Tennis Chatter

A year ago Virginie Razzano had the week of her career in LA. This week, she won just six games in a first-round drubbing against lucky loser Melinda Czink.

What is it that makes tennis so mental? So stringy? Players are hot for a few points, or games, or weeks or months, and then they disappear into the oblivion? I know that's a rather general statement, and that every sport has its ups and downs, but to watch mid-majors like Razzano, Maria Kirilenko, Marion Bartoli, or, on the guy's side Janko Tipsarevic or Radek Stepanek have such talent but not always be able to execute it is baffling to me. Is it mental?

Last week, Aleksandra Wozniak gave Canada something to cheer about by coming out of nowhere to win the Bank of the West Classic.

This week, however, my favorite Canadian takes center stage in the friendly confines of Toronto. Frank Dancevic began his dream run in 2007 in Indianapolis and continued it here at the Rogers Cup. This year Dancevic didn't fare as well in Indiana, but the hometown boy won his opening match last night against Mario Ancic in straight sets, and now gets a tall order tonight: defending champion Novak Djokovic.

Doug Robson, a freelance writer who does lots of tennis for USA Today, posted this item on his blog about an OUT Magazine article featuring a gay tennis player. Robson dismisses Rodriguez's coming out, saying it will take a "much higher profile retired player" to make any waves in tennis, but it's still an interesting read.