ATP Backspin 1Q Awards

Still the one. And still with history squarely in His sights.




**PLAYERS OF THE 1Q**
1. Roger Federer
...Melbourne gave him three straight slam titles, and six of the last seven. His 47th career title tied him with Rod Laver. And his streak of 41 consecutive wins got him to within five victories of the all-time record. Paris could still be the sight of something very special.
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2. Novak Djokovic
...it's becoming quite clear why the Brits were sniffing around the rules to see if they could somehow bring the Serb under the Union Jack. Now it's too late... so everything's on Murray's shoulders.
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3. Bob & Mike Bryan
...leading the tour in big doubles titles (Australian Open, Masters events), wins (Davis Cup) and chest bumps.
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4. Fernando Gonzalez
...if only his brilliant run in Melbourne could have been followed up with, umm, well, ANYTHING of consequence.
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5. Guillermo Canas
...he won a title in February, but beat Federer twice in March even though he didn't pick up another crown. Wonder which feat is more important to him?
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6. Andy Murray
...but unlike Michael Johnson, who's helped him devise workout plans, Murray still has occasional days (say, vs. Djokovic in Miami) where he seems to be playing a match in another universe from his opponent... in a bad way.
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7. Mikhail Youzhny
...Marat? Nikolay? Dmitry? Mikhail had the best 1Q of all the Russian men.
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8. Rafael Nadal
...sure, he won Indian Wells. But his relatively quiet 1Q might still be considered the calm before the (clay) storm.
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9. Xavier Malisse

...the Rubberband Man snapped to and walked off with two 1Q titles, as many as Federer and Djokovic.
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10. Andy Roddick
...his shining moment came in leading the U.S. to its first Davis Cup win on clay in nearly a decade, but how long can he keep up his attempt to transplant a Connors-esque on-court attitude without being able to find a way to defeat King Roger when it counts?
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HM- Ivan Ljubicic
...the Croat reached four SF, but that 1st Round exit in Melbourne still stings (by the way, that's a 3r and two 1r's in slams since his RG SF a year ago).
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**RISERS**
1. Novak Djokovic
2. Fernando Gonzalez
3. Andy Murray
4. Mikhail Youzhny
5. Xavier Malisse
6. Marcos Baghdatis
7. David Ferrer
8. Jurgen Melzer
9. Agustin Calleri
10. Jonathan Erlich/Andy Ram
HM- Benjamin Becker

**SURPRISES**
1. Guillermo Canas
2. Juan Monaco
3. Stefan Koubek
4. Igor Kunitsyn
5. Luis Horna
6. Evgeny Korolev
7. Nicolas Mahut
8. Albert Montanes
9. Jan Hernych
10. Diego Hartfield
HM- Guillermo Garcia-Lopez

**VETERANS**
1. Guillermo Canas
2. Juan Igncio Chela
3. Tommy Haas
4. Mark Knowles/Daniel Nestor
5. Jonas Bjorkman/Max Mirnyi
6. Carlos Moya
7. Lleyton Hewitt
8. Fabrice Santoro
9. Martin Damm/Leander Paes
10. Paul Hanley/Kevin Ullyett
HM- Juan Carlos Ferrero

**FRESH FACES**
1. Robin Soderling
2. Gilles Simon
3. Chris Guccione
4. Juan Martin del Potro
5. Alessio di Mauro
6. Jonathan Eysseric
7. Philip Kohlschreiber
8. Sam Querrey
9. Brydan Klein
10. Amer Delic
HM- Danai Udomchoke

**COMEBACK**
1. Guillermo Canas
2. Rafael Nadal
3. Andy Roddick
4. Mardy Fish
5. Lleyton Hewitt

**DOWN**
1. James Blake
2. David Nalbandian
3. Tomas Berdych (too busy watching Lucie Safarova?)
4. Mario Ancic
5. Marat Safin
6. Radek Stepanek
7. Gael Monfils
8. Mark Philippoussis
9. Joachim Johansson
10. Fernando Gonzalez (post-Oz)
HM- Ivan Ljubicic (STILL in slams)

TOP PERFORMANCE: At the Australian, Roger Federer becomes the first man in 27 years to win a slam without dropping a set.

TOP PERFORMANCE (non-Federer): Tommy Haas defends his title in Memphis without facing a break point on his serve in 47 games.

**UPSET OF THE QUARTER**
Indian Wells 2nd - Canas d. Federer
...7-5/6-2. NO ONE gets their 42nd straight victory against Guillermo Canas. Go ahead, look it up in the book.

**TOP MATCH**
Miami 4th - Canas d. Federer
...7-6/2-6/7-6. Science is all about producing a repeatable result. Indian Wells. Then Miami. Must mean SOMETHING, right?

BIGGEST SURPRISE: Andy Roddick goes 2-0 in singles to lead the USA to a Davis Cup 1st Round win over the Czech Republic. It's the first American DC win on clay in nearly a decade.

A FATEFUL SIGN OF CLAY TIMES TO COME?: Nadal bullies Roddick on the Indian Wells hard courts, then wins his first title since Roland Garros '06. Then he skips Spain's Davis Cup QF right before the clay season is set to begin. Might SOMEONE be keeping his eye on the BIG prize, and after righting the ship now believes he can win #3 in Paris?
A BRIGHT SIGN FOR THE FUTURE?: Novak Djokovic is a Masters Cup RU in Indian Wells, then champion in Miami (where he defeated Nadel, destroyed Murray and put down Canas in the final). Could the Serb be the all-court challenger to Federer that Nadal failed to be in the back half of '06? Of course, Djokovic has to actually DEFEAT Federer at SOME point for this to be the case, huh?
A SIGN O' THE TIMES: Serbian and Croat "fans" brawled in Melbourne leading up to the singles match up between countrymen Marin Cilic and Ilia Bozoljic.

WORST TEST TAKER: Guillermo Canas
WORST WHEN IT COUNTS: Andy Roddick defeated Roger Federer in the final of the Kooyang exhibition before the Australian Open. Of course, after losing to Sir Roger in Melbourne, his record against him in matches that count is now at 1-13.
WORST CHOICE OF WORDS: Nikolay Davydenko was fined for saying that "no one cares about" tune-up events like Sydney. Sure, there's a grain of truth in there, but sometimes silence is golden... or at least cheaper.

A FINE MESS: Admit it -- when you first saw the Adelaide round robin draw you said, "What the frack is this?!" Then after the embarrassment in Vegas you said, "Serves the frackers right!" Isn't it wild (and totally expected) that something that is so fun at the Masters Cup is just a mind-warping, headache-inducing, bow-of-shame inspiring screw up during the regular part of the season?

THEY'RE BAAAACK!!! (sort of): New Hall of Famer Pete Sampras returns to competitive tennis in May on the Outback Champions Tour; while Andre Agassi's eagerly-awaited book just found a publisher.

CALL A MEDIC! (OR A PSYCHOLOGIST): In their Australian Open match, Andy Murray led Alberto Martin 6-0/6-0/5-0 before the Spaniard finally won a game. Final score: 6-0/6-0/6-1.

DAVID vs. GOLIATH, THE SEQUEL: "Olivier vs. Chris." Or, 5-foot-5 Rochus vs. 6-foot-7 Guccione in the Australian Open 1st Round. It only proved correct the axiom about the bigger they are the harder they fall... theoretically, at least.

BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO... or is it?: Roger Rasheed quit as Lleyton Hewitt's coach two weeks before the Australian Open, and Scott Draper replaced him for the event. Afterward, Draper turned down the offer to become Hewitt's full-time coach so that he could become a golf pro. Draper won the PGA's New South Wales title with a score of 20-under. Meanwhile, Hewitt, who bounced back so quickly after that break-up with Kim Clijsters, won a title in Las Vegas in March. All's well that end's well, I suppose.

JUST A REMINDER: Canas or no, Nadal or no, Roger Federer is still heading to Paris with a RogerSlam (four straight slam wins) at stake, and the opportunity to claim the first half of an actual Grand Slam... with his two best slams still to come in London and New York. Losing twice to Canas might just be the worst thing that could have ever happened... to the rest of the ATP field.


All for now.

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