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Watercooler: Seeds Of Doubt

By Peter Bodo

[Pete Bodo is on vacation, Thurs Feb 14th to Monday Feb. 25th. Meanwhile, enjoy the guest posts!]

By James LaRosa, TennisWorld Contributing Writer

Seeds.  They’re not just for breakfast.

So with the draws opened up, Friday was all about capitalizing on opportunities.  Some (Soderling, Zvonareva, Li) would be more successful than others (Seppi, Haase, Errani).

But the job ain’t finished.  Battling for spots in their respective finals Sunday, we’ve got:

  • Acasuso/Volandri and Nalbandian/Chela in Buenos Aires.

As the only non-Argentine left in the draw, Volandri must not only contend with the home crowd but also an opponent he’s 0-5 against.  Buona fortuna!

Nalbandian doesn’t need luck, saved in his QF by a fortuitous rain delay.  Meanwhile, Chela had his QF opponent retire.  Who’s rubbing Buddha’s belly harder tonight?      

  • Sharapova/Radwanska and Li/Zvonareva in Doha.

Sharapova’s going to be looking for some revenge after Radwanska pulled off the upset heard round the US Open.  When asked if she thought Agnieszka’s bouncing around halfway to the service line while returning contributed to the outcome, Maria replied “it will be interesting to see if she does it again the next time I play her.”  I don’t know about you but I hope she does.  (The Four Agreements is now propping up my end table.)

At stake for both Li and Zvonareva is their first Tier I final.  Yeah, not as dramatic.  But there could still be tears.

  • Karlovic/Llodra and Soderling/Simon in Rotterdam.

It’s Karlovic’s first semi of the season.  Meanwhile, Llodra is one match shy of tying his 2007 season total, and it’s only February. 

Soderling took out the guy who took out Nadal. Simon took out the guy who took out defending champ Youzhny.  Not sure what that means.  But it was fun to say.

  • Suarez Navarro/Salerni and Llagosteria Vives/Jozami (who?) in Bogota.

I can’t even pretend to know what’s going on here besides the fact that they’re all unseeded, and at a Tier III no less.  It’s like a teenage party when the parents are away.  Hopefully Bethanie Mattek, still active in doubles, can maintain order.

  • Roddick/Garcia-Lopez and Ginepri/Stepanek in San Jose.

Roddick’s beaten Garcia-Lopez in their only previous meeting, right here in ’06.  But Garcia-Lopez already took out one big server this week.  And he ain’t tryin’ to be barked at.

Ranked #171 after the AO, Ginepri’s into his second straight semi.  There’s only one thing keeping him from his first final since 2005.  The Worm.

Run for cover!