Sports Then and Now

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal resume competition in Indian Wells.

Finally play gets underway this week for the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells with a lineup that includes almost all the usual suspects.  Who will survive the test of time and layoffs to take the title this year?  That is the question lingering on everyone’s lips.

Roger Federer’s Quarter

There are some very intriguing match-ups possible in Federer’s quarter of the draw including a potential 3rd round clash with the No. 27 seed Marcos Baghdatis.  The Cypriot who found his way out of the deep freeze and into the semifinals at Dubai is well on his way to a legitimate comeback after spending much of 2009 on the injured reserve list.

Seeded players hoping to advance to week two of the tournament include Tommy Robredo, seeded No. 18 and the always dangerous Radek Stepanek who has been known to throw wrenches into the plans of many a higher seeded player.  Stepanek lives to wreak havoc with the draw and could meet Federer in the 4th round.

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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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Novak Djokovic wins in Dubai and receives trophy from Sheik Monsoor bin Mohammed.

Novak Djokovic headed into Dubai this past week as the defending champion, carrying with him a bad case of nerves. He had good reason to be on edge because he was defending 500 points, having won the Dubai Tennis Championships in 2009.

Dubai remains a high water-mark on the tennis landscape and one of the favorites of players who use it as a warm-up for the U.S. Hard Court swing through Indian Wells and Miami, two ATP Masters Series events, each worth 1,000 points for the champion.

As the No. 2 player in the world, Djokovic feels the hot breath of Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray on his neck as the two tennis giants begin their earnest campaigns to overtake the Serb’s No. 2 spot as soon as possible.

Nadal sits only 940 points back while Murray remains 1,010 points behind Djokovic in the current rankings race. Pressures like those leave even the strongest and most determined a little rattled.

The Serb found himself facing a potentially lethal field that early on was only missing Rafael Nadal.  Seeded players included Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro, Nikolay Davydenko, and Andy Roddick as well as many other top 20 players.  In other words, the field was packed.

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Novak Djokovic will need to harness his emotions if he hopes to stay at number two in the world.

It is a new high for Serbian Novak Djokovic who finds himself ranked No. 2 in the world as well as being the No. 1 seed at Rotterdam this week. Finally after years of chasing that No. 2 spot, it seemed to fall into his lap as former No. 2 ranked Rafael Nadal’s knees folded once again during the quarterfinals of the 2010 Australian Open.

For all but a few weeks starting in August of 2009 when Rafael Nadal gave up his No. 2 ranking to Andy Murray just before the U.S. Open, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have held steadfast to the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in the ATP rankings since 2005.

Nadal is absent from the Netherlands this week because of his recent knee injury.  It is difficult to imagine Nadal a factor in the rankings race until the clay season gets underway.  Frankly the Mallorcan would be well advised to skip the hard courts altogether because it is not worth further injury.  His best chance at regaining one of the two top spots is by exerting his usual clay dominance and winning again at Stade Roland Garros.

This week, however, the new number two ranked player in the world, Novak Djokovic is playing tennis at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, sitting 510 points ahead of No. 3 ranked Andy Murray and 640 points ahead of No. 4 ranked Rafael Nadal with Roger Federer safely over 3,000 points ahead of the pack. Read the rest of this entry →

Novak Djokovic will look to return to the form that helped him win the 2008 Australian Open.

If winning isn’t everything, why do they keep score? ~Vince Lombardi

If you pay attention to the rhetoric emanating from the tennis world and note all the speculation about the upcoming “season”, you will hear endless debates about which player will survive the ATP or WTA 2010 scheduled obstacle course to wear the No. 1 mantle.

The irony is, of course, that even after a whole year of competition in 2009, when Roger Federer emerging with the No. 1 ranking, there is no consensus that he is the worthy recipient of that well-earned entitlement.

Consider Dinara Safina’s reign at No. 1, for example.  Regardless of the stats pronouncing the unequivocal bottom line, the debate continues to rage about who is “the best”.  Is it safe to assume that “No. 1″ and “best” even equivalent terms?

Who should be No. 1 appears to be quite subjective. Is it a mark of greatness that you can hold the No. 1 ranking even if you have never won a “major”—like Dinara Safina, on the women’s side?  Winning isn’t enough apparently—you have to win majors.

On the men’s side, there are few besides Federer and Rafael Nadal who have accomplished that.  Then how many majors are enough to appease the perfectionists amongst us?  What criteria should be examined to determine the designation of No. 1?

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Novak Djokovic will need to toss away his recent disappointments if he wants to move to the top of the tennis world in 2010.

2007

Remember two years ago at the U.S. Open?  Remember how happy Novak Djokovic was and how happy he made the New York crowds with his impersonations of Maria Sharapova, Andy Roddick, Roger Federer, and even Rafael Nadal?

While the guys growled, seemingly a little scratchy about his antics, Sharapova loved it and even sat in the Serb’s box with his parents!  Life was good then, Nole.  Wasn’t it?

Djokovic made it all the way to the finals of the 2007 U.S. Open, where he faced Federer down.  The Serb lost, of course.  Nerves.  Actually, he lost in straight sets to Federer, but the match was closer than it looked on paper.  That’s what everybody said, anyway.

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