Indy Tennis Tournament had a couple of rain delays in the past week. However, that did not help the top Americans, and last year’s finalists, Andy Roddick and James Blake in their effort to reach the finals yet again. James Blake seems to be going through a, as of now, major slump. He allowed an astonishing 34 aces against Sam Querrey. Considering that the match was a best of 3 sets match, it definitely questions Blake’s return ability against big servers. He didn’t seem to have that problem a few months ago when he was beating the likes of Ljubicic and Roddick. But after losing to Karlovic (multiple times), and Querrey, one can wonder what has happened to James Blake’s return game.

Andy Roddick was ousted at the hands of Danevic, but he was feeling the heat. Besides, unlike James, Andy does not have to fight for every point in order to keep his top 10 status. The American fans are eagerly waiting for the next American GrandSlam winner. The good news is that guys like Querrey are stepping up and challenging the big boys. The bad news is that none of the Americans seem to be good enough to beat Nadal and Federer in a GrandSlam, which one needs to do to win tournaments these days. No wonder Sampras is contemplating a comeback!

Lleyton Hewitt was once thought by many, including a certain Pete Sampras, as a player who would dominate the post-Pete era. But all that was ended when Roger Federer found his footing, and we all know what has happened since then. Hewitt had a huge advantage against the “naive” Federer, but the master has turned the tables dramatically on Hewitt and has dominated him for years. So, what would you do if you wanted to find a way to beat your most fierce opponent? That’s right! You would hire his coach, and that’s exactly what Lleyton has done. Lleyton has just hired Tony Roche with the hope of winning the Australian Open 2008.

Hewitt is a fierce fighter himself. In fact, he could be the mentally strongest player on the tour. I have seen the guy play Rafa on clay, believing that he could win. That’s more than I can say about Roger after seeing him lose timidly to Nadal for 3 consecutive years. Hewitt is practically the last hope left to the Australian Tennis. With virtually no big shot waiting in the wings, Hewitt is easily the past, present, and near future of Tennis Australia. Tony Roche is one of the best coach, well maybe not according to Roger Federer, in the world. He is surely capable of making a winner out of a former winner like Hewitt. However, the Australian fans are going to be disappointed if they believe Hewitt’s dream of once again becoming the World No. 1. Hewitt is simply not talented or strong enough to topple Federer or Nadal. He may be capable of beating anyone on his day. But, he can not beat Federers and Nadals on a consistent basis. Then there is Djokovic, Murray, Gasqut, Berdych, and Baghdatis who will push him and anybody else for that matter any day. Older opponents such as Blake, Roddick, Gonzalez, and even Safin could also trouble Lleyton. So unlike Federer who has one or two real challengers, and Nadal who has three or four nemeses, Hewitt has let’s say about 15 individuals who can upset him in majors. Of course, if Lleyton is hoping to become No. 1 without winning a major, he is certainly day dreaming. There is no question that more competition is what Tennis need at the top of men’s game. However, I can’t see Hewitt winning a slam anytime soon. Right now at this very moment, Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, and Davydenko are more likely to take the slams. But we need to remember that Hewitt likes to prove everyone wrong!

All you crazed tennis fans out there have probably heard of a young guy named Novak. He is no Nadal of course. He doesn’t have the “guns.” But, he sure does have the game to beat Nadal and many other top players. Nadal and Federer have been at the top of the game for 100+ weeks together. While Nadal has been able to close the gap on Federer, at least on the paper, he still hasn’t been able to topple the mighty king. But, he might never actually get to do it because of Sir Novak. Nadal has been improving fast. There is no question about it. However, Novak is improving at a rate that is 10 times faster than Nadal. A year ago, Nadal was No. 2 in the world and a 2 time Grand Slam Champ. Novak was not really that great then. Now, he has been to the semi-finals of Wimbledon and the French Open, and to top it off he is No. 3 in the world. Novak has a great backhand, which is why he won’t have Federer’s troubles with Nadal once his game becomes complete. His forehand is great as well. He can change direction at will and has a decent serve. Of course, he can still improve his return game. His first and second serve can get even better. Novak also needs to get stronger to match the likes of Nadal on a daily basis.

But what makes Novak so special? His attitude! He is fearless in a sense. He doesn’t fear nobody. He is not afraid to say what he thinks and what his expectations are even if it means upsetting the reigning World No. 1 (remember, Australian Open 2007 Quarters anyone). My only concern for him is his load of injuries. He gets injured quite often, and that is probably going to set him back a little bit back. But, the kid has heart and game. We may see him at the very top sooner than later.

James Blake is one of the nicest people on the ATP tour. He is so respectful of the legends of the game, and he constantly applauds his opponents on good shots. He has experienced so much hardship from 2004 that one book would not be enough to illuminate his tale. His new book, Breaking Back, is about how he lost everything in 2004-2005 including his health and his dad. To be fair he had a glorious 2006 and ended the year as the runner up to Federer at the Masters Cup and finished the year as No. 1 American and the World No. 4. But what has happened since makes me believe that Blake is too happy with the life that he has got now. Too happy that he has lost his competitive edge. This year has been nothing but short of disastrous for someone with Blake’s talent. However, if you listen to his interviews, he keeps explaining how lucky he is to be where he is, and he is proud that he is still a top ten player. The last time I checked competition about winning and being No. 1 and not being No. 9. Blake’s form has been up and down, but we all know what he is capable off. Nadal brings the best out of Blake, and James has shown time and time again that he is capable of competing with the big boys. He may not have the variety to beat Federer on a consistent basis, but he is certainly capable of beating anyone on a good day. Unfortunately, it seems Blake is a victim of his past as much he owes his success to his past. When Blake was not a top 10 player, he played freely and jumping forward in the rankings. But once he got there, he was too impressed by his top 10 peers. Not only that, he allowed the pressure of being a top 10 player to get to him. He has now accepted that he has bull’s eyes on his back, and it is normal to get beaten by others. It is if you are not as hungry! There is no denying that James Blake has a top 10 talent, but unfortunately he doesn’t have the mentality of a top 10 player anymore. A shame that he won’t be a hall of famer as winning Grandslams and not just beating Nadal gets you there.

Federer played one of the least impressive finals that I have seen him play in the recent years. This Wimbledon was a strange one as Roger had 6 days off at one point. I put that as the reason behind Roger’s under-performance in the final. We all know that Roger takes his time to ease into tournaments. In fact, Roger Federer is more beatable in a quarters than he is in a final. But the final with Nadal was like a quarters to Roger. He never had a chance to ease to this tournament. Then there was the huge pressure of matching Bjorn Borg. Let’s not take anything away from Nadal. He realized his chance and played his best to dethrone King Federer. But, the so-called experts are claiming that Federer will struggle to win majors now. That is definitely an overreaction for the following reasons:

1. Experts are claiming that since Nadal pushed Roger on his best surface, he is closing the gap. What experts don’t mention is that Grass is not Nadal’s worst surface. Grass is slow these days, and it’s hard to finish points off like Sampras’ days. So just because Roger plays his best at Wimbledon doesn’t mean that others are playing their worst.

2. Nadal was close to getting upset by Youzhny and Soderling. He then beat a rattled Berdych in a windy day. With the roof coming back, expect Nadal to struggle to beat these guys. Youzhny was the victim of an injury. He had Nadal where he wanted but could not finish him off when his back went bad. Soderling just didn’t take his chances on break points. Nadal may be getting closer to Federer, but others are getting closer to Nadal. Expect Nadal to struggle in the upcoming months.

3. Federer beat Nadal at Hamburg, on Clay. It is something that Nadal has not been able to do on a grass court against Federer. It is funny that many were picking Federer to beat Nadal at the French final. Now everyone is saying that Nadal will win everything next year. I doubt it.

Nadal’s performance was impressive. In fact, I wouldn’t put winning a career slam past him. He can win all four majors. However, he needs to wait for his time. I personally believe that Djokovic and Murray will be able to punish Nadal in the upcoming years as Federer’s career begins to set. Federer definitely needs a coach who can restore his confidence. I thought in this year’s Wimbledon final, Federer went back to his early days’ strategy against Nadal: Playing into Nadal’s hands. It was only in the fifth set that we saw Shanghai 2006’s Federer. But I don’t think Federer needs to worry about Nadal at Wimbledon 2008. Nadal is capable of making it to the final, but he won’t. Mark this down. You read it first here.

Roger Federer survived multiple 15-40 games on the fifth set before breaking Nadal twice to win his 5th consecutive Wimbledon title. Federer finally tied Borg for 5 straight Wimbledon titles. Well done to both Roger Federer and slightly injured Rafael Nadal.

Wimbledon 2007 is going to as the “cruel” Wimby. Djokovic and Gasquet, two bright stars of the future, met their demise at the hands of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Gasquet simply had no gas left in the tank against Federer nor did he have the belief. Djokovic’s case was even more painful. He went from being a warrior against the Bagman to a quitter in one day. To his credit, Djokovic took a set from Nadal but then faded. He decided not to continue after the third set. Maybe he would have if the semis was done on Sunday. However, Wimbledon’s persistence on finishing the tournament on time and making players play for 3 or 4 straight days did Gasquet and Djokovic in. On the bright side, we got the rematch everyone wanted: Federer vs. Nadal XII

Wasim is absolutely right. Nobody in her right mind would have predicted that Bartoli of all people would stun the world No.1 Justin Henin, dominating the last set. Venus was virtually a lock before her match against Ivanovic. Ivanovic is a big-time choker. We all saw what happened to her against Henin in Paris. She put up a better fight against Venus, but still she disappointed. Bartoli however is a surprise story. I remember in Paris tennis analysts were talking about how she needs to get in shape. While that may be true, she still made it to the Wimbledon 07 final. She defeated Jankovic and Henin in the process. Can she stop Venus Williams? I don’t think so, and I am hoping I am wrong. I would love for her to win the Wimbledon this year.  Venus is not Justin. Justin is a mini-choker herself. I do not remember the last match that I saw without Justin almost losing her game when serving for the match. Against a handicapped Serena, Justin got so frustrated with herself that she yelled at her coach. Venus on the other hand is poised, and unlike Justin she believes! She believes that she is the best player at Wimbledon. She has won it 3 times before. Bartoli on the other hand will wake up tomorrow feeling too nervous. I don’t expect a blow out, but it’s not outside the realm of possibilities. I think it will be a straight win for Venus with Bartoli getting about 7 games in 2 sets. My feeling tells me it will be a 6-2, 7-5 or 6-3, 6-4 for Venus.

Andy Roddick lost a chance to get back at Roger Federer at Wimbledon. Wimbledon 2007 was supposed to Andy’s Wimbledon. Well, not exactly, but everybody including McEnroe believed that Roddick will have a “shot” against Roger. However, Roddick again failed to deliver. Of course, he improved on his disastrous performance in 2006, but that’s not remotely enough. Roddick was touted by the American press as the next great thing in Tennis. Andy Roddick was the Prince of Tennis or the king-to-be after Sampras retired. To his credit, Andy did enough in 2003 to finish the year as the world’s number one. However, Andy was extremely lucky at the U.S. Open to win it the way he did. He saved match points against Nalbandian and was pushed multiple times in that tournament. Roddick has not done anything especial since. Reaching semi-finals are great for a nobody, but for a former world number 1, only winning Grand Slams matter. To be honest, Roddick’s pattern of losses to Federer has become repetitive. He serves and attacks the net and gets passed. Again and again and again! In 2003 or 2004, Roddick only had Hewitt and Federer to deal with, but now he has Djokovic, Nadal, Gasquet, Murray, Baghdatis, and so many other players to deal with. If Gasquet, who is by the way not a good returner, can beat Roddick, then expect good returners like Murray to do it more consistently. So, is McEnroe right when he says Roddick probably will not win another slam? He probably is. Roddick has had an OK career, but I still don’t count him as a hall=of=famer. You can’t expect to get into the HOF without winning multiple slams. Right now, Roddick is a one slam wonder who hit the jackpot in 2003. Unless he gets lucky again, he will be just the owner of the fastest serve on the tour.

So it’s Roger Federer vs. Richard Gasquet and Rafael Nadal vs. Novak Djokovic. Roger Federer, the four times defending champ is the firm favorite for tomorrow. He might drop a set but that’s all for Richard. He has played a tough match against Roddick and let’s not forget that Federer is not Roddick. Nadal will also be victorious. Picking Nadal is really a hard one as Djokovic has the weapons to beat Nadal on faster courts. However, Novak almost passed out on the court today against Baghdatis. Nadal is not Baghdatis, and he has exorcised his demons, Youzhy, Soderling, and Berdych. Nadal will win in 4. On the ladies’ side, Venus Williams will beat Bartoli in straight sets. Bartoli beat Henin, but so did a handicapped Serena. Venus is mentally fitter than Henin. She will probably drop less than 5 games tomorrow.