2 days of stats from La Costa…2 wins, 24-2 in games, 2 autographs, one signed T-shirt! OMG, what a time I'm having here! First, the match. The stadium was only about half full, and obviously most were there to see Hingis, but Daniela took no back seat in terms of popularity. I used to root against Hingis as a fan of Lindsay Davenport and never appreciated what she did out there. Not so after tonight, guys. She was brilliant! All the skill and artistry is still there, and a few winners had Dani applauding and grinning. And she wasn't just a spectator. Daniela chipped in with some nice winners, including a flat backhand volley that drew some laughter when Georges swung and missed. She also had a good hold of serve at 2-1in the 2nd when the other team had showed a little sign of life. Hingis ended the match with a perfect teasing offensive lob, a true blast from her past. Daniela hugged her. Of course we have to see how they fare against top teams, but Georges' team made a final last week in their first tourney together, and Dani and Hingis basically toyed with them. I can see Daniela's 10th career doubles title coming soon.
Afterward, Stormy and I went to the same area as yesterday. Hingis, of course, was swarmed by media and autograph seekers. Daniela wasn't a part of the interview dome by Tennis Channel, so she chose to head for the lounge. Stormy had the weird idea to ask her to sign my T-shirt. I can't possibly be the first person to ever request that, but when we did, Daniela was amused. "Your shirt?" she asked. Absolutely. I replied. And she did it! I then said she must have had a lot of fun tonight. Dani said "Oh Yeah! Playing with her?" And this time I didn't just get a smile. It was the Priceless Smile!! Just to bring it all full circle, a few minutes later, Martina signed my shirt as well! This was the Good Lord's answer to many prayers, guys. I have forfeited the right to ever complain about anything ever again!

You're having an absolutely fantastic time at the tennis, Alex I hope you've got tickets for the rest of the week because you bring Daniela luck and inspire her.

Daniela's match against Radwanska is the third match of the day session with play starting at 11am.

Don't I wish, Chungwit, but that would be a budget buster. Should Daniela keep up her amazing form and get to a final, I think we could find our way back! I have a goof feeling about today with Aga, but we all know It Don't Come Easy. But maybe we'll be singing 'cause Dani's winning!

Same shit different week. Get's the break and then loses serve straight away...

I don't why Daniela keeps trying to hit winner after winner, stay in the points more Daniela!

So many times Daniela only needs a 3/4 pace shot to get on top of the point or win the point and she goes full blast shot which ends in an error. Surely her coach must look at the tapes and correct this..??

3-6 3-6 completely wrong tactic this whole match to gift Radwanska...Radwanska wins so many matches this way..

Now Daniela will have to qualify for the Rogers Cup...which is going to be very tough...

Just way too many errors.

Gosh, happiness can be fleeting.
This boils down to 3 things. 1. Stormy and I weren't there. Spare Dani and send the fire and brimstone onto me! 2. Aga's #4 for a lot of reasons. And even so, Dani was in the match throughout. 3. When all is said and done, this week is all about Hingis. Daniela, I'm sure, tried her best to have 1000% focus today. All of us can say that's where it ought to have been, needing the ranking points, and all that good stuff. More than fair. But, if you could have seen her pure joy last night, just how much playing with Hingis meant to her, as I was so fortunate to see up close and personal, 60 pts. wasn't her end-all-be-all. This will be one of most treasured memories of Dani's life, especially if she and Hingis win the doubles. It's getting her a lot of positive pub as well (and I cannot conjure up too many other circumstances under which she would have signed my shirt ). So I'm not as bummed over the loss as I would be with most others.

Nice little note from Matt Cronin about Daniela playing the piano in the hotel lobby at La Costa last night.