The Official Site of Brad Gilbert

After the blowout Saturday we had arguably the best day of tennis yesterday. Could you say timber? Big John Isner and Dr. Ivo Karlovic acquitted themselves well but they were no match for Murray and Nadal, respectively, as we thought. Murray and Nadal had a little too much game but both big men could hold their head high as both competed extremely well. And I really believe Isner has a legitimate chance to be Top 10 this year.

Our darkhorse no more, Marin Cilic, gets game ball for outslugging and holding his nerve in an absolutely rivetng 6-3 in the fifth set victory in the second-longest match of the tournament (4:38). Amazingly, as much running Cilic did in his second five-setter, looked fresh. And I think he was slightly fitter than delpo. Considering there was so much mystery about delpo’s wrist/elbow coming in, he played two four-plus matches, so the injury couldn’t be too bad.

Andy Roddick once again pushed to the brink, in an absolute onslaught of offense from Fernando Gonzalez, got through in five sets. But controversy came at 5-6 in the fourth, with Gonzo up two sets to one. A Roddick forehand was overruled when Gonzo let the ball go on set point. Gonzo had a meltdown when the chair said he didn’t have a play on the ball. That was a key part of the match and Roddick won 6-2 in the fifth. It was great guts by Roddick but he seemed to be a little bit troubled by that left knee. Hopefully that won’t hamper his performance for the rest of the event.

Another mysterious RET., Dinara Safina, out of nowhere in the first set, doesn’t call the trainer and at 4-5 pulls the ripcord against Maria Kirilinko who is having the tournament of her life. It looks like smooth-sailing for Justine Henin in that bottom half of the draw to get to the final.

In today’s action, it might be the biggest day in Flinders Park history and they are expecting a day/night crowd of over 80,000. Both Williams sisters are playing, and the feature match of the day is Serena against Australia’s own Sam Stosur, who won the last meeting at Stanford. The big-serving Aussie has the nation’s hope at a fever pitch. I think it comes to a screeching halt today. Serena is playing too good and she will win in straight sets.

In the night card, Lleyton “Rusty” Hewitt, takes on Rog Fed. Hewitt will have his fanatics and I’m sure they will be going crazy from the first ball. It has been seven long years and 14 losses in a row for Hewitt against the great Fed. But Hewitt has looked in the first week as good as I’ve seen him in the last four years. He comes in well-rested and you got to say he’s got a puncher’s chance. Normallhy I would say this is blowout city but if there was ever a chance, this might be the place where it happens. His last win came here seven years ago in Davis Cup.Hewitt is trying to win his first match against a World No. 1 (0-15) but I don’t see it happening. Fed in four sets.

Game ball the first week for Poland’s Lukasz Kubot, the only man left in singles and doubles. This guy came in ranked No. 86 and he used to be a doubles specialist. This is his first direct acceptance into the main draw of a major. These are the kind of stories that I love. You don’t always have to win the championship to get my game ball. But his dream ends today at the hands of Novak “Joker” Djokovic. Joker has had one of the best Betty Crocker draws that I’ve seen in recent times.

The interesting stat of the day, Nikolay “Machine Gun” Davydenko, who has marched into the fourth round dropping only 17 games, has only allowed one ace in the first three matches. Look for him to roll into the quarterfinals with a win over Verdasco, who is 1-6 lifetime.

I wish I could change the weather dial and turn up the heat just a little bit, but it looks like it’s going to be high 70s-low 80s, and I’m sure the players will like those conditions.

G’Day Mate