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!

Going for a Hat Trick

Hockey fans, anyone? Anyone? Well, me neither, but with the U.S. men's team playing Finland for a spot in the finals today in Vancouver, I can't help getting caught up in the excitement.

But in much warmer climes, last night in Acapulco two men were looking to achieve a different, but just as venerable feat -- a feisty Nicolas Almagro was in search of his third straight Mexican Open trophy while countryman Juan Carlos Ferrero, boasting his highest ranking in almost four years, was looking to capture his third championship in three weeks after taking home titles in Argentina and Brazil. When they met on the clay in the quarterfinals, obviously one's quest would end while the other's would live at least another day.

Former world #1 Ferrero is the fourth seed at the tournament, Almagro the sixth, but the one-time U.S. Open winner lost two of the pair's three previous meetings. Almagro, too, had proven his fortitude over the last few weeks, battling through three five-setters at the Australian Open with a broken wrist.

Juan Carlos rolled through his first set, breaking Almagro three times and winning more than eighty percent of his first serves. But the younger Nicolas fought back in the second, securing that set despite poor serving. Ultimately, though, it was the thirty-year-old vet who was victorious in the two-hour match, taking fifty-six percent of the points and converting five of thirteen break chances.



He's still a few wins away from getting his hat trick -- Argentina's Juan Monaco, a man he beat earlier this month in Buenos Aires, is his first obstacle in the semis. And two plucky opponents, Fernando Gonzalez and Costa Do Sauipe runner-up David Ferrer, are still battling in the bottom half of the draw. But after a long absence, it sure is nice to see JCF back at the top of his game.

And though it's probably still too early to get excited about Roland Garros, he's got a perfect record on clay this year, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him challenge in Paris. And I hope his success continues!

In the meantime, go Team U.S.A.!

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!

Play for Life

Whenever I'm on a tennis court I marvel at the broad range of players taking the stage -- from children barely as tall as the net to seniors hardly able to chase down a ball. It's one of the huge draws that, unlike other sports, amateurs and professionals alike can play well into -- and often past -- their prime, and that once you start, you never want to stop.

Check out, for example, the Champions Tour which kicked off in Delray Beach this week. The eleven-tournament program which culminates in London in December attracted the likes of 1987 Wimbledon champ Pat Cash, seven-time Major winner Mats Wilander and former top-ten player Aaron Krickstein. The participants ranged in age from thirty-seven to fifty-one and boasted more than a few trophies between them. And in some highly contentious -- though still friendly -- matches, we saw some great tennis this week.

Ultimately former bad-boy John McEnroe and two-time U.S. Open champ Patrick Rafter played for the championship. True to form, neither man was broken during the almost two-hour match -- they served a combined fifteen aces and showed that, years out of the pro Tour, they still got it. Eventually it was the handsome Australian who took home the trophy, sailing through the second set tiebreak, 7-1, and taking four hundred points with him to the next round of the Tour.



Next up is the BNP Paribas Zurich Open where long-time favorites like Michael Chang, Stefan Edberg and Goran Ivanisevic will slam a few balls around. But even more important than bringing so many stars back out for the fans, the Tour proves just how much of a lifetime love this sport is. The Old Guard is still as strong and fit as the Young Guns and, in some cases, can even teach the kids a thing or two about how to play -- and how to be a champion.

And what better teachers could you possibly have?!

Between Friends and Teammates

Strangely, for two men who came of tennis age in the same era, cracking into the sport's elite around the same time, facing challenges from the same players, Americans John Isner and Sam Querrey have never played each other on a singles court.

That's not to say they're strangers, by any means. They'll be leading the U.S. Davis Cup team this year and have paired together for more than a few doubles matches -- in fact, they're playing on the same side of the net for the championship in Memphis as I type. But one-on-one, their record was clear until this afternoon.

From the start the Regions Morgan Keegan final promised to be a great match-up. Isner, the sixth seed and now the second best player in the country behind Andy Roddick, had gotten past another big server in Ivo Karlovic and overcame a challenge presented by Philipp Petzschner in the semifinals. Querrey, for his part, avenged his loss to Roddick last week in San Jose on his way to his seventh career final.



For the first two sets neither man was able to break the other's serve -- not surprising when Sam, at six-foot-six, is the short one of the two. They split the tiebreaks and fittingly forced a third set with more than the scoreboard showing how even things were. They'd both scored seventy-three points, fired off fifteen aces, won an incredible percentage on first serves. It wasn't until early in the third that Querrey converted his first break point and, just for emphasis, broke one more time for a 6-3 score in the decider.

It was certainly a great result for Sam -- after a strong start to last summer, he struggled when playing for the title, only winning once in four attempts. Isner, who won his first title in Auckland this year, was certainly on more of a roll, racking up a nice 8-1 record before this tournament. But it was a better result for a country that has been struggling to find its next generation of stars. Clearly both John and Sam proved that there is plenty of talent still to come out of the U.S.

Meanwhile in Buenos Aires two other Davis Cup teammates were battling for the Copa Telmex title. David Ferrer and former world #1 Juan Carlos Ferrer hadn't met since the 2008 Australian Open, but with JCF clearly on the comeback trail while Ferrer continues to falter, you had to give the second seed the advantage, despite David's higher ranking and better head-to-head record.

Ferrer did in fact take the first set, but Ferrero came back to take the second set and ultimately broke his compatriot in the final game of the third to take his second title of the year -- he'd won the Brazil Open just last week. It was a solid victory for a man who, a year ago, had fallen out of the top hundred. You certainly can't count him out as a threat going forward.



What's great about today's title matches is that, results aside, before long all these guys are going to find themselves on the same side -- some sooner than others -- fighting for the same cause. It's nice to see that kind of camaraderie in a sport, especially when you're talking about some of the most talented athletes in the field.

And it certainly makes for great games to watch!

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!

Gimme a Break!

Only six weeks into the 2010 tennis season, it's no surprise that Ivo Karlovic sits atop the ace-count leaderboard. In the eleven matches he's played this year, he's already fired off 217 bombs, two more than Andy Roddick, who's played five more matches. In his first round match in Memphis today alone, the Croat shot thirty-two serves that his opponent couldn't return -- it's a figure I'd love to boast for myself. So what's the problem?

For some reason, the six-foot-ten Dr. Ivo hasn't really been able to capitalize on that otherwise imposing statistic. Even winning eighty-four percent of his first serves today (only seventeen points did not result from an ace), he wasn't able to break Germany's Benjamin Becker. He made it through, eventually, in a little less than a hundred minutes, but this was not the first time this has happened -- a few weeks back in his hometown of Zagreb, Karlovic got by Alexandre Sidorenko in two tight tiebreaks, unable to convert on any of his nine break chances.

That's a frustrating result, and one Ivo is going to have to reverse if he's ever going to be a real force in tennis -- and at thirty years old, he doesn't have a lot of time left. He's only won four titles, none since 2008, and his best ever result at a Major was a quarterfinal appearance at Wimbledon last year. His five-set record is even more dismal than James Blake's used to be -- according to my latest count, he's only won twice in thirteen tries when going the distance. Sure he's beaten his fair share of top-ten players over the years, but when even his monster serve isn't enough to guarantee an easy (okay, easier) win, and when he can't convert on his opponents' (relative) weakness, it might be time to regroup.

Next up in Memphis, Karlovic will face either Tommy Haas or Xavier Malisse, either of whom would be a formidable foe. And if Ivo is going to advance further -- at this tournament or at all this year -- he's going to have to figure out a way to do what he was unable to today.

He just needs to get a break!