Autumn in New York

As the mercury starts to fall and the leaves change into their faded reds and oranges, a young man's thought turns to tennis. How could we possibly avoid the opportunity provided by the U.S. Open of watching our favourite, Marat Safin play Canadian wunderkid Frank Dancevic. Dancevic, having made it to the finals at Indianapolis, and taken Nadal to three hard-fought sets in Montreal, has managed to clear the qualifiying round had is becoming something of a fan favourite of local New Yorkers who love a hot hand.

Meanwhile, later this evening, Maria Elena Camerin, sweetheart of our own Bassano del Grappa will be facing off against Serena Williams. Although she won her opening round match, her prospects are not good. del Grappa might be praying to the Madonna of Mt. Grappa and all the saints of the Veneto for assistance, we are quietly taking bets as to Camerin's over/under.

Clash of Titans

It was a match that lived up to expectations, with Andy Roddick and Marat Safin squaring off in one of the most anticipated tennis matches of the Australian Open. The hard-serving Roddick, looking to show off his net moves, attacked at the net every chance he could, but the wildly inventive Safin did his best to hold the aggressive American at bay. At times Safin looked bewildered by his own talent, stopping to curse his play and earning a caution from the chair umpire. Roddick, doing his best to keep his own temper in check, managed to battle through Safin's moments of brilliance to best the Russian in four tight sets.

Elsewhere, Daily Wenzel staff writer Bassano del Grappa was disconsolate as Maria Elena Camerin lost to Elena Dementieva in a match that, at times, was much closer than the 6-1, 6-3 scoreline would indicate. However Camerin is still alive in the women's doubles, and del Grappa has been gracing us lately with the merits and beauty of the doubles game.

Small Victories and Sweet Anticipation

In our heart of hearts we knew that Canadian Frank Dancevic was unlikely to advance past Lleyton Hewitt last night. However, ever the optimists pre-match banter found us grasping at whatever facts we could. Hewitt might be hurt, or at least still tired from his opening round five set match. Hewitt is under a lot of pressure, having worn out his welcome with the Australian tennis public. Maybe Hewitt will fall down and hurt something. Instead, Dancevic fell down, appearing to strain somethign in his back. The Canuck with pluck, in a yellow jersey that's vies with Serena Williams' electric lime outfit for brilliance, ultimately lacked the composure and pace to keep up with Hewitt, two things he's sure to pick up this year as Dancevic becomes the first Canadian man to crack the ATP Top 50, and only the third ever to do so. We look forward to the potential of seeing him at more events throughout the year.

Bassano del Grappa meanwhile, already happy at Maria Elena Camerin's victory over Vesnina, was wildly elated at the news that Camerin and Dulko had bested the American pair of Granville and Gullickson. Now the man from Paderno keeps one eye on the telly and the other rivited to the online scoreboard. We can't imagine what could happen if Camerin could somehow eke out a victory over the soft-serving Dementieva later today.

The main event however is the much anticipated match up between Safin and Roddick, a contest to see who rightly deserves the crown of tennis' enfant terrible. What to look for? Hard hitting serves, long strokes and short tempers. Rackets will be slammed on the ground, curses will be muttered under breaths, umpires called into question, and no inch given nor quarter conceeded. It could very well get ugly and a legendary clash of two men wanting desperately to be seen as titans of their sport.

Victory for the Veneto!

With college basketball well into triple overtime on TV, we found ourselves huddled closely over our laptops, our voices joining with Bassano del Grappa in urging his paesana Maria Elena Camerin to victory over Elena Veznina of Russia. After losing the first set, Camerin battled back in the second, only to fall behind 1-4 in the third. However the young Italian, with eyes on making the third round of a grand slam for only the second time in her career, found the reserves required to mount a late-stage comeback, winning 8-6. With a cheer, del Grappa broke out the grappa and espresso, fitting fuel for a long night of Australian tennis.