sidelined

One of the more interesting events of the past tennis week was an outburst of truthiness by world #3 Nikolay Davydenko on the issue of the run up tournaments to the Australian Open.

“Because it’s a small tournament. So I don’t think nobody care about here.”

He suggested another problem was that the court surface in Sydney was no longer similar to the one the players will play on next week in the grand slam event. The implication was that players were keen to get to Melbourne earlier to get used to the conditions.

“It should be the same - [the] balls and surface normally is the same, but after I play here last year, like I play here every year, [it was] a little bit different,” Davyenko said.

“The court is a little bit more slow and balls flying not so fast like here.”

For that outburst Davydenko has been fined $10,000, which would be a portion of his appearance fee. It does not pay to bite the hand that feeds you, but at number three I think he can cop the fine by forgoing for at least a month that nice Swiss watch he saw in the duty free.

Of course as a top tenner he’s just pointing out the obvious, for players interested in doing some damage in Melbourne, the early season tournaments are just that, a warm up and they would like their court preparation to closely follow Melbourne, which means that the NSW open must attempt to prepare a similar surface. It’s on such little margins that matches are won and lost and tournaments continue to attract the top players. What chance seeing Davydenko in Sydney next year?

For the rest, it’s a dog eat dog in the fight for points and ranking improvements. Still, Davydenko has been loyal to the NSW Open over the years and the fine is a bit harsh for a player probably frustrated with finding match fitness and dealing with proper preparation.

The Australian Open has announced the seedings for this years tournament. The draw will be finalised on Friday. The top ten are:

1. Roger Federer (SUI) 1. Maria Sharapova (RUS)

2. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 2. Amelie Mauresmo (FRA)

3. Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) 3. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)

4. Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) 4. Kim Clijsters (BEL)

5. James Blake (USA) 5. Nadia Petrova (RUS)

6. Andy Roddick (USA) 6. Martina Hingis (SUI)

7. Tommy Robredo (ESP) 7. Elena Dementieva (RUS)

8. David Nalbandian (ARG) 8. Patty Schnyder (SUI)

9. Mario Ancic (CRO) 9. Dinara Safina (RUS)

10. Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) 10. Nicole Vaidisova (CZE)

I’ll have an assessment once the qualifying spots are settled and the final draw released.