it's just interesting. Also I love that Dulko is partnering Robson in the doubles!
Ivanovic leads the seeds here but I highly doubt she'll win. If I was to put a safe bet I would go for Vera Zvonareva making the final. Anyway Flavia Pennetta will have Agnes Szavay to look out for in the 1st round. Ok Agnes is not great currently but you still need to look out for her in case she has a sudden burst of greatness! But Dominika Cibulkova is my main worry here. If it comes down to it I think Pennetta will have enough momentum to beat Ivanovic the only thing that would stop her is her stamina as most players who win one tournament find it difficult to get far in the next because of their stamina. Radwanska leads the next draw but she has the threat of Petrova. I doubt she is a title threat after her loss against Pennetta but she is capable of upsetting the crowd. I will be looking at Kaia Kanepi to make a splash but Srebotnik could also be a dark horse for the semis spot though I'd love to see Tanasugarn up there.
Bartoli wll face Sugiyama - hopefully Sugiyama's experience will crush Bartoli whilst former young hopeful Tamira Paszek has basically lost her way and seems to be going down the drain. Alona Bondarenko will also be here. Alize cornet is the seed alongside Zvonareva but Cornet seems to have lost her momentum and with the threat of Jie Zheng I'm not sure if she can win. Hopefully Maria Kirilenko will have enough to beat the winner of that match and have a go at the semifinalist spot.
The tier 3 tournament doesn't seem much weaker than the Tier II, anyway Elena Dementieva head this draw - it seems like ages since she has done so. Anyway Anna Lena Groenefeld could be her biggest challenge in the early stages as I don't see Amelie Mauresmo making an impact. So I'd expect to see Dementieva in the final 4 at least. Hantuchova is one of the most unpredictable female players in the Top 20 so I wouldn't like to guess, but if she's on form her opponent aren't that difficult to tackle. My eyes will be pealed for Sorana Cirstea though. Garrigues and Wozniacki will probably head the most tight section of the draw. Shuai Peng and Vera Dushevina could be possible threats to the two making a clash - luckily the two will eliminate one another by playing in the first round. However I think Wozniacki is a safer bet for the semis spot. Finally we have Na Li! and Chakvetadze making a scene but Laura Robson is the centre of attention here. She doesn't have too difficult a draw so hopefully she could at least get to the 2nd round. But I think Na Li should have enough to get to the semis here seeing Chakvetadze will probably succumb to Na Li when they clash.
Oh yeah forgot to say it's great to see doubles partners play each other (Medina Garrigues Vs Ruano Pascual) - it's just interesting. Also I love that Dulko is partnering Robson in the doubles!
This week 12-19th October
In the WTA I found a highlight of the year and that was Flavia Pennetta getting to the final by beating Jelena Jankovic. As most of ou know Flavia is one of my favourite players, this meant so much to me as she isgetting better and better hopefully next year we'll see her in the Top 10. However Venus was the winner and good for her as she needs this win to get to the Year End whilst Flavia is unlikely to do so. Anyway what made my day early in the week was Flavia thrashing Nadia Petrova. Seeing Nadia lose like that ater such good form made me really happy (not because Nadia lost but because Flavia won). On the other side adly Na Li didn't do so well losing in the 1st round. However I was chearing for Victoria Azarenka after knowing Anna Chakvetadze was unlikely to pass the 2nd round. Victoria played so well that she got a double bagel as well as beating Mauresmo (losing only three games) sadly she retired against Medina Garrigues or I would have had the pleasure of seeing Pennetta against Azarenka.
Kirilenko did well however it was short lived. On the 4th section the most interesting was Ivanovic against Bartoli - both I don't like, it however shows that Ivanovic is better than Bartoli! But Ivanovic had such easy opponents that really she hasn't improved that much since the last tournament.
Murray winning in Madrid topped the week off to becoming one of my favourite weeks of tennis because Murray beat Federer and Nadal lost to Simon (reason because Simon isn't in the Top 10!) The only thing that was missing was Djokovic! If only Djokovic could have won his 3rd Masters Series this year! Anyway next year hopefully he'll get to No.2.
First quarter saw two Spaniards lead the way - the top two spaniards - but what was so exciting about this draw was that all the Top 30 were playing meaning whoever won must be the best player currently on tour on hard courts! Anyway Nadal had little trouble except for against Gulbis - sadly Gasquet didn't cause a problem for Nadal either. But in this section it was Lopez who got my attention (another Spaniard!) beating the top two seeds in that section however losing comprehensibely to Nadal.
The second section saw Djokovic sadly lose to Karlovic - a threat to any player. I would have loved to see Djokovic against Nadal but at least Simon (currently in my Bubbling Under list) beat Nadal. Dmitry Tursunov also suffered an early exit sadly. But Robby Ginepri also did me proud by beating the unstable Nikolay Davydenko. The third section saw 4 players that I liked face each other. In the end Monfils beat Roddick and Murray beat Cilic - besides Roddick beating Monfils there would be no better outcome for me than this one.
In the 4th section veterans Federer and Nalbandian were on hold (sadly Youzhny was not one of them!) and two youngsters Del Potro and Tsonga were targeting their every move - sadly Juan Monaco also lost early. Anyway Tsonga was unable to defeat the stalwart Federer but Del Potro managed to defeat fellow Argentinian Nalbandian. However Federer was too strong sadly for Del Potro - at least Murray did us proud!
Anyway as I said the only thing that would have made my day would be Djokovic getting at least to the Semis but seeing how difficult it was for him to beat Hanescu made me slightly worried about his chances for the Year End title.
Kirilenko did well however it was short lived. On the 4th section the most interesting was Ivanovic against Bartoli - both I don't like, it however shows that Ivanovic is better than Bartoli! But Ivanovic had such easy opponents that really she hasn't improved that much since the last tournament.
Murray winning in Madrid topped the week off to becoming one of my favourite weeks of tennis because Murray beat Federer and Nadal lost to Simon (reason because Simon isn't in the Top 10!) The only thing that was missing was Djokovic! If only Djokovic could have won his 3rd Masters Series this year! Anyway next year hopefully he'll get to No.2.
First quarter saw two Spaniards lead the way - the top two spaniards - but what was so exciting about this draw was that all the Top 30 were playing meaning whoever won must be the best player currently on tour on hard courts! Anyway Nadal had little trouble except for against Gulbis - sadly Gasquet didn't cause a problem for Nadal either. But in this section it was Lopez who got my attention (another Spaniard!) beating the top two seeds in that section however losing comprehensibely to Nadal.
The second section saw Djokovic sadly lose to Karlovic - a threat to any player. I would have loved to see Djokovic against Nadal but at least Simon (currently in my Bubbling Under list) beat Nadal. Dmitry Tursunov also suffered an early exit sadly. But Robby Ginepri also did me proud by beating the unstable Nikolay Davydenko. The third section saw 4 players that I liked face each other. In the end Monfils beat Roddick and Murray beat Cilic - besides Roddick beating Monfils there would be no better outcome for me than this one.
In the 4th section veterans Federer and Nalbandian were on hold (sadly Youzhny was not one of them!) and two youngsters Del Potro and Tsonga were targeting their every move - sadly Juan Monaco also lost early. Anyway Tsonga was unable to defeat the stalwart Federer but Del Potro managed to defeat fellow Argentinian Nalbandian. However Federer was too strong sadly for Del Potro - at least Murray did us proud!
Anyway as I said the only thing that would have made my day would be Djokovic getting at least to the Semis but seeing how difficult it was for him to beat Hanescu made me slightly worried about his chances for the Year End title.
Friday 10 October 2008
Favourite Players
As promised I would do a full Top 100 scan of my favourite players and this is what I got for Men's and Women's
Womens
Favourites
Serena Williams (2), Dinara Safina (3), Maria Sharapova (6), Venus Williams (8), Flavia Pennetta (18), Nicole Vaidisova (22), Maria Kirilenko (32)
Bubbling Under
Elena Dementieva (4), Daniela Hantuchova (13), Dominika Cibulkova (20), Jie Zheng (26), Na Li (29), Lindsay Davenport (34), Tamarine Tanasugarn (36), Gisela Dulko (45)
OK
Victoria Azarenka (17), Alize Cornet (19), Sybille Bammer (24), Sorana Cirstea (39), Iveta Bensova (41), Agnieszka Radwanska (10), Anna Chakvetadze (12) ,Caroline Wozniacki (16), Amelie Mauresmo (25), Ai Sugiyama (31), Alona Bondarenko (33), Shuai Peng (40), Bethanie Mattek (42)
Dislikes
Ana Ivanovic (5), Svetlana Kuznetsova (7), Marion Bartoli (15)
*Others in the Top 50 and not mentioned are in my Not Bothered list.
Special Mentions (50-100)
BU = Bubbling Under
Samantha Stosur, Marta Domachowska, Yung-Jan Chan, Kateryna Bondarenko, Aravane Rezai, Anne Keothavong (BU), Camille Pin, Tatiana Golovin, Anna-Lena Groenefeld, Su Wei Hsieh, Ashley Harkleroad (BU), Sania Mirza
Yep the favourites are all basically the same but without Justine Henin there is such a big gap! Maria use to be in my dislike list (ages ago) but now I really like her as she is a player who is consistent and determined - despite her going through a bad patch. Nicole is losing grace quickly.
The Bubbling Unders list is likely to stay that way for a long time unless Elena and Na Li make me suddenly put them in my favourites. Tamarina Tanasugarn was inducted into this group after her Wimbledon performance which made her my favourite non Chinese Asian beating out Ai Sugiyama.
Yep Anna Chakvetadze made my Ok list, which seems weird considering that I've always said she was an unworthy Top 10, but now that she's out of the Top 10 I find her ranking much more deserving - though still a bit too high! Shuai Peng is not with the contigent of Chinese players in the Bubbling under list because she hasn't been making a scene on tour.
Jelena Jankovic on the other hand has risen from my dislike list - I think she got out of that about half a year ago. I just like her more now compared to her Serbian compatriot.
Ana Ivanovic is the new dislikee in the block - she's just so annoying to me nowadays - from her winning the French I knew I was never going to put her into my Favourites list ever again - basically because she didn't deserve her win - she won it in a time of flailing opponents and a weaker competition! Svetlana Kuznetsova is really there to keep the other two company! Basically I don't like her enough to put her in my not bothered list but I don't hate her as much as the other two. Whilst there's no need for me to say why I hate Marion Bartoli!
Mens
Favourites
Novak Djokovic (3), Andy Murray (4), Andy Roddick (8), Dmitry Tursunov (26), Mario Ancic (31), Marat Safin (40), Feliciano Lopez (45)
Bubbling Under
David Nalbandian (7), James Blake (11), Richard Gasquet (15), Tomas Berdych (21), Mikhail Youzhny (22), Gael Monfils (28), Michael Llodra (36), Juan Monaco (43), Simone Bolelli (46), Jose Acasuso (47)
OK
Juan Martin Del Potro (9), Ivo Karlovic (14), Jo Wilfred Tsonga (16), Gilles Simon (17), Paul-Henri Mathieu (23), Marin Cilic (24), Mardy Fish (25), Nicolas Kiefer (27), Philipp Kohlschreiber (32), Rainer Schuettler (34), Robin Soderling (35), Juan Carlos Ferrero (44), Carlos Moya (48)
Dislikes
Rafael Nadal (1), Roger Federer (2), Stanislas Wawrinka (10), Marcos Baghdatis (42)
Special Mentions (50-100)
Ernests Gulbis (56), Tommy Haas (57) BU, Victor Troicki (60), Robby Ginepri (64) BU, Lleyton Hewitt (67), Yen Hsun Lu (69), Fabio Fognini (73), Kei Nishikori (77) BU, Jeremy Chardy (81), Arnaud Clement (86) BU, Chris Guccione (88), Kristof Vliegen (92), Filippo Volandri (95) BU
Like the womens I have 7 favourite men but Feliciano Lopez was very very close to my Bubbling Under group. AsI said Gasquet droppd to the Bubbling Under because of his lack of consistency, however after last week I may think about putting hi back into the Top; if he continues his form that is. and yes Verdasco is out of the top 3 lists cause I seem to have a change of heart towards Del Potro!
I still Dislike Nadal and Federer, though to a lesser extent. I was really thinking about putting them in my Not Bothered list but then I thought I do bother about them! Stanislas is in here basically because he just dens't get out of the Top 10! It annoys me so much when I don't even remember 1 of his achievements in the whole year! Whilst Baghdatis is a long known enemy of mine! In the special mentions Lleyton Hewitt has dropped out of Bubbling Under because I basically find that I only liked him before because I disliked Federer and liked most of the former No.1's because of that! Kei Nishikori has jumped into the Bubbling Under section as I see a possible Top 20 Asian guy here!
I just wanted to add here how I'm still depressed from the retirement of Henin, she was what tied the WTA together. It has been so so long since she retired its scary. Without her their is such a big gap in the womans game that I have reverted to liking the mens more. She's such a force in tennis that even one of my friends who is a severe Henin hater agreed that without Henin the tour is just not complete.
Womens
Favourites
Serena Williams (2), Dinara Safina (3), Maria Sharapova (6), Venus Williams (8), Flavia Pennetta (18), Nicole Vaidisova (22), Maria Kirilenko (32)
Bubbling Under
Elena Dementieva (4), Daniela Hantuchova (13), Dominika Cibulkova (20), Jie Zheng (26), Na Li (29), Lindsay Davenport (34), Tamarine Tanasugarn (36), Gisela Dulko (45)
OK
Victoria Azarenka (17), Alize Cornet (19), Sybille Bammer (24), Sorana Cirstea (39), Iveta Bensova (41), Agnieszka Radwanska (10), Anna Chakvetadze (12) ,Caroline Wozniacki (16), Amelie Mauresmo (25), Ai Sugiyama (31), Alona Bondarenko (33), Shuai Peng (40), Bethanie Mattek (42)
Dislikes
Ana Ivanovic (5), Svetlana Kuznetsova (7), Marion Bartoli (15)
*Others in the Top 50 and not mentioned are in my Not Bothered list.
Special Mentions (50-100)
BU = Bubbling Under
Samantha Stosur, Marta Domachowska, Yung-Jan Chan, Kateryna Bondarenko, Aravane Rezai, Anne Keothavong (BU), Camille Pin, Tatiana Golovin, Anna-Lena Groenefeld, Su Wei Hsieh, Ashley Harkleroad (BU), Sania Mirza
Yep the favourites are all basically the same but without Justine Henin there is such a big gap! Maria use to be in my dislike list (ages ago) but now I really like her as she is a player who is consistent and determined - despite her going through a bad patch. Nicole is losing grace quickly.
The Bubbling Unders list is likely to stay that way for a long time unless Elena and Na Li make me suddenly put them in my favourites. Tamarina Tanasugarn was inducted into this group after her Wimbledon performance which made her my favourite non Chinese Asian beating out Ai Sugiyama.
Yep Anna Chakvetadze made my Ok list, which seems weird considering that I've always said she was an unworthy Top 10, but now that she's out of the Top 10 I find her ranking much more deserving - though still a bit too high! Shuai Peng is not with the contigent of Chinese players in the Bubbling under list because she hasn't been making a scene on tour.
Jelena Jankovic on the other hand has risen from my dislike list - I think she got out of that about half a year ago. I just like her more now compared to her Serbian compatriot.
Ana Ivanovic is the new dislikee in the block - she's just so annoying to me nowadays - from her winning the French I knew I was never going to put her into my Favourites list ever again - basically because she didn't deserve her win - she won it in a time of flailing opponents and a weaker competition! Svetlana Kuznetsova is really there to keep the other two company! Basically I don't like her enough to put her in my not bothered list but I don't hate her as much as the other two. Whilst there's no need for me to say why I hate Marion Bartoli!
Mens
Favourites
Novak Djokovic (3), Andy Murray (4), Andy Roddick (8), Dmitry Tursunov (26), Mario Ancic (31), Marat Safin (40), Feliciano Lopez (45)
Bubbling Under
David Nalbandian (7), James Blake (11), Richard Gasquet (15), Tomas Berdych (21), Mikhail Youzhny (22), Gael Monfils (28), Michael Llodra (36), Juan Monaco (43), Simone Bolelli (46), Jose Acasuso (47)
OK
Juan Martin Del Potro (9), Ivo Karlovic (14), Jo Wilfred Tsonga (16), Gilles Simon (17), Paul-Henri Mathieu (23), Marin Cilic (24), Mardy Fish (25), Nicolas Kiefer (27), Philipp Kohlschreiber (32), Rainer Schuettler (34), Robin Soderling (35), Juan Carlos Ferrero (44), Carlos Moya (48)
Dislikes
Rafael Nadal (1), Roger Federer (2), Stanislas Wawrinka (10), Marcos Baghdatis (42)
Special Mentions (50-100)
Ernests Gulbis (56), Tommy Haas (57) BU, Victor Troicki (60), Robby Ginepri (64) BU, Lleyton Hewitt (67), Yen Hsun Lu (69), Fabio Fognini (73), Kei Nishikori (77) BU, Jeremy Chardy (81), Arnaud Clement (86) BU, Chris Guccione (88), Kristof Vliegen (92), Filippo Volandri (95) BU
Like the womens I have 7 favourite men but Feliciano Lopez was very very close to my Bubbling Under group. AsI said Gasquet droppd to the Bubbling Under because of his lack of consistency, however after last week I may think about putting hi back into the Top; if he continues his form that is. and yes Verdasco is out of the top 3 lists cause I seem to have a change of heart towards Del Potro!
I still Dislike Nadal and Federer, though to a lesser extent. I was really thinking about putting them in my Not Bothered list but then I thought I do bother about them! Stanislas is in here basically because he just dens't get out of the Top 10! It annoys me so much when I don't even remember 1 of his achievements in the whole year! Whilst Baghdatis is a long known enemy of mine! In the special mentions Lleyton Hewitt has dropped out of Bubbling Under because I basically find that I only liked him before because I disliked Federer and liked most of the former No.1's because of that! Kei Nishikori has jumped into the Bubbling Under section as I see a possible Top 20 Asian guy here!
I just wanted to add here how I'm still depressed from the retirement of Henin, she was what tied the WTA together. It has been so so long since she retired its scary. Without her their is such a big gap in the womans game that I have reverted to liking the mens more. She's such a force in tennis that even one of my friends who is a severe Henin hater agreed that without Henin the tour is just not complete.
WTA and ATP this week
Well Jankovic yet again is looking on course for the title - however a possible shoulder injury could rule her out when she plays Dementieva. Nicole sadly lost in the first round again and she is really making me sit on the edge of my seat. I feel like she should just take 3 months out and recuperate as there's no point trying to compete anymore as she's nowhere near going to get back into the top 20!
Venus also suffered a shock loss to Flavia but I'm happy as that means Flavia is getting better and better. Sadly she lost to Jankovic but she'll have her time.
Dementieva also beat last weeks finalist Nadia Petrova solidifying her name as one of the best Russians on the tour currently - except for Safina of course!
Vera also carried the Russian flag into the semis beating in form Cibulkova who also knocked out the totally stuffed Ivanovic she is totally underwhelming me as a former No.1! Kuznetsova and Safina are the last match to complete te near all Russian affair. Out of the 8 quaterfinalists 5 were Russian and a guaranteed 3 will be Russian in the semis!
In Vienna Wawrinka has lost early being the underwhelming No.1 seed of the tournament. Gilles Simon also fell leaving Petzschner and Moya to reak the benefits. Lopez one of my favourite players has also reached the last 8. Del Potro however had to let off some steam - withdrawing from his match whilst Monfils also is in the last 8 and will play the highest seed left.
Nalbandian leads in Stockholm, he should be head and shoulders above the rest as he's more than 20 rankings above everyone else! Anyway besides that what has got me going is Nishikori getting into the semis. Ok he hasn't beaten the toughest of opponents and further had a walkover from Ancic but just getting to the semis is a feat for this youngster who is doing Asians proud.
Whilst in the Kremlin Cup Safin one of my favourite players will fight against the best Russian on the block - Nikolay Davydenko. Hopefully Safin could get some motivation and beat Davydenko to win in his home country. Youzhny however fell at the first hurdle. Besides that Dmitry Tursunov also lost in the first round sadly after winning a title last week whilst Ginepri new to my mentioning list lost in the second round.
Venus also suffered a shock loss to Flavia but I'm happy as that means Flavia is getting better and better. Sadly she lost to Jankovic but she'll have her time.
Dementieva also beat last weeks finalist Nadia Petrova solidifying her name as one of the best Russians on the tour currently - except for Safina of course!
Vera also carried the Russian flag into the semis beating in form Cibulkova who also knocked out the totally stuffed Ivanovic she is totally underwhelming me as a former No.1! Kuznetsova and Safina are the last match to complete te near all Russian affair. Out of the 8 quaterfinalists 5 were Russian and a guaranteed 3 will be Russian in the semis!
In Vienna Wawrinka has lost early being the underwhelming No.1 seed of the tournament. Gilles Simon also fell leaving Petzschner and Moya to reak the benefits. Lopez one of my favourite players has also reached the last 8. Del Potro however had to let off some steam - withdrawing from his match whilst Monfils also is in the last 8 and will play the highest seed left.
Nalbandian leads in Stockholm, he should be head and shoulders above the rest as he's more than 20 rankings above everyone else! Anyway besides that what has got me going is Nishikori getting into the semis. Ok he hasn't beaten the toughest of opponents and further had a walkover from Ancic but just getting to the semis is a feat for this youngster who is doing Asians proud.
Whilst in the Kremlin Cup Safin one of my favourite players will fight against the best Russian on the block - Nikolay Davydenko. Hopefully Safin could get some motivation and beat Davydenko to win in his home country. Youzhny however fell at the first hurdle. Besides that Dmitry Tursunov also lost in the first round sadly after winning a title last week whilst Ginepri new to my mentioning list lost in the second round.
Update
Just need to update on what I didn't post last week. I'm starting to like Jelena Jankovic more than before because she finally is consistent and a force, before she was just playing as many tournaments as she could and hoping that she will do well in a few but now she is much more consistent - I sense a Lindsay Davenport - one that will be consistent and play for a long time.
However I was really dissapointed that Serena lost like that - after winning 6-0 and then losing the next two sets easily. Vaidisova has also continued my dissapoint of her for the whole year, this year was her chance I'd rather she did average in all other years consistently in the top 20 and broke the top 10 this year rather than what has happened to her now. Svetlana also suffered a shock defeat and it seems she is becoming a Jelena Jankovic of the past! Dementieva was beaten by Azarenka (who I stated as flailing the last time I posted), I take back my word of her flailing now but she still isn't much better off.
Venus lost to Jankovic whilst Pennetta lost to Bondarenko which was a dissapointment. Safina is also moving strength to strength which is encouraging. In the end Petrova Vs. Jankovic wasn't totally what I expected - I expected a US Open rematch but it didn't happen, however Petrova is jumping back up the rankings so is that a good thing?
Caroline Wozniacki won the AIG Open which wasn't really that tough for her except for the three setter posed by Gisela Dulko. Kirilenko also sadly dropped early and Jie Zheng too. Kaia Kanepi exceeded my expectations by getting to the finals.
Sorana Cirstea won in Tashkent but besides that there isn't much else to say.
The Tokyo AIG ATP event was interesting, Del Potro continued his good form by defeating Ferrer and Gasquet to reach the final, Gasquet had one of his good weeks where he also reached the semis. Nishikoriwho is quickly ascending my bubbling unders list is looking good whilst Mikhail Youzhny is dropping fast this year. However Berdych was the winner out of all these amazing efforts. Sadly it wasn't Roddick but he posed a tough challenge to Berdych who fully deserves this title after such a lack luster year.
Whilst in Metz one of my favourite players won - that is none other than Dmitry Tursunov. UI was so happy for him though the icing on the cake would have been if he beat the 1st seed Ivo Karlovic hwoever beating his successor is better than nothing! Mario Ancic and Gilles Simon however had much less luck as they both lost in R1.
However I was really dissapointed that Serena lost like that - after winning 6-0 and then losing the next two sets easily. Vaidisova has also continued my dissapoint of her for the whole year, this year was her chance I'd rather she did average in all other years consistently in the top 20 and broke the top 10 this year rather than what has happened to her now. Svetlana also suffered a shock defeat and it seems she is becoming a Jelena Jankovic of the past! Dementieva was beaten by Azarenka (who I stated as flailing the last time I posted), I take back my word of her flailing now but she still isn't much better off.
Venus lost to Jankovic whilst Pennetta lost to Bondarenko which was a dissapointment. Safina is also moving strength to strength which is encouraging. In the end Petrova Vs. Jankovic wasn't totally what I expected - I expected a US Open rematch but it didn't happen, however Petrova is jumping back up the rankings so is that a good thing?
Caroline Wozniacki won the AIG Open which wasn't really that tough for her except for the three setter posed by Gisela Dulko. Kirilenko also sadly dropped early and Jie Zheng too. Kaia Kanepi exceeded my expectations by getting to the finals.
Sorana Cirstea won in Tashkent but besides that there isn't much else to say.
The Tokyo AIG ATP event was interesting, Del Potro continued his good form by defeating Ferrer and Gasquet to reach the final, Gasquet had one of his good weeks where he also reached the semis. Nishikoriwho is quickly ascending my bubbling unders list is looking good whilst Mikhail Youzhny is dropping fast this year. However Berdych was the winner out of all these amazing efforts. Sadly it wasn't Roddick but he posed a tough challenge to Berdych who fully deserves this title after such a lack luster year.
Whilst in Metz one of my favourite players won - that is none other than Dmitry Tursunov. UI was so happy for him though the icing on the cake would have been if he beat the 1st seed Ivo Karlovic hwoever beating his successor is better than nothing! Mario Ancic and Gilles Simon however had much less luck as they both lost in R1.
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