Three tournaments were played on clay this week in the lead up to Madrid, which will be played on blue clay. Madrid and Rome are two Masters 1000 events and are back-to-back events. The three events are Munich, Estoril, and Belgrade. Let's start with Belgrade. Normally, this is the Novak Djokovic tournament. He has won
It was an improbable journey for both finalists at Delray Beach, as it often is. Two years ago, Ernests Gulbis won the event over Ivo Karlovic, and spearheaded one of his best starts in his troubled career. He would go on to beat Roger Federer and take a set off Nadal on clay which is
While the big event is in Dubai, with three of the top four players in the field, there are, as always, other tournaments being played. There have been a series of American tournaments played: at San Jose, then Memphis, and now in Delray Beach. There's also been tournaments in the rest of the Americas on
One reason Nicolas Almagro has been in the top ten is the number of titles he's won. The ATP clay circuit can be broken into three parts. There is the South/Central American swing that is played starting a week or so after the conclusion of the Australian Open and runs until Indian Wells. Then, there
It's easy, at the conclusion of a grueling Australian Open, to believe all of tennis is being played by the top four. The entirety of the top four took a week off. For some, like Rafa, it's rest and training. Rafa promised not to play until Indian Wells and has chosen not to play Davis
Most fans who follow tennis only ever care about the pros at the very top, those who threaten to win Slams, those who win dozens of titles, those who will be remembered long after their careers have concluded. Then, there are pros that are on the other end, who aren't good enough to last more
AAMI Classic This is an exhibition held in the few days leading up to the Australian Open. This year, eight men participated: Tsonga, Berdych, Fish, Roddick, Monfils, Raonic, Melzer, and Tomic. Tsonga said he was a bit fatigued after his travel from Doha, but finished two matches before exiting (the exhibition allows for two matches
It may be the start of the new year, but tennis has made a roaring start with three tournaments just concluding, plus an exhibition in the Hopman Cup. The tournament with the most star power is in Doha, Qatar, which featured Federer, Nadal, Monfils, and Tsonga, Brisbane was the only men's tournament in Australia. The
Andy Murray started Brisbane off slowly, dropping his initial sets in the first two rounds, but when it came to potentially tough opponents, he's cranked up his play. In the previous round, he beat up on Marcos Baghdatis with a straight set win including two breaks in each set. This time around, Murray was up
Doha tournament organizers surely didn't expect this. When you have Federer and Nadal in the draw, you hope for Federer and Nadal in the final, or at least one or the other. Federer had to withdraw due to a back issue that had him in danger of missing his match against Seppi. He worked a
