First big upset of the year!

Ah, the tennis season is officially underway, now. We've had the first match with a really big and unexpected upset. Robin Soderling, the top seed in Chennai, was in such good form at the end of last season and at the exhibition at the beginning of this year, that I don't think I even mentioned his first-round match against world number 100 Robbie Ginepri. It's clear that was an oversight on my part, because Ginepri has proven in the past that he can occasionally produce the form that allows him to play with the best in the world, and it was on display when he ousted Soderling in straight sets. It's too early to call it a comeback, but it would be nice to see Ginepri put together a couple of good matches this week.

The other interesting result from Chennai was from the rematch of last year's semifinal-that-never-was. Rainer Schuettler withdrew with injury, giving Somdev Devvarman a place in the final. This year, Devvarman again received a wildcard, and again made good use of it by beating the German in straight sets. Can he make it back to the final again, this year?

Another wildcard who is doing very well for himself is Younes el Aynaoui in Doha. Now 38 years old, Aynaoui beat American Ryler DeHeart in two tiebreak sets. This made him the oldest player to win a match on tour since Jimmy Connors in 1995. That's quite a record to have. Aynaoui has a bit of luck, since his second-round opponent is another qualifier, since Steve Darcis beat eighth seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. If he makes it to the third round, he may face Nadal.

Speaking of the top three seeds in Doha, Nadal, Federer, and Davydenko all cruised through their matches. This was expected, of course, but it was good to see each of them playing in such fine form. Granted, their opponents may not have been the best set of opponents to demonstrate how they're feeling at the start of this season, but these wins are no doubt encouraging. Each should have a sterner test in their next round, so we can see if they're on the collision course they appear to be on.

In Brisbane, there were some excellent matches yesterday. Sam Querrey and James Blake played in what could have been a changing of the guard, but Blake refused to play along with that storyline. After getting broken in the first set, he started smacking his forehand to places where Querrey could never reach it. Granted, Sam played a little passive, possibly assuming that James would start hitting errors eventually, but Blake stuck to his guns, and ended up winning in three. But Querrey played well, and he did not seem to be too affected by his injury. Also worthy of note is that the Querrey-Blake match was 5-6, 6-4, 6-4 and took only an hour and twenty-eight minutes. This may have been the quickest 31 game match of all-time.

For reference, Mardy Fish lost a tight match to Marcos Baghdatis 7-5, 7-5, and those 24 games took an hour and forty-one minutes. Taylor Dent lost a crackerjack to Frenchman Gael Monfils 7-6(1), 6-7(5), 6-2. Hopefully, both Fish and Dent will be inspired by how close these losses were, rather than frustrated. Those were just unlucky first-round opponents, and both players should do better this season.

Australian Qualifier Matthew Ebden (who I'll admit I know nothing about) upset sixth-seeded Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer, which gives him a match-up against Richard Gasquet. The winner of that match will play the winner of Andy Roddick and Carsten Ball. Now Carsten has never had a win comparable to a player like Roddick, but Andy's knee has apparently been bothering him. I'm hoping for a Roddick-Gasquet faceoff in the third round, and I imagine the tournament organizers are, too. Despite the fact that it calls for two Australians to lose.

There were a few notable upsets in the doubles, as Jeremy Chardy made up for his disappointing loss in the first round to Alejandro Falla by teaming with Marc Gicquel to beat third seeds Knowle and Lindstedt. While that is an impressive result, it's nothing compared to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Albert Montanes topping top-seeded Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic in straight sets! As the second-ranked team after the Bryans, this is not the way the pair was hoping to start their 2010 campaign.

Some good tennis to be played yet, too! It's just started in Brisbane, and as the sun moves across the sky, I'll be able to follow the tennis to India and then to Qatar. If schedules hold up and I can stay awake, I may be able to watch tennis for the next sixteen hours straight. Can't beat that, huh?

Murray the next number one?

Murray beat Federer in three sets, but it wasn't as tight as it sounds. It was tight in the first set, which Fed won in a tie-break, then he started spraying errors off his forehand and the Scot won the second and third sets 6-2, 6-2. Much more surprisingly, Andy Roddick was able to beat Gael Monfils. Apparently, Roddick's steady high-level of play was enough to get him past an intermittently spectacular Frenchman.

However, Roddick will need to be more than steady to beat Murray in the final. He'll have to play out of his mind, serving at least 70% and having a lot of success at the net. I really think Roddick's best chance is if Murray's back trouble, which seemed to be a problem for him in the Federer match, keeps him from playing at the top of his game.

Props to Nadal for continuing in the doubles, and eventually winning the Doha title. He could have pulled out and headed to Melbourne for some extra AO training. And beating Nestor & Zimonjic? That's a serious pair of doubles players, right there. Maybe Nadal could add a doubles Grand Slam to his title list?

The Brisbane final is also set - Stepanek against Verdasco? Weird. I don't know who to pick in this one, since I would have bet against both of them in the semis. They're both very talented players who can just go away for no good reason, so it will go to whoever holds it together.

In Chennai, the hometown hero Devvarman continues his improbable run, managing to hold Karlovic to only 10 aces and beating him in two sets. He's up against Schuettler, who is also impressing. I'd love to see the wildcard continue on. The other semifinal is Cilic-Granollers, and this should really go to Cilic. It would be interesting if Schuettler could win, since he hasn't even been to an ATP final since 2004.

Kudos to Elena Dementieva, who won the first women's title of the season. Maybe she'll get back to her first slam final since 2004 this year. It was a real shame to see Mauresmo retire against Bartoli trailing 4-0 in the first set. That does not bode well for the Frenchwoman's chances at a career Renaissance this year. Azarenka-Bartoli should be an intriguing final.