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 clay: events in Chile, Brazil, Argentina, and now, Mexico.

In particular, Andy Roddick has been playing the hardcourt events while David Ferrer has been playing on clay.  The two have had quite different careers.  Roddick, much like Hewitt, Safin, and Ferrero, had success when he was young.  He was seen as the guy that would replace Agassi and Sampras.  And while his big booming serve lead him to the US Open title and the rank of number 1, Roddick was soon overtaken by Roger Federer.  Roddick was seen as someone with a nice serve, a reasonably big forehand, but lacking the kind of talent of a Federer or Nadal or Djokovic.

Even so, Roddick was able to stay in the top ten.  His rivals struggled to stay there including Nalbandian, Hewitt, Safin, and Ferrero.  Safin was too erratic.  The rest didn’t have the serve Roddick did.  As Roddick grew older, he became more workmanlike, beating players by being steadier than they were, and using his serve to win a lot of free points on his own serve.  Roddick knew his chances were going to be few and far between to win Slams as he got older.  Nadal was quicker than him, and could hit impossible shots from impossible positions.  Murray had incredible scrambling abilities and was more willing to hit big shots to win big points.

His rivals struggled staying healthy.  Players like Tommy Haas, Lleyton Hewitt, David Nalbandian often got hurt.  Even when they were healthy, they built their game based on the game styles of the 1990s.  If you look at modern players, they use the angles of the court so much better.  Watch Agassi and Sampras, and they did not hit the angles modern players employ all the time.  Furthermore, better athletes began playing the sport that moved faster, hit harder, and were physically stronger.  The only player of Roddick’s generation to keep up with all this is, well, Roger Federer.

Roddick, meanwhile, could credit hard work and that serve and being smart for winning tennis.  But, starting a few years ago, Roddick’s body began to betray him.  Whether it be injuries or mono or whatever, Roddick has struggled with injuries that have knocked him out of action for a few weeks at a time.

Even so, Roddick is a fighter.  This week, Roddick got deep into Delray Beach to reach the quarterfinals, but was unable to beat the tall South African, Kevin Anderson, who plays a style reminiscent of John Isner.  Both Isner and Anderson had played college tennis in the US. Last week, in Memphis, Roddick had been hurt and it contributed to an early loss to Memphis in the opening round to Xavier Malisse.  Even so, Roddick came to Delray Beach and did much better, but not to his usual standard.

By contrast, David Ferrer, who has never been number 1, who has never won a Slam, has been playing the best tennis of his life in the last 3 years.  It has helped that Ferrer is in excellent shape and hasn’t been injured as of late, and that his game has a point of view.  Think of him as Nadal-lite.  He’s fast enough to retrieve most balls, yet, he tries to work his game where he uses his forehand to attack your backhand.  Ferrer is currently the best short man in tennis, perhaps standing about 5’9″, a burly guy, who rarely loses to players ranked below him.

He just won an event in Buenos Aires, and he won earlier in the year in Auckland, taking the Almagro route of winning a lot of small events to stay in the top ten.  Yesterday, Giraldo gave Ferrer some trouble by going for big forehands and backhands, but Ferrer’s experience pulled him through again as he won in straight sets and will play his Davis Cup compatriot, Fernando Verdasco, who handily beat Stan Wawrinka in the semis.  Verdasco hit a peak in 2009, but has struggled after a good year of tennis, unable to gain consistency in his game, and being upset by Bernard Tomic in the Australian Open.

Speaking of Bernard Tomic, he’s been playing in the US the past few weeks, but has yet to replicate the success he had at the start of the year, where he looked like he might go deep in the Australian Open.

Roddick will try to push through Indian Wells and Miami before taking a break from clay which he does every year.

Meanwhile, Ferrer will switch surfaces and attempt to make it deep to Indian Wells and Miami.

Roddick has had the better career, but Ferrer is having the better sunset of his career at this moment.