Washington and Sopot

We’re still in the raggedy part of the ATP schedule. Clay court players are still in Europe and other European players are straggling into the hard court US Open Series one by one.

I can’t wait for Connors to come down to the court during one of Roddick’s matches and get into a yelling screaming fight with Gilbert.

Washington (hard court) is paying $74,250 to the winner and Sopot (clay) is paying $74,829.

Last week was a disaster, I only had one player left by the semifinals, Fernando Gonzalez, and he spent the day destroying his rackets on the way to losing to Dmitri Tursunov. Kitzbuhel was completely unpredictable because Nikolay Davydenko and Tommy Robredo lost in the first round. I have them in the final at Sopot because they have good records this year.

Agustin Calleri ended up beating Juan Ignacio Chela in Kitzbuhel, who could have predicted that? See what I mean by raggedy?

Guillermo Coria does not have a good record this year. He’s lost in the first round in five of his last six tournaments. His new coach, Jose Higueras, isn’t helping yet.

In Washington there will be two new high profile coaches. Brad Gilbert will make his first appearance as Andy Murray’s coach and Jimmy Connors will make his second public appearance as Andy Roddick’s coach. That matchup is almost as interesting as the match between their players. Too bad on court coaching isn’t allowed yet. I can’t wait for Connors to come down to the court during one of Roddick’s matches and get into a yelling screaming fight with Gilbert.

I have Murray beating Roddick and meeting James Blake in the final but, as I keep saying, I would save Roddick and Blake for upcoming Masters Series events if you haven’t used them very much. Roddick pulled out of Los Angeles after his quarterfinal victory because he strained a muscle in his left side. Washington is letting Roddick start on Wednesday but he might be questionable. This would be his third tournament in a row and next week is the first of two consecutive Masters Series events.

Washington is a 48 player draw and Sopot is 32 so you might want to pick 5 from Washington and 3 from Sopot if you have any clay court players left. Washington is a bit more dependable. Blake has been playing very well, Agassi should be able to beat Goldstein and Fish easily, and Hewitt should be able to go beyond the first round, unlike last week in Los Angeles, unless something is wrong with him.

If you don’t pick Roddick and Blake, consider Murray, Agassi, Tursunov, Hewitt, and Hrbaty. For Sopot, Robredo, Davydenko, and Calleri.

I’m off to cover the Los Angeles final, have fun.