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.

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.

I have been meaning to post about Andy Murray and his achievements of late. He has simply revolutionalized himself by beating Nadal, Federer, Djokovic (2 times) in a matter of a couple of months. Sure. He was awfully spanked by Federer at the U.S. Open, but that was partly due to his inexperience and lack of consistent serving. But he served a treat by serving bombs at Federer and edging him at Madrid Masters.

Murray is currently No. 4 in the world and is getting close to Novak by the minute. But if you take out the losses to Nadal and Federer, Murray has actually outperformed Novak in the second half of this year. With Djokovic going out to Karlovic last week, Murray had further chances to cement his position as the real No. 3 in the world. So here is the question for the rest of this year. Can Novak catch Federer at No. 2 or will he fail again like he did against Nadal and let Murray take over No. 3? The next Masters Series will reveal a lot about this question.

Nadal and Djokovic will indeed face each other again this year in the semi-finals of Roland Garros. Nadal was utterly dominant against Nicholas Almagro by winning it 6-1, 6-1, 6-1. Djokovic had a difficult time with Gulbis but that would be nothing in comparison to what he will have to go through against Nadal. Nadal has been unstoppable and Djokovic has been uninspired. So don’t think for a second that Djokovic will even get a set off Nadal. I would probably give him a total of 8 games but that’s all Djoke should get if he faces a healthy Nadal.

Djokovic beat Mardy Fish, as predicted, to close gap on Rafael Nadal for the No. 2 spot in the world. Nadal is on shaky grounds right now as his lead over Djokovic is 415 points. Federer increased his lead but with the way he is playing there is no question the No. 1 spot is up for grabs. If Federer is suffering from mono, you can expect him to struggle for at least a few months, which means he could head into the U.S. Open with no titles! That would not be good enough for him to hold his top spot, especially if Nadal and Djokovic win the big tournaments. All of a sudden, it seems the curse of Pete Sampras is slowing Federer down.

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.

So much for Andy Murray being in the shadow of Gasquet nad Djokovic. He won today against Stan Wawrinka, but Gasquet and Djokovic both lost, to Soderling and Simons respectively. If Murray plays up to his abilities, he should win the event, but we will see, won’t we?

With the induction of Michael Chang to the international tennis hall of fame, one would wonder where Novak stands after winning his first Grand Slam. Is he already a hall of famer after winning his first grand slam?
While that shouldn’t be the case, with one slam and a final in his bag, Djokovic has certainly equaled what Chang has done in his entire career. This really brings up questions about the validity of tennis hall of fame.

With people such as Roddick and Chang getting a chance to get into the hall of fame, ITF and ATP have paved the way for good players to get into the “greats” club. Now, we would be having a whole different conversation if Roddick won his second slam, but in case of Chang, unfortunately he can’t do so. No offense to Chang, but winning one slam when you are a teenager makes you look like a lucky slam wonder and not a true hall of famer. Comment? Discuss them here in our forums.

Djokovic is surely the new king of Australia, but what’s up with him and his past tense comments about Roger Federer, the No. 1 player in the world. Comments such as “he was so dominant” or “he is still planning to be the best player in the world” raise more than a few eyebrows. I don’t know if this is a language problem or if this guy is even more arrogant than Mr. Federer himself. Whatever it is, Novak needs to avoid getting into other people’s faces like that. Roger still is the best player in the world, and Nadal still is the second best player in the world. They are not planning to be. They already are greats!