2019 FRENCH OPEN: Nadal Wins 18th Major, Record 12th(!) Roland Garros Title

As I predicted, Rafael Nadal won his 12th Roland Garros title on Sunday, defeating Dominc Thiem for the second year in a row  6-3 5-7 6-1 6-1. The King of Clay is now 93-2 on the clay courts in Paris, having only ever lost to Novak Djokovic (2015) and Robin Soderling (2009).

The win brings Nadal, 33, to 18 major singles title, just 2 behind Roger Federer, 37 and 3 ahead of Djokovic's 15. Djokovic still is the World #1, but Nadal has reached two major finals this year and won one of them. Djokovic has the maximum number of points to defend at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open while Nadal has semifinals points to defend in both (Wimbledon l. Djokovic, US Open l. Juan Martin del Potro). To me there's no question that Nadal is the greatest of all time on clay, but I think the question of who is the greatest tennis player of all time it's still too early too tell, but currently Federer occupies that spot with his astonishing 20 major singles title. Amazingly, Nadal's 12 titles at Roland Garros is more major titles than Rod Laver, John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, Andre Agassi, Stefan Edberg and many other great players earned in their entire career. Only 4 players, (Don Budge, Pete Sampras, Djokovic and Federer) have won more majors than Nadal has won French Open titles. To me, Nadal's extreme dominance in one area is a counter-argument to his claim to greatness because he has only won3 US Opens, 1 Australian Open and 2 Wimbledons, which are not really "notable achievements" taken together. Regardless, the conversation and arguments will continue until all 3 retire, which hopefully will not be for quite awhile!

2016 FRENCH OPEN: 9-time Champion Rafa Nadal Withdraws With Left-Wrist Injury

14-time major champion Rafael Nadal is used to celebrating his birthday during Roland Garros, the major title that he has won a record 9 times. He was hoping to win the tournament a record 9-times and had won his first two rounds quite easily. However, when Nadal turns 30 next Friday, it looks like he will be celebrating this landmark at home, because he withdrew from Roland Garros today, citing a left-wrist injury.

He won his 200th grand slam match on Thursday and now sports an impressive 200-30 career record at major tournaments,

"This is one of the toughest press conferences of my career," Nadal continued, admitting he was playing through the pain barrier. "If it wasn't Roland-Garros, I probably wouldn't have taken the risks. It's the most important event of the year for me.
"We took the risks yesterday. To have won the tournament I would have had to play five more matches and the doctor told me that was 100 per cent impossible.
Nadal, wearing a wrist brace, said the injury first flared up during his quarter-final match in Madrid against Joao Sousa earlier this month, after which he underwent treatment in Barcelona before heading to Rome, where he lost in the quarter-finals to Novak Djokovic.
Having played on anti-inflammatories in Italy, Nadal said the pain began to return prior to his departure for Paris.
"When I arrived here, every day is worse," Nadal said. "I cannot play with my forehand. That's the real thing."
By withdrawing from Roland-Garros, Nadal hopes to avoid surgery to his wrist.
"For the moment I need a couple of weeks with the immobilisation. Then we're going to do the treatment, and we hope the treatment works well. We expect to recover quick, to be ready for Wimbledon. But at this moment, you know, it's not a moment to talk about that."
"I feel myself with the right motivation and the right energy to be back at Roland Garros the next couple of years," he added. "It’s a tournament that I love so much."

Read more at http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/news/articles/2016-05-27/rafael_nadal_withdraws_from_rolandgarros.html#BJAmlEpD26XSEMFb.99

He played his second-round match Thursday after getting an injection to numb his wrist. But he said that he began ''to feel more and more pain'' overnight and could not move his wrist much Friday morning, so went for an MRI exam.''The results,'' he said, ''are not positive.''Nadal added that he can no longer practice and wouldn't have been able to finish the tournament.''I cannot play with my forehand,'' Nadal said, referring to his best shot, a spin-laden uppercut.He said there is inflammation in the tendon sheath in his wrist and was told that there is no way he could be given five more painkilling injections - one before each possible match, were he to make it all the way to the final - over the next 10 days.

Only two players have ever beaten Rafa at Roland Garros, Novak Djokovic and Robin Soderling but it looks like a 3rd, more formidable opponent is going to also claim a victory: Father Time!

A major without both Rafaen Nadal and Roger Federer? I guess we better start getting used to it sooner rather than later...

2015 FRENCH OPEN: Stan Wawrinka Wins 2nd Major, Denies Djokovic Career Slam

Defying expectations, Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland outplayed World #1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the finals of the French Open on Sunday, winning 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-4. Wawrinka, 30, becomes the first former Boys Champion of Roland Garros to win the title. Wawrinka upended a 3-17 deficit in meetings with Djokovic to win this most important match and is now 2-0 in major finals while Djokovic falls to 8-8 and his long wait to complete the career grand slam continues.

Amazingly, for the second time in seven years, the person who beat the King of Clay Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros did not win the tournament. Robin Soderling beat Nadal in 2009 but Roger Federer won the title and this year Djokovic beat Nadal in the quarterfinals relatively easily but ended up losing to Wawrinka!

2015 FRENCH OPEN: Djokovic Ends Nadal's Streak With Dominating Win

As I predicted, Novak Djokovic extended his winning streak to 27 matches in a row by defeating the 9-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals of the 2015 Roland Garros tournament. Djokovic raced out to a 4-0 lead in the first set but did not panic when Nadal stormed back and leveled things at 4-all, sneaking away with the set 7-5 and then went on to wi the next two sets by ever increasing margins 6-3 and then 6-1. Djokovic's win means he has brought his head-to-head record against Nadal to 21 wins to 23 losses.

It was the first time Nadal had ever been down 2-0 in a 5-set match despite playing 95 of them and sporting a 94-1 record. Obviously it is also the first time that he has lost a 5-set match on clay in straight sets. Now his record is 94-2. He is 70-2 lifetime at Roland Garros, with his only other loss coming in the fourth round of the 2009 French Open to Robin Soderling.

Djokovic is now two matches away from completing the career Grand Slam, which would also be his 9th major title. In the biggest tournaments on the tour, Djokovic has won every single one he has played in 2015 (4 Masters Series 1000 tournaments and the 2015 Australian Open).

TENNIS TUESDAY: Francis Tiafoe, 15, Wins 2013 Orange Bowl

Francis Tiafoe, a 15-year-old African American who last year was the subject of a front page New York Times profile, won the 2013 Orange Bowl Boys' 18 and Under Singles title this weekend. Tiafoe defeated another American, Stefan Kozlov (who is also 15), in the championship match 7-6(3) 0-6 6-3. By winning, Tiafoe became the youngest 18-and-Under Boys Singles champion of the Dunlop Orange Bowl, the most prestigious junior tournament in the world. Previous winners of this title include Jim Courier (1987), Roger Federer (1998), Andy Roddick (1999), Robin Soderling (2001), and Marcos Baghdatis (2003). However, there are also many previous winners of the 67-year-old tournament who never went on to win a professional tennis tournament.

The all-American final of the Orange Bowl was the first time since 2004, when Timothy Neilly (who??) won the title.

Could Tiafoe become the future face of American men's tennis? I should note that Donald Young won the Under-16 Orange Bowl title in 2003.

Interestingly, Francis has a twin brother named Franklin who also plays tennis. The family lives in College Park, Maryland.

2013 FRENCH OPEN: Rafa Wins Record 8th Title; 12th Major

As expected,  Rafael Nadal won his 8th French Open title at Roland Garros, beating David Ferrer 6-3 6-2 6-3 to win his 12th career major. Amazingly, since Nadal is repeating as champion he is not gaining any ATP points so he will actually lose the World #4 ranking to Ferrer when the new rankings come out on Monday.

Nadal has played 60 matches in his career at Roland Garros and won 59 of them (the sole loss to Robin Soderling in 2009), claiming 8 titles. No male player has ever won 8 titles at one of the major championships. Roger Federer has played in 8 Wimbledon finals but he has 7 titles, losing the 2008 men's final to Nadal in what some people call the greatest match of all time (and definitely the greatest match on grass). Nadal was also part of the greatest match at the Australian Open, last year's final win by Djokovic which lasted nearly 6 hours.

Speaking of incredible matches, John McEnroe and other commentators are already calling Friday's semifinal match between Nadal and Novak Djokovic won in 4 hours and 37 minutes by Nadal "the best clay court match of all time."

The result in today's final match was never really in doubt. This year I correctly predicted both finals, 0 of 2 men's semifinal matches and 3 of 4 men's quarterfinal matches. On the women's side I correctly predicted 2 of 2 semifinals and 3 of 4 quarterfinals.

The next major (Wimbledon) starts on Monday June 24th. Nadal did not play any tennis after losing in the 2nd round there last year so he has a very good chance of ending the year as #1 unless Djokovic has a stronger year in the last two majors of the year then he did last year.

PARIS MASTERS 2012: Ferrer Wins 1st Shield

5'9" David Ferrer of Spain won his first ATP Masters shield by defeating 6'8" Jerzy Janowicz of Poland 6-4 6-3 in Paris. The 21-year-old qualifier made quite a splash at the tournament by defeating World #3 Andy Murray and World #9 Janko Tipsarevich both of whom will be joining Ferrer in the ATP World Tour finals which begin in London on Monday. He became the first qualifier to reach the final of an ATP Masters 1000 tournament since Guillermo Canas did it in 2007 at the Key Biscayne Masters tournament.

Ferrer's win was also historic, becoming the first player outside of the world's top 4 seeds (Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal or Murray) to win a master's shield since Robin Soderling won the 2010 Paris Masters.

It was the hard-working Spaniard's 7th title of 2012 and the 18th of his career. He now has won 72 matches in the year (one more than Djokovic) compared to 14 losses.

2012 Wimbledon: Nadal Loses 2nd Round 5-setter!!

Getty

In one of the most stunning upsets of the year, if not several years (at least since his 2009 French Open loss to Robin Soderling) World #2 Rafael Nadal was defeated by World #100 Lukas Rosol of Czech Republic 6-7(9) 6-4 6-4 2-6 6-4 in the 2nd round of the 2012 Wimbledon. Nadal had made it to the final of the only grass court major the last 5 times he had entered the tournament (2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011), winning the title twice in 2008 and 2010. Nadal won his 11th career major and 7th French Open title a mere17 days ago and hadn't lost this early in a major tournament since the 2005 Wimbledon.

I don't know anything about Rosol but I bet Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic will be competing to see who can send him the largest bouquet of flowers. This completely opens up the bottom half of the draw for people like Andy Murray, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Milos Raonic and Juan Martin del Potro to reach their first Wimbledon final. It also means that the potential semifinal showdown between Federer and Djokovic next Friday will be considered the "real" final, if it happens.

Federer Beats Nishikori To Win 68th Title

Harold Cunningham/Getty Images

World #4 Roger Federer won his 2nd title of 2011, the 68th of his majestic career, by defeating Kei Nishikori  6-1 6-3 in Basel, Switzerland. Nishikori spoiled a 3rd consecutive year of Swiss Indoor Championship final matches between Novak Djokovic and Federer when the Japanese player handed the Serbian only his 4th defeat of the year in the semifinals. Nishikori pulled off the most stunning upset of the year by coming back from a set down to beat the World's #1 player 3-6 7-6(4) 6-0, the first player from Asia to defeat a current #1 since Paradorn Srichapan defeated Lleyton Hewitt in 2001.  Federer defeated his countryman Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6(5) 6-2 in the other semifinal and notched his 21st win in 23 matches against Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals. Nishikori's path to the final included Top 10 player Tomas Berdych in the first round who he beat 3-6 6-3 6-2. The tournament was struck by a shocking amount of withdrawals, including Andy Murray and Robin Soderling.

The last Masters 1000 tournament of the year starts Monday in the Bercy suburbs of Paris. It is possible that the only player from the Top 5 in the World playing it will be Federer, as Rafael Nadal announced earlier that he was withdrawing to concentrate on the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London, where he has never done very well.

Monfils Beats Nieminen For 1st 2011 Title

Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images

Frenchman Gael Monfils won his first title of 2011 in Stockholm today by beating Finnish lefty Jarkko Nieminen 7-5 3-6 6-2. Monfils is ranked #10  in the world but has only won 4 career ATP despite playing in 16 ATP Tour finals.

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.

WIMBLEDON 2011: Raja, Serena, Roddick, Woz Win 1st Round

Defending Champion Serena Williams cried after
 winning her first Grand Slam match in a year

Day 2 of play at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships has ended with 2-time defending champion Serena Williams winning her first round match over Aravane Rezai, "the Pocket Rocket," 6-3 3-6 6-1 and then bursting into tears afterwards. Serena improved to 44-0 in 1st round Grand Slam matches, and showed more emotion in this win than she has in winning several of her 13 major finals.

From The Daily Mail:

'I didn't expect that,' she said. 'It just hit me at the end. I'm not a crier, but it felt so emotional. I think when I won my first US Open back in 1999 I had a little cry, but not like this. It's the most emotional I've been after a win and to be a first round, well, I usually never get super-excited. But it wasn't about winning today, it was about just being out there. Everyone has their troubles and you must have faith that you can get through it. 

'I've been through a lot in the last 12 months, a lot of things that are not normal, things you guys don't even know about. It's been an arduous, long run and just to be standing up feels pretty awesome.

'I always preach to other people, "never give up", but this was my test. I could have given up, I could have sat at home and thought, "I've had a fabulous career, I don't need to work extra hard now." Instead, I proved I could. No more than that, really: I could. '

I've learned you can never take any moment for granted, I learned to try to appreciate it all. Each and every point, each and every momentI enjoy and relish. This was my struggle, my battle, something I have to overcome and still must overcome every day. This is the beginning of the road, not the end.'

Other winners in the first round were 6-time Wimbledon champ Roger Federer, 3-time Wimbledon finalist Andy Roddick, World #1 Carolina Wozniacki and World #5 Robin Soderling. The only major seeds to go out were 2010 French Open finalist Samantha Stosur and former World #1 Jelena Jankovic. Fernando Verdasco avoided 1st round disaster by coming back from 2-sets down to win 2-6 4-6 6-3 7-6(6) 9-7.

2011 FRENCH OPEN: Men's Semifinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the men's semifinals at Roland Garros for 2011. This year, I correctly predicted 1 of 2 women's semifinals,  3 of 4 women's quarterfinals and 2 of 3 men's quarterfinals. Last year I was correct in 2 of 2 2010 French Open men's semifinal predictions.

Rafael Nadal ESP (1) vs. Andy Murray GBR (4). The 5-time defending champion played his best tennis of the tournament against the only man who has ever beaten him at Roland Garros, Robin Soderling, in the quarterfinals, dismissing the Swede in straight sets 6-4 6-1 7-6(3). Nadal now has a 43-1 lifetime record on the clay courts in Paris, an astonishing 97.7% winning percentage. For that reason alone, one must consider him the favorite in his semifinal with Andy Murray.

Murray looked good in his 7-6(2) 7-5 6-2 against Juan Ignacio Chela in the quarterfinals after surviving a near-death experience in his 5-set tussle with Viktor Troicki in the Round of 16. Head-to-head Nadal leads Murray 10-4 in the career matches, 3-2 in majors, and 3-0 on clay. Murray won a set when they played in Monaco this year and served for the match against Novak Djokovic in the Rome semifinals so his clay bona fides are legitimate. All that being said, Murray has almost no chance to win this match on Friday unless he plays the match of his life (which he has found it difficult to do on the big stage of  the 3 major finals he's been in to date as well as the 2010 Wimbledon semifinal) and Nadal plays some of his worst tennis. Nadal is playing to reach his 6th final at Roland Garros in order to try and match Bjorn Borg's all-time record, and Murray is trying to reach his 1st final in Paris. The difference is clear. PREDICTION: Nadal. 

Roger Federer SUI (3) vs. Novak Djokovic SRB (2). "The best player of today against the best player in history," says World #1 Rafael Nadal. This will be the most mouth-wateringly epic major semifinal since the last mouth-wateringly epic major semifinal these two played at the 2011Australian Open and the one before that at the 2010 US Open where Federer had two match points and lost. There's no question that there is a lot of history on the line, but this time it is mostly on the shoulders of the 24-year-old, not the 29-year-old holder of 16-major singles titles. First, there's the amazing winning streak of 41 matches won in a row in 2011 (I think counting the two Davis Cup matches he won at the end of the year when you don't get prize money or ranking points for those wins is simply silly). If Djokovic wins on Friday he will equal John McEnroe's open era record of the best ever start to a tennis season. Second, the World #1 ranking is in play and for the first time since 2004 someone other than Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer could reach the top spot. Becoming #1 is always a momentous point in any great player's career, and this achievement would be one he has had to wait for, for a long, long time.

Third, Djokovic is trying to reach his first ever non-hard court major final, to prove that he is really an all-surfaces player. Djokovic reached this point through a walkover when handsome trickster Fabio Fognini withdrew. Federer reached his record 26th major semifinal in the last 7 years by dismissing a still-improving Gael Monfils in front of a rowdy Parisian crowd 6-4 6-3 7-6(3). Federer is in the unusual position of trying to be the spoiler, but he appears to be relishing the challenge. Federer has a 13-9 career head-to-head edge over Djokovic, including 2-1 on clay but a scant 4-3 in majors. However, the Swiss Great is playing some of his best tennis this year and has not dropped a set. He is also the last person to have beaten Novak Djokovic in an ATP Tour match, on Saturday November 27, 2010, exactly 188 days ago. That streak will last a little longer. PREDICTION:  Djokovic

2011 FRENCH OPEN: Federer, Schiavone, Bartoli in Semifinals

Getty

As I predicted yesterday, Roger Federer reached his 26th major semifinal in 28 majors by defeating Gael Monfils at the French Open for the 3rd time in 4 years on Tuesday. The Swiss Great beat the Frenchman in front of his hometown crowd 6-4 6-3 7-6(3) despite some truly atrocious play early on in the first set, probably due to the very difficult windy conditions.

In other matches completed, Andy Murray reached the quarterfinals by coming back from 2-5 in the 5th set to win 7-5. He will face Juan Ignaco Chela for the right to face the winner of tomorrow's blockbuster quarterfinal between Rafael Nadal and Robin Soderling. Francescha Schiavone came back from 1-6 1-4 down to against youngster Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to win 1-6 7-5 7-5 in an astonishing result for the defending champion. Schiavone will face Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli who defied my predictions and bounced 2009 French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova from the tournament 7-6(4) 6-4. Schiavone is very likely to reach her second consecutive French Open final.

2011 FRENCH OPEN: Men's Quarterfinals Preview

Fabio Fognini won his marathon 4th round match to a chorus of boos and cheers and
then withdrew from the tournament prior to playing the biggest match of his career.

(Photo credit:  Benoit Tessier, REUTERS)

Here are my predictions for the men's quarterfinals at the 2011 French Open. Last year, I correctly predicted 2 of 4 men's quarterfinals correctly.

Rafael Nadal ESP (1) vs. Robin Soderling SWE (5). The dream quarterfinal. Rafael Nadal has only ever lost one match at Roland Garros, and it was to his quarterfinal opponent, the World #5 tall, muscular Swede Robin Soderling. He defeated the 4-time defending champion in 2009, in one of the greatest upsets in sports of the last decade; Soderling followed up that upset by repeating it the following year by beating the defending champion Roger Federer in the quarterfinals to end Federer's incredible streak of 23 consecutive Grand Slam semifinals. Nadal does not appear to be playing his best tennis this year but still must be considered the favorite considering his overall clay court record. However, Nadal's confidence must  be shaken by his two recent losses to Djokovic in two clay court Masters finals this season. Soderling does not lack confidence, and if he plays his best tennis against Nadal's not-best tennis, he will repeat his 2009 result. If Nadal plays at his 2010 level, then the defending champion should get through and possibly win a 6th Roland Garros title, tying Bjorn Borg's record. PREDICTION: Soderling in 4 sets.  

Andy Murray GBR (4) vs. Juan Ignacio Chela ARG. Andy Murray's dream draw turned into a nightmare during his 3rd round victory over a lefty qualifier Michael Berrer when he badly twisted his ankle in a 3-set win. He started his next round gingerly, losing the first 5 games of his 4th round match with Serbian Viktor Troicki. The World #4 came within one point of drawing even in the first set but ultimately ended up losing the first two sets 6-4 6-4. However, his movement and attitude visibly improved  and he was able to force a fifth and deciding set before darkness fell. I presume he will be able to win the deciding fifth set when play resumes on Tuesday and should have no problem dismissing the 31-year-old Argentine clay court specialist playing in his 3rd career major quarterfinal on Thursday. PREDICTION: Murray in 3 sets. 

Gael Monfils FRA (9) vs. Roger Federer SUI (3). Federer continues to write his name in the tennis record books by reaching his 28th consecutive major quarterfinal with an efficient dispatch of countryman Stanislas Wawrinka in the 4th round. While Djokovic is winning universal acclaim and attention by continuing his flawless 2011 season, Federer continues to demonstrate why he has been at the upper echelon of men's tennis for the last seven consecutive years. There are few players in the Top 10 who have even played 28 consecutive major tournaments, and Federer has been in the last 8 or better in 28 consecutive major tournaments. His opponent is the Pride of France, "La Monf" who is in his 3rd quarterfinal at Roland Garros in 4 years. Unfortunately for the Frenchman, he has never won a match on clay against Federer. In fact, last fall in front of a Paris crowd, Monfils won his first match ever (in 6 tries) against the Swiss Great when he saved an incredible 5 match points and went on to win one of the best matches of the year in three tiebreak sets. However, getting through a tough 5-set against the always hard-to-beat David Ferrer in the 4th round was another indicator that the excessively talented, prodigiously athletic Monfils' results may start matching his potential. Federer is yet to lose a set in his 2011 appearance at Roland Garros, and while I expect that streak to end, I also expect he will again find a way to yet another major semifinal and a historic showdown with Novak Djokovic. PREDICTION:  Federer in 4 sets.

Fabio Fognini ITA vs. Novak Djokovic SRB (2). The quarterfinal that wasn't. The puckishly handsome Italian showed he was more than just a pretty face by outlasting clay court specialist Albert Montanes 11-9 in the fifth set despite being unable to move due to suffering a muscle tear (or cramps?) in his leg at 5-6, 15-30. Fognini basically started blasting winners into all the corners on the court to erase 5 match points and controversially emerged with the win. However, he knew that he would have no chance against the red-hot Serbian who has yet to lose  a match in 2011 and thus withdrew (on advice of his doctors, who confirmed a 1cm muscle tear via MRI). This is both good news and bad news for Djokovic. It means that he is at least one round further in the tournament than he was last year, which is good news for his campaign to become World #1. He just needs to win one more match to reach his first French Open final and he will attain this goal of being acknowledged (by the computer) as the #1 player in the world. All Djokovic has to do is either beat 16-time major champion Roger Federer or hometown favorite Gael Monfils coming off the biggest win of his career in the semifinals on Friday. Getting to this point via walkover is bad news for Djokovic because he doesn't get credit for the win, so his streak remains at 41-0 for 2011 and that means he can only break John McEnroe's 1984 streak of 42-0 by winning the entire tournament. Plus it means he has a bizarre 4-day break in the middle of a major tournament after playing 3 consecutive days. It will be interesting to see what, if any, these factors have on Djokovic's play in the semifinal. I suspect nothing will deny Djokovic's date with destiny.

AUS OPEN 2011: Men's Quarterfinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the men's quarterfinals at the 2011 Australian Open.

Rafael Nadal ESP (1) Marin Cilic CRO (15) vs. Milos Raonic CAN David Ferrer ESP (7). I thought that the 6'6" 2010 Australian Open semifinalist from Croatia would have followed up on his 5-set win over John Isner with a better showing against Rafael Nadal. However, the World #1 came out with a strong game plan since Cilic had beaten him in their one meeting in October 2009 and dismantled the Croatian in straight sets 6-2 6-4 6-3.  David Ferrer has been called the best service returner in the world by both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal and he demonstrated that ability against the huge serving 20-year-old, 6-foot-5-inch Canadian. Ferrer is only 5'9" but has optimized the amount of tennis success a male player can extract from such a slight frame. He is also one of the fittest players on tour and very speedy. The problem is, everything he can do, Nadal can do better, and Nadal is a lefty. Head-to-head the two have played 14 times with the more celebrated Spaniard winning all but 3 of their meetings. Ferrer does have a notable win over Nadal in the 2007 US Open quarterfinals, but unfortunately he will be playing the vastly improved 2011 version. The difference will be very clear. PREDICTION: Nadal in 3 sets.

Robin Soderling SWE (4) Alexandr Dolgopolov UKR  vs. Andy Murray GBR (5). The only unseeded player in the final 8 is the 22-year-old counterpuncher from Ukraine. From the way World #4 Robin Soderling was dismissing his opponents and hitting the ball in first three rounds I had expected him to have few problems getting past Dolgopolov but Soderling has never done well at the Australian Open and also doesn't like to play in windy conditions. That being said, the biggest problem he had on court was not the weather but the phenomenal defense and gigantic serving of the Ukrainian. Soderling was not playing his best tennis and ran into an opponent who could take advantage of this opportunity to reach his first major quarterfinal. Andy Murray has been playing some of the sharpest tennis of any of the legitimate contenders. He demolished  crafty lefty Jurgen Melzer and has yet to lose more than 3 games in a set through four rounds! Melzer at #11 and Guiullermo-Garcia at #32 are the only seeded players the Brit has faced on his way to an inevitable showdown with World #1 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals, whom he was on track to dismiss in the quarterfinals last year when Nadal retired. Of course the Spaniard went on to win every other Grand Slam for the rest of 2010, but I think that Murray does not fear Nadal on a hard-court. Will we see a reprise of the 2010 Australian Open final between Murray and Federer or a reprise of the 2009 Australian Open final between Nadal and Federer or something else? Only time will tell. PREDICTION: Murray in 3 sets. 

Tomas Berdych CZE (6) vs. Novak Djokovic SRB (3). This should be the best battle of the quarterfinal round, a showdown between the 2010 Wimbledon finalist and the 2010 US Open finalist. Djokovic has won this title before (over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2008) although the Frenchman was able to get revenge last year in this round. Head-to-head Berdych has only beaten Djokovic once, but it was a blowout in the 2010 Wimbledon semifinals. Since then, the Serbian has had multiple breakthroughs, including an epic 2010 US Open semifinal win over Roger Federer and anchoring his country to their first ever Davis Cup title. Berdych played near-perfect tennis in a tremendous 3-set dismissal of Fernando Verdasco in the 4th round (featuring a final set where the Czech was crushing the ball and had either 1 or 2 unforced errors). If Berdych plays like that, even a prodigiously talented ball-striker and mellifluously mobile player as Djokovic will have trouble surviving the onslaught. Another factor is that Djokovic's results are often sensitive to the weather conditions; if this match is played during the day then even a 3-set win will be unlikely for the Serb. PREDICTION:  Djokovic in 3 sets or Berdych in 4 or 5 sets.

Stanislas Wawrinka SUI (19) vs. Roger Federer SUI (2). These two are best friends and share a lot in common: they come from the same country, are both young fathers and are both undefeated in 2011 so far. Together they won the Gold medal in men's doubles at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Head-to-head the two have played 7 times, with Wawrinka winning once on clay. They have only played once in a grand slam, with Federer winning that as well. Wawrinka has come up with some good upsets in the last two Slams (defeating Andy Roddick and Gael Monfils in this tournament and Andy Murray and Sam Querrey in the 2010 US Open) but I doubt that storyline will continue with the defending champion. This match should feature some exquisite one-handed backhands: my favorite shot! PREDICTION: Federer in 4 sets.

AUS OPEN 2011: Day 1 and Day 2 Highlights

Nalbandian celebrates his marathon win over Hewitt

The first two days of the 2011 Australian Open are over and the entire first round has been played.

MEN
All of the favorites on the men's side have made it through to the second round: Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Robin Soderling, John Isner. Other highlights of the first round include 2009 US Open winner Juan Martin Del Potro winning in straight sets over  Dudi Sela, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga came back from 2-sets down to win in 5-sets, as did his countryman Gael Monfils. The only important player to lose was Sam Querrey who lost a tough 5-setter to Lukasc Kubot.

The match of the tournament so far was David Nalbandian's 4 hour, 48-minute win 3-6 6-4 6-3 7-6(1) 9-7 thrilling win over 2-time major champion Lleyton Hewitt.

WOMEN
On the women's side Caroline Wozniacki, Kim Clijsters, Samantha Stosur, Venus Williams, Justine Henin, Victoria Azarenka have all advanced to the 2nd round. The first round highlights were Clijsters 6-0 6-0 drubbing of former #1 Dinara Safina and former World #1 Ana Ivanovic finally succumbed 4-6 6-4 10-8 after saving 5 match points against Ekaterina Makarova in probably the most drama-filled match of the day.

Best (Men's) Tennis Matches of 2010

Here are my picks for the "best" (or most memorable) tennis matches by men in 2010. These are basically the matches that had the most impact on me while they were occurring, feature some of the best play, had the most impact on the rest of the tennis world or are matches that I would most likely to watch again in the future. You can see my previous lists: Best Men's Tennis Matches of 2009 and Best Men's Tennis Matches of 2006. (There were no men's lists in 2007 or 2008.) I also have posted the Best Women's Tennis Matches of 2010.

1. J. Isner USA d. N. Mahut FRA, 6-4 3-6 6-7(7) 7-6(3) 70-68, Wimbledon 1st Round, London.

A match for the ages. A tennis match that transcends tennis, and possibly sport itself. Two relatively unheralded players played a match which lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes, by far the longest match ever. The final set itself is a marvel, shattering the record for the longest match--in terms of time (8 hours,11 minutes) and number of games (138) played. The list of records broken is a litany of exceptionalism which is unlikely ever to be matched. When the rest of the tennis of 2010 is long-forgotten Isner-Mahut will still be referred to. What was most remarkable that despite playing so long, there was still brilliant tennis for vast portions of the match. This was truly an example of the cliche where it is sad that in every game there has to be a winner.

2.  R. Nadal ESP d. A. Murray GBR, 7-6(5) 3-6 7-6(6), ATP World Tour Finals semifinal, London.
The penultimate match of the 2010 season was one of the most exciting, well-played matches of the year. Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray had met three times before in 2010, with the Briton leading 2-1. However, this semifinal match at the Year-Ending Championships was being held before a British crowd which was considered to be a disadvantage for Murray. Many people do not like Murray's game, feeling that he plays too defensively given the talent, power and mobility he possesses (Gael Monfils suffers from similar complaints), but in this match Murray confounded his critics by being as aggressive as I have ever seen him play. The match was probably decided in the first set. There, both players  played well, with Murray serving exceedingly well but after his serve failed him in the tiebreaker Nadal was able to tuck the set away on his first and only set point. In the second set, things were pretty even until Nadal went through a very bad patch at 3-all and basically donated the second set to Murray. In the third set Nadal got an early break which he was able to nurse into a 5-3 lead. Murray was able to hold serve and when Nadal served for the match at 5-4 he was broken despite holding a match point. In the inevitable tiebreak Murray continued his aggressive play but was rewarded with errors instead of winners. He can take heart that he at least went down slugging away and if he can apply this mentality to future matchups with his higher ranked rivals the results may be different.

3.  N. Djokovic SRB d. R. Federer SUI, 5-7 6-1 5-7 6-2 7-5, U.S. Open semifinal, New York.

The greatest Grand Slam match played this year was the second men's semifinal at Super Saturday at the U.S. Open in New York. For the fourth year in a row Roger Federer faced Novak Djokovic at the last major of the year, having beaten him the first three times in one final and two semifinals. This time, history seemed prepared to repeat itself when Federer earned double match point at 15-40, 4-5 in the final set. The number of times Federer had lost a grand slam match after holding a match point in his career can be counted on one hand (without using all of the fingers). However, the young Serb was able to be very aggressive on these match points and after getting past that near-death experience was able to use the mental momentum gained to immediately break Federer in the very next service game and serve out the win. The match featured long streaks of very high-quality tennis from both sides, with both players displaying impeccable defense and offense. After winning 5 U.S. Opens in a row, Federer has now lost in the last two to younger challengers. Is this a sign of things to come? Only time will tell.

4.  R. Federer SUI d. A. Murray GBR, 6-3 6-4 7-6(11), Australian Open final, Melbourne.

The highest quality grand slam final of the year featured yet another historic performance by Roger Federer as he was able to beat a player who has a career head-to-head edge against him in straight sets. Murray did not play badly, Federer was simply on fire for exactly the optimal time which allowed him to win each set. The third set in particular Federer should have lost but he was able to finally earn the break back and set up one of the classic tie-breaks of all time--a 24-point thriller that ended with Federer winning the match and his record 16th grand slam singles title.

5.  G. Monfils FRA d. R. Federer SUI, 7-6(7) 6-7(1) 7-6(4), Paris ATP Masters semifinal, Paris. 

Gael Monfils is a 6' 4", 180 pound Frenchman of African descent with size 15 feet who has long been predicted to do great things in tennis. He is one of the most dynamic players on tour and easily one of the fleetest of foot. He often responds well to a supportive crowd and has had some of his best results in front of Parisian crowds. Federer had never lost to Monfils and was probably not worried when he somehow lost the first set in a close tie-break. However, even Federer must have been surprised by the Frenchman's tenacity and will-to-win despite being down 4-1 in the 3rd set. Somehow, Monfils was able to save (count 'em) five match points at 4-5 through tremendous defense (his mighty serve basically deserted him on match points down so Monfils had to win those points the hard way). This was the fourth example of a match in 2010 where Federer had a match point and went on to lose the match (l. Djokovic US Open semifinals, l. Berdych Miami Masters 4th Round, l. Baghdatis Indian Wells 3rd Round, l. Monfils Paris Masters semifinals). Hopefully, Federer's new coach Paul Annacone will try to work on raising the level of his charge's aggression on big points (his often-atrocious break-point conversion rate should be another focus of improvement for the Swiss great) and we look forward to seeing the results in 2011. For Monfils, this was an amazing result which hopefully will spur him on to greater results next year and beyond.

6.  R. Nadal ESP d. N. Djokovic SRB, 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-2, U.S. Open final, New York.
 After the fireworks of the men's semifinal between Federer and Djokovic, this final was something of an afterthought, especially since  for the third year in a row it was played on Monday instead of Sunday due to inclement weather (get a roof already, New York!). The tennis quality was reasonably high but Nadal secured his inevitable date with destiny by achieving the career grand slam at the tender age of 24 years old, just 15 months after his great rival had achieved the same feat in Paris. Nadal and Federer both have claims to be the greatest of all time, with Nadal at 9 majors to Federer's 16 but is 5 years younger (and further along at comparable ages). The GOAT question will not be decided until after both men have retired, but without doubt this match was a seminal moment in tennis history, one to be remembered for a long time as Nadal joined the small select group of career grand slam holders.

7.  R. Federer SUI d. R. Nadal ESP, 6-3 3-6 6-1, ATP World Tour Finals final, London.

 Any match between Federer and Nadal is a marquee event, but this contest, following the best match of the year between top players (Nadal-Murray semifinal) was the culmination of the season in which Nadal won 3 consecutive grand slam tournaments. With Nadal sporting a gaudy 14-7 career head-to-head record against Federer some people thought he would cement his dominance with a win here. They were incorrect, however, because on hard courts the two greats are more evenly matched, with a very slight edge to Federer. The actual tennis was high quality, but the sets were somewhat lopsided in score. Even small lapses can be converted into 6-3 sets and a large lapse results in a 6-1 blowout between these two rivals who know each other's games so well. In the end Federer was better on the day and postponed the discussion of which of the two men will be at the top of the heap in history's final estimation.

8.  R. Soderling SWE d. R. Federer SUI, 3-6 6-3 7-5 6-4, French Open quarterfinal, Paris.
One year after engineering the upset of the decade by handing 4-time defending champion Nadal his sole defeat (ever!) at Roland Garros, the tall, strong Robin Soderling repeated the effort by ending Federer's incredible streak of grand slam semifinals at 23 with a 4-set win over the defending champion. History was repeated again a few days later, when, after reaching the French Open final, Soderling lost in a surprisingly non-competitive fashion. However, this match, like last year's defeat of the defending champion will be long remembered by tennis fans. It should be noted that Federer hasn't forgotten either, and hasn't lost to the Swede since (but Nadal has).

9.  T. Berdych CZE d. R. Federer, 4-6 6-3 6-1 6-4, Wimbledon quarterfinal, London.

A few weeks after losing his hold on the #1 ranking and his famous semifinal streak, Federer had his dominance on grass ripped from his grasp as Tomas Berdych showed that his inaugural win over the Swiss player in Miami was not a fluke but a harbinger. The 6' 5", 200 pound Czech simply played a near-perfect match on Federer's home turf of Wimbledon's Centre Court, dismissing the defending champion in 4 crisp sets. Although Berdych was able to follow up his win with a victory over Novak Djokovic in the semifinal, he was unable to compete effectively against Nadal in the final, succumbing in straight sets to the Spaniard while I watched in the stands. Unsuccessfully defending his title in two consecutive grand slams, failing to reach the semifinals twice in a row must have been a dreadful blow to Federer, but he can seek solace in his quarterfinal streak, which now stands at 26 and counting.

10 F. Verdasco ESP d. D. Ferrer ESP, 5-7 6-7(8) 6-3 6-3 7-6(4), U.S. Open 4th Round, New York.

The only other match on this list besides the Isner-Mahut classic which does not feature a grand slam champion was this all-Spaniard showdown between two of the fittest (and best-looking) players on the men's tour in the 4th round of the 2010 US Open. It also happens to feature one of the most amazing match points in the history of Open tennis. It should be noted that this fifth-set tiebreak occurred after nearly 4 1/2 hours of grinding, extended-rally play, after Verdasco had already been down two(!) breaks in the deciding set and fought back to even the match. What happens on match point deserves no words, just your admiration:





Absolutely amazing!


HONORABLE MENTIONS
R. Soderling SWE d. T. Berdych CZE, 6-3 6-3 3-6 5-7 6-3, French Open semifinal, Paris.

A. Murray GBR d. R. Nadal ESP, 6-3 7-6(2) 3-0 ret., Australian Open quarterfinal, Melbourne.

R. Soderling SWE d. M. Llodra FRA, 6-7(0) 7-5 7-6(6), ATP Paris Masters semifinal, Paris.

A. Murray GBR d. R. Federer SUI, 7-5 7-5, Canadian ATP Masters final, Toronto, Canada.

A. Murray GBR d. R. Federer SUI, 6-3 6-2, Shanghai ATP Masters final, Shanghai, China.

R. Nadal ESP d. T. Berdych CZE, 6-3 7-5 6-4, Wimbledon final, London.
R. Federer SUI d. N. Djokovic SRB, 6-4 3-6 6-1, Swiss Indoors final, Basel, Switzerland.

R. Nadal ESP d. R. Soderling SWE, 6-3 7-5 6-4, French Open final, Paris.

R. Nadal ESP d. A. Murray, 6-4 7-6(6) 6-4, Wimbledon semifinal, London.

Y-H. Lu TPE d. A. Roddick USA, 4-6 7-6(3) 7-6(4) 6-7(5) 9-7, Wimbledon 4th Round, London.

T. Berdych CZE d. R. Federer SUI, 6-4 6-7(3) 7-6(6), Miami ATP Masters 4th Round, Miami.

R. Federer SUI d. N. Djokovic SRB, 6-1 6-4, ATP World Tour Finals semifinal, London.

S. Wawrinka SUI d. A. Murray GBR, 6-7(3) 7-6(4) 6-3 6-3, U.S. Open 3rd Round, New York.
J. Melzer AUT d. N. Djokovic SRB, 6-4 3-6 2-6 6-2 7-6(3), French Open quarterfinal, New York.

J-M. Del Potro ARG d. J. Blake USA, 6-4 6-7(3) 5-7 6-3 10-8, Australian Open 2nd Round, Melbourne.
M. Cilic CRO d. J-M Del Potro ARG, 5-7 6-4 5-7 7-5 6-3, Australian Open 4th Round, Melbourne.
L. Hewitt AUS d. R. Federer SUI, 3-6 7-6(4) 6-4, Gerry Weber Open final, Halle, Germany.
J-W. Tsonga FRA d. N. Djokovic SRB, 7-6(8) 6-7(5) 1-6 6-3 6-1, Australian Open quarterfinal, Melbourne.