With the Help of a Master

Back in August Novak Djokovic announced that he had recruited former world #4 Todd Martin to be part of his coaching staff. Today he received further proof of just what a great decision that was.

Martin was one of those great American players in an era dominated by Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Jim Courier. In a career that spanned fourteen years, Todd won eight titles and played in the finals at both the U.S. and Australian Opens. He also racked up a handful of doubles championships, most recently with James Blake in the 2002 Cincinnati Masters. While he was never able to break into the top spot of the sport, he's hoping to help Novak do just that.

It wasn't that Djokovic was having a particularly bad year before Martin came on board. He made the finals at three straight Masters events during the spring, defeating Roger Federer twice on the way, and won a couple of titles in Dubai and Belgrade. But the winner of the 2008 title in Melbourne and the year-end championship last year failed to dominate in January. He retired during the quarters in Australia and dropped in straight sets in the third round at Roland Garros. He just couldn't seem to get it done in the big tournaments.

But there's something different in Nole's step in the months since Todd came on. He got to the semis in New York, his best Slam performance all year, and followed up a month later with a title in Beijing where he only lost one set. That helped bring him back up to #3 in the world, a ranking Andy Murray took away from him in May. Then, of course, was his phenomenal victory last week in Basel, where he dethroned three-time defending champion Roger Federer in his homeland.

This week in Paris, the last Masters 1000 event of the year, Djokovic faced a field just as intimidating as at any slam. But after a long quarterfinal match against French Open finalist Robin Soderling, he absolutely dominated Rafael Nadal in the semis.

In today's match Novak faced another hometown favorite in Gael Monfils, another formidable opponent looking to make a name for himself on the big stage. But despite being outserved -- the six-foot-four Frenchman shot off twelve aces to Djokovic's two -- and squandering a 3-0 lead in the second set, Novak kept his cool in a third set tiebreak, claiming his fifth title of the year after nearly three hours on the court.

So how much of Nole's recent performance is due to his innate talent and how much to the watchful eyes of Todd Martin? It's hard to say -- at least so soon. But you can certainly see the improvement in the Serb's groundstrokes and his power, and is ability not to linger on lost opportunities is a testament to a better on-court attitude. When he travels to London next week to defend his year-end title -- and to try for his third championship in a row -- we could see just how much Martin is helping his fitness and strength.

And if he can bring that momentum into next year, well, then we'll really have something to talk about!

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 French Revolution

It was a battle of the French this week in Bali, where the first ever Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Championships took place. The new tournament showcased the talent of new and established stars of the sport, inviting the ten highest-ranked women who'd won an international tournament this year -- and who didn't qualify for the season-ending championships in Doha -- plus two wild cards to compete for as much as a million dollars in prize money.

The headliners for the inaugural tournament didn't disappoint. Marion Bartoli and Sam Stosur claimed the top seeds while Sabine Lisicki, a finalist in Luxembourg and winner in Charleston, and veteran Kimiko Date Krumm accepted the final two spots. And right from the get-go there was quite a bit of drama to speak of. Two-time titlist Yanina Wickmayer voluntarily withdrew after word spread of her twelve-month suspension from the Tour (for not showing up for drug tests -- and in the week after Andre Agassi's confessions, it seems the authorities are just trying to make a point). Both Lisicki and Stosur were upset in their groups, and Bartoli was the only top seed to advance to the semis and ultimately to the finals.

There she met Aravane Rezai, the twenty-two year old who captured her first championship trophy when she beat Lucie Hradecka in Stasbourg last May. The rest of the year has been filled with ups and downs for her, though, as she lost a couple of tournaments in the early rounds and only barely qualified for Linz and Luxembourg to end the year. She'd lost her last two meetings with Bartoli, most recently in Tokyo this past September.

On Sunday afternoon in Bali, though, she fought her way back from being down set point at 3-5 to take the first 7-5. When Bartoli had to retire with a quadricep injury, Aravane held up the biggest trophy of her career thus far.



It's not quite enough to shoot Rezai into the top-most rankings, but it does make a case for French tennis on the women's Tour. The men already have Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, they have Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils. The women are struggling a bit with Amelie Mauresmo speaking of retirement and Virginie Razzano losing most of her matches against the top players.

But maybe with a little less than three months left before the first Grand Slam of next year, it might be time to start looking at another country to be a force on the courts.

By the way, the country you think is most likely to dominate in 2010, according to my admittedly unscientific poll, is Russia. Only one person voted for Belgium, something that shocked me. But even though the polls are closed, I still want to know what you think! Leave your comments below!

The Most Underrated Man in Tennis

Okay, of course that statement is a bit of an exaggeration -- but still, it's easy enough to have never heard of Marin Cilic.

The twenty-one year old Croat first started grabbing attention last year when, after a rough spring, he finally started putting together back-to-back wins during the grass court season. His win in New Haven at the expense of Mardy Fish capped off a great 2008.

This year he bested himself, quietly plugging away this year to reach a career high #13 ranking. But even though he began 2009 by capturing two tiles in Chennai and Zagreb, he didn't really make a splash until September when he shocked Andy Murray at the U.S. Open. Since then, he's put together a string of impressive wins, even beating red-hot Nikolay Davydenko and Rafael Nadal in Beijing.



This week Cilic hopes to follow up two straight second place finishes with the big prize at the Swiss Indoors in Basel. With the tournament attracting some top talent, though, he hasn't faced an easy field so far. In the first round he drew a feisty Philipp Petzschner who reached a career-high ranking of #35 just two months ago, and next suffered a battle royal against Viktor Troicki which lasted over three hours and three tiebreaks.

He doesn't have much time to rest -- today Marin faces Davis Cup opponent, Czech Radek Stepanek. They've split their previous two meetings, with Marin last winning in straight sets at Roland Garros earlier this year. But Radek has improved his own play over the last several months and is himself ranked #14, just behind Cilic. And while he was also tested in his second round match, he's had that all-important extra day of rest.

It might be too much to hope for a win this afternoon for Cilic, and even if he does advance there's a long road ahead with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer both potential opponents. In any case, though, Marin has proven he's someone to pay attention to -- if not yet as a title-contender, at least as a dark horse.

And if he can pull the momentum he's accumulated this year into 2010, there's no reason we won't see him atop a few more winner's podiums soon!

The Jury's Still Out

This week I'm doing my civic duty and serving on a jury -- or at least sitting around waiting to see if I'll be selected to serve on a jury -- to decide another's fate. Meanwhile the fates of a couple men playing on a different kind of court are similarly undecided.

For all that's been said about how open the women's field is this year, there's been plenty of movement on the men's side too. Rafael Nadal started 2009 at #1 and dropped unceremoniously to #3 for a couple weeks in August. Roger Federer reclaimed his top spot and set a mass of records, but then fell in the finals of the one tournament he hasn't lost since 2003. Andy Murray himself got within one Grand Slam win of a #1 ranking but, due to a persistent wrist injury, is now fourth. And a strong back half of the year has brought Novak Djokovic back securely into the third spot.

And while the Majors might be over, there are still a chunk of points up for grabs -- sure, not everyone can hope to end the year as #1, but a couple of wins in the next few tournaments can bring with them a lot of momentum into 2010.

This week marks the return of Roger and Andy, neither of whom have played since the U.S. Open, both facing some tough fields in Europe.

In Basel Roger Federer had an easy time with Stockholm runner-up Olivier Rochus, but with Djokovic, who's already beaten him twice this year, Fernando Gonzalez and Marin Cilic all in the mix, a title in his homeland is not exactly a given. He may be a bit rusty after his time off, but even still, you have to believe the case for Roger to end the year with some big wins is strongest.

A little further west and south in Valencia, Murray could face Fernando Verdasco, Nikolay Davydenko and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, all of whom have impressive wins in their head-to-heads. And he's probably the most in need of some irrefutable evidence to prove his case as a Slam contender -- everyone likes to point out how Dinara Safina folds under the pressure of the Majors, but Andy Murray doesn't have a terribly solid history himself.

As for Rafa, well, I'm still waiting for him to bring the force I know he can. It's not that he's done badly since returning from the knee injury that forced him to skip Wimbledon -- he's made at least the quarters of every tournament he's played, and the finals in Shanghai. But a couple of doubters seems to fear his best is behind him.

I don't believe them. I think Nadal has clearly shown his prowess on all court surfaces. Maybe he hasn't played his best in recent months, but he certainly hasn't lost to no-name players, and his injuries haven't seemed to plague him too badly. He'll have had almost a month off by the time he gets to Paris next week, and with everyone in the hunt for that title, we'll know beyond a reasonable doubt whether Rafa's back on top of his game soon enough. The motive for him to do well is certainly there -- he's probably the only one with a chance to take #1 from Roger.

It'll be a few weeks before the final verdict on this year's ATP season is in, but I have a feeling these closing arguments could get very interesting!

Looking to Defend -- and For Revenge

I have to admit, I'm not terribly excited about this year's final at the WTA Championships. To me it seems like yet another all-Williams final, with the two sisters' twenty-third professional meeting -- and second this week -- taking place amid the sands of Doha.

It's not terribly surprising that the two finalists came out of the same half -- the much less stacked White Group not only contained two of the last women to qualify, but it also suffered a couple of withdrawals. Dinara Safina only lasted two games before a back injury caused her to retire against Jelena Jankovic. Her replacement, 2008 runner-up Vera Zvonareva, lost her first match to Caroline Wozniacki and subsequently pulled out herself because of ankle problems. Her spot was filled by Aggie Radwanska who incidentally won her only match when Victoria Azarenka, the last girl in the group, also retired during their third set.



The Maroon Group clearly had the more powerful contenders -- Serena and Venus, of course, as well as the French Open champ and another player who had herself won three titles this year.



When the tournament began on Tuesday, it didn't look as though last year's champ had much of a chance. She started off falling to Elena Dementieva after holding a one-set lead and then notched her third straight loss to her baby sister during the Round Robins. While Serena advanced easily to the semis, Venus had to wait to see what Svetlana Kuznetsova would do before claiming the unlikely last spot in the final four. Wins by both sisters today -- Venus this time coming from behind to take out Jankovic and Serena benefiting from yet another withdrawal by Wozniacki -- set up the once impossibly inevitable match-up.



It seems clear that the younger Williams is the favorite in tomorrow's final -- she regains the #1 ranking next week regardless of the result. Besides, Venus has fallen to a #7 ranking after a couple of early-round exits in Asia and the loss of a slew of points from a year ago, and she hasn't claimed a title since Acapulco in February. And she's dropped six sets this week, more than anyone else in Doha.

But for some reason I'm pulling for Venus this time. After all she was similarly the underdog in Doha in 2008, seeded eighth there, and she didn't lose a match during that tournament. And one of my Twitter followers points out that she might be out to prove a point -- the Times of London earlier this week suggested she wasn't quite in form to handle the younger, hotter crowd. Nothing sparks the competetive fight in an athlete than someone counting you down and out. And, after falling to a 10-12 career record against Serena, Venus has some ground to regain.

It'll be a battle, of course -- it almost always is. And while I can't bring myself to care too much about the result, I can't help but root just a bit for the elder statesman of the group.

And that we see some new faces in the mix next year!

Back on Top

As the 2009 tennis season winds down, most of the players in action these last couple of weeks don't harbor any delusions of making the cut to enter London. Nevertheless a couple of wins this past week certainly did their part to boost the spirits of a few names who've been out of the mix for some time.

Despite a pretty strong field at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, the top two seeds -- red-hot Nikolay Davydenko and Victor Hanescu -- both lost early. And that allowed more than a few unknown names make it to later rounds. But eventually it was Mikhail Youzhny defeating Janko Tipsarevic in the finals, earning the Russian his fifth career title.



It hasn't been that long since Mikhail won a tournament -- he took home the trophy in Chennai last year -- but recently he's been more known for his on-court outbursts than his actual skills. He had some success during the spring's clay season, but then suffered six straight losses before hitting the hard courts. But earlier this month he made the finals in Tokyo, beating Gilles Simon and Lleyton Hewitt on the way, before heading to his homeland. And his title in Moscow lifted Youzhny to his best ranking in a year.

Marcos Baghdatis has had a similarly frustating stretch since he finished runner up to Roger Federer at the 2006 Australian Open. While I began the year with high hopes for the Cypriot, a series of first-round losses and a month-long absence due to a left knee injury dropped him to a #151 ranking. He didn't have a great summer, but he was able to capture three challenger events with wins over veteran Xavier Malisse and up-and-comer Denis Ostomin.

Baghdatis opened the If Stockholm Open with a win over third seed Juan Carlos Ferrero and benefited when favorite Robin Soderling withdrew with an elbow injury. His ultimate win over Olivier Rochus in the finals gave him his third championship, and his first in over two years, getting him back into the top fifty.



Youzhny will be back on the courts this week in St. Petersburg as the top seed, while Marcos seems to have ended his season on a high note. Whatever the results the remainder of the year, though, both players must be proud of their performances last week -- there's no better way to end the year than with a big win!