Champion commentators

I've just read a very good article on the BBC by Clive James. It's all about ex-tennis champions turned commentators and had it had me grinning right from the start with this insightful question:

'Why is either of Rafael Nadal's upper arms thicker than Tim Henman's neck?'

It carries on from there, incuding a very good section about grunting, staring Maria Sharapova, of course. You can read the full article here.

Also on the BBC, I notice that Lindsay Davenport, as well as returning to doubles tennis, has decided that she's up to playing singles tennis again and is planning to return in Bali in September.

This is good news and I shall be interested to see how well she plays. I have a theory that marriage often ruins the abilty to play well - my favourite example is Andre Agassi in his Brooke Sheilds era. Justine Henin is back to form now, but played her worst tennis whilst married. Pure coincidence? I believe not. However, I will be very pleased should Davenport prove me wrong.

A tennis tournament on sand?!

Yep, that´s exactly what´s being played in Luarca at the moment, here in Asturias. I found out about the tournament last year, but at the last minute and couldn´t change my plans so as to be able to go. This year I´m working today and tomorrow and was busy yesterday and Saturday so I haven´t been able to go again. I must remember to keep my diary clear for next year as I´m intrigued to see what a match is like when played on sand/the beach. Also, this year the line up is impressive for such a low-key tournament- López, Hrbaty, Mantilla and Verdasco are the main stars. It´s not quite Wimbledon, but I´d happily make do.

Player of the Week

Had anybody heard of Kei Nishkori before last week? Me neither, but to get to the quarter-finals of Indianapolis at the age of seventeen before even turning professional merits a the accolade of player of the week, at least.

Tennis players with weird and wonderful names

Whenever I look through a draw for one of the major four tournaments, usually with the aim of picking a winning team for the fantasy competiton I take part in, or glance at the results on livescore I quite often come across a name that stands out for one reason or another. I've never noticed this quite so much in other sports - probably because I pay less interest - but I thought I'd start another little series here, this time commemorating possibly lesser-known players with wonderfully strange (to my English ear) names.

To start off with I've selected the French player Nicolas Devilder, who's just beaten Agustin Calleri in the Dutch Open at Amersfoort. I don't think I need to explain why.

Player of the Week

Another joint win. This time it's Nadia Petrova and Elena Vesnina for their doubles triumph in the Fed Cup yesterday against Venus Williams and doubles specialist Lisa Raymond. After Venus beat Anna Cakvetadze I was expecting a US win but was pleasantly surprised by the Russian duo. Well done!

Player of the week

Or I should say players - Bartoli and Federer. I couldn´t choose between Bartoli for doing so unexpectedly well (it´s a shame Pierce Brosnan wasn´t at the final - see my favourite quotes on the right) or Federer who equalled Bjorg´s record at by claiming his fifth consecutive Wimbledon title and fought off Nadal´s onslaught - I was hooked on the internet all yesterday afternoon and wished desperately for a TV throughout most of the match. Maybe next year.

Curses, foiled again!

A Venus Wiliams victory yesterday handed K Wimbledon, for a fourth year running. I could have drawn had Bartoli won, but I can't say I was expecting it. It's possibly partly my own fault for refusing to have the Wiliams sisters in any of my teams - I still hold it against them for making women's tennis so boring to watch during the period where they both made it to several finals and then just whumped the ball around the court. I refuse to pick Roddick for similar reasons too.

I shall now knuckle down and start plotting for the US Open - my only chance at a title this year. Some serious thinking is called for!

Player of the Week

Another obvious one - Janko Tipsarevic - he's the only choice this week. Had the Roddick-Mathieu match not been rained off I may have plumped for the Frenchman instead (assuming victory for Mathieu) but this Serbian player has stood out most at Wimbledon so far.