Net Non-Neutrality

Historically the Swiss have not taken sides in most world conflicts. But this year on the tennis courts the entire country was out to make a statement -- not only do they have some of the best individual soldiers in the world, but their whole team is capable of winning the war.

It had been a while since Switzerland and France have had a ton of success at Davis Cup -- though the latter got to the final in 2010, they haven't come away with the trophy since 2001. And the former, who've largely been left out of the World Group enitrely, had only made the last round once, losing pretty handily to the U.S. way back in 1992. But with two players in the top five, the long-time also-ran finally breaking through on the big stage, and the even-longer time Head of State storming back to the top of the game, the Swiss came to this weekend's championship tie on a mission.

In what started out as a predictably close showdown, Stan Wawrinka opened against an always-tough Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a man whose career has been remarkably similar to his own. The Australian Open champ slightly lagged in their head-to-head, but was just coming off his second semifinal run in London, reclaiming the momentum he'd had to start the year. For the first time in the pair's head-to-head, a decider wasn't needed to determine the winner -- Wawrinka lost serve just once in the two-and-a-half, four-set match and gave his country the early lead.

But in a rematch of one of the most exciting matches of the year, France's Gael Monfils was able to pull his homeland even -- against Roger Federer, taking the court again after pulling out of the year-end final a week ago, this time he didn't let a two-set lead slide from his grasp. The world #19 scored just his third win over the great Fed in a surprisingly quick, decidedly one-sided second rubber, giving the French a lot of hope going into the weekend.

Unfortunately for them, though, the Swiss turned the tables back in their favor on Saturday and never looked back. The 2008 Olympic Gold Medal team of Federer and Wawrinka subbed in for the doubles rubber against Richard Gasquet and London semifinalist Julien Benneteau and chugged through a tight three sets to retake the lead. Roger took the court again on Sunday, seemingly no longer affected at all by his back problems, and this time demolished Gasquet and clinched the win for the Swiss, putting their names in one of the only record books they hadn't occupied before.

For the stars on the Swiss team -- who delivered not just this weekend, but at ties all year long -- it was a historic victory that appropriately capped off an amazing season for not just individual players, but for each of then together. And with their momentum going so strong for so long, you can bet they'll be back in the new year, firing on all cylinders again.

Davis Cup Final Preview: Tensions Running High

A lot has been said about the little spat between Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka after their semifinal battle in London last weekend. But even as both players have put to rest rumors of any hard feelings that may have existed, there's plenty of pressure on everyone as we head into this weekend's Davis Cup championship tie. The Swiss are going for their first ever trophy while the homecourt-advantage French are looking for title #10, but their first since 2001. And we'll be treated to some banner match-ups from the start.

Wawrinka opens play Friday against former world #5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who declined an alternate spot to the World Tour Finals to focus on exactly this match. The Frenchman has a slight edge in their head-to-head, but every one of the pair's five meetings have gone the distance, including their two Roland Garros encounters which combined for ten sets, three tiebreaks and more than eight hours of play. Tsonga's been a little quiet since the U.S. Open and Wawrinka did somewhat redeem his late-season slump at the O2, but with these guys' history, I'd expect this to a be a battle too.

But the rubber everyone will be watching Friday will certainly be the rematch between Roger and Gael Monfils. Federer, you're remember, narrowly eked out a win over the big-time showman in New York, coming back from two sets and a break down in the quarterfinals before powering through for the win. LeMonf has only played a couple events since then, but he has conquered threats like Jerzy Janowicz and John Isner, so seems more than match ready. And Roger, despite a run to the final at the year-end championships, is still contending with the back injury that forced him out of the title match in London. It took a couple days before he was able to get back on court and, if he's not a hundred percent, Monfils is more than capable of exploiting any weakness.

Of course everything could get wrapped up by Saturday in the doubles rubber. Julien Benneteau and Richard Gasquet, both accomplished on the singles circuit themselves, will take on the much lesser-known Swiss team of Marco Chiudinelli and Michael Lammer. But something tells me the matches on Day Two will both be crucial to this weekend's outcome. In the early rubber we'll get a rematch of the Toronto final in which Tsonga stunned Fed after already beating not one, not two, but three top ten players in a row. The pair have put on some classic displays in the past, and the Frenchman has walked away the winner on a couple big stages. He might still trail Roger in their overall history, but expect him to step up to the plate again when so much is on the line.

And the potential final rubber between Wawrinka and Monfils could be just as exciting. The two don't have a long history -- they've met every couple years, but not since 2011 and have split their four previous meetings. The Swiss might be the on-paper favorite in this one, but again he's notched some surprising losses in the final weeks of the regular season -- to Mikhael Kukushkin in Basel, Tatsumo Ito in Tokyo -- and could find himself a little vulnerable at the hands of his opponent. Gael may not have won a title since very early in the season, but he's got three top-ten wins on his résumé this year and might just be primed to add number four to that list.

The last couple Davis Cup championships have all gone down to the wire, and I wouldn't expect any less this weekend. With history on the line and so much talent on the courts, you know everyone's going to power through any obstacle they face. And whoever comes out the winner will have certainly earned their spoils.

Homecourt Disadvantage

It's a little surprising, given how successful Canadians have been on the tennis courts this year, that when they get to the biggest tournaments played in their own homeland, where presumably the crowd support would give them a nice boost, so many are having troubles.

Not everyone has fallen, of course, but even DC champion Milos Raonic had to fight back in Toronto after losing the first set to Jack Sock last night, and needed two tiebreaks to ultimately advance. He next faces Julien Benneteau, a thirty-two year old veteran who is still looking for that first career title, and while he has won two of the pair's three meetings, the fight for the quarterfinals could be quite a battle. The Frenchman dropped just three games against Newport champ Lleyton Hewitt in his opener and then took out eleventh seed Ernests Gulbis in straight sets. If he catches Raonic off guard, he might just pull off another upset.

Meanwhile Citi Open runner-up Vasek Pospisil, whose campaign there pushed him up nine ranking spots to #27 in the world, fell a bit short of last year's semifinal showing at the Rogers Cup. He drew a rematch of his DC semifinal in his opener, and this time fell to Richard Gasquet in straight sets. And the twelfth seed in Toronto kept that momentum with him -- after dropping his first set to Ivo Karlovic yesterday, he didn't allow another break opportunity and finally took out the big-serving Croat in about two hours. He faces Andy Murray next, certainly a big ask, but the Frenchman has gotten wins over the two-time Grand Slam winner in the past and could have the confidence to get it done again.

But by far the biggest upset for the Canadians this week was the opening round exit of 2014 standout Genie Bouchard. Fresh off a second-place finish at Wimbledon, her first Tour-level Grand Slam final, and a climb into single-digit rankings, the twenty-year old suffered a shocking defeat in her Montreal opener, dropping two bagel sets to qualifier Shelby Rogers on Tuesday night. The young American who's only won a handful of ITF titles during her career, stormed onto the scene last month, beating Carla Suarez Navarro and Sara Errani on her way to the Bad Gastein final. Last week she beat third seeded Alize Cornet in DC and, still ranked outside the top hundred, ousted Nanchang champ Shaui Peng to qualify for this event. Her win over Bouchard is her biggest victory to date, and while she'll certainly be tested by former world #1 Caroline Wozniacki in today's third round, there's no reason she can't add one more upset to her r&eacture;sumé.

Sure, it's a little disappointing to see the Canadians struggle this week, even as their stars shine bright on the broader tennis stage. Of course I don't think their performances signal an end to their rise, but those left standing at the Rogers Cup have a huge opportunity to capitalize now. After all, with wins over players who've really come to the forefront of the sport in recent weeks and months, they've shown they've got what it takes to keep on going.

And with just a few weeks left before the U.S. Open, there's no better time to do it.

Full of Possibilities

The BNP Paribas Open is not a Grand Slam event, but with the vast majority of the sport's top stars making the trip to the California desert, it sure can feel like one. And that's what makes the action over the last few days so interesting -- sure some of the favorites have survived through the last few days, but there are plenty of players reaching new heights in Indian Wells and doing so against the best out there. And any one of them could still walk away with the title.

The top half of the men's draw was gutted early and often, with defending champion Rafael Nadal's third round loss followed quickly by Kevin Anderson capitalizing on struggling Aussie Open champ Stanislas Wawrinka and Milos Raonic extending his winning record over Andy Murray. That leaves Rafa's vanquisher, red-hot Alexandr Dolgopolov battling four-time titleist Roger Federer for a spot in the final. Sure, experience is on the Swiss star's side, and after his win in Dubai, he's clearly not to be counted out here. Still, Dolgo followed up the biggest win of his career with two more upsets -- the first over thirteenth seed Fabio Fognini, the next over big-serving Raonic, both in straights. Another victory, especially over such an intimidating opponent, would be a tall ask, but the way the young Ukrainian is playing, I wouldn't put it past him.

The other two semifinalists will be decided later today, and we could get some surprises here too. Yes 2011 champ Novak Djokovic is still in the mix, but the rest of the field is slightly less decorated. He next faces veteran Julien Benneteau who, in his fourteen-plus years on Tour, has yet to win a single singles title. He took out world #10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in his second round, but hasn't faced much of a challenge since, and while the thirty-two year old Frenchman did beat Nole once -- on these courts, but way back in 2006 -- odds are clearly with the Serb. Benny might just have the hunger to make a statement now, but it's the other semi which holds more potential for a breakthrough. Oft-injured John Isner stormed back on court with gutsy wins over Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Verdasco. The one-time runner-up at Indian Wells has beaten Djokovic here before and could have recovered enough to do it again. And twentieth seed Ernests Gulbis, who actually leads the pair's head-to-head, has already notched victories over three top-ten players this season. He's improved on his fourth round appearance here from last year, and with momentum from his trophy in Marseille, could make a real play for this title too.

The battle for the ladies' title is a little closer to over, with both of today's matches deciding who will play in the final. Unlike with the men, both of the top two seeds have advanced according to plan, but neither Melbourne champion Na Li nor often-overlook Agnieszka Radwanska have ever won a title here. Both have been tested in their campaigns, too -- Li held tough during a rematch of the Aussie final against Dominika Cibulkova, rallying from a break down to win five straight games and the deciding set, while Aga lost a 4-0 lead in the third versus Jelena Jankovic before claiming her spot in the semis. But both were able capitalize on their experience, and should be the big favorites in their respective matches.

But two other ladies will look to be the spoilers. Flavia Pennetta has been on the comeback trail for much of the last year, and she followed up a Cinderella run to the U.S. Open semis by making the quarters Down Under. She kept her now 5-0 record against Sam Stosur perfect in the third round and yesterday rallied from a break down in the third to Sloane Stephens to finish off a match she should have one a set earlier. She'll be tired, for sure, when she goes up against Li later today, but with a 2-3 record against the top seed -- albeit well before Li came into her own -- she knows how to win and could pull off a surprise now. And Simona Halep, putting together what's easily been the best year of her short career so far, far surpassed her previous best showing at the BNP Paribas Open by making the semis. While she did drop sets to both Lucie Safarova and fellow Aussie standout Genie Bouchard this week, she has won her last two meetings with Radwanska -- the most recent in Melbourne a few weeks ago. She might be the on-paper underdog, but something tells me she's about to come into her own.

Of course it's going to be difficult for anyone to get past the big dogs still fighting it out in Indian Wells, but with the performances we've seen already the last week or so, many of those in the field could keep their streaks going. And if they can do it here, on one of the biggest stages in the sport, they likely can do it anywhere at all...

Who Is This Guy?!

France's Julien Benneteau has had a few big wins in his nearly ten-year career. A couple years ago he beat Andy Roddick and Fernando Gonzalez, and even scored a win over James Blake back when he was in the top ten. Last year he beat countryman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga a handful of times and made the finals of two singles tournaments. And earlier in 2009 he notched a nice victory over fifth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko in Rotterdam before losing in the quarters.

But without a doubt, his biggest win came tonight when he shocked the tennis world by trouncing #1-ranked, top-seeded, Grand Slam record holder Roger Federer in the second round of the Paris Masters.



To be fair, of course, it wasn't exactly a trouncing. After all, Roger did take the first set in less than thirty minutes. But after that, the forty-ninth ranked twenty-seven year old had the champion running -- he won the second set in a tiebreak and then took an early lead in the third and never looked back. In just under two hours he scored the biggest upset of the tournament so far and handed Federer his earliest exit since July, 2008.

So who exactly is this man who came out of nowhere to beat the great Roger?

Julien Benneteau hasn't had a terribly notable career, having acheived a middling record of 115-140 and losing all three of the ATP finals he's played. He's probably a better doubles player, having won five titles in that discipline, but he did reach a high singles ranking of #33 this past October. He's never had the best of luck in the Majors -- he lost in the first round of the first three this year, but did make the third round in New York, his best performance there. The only surface on which he's won more matches than he's lost is carpet.

A few more wins in Paris would give Benneteau his best showing at a Masters event, but he has a long ways to go. Next up he'll face another Frenchman, Gael Monfils -- who's beaten him in three of their last four meetings. But with the favorite already taken care of, there's no reason to believe he can't pull off another win -- and any future opponent has to feel much less intimidating now.

After all, no matter who Benneteau is any other day of the year, today he is the man who beat Roger Federer.



Incidentally, the other three top seeds must be breathing their own sighs of relief. Both Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray endured long three-setters today, and Novak Djokovic, who beat Roger in Basel last week, was down 2-5 in the second set to Juan Monaco before rallying for the win. Any one of them could see a nice little jump in their ranking if they last much longer in France.

As long as they don't run into their own Julien Benneteau first!

A Race to the Finish

With only a few tournaments left before the year-end championships for both men and women, all eyes of the tennis world were this week turned to Europe. From Luxembourg to Linz, Basel to Lyon, and even as far east as St. Petersburg, players were making their last minute bids to qualify for a spot.

Switzerland is supposed to be a neutral country, but with native son Roger Federer seeded at the top of the draw in Basel, I'm sure the fans there were anything but. He was the winner here for the last two years and, after an early exit in Madrid last week, he was eager to defend his title. Despite dropping a set in the first round to twenty-six year old American Bobby Reynolds, Roger easily coasted through his next three matches to make it to the finals.

There he met former world #3 David Nalbandian, who's trying to make a late-season surge of his own. He's fallen to #8 after a couple of tough years and a solid performance in Switzerland would certainly help him secure a spot to play for the ATP Masters Cup. After early exits at all four Grand Slams this year, the Argentine began his comeback by winning in Stockholm and beating both Benjamin Becker and Juan Martin Del Potro for his right to play for the title here.



But Roger was not to be subdued. In two simple sets, he walked away with his third straight Swiss title.

In Linz, Austria, another former #1 was trying to regain some glory. Ana Ivanovic has had a less successful second half of the year, losing in the second round of the U.S. Open to a relatively unknown Julie Coin and then making early exits in Tokyo, Beijing and Moscow. She made it to the semis in Zurich, but lost in three long sets to Venus Williams. Linz held better prospects for Ana, though, as she made it past Zurich finalist Flavia Panetta and nineteen-year-old Aggie Radwanska to play in the finals.



There she faced Vera Zvonareva, the one Russian player that hasn't quite gotten the attention she deserves. The Olympic bronze medalist made her way into the top ten almost unnoticed this year and even won titles in Prague and Guangzhou.



But Ana emerged the victor in Austria, winning in straight sets. It was her first title since she took the French Open in June.

In St. Petersburg Andy Murray took his fifth ATP title of the year, but it should surprise no one that I don't want to spend much time on him.

The real story in Russia this week was the other finalist, Andrey Golubev. The twenty-one-year-old Kazakh is currently ranked #150 in the world and had never made it even to the semis of an ATP event. But this week the qualifier made it past four opponents, including Marat Safin, to reach the finals. His eventual loss to Murray wasn't surprising, but making it that far was certainly the highlight of his relatively short career.



Back to Luxembourg where the women were playing in the Tier III FORTIS Championships. I've alluded to my frustration with Elena Dementieva before. Like James Blake, she's one of my favorite players, and though she often makes her presence well known on the court, she can easily lose in the clutch. She made it to the fourth round in Australia but lost to eventual winner Maria Sharapova, the quarters at Roland Garros where she fell to Dinara Safina, the semis at Wimbledon and ceded to Williams, and the semis in Flushing Meadows where she lost to Jelena Jankovic. She's also posted losses to much lower seeded players: Agnes Szavay in Paris, Zvonareva in Charleston, Katarina Srebotnik in Tokyo, among others.



That's not to say Elena hasn't had some success this year. She won gold in Beijing and the title in Dubai. The fact that she advanced so far in so many tournaments helped bring her ranking from #11 in January to #5 now. But given her inconsistency, I couldn't help feeling anxious when she found herself facing Caroline Wozniacki in the finals in Luxembourg.

Wozniacki has been a real force in women's tennis this year, and she notched decisive wins over Anabel Medina Garrigues and Na Li on her way to the finals.

But my worries were calmed this week when Elena scored her second win over the Danish teenager, coming back from a first set loss to with the third in a tiebreak. And happily I was finally able to see my favorite earn a long-anticipated title.

And finally in Lyon a couple of lesser-known players were competing for the title at the Grand Prix de Tennis.

Sweden's Robin Soderling has not won an ATP singles title since 2005, though he's played in three finals this year. Nevertheless he's been able to bring his ranking from #53 to #27 since January with wins over Richard Gasquet, Andy Roddick and James Blake. In France he took out Roddick for the second time this year as well as rising star Gilles Simon.



His opponent in the finals was Frenchman Julien Benneteau who was looking for his first ATP singles title. Despite three career doubles championships, Benneteau has had twelve first-round exits in singles draws this year and only made one final in Casablanca, where he lost to Simon. But with wins over Tommy Robredo and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, it looked like Lyon might be his best opportunity to notch that first title.



Unfortunately for Julien that turned out not to be the case, and Robin won his first title in over three years.

So, congrats to all this week's winners, and good luck in your quests to make it to the championships! You've all shown you're up for the challenge!

And to everyone else, see you next time. As always, serve well and play hard!