ATP 2007 Review

It's time to stack up the year's accomplishments for further inspection. (Not that a magnifying glass is needed to determine who 2007's Player of the Year was. Nor 2006's, for that matter. Or 2005's...)

==PLAYERS OF THE YEAR==
1.ROGER FEDERER, SUI

.......The Great One's coup d'etat against the Sampras Empire is nearly complete, even if the "Old One" did more than hold his own in those Asian exhibitions this past week. Now the question is no longer whether Federer will become the all-time slam title leader, but whether he can make 2008 his Golden masterpiece.
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2.RAFAEL NADAL, ESP
........Rafa's seasons have fallen into a slow start, magnificent middle, uninteresting finish pattern. The clay court dominance is great, but he'll need better results at the hard court slams in Melbourne and New York if he's going to hold off Djokovic for the "heir apparent" title.
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3.NOVAK DJOKOVIC, SRB
........Novak the Entertainer became a star in 2007. In 2008, it'll probably be considered something of a disappointing season if he doesn't become a grand slam champion. It might not happen during the next twelve months, but at least he's not been handed Andy Roddick's career fate.
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4.BOB & MIKE BRYAN, USA
........what's the greatest doubles pairing of all-time? McEnroe/Fleming? Woodbridge/Woodforde? At 29, the twins might be throwing their names into the discussion.
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5.ANDY RODDICK, USA
........the Great Champion that never was (well, except for that one time). Still, he had another very good year that was overshadowed by what's now the Big THREE. Heading a Davis Cup title team would at least give him something to crow about.
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HM- DAVID FERRER, ESP
........might 2008 see the battle for Spanish #1 become even closer than the Nadal-vs-Federer continuing epic that's played out over the last two years?
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==RISERS==
1. Novak Djokovic, SRB
2. David Ferrer, ESP
3. Juan Monaco, ARG
4. Richard Gasquet, FRA
5. Fernando Gonzalez, CHI
6. Andy Murray, GBR
7. Igor Andreev, RUS
8. Tomas Berdych, CZE
9. Tommy Robredo, ESP
10. Mikhail Youzhny, RUS
11. Ivo Karlovic, CRO
12. Marcos Baghdatis, CYP
13. Nicolas Almagro, ESP
14. Paul-Henri Mathieu, FRA
15. Mariusz Fyrstenberg & Marcin Matkowski, POL
HM- Eric Butorac & Jamie Murray, USA/GBR

==FRESH FACES==
1. John Isner, USA
2. Stanislas Wawrinka, SUI
3. Philip Kohlschreiber, GER
4. Gilles Simon, FRA
5. Robin Soderling, SWE
6. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA
7. Juan Martin Del Potro, ARG
8. Nicolas Mahut, FRA
9. Chris Guccione, AUS
10. Janko Tipsarevic, SRB
11. Marin Cilic, CRO
12. Donald Young, USA
13. Simone Bolelli, ITA
14. Sam Querrey, USA
15. Robin Haase, NED
HM- Peter Wessels, NED & Viktor Troicki, SRB

==JUNIOR STARS==
1. Ricardas Berankis, LTU
2. Uladzimir Ignatik, BLR
3. Greg Jones, AUS
4. Jonathan Eysseric, FRA
5. Matteo Trevisan, ITA
HM- Thomas Fabbiano ITA,

==SURPRISES==
1. Frank Dancevic, CAN
2. Juan Monaco, ARG
3. John Isner, USA
4. Filippo Volandri, ITA
5. Albert Montanes, ESP
HM- Andreas Seppi, ITA

==VETERANS==
1. Mark Knowles & Daniel Nestor, BAH/CAN
2. Guillermo Canas, ARG
3. Paul Hanley & Kevin Ullyett, AUS/ZIM
4. David Nalbandian, ARG
5. Carlos Moya, ESP
HM- Tommy Haas, GER & Lleyton Hewitt, AUS

==DOWN==
1. James Blake, USA
2. Jonas Bjorkman & Max Mirnyi, SWE/BLR
3. Ivan Ljubicic, CRO
4. Marat Safin, RUS
5. Nikolay Davydenko, RUS
HM- Mardy Fish, USA

==COMEBACKS==
1. Guillermo Canas, ARG
2. Lleyton Hewitt, AUS
3. Igor Andreev, RUS
4. Nicolas Kiefer, GER
5. Thomas Johansson, SWE
HM- Donald Young, USA (if it's possible to be "coming back" at so young an age, that is)



==BEST OF ATP TOUR '07==
**BEST PERFORMANCES**
1. Nalbandian Closes Strong
......in Madrid, after reaching just one QF in his first fifteen events of the season, David Nalbandian becomes the third man -- and second in '07 -- to knock off the top three-ranked men (#1 Federer, #2 Nadal & #3 Djokovic) in the same event. He then followed up that Masters title with another in Paris, where he beat Federer and Nadal once again.
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2. Djokovic Does it First
......during the U.S. Open Series, the Serb knocked off #1 Federer, #2 Nadal and #3 Roddick to win the Montreal Masters.
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3. The End of the Streak
......after slumping in the clay court season, Roger Federer parts ways with sometime-coach Tony Roche. He then goes to Hamburg and ends Rafael Nadal's Open Era all-time best 81-match clay court winning streak in the final.
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4. Rafa Three-peats
......Nadal wins his third consecutive Roland Garros title, running his career record at the slam to 21-0.
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5. Oh, Yeah... and there was HIM, too
......Roger Federer defends his Australian Open title without dropping a set, becoming the first man to do so at a slam in nearly 27 years.
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6. A Comeback Reaches New Heights
......Guillermo Canas, recently back from a drug suspension, upends Federer in back-to-back events in Indian Wells and Miami.
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7t. Is Such Excellence Somehow Overlooked?
......in July, Federer won his fifth straight Wimbledon crown, then in September followed up his SW19 win with a U.S. Open title for the fourth straight year. The wins gave him twelve career slam championships (two behind all-time leader Sampras), and a record ten straight appearances in slam finals. In three of the last four years, he's won three of the four slam titles in a season.
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8. Still Capable of Surprises
......Andy Roddick goes 2-0 in the Davis Cup 1st Round against the Czech Republic... on clay! The USA goes on to advance to the final against Russia.
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9. Never Doubt The Man
......after experiencing back-to-back losses for the first time in four and a half years, Federer defeats Nadal in the Masters Cup SF and claims his fourth year-ending championship title in the last five years.
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10. Perfection... and Roger isn't involved
......Tommy Haas defends his Memphis title, never once facing a break point in 47 service games.
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==BEST MATCHES==
U.S. Open 2nd Rd - Djokovic def. Stepanek
......6-7/7-6/5-7/7-5/7-6. In 4:44, Djokovic showed why the comic sideshow is just that. First and foremost, he's a player who creates excitement ON THE COURT.
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Wimbledon Final - Federer def. Nadal
......7-6/4-6/7-6/2-6/6-2. Finally, the Roger-and-Rafa Show produces a five-set slam classic.
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Wimbledon 1st Rd - Henman def. Moya
......6-3/1-6/5-7/6-2/13-11. Before he walked back through the Centre Court door for a final time, Henman produced one more memorable rollercoaster match. After blowing four match points on Monday, Henman survived on Tuesday, then finally won on his seventh match point on what was also Tony Blair's final day in office.
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==BEST IDEA==

......Rafa. Roger. Grass. AND clay. And Nadal wins 12-10 in a 3rd set tie-break.

==TOP BREAKOUT MOMENTS==
1. With zero ATP tour wins to his credit, 6-foot-9, world #416 John Isner uses his menacing serve to win four final set tie-breaks and advance to the Washington, D.C. final
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2. Novak Djokovic places himself squarely on the sports world's map with a SF run at Roland Garros, a RU at the U.S. Open and on-the-nose post-match impersonations of Nadal & Sharapova in New York
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3. David Ferrer steals fellow Spaniard Nadal's thunder, defeating him twice en route to reaching the U.S. Open SF and Masters Cup final
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4. Fernando Gonzalez flashes brilliance, knocking out Nadal and Blake, on his way to the Australian Open final
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5. Argentine Juan Monaco wins his first three tour titles, and pushes Djokovic to the brink at U.S. Open
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6. Richard Gasquet comes back from two sets and 4-2 down against Andy Roddick to reach the Wimbledon SF
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7. Towering Ivo Karlovic finds more game than just his serve, and wins three singles titles
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8. Filippo Volandri defeats Roger Federer in straights sets in the 3rd Round in Rome
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9. Frank Dancevic upsets Andy Roddick, reaches Indianapolis final
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10. Paul-Henri Mathieu claims his first tour title in five years in Casablanca
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**THE GOOD**
The Man in Black

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That being greedy to not only want to see Federer pass Sampras in '08, but to also achieve a RogerSlam (or maybe a Golden RogerSlam?), isn't a bad thing... nor is the "dream" an unrealistic one on its face.
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Djokovic being there, just in case Rafa's body doesn't cooperate
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In the nick of time, Young and Isner (and maybe Querrey, and even Dancevic if you want to extend things over the border) arriving
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Davydenko fined for saying that no one cares about slam tune-ups like Sydney (I mean, it's "good" compared to the stories that surrounded him later in the year)
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Federer vs. Sampras in the Asia exhibitions... and maybe the unrealistic dream scenario that the still hard-serving Pete's lingering "curiosity" about playing on grass would peak around June and July
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The Stepanek/Hingis break-up was followed by Radek winning a title in Los Angeles
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Justin Gimelstob ending his slam singles career with a post-match on-court interview of Andy Roddick

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Djokovic's light-hearted Nadal impersonation
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**THE BAD**
Robin Soderling's mean-spirited Rafa impersonation in the 3rd Round of Wimbledon... with Nadal on the other side of the net
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Martina Hingis' positive cocaine test not long after the Stepanek break-up (could the curse be reversed?)
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Gambling, match-fixing, potential poisoning... maybe the tour just shouldn't play in Russia for a bit
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James Blake dipping to #13 in the rankings with bad big-match results.. Good book, though.
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Steffi Graf requiring three stitches after being accidentally hit in the face by husband Andre Agassi's racquet while playing during a fundraiser
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Mardy Fish missing Roland Garros after hurting his foot kicking field goals during an NFL Europa Rhein Fire game
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Mark Philippoussis on the NBC dating show "Age of Love," where he was to choose his lady from a group of "kittens vs. cougars." Good for him.... bad for TV viewers with a broken remote control.
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2009 Masters Series events being called "1000 Level" events. Why?????
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**THE UGLY**
The huge post-match pile of "dead" shirts that saw their best minutes during a Justin Gimelstob match
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Umpires calling out Davydenko during matches, questioning him about his physical health and whether or not he's giving full effort simply based of pure suspicion. Then, the $2000 fine levied against him after such an incident was later dropped. Either get enough evidence to suspend the man, or stop having him play 20 Questions every time he plays a bad set.
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The Round Robin "experiment." No, make that the Round Robin Disaster (and not just the Blake/Del Potro/Korolev incident in Las Vegas, either).
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The Serb/Croat brawl leading up that Cilic vs. Bozoljic match
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The U.S. Men going 0-9 in the 1st Round of Roland Garros (at least Fish had an entertaining excuse note)
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Roddick's 1-15 career record against Federer... hmmm, did I mention Young and Isner reaching the 3rd Round of the U.S. Open?
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And, of course, we have to hear from You-Know-Who before we go.

"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.

All for now. See you in 2008.



PAST SEASON REVIEWS: 2005, 2006

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The Dark Before the Dawn?

The Masters Cup is on, and the 2007 ATP season is nearly over... but could Roger Federer actually be "coming back to the field?"



Yeah, it's likely a pipe dream designed to give unwarrented hope to anyone not named Nadal or Djokovic (or, I suppose, Nalbandian) for the 2008 season. The season's final weeks have seen The Great One just look "pretty good." He lost to David Nalbandian twice in Masters events, and his opening Round Robin defeat at the hands of Fernando Gonzalez (previously owned by the Swiss Mister) gave him back-to-back tour losses for the first time in four and a half years. And these matches weren't on clay, either.

Of course, Federer looked human in the spring, too. That time it WAS often on clay, but then he rebounded to end Nadal's long clay court win streak, reached the Roland Garros final, and proceeded to sweep through Wimbledon and the U.S. Open to seal his fourth straight season-ending #1 ranking and climb to within two of matching Pete Sampras' all-time ATP mark of fourteen grand slam singles titles.

But could Federer's late-season "swoon" (yeah, it's not REALLY that... but as with any comment related to Federer's tennis, going to the extreme is sort of a requirement, isn't it? Even if it's on the negative side of the ledger.) signal a soon-to-come "changing of the guard," or at least a more equally-distributed series of slam titles over the next few years? Maybe. But, remember, Federer is STILL Federer until further notice and/or evidence to the contrary. He might very well end up winning another Masters Cup this weekend to quell any potential whispers. And, anyway, there's no David Nalbandian to get in the way this time, right?

With the slam record on schedule for 2008, and maybe even a run at a Grand Slam (or potentilly a Golden one in Beijing, where Federer will try to grab his first Olympic championship), the last few weeks of 2007 could end up being simply a little blip that precedes Federer's official christening as "the greatest of all time" (see, as I said earlier). With all the talk of a betting scandal (or, in Nikolay Davydenko's case, the "new McCarthyism"... considering he's being called out by umpires during matches simply because there MIGHT be a chance he's "not giving full effort"), the ATP could really use another big-time year from Federer, with the likes of Rafa and Novak nipping at his heels, next season. And if it comes, it could be fantastic.

As they say, it's often darkest before the dawn.



But what about 2007? Who have been the best players over the last ten and a half months? Well, here's enough opinion to make the world go around for a minute or two:

**PLAYERS OF THE YEAR... with just a few days to go**
1. Roger Federer, SUI
... even though he experienced more lulls than normal during the season, he still won three slams and ended Nadal's record clay court streak. Could he just be revving up for "the greatest season ever" in 2008?
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2. Rafael Nadal, ESP ... dominating the clay season is great, but maybe another disappointing hard court season will compell Rafa to cut his schedule back a bit so that he might enter New York in something resembling top form, as well as being better rested for Melbourne, where the weather conditions would be his friend. He's managed to figure out how to become a good grass court player, so will contending for a hard court slam be his next mission?
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3. Novak Djokovic, SRB
... Captain Federer's Number One in Waiting, and the rare foreign-born player who might be able to break through the dense American sporting landscape and become a star. He needs that first slam title, though.
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4. Bob & Mike Bryan, USA
... the best doubles team in the world (again).
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5. Andy Roddick, USA
... even though he was fated to be born at precisely the wrong time to win grand slam titles, he still has a shot next month to help bring home the USA's first Davis Cup title since 1995.
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6. David Ferrer, ESP
... the little Spanish engine that could, and did, show up Rafa in NYC (and did it again when they faced each other this week in Shanghai). He's gone 3-0 in finals this year.
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7. Juan Monaco, ARG
... the quietest three-time champion on tour this season, and a player who actually got more attention for losing a close one to Djokovic at the US Open than for all the matches he WON during the year.
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8. James Blake, USA
... he could be a mega-star at the US Open if he could string together multiple big-time wins. Of course, he often comes up lacking in big-time matches, which is part of the reason why he didn't qualify for the Masters Cup.
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9. Guillermo Canas, ARG
... he never quite again reached his spring heights when he stunned Federer, but it was still quite a comeback season.
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10. Fernando Gonzalez, CHI
... speaking of never living up to early-season hype. After his Oz run to the final, Gonzo looked like he'd be where Djokovic now finds himself. But he turned out to be mostly an afterthought the rest of the season. A late-year title, and then that win over Federer in Shanghai this week, though, finally allowed him to climb back into the ATP "land of the living."
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*MR. ANONYMOUS*
...years ago, Sports Illustrated ran an Ivan Lendl cover shot that dubbed him "The Champion Nobody Cares About." Well, Robredo is the Top 10 player nobody knows.

*MR. NOTORIOUS*
...after years of being the most invisible top-ranked player on earth, Nikolay Davydenko finally received some notoriety this season, but it was for all the wrong reasons. He's still ranked #4, but he'd gone title-less all season until finally securing a win in Moscow last month. Of course, no one will remember THAT about his '07 season, now will they?

*OH, AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST...*
...how could I not give an even bigger nod to David Nalbandian? I mean, talk about a great finishing kick. After posting a single QF result in his previous fifteen tournaments this season, the Argentine exploded in the season's final two Masters events. In Madrid, he became the third man ever (but the second just THIS YEAR) to defeat the top three ranked men in a single event, toppling Federer, Nadal and Djokovic to take the title. Then, next time out, he defeated Federer and Nadal again to claim the Paris Masters. After having a nonexistant presence all season, he ended up finishing at #9 and just missed qualifying for the Masters Cup.


All for now.

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