ATP Backspin 3Q Awards

""It's important that people respect what I do, and I think over the past couple years that has happened. There were times I felt people were like... (shrug). It was a bit strange. But now I almost have the feeling (they know) they're watching greatness. Especially after that fifth Wimbledon, that really put me in a different league." -- Roger Federer, after US Open, from "Sports Illustrated"

Ah, isn't it great. Only King Roger (or maybe Mr. Woods) could get away with a comment like that, and even have people saying to themselves, "Well, everything he said IS true, so..."

**PLAYERS OF THE 3Q**
1. Roger Federer, SUI
... history is calling, and immortality is imminent. And, no, Roger didn't say that... at least I don't think so.

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2. Novak Djokovic, SRB
... one step at a time, he's getting closer.
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3. Andy Roddick, USA
... born too late, born too early. Roger to the left, Rafa to the right. There he is, stuck in the middle of a rock and a hard place... and now here comes Djokovic.
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4. James Blake, USA
... if Blake could ever put together a successful title run in New York City, the cheer-induced tremors at Ashe Stadium would probaby shake a SECOND book out of him.
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5. David Ferrer, ESP
... when you out-Rafa Rafa (at nearly 2 a.m., no less), you have something to shout (or run) about.
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HM- John Isner, USA & Frank Dancevic, CAN
... the North American revelations of the U.S. Open Series.
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**RISERS**
1. Novak Djokovic
2. James Blake
3. David Ferrer
4. Juan Monaco
5. Tommy Robredo
6. Radek Stepanek
7. Igor Andreev
8. Paul-Henri Mathieu
9. Dmitry Tursunov
10. Nicolas Almagro
HM- Jose Acasuso & Filippo Volandri

**FRESH FACES**
1. John Isner
2. Stanislas Wawrinka
3. Philip Kohlschreiber
4. Gilles Simon
5. Sam Querrey
6. Donald Young
7. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
8. Viktor Troicki
9. Robin Haase
10. Ricardas Berankis
HM- Wayne Odesnik & Jerzy Janowicz

**SURPRISES**
1. Frank Dancevic
2. Steve Darcis
3. Potito Starace
4. Andreas Seppi
5. Simon Aspelin/Julian Knowle
6. Albert Montanes
7. Lukas Dlouhy
8. Hyung-Taik Lee
9. Ernest Gulbis
10. Kei Nishikari
HM- Zach Fleishman

**VETERANS**
1. Carlos Moya
2. Andrei Pavel
3. Lleyton Hewitt
4. Max Mirnuyi
5. Hyung-Taik Lee
6. Werner Eschauer
7. Juan Ignacio Chela
8. Guillermo Canas
9. Pavel Vizner
10. Mahesh Bhupathi
HM- Luis Horna

**COMEBACK**
1. Radek Stepanek
2. Nicolas Kiefer
3. Dmitry Tursunov
HM- Mardy Fish

**DOWN**
1. Fernando Gonzalez
2. Andy Roddick (vs. you-know-who)
3. Jonas Bjorkman/Max Mirnyi
4. Mark Knowles/Daniel Nestor
5. Ivan Ljubicic
HM- Marat Safin & Rafael Nadal (at US Open)

*ROGER FEDERER - 3Q TOP 10*
10. After dropping the 1st set against serve machine John Isner in front of an excited NY crowd, Federer cooly figured out the solution to the puzzle and dispatched the American in four routine sets.
9. He won his 50th career singles title in Cincinnati.
8. "The Man in Black" look
7. Federer has now won three slams in a season in three of the last four years.
6. In the Open Round of 16 vs. Feliciano Lopez, he trailed 3-6/4-4 and was at 30-30 on his own serve. With match momentum in the balance, Federer held his own serve, then broke Lopez to take the 1st set. In game #1 of the 3rd, Federer came back from Love-40 on his own serve and won thirty-five consecutive service points, and 37-of-38 to end the match. Tight match? What tight match?
5. He's now won four consecutive US Open titles, and 27 straight Open matches (tying Ivan Lendl's record). With the bonus he received for sweeping both the US Open Series and the Open itself, Federer won a record $2.4 million with his win in the final over Novak Djokovic.
4. He defeated Roddick in the Open QF to run his career mark against the American to 14-1, and even out-aced him 15-14 in the match.
3. Federer has now swept both Wimbledon and the US Open four consecutive years.
2. His 12th slam title puts him just two behind Pete Sampras on the all-time list.
1. In New York, Federer reached his tenth straight grand slam final. The second-best final run in the Open Era is a "measly" four.

TOP PERFORMANCE BY A MERE MORTAL: Novak Djokovic had the best three-day weekend in Montreal in well, maybe ever, as far as tennis is concerned. On consecutive days, he defeated world's #3 Andy Roddick, #2 Rafael Nadal and #1 Roger Federer, becoming the first to defeat the top three-ranked players in a single tournament since 1994 (Becker def. Stich, Sampras & Ivanisevic). Against Federer in the final, he overcame the King leading 6-5, 40/Love and holding five set points to win 7-6/2-6/7-6.

*TOP MATCH*
US Open 2nd - Djokovic d. Stepanek
...6-7/7-6/5-7/7-5/7-6. If Djokovic hadn't survived this 4:44 match, we'd never have gotten to see the best moment of the entire tournament -- the Serb's dead-on impersonations of Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova following his QF match.

NO OFFENSE, DUDE, BUT I HAD A HANDICAP: after losing to Frank Dancevic in the Indianapolis SF, Roddick admitted to a late night fast food run the evening before having led to his... umm... numerous trips to the rest room during the match against the Canadian.

WINNER OF THE "WILL A LOSS EVER BE CONSIDERED A LEGIT LOSS WHEN HE LOSES AGAIN (not counting matches against Federer, of course)?" AWARD:
...Nikolay Davydenko. Bet on it!

AT LEAST HE'LL BE REMEMBERED FOR SOMETHING: more people will likely remember Juan Monaco for losing an exciting four-set match against Djokovic at the US Open than for the fact that the Argentine quietly won his third singles title of the season during the 3Q.

FREEDOM NEVER SMELLED SO SWEET, OR PAID SO WELL: break up with Martina Hingis, win a singles title in Los Angeles. Rejuvenate your recently injury-marred career, even while losing in the US Open's match of the tournament. Win more money without having to bother with any "curses." That was the 3Q story of Radek Stepanek.

AN AMERICAN RENAISSANCE?: Americans John Isner and Donald Young both advanced to the 3rd Round of the US Open after having begun the 3Q without ever having won a main draw match on the ATP tour.

**BUT HE'S NOT MARRIED TO A 22-TIME GRAND SLAM WINNER**
...Fabrice Santoro tied Andre Agassi's record of 61 career grand slam appearances.

**THE GHOST OF ANDRE STRIKES... TWICE**
...in 2006, Agassi's final US Open included his final singles win (over Marcos Baghdatis) and his career-ending loss (to Benjamin Becker). In 2007, both Baghdatis and Becker lost in the Open's 1st Round.

WE WOULDN'T WANT YOU TO GET A BIG HEAD: James Blake finally won his first career five-set match at the US Open with a victory over Fabrice Santoro after having lost his previous nine five-setters. But even with that win under his belt, Blake ultimately was knocked out of the tournament by Tommy Haas in another five-setter... one in which he'd held three match points.

**INTRODUCING...**
...John Isner. In Washington, D.C., the #416-ranked, 6-foot-9 former NCAA champion Georgia Bulldog used a monster serve to win 3rd set tie-breaks over the likes of Tim Henman, Benjamin Becker, Tommy Haas and Gael Monfils before ultimately losing in the final to Andy Roddick. Before the tournament, Isner had never won a match on the ATP tour. After it, he was being hailed as the "next American star."

And finally...

*WHAT DO YOU DO TO HONOR A LIVING LEGEND WHO HAS EVERYTHING?*


...you have his likeness sculpted onto a Terracotta Warrior-style statue for display during the season-ending Masters Cup, that's what.


All for now.

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