The preparations for the first Grand Slam of the year is under way, and top guns were in action yesterday and today in Australia and Qatar. Djokovic started his year with a surprise defeat to Ernst Gulbis in straight sets (6-4, 6-4). Roddick win easily against Navarro. Blake was upset by Hrbaty in a third-set tie-breaker. And Baghdatis lost in his 2009 debut.

Djokovic’s loss is very surprising, especially after he claimed to be ready to defend his Australian Open title. Things are not going too well for the poor guy, and he is currently the fourth favorite to win the Australian Open behind Nadal, Federer, and Murray.

More guys will be in action today, including Federer and Nadal, so stay tuned.

The new ATP season is finally upon us, and it all started with a bang. Andy Murray crushed James Blake 6-2, 6-2 to set up yet another match against Roger Federer. Andy Roddick also lost (to Davydenko), which means Nadal will get a chance to exact some revenge on the Russian.

I have Nadal vs. Murray for the final. What’s your pick?

Who would’ve thought that after a fiercely contested Masters Cup, we would be left with two players who were perhaps not the most in-form players on tour. Djokovic and Davydenko qualified from the same group, but now are in the final for a rematch of their group encounter. On that day, Davydenko served Novak a bagel but Novak won it in 3 sets. But tomorrow, Davydenko will be ready to take the extra step to take the championship home.

Novak has struggled mightily in this tournament, and he almost lost it to Simon today. But he hung on to reach the final, having already lost a match to Tsonga. Davydenko, bounced back from his defeat by Djokovic to dominate Del Potro and Murray (Andy was the hottest player in the tournament but was simply outgunned by an in-form Kolya).

Verdict: Djokovic looked tired today, and Davydenko looked very confident. It should be Novak’s moment but it won’t be. Davydenko wins in 3 set. Probably 7-6 in the third.

The last tournament of the year is underway in Shanghai where 8 top player in the world minus Nadal go head to head for the last meaningful ATP title of the year. Djokovic was first up against Del Potro, and he finally managed to snap his three losing streak by beating Juan 7-5, 6-3.

Davydenko also took advantage of his first opportunity to beat Tsona 7-6 in the third and move to the top of the group. This group seems to be the easiest, as Djokovic is the only slam winner here.

Federer, Roddick, Murray, and Simon are pitted against each other in the other group, and every match will be important as two of the four try to qualify for the next rounds. I still believe Murray is the firm favorite here, but Federer and Djokovic are not that behind.

Tsonga is for real folks. If there were any doubts about the future of this man, he proved tonight that he has all the tools to become a great player in the years ahead. Tsonga outslugged the indoor master Nalbandian and dethroned him 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to win his 2nd career title and his first Masters Series shield.

For long, Richard Gasquet was considered to be the best French hope but Tsonga has now proved that he and not Gasquet is someone to look out for in the coming slams. I still think that he needs to work on a few areas to get himself in the contention in Grand Slam, but he was oh so close at Australian Open this year.

Tsonga may or may not win a slam. Nobody can predict that with guys such as Del Potro, Cilic, and Murray without one as well, but he is the best chance the French have at a major title.

Nalbandian is in full form today again late season as he completely outplayed a red hot Murray to reach the semis of Paris masters. The first set was tight but Nalbandian won it in the tie-break and had a chance to completely steamroll Murray in the 2nd set. Credit to Murray as he fought back and made it a bit competitive but he lost the 2nd set 6-3 in the end.

Federer was scheduled to face Blake today with the winner facing the winner of Tsonga-Roddick match. But Federer has pulled a muscle in his back and is out of the tournament. Blake needs to reach the final to get to the Masters Cup. He may have to go through his friend to do that.

Andy Roddick’s journey to qualify for the year-ending championships took a hit today when he was bettered in two tie-breaks by Soderling (7-6, 7-6). Andy won two tie-breaks in his previous match against Robby Ginepri, but did not get lucky this time as Soderling used his serve to dominate his service games. Soderling had 4 break points on Roddick’s serve but didn’t break. Roddick had one and when 0 for one.

Roddick now has to rely on his result in Paris Masters to make it to Shanghai. But at least he is in a better position than Blake or Gilles Simon. Let’s see if these guys can catch up. I am personally hoping for Gilles Simon to make it so we can see another Simon Nadal match there, but we shall see.

As expected, this was an amazing match. Both guys came to play, but Murray was a bit better in returning, and that made the difference. Murray had lots of chances to win it earlier but finally broke through in the 11th game of the third set to break serve and served it out easily to win the match. I can’t wait for a rematch with Nadal!

Update: Nadal could not come through against Gilles Simon and fell 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 to bow out of one of his favorite tournaments. Gilles Simon looked as if he was going to pass out after the 2nd set but he hung on and now faces a fresh Murray in the final. Not looking good for him.

Madrid Masters continued yesterday, and Federer got out of a potentially tricky match with Stepanek unscathed by winning the 2nd set tie-break just when Radek was finding his feet. Federer vs. Tsonga is the match tennis fans wanted to see, and that is going to happen now.

Roddick had no trouble with Robredo as he utterly dominated the spaniard. Djokovic almost lost it to Hanescu though. Hanescu played the match of his life and had Novak on the ropes for about 2 sets before failing to clinch it in the 2nd set tie-break and having to retire in the 3rd set.

Next up is Gasquet vs. Nadal, Murray vs. Cilic, and Del Potro vs. Nalbandian.

Madrid masters officially started today with the No. 1 player in the world in action. Nadal was facing a potentially dangerous opponent in Gulbis and was kept on his heels for 3 sets, but he came through with a late break to wint 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.

Blake wasn’t that lucky however as he fell to Giles Simon after taking the first set. Blake was on fire in the first set but went away in the last two sets for yet another loss to Giles Simon this year. Blake has had a season to forget this year, and things don’t seem to be getting better any time soon as he now doesn’t control his destiny to Shanghai.

Federer and Djokovic will be in action tomorrow.