A bunch of players lost today, including Andy Roddick, which meant that some players were out before the beginning they and we are accustomed to.  Andy looked lifeless against Nicholas Mahut, of France and of legendary Wimbledon match against John Isner two years ago.  Mahut doesn’t much like clay, unusual given he’s French.  Andy doesn’t like it either.  Prior to today, Mahut had never beaten Andy, on any surface.   But Mahut played well and Andy played badly, upping his 17-0 losses on clay this year to 18.  C’est la vie.

The American on the up and up this year is Bryan Baker.  Bryan who?  You mean the Bryan brothers?  No.  This guy is 28 years old, or so.  His professional tennis career was derailed half a dozen years ago by injuries.  He had a total of five surgeries, tough to come back from.  Instead, he studied business and finance at Belmont College in Nashville, where he was also the unpaid assistant coach.

Little by little, he began to feel better and a year ago started to test his body out.  After a couple tournaments where he played a lot and felt fine, he decided to give the tour another chance.  On Saturday, in Nice, he played the final against Almagro, losing, but who cares?  It was his first ATP final ever.  His family flew in for the big event.

Now he’s in Paris and tomorrow he’ll play his first round match against Xavier Malisse, the Frenchman who, in an ironic twist, he lost to in his last professional match before all the injuries, at the US Open.  It would be wonderful to see him get his revenge these years later, on French soil.  And he’s got more than a fair chance.  Malisse is 77 in the world, thirty two years old.  He’s a good tennis player, but it’s not like Baker drew a first round against Djokovic.

Venus got through her first round match, picking up steam to take the second and third sets.  Stosur looks confident and I would love it if she manages to pull off the victory that eluded her three years ago.

Tsonga and Juan Martin del Potro are into the second round, both winning in four.

I hadn’t known about the bad blood between Rafa and the French over the puppet show called Les Guignols until I heard Chris Clarey of the New York Times being interviewed by Bill Macatee on French Open Tonight.  If you haven’t seen this, and I hadn’t, here’s some You Tube.

Here you will see the Nadal puppet drinking water, then urinating into his car’s gasoline tank.  There is also the writing implement, a syringe.  To me, it seemed funny, but the French are getting sued over it so I guess the Spaniards aren’t laughing.

So, will it be Nadal this year?  He’s tied with Bjorn Borg with six French Opens each.  Or will it be Novak, with a career Grand Slam to show for it, no one since Laver has done that?

Stay tuned.  See you tomorrow, right here.

Other endeavors have been more pressing these past two months, hence my brief blog hiatus,  but the French Open never plays second fiddle.  And I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for some thrilling upsets.  I filled out my racquet bracket and I chose Nadal and Serena to raise the trophies, but I’m still debating whether to change that to Djokovic and ??, I really don’t know on the women’s side.  I’d say Maria but Serena will win over her earlier in the tournament.  Even if Serena doesn’t make it to the final and to the victory, I think she’ll defeat Maria.  Even though Maria is match tough and Serena isn’t, there is a long history of Serena owning Maria.  And though I am not a Serena fan, I find it hard to bet against her.  I’m not a Maria fan either, so I’ll be the first to welcome anyone else the last week and final Saturday.

So, Azarenka?, Li Na, the defending champion?, Schiavone, Stosur, Ivanovic, Cetkovska ( I haven’t seen her play but I know she’s a newcomer who is playing well.)  Kvitova, Pironkhova?  Errani, Kerber?  Now as in recent years, the women’s field is wide open.  It could be someone who has never won a Slam at all, never mind the French Open.

Meanwhile, there’s a lot of tennis to be played and it should be a very interesting two weeks.  There’s all the usual suspects to guide us through it on television, from John McEnroe and Mary Carillo to Brad Gilbert and Ted Robinson.  There was a nice photo of the Tennis Channel crew posted by TC on Twitter a few hours ago.  Too much fun.  Yes, it’s a lot of work, those people really go all day and into the night, but it’s great work if you can get it.

I love to hear your comments, so please have at it.  Until tomorrow, au revoir from Cupcakes and Tennis, the tennis blog with a sweet spot.

Ana Ivanovic is playing some of her best tennis in four years so it was discouraging that she needed to withdraw due to a hip injury after one game of the second set against Maria last night.  The outcome was by no means assured even though Maria took the first set, 6-4.

David Nalbandian gave Rafa a verrry hard time in the last of the quarterfinals yesterday.  He’s so much fun to watch when he’s on.  Everyone else works hard, David is all talent.  He was two points from winning the match and at 30/30 he threw in a drop shot (which already had not been working) and that’s the closest he got.  He did make Rafa sweat though, denying him his own service game at 5-2 down in the third, then winning his next game and nearly pulling even to 5-5.  Another stupid drop shot stopped that from happening.  I was rooting for David all the way, nothing against Rafa, but it would have been fun to see Nalbandian in the semi and possibly the final.

I’ve had it with the idiots who design Andy Murray’s tennis clothing.  Why does he need to look like a big goofy toddler, not to mention that these bright colors – saturated orange, blue, chartreuse and kelly green – look terrible on him.  With his fair skin and gingy hair, Andy looks good in subtle tones of grey and beige, strong navy, greens in the olive to forest green range.  There are people, I am not one of them but I’d take this gig, who do this for a living.  You can hire color consultants, it’s that specific.  Add one to Murray’s shopping cart.

I’m wondering who will be calling the matches for ABC.  Tennis Channel put on a good week.  I know nothing about the HD technology, but ESPN came in for a day yesterday and boom, there it all is on the wide screen.  What is the problem with Tennis Channel getting this?  Good to see Chris Fowler and team, or some of the team, for a day and I’m hoping Mary Carillo has the call for the women’s final.  Maybe Johnny Mac for the men’s matches?

We’ll see soon enough.  Enjoy the remaining matches and we’ll talk again once the results are in.

It’s a special place, as all the commentators say.  Low key.  I’ve been familiar with La Quinta in particular since I was seven years old and took the train from Chicago with my mother and two sisters to spend time in the desert with my grandparents.  They bought a big double lot at the end of what is now known as The Cove in La Quinta and built a small mid-century home.  We ate grapefruit from their trees, walked one block further into the lavendar mountains.

I fell in love with palm trees, not a one to be seen previously in my Wisconsin existence.  La Quinta then was sparsely populated.  The roads were dirt and the stars at night looked like a traffic jam.  There was a post office, a gas station and the Desert Club where we lounged by the pool and batted tennis balls around on the two or three courts.  This was low key.

The La Quinta Hotel, Roger Federer’s lodging of choice, was there in its present day location but there was nothing glossy about it.  It was quiet, old Hollywood cache.  When you drive into The Cove these days, it’s completely built up.  You can tell the old properties by the old growth.  Around my grandparents’ home, which became my mother’s home and then my sisters’ and my home before we sold it a dozen or more years ago, there is still a tall hedge of oleander.  Inside the house you have privacy, but your neighbors are still in your face.  Down the road, in the commercial part of town that was undeveloped desert before, there is a slew of stores and restaurants and the big art festival held each year.  What used to be back of beyond is now a bustling valley community.

When the ATP and WTA tours roll into town, they generate a lot of activity in an already busy place.  About 200 million dollars pour into the valley during these two weeks.  Larry Ellison, who saved the tournament by buying it a few years ago, has extremely deep pockets and it shows.  Even without ticket sales or other funds they raise, he could probably write a check for the yearly maintenance, soup to nuts, the same way you or I can buy our morning coffee.  That’s why all the outer courts have Hawkeye.  It should be so in all the tournaments, but it costs quite a lot and so it isn’t.  Still, fair to all the players.

This year the flu has stricken a good number of players.  Roger Federer has been sick but not sick enough to withdraw, thank goodness.  It took him three sets to dispatch with Milos Raonic and Thomas Bellucci, but he did it.  Milos is the Canadian teenager with the big serve and poised demeanor, not an easy out, even for Roger.  And Bellucci is a Brazilian who looks like an Italian who just came alive off of some Renaissance fresco, quickly changed from choir robes to Adidas shorts and sneakers.

Even with fifteen or more players gone due to illness, there’s a lot of tennis going on.  Andy Murray was taken out last weekend, as was Sam Stosur.  Christina McHale beat Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, another upset.  Great to see her go after it in front of an American crowd.  Ryan Harrison just lost last night to Gilles Simon, one of the most frustrating players on tour.  He’s not that big, doesn’t have any huge weapons, how does he keep on winning?  He shouldn’t be able to do that, but he is.

What’s up with Michael Llodra, getting so foul mouthed with an Asian American fan who was supporting Ernest Gulbis, his opponent?  Really bad form.

Ana Ivanovic is playing some good tennis again.  She took out Wozniacki the other night.  Azarenka, on her winning streak, nearly double bageled her friend Agnes Radwanska, also doing well this year just not against Vika.  I caught the tail end of comments from Lindsay Davenport and Brett Haber that the two friends aren’t talking, and that was before yesterday’s beat down.  I can imagine it would be difficult to keep up a friendship with this kind of stress.  Much easier when you are two players working your way up.

Djokovic and Nadal look strong, along with Roger.  John Isner is the only American left in the draw and he’ll take on Gilles Simon next.  I’ll pick John in that one.  On the women’s side, we could have a Sharapova Azarenka final, whole lot of shrieking goin’ on.

After Sunday, everyone who isn’t already in Miami gets on a plane and goes there.  Whole different thing.  Sunny and humid.  Glitzy Miami.  Latin beat.

More later.  Thanks for reading Cupcakes and Tennis, the tennis blog with a sweet spot.

Mardy Fish was up first, against Stan Wawrinka.  My call on that was you just never know.  Either one could have taken it and it went five sets so they both hung in there until the bitter end.  Mardy had a chance to close the door serving for it at 5-4 in the fifth, couldn’t do it.  Finally, on a third match point, I believe, he did it for a 9-7 finish.  Tough.

Then Big John Isner took the court against Roger.  Roger has beaten him many times, but each time he faces a different Isner since the whole point with John for the past few  years has been to develop his potential.  He started out as a big server with a huge wing span and not that much game otherwise.  But now he does have more game and on the day, he took out Roger in four sets.

Wow. Friday was over, the US was up 2-0 and could just as likely have been down 0-2 or even at 1-1.  Actually more likely either of those two possibilities.

Saturday is doubles day and with Bob Bryan home in Florida after the birth a week ago of his first child, a daughter, Mike took the court with Mardy.  After five hours on the court the day before in that tight match with Wawrinka, a tall ask.

Although the two players know each other well, they had only played doubles together twice before.  Still, they formed a tight knit duo that got tighter as the match went on and by the time it was all over, they chest pumped just like brothers, like twins and took the deciding victory over Roger and Stan, a gold medaling Olympic duo.

Roger can not have felt good about his two days on court at home.  Lost in both matches, ouch.  But it happens and it happened this time.  Personally, I don’t take this any farther.  It doesn’t mean anything for Roger’s year on the tour, it doesn’t say anything about his age.  Blah blah blah.  It just says he lost those two matches and it hurts at home like that with all of your country wanting you to win and you want to win for them.

Indoor tennis this past week in Paris, the WTA.  Angelique Kerber of Germany defeated home country girl Marion Bartoli in the final.  Marion kept fighting from behind in both her semi and the final but just couldn’t quite get there in the end.

The other tennis thing I’ve been doing is reading Andre Agassi’s book, Open.  It came out a year or more ago but I deferred the pleasure until now because I was writing my tennis novel and didn’t want to be influenced by others during that time.

Definitely read this book, it’s such a good read, really keeps your interest.  I don’t usually read these kind of books, memoirs, collaborations with, but I have always loved Andre and I’m glad to say his book is as good as his tennis.  He really does what he says he’s going to do, open up, be himself, let you in.  Finally, you can get a good idea of what the life is like, what goes through the mind on court, or before, or after a match.  The writing is lively and incisive, the pace is fast, you can’t put it down, that’s the truth.

Personally, I love Andre even more than before.

And the drug stuff, it takes a few pages, it seems incidental all things considered, not a big deal.  Yes, he lied.  No, he’s not proud of it.  In the context of a twenty year career and all that entailed, a few drugs isn’t much to write home about.

It’s out in paperback.  Go get it.  You won’t be sorry.

Thanks for reading Cupcakes and Tennis, the tennis blog with a sweet spot.

I lingered after the ceremony until they chased me out, wandered slowly through the grounds one last time, caught Roger being interviewed by ESPN and talking with the handful of people who were still around, including me.  A great finish.  Even after I meandered back to my flat just a few blocks from the cricket grounds, it still wasn’t much past midnight.

What a contrast to the final this year.  The longest final in a Grand Slam in the Open era, five hours and fifteen minutes, or thereabouts.  It was 1:30 in the morning before people filed out.   I recorded it and watched during the morning and afternoon yesterday, it was a commitment.  And even though I extended the time of the recording, I still had to watch the last half hour on ESPN 3.   Epic and awesome are two overused words these days, but they apply in this case.

Both players ran about fifteen miles or so during the match.  Coming in to the semis, Novak had spent about 10 hours on the court.  For the semi and the final, he played the same number of hours.  And one comment about the running these guys do.  It’s not what you do when you go out for a three mile jog.  No, this is like constant sprinting.  Two steps to the right, then chase back fast to the left, then up to the net, then quick steps back to line up for an overhead.  Stop, start, stop, start.  And in between get your racquet on the ball for a clean shot.  Truly arduous stuff.

Rafa made a comment in press after the Murray/Djokovic semifinal that Murray lost the match because he took his foot off the gas in the fourth set, the one that Novak won handily 6-1.   It’s a valid point.  Rafa is not one to make that same mistake.  At the end of the third set of the final, he was down two sets.  Neither player took their foot off the gas.  Novak had many chances in the fourth set to close the door.  He was five points from winning the match at one point.  But Nadal wouldn’t let him.

It was fight to the finish and by the end they were both so exhausted, they were nearly reeling.  Novak managed to break Nadal at 5-5 and went on to serve for the match.  No one knew how it was going to turn out.  They had never played a five set match in all of their encounters.

It seemed so fitting.  That the last match should bring us all into uncharted territory.  The game is constantly evolving, taking itself up a notch, more power, more agility, more fitness required.  These two men are among the most fit beings in the world.  What would they do with a fifth set?

And even though Rafa lost, again, to Novak, it was a different kind of loss.  He made headway in figuring out how to beat Novak and he forced Djokovic to up his own ante.

Someone had to win, someone had to lose.  As they stood by the net while the ceremony got underway, they could barely stand and finally two chairs were brought out so they could sit while all the thank yous got said.  Rafa was gracious in defeat, as he always is.  Novak is well spoken also.

All in all, a thrilling and satisfying end to a tournament that will be hard to top for excitement and great tennis.  There were surprises and upsets and in the end, the last women and men standing did the sport proud.  The women’s game has a new number one and a first time Grand Slam winner, someone we can and will look forward to seeing a lot in the future.  The men’s game has the top four all playing well, shuffling around, challenging themselves and each other to play better, bring something more, something new to the fore.

It feels like a new, fresh chapter in the game and I, for one, am loving it.

Plus, having picked the winners correctly, Azarenka and Djokovic, I did much better on my racquet bracket than otherwise.  My own small satisfaction.

Mostly I just enjoyed watching it all, being a part of it, along with so many others worldwide.  Thanks for reading my posts here at Cupcakes and Tennis, the tennis blog with a sweet spot.

I’ll be posting right along now.  Indian Wells is not far off.  Let’s see how this new year unfolds.

Catch you later.

Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are the flip side of the coin to Roger and Rafa.  Born a week apart, they have grown up in tennis together, playing in juniors.  For a long time they were both on their way up and it was a question mark which guy would break through first.  Last year in the final of the Australian Open, Novak beat Andy in three sets.  There wasn’t a lot of drama or suspense to it.

Novak went on to have the most stellar year a tennis player can have.  He won three Grand Slam titles, all but the French which went, bien sur, to Rafa.  He basically didn’t lose the whole year.  Talk about emerging as the leader of the pack, he is the number one player in the world to boot.  Ahead of Rafa, Roger and Andy.

Andy has gotten to the finals of the Grand Slams on several occasions but has never been able to get the win.  He has just recently brought on Ivan Lendl as his new coach.  Lendl, he is hoping, will coach him past the hurdles on to the prize.  He did it for himself, in the eighties against greats like John McEnroe and Boris Becker, and now he wants to do it for Andy.

This match was really the test of what impact he has had in a very short time.  Andy’s draw in the tournament was easy peasy.  But now, against Novak after all of his success and accomplishment?  How would it go?

Cut to the chase.  Andy didn’t win, but he did come out and do battle in a way he has not done before.  Finally, Andy being aggressive.  Finally, Andy not sulking and screaming at his box.  Finally, Andy digging deep.  He lost the first set, looked like he might do the same in the second but then roared back to take it to a tiebreak, which he won.

The exchanges were long, draining affairs.  Thoroughly exciting to observe.  The third set lasted nearly ninety minutes.  The entire match was just under five hours long, the second longest match of the tournament.  In the fifth set, Andy was down 5-2 and fought back to 5-5.  Huge.  Novak managed to break him in the next game and went on to serve it out.

Both of these players are so defensive, it’s difficult to get a point off of them.  Hence the length of the points.  It was critical to hold your own serve and both return so well, it was difficult to do.

What Andy showed on this occasion is his mettle and determination.  Lendl apparently tells jokes all the time and keeps things light.  But he’s not a man you act like a baby around.  Andy wouldn’t dream of yelling up at him as he has in the past to everyone else.  Lendl is telling him to become more aware of the guy on the other side of the net.  Duh.  Obvious.  Yes, but the simple things are sometimes overlooked.  Oh, yeah, I have to beat him, I guess I need to think about him.  Less thinking about me and my feelings and my oh poor me.

And Lendl, who never was a popular bloke and didn’t care, has put a stop to Andy practicing with his opponents.  He used to hit with both Rafa and Novak.  No more.

Lendl has never coached before.  This is probably a special case for him.  He likes to spend his time golfing.  But having taken this on, he’s serious about it as he was about his own game.  Basically, in just this month, he’s moved Andy from a grumpy, why isn’t this happening for me player to a steadier, I’m going to make this happen for me player.  In a word, Lendl is the jokester who is making Andy be serious, soup to nuts.

It’s great to see because he is so talented.  I hope the strategy works and Andy joins the anointed three at the top.

The women’s single final took place last night.  Such a long day for these players, waiting for the evening to arrive so they can take the court.  It can’t be easy.  Chris Evert, who has joined the ESPN commentary team, called the match with Chris Fowler and she said she couldn’t eat the whole day and took a nap before the match, exactly as had been her routine when she was at the top of the game.

Finally, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka took the court.  The big question was how would Vika deal with the occasion?  Would it overwhelm her, her first Grand Slam final?  Initially, you could tell she was nervous.  Maria took a quick 2-0 lead.

But then Vika settled in and she loves to play Maria.  Maria’s game plays right into her own strengths.  Once she put her nerves to the side, she went on to play one of the best matches of her life.  She could do no wrong, she hit winner after winner.  Maria couldn’t get anything back that bothered her and made lots of unforced errors.  She had played well the entire tournament but not last evening.

After losing the first two games, Vika went on to win twelve of the next thirteen.  The final score was 6-3, 6-0.  A bagel.  Basically, it was a rout.

When it was over, Vika fell to the court and then arose looking dazed.  What should I do?  What just happened?  It was too big to take in that very moment.  Maria took it in all too easily.  This was her best shot for another Grand Slam title.  It’s not easy to win six matches to get to a final, so many ways for that to go wrong, so to arrive at the final, be the veteran, the seasoned one, still playing well, and then to go down in flames.  Ouch.

Personally, I’m thrilled for Azarenka.  She worked hard for it and she won it.  So many of these players sacrifice a lot at an early age to follow what is then just a kid’s dream.  Vika came from Belarus to friends in Scottsdale, Arizona who welcomed her into their home, I believe, and underwrote her entire training.  It’s a long stretch from those days to today, so much goes into it.  Congratulations to Victoria and all the many people who have helped and supported her along the way.

In addition to a check for over two million dollars, she is the number one player as of Monday.  Wozniacki falls to fourth.

One more to go and it won’t disappoint.  Novak and Rafa.

I bombed on my racquet bracket on the women’s side, largely due to Sam Stosur’s early departure, but I picked Azarenka to win so I may end up a little better in the final calculation.   I am waiting for the last computations to be emailed to me.

More tomorrow after the men’s final.  Oh, Bob and Mike Bryan lost in the doubles to Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek.  And it looks like Bob will make it back to Florida in time for the birth of his first child, the due date the same as his doubles final.

Thanks for reading Cupcakes and Tennis, the tennis blog with a sweet spot.

That happened at 5-2 in the second set between Roger and Rafa last night, with Rafa about to serve for it.  The players left the court, were permitted to hang out in massage rooms, presumably separate ones, close to the court; they were not allowed to go to the locker room, and their coaches were not allowed to leave the box.

The break was not especially beneficial, if anything the opposite.  With temperatures cooling rapidly, and no warm up, it wasn’t that easy to just pick up where you left off.  Roger seemed sluggish.  Rafa went ahead and leveled the match to one set a piece.  Roger won the first set in a tiebreak but at first took a 3-0 lead and then was up 5-2, so winning in a tiebreak was an indication of just how difficult the whole thing was.

It always is.  I had hoped this match would be somewhat different from their others.  We all know Rafa has the head to head on this, almost to the point of not being able to call it a rivalry as much as a domination.  There is always talk in tennis about match-ups.  For instance, Andy Roddick’s game is not a good match-up with Roger’s.  Andy doesn’t really have anything that bothers Roger.  That’s why Roger always beats Andy.

Two years ago no one was beating Rafa.  But then along came Djokovic last year and he figured out a way.  Basically he just goes to Rafa’s backhand, especially in the deuce court, over and over and then some more.  Do that enough and you’ll get the errors off of Rafa’s racquet.  These days Novak is in Rafa’s head the same way Rafa is in Roger’s.  That seems fair, doesn’t it?  Rafa couldn’t beat Novak last year and as the year progressed and he kept on getting beaten by him, you could really tell it bothered him.

I had hoped last night’s match would have been different.  Roger’s got that shot, he can do that, too.  Over and over again to the backhand.  Talk about fair, that’s really really fair.  After all, that’s Rafa’s strategy with Roger.  Over and over to his backhand, high up, where it’s hard to get it.

So I don’t know why Roger didn’t do that last night.  He did it some, but not enough.  Patrick McEnroe was commenting on it, thinking maybe it’s just too boring for Roger to have set plays.  Like a brilliant chef making the same brownies again and again.  But I think Darren Cahill may have more insight to offer on this.  Apparently, Darren spent some time with Roger going over video of matches to analyze what happens in break point situations, another weak spot.  Roger gets break points against Rafa, but only converts a small percentage of them.

Darren said that Roger had thought he had been aggressive in these situations.  That was his perception of his behavior.  But once they viewed the video and broke it all down, it was clear that he actually had not been.  Heartening in a way to the common folks that the master is just as human as we are.  He can’t see himself clearly just like we can’t.

Rafa won it in four sets and Roger did look discouraged.  I hope Darren gets to him for another session sometime.  It would be fun to see him beat Rafa at least some of the time.  This is really too painful now.

Depending on what happens tonight in the other semifinal match between Djokovic and Murray, we may see a Rafa/Novak final.  And if we do, I’m thinking my pick two weeks ago of Novak to win the whole shebang may just be the way it turns out.

Prior to the Big Match, between Roger and Rafa, there were two semifinal women’s matches and the way those shook out was one of the newbies and one of the veterans.  Victoria Azarenka won her match against Kim Clijsters in three interesting sets.  Maria Sharapova prevailed over Petra Kvitova, got her revenge for Wimbledon.

The main thing to note about this is if you want to watch the final be prepared for the double shrieking.  Vika and Maria shriek with every swing of their racquet.  Every swing.  There will be no respite.  First Maria will shriek, then Vika, then Maria and on and on.  Honestly, I hope the tennis is great because their voices are almost enough not to watch, they give you a headache.  Personally, I’ll take Vika’s scream over Maria’s.  It’s less irritating, not as high pitched.

People have been very aware of this situation a lot during this Australian Open but if public objection were the change factor here, it would have changed a long time ago.  I missed Monica Seles and the tennis of those years but she was one for the ages, people say.  And no one changed anything.

Where it really has to change is on the court, with other women players objecting to it as a hindrance.  I’m not sure why they don’t object more but I think it’s our only hope and clearly a slim one.  Azarenka and Maria both weighed in on this during the tournament, aware of the crowd mocking, etc…, and basically said this is the way I play.  End of story.

Thanks for reading Cupcakes and Tennis, the tennis blog with a sweet spot.

Radwanska is a kind of surprising player.  She doesn’t look the part.  She’s petite in stature, doesn’t look beefed up even if she is.  No guns.  Sam Stosur has guns.  Aggie’s arms are just lovely and shapely and look like they could use a little more sun tan lotion.  They don’t look like they work hard, those arms.

But they do.  She gets a ton of balls back and relies on laser like placement of the ball rather than power to get her ahead in the score line.

After losing the first set, 7-0 in the tiebreak, really?, how often do you see that?, Vika shook it off and never looked back.  She took sets 2 and 3, 2 and 0 and advanced to the semifinals.

More on the shrieking.  The purchasers of the tickets, i.e. the crowd, are fighting back.  You could hear during this match, and apparently others, members of the crowd imitating Azarenka’s shrieks.  And I just saw a comment thread on the Australian Open website with various people weighing in on the subject in at least four languages.  From what I could understand, everyone hates it.  I find myself, like others it seems, not wanting to watch a match especially if there are two screamers.  Watch out, we may have a Sharapova/Azarenka final.

Yes, Sharapova also advanced.  She beat Ekatarina Makarova in a match that was closer in actuality than the score line, 2 and 3.  Sometimes when a player upsets a top player the next match is a come down, but it wasn’t the case here.  Having taken down Serena,  Makarova came fully prepared to play her game and win if she possibly could.  I’m not a big Maria fan, but you have to give her credit.  She knows everything there is to know about determination.

And Maria is the highest paid, wealthiest woman athlete in any sport.  She could sleep in late tomorrow morning and every morning thereafter, but instead she works hard on her tennis game.  She’s one of four women with a very decent chance to win the title.

Petra Kvitova doesn’t look quite as balls to the wall as she did last June when she surprised everyone by claiming the Wimbledon title.  But she’s getting the job done even if she isn’t playing her very best tennis.  Sara Errani gave her some work to do, a creditable job, but Kvitova walked off with a 4 and 4 straight set victory.  Errani is fun to watch.  Italians play tennis the way they drive – all over the place.  Big tall Wagnerian Kvitova, blonde blue eyed with the braid down her back against the Roadrunner.

Finally, Kim Clijsters took the win over Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets.  There had been intense concern about Kim’s ankle injury and whether she would be able to play this match but she came out looking sharp and running all over the court.  So much for that problem.  In the second set she let a 5-2 lead slip but made up for it in the tiebreak where she sealed the deal.

Caroline Wozniacki will be relieved of her number 1 position in the rankings, a source of great debate.  How can she be number one if she hasn’t won a Grand Slam?  Ask the WTA, it’s their ranking system.  Still, the real issue is her game, not the WTA, and Caroline is an inferior version of a female David Ferrer.  She gets everything so she wins a lot, but that doesn’t mean she is a champion.  I think she’s a nice girl, but I don’t see her game as being on the level with the greats.  Maybe she’ll get the monkey off her back now, if she’s no longer number one everyone can stop talking about how unfair it is since she hasn’t won a Grand Slam and then maybe she’ll develop her game and talents into the kind of thing that wins on the last Sunday.

So, in summary, and in just a few short hours, the women’s semifinals are Clijsters vs. Azarenka and Sharapova vs. Kvitova.  Look for Maria to be seeking revenge in this match, add it to the big bonfire of desire for another Grand Slam title burning inside her.  Maria got told what by Kvitova in the Wimbledon final last year.  Centre Court.  The Queen of Big Stages in tennis.  That did not feel good.  I’m looking for some cold stares across the net, Maria can get that going.

These are great match-ups.  In each case, a former, experienced Grand Slam champion meets up with one of the two best new players.  I chose Azarenka to win the tournament, along with Darren Cahill, it seems, and I’ll stick with it.  But any of these four could bring it home.

On the men’s side, things lined up just like we pictured them.  The top four seeds, the four who dominate men’s tennis.  Djokovic, Federer, Nadal, Murray.

Nadal won in four sets over Thomas Berdych, and it looked dicey there in the early stages of the match.  Federer and del Potro played a rematch of their US Open final from 2009, prior to del Potro’s wrist surgery and absence from the tour for nearly a year.  He’s playing well now, but Roger is playing better than ever.

Andy Murray had an easy time of it over Kei Nishikori who turned in a worthy performance but not one that advanced him.  No matter, Kei has had a great tournament, he’s gone further in a Grand Slam than any Japanese player before him.

Djokovic was the last of the four to play his quarterfinal match and it was brutal for two sets against David Ferrer.  A thoroughly physical match, such hard hitting, such pressure not to lose your focus for a nanosecond.  David almost took the second set to level it at one a piece and he had chances, but Novak eked out the second set and what was a thoroughly discouraged but still fighting Ferrer to do?  The legs these guys have to have just to play a match like this.

Tonight, in the wee hours here, Federer will play Nadal for a berth in the final. Every time these two take the court, almost always in finals, it’s an occasion.  Twenty eight or nine times, that many chapters in a book that still is being written.  In his match against del Potro, Roger logged his 1,000th match, that’s a whole lot of tennis.  And now he takes on his rival and friend one more time to see who will prevail.  I’ll take Federer in this one, especially if he manages to get out in front from the beginning.

Murray vs. Djokovic?  Should be a great match, anyone’s game.  Murray is fresh, he’s had an easy draw, easy tournament.  Novak is in supreme form.  I’ve got Novak winning the Open, so I’ll stay with that.  How could I not?

Thanks for reading Cupcakes and Tennis, the tennis blog with a sweet spot and keep enjoying the Aussie Open as it edges toward the conclusion.

That finally came in the form of Ekaterina Makarova, a Russian player with a bit of a track record of upsets Down Under.  Last year she beat Ivanovic to get to the quarterfinals.  This year she beat Zvonareva, already an upset, to get a chance for the big one.

So Serena came out with the taping, as she  has been.  Makarova came to play.  She’s remarkably unintimidated by top players.  Unlike Greta Arn who played Serena in the last match and was reverential beyond it serving anyone well.  And even if Serena isn’t at her best, you have to believe she is an intimidating sight across the net.

But Makarova played some fantastic tennis, hitting the balls hard, showing a variety of shot, agility.  And Serena turned in a poor performance, lots of unforced errors.   Even her serve was off and that shot usually gets her a pass on sluggish movement.  You can use a lot of words to describe Serena but graceful isn’t one of them.  And our Serena, who is just so glad to be alive after her serious health problems last year, was one big grump on the court.

Ms. Makarova won it in straights, 2 and 3.  Quite a day in her life.

Now we will see if she can threepeat it, take down Maria Sharapova.  Maria beat Sabine Lisicki, one of my favorites, yesterday in three.  Many people were excited at the thought of a quarterfinal featuring Maria and Serena, but it’s not to be.  Maria may have been one of the few people who was relieved not to face that.  But she’ll have to play better than she did today against Makarova.  The possible upset will make that one very interesting to watch.

Shriek alert: During the match between Maria and Sabine on Rod Laver, Christine McHendry and Chris Evert of ESPN could hear it all the way over at their broadcasting set.  If you’ve tuned in to ESPN at all, you see the sports desk and Rod Laver in the background.  It’s hard to tell from that visual how far away the court is, but I can tell you from being there that it probably takes at least five minutes of fast walking to get there.  The shrieks waft out of the open roof and into the air, like all the birds and seagulls that fly in and around the stadium.

Lleyton Hewitt put in a valiant effort but since no one else is having any luck beating Novak Djokovic these days, why would we think a thirty year old player who has had repeated hip surgeries could do it?  Novak won in four.

David Ferrer won his match against Gasquet.  If you need some inspiration, an example of how to take what you’ve got and maximize it, get to know Ferrer.  He’s the man.

And Kei Nishikori pulled out a five setter against Tsonga in the brutal heat of the middle of the day.  Good for him.

This is what I love and everyone else who loves tennis loves.  The stories, the upsets, the successes of players on their way up or on their way back or on their way down, or fighting to keep position.  And it’s still anyone’s guess who will be in the finals and who will gain the title.

Djokovic and Azarenka, my picks, are still very much alive.  But will it be Kim or Andy Murray or Caroline Wozniacki or…?

I’ll be watching and reporting.  Thanks for reading Cupcakes and Tennis, the tennis blog with a sweet spot.