The Truth That Dare Not Speak Its Name: Roger Federer still won on a fast, indoor court. Kinda. [And the trophy ain’t that bad either *ducks*]

There’s sometimes a tendency to underestimate just how much Fed enjoys winning the few titles that have eluded him (Shanghai, Monte Carlo and Rome for the chronically pedantic). And those that do have something to say on the subject seem  hell-bent on painting it as a uniquely obnoxious clinical condition (Jeez what a hegemon) .

For me, the anomaly is how he ever managed not to win Paris: perhaps the only understandable loss is in 07 when he went out in R3 to that utterly ridonkulous version of David Nalbandian that’s been known to occasionally show up – who (having already won Madrid) then went on to win the whole damn thing. Having gone through Rafa, Novak and Fed (not easy in 2007), ain’t no one gonna argue that he owned that fall.

But perhaps the fact that it took Fed so long here is just one of the many anomalies we have been told to accept in relation to Paris. A place where even a firebrand like Marat won a shockingly steady three of his five Masters titles. The place where Henman won his ONLY Masters title. Go figure.

This year, all the talk has, quite rightly, been about the decision to slow down the one remaining surface that happened to, you know, BE FAST. Quite frankly, it was an anomaly we could have lived with , even if it was giving rise to the anomalous results so many seem to find so grotesque – I’m not so sure it was responsible (reality, as always,  tends to be just a little more complex).

But there's already been more than enough virtual ink spilt on that subject. And honestly? Its obscured something just as relevant: IT'S STILL A FAST INDOOR COURT.

It's fertile territory for jokes of course (of which there have been many), but the truth is, however slow it is, it's not going to suddenly start playing like a clay court – Fed made much the same point after his quite impeccable win over Berd, perhaps his single best match this year.



Not only that, but following his regular post USO lay-off, Fed tends to excel on the fast indoor courts that form the mainstay of the end of the season – a period when most others are worn-out, beat-up, and bitching in various degrees about the length of the season.

Whatever unique advantages these courts confer upon Fed are going to continue to exist even in a slightly compromised form. And that, more than anything else, is what makes him the rational bet going into London.

Clay court Fed will likely remain my particular favourite long after he’s retired – I find the curious, elemental spectacle of Fed’s adapted play working the contours of a surface that should be out-of-his-element until it’s very much in-his-element to be utterly seductive.

But Indoor-Fed shuts you out of a match in a way only a walking scorched earth policy can. And a lot of times that’s just as good.

Explain to me why they did away with carpet again?

(Pics: Getty) Read More...

Deceit and Entrapment: Novak Djokovic and the $1.6M Matrix of Cynicism

1. If Novak doesn’t play Paris, its because he’s saving himself for London – his shoulder has almost nothing to do with it. Neither is it relevant that countless other players both past and present have done precisely that under similar circumstances.

2. If Novak plays Paris, but loses his opener, he’s still saving himself for London but is now also a “low-rent” mercenary for claiming the $1.6M he was due for competing in 7 of the 8 Masters events – or, as Bodo would have it, for “brazenly gaming the system”.

3. If Novak plays Paris, but retires during his opener, he’s still saving himself for London, is still “brazenly gaming the system” by claiming the $1.6M he was due for playing 7 of the 8 Masters events, but is now also one that hasn’t the grace nor the class (both overused terms) to give his opponent the win they’re due.

Bonus hater points accrued depending on how the injury is presented: “his body always seems to break down” (opportunist ~2pts) vs. “his body always seems to break down” (wet behind the ears ~2pts) vs. a creatively insidious combo of both (~5pts)

4. If Novak wins his opener, he’s putting in just enough legwork to counter the accusations of “not trying hard enough” he WILL receive should he pull out or lose any one of of his subsequent matches. His primary motivation (as a low-rent mercenary) remains exiting the event both quickly and by drawing as little attention (censure) as possible. Needless to say he can’t do both and the more diligent hater won’t let him get away with it.

5. If he fights back from a set down as he did against his compatriot yesterday, he’s a showboating dickhead that’s cynically exploiting the opportunity of beating a flaky minion (one whose game he knows inside out) to present himself as someone that doesn’t shy away from a fight, no matter how much he may be hurting, and no matter how little is at stake. Again, the more astute hater won’t fail to avail the opportunity of satisfying the dual objective of both undercutting Novak and snarking on Viktor.

6. If he makes the latter stages or – God help us – wins the event, he’s an insufferable egomaniac that doesn’t know when to stop (the chip on the shoulder of most players from small Eastern European countries usually ensure that they don’t) and will in all likelihood pay the price for it in London.

This is the matrix of cynicism with which Novak’s every action has been evaluated over the past week – the handout from hell.

Its beauty lies in the arc it artfully traces between the two extremes of blaming him for one thing, namely pulling out to avoid further inflaming an injury(1) and blaming him for its reflexive opposite (6) – veteran haters are able to pull this off without the transition between (1) and (6) seeming too jarring, or even without anyone noticing it’s taken place at all.



Between the two endpoints lies a breadth of possibilities that is truly daunting and the real magic lies in predicting what Novak may or may not do and devising ever more creative means of undercutting  “the good” and highlighting “the bad”.

What you end up with is a complex web of deceit which ensures Novak’s presented in nothing other than the most unfavourable terms, and from which there can be no escape as no stone has been left unturned.  As a piece of legal, political and actuarial manoeuvring, it stands alone – you really have to marvel at its completeness and attention to detail. 

Let’s be completely honest: Novak was gonna be gunned down whatever he did this week.

His pulling out after winning two matches is supposed to mean we can all go back to pretending he wouldn’t have got shat upon had he pulled out before the event began or, rather more crucially, had there not been $1.6M at stake.



And one thing I have learnt this week is that there is, apparently, a middle ground between the haters’ invective and the more conventional discourse around Nole’s injuries – this appears to be what most have settled upon.

There’s only one thing wrong with it: it happens to be  a crock of shit. Elaborate, inventive, and maybe even a little persuasive, but a hoax all the same.

Novak's physical conditioning has always proved polarising – and yes he has sometimes brought it on himself – yet there’s something inexorably icky about the nature of the spite this time round as it seems to be motivated primarily by the question of money.

That would be the $1.6M bonus he was due for playing 7 of the 8 Masters events – something no one else was able to do this year, and a provision that, as far as I can tell, has always been in place.

I don’t think he should have played this week either, I don’t feel the need to go out of the way to defend his decision to do so and, yes, he probably didn’t "give it his all”, but we really shouldn’t be muddying the waters with talk of money. 

And if we’re honest about it, it’s no different to what countless other players, both past and present, both journeyman and elite, have done (in some cases many times over) – only they seem to get the most lavish praise imaginable for “listening to their body”.




Only yesterday, Mardy Fish withdrew with a pulled left hamstring – a recurring injury that also caused him problems in Basel, an injury he would, presumably, have been nursing when he decided to play here this week, an injury that puts him in much the same position as Novak, yes?

If Novak’s a shithead for pulling out two matches in, then so is Mardy – $1.6M should have nothing to do with it. Or are those levels of winnings only for players you like?

I can’t in all honesty say I even find that much wrong with pocketing the amount he did without supposedly “giving it his all”; it’s not the epitome of principled behaviour, but it is increasingly becoming an unavoidable consequence of the more physical modern game – and, dare I say it, the length of the season. We’re going to have to find a way to live with that without casting doubt on any and every withdrawal we witness.

In any case, after the season he’s just had, I’d say he’s entitled to the benefit of the doubt. The same benefit of the doubt readily conferred upon more popular types – even those popular types that are actually guilty of “brazenly gaming the system”.

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Paris: About time too.

 

So it’s like this. Paree and me? We go waaaayyyyy back. But it’s also what they call “complicated”.

 

The top players (those that have qualified for WTF in particular) haven’t always shown up. Those that have are almost always too banged up to care.

 

The venue is a study in criminally bland interiors - the outside courts look like something they’ve annexed from the local primary school – the main court is certainly big, yet still lacks the spunk expected of (what to most is) a season ending event, occupying instead a no-man’s-land of confused obsolescence: too cluttered to be minimalist yet too vacant to have anything like an atmosphere.

 

Is it any wonder the stands are barely filled until well into round three (and even then it’s only for marquee matches)?

 

The trouble is, it’s also the place Marat won three of his five Masters titles and the site of Daveed Nalbandian’s little late season surge of 07 – ideologically speaking, I have a hard time even feigning indifference to any of that.

 

Then there’s the crowd…its one thing seeing an outside court full of empty people, but that’s not half as jarring as those that eventually do turn up:  French fans that don’t boo and hiss and poke and leer and….flap(?) Or is that just for RG?

Like I said. Complicated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, yeah, yeah. What took you so long?

 

You might expect me to be jumping clean out of my boxer shorts over this one, and I am, except….it should have happened one whole year ago.

 

With it being Paree, and with the show both Llodra and Monfils had put on for the better part of the week, there was a certain tricoloured electricity in the air – and, consequently, much of the pre-final commentary had centred along the lines of…. “Has Gael come of age?” …. “Will Sod be affected by the Parisian crowd?” … “Has Rasheed finally pushed the right buttons?”.

 

I see no problem with any of that. Trouble is, it diverted attention from that bloated, frisky, Scandinavian elephant on the other side of the room: that it’s more than just a little anomalous for a guy with GS wins over the best two players of the past decade (one of which arguably ranks as the greatest sporting upset of recent years) not to have won a single Masters event – not even on a fast indoor court.

 

 

 

So when Sod finally put paid to Gael’s last (and obviously doomed) attempts at treating the rising damp of French melancholy, it was all a little ‘are you not done yet?’ (and not just because the final was such a blowout).

 

The greater and more obvious moral victory was against Mika in the semis who despite having spawned a blister and very evidently tiring in the final set, remained, for me, the better player out there for most of the match week.

 

So when Amelie, Fabrice, Guy, Julien and, quite possibly, the spirit of de Gaulle all showed up courtside at the same time – for the briefest of moments, it really did seem the week was destined to end on that flavoursome, tricoloured note.

 

A lesser player (or a pre 2009 Sod for that matter), effectively being prevented from playing their best tennis, would have crumpled in a self-effacing heap of hopeless obsolescence .

 

 

And yet, the truth is no one, not even Napoleon himself, could have enabled Gael to beat Sod on a court as fast as this.

 

Swedes win on fast indoor courts. That’s just the natural order of things dear boy. Why should it matter in 2010 that he’s (clearly) not cut from the same cloth as Edberg or Wilander?

 

Robin’s groundies on the fastest court we’ve seen this season? Well that’s just a marriage made in heaven.

 

We hold these truths to be self evident because…well, mainly because Robin’s oppressive groundies say they are – truths that should, in any case, by now have been drummed into us by the violence of his, otherwise well-meaning, forehand – a forehand only a mother (and a certain doting tennis blogger) could love.

 

 

Expecting him to S+V or otherwise cavort with the net the way Edberg did is like attending a Burlesque show and complaining about the overdressed, hammy actors.

 

And with that, Sod – sorry Söd – usurps Muzz as the #4 ranked player in the world. With less than 300 points between him and Djoko and virtually no points to defend in Melbourne (both have 400 points to defend at WTF) , the future’s looking very bright indeed.

 

It’s a career milestone….and yet it’s also just another box to be ticked along the way to bigger and better things. He’d completed all the the other rites of passage and, if you ask me, reaching two Slam finals in the manner he did has got to be worth a Masters title alone.

 

Do I think he needed to win a Masters title before a Slam, something of a diktat amongst tennis’s chattering classes? ‘fraid not – if anything, he seems more akin to Delpo in the way he simply ‘arrives’, should he decide to play well enough to win a Slam or any other event.

 

This one was long overdue….and it’s only the beginning.

 

In yer MonFACE

 

So sad Gaël. Here, have a Germanic umlaut for your pain.

 

Decriers will, of course (correctly) point to that poor excuse for a final – and yet, did any one of us believe they’d live to see the day Gael pulled the plug on that tired, poorly-choreographed stuntman act that riles me, and countless others, so very much?

 

 

No amateur dramatics, no Car-Crash TV – in fact, no broken glass of any kind.

 

It meant he was able to go through three top ten players (and score his first win over Fed) in the same week – don’t be surprised not to see that again for a very long time.

 

There was always a very real danger that, having delivered such an extraordinary performance piece, Gael would ‘revert to type’ in the final  – no surprises there then. Only, playing brain-dead passive tennis (which there was plenty of), is, this time, only in part responsible.

 

“Since the beginning of the tournament I’ve been really using up my reserves physically and mentally,” said Monfils, who also beat Andy Murray and Fernando Verdasco in earlier rounds. “It’s the whole week that made me tired.

“Today I wasn’t able to find the extra stamina that I would have needed to be more competitive. … It’s the first time I’ve been beating three top-10 players in the same tournament.”

 

Dya know, I actually believe the man?

 

Gael’s not accustomed to the kind of mental/physical demands that such a restrained, patient and focussed passage of successful play at the highest of levels inevitably brings – his character’s usually killed off early on the second act and so has never been part of such a structured narrative, certainly not in such a prominent role.

 

Should it surprise us he wasn’t able to cope? He wouldn’t be the first player to default to more comfy territory under pressure.

 

Except the trouble with reverting to type ‘A’ Gael is that it’s the exact ideological opposite of what you’d normally do in such circumstances: when you’re running so low on fuel, the sensible, considered goto-play is to serve big and to shorten points – arguably what got him there in the first place.

 

But then nothing Gael ever did was either ‘sensible’ or ‘considered’.

 

 

If it were up to me, this entire post would be dedicated to Michael Llodra – my player of the week.

 

Having him win this event would have been exactly the kind of madcap, kooky yet-strangely-appropriate result this tournament’s become known for.

 

For what I hope are very obvious reasons I wasn’t rooting for him…..and yet as I sat there watching him arabesque from one end of the court to the other, it was impossible not to be utterly entranced.

 

A curious, throbbing, elemental mix of idiosyncratic French flair and Moulin Rouge.

 

 

There’ve been all the usual pitiful, nostalgic comparisons to the idealised age that never-was – and yet what’s made this little window into 1996 possible has been the choice of surface – the fastest we’ve seen anywhere all season.

 

Of course it has its drawbacks – there was a reason they slowed down both the grass and the balls at Wimbledon. All the same, I’m thinking it’s pretty obvious the pendulum’s swung too far the other way when one, admittedly superfast, event upends some of the best players of this generation.

 

I’m also thinking it’s a small price to pay for a slightly different look to the type of tennis we get on one awful, anodyne medium-pace, blue hard court after another.

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Ready….Set….Withdraw!

 

 

 

 

PARIS (AP) - Top-ranked Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the Paris Masters for medical reasons.

Tournament director Jean-Francois Caujolle said Friday he did not know the exact nature of Nadal's ailment. The ATP tour said Nadal would discuss the reasons for his withdrawal at a news conference in Paris on Sunday or Monday.

The Spanish player recently said he was feeling fatigue after a successful season in which he won the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Nadal has not played since a third-round defeat to Jurgen Melzer at the Shanghai Masters on Oct 14.

With Nadal's withdrawal, Roger Federer has the No. 1 seed and will start against the winner between Nicolas Mahut and Richard Gasquet. The tournament begins Sunday.

 

 

I’m assuming this is, indeed, ‘fatigue’ though we’ll only know for sure after his presser next week.

 

Are those Southeast Asian chickens now coming home to roost?

 

Or is it a more random niggle? Might it even be precautionary?

 

Is he saving himself for London WTF – the only high-end title he’s not won?

 

Is that even allowed?

 

And what, incidentally, is the correct protocol under such circumstances?

 

Can a blog post be entirely composed of questions?

 

Would it be wrong of me to try?

 

You have to think Rafa would need a sick note to pull out of a Masters 1000 event, no?

 

(Did that last question actually qualify as question? Or was it a fudge?)

 

Can fatigue even be diagnosed in the conventional sense?

 

Was playing both Bangkok and Tokyo going into Shanghai a mistake?

 

Are cumulative, delayed effects indeed the bitch everyone says they are?

 

Was I right or was I right?

 

How do you say ‘yes’ and still make it seem like a question?

 

Are you still listening?

 

Why?

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Paris: Novak Repackaged, Not Reborn

Djokovic d. Monfils 6-2 5-7 7-6 (3)

For a set and a half yesterday Novak Djokovic played the kind of flawless tennis that made you think it was 2007 all over again.

It all looked very grand indeed.

Only twenty four hours earlier Novak had dusted off Nadal using the same blend of unrestrained flamboyance, and precision guided play, not seen from him for well over 18 months.

(Photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Gael, for all his flamboyant bravado, looked like a school kid well and truly out of his depth, on his way to being comprehensively stripped and gutted before being hurled on to a heap in some remote landfill site.

Then something happened.

The paint stripper stopped working. The jackhammer seized up.

Mostly it was about everything misfiring, all at once.

I was worried ‘Grinderman’ was about to resurface – that at least would have meant he would more than likely have kept his cool to put Gael away in two -- but this was more serious than that.

We’d seen this Jekyll and Hyde act at various points thr0ughout the year, so the sight of Djoko unable to keep the ball in play, perhaps shouldn’t be that astonishing. Think back carefully and you’ll remember it happened this very week, in that second set he played against Big Rob.

Which is why I feel it’s all very premature to read too much into his recent wins over Messrs Fed and Nadal, and that many journos are rather overreaching themselves in their desperate attempts at recasting him as ‘The One Reborn’.

It's not just that Nadal's own shadow would likely take offence at being made an exemplification for his shoddy form (though I'm actually sorta glad its a dip and not a bad knee that’s at the root of the problem).

Or that this weekend's result might readily have been so very different had Federer not run into an impromptu demonstration of French Tennis, the way it should be played.

The real reason I'm having diffculty buying into the concept of 'Novak - Reborn', is that this is not so much a return to his old form as it is a carefully managed optimisation of a different brand of tennis. A game that's had commentators perplexed since he switched frames at the beginning of the year, with it's uncharacteristic and bizarre forays into grinderman territory.

Don't worry, I'm not going down that road again. My point is that, whilst I'm glad Novak has managed to optimise his play into something more in line with his standing in the game, it's not what led him to winning a Slam.

He may reach those less manufactured heights again with further successive optimisations and, I hope, a gradual curbing of that grind I once found so offensive, but which has now given way to a kind of unapologetic indifference. But until then, let's just say the occasional shocker wouldn't shock me.

That said, Djoko deserves all the plaudits he’s been receiving these past two weeks for being one of the few players seemingly fit enough and committed enough to make something of the remaining few weeks of the calendar: there’s still tennis to be played whatever you might think of the post-USO variety.

What’s more is he’s deserving of a Masters 1000 title - maybe even on the back of that astonishing Madrid semi-final alone.

Maybe it's that sense of vindication that was behind that wolverine-like transformation that unfurled during the spectacle that was his victory celebration. It reminded me of those Maori-inspired Hakka Dances the New Zealand All Blacks perform before going into 'battle'. Try and picture this happening during a Serbian-American Davis Cup tie involving Djoko facing off with A-Rod.

Ok, maybe don’t picture it happening.

I don’t really know what to say about Gael, other than that he served exceedingly well. I don’t like the way he lurks behind the baseline. Never have, never will; and I despise his loopy defensive shots that barely clear the service line and, as far as I'm concerned, have no business being a part of the modern game (wouldn’t it be easier to play the match with the words ‘sitting duck’ emblazoned on your chest?).

(Photo: AP)

But he did well to keep his cool (if you can call it that) when Djoko’s forehand went so awry during that second set, thereby forcing a third, and for that I guess he deserves some credit. It was certainly well received by the Parisian crowd.

I’m just not convinced this experience was anywhere near as life-changing or career-transforming as it might have been.

Why does that not surprise me?

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A Blow for the Little Man…

Julian Benneteau has just played the match of his life, knocking out Roger Federer in three sets, in his opening match.

(Photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images)

The funny thing is it’s difficult to see what Federer did wrong. If anything. He’s cruised through similar stages in the past playing only fractionally as well.

Today, he hit fifteen aces, hit more winners than Benneteau and served in the 70s. That’d be percentages, not the era of disco jingles.

He could maybe have thrown in a few more tactical lobs to Julian’s rabid net rushes, and I’m sure we’ll hear that rust had something to do with this.

But every once in a while someone succeeds in landing a blow for the little man. You'll pardon me if I take a moment to celebrate that (no offence Fed Fans); whether he was bolstered by the Parisian crowd or not, Julian will likely treasure this one for years.

(Photo: AP)

Now watch him go out in the very next round.

Roger will feel this one keenly too I believe; his second consecutive loss remember, and something of a knock to his campaign to end the season as world #1.

I still think he’ll keep a hold on to it however.

It would be more worrying had he lost due the errant play we saw so much of earlier on this year. Today he appeared confident and secure as ever; and if you contrast that with the horror of a match Nadal played today, you'll likely understand why I believe Rafa will need to pull out all the stops (and then some) to get anywhere near to staking a claim for the top spot.

Rafa got through alright. But only just, and he was considerably aided by Almagro in the later stages of this sorry mess; besides, rank amateurs get through, park players get through. Heck, I even get through sometimes.

Most troubling of all was the way he let rallies lengthen and play out unnecessarily in the most unRafa-like way imaginable; at times, it almost had the feel of an exhibition match, with the way in which each ball was fed systematically back to Almagro, who possessed neither the will nor the might to put it away.

A confusing, convulsing bloodied pulp of a mess.

I know it’s not always that Rafa does well here, but we’ve usually season ending injuries to thank for that.

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As It Happened...

As I type, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has just taken the first set from David Nalbandian in rambunctious style.

I don't normally do these on-the-go match report postings but I wanted to try a little experiment and there's a first time for everything I suppose.

Don't be surprised if I don't do it again for a while.




1st Set

Tsonga started serving and came out all guns blazing - he went up 3-0 up very quickly. His plan looks to be to dominate Nalbandian with his flamboyant and extrovert play, quickly stifling any resistance the Argentine might show. Nalbandian finds his feet in the fourth game and holds serve for the first time. But he's not being allowed any rhythm and is often being given the run around as Tsonga shows us again how comfortable he is from both the back of the court and at the net.
Tsonga drops slightly in form and there are some promising signs from Nalbandian with more approaches to the net that were so effective against Murray. But it's too late to salvage the first set and Tsonga serves out to take the set 6-3.

2nd Set

Nalbandian begins serving, and is made to earn the first game which goes through several deuces. 1-0
Tsonga holds his service game quite easily - he's using his serve to great effect, and is winning most points in his service games very quickly. Nalbandian holds too, though not as easily as Tsonga. 2-1

Wow! Three aces from Tsonga to level the 2nd set at 2-2
Nalbandian looks to be taking his time between points as he deliberates whether to challenge - he's not going to be rushed by Tsonga.
He keeps his head and holds. 3-2

Another beautiful inside out forehand winner followed by an ace. Tsonga's doing the perfect job of keeping Nalbandian guessing, keeping him off balance. Another love service game. 3-3

Nalbandian's thinking well now - he draws Tsonga in twice with exquisite drop shots and follows up one of them with a lob which even the super-athletic Tsonga can't reach. Tsonga's still trying to impose himself on Nalbandian but it's another love service game. 4-3

Tsonga's serve again. A wild forehand strays long - Tsonga wants to watch he doesn't try too hard. 0-15
Oh Dear! A double fault and Naldbandians 0-30 up.
Nabandian senses blood and draws Tsonga into a rally which Tsonga loses by sending a running forehand wide and suddenly it's 0-40.
Tsonga regroups - same formula: Big serve, crunching inside out forehand and a finish at the net. 30-40
Another two aces including one saved break point! The crowd is going wild! It's Ad.Tsonga.
Nalbandian's getting into more of the rallies now - definitely a turning point in the match.
However Tsonga holds his serve on the second attempt with an ace. 4-4

A very confident service game by Nalbandian including a superb wide angled double handed backhand that puts Tsonga hopelessly off balance. More solid serving follows and Nalbandian holds 5-4

Tsonga's Service: He stops playing - he thinks Nalbandian's return landed past the baseline and mounts a failed challenge. 0-15
Great play from both men, culminating in another aggressive rush to the net from Tsonga which Nalbandian defuses with a superb short cross court flick pass. 0-30
Oh No! Tsonga sends another forehand wildly long. 0-40
Tsonga nets a forehand and it's game and 2nd set Nalbandian 6-4

3rd Set

(Service:Nalbandian)
Great serve out wide from Nalbandian. 15-0
Whoa! Massive inside out forehand return of serve from Tsonga. 15-15
Nalbandian nets a forehand as Tsonga looks to impose himself again. 15-30
Another wide serve from Nalbandian causing problems for Tsonga. 30-30
Tsonga sends his return long. 40-30
Nalbandian is feeling some pressure as he nets his forehand. Deuce.
Another serve out wide - that's really getting to Tsonga. Ad Nalbandian
A high bouncing return allows Nalbandian control of the point - he comes in and executes an outrageously angled back hand smash. 1-0

(Service:Tsonga)
Big serve followed by another approach shot down the line - allows Tsonga to smash. 15-0
Great 2nd serve down the T. 30-0
Another Ace! 40-0
Another unreturnable serve allows Tsonga to hold 1-1

(Service:Nalbandian)
Nalbandian sends the ball past the baseline - he wants to be careful he doesn't allow Tsonga back into the dominating position of the first set. 0-15
Great approach from Nalbandian followed by an angled volley. 15-15
Huge hitting from Tsonga in the longest recent rally, grinding Nalbandian down as he eventually nets a return 15-30
Nalbandian's losing focus - a forehand return sails wide and it's 2 break points. 15-40
Another netted return gives Tsonga the break 1-2

(Service:Tsonga)
Good defending from Nalbandian forces Tsonga to net a return 0-15
Tsonga belts a forehand down the line winner 15-15
Big serve down the middle, unreturnable 30-15
Another ace out wide 40-15
Nalbandian draws Tsonga into a rally and sends a backhand near Tsonga's feet, drawing the error 40-30
Ace 1-3

(Service:Nalbandian)
It's looking ominous as Tsonga wins a rally Nalbandian should have with a Mammoth inside out forehand winner 0-15
Great drop shot from Nalbandian draws the error from Tsonga 15-15
Two unforced errors from Tsonga 15-40
Another ace 2-3

(Service:Tsonga)
Tsonga's forehand clips the net, and although Nalbandian scrambles to flick a return back, it allows him to easily claim the point 15-0
Great angled backhand return from Nalbandian 15-15
Tsonga's 22nd ace. 30-15
Another angled backhand return 30-30
Nalbandian follows an aggressive return with a rush to the net, drawing an error from Tsonga 30-40
Two aces and suddenly it's Ad. Tsonga
Another big serve - Nalbandian can't find the return. 2-4

(Service:Nalbandian)
Tsonga can sense blood as he comes in and applies the pressure, finishing the point off with a smash 0-15
Great serve out wide followed by the drop volley 30-15
Nalbandian's coming in every point now - Tsonga belts a cross court forehand which Nalbandian gets a racquet to but can't get back 30-30
There's that sensational backhand smash from Nalbandian again 40-30
Unforced error from Tsonga and Nalbandian holds 3-4

(Service:Tsonga)
Huge serve which Nalbandian somehow returns - though he's being run ragged. 15-0
Unforced error from Tsonga 15-15
Shot of the match so far for me - an inside out forehand winner seemingly from nowhere 30-15
Dumped return of serve from Nalbandian - he throws his racquet down, drawing boos from the crowd - give the man a break! 40-15
Easy pass down the line for Tsonga 3-5

(Service:Nalbandian)
Tsonga wants to end it quickly - Nalbandian lures him in with a drop shot - Sensational lob from Nalbandian 15-0
Shotmakings getting better and better - Tsonga chases Nalbandian's dropshot down this time and flicks it so wide it's almost parallel to the net! 15-15
Down the line approach shot followed by a drop volley from Nalbandian 40-30
Hold on! *Rubs eyes* No ones approaching the net! Great rallying from both men from the back of the court - but Nalbandian cannot get to Tsonga's crunching backhand cross court winner. Deuce
A rarity: big serve from Nalbandian drawing an error from Tsonga. Ad Nalbandian
Down the line winner from Nalbandian 4-5

(Service:Tsonga)
Nalbandian sticks with Tsonga from the back of the court drawing the error 0-15
An approach shot from Tsonga - although a poorly executed drop volley gives Nalbandian the point 0-30
Tsonga nets another attempted approach shot 0-40
Poor netted return from Nalbandian. 15-40
Drop shot from Tsonga lures Nalbandian in - he flicks it up but it's an easy put away for Tsonga 30-40
Big serve down the T followed by a sensational forehand down the line. Deuce
25th Ace down the T gives Tsonga Championship point. Ad Tsonga.
Tsonga's putting everything into this (last?) rally - blasting everything back close to the baseline. Nalbandian can't keep up with this - He nets a forehand giving Big Jo his first Masters Title!

Well that was an intense experience - real time match reporters all over the world: Hats off to you! Although I won't be doing it again for a while (I prefer to watch tennis without multitasking), I quite enjoyed the experience.

Congratulations Jo-Wilfried! Welcome to the Big Time - though with your personality and style of play, no one can seriously deny you belong there.

Tsonga image by paphio distributed under licence
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And Then There Were Five...

I very rarely root for more than two or three players in a tournament, but for once I'm backing all of the remaining field in Paris.

Federer and Nadal have withdrawn from their respective quarter final matches due to injuries, and in doing so have opened up the draw in a pleasantly surprising way.

Whenever the top seeds aren't around it usually means we're in for something of an anti climax (think Hamburg 2005), with the victor usually being crowned by default: on the basis of being marginally better than everyone else.

But I've backed all of the remaining players in Paris at one time or another, mostly because of their undeniable talent and underachievement. Out of the remaining five, only Tsonga is not a top tenner, although he's already proven he's capable of beating the very best.

• Davydenko - He's had a troublesome year with the betting investigation but still managed to win big in Miami; OK Federer and Djokovic weren't in the mix, but he comprehensively outplayed everyone else, including deserved wins over Roddick and Nadal. He's not everybody's cup of tea and not the most inspiring or flamboyant of players, but there can be no doubting his superb consistency (top tenner since June 2005), fitness (at times it seems he almost prefers to win in five sets rather than three) and aggressive style of play. I really hope there's no long term damage incurred by the ATP proceedings and that he returns to form in 2009. A title here wouldn't hurt that cause.

• Nalbandian - Profiled previously.
• Tsonga - Profiled here.
  
• Blake - He can sometimes appear very one dimensional in his style of play, and despite his great run in 2006, I had him pegged as someone who wouldn't last long in the top ten. He appeared to me to have peaked with a fairly limited set of tools and would cave in mentally more often than not. He's proved me wrong, mostly because of his supreme athleticism and explosive style of play. He often hits outrageous winners, and possesses groundstrokes flatter than anyone in the top ten. I'm sometimes surprised why such an explosive player has such a tame serve, but put simply he's too good not to have won a Masters shield at least once, and he doesn't have much time left.
• Roddick - Over the last two years Roddick has added considerable depth to his game, particularly to that backhand and net play. With the emergence of Djokovic last year, I thought it was all over for him at the highest levels of the sport. But he then beat Nadal and Djokovic en route to a title in Dubai this year. He's still not at the level of the top four and probably never will be, but like Blake deserves more wins at this level.

I'd still have preferred the victor to have had to face one or two of the top three, but if nothing else, the confidence gained by winning here may turn him into someone more capable of contending effectively with the top four - and that can only be a good thing.

Blake image by chascow Read More...