Ok I admit it, I was a little off on my Women’s prediction.  Williams annihilated Sharapova 6-1, 6-2 in match that was never really close.  In doing so, Serena became the first player in 29 years to win the Women’s title as an unseeded player.  This is also Serena’s first WTA title since winning the same tournament in 2005, and the result shot her all the way up to No. 14 in the rankings.  Sharapova’s serve let her down, as her first serve % was just a tad over 50%, and Williams was able to take advantage.  I stand by my claim that Serena was not playing nearly as well as Sharapova leading up to the finals, and was able to get to the finals because she battled better than any of her opponents.  However, that definitely changed against Sharapova, as her tennis looked as good as it has in years. (more…)

I am back in the United States after many flights, layovers, missed connections, etc…but I have a clear head and am ready to discuss the upcoming final matches Down Under.  First off, looking back at my predictions written a few weeks ago, I was certainly off on some things (Safin, Bagdhatis, Mauresmo), but bear in mind that the draw had not come out yet, so I had no idea Safin was going to have to face Roddick in the 3rd round, or Bagdhatis would be playing Monfils so early in the tournament.  On the other hand, I did predict Federer and Sharapova to advance to the finals, not exactly going out on a limb, but at least I got something right. (more…)

The last couple days have been incredibly exciting here in Melbourne, not to mention incredibly hot. In fact, yesterday they suspended play on the outside courts for most of the afternoon (they closed the roof on Rod Laver and Vodafone arenas). The highlights over the past couple days have probably been the Men’s night matches. On Monday, Safin defeated Benjamin Becker in an epic 5 setter. Becker of course was the man who ended Andre Agassi’s career at the US Open last summer. Then last night, American Michael Russell took a two set to love lead on Hewitt, but the Aussie crowd rallied behind Hewitt and he stormed back to win in 5. On the Women’s side, Sharapova gutted out a tough three set victory, 9-7 in the third over Camille Pin of France. James Blake beat Moya for the second time in a few days in straight sets to move onto the second round, next up is 19 year old American Alex Kuznetsov, who won his first ever ATP match last night. Fellow American’s Mardy Fish and Andy Roddick are into the third round, and we could see some more American’s in the third round, as Sam Querrey and Vince Spadea are currently on court battling it out. (more…)

Writing to you live from Day 1 of the Australian Open.  The last of the day session matches are just wrapping up and we had some real excitement early on (and by early on, I mean 8:30am when I listened to the Patriots victory over the internet).  Federer was challenged in the first set, as Phau actually served for it, before Federer decided to start trying and completely dismantled his opponent.  (more…)

First off, Happy New Year to everyone, although I am not sure it is so happy for the competitors taking part in one of the year’s first tournaments in Adelaide, Australia.  Adelaide is the first tournament to use the Round Robin Format in an ATP event, which will be used as a sort of experiment throughout 2007.  Unfortunately, for players and fans alike, it has to be one of the more confusing formats I have ever encountered.  For college football fans, I understand the BCS more than I understand the format in Adelaide.  I will spare you the details, mainly because I don’t think I can accurately describe them, but here is a link to the tournament site.  In a nutshell, the tournament goes like this 1. Qualifying Draw 2. Main Draw Single Elimination 3. Round Robin with three players in each group 4. Single Elimination Final Rounds.  Ok, so it might not be as complicated as the BCS, but there is definitely a simpler way- I should know, I played in many Round Robin events in my heyday (12 and unders, B Division). 

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