ATP Backspin 2Q Clay Awards

History remains on deck for Roger Federer, but Rafael Nadal is swiftly making his way toward the front of the line of the best clay court players of all time.



**PLAYERS OF THE 2Q CLAY SEASON**
1. Rafael Nadal
...one tired set in Hamburg prevented yet another perfect clay season for Rafa. Guess he'll just have to "settle" for the third straight Roland Garros title. Poor, guy.
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2. Roger Federer
...Paris (meaning the grand slam held there, not the overly sensitive and overpampered jailbird, mind you) slipped through his fingers, but he'll always have the Hamburg victory over Nadal that ended the 81-match clay streak to remind him that winning Roland Garros is still an attainable goal. Of course, those sixteen failures to convert a break point in seventeen chances in the RG final will probably be what he remembers more often.
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3. Novak Djokovic
...pity Mr. Fantastic to be around in the era when Roger and Rafa rule the courts, sort of like everyone had to feel for the female players not named Navratilova or Evert during the 1970's and 80's.
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4. Juan Monaco
...the Argentine won his first two career titles during the Euro clay season.
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5. Bob & Mike Bryan
...they didn't win at Roland Garros, but the only American men who can actually play on clay did win Masters titles in Monte Carlo and Hamburg.
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**RISERS**
1. Novak Djokovic
2. Juan Monaco
3. Nicolas Almagro
4. Paul-Henri Mathieu
5. Mikhail Youzhny
6. Richard Gasquet
7. Tomas Berdych
8. Igor Andreev
9. Gael Monfils
10. Lukas Dlouhy/Pavel Vizner
HM- David Ferrer & Janko Tipsarevic

**FRESH FACES**
1. Philip Kohlschreiber
2. Robin Soderling
3. Vladimir Ignatic
4. Juan Pablo Brzezicki
5. Greg Jones
6. Marin Cilic
7. Simone Bolelli
8. Kellen Damico
9. Matteo Trevisan
10. Gilles Simon
HM-Jan Hajek

**SURPRISES**
1. Filippo Volandri
2. Ivo Karlovic
3. Albert Montanes
4. Jan Hernych
5. Olivier Patience
HM- Ivan Navarro-Pastor

**VETERANS**
1. Lleyton Hewitt
2. Mark Knowles/Daniel Nestor
3. Carlos Moya
4. Juan Carlos Ferrero
5. Guillermo Canas
HM- Jonas Bjorkman

**COMEBACK**
1. Igor Andreev
2. Lleyton Hewitt
3. Carlos Moya
4. Roger Federer (on clay, post-Roche)
5. Pete Sampras (Champions Tour)

**DOWN**
1. Ivan Ljubicic
2. USA men
3. Marat Safin
4. Fernando Gonzalez
5. David Nalbandian
HM- Jonas Bjorkman/Max Mirnyi

TOP PERFORMANCE: Rafael Nadal wins his third straight Roland Garros title, running his career record there to 21-0. The youngest man to ever win three RG titles, he's also the first to three-peat since Bjorn Borg won his third of four straight from 1978-81. At 21, he's half way to Borg's record six titles in Paris, as well.

TOP DUAL PERFORMANCE: Nadal's Roland Garros title was the ninth straight slam won by either him or Roger Federer, within striking distance of the fifteen straight won by either Navratilova or Evert on the women's tour from 1981-85.

**TOP MATCH**
Hamburg Final - Federer d. Nadal
...2-6/6-2/6-0. How much was Federer, and how much was a tired Nadal playing one event too many? No matter the equation, this is still the only reason the Spaniard doesn't have an eighty-nine match clay winning streak going right now. Federer's first win over Nadal on clay is only all the more "Roger-esque" considering the fact it came right after he'd dismissed Tony Roche as his coach after a string of uncharacteristic losses at the beginning of the clay season.

**CLAY BREAKOUT**
...Novak Djokovic reaches his first career slam SF at Roland Garros, combining with fellow Serbs Jelena Jankovic (RG women's SF), Ana Ivanovic (RU), Janko Tipsarevic (who upset Marat Safin in Paris) and Nenad Zimonjic (RG Mixed Doubles RU, Doubles SF) to make the Fantastovic's THE biggest story on the tennis radar that doesn't include anyone named Roger, Rafa, Serena or Maria.

**BIGGEST UPSET**
Rome 3rd Round - Volandri d. Federer
...6-2/6-4. In 2006, Federer's only losses came to Nadal and Andy Murray. In 2007, he's fallen against Nadal, Guillermo Canas and Filippo Volandri. Apparently, though, this one shook the King to his foundation... considering Roche was soon out, and Nadal was soon on the wrong end of a clay court match scoreline against him in Germany.

BIGGEST SURPRISE: Ivo Karlovic won his first career title on the clay in Houston, giving some indication that he might have learned a few shots other than the crushing serve over the past year. But will it help him become more than a novelty act at SW19?

IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, HONEY... HONEST!: While hitting balls on court during a weekend fundraiser, Andre Agassi's racket follow-through landed right in the middle of wife Steffi Graf's face. Some blood and three stitches in her lip later, and Andre's "honey-do-this" list suddenly had gotten longer... and he quickly began checking items off before Monday arrived.

**LUCK OF THE DRAW? Yeah, right.**
...in the 1st Round of Doubles in Rome, the team of Moya/Nadal met the team of Federer/Wawrinka. That the Spaniards beat the Swiss is not of issue -- they did 6-4/7-6, but what is is whether or not a blind draw actually produced this rare match-up. Somehow, I doubt it.

**A GENIUS AT WORK**
...with all nine of the American men in the Roland Garros singles draw getting drop-kicked out on their keysters in the 1st Round, you've got to hand it to Mardy Fish's ingenius way to avoid such an ignominious dishonor. You see, he withdrew from the tournament before it began after he injured his foot trying to kick a field goal at a Rhein Fire football game in Germany. Yes, we've got a Mensa candidate here.

**HELLO, OLD FRIEND... VISIT AGAIN SOON**
...maybe 35-year old Pete Sampras took such a potential greeting seriously. The all-time slam title leader returned to his first competitive, full-match action since he won the '02 U.S. Open when he began play on the Champions Tour. He played well, and even admitted to being "curious" about whether he could still compete on the grass at the All-England Club.

**SOMETHING TO KEEP AN EYE ON**
...Sampras has competed in exhibitions with Federer in recent months (the world #1 noted that he was impressed by his level of play, but made sure to mention that it still wasn't enough to beat him... which he added with that sly smile that doubles as an act of intimidation when he wants it to). They'll meet again in three exhibitions in Asia in November. Let's see, by then Federer could have won slams #11 and #12 in London and New York. If #13 came in Melbourne in '08, and skipping over that little event in Paris, the current King could be heading to SW19 with his sights set on matching the former King's mark of 14 slam titles. Hmmm, what would Pete do then... I mean, if he's still "curious" about playing Wimbledon again? Could he resist the temptation? Just something to keep an eye on.

AHA! FEDERER COULD WIN ROLAND GARROS IF THEY PLAYED ON ONLY HALF A CLAY COURT!:

...oh, but Nadal actually won their half-clay, half-grass exhibition match in Mallorca, 7-5/4-6/7-6 (12-10), didn't he? Nevermind.


All for now.

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