Waldo is in his pants! Gone fishing? Good for him! I hope he recharges his batteries and so forth.

For the rest? Long live Roger and go Willy Nilly + Murray, Jdoker and JMDP!

Well, considering the draw, Djoker should be in the semis for sure. Goodness, he couldn't have asked for an easier road. The Top Half is by far the easier half, but such is life. In round 1, Fed played #40, Djoker played #72 and Murray played #116 (althought you'd never know it by the score!). In round 2, Fed gets #15, Djoker gets #74, and Murray gets #185. Oh well.

Pete,

These are some great players, no doubt, but mark my words: Djokovic will be the man left standing when the dust clears.

I see an entertaining, 3 set Federer-Djokovic clash in the final, with Novak winning 6-4 or 7-5 in the third.

:)

Why such condescension for Nadal? Is it supposed to be funny? It sure is getting tiresome. He was the only one making it to all finals in the last four majors.

Berdych has a good H2H against Murray; hopefully he can knock him out in the Quarters in the top half and make things easier for Nole. Murray is a trickier matchup for Djokovic.

@ jabeau - Yep, it's supposed to be funny. I don't really see what condescension there is. Does Rafa hate fishing and soccer? No? OK then.

Rafa was there a couple of times and won in 2006. he doesn't like the surface at all. It is not an interesting place. If you like the money, it is OK.

Gene

Thanks for that Gene.

You actually don't need to write your name at the bottom, as the set up allows us to see who wrote what up top.

Mr. Truth (see what I mean?)

"He could be playing beach soccer near his home on Mallorca. He could be deep-sea fishing, or maneuvering the joystick on his PlayStation."

Possibly you're not aware of it, but it's winter in Europe at the moment. So, it's also winter in Mallorca, and not a very warm one, either - they've had some snow even. No weather for beach soccer or fishing - those are summer weather activities if one does them for fun, as is the case with Rafa. No idea about PlayStation, but I think that's mostly in-hotel-room-on-Tour activity, he probably doesn't have much time for something like that when he's at home. He has been busy practising tennis, tho (with 1 Portuguese and 2 Spanish juniors at least - a writer who actually cared could have found the names easily), and with some other things. Currently I believe he's in the Dominican Republic, tho. Left on Sunday via Madrid where apart from changing planes, he also stopped for a TVE interview. I assume most Rafa fans are happy he took February off from competition. To say he "hasn't shown up for work" is silly tho - surely anyone knows that there's more to a tennis pro's work than the matches on Tour.

"Why such condescension for Nadal?"

Well, it's Bodo, he's been at it for years.

"Is it supposed to be funny?"

I think so. Hasn't been yet, but I assume it's supposed to be.

"It sure is getting tiresome."

It already did long ago.

Mr Truth:
lol!
Corrie.

You go Tuulia...
The PlayStation is a Murray topic anyhow. He chose that over "pleasing" his above average looking girlfriend.
I just want to know about the Rafa undie picking though...it's fascinating.

Novak's the one to beat, that's obvious. I think he likes this court and this tournament very much. Muzz or Fed could take him down IF, they get there, and IF they play near flawless tennis. Don't see anyone else even worrying Novak.

As an aside, I find it interesting that even when Roger plays in a 'home' tournament, he often stays in a hotel during the tournament. Says it keeps him from relaxing too much and helps stay in tournament 'riddum.' Don't know for sure if he is doing that in Dubai this year or not, but you can definitely see how he feels like he needs to make at least the quarters just to pay the piper. lol. Roger must feel about finances like someone out of The Forsythe Saga... NEVER touch interest...learn to live on the interest. 'Poor' dear.

MagicVilas - well people are fascinated by the strangest things. ;)

Gene - well, I think Rafa doesn't play Dubai anymore because he's trying to avoid over-playing and doesn't feel he needs this tournament. Spending time at home and practise (which he was unable to do in December) was better than playing another tournament. It's not long 'till IW and then there won't be much time off for months. Bodo only asks the question to have something to speculate about. Rafa hasn't played in Dubai for years, so it's no surprise he isn't there this year. If he was, I'd be surprised and not happy, either.

Murray's looking rusty and passive. DP's looking a little tired after his run the past few weeks and the long flight from Marseille to Dubai.

At best, Nole will face Murray and only one from the loaded bottom half. I do wonder if Fish might not take Andy down first. He's liking the fast court. We'll see.

In any event this is always a fun tournament to watch. If Roger and Nole make it to the final, it should be excellent.

Rafa fans...you guys crack me up....

Not everyone follows his every move...some of us, just enjoy his tennis...and speculating the rest of the time.
It doesn't make us disrespectful...it just makes us slightly less obsessed about him.
Don't take it so serious...I'm 90% sure there was no disrespect intended.
If he needs rest...he needs rest. We'll see if it worked out for he best at the next face-off.

Just a drive-by post to say that this particular Del Potro fan doesn't care so much about the potential Federer-DelPo matchup this week (we all know DelPo ain't beating Federer right now), but more about DelPo overplaying and potentially injuring/tiring himself out. He needs better scheduling at this point in his career. Playing three weeks in a row, especially with a long flight from Marseilles to Dubai, is just foolish IMO. He tried to be Del Tanko against Dolgoerror for the first part of the first set today, but Dolgoerror gifted him the match anyway. Hopefully if he and his coach have any brains, they'll give a Walkover to Golubev or Tsonga in the next couple of rounds if DelPo doesn't start feeling a little more energetic.

Waldo can wait!

Today's big news is that Tiger Woods has a serious hard-on for
the Navy Seals. Hank Haney is telling the world even though the
world probably doesn't care much anymore. I don't either but since
I've been itching to write something that lives up to my sterling reputation here's my in.

According to Haney young Tiger liked visiting Fort Bragg in
N. Carolina. Hank says Tiger is obsessed with Special Ops.

I just happen to have an uncle who was a career military man.
He retired to Fayettville which is next door to Fort Bragg.
Another uncle and I spent a week around Fayettville playing golf
with him. I had hair down below my shoulder blades at the time.
I was in the middle of a 3 years without a haircut phase (only
time in my life I've ever had long hair). I looked pretty bad.

The trip was notable for 3 things.

1) I played some tremendous golf. I even birdie'd a hole my drive
went into a lake on. Not an easy trick.
2) The folks around Fayettville were THE NICEST people I've ever
come across anywhere. Even though I looked like a hippie freak!

and the 3rd?

My uncle takes us to a corrugated tin hut (Quanset?) that is some
sort of officer's club drinking establishment within Fort Bragg. I'm
sitting at the bar nursing a beer taking it all in and wondering how
did I ever wind up in a place like this? My two uncles are yucking
it up with anybody and everybody but everyone's ignoring me. As I'm
looking around I notice that people are looking at me. Hard, cold
stares. I'm beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable.

Since no one will talk to me (the bartender's even rude) I decide to
go with the flow, take off my shades and look mean. I'm shooting back
daggers at the folks with the hard stares. Some of them turn to their
comrades and whisper something or other. Meanwhile my uncle knows alot
of these people (it's ALL men by the way) and he's having a great time.

Weirdly, he's avoiding me like the plague. Both uncles are ignoring
me. After an hour of this weirdness we finally leave. As we're exiting
Fort Bragg I ask my uncle, "What the hell just happened in there?" I
explain the stares and everything. He informs me that someone asked him
if I was a Special Op. Apparently Special Ops are badass mofos. He
thought it would be funny and said that I was. He then went around
telling everyone that not only was I a Special Op but that rumor has it
"His 2 wives went missing and they've never been found."

So in conclusion my uncle in Fayettville is an ass and
the people there are really friendly except at Fort Bragg
if you look like an undercover hippie with a sour disposition
and they think you killed your wives.

Lol...Tuulia, he does it every point!
My only fascination is that I am thinking it may be a thong, and if it will get me around the court like him, I will immediately start wearing one. But I need more empirical evidence before making that shopping run.

Del Pony... yeah, I was surprised to see Delpo play three straight weeks, especially going from Marseille to Dubai! Yowza! I think Llodra was definitely in 'jet lag' mode in his first set against Fed today too.

'His record at sub-Grand Slam events has been stellar'

Actually his record at sub-masters events (save the WTF) has been stellar the last 18 months. Thats all well and good but am I the only one that sees Fed really starting to drop off the pace against the big guys, unless its best of three and on hard courts, maybe even just indoor hard courts?

Its a hsame because things are much more interesting with him in it, but for me he needs to at least win a masters event outside of indoor hard courst this year to be a legitimate threat to the top 2.

magicvilas,lol are you for real murrays girlfriend is probably the hottest wag (with berdych's model,and tomics one),plus she is miles better looking than xisca,or whatever who wears shades the whole time.

[mod-edited]

Legoboy, I wouldn't expect tennis fans in general to be interested what players they're not fans of do when not competing. Bodo is writing a piece here though, and he could either find out some facts, or not make silly speculative comments about a player who isn't competing at the moment. (Beach soccer near his home in mid-winter?) Bodo could easily concentrate just on those players who are competing this week. It's unnecessary to make a big deal about someone not playing a tournament when they haven't played it for years. Yet the same writer complains when the same player plays when the player thinks it suits his plans, but when the writer doesn't agree.
I also didn't think there was anything "disrespectful" about not knowing what Rafa has been doing since AO, and nobody else said that, either as far as I can see.

MagicVilas - it isn't, so if that's your reasoning, don't go shopping. :)

Del Pony: I wouldn't worry about Del Potro. He's still young and it's not the first time he's played 3 weeks in a row. He did it this same time last year in the US. What he's doing makes sense to me, he gets some ranking points, a lot of money and practice on outdoor HC courts before IW and Miami. Plus, he basically have a week off after Dubai as the seeded players don't start play at IW until the weekend.

If Rafa was in this tournament he would win. Maybe a pre asterisk is in order especially if Frauderer gets lucky and wins it...

ciaran...why the hatred brother?
I said she was above average didn't I? I live in Southern California, not England, so maybe the rating scale is different? (no offense English girls, I quite like baby spice).
I'm not even a giant Brooklyn Decker fan, but I'd probably put her above Muzzy's gal, and obviously I'd put Schiavone over them both.
Not sure what part of my post made you think I'm girl-less and living in a shrub,lol....but whatevs.

Yeah, slick... like Nadull would have any chance against Djoker.

Well, Pete, did you turn up for work last week ? LOL !

Did anyone see DelPo's girlfriend in the stands today during his match with Dolly? Now *that* is a HAWT woman.

I, sadly, cannot compete with her in the looks department :( On the plus side, I'd probably "school" her in the brains department (pun intended ;p)

Hmm... do we have two "Alexis" here?

Shot at Rafa and also Janko for being Novak's 'wingman'. That's Pete's petty snipe fix taken care of, for the week.

Del Pony...
Congrats. I was out of town this weekend, so didn't watch. You're already calling for a loss in this tourney too?

Julian, it's only Tuesday, so you may be overly optimistic in your prediction. ;)

Nah Tuulia. It's me - the 'real' Alexis. But when someone uses a less-than-flattering fake name for a player, I just do the same thing back. That's why I directed my response to Slick.

MagicVilas...I'm actually really impressed by DelPo's form, didn't think he had it in him to beat Dolly so impressively today after the last two tiring weeks. I just don't want to see him get injured or tired with IW and Miami coming up. Selfish, I guess, since those tourneys are in the U.S. and I have better chance of seeing his televised match there, or at least not having to wake up early in the morning in order to do so :P

Sasha Vujacic is still the hottest BAH!

Waldo or no Waldo Novak is the man :)

It's a loaded draw but Murray may not get to semis after a poor start like this, Berdych is playing well and can beat him.

Tsonga and Delpo are a little bit tired and they could tire themselves out in QF.

It should be a Nole vs Fed final

Start hitchhiking now...we'll hang out.

Berdych H2H vs Murray 3-1

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Players/Head-To-Head.aspx?pId=BA47&oId=MC10

Start hitchhiking now...we'll hang out.

In the shrubbery!

wilson!!!!

Where ya been keeping yourself!!??!! :-) Missed you.

Well, whether one gets or appreciates the humor in Pete's post, (and I can see from a fan/KAD's point of view this sort of thing can fall flatter than Fed's 'not so FA' ;-)), I must say the idea of a righty Rafa is always worth a little kicking around. A little. Frankly it is hard to see what playing right handed would buy Rafa against Novak 2.0 and might even lose him a quite a bit against Fed and the rest of the field. So, all in all, however it came about, leftyness has been and no doubt will continue to be a positive for Rafa.

Tuulia - BTW - don't give up on that Majjorcan winter holiday just yet....not beach weather for sure, but good for golf, no? :-)

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=mallorca+spain

CL: I have been taking a break from TW but only just started lurking again. I can't seem to get into the rhythm of posting yet. Maybe it will come back in time for IW:)

Frauderer? Nadull? And bickering? What's with this grade school nonsense?

OK, I'll focus instead on my third viewing of the Connors-Ashe 1975 Wimbledon final. That kind of repeat performance is much better than what's being offered here. :(

BP: Tiger's Dad was, I think, a Marine and probably filled the boy's head with the wonderful works of the military -- including the story of the soldier named Tiger who saved Earl's life for whom Tiger was named.

This is interesting, both as a Dubai specific take on the court there as well as another voice heard from in the 'court surface' fast/slow discussion.

http://www.tennis.com/articles/templates/news.aspx?articleid=16671&zoneid=25

Of course, it is the Ticker, so grain of salt and all...

wilson - ah...totally understand. Good to know that a 'fact checker' is out there for us though. ;-))

CL: Wimbledon is a lost cause but I'm curious to see if the USO will revert to it former surface speeds after the top American player complained about it's slowness.

"...For starters, Federer is 4-4 in his last eight matches with Djokovic (Nadal, by contrast, is 1-7), and last September Federer was twice within one swing of ruining Djokovic's enchanted 2011 in the U.S. Open semifinals, their most recent meeting. That Nadal has been instrumental in keeping Djokovic safe from Federer is not only a cruel irony, it's also a validation of the theory that in tennis, it's all about the match-ups.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I wonder what made you chose their last 8 matches, Pete. What's the relevance of that cut-off date? The relevant statistic should be their matches after Novak 2.0 showed up, after the 2010 Davis Cup win. That would be 7-0 for Rafa and 4-1 for Roger...I know 4-1 doesn't look as good as 4-4, but it's a more faithful representation of the current situation. Don't spin the facts, please. Novak doesn't need Rafa to keep him safe from Roger. He has had more trouble beating Roger than Rafa, but not a lot, because last year he managed to do it in 80% of their meetings. So yes, 7-0 is better than 4-1.

In what universe does the player who won 4/5 times last year need protection against the player who only managed to win once in 5 occasions? Only in the fedfan universe. LOL

Check out last year's final between Roger and Novak...Refresh your memory... Yes...Nole needs Rafa to keep him safe. LOL

Having said this, Murray might beat Nole and prevent a Roger/Nole final.

Murray... Now that's a player who troubles Novak 2.0.

"Murray... Now that's a player who troubles Novak 2.0."

Yolita: Murray hasn't defeated Djokovic in over a year (I'm not counting Cincinati). I seriously doubt he fears Murray. That being said, I'm sure Djokovic prefers to play Rafa every-time than face Roger.

And the award for best ON SITE NICKNAME GOES TO.....

DEL PONY!!!! AMAZING :)

"...Tsonga has done a good job consolidating his Top 5 ranking..."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Excuse me? Consolidate his Top 5 ranking? He's only had the #5 ranking for a day and a half in his entire life. And that was because of the situation with the ranking points this year, that players drop the points earned in some torunaments before they have had a chance to defend them. David won Acapulco last year. Those 500 points dropped yesterday, the day Acapulco started. So, even if David manages to defend his title, for 1 week he'll have 500 points less, thus allowing Tsonga to pass him by 65 points.

So let's wait a little before talking about Tsonga consolidating his Top 5 ranking, shall we?

Just imagine, if Novak had had less than 500 points over Rafa, Rafa would have taken the #1 even without lifting a racquet, because the Dubai points also dropped yesterday, before the players had a chance to defend them.

The entire year will be like this, full of (necessary) glitches. Probably not so noticeable at the top of the rankings, but very noticeable lower down, when 45 points mean quite a few spots.

This is one reason why I consider the end-of-year rankings more important. They are computed when the entire season has been done and dusted. Then we can really see who did what, and rank the players entire seasons.

@wilson75:

Definitely Novak prefers playing Rafa than Roger. By a million times. I'm absolutely sure of that. XD

But with respect to Murray, he beat Novak in Cincinatti and he almost beat him in Rome and in Australia. For me, Rome was very telling: the crowd was with Novak, Novak was riding a wave of triumphs, and Murray served for the match. He couldn't in the end, but it was very close.

That was for me more impressive than Roger's RG win: Novak couldn't cope with the weight of the streak, hadn't played for 5 days, couldn't cope with the pressure of fighting for #1, the crowd was all with Roger and Roger was in the zone. There were too many factors there conspiring against Novak. But none of those factors were present in Rome, that makes Andy's performance even more impressive.

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I must say I love Andy and adore Lendl, so there may be an element of wishful thinking here. I'd definitely rather see Nole lose to Andy than to Roger. No question about that. XD

Alexis - oh, ok then. It seemed unlike you, that's why I asked. Clearly I just don't know you well. :)

CL - I have no idea what's a good golf weather, but indeed Rafa did go golfing some day, so it must have been ok.

"I'm not counting Cincinati" - why not?

"So let's wait a little before talking about Tsonga consolidating his Top 5 ranking, shall we?"

That would indeed seem reasonable, lol

wilson:

Sorry, you did say that you were not counting Cincinatti. But I do, because I don't like putting asterisks on wins, for whatever reason. I think if everybody did that, the air would be clearer, less complaints about players faking injuries or talking about injuries or illnesses to justify losses. Those comments would be irrelevant and therefore meaningless. So I'm definitely counting Cincinatti. I have to be consistent. :)

Honestly, at this point, I don't think Novak worries unduly about ANYONE. As Roger, among others has pointed out, winning like Novak has been winning breeds and builds the kind of confidence that only that kind of winning brings. ***pats self on back for delightfully circular, yet true, reasoning!***

Roger simply has more variety of shot than other (almost all other) players and that can trouble lots of different players, including Novak. But Novak has also repeatedly shown his ability to overcome such 'troubles.' (Sometimes with a little help from Fed himself. ;-)) In short, beating Novak these days is a tough 'ask' for anyone. Unless your name is Special Kei. ;-))

In IW Rafa will play doubles with Marc, Novak with Viktor, AndyM with brother Jamie, Jo-W with JulienB, Mardy with AndyR.

http://www.bnpparibasopen.com/News/Tennis/2012/Pretournament/ATP-Doubles-Field.aspx

Tuulia - I count any place that is warmer than here as potential vacation weather. :-)

I am by no means a Djokovic fan but he and his brothers are getting a lot of flack on the Ticker/Headline items that involve them. Why oh why cant people just let it go? Some guy was even dithering on that the way Novak claps his hand against his racquet when he's won a match is arrogant and annoying. *Headslap* I think even Fed does that. I thought that was one of the more neutral "celebrations".
I wish Fed the best of luck in Dubai. Esp if he gets a crack at Novak. And please Andy M, keep trying harder, u nut!

Poet fella:

You enter into a bigamous relationship, are the primary suspect in the disappearance of your two wives, come off as a a cross between a Mormon Ted Nugent and a special ops guy, and were/are surprised that you did no receive a pleasant reception?

You need to adopt more realistic expectations.

Incidentally, yet another indication that military thinking can often be screwed up is the fact that Braxton Bragg, probably the most incompetent battlefield general to achieve the highest rank in the Confederate armies, has two "forts" named after him.

The bungler John Bell Hood only has one such fort. Perhaps Hood's level of incompetence did not reach that of Bragg's.

This is Mandingo and I like hummers

"No. 7 Janko Tipsarevic: Janko is Djokovic's wing man. They are penciled in to meet in the quarterfinals. Tipsarevic will probably hold the door for Djokovic as he traipses into the semis."

Wow, what a disrespectful comment about Janko and totally unwarranted considering that Janko had more wins over Novak last year than most of the Top 8 players listed in this post!
It shows Bodo's bitterness towards Novak and everone associated with him (his buddies, his country, his coaches, etc.)

And what about "holding the door" for Novak statement!!? How about this one, Bodo:
Federer will probably hold the door for Djokovic as he traipses into the finals like he did in USO last two years.

I find it very cheap and obvious that of all 8 players you commented on, Janko is the only one to receive this type of comment...

Tough times are ahead for all who cannot stand Novak dominance; as Tom Waits would say - those won't be "days of roses, poetry and proses" for you Bodo.

CL, ok. I don't think warmer is necessarily better, myself. I'd rather have -20C than 0C. And when it gets too warm - say, about +35C or warmer - I just feel sick and too tired to do much anything.

Yolita: I'm not putting asterisks. If you knew me better you'd know I don't subscribe to that nonsense. I'm not counting it because it wasn't a completed match. Djokovic basically threw in the towel in that final. The way he was playing to that point I'm not sure that Murray would have won the match if Djokovic was 100%. But just as you want to credit Murray for almost beating Djokovic on 2 occasions you should also credit Roger for doing the same. I must say that I find it funny that you willing to give credit for Murray beating an ailing Djokovic in Cincinnati but you're unwilling to do the same for Roger beating a 100% fit Djokovic at RG. Don't think you're being consistent as to you claim to be.

"And what about "holding the door" for Novak statement!!? How about this one, Bodo:
Federer will probably hold the door for Djokovic as he traipses into the finals like he did in USO last two years."

Tesla: That's not possible because they can only meet in the F. Try again.

OK wilson, just for you I'll try again:

Federer will probably fold against Djokovic in final like he did last year and let him traipse all the way to that strange looking boat-shaped trophy."

Better?

^ what about that other final last year when Fed sent Djokovic packing? Or does that not count?

it was the SF in FO, not final

Hi Deb...I have cable in my shrub, and it smells of eucalyptus.

Ruth...I was watching that match again today too. Doesn't it look like we could take games off of those guys? I wish I kept my Jack Kramer to see how hard it would be to rally with it.

@gamesetmatch

wilson with her attention to detail will, I'm sure, correct you promptly. I'll leave it up to her as your fellow codger Federer fan.

OK, I see you corrected yourself. Good.

Tesla: What's difference between what you accuse Pete of doing and what you have posted said in response to his comments? I guess it takes one to know one.

@wilson

A big one, huge one.

He is a paid tennis journalist and is supposed to uphold certain professional standards regarding bias and commentary.

On the other hand, I'm a piano player who casually comments on a website without remuneration.

If you don't see a difference, I cannot help you...

correction about my profession - i'm an internationally renowned scientist (duh)

Tesla: Have you just started to paying attention to what tennis journalists write? It's more about pot stirring, spinning and hyperbole from that set.

and is responsible for Joker's hairstyle due to his interning on those static electricity experiments...

@wilson:

Sorry. I don't know you, I'm glad you don't put asterisks.

And just to be clear, I don't credit Andy with "almost beating" Novak, that's too subjective. Andy's H2H against Novak 2.0 is 1-2. Plain and simple.

But as a fan, when one is thinking about possible threats, one has to be more nuanced in the analysis. I know Roger was very close to Novak in the USO just as Andy was in Rome and Australia. But somehow, I think that Roger is more likely to choke against Novak than Andy is. He has wasted 2 MPs twice, in really important matches, and that's bound to have an effect on Roger's confidence. With Murray I feel the opposite: that every time he gets closer. And next time he'll probably beat him.

And I'm not putting an asterisk on Roger's win last year at Roland Garros. A win is a win and a loss is a loss. But I truly think that Nole will have a better chance this year, if they meet.

I know they have both been close to Nole, and they both beat him last year, but somehow, looking at the matches, I feel more confident of Novak's chances against Roger than against Murray. I may be wrong. And of course, on any given day, any top player can beat any other top player. That's why we watch sport. For the imponderables. :)

Yolita: Fair enough. I'm not one to make predictions so I'll wait and see what happens at the end of the tournament and the weeks to come. Whatever happens, it's will be exciting:)

I have to agree that Pete's comment about Tipsarevic is very unfair and not based on any facts. Tipsarevic beat Djokovic at the WTF. He has been playing really well. He doesn't choke as he used to. No reason to say he would "open the door for Djokovic".

The funny thing is that they can't win. If Novak and Janko meet in the QF there are two possible scenarios:

1. Novak beats Janko... In which case everybody will say that Janko is Novak's minion. No credit to Djokovic, independently of the match.

2. Janko beats Novak--- In which case Novak will be ridiculed as a big choker. No credit to Tipsarevic, independently of the match.

Tough luck, eh?

Magic Guillermo,

You got me! That was a little secret we did not want to leak out. It's too late now. I may as well reveal another one from my laboratory. Those hair follicles point upwards for a reason - collection of cosmic energy that gets transferred straight into the blood stream, hence stamina. Egg-machine also helps, as well as special "cosmic" chocolate truffles occasionally eaten under a towel.

It's all out now!!!

Tesla, you are the man...
I do not like Nole, but what you've done is genius...you can't even test for it.

I've always thought that when tennis writers (or any other professional writers) function as bloggers (or tweeters or Facebook people), they are not held to the same rules of objectivity, balance etc that they are when they write serious articles. The differences between Steve and Pete's Tennis Magazine articles and their posts on tennis.com certainly demonstrate that to me.

MagicVilas; About the Ashe-Connors match, you sound like my teenaged niece and her tennis playing pals when they watch some of the old TC classic tennis matches with me: "We could beat those women easily." :) I will have to pull out my 2 wood rackets one day just for fun. In spite of doing serious downsizing and unloading stuff when I moved 2 years ago, I held on to them for sentimental reasons.

@Wilson: It will definitely be an exciting tournament and season. I can't wait. :)

And I hope we get to see the top players playing each other again and again. What a treat! XD

".....I'm not one to make predictions..."

wilson!!! OMG - have you checked lately...'cause I think your pants might be on fire. I have never know ANYone on this board to make ...not quantity of predictions...but 'surety' of predictions. As in:

"X will not beat Y'

Y will not beat Z"

"that is not going to happen."

lol...

but it is okay, I flove you anyway. :-)

Martina will be on the upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars. Not sure why that makes me chuckle...might be because she'll be competing against Urkel.

Good night everyone , great news Alisa Kleybanova get a wildcard and will return to tour at Miami , it has been a long road back for her.

Wednesday Order of Play

WTA: Kuala Lumpur at Midnight - Martic vs Nara
WTA: Kuala Lumpur at 1 AM - Radwanska vs Amanmuradova followed by Dellacqua vs Hsieh
ATP: Dubai at 5 AM - Murray vs Chiudinelli, Cipolla vs Tipsarevic, Lacko vs Berdych and Fish vs Youzhny scheduled
WTA: Kuala Lumpur at 5 AM - Rogowska vs Dokic followed by Morita vs Doi
ATP: Dubai at 7 AM - Djokovic vs Stakhovsky
ATP: Dubai at 7:30 AM - Del Potro vs Golubev
ATP: Dubai at 10 AM - Lopez vs Federer followed by Rosol vs Tsonga
ATP: Delray Beach at 12:30 PM - Gulbis vs Darcis
ATP: Delray Beach at 2 PM - Bogomolov Jr vs Matosevic
ATP: Acapulco at 4 PM - To Be Announced
WTA: Acapulco at 4 PM - To Be Announced
ATP: Delray Beach at 7:15 PM - Isner vs Sweeting
ATP: Delray Beach at 9 PM - Smyczek vs Tomic
ATP: Acapulco at 10 PM - To Be Announced

Ronald Osborne Jr,
Indeed, good news on Alisa.

the tournament doesn't count as nadal has not entered. he may be tired or getting over an injury.

As long as we are discussing wing men and door openers, let's remember the player who actually defined what the term "doorman" is all about:

HTH Federer - Wawrinka 10:1 (23:3 sets)

If there ever was a player who benefited from having a wing man, it's Fed.

Compared to Stanislas, Tipsy has a highly competitive record against his more famous countryman: Djokovic - Tipsarevic HTH 3:1 (8:5 sets). Considering all this, Bozo's lack of basic tennis knowledge is simply appalling.

Sorry, it's Bodo's lack of knowledge...

Yolita said at 6:09 pm: "Definitely Novak prefers playing Rafa than Roger. By a million times. I'm absolutely sure of that. XD"

Well, so much as a million times I'm not sure, it seems a little bit exaggerated. XD.

"lack of basic tennis knowledge"

I don't think it's that. Bodo likes to make points of some sort and facts don't come into it much. An example: in a recent article (I think during AO) he wrote of Rafa having barely survived 5 setters at last year's AO against Kohlschreiber and Karlovic. The fact that Rafa hadn't played against either player at 2011 AO, nor had never played any sort of 5 setters against either of them anywhere, nor played 5 setters against anybody at 2011 AO, was all neither here nor there for Bodo. The non-facts supported his point of view, that's all. :)

Wow, nice comments, oh yeah!

What a shame......

omg there are some scary Nadal stalkers here lol ... i thought Pete's snarky tone was funny, we all dont hold our breath and shudder at what our fave's are doing (or we IMAGINE they are doing) every second of the day ...

I can see kinda obsessing about Fed being such a one of kind amazing shotmaker and classic old school player, but other than Rafa's buns and guns getting hormones and fantasies raging, I cant really see another reason to ponder his every move, lets hope he's napping this month so he cant complain about being tired or how long the schedule is ...

"omg there are some scary Nadal stalkers here lol ... i thought Pete's snarky tone was funny, we all dont hold our breath and shudder at what our fave's are doing (or we IMAGINE they are doing) every second of the day ..."

Tim,
I did too especially your favorite player is the only one out of the Top 10 not playing a 500 event this week. Speaking of that favorite player, did he say before AO that he is taking the entire month of February to heal all injuries.

Roddick is down a set to Petzschner

I think it's about time for Novak to turn his H2H with Roger to .500 territory. It's closing up and Roger is 6+ years his senior... that being said, I don't expect a reversal in the trend to happen. On the other hand, I think Roger is fine with his "new" status, it took him while to get all that hubris out... now, more humble, he is still very dangerous and could plays "the best player ever without a GS or a bread-and-butter shot". He is still making tons of money and is a father of twins... nothing to be ashamed.

Murray, he will probably lose a few times more before winning again against Novak. I really can't see him winning at this tournament. His best chance must probably be the Wimby this year (prior to Olympics) and possibly Toronto/Cincy when most players are starting to feel the burnout.

Nadal, the forgotten man: He is in DR enjoying the sun and probably playing golf. I don't think he is doing much tennis.

Up a break in the 2nd...

Mr. Decker, that is.

Hmmm I see that Gulbis won a match. I think that was his first win of the season. I read an interview that he gave a couple of weeks ago and he says some interesting things (yes I do realise that it is Ernie we are talking about). I think he might of been going through mono last year as he was always sick and couldn't train for long periods without getting tired.