Finding Christmas tennis deals

Christmas, is almost here and if you're looking for some last minute deals on tennis gear, then you should check out http://www.tenniswarehouse.com/, http://www.midwestsports.com/, and http://www.prodirecttennis.com/.

Tennis Warehouse, has some very good deals on their bags right now. I recently bought a Wilson K Factor Super Six Bag from Tennis Warehouse for $30 off. The bag is amazing and was definitely worth the money but what I really like about Tennis Warehouse is how fast they process orders. I'm one of those people who gets impatient if my package doesn't arrive on time and Tennis Warehouse has done a great job of delivering my package when they said they would.

Midwest Sports, has good deals and sometimes they sell their tennis gear a little cheaper than Tennis Warehouse does.

Tennis Warehouse and Midwest Sports, both have some low prices on the older model tennis racquets, if you are a 3.0-4.0 and don't mind playing with an older model racquet, you should be able to pick one up for under $100.

Pro-direct Tennis is a good place to go, only if you are interested in very specific things. Pro-direct is currently carrying the Spring of 2009 tennis apparel, if you like to collect or wear what the pros wear then I would strongly recommend Pro-direct but be aware that the shipping costs are very high if you aren't living in Europe.

Thanks, to all of my readers for reading my blog this year. Merry Christmas and hopefully I'll see you back next year.

Adios

Spain wins the Davis Cup Finals

pics taken from dailymail.uk and DavisCup.com


Despite having their best player side-lined with an injury, Spain, was able to pull off an upset over Argentina and claim the Davis Cup title. This was the third time in the history of the Davis Cup that Argentina, has made the finals but they haven't been able to win the silver trophy yet. It looked like they had a pretty good chance this year. David Nalbandian, and Juan Martin Del Potro, were both playing well going into the finals and the Argentine's had home-court advantage and were playing on hard-courts, which is usually a weaker surface for Spain.

Nalbandian, got things started on the right track by completely out-performing David Ferrer, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 to win the first match of the final, surprisingly it was Del Potro, who fell down against Spain's Feliciano Lopez, which gave Spain, the hope that they needed to get back into the finals. The doubles match which pitted David Nalbandian and Agustin Calleri against Feliciano Lopez and Fernado Verdasco, was an awesome match. There's no other way to describe it. Spain split the first two sets with Argentina, with both of the teams winning the sets 7-5. Nalbandian and Calleri, had to come back from 1-5 in the third set and were able to push Spain to a tie-break but it still wasn't enough to claim the set, the 3rd set went to Spain 7-6.
Spain, again had a two break lead in the fourth set but this time they were able to hang on to it and they won 6-3 in the fourth to put Spain ahead of Argentina 2-1. What turned out to be the final match was between Fernando Verdasco and Jose Acasuso, the match was originally scheduled for Del Potro and Ferrer but Del Potro, was forced to pull out because of an injury. Emilio Sanchez, chose to replace David Ferrer with Fernado Verdasco to play for the title. This turned out to be a great decision, Ferrer, hadn't played well against Nalbandian and he has the tendency to defeat himself in crucial points during a match. Acasuso's career record is pretty modest but he gave it everything he had and almost upset Verdasco. Verdasco, won the first set pretty easily but Acasuso, tripped him up during the second and third sets and gave Argentina, a good look at a fifth match to determine the final. It never happen though, after the third set Acasuso, was burned out and was pretty much destroyed in the last set. Verdasco, won the match 6-3, 6-7, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, and won Spain their third Davis Cup title in the last eight years.

Flash tennis game on Mini Clip

Play this free game now!!

Anyone who is a fan of flash games and tennis should try this game. I found this at Mini Clip and I was impressed with the graphics (which are pretty good for a flash game.) My high score is 86,220.

There are a few other tennis games on Mini Clip but this is probably the best one.

Gilles Simon beats Federer in the openining match of the Masters Cup.

I think Roger Federer, may have just blown his chance to win the Masters Cup this year. Fed, definitely needed to win his match against Simon and starting with an 0-1 record in the red group makes his chances of winning the tournament grim. The two Andy's now stand in his way. I could see Federer beating Roddick but Murray, has been giving him trouble in the past month and I wouldn't be at all suprised to see Roger fall to Murray this time. Simon, on the other hand is playing well and probably will be able to make it out of the red group, if he's able to beat Roddick.

I'm going to go with Murray and Simon as the two to progress out of the Red group. Wow, it would be really strange if Federer doesn't atleast make the finals, Federer has been to at least the finals for the past 5 years.

The gold group is harder to predict. Djokovic and Davydenko have made it to the Master Cup before but this is a first time for Del Potro and Tsonga. Tsonga, has just come off of his Paris win and should be a favorite to make it out of the gold group based on how well he's playing. Djokovic, is always dangerous but he's lost the last two times he's played Tsonga. It's hard to tell with Davydenko but I don't think he'll be able to beat two of the three younger players.

I'll pick Djokovic and Tsonga to make it out of the gold group and challenge Murray and Simon in the semi-finals.

Will tendinitis end Nadal's reign as #1?

Although I try not to interject favoritism into my blog I will admit that Rafael Nadal, is my favorite tennis player, with Roger Federer, Gilles Monfils, and Gilles Simon following closely behind. Nadal, has been my favorite player for the past two years, I've always been impressed with the way that he fights to win every point and rarely looks beaten even if he's losing a match. In fact Nadal, is probably the mentally toughest player that I've ever seen. This year at the US Open Nadal, had to play two tough matches against Sam Querrey and Mardy Fish. In both matches he was in deep trouble and could have lost had it not been for his mental fortitude, to pull him through. Being mentally strong is a gift that some players just don't have, look at Marat Safin or Paul-Henri Mathieu, even Federer has been struggling mentally this year but Nadal is now facing an opponent that's much tougher than Murray, Djokovic or even Federer. Nadal, is in a battle to preserve his knees for as long as he can. The tendinitis that has been plaguing Nadal's knees seems to be getting worse. Rafa, mentioned on his blog that he's using his time off to rest his knees and will be having some tests done in Barcelona, soon. Hopefully the tests will go well but until he's given a green light to resume his practice schedule, Nadal will be forced to remain physically inactive and this could have a serious affect on his game next year. Nadal, went to the finals in Chennai and made the semi-finals at the Australian Open as well as Indian Wells, so he will have some important points to defend at the start of next year. I don't know how Nadal's knees will hold up from this point forward but I'm guessing that being sidelined from tournaments is just the start of things to come.

Tsonga wins Paris title

There's a new person in the top 10 and more importantly the top 8. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, has qualified for the Tennis Masters Cup after winning the ATP Masters Series Paris. Tsonga, has made it known that he belongs in the top tier of players, after he overcame an extremely tough draw to win the championship, he had to face Stepanek, Djokovic, Roddick, Blake, and then Nalbandian in the finals. Wait, did I just say Nalbandian in the finals? It may seem surprising that he made it that far but Nalbandian played very well in Paris. Although, Nalbandian was the defending champion, he hasn't exactly been setting the pro circuit on fire. Juan Martin Del-Potro replaced him as the #1 player for Argentina and Nalbandian wasn't able to make it past the quarter-finals of any Masters series tournaments this year, leading up to Paris. Nalbandian, kind of reminds me of Marat Safin. If he's playing well he's an incredibly dangerous player but if he's off he can get upset by anyone. Luckily for him his game solid and he was able to beat Del Potro in the round of 16, Andy Murray in the quarter-finals, and Davydenko in the semi-finals.

I was also surprised that Federer and Nadal both pulled out of the tournament with injuries. How often does that happen?!. Unfortunately, Nadal's tendinitous has been getting worse and it's forced him to skip the Masters Cup. At this point the most he can hope for is a strong start at the beginning of the season next year.

Federer, had to retire because of a back injury but it must not be too serious because he's chosen to play the Masters Cup and has been moved up to the #1 seed thanks to Rafa retiring.

Is Berdych copying Federer?!

It looks like Federer has gained a new fan. This time it's a fellow player on the ATP. I may just be imagining things but it looks like Tomas Berdych is deliberately copying Federer. Tomas, now wears a polo shirt along with Fed's 9" Nike shorts. Not only that, he's even managed to copy Federer's return of serve racquet twirl. Here check out this video of Berdych at the Czech Open this year and you'll see what I mean.

http://www.protenis.cz/video/clip.php?vid=821

By the way protennis is an awesome website. It has tons of videos many of them are close-ups of the pros during small tournaments. I find it helpful for improving my game.

I'm a little surprised that Tomas has had to resort to such drastic measures to improve his own game but I guess that's what happens when you develop a losing streak against the former #1 (Berdych is now 1-7 against Fed.) Who knows. Maybe Roddick, Davydenko, and Youzhney will start wearing the Nike bandana in an effort to change their games. At least Roger, isn't a bad role model.

Andy Murray wins Madrid title

Well, I was almost right on the semi-finals. Murray did play Federer and Nadal made it as well but who would have predicted Simon to be the fourth semi-finalist? I have to admit I've been impressed with Giles Simon this year, his game is far from overpowering and yet he's been able to beat the power hitters like Blake and big servers like Karlovic, not only that, he was able to win a match against Federer. It was during the summer hard court season when Federer was routinely bombing out in the first or second round but it's still an impressive victory. It's more than Davydenko or Youzhny can say, they are a combined 0-22 against the former #1.
Those guys must have nightmares the night before they have to play Federer.

Anyway, both of the semi-final matches were pretty close. Murray beat Federer 7-5 in the third set and Simon got a surprise victory over Nadal winning the third set tie break 8-6.

In the final, Murray, won the first set pretty easily 6-4. Simon, stretched him to a tie-break in the second set and almost won it but Murray played better during the important points. This is Murray's fourth title this year and most likely we will be seeing much more of him next year.

Andy, is becoming a very consistent semi-finalist or better and if his consistency remains the same then it's only a matter of time until he over takes Djokovic and moves up to 3 in the world.

Can Federer or Nadal win their second Madrid title?

Nadal and Federer have both survived their first two matches and are into the quarter-finals in Madrid. Nadal had a tough first round match against Ernest Gulbis but he was able to beat the Latvian in a very close three set match. Federer on the other hand has been cruising through his early round opponents. Fed, downed Stepanek without any problems and completely destroyed Tsonga 6-4, 6-1 in the second round. With Federer playing in top form it looks like he's on course for meeting Nadal in the finals again but Djokovic, Murray, and potentially Del Potro could prevent that from happening.

Del Potro, has been continuing his ascent towards the very top of the Men's game over the past few weeks. Del Potro, is ranked 8th right now and it's only a matter of time until he breaks into the top 5 and he took out the defending champion and his Davis cup buddy David Nalbandian on his way to the quarter-finals. Del Potro, will play Federer in the quarters along with Nadal vs Wawrinka, Djokovic vs Simon, and Murray vs Roddick/Monfils. So I'm going to infer that it will be a Murray vs Federer and Nadal vs Djokovic semi-finals.

We'll see if I'm right and please let me know what you think.

Tsonga wins Thailand Open

This is the time of the year when the ATP tennis season starts to calm down. With the US Open now over and the Davis Cup finals not for almost two months, there isn't very much to report on, after all, most of the important tournaments won't be held until next year but I was excited by how well Jo Wilfried Tsonga played at the Thailand Open, this past week. Tsonga crushed most of his opponents including Djokovic (in straight sets) on his way to the title.

Tsonga, has been plagued with injuries throughout most of his professional career which is unfortunate because he's a great player, I think that Tsonga, will probably break into the top ten before the year is over, he's 16 in the world right now and I'm really looking forward to watching him next year. Hopefully, without injuries.

Spain will play Argentina in the Davis Cup finals

Juan Martin Del Potro has had a tremendous season and although he is ranked lower than David Nalbandian, Del Potro, has become the anchor for the Argentine team. The head-to-head record between the Argentine and Spanish players slightly favors the Spaniards with Ferrer and Verdasco having won the majority of their matches against Nalbandian and Nadal and Ferrer with a winning record against Del Potro. Nalbandian, however has a 2-0 head-to-head record against Nadal. Both victories came last year and were on hard court.

Spain last won the Davis cup in 2004, after defeating the US 3-2 in the finals. Argentina, finished as the runners up in 2006 and will be looking to win their first ever Davis Cup against Spain. The Argentines, will have the advantage of playing the final at home and will also decide which surface the final will be played on.

Prediction: I think that Argentina, does have a good chance of winning their first Davis Cup title but it will require Nalbandian to play well. Nalbandian's record hasn't been very good this year in fact he lost the last match he played to Nikolay Davydenko, so I wouldn't be surprised to see Nadal or Ferrer roll over him. I expect Del Potro, will continue to play well and will probably keep hope alive for Argentina. I'm not sure that the effort of Del Potro alone will be enough to win, so I'll take Spain to win over Argentina 3-2.

Rod 'The Rocket' Laver vs Roger Federer: Battle of the GOAT part 2

Ok here is a video of Federer vs Roddick at the US Open 2007



And here is one of Laver against Roche at the Australian Open 1969. (Laver is the guy with the white hat.)



It might seem kind of absurd to compare the styles of tennis players or athletes for that matter who played more than forty years apart but I believe that this is the only way know for sure who the better player was. I think that it's also worth noting that I had never seen Rod Laver play before I watched the video and I was actually impressed with what I saw.


It's apparent from watching the video that Federer serves and returns much harder than Laver does. The shot placement from both players is very good and Laver's volleys are very precise. Both of the players move exceptionally well although the slower rally allows Laver a bit more time to get to the ball than Federer has. All in all they both played very good against their opponents however if Laver and Federer had met in their primes with the technology being consistent with their times (Laver with a wood racquet and Federer with a graphite Wilson K Factor) Fed would easily win. The racquets back in the 60s lacked the power to hit passing shots like the racquets today can hit. This would probably be enough for Federer to defeat Rod Laver's opponent Tony Roache and can you imagine Laver trying to defeat a player like Andy Roddick when the average players in the 60s hit hit their first serves in the 90 mile an hour range? I can't. Roger Federer's, average first serve speed is probably between 114-120 mph.


In conclusion, I think that Laver was a pretty good player and probably the best during his time period but is he really the GOAT? No. His style is just too dated to actually beat any of the best players in the world today or probably within the last 25 years. Their never will be an official greatest of all time because it's speculation it comes down to what you believe and who you think that person is. Hope you enjoyed reading this article. If you have any comments please feel free to post and I'll be back next week with the Davis Cup. :)

Rod 'The Rocket' Laver vs Roger Federer: Battle of the GOAT part 1

Thank you http://www.australianhistory.org/
and http://img.dailymail.co.uk/ for supplying the pictures.


Recently, I've been posting on Tennis Warehouse Forums and I've noticed that several of the threads mention Laver, as the GOAT or greatest of all time. I found this kind of surprising, after all Laver, only won 11 majors and yet he was considered to be better than Federer, who owns 13 majors or Sampras, with 14? I decided to do some research about Laver, so that I could better compare him to Federer and Sampras.


After doing some reading about Laver, I realized that it's difficult to judge how many majors he actually won. Wikipedia, listed him with the following achievements:

Rod Laver

11 major titles. The majors were won from 1960-1969.
Two calendar year grand slams (winning all of the majors in the same year.)
185 titles. Although some of those are amateur level.

But as I've mentioned before, prior to 'the open era' in 1968 all of the grand slam tournaments were open only to amateur level players, so it's impossible to compare Laver's amateur grand slam victories to Federer's Professional grand slam victories. Which means that in order to compare Laver to Federer I would have to exclude all of Laver's grand slams before 1968. Now there were professional level tournaments back then. The US Championship, The French Championship, and The Wembly Championship. These were like the majors today except there was only three of them and they were only played on two surfaces, grass and indoors. In 1963, Laver turned pro and won 8 of these tournaments over the course of four years. Unfortunately, before the Open Era the amateur circuit was more popular than then professional circuit and sometimes the professional tournaments were cancelled because people wouldn't even go to watch them. The quality level of the players who played at these tournaments varied from year to year so it's difficult at best to judge how important winning these tournaments actually was. Laver, only won 5 grand slam tournaments during 'The Open Era' and these are the only majors that can be directly compared to Federer. Basically, Rod Laver cannot be compared to Roger Federer based on achievements. If I tried to it would look like this.

Rod Laver

11 grand slam titles (5 pro) (6 amateur)

12 straight major semi-finals (or better)

There was no ranking system back when Laver was playing but most historians believe that he was the best player from 65 until 69.

Laver, did win the calendar year grand slam but three of the four majors were played on grass. Which was Laver's best surface.

Roger Federer

13 grand slams (professional)

18 straight slam semi-finals (or better)

#1 player for 237 straight weeks

Did not win the calendar year grand slam

That makes it really hard to compare them. Well since achievements are out I decided to compare videos of Federer and Laver. In the next part I'm going to post some videos of Laver and Federer and compare their playing styles.

To be continued...

US Open Final: Roger Federer vs Andy Murray

At the beginning of the US Open I would not have expected Federer to make the Finals, actually I wasn't sure that he would even make it to the fourth round. It seems kind of ridiculous to think that the four time defending champion wouldn't even make it to week two but that's how inconsistent Federer has been this year. His victory over Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals was huge. He played more like the Federer that we've known in the past and not like the one that loses to Karlovic, Simon, or Ginepri in the first round.

For the people that follow tennis history closely you may realize that if Federer were to win the match he would be tying another record today. That record belongs to "Big" Bill Tilden. Now if you don't know who he is it's no big deal. Tilden won the first of his five consecutive major titles almost 90 years ago. Unfortunately, Tilden won the titles as an amateur player because prior to 1968 all of the grand slam tournaments were open only to amateur level players. While, this is still impressive, it doesn't hold the same kind of ground as Federer winning them all as a pro. Federer really is the first person to ever go for this record.

Now onto the match

US Open Final: Roger Federer vs Andy Murray

Federer and Murray successfully held their first two service games. After that it was Federer all the way for the first set. Murray, was broken at 2-3 and 2-5 to win an easy first set. Federer got off to an early start in the second set by breaking Murray to go up 2-0. Murray then got the break back and tied things up at 2-all. The next game Murray had a triple break point against Federer which turned out to be controversial, Federer hit a ball slightly out during the rally at 15-40, Murray did not challenge the call and eventually lost the point. After the point Murray complained that one of Federer's returns had gone long during the point hawkeye reviewed it and determined that it was long however Murray challenged too late and didn't win the point. Both players held serve until Federer got a break late in the second set to win it 7-5.

The third set was extremely one sided. Federer broke Murray twice to go up 5-0. Murray held serve and then broke to make it 5-2 but Federer broke again to win the match and his 13th grand slam 6-2, 7-5, 6-2.

Great effort from Federer. He earned this one. Murray played very well in parts but was too tired from playing two days in a row. Federer, is only one major away from tying Sampras's record of 14 majors total. Do you think he can do it? I think that he can.:)

Murray/Nadal match part 2

US Open semi-final: Nadal vs Murray part 2

Nadal comes out to the court looking much fresher than he did on Saturday. From the announcers box John McEnroe, Marry Carillo, and Dick Enberg talked about the rain delay being good for Nadal, Mary Carillo, said that Murray has a good chance of winning the match.

Nadal, served first at 3-2 and held easily, Murray then held serve at love. Two more easy service games brought the score to 5-4. Nadal, struggled to serve out the set and Murray got a break point opportunity. Nadal hit an ace to bring the score to deuce and won the next two points to win the third set 6-4.

Murray, faced a break point in his first service game but still managed to hold serve. Nadal, was in serious trouble when sering at 0-1. Murray had 7 break point chances but was unable to capitazlize on one. After 8 deuces Nadal held serve and Murray dropped serve the next game at love. Both players held their next service games to make the score 3-2. Murray, started to play more aggresively and broke Nadal back. No breaks until 5-4 when Murray hit some amazing returns to break Nadal and win the match 6-4 in the fourth set.

What a match. Some unbelievable shots in the fourth set especially by Murray. Roger, better play his best today or he won't be winning his 5th straight US Open title.

Super Saturday: Federer makes it through Nadal/Murray stopped by rain delay

Usually the last Saturday of the US Open, (often referred to as Super Saturday by the sports announcers) features the men's semi-final matches followed by the women's final but the rain from Tropical Storm Hanna halted play during the Nadal/Murray match so the second semi-final match along with the women's final, will be played today starting at 4:30.

The first semi-final between Djokovic and Federer, was a repeat of last years final. Now, Djokovic, has been growing unpopular with the New York crowd because of his self-congratulatory antics. After he beat Andy Roddick in the quarter-finals he celebrated by pointing at himself and screaming. The crowd didn't like this and started booing him. Djokovic, made things even worse by saying in his post match interview that the crowd thinks that he's been faking injuries even though he hasn't been. The negative energy followed Djokovic into his match against Federer and the crowd really got behind the Swiss player. Roger played great during the first set and won it 6-3. Djokovic, played much better during the second set and broke Federer's serve win the second set 7-5. The third set went the same way as the second except it was Federer who got the break to win the set 7-5. Djokovic, looked deflated by the end of the fourth set and Federer broke him twice in that set to win the match.

Final Score: 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2.

Strong performance from Federer, he looked much better playing against Djokovic than he had for quite some time. If Federer, wins tomorrow it could be yet another turning point for him.

The Murray/Nadal match started early because rain was predicted for the late afternoon. Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal started warming up for their match just after Djokovic and Federer finished their second set. It was incredibly humid and overcast when Nadal and Murray started playing. Nadal, looked really flat against Murray, he got broken in his second service game and then again at 2-4. Murray's, play was excellent, he hit lots of winners, his backhand was particularly effective when he hit cross court and he served unbelievably well. Murray's level of play was so good that he didn't even face a break point. In the second set Nadal somehow held onto his serve long enough to take it to a tie-break. Murray, on the other hand was better than ever and went to deuce only once while on serve. In the tie-break Murray showed the slightest signs of vulnerability but Nadal was still having difficulty finding his game and Murray took the tie-break 7-5. Nadal got his first break point chance against Murray early in the third set and converted. Both players remained on serve until 3-2 when the rain hit and the match was stopped until today at 4:30.

In my next post I'll cover the rest of the Murray/Nadal match. I can't wait to see what happens:).

Monday week 2.

The US Open has been pretty straight forward this year. Not very many upsets and so far it's been easy to predict the winners of the matches but despite the predictability I would not have expected Mardy Fish or Gilles Muller to still be around in the round of 16. Both players have very, well... average styles. There really isn't anything that they do that sets them apart from the other players yet both of them have played great tennis and have won matches over high ranked seeds on their way to the fourth round.

Match 1 Gael Monfils vs Mardy Fish.

In the first set things were very even and most games went to deuce. Monfils, went up a break at 3 all but lost serve the next game. Fish, got a break at 6-5 to seal the set.

Fish quickly went up 3-0 in the second set and Monfils (who seemed to be slowing down) called the trainer. He got his knee taped and play resumed . Fish, got another break when Gael was serving for the match and led 7-5, 6-2.

Fish played very well in the third set and broke Monfils early on. Monfils got two break points the next game but failed to convert. Fish then broke Monfils at 5-2 to win the match.

Match 2 Querrey vs Nadal

Querrey, played a tentative first set and got broken twice. Nadal, played well during the first set although he got into some kind of an argument with the umpire midway through the set.

Nadal broke and Querrey traded breaks in the beginning of the second and then Nadal broke again to go up 4-2. Querrey, was down a break point in the next game but he managed to hold serve and broke Nadal at 5-4 and 5-6 to level the match at one set all.

Nadal, broke Querrey in the first game of the third set, (Querrey had two double faults) but he was struggling to hold serve. Sam, eventually broke back at 4-3 and the match went to a tie-break. Nadal, was able to raise his game enough to beat Querrey 7-2 in the tie break.

Nadal, served first to open up the fourth set and almost blew a 30-love lead. Querrey, continued to put pressure on Nadal's serve and most of the time Nadal was just barely able to hold his own service games. Nadal, did get a break at 4-2 and although Querrey had 7 break points opportunities he wasn't able to break back and Nadal served out the match at 5-3 to win in four long sets.

First tough win for Nadal at the Open this year, he was lucky that he wasn't playing a great returner or he probably wouldn't have won the match. We'll see how he does in the next round against Fish.

Federer easily gets through the first US Open test. Roddick plays well.

As a huge Federer fan, it's been disapointing to watch him exit in the early rounds. This hasn't been a good year for him compared to his performance in other years (although, from his interviews, he seems to be ok with that) but when I watched his match against Radek Stepanek I saw moments of the old Federer shining through. The Federer that could only be stopped by Nadal on a good day. It gives me hope that he can still turn around his slump. Maybe not this year but possibly the near future. Anyway onto the match. In the first set Roger was able to hold easily thanks to his serve. Radek, played badly on his first service game and gave Roger an early break. Stepanek did manage to break Federer at 4-2 only to loose serve the next game. Federer, then served out the set 6-3. Stepanek, tried to get back into the match during the second set but by this point Federer was playing much better, he easily won the last two sets 6-3, 6-2.


Gilles Muller, came from behind to win an extremely long match against Nicolas Almagro. Almagro, took the first two sets but Muller leveled the match by winning the third and fourth sets in tie-breaks. Almagro, was visibly tired late in the fifth set and Muller had just enough left to win 7-5 in the fifth.

Andy Roddick dominated Andreas Seppi during the first set of their match. Seppi, played decently but Roddick was way too consistent and hit Seppi off of the court. Seppi, stepped up his game and held serve until late into the second set when Roddick finally got the break. Seppi, got his one and only break against Roddick early on in the third set but he couldn't hang on to it and the set eventually went to a tie-break which Roddick won to clinch his spot in the fourth round.

US Open Saturday

The US Open on Saturday had a couple of pretty interesting match ups. Sam Querrey vs Ivo Karlovic, Nadal vs Troicki, and Blake vs Fish.

The Querrey/Karlovic match (nicknamed battle of the giants) was very close. Neither of the guys were able to break the other ones serve during the first two sets so each set went to a tie-break. The tie-breaks were also pretty close but Querrey managed to win one point on Karlovics serve in both sets and lead 7-6(5), 7-6(5). During the third set Karlovic started to fade and allowed Querrey to get the two breaks he needed to win the match. Querrey, is now into the 4th round for the first time at a major.

Nadal, was up next against Troicki. Nadal, seemed to be kind of subdued during the first set. The first six games went by very easily for the server. Troicki, kept Nadal from generating a rally by hitting aces on his service points. Nadal, eventually got two break point opportunities at 4-3 but failed to convert, he got another one at 5-4 and managed to close out the set 6-4. In the second set Troicki, went up an early break but his comeback didn't last long. Rafa, won 11 straight games and took the match 6-4, 6-3, 6-0. Real good performance from Rafa all the way through the match. if he plays like this on Monday he should beat Querrey easily.

Melzer's match against Murray almost turned out to be an upset. After winning the first set in a tie-break Melzer broke Murray to take the second set 6-4. The third set went to a tie-break which Melzer almost won but Murray hit some great shots which Melzer was unable to overcome. The tie-break might as well have been the end of the match because Melzer basically self-destructed for the rest of the match. Murray won the last two sets 6-1 and 6-3.

Fish pulled a surprising upset over James Blake. I didn't see this match but Fish won the match 6-3, 6-3, 7-6. I'm guessing Blake probably didn't play to well from that score line.

I'll be back later with more match coverage.

Federer into round 3 but is he playing well?

The US Open hasn't had many upsets yet and the top players have been progresing nicely through the draws but will it stay that way? I'm not sure that it will. Robert Kendrick, made it into the second round by beating Nicolas Mahut in four sets. You're probably thinking Robert Who? He's not a real well known player but he did take Nadal to five sets at Wimbledon in 2006. Kendrick's next opponent is Djokovic and although Kendrick is the obvious underdog, he is an agressive player and could take the match to a few tie-breaks. Who knows, maybe Kendrick could get an upset victory over Djokovic.

I've mentioned before how vulnerable Federer has been recently. Unfortunately, he showed signs today that that hasn't changed. he managed to win his match against Alves in straight sets but he had 46 unforced errors. Alves was ranked 137 in the world but he still found a way to break Federer in the third set. Federer's, first real test this tournament will probably come in the next round assuming Radek Stepanek wins his match against Chris Guccione. Stepanek, beat Federer earlier this year on clay.

Recap of Monday

The first day of the US Open went by with only a few (minor) upsets. First up was David Ferrer, against Martin Vassallo Arguello. The first set went to a tie break but from then on Ferrer dominated and won the match in three sets.

Nadal's match against Phau was pretty good. Phau really played well in the first set and Nadal's shots seemed to be a little bit off the mark so Phau was able to take it to a tie break Once there Nadal raised his game and took the first set. In the second set Rafa hit some great shots at 3-2 and broke Phau. The third set was pretty much the same as the first, they did exchange breaks at 4 all and 5-4 but the set still went to a tie-break which Nadal was eventually able to clinch.

Gilles Simon, struggled but managed to get past Marcel Granollers in four sets. David Nalbandian made it through easily to the second round and Del Potro is into round 2 after defeating Guillermo Canas.

The Donald Young/James Blake match turned out to be surprisingly competitive. It went the distance and Young played some great tennis towards the end of the match. Although Blake won the match it was good to finally see Donald playing well. Who knows maybe he's turning things around.

US Open draw is out. Nadal and Federer have good draws.

My pick to win the US Open this year is Nadal and while this may not come as a surprise I can't really see anyone except maybe Djokovic upsetting him. Since the clay court season began Nadal has dominated this year just like Federer used to he's won almost everything and he doesn't seem to be slowing down either. I took a look at his draw for the Open and it looks really good especially in the early rounds. The fourth round is where things could heat up if he has to face Berdych, potentially followed by a quarter final meeting with Blake. Although both players are big hitters neither one has ever been passed the quarter-finals of a major. Yeah, it looks like all of the stars are lining up perfectly for Nadal this year.

As for the other half of the draw. Federer, has a pretty good draw, Stepanek, Verdasco and Gasquet are all in his part of the draw. Because Federer has been so off his game lately I'm not going to speculate on how far he gets. I think he'll give the US Open his best try but who knows how far that will get him.

Djokovic's draw looks pretty easy although there are a few players that could give him trouble.
Tsonga and Safin are both in his part of the draw and if they have a good day either one could upset him.

Nadal 'Officially' the new #1

It's official, as of today Rafael Nadal is the new #1 player in the world. First of all congratulations, he ended the reign of one of the most dominate players the sport has ever seen. I'm curious to see how long he will be able to keep his ranking amongst the top players but most of all I'd like to see Roger come back next season determined to take back his ranking from Rafa. A rivalry for the #1 spot would probably be very good for the sport. Novak Djokovic, is also another contender for that rivalry. Although he hasn't done particularly well against Roger or Rafa (his head to head against both players is 6-16) he has the potential to be the #1 but in order to do that he's going to have to find a way to beat them. His biggest problem will be his fitness and ability to finish off an opponent after a long match.

Nadal, will probably be able to stay #1 for awhile (I think at least a year) but it's going to depend on how well his knees hold up. He can still get beaten by big hitters like Blake, Youzhney, and possibly even Roddick, although recently he's been finding ways to beat them even on the faster surfaces. The up-and-coming players could become another challenge for him. Del Potro has won four straight tournaments and he will be breaking into the top ten very soon. I'd like to hear what you think. I'm going to put up a pull today to see how long you think he will be #1. So please vote. Thanks.

Federer wins the gold can Nadal do the same?

After getting beaten in the quarters by Blake, Federer and his doubles partner Stanislas Wawrinka fought through the doubles field including the Bryans and won the gold medals. While it's not a singles gold medal, I'm sure Federer is pretty happy to have one.

On the singles side, Rafa and Gonzalez will be going at it for the gold medal. Their head to head is tied at 3 wins each but Gonzalez won both of their hard court meetings. The finals will be 5 sets instead of 3 which will probably be better for Nadal because it will give him more time to wear down Gonzalez.

I'll go with Nadal in either 3 or 4 sets to win this match. I can't see Gonzalez, winning this for some reason but let me know what you think.

Murray gets upset at the Olympics, Nadal struggles with opener

Well, so much for my prediction. I thought for sure Andy Murray would be the favorite to win but I guess Yen-Hsun Lu had other ideas. Lu, is ranked only 77 in the world so naturally this came as a surprise. I didn't see the match so I can't say how Murray played but from what I heard Lu, played incredibly well. Murray, departing has left a big oppening in the lower part of the draw and will give Nadal a much easier quarter-final opponent.

Speaking of Rafa, he played his first round match against Italian player Potito Starace, today. Rafa was a little off his game because Starace, (who is mainly a clay court player) was able to take the second set from him before Nadal closed out the match in the third. Nadal, has made his vulnerability on fast hard courts apparent and Leyton Hewitt could force an upset if he plays well against Rafa tomorrow.

Also, Federer, finally has something to smile about. He beat Dmitry Tursunov, in a comfortable straight sets win 6-4, 6-2. Federer, played pretty well in the second set and hopefully this win will get him back on the right track. Novak Djokovic, beat Robby Ginepri, without much trouble 6-4, 6-4 and Giles Simon made it into the next round. Janko Tipsarevic, caused the other upset (in terms of seeding) by defeating David Ferrer in straights.

Olympic draw is out and it doesn't favor Nadal or Federer

Their comes a time during the career of every pro athlete when they realise that their window of opportunity to win championships is beginning to close. The Olympics really seems to magnify this because every athlete will only have a few chances at best to win a gold medal. Roger and to a lesser extent Rafael are probably thinking about this as they get ready for the Olympics. Federer, has openly stated that the Olympics are as important to him as Wimbledon and at 27 years old he doesn't have many more opportunities ahead of him to win the gold medal. Although Nadal is only 22, he will undoubtedly have more severe damage done to his knees in four years than he does now. Unlike Federer, Nadal's game pounds his body into the ground and ultimately shortens the amount of time that he'll be able to play tennis at the pro level. While this may not be their last opportunity to win the gold, they probably won't have a better time to win than now.


Anyway, onto the draw. Hmmm...well the Americans didn't get a very good draw this time. Robby Ginepri's first round opponent is Novak Djokovic and Sam Querry has Igor Andreev with Radek Stepanek lurking in his corner of the draw. Blake, should be ok until the quarter-finals he may have to face Giles Simon in the third but he should be able to get through that match if he has to. If Blake, does makes the quarter-finals he could face Federer.

Federer's draw is pretty hard actually. He has Dmitry Tursunov in the first round, followed by Berdych in the third and probably Blake in the quarters. Nadal's is also tough. After the first round he could encounter Hewitt, followed by Stepanek, Murray, Djokovic, and Federer. In fact the odds look pretty good that he'll face both Murray and Djokovic because both guys have relatively easy draws and neither will have to face more than one seed on their way to the quarter-finals.

I'll go with Andy Murray to win the gold medal because Federer's draw is pretty difficult and we all know that he hasn't been rising to the occasion recently. The Olympic courts are decoturf which is the same surface they use at the US Open so that won't favor Nadal and Murray has been able to beat the Djoker the last two times they played.

Donald Young finally wins a match

Donald Young snapped his losing streak with a surprise upset victory over Tommy Haas. I did not see the match but I know that Haas is a good player so he must have been off today for Young to win the match 6-2, 6-4. Still, this is a big win for Donald. It's his first victory over an opponent of any real credibility and it's the first time that he's won a match since Indian Wells. Unfortunately for Young things don't look too promising. He's got a match against Gicquel next and even if he manages to win that he'll have to play Roddick in the Quarters so I don't see him going much farther in the draw.

Andy, really has a good looking draw especially now that Verdasco is out of the tournament. I really can't see anyone spoiling his chances except for Marat Safin. Safin, has the most wins out of everyone left in the draw against Roddick and they're scheduled to meet in the semi-finals. Safin has been playing better recently so getting to the semis shouldn't be too much of a concern for him, although if they meet I'd still have to favor Roddick, he seems to play his best at US tournaments.

Nadal defeats Lapentti, to become the new #1.

It's official now. On either August 4th, 11th, or 18th Rafael Nadal will become the new #1. The date will be determined by his results in Cincinnati. Although it's exciting to have a new person at the top of the game for the first time in four and a half years it's also kind of sad to see Federer's game deteriorate to the point where he was no longer able to hold onto his position as the number one player. If anything I would have expected Federer's decline to be more gradual. Last year it was evident that he wasn't playing as well as he had been. He got upset a few times by Canas, he lost more frequently than he had in the past and it was the first time in three years that he hadn't won at least 10 titles but he still delivered at the majors. Sure, it was inevitable that at some point he wouldn't be able to swoop them all but you would never have expected 8 months ago that Federer would be potentially looking at a slamless year.

Here's a recap of Federer's year so far.

1.Federer loses at the Australian Open to Djokovic in the semi-finals. This was kind of a surprise because Fed was the two time defending champion but Djokovic is an up and comer and did pretty well at the US Open in 2007 and Federer was recovering from mono (or so he said) so I can let that slide. Tournament record, 0/1.

2. Loses at Dubai to Andy Murray in the first round 7-6, 3-6, 4-6. 0/2.

3. The veteran Mardy Fish, crushes Federer for a place in the finals 6-3, 6-2. Red flag, Federer has never lost to Fish before, in fact Fish had only won one set from Federer before the match. It's now becoming apparent that Federer's got some problems. 0/3.

4. Loses to Roddick the very next week at The Sony Ericson Open. Roddick ends his consecutive losing streak to Fed at 11. Something is seriously wrong if Federer loses to Roddick! 0/4.

5. Federer decides to enter The Estoril Open as his warm up for the clay events. He's obviously a whale in a small pond but that doesn't stop him from struggling all the way through the tournament. He played a tight match against Oliver Rochuse in the first round has another one in the semi-finals against someone named Gremelmayr and could have been in serious danger in the finals if Nikolay Davydenko hadn't been forced to retire with a leg injury. Still, it's a win for Federer and he gets himself on the board 1/5.

6. Plays at the ATP Masters Series: Monte Carlo and almost gets embarrassed against Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo in the first round before coming back to win in three sets. Federer, then proceeds to make it to the finals where he gets snuffed out by Nadal 7-5, 7-5. Not bad from Federer (except for the Hidalgo hic-up) probably on par with last year. 1/6.

7. His next tournament in Rome, had a surprising result when defending Rafael Nadal loses early due to blister problems. The tournament was pretty much Federer's to lose but he still manages to blow it against Radek Stepanek in the quarters 6-7, 6-7. 1/7.

8. Federer loses to Rafa at the ATP Masters Series: Hamburg. The sad thing is that Federer was up 5-1 in the first set and still winds up losing the set. Come on Roger, pull it together. 1/8.

9. Roland Garros is the next tournament and if anything you'd probably think he'd crash out early here but Federer, surprises us and makes it to the finals pretty easily. Once he gets there it's a different story and he gets slaughtered by Nadal and walks away looking like a chump instead of a champ. 1/9.

10. Federer goes into the Gerry Webber Open knowing that if he's going to save the rest of the season from being a complete disaster he's going to have to start winning tournaments. Luckily he still has his grass court winning streak and he wins the Open without dropping a set. 2/10.

11. He enters Wimbledon with allot of talk about how he's been declining but he puts most of that talk on hold by storming into the finals without dropping a set. He meets Rafa in the finals and pushes him to his limit but in the end Nadal manages to squeak. No criticism for Federer here, he played an amazing tournament just got unlucky that it didn't go his way. 2/11.

12. Obviously the Wimbledon loss hit him hard and he proved that by losing in the first round to Giles Simon in Toronto. 2/12.

13. As the defending champion in Cincinnati Federer gets thing off to a shaky start against Robby Ginepri but he manages to win the match however Karlovic beats him in the next round. Federer also loses his #1 ranking in Cincinnati. 2/13.

While this hasn't been a good year for Federer, I think there's a good possibility that he'll be able to recoup during the time off between the Tennis Masters Cup and the start of the next season and if he gets himself a good coach he might be able to start winning some tournaments again. At least, that's what I'm hoping but for the rest of this season Nadal and Djokovic will continue to be the heavy favorites against him.

Wednesday recap

James Blake stopped Gilles Simon from starting another run by beating him in straight sets. Simon went up a break in the first but Blake raised his game and trounced Simon. Can't say I'm really surprised by the results, defensive players like Monfils, Nadal, and Simon typically have trouble against Blake's aggressiveness.

Gasquet, Ferrer, and Berdych also lost today. I didn't watch either of the matches but Gasquet got bagled in the second set. Nadal, was particularly successful in his match against Serra. Nadal crushed the man from France 6-0, 6-1 in 46 minutes. Wow, I guess Nadal is still planning on winning in Cincinnati after tonight's performance.

New racquet from Head

One of the new racquets from Head. The Head Crossbow 6.

Federer, survives scare in Cincinnati

Roger Federer, barely managed to save his #1 ranking in his match against Ginepri today. Ginepri, was up a set and a break serving for the match at 6-5 but he choked the game away and then lost the tie break. Federer, then proceeded to demolish Ginepri in the third set 6-0.

Had Federer lost the match today he would have lost his #1 ranking because the South African Airways Ranking system ranks players based on how far they are able to get into various tournaments. For example, if a player makes it to the quarter finals of Hamburg and then loses in the second round of that tournament the next year that player will lose all of the points that they accumulated between the quarter finals and the second round and would fall down in the rankings. Federer, was the champion last year in Cincinnati and would have sacrificed all 500 of his points had he lost today. Nadal, however lost in his opening match last year so his difference (had he lost in his first match) would have been the same. There is only 300 points that separates Federer from Nadal at this point so Federer would have lost his ranking regardless of how Nadal did in Cincinnati. It's a little confusing but the important thing for Federer is that he doesn't have to give up his reign yet.

Federer, has had too many sub par performances this year and if he doesn't start playing well he will continue to drop until he's out of the top ten. It seems hard to imagine a top ten without him but his last two matches haven't been top 10 level quality. I don't know where it goes from here for him but if he doesn't gain some confidence soon he won't have that #1 ranking for more than two weeks.

Cincinnati draw

The new Cincinnati draw is out and it looks pretty favorable for the defending champion Roger Federer. Like all of the top eight players Fed, has a bye for the first round. His second round opponent will be either Roby Ginepri or Jonas Bjorkman (neither of whom have beaten Federer before.) In the third round it will most likely be Mario Ancic, followed potentially by Roddick and Murray may be his semi-final opponent. Murray, is by far the most dangerous of all of these guys but I'd still have to say that Federer will be in the finals this time.

Nadal's draw isn't too bad either. Marin Cilic, Mikhail Youzhny, Fernando Verdasco, and David Ferrer have all landed in his part of the draw. Youzhny, in my mind would be the most likely of them to cause the upset but if Nadal gets into the semi-finals he's going to have to play Djokovic and I think that's where things will really get interesting. Djokovic, has a pretty good draw to the semis. Berdych, Gonzalez, and Blake are the seeded players in his part of the draw although I could see Gulbis scoring an upset win over Djokovic. Gilles Simon, may have done well in the past two tournaments but this draw isn't giving him any favors. Nicolas Kiefer, who beat him in three close sets last Saturday will be his first opponent. Now Kiefer, is probably burned out from his match against Nadal yesterday so this will be a winnable match for Gilles, however if he makes it through he'll have to play Blake and that's not a good match up for Simon.

When will Nadal become the new #1?

Over the last month the question of whether Nadal will become the #1 player in the world has changed to when? As Federer continues his fall out of the top of the game it seems like nothing can stop Rafa right now. He's on a 27 match winning streak and he's collecting trophies left and right. This next week in Cincinnati will be crucial for Federer. He can't wait for the US Open he's got to start winning now. The other person to consider is Novak Djokovic. He was the best player in the world from the #3 position in the begining of the year but he's recently become iratic and he's lost his opportunity to take over the #1 spot for right now. I don't see Federer going on a winning streak anytime soon especially not after that loss to Simon and let's not forget that Federer won the Cincinnati title last year, which means he'll have to defend all of those points. I predict Nadal will become the new #1 by the end of Cincinnati next week. Mostly because he has hardly any points to defend their.

Rogers Cup Friday

Today, was the quarter-final day at the Rogers Cup. Things kicked off with Gilles Simon going up against Marin Cilic. It wasn't a great match because there were alot of unforced errors from both of the players. What made the difference today was Cilic's number of unforced errors sky-rocketed during the last two sets which allowed Simon to sneak by him. Simon, seems to be on a course for the final. Unfortunately for him, if he gets there he's going to be met with some heavy adversity.

The second match was between James Blake and Nicolas Kiefer, which turned out to be surprisingly one sided. Kiefer, was into the match right from the start, he played unbelievably well and crushed Blake. Blake, on the other hand just played awful. His ball bashing tactics backfired on him today and his backhand was particularly bad. Still, this is a big win for Kiefer and he'll play Gilles Simon for a spot in the finals tomorrow.

Andy Murray, won his first match in five tries against Novak Djokovic. Djokovic, was a little bit off but Murray played incredibly well, especially in the tie break. Rafael Nadal will be facing Murray in the semi-finals after his win over Richard Gasquet. Gasquet, had a great start to the match and won the first set in a tie break (14 points to 12.) He had an opportunity to go up an early break in the second but after Nadal, saved the game Gasquet, floundered and Nadal won the next two sets 6-2 and 6-1.

Rogers Cup recap

Well, the second US Open Series event has been interesting so far. Roger Federer, lost yesterday to Gilles Simon in three sets 6-2, 5-7, 4-6. Simon, has really played well for the past week and he's now positioned himself to be a serious contender for winning the US Open Series. But it's sad the way that Federer mentally folded in the third set. I think alot of Federer's problems this year have been confidence related and he's got to win a tournament, now more than ever if he still wants to be #1.

Nadal, struggled through his match against Jesse Levine. He was serving and down 4-1 with a several break point chances against him. He managed to turn the set around by winning the next five games and won the second set fairly comfortably 6-2. Nadal's going to have to step it up if he wants to win here. His next opponent will be Igor Andreev, so we'll see how it goes.

Also James Blake, almost got upset against Bjorkman. The 36 year old veteran Bjorkman won the first set 6-1 before perishing 1-6, 2-6 in the second and third. While this may be a great achievement for Bjorkman, taking a 6-1 set off of a guy who's ranked #8 in the world. It does say something about how fragile Blake is right now. Blake, didn't do well at Wimbledon or Indianapolis either so this could be a forewarning that Blake is about to take a major hit at the US Open and also the rest of the hard court season.

Roddick, is struggling as well. He had trouble getting past Nicolas Mahut in the second round and I could see him getting upset by Marin Cilic in the next round. Roddick, definitely needs to build some momentum for himself so that he'll have a decent performance at the US Open this year.

Novak Djokovic, makes a comeback from his Wimbledon defeat by besting Frank Dancevic in the second round. Djokovic, had a tremendous start this year on the hard courts and he looks like the favorite to win the US Open right now. I could also see him winning the Olympics which are going to be played on hard courts.

US Open Series

We're into the summer hard court season now that the US Open Series has started and I'm very exited to see what's going to happen in these tournaments. Ever since Nadal has won Wimbledon there has been alot of talk about him becoming the new unofficial #1. Personally, I don't agree with that. You either are #1 or you're not. Rafa, is going to have to take that away from Federer. However, I think that might happen pretty soon. Nadal's, ability has definitely improved since last year. He serves better than he did a year ago and this is of course key to winning hard court tournaments. Depending on how he feels Rafa could take over the #1 position this year. He just needs some good results at the US Open Series as well as the Open.

Federer, on the other hand is now looking to reinforce his position as #1. I think he's got his mind set on winning the US Open which would silence the speculation that he's no longer in his prime.

Also, congratulations to Gilles Simon, he won the Indianapolis tennis championships last week.
Hopefully he'll be able to produce more results throughout the rest of the US Open Series.

Nadal Wins Wimbledon

Wow. That's all I can say about this match. It probably had the highest quality of tennis that I've ever seen and the level of emotion was insane. It was one of those matches that sucks you in right from the start. Federer, has been the Wimbledon king for the past five years. We all know that but Nadal has made big improvements to his game on grass and Federer addmited that Nadal had him from the base line at last years final. Federer, had by far the better serve and volleys so all in all it looked like a pretty fair match up. Let's take a quick look at what happened.

In the first two sets Nadal managed to go up a break even though Federer's service games were mostly air-tight. Nadal, did have some trouble when he tried to serve out the sets and was pushed to break point in both games but he was eventually able to serve it out and he went up two-sets-to-love. Federer was in alot of trouble in the third at love-forty 3-all with him serving. He still managed to get out of it and took the third set to a tie-break. In the end Federer won the third set. The fourth set also went to a tie-break but Nadal wasn't able to hold off his nerves, he had a match point but Federer hit an unbelievable winner down the line and he eventually took the set. The fifth set was probably the best of all. In the fifth set both players came up with unbelievable shots just to stay in the match. Nadal had about seven break point oppertunities by the time the score reach 7 games all. He finally got the break after four opportunities during the 15th game of the set but even after obtaining the break it still looked like Federer would break back. Federer pushed him all the way to deuce but in the end Nadal won the match 9-7 in the fifth to become the new Wimbledon Champion.



Nadal, had to fight for every point in the match and literally until match point it looked like it could go either way. I have no doubt that Federer will be back next year to try to regain his thrown but for right now the torch has been passed to Nadal.

Nike Tattoo tennis shirt

Pretty original design from Nike. I actually like this shirt. I wonder if any of the players will be wearing this at the US Open?