I was proved wrong many times this weekend.  Let’s count the ways - 1. Andy Roddick should’ve gone all out and tried to beat Federer, so he could play a clearly exhausted Nadal instead of a clearly determined David Ferrer.  2. Roger Federer is still just as dominant on the Men’s side as he ever.  He proved this by losing a total of 12 games over 5 sets against his nemesis, Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer, who finished the year 5th in the world.  Not too shabby.  3.  I thought I was clutch at tennis, but then I lost my service game at love while serving for the first set in the finals of a doubles tournament this weekend.  Luckily, we broke back and won anyway.  4.  I thought all baseball players were greedy.  Mike Lowell proved me wrong.  5.  I thought the Bills would challenge the Pats at home during a night game, Tom Brady and Randy Moss proved me wrong.  Back to tennis… (more…)

Before I ship you off for the weekend with a bunch of entertaining links, here are my picks for this weekend: Roddick over Ferrer, Federer over Nadal, Federer over Roddick in a closer final than most people would imagine.  Oh, and another reason why fining players for not putting in 100% effort in each match - do you really think Roddick went all out against Federer today?  He was already in the semi’s, and beating Federer would have landed him Nadal instead of Ferrer.  I know Ferrer is on a tear right now, but I would find it hard to believe anyone would rather play Nadal.  I’m not saying Roddick tanked, but here is a perfect example of a time when it simply doesn’t make sense for a player to go all out.  Think of it like when a football team has clinched home field advantage before the last game, would they play their starters for a full 60 minutes?  But I digress…

Djokavic still happy with his 2007 season, even though he was awful in Shangai.

Davenport is eager to play for her country next summer.

Joel Drucker takes a closer look at how much the year ending championships really mean.

Davydenko hopes to return to anonymity.

Hingis waiting for support from WTA.

Interivew with Venus Williams.

Have a great weekend!  (That link was completely by accident, I didn’t mean to put it there, promise)

Since I have not watched a minute of Shanghai (I refuse to wake up at 4am to watch it live, and I struggle to watch tapes when I know the results), I’ll write about what else is going on in the tennis world, which isn’t too much.  Once the semifinal pairings are set, I’ll post my predictions tomorrow.

-Speaking of Davydenko, the ATP reversed the $2,000 fine on him for lack of effort.  This is a good decision by the ATP, for many reasons.  Davydenko is dealing with so much right now, and for a guy who likes to have a low profile, it is probably impossible for him to put forth 100% in each match.  Besides that, it’s the end of an incredibly long season for him, and isn’t it possible he just is not able to perform as well as he typically can? (more…)

Roger Federer lost earlier today in his first round robin match in Shanghai to Fernando Gonzalez 3-6, 7-6, 7-5.  This loss follows his 3rd Round Paris Masters loss to David Nalbandian, marking the first time since the spring of 2003 that Federer has lost back to back matches.  What does this mean in terms of Men’s tennis?  Not much really, because ask the 92 other men in the top 100 who are not participating in Shangai who they think will win, my guess is you would be hard pressed to find too many people who wouldn’t pick Roger.  What does it mean to the sport of tennis overall?  Potentially, quite a bit more. (more…)

Not only does tennis include potential match-fixing, cocaine users and steroids, it can now add attempted murder to the list!  Ok, so maybe I am exaggerating a bit on the whole attempted murder thing, but it is a wild story none the less.  Do I think Martina Hingis has a cocaine problem, or that Tommy Haas was actually poisoned by the Russians?  Probably not.  Do I think that top tennis officials need to do something to steer tennis away from becoming a completely tarnished sport (eg - cycling)?  Absolutely.  On the tennis page for cnnsi.com there are currently 10 headlines, I’ll paraphrase them for you: (more…)