Monthly Archives: September 2007

US Open Men’s Final Live Blog

Welcome everyone to our live blog of the US Open men’s final.

World number one Roger Federer is in his tenth straight slam final and could win his fourth straight US Open. The numbers just keep piling up and except for a funny string of breaks in the third set of his semifinal match against Nikolay Davydenko, he has looked invincible. Andy Roddick threw everything he had at Federer and still lost in straight sets.

Number three ranked Novak Djokovic is the first Serb to reach a slam final and he’s well on his way to making the Federer-Rafael Nadal twosome a threesome. He got to the semifinals at the French Open and Wimbledon and now he’s in the final. He had to battle through a few slow starts and a marathon or two to get here and he had some breathing problem in his semifinal so it might be a bit much to expect him to win his first slam today. On the other hand, but he was the guy who beat Federer to win the Montreal Masters last month so he’s the best opponent we could have.

Settle in and enjoy.

Nina:

Uh oh, overtime of the Miami/Washington NFL game on CBS. Not only that but with no time on the clock, Washington threw up a Hail Mary that Jason Taylor batted down in the end zone only to see it go into the hands of Washington player Antoine Randle El. Unfortunately for us, that means overtime because Randle El couldn’t find the end zone. So close!!!

Meanwhile, while we wait for football to end and tennis start, did you ever hear of the Heidi game? In 1967, the Jets and the Raiders played a football game and with 65 seconds left in the game, the Raiders scored a quick 14 points to come from behind and win the game. No one saw it though because NBC switched from the game to a presentation of Heidi and they’ve never lived it down so we’re unlikely to get our tennis until the damn game is over!

Pat:

It seems we are waiting on Denver, they just kicked a field goal to win as the clock ran out!! Oy! Guess our boys won’t be waiting much longer in the tunnel to go on court.

You must be getting a different game from CBS ’cause you are in L.A. and I am up in the bay area.

God, I am feeling as nervous as a little porker at a Memphis barbecue! I wonder what the nerves will be out there, I’m feeling as nervous as Djoko is probably. I feel for him. His first Grand Slam final! I don’t want him to stomp my man Roger, but I hope the nerves are at least okay for him. Speaking of porkers, is everyone having a tailgate party out there? Or do tennis folks indulge in such?? Oh,oh, look out, we’re singing God Bless America…

Nina:

Uh oh, Liza Minelli. Does that portend drama on the court? I hope so. I don’t want a straight set yawner like the women’s final.

Pat:

Everyone’s wearing black at this event, how times change. When my boyfriend moved to L.A. in 1990 he was the only guy, beside a few Asians, who ran around in all black. He got lots of S**t for that. Today it’s de riguer for everybody it seems

Federer 1-0

Nina:

Djokovic will be one of the more charismatic number ones if he gets there. He’s perfect for the youtube era with his player imitations. He even has Sharapova in his box!

Federer, 2-1

Pat:

Well Novak looks ok as far as the nerves go, both guys are settling in nicely.

Federer 3-3

Nina:

Federer looks like he’s trying to slam Djokovic off the court. Not the strategy I would take because Djokovic is all power. How would I play Djokovic? A bit of rope-a-dope and good serving. Djokovic is a good mover but not as goos as Federer. What strategy would you use Pat?

Federer 4-3

Pat:

I would want to feel him out a bit more, maybe some of both, that is the power with the finessing. Roger needs to keep those first serves coming. Djoko is serving well, Roger has to find a way to crack his serve.

Federer 5-4

Nina:

Nate just joined us: “djokovic has to be hitting himself for not taking advantage of that opening loose service game…” Yep, and now he coughed up an overhead and went for a big shot out of position. He’s probably a bit nervous. Nate and Mary Carillo disagree with me. They think Fed should take it to Djokovic to keep him from hanging around.

Djokovic breaks Fed, Djokovic 6-5

Pat:

Oh oh, Roger looks a bit tight on that serve and those missed forehands. I like the idea of keeping Djoko running side to side, wear him out. Let’s see if Roger can break back.

Federer breaks Djokovic, Federer 6-6, first set tiebreak

Nina:

Ooooh, Fed is lucky that Djoko finally realized the enormity of what he’s doing. One question though, if Fed wants to hit Djoko off the court, doesn’t he have to get to the net? I don’t think he can hit him off the court from the baseline.

Federer, 7-6

Pat:

Oy vey baby! Can you believe that? Let’s all share in the tightness, shall we??? They’d both get tight, then come back, then get tight again. These guys are going to put me in my grave today, I tell ya! Great stuff. Almost too nervewracking to watch. Is everybody ok out there? LOL

Federer 7-6, 0-1

Nina:

Nate called it a choke and that’s probably not too harsh. But Djoko should take heart that Fed still hasn’t found his game. He’s still hitting tons of errors and he’s giving Djoko time to get his head together. Not a good thing.

Federer 7-6, 1-2

Pat:

I’m surprised Roger did not go after that second serve of Novak’s a little more, I would have thought he would be out there early taking it to him. To his credit Novak has not dropped off the radar. His mom though looks like she’s nibbled past her nails and up to her knuckles about now.

Djokovic breaks Federer and holds serve, Djokovic 6-7, 4-1

Nina:

See why I say he can’t hit with Djoko from the baseline? When Djoko’s forehand is on, it’s just too powerful.

Djokovic, 6-7, 4-2

Pat:

He has to use it judiciously. He can hit with him on the forehand side, I am more worried about Fed’s backhand. I wonder where the higher gear is today

Federer breaks Djokovic, Federer 7-6, 3-4

Nina:

Nate and I think Fed is out of rhythm and he was out of rhythm because he was letting Djoko take it to him from the baseline. However, we may be seeing why Fed doesn’t need a coach let alone our help. He just kept plugging along with his strategy and now it’s paying off.

Federer 7-6, 5-6

Nina:

We’ve hit a lull here but Nate thinks it could be over if Djoko doesn’t do something exceptional soon and I agree with him. That’s the power of Federer. Once he does get into a groove, it’s becomes a metronomic march towards the end result.

7-6, 7-6 Federer

Pat:

Guess Roger was hiding those laser first serves, huh Nate? Scary when he does get it going, it’s just he seemed so la de da there and then suddenly, there he is! Djoko should throw his hands up. But he had his chances. Maybe Federer got a bit of luck too. Now Djoko probably will go away mentally. And yet I still feel Federer hasn’t put all his cards out there yet.

Federer 7-6, 7-6, 3-2

Nina:

Djokovic just let a ball land on the baseline that was good. A rookie mistake indeed and that’s how I thought this would go. Djokovic would play well, which he has, but it’s his first slam final. I’m expecting him to win at least a few slams and possibly overtake Nadal but today, the poor guy is missing just a bit of experience.

Nate: “top-spin’s a pain in the ass, huh djokovich?” I assume you are referring to Fed’s serve.

Federer 7-6, 7-6, 3-2

Pat:

Uh oh, Mirka just checked her watch. Not a good sign at all for Djoko. Must be waiting on dinner at Le Cirque. Novak just held, to his credit. But no cigar today, baby

Federer 7-6, 7-6, 4-3

Nate: “commentators have made jokes about it before, but i’m beginning to think fed really does make dinner reservations counting on a straight sets win. so many times you see mirka checking her watch when fed gets a break or a break point in the third set…” Okay, we all agree, it’s over.

Federer breaks Djokovic to win the US Open title,7-6, 7-6, 6-4

Nate: “4-5, 0-15: gorgeous point. djoko’s drop shot was a good one, but not good enough…” Yep, a beautiful backhand overhead hit with grace and prudence, hit just hard enough to get the angle and the point. Quintessential Roger Federer and now he has slam number 12.

Pat:

Alright, I guess dinner won’t wait! Djoko’s dropshot was great but he seemed a little surprised, and a tad late, in tracking it down crosscourt. As if he didn’t realize Federer could get to it. And then that backhand overhead, nifty stuff.

Nice show for the kid, and he’s made me a believer, he will be back next year and I’d wager the result might be different. He’s gonna make a huge leap up in his learning curve from this match.

ATP Fantasy Tennis Picks for Beijing and Bucharest

Join us for the men’s U.S. Open final! We’ll be blogging live on Sunday, September 9th at 4pm EST

Rear View Mirror – a look at last week’s picks

I picked five of the eight quarterfinalists at the US Open. Not great but no one else did well either because my team maintained its ranking in the ATP fantasy game. Could have been worse. Nikolay Davydenko got himself to the semifinals and Novak Djokovic dragged himself through some slow starts and a few marathon matches to get all the way to the final.

Bucharest (clay, $76,970)

Nicolas Almagro has wild card Fabrice Santoro in his quarter but Santoro has only played on main draw clay event this year.

Jurgen Melzer and Florent Serra are in the same quarter and this is very tough because Melzer was the finalist last year and Serra is 8-1 lifetime in Bucharest. Serra is freaky, Bucharest is the only place he plays well but Melzer is having a better year so I’m taking him.

Potito Starace beat Albert Montanes in straight sets at a clay court challenger a few weeks ago so I’m picking him.

Andreev has split his two clay court matches with Filippo Volandri this year but he got to the final of Bucharest in 2004 and 2005, the last two times he played here, so he’s on my team.

***Correction: Damn, I did it again. Andreev is not available because he was out of the top 100 when the season started. I hope they’ll update the top 100 players throughout the season next year because then I won’t look so bad. I’m taking Volandri. Not only that but of course Russia is still in Davis Cup (see my error below) and Davydenko will again be dragging his tired butt to Moscow to lead them on.

Bucharest Draw

Beijing (outdoor hard court, first prize is $69,200)

Last year Nikolay Davydenko played Beijing after getting to the semifinals at the US Open. By the time he retired in the quarterfinals and flew back to Moscow he was too tired to play in Russia’s Davis Cup match. This year Russia is out of Davis Cup and Davydenko is back in Beijing after another US Open semifinal run. Nicolas Kiefer is the main worry in his quarter of the draw. Davydenko should beat him if he doesn’t retire again.

The highest ranked player in Tommy Robredo’s quarter is number 92 Igor Kunitsyn. Robredo couldn’t possibly screw this up, could he? He could. He lost to 88th ranked Ernests Gulbis at the US Open but Gulbis is more talented than Kunitsyn so Robredo should be alright.

Marcos Baghdatis had a miserable summer hard court season last year then came to Beijing and won this tournament. He might not win it this year but he only has to deal with Ivan Ljubicic to get to the semifinals. This is a relatively slow court so Ljubicic doesn’t have much advantage on his serve and besides, Baghdatis is 3-0 over him.

Fernando Gonzalez is trying to win his first hard court match since March. Even if he does, Hyung-Taik Lee is playing much better than him and should get to the semifinals instead.

Beijing Draw

Picks

Here’s my team: Davydenko, Robredo, Baghdatis, Lee, Almagro, Melzer, Starace, Volandri (see correction above).

Happy fantasies!

Did Davydenko Do It?

It’s time for a new poll now that Roger Federer is in the US Open final. If you remember, Davydenko was involved in a match with Martin Vassallo-Arguello in Sopot earlier this year that drew irregular betting on the internet betting site Betfair (appropriately named I’d say).

The pattern of betting looked suspiciously like someone had a fix on and Betfair voided all bets on the match. Davydenko will speak with investigators from the ATP after the Beijing tournament. Meanwhile, here’s the question:

Do you think Nikolay Davydenko was involved in match fixing in Sopot?

To cast your vote, please go to the right sidebar.

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Henin Mows Down the Sisters

Join us for the men’s U.S. Open final! We’ll be blogging live on Sunday, September 9th at 4pm EST

Justine Henin took out both Venus and Serena Williams at the US Open, mid-match coaching, and the New Yorker does tennis.

US women’s tennis consists of Venus and Serena Williams these days. The US expects one sister or the other to come out of the woodwork and snatch every slam away from the rest of the field.

This year it worked pretty well. Serena got the Australian Open title and Venus took home Wimbledon. Justine Henin took the other slam, the French Open, and now she has beaten both Serena and Venus at the US Open and that makes her the best woman tennis player in the world.

Henin was already ranked number one but Serena and Venus, the conversation went, would be fighting it out for number one if only they played enough tournaments. Potential always seems to get a higher ranking than reality and not only has reality set in for Venus and Serena, but they handled the news very well.

Serena lost to Henin in the quarterfinals and was rather ungracious about it afterwards. She said Henin hit lucky shots then denied that her level of tennis had dropped.

Venus was the next to go down in the semifinals and, perhaps covering her sister’s butt, made sure to give Henin credit in her very first utterance at the post-match media session. She didn’t avoid trouble altogether though. She called a trainer during the second set of the match and she described her ailment like this:

I got sick a little bit in the first week. I’m not sure what’s happening right now. But I’m just looking forward to getting healthy and then I can play lots and lots and lots and lots of long points.

Therefore implying that she was not at full strength. This bit of information was passed along to Henin when she turned up at her media session. Yes, I know, the media was doing its part to sow discord, but it’s hard to blame us when we spend each week trying to decode the latest announcement from one sister or the other explaining why they will be skipping yet another tournament.

Anyway, someone asked Henin if she was disappointed that Venus mentioned her health in regard to the match and Henin didn’t want to touch the subject:

No, I don’t care. I mean, I’m focused on myself and I don’t care. I just want to be a little bit…no more comment about that. It’s better.

That response probably refers to Serena’s comments too. And I have to tell you, I’m beginning to feel the same way. Maybe I’m just crabby because the sisters won’t be bringing home the US Open title but I’m tired of the drama.

Luciano Pavarotti, may he rest in peace, was the drama queen of all drama queens. Towards the end of his career he was notorious for canceling appearances. It’s getting to feel like that with the sisters. I find myself looking forward to the return of Lindsay Davenport. She plans to play a limited singles schedule next year and hopes to participate in the Beijing Olympics. She might not win a another slam but at least I know she’ll turn up and be ready to play.

Having said all that, Venus didn’t play badly against Henin. She gave up an early break in the first and second set and played an aggressive game to get both breaks back but didn’t apply pressure consistently. Henin won by the score of 7-6(2), 6-4.

Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Ana Chakvedatze in the earlier semifinal, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1. The match appeared to be a contest to see who could play worse.

Chakvetadze actually pulled off my favorite amateur tennis move: swing and completely miss an overhead then spin around and try to get your racket on the ball before it bounces a second time. Like most amateurs, Chavetadze’s comical lunge at the ball failed to work. No worries, Chakvetadze will be in a few more slam semifinals before her career is over.

We will now have a US Open final between the real number one and number two ranked players (Kuznetsova reached number two this week) and that’s as it should be.

Coaching at the US Open Is Nothing New

My new burglar alarm went off at 6am this morning and I was none too happy about it. Was I supposed to actually get out of bed and walk around the house so I could meet up with my intruder? No thank you.

Turns out that it was a problem with the alarm system so I returned to bed and read John McPhee’s short but excellent book, Levels of the Game.

McPhee follows the 1968 semifinal between Arthur Ashe and Clark Graebner at Forest Hills, the precursor to the US Open. The match is the background for a fascinating study in contrast between the two players. Graebner was raised in a rich, white Republican family in Lakewood, Ohio, and Ashe was raised in a poor, African-American section of Richmond, Virginia.

I bring this up because Graebner and Ashe retired to the locker room for a break between the third and fourth set. Evidently this was a player perk at the time though we should keep in mind that players didn’t have chairs to sit on between games.

While they were in the locker room, they both received a visit from Donald Dell, the Davis Cup captain at the time, who advised each player how to continue the match. They received coaching, in other words, and all within the rules.

For those who disagree with on court coaching during matches, I’m not one of them, at least you can’t say it’s entirely new.

By the way, Kuznetozova and Chakvedatze got a 10 minute break between the second and third set of their match due to heat conditions but they were not allowed to receive coaching.

The New Yorker Does Tennis

Speaking of excellent writing, check out US Open coverage from that venerable publishing institution, The New Yorker Magazine. Give me my New Yorker and my Sports Illustrated and I’m a happy camper.

Check out Tennis Diary’s very own mention on the sidebar under Links. Also click on the link for the New York Times interactive US Open draw. Run your cursor over the matches in the draw and popup links to relevant Times’ articles appear. Cool.

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Read more about Serena’s comments and the match between Henin and Serena

Serena’s Mouth, Federer’s Brilliance, and Boris Becker’s Tongue

Join us for the men’s U.S. Open final! We’ll be blogging live on Sunday, September 9th at 4pm EST

Serena’s Mouth

Tennis players have different ways of dealing with a tough loss in the post-match media session that is required attendance. Andy Roddick has had a meltdown now and then. Roger Federer is as cool as a cucumber. Always. And Nikolay Davydenko might call your question stupid.

Serena Williams is known for being ungracious to her opponent. She seldom gives her opponent credit for winning the match. Rather, she’ll say that she played poorly and, more so, the outcome was totally under her control.

Take this exchange after Serena lost to Justine Henin, 7-6, 6-1, in the quarterfinals at the US Open:

Q. Are you saying that you lost the match rather than Justine won it?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I think that’s usually the case with me, that it’s for me to win or lose.

And this:

Q. You fought pretty hard to get back into the first set. She played a good tiebreak. Second set, your level seemed to drop.
SERENA WILLIAMS: No, I just think she played better. I just think she made a lot of lucky shots, and I made a lot of errors. I don’t think my level dropped.

Serena’s demeanor belied her comments. When someone asked her if she was devastated by the loss, she denied it, but she was snarky from beginning to end. She said she wouldn’t have done the media session but she didn’t want to pay the fine and twice she asked, “Any more questions?” clearly hoping the answer was no.

The match also belied her comments. Henin was crushing the ball and beating Serena at her own game. By the end of the media session, Serena conceded as much. When someone asked her if she’d go back and look at a tape of the match to figure out what happened she said:

Yeah, I got to go back and study and figure out how to beat her. That’s it. Bottom line.

Federer and Serena go about it in different ways but both are loathe to betray the slightest chink in their armor. Federer will dismiss a tough loss as insignificant and Serena will dismiss her opposition much as she does in her Compaq commercial where she picks up an opponent and tosses her aside with an air of dismissal.

In the case of Serena, this kind of behavior comes with the territory. She will not be denied and that’s why she can turn up at the Australian Open after missing six months of tennis and blow the field away. We want her to feel indomitable because that’s what champions are made of.

But Henin knocked her out of the three remaining slams this year. True, Serena was playing with an injured thumb in the Wimbledon loss, but the veneer of domination could be undone by denial if she doesn’t take Henin as a serious opponent.

And that means admitting that Henin outplayed her.

Federer’s Brilliance

Here’s all you need to know about the quarterfinal match between Roddick and Federer. The score was 2-2 in the second set and Federer had game point on his serve.

Roddick hit a return so hard that Federer barely got his racket on it. Roddick hit another rocket to the baseline and Federer had to short-hop that ball too. By this time Roddick was at the net and hit a crisp volley to the other side of the court that also landed near the baseline. One more Roddick volley to the opposite corner and Federer had to put up a desperation lob that landed so deep that Roddick had to hit the ball between his legs. It didn’t work.

Roddick had hit four balls that should have won the point and yet he here he was, trying to save the point with a trick shot.

Okay, let’s throw in a few more things.

In the first set tiebreaker, Roddick was serving at 4-5 when he hit a forehand approach that kicked up high off the baseline. Federer calmly flicked a passing shot cross court and out of Roddick’s reach. In the second set tiebreaker, Roddick was serving at 4-4 when he hit a 140 mph(225 km/h) serve. Federer blocked it back with a half swing and the ball landed on the back of baseline. Roddick was so surprised that all he could do was flail at it.

Roddick was bringing it, I mean he was slamming balls and playing the game of his life. But he had no chance. Power met finesse and was eaten up by it.

All that running around and slamming caught up with Roddick in the third set. He faced his first break points serving at 2-3 and lost his serve. He didn’t win another game as Federer won the match, 7-6(5), 7-6(4), 6-2.

After the match Roddick said:

I’m not walking off with any questions in my head this time. I’m not walking with my head down. I played my ass off out there tonight. I played the right way.

He did play his ass off and on another night, it might have worked. At the very least, I won’t automatically assume Federer wins next time they meet up. With Roddick’s record against Federer currently sitting at 1-14, that’s progress.

Boris Becker’s Tongue

Andre Agassi sat in the commentary booth with John McEnroe and Ted Robinson during the match between Roddick and Federer. USA should hire Andre immediately. His commentary was as intelligent as I’ve heard at a tennis match.

He covered details about positioning and strategy you expect from a former top player – but don’t always hear – and it told you why you saw so many fantastic matches from him. He misses absolutely nothing.

Check this out for instance. He figured out that Boris Becker tipped off his serve with his tongue. That’s right, his tongue. If his tongue was in the middle of his mouth, his serve was going down the middle. If his tongue was over to the side, he was going wide.

We know McEnroe didn’t pick up on the tongue because he thought Agassi was joking. Maybe that’s why McEnroe was 2-8 against Becker and Agassi was 10-4.

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You can read about the match between Serena and Justine here

Blake Falls Short and Roddick Gets Lucky

Join us for the men’s U.S. Open final! We’ll be blogging live on Sunday, September 9th at 4pm EST

James Blake failed in five sets while Andy Roddick didn’t even need two.

James Blake had already won the first set in his match with Tommy Haas and now he had his fifth break point in the first game of the second set. He finally broke Haas with the help of a beautiful touch volley and I have to say that I’ve never seen Blake go to the net as often as he has here at the US Open and I like it.

If he could keep the momentum going, he’d join Andy Roddick as the second US player in the quarterfinals. He could not. He gave the break back in the next game then put an overhead into the net.

When these two play, the tennis is almost secondary to the psychological ups and downs. You can chart the match by their temperaments rather than the score so here goes.

Blake was angry and he gave up a second break by smashing a ball into the net. When Haas served for the second set, it was his turn to unravel. He hit two loose errors, let out an f-bomb, and a got a warning from the chair umpire. Yep, Tommy Haas is in the house.

Haas lost that game but he managed to break Blake to take the second set and even the match at one set all. Haas may be combustible but he’s also a smart cookie. As soon as Blake started to falter, Haas became the aggressor and took the net away from Blake by getting there first.

Haas is not a natural at the net, though, and an overaggressive volley early in the third set gave Blake a break point and sent the momentum back his way. Nothing helps one’s temperament like an early break. One more break and Blake had the third set.

And here it got interesting. Haas got the early break in the fourth set and that propelled him into the stratosphere. He was killing the ball. He won seven straight games and that included breaking Blake in the first game of the fifth set.

Blake was down but his shoulders weren’t slumping. There were signs of life and a bit of luck. Haas had a break point to go up 5-2 in the fifth set but he hit an error else it would have been all over for Blake. In the next game, Haas put a volley into the net to lose his serve. I couldn’t believe it. Blake was back on serve!

It gets better. Haas attacked again and Blake hit a shot at his belly and followed that up with a lob. Haas ran down the lob but it dribbled just over the net where Blake got to it then hit it past a diving Haas. The crown was on its feet. Blake had come back and now he had a 5-4 lead.

It gets even better. In the next game, Blake got three separate match points but each time Haas served his way out of trouble. The match would end with a fifth set tiebreaker and they saved the best for last.

With the score at 3-3 in the tiebreaker, Haas hit a drop shot then lobbed Blake who spun around and tore off for the baseline. When he got there he hit an over the shoulder looper that landed deep in the corner. Haas’ response was short and Blake came to the net again. This time Haas’ lob was too high. Blake jumped up but all he got was air. The crowd was going crazy. Sitting in the stands, his mother shook her head just the slightest bit.

That was all we’d get out of Blake in this match. He hit a double fault and an error and Haas finally finished it off with an ace to win the match, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-0, 7-6(4). Blake had almost won his second fifth set match in a row after losing his first nine. And he’d rebounded from a horrible 0-6 fourth set. After the match Blake explained it pretty well:

I did everything I could. Fought as hard as I could. Broke back in the fifth set. Had the momentum. Felt like I was playing great. He came up big. I feel like I just pushed a couple of balls and ended up playing a little tentative in that tiebreaker.

He also explained that the media makes too big a deal out of his five set losses. Yes we do and so should he if he wants to reach a slam semifinal or two. Nonetheless, I do count this as progress and did I tell you this before:

I LOVE THE US OPEN!

Andy Roddick Gets Lucky

It’s a good thing Tomas Berdych wasn’t feeling well. If he’d been 100% he might have sent Andy Roddick packing.

Berdych couldn’t get his first serve in but he was smart enough to hit to Roddick’s backhand. He also discovered that hitting a few inside out forehands followed by a shot to the opposite corner was a winning combination. Roddick couldn’t get to the opposite corner. It looked like he’d exhausted his reservoir of balletic moves in his dominating win over Thomas Johansson.

Berdych broke Roddick and served for the first set at 5-4 but he couldn’t hold his serve and now he was his usual grumpy self. Honestly, this guy doesn’t need a psychologist, he needs to go to a laughing club.

Perhaps I’m being unfair because Berdych was suffering from breathing problems and an upset stomach. The men appear to be getting the flu that marched its way through the women’s locker room last month. Richard Gasquet didn’t even go onto the court for his second round match after he woke up with a fever and sore throat.

Berdych used the inside out forehand/opposite corner pattern to get a set point in the first set tiebreaker but then he really fell apart. Three straight errors and Roddick won the tiebreaker. Two games into the second set, Berdych shook his hands and gave the “no mas” signal and the match was over.

Here’s guessing that Roddick will not be anywhere near that lucky against his next opponent, one Roger Federer.

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Read more about James Blake’s victory over Fabrice Santoro