Sony Ericsson Wrap Up/Davis Cup Preview
UPDATE: Roddick officially announced he intends on playing this weekend.
So I did ok on my final round picks for the Sony, better than my NCAA bracket ended up anyway. I did pick Djokavic to take home the title, even though I thought he would beat Ljubicic in the finals, not Canas. I was also 100% correct on my Women’s final, “look for Serena to take down Henin in an epic final match,” is what I wrote last week. Wouldn’t you know it, Serena beat Henin in three sets after losing the first 6-0, and coming within a mere inch of losing the match. Djokavic has firmly established himself as one of the players to beat after a successful first quarter of 2007, during which his ranking has climbed to an all time high of 7th. His coming out party was really last year at the French, when he made it all the way to the Quarters, so look for him to continue his climb up the rankings during the European claycourt season. Serena, after bottoming out last year due to injury, finds herself on the brink of the top 10 (no. 11) after her win this week. She will struggle to win as much on clay, but if she does not finish the season in the top 5, barring any injuries, I will be shocked.
More importantly we have this weekend’s Davis Cup Tie between the USA and Spain. Nadal has pulled out, but Spain should still be confident with two top 15 players competing in the singles (Robredo and Ferrer), as well as a formidable doubles team in Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco. Assuming Roddick, who had to pull out in his match against Murray last week, does indeed play (which all signs are pointing to) the USA team will still be the favorite on paper. I think we are going to have our hands full however. Roddick is physically not 100%, and James Blake is not mentally 100%, after having two very tough tournaments in a row. If this match were not in the US, on a fast hardcourt, I would be picking Spain to win. When the dust has settled on Sunday afternoon though, I think the US will be victorious 3-2. Roddick and Blake will both win one of their singles matches, and the Bryans will take home the doubles in a competitive match. In other Davis Cup action, I am picking Russia to defeat France, Germany to defeat Belgium, and Sweden to fall to Argentina, all of which should have exciting matches. The winner of the USA/Spain tie will take on either Argentina or Sweden in the Davis Cup Semifinals September 21st-23rd.
One other quick note, our photo gallery has been up and running for a bit, and people are more than welcome to view it by clicking here. Also, I implore you to register for it, so you can not only comment on our photos, but upload your own shots as well.