Tennis Tuesday (reprise): David Nalbandian Retires

In other tennis news, longtime player David Nalbandian announced his retirement from tennis today. The Australian Argentinian reached a career high ATP ranking of #3 in 2006 and appeared in the 2001 Wimbledon final and three major semifinals (2006 Australian Open, 2002 French Open and 2003 US Open), reflecting his all-court game.

Nalbandian cited a shoulder injury as the cause of his decision. "I can play matches, but my shoulder won't let me continue my career," he shared with the media in Buenos Aires. "I can't play like that at a [professional] level. 

"It's tough because I have to announce my retirement from the sport that gave me so much. I'm very grateful." 

Nalbandian beat Roger Federer in a fifth-set tie-break to hoist the Tennis Masters Cup trophy in 2005. 

In 2007, he captured back-to-back ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophies in Madrid and Paris. Nalbandian defeated both Federer and Rafael Nadal at each event en route to the title.

Nalbandian also took Argentina to the Davis Cup finals three times, but they were never able to win the final tie.

Farewell, to David, we will miss you!

Hat/tip to reader Delmar!

2012 Wimbledon Day 1: Berdych(6),Isner(11) Upset

AP

Day 1 of the 2012 Wimbledon Championships was dominated by the not-very-shocking defeat of 5-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in the first round. However, Venus was not seeded, although she was expected to win. The biggest upset of the day was the surprising loss of 2010 Wimbledon finalist and #6 seed Tomas Berdych in 3 tiebreak sets to Ernests Gulbis.

The other big upset was Big John Isner, the #11 seed, going down in 5-sets (6-4 6-7(7) 3-6 7-6(7) 7-5) to Argentinian Colombian Alejandro Falla who two years ago when Isner was playing his seemingly interminable match against Nicolas Mahut served for the match against 6-time defending Wimbledon champion Roger Federer.

Other winners on Day 1 were Kim Clijsters playing in her final Wimbledon taking out former World #1 Jelena Jankovic(18), World #1 Maria Sharapova, World #3 Aggie Radwanska, World #5 Samantha Stosur and World #8 Angelique Kerber  all won their first round matches. Seeded losers were Flavia Penneta(16) and Daniela Hantuchova(27).

On the men's side World #1 Novak Djokovic, World #3 Roger Federer, World #8 Janko Tipsarevic (who surprisingly took out 2002 Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian), Gilles Simon(13), Juan Monaco(15), Fernando Verdasco(17), and Richard Gasquet(18) allwon their first round match with Berdych, Isner and Andreas Seppi(23) losing.

INDIAN WELLS '12: Federer-Nadal XXVIII, Nole-Isner

John Isner celebrates his 6-3 1-6 7-5 win over Gilles Simon to reach
 the semifinals of the hard court ATP Masters Series tournament
 in Indian Wells and face World #1 Novak Djokovic 

The semifinals of the first hard court ATP Masters Series tournament of the year are set, and they include the usual suspects: the World's Top 3 players in the world Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer (who have a jaw-dropping 31 Grand Slam singles titles between them) and a curious interloper: World #11, 6'10" American John Isner.

Isner takes the 4th semifinal spot usually occupied by World #4 Andy Murray, who lost his first match here against a very in-form Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Isner will enter the Top 10 in the World if he wins his semifinal match, but he faces World #1, 5-time major champion and 2011 Indian Wells defending champion Novak Djokovic. Isner has never beaten Djokovic in his career, although the two have only played twice, in 2010. Even though Isner is a much better player now, so is Djokovic, and he should prevail to defend his title on Sunday.

Federer-Nadal XVIII is not as highly anticipated this time because the two great players have already met this year (in the semifinals of the 2012 Australian Open) and the career head-to-head is so slanted towards Nadal (18-9), although the hard-court head-to-head record is now dead even at 5-5, thanks to Nadal's wins last year at the 2011 Miami Masters and the 2012 Australian Open. In indoor hard courts Federer leads 4-0 but Nadal leads 5-1 in outdoor hard courts. Federer has looked slightly off his game, possibly ill from the dreaded stomach virus which has claimed many victims (Gael Monfils, Francesca Schiavone, Mike Bryan, and many others) at this year's tournament. However, he played excellent tennis to dispatch Juan Martin del Potro 6-3 6-2 for the fourth time in 2012.

Nadal is playing at a very high level this week, eager to get his chance to contest his 8th consecutive final against Djokovic (0-7!) and has reached the doubles final with compatriot Marc Lopez (where he will face Isner and Sam Querrey). In his quarterfinal match, Nadal was two points from defeat against a resurgent David Nalbandian, who demonstrated once again that he has one of the best backhands in the game but ultimately succumbed 4-6 7-5 6-4 in one of the best matches of the year so far. The match-up on an outdoor hardcourt is simply a very bad one for Federer unless he is playing his very best tennis, so I suspect we will see more of what we have seen before, Nadal beating Federer in the semifinal, and then losing to Djokovic in the final.

MadProfessah's prediction: Djokovic-Nadal final.

Nadal Leads Spain To 2011 Davis Cup Victory

From left to right: Fernando Verdasco, Feliciano Lopez, David Ferrer, Rafael Nadal,
Marcos Granollers and Spain's Davis Cup Captain Albert Costa. (AFP Photo/Cristina Quicler)

Yesterday World #2 Rafael Nadal powered his country of Spain to a 3-1 win in the Davis Cup final for the third time in his career, 5th time overall for Spain. Nadal whipped Juan Monaco on Argentina 6-1 6-1 6-2 and then came back from a set down to close out the tie by defeating Juan Martin del Potro 1-6 6-4 6-1 7-6(0) on clay in Seville, Spain. World #5 David Ferrer also contributed to his country's victory by outlasting del Potro in a gruelling 6-2, 6-7(2), 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 five-set win.

Nadal had helped Spain win the 2004 Davis Cup over the United States in 2004 (as a teenager) and in 2008 over Argentina. Argentina becomes the first country to reach the final tie four times without a victory. The 6-time Roland Garros champion is not known as "The King of Clay" for nothing; despite suffering his most lopsided loss of a set on the surface in years, Nadal was able to devise a solution to the hard-hitting, 6'6" Argentinian and maintain his incredible record of only 7 clay court losses in professional play in his career. Beating Spain on clay, with Nadal, Ferrer, Verdasco, Lopez and the rest of "the Spanish Armada" is an almost impossible proposition for any country, as Spain proved once again on Sunday. Their only loss of a point in the match-up with Argentina was when David Nalbandian and Eduardo Schwank were able to defeat the doubles team of Lopez and Verdasco (hubba hubba!)

WIMBLEDON 2011: Li Upset, Serena Survives, Raja Cruises

Sabine Lisicki celebrates her 3-6 6-4 8-6 victory over
 2011 French Open champ Li Na at Wimbledon 2nd Round
(photo credit: LEON NEAL)

Day 4 of Wimbledon's highlights was the upset defeat of #3 seed Li Na by German 21-year-old Sabine Lisicki in a tough, hard-hitting match 3-6 6-4 8-6.  Li had two match points on Lisicki's serve at 4-5 in the third set which were erased by four ridiculously huge serves over 120mph in a row, half of which were aces. Lisicki had Serena-like numbers on her serve, ending with 17 aces for the match.

The other stand-out match of  the day was the showdown between Lleyton Hewitt and Robin Soderling. The 2002 Wimbledon champion and former World #1 from Australia outplayed the current World #5 from Sweden for the first two and a half sets but succumbed in a thrilling 6-7(5) 3-6 7-5 6-4 6-4 instant classic lasting nearly 4 hours.

Speaking of Serena, she was outplayed for an entire set by Romanian teenager Simona Halep. The youngster's level dropped and Serena's level elevated midway in the second set and she basically ran away with the third set to win the match 3-6 6-2 6-1.

Other winners on Day 4 were Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Juan Martin del Potro and Nicolas Almagro. Almagro took out John Isner in the second round after the American had made quick work of his 2010 (and 2011) 1st round opponent Nicolas Mahut. Federer is yet to lose a set, but will face his one-time nemesis (and 2002 Wimbledon finalist) David Nalbandian in the third round.

On the women's side Francesca Schiavone, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova, Ana Ivanovic and Julia Georges with Seed #14 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Seed #13 Agnieska Radwanska losing.

Djokovic Beats Nadal To Win Indian Wells; Woz Wins

World #2 Novak Djokovic of Serbia poses with his BNP Paribas Open trophy (AFP/Gabriel Bouys)

Novak Djokovic continued his unprecedented start to 2011 by notching his 18th consecutive match win and 3rd consecutive tournament title. Djokovic, 23, defeated World #1 Rafael Nadal 4-6 6-3 6-2 for the first time in a ATP Tour final, one day after outlasting an error-prone Roger Federer 6-3 3-6 6-2. The Serbian is clearly the hottest player on tour, and becomes only the third player to have beaten Federer and Nadal in the same tournament twice, joining Nikolay Davydenko and David Nalbandian.

The BNP Paribas Open title was Djokovic's 21st ATP Tour title, his second at Indian Wells, following his previous win in 2008 and avenging his 2007 loss in the final to Nadal. It was his 6th ATP Masters Series title.

On the Women's side, World #1 Caroline Wozniacki beat Marion Bartoli 6-1 2-6 6-3. The Frenchwoman will return to the Top 10 when the new rankings are released on Monday.

Federer v Djokovic, Nadal v Murray Semifinals in Toronto

Today there's a dream line up of semifinals at the Rogers Cup in Toronto; World #1 Rafael Nadal plays World #4 Andy Murray and Roger Federer plays World #2 Novak Djokovic.

Federer came back from down 2-5 in the third set to even the match and defeat Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych 6-3 5-7 7-6(5) on his very first match point, despite being 2 points away multiple times from his third consecutive loss to the hard-hitting Czech for the year. Murray has to reach the final in order to maintain his #4 ranking over Robin Soderling, who was taken out earlier by a resurgent David Nalbandian.

US OPEN 2009: Del Potro Wins 1st Major Title

20-year-old Argentine Juan Martin del Potro outlasted 15-time major champion, 28-year-old Roger Federer 3-6, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 in a 4 hour, 6 minute marathon to win his first major title and prevent the Swiss great from winning his 6th consecutive US Open title.

Del Potro became the first person to win a major by beating Federer and Nadal at a major tournament. In the semifinals, del Potro handed the Spaniard his worst loss in a major, allowing Nadal a mere 6 games in 3 sets. The Argentine also became the first person in Federer's 21 grand slam major finals to beat Federer other than Nadal (who has done it 5 times out of 7).

Federer was definitely not playing his best tennis, not serving particularly well, finishing with only 13 aces and 11 double faults over 5 sets, a far cry from the 50 aces Federer served in his thrilling 5-set Wimbledon win over Andy Roddick earlier in the summer.
Federer finished with 56 winners to 62 errors (-6) compared to del Potro's 57 winners to 60 errors (-3). Federer was attempting to extend a 40-match winning streak in New York, his last loss coming to another Argentine, David Nalbandian, in 2003. However, despite being ahead in both the second and fourth set, Federer managed to lose them both in tiebreaks and eventually lost the match and his title to the 6'6" 182 pound youngster from Tandil, Argentina.

Tsonga Defeats Nallbandian For Paris Masters Title

23-year-old Black Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated defending Champion David Nalbandian of Argentina 6-3 4-6 6-4 in a tight final of the Paris ATP Masters Series tournament, clinching the final slot in the 8-man ATP Tour championships in Shanghai starting next Sunday. This was Tsonga's first ATP Masters Series final and he won it in the same year he lost his first major final at the Australian Open in Melbourne to Novak Djokovic. Since then, Tsonga has beaten Djokovic twice this year, including at this tournament. He also had to beat Andy Roddick and James Blake before dispatching the defending champion to become the first Frenchman to win this Masters series tournament since Sebastien Grosjean in 2001.

Federer, Nadal Withdraw; Tsonga, Nalbandian in Paris Masters Final

David Nalbandian

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

At the Paris ATP Masters tournament top seeds Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer withdrew with injuries before their quarterfinal matchups with James Blake and Nikolay Davydenko, who both lost their semifinal matches to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and David Nalbandian. Federer's injury was a bad back, and Nadal was "sharp pain" in his knee. Nalbandian is the defending champion, and Tsonga, this year's Australian Open finalist, is in his first ATP Masters Series final, which happens to be in his hometown of Bercy, France. Tsonga took three hours to defeat Andy Roddick in his quarterfinal match 5-7 6-4 7-6(5) on Thursday. By defeating Blake, Tsonga dashed the American's chances of qualifying for the year-end tour championships in Shanghai in two weeks. Whoever wins the final on Saturday will clinch the eighth slot. The other qualifiers are:

1. Rafael Nadal
2. Roger Federer
3. Novak Djokovic
4. Andy Murray
5. Nikolay Davydenko
6. Andy Roddick
7. Juan Martin del Potro

Go Tsonga!

Federer Beats Nalbandian For 3rd Swiss Open Title

World #2 Roger Federer defeated Argentinian David Nalbandian 6-3 6-4 to win his 3rd consecutive title in Basel, Switzerland, the 13-time Grand Slam champion's home town. Federer improved to 10 wins, 8 losses against his arch nemesis from juniors and won his 57th ATO Tour title overall.

After the match, Federer did not say whether he would be playing the Paris Masters, which starts on Monday and his agent announced that Federer would not be playing any exhibitions in 2009 as he concentrates on reaching (and breaking) Pete Sampras' all-time record of 14 Grand Slam singles titles.

US OPEN 2008: Men's Top 10 Preview

Yesterday I posted my predictions for the Top 10 Women players at the 2008 US Open. Today is my prediction for the Top 10 Men.

1. Rafael Nadal, Spain. The new #1 player in the world comes into the final Grand Slam of the year having one of the all-time best years on tour, having won three ATP Masters Series titles, the French Open, Wimbledon and an Olympic Gold medal (singles). Nadal has a pretty good draw (except for a possible 4th Round match-up with Ivo Karlovic) and is clearly playing with confidence since he has only lost one match in a Grand Slam tournament all year long (to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Australian Open semifinals). Nadal has historically underperformed in New York, having lost in the quarterfinals the last two years. This year as long as he can get past Karlovic, James Blake and Andy Murray he should make his first US Open final. PREDICTION: Finalist.
2. Roger Federer, Switzerland. The once and future #1 player in the world has been having an incredibly disappointing year (for him) despite having been in two Grand Slam finals and winning an Olympic Gold medal (doubles). For the first time, since 2003 he has arrived in New York not as the #1 seed and this time he has Novak Djokovic in his half of the draw. Despite having won this tournament for the past four year in a row, he can not be considered the favorite, considering his performance this year and his difficult draw. (Radek Stepanek could be problematic in the early rounds.) I believe the tournament will be decided in the semifinal clash between Federer and Djokovic on Saturday September 6th and until we see how the Serbian and Swiss are playing in New York it's difficult to predict the winner of that showdown. PREDICTION: Semifinalist or Champion.
3. Novak Djokovic, Serbia. The third member of the triumvirate at the head of men's tennis is the only other player besides Nadal and Federer to have won a major title since May 2005. Although he lost (in a 3-set match) to Nadal in Beijing, I believe that if Djokovic or Federer gets to the final, they will be able to figure out a way to win. Really, Djokovic should have won the title last year, it was only through a series of unlucky breaks that he was down two sets instead of up two sets in his final against Federer, which ended soon afterwards. This year Djokovic has played some excellent matches against Nadal, losing a very close final at Queens and having his revenge in the Cincinnati semis. It is true Djokovic beat Federer at the Australian Open but we know now that was not Federer at his best although with his confidence shaken I think the Federer-Djokovic semifinal is currently too close to call, but I am confident that person will be the 2008 US Open Champion. PREDICTION: Semifinalist or Champion.
4. David Ferrer, Spain. Got to the semis last year by defeating a hobbled Nadal. Doubtful the incredibly fit Spaniard will be able to repeat that feat this year if he faces a much improved Andy Murray in the quarters. PREDICTION: Quarterfinalist.
5. Nikolay Davydenko, Russia. The Russian is in a weak part of the draw but it doesn't take much to defeat him on hardcourts. It's doubtful he will be around long enough for a quarterfinal match-up with Federer--unfortunately for Federer. Possible replacements are Dmitry Tursunov, Jarko Tipsarevic and Richard Gasquet (or Tommy Haas). PREDICTION: 3rd Round.
6. Andy Murray, Great Britain. I think this US Open is a great opportunity for Murray to show that his first ATP Masters Series title (in Cincinatti over Djokovic) was no fluke and that he is coming into his own a bit later after his contemporaries Novak Djokovic and Gael Monfils have made large noises at major tournaments. Murray wants to do more than make a large noise, he wants to win and some people think he can. I would be surprised to NOT see him deep into the second week. PREDICTION: Semifinalist.
7. David Nalbandian, Argentina. Oh, what can you say about an hombre like David? He's in Nadal's quarter but I'd be shocked if he gets through the gauntlet of Monfils, Paul-Henri Mathieu and James Blake. He is still one of the great ball-strikers in the game with impeccable timing, however his fitness (both mental and physical) are always annotated with a question mark. PREDICTION: 3rd or 4th Round.
8. Andy Roddick, U.S. Roddick is in Djokovic's quarter and Federer's semi. If (and its a big if!) he gets through some tricky first round matches (Fabrice Santoro, Ernest Gulbis and Andreas Seppi) he might make it to a quarterfinal blowout by Djokovic. But I doubt it. And so does he, and that's the problem. PREDICTION: Quarterfinalist.
9. James Blake, U.S. Blake finally got another monkey off his back by defeating Federer in Beijing on a(nother) bad day for Federer. Has the skills and weapons to beat anyone else in the Top 10 on the right day, hopefully (for him) that could happen in a quarterfinal against Nadal but he'll have to go through another American player in Mardy Fish as well another Black player in Gael Monfils. PREDICTION: Quarterfinalist.
10. Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland. The other Top 10 player from Switzerland (and lympic Gold Medalist in doubles) is in the Ferrer/Murray quarter and will probably not prevent that match-up from occurring. If Murray loses early Wawrinka could be a shock semifinalist by beating Ferrer in the quarters. Yeah, right. PREDICTION: 4th Round.

WIMBLEDON 2008: Men's Top 10 Preview

The 2008 Wimbledon Championships begin on Sunday. The following preview was begun before the draw was released, but updated afterwards.

1. Roger FEDERER (SUI). The 5-time Wimbledon champion has had a horrible 2008 (for him), coming into The Championships for the first time since 2003 without having won either a major or ATP Masters Series title. In addition, the last Grand Slam match he played, at the Roland Garros final a scant few weeks ago, the World #1 suffered his worst defeat ever, losing 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 to his arch-nemesis and World #2 Rafael Nadal. All of these factors multiply to increase the odds against Federer winning his sixth consecutive Wimbledon title. However, he has won 59 grass court matches in a row, and if there is any court in the world where he can still impose his will by sheer determination, it is Centre Court at Wimbledon--but this time he will have the person who took him out of the 2008 Australian Open in his half of the draw, Novak Djokovic. I think Roger will appreciate the opportunity for revenge. PREDICTION: Champion.




2. Rafael NADAL (ESP). The 4-time consecutive French Open champion has also managed to be in the Wimbledon final for the last two years and in 2007 was a point or two from an unassailable lead in the 5th set. Miraculously, Federer was able to escape to win the title. In the year since that unlucky defeat Nadal has improved his game by quantum levels: his two-handed backhand is now a dangerous weapon, his serve which was previously merely effective is now occasionally lethal and his confidence is at near stratospheric levels. He really believes that he can beat anyone on any surface at any time. At Queen's Club he proved that he could beat the #4 and #3 best grass court players in the world (Roddick and Djokovic). Whether this can be repeated at Wimbledon will be revealed in the next fortnight. PREDICTION: Finalist.



3. Novak DJOKOVIC (SRB). For most of this year, Djokovic has been considered the hottest player on tour having won the 2008 Australian Open title and two ATP Masters Series titles (Indian Wells and Rome). There was much discussion that the ever decreasing gap between the World #3 and the World #2--until the clay court season. Nadal has now defeated Djokovic relatively easily in three consecutive matches and the two have played an astonishing 11 times in the last year with Nadal winning 8 of their showdowns including every Grand Slam match The only way the two will meet at Wimbledon is in the Men's Final which would be a repeat of the Queen's final which was won by Nadal. PREDICTION: Semi-finalist.



4. Nikolay DAVYDENKO (RUS). The hapless Russian finally broke through at "the fifth Slam" this year to capture his second ATP Masters series title in Miami. However he has never been able to get past the semifinal round of any major--it's highly unlikely that will change at Wimbledon. PREDICTION: Early round loss.



5. David FERRER (ESP). Although there are now two Spaniards in the Top 5 players in the world, only one of them really has a chance to win the tournament. David Ferrer is not that Spaniard. PREDICTION: At best Quarter-finalist.
   


6. Andy RODDICK (USA). The 2-time Wimbledon finalist has the game to win the title this year, but does he have the belief? The resurgent Nadal took out the American at Queen's, where Roddick had previously won the title 4 times before. And Djokovic has the weapons and tennis acumen to take out the American's more rounded game. If Roger Federer did not exist Roddick would probably have 5 Grand Slam titles (3 Wimbledons and 2 US Opens) instead of the sole 2003 US Open title. Unfortunately for Roddick, Federer does exist but fortunately they are in opposite sections of the draw thus year. PREDICTION: At least Semi-finalist.



7. David NALBANDIAN (ARG). A surprising Wimbledon finalist (losing to Lleyton Hewitt in 2002) at age 20 a year ahead of his arch-rival Roger Federer, the hard hitting Argentine with impeccable timing and questionable stamina has long been a thorn in the side of the winner of every Wimbledon Men's singles title since 2003. Last year Nalbandian evened out their head-to-head rivalry by winning two consecutive matches on hard courts on his way to winning consecutive ATP Masters Series tournamenys in Madrid and Paris. Unfortunately, Nalbandian has not been able to find his late 2007 form this year and it is unlikely that he will make a mark on the 2008 Championships. PREDICTION: 4th Round Loss.
   
   
8. Richard GASQUET (FRA). Last year's surprising Wimbledon semi-finalist (by defeating Roddick in a garish display of over 90 winners) has not been making much of a splash on the ATP Tour or in the major tournaments since then. Although perhaps it was the Frenchman's breakthrough that spurred his countrymen Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils to great success in the first two major tournaments of 2008. However, since his pitiful performance in Davis Cup against the U.S. this spring "Richie Red Shoes" has been worse than pitiful, he has been absent. PREDICTION: Early Round Loss.



9. James BLAKE (USA). The second best American player has long been in the shadow of his lightning-serving compatriot but has managed to follow up his breakthrough year in 2006 to maintain his berth in the Top 10 for nearly two years. Unfortunately he has not been able to bring his best tennis to the majors so far (except at his hometown Grand Slam in New York City). He definitely has the game and the physical athleticism to do well on grass. Tough break being in Roddick's quarter of the draw. PREDICTION: 4th Round Loss.



10. Marcos BAGHDATIS (CYP). Being a finalist at the 2006 Australian Open has been a career highlight so far for the flashy Cypriot who has repeatedly been involved in some of the best matches in Grand Slam tournaments (v. Hewitt in Australia this year, v. Djokovic at Wimbledon in 2007 and v. Agassi at U.S. Open in 2006) but rarely actually winning these thrillers. Hopefully he will bring his brilliant game and desire-to-win to Wimbledon and perhaps this time he'll win a repeat thriller against Djokovic in the quarterfinal, although a possible 4th round match against Nalbandian could have even more fireworks. PREDICTION: Quarter-finalist.

Federer Wins 4th Masters Cup Final and $10M for 2007

World #1 and future Greatest Of All Time Roger Federer of Switzerland defeated David Ferrer of Spain 6-2 6-3 6-2 to win his 4th year end championship. Yesterday, Federer dismantled his arch nemesis Rafael Nadal of Spain 6-4 6-1 in a semifinal match that was pretty even up until the 9th game but all Federer after that. Federer improved his lifetime head-to-head against Nadal to 6-8 (with Nadal having 6 wins on clay) with 3 wins to 2 losses in 2007. Against Ferrer, he improved his lifetime to 8-0. Federer also won the year end championships in 2003, 2004, and 2006 and lost a close 5-set match against his other arch-nemesis David Nalbandian in 2005. Only Pete Sampras has more, with 6.

By winning the year end championships, Federer won $1.2 million and a $1.5 million year end Masters Series bonus for winning the Hamburg, Cincinnati and Shanghai Masters Series events, the most on tour this year. Federer becomes the first player to win 10 million dollars in a calendar year. However, he doesn't have something that David Ferrer has:


(Hat/tip to Craig Hickman for the picture of David Ferrer's torso, above.)

Nalbandian Repeats Crush Of Nadal; Wins Paris

Here's looking at you, Roger!

World #25 (!) David Nalbandian of Argentina followed up his second consecutive defeat of World #1 Rofer Federer of Switzerland in two weeks with a second drubbing of World #2 Rafael Nadal of Spain in the final of the BNP Paribas Paris Masters by winning 6-4, 6-0. Last week, Nadal only won 3 games against Nalbandian. Nalbandian wins his second ATP Master Series shield of his career. He becomes the first player since Marat Safin to win the Madrid-Paris double. It should be noted that Safin went on to win the very next Grand Slam championship, the 2005 Australian Open by beating Federer in a 5-set semifinal despite being match point down. That was the last major championship not won by either Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal, who David Nalbandian has just shown he can dismiss at will. Tennis just got a lot more interesting!

Nalbandian Defeats Federer For Second Time In A Row

David Nalbandian defeated Roger Federer at the BNP Paribas Paris Masters tournament 6-3, 7-6(3) for the second time in as many meetings, bringing their career head-to-head to 8 wins apiece.

Craig Hickman (blogging from The Netherlands) has more details on that and the other major tennis story of the day...

Nalbandian Defeats Federer To Win Madrid AMS title

David Nalbandian of Argentina came back from a set down to defeat World #1 Roger Federer 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 to with ATP Master Series title in Madrid, denying the Swiss star his career 15th AMS shield. It was Nalbandian's 6th career title.

Craig Hickman has more photos.