TENNIS TUESDAY: Croatia Wins (Last?) Davis Cup, Beats France 3-1; Venus Settles; Radwanska Retires; Kerber Picks Schuettler, Halep Picks No One!

CROATIA DEFEATS FRANCE 3-1 TO WIN 2018 DAVIS CUP FINAL
The 2018 Davis Cup was won by Croatia, somewhat surprisingly defeating France 3-1, who was the defending champion (beating Belgium last year). There was extra attention on this year's Davis Cup because tennis is being roiled by the changes to the format of the Davis Cup and the creation of two(!) new team competitions: the Laver Cup (an exhibition competition that happens a few weekends after the conclusion of the US Open primarily associated with Roger Federer and based on a Europe versus The World concept) and now the ATP and Tennis Australia have announced the ATP Cup which is scheduled to start in January 2020 before the Australian Open. The ATP Cup will be a 24-team competition of 6 groups of 4 played in 3 Australian cities over 10 days.
Marin Cilic was the tie's hero, beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Friday in straight sets and followed that up with a straight sets win over Lucas Pouille on the final day to win Croatia's 3rd point after Borna Coric easly dismissed Jeremy Chardy in straight sets on the first day. It's not clear why France's other stars (Gael Monfils, Richard Gasquet or Gilles Simon) did not participate in the Davis Cup Final this year. The one bright spot for France was their win in the doubles as Pierre-Hughes Hebert and Nicolas Mahut won their match.

AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA RETIRES FROM TENNIS AT AGE 29
The Polish tennis superstar Aggie Radwanska announced her retirement from the sport at the age of 29, ranked World #75. However, between 2008 and 2016 she was ranked in the Top 15 (rising as high as World #2) and won the WTA Fan Favorite award 6 years in a row. In 2012 she won the middle set against Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final but lost the match.

VENUS SETTLES WRONGFUL DEATH LAWSUIT WHERE SHE HAD NO FAULT
Venus Williams announced that she had settled a lawsuit filed by the estate of a man who had died in a car accident in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida where Williams was an unwilling and faultless participant. The settlement terms were not disclosed.

KERBER PICKS NEW COACH RAINER SCHUETTLER, HALEP PICKS NO-ONE
The end-of-season coaching merry-go-round continues with World #1 Simona Halep deciding not pick a replacement coach for Darren Cahill who said that he has decided to reduce his travel commitments in 2019 to spend more time with his family. Despite winning Wimbledon with Wim Fisette this year, Angelique Kerber has dismissed him and hired with former ATP Top 10 player Rainer Schuettler as her new coach.

2018 Wimbledon: Venus, Serena, Roger Win; Sloane (4), Svitolina (5), Dimitrov (6) Upset in 1R

The first day of Wimbledon brought few surprises. Defending champion Roger Federer won his match easily. He did manage to create headlines, mainly by his attire. He walked on court wearing an outfit by UNIQLO, not Nike, for the first time in well over 15 years. He still has Nike shoes. Apparently, Federer has agreed to a deal which pays him $30 million every year for the next 10 years (regardless of whether he plays tennis or not!) to serve as their "worldwide brand ambassador."

There were some upsets on the court: Donna Vekic beat 2018 French Open finalist and #4 seed Sloane Stephens in straight sets, and then her boyfriend, Stan Wawrinka beat #6 seed Grigor Dimitrov in four sets. Also, 2018 Halle champion Borna Coric lost a first-round tussle with fellow NextGen star Daniil Medvedev, opening up Federer's draw.

Both Venus and Serena won their first round matches. Venus lost the first set in a tiebreak but then won the last two sets easily. Serena struggled against a good grasscourt player Arantxa Rus but managed to win two tight sets. However she got some good news when the #25 ranked player had the Top 8 seed in her quarter (#5 seed Elina Svitolina) of the draw removed in 3-sets by Tatjana Maria.

Some of the interesting first round matches I mentioned in my 2018 Wimbledon Draw analysis post occurred.

INTERESTING FIRST ROUND MATCHES TO WATCH OUT FOR

• Dimitrov versus Wawrinka (Dimitrov lost in 4 sets)
• Andy Murray versus Benoit Paire (Murray withdrew the day before the tournament started)
• Gael Monfils versus Richard Gasquet (Monfils won relatively easily in straight sets)
• Dominic Thiem versus Marcos Baghdatis
• Jeremy Chardy versus Denis Shapovalov
• Fernando Verdasco versus Frances Tiafoe
• Angie Kerber versus Vera Zvonareva (Kerber won in two tight sets on Day 2)
• Alize Cornet versus Dominika Cibulkova
• Shuai Peng versus Samantha Stosur
• Belina Bencic versus Caroline Garcia
• Svetlana Kuznetsova versus Barbora Strycova (Strycova won in 2 tight sets)

TENNIS TUESDAY: Coric Outplays Federer In Halle; Kvitova Wins 5th Title of 2018; Cilic Outlasts Nole On Grass; ATP #1 Flips Again; France Picks Amelie

FEDERER LOSES TO CORIC IN SEARCH OF 10TH HALLE TITLE (IN 12TH FINAL)
After saving 2 match points against an inspired Benoit Paire 2 rounds before, Roger Federer's luck finally ran out when a determined 21-year-old Borna Coric outplayed the world's best grass-court player 7-6(6) 3-6 6-2 to win his first grass-court title and notch his first win over the G.O.A.T. It was Federer's 12th final in Halle and he was seeking his 10th title there, but now he is 9-3, having lost to Corci (2018), Lleyton Hewitt (2010) and Tommy Haas (2012).

FEDERER SWAPS RANKING PLACES WITH NADAL (AGAIN)
Federer's failure to defend his 2017 Halle title means that he ends up with, 8,220 ranking points, 50 less than Rafael Nadal, so the two will swap places at the top of the ATP rankings again. his has happened several times this year already. However, unlike last year, this time as the defending champion Federer has 2000 points to defend at Wimbledon while Nadal has almost none (180) so it is likely Federer wil not be able to regain #1 until the end of the summer hard court season.

CILIC OUTLASTS DJOKOVIC TO WIN SECOND QUEEN'S CLUB TITLE
Novak Djokovic is showing vastly improved form and demonstrated this by reaching the final (and earning championship point!) against 2017 Wimbledon and 2017 Queens Club finalist Marin Cilic. Despite boasting a 14-1 record against Cilic, Djokovic lost the match by being broken (for teh first time in the tournament!) i the 3rd set and his Croat opponent was able to serve out the win 5-7 7-6(4) 6-3. Cilic clearly deserves to be near the pinnacle of the men's game, having reached two major finals in the last year. Even though Djokovic is improving, this loss shows h's not back to 100% and for the first time in over a decade, he goes an entire 12 month period without winning an ATP tour title.

KVITOVA SHOWS SHE IS IN NEAR PEAK FORM WITH FIFTH 2018 WTA TITLE
The 2014 and 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova is demonstrating her return to form with another grass court title, this time in Birmingham over her friend Magdalena Rybarikova 4-6 6-2 6-1. Kvitova leads the tour with 5 titles in 2018.

AMELIE MAURESMO NAMED CAPTAIN OF FRANCE'S DAVIS CUP TEAM
In other good news, 2-time major champion and former World #1 Amelie Mauresmo has been named the first female captain of France's Davis Cup team. Interestingly, Julien Benneteau will take over coaching France's Fed Cup team. Both appointments go into effect for the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

2018 MIAMI OPEN: Ostapenko-Stephens and Zverev-Isner Finals Predictions

The second big (non-major) event of the year is coming to and end: the Miami open. Last year Roger Federer and Johanna Konta won the tournaments. This year we will have new champions as both of these players lost relatively early, Federer to a resurgent Thanasi Kokkinakis and Konta fell to Venus Williams.

WOMEN'S FINAL

This year the women's final is between two reigning major champions : 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and 2017 US Open champ Sloane Stephens, in their first ever meeting on tour. Stephens s playing her best tennis since winning her first major title and will reach the Top 10 for the first time after beating 3-time Miami Open champion Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals. Ostapenko has backed up her shock win of her first major at the age of 20 with play that has kept her in the Top 10 even if she doesn't defend her title in Paris. Stephens has shown that her defense can outlast big hitters and she's not afraid of going for the lines herself when it matters.

MadProfessah's prediction: Stephens.

MEN'S FINAL

On the men's side, Juan Martin del Potro has been by far the hottest player on the ATP tour. He beat defending champion Roger Federer in the Indian Wells final (in a 3rd set tiebreak after saving 3 match points!) and there was talk that he might achieve a rare "Sunshine Double" by winning Miami. But, amazingly, his 15-match winning streak was stopped by none other than John Isner. Isner basically beat del Potro by serving incredibly (which is typical) but he also was aggressive from the back of the court. Isner beat 2018 Australian Open finalist Marin Cilic a few rounds before as well as 2018 Australian Open semifinalist Hyeong Chung on his way to the final. Sascha Zverev finally got past his Next Gen peers Borna Coric in the quarterfinals, Nick Kyrgios in R16 and Daniil Medvedev in the 2nd round. But what probably sparked this good run was his ability to surve a grinding tussle with David Ferrer in the 3rd round. Zverev has already won 2(!) ATP Master and is not yet 21 (in contrast Del Potro won his first ATP Masters shield in Indian Wells this year). Isner has actually done quite well in the Masters, having reached 4 finals at 4 different events. I think this is a very close match (last year the two played in Miami and Zverev won 2 of 3 tie-break sets) and generally in a pick 'em situation I go with the better athlete/mover, which in this case is the 6-foot-6 20-year-old ad not the 6-foot-9 30-year-old.

MadProfessah's prediction: Zverev.

TENNIS TUESDAY: Federer Has 1st 2018 Loss; Delpo Wins 1st Masters; Osaka Wins 1st Title, Will Face Serena 1R in Miami

OSAKA WINS NEXT GEN BATTLE WITH KASATKINA FOR INDIAN WELLS CROWN
Defying my prediction to the contrary, Naomi Osaka of Japan defeated Daria Kasatkina 6-3 6-2 to win her first WTA tour title on the big stage of the BNP Paribas Open. Both players had impressive runs to reach with final, with Osaka taking out World #1 Simona Halep, former World #1 Karolina Pliskova and 5-time major champion Maria Sharapova (in round 1!). Kasatkina took out 4 major champions in a row Venus Williams, Angelique Kerber, 2018 Aussie Open champ Caroline Wozniacki and 2017 US Open champ Sloane Stephens!

JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO WINS 1st ATP MASTER TITLE OVER FEDERER
In one of the best matches of the year, Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina demonstrated his fearlessness against Roger Federer by outlasting him 6-4 6-7(8) 7-6(2). This was the 25th match the two have played and is Delpo's 7th win, which have often come in the finals of tournaments (Delpo leads 4-2). Delpo saved an amazing 3 match points (and Federer saved 2 himself) to beat the World #1 and win his first Masters series title after playing in 4 finals (interesting he lost these finals to the other members of the big 4: Nadal, Murray and Djokovic). At 7, Delpo has more wins against World #1 players than any other player who has not become World #1 themself.

OSAKA WILL FACE SERENA WILLIAMS IN FIRST ROUND OF MIAMI OPEN
Osaka's prize for winning Indian Wells? In addition to doubling her career prize money with a $1.3 million check she was drawn to face 8-time Miami Open champion Serena Williams in the first round. Serena lost to sister Venus last week, will she now lose to Osaka this week? I think she might, but my prediction mojo has been weak recently. If she does lose, I do think it will provide excellent motivation for Serena to double her efforts to reach top shape sooner rather than later.

FEDERER LOSES 1ST MATCH OF 2018 (DESPITE HAVING MATCH POINTS)
After eking out a win against Borna Coric to reach his 17th win of 2018, Federer was not able to do so against Juan Martin del Potro despite actually playing better and having more chances to win in the final. He lost a 3rd set tiebreaker and is now a dismal 1-7 in championship-deciding tiebreaks for his career. His 5th set record is not great either. The reason for this (many believe) is that even though Federer is the greatest player of all time, he so rarely is put in positions where he has to REALLY fight in high stakes situations that he has less experience and is less suited to performing his best when it happens. Still, a 17-1 record to start 2018 must be something Federer is happy with; at age 36 he is tied with most wins on tour this year. Interestingly, Juan Martin del Potro is 17-3 for 2018 and Dominc Thiem is 17-4.

ATP RANKINGS MOVERS: DEL POTRO, ANDERSON, POUILLEFederer remains #1 despite not defending his title at Indian Wells and will need to defend his title in Miami if he is to keep the #1 ranking for the entire clay court season. Del Potro is now at World #6, Kevin Anderson is pu to World #8 and Frenchman Lucas Pouille enters the Top 10 for the first time at #10.

WTA RANKINGS MOVERS: OSTAPENKO, KASATKINA, OSAKA, VICKERY
2017 French Open champion Jelena "Alona" Ostapenko is at #5 while Kasatkina is just outside the Top 10 at #11 (career high) and Osaka cut her ranking in half to a career high of World #22. 22-year-old  African-American Sachia Vickery ousted Garbine Mugruza before losing to Osaka and is now up to World #89.

2018 INDIAN WELLS: Osaka-Kasatkina, Federer-Del Potro Finals

The finals of the 2018 Indian Wells are now set. The men's final is exactly what I predicted on Friday. Roger Federer versus Juan Martin del Potro.

This is their 25th meeting and Federer leads 18-6, although Del Potro famously defeated Federer in the 2009 U.S. Open final and also last year in the 2016 U.S. Open quarterfinal last year. However, Federer survived an amazing 3-set match with Borna Coric, coming back from losing the first set and being a break down in the second set and twice in the third set to win 5-7 6-4 6-4.

 MadProfessah's pick: Federer.

 The women's final is exactly the opposite of what I predicted would happen. This time youth was served, with 20-year-old Daria Kasatkina defeating Venus Williams in one of the most hard-fough 3-set matches of the year while fellow 20-year-old Naomi Osaka blitzed World #1 Simona Halep 6-3 6-0. Whoever wins this match will have the best result by a player born in 1997 on the WTA tour since Jelena Ostapenko won the French Open last year. The two have never played before but I think that Kastakina has shown more mental toughness although Osaka has the more powerful game.

MadProfessah's pick: Kasatkina.

2018 INDIAN WELLS: Semifinalists Set Halep-Osaka, Venus-Kasatkina; Federer-Coric, Raonic-Del Potro

The roster of  players in the men's and women's semifinals of the 2018 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells is now complete. The #1 seeds are still in the hunt on both sides of the draw.

On the men's side these are the matchups:

Roger Federer [1] versus Borna Coric
Juan Martin del Potro [6] versus Milos Raonic [32]

MadProfessah's pick: Federer and Del Potro.

On the women's side these re the matchups:

Simona Halep [1] versus Naomi Osaka
Venus Williams [8] versus Daria Kasatkina [20]

MadProfessah's pick: Halep and Venus Williams.

On my visit to Indian Wells on Wednesday I saw both women's quarterfinals featuring Halep and Osaka and was quite impressed with both players. I think Halep likes this court a bit more and this is Osaka's first time at this stage of a big tournament. Kasatkina demolished Angie Kerber on Thursday (6-0 6-2) and can give anyone fits so I would not be surprised to see her win, but after Venus beat Serena on Monday in a solid 6-4 6-3 performance I think her confidence is sky high.

INDIAN WELLS 2018: Order of Play For My Visit Today

I am going to visit Indian Wells today and will be seeing some interesting matches on Stadium 1:

• Morning Session -- 11am
• Taylor Fritz vs Borna Coric
• Simona Halep vs Petra Martic
• Roger Federer vs Jeremy Chardy
• Juan Martin del Potro vs Leonardo Mayer
  
• Evening session -- 7pm: 
• Naomi Osaka vs Karolina Pliskova
• Marcos Baghdatis vs Milos Raonic

I'll be doing updates during the day on Instagram (@ronbuckmire) and Twitter (@madprofessah).

TENNIS TUESDAY: Coric Wins 1st Title; Federer Iffy On Paris; Sharapova Returns; Schiavone!

ROGER FEDERER IS STILL UNSURE HE WILL PLAY 2017 FRENCH OPEN
After completing his 3rd sunshine double as part of a 19-1 blistering start to 2017 which has included his 18th major title in Australia and 91st tour title overall. Federer is now ranked World #4 but, conscious that he needs to nurture his body at age 35, he is skipping all the clay court warmups and may even skip the clay court major in Paris as well. He told CNN Sport that "I don't think I will skip it, but I will have to see in, say, four or five weeks how I feel when I get on the clay, how my mood is." Since he also missed the 2016 French Open, he has no points to lose, but doing well there would be a golden opportunity to pick up ranking points if he really wants to challenge for the year end #1.

MARIA SHARAPOVA RETURNS TO WTA TOUR NEXT WEEK AS 18-MONTH DOPING BAN ENDS
5-time major champion Maria Sharapova will return to the WTA Tour for the first time in nearly two years when her 18-month ban for using the banned substance meldonium for over a decade runs out on April 26th. Somewhat oddly, Sharapova was given a wild card into the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, which will be underway at that time, so she will be able to resume playing on the tour immediately, despite having literally no ranking points. She has since received wild card entries into Madrid

CORIC, 20, WINS FIRST ATP TITLE IN STYLE, SAVING 5 MP AGAINST KOHLSCHREIBER
20-year-old Borna Coric of Croatia, one of the photogenic up-and-coming #NextGen stars of the ATP won his first tour title this week in dramatic fashion, saving 5 match points  in the second set against veteran Phillipp Kohlschreiber in Marrakech. Coric was also down a break 2-4 in the deciding set, but won the match 5-7 7-6(5) 7-5.

2011 FRENCH OPEN CHAMPION FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE WINS 600TH MATCH AND FIRST TITLE IN NEARLY 2 YEARS
"Nothing is Impossible" said the t-shirts when Francesca Schiavone won her French Open title (d. Sam Stosur) in 2010 at the age of 29. The veteran is playing her last year in the tour and has been in danger of not qualifying to play her favourite tournament. However, thanks to an amazing performance in Colombia, the 36-year-old is now almost in the Top 100 (ranked #104)and should be able to get into the Roland Garros main draw. I wonder what Francesca will say if Sharapova gets a wild card into the French??

2016 DAVIS CUP: Argentina Stuns Croatia As Delpo and Delbonis Win Last 2 Matches To Clinch Nation's 1st Win

Wow! The 2016 tennis season ended with a bang on Sunday as Argentina won its very first Davis Cup (in its 5th appearance in the final) when Juan Martin Del Potro and Federico Delbonis won two must-win matches to give their country a 3-2 win in the Davis Cup final over Croatia, in Zagreb.
The day began with Del Potro coming back from 2 sets to none down for the first time in his career against World #8 Marin Cilic to win in 5 sets: 6-7(4), 2-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 in 4 hours 43 minutes. This is the third time this year Cilic has had a 2-0 set advantage in a five-set match and ended up losing it (Wimbledon quarterfinal against Roger Federer and the USA vs Croatia rubber versus Jack Sock.)

But Delbonis' feat was even more amazing. He had to win a live fifth rubber against a higher ranked opponent, playing at home. The 26-year-old lefty Argentine is ranked 41 in the world and is known as a solid clay court player but he defeated the 37-year-old 6-foot-11 Ivo Karlovic (World #20) in straight sets: 6-3 6-4 6-2. Karlovic leads the tour in aces and has the #2 best serve (behind John Isner) but it was Delbonis who never had his serve broken in the match.

Argentina was in the Davis Cup final in 1981, 2006, 2008, 2011, and 2016, finally winning it for the first time this year. Croatia won it once before in 2005. Last year Great Britain won

2016 US OPEN: Men's and Women's Draw Released and Analyzed

The 2016 US OPEN draw has been released. 2015 US Open champion Flavia Pennetta has retired so she will not be defending her title. However, defending champion Novak Djokovic is seeded #1 this year as well. The draw has been released and the potential men's quarterfinal match ups are:

• [1] Novak Djokovic versus [7] Marin Cilic
• [4] Rafael Nadal versus [5] Milos Raonic
• [3] Stan Wawrinka versus [8] Dominic Thiem 
• [2] Andy Murray versus [6] Kei Nishikori

On the Women's side, the potential women's quarterfinal matches are:

• [1] Serena Williams versus [5] Simona Halep
• [4] Agnieska Radwanska versus [6] Venus Williams
• [3] Garbine Muguruza versus [8] Madison Keys  
• [2] Angelique Kerber versus [7] Roberta Vinci

Last year at this time Serena had won the last 4 majors in a row (i.e, the Serena Slam!) and was attempting to win her 22nd major and complete the first calendar year Grand Slam since 1988. In one of the great historic upsets in sports, she lost in the semifinals to Roberta Vinci, setting up an all-Italian major final with first-time major finalists that was won by Pennetta.

As usual, there are always some exciting first round matches. Here are the notable ones to look out for this year:

• Serena Williams versus Ekaterina Makarova
• Camilla Giorgi versus Sam Stosur
• Taylor Townsend versus Caroline Wozniacki
• Yulia Putintseva versus Sabine Lisicki
• Sara Errani versus Shelby Rogers

• John Isner versus Frances Tiafoe
• Stan Wawrinka versus Fernando Verdasco
• Gael Monfils versus Gilles Muller
• Jack Sock versus Taylor Fritz
• Janko Tipsarevic versus Sam Querrey
• Fernando Lopez versus Borna Coric

I plan to attend the tournament myself next weekend!

Nadal Loses To 17-Year-Old Coric; Ends Season; Will Miss Paris and London

Well, well, well! We first mentioned 17-year-old Croatian Borna Coric's name here a few weeks ago as a potential heir to the throne of "hottest guy on ATP Tour" but I had no idea we would be discussing him again so soon. With his stunning defeat of Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals of the Swiss Indoors in Basel, Coric gave Nadal the final push out the door to end his injury-plagued season. Nadal lost 6-2 7-6(4) and then announced he had scheduled his delayed appendicitis surgery for November 3rd and would be skipping the ATP Paris Masters and the ATP World Tour Finals in London.

'It's the day to say goodbye to the season,'' Nadal said. ''It's been a very hard year for me, mentally and physically. I'm not going to play Paris and London, I'm not competitive enough for that. I need to do the surgery for my appendix and I need to work on my back.''I need five weeks of rest and I want to have one month to try to work as much as I can to be ready for 2015. The only way to work on being fit is to be healthy. I need to fix all the things in my body first.''

Although 2014 was a mediocre year overall for Nadal he still won a major (his record 9th French Open) so there's no reason to shed any tears for him! Nadal's departure from the tour should turn the focus on the battle between father of four Roger Federer and brand-new dad Novak Djokovic for the year-end #1 ranking. If Federer beats David Goffin tomorrow in the finals of Basel he will be a mere 500 points behind the World #1 as they both play the Paris and London tournaments.  Nadal's departure also means that it is more likely Andy Murray will qualify for the big show in London, and possible re-enter the conversation at the top of men's tennis.

Things could get interesting down the final stretch of the tennis season!

TENNIS TUESDAY: Resurgent Federer Reclaims World #2 Ranking; Post-Williams Era Beginning?

Federer Returns To World #2 And Aims Higher
After winning his fourth title of 2014 at the Shanghai Masters, Roger Federer is making an improbable run for the ATP Tour World #1 ranking by returning to #2 and is now only 990 points behind Novak Djokovic for year-to-date points, with the World #1 having to defend a whole bunch more points than Federer does in the final stretch of the year. With Rafael Nadal contending with appendicitis for the rest of the season, it should make life that much easier for the 17-time major champion to reach the World #1 ranking again, which he has already held for a record 302 weeks.

Has The Post-Williams Era Of American Tennis Begun?
Since Melanie Oudin won a title in 2012 the only American players who had won titles on the WTA Tour have been named Williams until this year when Madison Keys won her first title in Eastbourne (on grass). American Ali Riske won her first title at the Tianjin Open this weekend and earlier this summer Coco Vandeweghe also won her first title. Is this what the post-Williams era will look like?

Serena Reaches 210 Weeks At #1, Surpasses Hingis, Now #4 Behind Graf, Navratilova, Evert
Not so fast to dismiss the William sisters! The current World #1 has now been in that spot for 87 consecutive weeks, racking up 210 career weeks at #1, and this means that she has surpassed Martin Hingis. She is now (only!) 50 weeks behind Chris Evert's 260 weeks.

Could Sharapova Be The Next World #1?
Interestingly, Serena's arch-nemesis Maria Sharapova who has not been able beat her for over a decade (and 15 tries) may actually end the year at #1 if (as expected) Serena does not play the WTA Year-End Championships in Singapore starting next weekend. Serena is the defending champion but because she is only 566 points ahead of Sharapova for the year-to-date if she loses all those points all Sharapova would have to do is reach the semifinals and she would clinch the year-end #1. It's interesting that both Federer and Sharapova are in similar positions at #2 challenging for the World #1 at the end of the year. I'm sure that for Serena staying healthy enough to win Slam #19 is more important than the Year-End #1.

There's Always Someone Younger and Hotter
Looks like Grigor Dimitrov's days as the hottest player on tour (figuratively and literally) may be numbered. Check out this picture of 17-year-old Borna Coric on the cover of Croatia's Men's Health.