The Watercooler 1-2-08

Good Morning. Yesterday many of us had fun watching tennis again, as the 2008 season is now fully under way, with three ATP tournaments going on (Doha, Chennai and Adelaide), and two WTA events (in Auckland and Gold Coast, Australia.

And then there's the annual entertainment provided by the Hopman Cup (in which Serbia pulled off a win last night over France in spite of Jelena Jankovic being injured and forced to withdraw from the singles). I've yet to see this mixed doubles match on TV (over here it's shown after the fact), but from the pictures it looks as though everyone was thoroughly enjoying it. And I just love seeing some of the world's top singles players playing mixed doubles together.

And all this means - only twelve days to go until the start of the Australian Open. I don't know how you all plan to deal with this tennis-watching marathon, given the timezone issues for many of us (do tell!). In my case, it's as well I'm not working for the next few weeks. I'm already getting into practice staying up later and later - by the time the AO starts, I'll be in full troglodyte mode, staying up all night through to early afternoon, then sleeping in the second part of the day.

This will be your watercooler post for today, as Pete has an ESPN chat to do right about now, after which he will come by with some thoughts on Hopman Cup.Please use this thread to discuss today's matches, and any other tennis-related matters. And as always, enjoy today's tennis. I look forward to all our usual discussions!

-- Rosangel