Verdasco wins Barcelona Open

Another great week for Fernando Verdasco, but certainly not an easy one. After clawing his way back from a 6-7, 2-4, deficit against David Ferrer, in the semis. Verdasco, was poised to take on his biggest challenger yet, Robin Soderling, a player who held a 4-1 record against him (2-0 on clay) and was last years French Open finalist. It took some great playing from Verdasco, but he was able to wrap up the match and win the Barcelona Open, for the first time in 3 sets.

Soderling, played a good match but lacked the aggression needed to win. He'll need to improve a little more, if he wants to make another deep run in Roland Garros, He's also going to have a huge test, later this week in Rome, where he's scheduled to face Nadal, in the quarter-finals. This match will be very important for both players, Rafa needs to beat Soderling, in order to get their head-to-head back in his favor and Soderling, needs to upset Nadal's momentum on clay and hopefully get in his head a bit more.

These guys don't like each other and that could lead to some super high quality tennis and on-court drama. Of all the possible match-ups, this is the one I'm looking forward to the most. I would also love to see a rematch at the French Open but only if they're both players are playing well.

Monte Carlo finals: Nadal vs Verdasco

This was a strange match. From the score line, you'd think it was a blow out but Verdasco, actually pushed Nadal, quite hard, even managing 5 break points against the Spaniard's serve. However he didn't handle the big points, well at all. There's one particular game that stands out to me, where Verdasco, had won 3 of the first 4 points and was serving for a 2-1 lead but then choked it all away by double faulting twice. His game was way too inconsistent to beat Nadal but reaching the finals was a great showing for him and he was able to get enough ranking points, to pull himself back in the top 10.

Nadal, played an unbelievable tournament. He lost just 14 games which is an ATP record and it should send a message to Roger Federer, that if he wants to defend his Roland Garros crown and potentially achieve the calendar year grand slam, that he'll have to do something he's never done before. Beat Nadal where it really counts, in a five set match in the finals of the French Open.

This next Roland Garros, could be very exciting. I'm really looking forward to it. It's still a bit too early to know if Nadal and Roger will both be in the finals. Nadal, looks set to do it but Roger has been bombing out of tournaments for the last two months, he hasn't made a serious run since the Australian Open but given his tendency to peak at the majors, I think it's likely that they might meet again in the French Open finals and then possibly again at Wimbledon.

Murray falls, Nadal and Djokovic both through to the quarters

Looks like this clay court season might be a great one for Nadal. So far, he's lost just 1 games per match and his form has been better than ever. His next opponent is the clay court veteran, Juan Carlos Ferrero. Now, ordinarilly Ferrero, would be a sizeable threat to anyone on clay, but given Rafa's, current playing level, I don't think Ferrero's, chances are all that good. If he plays aggressively and tries to hit Nadal off the court, then he might be able to make it a close match but I'm picking Nadal, to win this one in straights.

On the other half of the draw, Novak Djokovic, managed to overcome a stern test from the 20th ranked, Stanislas Wawrinka. Djokovic's, game looked pretty good in the match. He'll need to return a little bit better but he'll continue to improve as the tournament goes along. He's definitely a favorite to reach the finals, although his quarter-final opponent, David Nalbandian, might have something to say about that.

And then there's Andy Murray. The poor guy has really struggled over these past few weeks, his game was way off when he played Mardy Fish, in Miami and it was even worse today, against Phillip Kohlschreiber. It sounds like Murray, is having a mental or emotional battle with tennis, he said that he's "Fallen out of love with the game" and that could be the reason for these recent losses.

We'll have to wait and see what happens with him, but my guess is that he'll have his head back on straight by the time the grass season starts. Wimbledon, is an extremely important tournament to him, he's got a lot of points to defend from last year. I doubt he'll let that get by him.

Djokovic and Murray out of Miami

Could this be the break that we needed to witness another Federer/Nadal showdown? After their biggest threats, crashed out in the first round of the Sony Ericsson Open, Nadal and Federer now look poised to meet in the finals of a tournament, for the first time in nearly a year.

There's still quite a few opponents left in the draw who could stop this meeting and Roddick seems to be the best bet for doing it. Since, the start of the tournament Andy, has blown through all of his opponents, without losing serve once. While, that's very impressive, it won't necessarily translate over to a match-up with Nadal in the semi-finals.

But this is still a good sign for Roddick fans, Andy's playing well, serving well, and those are two things that he must do, to have any chance against Nadal, if they do meet later in the tournament.

I was disappointed to see Murray and Djokovic, crash out so early. This is going to cost them both, a serious amount of ranking points ( they made the finals here last year.) Not to mention this really doesn't bode well for Djokovic, heading into the clay court season. He has a lot of points to defend up until the French Open and given his recent form, I would be surprised if his ranking doesn't drop at least 2 spots.

Ironically, Juan Martin Del Potro, the guy who's been side-lined with an injury for two months. May be the player who benefits the most from these upsets. Starting in April, Nadal, Murray, and Djokovic, have a ton of points to defend and given their inconsistencies, don't be surprised if you see Del Potro, within striking distance of the #2 ranking, by the end of May.

Tennis pros & steroids

Have you heard about this? Apparently Wayne Odesnik, was found with several small containers of HGH, which is a performance enhancing drug (or human growth hormone.) This is extremely serious and could lead to him, being banned from the tour for 2 years.

Odesnik, is not the first person on tour to be found with performance enhancing drugs, several other players, especially clay courters, have been linked to this stuff.

This of course, brings up the question, "Are steroids and other performance enhancing drugs being used by other athletes, on the tour?" In my opinion, there's a definite possibility of it.

Just look at these pictures of Sam Stosur, Rafael Nadal, and Serena Williams

Honestly, I am at a loss to explain, how they could have gotten this kind of muscle mass, naturally. To me, it doesn't look real. Nadal, is the one that disturbs me the most. Back during his early years on tour, he would fist pump, scream, and jump into the air, pretty much every time he won a point. He was also, extremely strong at a very early age, to the point where, yet again, I can't explain it. Could his celebrating after every point, have been some sort of an affect of roid rage? And if so, then does this partially explain why he has slimmed down and is more naturally athletic looking today? He's stopped using roids.

I don't know, but Nadal, Stosur, and Serena's physique's have always been a bit of a question mark to me. Even though, I'm a huge Nadal fan, I still don't understand how he was able to gain all of this muscle mass, when he was only 18 and then suddenly lose quite a bit of it in just a few months time.

Take a look at these pictures and you'll see what I mean

Just doesn't look right, does it?

Federer to win Sony Ericsson Open

That's my prediction. Even though, Roger was a little bit off last week, in Indian Wells, I think he's likely, to make his comeback here and win his second title of the year.

Nadal, who has often been Roger's foil, recently stated that he's been having excruciating pain, from his wisdom teeth. It's caused him to miss a few days of practice but he's back at it now and will be looking to win his first title in Miami. Nadal has been to the finals of this tournament twice, in 2005 and 08 but whether he'll win here or not, is a whole nother matter. The courts here are pretty fast and that usually doesn't bode well for him. Nadal, hasn't won a title in 10 months and I don't see that changing until the start of the clay court season, where he'll probably resume his dominating ways, pick up a bunch of titles, and get himself back in contention for the number one ranking.

Novak Djokovic, and the defending champion Andy Murray, are also serious contenders for the title. Djokovic, has had a tough start to 2010, even though his current ranking is the highest it's ever been, he hasn't had many victories over players ranked in the top 10. I see him getting upset early in this tournament.

Murray, seems to be the more consistent of the two, for the time being, I'll pick him to meet Roger in the finals. With Nadal, reaching the semis and Djokovic, losing in the quarters.

Other dark horses include, Andy Roddick, Fernando Verdasco, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, and John Isner. Honestly, of all these players, Isner, seems like the most likely player to make a major impact in the tournament. He's got an amazing serve, great ground strokes (that are usually consistent) and he's good on the returns. I still believe, Isner, has a real chance at a slam but if he's going to do it, then it's got to be within the next couple of years.

Otherwise, the competition will pass him by.

Roddick vs Ljubicic BNP Paribas finals

Sometimes, you can pick them and sometimes you can't, I admit it.

While, I did think Roddick, had a good chance, of reaching the finals, I would have never in a million years, picked Ljubicic, to be the one, he'd play for the title. Especially since Ljubo, had to go through Djokovic and Nadal to even make it there.

Can Ljubicic, really do the unthinkable? Can he beat the hard serving American Andy Roddick, in a match, that should be Andy's to lose? My thinking is, yes he can. Just a couple of years ago, Mardy Fish, did the same thing, that Ljubo's doing now. He had an incredible hot streak and blew through opponents at the Pacific Life Open, who would crush him under ordinary circumstances.

Roddick, hasn't played his best this week and Ljubo should have an opening to take it from him.

With Roddick, his game usually revolves around his confidence and playing in front of the home crowd always helps him out. Ljubo, will definitely have his hands full but if he plays as well today, as he did against Nadal, in the semis, then I think he's got a great shot, to win his first masters series tournament.

Ljubicic, at 31 is at the end of his career, he probably won't get another chance at a title this big, so I hope he makes the best of this one.

My Prediction is that Ljubo, beats Roddick in 3 sets.