I played a really good week until the semis - my serve and forehand felt great, but against Söderlund I couldn´t for some reason reach the same level. Maybe I was mentally tired due to a tight schedule, but the other hand so was Söderlund. Next time I have his number! A really nice, well organized tournament.

I got an unlucky draw and didn´t play my best tennis. Doubles didn´t go so well either, but my game felt a little better in the practice matches later in the week. I´ll come back next year!

Good week - the tournament was well organized and the level of players was high. From round one I had to work hard to win and all the matches also in doubles were challenging enough. I struggled with my serve in the beginning of the tournament and my game overall was also a bit rusty. The further I got in the draws the better my game worked.

Finnish summer is great (when the weather is good:)!! We had 28 celcius yesterday and 25 the day before. I'm not used to being at home this time of the year so those kind of days feel especially nice. I got the big cast and the stitches off today and a smaller cast on. Now I can start to sweat again! My arm looked so small and weak when they changed the cast. It will be a lot of work to get the wrist strong and flexible again when I get the cast off in 2 weeks. I start hitting the ball tomorrow, that will be nice. It just feels good to stand on the court after one month. Almost all the best Finnish guys are practising with Kim Tiilikainen (Davis Cup captain) this week in Helsinki, I'm going to join the training camp tomorrow. At least without stitches and with the smaller cast I feel one little step closer to the day when I start hitting normal backhand again. This evening I will enjoy Heaven and Hell's concert in Helsinki.

It has been a while since I last wrote to my blog. I have been enjoying the time at home and practising as much as I can at the moment. I get the big cast and stitches off next Tuesday and then I will get a smaller cast on for another two weeks. I am not allowed to sweat a lot until I get the stitches off. I have been doing leg, stomach, back and some rubberband exercises for my shoulders, so they don't fall apart when I start hitting the ball again. That day will be in one week. Hopefully I can start hitting my backhand in about two and a half months from now on. When I am not able to compete, I usually don't watch a lot of tennis or follow the results, because normally I do it ten months a year. But Grand Slams I still watch, that's always exciting. Actually I am watching French Open right now, Tipsarevic vs. Lopez. It would be great to play there but it has also been very nice to be at home. I have been in Finland and Denmark (Anu is practising badminton in Copenhagen). It's nice to do things that I usually don't have much time to do during the summer, like going to our summer place. I have bought some tickets to upcoming rock conserts in Finland. I'm really looking forward to going to those!

The surgery today went really well. I will now, for the following 3 weeks, have an angle-cast all the way up to my bicep. During this time I have to keep the hand completely still. After 3 weeks I will get a smaller cast for an additional 2 weeks and can start hitting the ball again. After a total of 5 weeks I will be off all casts and will start rehabilitation of the wrist. In spite of not being able to hit a two handed backhand in the next 3 months, I will instead be able to practice areas of my game which usually get less attention, such as the slice backhand and the inside out forehand. I will also begin practicing a one handed backhand - time will tell how well I succeed with this.

This coming Wednesday, May 13th, a book about my career will be published. The name of the book is "Pelaamisen Lumo", which freely translated means the "Fascination of Competing". Due to my injury I will now have better time to participate in the promotion of this book. I will be participating in several promotional happenings during the coming week.

Tänään tehty leikkaus ranteeseeni onnistui todella hyvin. Nyt minulla on kolmen viikon ajan hauikseen asti ulottuva kulmakipsi, tänä aikana kättä täytyy pitää täysin levossa. Kulmakipsin jälkeen saan pienemmän kipsin ja voin jo ruveta lyömään palloa. Tätä pientä kipsiä pidän kaksi viikkoa ja sen poistamisen jälkeen alkaa ranteen kuntoutus. Kahden käden rystyä en saa lyödä 3 kuukauteen mutta toisaalta minulla on tilaisuus kehittää osa-alueita joita en normaalisti niin paljoa harjoittele kuten alakierteinen rysty ja kiertokämmen. Aion myös aloittaa yhden käden yläkierteisen rystyn harjoittelemisen - aika näyttää kuinka hyvä siitä tulee.

Keskiviikkona julkaistaan tennisurastani kertova kirja "Pelaamisen lumo". Nyt minulla on aikaa osallistua kirjan julkistamiseen ja aionkin kiertää seuraavan viikon aikana useassa promootiotilaisuudessa.

There has now been further examinations on my wrist. The specialists have now come to the conclusion that I will need surgery on my wrist. I will go into surgery on Monday. I will need to have the arm in a cast for 5 weeks and I will not be able to hit a two handed backhand until 3 months after surgery. Of course, that depends on how well the rehabilitation will go. I am obviously extremely disappointed. This injury could not have been prevented in any way so it was a question of really bad luck. Right now I am able to appreciate the many years I went without serious injuries. I am most upset about the timing of this injury. This is the peak of the season. All the big tournaments are around the corner and I was also starting to play really well again in Tunisia after a weak spring season. I found in Tunisia what I was looking for, which was wins, confidence and the red thread of the game. I was looking forward to the big tournaments, maybe now more than ever. Now, in the worst case scenario, I will miss all the Grand Slams. There is, however, no way to personally decide or choose the timing of these incidents. I will return hungry and motivated and well trained. You need to see the bright side in situations like this. Now I am able to enjoy more than usually the company of my family and friends, the Finnish summer and rock-concerts.

Rannetta on nyt tutkittu lisää ja asiantuntijat ovat tulleet siihen tulokseen, että ranne kannattaa tähystysleikata mahdollisimman pian. Leikkaus on maanantaina. Ranteessa on jännetupin tukisiteen repeämä. Käteen tulee kipsi n.5 viikoksi ja kahdenkäden rystyä en voi lyödä n.3 kuukauteen. Kaikki riippuu tietysti miten kuntoutus sujuu. Pettymys on tietysti suuri. Vammaa ei voinut ennaltaehkäistä mitenkään, joten kyseessä oli vain puhdas huono tuuri.

Juuri nyt osaan arvostaa monia aikaisempia, lähes kokonaan terveitä vuosia vielä enemmän. Kokonaisuudessaan olen selvinnyt loukkaantumisista aika vähällä. Eniten mua harmittaa vamman ajoitus. Edessä olisi vuoden vilkkain kilpailujakso. Paljon isoja kisoja ja kaiken lisäksi mun peli alkoi heikon kevään jälkeen kulkea Tunisiassa tosi hyvin. Löysin Tunisiasta sitä mitä lähdin sieltä hakemaankin(ennen kun ranne hajosi), voittoja, itseluottamusta ja punaisen langan peliin. Odotin tulevia suuria kisoja ehkä enemmän kun koskaan. Nyt pahimmassa tapauksessa jää tämän vuoden kaikki Gran Slamit väliin... kun lisäksi loukkaannuin Melbournessakin. Mutta eihän näitä ajoituksia voi itse päättää. Takaisin aion tulla nälkäisenä ja hyvin treenanneena. Asioista kannattaa aina ottaa positiiviset puolet: nyt pystyn ainakin nauttimaan läheisten ja kavereiden seurasta, Suomen kesästä ja rock-konserteista enemmän kuin yleensä.

Ranteen magneettikuvissa ei näkynyt pahaa repeämää. Luultavasti kyseessä on vain nivelsiteen venähdys, jolloin selvitään ilman leikkausta. Nyt on vuorossa 2-3 viikon kuntoutus, jonka jälkeen voin toivottavasti lyödä rystyäkin - kaikkia muita lyöntejä pystyn jo nyt lyömään normaalisti. Jos ranteessa on vielä silloinkin kipua, niin ranteeseen tehdään tähystysleikkaus. Tämän viikon Münchenin turnaus ja kahden viikon päästä pelattava Kitzbühel jäävät väliin, ensi viikko olisi joka tapauksessa ollut väliviikko. Ranskan Avoimista en ole vielä vetäytynyt.

Bad news!! Score was 2-4 for Gaudio when I attacked with my backhand and felt a snap in the right wrist. After that I tried to hit backhands but I couldn't anymore, the pain was huge. I asked the tournament physio to the court, he taped my wrist and I tried to continue. Taping didn't help at all, I hit only slice from my backhand for two games and then retired. I don't know what is wrong with my wrist yet, but obvioysly I broke something in there. It's impossible to tell what happened without diagnosis but what doctors/physios have guessed without seeing a MRI-scan, it can be quite serious injury. It's hard to believe that I broke something in the wrist by hitting a normal backhand... which I have done a million times before. I broke a bone in my right wrist 2004 when I fell down on the court, otherwise I haven't had any problems with my wrist, not even little pain, never ever. I don't want to guess about the future before I have got the diagnosis, but now the wrist feels BAD. All the flights from here to Münich (where I'm supposed to play next) are full so I fly there early monday. I have to go there on site and pull out from the tournament. Then I fly to Finland as soon as possible. I don't feel great now. I was just so happy to win a few matches in a row and play well again, hungry to play bigger tournaments during upcoming weeks and then this happens, I get injured by hitting a normal backhand!? I'm confused. I have always said that even if you are playing well, you still need luck.

I beat Canas 6-2 6-4. I played very well today. This was one of my best clay court matches. And one of the best matches this year. I have said the whole spring that I just need a few wins and matches (like everybody does) to get the match routine and then I can make big results again. At least today I felt that after winning two tight matches (it's a long time since I won two matches in a row), I have got the confidence and that's one big reason why I played a great match today. Canas doesn't give you one free point. I stayed aggressive and mixed up my game a lot. After the first set it started to rain and we had about 30min break. Canas came back strong after the rain delay and broke me immediately, but I broke him back and took control of the match again. Tomorrow I'll play against Gaston Gaudio in the semifinal, he also played very well today... I expect it to be a difficult match. Gaudio is making a comeback and he seems motivated. Now I'm watching my friends, Rojer/Brunström playing doubles, then it's time to relax.

I beat Dabul 4-6 6-2 6-3. I started very slowly,i moved bad and I let him play his game. It was 5-1 for him in the first set when I started moving better,play smart and more aggressive. It was too late to win the first set but because I started to control the points, I won the second quite easy 6-2. Dabul was leading 3-1 in the third. We a had very long game that I won and after that i had the momentum until the end. I'm happy that I could win this match and play smarter after the bad beginning. Tomorrow I'll play quarterfinals against Guillermo Canas or Dennis Gremelmayer, they are playing the third set at the moment. One of my goals for tomorrow is to start different than today, otherwise I try to play as smart as in the last two sets today. Anu and I didn't know too much about this country but after having many conversations with the tournament drivers,we know much more. It would be intresting to walk around the city as well,but until i'm playing matches it's difficult to go for sightseeing. Today I'll do fitness training in the gym. Then I'll book the hotel for French Open. Otherwise I just relax,read a book, listen to some music, eat well and watch C.S.I with Anu.

Salut! I won my first round match in Tunis Open against Daniel Munoz-De La Nava 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(4). He played very solid and I played very up and down. It is important to win these kind of matches. This week my goal is to get a lot of matches so it was very important to pull this off in the end. I'll play next match on Thursday against Brian Dabul. Anu (my wife) is also here. She had a wrist surgery 3 weeks ago and can't play any badminton yet. It's nice that we can travel together for a few weeks. It's our first time in Tunisia and so far it has been nice here. We are especially enjoying the company of two good friends, Jean-Julien Rojer and Johan Brunström. I have known them since junior years. We have had some nice talks and jokes at the dinner table... but I can't share jokes in the blog.

I have only been resting after my match and now I feel much better. I still feel tired, but I haven't had fever and sore throat anymore. It looks that I can play next week in Tunis if my feeling still improves like it has in the last 2 days. I just want to be healthy! This week will be Jocke's (Nyström) and my last week working together. We started working here in Barcelona last year and from now on I'll continue without him as a coach and he still continues coaching Melzer. We'll stay good friends with Jocke, he is a great guy, we get along well and I also really liked working with him. It just feels better not to continue the player-coach-relationship with him. At this moment I don't feel like working with a full time tennis coach. Maybe we'll work in the future again, you never know. At least we'll keep on having a great time on and off the tour!

I lost 62 61. I didn't have fever in the morning and not later either so there was no major risk damaging my health by playing the match. I had checked that with the doctors. I have some kind of virus, most likely Entero virus. Afterwards, it would have been more clever not to play the match. I'm just so bad in giving up when I feel that I'm able to fight without risking my health. I just wasn't able to put too many balls in the court! Now I just take it easy, rest, and hope that I could play next week in Tunis. If I feel similar to today, I won't play, it doesn't make sense anymore. So not a good day "in the office", but now I try to look forward and stay positive.

Main draw started today, but my match against Feliciano Lopez is tomorrow. We have played against each other quite many times, I have a good record against him. Last time I beat him in Sydney 62 76 but you never know with Feli, he can play very well when he serves good and then he doesn't miss a lot. I have felt good here, these courts are one of my favorite clay courts. I have played some of my best clay court matches here, for example when I in 2006 lost against Nadal in the quarter finals, I was leading 63 41... close but not enough. I had two good practise sessions today, but then after the second practise I started to feel weak and tested my temperature and I had fever... not good! I try to eat well and rest as much as I can and then I hope I feel healthy tomorrow.

Greetings from Barcelona! I came here late yesterday. I stayed and practised in Monte Carlo for a few days, I also hoped that I could have got a spot in the main draw but I didn't have luck with that. Many times at least one player pulls out from the main draw, but now it didn't happen... that's good for tennis but it wasn't good for me. Today I took a day off from tennis. I went to the gym, I lift some weights and ran for 45min. Earlier I went to a music store and bought 9 cd's. They were on sale and I found many good ones. I bought Soundgarden's, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Faith No More's older music. I love going to cd-stores! That's my hobby. It's great feeling to listen to good music and to have the cd covers in my hands. Now I'm also reading a music book... Anthony Kiedis's biography: Scar tissue. I'm only half way through, It's an interesting book about someone who has had a very different life. That's a first book I'm reading in Swedish. Until now I have understood pretty much everything, not every single word but always the meaning of the sentence. Tomorrow I'll have a normal practise day again, two times tennis and one fitness practise. It's a good way to take a day off from cd-stores, otherwise I can't carry my Wilson-bags to the next tournament anymore!

I lost today against Cipolla 6-4 6-3, I started well but after that my game was just ok and not enough to beat him. He played all breakpoints much better than me and overall very well. Frustrating to lose. Now I just have to hope that I get place from the main draw, because I'm first "lucky loser". All the players here seem to be fit to play so it doesn't look good for me...but you never know, anything can happen, somebody might get sick or injured, etc. I don't ever hope for anything bad for anyone, I'm just very hungry for more matches. So I'll stay and practise here and see if somebody pulls out from the tournament. Now I'll listen to some heavy music from my ipod and go to the gym...that always makes me feel better after losing matches.

I beat Stahovsky 6-4, 6-3 today. I'm satisfied with my performance, I did what I planned to do on the court. I played a very solid first clay court match. Tomorrow I'll play last round of qualies against Cipolla from Italy. He is getting a lot of balls back, moving very well and hitting many surprising shots like drop shots etc. I have to put my "running shoes" on tomorrow. My game plan is to stay aggressive and use my heavy top spin forehand a lot, that worked well today. The main draw came out today, there was one surprise, Federer entered to the tournament with wild card. It will be interesting to see how he can challenge Nadal this year on clay.

I had a good practice today, I hit with Beck and Söderling. I'm practicing quite often with Söderling during the weeks on tour. We usually have very good quality practices. I almost got to the main draw because Gasquet pulled out from the tournament so I was finally first out from the main draw. Qualification starts tomorrow. It's 9.45 in the evening now and I just found out who I play tomorrow. I will play against Stahovsky. The match is second after 11.00. I know him quite well. I played him once before four years ago, but I have seen him play many times. Nice guy off the court as well. He plays aggressive game so I try to keep him on the baseline and control the game from there. Now I finish my stretching, watch C.S.I and then start to sleep.

I'm in Monte Carlo now, preparing for the tournament here. Clay court game feels good, better and better every day. I came here yesterday morning, before that I practiced on indoor clay in Helsinki for about one week. I'm still 2 out from the main draw here and if it stays like that, I'll start playing in qualification on Saturday. I'm really looking forward for the clay court season!

Peli ailahteli liian paljon, välillä pelasin loistavasti ja välillä pelistä katosi oikea sävel. Serra syötti aina tappioasemassa parhaat syöttönsä. Serran syötöissä oli paljon murtopalloja ja johtoasemia, joita en kuitenkaan pystynyt käyttämään. Usein en niissä tilanteissa saanut edes palautusta takaisin kun Serra paukutteli linjoille.

Voitin ottelussa enemmän pisteitä, mutta Serra vei ne tärkeät pisteet. Harmittaa tiukka tappio, varsinkin kun tuntui, että pelillisesti olisin voinut viedä kaikki erät. Lisäottelut olisi tehneet pelille hyvää, täytyy nyt pelata pelata paljon pisteistä treeneissä. Positiivista oli se, että Melbournessa tullut vamma ainakin kestää nyt otteluita, se ei vaivannut ollenkaan.

Finaalin ensimmäisessä erässä liikkuminen oli huonompaa kuin muissa otteluissani. Nalbandian syötti erittäin hyvin läpi ottelun, ja piti peruslyönnit painavina sekä temmon kovana. En saanut ohjaksia käsiini ja Nalbandian pääsi ohjaamaan peliä.

Puolentoista erän jälkeen (toinen erä tilanteessa 3-5) jalat alkoivat liikkua paremmin ja sisulla tiukka tie-break kotiin. Kolmannen erän alussa oli murtopalloja, mutta kääntyivät harmillisesti tappioksi. En päässyt missään vaiheessa johtoon vaikka kovasti taistelin. Aloitteiden tekeminen Nalbandiania vastaan on todella vaikeaa.

Turnaus oli erittäin kovatasoinen ja silti pääsin taistelemaan voitosta maailman kärkipelaajien kanssa - oli pienestä kiinni. Valmentaja Nyström sanoi ottelun jälkeen, että tuolla pelillä olisi kaatunut kaikki muut paitsi maailman Top 5, johon Nalbandian kuuluu. Tsonga pelin jälkeen hän kommentoi, että tuollaisella pelillä 2-3 kuukautta niin olet takaisin Top 20.

Tämän vuoden kaikki pelit ovat olleet hyviä. Olo on nyt erittäin hyvä ja tuntuu siltä, että pystyn pitämään tätä tasoa yllä ja kilpailemaan tosissaan Top 10 kanssa. Nyt tuntuu hyvältä lähteä Melbourneen vaikka arpaonni olisi voinut olla parempikin, kaaviossa on sata helpompaa vastustajaa. Sunnuntaina kevyet treenit ja sitten maanantaina taistelu jatkuu.

Hävittiin dubbelissa Nestor/Zimonic parille 4-6, 5-7. Johdettiin molempia eriä murrolla, mutta ei sitten saatu kumpaakaan. Kaikilla oli vaikeuksia pitää omia syöttöjä koko ottelun kestäneen sivutuulen takia.

Pelaan huomenna keskiviikkona Guccionea vastaan päivän neljännessä ottelussa kentällä, jonka ensimmäinen ottelu alkaa klo 11 paikallista aikaa (klo 02 Suomen aikaa). Guccione on pelaajatyyppinä Lopezin kaltainen, todella hyvin syöttävä vasuri. Pelasi itsensä viime vuonna tämän kisan finaaliin. Lähden otteluun samalla taktiikalla kuin Lopezia vastaan.

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