Not For Nothing

Tennis is such an individual sport, and when players spend so much time on the court by themselves, of course the ones that are able to walk away with the titles should be lauded for their achievements. But every now and then it's worth looking at the guys who came in second place too -- after all, those who fall just short of the win may have nevertheless done something big too.

The door swung wide open early for the ladies in Beijing, with Serena Williams pulling out, top seed Simona Halep retiring from her opener and two-time Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova getting knocked out in the first round. And with powerhouses like that out of the mix, maybe it wasn't so unexpected to see Wuhan runner-up #Garbiñe Muguruza ultimately walk away with the title -- but that doesn't diminish the showing we saw out of second place finisher Timea Bacsinsky. One of the biggest comeback stories of last year started 2015 off strong too, reaching the semifinals at Roland Garros and taking a set off Serena there too. But she'd slowed down a bit since, losing four straight matches after Wimbledon and skipping the trip to Wuhan where she had her breakthrough twelve months ago. She got back on track at the China Open though, taking out Carla Suarez Navarro in the third round and stunning a revived Ana Ivanovic a few matches later. She put up a fight in Sunday's championship too, keeping the Spaniard in check on serve and winning just a handful fewer points than her opponent. She may have just missed picking up her third title of the year, but at an event that attracts the best in the sport, she may have given herself a bigger boost that either of the others have.

The men's draw in China wasn't cracked quite so open this year, with three of the four top seeds making it to the semis. And Novak Djokovic, who's continued to dominate the ATP this year with seven titles, three of them Majors, and only five losses, kept his streak going on these courts as well. The five time champion in Beijing added trophy number six to his shelf without dropping a set over the past week, in fact losing less than twenty games during his run. But it was still refreshing to see him take on Rafael Nadal in a final again -- the Spaniard, after all, has been famously spotty in 2015, claiming just a couple trophies at smaller tournaments and scoring just two wins over top ten players this season. He didn't do any better on that front this week -- as the third seed he didn't face another favorite until Sunday's final against Nole -- but he may have gotten an even bigger chip off his shoulder. After easily handling Vasek Pospisil and coming back from a set down to an always-tough Jack Sock, the former #1 got revenge against Fabio Fognini, the man who so shockingly took him out at the U.S. Open last month. He's still lost to the feisty Italian in three of their five meetings this year, but he might be about to get things back on track after this mental win.

There were some impressive performances outside of Beijing too -- at the Japan Open in Tokyo, top seed Stan Wawrinka was able to avenge the loss he suffered to homegrown Tatsuma Ito here last year, and ultimately rode that momentum to his fourth title of the year. And while that may have cemented his place among the sport's elite in 2015, Benoit Paire may have made a case for himself to someday get there too. Once ranked just inside the top twenty-five, the young Frenchman dropped into triple digits late last year and spent much of his time early in 2015 on the ITF and Challengers' circuits. But it wasn't until midyear that he finally was able to catch a break when playing with the big boys -- unseeded in Bastad he stunned David Goffin and perennially strong veteran Tommy Robredo to capture his first ATP title and went on to stun New York runner-up Kei Nishikori at the U.S. Open. And this week, after opening with an upset of eighth seed Grigor Dimitrov, he took out Marcos Baghdatis and Nick Kyrgios before notching a second straight victory over the Japanese champion -- each win coming in three sets. Though he did eventually lose to Wawrinka on Sunday, his showing throughout the week may be enough to get him back up the rankings -- and perhaps this time he has what it takes to stay there.

Of course we can't ignore the performances of the guys and gals who won the titles this weekend, but even those who came in second deserve a little bit of notice. After all just because they didn't walk away with the trophies doesn't mean they didn't accomplish something meaningful over the last several days. And if they keep it going, there's no telling what they'll be able to do the next time they hit the courts.

Out of Steam

Well, things haven't been going too well for a couple players who really shined last week, have they? While Kuala Lumpur champ David Ferrer and Wuhan runner-up Garbiñe Muguruza have so far stayed alive in early action, others have not been quite so lucky and seem to have immediately lost the momentum that pushed them so far just a few days ago.

Feliciano Lopez, a finalist at the Malaysian Open, took the courts in Tokyo this week, but lost his opening round in three sets to Joao Sousa, and that might create a nice opportunity for the Portuguese. Sousa, ranked #45 in the world, has been biding his time on the fringes for some time, but after reaching three finals this year, including one last month in St. Petersburg, he could be ready to break through. He's scored wins already over Roberto Bautista Agut and Dominic Thiem, but Wednesday's win marks his first over a top fifteen player since 2013. He now faces off against American Austin Krajicek, but his bigger test should come a round later, when he takes on French Open titleist Stan Wawrinka, who's won all three of their previous meetings. Still the Swiss was tested by mini-nemesis Tatsuma Ito in the second round and could be a little vulnerable now if Sousa gets an opening.

Lopez wasn't the only recent finalist to fall, though -- over in Beijing compatriot Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who came in second in Shenzhen was also ousted early, falling in two tight sets to Ivo Karlovic. Tomas Berdych, too, who'd beaten GGL in Sunday's title match, was shockingly upset by Pablo Cuevas earlier today. Ironically these two vanquishers will face each other in the second round, but whoever comes out on top could be poised to shine. Karlovic is the obvious favorite, of course -- at #18 in the world the big-serving Croat was just outside of seeding territory -- but the feisty Uruguayan can't be counted out. Cuevas went on a fourteen match win streak last summer, picking up back-to-back titles on the clay of Umag and Bastad and then added title #3 to his kitty this year in Sao Paolo. It's been almost six years since the two last faced off, but he might just be the stronger one this time around.

Inertia was hard to keep on the women's side too. Venus Williams, who beat four seeded players in Wuhan last week, propelling her back to #14 in the world, got a first round bye in Beijing but still didn't enough have time to recover. Sixth seed Ana Ivanovic, who actually fell below the American in the rankings after failing to defend a title in Tokyo, put in one of her best performances of the year to score the win and followed up today by taking out always-tough Svetlana Kuznetsova. The former Roland Garros champ now could face the unenviable task of trying to end the career of Flavia Pennetta -- but that might be the biggest challenge she has left. After all, Serena Williams pulled out of the event a week ago and the remaining top seeds Simona Halep and Petra Kvitova both lost in their opening rounds, making the draw much less intimidating. So if Ivanovic can keep her cool a few matches more, she might quickly regain the ground she just lost.

Of course, any one of these guys could lose momentum just as quickly as the champions they beat, so the trick will be in holding on to what they've got on their sides now. And with the 2015 season so close to winding down, hopefully they'll be able to keep the juices flowing in the new year.

Show 'Em Who's Boss

With all the action on court the last few weeks, it's easy to have forgotten about a couple players who've been a little quiet recently. But some long-time champions reasserted themselves in a big way this weekend and reminded us all who we really need to pay attention to as the season winds down.

Kei Nishikori hasn't really been out of the spotlight so much, but you have to be impressed that after his disappointment in the New York final he's rebounded so nicely. He walked easily away with the title in Kuala Lumpur last week and got right back to work in Tokyo days later. Seeded just fourth in his homeland, though, he had a little bigger hill to climb if he was going to keep his streak going. But even with favorites like Stan Wawrinka and David Ferrer bowing out early, Nishikori had to fight -- he came back from a set down to Benjamin Becker in the semis and ultimately faced new rival Milos Raonic for the title. The Wimbledon semifinalist, the on-paper favorite despite a 1-3 record against the man from Japan, had faced a more intimidating route to Sunday's match -- but he weathered challenges from likes of Jurgen Melzer, Bernard Tomic and former top ten player Gilles Simon, reaching the championship without dropping a set. But even with twenty-two aces in the final, Nishikori proved too much to handle -- forced to a third set he finally converted a break opportunity when it counted, closing out the two-hour plus match and securing his fourth title of the year. He's now moved up to #5 in the race to London, and the way he's been playing all year -- even against the top players -- he has a real shot at far outdoing even those high expectations.

Novak Djokovic, of course, will have something to say about that. But despite his five titles this year and a #1 ranking, the Wimbledon champ seems to be flying a bit under the radar. He's only played two Grand Slam finals this season, winning just one of those trophies, and while that's clearly something most players would be proud of, it's actually been Nole's least successful showing since 2010. But he roared back on the scene this week in Beijing, surviving a draw which saw 2014 star Marin Cilic fall in the quarters and qualifier Martin Klizan stop Rafael Nadal's comeback way short. Ultimately Djokovic, the four-time champion, met up against 2011 titleist Tomas Berdych, who's been having a pretty quiet year himself. The big-serving Czech hasn't beaten a top-ten player since the Miami Masters, but managed his fourth final of the year with wins over on-the-rebound Viktor Troicki and often-tricky John Isner. But though Berdych has been able to give Nole fits in the past, this time was no contest -- the Serb barely broke a sweat in the hour-long match, allowing his opponent to hold serve just once. It was Nole's first title since Wimbledon, and though the stakes will be raised this week in Shanghai, the win couldn't have come at a better time.

The same might be said for Maria Sharapova who, despite a #4 ranking in Beijing, had seen a few disappointments since picking up her second trophy at Roland Garros. She lost a heart-breaker to Angelique Kerber at Wimbledon, was foiled by Ana Ivanovic in Cincinnati and suffered a big set-back at the hands of Timea Bacsinszky in Wuhan. But she avenged a couple losses this week, not dropping a set against players like Ivanovic, Carla Suarez Navarro, who'd beat her in Montréal, or Svetlana Kuznetsova, who'd pushed her to the limit last week. Meanwhile in the other half of the draw, Wuhan champion Petra Kvitova's continued run was helped by the withdrawals of both Venus and Serena Williams and the upsets of Aga Radwanska and U.S. Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki. She was challenged by a resurgent Sam Stosur in the semis, though, needing three sets to set up a rematch of her first big breakthrough three years ago. And with her history against Sharapova since Wimbledon 2011 shifting so sharply to the Russian's favor, she ultimately succumbed again. MaSha withstood a second-set surge from the Czech and got a break again in the decider. She took the title, her fourth of the year making this her most prolific season since 2006, and pushed herself back up to #2 in the world. And with the ladies' trip to Singapore closing in ever so quickly, it was the perfect time to make that statement.

All of this weekend's winners have had big years already, but by showing us what they're really made of after what seems like such a long time, they really cemented their places at the top of the sport. And now that they're back in control, there's no telling how much higher they can rise.

Last Minute Push

As the 2014 tennis season starts to wind down, the stakes at every tournament get a little bit higher. With less than half of the sixteen spots at the year-end tournaments already claimed, a couple stalwarts and a few first-timers are vying for the remaining entries. And each week could have a big impact on their chances.

Four ladies have already booked their tickets to Singapore -- world #1 Serena Williams, French Open champ Maria Sharapova, Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova, and WTA Finals newbie Simona Halep have all qualified, leaving four more openings. And if their performances in Beijing this week are any indication, no one's particularly eager to fill them -- Eugenie Bouchard, who came in second to Kvitova again in Wuhan, lost in straight sets to Sabine Lisicki while 2011 champ Aga Radwanska, looking for her fifth post-season appearance, fell to Roberta Vinci on Tuesday. Even U.S. Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki has faltered since, losing the final in Tokyo and getting upset by unseeded Sam Stosur in her China Open opener.

So while these ladies' hopes will be put on hold a little longer, some others can take the opportunity to make a stand now. Ana Ivanovic, who took out the top two seeds to claim the trophy in Japan, is on the verge of securing a return to the Tour Championships for the first time since 2008. She's already had two easy wins in Beijing, and though she faces an always-tough Sabine Lisicki next, she has a solid 2-1 record against the German this year. A title run here would clinch her place in Singapore, but even if she falls a bit short this week, a nice showing could give her the confidence she needs to finally re-establish herself among the sport's elite. Ekaterina Makarova is a little more of a long shot, but after reaching the third round she's now in tenth place on the leaderboard. The Russian, who qualified for the year-end's in doubles last year, hasn't come close before on the singles' circuit, but with her first Major semifinal in the books, she could just make an eleventh hour argument in her favor.

There are a few more slots still open in the men's championships, and they admittedly have a couple extra weeks time to wrap up their season. But perennial powerhouses like Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and even Rafael Nadal, back in action this week in Beijing, have already banked the points they need to play in London. Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka, who'd begun the year with a bang, has been a little more quiet lately, and his straight set defeat in Tokyo by wildcard Tatsuma Ito kept him on the fence a little longer. He'll be waiting on the sidelines along with David Ferrer who, at #7 on the leaderboard, is still in the running, but did himself a disservice with an opening round loss to compatriot Marcel Granollers at the same event.

And again their struggles keep others' hopes alive. U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic and runner-up Kei Nishikori remain in the running -- the Croat only played one Davis Cup match since his historic win but opens his Beijing campaign against Joao Sousa on Thursday, and Nishikori, who rebounded nicely from his New York loss with a title in Kuala Lumpur, has so far kept his momentum going in his homeland's Rakuten Open. But while these guys are just hoping to hold onto their place in the rankings, long time contender Andy Murray is just looking to make a comeback. Ranked all the way down at #10 in the world, the two-time Major winner, shockingly, only won his first title of the year last week in Shenzhen and still stands behind Tomas Berdych and Milos Raonic in the race to London. He squeaked through his Beijing first round, dropping the opening set to big-serving Jerzy Janowicz, but he's going to need to make a big push now if he wants to overtake the leaders and reach his sixth ATP Tour Final.

Sure, you may think with the Grand Slams all wrapped up there's not much left to watch on the tennis courts in 2014. But clearly there's still a lot on the line on both Tours, for the top players most of all. And with just a few weeks left before wrapping up their years, you can bet these guys will turn up their games and try to end their seasons with their best performances yet.

Back Where We Started

It's easy to forget where we stood nine months ago. With the return of Roger, the rise of Murray, the dominance of Serena, more recent headlines are quite different from the ones we saw back then. But this week we did something of an about-face, and the winners, some of whom have been out of the spotlight for months or more, climbed their way back to the top, and reminded us all not to be distracted by all that's gone on since summer ended.

Kei Nishikori was the comeback story of last year, fighting back from injury that had largely sidelined him since 2008, rocking his way to two runner's-up trophies and cracking the top thirty by the end of the year. He kicked off 2012 with the same kind of success, becoming the first Japanese man to reach the Australian Open quarterfinals in eighty years. He was a little quiet after that, skipping Roland Garros and winning just two matches at each of the other two Grand Slams. He only made one significant win since January, beating David Ferrer at the Olympics, and was starting to lose the momentum he'd built up last season.

Then he came to Tokyo and turned things around. The eighth seed was challenged early, dropping sets to countryman Go Soeda and a rebuilding Tommy Robredo, but he raised his game in the quarters against world #6 Tomas Berdych and made quick work of Marcos Baghdatis a round later to make his first final in over a year. There he took on Milos Raonic, fresh off two huge wins, first over Janko Tipsarevic and then over top seed and defending champion Andy Murray in the semis. His previous long matches didn't seem to have much affect on the big-serving Canadian -- Raonic fired off fourteen aces and kept himself close for two sets. But Nishikori took over in the third, allowing his opponent just nine points on serve and ceding only four on his own. After about two hours of play, he'd won his first title in over four years, the first Japanese man to take the trophy in Tokyo, and put himself squarely back on the path he seemed destined for less than a year ago.

Novak Djokovic hasn't exactly fallen out of the spotlight this year, but it certainly feels like he's not making the same statement he was at the start of it. Coming off the best season of his career, he was understandably fatigued at the start of this one, but nevertheless defended his title in Australia and retained his #1 ranking through Wimbledon. He picked up a couple more titles in 2012, but compared to the ten he'd racked up by this time last year, it felt like he was losing a bit of his luster.

He may have gotten his season back on track this week in Beijing though. Though he was pushed to three sets by Michael Berrer in his opener -- his first match since that heart-breaking loss in the U.S. Open final -- he rebounded quickly and didn't drop a set on his way to this championship round. Meanwhile Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, riding his own win streak with a title in Metz last month, made his way to the final with similarly little fanfare -- after dropping his first set to Denis Istomin, he received a walkover, a retirement and a fairly routine win over Mikhail Youzhny to make his third final of the year. Sunday's match had the potential to be hotly contested -- Tsonga held a more-than-decent 5-7 record against the world #2 -- and the Frenchman got an early break lead. But Djokovic rebounded, drew even and eventually won the tiebreak. He took control in the second, too, breaking his long-time foe twice and clinching his third Beijing title in four years.

Like Novak, top-ranked Victoria Azarenka hasn't exactly fallen from grace -- though she hadn't won a title since Indian Wells in March, her impressive performance in the U.S. Open final helped her retain the #1 ranking she'd lost for a few weeks during the summer. Still, after that twenty-six match, four-crown, one Grand Slam run that started the year, her more recent performances have shown the kinks in her armor. She's only lost one match to a player outside the top ten this year, though, so even without a recent title to her name, opponents had to stay wary.

As should be expected, the Belorussian sailed through her early rounds -- she didn't drop a set in her first five matches and was relentless against Marion Bartoli in the semis, the woman who doled out her first loss of the year, needing just over ninety minutes to make another final. In the other half of the draw, her recent rival Maria Sharapova had her own straightforward run to the final. After a long first round against Simona Halep, she dominated in later matches, winning all nine games until Angelique Kerber retired in the quarters and handing out a big bagel set to Na Li in the semis. The win earned Sharapova her fifth meeting against Vika this year, but with just one victory in those meetings, history was not on her side. Azarenka kept her play consistent, drew nearly forty errors from her challenger and eventually scored the win with a straightforward 6-3, 6-1 performance. With her fifth crown of the year, she reminded us just why she's at the top of the women's game these days.

With their wins this week all these players brought us back to a time when they were at the top of their games. There are only a few weeks left in the season, so there may not have been a better time for them to work their way back into the headlines. And as they look to end the year the way they started it, we can only hope their momentum carries into the new season.

Stopped Short

It's got to be a little disheartening for a tennis player, just putting together the momentum to launch a comeback, successfully pulling off a huge win at a tournament, and then having the wind sucked out of her a match or two later. Many of the ladies in Beijing this week have fallen victim to just that trend, and that's allowed some interesting names to make their way into the quarterfinals.

Ana Ivanovic isn't exactly an underdog at the China Open -- seeded eleventh here, she's coming off her first Major quarterfinal since 2008 and is at her highest ranking in three years. Still, she hasn't beaten a top ten player since Indian Wells, and was dealt a pretty tough draw from the start in Beijing. Ana opened against Christina McHale, a rematch of her Olympic first round, and got a challenge from new U.S. #2 Varvara Lepchenko a match later. Having survived these threats, she might have expected smooth sailing for a while, but world #69 Romina Oprandi had other plans.

The Swiss miss had lost three straight matches since the U.S. Open, but came to China with an agenda. She dispatched rising star Urszula Radwanska in her opener and avoided a second round against French Open finalist Sara Errani, who retired in her first match. She raised her game further against Ivanovic in today's match, taking advantage of weak serving from the Serb and actually winning more points on return than in her own game. After just over an hour, she'd notched her biggest win of the year and secured a spot in her first Tour-level quarter since last June. It'll only get tougher from here, of course -- she'll likely face world #1 Victoria Azarenka next -- but the veteran has proven she can still hit with the big girls and might just be able to make an even bigger statement this week.

Julia Goerges seemed to be in a bit of a sophomore slump after her breakout 2011 season. After reaching a career-high ranking at #15 this past March, she failed to defend clay court points during the spring and fell in the first round of the U.S. Open. She survived a scare against Vania King in her Beijing first round, but seemed to save face against rival Sam Stosur in the second. The German had won the pair's first two meetings, and though the fellow dirt specialist got revenge this year in Stuttgart, Goerges was able to turn the tide back in her favor in a two-and-a-half hour, three set win on Tuesday.

Her success would not last long, however. Ninth-seeded Marion Bartoli, who's play can be a little manic at times, had had a decent 2012 -- she was the first player of the season to beat Victoria Azarenka in Miami, made the final at two events, reached the quarters in New York, and very nearly ended a long losing streak to Maria Sharapova. Today she was relentless against Goerges, with eight aces and seven doubles, she was the aggressor and took down her opponent for the second straight week. She's certainly no stranger to the latter stages of an event, but her third round dominance may make her a bigger force than others realize.

Former world #1 Jelena Jankovic is striving to get back to that same level. Having fallen out of the top twenty in May, she's 1-9 against top-fifteen players this year and has racked up fourteen opening round losses -- I won't mention how many times she's squandered match points again. Well out of seeding territory these days, she also faced a tough draw in Beijing, but stayed tough against comeback story Andrea Petkovic to start and demolished a struggling Monica Niculescu on Tuesday to reach the third round. She seemed to be getting her act together again and, like compatriot Ana before her, should have bought herself a little breathing room.

But Carla Suarez Navarro was quick to put an end to the Serb's momentum. Dealing with her own set of injuries over the past two years, the teeny Spaniard had already scored wins over the likes of Sabine Lisicki and Sam Stosur this year and had made her way to the final in Estoril, her first since 2010. She'd already marked moral victory in Beijing, taking out Petra Kvitova in the second round, but kept her cool against JJ today. In a somewhat ugly display -- neither lady won even half of her service points and together they lost serve sixteen times -- Suarez Navarro was able to save just slightly more of the twenty-three break points she faced and eked out the win in just under two hours. She'll need to do better against Bartoli in her next round, but if she is able to clean up her game, she might just be able to catch the Frenchwoman by surprise.

It would have been nice to see the players looking to regroup this week really put an end to recent slumps, but with subsequent losses the roads to their revival seemed to take some unfortunate turns. Hopefully they'll be able to turn things around during the balance of the year -- after all, they've each proven they're still capable of pulling off some big wins.

Now they just needed to do it over and over.

Return to Glory

It's not that this week's winners have been completely out of the spotlight recently, but with other stories hogging the headlines -- Novak Djokovic's miraculous run this year, the return of Serena Williams, three first-time Grand Slam ladies' champions this year -- it's no wonder that other players have been relegated to the back pages. But in Asia this weekend, some players who've been sitting on the sidelines made some loud arguments that they should not yet be forgotten.

Andy Murray is clearly not down and out. The world #4 has only lost one match in the last two months, racking up titles in Cincinnati and Bangkok. This week he came to Tokyo as the second seed, but wasn't rewarded with a particularly easy draw -- he began with a two-and-a-half hour battle against Marcos Baghdatis, a man who'd beaten him earlier this year in Rotterdam, and then faced Alex Bogomolov, David Nalbandian and David Ferrer in succession. Against Rafael Nadal in the final, a man who'd handily beaten him in their last five meetings, I was nervous, but fairly certain his luck had run out.

But Murray was undeterred in Sunday's final. After getting down an early break to the Spaniard and losing the first set, he seemed to regain focus. He broke his opponent in the fourth game of the second and never looked back, ultimately blanking the former #1 in the decider and dropping just four points in the set. It was Murray's fourth title of the year and the twentieth of his career. And with just a handful of events left before the year-end championships, there's never been a better time for him to show his stuff.

The same could be said for Tomas Berdych who, though a shade off his career-high ranking, had gone over two years without a title to his name. He had made a couple good runs at tournaments this year, but failed to defend points both at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. He'd lost to players like Thomaz Bellucci, Philipp Petzschner and Stephane Robert and had only notched two top-ten wins on the year, half the number he scored last year.

But this week in Beijing he seemed to be back in form. After a tough first round against a feisty Jurgen Melzer, he only dropped three games on the way to the semis. He endured a long match Saturday, however, against top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, himself fresh off a title in Metz, but eventually made it through, delivering a breadstick in the third set. He was similarly impressive in Sunday's final against former #9 Marin Cilic, a man who, though impressive, hadn't faced a seeded player on his way to the championship match. After losing the first set, Berdych eventually drew even and dominated the decider, closing out the match and earning his sixth career trophy. It may have come at the most opportune time, pulling him back into contention for the World Tour Finals. If he keeps his momentum up, he could be making a return to London.

The stakes were just as high for the ladies in Beijing, and Tokyo champion Aggie Radwanska was out to prove she deserves to be considered among the elite. A shade out of the top ten, she still held hopes of qualifying for the BNP Paribas Championships, but needed to put up a strong showing in China to keep those prospects alive. And after her impressive upset-filled run in Japan, she must have been happy to have her opponents clear the road for her this week. Sofia Arvidsson took out Wimbledon titleist Petra Kvitova, while Ana Ivanovic defeated world #4 Vera Zvonareva, and Flavia Pennetta ousted top seed Caroline Wozniacki. Not that any of these ladies should be overlooked, but certainly they were less intimidating than other options.

In any case, when Radwanska met Andrea Petkovic in the final, she hadn't lost a set in over a week. She ran off to a good start against the German, but kept losing every lead she built -- the two traded breaks for much of the first set before Aggie was ultimately able to consolidate. But the tide turned swiftly in the second and the ninth seed took less than half an hour to blank her opponent and force a decider. Here again it was a game of ups and downs for the Pole, but she was finally able to serve out the match, improving her record against Petkovic to a perfect 5-0 and garnering enough points to move her securely back into the top ten. She's now in position to qualify for the Championships for the third time in her career -- if she's able to hold on.

With so many of the biggest stars this year taking some time off to recoup -- or regroup -- it's the perfect chance for others to seize the reins, and all these athletes are making a valiant stab at doing just that.

As the 2011 season winds down they really could have an impact on how things end -- and it's certainly not to late to turn the tables in their favor.

Looking for Follow-Through

It's not news that the schedule of a professional tennis player can be taxing. With nearly every week on the calendar featuring an event somewhere on the globe, athletes often head straight from one tournament to another, and those lucky enough to make the final rounds one week could easily find themselves right back in action days, even hours, later. So we shouldn't be too surprised to see signs of fatigue, and hopefully those who do pull through will be able to keep it up

It's not all good news, of course. Pablo Andujar, since making the final in Bucharest, has lost two straight first rounds, most recently to world #137 Matthew Ebden. And Marcos Baghdatis, who pulled off one upset after another last week in Kuala Lumpur, apparently didn't have one more in him, falling to Andy Murray in Tokyo earlier today, while Janko Tipsarevic, high off his first career title, lost a battle with Dmitry Tursunov right off the bat. Then there's Pan Pacific runner-up Vera Zvonareva -- she struggled against Klara Zakopalova in her Beijing opener and was subsequently drubbed by a resurgent Ana Ivanovic in the third round.

On the other hand, we shouldn't be surprised to see players like Bangkok titleist Murray and Japan Open champ Aggie Radwanska do well, at least in the early stages of a tournament. It's the more unlikely heroes we should be watching.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has spent most of the last three years in and around the top fifteen, but he hadn't won a title since 2009 until Metz a few weeks back. He's the top seed at the China Open and survived a potentially big challenge from up-and-comer Grigor Dimitrov in his first round. He'll meet wildcard Ze Zhang next, but has a tough quarter of the draw with former #1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, 2010 Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych and one-time top-ten player Fernando Verdasco all playing some good ball these days. If he wants to be a real contender at the World Tour Finals, he'll have to keep his level up.

Kaia Kanepi hasn't been quite as consistent, but nevertheless has a chance to climb back into the sport's elite. Having dropped several ranking points the last few months after a foot injury kept her out of contention, she finally showed signs of the strength she had at the All England Club last year. She scored wins over U.S. Open standout Flavia Pennetta and world #1 Caroline Wozniacki in Tokyo last week, and benefitted in Beijing from the retirement of Sabine Lisicki. Tomorrow, she'll have a rematch with the Dane on Thursday, clearly no easy repeat. But if she's able to clear her path again, she'll certainly be well on her way to turning her year in a new direction.

There's certainly downside to playing such a physically demanding sport day in and day out, and hopefully none of these guys will pay a price for jumping right back into the game. If they are able to manage their schedules it could mean a very successful fall run -- they just have to be careful they don't suffer the fate of so many others.

Once the Clouds Cleared...

Rain delayed the singles championships at the China Open in Beijing this weekend, forcing both the men's and women's finals to be played Monday. But the matches were certainly worth the wait.

There were plenty of upsets in the men's draw from the get-go. Tomas Berdych and Fernando Verdasco were dropped in their opening matches, while second-seeded Andy Murray and #3 Robin Soderling lost two rounds later. That paved the way for defending champion Novak Djokovic and world #11 David Ferrer to advance to the title round.

I admit I'd almost written of Nole earlier in the year -- even though he'd notched a decent record, after a win in Dubai, he suffered early losses in Miami and Queen's Club and had to retire in the quarters of his home tournament in Belgrade. It wasn't until his magnificent run in New York that I started to take note of him again. Now firmly entrenched in the #2 spot, he qualified for the London championships with his semifinal win in China.

Ferrer has been slightly less on the radar this year, though he's really only had one bad loss -- to triple-digit ranked Stephane Robert in Johannesburg. He made the finals in Rome and Buenos Aires and took the title in Acapulco, and notched wins over Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych at previous tournaments before knocking out Soderling in Beijing.

But asking him to go up against a man on as good a roll as Djokovic is might have been too much. The two got in a couple games on Sunday before the storms rolled in, but Novak got off to an early lead before play was halted. He converted another break when play resumed on Monday and took the first set 6-2. Though play was closer in the second, ultimately the top seeded Serb was able to defend his title in straight sets and improved to 5-4 against Ferrer. It was the second time this year he successfully defended a title.

The ladies' final was slightly more dramatic with the two contenders poised to take their highest ever rankings once the latest rankings are released. Caroline Wozniacki secured her #1 ranking a few days ago when she defeated Petra Kvitova in Beijing while Vera Zvonareva's victory over French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in the quarters, pushed her up to #3. As the top two seeds in China, neither had to pull off any major coups to make the championship round, but pitting them against each other in a rematch of the U.S. Open semis seemed somehow appropriate. Vera had won that one in less than ninety minutes, rebounding nicely after losing to Wozniacki in the Montreal finals just a few weeks earlier.

But this time it was Caro's chance to rebound -- down a break early in the first set, she got back even and rattled off five straight games to take the lead. Though she allowed the Russian to get back in the match in the second set, she got the only break in the third, and held serve the rest of the match to win her sixth title of the year. Not a bad way to wrap up an Asian run in which she captured two straight titles at events where she'd never even won a match before this year.

With all the hype around the year's Grand Slams put to bed, it's nice to see the world's top players put in such big efforts at the remaining tournaments. And for Nole and Caro, it's even more impressive that they can follow through after reaching major milestones in their careers.

And what a great opportunity to really let their talent shine.

One Win Away

We're still a bit away, but Monday could be the dawn of a new era: if Caroline Wozniacki wins her match against Petra Kvitova today in Beijing, she'll become #1 in the world, only the twentieth woman to achieve that feat in the Open Era and supplanting Serena Williams, who's held that spot since last November.

Some might argue that, after the year the Dane has had, it should have happened sooner, but these days no one can say she doesn't deserve it. Sure, Serena has been sidelined with a foot injury since Wimbledon and sister Venus, who played only the U.S. Open in the same period, will skip the rest of the year with a knee injury -- you might think Wozniacki hasn't faced the very best.

But here's a telling statistic: the twenty-year-old has compiled a 4-2 record against top-ten players this year. That compares to a 1-3 mark for Serena, who only beat Victoria Azarenka in Melbourne. She's also won five titles to Williams' two -- albeit, both were Majors. They haven't played each other since the Tour championships last year, though, so a true comparison is nearly impossible, but based solely on performance this year, it's hard to make a case against Caro.



Of course the #1 honor isn't hers quite yet -- the last time she met Kvitova at Wimbledon this year, Wozniacki was smacked, 6-2, 6-0 in just forty-six minutes. She is on a better run these days, though -- four of her trophies have come since that loss in July -- so I have a feeling the one-sidedness might be on the opposite side this time.

Players are so often reluctant to discuss the possibility of climbing to the top spot in the rankings, just as they are to talk about any match further in the future than their next one. But you have to think it's been a goal of Wozniacki's all year -- and it can never have felt so close.

Quietly Plodding Away

It's easy to have missed Nikolay Davydenko this year. Plagued by a heel injury early in 2009, he was forced to withdraw from the Australian Open -- the first Gran Slam he'd missed in over eight years -- and was unable to defend his title in Miami. He fell out of the top ten for three months during the spring and summer and suffered a first round loss in Rome, as well as defeats at the hands of James Blake, Same Querrey and Fabio Fognini.

But very quietly he has already added three new trophies to his mantle, and this week in Beijing he's attempting to win back-to-back titles for the second time this year. After winning in Hamburg and Umag back in July, he beat three top-fifteen players in a row last week in Kuala Lumpur. So far in China he's squeaked past Igor Kunitsyn after dropping a tight second set and trounced Philipp Kohlschreiber in straights in the second round, taking less than an hour to advance.



A win in Beijing would make 2009 Davydenko's most prolific year since 2006, when he also achieved a career-high ranking at #3, but there's still a lot of work to be done. The China Open marks Rafael Nadal's return to competition after a nagging stomach strain made New York a taxing effort and second-seeded Novak Djokovic has also been playing in top form.

More immediately, though, he'll face eighth seed Marin Cilic, a player he hold a 2-0 record over. Then again, they haven't met in two years, when the twenty-one year old Croat was ranked seventy-first in the world -- now he's fifteen -- and he's notched a big win already this year against Andy Murray. Though Cilic has remained quiet for most of the year, he does have two smallish titles under his belt -- Chennai and Zagreb. He's not exactly a foe to take lightly.

Incidentally, the match I'm most looking forward to is tomorrow's second round face-off between James Blake and Nadal. We all know the tough time Blake's been having this year, with two opening round losses in back-to-back Majors, but he is one of the few players with a winning 3-2 record over Rafa. If the reigning #2 is even a bit off his game, this could be an opportunity for Blake to get back on track.



The draw might be smaller than other tournaments, but there are certainly enough big names in the mix for some to make a splash at the China Open. And for those that have been quietly making their way through the tournaments this year, there could be a nice payoff at the end.

Are We in For a Repeat?

The early action at last week's Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo turned out to be pretty interesting. Though the top eight seeds received byes in the first round an unprecedented six of them suffered some big losses in their opening matches.

Current world #1 Dinara Safina was shocked by qualifier Kai-Chen Chang while French Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova made an early exit at the hands of Andrea Petkovic.

But it didn't stop there. Third seed Elena Dementieva fell to a strong Kateryna Bondarenko, U.S. Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki notched her first loss to similarly-named Aleksandra Wozniak in a first-set retirement, and Vera Zvonareva dropped a tough three-setter to Alisa Kleybanova. And second-seeded Venus Williams traded a ton of breaks, but eventually lost to Russian teenager Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Phew!

With numbers one through six all eliminated by Tuesday, the way was paved for seventh-seeded Jelena Jankovic and 2005 champ, an unseeded Maria Sharapova, to reach the Saturday finals. And when Jankovic was forced to retire with a wrist injury in the first set -- a disheartening result, especially in a final -- Maria was able to capture the trophy at the Premier event, her first since returning from a nine-month long injury absense.



So far at the China Open in Beijing, though, things seem to be off to just as rocky a start for the seeds. While only a few people got first-round byes -- those that made the semis in Tokyo -- we've already seen some surprises.

Wozniacki split two sets in tiebreaks with Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in her first round before getting bageled in the third. Safina, her Number One ranking hanging by a thread, dropped her second round match to wildcard Shuai Zhang, a player positioned somewhere around #225. And Venus fell for a second straight time to Pavlyuchenko, even after starting off with a one-set lead. So far only Kuznetsova has earned the third round.

If it hasn't been clear thus far in the year, the last ten days have surely shown just how open the women's draw is -- like at the Majors, top seeds seldom make it as far as they should, and everyone's spot is vulnerable. For example if Serena makes it a few matches deep, she'll take the #1 ranking back from Dinara. Elena could get back in the top three with a strong showing, and Maria -- now at fifteen -- is just a stone's throw from the top ten.

With the year's Slams behind us, it might be easy to get complacent, to forget that there's still a lot of season left. The race for Doha is in full swing and there are still a few spots left to fill. With the way Kim Clijsters is playing post-retirement and the imminent return of former Justine Henin -- both year-end champions themselves -- this is not a time to slack!

And these coming weeks are just the grounds for these girls to prove themselves!

Making His Comeback

Andy Roddick started out the year with a bang.

In February he won the SAP Open in San Jose, fitting as the company has sponsored Roddick for years. Then he beat both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic on his way to the title in Dubai.

But after that things slowed down a bit.

He lost his spot as the top-ranked player in the U.S. to my favorite James Blake, he suffered an upset in the second round at Wimbledon to the tattooed Janko Tipsarevic, and skipped out on the Olympics only to be humbled at the hands of Juan Martin Del Potro in the finals at the Coutrywide Classic in Los Angeles.



But this week Andy was set to argue that he should not be forgotten as one of the major forces in men's tennis. He went back to Beijing, one month after the Olympics ended, to take his shot at the China Open. And after four matches he found himself holding the championship trophy over his head.

China may not be the pantheon of tennis, but the tournament has attracted some top-notch players over the years. Last year's champ, Fernando Gonzalez, took the silver medal at the Olympics and the year before Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis won the title when he was ranked a career-high #8.

Roddick didn't have the toughest of draws to get to the finals in Beijing -- his best-known opponent was Juan Carlos Ferrero who has dropped percipitously in the rankings in 2008, from #15 in January to #48 now. For the title Andy took on #92, Dudi Sela of Israel, who actually had a much more impressive road -- he consecutively beat the top seed David Ferrer, Tommy Robredo and Rainer Schuettler for the right to play for the title.

To be fair, Andy never fell out of the top ten, so to designate this a "comeback" may not be entirely appropriate. But my hope is that the win gives him some of the confidence he needs to fight through what's left of the season. With the title Roddick's ATP Race ranking rises to #6, ahead of Ferrer and putting him in contention to vie for the year-end championships in Shanghai. We all know that a little bit of momentum can be all you need to pull out another victory!

Incidentally in another part of Asia, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated top-seeded Djokovic at the finals in Bangkok for the first title of his career. Tsonga, who sat out for three months this year recovering from knee surgery, avenged his January loss to Nole in the Australian Open finals and certainly improved his own chances to compete for the Tennis Master Cup as well.



Congratulations to all!

And to all of you, serve well and play hard!