Tim Henman's Retirement

Well I'm not really shocked to see Tim Henman announce his retirement but I was hoping that somehow he'd be able to give Wimbledon one last go.

He is clearly hampered by injuries in a major way, and with a young family at home you can't blame him for calling it a day.

To me, his record at Wimbledon will always stand out. Four times reaching the quarters, and another four semi-final appearances. And all of that accomplished with immense hometown pressure few others ever have to face. One more achievement that stands out for me are his semi final appearances in 2004 at the French and US Open show Henman's versatility on all surfaces.

We'll miss his serve and volley style of tennis and all the excitement it brought with it. Good luck in the future Tim!!!

More US Open Picks

Here are Nina Rota's picks for the final eight on the men's side.

Tennis Diary

Paradorn Srichaphan Anyone?

An interesting little article into the private life of Thailand's most talented player. I was wondering why we haven't seen him in some time, and I guess this could explain it.

Paradorn Srichaphan

Women's Seed Report

Jon Wertheim's preview of the women's draw at the US Open.

US OPEN WOMEN'S SEEDS

Men's Seed Report

Jon Wertheim's preview of the men's draw at the US Open.

US OPEN MEN'S SEEDS

US OPEN

So who's getting excited for the final slam of the year? I'm always amazed at how quickly the tennis season flies by. Seems like just yesterday things were starting out in Australia, and now here we are just a few days away from Flushing Meadows.

I've always felt that the US Open was the most predictable slam, or I guess the one with the fewest surprises. The Aussie Open is usually pretty wide open as the players are still trying to find their games after a couple of months without any serious tournies going on. Some players find their games quicker than others, and I suppose some train harder in December than others as well. The French Open is different since it's the only clay court grand slam. The final eight players at Roland Garros don't resemble any of the other slams. Wimbledon again is on a unique surface, as especially so since grass only pops up at a few tournaments on the circuit. Finally the US Open arrives and all the players are full into the swing of things, and have also had a good summer series of hard court events to get ready. We shouldn't see as many surprises here....right???

I think picking Federer as champ is not only a safe bet, but based on his results this summer I think he will be tough to defeat. Nadal could go out in any round depending on what his health is like at the moment. Djokovic certainly has the talent to go to the finals, but I wonder if he can handle the new found pressure he must be feeling. Roddick has had an up and down summer, and has not beaten any truly strong opponents. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't even make it to the quarters against Federer. In the next quarter down, James Blake has had a great run lately, but he as well hasn't faced any truly tough competition and perhaps he has played too much these past two weeks. Davydenko's section is pretty weak, and so I wouldn't be surprised if he made the last eight. Andy Murray is in there but definetly has not had enough matches under his belt this summer to be considered a threat. In the bottom half of the draw lookout for Youzhny to have a deep run as he did last year. Hewitt should meat up with (but ultimately lose to) Djokovic. The final quarter is quite up in the air. Safin, Gonzalez or Ljubicic all have incredible talent on hard courts but none have posted decent results this summer. If he stays healthy, Nadal should come out of this quarter, but I don't have a good feeling about him this time.

Darkhorses include, David Ferrer who has had some great hard court results. Robby Ginepri did great in 2005 and he could work his way through his section if he gets on a roll. How about Carlos Moya who seems pretty fit for the over thirty crowd. Nicholas Kiefer could be dangerous as well as he works his way back from injury. Young American Sam Querrey could also pose a threat.

Would love to hear some reaction to the above, and hear some other opinions. Ultimately my final eight are as follows:

Federer, Roddick, Davydenko, Haas, Youzhny, Djokovic, Safin and Ferrer. Going out on a bit of a limb I guess!

Federer The Grinder???

Peter Bodo writes an interesting column here describing Roger Federer as a grinder first, and an artist second. My first reaction was not to agree, but he makes a good point. Federer certainly grinded it out to win the US Open Series, while his main rivals (Nadal, Djokovic, Roddick) fumbled big time last week. Maybe we don't give King Roger enough credit for being a hard working player on top of one of the all-time wizards of the game.

The Grinder's Code

ATP Betting Scandal Update

An updated article on the recent betting scandal in relation to the Davydenko/Arguello match.

ATP Investigation

Tournament of Upsets

Wowee, can you believe what a day they had in Cincy yesterday??? I realize that a lot of players can get worn down after playing in Montreal the week before, but still I was shocked with the number of players that went down.

Nadal losing did not surprise me. He looked tired and out of synch last week when I saw him live in Montreal. I did think he'd at least get by Monaco however, who he has easily beaten in the past. Hope that his withdrawal was mostly precautionary to stay healthy for the Open.

Djokovic losing to Moya was more of a surprise to me. This kid did not seem to get tired at all during his run in Montreal last week, and even won his first doubles match here in Cincy. Moya hasn't been on his game on the hard courts yet, so I figured Nole would get by him pretty easily.

The tournament is pretty much Roger's for the taking now in my opinion. At least he made it through ok yesterday and restored some order to an otherwise hectic day.

Other losers that surprised me included, Gonzalez, Ljubicic, Stepanek and Youzhny. Those first two have really yet to get their games going this summer.

Joachim Johansson

Just an open question to any readers....what has happened to big serving swede Joachim Johansson? I know he was injured for most of 2006, and then made a brief comeback at the start of 2007. I'm assuming he's injured again, but with what and for how long?

Big Servers from the U.S.

Another interesting Nina Rota article. This one talks about the abundence of big servers, or should I say tall servers in men's tennis in the United States. She mentions that big servers such as Isner, Querrey, and Delic would have been better taught if they had started to practice on clay courts at a young age to avoid becoming relevant only only a single surface. I suppose the opposite also holds true. Many European tennis players should be exposed to hard courts growing up as well to add variety to their games. Goes both ways as far as I see it.

Tall Dudes

Fantasy Tennis Picks

Predictions on this week's Masters Series Event in Montreal by Nina Rota in her weekly Tennis Diary segment.

Tennis Diary

Jon Wertheim - Ad In / Ad Out

This week's edition from Sports Illustrated's Jon Wetheim.

Jon Wertheim

Serbian's On Top

Nina Rota's article from yesterday commenting on the rise of Serbian tennis players last week both on the men's (Djokovic) and women's (Ivanovic) side.

A Serbian Week In Tennis

Thursday Canada Masters Recap

Well I'm a little late posting about my second day in Montreal, but better late than never!

Got to the site around 10:30 on Thursday and checked out Davydenko against one of my fantasy pics, Mikhail Youzhny. Thought this would be a good match, and the first set was pretty impressive. Both Russian's were going all out on their shots, and produced some long and entertaining rallies. Davydenko hit the ball harder than I remember from two years ago at this same tournament, and I think he's slightly bulked up. I recall being pretty shocked at how skinny he looked in 2005. I was wondering if we'd hear any comments from the crowd about his betting scandal, but I didn't pick up on any (maybe they were all in French!)

Left after the first set tie break to check out the match on centre court between one of my favourite players on tour Tommy Haas, and Radek Stepanek. Ever since growing up with Becker and Stich, I've always liked German tennis players. They all have fun games to watch. I thought Haas would have an easier time, but Stepanek sure has been playing strong of late. Very impressed with Haas' one hand backhand which I would put right up near the top of the men's game. Not many players that can hit outright winners with this shot, but Haas unloaded quite a few.

Moved again back to court one to see Djokovic give Nalbandian a tennis lesson. At this point in the tournament I was starting to think Djokovic would be pretty tough to beat the way he was playing. He's just so solid overall and seems to get by without much opposition thus far. And Nalbandian's frustrating season continues.

Caught a very short amount of the Federer/Fognini match. Was pretty much as dull as I expected, and I called the 6-1, 6-1 score in advance. Thanks for coming out Fabio. So far Federer hasn't really had a real match to sink his teeth into. Could be a good thing, or it could come back to haunt him I thought.

Mathieu vs Nadal was terrific and I really thought Nadal was on his way home today. I see Mathieu's ranking has risen this year quite a bit, and when you see him play you can see why. Fantastic array of shots, and he seemed unbeatable in the first set. If he could maintain that kind of pressure I'd say he'd have an excellent shot at reaching the top ten.

Watched the first set of Hewitt/Hrbaty and was very surprised at how well the latter came out so strong. I have never, ever been impressed with Hrbaty's game in any way, shape or form. So the fact he stood toe to toe with Hewitt for so long was a shock. He even had a couple of match points later on. Hewitt was very lucky to come out of this one and it didn't bode well for his matchup with Federer Friday.

I was able to just see the end of Dancevic/Verdasco, and boy are us Canadians getting excited now!!! This kid is the first home town boy to make the quarters in Canada since 1989. Since his game cannot have changed that much over the past month, it must be a case of growing confidence and belief in himself. Still, some might say he hasn't yet faced a real top hard court player. That would change Friday with his matchup vs Nadal.

Treated to some exciting doubles action towards the end of the day session, as tournament organizers threw Federer/Allegro vs Bryan/Bryan onto centre court. This one went right to the wire, with a tough match tie break moving the Bryan brothers on to the next round. Federer's vollying skills are finally given their proper showcase in a doubles matchup. Definetly the most entertaining match of the day for me personally. I was also impressed with Allegro. As the only non-number one player out there he really held his own. He was usually the one to play the deuce/ad points when returning which surprised me. If these guys were able to play more together, I could see them being a force on the doubles tour.

The last singles match of the day was Roddick/Baghdatis and it really was a snoozer. Seemed like it was over in half an hour, and it was all Roddick in every sense. Serving, vollying, you name it and Roddick was the dominant player. Baghdatis seemed tired and without any answers to A-Rod's game. It was a bit of a let-down after such an exciting day of tennis. Another dissapointment was the withdrawal of the Nadal/Hewitt doubles tandem. After both playing tough three setters, it made sense to rest of for Friday, but I was still upset that I missed watching them play together.

So that was the extent of this year's tourney for me. Really had a blast and can't wait for Toronto next summer! More posts to come on the follow up from this year's tournament.

Wednesday Canada Masters Recap

Just some random tidbits of info from today's session at the Masters event in Montreal. I was on site from 10:30am until 10:00pm, so this will probably be brief and a little incohesive!

Right as I got on site, I scanned the practice courts for any big names. Sure enough, Roddick on one court, Djokovic on another, and Hewitt as well on a third practice court. Watched Roddick warm up with his brother and coach Jimmy Connors nearby to offer a few comments here and there. Jimmy was holding an old school raquet which was kind of funny to see. Just an odd shape. Andy made quite a few comments to his brother about the wind and the effect on his shots. It was a very windy day in fact. Then went over to see Djokovic. He is quite the character. Joking around with his coach and Nenad Zimmonjic the entire time. It was pretty cool to see. He even chest bumped his coach like the Bryan bro's after a particularly good point they played. Hewitt was the one working the hardest, and I guess that's partly because he wasn't going to be playing a real match today. Unfortunately James Blake withdrew with an injury. I haven't heard any specifics yet. Was dissapointed, as their matchup was the one I was most looking forward to.

Then it was off for some match action. Watched a little bit of the first set between Murray and Fognini. Murray just wasn't there at all today, and I suppose is still getting back into the swing of things. I was really unimpressed by his attitude though. Very immature and he complains a lot. Overall his body language sucks to put it mildly.

Next match I watched was Roddick vs Clement on centre court. I stayed for the first set which was a big snoozer. Roddick was just rolling right over him and Clement had little to offer in terms of resistance. I switched over to court 1 and saw Ferrer/Nalbandian. Lots of good rallies in this one, and I was very impressed with the strength of Nalbandian's two handed backhand. Best one I've seen in the tourney so far. You can see why he was in the top ten for so long, and it sort of makes you wonder what's gone wrong for him this year.

Time to head back to centre court to watch Federer against everyone's favourite circus act, Ivo Karlovic. No break point opportunities on either side throughout the match, and the difference was that Federer played both tie breaks much wiser than Karlovic. Even though Karlovic was holding serve with such ease, you felt that Federer was going to take both breakers and he never seemed challenged. It is quite a thing to watch Karlovic in person, and this was my first time to see him live. His overall game has become stronger over the years, and he had a couple of nice ventures into the net. His size is staggering, and next to some of the little ball kids he truly looked like a giant.

Following that match, I headed back to court 1 to see Frank "look at my new rank" Dancevic play a qualifier who had surprised Ljubicic the day before, Wayne Odesnik. I figured this couldn't be a better 2nd round match for Dancevic to be able to pull through. He had a tougher time than I expected against the lefty from the US, but prevailed in three sets. The crowd seems to be getting louder each match for their local favourite, and its been a while I think since a Canadian made it this far in the Masters tourney here. Since he's only 22 years old, he could have quite a bright future on the tour at this rate.

I only stuck around for one match in the evening session, and that was the blockbuster Safin vs Nadal. This was the first ever meeting between the two and I was really hoping for a great match. The first set certainly didn't dissapoint. Although Safin went down a break early, he quickly recovered and was moving Nadal all over the place. Safin's shots were hard and accurate, and Nadal seemed sluggish and out of place at times. I don't know when Nadal might have come over from Spain, but at 8pm local time perhaps he still felt it was 2am back home? Safin had two set points that he couldn't convert on, and Nadal ended up taking the first set in a tie break. Unfortunately for us and for Safin, the second set resembled nothing of the first. Nadal picked it up and Safin pulled his usual "self-destruction" routine. Gone 6-0, thanks for coming out! Oh, and one broken raquet which he kindly tossed to a lucky fan in the crowd.

All in all, a terrific day for tennis. Never have I seen so many top ranked players on court in one day. I don't think this can ever be topped for me! Looking forward to tomorrow all the same.

John Wertheim - Ad In / Ad Out

Props to 6'9 John Isner for his incredible showing in Washington last week. I think you'll get a laugh out of Gael Monfils' quote at the bottom of this article about losing to the unknown Isner.

Someone should make sure Isner and Karlovic face off in a tourney sometime!

John Wertheim's Ad In / Ad Out

Davydenko Betting Scandal

Well here's a bit of a scandalous story that you don't usually get with Tennis. Apparently several bettors put down a few million dollars that Nick Davydenko would lose his 2nd round match last week in Sopot. The twist is that most of the bets came in after Davydenko had won the first set 6-2. He went on to retire in the third set due to an injury.

What to make of this one???

$7 Million Dollar Man

Fantasy Tennis Picks

Predictions on this week's Masters Series Event in Montreal by Nina Rota in her weekly Tennis Diary segment.

Tennis Diary

Onwards to Montreal

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, I've been out of town and without internet connection. I leave Tuesday morning for Montreal and have tickets to both day/night sessions on Wednesday and Thursday. I may be tempted to go see some more action after that as well depending. I'll try to post some updates at the end of each night.

First time in the history of the Canadian Masters that all of the top twenty players in the world are in the draw. I can't wait to see how this one plays out. There could be some very interesting matchups. Even the first round has been unusually competitive, with Hewitt vs Ferrero earlier today, and Kiefer vs Tursunov as well. I'd like to see Federer take on big-serving Karlovic in round two, and also Blake vs Hewitt hopefully.

As far as fantasy tennis picks, here are my predicted eight quarter finalists: Federer, Blake, Youzhny, Haas, Roddick, Djokovic, Gasquet, and Nadal.

Talk to you again soon!

Frank Dancevic

Gotta promote my local boy Frank "The Tank" Dacevic. Ok, so his nickname probably isn't Frank The Tank, but it has been a long time coming for us Canadians to have any sort of hype around a singles player. We are quite proud of Nestor's doubles success mind you.

At any rate, here is a decent article about Dancevic's last minute entry into the tourney in Indianapolis last week and a bit about his game as well. Hope he can win a couple rounds in his homeland next week.

New Slice On The Block

Pro's Test Wooden Raquets

Found this interesting article on tennis.com about what today's pros felt about testing some old-school wooden racquets. Nice to see many of them were willing to give it a try. My favourite line is from Svetlana Kuznetsova boasting she could probably win some matches today with a wooden racquet!

Wood You?

Henman Woes Continue

Tim Henman goes out in the first round in Washington yesterday to a player I had never before heard of, John Isner of the U.S. (6-4. 4-6, 6-7) Poor Tim's had a tough year so far, and this is definetly not the start to the hard court season he wanted. I was hoping in a weaker field like this one he might get a few wins under his belt. Tough when you haven't played in over a month though.

I did a little research on Isner, and he had just won a challenger event in Lexinton NY last week which maybe helps explain why Henman ended up on the losing end. Isner is a 22 year old from Greensboro, NC who stands 6'9!!! Imagine the serve that guy must have. He's currently ranked somewhere around 750th in the world, and has only one previous ATP match under his belt, a first round loss in New Port last month.

Here's a link to his ATP player profile.

John Isner Player Profile