Recently, I tried to sign up for a Comcast deal which could significantly reduce my cable TV bill. However, the only reason I need cable TV is to get HBO and Tennis Channel. I was surprised when I was told by a Comcast representative that Tennis Channel is not available for my Zip code. Of course, I could’ve just given up at that point and gone with something else, but I was able to get the Tennis Channel by trying another representative. Now my question is, why would Comcast give people misleading information? Are they doing it on purpose or was it only that representative who was misinformed. I doubt that’s the case as even their online system mentioned that my Zip code does not have Tennis Channel. I wonder why!

Roddick is certainly popular in the U.S., but he is no Agassi or Sampras. A few years ago, Roddick was a promising talent who was destined to win 6,7 or even 8 Grand Slams. But a few years later, he is not any closer to winning his second Slam. Sure. Roddick has made a career out of beating people such as Stepanek, but when it comes to taking the next step and beating Nadals and Federers of this world, Roddick has come agonizingly short every time (he is 1-15 against Roger). So, what to make off of Roddick’s recent win at San Jose? Nothing really. He was expected to win, but he almost blew it in the 1st round. Is Roddick back? a few years ago the answer would’ve been “Back at top?” but now it’s more like “Back where?.”

David Nalbandian dodged another bullet today before coming back to beat Jose Acasuso in 3 sets (3–6, 7–6, 6–4). It wasn’t a vintage performance from David, but he did enough to beat a pretty good clay courter in the final of Argentina Open. Now can he reproduce this result in a Grand Slam?

I thought so a week ago that Ginepri may be close to getting back to his best. But with his 6-2 6-2 victory over James Blake tonight, Ginepri has taken a big step towards getting the confidence that is required to be a top 20 player again. Ginepri should’ve won his last match against Blake as he was ahead by a break in both sets before collapsing late. However, he dominated Blake tonight and broke him numerous times while he was broken once himself. Ginepri is no Federer, but he is certainly fun to watch once he is on a roll. So where in the ranking do you think he’ll be by the end of 2008?

We all had the privilege of witnessing Djokovic dethrone “the master” Federer in the AO 2008. Now, with the French open approaching, one would wonder who will be the next 1st time slam winner.

Nadal should be the firm favorite for the French, and I think he will be too tough to beat on Grass too, so we are left with the U.S. open, and that is were Federer will be vulnerable again. This year is truly one of those years that Federer could play quite well and still not win anything. In fact, that could happen if he doesn’t win Wimbledon. I digress. Murray, Blake, Tsonga, Berdych, and Baghdatis have all shown promise to win a slam. It’s true that Tsonga was this close to actually beating Djokovic, but it’s a fresh start for everyone now. In my mind, guys such as Blake and Tommy Haas will not have a chance to win their first slams any time soon. The young guns are just to strong, and you could see them improving before our eyes. Berdych will definitely have a chance on hard courts though it should be Tsonga who performs the best at the U.S. Open. Murray should be able to perform well on all surfaces,  but I find it hard to believe that he finds a way to stay healthy for long. So looking at the list of potential 1st time slam winners, Djokovic looks like the only person who can probably beat Nadal and Federer in the same tournament, and he is not on the list. Not anymore. Nalbandian also has that ability, but I doubt he will play his best in slams. He hasn’t quite made it in slams and he probably never will. Who knows? But sorry young guns. Nadal will win the French. Federer will probably squeeze out a Wimbledon title, and Djokovic will win the U.S. Open. Maybe next year.

Seppi has had quite a week after beating Hewitt and Nadal to reach the quarters in Holland. Hewitt lost two tight tie-breaks to Seppi after winning the first set. Nadal also won the first set today, but that turned out to be to no avail as he lost the next two and got broken a bunch of times along the way. So much for Nadal taking over the No. 1 position in the world soon…

Was Isner a flash in the pan. John Isner roused to fame by winning back to back to back 7-6 in the third matches in an ATP level tournament. Then he pushed Federer by winning a set off of Federer. But that’s all she wrote since then. Isner hasn’t won many ATP matches since then and he was handily defeated by Fabrice Santoro at the Australian Open. He does have a lot of potential, but he is not going to dominate people with his serve on a consistent basis. There are some excellent returners out there, and people like Isner and Karlovic will need to add more dimensions to their game to have a chance to be a threat in bigger tournaments. Will John Isner be the next Sampras? It doesn’t look like it at this point, but don’t blame the Americans. They are trying!

Another Expo another win for Pete Sampras, this time against Tommy Haas. I thought Haas’ ego would make his match against Sampras more competitive, but Sampras did not give him a chance and won the match 6-4 6-2. It’s tough to make anything out of these exhibitions, but the Federer generation have been pretty much humiliated by Federer losing in straight sets to Sampras and now Haas. Of course, Haas is on the downside of his career, and he has never really challenged the big boys on big stages before, so the result wasn’t that surprising. It would’ve been more surprising if Safin had lost with that score, but unfortunately we didn’t get to see that.

You heard it right. Federer won the Laureus Athelete of the year award for the fourth consecutive year. Of course, he was the heavy favorite to do so after winning a whopping 3 Grand Slams last year and reaching the final of the fourth. But the main question at this point is whether Roger will win another one next year. At this point it seems highly unlikely as he needs to win the French Open to be a lock for the award next year, but it is more likely that he will only win Wimbledon, so this year seems to mark the start of end of Federer era. But 4 in a row is simply an amazing feat. 

Who would’ve thought that Nishikori would beat James Blake of all people in his first ATP final. Well, that did happen today when he beat Blake in 3 sets 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. Nishikori beat a few good players en route to the final, but beating James Blake should really be the icing on the cake for him.