Isner Shocks Federer In Davis Cup; US Leads 2-0

John Isner of the United States shocked World #1 Roger Federer of Switzerland in the United States versus Switzerland Davis Cup tie held in Basel by winning his first match against the 16-time major champion 4-6 6-3 7-6 (4) 6-2.

It was Federer's first loss in Davis Cup in over 9 years. The U.S. now leads Switzerland 2-0 in this matchup because before the Isner win Mardy Fish outlasted Stanislas Wawrinka in a 4 hour, 27 minutes 5-set match 6-2 4-6 4-6 6-1 9-7.

Djokovic Earns Record $12,619,803 In 2011

Novak Djokovic won a record $12.6 million in 2011, as a result of winning 70 ATP tour matches (and losing only 6 times all year) along with 10 titles including 3 majors (2011 Australian Open, 2011 Wimbledon and 2011 U.S. Open) and a record 5 Masters Series shields (Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Rome, and Montreal). He beat former World #1 Rafael Nadal in 4 of those 5 Masters series finals, beating Mardy Fish in the other and losing to World #4 Andy Murray in the finals of Cincinnati. He also beat Nadal in two of those major finals, beating Murray in the Australian Open final.

Djokovic's financial haul in 2011 moved him up to #4 on the all-time career list, with career earning of $32.4 million, eclipsing Andre Agassi's $31.1 million. Roger Federer still tops the list with $67.4 million, with Nadal second at $45 million and Pete Sampras now at #3 with $43.2 million. Djokovic's 2011 was the 3rd time in history a player had won more than $10 million in a year, following Federer's $10.13 million in 2007 and Nadal's $10.17 million in 2010.

ATP World Tour Finals: Djokovic Loses 2nd Consecutive Match

AFP PHOTO / GLYN KIRK

World #1 Novak Djokovic amazing 2011 season ended with a whimper on Friday when he lost his second consecutive match at the ATP World Tour finals in London, failing to qualify for the semifinal round. Djokovic lost 3-6 6-3 6-3 to compatriot Janko Tipsarevic a few days after he was demolished in straight sets by David Ferrer 6-3 6-1. Djokovic's only win was a 3rd set tiebreak win where he saved match point against Tomas Berdych. Berdych and Ferrer will be in the semifinalis from Group A, since both the original higher ranked players, Andy Murray and Djokovic failed to make it through the round-robin plays (with Murray withdrawing from the tournament after losing in straight sets to Ferrer).

Earlier, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had qualified for the semifinals by eliminating Rafael Nadal 7-6(2) 4-6 6-3 and Roger Federer became the first player to qualify while remaining undefeated (and now on a 15-match winning streak) by dismissing Mardy Fish.

Djokovic's 2011 season was still remarkable ending with a 70-6 record (losses to Federer, Murray, Juan Martin del Potro, Kei Nishikori, Ferrer,  and Tipsarevic) that includes 3 major titles and 5 Masters series titles and a 41-match winning streak.

The year's last tournament will conclude with Federer facing Berdych and Tsonga facing Ferrer in the semifinals

ATP World Tour Finals: Federer-Nadal XXVI

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will meet for the 26th time of their careers, the fourth time in 2011, on Tuesday at the ATP World Tour Finals. Nadal has won all three of their previous meetings in 2011, on the hard courts in Miami, on the clay courts of Madrid and in the 2011 Roland Garros final. Nadal now leads their career head-to-head by a dominating 18-7.

This latest meeting is on an indoor hardcourt, when Federer is currently on a 13-match winning streak while Nadal needed a 3rd set tiebreak to escape with a win against Mardy Fish two days ago. They are meeting in the round-robin section of the year-end championships. Last year, Federer defeated Nadal on exactly this court in the final match of the year. I suspect that result will be repeated again on Tuesday.

PREDICTION: Federer.

World Tour Finals 2011: Round-Robin Draws Set

The two groups are set for the round-robin matches at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London.

GROUP A
Novak Djokovic
Andy Murray
David Ferrer
Tomas Berdych


GROUP B
Rafael Nadal
Roger Federer
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Mardy Fish


The matches will begin on Sunday November 20th with Federer vs Tsonga and Nadal vs Fish, then on Monday Djokovic will play Berdych and Murray will play Berdych. The Top 2 players from each group will advance and the Top player in one group will play the second player in the other group. I suspect a Murray v Federer final will be occurring on Sunday November 27th.

Federer Wins Paris Masters Title Over Tsonga

PHOTO CREDIT: MIGUEL MEDINA

Roger Federer won his 69th ATP tour title in the Bercy suburbs of Paris (one week after winning his 68th in Basel) by defeating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1 7-6(3). Tsonga may have been slightly tired due to his thrilling three-set win against John Isner in the semifinals, while Federer has looked extremely sharp all week, becoming only the fourth player to win the tournament without dropping a set and the second, after Andre Agassi, to win both important tournaments played in Paris (Roland Garros and the Paris Masters).

It was Federer's 3rd title of the year and 69th of his career, playing in his 99th career final. It was the Swiss Great's 18th career ATP Masters title, one behind Rafael Nadal's 19 (which is the all-time record). In 2011, Novak Djokovic won 5 Masters events (the most anyone has ever won in a single season), followed by Andy Murray with two (Shanghai and Cincinnati) and Federer and Nadal with one each (Paris and Monte Carlo, respectively). It was Federer's first title in Bercy, and he has now reached the finals of all 9 Masters series tournament (but has never won in Monte Carlo).

The most prestigious tournament of the year starts Sunday November 20th with the top 8 players (Djokovic, Nadal, Murray, Federer, David Ferrer, Tsonga, Tomas Berdych and Mardy Fish) who qualified for the year-end Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. Federer is the defending champion (defeating Nadal last year) and enters the round-robin tournament on a 12-match winning streak.

US OPEN 2011: Men's Semifinals Preview

The Fabulous Four meet again:
Djokovic (1) v Federer (3), Nadal (2) v Murray (4)

This year I correctly predicted 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals and 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals. Here are my predictions for the men's semifinals, with the women's semifinals preview also available. Last year I correctly predicted 2 of 2 women's semifinals and 2 of 2 men's semifinals.

Novak Djokovic SRB (1) v. Roger Federer SUI (3). This is of course a repeat of last year's instant classic Men's semifinal won by Djokovic after saving 2 consecutive match points in the 5th set. The question is, will this year's result be the same as last year's? Arguably, Djokovic is playing much better now than he did then, but so is Federer. (But clearly Djokovic's improvement over 2010 is larger than Federer's.) Is the fact that Federer is one year older (and now over 30, playing someone who is 24) more significant than the fact that he is the only player to have beaten Djokovic in a best of 5 set match all year? Or is the Serb's juggernaut record of 62-2 for the year more salient? Amazingly, Federer and Djokovic have met during the last weekend of the US Open for the last 5 years and Federer is 3-1 so far (including one final, in 2007). In fact, the Swiss great leads their career head-to-head 14-9, but has lost three times to Djokovic on hard courts this year (including the 2011 Australian Open semifinal where Federer was defending champion). In New York, Federer has actually had the toughest draw of the Top 4 players, facing Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (11) and Marin Cilic (27). Djokovic has had a much easier time with two retirements in his first 5 rounds and a double-bagel match.  Djokovic's competition has been Nikolay Davydenko, Aleksandr Dolgopolov and an inspired Janko Tipsarevic. Interestingly, his matches have gotten tighter (in the score) as the tournament progresses, while Federer has basically played at the level he needs to win, relative to whoever is on the other side of the net. As most readers know, I am a decided Federer fan and when I started this write-up I intended to make a clear call for The Greatest Of All Time. I'm convinced he can win this match, but I am unsure as to whether he will. Doing the research for this piece has shown me that Djokovic is more likely to win this match, and the title. However, if Federer comes out early playing the kind of tennis he played against Tsonga and Juan Monaco I believe he can win in straight sets. Regardless, I doubt it will match last year's semifinal's shot-making and drama. MadProfessah's pick: Federer in 3 sets OR Djokovic in 4 or 5.

 Andy Murray GBR (4) v. Rafael Nadal ESP (2). Nadal holds a significant 12-4 career head-to-head over Murray, including a slight 4-3 edge on hard courts. However, their more recent matches on hard courts have been very close, with the most famous being their electric 3-set thriller at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London in 2010, won by Nadal. In matches at the majors, Nadal leads 5-2 but at the 2010 Australian Open Murray was beating the Spaniard like a drum in the quarters when Nadal pulled the ripcord and retired from the match. However, I think what matters most is the match-up today and how they have been playing to date in New York. Nadal has had to get through Andy Roddick (21), David Nalbandian and Gilles Muller. Murray has had to get past John Isner (28), Donald Young and Feliciano Lopez (25). Really both players have had a relatively easy path to the semifinals, although Murray had to survive a 5-set scare against talented Robin Haase in the second round. The Brit is clearly starting to cement his "Fab 4" status, by making the semifinals or better of every major played in 2011(something Djokovic has also managed for the first time this year while Nadal has only done it once, in 2008 and Federer did for five consecutive years in a row from 2005 and 2009). He is showing his consistency and letting his innate talent shine through. Murray also has confidence, being one of two players to have defeated Djokovic in 2011, something Nadal hasn't done. I believe Murray is going to do something he hasn't done before (and which a lot of people don't expect him to do), and beat Nadal in a major semifinal. MadProfessah's pick: Murray in 3 or 4 sets OR Nadal in 5.

US OPEN 2011: DAY 6 Recap (What I Saw)

Italian tennis player Fabio Fognini, practicing shirtless on
the outer courts (photo credit: Ron Buckmire)

So, yes I was at the US Open yesterday. I had a grounds pass, so I was just walking around when I saw this incredibly hot guy, hitting balls, shirtless. Who did it turn out to be? None other than Italian stallion Fabio Fognini, who we last saw withdrawing from a quarterfinal match with Novak Djokovic at this year's french Open (and some say giving the Serbian 5 days off so that he then lost his first match of the year to Roger Federer).

Anyway, it was way out on Court 10 with some unknown female junior practicing with her coach on Court 9 next door. Fabio was hitting balls with his coach and playing some points with his doubles partner, Simone Bolelli (who is also gorgeous, but sadly was not shirtless). I was literally less than 10 feet from the players. The above picture was taken seconds before Fognini threw his racket into his bag and complained to his coach about his playing. There was quite a crowd around but almost nobody knew who the players were, except that they were speaking Italian. I recognized Fognini immediately and later figured out it was Bolelli he was hitting with. Leaving the court dazed, I literally walked into 80-year-old(?) Nick Bolleteri (watch where ya going, kid!) as he dashed off to another press interview I guess.

Oh, yeah what about the tennis?

I don't have more money than sense, so I didn't see the Serena Williams - Victoria Azarenka match in Ashe stadium, but you could literally hear it all over the grounds. Ashe is so big so that unless you are willing to spend 3 figures, you are better off watching the match on television. Bizarrely, the big screens around the grounds were mostly showing Mardy Fish's blase' dismissal of South African beanstalk Kevin Anderson in 3 sets. There was a huge line to get into Grand Stand to see the 3rd round match between Juan Monaco and Tommy Haas. Why, you ask? Because next on that court was Fernando Verdasco playing Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and there are no assigned seats. First come, first served! About 5 thousand people sat patiently through Haas hitting some 71 unforced errors to lose to Roger Federer's next victim in order to experience the magic of Tsonga-Verdasco. Sadly, we didn't get to witness repeat magic of last year's incredible Verdasco-Ferrer match (with one of the greatest match points of all time). This time, Tsonga was just too good for 'Nando on the day. The Frenchman was routinely hitting serves into the 130s at will and showing incredible defensive skills. Still even with a scoreline of 6-3 7-5 6-4 it was two hours that were well worth the price of admission. I was in the 2nd courtside row, close enough to Tsonga I could see what color underwear he was wearing (brightly colored boxers). It was quite a treat to see two once and future Top 10 player in such a small stadium. I know there's a lot of hype about Mardy, but I suspect there's going to be another Federer-Tsonga grand slam quarterfinal. Surely he can't beat the Swiss great three times in a row?

US OPEN 2011: Kvitova Upset 1st Round, Sharapova Survives Scare

2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova was unable to continue her momentum in grand slam matches, hitting more than 50 unforced errors to lose in the first round of the US Open to Alexander Dulgheru 7-6(3) 6-3. Kvitova's disappointing loss eas the biggest upset of the day as the #5 seed on the women's side departed.

#3 seed Maria Sharapova gutted out her 12th consecutive 3-set match of 2011 against British phenom Heather Watson who seemed unfazed by the 3-time major champ's firepower. Sharapova won 3-6 7-5 6-3.

Venus Williams won her 1st round match winning 6-4 6-2 hitting 1 more winner than  unforced errors, looking in pretty good form even though she had not played a single hardcourt tour match this summer.

US OPEN 2011: Djokovic Seeded #1

Yesterday I talked about the ridiculous seeding that USTA gave to 3-time US Open champion Serena Williams by placing her at #28 when most people believe she is the odds-on favorite to win her 14th major there this year.

On the men's side things were far less eventful, with the seedings generally following the ATP rankings.
It does mark the first time since 2003 that either Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal has not been seeded #1 at the US Open, and it is the new #1, Novak Djokovic who takes a stunning 57-2 record for the year into the final major of the year, having won 2 of the 3 so far.

France has an incredible four players in the top 12 and three of them are bolded, indicating they are players to watch who could make some noise at this years Open,which starts on Monday. Spain has three in the Top 10. The players in blue are the ones I expect to win the title on Sunday September 10 and 11. It could very well depends on the draw, which will be known tomorrow.

Men's singles
1. Novak Djokovic (SRB), 2. Rafael Nadal (ESP), 3. Roger Federer (SUI), 4. Andy Murray (GBR), 5. David Ferrer (ESP), 6. Robin Soderling (SWE), 7. Gael Monfils (FRA), 8. Mardy Fish (USA), 9. Tomas Berdych (CZE), 10. Nicolas Almagro (ESP), 11. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA), 12. Gilles Simon (FRA), 13. Richard Gasquet (FRA), 14. Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI), 15. Viktor Troicki (SRB), 16. Mikhail Youzhny (RUS), 17. Jurgen Melzer (AUT), 18. Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG), 19. Fernando Verdasco (ESP), 20. Janko Tipsarevic (SRB), 21. Andy Roddick (USA), 22. Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR), 23. Radek Stepanek (CZE), 24. Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG), 25. Feliciano Lopez (ESP), 26. Florian Mayer (GER), 27. Marin Cilic (CRO), 28. John Isner (USA), 29. Michael Llodra (FRA), 30. Ivan Ljubicic (CRO), 31. Marcel Granollers (ESP), 32. Ivan Dodig (CRO)

Women's singles
1. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN), 2. Vera Zvonareva (RUS), 3. Maria Sharapova (RUS), 4. Victoria Azarenka (BLR), 5. Petra Kvitova (CZE), 6. Li Na (CHN), 7. Francesca Schiavone (ITA), 8. Marion Bartoli (FRA), 9. Samantha Stosur (AUS), 10. Andrea Petkovic (GER), 11. Jelena Jankovic (SRB), 12. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL), 13. Peng Shuai (CHN), 14. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK), 15. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS), 16. Ana Ivanovic (SRB), 17. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS), 18. Roberta Vinci (ITA), 19. Julia Goerges (GER), 20. Yanina Wickmayer (BEL), 21. Daniela Hantuchova (SVK), 22. Sabine Lisicki (GER), 23. Shahar Peer (ISR), 24. Nadia Petrova (RUS), 25. Maria Kirilenko (RUS), 26. Flavia Pennetta (ITA), 27. Lucie Safarova (CZE), 28. Serena Williams (USA), 29. Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS), 30. Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP), 31. Kaia Kanepi (EST), 32. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP)

Cincy Final: Djokovic vs Murray

Novak Djokovic improved to an amazing 57-1 record for the year when Tomas Berdych retired after dropping the last 3 games of the first set to lose it 7-5. Berdych had bested Roger Federer the day before but ha withdrawn from his doubles match afterwards and after about 8 games against Djokovic he basically could no longer hit the ball due to his injured shoulder.

The other semifinal match up between Mardy Fish and Andy Murray was a much more interesting affair. Murray was clearly the better in the first set, with Fish not showing the tennis that led to his stunning straight-sets defeat of World #2 Rafael Nadal. However, after winning the first set 6-3 Murray repeatedly relinquished service breaks until a second set tiebreak which was of high quality. Fish led 4-2 at the change over but Murray battled back to 5-all and then the most bizarre thing happened at the 8-7  match point, Fish serving. Fish hit a good first serve and Murray (mis)hit a service return which looked like it dropped in the corner, kissing the side line for a clear winner. Both players sheepishly approached the net and Fish challenged the (in) line call and the electronic review showed the ball had actually fallen out. 8-all instead of match over. However, the match did end two points later, with a forehand service error from Fish.

Djokovic and Murray will face each other for the fourth time in a final, with Murray leading 2-1 but Djokovic easily won their meeting at the 2011 Australian Open earlier this year and leads their career head-to-head 6-3 (which is a surprisingly low total considering how long these two have both been at the top echelons of tennis simultaneously).

Djokovic is clearly mentally tired and Murray has been playing well. Before Federer handed Djokovic his one loss all year in the French Open semifinals in Paris, Murray nearly beat the Serbian in a 3-set thriller in Rome. I would not be surprised if Murray wins tomorrow, probably in three sets.

Federer and Nadal Bounced From Cincy Quarters

At the Cincinnati Masters tournament World #3 Roger Federer and World #2 Rafael Nadal lost on the same day, to lower ranked by Top 10 opponents, Tomas Berdych and Mardy Fish, respectively. Nadal's loss was not unexpected, coming off of a hard-fought triple tie-break match with Fernando Verdasco that lasted 3 hours, 38 minutes. With his first win in 7 tries against Nadal, American Mardy Fish clinched his finish at the top of the US Open Series standings, potentially earning a $1 million bonus if he wins the US Open, which begins on Monday August 29.

World #1 Novak Djokovic lost the first set against Gael Monfils 6-3 and looked mentally tired doing so but came back to win the next two sets 6-4 6-3. He will play a semifinal against Berdych while Fish plays Andy Murray in the other semifinal.

Djokovic Wins 9th Title; Serena Wins 2nd Consecutive

As I predicted yesterday, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams won their final matches to win their respective Canadian hardcourt titles this weekend. Djokovic beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach the final and Serena dispatched Victoria Azarenka.

Serena defeated Samantha Stosur 6-4 6-2 to win her 39th career title and her 2nd in 3 weeks following her 49-week absence from the sport following her 13th major title win at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. She was unseeded in Toronto because she was ranked #80 in the world, and is projected to be World #31 on Monday. The US Open, the last major of the year, begins in two weeks.

Djokovic is having a season for the ages. He won his 9th title by beating Mardy Fish 6-2 3-6 6-4 and has lost only once (to Roger Federer) in 54 matches, an incredible record of 53-1 for the year (and he should really get credit for a walk-over versus Fabio Fognini in Paris). Fish did well to win a set off of the Serbian, which just goes to show well the American is playing, having reached his 3rd consecutive final in the North American hardcourt summer season.

2 Great Semis: Serena v Azarenka, Djokovic v Tsonga

Getty

AP

The US Open Series continues in Canada this week with the men playing in Montreal and the women in Toronto (the two tournaments alternate between the two major cities every year). In Toronto, Serena Williams is the last big name standing (after Sharapova, Li Na, Clijsters and Bartoli all lost early); she survived a scare from go-for-broke Lucie Safarova to win 4-6 6-3 6-2 in 2 hours 4 minutes to book a place in the semifinals against Victoria Azarenka. The other semifinal will be Aggie Radwanska versus 2010 French Open finalist Sam Stosur.

On the men's side, World #1 Novak Djokovic continues to play at a different, superior level from the rest of the field, demolishing an in-form Gael Monfils 6-1 6-2 to set up a semifinal with one of the few players on the tour who own a head-to-head advantage over him, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Earlier in the week, Murray, Nadal, Federer and Del Potro all lost. Djokovic and Tsonga last met in the Wimbledon semifinals, where they played the most entertaining match of the tournament before Djokovic won in 4 sets. Curiously, both in that tournament and in this one, Tsonga had beaten Roger Federer in an earlier round. Tsonga leads the head-to-head 5-3 but lost their most important match-up, the 2008 Australian Open final.

They should both be two excellent matches, but I predict Serena and Djokovic will be left standing and will probably win their respective tournaments on the way to the 2011 US Open (which I just got tickets to for 3rd and 4th round action!)