Wk.9- Comeback Kings

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

I've been looking forward to March for a long time. It's one of my favourite months in any case, but on the tennis calendar it is particularly interesting and it creates a lot of talking points, too. I saw an interesting point -- for example -- on the internet a few days ago. It read something like this: Had Serena not taken the WTA top spot would she have entered IW to get to number one? I think not, personally. It is always more interesting and more up for grabs on the women's tour because of the Williams absence. I think such a boycott is bad for the sport, but I think Williams is in the right here, too. Actually, while I'm here, I shall give you an interesting fact. Serena is 22-1 in doubles finals. The Williamses lost to Davenport/Morariu at San Diego in 1999. In 22 of those 23 finals she partnered Venus. Can you name the person she partnered with that wasn't Venus Williams?

While you think of the answer why not enjoy some Whitney?



Alexandra Stevenson and Serena Williams won at Leipzig. Also, I will do my Men's and Women's picks for Indian Wells separately.



*Week 9 CHAMPIONS*
DUBAI, U.A.E.
S: Novak Djokovic def. Tomas Berdych 7-5/6-3
D: Bhupathi/Llodra d. Lindstedt/Zimonjic
ACAPULCO, MEXICO
S: Rafael Nadal def. David Ferrer 6-0/6-2
D: Kubot/S.D. Marrero d. Bolelli/Fognini
DELRAY BEACH, CAL USA
S: Ernests Gulbis def. Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-6/6-3
D: Blake/Sock d. Mirnyi/Tecau


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Rafael Nadal, ESP
...I think this was the right choice. All the players who won titles this week could have been player of the week. However -- maybe just for being Nadal -- I felt this guy really earned it. It may be the first time in living memory someone has played Ferrer in a best of three and he only won two games. He also beat an on fire Almagro in two and dismissed the Argentines Schwartzman, Alund and Mayer with ease. He looked like the Nadal who has lost just one match at Monte Carlo and just one at the French.

I think it's safe to say that Rafa the King of Clay is back. He is the most dominant clay courter I think ever. I bet the tennis gods are laughing somewhere. I mean putting Fed and Nadal in the same era. Then they throw in Djokovic, Del Potro and Murray. Then they injure DelPo and derail his career. Then they injure Nadal TWICE. I don't know whether to laugh or to cry. It seems that Fed is like a consistent presence. Sometimes out of form, sometimes playing badly but always dependably there. Anyway Nadal is back it seems. However he has a lot of points to defend coming up in April. If he goes into the French ranked anywhere out of the top four that is a draw breaker. If Novak runs into Nadal or Murray runs into Nadal in the quarters then there will be fireworks. At his best, few if any can resist Nadal on clay. Maybe Djokovic on a very good day and 2006-7 Fed, too, maybe. Perhaps Nalbandian for a set on a quicker clay court. Anyway I'm happy to see him back. I believe the Beatles analogy is appropriate here. Murray as Ringo. Federer as John Lennon with Nadal as McCartney. Djokovic as Harrison?
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RISER: Tomas Berdych, CZE
...He saved match points against the GOAT and won the second set breaker 10-8. He wasn't excellent against Djokovic but overall he had an absolutely fantastic week here and built on the title he won in the previous week. He could be a big dark horse in IW. He seems to be having one of his best years to date, too.
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SURPRISES: Delray Beach Finalists, LAT/FRA
...At 29, Edouard Roger-Vasselin has got to his first singles final. He beat Italian Cipolla, beat big server Karlovic and up and comer Berankis, too. He was awesome in a very tight three set win over Isner. A quick note on Isner here. He has to defend his points in IW to some degree or he is in serious trouble. Gulbis is on the comeback trail. The enigmatic, funny Iva Majoli type had fallen a long way but is finally starting to get back to his feet. He beat Blake with little fuss, came back from the dead to beat Querrey, beat unknown quantity Nava, then edged Haas in a third set breaker before beating Edouard in two sets in the final. An impressive week from the pair of them and it could be the start of something.
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VETERAN: Nikolay Davydenko, RUS
...After winning the '09 ATP World Tour finals, he was clearly one of the best players in the world. He played Fed in the Aus Open quarters. He got up 6-2, 2-0 but then missed a backhand into the net. It seems that since then he has been on a consistent downward trajectory pretty much. He is now at 42 in the world. He seems to be on the comeback trail but will be 32 in June. How much does he have left?
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COMEBACK: James Blake, USA
...I have always loved Blake's gamer personally. It just seems pure. I love the way he plays this lovely gorgeous style of tennis but he adds grit and grunt. He has a colossal forehand and a big serve which is complemented by a lovely backhand, too. I can't think of a righty Amercian with a one handed backhand off the top of my head. I know Ashe had a one-handed but since about 1990 it has become rarer and rarer generally. Anyway he and Sock beat the third seeds Peers/Fleming, thrashed Berankis/Donskoy, beat Brown/Kas then beat the top seeds Mirnyi/Tecau with relative ease. I think that is a comeback of sorts for Blake.
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NEW FACE: Roberto Bautista-Agut, ESP
...He did well in Dubai this week. He challenged Djokovic somewhat. Just watch him...he is already number 51 in the world and rising.
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DOWN: Janko Tipsarevic, SRB
...What goes up must come down. Usually with a painful thud. Just ask the Republicans. I think we are starting to see the beginning of the end of Janko Tipsarevic in the top ten. If by the end of the year he is ranked even 15 I will be very impressed. The old injuries are starting to wear him down and he has pulled out of Davis Cup -- or so i've heard -- and I think he will start to really fall soon. However, there are Masters where he has no points to defend so it isn't all bad news for him just yet.
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1. Dubai SF - Berdych d. Federer
...3-6/7-6/6-4. I thought Federer was going to win this. I'm annoyed that he didn't but regardless, Berdych deserved to win this match. He has never beaten Djokovic on hard though and that is a serious issue. In any case, he had a 5-3 lead in the second set but blew it. He got an early break in the third after winning a tense tiebreaker and from there he never looked back.
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2. Delray Beach 2nd Rd. - Gulbis d. Querrey
...6-4/4-6/7-6. So much drama in this match that it wouldn’t have felt out of place being played in the back garden of one of the houses on Wisteria Lane. Gulbis swore and smashed a racket, came back from 4-0 down. Querrey double-faulted twice in the breaker to lose and double-faulted on break point earlier. It was a mad match in so many ways but also quite a high quality one nonetheless.
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3. Delray Beach SF - Gulbis d. Haas
...6-3/4-6/7-6. Haas is amazing first off. He is still able to compete at this high level despite the fact he is 34 and has been playing since about the mid-nineties. I wonder if he's met Date-Krumm? Anyway this was another tight tense match in which Gulbis won by edging a tight tiebreaker. Gulbis is now ranked 67. Amazingly he had to play through qualies to enter the main draw. He came back from a set down against Molchanov and beat him in a very tight match. He has had an amazing week and his wins over Querrey and Haas were both high quality affairs, too.
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So I guess that's it. But enjoy the celebrations of France here:



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