Nike 2010 line

Well, 2009 is almost at an end and in my opinion this has been one of the worst years for Nike in a long time, there clothes this year have just been weird. However, there is good news, I've seen the new Nike line for next year and most of it looks really nice. Here are the links for the Spring and Summer 2010 Nike line on Tennis Warehouse forums:

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?s=fc8b3298f27fe2fe21fa646bfad9c9c3&t=294052

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?s=9303c6761d7f374950cb0bfa01658154&t=281842&page=4

It seems like Nike has finally gotten away from strange combinations like turquoise with pink and green, or pink with black and yellow and other ugly patterns from earlier this year.

Need I say more.

Safin surpises Davydenko in the first round of the Kremlin Cup

Is it just me or does Marat look kind of like Neo from The Matrix in this pic?

Despite being just a few weeks away from hanging up his racquet for good, Marat Safin managed to prove that he's still got game by eliminating the recent Shanghai champion and former 3 time Kremlin Cup champ Nikolay Davydenko, in 3 sets. I took a look at their head-to head on the ATP website and I was surprised to see that Davydenko has never beaten Safin on hard courts, yet Safin had never beaten Davydenko on clay. It's strange sometimes how the surfaces can make all the difference in a match.

Anyway, I can't say that this is a particularly huge win for Safin, since he's not going to be around for much longer but it would be kind of cool if he wins the Kremlin Cup, at least that way he can sort of go out with a bang.

Safin, will be missed next year, especially by his fans, but I know that he's ready to go and hopefully his life after retirement, will be easier for him than these last few years on tour have been.

Davydenko defeats Nadal to win Shanghai Open

What a strange tournament it's been. With players retiring left and right, Nadal was able to easily progress into the finals defeating two players who retired half way through the matches with injuries. In my opinion, the ATP has got to do something about these injury problems. Federer, Murray, Roddick, Monfils, are all out with injuries and Nadal has been out a lot this year because of his knees. They need to cut back on the amount of tournaments the players are required to play or at least change things around so that months like August, March, April, June, and May aren't so grueling.

Anyway, as for the match, it was a good one, Davydenko played great in parts, (especially in the first set tie-break) and Nadal was a bit off his mark. This is Davydenko's third ATP Masters series title and it will just about guarantee him a place in the World Tour Finals. In last years Year End Masters Davydenko made the finals. With the fast indoor courts playing well to his game, I think he's got a chance of actually winning the title. For him Roger Federer will be the big problem. In all 12 of their meetings he's never beaten him but Roger has been somewhat vulnerable over the last two years and since he's just coming back from his back injury...well who knows. Good luck with that match Nikolay.:)

Who do you want to win the majors next year?

I've been thinking about this recently and I've been trying to figure out what would be the most interesting match ups for the finals of the grand slams, next year. Obviously the Nadal and Federer matches, would probably first come to mind but I tried to pick other top players who would not only be likely to make the finals but would also be capable of playing a great match.
Well, this is what I've come up with for now, let me know what you think:

Australian Open: Nadal vs Del Potro

Reason: Del Potro killed Nadal in all 3 of their meetings on the fast hard courts this year, but the Australian Open surface is different. It's slower than most hard courts and produces a higher bouncing ball, making it a much easier surface to play on for topspinners. Even though Del Potro still has a height advantage, the slowness of the court combined with the higher bounce would give Nadal a fair chance. In fact this would probably be the most neutral surface that I can think of for these two players to meet on. Neither one would have an overwhelming advantage and it would all come down to who played the better match.

French Open: Nadal vs Djokovic

Reason: Since there's already been 3 Federer/Nadal French Open finals, I decided to make my French Open choice between Nadal and Djokovic. Even though Djokovic, has never beaten Nadal on clay, he's come very close several times. Djoker, frequently takes sets off Nadal and he's even had match points in their meeting in Rome 2008 and then earlier this year in Madrid. I'm not sure if Djokovic, would really do any better against Nadal than Federer would but I would rather see him get a chance to prove himself in the French Open finals. Even if Djokovic, loses in straight sets, I know he would at least put up a good fight.

Wimbledon: Nadal vs Federer

Reason: There's just no question that the Federer Nadal matches at Wimby are classics. I don't know anyone who wouldn't want to see more of them. Regardless of who wins, you know your going to have a great match and that's why I'm picking this for the Wimbledon finals.

US Open: Del Potro vs Tsonga

Reason: This one was a bit tricky for me, but I eventually decided to go with Del Potro to make the finals next year, because I'd like to see him try to defend his title, on the biggest stage of all. As for his opponent, I wanted someone who he hasn't played a bunch of times. That's why I'm going with Tsonga. Ever since making the finals at the Australian Open, Tsonga, hasn't come close to winning a major, but I think that would probably change, if makes the finals at the US Open. Tsonga has done well against the top 3 players and he's got the game needed to win the here. He has a huge serve and a powerful forehand, not to mention great volleys. Making him one of the few real all court players still left on tour. Because his game is well rounded, he doesn't have to rely on any one particular shot, in the way that Roddick relies on his serve, or Gasquet relies on his backhand. Tsonga, should be able to give Del Potro everything he could handle and I'd really like to see this one happen next year.

Tsonga, overcomes Youzhney to win the Tokyo Open

Now with the Tokyo Open in his pocket, Tsonga's chances of qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals, have greatly improved. If he does make the cut this will be his second year in a row doing so and with the super fast speed of the Indoor hard courts, Tsonga's, chances of winning there should be as good as any ones.

The next two Masters series tournaments will be played on hard courts, with the BNP Paribas Masters, being held indoors. This should be very good for Tsonga, who likes those fast courts where his serve and groundstrokes, penetrate with lightning fast speeds.

Last year at this time, Tsonga, became a dangerous player and managed to win Bangkok and Paris to seal his place in the year end Masters. I'm expecting similar results this year. Although, that 8th spot is still up for grabs. Gilles Simon, Fernando Verdasco, and Nikolay Davydenko are probably the players who will most seriously contend for it.

For now I'll go with these 8 players to make the World Tour Finals:

1. Roger Federer
2. Rafael Nadal
3. Novak Djokovic
4. Andy Murray
5. Juan Martin Del Potro
6. Andy Roddick
7. Jo Wilfried Tsonga
8. Fernando Verdasco

I'm going to go with Verdasco to just edge out Davydenko and qualify for the first time, in his career. Yeah, ok I admit I'm favoring him because I'm a Verdasco fan. :)

Anyway, that's just a guess, at this point but it seems like the most likely group to me.

Hewitt, ends Vasselin's dream run. Djokovic downs Verdasco

Even though the Vasselin/Hewitt match was one-sided, I really enjoyed what I saw especially in the first set. Vasselin's shot making was incredible and so was Hewitt's. At 4-all Vasselin, had a tough service game with a few too many unforced errors and Hewitt was able to capitalize and break Vasselin, for a 5-4 lead. In the next game Hewitt, managed to serve out the set and then kept the pressure on Vasselin in set 2, which turned out to be more than the Frenchman could handle. Hewitt, took the second set easily without much resistance and finished the match by bageling Vasselin.

This was a good performance, from Hewitt. He's played solidly this week and I think he might be able to make the finals in Tokyo.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same thing for the Djokovic vs Verdasco match. Ordinarily these are two of the most entertaining players on the tour but in their quarter-final meeting they were both very erratic. Djokovic, took the first set easily getting an early break against Verdasco in the second game. but in set two, Djokovic, suddenly faded and it was Verdasco, who dominated, claiming the second set easily 6-1. Then the roles changed again in the final set this time Djokovic was the dominating player. He won the first five games before Verdasco was able to get on the board and avoid being bageled. Then Djokovic finished off Verdasco, in the next game, easily holding serve, to win the match 6-3, 1-6, 6-1.

As a Verdasco fan this was very disappointing. Verdasco, is one of those super talented players, that on his best day is capable of beating anyone. He routinely takes sets from the top 5 but he just doesn't have the consistency to win those matches very often. This wasn't really a bad match but I would have liked to see more from Verdasco and Djokovic probably could have played better in the second set.

Del Potro upset in the first round at Tokyo

Hey guys.:) Sorry to have missed a few days with my blog, I've been playing a lot of tennis recently and I haven't quite had the time to post on here.

I saw the match between Del Potro and Edouard Roger-Vasselin at the Tokyo Open and I was really surprised that Del Potro lost the match in straights. I actually thought Del Potro, played decently for most of the match, he just had a couple of games where he had too many unforced errors and his opponent was able to get the winners when he needed them. Edouard Roger Vasselin, did a great job on saving the break points that Del Potro, had against him, especially since his game didn't seem to match up that well against Del Potro's. He's a good player but he doesn't have an overwhelming serve and he tends to favor spin more than flat hitting. He's also a more defensive type of player than Del Potro. In the very first game of the match, Del potro absolutely served Vasselin, right off the court. Initially I didn't think that he stood a chance but Vasselin proved me, the crowd, and possibly even himself wrong when he managed to get two important breaks to over-come the #5 player in the world, in straight sets.

If Vasselin, continues to play like this then he'll have a good chance of making a decent run in the Tokyo Open. Regardless, of how far he makes it, I'm sure he's thrilled to be into the next round and have a victory over one of the best players in the world.