McIntyre Tennis

Mubadala Tennis Championship Underway in Abu Dhabi

By Mike McIntyre

While the ATP World Tour is getting ready to kick-off the 2011 season Sunday in Brisbane, the biggest names in men's tennis can be found already involved in a high-profile exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

The Mubadala Tennis Championships boasts a field that includes Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Robin Soderling, Tomas Berdych, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Marcos Baghdatis. The tournament only runs from Thursday December 30th until Saturday January 1st and follows a single elimination format. Nadal and Federer earned the right to a "first-round" bye due to their being seeded one and two respectively.

On Thursday, Soderling defeated Tsonga by a score of 6-4, 6-7, 6-1 while Berdych defeated Baghdatis 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. Federer will now face Soderling on Friday in the first match at 3pm local time while Nadal will play Berdych no sooner than 5pm.

The final will be on Saturday at 5pm, preceeded by the two losing semi-finalists playing each other for third place at 3pm.

Stay tuned to ProTennisFan for more results.

Around The Corner: Shanghai Hosts Masters 1000 Event

By Mike McIntyre

The best men's tennis players in the world are once again assembled as the ATP World Tour showcases their talent in Shanghai. The Masters 1000 event boasts all top twenty players in the world.

In the first quarter we have world number one Rafael Nadal who recently completed his career Grand Slam at the U.S. Open. Since then Nadal has lost a semi-final match in Thailand and is currently set to play Gael Monfils in the finals in Beijing.

Nadal gets a first round bye this coming week and will play the winner of the Gilles Simon vs. Stan Wawrinka match.

While Nadal seemed to pace himself this year by playing fewer tournaments, he has been going full throttle during the Asian tennis swing and is perhaps due for an early round upset. Either of Simon or Wawrinka could trouble him. After his opening match Nadal could face the likes of Mardy Fish and Fernando Verdasco in the third and fourth rounds. I feel it is time for Nadal to come back down to earth with a humbling loss to one of the above players.

Andy Murray leads the next quarter and has had a less than successful 2010 season on tour. While he did finally grab his first tournament victory in Toronto in August, he failed to advance past the third round at the U.S. Open. Murray also bombed out early this past week in Beijing where veteran Ivan Ljubicic thrashed him 6-3, 6-2.

Murray could be challenged by the likes of Marcos Baghdatis, Sam Querrey or Mikhail Youzhny in his section. His recent results do not inspire confidence in his chances here this week.

On the other side of the draw Novak Djokovic has regained the number two position on the tour and likely will open in the second round against Ivan Ljubicic who has had a terrific week in Beijing making the semi-finals. Djokovic will have Gael Monfils and potentially Tomas Berdych to deal with in his quarter as well.

Finally, world number three Roger Federer will play in his first tournament since New York. It is hard to tell what we can expect from Federer after his month-long layoff, although he has played strongly since Wimbledon where he unexpectedly lost in the quarter finals.

Federer has the best draw of the top four and should get a couple of wins under his belt before having to face Robin Soderling in the quarter-finals.  

I expect a strong showing from Federer who will certainly be well rested. I foresee a Federer vs. Djokovic semi-final on one side with more of an upset on the other between Verdasco and Youzhny.

Any way it ends up, it's another great opportunity to see all of the best players in the world show us their skills. Tennis fans in Asia and those willing and able to watch at odd hours around the globe will enjoy this late season competition. 

Around The Corner: Tennis On The Rise in Asia

By Mike McIntyre

The ATP Tour crosses several time zones this week and sets up shop in Thailand and Malaysia where it hopes to attract new fans and sponsors in an effort to spread its global presence.

World number one and the dominant force in men's tennis in 2010, Rafael Nadal was treated like royalty when he arrived a few days ago in Bangkok.

While both stops on the schedule are ATP World Tour 250 events, the fact that the region has attracted the likes of Nadal and other young stars such as Juan Martin Del Potro, Robin Soderling, Tomas Berdych and Fernando Verdasco shows that they are committed to hosting premium quality tournaments.

Malaysian Open

Robin Soderling is the number one seed at the Malaysian Open and receives a first round bye. He should have an enticing semi-final match against Berdych if the draw holds true to form. Speedster David Ferrer of Spain is also in the top-half of the draw and should win a few rounds.

In the bottom-half, Marcos Baghdatis faces up and coming Kei Nishikori in the first round in what could provide the tournament with its first upset. Nishikori will have the crowd behind him and has been playing the best tennis of his season towards the late stages of the summer hardcourt swing. Ranked 123rd in the world, the 20 year old Japanese sensation made it through qualifying at the U.S. Open before advancing to the third round. In the process he defeated top-twenty player Marin Cilic before having to retire with an injury to Albert Montanes.

Russians Nikolay Davydenko and Mikhail Youzhny are also in the bottom half of the draw. Davydenko has had some big struggles since returning to the Tour in June after a lengthy injury layoff due to wrist surgery. He has not resembled his old self and has a 10-10 record since that time.

Meanwhile, Youzhny made it to the semi-finals of the U.S. Open and jumped in the rankings to 9th in the world - one spot away from his career high that he reached in 2008. I wouldn't be surprised if he overtook Davydenko as the highest ranked Russian before the year is out.

PTT Thailand Open

 Rafael Nadal is making his first ever appearance at the Thailand Open. While he was scheduled to play the event the past two years in a row, injuries derailed his plans and he was forced to withdraw. He comes in as the clear favorite following his impressive performance in New York where he captured the only missing Grand Slam from his already incredible tennis resume. Nadal gets a first round bye and will play the winner between two qualifiers in his opening match.

After tumbling down the rankings to the 35th spot in the world, Juan Martin Del Potro emerges from his nearly year-long wrist injury and holds the 5th seed here in Bangkok. His potential third round opponent is Nadal which will be a most difficult match in his first tournament back on the Tour. Let's hope Del Potro can remain healthy and get a few tournies under his belt before the conclusion of 2010. Having him back in the mix next season will be a huge boost to the current Roger and Rafa show we have been watching this year.

Jurgen Melzer and Fernando Verdasco represent the talent in the bottom half of the draw but neither one should be able to knock-off a healthy and in-form Nadal.

The Asian tennis swing continues next week with level 500 events in both Japan and China and then we have the Masters 1000 event in Shanghai that should have all the big names out in full force.

U.S. Open Day 2 Recap

By Mike McIntyre

The heat stole the spotlight for a second consecutive day in New York as the schedule at the U.S. Open went late into the night thanks to several long matches.

Acting as an equalizer between players, the humidity in particular narrowed the gap between the lesser known talents and their normally more dangerous counter parts. 

Here are some of the more interesting men's matches from day two at the Open.

Novak Djokovic came ever so close to being a first round casualty against fellow Serb Victor Troicki. Down two sets to one and a break in the fourth set it appeared as though Djokovic's fragile physique and mental fortitude would once again do him in. Brad Gilbert speculated that a potential Djokovic retirement would give him a career Slam in that department, as he has previously been forced to retire from play at the other three majors.

Instead Djokovic showed some heart as he broke back and then took the fourth and fifth sets as Troicki ran out of gas and allowed nerves to take over. Djokovic prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.

A strange statistic is that Djokovic improved to 6-0 in Grand Slams when trailing two sets to one, and to 12-5 in matches that went to a fifth set. Those numbers go against the prevailing opinion of the world number three player when it comes to long matches. Maybe we should give him a bit more credit?

One seeded player who went five sets but could not prevent the upset was Marcos Baghdatis. The 2006 Aussie Open finalist has been on a good role this summer, making the finals in Washington D.C. and the semi-finals of the Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati.

Not known for his physical fitness, Baghdatis perhaps became a victim of playing too much tennis over the last month. He even played the New Haven event the week before the U.S. Open which I never really saw the need for.

It was 32 year old veteran Frenchman Arnaud Clement. himself an Aussie Open finalist from 2001, who defeated Baghdatis by a score of 6-3, 2-6, 1-6, 6-4, 7-5.

"What can I say? I was really heavy on court," Baghdatis said after the match. "I wasn't feeling very fit. It's not a matter of fit but very heavy. Couldn't play aggressive. I was really defensive today, and Arnaud played a very good first set. I mean, the second set he was giving a lot of points away and I took them, but I was really heavy on court. I was really defensive. I think I didn't play very good tennis, and he won the match."

A nice result today was the routine win for struggling American veteran James Blake who got by Kristof Vliegen 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Blake has had a terrible time trying to get his game back on track this summer with a 3-8 record coming into the match since returning to the tour in June. Now ranked 108th in the world it will be tough for Blake to rediscover his previous form at the age of 30, but maybe he can conjure up a good run on home soil.

After the match Blake spoke of enjoying these types of victories at this stage of his career:

"Yeah, it's a great feeling. Any time you win a match, harken back to the days when my biggest goal and biggest dream was to win a round at the US Open. Somewhere along the way to some people it started to get taken for granted. It's still exciting for me to win a match here, to have fans that are excited to see me play and get to play again in front of some great fans. I'm happy to get through."

In the last men's match of the day, Nadal overcame a very tough Teymuraz Gabashvili 7-6(4), 7-6(4), 6-3. Nadal was pushed by the Russian in the first two sets but showed some great tennis in the third set to avoid prolonging the match any further. 

Other results worth noting include Mardy Fish taking down Jan Hajek in five sets. Fish has been on fire all summer long but required the distance to dispatch of Hajek. He won by an interesting score line of 6-0, 3-6, 4-6, 6-0, 6-1. 

David Nalbandian also needed five sets to beat Rik De Voest and I wonder if he, like Baghdatis, has stretched himself too thin with so much match play this summer.

Tenth seeded David Ferrer, a semi-finalist in New York in 2007, beat up-and-coming Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.

I also must give a shout-out to fellow Canadian Peter Polansky who won his first ever Grand Slam match by disposing of clay-court guru Juan Monaco, 6-2, 7-6(5), 6-3. Polansky has had some tough five-set losses in Grand Slam play so it's nice to see him finally pull one out.

U.S. Open Men's Preview

By Mike McIntyre

The U.S. Open main draw was revealed today and here at ProTennisFan we are very much excited for the commencement of the final Grand Slam of 2010. There are so many different possibilities to imagine this year in New York.

Will Rafa win his first U.S. Open? Can Andy Murray finally deliver in a Slam final? Could Roger Federer capture his second hard-court Slam of the year?

With defending champion Juan Martin Del Potro unable to compete due to his continued recovery from wrist surgery, we are guaranteed of seeing a different man hoisting the trophy this year on the final Sunday.

After watching back-to-back Masters 1000 events in August in Toronto and Cincinnati we can look at who the contenders and pretenders are for this year's edition. That being said, two tournaments does not give us a tremendous amount of depth to judge the field, so take these recommendations with a grain of salt.

Seeded number one, though certainly not playing like the favorite, is Rafael Nadal. His return to form in 2010 has been a welcome sight on the ATP Tour and he has just won successive Slams at the French Open and Wimbledon. Nadal has made no secret of the fact he wants to win the U.S. Open to complete his career Slam, but the Spaniard seems to have trouble sustaining his dominance in the latter stages of the season.

In Toronto he admitted that if he is not  playing at his best on hard-courts then he is vulnerable. At the Rogers Cup he navigated his way to the semi-finals before being soundly defeated by Andy Murray 7-5, 7-5 in straight sets. While a Nadal vs. Murray match on hard-courts is a coin flip most days, his loss to Marcos Baghdatis in Cincinnati shows that he is still struggling to find his rhythm on the surface.

Still, Nadal in a best of five set match is hard to bet against. At Wimbledon he twice came back from a two sets to one deficit to pull out the victory. Nadal grows stronger the longer a match lasts and I think we can all agree there is no way Baghdatis wins that match in Cincy if it went the distance.

In New York Nadal opens against Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia. He could face Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round against whom he has never lost, but was tested by in Toronto recently. An encounter with David Nalbandian in the quarter-finals would be interesting. The pair have a 2-2 career record against one another and with Nalbandian suddenly showing flashes of his old self we could be treated to a great match.

Other names to watch in the top quarter of the draw include the talented but unreliable Ernests Gulbis, lefty Fernando Verdasco and the up and coming Alexandr Dolgopolov who must first face 10th seeded David Ferrer in the first round. If this isn't the Slam where Dolgopolov announces his presence at, then I guarantee a strong showing in 2011.

In the second quarter, Andy Murray seems like a good bet to advance. He won the event in Toronto defeating Nadal and Federer in back-to-back matches and then fell in Cincinnati to Mardy Fish. Fish has Murray's number this year, beating him three times, but fortunately for Andy he does not have the veteran American anywhere near him in the draw.

Sam Querrey has had a great year with multiple titles, but still has not come up big in any definitive events on the tour schedule. He looked ordinary in a loss to Kevin Anderson in Toronto and I just don't feel the confidence from the 6'5'' American. A fourth round match against Murray looms which would be a re-match from their LA final in July where Querrey prevailed in a tight one. I don't see a repeat of that on the horizon for him this time around.

Tomas Berdych should find his way towards the quarterfinals as well in this section. With John Isner still hobbled by an ankle injury, I really do not see any true opposition for the emerging Czech super-star. He will battle Murray for a semi-final spot against Nadal.

The third quarter looks pretty good for Andy Roddick. If he has truly recovered from his mild case of mono then he should make a good dent in the draw. Roddick could face the acrobatic Gael Monfils in the third round and either Mardy Fish or Novak Djokovic in the quarters. Despite having a tough summer, Roddick showed us he is capable of defeating almost anyone after his performance in Cincinnati where he took care of Soderling and Djokovic back-to-back.

Djokovic meanwhile, seems lost lately and I'm not just saying that because he couldn't find his way to the draw ceremony in New York on time today. While he made the semis in Toronto, he was highly erratic in that match against Federer and then in Cincy he was beaten by Roddick in the quarters. His battles with the heat have continued and if he gets a day time match against a guy like Mardy Fish in the fourth round, I really don't feel confident picking him to advance.

Marcos Baghdatis should be mentioned as a potential sleeper in this section of the draw, but a second round match against Robby Ginepri could give him trouble as would a third round tilt with Fish. Baghdatis would have the crowd against him in either of those matches just as he did in 2006 against Andre Agassi.

Mardy Fish has had the summer of his career in 2010 and has recently risen to the number 21 ranking in the world. With two titles under his belt and a strong showing against Federer last week, he is a guy that nobody wants to face.

That being said, I don't like his chances in a five set match and he does seem to have a particularly tough section of the draw to work with.

Roger Federer lurks in the fourth quarter of the draw and comes into the Open as the favorite again this year. After winning five consecutive titles here, he mismanaged a two sets to one lead against Del Potro last year in the final. Federer has a great draw with Lleyton Hewitt and Jurgen Melzer as the only two names of note in the first four rounds. Neither will give him much of a struggle but Rodin Soderling could challenge in the quarter-finals.

With Nadal, Murray and Berdych all in the other half of the draw, it seems as though Federer has as good a chance as ever to get to his seventh straight U.S. Open final where he would feel right at home.

Even though Federer came ever so close to bowing out in Toronto to both Berdych and Djokovic he still managed to persevere for the gritty victories. In Cincinnati he certainly benefited from a first round bye, an abbreviated second round 5-2 win and then a third round walkover - but then he turned it up against Nikolay Davydenko and Baghdatis before waiting for the right moment to finally break Fish's serve for the title.

The possibility for a 17th Grand Slam title is very realistic and Federer seems eager to once again prove any doubters wrong. In 2008 he came into the Open without a Slam title to his name and waltzed through the draw with relative ease. He seems to have the same type of defiant attitude this time around which I think will work to his favor.

Semi-Finals:

Nadal vs. Murray and Roddick vs. Federer

Finals:

Federer over Murray in four sets

Be sure to follow us on Twitter throughout the tournament.  

Around The Corner: Gstaad, Umag and Los Angeles

By Mike McIntyre

Three ATP World Tour 250 events are on deck for this week and Andy Murray makes his first appearance since losing the semi-finals of Wimbledon. We have two clay-court stops in Europe in Gstaad, Switzerland and Umag, Croatia while the North American hard-court swing continues in Los Angeles.

Allianz Suisse Open

Russian Mikhail Youzhny has the top seed this week in Gstaad and will be playing for the first time since the Davis Cup quarter-finals two weeks ago where he went 1-1 against Argentina (beat Mayer, lost to Nalbandian). His last stop on clay-courts was at the French Open in May where he advanced to the quarters. Youzhny is currently the 14th ranked player in the world which is likely a bit higher than his talent level actually resides. He has had a solid year however, winning the title in Munich and finishing second in Dubai and Rotterdam. Without playing on clay for two months though I'm not expecting him to advance too deep in this week's draw.

Threats in the top-half of the draw include veteran Tommy Robredo - who every time I write about his weaknesses promptly goes out and wins a title, Albert Montanes - who won his opening match on Sunday 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) against Pere Riba of Spain, and Richard Gasquet - who won this event in 2006.

Brazil's Tomaz Bellucci is the defending champion and won his maiden ATP title here a year ago after advancing through the qualification stages. Bellucci opens against local Swiss hope Marco Chiudinelli and would face the tricky Igor Andreev in the second round.

Nicolas Almagro is seeded second and ended his 17-month title drought just over a week ago in Bastad. He followed that up by getting bounced in his opening match in Hamburg, so who knows which player we should expect this week?

I was hoping we might see Roger Federer play on home soil but such is not the case. With his recent struggles I would have thought a smaller tournament would be just what the doctor ordered for Roger to give him a much needed boost of confidence. Perhaps he doesn't want to touch the clay with some big hard-court tournaments looming on the schedule. I'm looking forward to seeing what he does in the weeks leading up to the U.S. Open.

Farmers Classic

Andy Murray is the only top-five player in action this week and begins his hard-court preparations in Los Angeles. Murray has not won a title since November and the only final he participated in was his very first tournament of 2010 at the Australian Open where he lost to Federer. LA offers Murray the perfect opportunity to reverse his futility streak this year and begin to ramp things up for Flushing Meadows. He could face Ernests Gulbis in the quarter-finals who he holds a 4-0 record against.

American Sam Querrey is the second seed and also the defending champion here while Marcos Baghdatis is in the number three position.

Mardy Fish - who has been having a stellar summer thus far - plays Benjamin Becker in the opening round, although I wonder if he might play the injury card after making back--to-back finals in Newport and Atlanta.

Meanwhile James Blake will try to reverse his recent struggles against Leonardo Mayer in the first round.

Studena Croatia Open

Croatian tennis fans will be rooting for Ivan Ljubicic to capture the title in Umag where he has never won before. Ljubicic is seeded third and opens with a bye in the first round.

Nikolay Davydenko continues to enter tournaments each week and is still looking for his game to click as he comes back from a wrist injury. Davydenko again crashed out early this past week in Hamburg but you have to figure sooner or later he is bound to rediscover his top-ten form.

Austrian Jurgen Melzer is one of the hottest players on tour right now. Having excellent results at the past two Grand Slams, Melzer made the finals in Hamburg this past week where he lost to first-time champion Andrey Golubev.

Italian veteran Filippo Volandri also makes a rare main-draw appearance this year and opens against wildcard Franco Skugar of Croatia in the first round. Volandri used to be quite the clay-court player but has been limited to mostly futures events in his home country in 2010. 

This will be the last week involving any clay-court events at the ATP level until late September. The tour focuses on Washington D.C. and the Legg Mason Classic in a week's time, followed by Masters stops in Toronto and Cincinnati. Keep checking back as ProTennisFan will be covering the Rogers Cup in Toronto with live daily reports. 

Federer and Nadal Switch to Grass-Court Tennis in Halle and London

By Mike McIntyre

Less than twenty-four hours after Rafael Nadal’s impressive French Open victory and the ATP Tour is switching gears from the red clay of Roland Garros to the green grass of Halle and London. The short grass-court season is now upon us and over the next month we will witness a very different and exciting brand of tennis. Let’s take a closer look at what’s around the corner at the first two tune-up events for Wimbledon.

Gerry Weber Open – Halle, Germany

Halle will crown a new champion this year as veteran German player Tommy Haas is out with injury issues. In 2009 he defeated Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-1 for the title in his home country.

Roger Federer will be the number-one seed this year although he officially loses his number-one ranking on Tour on Monday as Nadal has surpassed him once again. Federer has won Halle five times before, from 2003-2006 and more recently in 2008. His first round opponent will be Jarkko Nieminen from Finland. The unfortunate Nieminen holds a 0-10 record against Federer and has never before taken a set off of him.

Interestingly enough, Federer signed a lifetime deal with the tournament on Sunday agreeing to participate in the event for as long as he is still playing professional tennis.

Federer could face the tricky Radek Stepanek in the quarter-finals and then either Juan Carlos Ferrero or Marcos Baghdatis in the semis. Both of those players have had success on grass, with Ferrero twice making the quarter-finals of Wimbledon while Baghdatis made the semi-finals in 2006.

In the bottom half of the draw Lleyton Hewitt is the 8^th seed and opens against fellow Aussie Peter Luczak. Seeded second is Nikolay Davydenko who will be making his first appearance on the Tour since a wrist injury in mid-March.

One first round match worth noting is veteran Nicolas Kiefer against Russian Mikhail Youzhny. Kiefer is still struggling to find his game after injuries kept him from playing most of 2009.

AEGON Championships – London, England (aka Queen’s Club)

Four time champion Andy Roddick brings a 29-4 career record into Queen’s Club this year. Who can forget just how close the American came to finally capturing Wimbledon a year ago, where he fell 16-14 in the fifth set to Roger Federer. Roddick has not played much tennis in the past two months, but will be looking to regain his form on his favourite surface.

As of right now, Rafael Nadal is seeded first in the tournament. He does have a first-round bye so hopefully that will give him enough of a rest after winning Roland Garros. Nadal won this event in 2008 - the year he won his first and only Wimbledon title. Nadal opens by playing the winner of Marcos Daniel vs. Blaz Kavcic – a nice way to open his grass-court season wouldn’t you say? Nadal has the most favourable quarter of the tournament with the highest seed he could face being Feliciano Lopez who is the number-eight.

Andy Murray is the defending champion as he won in 2009 against James Blake 7-5, 6-4. Murray could meet up with Marin Cilic in the quarters. The pressure to win his first Grand Slam is growing and Murray will be looking to gain some momentum heading towards the grass at Wimbledon.

In the bottom half we have potential quarter-finals of Novak Djokovic against Sam Querrey. It will be interesting to see how Djokovic responds after blowing a two set lead over Jurgen Melzer at the French. Since winning his first and only Slam in Australia in 2008, Djokovic has consistently disappointed in the majors.

The last quarter offers us a potential Andy Roddick versus Richard Gasquet meeting – a rematch of their epic five-set Wimbledon battle from 2007 where the American was up by two sets before falling 8-6 in the fifth.

For any Canadian tennis fans, Frank Dancevic makes his first tournament appearance of 2010 after missing many months recovering from back surgery. After winning three matches in the qualies he advances to face Dustin Brown of Jamaica in the opening round. Dancevic is an able grass-court player and made the finals of Eastbourne last year where he fell to Dmitry Tursunov.

Don’t expect many surprises in either of these two tournaments as the big-names will be setting the tone for the month-long grass court season. I expect Federer to win his first non-Slam tournament of the year in Halle while I feel Andy Murray is due to put up some serious results in front of his home fans in London.

Sony Ericsson Round Two Update

By Mike McIntyre

The second round of play came to a conclusion at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami on Saturday and while the women's draw seems to be unfolding according to plan, the upsets continued on the men's side.

A day after second seeded Novak Djokovic went down in defeat, the third seed, Andy Murray followed suit. Murray was dropped in straight sets by American veteran Mardy Fish, 6-4, 6-4. Since reaching the Aussie Open finals in January, Murray has looked listless on court failing to advance past the quarter-finals of any event he has played. While I'm sure that this is just a blip on the screen for Murray, it has to be concerning for his camp as the hard court swing is coming to an end - a time where Murray usually shines. As we progress to the red clay of Europe it will only become harder for the Scot to find his rhythm.

The men's draw now opens up considerably and gives the Roger and Rafa show a great chance to re-assert itself on the stage in Miami. The greatest tennis rivalry of the 21st Century has yet to hit the court in 2010 and is due for another riveting installment. Federer won their last encounter, in May 2009, at the Masters event in Madrid while Nadal had won the five battles prior to that.

Federer's draw looks like smooth sailing for the world number one player, with little opposition expected from Florent Serra in the third round. Tomas Berdych and a potential rematch with Marcos Baghdatis (who defeated Roger in Indian Wells last week) are on the horizon. Federer should have shaken off all of the post-Aussie Open rust by that point.

For Rafa, a tough third round tussle with David Nalbandian is on deck which should be a real treat to watch. Nalbandian has historically done well against Nadal - a feat that few players on tour can boast. The Argentine owns a 2-1 head-to-head advantage over Rafa, all on hard courts. I give the edge to Nadal in this one due to the fact Nalbandian has only recently returned from a lengthy injury layoff. It should still make for great tennis, so catch it if you can.

American Andy Roddick has a favorable draw with the 18th seeded Tommy Robredo his highest ranked potential opponent between here and the semi-finals. Sweden's Robin Soderling also has a nice path now that Andy Murray has been taken out of the equation in his section.

As for the WTA Tour, number one seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova is defending her lead position in the draw and advanced to the fourth round with a victory over Agnes Szavay. I must admit that seeing Kuznetsova hold the top seed in a tournament of this depth is somewhat surprising. While she did win the French Open a year ago, her play in 2010 has been abysmal. A fourth round loss at the Aussie Open and first or second round losses in each of her other appearances does not bode well for her season. Of course now that I've said that look for Kuznetsova to make a real run in Miami. My Murray vs Djokovic final prediction has already blown up in my face.

One player I've got a great feeling about at this tournament and for her career in general is Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer. Since bursting onto the scene with her U.S. Open semi-final appearance in 2009 this kid has been on a real tear. She won her first tournament of 2010 and then had a strong run at the Aussie Open where she endured three tough qualifying matches and made it to the round of sixteen before bowing out in three tight sets against returning country-woman Justine Henin. She's had a bit of a tough go since then, but has a nice draw here to turn things around. At only twenty years old she represents a very bright future for women's tennis in Belgium - already brimming with talent due to the returns of Henin and Kim Clijsters.

Other notable results of late include Henin knocking off 5th seed Elena Dementieva while Vera Zvonareva schooled American youngster Melanie Oudin 6-1, 6-2. I sure hope that kid is taking this all in stride because in the long haul I think she's going to be a great player.

Hope you're all enjoying the tennis if you have television access or are lucky enough to be in Miami for this great tournament. Keep checking back for more updates.

Baghdatis Stuns Federer at Indian Wells

By Mike McIntyre

It was lucky number seven as Marcos Baghdatis defeated Roger Federer Tuesday night in Indian Wells 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(4). After losing their previous six encounters, Baghdatis finally came through with a win over the world number one and the jubilant Cypriot called the match the, "Best win of my career."

Baghdatis saved three match points and came back from a 1-4 deficit in the third and final set. Federer committed 46 unforced errors and clearly is still trying to find his form after a month and a half away from the court. The result should not really come as a huge surprise given Roger's lack of match play since winning his sixteenth Grand Slam title in January at the Australian Open. With a recent lung infection as well, I figured Federer would have a tough time advancing deep into the draw. 

In his post-match press conference Federer said: “It was a decent match, but maybe wrong choices at the wrong time for me. Maybe going for too much, maybe playing too passively. That's not something you can really work on. That comes through playing matches, and that's what I need. I hope to get more of it in Miami, but I will definitely play a lot of practice sets, that's for sure, until then.”

As for the 24-year-old Baghdatis, his comments reveal just how important this victory was.

“I think that says everything. I cannot say I'm not happy. I'm very happy. A lot of emotions are going through right now. It's the best win of my career. I lost a lot of matches against those top guys, and it's a relief to win a match like that after being out for two years, having some tough moments. It's a great moment for me. I'll try to enjoy it.”

Baghdatis now advances to the fourth round against Tommy Robredo as the BNP Paribas Open continues.

Around the Corner: Acapulco, Delay Beach and Dubai

By Mike McIntyre

Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships

With Venus Williams successfully defending her title this past week, the pressure will now be on Novak Djokovic to accomplish the same feat as the men take to the hard-courts in Dubai. Djokovic is seeded second, but is the top ranked player in the draw, as Roger Federer has withdrawn with a lung infection. This year's edition has a slightly tougher field than a year ago, so Djokovic will have to be on top of his game in order to repeat as champion.

In the top-half of the draw is Andy Murray who is playing in his first tournament since losing the Australian Open final to Federer almost a month ago. Murray will likely advance to face rising star Marin Cilic in the semi-finals.

The bottom-half is where we can find both Djokovic and Nikolay Davydenko who will also be entered in the doubles draw. Djokovic is paired with fellow-Serb Dusan Vemic while Davydenko is teamed with compatriot Igor Kunitsyn. This is a rare treat for fans in Dubai, as these two players do not usually partake in the doubles competition Also in this section of the draw is Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who will threaten for the title.

One first round match to note is between eighth seeded Gilles Simon and Marcos "please keep your shirt on" Baghdatis. The winner will likely face Davydenko in the third round.

Absent from Dubai for a second year in a row is American Andy Roddick who withdrew a year ago due to the treatment of Israel's Shahar Peer. This year scheduling has placed Roddick at back-to-back tournaments in the United States and he likely needs some rest to his shoulder before the Masters Series event in Indian Wells in two weeks time.

Also missing is Israeli doubles specialist Andy Ram, who a year ago was allowed into the United Arab Emirates to compete a week after the Peer incident. 

Delray Beach International Tennis Championship:

With only a third of the prize money being offered compared to Dubai, the tournament in Delray Beach has a lower-ranked clientele yet there are still many familiar names floating in the draw this year. Good luck picking a winner from this group, as there are many players who are capable and several who have won this very event in years past.

Leading the group of former Delray Beach champions is number one seed, Tommy Haas. The German veteran has not had any note-worthy results thus far in 2010 so expectations are low. Haas won this event in 2006 but is 3-3 on the year and has failed to advance beyond the third round of any tournament he has entered.

Mardy Fish is the defending champion from 2009 and opens against Christophe Rochus. Despite being unseeded, Fish has a nice section of the draw and could get on a good roll.

Other former champions here include Xavier Malisse ('05, '07) who opens against fourth seeded Jeremy Chardy, and Kei Nishikori ('08) who is making his return to the ATP Tour after season-ending elbow surgery a year ago. Nishikori opens against third seed Benjamin Becker.

Other names to keep an eye on include seventh seed James Blake who starts the tournament against fellow-American Taylor Dent. Finally an early round match where Blake should be considered the favorite, although Dent's old-school serve and volley style is capable of giving anyone fits. Big-serving Ivo Karlovic is the tournament's number two seed and should be counted on to win a few rounds as well.

Abierto Mexicano Telcel:

This week's clay court stop on the tour is in sunny Acapulco, Mexico, where Nicolas Almagro is the two-time defending champion. Almagro will be looking for his third title in Acapulco in a row, while Tomas Muster has the all-time record of four consecutive wins from 1993 to 1996.

While the draw has not yet been released from the tournament, Fernando Verdasco is listed as the top ranked entry, with Fernando Gonzalez and David Ferrer also in the draw.