2008 – The Women’s Game

With Justine Henin putting up a Roger Federeresque year in 2007, the resurgence of the Williams sisters and the arrival of two instant crowd favorites from Serbia, the WTA is coming off a pretty good year. This season proves to be even better though, as we welcome back the still-going-strong Lindsay Davenport, and can expect a group of exciting young players making great strides towards the elite ranks of the game.

The season got off to the right start, with Serena Williams claiming (again) that she wants the No. 1 ranking back. As long as Serena doesn’t put in the extra hours on the practice courts and starts working on her physique so she doesn’t get injured every other week, that’s never going to happen again.

Henin supreme again?

Will Justine Henin be as dominant in ’08 as she was last season? Not likely. Yes, she’ll finish the year as No.1 again, but putting up a whopping 63-4 record and winning 2 out of 3 Slams she competed in will be nearly impossible to match. The outstanding year-end championships final against an injury-troubled Maria Sharapova showed that the Russian will be a tough nut to crack for the Belgian on faster surfaces, if Masha has left her shoulder troubles behind her and can play a full schedule again. Sharapova doesn’t fold under pressure and has the belief she can take on anyone. She’s still only 20 years old and although there’s little variety in her game, the WTA’s biggest asset keeps developing as a player and should have a Slam in her this year.

Serbian honours

There wasn’t much between Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic in 2007, but the latter has more potential for greatness and could establish herself as the undisputed Serbian No. 1 in 2008. Jankovic moves better than her countrywoman, but she lacks firepower. What J.J. mostly needs to work on is turning her serve from a weakness into a strength or she’ll continue to be put under constant pressure on her own delivery. Let’s not forget about doing some rescheduling either.

Ivanovic needs to learn not to get too excited after hitting one or two great shots early on in a match. She’s often too energized for her own good and it hurts her consistency. When she calms down after some emotional outbursts, she often drops a level and starts missing easy shots. When Ivanovic becomes a better match player, she’ll be a legitimate Slam contender.

Sister act

I already wrote a little about Serena, but let’s take a closer look at the Williamses. It promises to be a very interesting year for the sisters, as both Venus and Serena are now back in the Top 10 and again forces to be reckoned with. They both won a Slam last year and that’s a scenario we could see again in 2008. Serena will be the defending champion in Australia in two weeks, but Venus has been the better of the two for the second half of last year. What’s been interesting to see during those successful months for Venus, is how she has made serious work of improving her game and adding variety. She has especially become a much more skilled player around the net, although she’ll never have the natural feel of a Henin. Venus’ willingness to add to her game is a big difference with Serena, who is still the same old wham-bam cannonball machine she’s always been. That’ll probably never change, considering Serena doesn’t have the agility of her sister, and still struggles with staying healthy for a full season.

Who’s next?

Anna Chakvetadze had a stellar 2007 and for a moment cracked the Top 5. Tatiana Golovin is starting to fulfil some of her potential and finished a career high No. 13. Nicole Vaidisova has recovered from injuries and mono and has all the makings of becoming a top player. Then there was the unexpected breakthrough from Marion Bartoli, while young Hungarian Agnes Szavay rocketed from No. 189 at the start of the year to a No. 20 finish. What’s in store for these young guns?

Chakvetadze might grind to a halt in ’08 after an outstanding 2007, unless she finds a way to start beating the top players and controlling her emotions on court. Bartoli is a fine player, but she won’t do much better than her current No. 10 ranking. Golovin, Vaidisova and Szavay should all improve, and especially the first two should become solid Top-10ers this year.

Don’t expect too much from…

Svetlana Kuznetsova

Kuznetsova was a steady performer in 2007, but she won’t hold on to her No. 2 ranking for long. Kuzy is a contender at Roland Garros, but at the other majors she doesn’t rank among the top favorites. The Russian will have a tough time finishing the year in the Top 5.

Daniela Hantuchova

Hantuchova is 24 years old, but it feels like the Slovak has been around forever. She sneaked into the year-end championships by winning Linz in the last week of the season, but Dani’s long-term Top 10 potential is limited.

Nadia Petrova

Once dubbed the greatest player of her generation never to have won a Grand Slam, Nadia Petrova is on the decline. The 25-year-old Russian is having a hard time fighting injuries and when she is fit, can’t keep up with the best players in the game.

Amelie Mauresmo

The Frenchwoman had a horrendous 2007 after her career year in ’06, but now that she’s fit and recharged her batteries, Mauresmo should bounce back and put up some solid results again. One more year in the Top 10 is not unlikely, although competition is getting harder for Momo. Don’t count on more Grand Slam titles for the 28-year-old.

Elena Dementieva

She was supposed to become the first Russian woman to win a Grand Slam. But when Dementieva lost the Roland Garros final in 2004 to countrywoman Anastasia Myskina, she had blown her biggest opportunity. Lena D. was troubled by injuries for most part of 2007, but her time seems to have past nonetheless. She remains one of the best movers on tour with a rock-solid game, but new generation power-hitters such as Ivanovic have past her by. Dementieva will have to settle for the Top 15.

2008: What’s in store?

Before we’ve even headed into the new year, the ATP and WTA Tour have already begun the 2008 tennis season. The men are spread out over 3 events (Doha, Chennai, Adelaide) and the women feature in two small tourneys down under (Auckland, Gold Coast). Five tournaments have gone underway before we’ve officially hit 2008. Where else than in tennis?

I got an automated e-mail from Eurosport this morning alerting me about their first tennis broadcast of the new season. December 31, 12:30 CET: ATP Doha (Day 1). I feel a slight rush. A brand new tennis year is about to start. I turned on my TV during lunch and there it was: live tennis. The first match of the season? Igor Andreev vs Thomas Johansson. Hardly an encounter to get excited about, but after a one-month drought of watching tennis, the mere sight of seeing that little yellow ball fly over the net again becomes a treat. We all know that tennis has too short an off-season, but for me, a month is all it takes to get my batteries reloaded. I am refreshed. Now we’ll see if the players can say the same thing.

Roger Federer is still enjoying some time off, but Rafael Nadal is already back in action, playing in Chennai. In 2007, he lost in the semifinal to Xavier Malisse, who went on to win the tournament before running into a long-term injury. The X-man returns to India trying to get back to the Top 30 in 2008. Novak Djokovic is not defending his title in Adelaide, the Serb is playing the Hopman Cup alongside Jelena Jankovic. Serena Williams is also playing the team event. The other elite women are laying low for opening week.

So with the new season now officially on its way, what can we expect from the Olympic year? Here’s a look at the men’s game. I’ll have a post on the ladies tomorrow.

The top dogs
Federer, Nadal, Djokovic

All eyes will be on Roger Federer again in 2008, as he aims to complete his career Grand Slam at Roland Garros, win a record sixth-straight Wimbledon and claim his first Olympic Gold medal. Oh, and there’s that record Pete owns. Federer needs two Slams in ’08 to tie Sampras’ 14 majors, and will surpass him if he equals the performance of his last two years, in which he won 3 big ones each. I think at the end of the year, we’ll have a tie between Fed and the Pistol.

Then there’s Rafael Nadal. Does he, or does he not have a chronic foot injury? He does have at least a couple other chronic problems: failing to win a major outside of clay and flunking the second half of the season. 2008 will be make or break time for Rafa, as he needs to find a way to beat Federer at a Slam outside of Paris and meanwhile has to fend off the challenges of players coming up behind him.

That brings us to Novak Djokovic. The Djoker was seriously burned out at the end of ’07 after a career year and now starts a season where people will expect big results at every event from the No. 3 player. Can Djokovic cope with the pressure of having to defend his performances from last season, and become a true contender for the top spot? Nole has a great desire to be the best and always believes he can win, no matter who he plays. This is a champion’s attitude, and it’ll win him big trophies in the future. It just might start in 2008.

Young ones to watch
Murray, Monfils, Del Potro, Gulbis

Andy Murray finished 2007 ranked No. 11 without winning a single match on clay and missing Wimbledon. Whether or not his split with Brad Gilbert was a good move remains to be seen, but if he stays injury-free, Murray should be a lock for a Top 5 position. The Scot has a similar belief in his game as Djokovic has, but he has to learn how to control his anger and not let matches slip away too easily. Sometimes he doesn’t focus enough. When he does, he’ll be a threat to the Top 3.

Gael Monfils will be 22 years old in September. He reached a career high ranking of 23 last year, but has the potential to become a Top 5 player. I’ve always considered Monfils to be more talented than his countryman Richard Gasquet, but injuries and a lack of smartness on court have held the crowd-pleaser back.

Juan Martin Del Potro ended 2006 as No. 92 and moved up almost 50 spots to No. 44. The 19-year-old Argentine needs to learn how to play the big points and get more out of his monster serve and he’ll be a lock for the Top 20.

Best remembered for his 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 trouncing of Tommy Robredo at the US Open, Ernests Gulbis moved up nearly 100 positions in 2007 to No. 46 before falling back to his current No. 61. The Latvian has the ability to completely outhit an opponent, which he did against Robredo, but he hasn’t won too many matches at the big events yet. Will have to follow up his US Open run in 2008 and reach a consistent level.

The veterans
Roddick, Davydenko, Gonzalez, Haas, Ljubicic, …

Believe it or not, Andy Roddick has become a veteran at the age of 25. He has now won a Grand Slam, reached two Wimbledon finals and brought the Davis Cup back to the States. He actually finished as year-end No.1 once. That’s a very respectable record, though we all know he will never become an all-time American great. Or it would have to be because of his Davis Cup performances if he wins it a few more times.

Roddick has gotten the most out of his career so far. He just doesn’t come close to matching Federer for talent and that is why he gets slapped in the face every time he faces the Swiss. Credit the Rod for trying though, he always fires himself up before facing Federer and says he believes he can win.

Roddick will probably never win another Slam. I don’t see him returning to the Top 3, either. Comparing Roddick to these other veterans, it’s actually quite unfair to list Andy among the Davydenkos, Gonzalezes and Ljubicices of this world. Neither of them owns a single major. However, Roddick is not much more of a threat at the Slams these days than Davydenko, Gonzalez or Blake. Sure he might be a dark horse at Wimbledon, but to win the event? Roddick has been surpassed by Djokovic and Andy Murray will probably be next. Neither of the veterans will be Grand Slam favorites in 2008. Most of them will decline.

The wild cards
Nalbandian, Hewitt, Ferrer

Everybody loves David Nalbandian. Everybody hates him too. His jawdropping backhands, his inexplicable losses. The Argentine is like a South-American version of Marat Safin, but where the Russian is no longer a potential Top-5 player, Nalbandian could still rank among the best. After his whopping end to 2007, all eyes will be on Nalby to see if he can finally win his first Grand Slam title in Melbourne. It just might be that for Nalbandian his best years are still ahead of him.

The latter can definitely not be said for Lleyton Hewitt. Rusty will never be the No. 1 player in the world again, and his chances of winning another major are almost non-existent, too. However, I do believe that if Hewitt doesn’t run into more injury problems, he’ll return to the Top 10 this year.

To round off this post, let’s not forget about David Ferrer. Were it not for his excellent year-end performances, the Spaniard would hover in the veterans group. However, with his semifinal showing at the US Open and of course his first big final at the Masters Cup, Ferrer has become a player to watch for 2008. How far can this grinding warrior go? I find it hard to believe that Ferrer will end the year as high as his current No. 5 ranking. But he has suddenly proven to himself that he can beat the top players and his confidence level is now higher than ever. Who knows, we may be in for two dazzling David’s this coming year.

Happy new year everyone. And here’s to a great tennis season.

Dominating Federer restores order in Shanghai

He was vulnerable in the Wimbledon final against Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic was on his heels in the US Open final and in recent weeks, he lost in consecutive events to David Nalbandian. When he started off the Tennis Masters Cup with a loss to Fernando Gonzalez, Roger Federer had to bounce back from two straight defeats for the first time in over four years time. Djokovic and Nadal were starting to become real challengers for the No. 1 position.

But Federer proved that despite his endless winning streaks, he doesn’t get shaken up by one or two losses, and he surely isn’t scared about the tougher competition he’s been getting over the past months. It’s true that Nadal hasn’t reached his best form after Wimbledon, but Federer steamrolled past the Spaniard in the semis, and he was never troubled by David Ferrer in Sunday’s final either. By defending his Tennis Masters Cup title in style to end the season, Federer sends a message to his rivals that he is still king of the courts, even though he wasn’t even close to playing to his best in more than a couple of events over the past year. In the end, all that matters are his three Grand Slam crowns, and another year-end championship title, which marks another outstanding season for the Swiss.

Against Ferrer, Federer was playing extremely dominant tennis in the first set. He was ripping his forehands and never offered his opponent the opportunity to get in a rhythm, by constantly mixing up his play and keeping the rallies short. Ferrer never got close to the form he had displayed throughout the event.

I was a little surprised however, that after Federer won the opening set, the No. 1 started to hold back some more on his forehand. This is why Ferrer got in to the match. Where Federer used his favorite wing to end rallies with one or two shots in the opening set, he was now taking some pace off, which for Ferrer meant he stayed in more rallies and got an extra split second to hit passing shots when Federer was moving forward. However, three horrendous misses at 3-4 cost him the break and consequently the second set. The Spaniard was up 30-15 on his own serve before he netted an easy backhand, missed a sitting backhand volley, and completely shanked a forehand to hand Federer the break. Federer served it out and ended the set winning the full 100% of points on his first serve.

With Federer up 6-2 6-3, the match was all but over. Federer broke serve at 2-1 in the third set with an outstanding running forehand passing shot, after Ferrer failed to put away a forehand volley. Federer ended the match with another break at 5-2, again passing Ferrer at net on his first match point.

I would say Federer played one of his best tournaments of the year in Shanghai, despite the unexpected loss to Gonzalez. Most of his matches were just plain solid, won without the utter brilliance that earned him so many fans during 2004 and 2005. But those days seem to be gone forever. The Roger Federer of 2007 has developed into a more conservative player, going for the smart play, instead of the out-of-this-world winners we remember so well from his early glory days. His footwork has deteriorated a little bit, which is why I don’t think he will ever triumph at Roland Garros. It’s also the reason why we’re seeing more ugly unforced errors from Federer nowadays.

Nevertheless, Federer will surely continue to be a dominate force on Tour over the next years. He will have to deal with increasing challenges from Nadal, Djokovic and probably Andy Murray for the No. 1 position, but for now though, the order has been restored.

Federer, Ferrer way above rest of the field

Even though Roger Federer lost his opening encounter against Fernando Gonzalez in Shanghai, he wasn’t playing a poor match. Nikolay Davydenko and Andy Roddick didn’t come close to winning a set over the No. 1, and the Swiss capped his renowned form this week with a thumping win over Rafael Nadal in the semis.

Federer got off to a little bit of a tough start against Nadal, facing deficits and one break point in three of his service games in the opening set. However, just like in the Wimbledon final, his serve kept him safe from facing real trouble. Serving at 2-2, 0-30, Federer produced four straight aces, three of which went to Nadal’s forehand side. I like this play from Federer, as Nadal is better at returning powerful serves to his backhand, instead of with his long-swinging forehand.

Nadal was playing his best tennis of the week in this opening set. For the first time he managed to get some good depth on his groundstrokes, and he was getting a lot of free points off his serve as well. However, it always seemed to me as if Federer was in control, even though he was the one struggling most on his service games. Federer took the initiative in most of the rallies, because although Nadal was playing very solid – near the end of the first set the Spaniard had only hit one unforced error – he was never truly aggressive.

Serving at 4-5, Nadal showed that he is lacking the confidence that made him so imposing during the first half of the season. His balls were falling short again, he netted a backhand at 0-15, and put an easy forehand wide at 0-30. On his second set point, Federer struck a forehand winner down the line to claim the set.

With the lead under his belt, Federer rolled at the start of the second set. He claimed the first 13(!) points playing excellent attacking tennis, stepping into the court whenever possible and moving up to the net. A tactic he insisted on executing from the get-go, and which worked to perfection from this point on. I can’t recall another match these two played when Federer played aggressive tennis right from the very first point, all the way through to the end. He usually needed some time to feel his way into the match, or never even got to the point where he became the dominant player. During some of their clay court battles, Federer attacked Nadal early on, but couldn’t keep it up. Today, he was dominant from start to finish, and that’ll do him good.

When Nadal double faulted facing another break point at 0-3, the match was in the bag for Federer.

Nadal’s season has been almost an exact copy of how he performed in 2006. He started the year off playing aggressively, but from the moment he stepped on the American hard courts, Rafa seemed to have lost faith in his game because all the attacking spirits have vanished from his head. Although Nadal has narrowed the gap with Federer in ranking points in 2007, their match today showed that the younger player hasn’t picked up his game compared to last year. It was Federer who employed better tactics than before in battling his main rival, which earned him the convincing 6-4, 6-1 win in less than an hour.

If Nadal fails to develop into more than a formidable defensive player on hard courts, or better said, doesn’t play with the intention of forcing the issue on his opponents himself, like he did so well at Indian Wells and in Miami, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray will be the prime candidates to threaten Federer’s top spot over the next couple of years.

Ferrer comes out of nowhere

Just when you think you’ve seen enough miracle runs from one David, another one pops up. David Ferrer’s performance in Shanghai this week can be called exactly that: miraculous. There’s no way that anyone who is serious about tennis could have said after Wimbledon: “Hey, you know what, I believe David Ferrer will start playing some serious ball from now on, and end the year in the Top 5”. Be that as it may, the never-say-die Spaniard even has a chance to finish the year as No. 4, if he beats Federer on Sunday.

Ferrer was the only player in this year’s Masters Cup to come out of the round robins undefeated. He routed Andy Roddick in the semis - which will see him overtake the Rod as the No. 5 player in the rankings - in another display of rock-solid tennis. Roddick was outplayed in every sense of the word. He couldn’t use his serve as a weapon, he was unable to apply any pressure from the backcourt, his approach shots were too weak and wrongly timed, and when he did make it to the net, Ferrer came up with the passing shot time and time again.

After Wimbledon, Ferrer has put up a 5-2 record against Top 5 players. He beat Nadal at the US Open and this week in Shanghai, went 1-1 against Djokovic, defeated Roddick twice, and lost to Davydenko in Cincinnati. Against Federer, Ferrer is a career 0-7. However, the only set he won off the Swiss, came in their last meeting in Hamburg.

Ferrer has never played a major final and he is debuting at this year’s Masters Cup. Federer is playing some of his best tennis of the season, and therefore, the Swiss will be heavily favored in the championship match. However, if Ferrer plays like he has done all week, it’ll surely be a great encounter to watch. There’s no doubt that the two best players of the event have made it through to the final. Federer to win in four.

Shanghai Preview

When David Nalbandian moved up to the ninth position in the ATP rankings after winning the Masters Series events in Madrid and Paris, he became the first alternate for the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai. However, after he learned from Andy Roddick and Nikolay Davydenko that they were not thinking about pulling out of the event, the Argentine decided to stay home and leave the $50,000 appearance fee for Tommy Robredo, who has taken his place. But, there are two alternate players for the Masters Cup, so 11th-ranked Andy Murray was also offered the $50k all-inclusive package trip to China. He declined. So did Tommy Haas. And James Blake. And Tomas Berdych. And the five players ranked below the Czech. So the second alternate player for the TMC is… Juan Ignacio Chela! And if you think that is crazy, if the Argentine would have passed on the offer, Ivo Karlovic would have likely taken the slot. Scary.

Red Group

Now let’s focus on those in action. One of the Bryan brothers, I believe it was Mike, recently said Andy Roddick’s chances of playing in Shanghai were only about 50%. Well, it seems Roddick can put Davis Cup out of his mind for the next week because he arrived on schedule in China on Thursday. Roddick finds himself in the red group, along with Fernando Gonzalez, Nikolay Davydenko, and Roger Federer, whom he held three match points against in their round robin match last year. After Roddick failed to win a set against Federer at the US Open, in what was possibly the best performance I have ever seen from the Texan, his chances to upset the Swiss this time around are looking slimmer than ever.

Davydenko is the longshot in this group with the form he is in, so the key match will probably be between Roddick and Gonzalez for second place. Gonzalez has been playing some better tennis again recently after a mediocre post-Aussie Open season, and given the lack of matches Roddick has played after the US Open, this could go either way. I’ll take the Rod to edge through.

Semifinalists: Roger Federer, Andy Roddick

Yellow Group

While the second group seems to be pretty much equally strong as the first, there are certainly more scenarios available with Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, David Ferrer and Richard Gasquet put together. Nadal has gained some confidence after reaching the final of the Paris Masters Series event, but I’m still not impressed by the way Rafa is playing. Djokovic was clearly conserving energy in Paris by the way he went down to Fabrice Santoro, and he’ll surely want to end his season on a high note. Djokovic has beaten Nadal in straight sets on hard court in their last two matches, and I’m favoring the Serb to come through in Shanghai as well.

I don’t think Gasquet will be able to take down Rafa, but Ferrer has recently done so at the US Open. Ferrer will certainly be a threat to Nadal, but coming off a solid week in Paris, I’ll stick with the No. 2 to advance.

Semifinalists: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal

Federer – Nadal and Roddick – Djokovic. Would these be two semifinals to watch or what? Either match could go either way, and that hasn’t always been the case during the closing stages of major ATP events over the past years.

Nadal and Federer haven’t faced each other after their legendary match at Wimbledon, where the Spaniard came within touching distance of winning his first non-clay court Slam and unofficially claiming the No. 1 ranking.

Federer has again shown signs that he is no longer invincible by going down in two consecutive tournaments to Nalbandian, but Nadal has been far from dominant after Wimbledon, so a similar scenario to last year, when Federer also beat Nadal in the semis in Shanghai, is seemingly likely.

Djokovic and Roddick only faced each other once, in Montreal earlier this year. Back then it was the Serb who straight-setted Roddick en route to his memorable title run that included wins over Nadal and Federer in the final. Djokovic is more all-round than Roddick and he is fully committed to the event. The Rod will undoubtedly give it his best, but in the back of his head he is just warming up for the Davis Cup final in Portland.

Finalists: Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic

In the US Open final, Djokovic lost in three sets to Federer, but the whole match was decided on just a handful of points. What became clear in New York, and what Djokovic had already shown in Montreal, is that he can keep up with Federer during the rallies, and actually appears to be the more dominant player from the backcourt most of the time. The Djoker will be a legitimate contender at the Slams next year, but after a long breakthrough season, winning a best-of-five final over the Fed might be too much to ask.

Winner: Roger Federer

Grand finale in Madrid – Sharapova, Ivanovic, Chakvetadze, Henin

In a surprise run of events this week in Madrid, Maria Sharapova is playing perhaps her best tennis of the season, Serena Williams pulled out with injury, Anna Chakvetadze is through to the semis and Justine Henin double bagelled Marion Bartoli. Yes, there’s plenty of action going on at the Sony Ericsson Championships, and for the first time since the US Open, the WTA stars finally make for some entertaining, high-quality matches again.

So what has been the most newsworthy item of the week? Even though not a single soul would have picked the slumping Anna Chakvetadze (6-1 6-0 loss to Patty Schnyder coming in to Madrid, ouch) to advance in a group with Serena, Henin and Jelena Jankovic, and Henin seemed to be on another planet on Thursday when she took the ultimate revenge over Marion Bartoli for her Wimbledon loss to the Frenchwoman, I have been most impressed by Sharapova’s performance so far.

The Russian started off with a great win over Daniela Hantuchova on Tuesday, and her serve was solid throughout the match. She was on top of her game from start to finish. However, Sharapova’s 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 comeback achievement over Svetlana Kuznetsova was nothing short of remarkable for a woman troubled by a bum shoulder, and who only played her second match after a disappointing US Open earlier in the week.

Kuznetsova, who managed to keep up with Sharapova’s high pace in the opening set, got pushed back further as the match progressed and couldn’t score as many free points on her serve as she did in the early stages of the encounter. Sharapova became increasingly successful in attacking her countrymate’s second serve, which ultimately won her the match and earned her a spot in the semifinals.

This may sound ridiculous after Henin’s masterclass on Thursday, but if Sharapova upholds her current level and her shoulder doesn’t break down, she might very well trouble the Belgian, should the two meet somewhere along the way.

Anna C. defies the odds

I wonder if Anna Chakvetadze herself believed she’d reach the semifinals after she got drawn in the same group with Henin, Serena and Jankovic. The Russian came into Madrid in her worst form in over a year. She lost three consecutive matches in Luxemburg, Stuttgart and Moscow, before being humbled by Schnyder in Linz. The last time Chakvetadze fell in three consecutive matches was all the way back in May 2006. In other words, she has been one of the most consistent players on Tour ever since.

Not a single press conference or interview seems to go by, without Chakvetadze dropping the word ‘confidence’. She is very insecure on court, but never gives up. This is what got her through her match against the severely burned-out Jankovic on Thursday, when she completely went away after winning the first set, losing seven straight games. But, and this surprised me, Chakvetadze stayed very calm throughout and came back from a break down in the final set to claim her sixth career win over J.J. Of course she got a little lucky when Serena retired in her first match, but she did what had to be done and therefore fully deserves her semifinal position.

In the semis, she could face Sharapova for a fourth time this year, if her compatriot beats Ivanovic. Chakvetadze has yet to win a set off Maria in ’07.

Ivanovic meanwhile has been impressive this week as well. However, she needs to learn how to deal with a lead. In her first match against Kuznetsova, the Serb was playing lights out tennis until she let Kuzy back in the match at 6-1 3-0. The same thing happened in the final set, when the Russian again rallied from a 3-0 deficit, before going down 7-5. Against Hantuchova, Ivanovic was in firm control with a set and a break but almost had to endure another third set when the Slovakian held a couple of set points in the second set tiebreak. Credit goes out to Ivanovic for closing out these matches nonetheless, but she needs to calm down more and play smart when she finds herself in a commanding position.

WTA Championships Preview

In 2006, Justine Henin, Amelie Mauresmo and Maria Sharapova were all considered favorites to win the year-end Sony Ericsson WTA Championships. Kim Clijsters was in the mix too. This year however, the tour’s grand finale has all the makings of a one-woman show. Henin has gone undefeated after her shocking Wimbledon loss to Marion Bartoli and is now riding a 20-match winning streak.

Henin’s foremost challenger for the title in Madrid, Serena Williams, has gone down to the Belgian in their last three encounters and failed to impress during the European indoor fall circuit. In fact, if there was one player in this field worth mentioning other than Henin it would have to be Daniela Hantuchova, who clinched her Championships berth on the last minute by winning Linz. All the other players, Kuznetsova (up and down), Jankovic (drained), Sharapova (Shoulderpova?), Ivanovic (erratic), Chakvetadze (severe slump) and the before-mentioned Serena Williams are far from playing their best.

Henin finds herself in the yellow group, not surprisingly accompanied by Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic. The poor little Anna Chakvetadze completes the group, and gets the priviledge of opening the tournament against Henin on Tuesday. I’m sure the Russian is very much looking forward to that match.

That leaves Kuznetsova, Ivanovic, Sharapova and Hantuchova for the red group. Kuzy and Ivanovic will be favored to advance here, as Sharapova only played one match after the US Open, and might easily drop out after her first match. Hantuchova will be riding the momentum of her Linz performance, and should have a decent shot at upending Sharapova, but I am sticking with the top two seeds in the group to pull through.

Semifinalists: Ana Ivanovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova

In the Justine group, I am taking Serena over J.J. to come through as No. 2. By the way, Chakvetadze holds a 5-2 record over Jankovic, but since the Russian seems to have lost all confidence in her abilities, I am liking the fatigued Jankovic to narrow their head-to-head record.

Semifinalists: Justine Henin, Serena Williams

I believe Ivanovic will do well in Madrid, and win her group to face Serena in the semis. Henin will take on Kuznetsova again, and just as in the US Open final, the Belgian should cruise.

Over the past few weeks, Serena lost to Kuznetsova in Stuttgart and fell in the Moscow final to Elena Dementieva. Therefore, Ivanovic should have a decent shot at upending Williams this week. However, this is a prestigious tournament and normally Serena finds an extra gear at those big events. How hard it may be to predict how Serena will perform in any tournament, that perception is an important factor to consider. Therefore, my money will be on Serena for this one.

Finalists: Justine Henin, Serena Williams

We all know what kind of runs Serena can come up with, so in a way I wouldn’t be surprised if she goes on to win the event, but there’s no way one can bet against Henin these days.

Champion: Justine Henin

Feeling Davydenko’s pain

Is Nikolay Davydenko slowly breaking down? The Russian has never been in the centre of attention because of his tennis, but after his notorious match against Vassallo Arguello in Sopot, Davydenko is being watched his every move. Last week in St. Petersburg, the Russian was fined $2000 for supposedly tanking his match against Croatian up-and-comer Marin Cilic. I can’t judge what went on during that encounter, as I haven’t been able to watch any of it, but sitting through the second set of Davydenko’s 6-2, 6-2 loss to Marcos Baghdatis has been one of the most painful experiences of 2007.

There is no doubt that Davydenko was giving it his best against the Cypriot. He was genuinely upset with every miss and was working hard to somehow find his rhythm. It’s just that nothing worked for the world No. 4. The most upsetting thing to see, was the way Davydenko was serving. If Elena Dementieva was watching the match, she would be shocked.

I tuned in when Baghdatis had just taken the first game of the second set, breaking Davydenko. After some uncharacteristic Davydenko misses, the Bag Man increased his lead to 2-0. But then it happened. Davydenko started serving in the third game, and he was just mistiming on every serve he hit. The Russian was merely trying to put his delivery in court, hitting about 70 – 80 mph first serves, but still double faulted three times, spraying his serves all over the place, or low into the net.

Baghdatis broke and during the changeover, chair umpire Cedric Mourier asked Davydenko if everything was alright. The Frenchman actually went so far, as to say, “if you serve like me, you’ll put it in the box.” Mourier really crossed the line though, when during the next change of ends he told Davydenko about his service: “Just hit it, you’re still the same player.” Is this the ATP’s equivalent to the WTA’s on-court coaching experiment, have the officials coach the players?

Baghdatis cruised to victory and emphatically asked Davydenko after shaking hands at the net if there was something wrong with him. The Russian said he was feeling fine, but it seems as if he is under a lot of pressure dealing with all the recent accusations on him. And who wouldn’t be.

Personally, let’s just say that I have my doubts about this whole Sopot scandal. I find it hard to believe that a world class player who makes over $1.5 million a season would risk selling a match and get caught. And I think the St. Petersburg fine doesn’t make much sense either. Why would a player, who just happens to be under strong surveillance, be fined for apparently ‘not giving his best’, but not the crowd favorite Novak Djokovic? It was blatantly obvious that Nole was tanking in Cincinnati against Moya, not to mention his ‘performance’ against Santoro this week in Paric-Bercy. Sounds an awful lot like measuring with two standards to me.

Remaining Shanghai spots still up for grabs

Meanwhile in Paris, the race to Shanghai is really going down to the wire. Current No. 7 Fernando Gonzalez lost in a highly-entertaining opening round match to Mikhail Youzhny, but is still in solid shape to clinch his Top 8 spot. Andy Murray has come out of nowhere the past few weeks and could very well go to Shanghai after all, despite missing the entire clay court season plus Wimbledon. I, for one, wouldn’t mind seeing the Scot in China.

Tommy Robredo is through to the quarters, but even though the Spaniard is currently in eighth position (prior to the Haas – Youzhny match), he needs a win over Marcos Baghdatis on Friday to stay in contention. Either Gasquet or Murray, who face each other in the quarters, would overtake Robredo if he goes down to the Cypriot.

Unstoppable: Henin wins ninth title of the year over Golovin

Belgian upholds unbeaten run, dating back to Wimbledon

FROM THE ZURICH OPEN - She may not have played the Australian Open in January, and her Wimbledon loss to Marion Bartoli will probably go down as the biggest upset of the season, but after winning her ninth title of the year on Sunday - one more than her previous record of eight trophies in 2003 - Justine Henin said she feels 2007 has been the best season of her career.

Just like in Stuttgart, Henin beat the red-hot Tatiana Golovin in the final in Zurich. She faced a 1-4 deficit in the first set, but won six straight games, before prevailing 6-4, 6-4.

Golovin, who was playing her first Tier I final of her career, said that she would be going out hitting bombs, but instead it was Henin who was constantly firing up on her opponent. “I did hit the ball pretty hard,” the No.1 said. “If you give her time, she can play really well. She likes to control the rallies. I just tried to keep the control and be aggressive.”

The turning point in the match came when Henin, as Golovin said, ‘got a little lucky’ on two shots, before breaking back at 4-2. At 15-all, Golovin moved around her backhand to power a forehand down the line, which looked like a clean winner. In an ultimate get, Henin pushed the ball back cross court, passing Golovin at the net. At 15-30, the Belgian hit the tape on a return of serve, but the ball dropped over the net for a winner. On her first break point, Henin stood by as Golovin hit a backhand down the line, which fell just millimetres wide.

In the previous game, Golovin had already missed a sitting forehand with Henin serving at 30-all, where she should have gone up breakpoint for a chance to take a 5-1 lead. Now, a few unlucky points later, Henin was back in the set, but more importantly, had sent out a big mental blow to her opponent.

Golovin never seemed to recover from losing her advantage. She lost serve again at 4-all, mainly because she hit a couple of ugly unforced errors. Henin claimed the opening set, after Golovin framed yet another backhand.

“I should have been able to finish off the set,” Golovin said. “But I was unable to do that and that kind of changed the momentum of the match.”

In the second set, Golovin managed to undo an early break of serve, but after Henin broke a second time at 1-all, the match was over for Tati. She overcame a 0-40 deficit serving at 1-3, but Henin didn’t face a single break point for the rest of the set, and served out the match with an ace down the tee at 5-4.

As both players said, the quality of the final was not as high as it was in Stuttgart. Henin was trying to be very aggressive, taking balls early and coming to the net, but her forehand was shaky again, like it was in her semifinal against Vaidisova. Golovin’s level dropped significantly after losing her edge in the first set, as she started to shank her backhand more often, and she failed to get a rhythm going on her forehand.

Despite the loss, Golovin will move up five positions to a career high ranking of No. 13. She will play in Linz next week, where she will have a shot at breaking the Top 10, as she has no points to defend at the Tier II event. Henin, who has now won 20 matches in a row, will take a two week break before the year-end championships in Madrid.

Golovin's solid play moves her up WTA ladder

Semi win puts Tati in Top 15 for first time

FROM THE ZURICH OPEN - When Tatiana Golovin stormed through the rankings in her breakthrough year in 2004, moving up from No. 354 at the start of the season, all the way to No. 27, the fun-loving 16-year-old was rapidly becoming the new it-girl of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. Now, three years later, she is on the verge of breaking the Top 15 for the first time in her career, a feat long overdue.

Golovin reached the finals of a Tier I event for the first time in her career. She beat Maria Kirilenko, Ivanovic and saw Marion Bartoli retire with a knee injury on Friday, before she convincingly routed Francesca Schiavone in the semifinals on Saturday. “It feels great [to reach my first Tier I final], but I don’t think I’m realising it quite yet. The past weeks have been going so fast and I’ve been playing so many matches. I’m trying to stay focused and not really think about it. When the season is over I’ll probably realise that I’m going to have a lot of points to defend next year.”

Golovin has developed into one of the best movers on tour, and her groundstrokes are solid. She likes to run around her backhand, to unleash her biggest weapon, the forehand. Her serve might not match the Williams sisters for pace, but it shouldn’t be underestimated, as she gets a lot of free points off it, especially going down the tee. The main obstacle holding her back has been her head, as she hasn’t been able to produce her best tennis yet in the big events, which is also why Tati had difficulties following up on her excellent breakthrough year.

“The first year you’re a rookie, you just go out there, nobody knows you and you think everything is great,” Golovin said. “But the next year you have to come back and defend everything, and the players start to know you and how they have to play against you, so it’s definitely tougher.”

It wasn’t until the beginning of this season, that Golovin won her first title. In Amelia Island, she consecutively beat Venus Williams, Ana Ivanovic and Nadia Petrova, to win the Tier II event. But to Golovin, winning her first tournament after having been expected to do so much earlier, did not make her achievement feel like a relief. “I think it was more of a relief to play three top players and beat them all in one week. Before, it was kind of that consistency that I was lacking. Being able to do that gave me more confidence, so I’m not sure it was a relief [to win my first tournament], but it definitely was a boost of confidence.”

Shortly after her maiden title, Golovin injured her right ankle and sat out the entire clay court season. She returned at Wimbledon, but couldn’t impress on the lawns, as she fell in the second round to Austrian up-and-comer Tamira Paszek. Her results over the American summer were disappointing as well, apart from a semi-final showing in Toronto, where she was beaten by Jelena Jankovic. At the US Open, the Frenchwoman was upset by Ahsha Rolle in the first round.

It was during the American hard court season that Golovin started working with Mats Wilander, a temporary agreement, which ended after the US Open in New York. “I think it was good,” Golovin says about the partnership, “but we didn’t really have enough time to work together. So I don’t think I can say too much about our time spent together because it was too short. It was supposed to be a month, but then I got injured and it got cut back to three weeks, and then I lost in the first round of the US Open, so it pretty much got cut down to two weeks.”

She hasn’t really spoken to Wilander anymore after the US Open, but believes they can team up again in the near future. “I know he cares about my tennis, I know he believes in me. When the time is right, I’m sure we’ll be able to get things together and maybe he’ll be able to come to some tournaments and we can practice together.”

Golovin entered a small Tier IV tournament in Slovenia the week after the season’s final Grand Slam event, where she captured the title and refound her confidence. She went on to reach the quarterfinals indoors in Luxembourg, and progressed to the final in Stuttgart, where she beat Anna Chakvetadze and Svetlana Kuznetsova, before falling to Justine Henin in three sets.

“I’m really happy [with my season],” Golovin said. “Especially with the way it’s ending, because I started off really well and then I got injured and it was really hard mentally, and physically too, to get back up there and play the top players. I’m lucky I was able to get back to my level, because I also could have had just a really bad season after my injuries. I’ve worked really hard to get back and it’s paying off right now.”

STUTTGART ALL OVER AGAIN

Golovin’s opponent in Sunday’s final will be a familiar face, as she will take on Henin, just like in Stuttgart two weeks ago. The Belgian came from a set down in her semifinal against Nicole Vaidisova, and had to fight hard to advance 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. She looked a little shaky at times, especially on her forehand side. The No. 1 failed to capitulate on one of two match points, leading 5-3 in the third, and dropped her own serve in the next game. She broke again at 5-all, hitting a forehand winner after successfully attacking Vaidisova’s second serve, and successfully closed out the match trying to serve it out a second time.

Golovin believes the experience of playing Henin in Stuttgart two weeks ago, will help her in Sunday’s final. “I think it’s going to be pretty important, because I know how I played to beat her in the first set, and I know what I did to lose the next two sets.”

But when you’re playing the best player in the world, knowing what you have to do is hardly a guarantee for success. “I think everybody knows how to play her,” Golovin said, “but you still end up losing, because she’s so tough. It’s like she never feels bad. Doesn’t she have like these mornings when she just wakes up and feels awful? I mean, what’s wrong with her you, you know (laughs)? No matter how well you play against her, she still ends up winning.

Golovin believes one of the keys to beat Henin is staying composed. “I think [in Stuttgart] I showed my emotions just a little bit too much. She saw I was getting frustrated in the second set, and that just really pumped her up, and then I kind of got down on myself. I need to stay very positive. In the first set I was controlling the points and I’ll have to do that again tomorrow. You can’t give her anything, because then she’ll just take control and stay on top of you.”

Whether or not Golovin will win the tournament in Zurich, she will crack the Top 15 for the first time in her career when the new rankings come out on Monday. If she wins the event, she will be in an excellent spot to clinch a Top 10 position in Linz next week, as she has no points to defend. Does Tati believe she’s ready to become one of the elite women? “I think so. I think I’ve still got to put in a lot of work, and be consistent, because top players play well in every tournament. They don’t lose to players that are lower ranked than them in early rounds, so that’s just what I need to work on. To be a hundred percent every week and be able to beat the players that are behind me. Even during days when you’re not playing well you’ve still got to work, and not just say, ‘well, I’ll be better tomorrow’”.

Big guns keep falling in Switzerland

Henin, Kuznetsova, Bartoli only seeds left in Zurich draw

FROM THE ZURICH OPEN - Who says the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour has no depth? After the second round at the season’s last Tier I event in Zurich, only three seeds are left standing: the world’s top two ranked players, Justine Henin and Svetlana Kuznetsova, plus Marion Bartoli, who only earned her seeding after Maria Sharapova’s late withdrawal.

On Thursday, Daniela Hantuchova, who struggled with a cold, became the latest casualty of the seeds’ exodus. The Slovakian, who started this week as the No.9 player in the race rankings, fell to the fast-rising Agnieszka Radwanska from Poland, 6-3 6-3. Hantuchova has signed up at the last minute for Linz next week, in a desperate attempt to qualify for the year-end championships in Madrid.

Radwanska, who upset Maria Sharapova in the third round of the US Open, will next face Henin. The Belgian needed some time to find her game against Vera Zvonareva, but after winning the first set 6-3, there was no stopping the No.1. Henin played a class above the rest of the field this week in her second set against Zvonareva, as she breezed through, 6-3 6-1. With most of the seeds gone, she is looking like a lock for the title.

In the night match, Kuznetsova had to dig out of a hole to secure her spot among the last eight. The Russian quickly fell behind 4-0 and lost the opening set to Sybille Bammer, 6-2. In the second set, both players exchanged breaks twice, before Bammer moved ahead to a 4-2 lead. Not having held serve the entire set, and going down 0-30, Kuznetsova was eyeing an early exit. She faced two break points that game, but on both occasions, Bammer produced an error. Kuzy held serve and won the next three games, to take the set, 6-4. In the final set, a single break at 6-5 was enough for the win.

With so many marquee players out of the tournament, all eyes from the Swiss fans were on Patty Schnyder, but she couldn’t live up to the expectations, as she was upset by Francesca Schiavone in three sets.

WHO WILL BE THE NO.1 RISING FRENCHWOMAN?

The standout quarterfinal on Friday will be the battle of the Frenchies between Marion Bartoli and Tatiana Golovin. Bartoli has been impressive this week after a false start against Shuai Peng, dropping just six games in the last four sets she’s played. This includes a 6-4, 6-1 win over Michaella Krajicek in the second round. Bartoli still has an outside shot at reaching the championships, if she goes deep this week, and in Linz.

Golovin has won six out of her last seven matches, only losing to Henin in the Stuttgart final. She convincingly beat Ana Ivanovic in the second round, and her forehand is firing on all cylinders. The only time Bartoli and Golovin faced each other was in Tokyo last year, when Tati got crushed by her countrywoman 6-3, 6-0.

Soaring No. 2 Kuznetsova worships the Fed

Sveta: “Roger is like a god to me.”

FROM THE ZURICH OPEN – In a year where all the talk has been about the resurgence of the Williams sisters, the increasing supremacy of Justine Henin, the rise of the Serbs and Maria Sharapova’s right shoulder, one woman has made quiet progress through the rankings and finds herself sitting at No.2 after a very stellar season. Svetlana Kuznetsova reached the US Open final and led Russia to a third Fed Cup win in four years. She was also the only player in 2007 to get a win over Henin on clay.

Despite her rise to the second position in the rankings, not many experts have been singing Kuznetsova’s praises. The Russian doesn’t mind that all the talk is about other players. “It’s okay,” she said. “I only want to be myself and enjoy myself.”

Kuznetsova reached the quarterfinals or better in 16 out of the 19 tournaments she has played this year. She retired in the first round in Sydney and lost in the round of 16 at the Australian Open and Miami. This consistency has been the key for her current career high ranking. But the reason Kuzy has been flying under the radar, is because in the big matches she came up short. Her only title of the season came at New Haven, where she triumphed after seeing three consecutive opponents retire. She lost in the finals of Doha (to Henin), Indian Wells (to Daniela Hantuchova), Berlin (to Ana Ivanovic) and Rome (to Jelena Jankovic). In the US Open final, she was no match for Henin.

For a No.2 player, those results are hardly impressive, and the Russian knows it. “I played pretty good this year, but I am not happy with some of the important matches I lost. I was consistent and reached my career high ranking of No.2, but I hope to do better next year. I feel like I was not at my best this season.” What it is she is aiming for in 2008? “It would be perfect to win all the Grand Slams and the Olympic Games, but I wouldn’t have any goals left anymore. I would quit tennis straight away (laughs).”

Kuznetsova has a solid game, but even if she has no real weakness, she doesn’t have a true weapon either. Her heavy top spin shots make her a legitimate contender on clay, but on the faster surfaces, even if she has won a US Open title in 2003 and reached the final in New York this season, she’ll have to improve her attacking game to be considered among the top favorites at the Slams outside of Paris.

Kuznetsova sounded confident when she said she believes she can be the No.1 player someday, but a few minutes later stated that she finds it hard to always be fully motivated for a match. That doesn’t sound like something Justine would say.

It was during the US Open that Martina Navratilova called Henin the Roger Federer of the women’s game. The Belgian has not lost a match since her shocking semifinal exit to Marion Bartoli at Wimbledon, and only dropped three matches the entire season. Kuznetsova admits Henin is currently the best player on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, but she can’t look at her the way she sees Federer. “Roger is like a god to me,” she said. “I respect him so much. I respect Henin too, she has had better results than me, but I can’t see her like a god, because she is my rival, and otherwise I would have no chance to beat her anymore.”

Contrary to her Belgian rival, Kuznetsova is a big fan of the Olympics. She’d prefer a Gold Medal over a Slam win, next year in Beijing. “The Olympics are more important for me because they are held only once in every four years, and Grand Slams are every year and there are four. The Olympics are very special, because you are also representing your country.” Unfortunately for Sveta, there will be no clay in Beijing.

SERBS CRASH OUT IN OPENERS

Is there any energy left in Jelena Jankovic? She certainly looked uninspired going down to Nicole Vaidisova, 6-4, 6-4. J.J. is in need of a two week rest before the championships, but instead, she is scheduled to play in Quebec the week before Madrid.

The other Serbian wonderwoman, Ana Ivanovic, put up a horrific performance against Tatiana Golovin, going down 6-3, 6-1. She was spraying balls all over the court, and her serve was totally off.

Elena Dementieva retired with a left adductor strain against Francesca Schiavone, and Amelie Mauresmo needs more time to get back in form after her long lay-off, falling in three sets to Ukranian Alona Bondarenko.

Keeping up appearances

Serena plays three consecutive tournaments for first time since 2004.

FROM THE ZURICH OPEN - Maria Sharapova spoke to the press at the Hallenstadion in Zurich on Sunday, announcing her withdrawal from the event due to her lingering shoulder injury. When Serena Williams went down to Elena Dementieva in the Moscow final, winning only two games in the last two sets, and with her left leg heavily strapped, more bad news seemed to be on its way. But despite the minor injury and the fact that she has played seven matches in two weeks in Stuttgart and Moscow, Serena arrived in Zurich as planned for the season’s final Tier I tournament. The last time she played three consecutive events was in early 2004, when she featured in Miami, Charleston and Amelia Island.

Knowing that the European fall circuit isn’t exactly her favorite part of the year, and considering she hasn’t played too many events in the indoor arenas in the past, Serena’s current stretch of events shows that she is really making an effort in returning to the top of the rankings again. She is all but certain for the Championships in Madrid, no matter how she performs in Zurich this week.

Serena will open against homeplaying Patty Schnyder, who after Martina Hingis called it a season and Timea Bacsinszky’s loss to Alona Bondarenko on Monday is now the lone Swiss player in the draw. Serena went down to Schnyder in their last meeting earlier this season, but that was on clay in Rome, in her one and only lead-up event to Roland Garros.

Even though Schnyder will have the crowd behind her, a Serena Williams with seven matches under her belt has to be favored, especially on a fast indoor court.

The draw hasn’t been kind to Williams, as she is in the same half as Luxembourg winner Ana Ivanovic, red-hot Tatiana Golovin, who got a set off Henin in the Stuttgart final, Svetlana Kuznetsova, whom she lost to in Stuttgart but bested in Moscow, and, Dementieva. If Lena D beats Francesca Schiavone in her opener, she’ll likely face Serena again in the second round.

The top half of draw features the seeds Henin, Jankovic, Hantuchova and Mauresmo, with Vaidisova a potential threat to make the semis. The 18-year-old Czech routed Katarina Srebotnik, 6-4, 6-2 in her first round match and will now face a struggling Jankovic, who is still playing an inexplicable week-in, week-out schedule, even though she keeps citing she feels exhausted. The Serbian iron woman retired in Bangkok last week after playing in Stuttgart the week before, and is on the entreelist of Quebec, a small Tier III event, the week before the Championships in Madrid. She played in Bali and Beijing after the US Open, too. J.J. must really like those frequent flier miles.

Mauresmo opens against Eleni Daniilidou, in what is an excellent draw for the returning Frenchwoman. Even though she lost early in her first tournaments after her three month break in Beijing, Stuttgart and Moscow, she was playing excellent tennis at times. Slowly but surely the former No.1 is working her way back into form and when she gets a win under her belt this week, she might as well advance to the semis, and face Henin. The Belgian is getting more dominant by the week, and is the overwhelming favorite to win her ninth title of the season here in Zurich. Henin has already secured the year-end No.1 ranking after winning in Stuttgart.

Notable results on Monday: Golovin bested Maria Kirilenko, 6-3, 6-4 and Michaella Krajicek was too solid for Sania Mirza, 6-1, 6-4. Krajicek could next face Marion Bartoli, who defeated the Dutchwoman in the Wimbledon quarters, coming from a set down. Bartoli takes on Shuai Peng in her first round match.

Davis Cup Semifinals: Looking the other way

Here we are. Ahead of a weekend’s action of Davis Cup, where four nations will try to make their way to the event’s final in November, but despite that, the most interesting match-ups feature those countries battling to stay in the World Group.

Sure enough, Russia and Germany could get involved in a close encounter in Moscow, but who cares about teams headlined by Nikolay Davydenko and Tommy Haas, when you have Novak Djokovic and Lleyton Hewitt grind it out on a moon-landscaped clay court, in front of nearly 20,000 out-of-their-mind Serbs, which just happens to be the biggest Davis Cup crowd ever, outside of a final. The fact that Serbia is on the verge of making their World Group debut, and Australia on the edge of dropping out of the big leagues for only the second time in Cup history (dating back to 1905!), adds all the drama. Now this is something I’d like to see.

But there’s more. Guess where the No.1 player in the world is playing. It’s not the semis.

The mere fact that Roger Federer is playing Davis Cup, is worth mentioning itself. After all, the Swiss great only shows up for the event once a year, when it’s time to save the country from relegation. This year’s opponent for Switzerland in the play-offs will be the rock-solid Czech Republic, led by No.10 Tomas Berdych, who surprisingly enough finds Radek Stepanek on his side. Stepanek, No.8 a year ago and currently climbing the ranks again after suffering a severe back injury, refused to play for his country for the past three years due to disputes with team captain Cyril Suk. In December last year, Stepanek even said he would never play Davis Cup again. After speaking with current captain Jaroslav Navratil, Stepanek decided to make himself available again, and now he returns to face Federer in his first Davis Cup match after his lay-off.

Assuming Federer wins both his singles matches, and Berdych, Stepanek beat Wawrinka, Federer’s Davis Cup hopes will come down to the doubles match on Saturday, the one area of the game where the 12-time Grand Slam champion is far from invincible. I wouldn’t mind turning on the TV for this one, either.

But no matter how much drama these two encounters may provide, there’s always the British, to take it one step further.

Heading out to Wimbledon’s Court No.1, the Brits will take on Croatia, led by the struggling Ivan Ljubicic. Not having to face Mario Ancic or Ivo Karlovic, who are both staying home due to injury, John Lloyd’s team is looking in good shape to give Tim Henman the perfect goodbye at the only setting right for the Tiger’s farewell, even if it’s ‘just’ a Davis Cup play-off.

Croatia is heading to London with Marin Cilic as their No.2 player. Albeit a great prospect for the future, and yet another big server from Ivanisevic-land, the 18-year-old Cilic is unfamiliar with the heated Davis Cup atmosphere, let alone playing an away tie at Wimbledon in front of a crowd who are about to say farewell to one of their best players in the history of the game. I believe the Brits will pull this one out.

So what have we got left? Oh yes, the US is playing in Sweden and we talked about Germany facing Russia for a second. Right, look for the Americans to roll over the Scandinavians, while in Moscow, the home team edges the Germans.
Gotta love Davis Cup.

Speeding through the Open; Fed shines, Henin dominates, Djokopova

Trying to keep up with all the important matches and everything that's being said and done during a Grand Slam event is a full time job for two weeks in itself. It gets harder when following the US Open from back home in Europe. It's possible to catch some of the day games, but eventually the hard-disk recorder has to come in place. The next day it's playing catch-up before the players awake in New York and start their new day of tennis.

Although it is an annoying way of keeping up with an event, this isn't so much of a problem if you can sit in front of your TV for two weeks straight. However, when you have a ton of other things to take care of and relatives whom you only see once per year come over for the entire second week of the event, life can be tough for a freelance tennis writer.

I managed to watch everything that mattered over the course of the Open, but nothing is as draining for the mind as trying to take in a handful of tennis matches in fast forward mode, day after day.

So, to end the event in style, here are some quick notes on the precedings of the past fortnight.

King Fed rules again

Despite reaching the Montreal final and winning Cincinnati, Federer was far from playing his best tennis during the US Open Series. Especially in Cincinnati, judging from Federer's standards, his form was shocking. Not only was his forehand erratic, the Swiss was slow off his feet and escaped in his matches against Baghdatis and Hewitt, but still managed to win the title.

From his first match in New York, it was clear that Federer had refound his form. But even though the three-time defending champion at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center was back in his routine of hitting forehand winners from every position on the court and producing the most incredible passing shots, John Isner and Feliciano Lopez managed to claw a set from the No.1 in the early rounds.

In the quarters, Federer did not create a single break point in his first two sets against Andy Roddick, who I've never seen play better, but he bested the Rod for the 14th consecutive time, not losing a set in the process.

Next up was Nikolay Davydenko, who continued his routine of going up an early break in a set against Federer, only to lose it 5-7 or 6-7. In the third set, Davydenko broke Federer's serve three consecutive times, but still managed to drop it. Federer - Davydenko: 10-0.

Sunday's final was of course a rematch of the recent Montreal encounter between Federer and Djokovic, where the Serb notched his career first win over Fed. Oh, and the Swiss lost the first set in that match after failing to close out a 6-5, 40-0 lead on his own serve.

So, what happened on Sunday? Both players cruised in their servicegames up until 5-all, when a couple of bad misses from Federer handed Djokovic the break. The Djoker took a 40-0 lead, Federer hit a forehand cross court winner on the line, and the Serb was done. Djokovic squandered a total of five set points that game, double faulting and erring his way to a tiebreak. Federer obviously sensed the tightness from his opponent, and coolly kept the ball in play, waiting for Djokovic to make the mistake. It was enough to win the opening set.

When Djokovic challenged a call on his second set point in the second set and saw his forehand was just a fraction long, you just knew where the night was heading. Federer took a two set lead by clinching another tiebreaker, and finished his opponent off in the third set, to become the first player to win the US Open four consecutive times.

Looking back to Montreal, it was Djokovic who kept his cool in the two tiebreakers that match had to offer, but the Serb experienced that staying calm at a Masters Series event is still a whole lot easier than finishing off in a Grand Slam final.

Rafa needs to watch his back

For the past two years the only way was up for Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard was locked in safely at No.2 and was becoming more and more of a challenger for Federer. Even though the No.1 spot has never been within immediate reach, Nadal was starting to look like a sureshot to become the game's next best player. After another mediocre run on the summer hard courts, partly due to physical problems, and losing to Djokovic in Montreal, Nadal has to start worrying for his No.2 position. Rafa is 2300 points behind Federer in the rankings, whilst Djokovic is only 1100 short of the Spaniard.

Nole getting friendly with Maria

Was it a token of friendship, or was Sharapova's support in Djokovic's player's box on Sunday more than just a thank you for the hilariously matching impersonation from the Djoker? I guess we can get forget about Roddapova now.

Djokovic certainly couldn't complain about his entourage. There was some guy called Robert de Niro in his box, too.

Justine confirms No.1 position with outstanding run

She was already the world's highest ranked player before the US Open, but after consecutively beating Serena and Venus Williams in straight sets en route to the title, and not dropping a single set in the entire event, the Belgian showed she is a class above the rest of the field. In the final, Henin outplayed '04 US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, who scraped four games together in the entire match. It was the second US Open title for Henin, after winning the event for the first time in 2003.

Henin became just the second player, after Martina Hingis, to beat both Williamses in one event. For Henin, it was the first time she beat Serena on a hard court, whilst she notched only her second career win over Venus in the semis, having taken seven losses out of the eight times they played before. Even though the previous encounter against Venus dates back to the 2003 Australian Open, it's still a remarkable achievement for Henin to overcome both sisters back-to-back on their home turf.

Kuzzie rises to No.2

Kuznetsova moves up to the No.2 position with her run to the final for the first time in her career. With all the talk about Henin, the Williamses and Serbian sensations Ivanovic and Jankovic throughout the course of the season, that is a pretty remarkable news fact. Saying Sveta will have a hard time holding on to her position would be the understatement of the year.

US Open: Week 1 Summary

One week into the year's final Grand Slam event, let's do a quick round up of what we have seen so far.

The Home Team

Serena Williams and sister Venus both won a Grand Slam this year, but other than that, it hasn't been an exceptionally great year for American tennis. Now that the tours are back on American soil, the US men and women start putting up better results again. We've seen plenty of Sam Querrey and John Isner during the US Open Series, not to mention the revival of James Blake and the decent performances of Andy Roddick. In New York, credit goes out to Donald Young, John Isner again, but also Ahsha Rolle, for upsetting Tatiana Golovin is a commendable achievement for the 22-year-old from Miami.

The heavyweights, Roddick, Blake and the Williamses, are all still around and in good shape to do some further damage.

The Upset

Maria Sharapova is out of a Grand Slam event before the fourth round for the first time since 2004, when she lost in three sets to Mary Pierce, also in the third round of the US Open.

The defending champion in New York fell 6-2 in the third set to Agnieszka Radwanska, the 18-year-old world No.32 from Poland. Sharapova led 2-0 in the final set, before she dropped the next six games. That's another shocking loss in 2007 at a Slam for Maria, after being crushed by both Williamses this year in Australia and London, and going down hard to Ana Ivanovic at Roland Garros.

The Young Ones

Agnes Szavay, Victoria Azarenka and the before-mentioned Radwanska. These young Eastern Europeans have totally opened up the bottom half of the draw, taking down Michaella Krajicek and Nadia Petrova (Szavay), Martina Hingis (Azarenka), and of course Maria Sharapova (Radwanska).

Oh, and 16-year-old Tamira Paszek from Austria upset good old Patty Schnyder in that bottom half as well. The days of predictable women's events have long gone.

The Injury

Rafael Nadal will never fall in love with hard courts. Not as long as they keep getting him injured or he sees himself playing five feet behind the baseline all the time. Rafa is having knee problems, but so far he is still enjoying a pretty comfortable draw. On the other end, Federer is looking in great shape.

The Classic

There's only one word to describe the Djokovic - Stepanek second round match: Wow. The tennis wasn't always that great, but these guys both show a lot of character and certainly know how to get a crowd involved in a match. Their contrasting styles made for a highly entertaining encounter to watch. It was too bad the tiebreak was a little bit of an anticlimax the way it played out.

The Breakthrough

Even though I don't rate the Blake - Santoro encounter as high as the Djoker's win over Stepanek, this was pretty darn good to watch as well. Is there anyone on this planet who would debate Santoro's nickname, The Magician?

For Blake, his win over the veteran Frenchman was a career milestone. Entering the match on a 0-9 five set record, the American finally managed to dig out a win in a fifth set.

The Downfall

What is going on with Fernando Gonzalez? The Chilean has been awful for the past months and has never lived up to the form he displayed at the Australian Open in January. Gonzo dropped out in the first round in a five-set loss to Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili. With a lot of points to defend for the rest of the year, Gonzalez will have a tough job maintaining his Top 10 position.

The Letdown

Not in Roger Federer's half of the draw for a change, Lleyton Hewitt looked a serious threat to make a run deep into the second week at the Open. His two biggest rivals in the bottom half, Djokovic and Nadal, were either getting drained or suffering from an injury. Just when his chances were increasing to do well, Hewitt fell to Agustin Calleri from Argentina in the second round. Such losses are not going to get you back into the Top 5, Lleyton.

The Farewell

Unable to rid himself from a lingering back injury, 32-year-old Tim Henman felt there was nothing he could do but retire from the sport. In his last Grand Slam event, Henman pulled off one of his best wins of the year, taking out 27th-seeded Dmitry Tursunov in four sets, the Russian who had beaten him in five of their six previous meetings. Hard-hitting Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga ended Henman's Grand Slam career in the second round. Henman will play his last match at Wimbledon next month, when Great Britain takes on Croatia in a promotion/relegation Davis Cup tie.

The Malfunction

Was someone not paying attention, or did the system screw up itself? Either way, when Nicole Vaidisova challenged a service call in her first round match against Russian Alla Kudryavtseva, Hawk-eye projected the ball hitting the line, followed by the text OUT. After the umpire made an emergency call and the players waited for the decision, the projection was shown again and the text changed to IN.

The Warning

More decision-making drama. Serena Williams was reprimanded by chair umpire Damian Steiner in her third round match against Russian Vera Zvonareva on Friday for reading notes on the changeover. It was a bad call by Steiner, who should have known that players are allowed to read notes on court as long as they brought them with them before the match started. Steiner eventually relented.

US Open Previews: It’s Showtime

Whenever the US Open rolls around, my mind starts to reflect on the season that has been, and I think to myself, ‘wow, is it September already?’ Of course there are still three months of tennis to be played after the Open, but in a way, the season comes to a close after the champions have been crowned in New York.

Let’s not start commemorating just yet, when there’s still looking ahead to do.

MEN’S PREVIEW

First Quarter

Here’s a nice way to get us going. When was the last time Federer started a Slam not seeded first? And how did the Swiss fare? I wonder if Roger remembers this himself.
Federer will headline the field going for his fourth consecutive US Open title and faces two qualifiers to start his campaign. He might get a shot at America’s new hope, John Isner in the third round. Federer should cruise through to the quarters, where we should be in for a rematch of last year’s final, when Fed takes on Roddick. You know what will happen there.

Semifinal pick: Roger Federer

Second Quarter

Moving down the draw, the second quarter offers us the pick’em section of the tournament. Our contestants for a semifinal spot are Davydenko, Canas, Haas, Baghdatis and Blake. Is it just me or does Davydenko always seem to be involved in these regions? Andy Murray also features in this section, but we can’t expect anything from the Briton just yet. Blake clearly thrives on the American hard courts, but there’s another guy here who loves the show and the big occassion and I’m liking this certain Cypriot to come through here.

Semifinal pick: Marcos Baghdatis

Third Quarter

Exactly one year ago, Lleyton Hewitt destroyed an up-and-coming Novak Djokovic in the third round of the US Open. The Serb has his eyes set on a rematch though, as the Djoker and Hewitt are scheduled to meet in the fourth round of this year’s event. To get there, Djokovic has some tough hurdles to clear first. Mario Ancic is not a first round opponent he’d be happy with, nor is Radek Stepanek in round two.

Djokovic has established himself as the No.3 player and already showed at Wimbledon he is capable of defeating Hewitt. Hard courts suit the Djoker better than grass, so he should come through here. Hewitt has always performed well in New York though, and if Djokovic is a little drained from his openers, he could easily go down. And then there is the possibility of facing Mikhail Youzhny in the quarters, the Russian who has beaten him twice this year already. Still, Djokovic has developed into a very good match player and that should see him get through to the semis.

Semifinal pick: Novak Djokovic

Fourth Quarter

Not only is this the familiar Rafa corner, special attention goes out to Tim Henman in this bottom quarter, who starts his career ending Grand Slam against one of the players he’d least liked to have faced. Dmitry Tursunov, who leads the Tiger 5-1 head-to-head, will likely go down as the man who ended Henman’s Grand Slam career.

Even though Nadal has yet to come alive during the American hard court summer, Rafa faces no real threats until the fourth round, and I don’t see David Ferrer or David Nalbandian upend the No.2 either. Fernando Gonzalez is hardly a lock for the quarters, leaving the way wide open for Nadal to advance to the semis.

Semifinal pick: Rafael Nadal

Closing Stages

In Cincinnati, Baghdatis couldn’t beat a Federer who was playing some of his worst tennis of the past three, four years. A semifinal run at a Grand Slam event is a great performance for the Bag Man. It ends here.

In the other semifinal, it’s looking like Djokovic will be out of gas again by the time he gets to face Nadal, who, on his turn, is just starting to warm up. Unless Djokovic finds a way to avoid grinding it out in the earlier rounds, this one is for the running man.

I wouldn’t pick anyone else over Federer in this tournament, not with a best-of-five format, but when Nadal faces the Swiss in the final, I’m going with the Spaniard to win his first US Open title.

Champion: Rafael Nadal

THE LADIES

Is this deja vu, or what’s going on here? Justine Henin, Jelena Jankovic and Serena Williams again feature in the top half of the draw, whilst Anna Chakvetadze and Maria Sharapova are scheduled to meet in a Slam quarterfinal for the third time this season.

First Quarter

Just like Federer, Henin will start her quest for the title in New York against a qualifier, and she too might face an American favorite in the quarters. Andy Roddick is a safer bet to advance to that stage than Serena Williams though, as Serena hasn’t played a match since falling to Henin at Wimbledon. If anyone is capable of pulling off miracle runs at big events it’s Serena, but she might as well fall in the early rounds.

Semifinal pick: Justine Henin

Second Quarter

In the Serbian quarter with Jankovic and Ivanovic, we also find Venus Williams. Jankovic has a nice draw into the last eight, where she will face the winner of her younger compatriot versus Venus. Ivanovic could be a future Slam winner, but Ana still has some maturing to do to beat the more experienced players on the big stage. I’m picking Venus in this one, though I believe Jankovic will make the semis.

Semifinal pick: Jelena Jankovic

Third Quarter

Svetlana Kuznetsova is coming off a tournament win in New Haven, but the third-seeded Russian was far from playing at her best throughout the week. The draw in NY has been kind to Kuzzie and she remains the favorite to reach the last four. Nadia Petrova looks like her biggest challenger in the quarterfinals, although Michaella Krajicek is a dark horse in Petrova’s section.

Semifinal pick: Svetlana Kuznetsova

Fourth Quarter

Here we have Chakvetadze and Maria’s part of the draw. Both Chaky and Pova are the overwhelming favorites to come through their sections, though Patty Schnyder might give Anna C. a run for her money in the fourth round. Even though Sharapova has beaten her compatriot on all three occasions the two squared off in 2007, I believe Chakvetadze should be able to seriously push Maria in this one. Experience will be a factor in the end, so the defending champion should come through.

Semifinal pick: Maria Sharapova

Closing Stages

Although she has never beaten Henin, Jankovic is due for a win over her rival. Last year at the US Open she squandered a set and a 4-2 lead against the Belgian after blowing up over a line call, but the Serb knows that she has become a contender at the majors and believes she can win them. Sharapova is the routine pick against Kuznetsova, but against a Jankovic who has just beaten her nemesis, Maria will lose her crown.

Champion: Jelena Jankovic

Park the bus and drop off the keys. The road trip has reached its final destination. It’s showtime.

Cincy, Toronto recap: Federer & Henin win, but fail to impress

Doesn't it all look so familiar. A big Masters Series tournament in Cincinnati where all the top players compete, but where half of them suffer from playing the week before, and a top tier WTA event without most of the tour's stars. Federer wins the men's event, while Henin prevails as the top lady. Is there a better sport for traditionalists than tennis?

Winning a tournament is always a respectable achievement, but when you're the number one men's or women's player, fans tend to expect a certain greatness in the way you play. Neither Federer nor Henin was able to fulfill those expectations last week.

Not only did Federer fail to play his best, he was vulnerable throughout the week, and could well have been taken out by either Marcos Baghdatis in the third round, or Lleyton Hewitt in the semifinals. Nicolas Almagro took a set from the Swiss as well, but with the inexperienced and up-and-down Spaniard you never truly felt he could pull the upset.

That was not the case with Baghdatis, who had the first set for the taking, but choked trying to close out on his own serve. The Cypriot was the dominant player throughout the encounter, but Federer escaped when more inexplicable mistakes from Baghdatis near the end of the second set cost him the match. Federer's forehand was shockingly erratic and he was slow on his feet. It carried over to his match against Hewitt in the semifinals, but Federer again came back from behind to win. This time in a third set tiebreak. Hewitt had led 3-2 and with a break of serve in the final set, but the Aussie faltered when it mattered most, just like Baghdatis did.

In the final, Federer pulled off a better performance, but was helped when James Blake, who had played brilliantly against Juan Carlos Ferrero earlier in the tournament, was shanking shots all over the place, never troubling the No.1 in a 6-1 6-4 loss.

Last week was a perfect example of the fact that no matter how well or poor Federer plays, the intimidating factor of being one of the greatest athletes the sport has ever seen is enough for the Swiss to get him through the majority of his matches. As Baghdatis said after losing to the No.1: 'He won because of his name'.

That intimidating factor certainly plays a role in a match featuring Justine Henin and Jelena Jankovic. When Jankovic speaks about her rival, whom she is now 0 for 7 against, you get the sense that she doesn't truly believe she has what it takes to beat her. How many times have we seen the following now? Jankovic takes an early lead in a set, but starts to become more defensive each game she gets closer to winning. Henin finds a way to turn previous unforced errors into winners at the right time and comes back to edge out the set.

Such was the story on Sunday, where at times, Henin would hit three or four forehands halfway into the net, or terribly wide, but kept going for the shot and made it count every time it mattered. Jankovic has to learn to stay aggressive throughout the course of a match against Henin, or she will never get a W over the Belgian. Also, that serve is nowhere near Top 10 standards.

Still, Jankovic will be one of the biggest contenders at the US Open, now that Sharapova has reinjured herself, Serena Williams hasn't played a match since Wimbledon and Mauresmo sits one out. Having finally taken some good time off to recharge the batteries after Wimby, Jankovic might get her first Slam singles trophy in New York. Someone will likely have to take out Henin for her though.

Full US Open previews coming this weekend.

Nadal retires, Djokovic flat, but players support back-to-back Masters Series

The ATP Masters Series inducted a new rule in 2007, where the Top 8 seeds received byes for their first round matches. This to make sure that they can get enough rest in between events, to compete in back-to-back Masters Series tournaments. It was a good move by the ATP, but Cincinnati is still suffering big time from players’ activity in Canada.

Rafael Nadal retired in his match against Juan Monaco, trailing 6-7(5) 0-2, with arm cramps and dizziness. Radek Stepanek, another semifinalist in Montreal, sustained back problems in his match against Mardy Fish, and was beaten in straights by David Ferrer in the second round.

And then there was the case of Novak Djokovic. The Montreal victor dropped the first set of his match against Carlos Moya, lost his opening service game in the second set, and didn’t make a real effort to get back into the match. Moya played excellent throughout the encounter, but it was clear that Djokovic wasn’t going to go all out on the day from the beginning. The Serb complained about feeling tired, but that’s what happens when you just played a full week against the best players in the world, and decide to play a doubles match the day after you arrive in Cincinnati.

Roger Federer was not affected by fatigue. The Swiss played a solid match against French qualifier Julien Benneteau and looked eager to perform after his surprise loss to Djokovic on Sunday. In his press conference, Federer said that he prefers to have back-to-back Masters Series events, over having an extra week off in between. “I’d rather have it back-to-back,” he stated. “Absolutely.”

In fact, the majority of the players like the consecutive tournaments. And so does Djokovic. “I support back-to-back, and 95% of the players which I talked to support back-to-back tournaments,” the Djoker said. Now all he’s got to do is learn to pull from doubles after just winning a MS title the week before.

Nadal and Djokovic may have been the highest seeded casualties, they were certainly not the only ones. Richard Gasquet retired with a hand injury against Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Murray expectedly went down to Marcos Baghdatis, Ivan Ljubicic fell to Spain’s Nicolas Almagro in straights (what’s going on Ivan?), Robredo was crushed by Jarkko Nieminen and Fernando Gonzalez succumbed to Juan Carlos Ferrero, although I’m not sure we can call Gonzo’s loss much of a surprise anymore.

The list goes on. 15th-seeded Guillermo Canas is losing form, as he was ousted by countryman Juan Martin Del Potro. Mario Ancic posted a great comeback win over Tommy Haas, and Sam Querrey pulled off quite an upset in taking out No.10 Mikhail Youzhny. The big-serving American teen has a great shot at making his first Masters Series quarterfinal, as he meets Argentine Juan Monaco in the third round.

The other two Americans face tougher draws, as Andy Roddick takes on David Ferrer and James Blake meets Juan Carlos Ferrero. Blake did well to beat Nicolas Kiefer on Wednesday, but he is still far from playing the kind of tennis that got him to No.4 in the world last year. Blake hasn’t won one of three meetings against Ferrero, most recently falling to the Musquito at Wimbledon. His other two losses both came here in Cincinnati. I’m picking the Spaniard again in this one. As for Roddick, he should be able to down Ferrer.

Roger Federer probably faces his toughest test en route to the final in his third round match against Marcos Baghdatis. If the Cypriot plays his best, this should be fun.

Djokovic makes three out of two; Federer and Nadal face new rival

His win over Roddick was solid. His coup over Nadal was excellent. His triumph over Federer was unheard of. There’s a new champ in town and he has taken the place by storm.

Novak Djokovic has done the unthinkable in beating Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in consecutive matches and has now officially become an elite member of the game. Sorry Andy, your Top 3 days are numbered.

When Djokovic announced at the start of the season he wanted to break the Top 10 this year and ultimately own the number one position, many jumped on the Serb and called him arrogant. To become a great sportsman though, one has to belief in their abilities, and there’s no doubt that the young man from Belgrade trusts in his tennis.

Djokovic ran out to a 3-0 lead in the first set against Federer, mostly because the Swiss king was shanking every forehand he hit. Within minutes, order was restored and the match was tied at 3-all. Did the young challenger fold after quickly losing his lead? No. Djokovic remained calm and focused until he blew a 40-0 lead at 5-all to fall down a break. Losing such a crucial game would certainly justify breaking a racket. But Djokovic, not known for keeping a poker face throughout a match, stayed relaxed and kept concentrating on the job at hand.

Perhaps this change of attitude made Federer a little nervous himself. Out of the blue, Federer shockingly lost a 40-0 lead serving to close out the set. Djokovic had been playing a little below par and not moving as well as he could, nor was he playing with enough aggressiveness to take down his opponent, but when the Djoker sniffed his chance after Federer overhit a forehand and dumped a backhand in the net on his first two set points, the Serb seemed to come alive. After a hard-fought game with numerous set and break points, it was Djokovic who screamed a forehand winner down the line to get back his opponent’s serve and send the set into a tiebreak.

Djokovic did not falter on the big occassion as it was Federer who failed to step up and convincingly went down 7-2 in the breaker.

In the second set, Djokovic could not keep up his high level of play from the end of the first set. Serving at 1-2, he faced 0-40, but thanks to three unforced errors from Federer, the Djoker managed to hold for 2-all.

It would be the last game Djokovic would win that set, as his unforced error count was going up, especially on the forehand side.

After losing four consecutive games to drop the set 6-2, Djokovic took a toilet break to refocus on what was coming. The Serb did a good job resetting himself, as he immediately broke serve in the first game ofthe third set. Federer overhit a backhand down the line, going for the winner at 15-40.

Djokovic had no problems consoling the break, impressively following up with three consecutive love service games. With his biggest career win in sight, there was a little tightness at 4-3. Federer had gotten to 15-30 on Djoko’s serve after hitting a forehand winner that clipped the net cord (and could have gone wide had it not touched it) and a well-placed backhand that forced Djokovic into an error. At this crucial point, Djokovic hit a powerful serve out wide which Federer could only block back half-high into mid court. Djokovic unleashed his forehand which should have been a winner, but ended up in the net instead. Federer pounced on his first break opportunity with an aggressive forehand return off a second serve that proved too much for Djokovic. The game was square at 4-all.

Both men easily held serve for a deciding tiebreak. Interestingly, Djokovic dropped only one point on serve the whole set, outside the game he was broken. He continued this streak into the tiebreak, where Federer again failed to score a point off the Djoker’s serve.

Forehand errors ultimately cost the No.1 the match. Federer hit two forehands long and shanked one off his frame. Djokovic kept the ball in play in the tiebreak without seizing to be aggressive when he could. He was consistent enough in the rallies not to miss a single shot. This reflected most of the match, but try coming up with the goods when you’re a 20-year-old facing one of the best players who ever played the game in the final of a major tournament.

Like I wrote in my earlier piece on the Djoker this week, I can’t believe how this guy has gone from being mentally unstable on the big points to becoming as cool as he has over just a few months time. This kid is truely amazing, and so is the state of men’s tennis right now. Bring on Cincinnati.