ATP Backspin 3Q Awards

Like clockwork, another quarter has gone by... and Roger Federer is one slam title closer to Pete Sampras' all-time record.



**2006 3Q AWARDS**
[July-to-U.S. Open]

==PLAYERS OF THE QUARTER==
1.Roger Federer... nine slams down, six to go. At his current pace, Federer will have the record by the end of 2008 (!!).
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2.Andy Roddick...he was back on track until he faced Federer in the Open final, but will he now revert back to the "#2 is nice if it means only Roger is better than me" persona? Not if Jimmy Connors has anything to say about it.
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3.Nikolay Davydenko...tennis' busiest man will make everyone know his name, or die from exhaustion trying. A slam SF doesn't hurt.
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4.Andy Murray...the win over Federer should provide a nicely-sized carrot for Brad Gilbert to dangle in front of his latest charge during all the workout sessions he's going to have to take part in if he's going to make the feat a repeatable one.
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5.Tommy Haas...working his way back toward the top of the ladder, but the ever-confident German is still looking for that great grand slam result.
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==RISERS==
1.Nikolay Davydenko
2.Richard Gasquet
3.Dmitry Tursunov
4.Agustin Calleri
5.Jose Acasuso

==SURPRISES==
1.Mikhail Youzhny
2.Benjamin Becker
3.Marc Gicquel
4.Marco Chiudinelli
5.Diego Junqueira

==VETERANS==
1.Juan Carlos Ferrero
2.Arnaud Clement
3.Martin Damm/Leander Paes
HM-Andre Agassi (US Open 1r & 2r)

==FRESH FACES==
1.Andy Murray
2.Novak Djokovic
3.Stanislas Wawrinka
4.Dusan Lojda
5.Peter Polansky

==DOWN==
1.Ivan Ljubicic
2.David Nalbandian
3.Gael Monfils
HM-James Blake (between Indianapolis & US Open)


==MATCH OF THE QUARTER==
US Open 2nd - Andre Agassi d. Marcos Baghdatis
...6-4/6-4/3-6/5-7/7-5. Who needed to see a play on Broadway when this match provided all the drama necessary for a memorable late night on the town? In 3:48, Agassi kept his career alive at age 36 against one of the young stars of the ATP tour. And, in a fitting footnote, this ended up being the final win of his career.

==BEST FEDERER==
US Open Final - Roger Federer d. Andy Roddick
...6-2/4-6/7-5/6-1. Any thoughts that anything had REALLY changed were put out of their misery by Federer when he finally met the "new" Roddick, who didn't look much different from the "old" (but good) Roddick from all those matches the two had a few years ago. Just like he did back then, Federer took care of business with the care of a brain surgeon performing in an operating room. He's now won five of the last six slams.

==BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MORTAL==
Mikhail Youzhny
...on the same day at the U.S. Open, Youzhny destroyed world #2 Rafael Nadal in the singles QF, then went out a few hours later and helped knock off world #1 doubles team Bob & Mike Bryan.

==BEST COMEBACK PERFORMANCE (PLAYER & COACH)==
Andy Roddick & Jimmy Connors
...Roddick might not prefer to admit it, but his play in 2006 was bad enough (compared to his previous standards) to warrant some big changes. Enter Jimmy Connors, who'd seemed to have been going incognito since his retirement from the sport. Both made quite a smashing return in North America, though, as they teamed up and Roddick's fortunes shot through the ceiling. He won the U.S. Open Series, then reached the Open final... where, of course, he met the roof otherwise known as "Mr. Federer."

==DIDN'T YOU USED TO BE...?==
Juan Carlos Ferrero
...JCF reminded everyone how good he used to be in North America. In Cincinnati, he defeated both James Blake and Rafael Nadal en route to an appearance in the final. He lost to Roddick, though, and is still looking for his first singles title since 2003.

==NO MATTER WHAT MARY CARILLO SAID, or at least what Roger wanted to think she was saying...==
...Andy Murray really did defeat Federer in the 2nd Round in Cincinnati, ending Federer's streak of seventeen straight appearances in finals. Carillo said that Federer didn't really care if he lost since it meant he could begin his Open prep earlier (and -- wink, wink -- maybe that was his thinking during the match). Federer, of course, took the comments as an affront and an accusation that he'd tanked the match. Geez, you'd have thought he'd caught Rafa's uncle instructing him to eat a banana from the stands or something.

==MARAT BEING MARAT, 3Q EDITION==
In the third quarter, Marat Safin lost to the world #517 Wes Whitehouse, and suffered a concussion in a minor car accident in Cincinnati. He beat James Blake in Washington D.C., and did well to reach the U.S. Open Round of 16, but when he lost he did so within a few hours of his sister Dinara also losing in the women's QF. And on our next episode of "As Marat's World Turns"...

==OUT THE BACK DOOR, IN THE FRONT DOOR==
...Andre Agassi said goodbye, but Novak Djokovic (Amersfoort) and Stanislas Wawrinka (Umag, when Djokovic retired in the final) both won their first ATP singles titles.

==BEST UNFEDERER-LIKE FEDERER PERFORMANCE==
...Federer won the Toronto title, playing (and winning, of course) four straight matches in which he dropped a set.

==BEST PARTY POOPER==
US Open 3rd - Benjamin Becker d. Andre Agassi
...7-5/6-7/6-4/7-5. The #112-ranked played ended Agassi's career. Still, years from now, he won't be telling anyone it actually WAS the other "B.Becker" who did it.

==TOGETHER AGAIN, in a round about way==

...ironic, isn't it, how just as Andre left the building in the 3Q, Pete Sampras walked back in by debuting in World Team Tennis? Andre (Steffi, too) has played WTT in the past. Could we have a few more unofficial Pete vs. Andre "clashes" to look forward to in future summers?

And, finally...

==THE BLACK WIDOW RETURNS==
...the infamous "Martina Curse" seemed to have been thwarted when Swiss Miss Hingis' latest boy toy DIDN'T see his career go down in flames soon after he hooked up with the former women's #1. Instead, Radek Stepanek climbed into the Top 10 and reached the QF at Wimbledon. Ah, then the 3rd Quarter arrived. Stepanek injured his shoulder, and had to skip the Open altogether. Of course, Hingis lost in the 2nd Round for her worst U.S. Open ever... so maybe the curse has been reversed, and now Stepanek is the one who dispenses the bad luck? Radek can only hope.

All for now.

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