What Ever Happened to Consistency?

For years now, I've been able to comfortably sit down to watch a match between any top 5 player and a player out of the top 5 with little belief that an upset was possible. However, recently the game has changed. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have been the dominant figures in tennis for at least the past 5 years and players like Djokovic, Murray and Roddick have continued to float around the top 10. It's been rare that any new players have a chance to break into the top 5 or 10 because the players at the top of the rankings have just been too dominant over the past several years to make room for any new comers.

Lately, there's actually been a bit of movement around the top 10. Is this some kind of mid-season slump, or are we looking at a changing of the guard? While Roger Federer may not have won any titles since the Australian Open yet, but he is still an unshakable number one. Federer's over 3,000 points ahead of any other player in the rankings. He may not have won the most titles this year, but he's been playing a more limited schedule, and frankly he won the one that counts. Federer will go into this year's French Open as the defending champion for the first time, but I don't think this will add to the pressure. He's already completed the career grand slam and bested Sampras' all time record. Federer has nothing to lose and is undoubtedly the most consistent player in Grand Slam tournaments on the the tour. I'm not sure he'll win this one, but he'll defend plenty of points to retain his number one spot going into the summer.

Djokovic has had a lackluster year so far. The change in his service motion and switching back and forth between coaches doesn't seem to have helped his game. He may be number two in the rankings, but that has less to do with merit than the injuries plaguing usual number two, Nadal. Frankly, Djokovic has been coasting since his Australian Open win in 2008 and if he has any shot at winning another slam, he's going to have to dig a little deeper. While his clay court game has improved, I wouldn't give him great chances at this year's French. Djokovic's next big hope for a Slam win will come in September at the US Open. Let's hope he can find his game by then and earn his number two spot.

It's truly a shame that Rafael Nadal's career has been plagued by injuries at such an early age. He is only 23 and already has 37 career singles titles. That's a truly amazing statistic. If he can manage to stay healthy, that number should easily double. However, Nadal seems to be in a bit of slump lately. Last week's win in Monte Carlo should be a big ego boost since he hasn't won a tournament since Rome in 2009. That's almost a year with no titles. Nadal's win in Monte Carlo also marked a record 6th title in a row at the MCCC, a feat never accomplished by another player, not even Roger Federer. This week, Nadal was meant to be going for a 6th title in Barcelona, but pulled out for fear of re-injuring his knee. However, I wouldn't count Nadal out just yet. I think he's probably just being extra cautious in the weeks leading up to the French Open in hopes of regaining his crown. I expect we'll be seeing him in the final at Roland Garros in a few weeks, if not winning the whole tournament.

The fourth spot is really what I'd like to discuss in terms of players slipping around the top 10. Juan Martin del Potro currently holds the number 4 ATP ranking, a career high for the Argentinian. However, del Potro hasn't played a single tournament since the Australian Open as he has been out indefinitely with a wrist injury. This means that players like Murray have slipped so far that they are being overtaken by players that aren't even currently playing on the tour. That said, I hope del Potro recovers quickly and can return to the tour in time to defend his US Open title. He is an extremely talented young player.

Andy Murray...what can I say? Murray started the year off with a bang. It seemed like he would finally put the Brits out of their misery and win a Grand Slam. While the match wasn't a blow out like his US Open final, Roger Federer very clearly dominated the young Scotsman. Getting to the final of a Grand Slam is nothing to scoff at, but it's the rest of Murray's year that has me worried. It just seems like something's not quite right. He hasn't won a single title yet this year and exited in the second rounds in both Dubai and Miami. Unfortunately, I don't see Andy's year getting much better from here. Like every year, soon Andy will start to feel the pressure of Wimbledon looming ahead and the extra stress most likely won't help his already ailing game.

To round out the top 10, Davydenko is currently out with a broken wrist, so I'd expect to see him fall a spot or two in the coming months. Andy Roddick is hiding out during the clay court season. Roddick hasn't played any tournaments since winning in Miami and has pulled out of this week's mandatory tournament in Rome, citing personal reasons. However, according to TMZ it looks like his personal reason was a beach vacation with wife Brooklyn Decker. Soderling and Verdasco squared off in today's Barcelona final, which Verdasco won, a nice victory for him considering his defeat in Monte Carlo last week. Jo Wilfried Tsonga rounds out today's top 10, but I'd expect a little movement in spots 9 and 10 in the upcoming weeks as there are plenty of points to be gained and lost.

Mastering the Monte Carlo Masters

Monte Carlo loves tennis! Last weekend I had the pleasure of crossing an item off my to-do list for life. I visited Monaco. Luckily, my free weekend coincided with the beginning of the Monte-Carlo Masters Tennis Tournament. The Tournament is held at a private club in Monaco, situated directly on the coast and backed by the French Alps. The prospect of watching tennis amongst the rich and famous at the Monte-Carlo Country Club (MCCC) was very enticing and the atmosphere was wonderful. Fans seemed very excited and the Club was far less pretentious than I was expecting, and more importantly the merchandise was reasonably priced (unlike the food.)

Unfortunately, my day at the Masters was cut short by some bad weather, but I still managed to catch a few practice sessions and a match between Andrey Golubev and Arnaud Clement. The centre court at MCCC is a spectacular venue to watch a match because it's very small. There really are no bad seats. My friend and I paid about 25 euro each for seats about four or five rows up from the court. Loge seats are even available for a mere 60 euro (at the beginning of the tournament). This is a big pro for the Monte Carlo event seeing as it is a Masters 1000 event but has the more intimate feel of a smaller tournament. If you see my post below on the Rotterdam 500 event, you'll notice how much I enjoyed watching the players' practice sessions. While Monte Carlo Centre Court was much better for a spectator than Rotterdam, the practices courts left me wanting. The practice courts are sealed off with opaque mesh so you cannot see in from the ground level. There are bleachers and an upper deck where you can watch the various courts. It is hard to maneuver between courts and there is minimal seating. However, my biggest complaint was the lack of protection from the elements. I mentioned that MCCC is right on the water, which means that there can be a significant breeze. This also means that the clay has a tendency to kick up in the wind. By the end of Paul Henri Mathieu's practice session, I was completely covered in clay. I spent the rest of the day trying to get tiny specs out of my eyes and teeth. Although, I'm sure my discomfort was only a fraction of what the players must have felt. For part of the Golubev/Clement match, it looked more like a sand storm than a tennis match.

Even though I returned to London absolutely freezing and covered in clay from head to toe, I still had a lovely time at the tournament. One of the best surprises of the weekend was learning how much of an impact the tournament has on Monaco. It seemed like tennis was absolutely everywhere you looked. I took the picture above on the way to our hotel when I noticed this masterpiece in a cake-shop window. It seemed like everywhere we went, there were small signs, or in many cases big signs, that the tournament was coming (like the giant tennis racquet pictured above right outside the Grand Casino.)

For me the most exciting part of the weekend was the opportunity to observe some of the players off the court and outside the realm of the tournament. Monaco is such a small country that if you wonder through certain parts of Monte Carlo, you're bound to run in to one of the numerous players staying there. Spotting the rich and famous isn't uncommon in Monaco, so you have to have a keen eye for spotting players or you might miss them. My friend and I walked the entire length of the country on Saturday night looking for dinner. While it was an incredibly quiet walk, we did walk past Julien Benneteau out with a friend and a couple of girls, most likely on their way to dinner before the Players' Party at Zelo's in the Grimaldi Forum. We kept walking, until we reached the Monte Carlo Bay Resort, which was playing host to the Anti-Aging Conference for the weekend. The Monte Carlo Bay Resort is one of several Monaco establishments which sponsor the tournament and clearly where most of the players choose to stay. While eating dinner in the hotel's restaurant, I spotted Feliciano Lopez, Fernando Verdasco, Tommy Robredo, Tomas Berdych, and Marin Cilic. I have to say my friend was most likely fed up with my lack of attention as I tried to decide how everyone in the restaurant was related to the tournament and watch out for players at the same time.

All in all, I would again recommend this tournament to almost any fan. Monaco is a beautiful country and spectators won't be able to avoid being enchanted by the glamour of the whole event.

This Could Be The Year

After the past few weeks, I'd imagine that a lot of tennis blogs will feature articles on the future of Andy Roddick. At the moment, he seems almost unstoppable. He has the most match wins for 2010 in the ATP with a record of 26-4 and already has two titles this year, including a win at the Miami Masters 1000 event this weekend, which is one of the biggest events on the tour outside of the Grand Slams. Ever since joining with coach Larry Stefanki at the end of 2008, it seems like Roddick has enjoyed a career resurgence.

For years, Americans dominated the tennis scene with Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras reaching a combined 33 Grand Slam finals between 1990 and 2005, and winning 22 of those. Andy Roddick was touted as the great young American hope to take over when Sampras and Agassi retired. Roddick won his first ever Grand Slam in 2003, at the age of 21 at the US Open. He became the youngest American to hold the ATP number 1 ranking. Roddick's future was bright, and for the majority of tennis players, his career achievements to date would be more than they could ever hope for. He's won a Grand Slam singles title, reached 4 more Grand Slam Finals (1 US Open and 3 Wimbledon,) and has another 28 career titles.

While Andy Roddick has already achieved a great deal in his career, he's never really managed to live up to everyone's expectations. Last year he came heartbreakingly close to winning Wimbledon and certainly proved that he still has the skills to win another major. For the past two years, it actually seems like he's been getting better and it honestly looks like all of that hard work could be leading to a second breakout year.

I want to make it clear that I don't see Andy Roddick as a let down for American tennis. He consistently finishes the year in the top 10 and usually wins at least a couple of titles. There are plenty of worse players out there. But I see incredible potential for Roddick's career and think he should go down in history as a guy who won more than one Grand Slam title.

For Roddick, 2010 has started with a bang. I expect to see great things from Andy this year. Personally, I would love to see him win Wimbledon. He's reached the final there 3 times and after last year's epic battle, I believe he really deserves to win.

**For those of you who never read my old blog, the title of this post, "This Could Be The Year," is a reference to a song by Ryan Star, my favorite singer. Please check it out, if you're unfamiliar with his work.