Serbia Wins 2010 Davis Cup

I'm really happy for Serbia, I am. But at the same time, I'm absolutely devastated for France. It's really tough to choose a favorite when both sides have so much heart, and to watch it come down to the fifth rubber, whoever lost would have been heartbroken. Serbia really does deserve this. It's been the same four guys all year (Novak Djokovic, Janko Tipsarevic, Viktor Troicki, Nenad Zimonjic) and, while they wouldn't have had a chance without Djokovic, their wins weren't completely dependent on him. France doesn't have one superstar like Nole, but an amazing all star team that revolves around Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils, Michael Llodra, Gael Simon, Julien Benneteau, and Arnaud Clement. Each and every one of these guys can be a threat on any given day and three of them are perfect for Davis Cup because they can transition between singles and doubles, unlike Zimonjic who is strictly a doubles guy.

Novak Djokovic did exactly what his team needed him to this weekend. He tied things up on Friday, taking some of the pressure off the key doubles match on Saturday, and more importantly he kept his team alive at 2-1 on Sunday morning by beating Gael Monfils. However, the hard work would lay on the shoulders of the men chosen to play the fifth and final rubber. While I mentioned that personally I would have chosen Janko Tipsarevic to face off against Michael Llodra, clearly Victor Troicki was the right choice. He didn't let the expectations of an entire nation bother him and he was in control from the very beginning of Sunday's match. In France's defense, I truly believe Michael Llodra was the right choice. He was clutch in doubles and has carried his team through several ties this season. Plus, as much as I love Gilles Simon, he is not a pressure player and I doubt the outcome would have been different if Forget had played Simon instead of Llodra.

I've watched this video so many times and every single time, I feel the jubilation of Serbian team and I want to cry after watching the footage of the French team. While Nole and Co. celebrated, an inconsolable Llodra calmly walked off court hanging his head and proceeded to weep into a towel. It was possibly one of the most heartbreaking scenes in tennis. That's the trouble with playing the final rubber. Llodra was not to blame for the French to defeat, and even if you believe he was, Monfils was just as much at fault. Although, I have to say that Julien Benneteau trying to console his friends was quite adorable. The other guys just stood around awkwardly while Guy Forget patted Llodra on the back.

All in all, this was one of the most exciting Davis Cup ties in recent memory and Serbia truly deserved to win. It's obvious that it not only meant a lot to the Davis Cup team but to the nation as a whole. For a country like the US, a Davis Cup win would go unnoticed, but I believe they're still partying in Belgrade and that level of commitment to tennis is very exciting to see. But don't even get me started on the head shaving thing. That deserves its own post.

I've Got a Feeling: France's Road to the Davis Cup Final

Here is a series of three videos documenting France's journey to the 2010 Davis Cup final. As it stands, the French lead the tie 2-1 after some pretty heroic play by Clement/Llodra to come back from two sets to love down against Troicki/Zimonjic. Novak Djokovic and Gael Monfils will face off in the morning to see if the tie will go to a decisive fifth rubber. If the fifth is live, I'd play Tipsarevic and Llodra, but there are plenty who disagree. Anyway, this weekend's final has nothing to do with the videos below. First, I would like to note that I do not speak French, at all. So, these clips may make perfect sense if you can understand what they're saying, but I think they were only made more amusing by the fact that I couldn't understand. Feel free to watch for yourself (although I warn you they're long,) but I've also included a few of the questions that really puzzled me. If you want to cut down on watching time, I suggest watching Part 2.



I like the music during the player introductions. I feel like I'm about to watch some kooky 'band of superheroes' movie. Why are they eating a formal dinner in a locker room and why is Richard cutting Gael's meat? Gilles and Richard have to carry Bennedra's bags as the non-participating members, lol. At 9:16, please note this is the first appearance of I've Got a Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas, but by no means the last.



We kick things off again with I've Got a Feeling. Also, if you're going to watch anything from these three videos, watch the very beginning of Part 2. I want to party with the French Davis Cup team, and by that I mostly mean I want to hang with Michael Llodra because he is both crazy and awesome. Add in Gael's rockin' dance moves and Jo's flare for karaoke and we're good. I'm so tempted to make a Gasquet joke here, but I almost feel like it's in bad taste. 4:35-a) this is hilarious and b) Guy Forget can't do push ups correctly. Why do they sing so much? At 5:22, I would really like to know what possible situation occurred where Gilles had to go downstairs in jeans and no shirt. I'm not complaining, but I'm really curious. I really really wish I understood what went along with the hand motions at 6:25. Please note that I've Got a Feeling resumes at 8:15. Why isn't Feli wearing a shirt? Again, not complaining, just an observation.



Does Forget ever shut up? I know he's the captain, but I don't think anyone else has spoken for the entire 30 minutes. Also, I made up an entire monologue for this part since I don't understand it, but I somehow doubt my version is really how it went down. I'm guessing this conversation may have been Forget justifying his player choices for the semis. But I could be totally off the mark. I love the head bobbing at 6:20. It's so perfectly in sync. I also love the fact that they are playing scrabble. By now you should notice that I've Got a Feeling reemerges at 9:05. Finally, I've got nothing to describe what's going on at 9:42, but I thought I should point it out.

I promise a real post on Monday to recap all the Davis Cup action, or even tomorrow night if I get around to it. But for now, this late night rambling will have to do. If you happen to speak French and watch these videos, feel free to clue me in on anything I may have missed.

WTF Final Thoughts, Almost

What did I learn from the 2010 WTF? You can't manufacture drama. Matches between the two best players in the world always have a certain dramatic flair, particularly when the two best players have one of the most famous tennis rivalries of all time, but the media hype around this match was astounding, not to mention the fog, blaring music, and light effects provided by the O2. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the match, it was great tennis, but there was no possibility of it rivaling the tension of Wimbledon 2008 or Australia 2009. I just don't think a best of 3 sets match could top a best of 5. In my book, more tennis is better, particularly when it comes to these two.

What I hated most about all the media attention was the general consensus that this was do or die for Roger Federer. I read numberous stories telling me a loss would make Roger totally irrelevant in the Fedal rivalry, and most likely in future Grand Slams, like this WTF match was his last chance to beat Nadal. That's absurd. On any given day one tennis player can beat another, and when that player is Roger Federer, the odds are never bad. He may not always be the favorite, but he is always a favorite.

Federer was in control of this match and yet nothing seemed to silence the critics. He went for too much, or he didn't go for enough, or Nadal gave up the match because he was fatigued from his 3 hour semifinal. Do you know how ridiculous that is? Nadal is easily the fittest guy on tour. He's played 5+ hour matches and come back to win a match the next day. Nadal didn't make any excuses for his loss, so I don't see why fans or journalists should. Roger played better and he deserved to win. I'm sure Rafa will repay the favor sometime in the future.

Now let's look ahead a little. Does this give Roger momentum heading into the Australian? Absolutely. Does that mean he will win? Not necessarily. Will Rafa ever win the WTF? Yes. He's only 24 and has plenty more chances. Plus, he made a lot of headway this year just by making it to the final.

I have one more WTF post up my sleeve, which should go up tomorrow. It's a fun one.

Image by AP.

Hilarity Ensues

So, I saw that someone posted this gem on twitter earlier this week and couldn't help but share.

What have we learned? Before we go any further, I should note that the most advanced photo editing software I own is Paint. You've been warned, so proceed with caution.

In a movie about his life, Novak Djokovic would like to be portrayed by Robert De Niro. For this to work, Robert De Niro will have to stay the same age for another like 40 years and the movie will have to be about old man Novak. Funfact: De Niro sat in Nole's box during the 2007 US Open Final, giving us a possible rationale for this joke.

Soderling would prefer Russel Crow. Yeah, I honestly can't figure out where that came from, but here's what it would look like.

ARod would of course be portrayed by Seann William Scott because they are basically identical. Ignoring the crude crop job, tell me this isn't just a regular photo of Andy Roddick.

Later, the interviewer moved on to fears. I really didn't know that many people were afraid of snakes, at least not as the first fear they could think of. Roddick, Ferrer, and Djokovic all mentioned snakes as their fear. Rafa's afraid of the dark and Andy Murray, being the upbeat guy that he is, is afraid of death. Way to be a downer Andy.

First kiss? David sounds a little nostalgic for Catalina. Rafa doesn't even have to answer questions with the goofy smile and nervous laughter. And what does comedic genius Andy Murray have to say? John.

Well, you don't really need my commentary, just watch the video. Plus, the Andy Roddick photo's starting to creep me out. So, this wraps up my coverage of the 2010 World Tour Finals, if only a few days late.

Watch out for Davis Cup this weekend.

WTF Finals

So I've managed to borrow a computer to write this and have planted myself firmly in front of the TV for today. At the moment I'm watching a repeat of yesterday's semifinals, which means some pretty great tennis. As I expected, Nadal and Federer emerged as victors and will play each other in today's final. In my last post, I mistakenly said this would be the first meeting for the two in 2010. Today's match will actually be the second meeting between Roger and Rafa this year as they played in the Madrid final. Before I get too wrapped up in the match we're about to see, I want to talk about the semifinals, or at the very least, the Murray/Nadal match. This was great tennis. For some reason Murray and Nadal always play entertaining matches against each other. I think Rafa sometimes raises Andy's game. I didn't give Murray much of a chance going into this match because of the way he played against Federer in the round robin stage. However, even after losing the first set in a tiebreak, Murray came back and broke Rafa twice to take the second set. After being broken early in the third, Murray managed to break back when Rafa was serving for the match at 5-4 to even things out, eventually forcing a tiebreak. However, we all now how it ended, as it often does, Rafa found a way to win and will face Roger Federer in the today's final. Roger Federer had a much easier road to the final yesterday, beating Novak Djokovic 6-1 6-4.

So, there are already hundreds of previews out there for this match, and every other Fedal match that has occurred. We all know the stats. Nadal leads their head to head 14-7. But, if you exclude clay and grass, they are 3-3 on hard courts. I think this is meaningless. It's not so lopsided that either player can feel completely confident that they will steamroll the other. They've played each other 21 times so I'm sure this match has become routine for them, but for us as fans, this is what we have waited for. This is a completely fitting way to end a year of great tennis.

Rafael Nadal has had a spectacular year, winning three of the four major tournaments, including his first US Open to round out a career Grand Slam. 2010 has been a different story for Roger Federer. He has had a year that any other player would be proud of, winning one Slam, making the semifinals of another, and two quarterfinals. But for Roger Federer, critics consider this the end. He loss in the quartfinals at the French Open meant an end to his amazing streak of semifinal appearances and his loss in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon was nothing less then gut wrenching. This isn't the end though. Federer is not washed up and he looks hungry. Both men would gain from a victory today. This is the lone title that eludes Rafael Nadal now that he has the career Grand Slam as well as the Olypmic gold medal, but he has never advanced past the semifinal stage at the World Tour Finals. On the other side, Federer is quite familiar with the WTF final. He will be competing for his fifth title at the WTF, which would tie the record of five WTF wins.

I'm not going to make a final prediction because I really have no idea what's going to happen. Both guys come into this match with a perfect record at this year's WTF, although Rafa has dropped two sets along the way. What I do know is that whoever wins, both guys will fight and one will win gracefully and the other will lose gracefully, because that's what they do. There is no classier rivalry in tennis. I just wish their fans treated each other with the respect that the players do.

WTF Day 6 & 7

I'm visiting home for Thanksgiving and for some reason, my computer and my parents' wifi don't get along. All week, I've had a couple of brief windows to use the internet, which has hampered both my ability to write about tennis and find spectacular shopping deals. Anyway, I wasn't able to write a preview for Day 6 at the WTF, so I'll have to do a recap instead. I don't think anyone was surprised by Friday's results. Rafael Nadal made a pretty strong case for winning this year's WTF by beating Tomas Berdych 7-6(3) 6-1 and going 3-0 in his round robin matches. However, Roger Federer topped group B, also going 3-0 in the round robin stage. In the second match of the day, Novak Djokovic sailed into the semifinals after beating Andy Roddick 6-2 6-3. Roddick worked so hard at the end of the season just to make it back to the World Tour Finals, so it's kind of a shame to see him go out without winning a single match. The same could be said for David Ferrer.

In case you are unfamiliar with the WTF format, the top two men from each group advance to the semifinals where the winner of Group A will meet the runner up of Group B and visa versa. Both undefeated thus far, Rafael Nadal won Group A and Roger Federer emerged as the winner of Group B. Nadal will face Andy Murray and Federer will play Novak Djokovic in tomorrow's semifinal matches. These are the right matches. While Andy Murray may no longer be number four, these are undeniably the best four tennis players in the world right now. Nadal and Federer are the two best players, and each won their group quite convincingly.

Rafael Nadal vs. Andy Murray - Not Before 2pm GMT

The top guys play each other a lot, over the last three years, Nadal and Murray have met 12 times. Rafa leads the head to head 8-4, but any time you hear him talk about Murray, you would think Andy had the winning record. Rafa has great respect for the danger in Andy's game, possibly too much. Murray's four wins came at the '08 US Open (we all know Rafa wasn't at his best in Sept. '08,) Rotterdam in '09, the 2010 Australian Open (Nadal retired,) and the 2010 Toronto Masters. Clearly Andy poses a threat, but Nadal's track record makes him a strong favorite going into tomorrow's match, even if he doesn't think so. Andy played great tennis against Ferrer and Soderling in the round robin matches, but had no answers when playing Roger Federer. If he had trouble with Roger, I'm going to venture a guess he'll have trouble with Rafa. Nadal in two.

Roger Federer vs. Novak Djokovic - Not Before 8pm GMT

Roger Federer has yet to drop a set in this year's World Tour Finals. He is in a quest to tie the record for the most World Tour Finals won (5) and so far his case looks just as convincing if not more than Rafael Nadal. Federer and Djokovic have played each other eighteen times over the last four years, and like Rafa/Murray, Fed has won twice the number of matches Nole has (12-6.) Most recently they played in the Basel final, which is also an indoor hard court event, where Roger Federer came out on top in three sets. Fed also won their semifinal in Shanghai this year, another indoor hard court tournament. However, who could forget their US Open battle in this year's semifinals, where Djokovic dethroned the six time finalist? I honestly think that the crowds are going to get what they want this time. Everyone was hoping for a Federer/Nadal final at the US Open and Djokovic deprived us of that, but I don't think it'll happen this time. We haven't seen a Fedal meeting all year and it's only fitting that we get one in the last tournament of the year. Federer in three.

Pic by Getty.

WTF Day 5

It's nearly 3am and I'm pretty exhausted so I'm planning on keeping tonight's entry short. Today or Yesterday, I'm not really sure anymore, Day 4, one thing I expected happened and one thing I definitely didn't expect happened. First, Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic, winning both of his round robin matches so far. I honestly thought the match would be closer, but after getting off to a rough start in his first match against Andy Roddick, Rafa has clearly found his form and is a definite contender for the London title. Now the thing I didn't expect, Andy Roddick lost...to Tomas Berdych. Don't get me wrong, Tomas Berdych is amazing, but he hasn't really been amazing since the summer, so I wasn't expecting much. This was a great win for Berdych as it keeps him in the mix for a semi final spot, and rather devastating for Roddick who has yet to win a match at this year's WTF. Day 5 brings us two more interesting match ups.

Roger Federer vs. Robin Soderling - Not Before 2pm GMT

So we've seen this match before, 15 times to be exact. Only one of those times has Robin managed to beat Roger Federer. That's a pretty comfortable head to head. Plus, Roger has won both of his round robin matches so far without dropping a set, while Robin has won one match and lost the other. Even though Soderling has recently reached a career high and won his first Masters 1000 event, I have to go with Federer in this one. He seems at home in London, on a quest for a fifth World Tour Finals title. Better yet, I think he'll make it to the semis without dropping a set. Federer in two.

Andy Murray vs. David Ferrer - Not Before 8pm GMT

The hometown boy has been given the night match. He had a tough loss against Roger Federer on Tuesday and just looked all around flat, so hopefully a big crowd will help pump him up a bit tonight. Another point in Andy's favor is that his opponent is not Roger Federer, it's David Ferrer, who hasn't won a match yet at this year's tournament. Interestingly, David leads their head to head 3-1. However, David's three wins all came on clay, while Andy's lone victory was on a hard court. Even given Tuesday's performance, I think Andy has the edge in this match. Murray in two.

In other news, Serena Williams has officially pulled out of the 2011 Australian Open and I watched a very funny WTF video today. I will report back on both of these things tomorrow, once I've gotten some sleep.

WTF Day 4

I can't believe it's already Day 4. Time flies. Anyway, it's Day 2 for Group A and hopefully we have two awesome matches coming our way. But before we check out Wednesdays action, let's do a quick recap of what went down today. Fed beat Andy M, convincingly (6-4 6-2.) What happened to the Andy that played Ferrer on Sunday? That guy was on fire, and this guy, well, wasn't. No worries if you're a Murray fan, he still has a chance to advance to the semifinals with a win over Ferrer on Thursday. In the evening match, Robin Soderling beat David Ferrer 7-5 7-5. I still feel bad for Ferrer. He fights so hard and comes so close to winning, but never really does. However, this was a much needed win for Sod. Although, something stands in his way of making the semifinals, and that something is Roger Federer. Soderling is 1-14 against Roger Federer. I'll be back with an in depth preview of these two matches tomorrow. On to Wednesday's action...

Tomas Berdych vs. Andy Roddick - Not Before 2pm GMT

I'm still a little torn up over Andy's almost win over Nadal on Monday, but Tomas Berdych is no Rafael Nadal. We saw that at this year's Wimbledon. Even better for Andy, he's playing way better than he was this June and Tomas is playing way worse. Honestly, the way Berdych as been playing the last few months, I'd be surprised if he wins any of his three round robin matches, which is sad because he put in a lot of hard work to get here. I'd love to see Roddick advance to the semis and a win here would keep him in contention. Better yet, Andy's 6 and 2 against Berdych. Roddick in two.

Rafael Nadal vs. Novak Djokovic - Not Before 8pm GMT

As expected, this match will be played in front of a packed house tomorrow night. When players of this caliber meet, the match can go either way. Rafa may lead the head to head 15-7, but that still means that Nole has won 7 of there meetings, why can't this be number 8? Both guys won their opening matches on Monday, which puts them out in front in the race for the semis, but a win tomorrow will make one of them almost a lock. While Rafa struggled in his match against Andy Roddick and Djokovic breezed past Berdych, Rafa had the tougher opponent on Monday. I think his match against Roddick may have been a wake up call. Rafa in three.

WTF Day 3

Unfortunately I spent most of my day at the airport (thank you AirTran,) which meant I did not get the opportunity to watch any of the WTF matches, but I did follow my twitter very closely. I honestly thought I would be reporting some very surprising news tonight, as Andy Roddick was up a set and a break against Rafael Nadal, but like a good #1, Nadal fought his way back into the match and took the third set 6-4. While I would have preferred a win for Andy in his first round robin match, the fact that he almost won at least means he's playing well. He certainly has a chance against Berdych on Wednesday and a win could boost his confidence going into the Djokovic match. I almost forgot to mention the other match today, another blowout. Djokovic made short work of Tomas Berdych, winning 6-3 6-3. Anyway, let's check out the matches that are set for Tuesday.

Roger Federer vs. Andy Murray - Not before 2pm GMT

Both of these guys are playing great tennis. Somehow Murray actually leads their head to head, including their last two encounters. Although, Andy never seems to win the ones that count, i.e. Grand Slams. These two played in the round robin stage of last year's WTF and Fed won in three sets. While Murray's display against Soderling was impressive, I'm going with Federer this time. He creamed David and somehow he's favored to win this whole thing, even though Nadal's won basically everything this year, go figure. But, I've revised my predictions a bit and I believe Andy and Fed will both be moving on to the semis. Fed in three.

Robin Soderling vs. David Ferrer - Not before 8pm GMT

This should be an interesting match up. All in, Robin leads their head to head 8-4, but they've played five times this year alone and the head to head falls to 3-2. If you narrow things down even more and look at their head to head on hard courts in 2010, David actually leads Robin 2-1 and all three of those matches were post-US Open. Both guys came out looking kind of flat in their first matches. I think that expectations may be starting to weigh on Soderling. He's the new world #4 and people expect him to play that way. BTW, this has huge implications for the Australian Open if Murray doesn't win back the #4 spot this week. I digress. David's a fighter and I think he might actually be able to pull this off. Plus, he's all tiny and wears grey suits. I don't know what that has to do with anything, but it's adorable. David in three.

I would add a photo to this, but only my netbook is working and I'm tired, so I'll have to edit tomorrow. Night guys.

WTF Day 2

So I'm 1/2 on predictions, but I'll take it. Andy Murray easily took down Robin Soderling 6-2 6-4. It looks like the home town advantage and the extra rest did Andy some good. Federer also scored a routine win over David Ferrer 6-1 6-4. That makes for David 0-11 against Roger and most likely was not the way he wanted to start his quest for the title. I may just have to change my Group B predictions with Andy Murray playing this way. Anyway, it's already day 2, so let's take a look at what's going on today.

Photo by Getty.

Novak Djokovic vs. Tomas Berdych - Stars 12:15pm GMT

In July, I totally would've taken Berdych. He played amazing tennis throughout the summer and then the US Open came. After losing in Round 1 to Michael Llodra, Berdych has barely even won a match. Djokovic, on the other hand, made it all the way to the US Open final and even took a set off Rafael Nadal. However, Nole has admitted that the Davis Cup is weighing heavy on his mind. In a little over a week, Serbia will take on France looking to win its very first Davis Cup title and Djokovic will be the team's headline player. Even though he's a bit preoccupied, I think Djokovic has the upper hand in this match.

Rafael Nadal vs. Andy Roddick - Starts 6:15pm GMT

I'm pretty sure that Rafa's the favorite regardless of who he's playing. He's clearly the safe choice here. Andy Roddick rallied at the end of the season to win the last spot at the WTF. This is the eighth time he's competed in the World Tour Finals and his results here have never been great. The only good news for Andy is that he's not in Roger's group. But, I really don't see him beating Nadal right now. However, lucky for him, two guys come out of Group A, but he'll have to beat Djokovic and Berdych to capture that spot.

WTF Day 1

Tomorrow marks the start of the 2010 World Tour Finals in at the O2. The only time I've missed living in London more than now was during Wimbledon. Somehow I chose the six months that did not include two of the best tennis tournaments in the world. Anyway, Group B is in action, which means Soderling, Murray, Ferrer, and Federer.

Andy Murray vs. Robin Soderling - Starts 12:15pm GMT

This one's a tough call. Murray is well rested, but Soderling has the momentum coming in after winning his first Masters 1000 event in Paris. It's pretty incredible to think that Soderling has now surpassed Murray in the rankings, but he's only won one Masters event. Both guys have appeared in two Grand Slam finals. The guys are 2-2 in the head to head, but the only match after 2006, occurred at this year's Indian Wells Masters event, which Robin Soderling won. Don't hold me to it, but I'm taking Soderling in this one. Plus, if you've seen the pics from WTF photo day, Sod looks like he's got some kind of evil plan stirring around in his head. I mean really, he looks kind of like the joker here.

Roger Federer vs. David Ferrer - Starts 6:15pm GMT

I already explained poor David's situation. He did an awesome job making it to the WTF, but I think Federer is just too tall an order. Federer had his best appearance ever at Bercy, making the semifinals (sidenote, it's very weird to think that there's a tournament Federer hasn't made the finals of, or won for that matter.) Also, apparently Federer's the favorite to win the WTF title. I'm not quite sure when this happened, since the media seems to think he's all washed up, but that's why you've got to keep on top of the tennis news.

Also, can someone please be in charge of telling David Ferrer what everyone else is wearing? First he shows up to the Prime Minister's house in a light grey suit and now all he's got is a sport coat and some grey pants. Maybe Rafa could give him a heads up next time. Come on man, even Andy Roddick put on a suit.

For those of you who are lucky enough to be in London right now, apparently there are plenty of tickets left for this year's World Tour Finals. This is an amazing opportunity and I urge you all to take advantage. These are the top eight players in the world. The level of tennis will be awesome. Seriously, please go, and if you do, take pictures for me.

Images by Getty.

Final Thoughts from Champaign

I'm going to try to keep this one short. I've got a lot of tennis writing to do tonight and I'd like to turn in before dawn, plus I didn't take very many notes today. I arrived at Atkins a little before noon for the start of the doubles final featuring Raven Klaasen/Izak van der Merwe and Ryler Deheart/Pierre-Ludovic Duclos. Now, I had some trouble deciding who to support, because both teams featured one member with a decidedly awesome name (i.e. Izak van der Merwe and Pierre-Ludovic Duclos.) Izak and Raven were kind of the underdogs, but Ryler and Pierre were a crowd favorite since Ryler's an Illini. Tough call, but I think I was leaning towards Deheart/Duclos.

Before the match, I caught Izak chatting with some friends. Apparently he planned to drive 14 hours directly after the match so he could catch his flight back to South Africa. When asked why he booked a flight so close to the final, he told them that he didn't think they would make it that far. Isn't that always how things work out? Both teams elected for black shirts and white shorts. Klaasen/van der Merwe won the toss and elected to serve. I was quite impressed with Izak van der Merwe. He started off serving really well and even when he was pressured, he was often able to dig himself out of a hole. Plus, he took advantage of a lot of opportunities when they presented themselves. After facing match points in the second set, Klaasen/van der Merwe came back to win both the second set and the third set doubles tie-break. That was pretty much all my notes from doubles. Ryler Deheart gave a very nice speech about playing at his alma mater and jokingly apologized to Pierre. All four guys appeared at various points of the singles match to watch a few games. Ryler and Pierre stuck around for a long time talking to various Illinois staff.

I opted not to do a commentary like yesterday's for the singles final between Amer Delic and Alex Bogomolov Jr, who is apparently called Bogey for short. I think the exhaustion was starting to set in. The match was basically a series of long baseline rallies. Both guys were hitting the ball big and serving well. One of the interesting differences between the two was the way they dealt with set backs. After a bad call or a poorly hit shot, Bogey was visibly frustrated, but Amer seemed to simmer quietly until a bad call in the second set set him off a bit. In a short argument with the chair umpire, Delic yelled out, "Who do you think you are? Are you hawkeye?" which I found fairly amusing. Each player was given a warning for ball abuse at some point in the match. I honestly didn't even know that was a thing, players usually get warned for racket abuse or language when angry. Delic had several chances in the second set tie-break, including a match point. However, Bogomolov recaptured the lead, the second set, and a lot of momentum going into the third. Delic lost his serve early in the third and things wrapped up 5-7 7-6(6) 6-3 in Bogomolov's favor. It was his first title since 2006, so you've got to admit the guy deserved it. He had very kind words for Amer in his speech. Delic also gave a short speech and stuck around for quite a while after the match. I'm fairly certain his sister and baby nephew were in attendance and he sat down on court to play with the baby. It was pretty adorable.

Since both matches went all the way, I was a little behind schedule and wanted to hit the road as soon as possible. After 3 long hours of driving, a pit stop at McDonald's and the gas station, and a phone call from my favorite rockstar (yes, this seriously happened!) I was finally back in St. Louis.

Fun Facts for the Day:

To save some cash, many of the challenger players stay with host families, including both of today's doubles teams as well as Amer Delic and his own doubles partner Bobby Reynolds.

Amer Delic warmed up for his match with a guy wearing jeans and loafers, an odd choice for playing tennis.

Bleacher seats are terribly uncomfortable.

Amer Delic looks bears a serious resemblance to Roger Federer.

I think Amer Delic gave his creepy mustache to Alex Bogomolov Jr.

I don't think I will ever get the hang of pumping gas. Just in case you think I'm an idiot, I'm not, I'm just from New Jersey and we don't do that. And yes, I know I'm opening myself up for a lot of jokes here.

Champaign Semifinals

After an unfortunate alarm clock incident, and a very late start, and a 3 hour drive through monotonous farmland, I finally arrived in Champaign, Illinois for the JSM Challenger event. I found my way to the Atkins Tennis Center and sorted out my media credentials, which essentially saved my the $3 admission fee. Still cool and the tournament staff were very friendly. I headed inside to catch the second set of the first doubles semifinal between Klaasen/van der Merwe and Hamui/Singh. It was actually a pretty good match, even though I've never heard of any of these guys before. Me and the 10 other people enjoyed it thoroughly. I guess challengers are as underappreciated as they seem. Klaasen/van der Merwe won and I'm still not sure how to pronounce Izak Van Der Merwe's name. I'll listen closely at tomorrow's final.

I was only there for a half an hour before the afternoon session ended, but that worked out well for me. In my rush to leave the house this morning, I decided to skip breakfast and lunch. I wouldn't have made it through another match without food. I headed off to check in to the hotel, the Hawthorne Suites, and grabbed an early dinner before the evening session.

I arrived back at Atkins around 5:50, where I learned that the Illinois players are il-line-aye, not il-ini, as I had previously thought. This shows you how much I know about sports that aren't tennis. Amer Delic and Jesse Witten were ready to go after some photo-op for the tourney sponsors. The turn out was a little better for the evening session, there were probably 30 people in the stands and another 30ish in the upper deck which is reserved for tournament guests (players guests, sponsors, patrons, etc.)

Funfact: The 1999 All-American was named Oliver Freelove. Do you think his parents were hippies?

The match started off with a double fault from Witten, who's serve looked a bit off throughout the warm up. A decent point and then another double, not the best start in the world. Luckily, the serves that went in were good ones and Witten was able to hold. Delic holds at love and Witten double faults some more, obviously frustrated and the racket tossing begins. The upper deck was quite loud throughout the first match and the umpire had to continuously shush them, which was pretty amusing. Unfortunately, the older gentlemen sitting behind me decided they needed to commentate the match. Like every single shot. It's great if you want to comment on a really great shot or a crazy miss to your friend, but really every point? At this point, I was surprised Witten managed to hold twice with the amount of double faults he kept hitting, but the rest of his game looked good. Jesse's a little on the short side for a tennis player and I swear he jumped like 2 feet in the air to hit an overhead.

I have no idea how it happened, but Witten managed to get the first break of the match to go up 4-2. After a few deuces and plenty of doubles, Witten consolidated his break and goes up 5-2. Delic holds and Witten will serve for the set, which he wins 6-3. I would also like to note that Amer Delic has gotten rid of the super creepy mustache, so good on him for that.

Unfortunately, Witten continues to serve with absolutely no consistency and Delic goes up a break in the second, 3-1. He squeaks through his own service game to consolidate his lead, 4-1.

I stop to check out the photos hanging above the court. The largest of which is a picture of the 2003 NCAA Champion Team, including Amer Delic and Ryler Deheart (who would play in doubles following this match.) Back to the match, Delic stops play at 40-love on Witten's serve, but the ball is called in. He will serve for the set at 5-3. Love-30, 30 all, 40-30, and Delic takes the second set 6-3.

At 30 all in the third game of the third set, Jesse double faults and fires his racket at the back curtain, earning himself a warning from the chair ump for using obscenities. The Illini are pleased when Amer goes up a break 3-2 in the decider. However, an extremely unlucky net cord gives Witten a break chance, which he takes to even the set at 3 all. At 4 all, 15 all, Delic seems to look at the scoreboard in disgust, but he follows that with a break to go up 5-4 with the chance to serve for the match.

Love-15, 15 all (questionable call sets Witten off again,) 30-15. Witten pauses to have a discussion with the lineswoman he dislikes, loudly exclaiming, "Why do you still have a job?" Two match points and Delic takes the win, 3-6 6-3 6-4. Witten continued his argument with the chair umpire after the match.

I was looking forward to a break, but Amer changed his shirt (to match partner Bobby Reynolds) and started stretching for his next match. They were going to play straight through. Delic/Reynolds vs. Deheart/Duclos. I was pleasantly surprised by Pierre-Ludovic Duclos, as I didn't really know anything about him before today.

Throughout doubles, Delic's knee seemed to be an issue. He played well, but he kept grabbing at it. At one point Amer requested something from the chair, but it was not apparent what is was. Later someone delivered what appeared to be jelly beans and potato chips. He was also drinking a coke on the changeovers instead of water or gatorade. I'm guessing he needed sugar, but I can't imagine that coke is the best sports drink.

Anyway, the match was pretty close, ending 6-3 6(5)-7 10-8 in favor of Ryler Deheart and Pierre-Ludovic Duclos, who will face Raven Klaasen and Izak van der Merwe in the final tomorrow at noon. The singles final between Alex Bogomolov Jr and Amer Delic will follow.

I'll be in Champaign again tomorrow for both finals, so look for a recap tomorrow night. I've also got a World Tour Finals preview in the works and a couple of fun articles, so keep checking back for updates.

JSM Challenger - Champaign Illinois

Originally I had planned on driving out to Champaign after class today. It's about 3 hours from St. Louis. However, I decided to stay in town for the night since I would've only had time to see one match today. So, I will be driving up bright and early tomorrow morning, which should be interesting considering I'm going to the midnight showing of Harry Potter tonight. That's alright, I'll find time for sleep eventually. In preparation for my trip, here's a look at tomorrow's order of play. Please keep up with me on twitter @achangeofends as I will be live tweeting from the site. Depending on my access to internet, I will also be posting here throughout the day, or at the very least nightly.

Friday, November 19th Order of Play

Starting at 12pm

Singles Semifinal 1: Alex BOGOMOLOV JR (USA) vs. Bobby REYNOLDS (USA)

Followed by

Doubles Semifinal 1: Raven KLAASEN (RSA)/Izak VAN DER MERWE (RSA) vs. Johnny HAMUI (USA)/Karunuday SINGH (IND)

Not before 6pm

Singles Semifinal 2: Amer DELIC (BIH) vs. Jesse WITTEN (USA)

After suitable rest

Doubles Semifinal 2: Ryler DEHEART (USA)/Pierre-Ludovic DUCLOS (CAN) vs. Amer DELIC (BIH)/Bobby REYNOLDS (USA)

The Calm Before the Final Storm

Hi guys. So, I haven't completely fallen off the face of the earth, but close to it. Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching and apparently that means tons of exams for this college senior. Luckily, this ridiculous workload coincides with some downtime in the tennis world. Anyway, things are heating up again next week and I'll be home for break, which means plenty of time to catch up on my tennis. It also seems that the fates are against me here, as I've written this article twice and it's accidentally been deleted.

I'll come up with something a little more in depth, but my initial thoughts on the WTF are as follows...

Group A: Rafa and Nole are clear favorites here. I hate to count him out, but Tomas Berdych has had some pretty lackluster results post-Wimbledon, and that's putting it lightly. I don't see him beating Rafa in the round robin or and Nole's going to be a tall order. I'm on the fence about Andy Roddick. On one hand, he hasn't had the best year and barely made it to London. On the other hand, Roddick fought hard for that last spot in London and has been doing quite well. Plus, the guy's been in eight consecutive world tour finals, although he's never made it past the semifinals. I've got to go with the crowd and pick Rafa and Nole to come out of Group A.

Group B: Poor David Ferrer is super underrated. He manages to push the best players right to the brink, but always seems to falter at the end. No one's really giving him a chance next week. When you're talking about the Top 8 players in the world, everyone has a chance, but it's true, Roger Federer's chances are a little better than David Ferrer's. Robin Soderling had a great run last week, winning his first Masters 1000 title in Paris. Hopefully, a week is enough recovery time and he'll arrive at the O2 refreshed and well rested. With his Paris win, Soderling supplanted Murray as the world number four, so Murray may be hungry to gain some extra points on his homecourt. Last up, Roger Federer. Enough said. Clearly he has a chance at the title. I have no real rationale for this, but I'm going to say that Federer and Soderling come out of Group B. Don't hold me to it.

In other news, I will be covering the semifinals and finals of the Champaign Challenger in Illinois this Friday and Saturday. Check back for updates.

Finally, remember to keep looking for my articles over at TennisGrandstand. It's a great source of tennis news from different view points since there are several writers.

I Spoke Too Soon: Elena Retires

All was well in the tennis world when I went to sleep last night. The Doha semifinalists were set, so I didn’t anticipate any exciting news to come from today’s meaningless matches. Then I woke up and checked my twitter, only to find hundreds of tweets about Elena Demetieva’s retirement in Doha. In my sleepy haze, I first assumed this meant Elena had retired from her match against Francesca Schiavone, but as I read on, it became clear that this was much bigger news. Elena Dementieva had lost her final match at the Year End Championships in Doha and had announced her retirement from tennis. I was floored. I mean, I know Dementieva hasn’t had her best year. She lost in the second round of the Australian Open and was unable to play Wimbledon due to an injury. However, she made the fourth round of the US Open and was a semifinalist at the French, where she was forced to retire due to injury. For someone who seemed to be injured all year, she was still doing pretty well. She is currently ranked 9^th in the world and has performed noticeably better than several uninjured former top 10 stars. Image from Getty.

After the news settled in a bit and about a thousand articles appeared on the subject, I decided to watch the on court ceremony from after her match against Fran. There wasn’t a dry eye in the stadium, or in my living room. All of the other Doha ladies showed up to support Elena and even stoic Sam shed a tear. Elena is incredibly poised and I honestly don’t think anyone on tour has a more adorable mom. Elena is never the center of controversy and has always been an incredible ambassador for the sport. For the women’s tennis, that’s actually saying something.

I have to say I like her style. She managed to keep a huge secret all year and avoid the “How do you feel about playing your last (insert tournament here)?” question that accompanies announcing your retirement at the beginning of the season. Her announcement also wasn’t overly showy, it fit her perfectly.

I know Elena is generally referred to as the best player never to win a Grand Slam, but instead of looking at what could have been, let’s recap some of her accomplishments.

• 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist
• 2000 Olympic Silver Medalist
• 2 time Grand Slam Finalist
• 3 time Grand Slam Semifinalist
• 2 time Tour Championships Semifinalist
• Former World #3

Not too shabby, is it?

I wish Elena the best of luck for her life after tennis.

Not to be upstaged, Kim Clijsters had an announcement of her own today. She plans to call it quits (again) after the 2012 Olympics in London so she and husband, Brian, can have a second child.

Stuff Happened This Week, Kind Of

I haven’t had all that much to write about lately. I know the women’s Year End Championships are going on this week in Doha and I am keeping tabs on it, but still, things haven’t exactly been exciting. If you’ve got any questions about Doha, check out my Decoding Doha article at TennisGrandstand.

Doha Semifinals

So our semifinalists are all set, but the match ups are still up in the air. Sam Stosur has come out on top of the maroon group, while world number one, Caroline Wozniacki, came in second. Tomorrow’s white group match between Vera Zvonareva and Kim Clijsters will determine the winner and runner up of that group. The winner will take on Caro in the semis and the loser will take on Sam. I’ll check in with a finals preview over the weekend.

Maria Yuryevna Sharapova Vujacic

That’s not a mouthful at all. Maria Sharapova and boyfriend of one year, LA Laker, Sasha Vujacic have gotten engaged. Based on the photos, it looks like Sasha invested in a pretty hefty ring. Honestly, these two are adorable together. Maria actually managed to find a man who’s taller than she is. She’s 6’2”, so basketball player was really her only option other than a fellow tennis player. Plus, I have a feeling this wedding is going to be awesome. Can we get some kind of petition going to have Maria on Say Yes to the Dress? Photo by Getty Images.

In Other Wedding News…

Andy Murray’s older brother, Jamie, got married this week. As expected Andy and Jamie wore traditional Scottish attire, i.e. kilts. I know they’re a cultural tradition, but they are also pretty damn funny. Jamie met his wife, Alejandra while she was studying in London. P.S. why didn’t I meet a tennis player when I was studying in London? Some girls have all the luck.

In Other Andy Murray News…

Andy hurt his hand. Andy hurt his hand, while playing playstation. Yes, you read that correctly. Um, Andy, remember when Kim broke up with you? Do you remember why? Yeah, the playstation. Put it away before it ruins your personal life and your tennis career.

You’re Old, Get Over It

Thomas Muster’s back, after 11 years of retirement. Oh, yeah, and he’s 43. I mean, I applaud the effort, but does he really think he’s going to win anything? So far, he hasn’t even won a match. I don’t know if this is some sort of weird midlife crisis or Muster’s run out of money, but this is a kind of odd turn of events for a former number 1. I’m pretty sure we won’t be seeing Roger Federer on tour 14 years from now, and no I’m not comparing Muster to Federer. Although, I would not mind seeing Marat Safin return to the tour, at any age.

Eh, Why Not?

So apparently this comeback thing is here to stay. After winning two Champion Tour events, Mark Philippoussis has announced he would also like to come back to the ATP tour. Mark’s only 33 so I guess he has a chance. Although, I can’t help but think this is the start of a bad reality TV show. It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen Philippoussis make that mistake.

In Other News

Jim Courier was chosen to replace Patrick McEnroe as the US Davis Cup captain. Pat Rafter will be taking the lead for the Australians.

There are tournaments happening in St. Petersburg, Vienna, and somewhere in France, but no one really seems to care.

Robin Soderling qualified for the World Tour Finals, leaving just 3 spots up for grabs.

It’s already 2:30am here and I would like to go to bed so you’ll have to wait for the rest of your news.

Last Week, In Photos

So, Roger Federer played his first tournament since the US Open in Shanghai, and didn't look a bit rusty. He made the final. Oh yeah, and they gave him a pretty spectacular entrance. Check out this photo, fog and all. The only way this could've been better is if they lowered him onto Center Court amidst fireworks and some cheesy rock anthem like The Boys are Back in Town. Think about that one for next year, Shanghai. You know I'm right.



Roger played Robin in the quarterfinals. I believe this has become a pretty familiar face from Soderling. I like to call it the 'Seriously, Federer again? WTF, am I never going to catch a break?' look. The match ended in a 6-1, 6-1 beatdown. I'm telling you, Sod's luck is almost as bad as Roddick's when it comes to drawing Fed, and his head-to-head is just about as bad.



So, Andy played Roger in the final. I would like you to remember this awesome look a little later. Action shots are always pretty bad, but Andy Murray is just not photogenic. Also, my mom is convinced that he physically cannot close his mouth. Honestly, the photographic evidence kind of backs up that claim.



I mean really, he looks like a crazy homeless man. If I saw him on the street, I would cross it.



Fed stopped mid-match to show us some pilates before hitting the ball back. Nice form, Roger.



So you know how I said to remember that photo of Andy later? Yeah, let's compare to basically the same photo of Roger. Unlike Andy, Roger is extremely photogenic, just one more thing he is awesome at.



As much as the camera loves him, the fates weren't in Roger's favor on Sunday. Andy won in straights. Although, if he weren't holding the trophy, you probably couldn't tell. Gloomy much? It's cool Andy. We love you even if you are a sourpuss.



Oh wait, it's happy Andy, kind of. Can we go back to gloomy Andy?



Jurgen and Leander took home the doubles trophy, plus what looks like some kind of creepy smurf or toothpaste blob or something. What is up with the Asian tournaments and the weird stuffed animals? They are so creepy.



On the WTA tour, we were lucky enough to get this. First, Ana Ivanovic won her first tournament in two years. Awesome. Hopefully she can keep the momentum rolling through to next season. Even better, the trophy presentation included several of the Von Trapp children. How often do we see that?

Too Adorable

I'm a sucker for a cute dog. Turns out tennis players love their dogs just as much as everyone else and lots of players even tweet photos of their pups. Andy Murray has taken things to a whole new level, creating a whole new twitter account just for his dog Maggie. It kills me to be away from my own dog for so much of the year so I can't even imagine how the players feel since they're rarely ever home.

I thought it would be fun to take a look at the players and the dogs they own because a dog says a lot about the owner.



I'm usually not a big fan of the Williams sisters, but they like dogs, so they can't be all that bad. This photo of Venus and her dog Harold is actually her twitter icon. I wonder if she brings Harold to tournaments. If I had to assign the Williams' a dog breed, it would certainly be something larger than Harold, so I'm a little surprised that both sisters have purse pooches. Although, I guess that means you can't take them on the road. No way you can travel with a Golden Retriever.


This next one is probably my second favorite on the list. Well, we know Sabine Lisicki likes to bring her dog Happy to tournaments. He even got his own guest badge at this year's US Open. Was security expecting an impostor? I highly doubt Happy was walking around by himself. Someone had to carry that badge. He is awfully cute though.



Next up is Andy Roddick. I really see Roddick as the all American guy, so every time he talked about his dog, I always imagined something like a Labrador, although I guess this little girl works too. Brooklyn and Andy both seem to love little Billie Jean (adorable name) tons. Plus, she looks like a great TV companion and seems to enjoy a good nap and tummy rub, much like my own puppy.





I think we all know this next dog. Who could forget Dulce upstaging Maria in those camera commercials?



Alright, this one is 100% my favorite. I nearly melted right into the floor when I saw this photo. Here's John Isner, shirtless, playing with his dog Magill. Does it really get better than that? I think not. John looks adorable. Magill looks super adorable. Everything about this picture is just right.



Do you recognize this cutie? This giant named Davis belongs to Fernando Verdasco. I'm a little surprised we don't have a photo of a shirtless Fernando with Davis. Fer rarely bothers to wear a shirt anyway. Why no cute puppy photo?





I don't think there's any player on tour who's quite so attached to their dog as Andy Murray. If I had to come up with a list of players who would be all gushy about their dogs, Andy would not have been on it. I didn't think Andy gushed about anything. However, he actually got little Maggie her very own twitter (which I assume is run by Kim) and often tweets about missing her. Today Andy told us that Maggie came to pick him up at the airport and provided us with this photo.



This last photo came from Devin Britton's twitter. He and his dog Caroline were taking a nice walk in the park.