Never Give Up

It's so common in tennis that we spend time focusing on the young phenoms who break through the ranks in their teens or the powerhouses that dominate the sport year after year. With Coco Gauff stealing the spotlight with big upsets or the Big Three winning one Slam after another, it can be difficult to spot those players who come into their own a little big later in life.

And that's what makes some of this week results so remarkable -- it wasn't just the shiny favorites seeing the most success, but a couple workhorses who've been building up to their big wins finally getting a chance at glory.

The moment @AsKaratsev became an ATP Tour CHAMPION 🏆#DDFTennispic.twitter.com/poN9kpMO8H

— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 20, 2021

I'll start in Dubai where, I think it's safe to say, few could have predicted the outcome we got. Wildcard Aslan Karatsev, the undisputed Cinderella of the Australian Open, showed no signs of losing that momentum, dispatching four seeds, including 2020's breakthrough teen Jannik Sinner and nearly-unstoppable countryman Andrey Rublev, on his way to the final. Meanwhile qualifier Lloyd Harris, who'd peaked at a career high #72 last year, came out the gate swining too, notching his first top ten win over #1 seed Dominic Thiem in the second round and then besting Denis Shapovalov in the semis.

But ultimately it was the 27-year-old Russian who walked away with the title. The feat particularly notable, as Karatesev, having spent most of his career on the Challenger and ITF circuits, never played an ATP final before this week. The win will rocket him to the top thirty in the world, not bad for someone who was at a high of #112 at the start of the year. And after all the work he's put in to get here, it sure would be nice to see him stick around.

Over in Monterrey, we have a chance to see something similar. Viktorija Golubic may not have had the splashy success at a Slam that Karatsev did, and she actually has some experience in the winners' circle, with a title in Gstaad back in 2016. But the 28-year-old Swiss has nevertheless been languishing in the triple digits for the last few years and spending a lot of time qualifying for events. She had to do that earlier this month in Lyon, but made her way to the final anyway, and she had to do it again in Mexico. And so far she's taken out sixth seeded Anna Blinkova and eighth seed Ann Li to make her second straight championship match.

In the final tonight, she'll face wünderkind Leylah Fernandez, who ended Guadalajara champion Sara Sorribes Tormo's run in the semis. The 18-year-old Canadian is the favorite here, but Golubic should be able to hold her own -- and, after losing to one teenager in France, she's going to want to flip the script a bit. Either way, having made two straight finals should do a lot to boost her confidence, and might just help her get back to and better than her previous high.

If these guys' performances show us anything, it's that it's never too late to achieve success. And with so much more opportunity to thrive this year, something tells me we haven't yet seen the best they have to offer.

When Numbers Lie

There's been a lot of debate over how the ranking system in men's and women's tennis has worked post lockdown and since play resumed last April. I've long raised an eyebrow at Ashleigh Barty's continued presence at the top despite having played precious few events over the past year -- and, admittedly, I've been chasten when she does well at the ones she does enter.

And while I agree with the initial premise -- that players shouldn't be punished for doing the prudent thing by not traveling during a pandemic -- the ultimate system doesn't seem to have worked out exactly right -- after all, why should Marketa Vondrousova get to keep 2019 French Open final points when she did make the return trip in 2020 and lose in the first round?

But perhaps there's no better indication of flaws in the system than the case of Garbiñe Muguruza.

🏆 First title of the season
3️⃣ Final appearances so far
🔝 Tour leader in match wins this year

A strong start to 2021 for @GarbiMuguruza! 🇪🇸#DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/iHyZtY7yB9

— wta (@WTA) March 13, 2021

The 27-year-old Spaniard struggled through the back half of 2019, winning just one match after the French Open and dropping out of the top thirty for the first time since 2014. But she really turned things around to kick off last year, knocking out three top ten players to make the final at the Australian Open. That helped her climb back to #16 in the world, but despite a more-than-solid run, she's barely been able to budge in the rankings since.

And there's plenty of reason she should be higher. Here's a list of some of what Muguruza's accomplished this season alone: she got revenge for last year's loss in Melbourne, beating Sofia Kenin in straight sets at the Yarra Valley Classic; she was the only player to get a match point against Naomi Osaka at the first Major of the year, only barely losing to the eventual champion in the quarters; inexplicably unseeded last week in Doha, she survived a nail-biter against once-unstoppable Aryna Sabalenka on her way to the final; she repeated the feat this week in Dubai, and also scored wins over Iga Swiatek, Elise Mertens, and quickly-rising Barbora Krejcikova. And in her third final of the year, she was able to walk away with the title, her first since 2019 and her biggest in four years.

That gives her eighteen wins already this season, more than any player, man or woman, and puts her second only behind Osaka in the singles race. But for her efforts, she still won't crack the top ten on Monday -- seems strange when players like Bianca Andreescu and, yes, Ashleigh Barty, remain seemingly ensconced there.

Of course, things are slowly getting back to normal and those protected points will eventually start to be shed. And Muguruza will be more than ready to fill in the gaps when they do. After all, there's nothing more intimidating than someone playing well above her ranking. And this girl seems gunning for a return to the very top.

Desert Training

I'm still not sure I entirely understand all the reasoning behind the move, but with the pandemic throwing our lives into disarray in so many ways, I suppose rearranging the schedule ahead of this year's Australian Open is the least strange thing that's happened in the past year.

And so we find ouselves at the start of the qualifying rounds for the first Grand Slam of 2021, held not the week before the main draw kicks off, but nearly a month ahead of time -- and not on the courts of Melbourne Park, but in the heat of the Middle East, with the men battling in Doha while the women face off in Dubai.

The conditions are oddly similar -- it is, after all, the heat of the summer Down Under -- but it still remains to be seen how those who make it through these rounds will fare when they make the trip down to Australia. Still, there are a couple early results, both from players new to the game and those who've been around a while, that might be reason to sit up and take notice.

The Women

Part of the young guard ready to take up the reins, twenty-year-old Kaja Juvan is the top seed in the women's qualifying draw, and after a year in which she scored wins over Venus Williams and Angelique Kerber, she might be ready to capitalize. But it's also worth watching Renata Zarazua, who made history at Roland Garros last year as the first Mexican to win a main draw match at that event. She could challenge Juvan for one of those open slots here, too. There's also teenager Clara Burel, who stunned Juvan at the French last year to make the third round. She'll face off against Anna Kalinskaya to make the final round.

Maybe highest profile of the young bunch, though -- at least in the U.S. -- is nineteen year old Caty McNally, who has won a handful of Grand Slam matches already in her short career -- she also made the quarters in doubles at the French last year. She's been overshadowed a bit by her doubles partner, Coco Gauff, and might just be ready to break out on her own now.

Of course, there are a couple of more familiar, or at least more battle-worn, faces in the mix trying to make another run for glory too. Chief among them is Sara Errani, a quarterfinalist in Melbourne back in 2014 and 2015, but now ranked #131 in the world. She had to fight for her win in the first round of qualifying and next plays a Georgina Garcia Perez, a woman who's only ever played one Major main draw, but is coming off a double bagel victory in her last match. There's also Genie Bouchard, one of my comeback stories of 2020. Her semifinal run here seems a lifetime ago, but she's making a real effort to make herself relevant again, and I'd like to see her keep going.

But if you want my pick for the vet to watch, it's got to be Tsvetana Pironkova. The undisputed Cinderella of the U.S. Open last year, it seems wrong that she has to endure qualifying rounds in Melbourne, but she crushed her first round opponent and seems poised to continue her comeback. Whatever happens though, I imagine we're going to see a lot more of her over the next few months.

The Men

Many of the young men I was hoping could make a statement this year, unfortunately, will have to wait a little longer to be heard. Brandon Nakashima, who capped off 2020 with a Challenger title in Orlando, fell in three sets to Russia's Aslan Karatsev, while Lorenzo Musetti, who beat Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori in Rome, squandered an early lead to lose his first round in the qualifying draw. Even Thiago Seyboth wild, my pick for one to watch this year, fell just short, losing in a third set tiebreak to veteran Robin Haase.

But not all hope is lost for the men. Seventeen year old Carlos Alcaraz, who stunned Albert Ramos in Rio last year, took one step closer to making his first main draw at a Slam with his win Sunday. While he's expected to meet second seeded Hugo Dellien if he advances past the next round, something tells me he might just be able to add another upset on his resume.

On the other end of the spectrum, there are a couple of veterans worth watching in the men's qualifying draw, too, though their prospects may be a little more tenuous than the tried-and-true women. First off there's Viktor Troicki, who peaked just outside the top ten nearly a decade ago and now sits below the #200 in the world. He hasn't qualified for a Major in two years, and even when he was playing them regularly, he never got past the fourth round. He won his first match in Doha, and it'll be interesting to see if he can find what it takes to get a few more wins in now.

And hot-headed Bernard Tomic, once heralded as the next big thing in the sport, has only won one match at a Slam since 2017. The one-time Wimbledon quarterfinalist hasn't played at all since last March, when he lost early at a Challenger event in Monterrey, but did notch a win in qualifying over Jozek Kovalik earlier today. There are no more seeds left in his section of the draw, so the path's wide open for him, if he chooses to take it.

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I know I don't often spend a lot of time covering qualifying events, but a variety of circumstances make the results this week seem a little more worthy of our attention. And the fact that we've seen some truly inspirational performances recently from the players who've emerged from these draws makes them even more noteable.

Will any of these players stand a chance when they hit the courts in Melbourne? Who knows. But if we've learned anything over the last year it's that [almost] anything is possible. And wit a little bit of luck, maybe one of these guys will be the one that makes a splash.

Unseeded Gems

Perhaps it says something about the quality of the women's game these days that we're seeing some lower ranked players put together some of the most consistent performances in the game week after week.

Now there's something to be said for the argument that, unlike the men's tour which is so dominated by three big names, talent in the ladies' field is much more spread out, allowing new names to not only pull off an upset or two, but to bring home the big titles. Still, over the last few weeks there are a couple players who have been more steady, and while they haven't quite broken into the top ranks yet, sure look like they're about to do so.

Let's start with Jennifer Brady, who this week may have given us a little more reason to think she has staying power. The twenty-four year old American has had some nice wins over the years, beating Alison Riske on her way to the final of an Indian Wells lead-up last year and taking out Maria Sakkari in Nottingham, and really started to stand out when she stunned Ashleigh Barty as a qualifier -- having just beaten Maria Sharapova -- and made the Brisbane quarters. But she seemed to struggle after that, unable to score an upset in her Melbourne opener and losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova in her St. Petersburg first round. She's been more impressive in Dubai, though, absolutely demolishing Elina Svitolina in the first round and today coming back from a set down against French Open finalist Marketa Vondrousova to reach the quarters. The back-to-back wins suggest that maybe she's ready to have a true breakout.

Also ready for the next level, despite her loss today, is Tunisia's Ons Jabeur. The 25-year-old from Tunisia is of course the one responsible for ending Caroline Wozniacki's career Down Under, but she also pulled off wins over Johanna Konta and avenged an earlier loss to Serena-killer Qiang Wang during that run. She's currently at a career-high ranking, but still stands just within the top fifty though her potential is clearly much greater. She began this week with a solid win over also-unseeded Alison Riske but really shone in her second round against world #2 Simona Halep. After running away with a 6-1 first set she saved three match points in the third set decider before ultimately succumbing in the two-hour match. Still, there were glimpses of the damage she can inflict on the top ranks, and it feels like she's just getting primed to do it.

But the real standout to me this year is twenty-year-old Elena Rybakina who somehow isn't seeded this week in Dubai. The Kazakh who had to qualify for Grand Slams last year and lost in the first round of the two whose main draws she made, nevertheless started the year at #36 in the world and is going nowhere but up. She made the final in Shenzhen to start 2020, flew straight down to Hobart where she won the title, again picked up immediately for the Australian Open, ultimately losing to Barty in the third round. Lest you feel she hit her peak early, she made it back to a final last week in St. Petersburg and kicked off her Dubai campaign by stunning Melbourne champ Sofia Kenin in straight sets. She won her second round today, too, bringing her record for the year to a staggering 17-3 -- not bad for just seven weeks into a season. The worry, of course, is that she burns out too soon, but if she can learn how to manage her schedule, I imagine we're going to see her sticking around the champion's block a lot more this year.

An event like Dubai is a great opportunity for players like this to really show off their talent -- obviously some of the best in the game made the trek out there and to hold their own with the stars shows just how much they're capable of. And though all these ladies are sitting at or near their highest rankings yet, I'd be surprised if we didn't see them go even higher -- and soon. Their performances not just this week, but this whole season, certainly make the case for that.

A Day for the Underdog

There was plenty of top-notch talent on the courts over the past week, but it wasn't always the favorites who made it all the way to the weekend's finals -- and even when they did, the results came out a little different than you might have expected.

Even if the outcome in Buenos Aires was, on paper, what was supposed to happen, for so for long recently we couldn't be completely sure. Rafael Nadal has continued to struggle in his comeback this year, needing to stage a massive comeback against Tim Smyczek in his Australian Open second round, before ultimately falling to Tomas Berdych in the quarters and falling short of defending his title in Rio when he was shocked by a flailing Fabio Fognini in the semis. But he may have got his footing back in Argentina -- he sailed to his first final of the year without dropping a set, arranging a championship match against former top-ten player Juan Monaco. The homegrown hero had already ousted third seeded Pablo Cuevas and an on-the-rebound Nicolas Almagro, who'd already dismissed Tommy Robredo in the second round. But Rafa proved too much to handle on Sunday -- after breaking in the middle of the first set, he rattled off eight wins in the next ten games clinching his record-tying forty-sixth clay court title. And with so many questions surrounding his game these days, there may not have been a better time for it.

A little further north on the Acapulco hardcourts, things went a little less according to plan -- especially on the women's side of things. Top seed Maria Sharapova had been rolling along, but pulled out of her semifinal match with a viral illness while Sara Errani, fresh off a trophy in Rio, was drubbed by Monica Puig in her second round. Ultimately two lesser seeds made their way to Saturday's final Young Caroline Garcia, slowly but steadily climbing the rankings over the past year, got some solid wins early before receiving walkovers from both Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the quarters and MaSha on Friday. And Timea Bacsinszky, one of the most surprising standouts of the 2014 season, was coming off wins over Petra Kvitova in Shenzhen and Jelena Jankovic in Melbourne -- with most seeds in her section eliminated for her, she didn't face much of a challenger in her first few rounds in Mexico. But she was far from unprepared for the favorite Garcia on Saturday -- she lost just three games in the hour-long final, picking up her first title since 2009. And if she keeps playing like she has there's no reason she can't add a couple more this year.

Most of the top seeded men at the Abierto Mexicano meanwhile fared a little better -- while defending champion Grigor Dimitrov was shocked by a finally-in-form Ryan Harrison, both Kei Nishikori and David Ferrer, each riding their own win streaks, lived up to expectations. The man from Japan, with wins over Alexandr Dolgopolov and Kevin Anderson, secured a rise to a career high #4 in the world, while Spanish champ in Rio won twelve games in a row after dropping the first set to Harrison in the semis. Still Ferrer had a tough task in Saturday's final -- he lost all four of his meetings with Nishikori last year and fell again to the U.S. Open runner-up in straight sets to start off this season. But this time he was able to turn the tables in his favor -- in a surprisingly break-filled final, Ferrer nearly squandered leads in both sets, but was ultimately able close out the match in straights. It was his third title of the year and his fourth in Acapulco and quite a solid argument for the thirty-two year old to make a return to the top five.

Over in Doha the competition was even fiercer -- with five top ten players among the field, there was no lack of talent on the courts, but that set up some more-than-interesting first round matches and opened the door for a bunch of upsets. A still on-the-mend Victoria Azarenka took out last year's runner-up Angelique Kerber in her opener and picked up another win over Caroline Wozniacki a few matches later. And barely unseeded Lucie Safarova started off with yet another win over one-time Grand Slam champion Sam Stosur before taking out Ekaterina Makarova, Andrea Petkovic and Carla Suarez Navarro to reach the final. The Czech may have had the higher ranking in Saturday's championship, but with two Major titles to her name and a 6-0 record against Safarova, Vika was probably still the heavy favorite. But Lucie was able to take care of business too -- ceding just one break of serve and winning more than forty percent of her return points, she was able to walk away with the crown in straight sets, claiming only her second title since 2008, but by far the biggest one of her career.

The men who battled for the trophy in Dubai have a little more hardware on their mantels, but that didn't make their contest any less thrilling. With world #1 Novak Djokovic and his long-time nemesis Roger Federer combining to win the last seven titles in the UAE, it was almost a certainty they'd both make Saturday's final again. And while the draw was not without its upsets -- recently on-fire Andy Murray was stunned by teenager Borna Coric in the quarters and last year's surprise French Open semifinalist Ernests Gulbis remained winless on the year when he lost his opener to Denis Istomin -- the two favorites did ultimately set up the championship match we all wanted. But here again it wasn't the top seed who prevailed -- with Roger and Nole trading wins over their last seven meetings, it was Federer's turn again, and by fighting off all seven break points he faced, he never really gave Djokovic much of a chance to dispute that. It was his second straight and seventh total trophy in Dubai, and while it may not have been quite enough to push him up the rankings yet, it surely suggests he could make a play to climb back to the top before the year's up.

It might not take much to imagine this weekend's champions coming away with the titles, but given the challenges they and their colleagues faced all week, surely nothing was for certain. And by triumphing against the very tough odds they each faced will hopefully make them even stronger the next time around.

Taking Charge

While many of the sport's top players have used the past couple weeks to transition to clay, there was still plenty of action to be had on the hard courts. And the champions crowned this weekend took to the surface in dominating style and made some pretty big statements about what we should expect from them the rest of this season.

The draw in Delray Beach got cracked wide open quickly this week with top seed Kevin Anderson, a finalist last week in Memphis, only getting one win down in Florida and big-serving John Isner losing his opening match in straight sets. The lack of on-paper star power may have cleared the way for some -- Donald Young, on a disheartening downward spiral not that long ago, took out a talented Alexandr Dolgopolov on the way to his first Tour-level final since 2011. But he ran into a super force named Ivo Karlovic on Sunday -- the veteran Croat is one of the most over-looked players out there, but he made runs to four championship matches in 2014 and kicked of this season by winning his first. With thirteen aces and three breaks of his opponent's serve, Karlovic got the win in just over an hour, scoring his sixth career title, just his third on hard courts. But with such decisive performances all week, he might just be adding more to that kitty soon.

The players in Marseille also got a little bit of a pass -- Milos Raonic was stunned in his opening round by sub-fifty Simone Bolelli while recent Grand Slam titleist Stan Wawrinka couldn't come back against some-time giant killer Sergiy Stakhovsky in the quarters. Even defending champion Ernests Gulbis continued to struggle, remaining winless this year after a loss to Jeremy Chardy. That paved the way for two Frenchmen to make the trip to Sunday's final -- Gael Monfils, who hadn't so far kept pace with his performances from last year notched his second straight upset over Roberto Bautista Agut during his campaign, and Gilles Simon, who won the title here way back in 2007, made his way through the draw without facing another seed. But even though he was challenged throughout the week, dropping sets to both Stakhovsky and young Borna Coric, he was able to stay strong on Sunday, withstanding an ugly middle set to notch the win in a deciding tiebreak. It was his first title since 2013, but maybe more importantly for the thirty-year-old, shows he's still more than relevant at the big matches.

Simona Halep, on the other hand, is only just starting to show us what she's got. Last year's French Open finalist is coming off a career-making year and kicked off the 2015 season by winning her ninth career title in Shenzhen. She might not have gotten quite as far as she wanted at the Australian Open, but this week in Dubai she may have made up for that -- taking the top seed after Serena Williams pulled out of the event, Halep ended Daniela Hantuchova's comeback and then avenged her Melbourne loss to Ekaterina Makarova in the quarters. Against an inspired Karolina Pliskova in Saturday's final -- the Czech hadn't faced a player outside the top forty all week and caused upsets of Ana Ivanovic and compatriot Lucie Safarova along the way -- she kept her head again. Despite being broken four times, being out-served and under-faulted, she came out on top in two tight sets, adding the second truly high-profile trophy to her mantel. And it may give her just the push she needs to really deliver when it counts the most.

There's still a little time left before tennis stars make a real shift onto the clay, and this week's events gave us a good idea of what we might see in the weeks to come. And if this weekend's champions can take charge again, there's no reason we won't be seeing more of them on the winners' stands.

He's Not Going Anywhere

The great Roger Federer had fallen this season at his lowest ranking in more than eleven years.

In 2013 he'd only won one title, his least prolific showing since 2001 when he claimed his maiden crown in Milan. He put up an encouraging fight in Melbourne, sure, but lost in straight sets in the semis, extending Major-less streak to six -- a long run for him. He'd beaten a couple top ten players this year, but over the last twelve months has also lost to then-world #116 Sergiy Stakhovsky and little-known Federico Delbonis, not much better at #114.

At thirty-two years of age, it's easy to assume there was not much gas left in Roger's tank, and that maybe we'd seen him lift a trophy for the last time.

But this week in Dubai Federer was able to squeeze out a little more of his star power.

Seeded just fourth at the event, he had a fairly easy road to the semis, but with four other top-ten players in the draw, there were plenty of threats still out there. He lost the first set to Novak Djokovic, who'd beaten him in their last three meetings, but found the strength to rally and reach the final. Today too he got behind against Tomas Berdych, who'd beat him on these courts just a year ago -- he lost the first set and got down a break in the second before rallying to force a decider. And he stayed strong in the third, fighting off opportunities for the Czech to draw back even and ultimately closing out the match and the championship in just under two hours.

It was Federer's sixth title in Dubai, his seventy-eighth crown in total, and marks his fourteenth consecutive year with at least one singles trophy. And with a couple wins over players now ranked higher than him, it certainly seems like he's still got the fire power to add to those totals. Whether he makes a play for another Slam in the months that come, or rides this momentum to a couple more Masters titles, one thing's for sure -- those who'd written him off already will have to put him back at the top of their lists.

Roger Federer isn't about to roll over just yet.

Not Just the Same Old

It can be so refreshing when we're treated to a couple surprises on championship weekend. As great as it is to see the favorites show off the stuff that makes them great, it's just as inspiring to watch a few underdogs pull off a quality upset. And yesterday's finals, during which more than a couple low seeds pulled off exciting wins, certainly made fans sit up and take notice.

Of course, some things went as expected, but even those results were far from certain. Venus Williams did capitalize on her experience in the Dubai final, but as the lower-ranked player, her victory over Alize Cornet was far from in the bag. And King of Clay Rafael Nadal made his return in Rio as the overwhelming favorite but was tested big time on his way to the title. In the semis against Pablo Andujar, he lost the first set and was pushed in a long tiebreak in the decider. He had relatively little trouble against Alexandr Dolgopolov in the final, though, and ultimately scored his forty-third title on the dirt.

Things didn't go as smoothly for the top ladies in Rio, though. Second seeded Franesca Schiavone lost her opening match and rising star Paula Ormaechea suffered a small setback when she fell in the quarters. Eventually Klara Zakopalova, looking for her first trophy since 2005, and Japan's Kurumi Nara, playing in her first Tour final, were left playing for the title. The two had never played before, but the top-seeded Czech, who'd beaten Ana Ivanovic in Doha and was runner-up in Hobart already this year, should have had the upper hand. Still the young Nara, who'd just about halved her ranking in 2013, was not intimidated -- after taking out year-end doubles champ Su-Wei Hsieh in her opener, she had a clear path to the final. In a fairly sloppy final -- neither woman won more than sixty percent of their serves -- she dropped the middle set to Zakopalova, but dominated the third, closing out the match after two hours and claiming her maiden trophy. Now ranked #48 in the world, she's still not quite top tier, but with the confidence she's built the last twelve months, she soon might be.

The men in Delray weren't breaking any seals this weekend, but that didn't make their performances any less noteworthy. Top seed Tommy Haas bowed out early to qualifier Steve Johnson while John Isner, struggling with injury early in the year, fought through a string of long three-set matches before eventually losing in the semis. A couple lower seeds were able to make their way to the final, though -- big-serving Kevin Anderson also playing his first event since Melbourne, came back from losing the first set in two of his matches, and red-hot Marin Cilic continued his comeback without losing a set. He was finally tested in Sunday's final, splitting the first two breakers, but he finally took charge in the decider, keeping the break lead to close out the match in just over three hours. It's the Croat's second title of the year and pushes him to his highest ranking since his suspension. And heading into the next round of big tournaments, there's no better time for him to rise.

Two-time Delray champ Ernests Gulbis didn't make the trip down to Florida this year, but instead tried his luck in the arguably tougher fields of Marseille. The third seed in France, himself having come back from years of injury and middling rankings, he took out Melbourne spoiler Roberto Bautista-Agut in his opener and top seeded Richard Gasquet in the semis. For the crown he faced off against world #10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a man who'd won three of their four meetings and who'd retired from their only other one last year at Wimbledon. But Gulbis was on a roll this Sunday, firing off fourteen aces -- bringing his total for the tournament to sixty-one -- and winning eighty-five percent of his first serves. He's now beaten three top ten players this year and, maybe more importantly, notched his fifth win in as many final appearances. With his run at the Open 13, Gulbis also climbed to #18 in the world, his highest ranking to date, and now that he's healthy again, I wouldn't be surprised to see him go even further.

The triumph of this weekend's winners highlights just how deep the fields have become in this sport, and while there will surely be favorites at every tournament, nothing can be taken for granted. And with players showing that an upset is possible every time they take the court, it certainly looks like we're in for a lot more excitement the rest of this season.

The Spoiler

In the first five years of their professional lives, Venus and Serena Williams played each other in an astonishing eight championship matches.

Times have changed since 2003, though -- both ladies have struggled with injury and illness and have taken breaks of various lengths from the sport they've both dominated over the last decade. And while Serena has fought her way back to the top of the game, the elder Williams, thirty-three years old now, has seen her ranking fall into the mid-forties, making surges here and there, but staying largely inconsequential at the big events. The sisters haven't met in a final since the year-ends in Doha more than four years ago and have in fact only faced off once since 2009, in the Charleston semis last year, with Serena increasing her lead over her older sibling to 14-10 all-time. Whereas we once lamented Grand Slam draws in which the two were not placed in opposite halves and thus destined to meet only for the title, we now hope we'll see Venus reach the second week, wherever she lands in the bracket.

This week in Dubai we had the opportunity to finally see an all-Williams final again. Unseeded in a tournament at which seven of the top ten players were entered, Venus was in rare form -- in the second round she dominated Ana Ivanovic, importantly getting revenge on the woman who'd ousted her sister and followed it up with a win over world #22 Flavia Pennetta. In Friday's semifinal against Caroline Wozniacki, putting together some big wins herself this week, Venus broke the former #1 an incredible six times, lost just a handful of her first serves, and closed out the match in under ninety minutes. It was her fifth win in as many meetings over the eighth seed, but her first as the underdog, and gained her entry to her second final of the year. With younger sister Serena taking the court against often-spotty Alize Cornet in the second match of the day, it seemed inevitable that we'd get the long-anticipated final showdown.

But the teeny Frenchwoman had other plans. Once ranked as high as #11 in the world, Cornet had dropped into triple digits less than two years ago. A title in Strasbourg last year put her back on the map, though, and after a disappointing loss in Melbourne she fought through four long three set matches through her Paris semifinal run. This week in Dubai she rolled through the first set against red-hot Doha champ Simona Halep in her opener and took out two more higher-ranked players on her way to the final four. She was still the big underdog against top seeded Serena today, though, having only managed one set off her opponent in their previous three meetings, but she didn't let that get to her. The match was tight early, but Cornet earned and won the first break opportunity in the ninth game. She finished off the set and even got an early lead in the second, but when she ceded her lead it looked like the twenty-sixth ranked player would suffer another big Serena comeback. She stayed tough throughout, though, pulled ahead again and even had match points on Serena's serve at 5-3 in the second. And while Cornet, known in the past to have breakdowns when things don't go her way, wasn't able to convert, she held at love in the final game, scoring by far the biggest win of her career and reaching her biggest career final since Rome 2008.

So Cornet's amazing upset precludes what many were waiting and hoping for, but it shouldn't diminish the opportunity tomorrow's final holds for both contestants. For two women who've long been counted out of the mix at the big events, reaching the Dubai championship -- and the possibility of winning it -- could jump-start their careers. And at a tournament like this, there's no better time to do it.

Like it Was Only Yesterday...

So it's been a couple weeks since I've had a chance to post something, and now that I'm here again it sure seems like we've turned the clocks back a lot farther that even that.

Things got a little crazy for a minute or two -- Murray started winning Majors, Serena started losing finals, and some of the strongest players in years past started to struggle a bit. But with the results the last few weeks, order may have been restored.

Petra Kvitova had been a stone's throw from the #1 ranking just over a year ago, but was largely overshadowed by her contemporaries for most of the 2012 season. With illness marring her performance at the year-end championships and a couple early round losses to start 2013, she'd dropped a couple ranking points before coming to Dubai two weeks ago. But she upped her game when it counted in the UAE -- after dominating Aggie Radwanska in the quarters she easily ended former #1 Caroline Wozniacki's comeback run a round later. She was the clear favorite against clay-court specialist Sara Errani in the final, and when tested by the spirited Italian, she rose to the task and closed out the match in impressive form. It was her first title since New Haven last year and did a lot to put her back on the radar among the sport's elite -- if she can bring that momentum with her the rest of the year, it might not be long before we see her holding up the big trophies again.

Errani's disappointment didn't last long, though. It would have been easy to write off her stellar 2012 season as a fluke -- she'd already lost two finals this year and failed to defend points from last year's Australian Open. But when she returned this week to Acapulco, the site that kicked off her ascendance to the top ten, she found that spark which has made her such a force on Tour. Ranked well above the rest of the field in Mexico, she shouldn't have had much trouble at all, but given reason stumbles that wasn't enough to seal in the win. But the slight star hardly missed a beat during the event -- with only one of her ten sets going as far as a tiebreak, she rolled through early rounds and won the first seven games of the match against second-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro in the final. Though the second set was tighter and Errani's serve started to slump a bit, she eventually closed out the win in just over an hour and a half, winning her seventh career title and hopefully silencing those naysayers who complained she wouldn't be able to repeat her successes. She hasn't been out of the spotlight quite as long as Kvitova, but hopefully her performance this week will help keep her in it a bit longer.

The gentlemen were not immune from similar comebacks the last few weeks. One-time world #21 Ernests Gulbis has been largely off the radar the last few years as injury cut short a couple of seasons -- but he worked his way back through Challenger events and qualifying draws and eventually was able to make an impact again on the big stage. This week in Delray Beach he opened with a win over my dear James Blake and followed it up by defeating quickly climbing American Sam Querrey. He was taken to a third set by uber-veteran Tommy Haas in the semis too, but after surviving one test after another he was treated to a relative easy final against Edouard Roger-Vasselin today. Though the pair traded breaks through the first set, Gulbis finally got lead in a tiebreak and never looked back. It was his second championship in Florida, the site of his first title three years ago. It may not be enough to push him back to the top right away, but it could just give him enough confidence to return there soon.

And while all these players made huge strides to get themselves back on the radar, perhaps the most impressive run we've seen the last few weeks came from a man who never really fell that far down the rankings anyway. Rafael Nadal had been missing from Tour since that fateful Wimbledon second round, and his long-awaited return stopped somewhat shortly when he lost in the Viña Del Mar final to little-known Horacio Zeballos. But he rallied after defeat, winning a title a week later in Sao Paulo after suffering through two three-set nail-biters. This week he finished off his Golden Swing in Acapulco where, as the second seed, he got straight-set revenge over Martin Alund -- one of the men who'd troubled him in Brazil -- and positively dominated top seed David Ferrer in the final, dropping just two games in the hour-long championship. Things will be a little more difficult for Rafa when he's off the clay the next few weeks, but it's nice to see him thriving on the surface that made him a star. And having proven he can still beat the best, it sure bodes well for him once Roland Garros training really kicks in.

With the last few weeks bringing stars big and small back into the spotlight they occupied not so far in the past, it might not be long before we see some big shake-ups among the top ranks. Those that have recently been strongest will have to watch their backs, it seems, and up their games if they're going to compete among these resurgents. And as long as they keep up their games, there's no telling what they can do for the rest of the season.

Like Old Times

At this time last year we hardly knew what we were in for. Novak Djokovic's title in Dubai had just capped off a fourteen-match win streak, one that would triple before it ended. Roger Federer had completed his first twelve-month run without a Grand Slam since 2003 and had lost two matches in a row to the ascendant Serb -- it would be almost an entire season before he claimed another title on Tour.

But then things started turning around. Fatigue and injury slowed Nole down at the end of the year while Federer went 15-0 to claim three titles of his own. His Slam-less streak continues, but he's not letting go of his hold on the top ranks of the sport, and after sailing to a win in Rotterdam, he came to Dubai looking for his first title here since 2007.

His road to the final was not an easy one. Facing off first against last week's Marseille finalist Michael Llodra, he delivered one bagel set but battled through a tight tiebreak to take the second. He then squared off against former top-ten player Mikhail Youzhny, himself on a comeback trail after dispatching Mardy Fish in the second round. In his semifinal against one-time vanquisher Juan Martin Del Potro, he was unable to convert on any of six break points, but took the two-tiebreak win in just under two hours.

In the final he faced a familiar foe in Andy Murray who, somewhat surprisingly, had never made it past the quarters in the UAE. He began his campaign with a little rust on his swing, losing serve five times to world #116 Michael Berrer in his three-set first round. He cleaned up his game in the days that followed, though, stopping Montpellier champ Tomas Berdych in his tracks and then stunning three-time defending champion Djokovic in under an hour and a half.

His luck ran out in Saturday's final. After failing to convert on two break chances in the sixth game, Murray found himself on the losing side of the first set. Federer got off to a good start in the second as well, breaking his opponent in the third game and building a 3-1 lead. The Scot came back immediately and evened the score, but then King Roger ticked off three straight games to seal the deal.



The win marks Roger's fifth title in Dubai, his first in five years. And with wins over two real top-ten players -- and a couple looking like they're in the top-ten -- he's reiterated that he continues to be a contender at the big events. He may not have begun the year with as much flash and glamour as we've become used to, but if he's really looking to make the climb back to the top of the sport, it sure looks like he's off to a good start. And with just two losses in his last thirty-five matches, it sure looks like he might get there sooner than we think.

Desert Bloom

It can be hard to stand out in a game where the biggest stars are either known for their brute strength, their loud on-court presence, their similarity to a supermodel, or -- unfortunately, these days -- their inability to win a Major. And if you don't fall into any of these categories, you may fly a bit under the radar.

But there's always an opportunity for those players to shine eventually, and with her performance this week in Dubai, Aggie Radwanska made the case for why she should be included as part of the elite. At her highest career ranking coming to the UAE, the twenty-two year old had been having a solid seven months. An improved service game and the ability to track down balls many others would let go helped her win three titles in the back half of 2012, and she's only notched losses this year to newly-minted #1 Victoria Azarenka, making at least the quarters in every event she played.

This week in Dubai, a tournament in which anyone ranked outside the top thirty had to qualify for the main draw, Radwanska brought her A-game from the start. After dropping a set to one-time world #21 Aleksandra Wozniak, she dominated Shahar Peer and Sabine Lisicki to make the semis. She had her biggest struggle Friday against Jelena Jankovic, who'd scored her biggest win in ages against Doha finalist Sam Stosur in the quarters. They split the first two sets, each losing serve four times in total, before the Pole went gangbusters in the third, winning every point on serve and bageling her opponent to finish off the match in just over a hundred minutes.

In Saturday's final she met unseeded -- at #19 in the world -- German Julia Goerges. A tad off her best career ranking, she'd had a tough couple rounds recently, but had also had trouble advancing deep into tournaments since her win last year in Stuttgart. Goerges had an even tougher road to the championship in Dubai, losing the first set to Svetlana Kuznetsova in her opener, then taking out Pattaya City champ Daniela Hantuchova and recent #1 Caroline Wozniacki in the semis. She'd only won a couple games in her previous meeting with Radwanska, eating two breadsticks in the fourth round of this year's Australian Open, but was playing ball this week, and promised to put up a good fight for the title.

She started out shake on Saturday, though. Aggie got an early break before the German got on the board and held on to build a 4-3 lead in the first set. Goerges turned things around in the eighth game, though, leveling the score and fighting off a couple break points the next game to finally take the lead. But Radwanska was relentless and converted again on her sixth break point of the set before serving it out. Both players held two tough service games to start the second, but the fifth seed ultimately built up a two break lead. Though she eventually surrendered one, the insurance served her well, and a long return of serve by Goerges gave Aggie her first title in Dubai.



The win will push Radwanska to #5 in the world come Monday, and earns her the eighth crown of her career -- a third at the Premier level. And as this twenty-two year old veteran finally begins to hit her stride on Tour, it sure looks like there will be more to come. She may not have the weapons of some of her contemporaries, but her consistency and precision will keep her in games much longer than some others. And she might just blossom into a real threat in the women's game.

The Birth of New Rivalries

Now don't get me wrong -- as long as they're still active the most exciting horse races of the current generation of tennis players will still be between Roger and Rafa on the men's side, and probably Serena and Venus and maybe Kim for the women. But as new stars emerge and as veterans begin to really hit their stride, we're starting to see repeated dogfights between some different names.

It's no surprise, of course, that Roger Federer still keeps his own name in the mix. But over the last couple months his biggest foil has become Novak Djokovic, who is quickly narrowing the gap in their head-to-head. The two met five times in 2010, and though Federer took four of those matches with relative ease, Djokovic did claim the impressive five set victory at the U.S. Open semis. He followed it up with another, much easier win last month, this time on route to the title in Melbourne.

When they came to Dubai this week as the first and second seeds, Roger still led their career history by a margin of 13-7, and despite the most recent loss he had to feel he had the advantage. He only lost serve twice in his first four matches, never dropping a set on the way to the finals. Nole, on the other hand, had a bit of a hiccup in his second round against Feliciano Lopez and survived what he deemed a "catastrophic" semi against Tomas Berdych.

But for the championship, it was a different story. The Serb broke his opponent's early and never looked back. He earned himself first set points in the ninth game, on Roger's serve, coming up with some beautiful shots and taking advantage of Federer's errors to gain the lead. He ceded a break early in the second and found himself down 2-3 before rattling off a string of four game wins to capture the title for the third year in a row and bring his record to 12-0 on the year. Now having won three matches against the Swiss on some of the biggest stages, Djokovic certainly seems to be creating the next great rivalry in the sport.



The ladies were just as impressive in Doha this week. Playing on the same courts that hosted the year-end championships just a few months ago, it's no surprise that the top two seeds made it through this draw as well. World #1 Caroline Wozniacki dropped only nine games on her way to her second final in as many weeks, easily handling tough opponents like Nadia Petrova, Flavia Pennetta and Marion Bartoli. Vera Zvonareva, like Djokovic, struggled a bit more, coming back from 3-5 in the third against Daniela Hantuchova in the quarters and handing Jelena Jankovic the middle set in the semis.

These two have become more than familiar with each other over the past year, also meeting five times in 2010 and always in the last two rounds of a tournament. Wozniacki leads the head-to-head by the narrowest of margins, 4-3, but Vera had bragging rights at the Majors, dismantling her tired rival in New York and denying the Dane a second straight appearance at the U.S. Open's championship match.

Today's final was better contested than the scoreline might suggest. With three straight breaks of serve to open the match, Zvonareva took the early lead and stayed strong when it mattered. She won only one more point than her opponent, but was more aggressive on Wozniacki's second serve and employed smart angles and clever drop shots to take the set. She lost serve to begin the second but immediately broke back and came out the winner of a long fifth game, after which Caroline never recovered. Vera drew errors from her opponent, seeming to really get under the skin of the usually collected Wozniacki, and finished off the set actually winning more return points than she did on her own serve.

With the match Zvonareva not only drew even with the top woman in the sport, but she earned her first trophy in over a year, putting herself on a nice course going into the big U.S. hard court season. And it certainly gives me hope that she might be able to improve on her stellar performance from last year.



With these guys and gals playing as well as they are -- win or lose -- it looks like there's a lot of fight left in all of them, and that means they're sure to meet again and again. Who knows what their head-to-head records will look like at the end of the day, but I'm confident it will be a lot of fun watching them all fight it out.

In Defense of Caroline Wozniacki

Unless you've been living under a tennis rock the last week, you must have heard by now that come Monday Caroline Wozniacki will regain her #1 ranking. If you have been living under a tennis rock you might have missed the fact that she ever lost it. And the twenty year old will continue to be confronted with the same question that has been dogging her for months -- should you be ranked at the top of your sport if you have never won a Grand Slam title?

We've seen this phenomenon a few times recently, and maybe that's why the critics are so vocal. Players like Jelena Jankovic and Dinara Safina failed to deliver after they climbed the league tables, with the Russian falling out of the top hundred earlier this year. But go back a few more years, and you have an example that (ironically) supports the case for Caroline -- Kim Clijsters rose to #1 a full two years before her first U.S. Open title.

Still it's a tough position to be in. Wozniacki largely racked up the points that earned her position last summer when she claimed titles at Copenhagen, Montreal and New Haven on her way to New York, the first Major at which she was seeded #1 thanks of course to the withdrawal of an injured Serena Williams. Detractors complained she was only winning smaller tournaments, not standing up to the toughest players on the biggest stages, and when she finally climbed into the top spot a few weeks and two additional trophies later, those critics became even louder.

What they've failed to notice is how Caroline's game was improving steadily over the course of these tournaments. On her home soil in August the best player she had to beat was world #41 Julia Goerges. But even though she didn't repeat her run to the U.S. Open final, she did score an easy win over former champion Maria Sharapova on the way to the semis. She faced tough tests for the titles at premier evens in Tokyo -- Victoria Azarenka, Elena Dementieva -- and Beijing -- Ana Ivanovic, Vera Zvonareva -- too. She finally took a set from Kim Clijsters in the year-end championships in the Doha finals and had a solid run to the semis in Melbourne, now having made at least the fourth round of every Slam in almost two years -- not bad for a girl still unable to legally drink in the U.S. You can't deny that she gets more balls back than most of the women on Tour, and now as she develops her serve, her net game and her forehand, she's become more aggressive against the toughest players.

This week in Dubai, Wozniacki was able to put her new skills on display and added another feather to her cap. Though she was saved from an early round against Paris champ Petra Kvitova -- incidentally the woman who beat Clijsters in that final days after she regained the #1 ranking -- she did face challenges from talented Shahar Peer, who was out-powered start to finish in the quarters, and Jelena Jankovic, who led 5-2 in the first set of the semis before Caro hit her stride.

Against a resurgent Svetlana Kuznetsova in the finals, I thought the Dane could face trouble. Wozniacki led the pair's head-to-head by the slimmest of margins, but the two-time Major champion who has never been ranked #1 in the world had been playing, as is often her style, well above her ranking. Kuznetsova was just seeded at the Championships but got revenge over Francesca Schiavone for that heartbreaking loss in the Australian Open fourth round and was solid against both Aggie Radwanska and Flavia Pennetta to make the finals.

But despite the potential challenge from the more experienced player -- Sveta's thirteen career championships was only one more than Caro's but she'd been in eleven more finals -- Wozniacki was unstoppable. She struck first in the match, getting a break in just the second game and didn't allow Kuznetsova to hold until midway through the second set. She took advantage of an inordinate number of errors from her opponent, and capitalized on weak serving to run off with an early lead. The last two games of the match probably featured the best quality tennis, but despite a late surge from the Russian, who denied Caroline a chance to serve for the title, after just over an hour, it was Wozniacki who held the trophy.

Though she retook the #1 position a few days back, following it up with a premier title in Dubai -- something Clijsters could not accomplish last week -- should go a ways in mollifying Wozniacki's critics. She's showing off her consistency and upping her game at the bigger events. At just twenty years of age, she has plenty of time to bring home the Major, and with a game suitable to most surfaces she has a couple choices of which one it will be.

I don't know if Caroline will get the big win this year -- I'll be happy if she just continues to advance in the draws for now -- but it will come sometime soon, I feel. And then hopefully she'll finally get the respect she deserves.

First Time's a Charm

For some this was a week of defending titles -- both Novak Djokovic and Venus Williams repeated as champions in Dubai and Acapulco, respectively -- but for others it was a week of firsts.

In Kuala Lumpur the story was all Russia's Alisa Kleybanova. The twenty-year-old had climbed into the top thirty last year with wins over player like Jelena Jankovic and Venus and even took a set from Justine Henin at the Australian Open.

She struggled early in Malaysia, going to three sets in her second and third rounds, but when she met Elena Dementieva in the finals she went on a roll. Alisa capitalized on her compatriot's notoriously weak serves and broke her opponent four times. She won seventy percent of her own first attempts and captured her first ever Tour title in just over ninety minutes -- not bad for a final debut.

Closer to home in Delray Beach Latvian Ernests Gulbis and Croat Ivo Karlovic battled through a slew of homegrown fan-favorites to contest the championship. The two had never met before, but the big server, seeded second, was clearly the favorite. Gulbis, on the other hand, is one of those very talented, but terribly inconsistent pros -- since peaking at #38 in the world two years ago, he's languished somewhere in the low double-digits.

This year, though, he's been on his own roll, beating two higher-ranked players in Melbourne and making the semis last week in Memphis. And today in Florida Ernests withstood fourteen aces from the more-experienced veteran and still managed to break him four times. And after two sets the twenty-one-year-old was also the victor in his first career final.

It's always nice to see new talent come to light, and both Kleybanova and Gulbis have finally shown they can put together a few wins in a row to capture the ultimate crown. If they're able to keep up the momentum, this could be a good year for both of them, and I'm looking forward to watching them succeed.

Hopefully now that they have the first -- and most difficult -- trophy under their belts, the rest will come easily!

Another One Bites the Dust

There seems to be a cloud hanging over the Barclays Dubai Tennis Tournament this week.

First there was Roger Federer who pulled out with a lung infection. Then U.S. Open champ Juan Martin Del Potro and Wimbledon finalist Andy Roddick withdrew due to nagging injuries that have plagued them the last few months.

For those top players remaining, the road was still not so easy. Gilles Simon has failed to live up to a stellar 2008 season and pulled out of the Australian Open with knee problems -- he was first out the door with a straight set loss to Marcos Baghdatis. Nikolay Davydenko, who began this year with a red-hot string of victories bowed out earlier this morning, retiring after losing his first set to world #56 Michael Berrer. And Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who'd been questionable coming into the tournament, was out-played start to finish by Croat Ivan Ljubicic.

But by far the biggest upset of the tournament came when third seed Andy Murray met Janko Tipsarevic in the second round earlier today. The Scot had won three of their five previous meetings and, ranked fourth in the world, was by far the favorite. Even though the Serb got the first break of the match, the more experienced, but younger, Murray evened the score quickly to force a first-set tiebreak. He lost that one, but regrouped to take the second set and, I tweeted he'd likely harness that momentum to bagel his opponent in the decider.

To my -- and everyone else's, it seems -- surprise, Tipsarevic took the first lead of the third, and foiled Andy on six early attempts to break back. But the two-time Major finalist proved he had mettle and saved match points when Janko was serving in the ninth game of the set. Undeterred, the underdog rallied on Murray's service game and made good on his next match opportunity.



So that leaves Novak Djokovic as the clear leader in the field -- though if the results from the past few days are any indication, he shouldn't breathe too easily. In the next round he'll face Ljubicic and uber-underrated Marin Cilic looms large as a potential finalist.

Certainly the draw has proved to be wide open, and with such a big title on the line, there's no telling who'll be next to get swept up in the sands in Dubai!

Dubai in Debt

It may have become one of the big celebrity vacation destinations in the past few years, with its grand hotels and man-made tropical islands, but Dubai has made news more recently for its financial troubles. And in the tennis world, it's been even better known for a controversial decision last year to deny Israel's Shahar Peer a visa to compete in the Barclays Championships.

The tournament was forced to pay for its transgression, basically being put on probation by the WTA, and this week Peer, visa in hand, made an emotional -- and quite successful -- debut. Unseeded, she opened by avenging a semifinal loss in Auckland by beating Yanina Wickmayer in a three-set first round. She followed it up with a victory over top-seed Caroline Wozniacki and advanced past surprise Australian Open star Na Li in the quarters.

When Peer ultimately met defending champion -- and, to her credit, out-spoken Shahar supporter -- Venus Williams in today's first semifinal, it's not surprising that she had run out of steam. Neither served particularly well, but a couple extra aces by the American and a few more faults from the underdog led to fairly routine win for Venus.

Sure it would have been a great story if she'd come back to take the title, but the run she's had this week certainly does something to stick it to the city that owes her so much. Of course, things aren't perfect -- Shahar still constantly faces jeers from unruly fans and poltical tensions between her homeland and the U.A.E. haven't eased in the least. But the cool she keeps under such pressure shows just how strong a player -- and person -- she is.

And maybe when she returns next year, she'll be able to squeeze out a few more wins -- and another trophy!

Much Ado...

The controversy surrounding last week's ladies' tournament in Dubai spilled over into the men's draw this week as several of the top players were noticably missing from the bracket.

Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal pulled out with a knee injury while now-perpetual runner-up Roger Federer withdrew due to continuing problems with his back. Andy Roddick, winner in Memphis just a few nights ago, protested the refusal of Shahar Peer's visa by bowing out himself, and two other top-ten players also stayed home with various injuries.

One player that was notably present however, was Israeli Andy Ram. The twenty-nine year old doubles player was granted a visa last week, though UAE officials didn't specify why Ram was allowed entry and Peer was not. After all the talk about it, I suppose it was a bit of a disappointment when the fourth-seed lost in the first round to Marat Safin and David Ferrer -- but hopefully some of the tension has been relieved.



On the single's side the absense of Rafa and Roger placed Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray as the top seeds. Ferrer even scored a #4 seed, despite struggling through recent upsets to lower-ranked players like Jeremy Chardy and Mikhail Youzhny.

Through the semifinals, there were few on-paper surprises. Djokovic and Simon made it through their sections of the draw and even Ferrer justified his former #4 ranking. Only Murray was missing from the final four because of a virus. It would be nice to see Novak make it to a title match -- he hasn't made it past the semis since the year-end championships in Shanghai, where he beat Simon -- but I have a feeling Gilles will be out for revenge here. And Ferrer, who will be taking on Frenchman Richard Gasquet, could be on his own roll.



It might not be who you'd expect in the winner's circle when the tournament ends, but this year Dubai has certainly become one of the venues we'll be talking about the most.