Svetlana Kuznetsova choked away a perfect 7/7 quarterfinal prediction for me (I simply couldn’t predict Verdasco vs. Tsonga).  It is really my own fault, no matter how poorly Serena had been playing, I should’ve remembered Kuznetsova is the WTA version of Peyton Manning and the Indianoplis Colts – both look great against inferior opponents and look like a great pick to win the Slam/Superbowl, and both have even lucked out once, but both will inevitably disappoint you.  Unless you are a Patriots fan, like myself, but I digress.
Here are my picks for the rest of the tournament: (more…)

Well, being sick certainly has it’s advantages.  Usually I am a bit too busy to blog on a Monday morning, but given I’m home now with the flu, flicking between 90210 and Inside The Actor’s Studio, I figured might as well get something productive done.

Looks like I was way off when I said one of the Williams sisters would face Jankovic in the finals.  Both Venus and Jelena are out, and Serena got a bit lucky yesterday (which might actually be today or tomorrow with the whole time difference thing) when Azarenka defaulted  Serena was up a break in the second set, but had lost the first set and was playing way below her typical standard.  Unless she steps up her game BIG time, I don’t see her getting past Kuznetsova and Dementieva (who continues to play outstanding tennis in 2009 and takes on unseeded Navarro in her quarterfinal match).  In this half, don’t be surprised at an all Russian semi, and if Dementieva’s serve holds up, she could see herself in her first Grand Slam final. (more…)

To ease Jeremy’s stress of being the sole blogger for Grand Slam Tennis Tours I have offered my services to be a guest celebrity writer during the Australian Open.  But who is Zac Sargent you may ask? My best description would be I’m to tennis like David Hasselhoff is to being a judge on America’s Got Talent, a complete oxymoron.  For those that are Mitch Buchannon fans I apologize.

That being said, let’s get to the meat and potatoes of the Australian Open: The Early Rounds.

The biggest and most obvious take away from this first three days in Melbourne is not the question of whether Roger Federer can regain his world number 1 form, or the lack of Maria Sharipova from the women’s draw, nor that lack of a home grown Australian challenger.  (more…)

I’m going to start this post with a couple of warnings – 1. Gambling on sports, and yes – tennis is a sport, is illegal in the United States.  2. The Australian Open starts two weeks into the tennis season, and is therefore incredibly hard to predict.  Imagine gambling on the NFL this season, not one person would have been able to pick the last four teams standing at the start of the playoffs, let alone in week 2.  I guess the main point of warning #2 is that much of the following might be further proof that I’m an idiot…but maybe it will prove otherwise. (more…)

We are a mere few days into the 2009 season, and while it would be insane to draw any conclusions from any results so far, it’s still fun to try:

- Our first upset of the year took place in the first round at Brisbane, when Ernestis Gulbis took out 1st seeded Novak Djokovic in the first round.  I think this is more of a sign that Gulbis, who broke through last year at Roland Garros when he made it to the quarters (where he lost to Djokovic), is here to stay.  Djokovic won’t be losing too many first round matches this year.

- Also from Brisbane, fifth seeded Tomas Berdych fell to Kei Nishikori in the second round.  Nishikori, who came out of nowhere in 2008, proved he will be a tough out for any top contenders.  While his story line is similar to Gulbis’, unfortunately for Berdych, this loss is a very tough way to start the year.  Known for incredible talent, but the propensity to lose to players well below him, this was certainly not the way Berdych wanted to kick off his 2009 campaign. (more…)