Sports Then and Now

Indian Wells promised to be one of best tournaments of the year so far. And sure enough, the first Masters of the season, and the biggest tennis event outside the Grand Slams, delivered in spades.

All the top names were present and correct except for the injured world No. 5 Juan Martin Del Potro. The biggest draws in men’s tennis, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, were both back from injury or illness, and the draw promised to repeat some great former matches: Nadal versus Nikolay Davydenko, Federer versus Andy Murray, and ultimately Nadal versus Federer.

But very quickly, the picture changed as seeds fell like nine-pins. The likes of Marin Cilic, David Ferrer, Gilles Simon, Gael Monfils, Radek Stepanek, and several more, went in their first matches.

In the next round, it was Federer, Davydenko, Fernando Verdasco, and Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Murray and Novak Djokovic looked less than convincing in their progress to the quarters and fourth round respectively, and so it turned into a tournament where many of the old guard could show their credentials.

Joining a pumped up Nadal and a powerful Robin Soderling in the quarterfinals was a resurgent set of long-established names such as Ivan Ljubicic, Juan Monaco, and Tommy Robredo.

It made for fascinating tennis, capped by a final between two men with a combined total of 22 years on the professional tour, neither with a win at Indian Wells.

Their outstanding performances deservedly take them to the top of our Power Rankings.

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The U.S. hard court swing is underway this week as players compete at the ATP Masters Series Tennis Tournament in the desert at Indian Wells followed by another sunny outing at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

Last year’s champion at Indian Wells, Rafael Nadal, has been sidelined with injuries since the Australian Open.  No. 1 seed Roger Federer has also been absent from play since the Australian Open with a lung infection.

As the top players vie once again for supremacy, look for the rankings race to heat up as the lull is set aside and the summer season beckons.

The Top 10

1. Novak Djokovic (Last Power Ranking: OLI; ATP Ranking: 2)

Last Four Tournaments: Dubai [Winner], Rotterdam [Semifinalist], 2010 Australian Open [Quarterfinalist], ATP WTF London [RR 2-1].  Power Ranking Points: 382

Novak Djokovic takes the victory in Dubai from Mikhail Youzhny

Taking over the top spot this week is the Serb Djokovic who just repeated as the champion in Dubai overcoming Mikhail Youzhny in the final.  Even though Djokovic was not playing his best tennis, he found a way to win this event and cement his No. 2 status on the ATP tour.

This weekend Djokovic played Davis Cup for the Serbs against the U.S. and even though the U.S. team came back to win the doubles match, ultimately the Serbs prevailed thanks in part to Djokovic’s dual wins in singles.

Last year at Indian Wells Djokovic lost in the quarterfinals to American Andy Roddick 6-3, 6-2.  This year as the No. 2 seed, Djokovic will expect to do much better.  Much will depend upon the draw which is to be released shortly.   The current state of tennis mastery will become much clearer once the two ATP hard court Master Series events are concluded at Indian Wells and Miami.

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Though he is not near Roger Federer in the ATP Tour rankings, Sam Querry's recent performance puts him ahead of Federer in the weekly power rankings.

With the exception of Novak Djokovic, the ATP top five has not competed since the conclusion of the Australian Open. Since then, there have been two ATP 500 events, which shook up the power rankings quite a bit. With Roger Federer and Andy Murray back in action in Dubai, there will definitely be more drama in coming weeks. But first,
here is this week’s list.

The Top 10

1. Sam Querrey (Last Power Ranking: NR; ATP Ranking: 22)
Last Four Tournaments: Memphis [Winner]; San Jose [Semifinalist]; Australian Open [R128]; Sydney [R32]
Power Ranking Points: 548

With his title run in Memphis and a semifinal effort in San Jose, Querrey accumulated just enough power ranking points to edge Federer as this week’s top dog.

Though unranked in the last installment, this is not the debut of Querrey on the power rankings. He had a very successful several weeks last summer and won the US Open Series, so it is not surprising that he is doing well again on home soil.

He plays in Acapulco this week, where he will clash with the No. 2 seed Fernando Gonzalez in the first round. If not too tired, he should provide a stern test for Gonzo.

2. Roger Federer (Last Power Ranking: 1; ATP Ranking: 1)
Last Four Tournaments: Australian Open [Winner]; Doha [Semifinalist]; London [Semifinalist]; Paris [R64]
Power Ranking Points: 544

Ok, Federer at No. 2, not a very familiar position for the tennis ace. But, this is mainly due to his inactivity in the past three weeks. Should he perform well in Dubai this week, he has a good chance to get back where he belongs.

With the extreme calm and confidence he showed in Australia, Federer seems to have regained that “invincibility” aura, which should be a worrisome sign to all the other top guns.

This past Monday, Federer passed Ivan Lendl on the “most weeks as ATP No. 1” list. Next up, Pete Sampras’ 286 weeks. If Federer can retain his No. 1 ranking through Roland Garros, then he will pass Sampras’ mark before Wimbledon. Read the rest of this entry →

Roger Federer started strong in 2010.

Just as 2009 ended with Roger Federer atop both the ATP rankings and the Power Rankings, so it is after the first month of the 2010 season. With eight ATP tournaments and the opening Grand Slam in Australia now complete, there’s a certain déjà vu feel to proceedings, with Federer reasserting his dominance in the Majors with his 16th Slam title.

Thereafter, things have started to take on a slightly different look in both sets of rankings, starting at No. 2, where Andy Murray has gained ground at the expense of the injury-blighted Rafael Nadal.

Below them, a couple of the big men who imposed themselves on the top 10 last year, Fernando Verdasco and Robin Soderling, have lost ground to the fast-improving Marin Cilic and the slow-maturing Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

So there’s much to play for as the Tour heads towards the bigger rewards of the 500 point tournaments in February and the first Masters events in March (more on that later). Read the rest of this entry →