Men's first Week Preview: Chennai

Chennai

Soderling, Cilic, and Wawrinka headline the Chennai field. This is the least heralded of the three opening tournaments, but Chennail should be interesting, if only to see how Soderling and Cilic open their 2010 campaigns.

Soderling has an interesting opener against the American Robby Ginepri. The streaky Ginepri will hope to rebound in 2010 by returning to top form and has a tough opener against the recent 2009 French open and ATP World Finals finalist.

The only other intriguing matchup is longtime journeyman and former No. 1 Carlos Moya, versus the enigmatic Tipsarevic. Tipsarevic enjoyed a very good season in '09 and looks to build on that success. Moya, meanwhile didn't have a very good '09, limited by injury. The veteran versus the journeyman should be an interesting match, which tipsarevic will win and probably knock off Cilic in the semis.

I predict that Soderling's hot streak will continue towards the final. On the other half, I'm not quite sure if Cilic is ready to reach the final, as he might have a little bit of growing pains on his recent success, letting Tipsarevic build off a strong last season and reach the final where Soderling will win comfortably in straight sets.

Men's first Week Preview: Doha

Doha should be quite the tournament, with the games two biggest stars in Federer and Nadal featuring in the draw, along with fellow top 10 player Davydenko, as well as dangerous seeds in Youzhny and Karlovic.

Look for the top stars to answer doubts coming in to 2010. For federer, again, he will be asked if he has had enough, or if he has finally reached his peak. There's little else for Federer to accomplish, seeing as he won that elusive French title in '09, and people may question his drive coming in to the 2010 season after his marriage and birth of his twin daughters. For Nadal, have his knees fully recovered? How fresh will he be in 2010? If the Abu dhabi exhibition was any indication, Nadal looks primed for another strong season. Davydenko will answer the same question he answers every year, as to whether or not he belongs with the Top 10 as Davydenko will look to capture an elusive Grand Slam.

The draw holds very few surprises

If the draw holds without upsets, Federer will face Davydenko and Nadal will face Youzhny. Expect this to be a formality. Davydenko will give Fed a fight, but ultimately fall in 3 sets. Nadal will see off Youzhny in straight sets Everyone knows this will be Fed v. Nadal in a dream first final of the year. Can't wait to see it!

In the match of champions, I'm going to pick nadal. He looked great in the Abu Dhabi exhibition, he seems fresh now. Expect Nadal to prevail in 3 tough fought sets.

Previewing the First Week for the Men: Brisbane

Well, the start to the men's season appears to be far more interesting for the men, as they have three tournaments going on. Let's take a look at the Draws.

Brisbane

Roddick headlines the men's field at Brisbane, hoping to have a strong recovery from a knee injury sustained at the end of the 2009 season. Roddick's top challengers for the crown are the crafty Czech Radek Stepanek and the dogged baseliner Gael Monfils. The draw offers some intriguing first-round matchups, here's a closer look at a few.

-Gasquet v. Niemenen. Former Top 20 players squaring off in their first match of 2010, Gasquet and Niemenen will look to return to the Top 20 in the 2010 season and are equally matched. Gasquet leads the series 2-0.

-Fish v. Baghdatis. Two of the most unpredicatable players on the tour will square off, with Baghdatis having won their only previous match last year Down under at the open in the 3rd round in straight sets. Look for Fish to seek revenge.

-Blake v. Querrey. The battle between the Americans should be an interesting encounter as every match they have played previously has gone to three sets with Blake prevailing in 5 out of 6 of those encounters, with Querrey's only win coming in 2007 at the Indianapolis Quarters.

-Dent v. Monfils. The match I am looking forward to the most, a steep contrast in styles, look for Dent to constantly stand at the net while Monfils stands 10 feet behind the baseline. About as contrasting in styles as you can get with dent's powerful valleys going up against Monfils's deep groundstrokes. Dent, making a comeback after numerous shoulder and back surgeries, will look to make an impact in the 2010 rankings, while Monfils hopes to step up his game to crack the Top 10. Interestingly, they have never played one another before.

Prediction: Let me take a risk here and say that Andy's not going to be 100% ready for his first tournament back and see the sleeper in the draw, Baghdatis, come from under the radar to reach the final versus a very fresh Monfils. Monfils wins in 3 sets for the third title of his career, establishing himself as a threat at the Aussie Open.

Previewing the First Week of the Tennis Season: the Women

So, I decided to take a look at the first week of the tennis season on the men and women's sides, and make some predictions and do a little bit of draw analysis.

Let's start with the Women's Side.

Brisbane

Brisbane is sure to be an interesting tournament, with the Belgians as the top stars. There's Clijsters, who already made her debut with a thrashing of Tathiana Garbin. 3 games...ouch. Clijsters looks to be in top form after winning the U.S. Open, and she'll be quite dangerous Down Under at Australia.

Meanwhile, I just want to say that Nadia Petrova could be the unluckiest player in the history of women's tennis. First, she was injured or sick throughout the first half of 2009, thenhad to play an unseeded Sharapova at the French in the 2nd Rd, then she was a casualty in Oudin's magical 2009 U.S. Open run. And now, Petrova is drawn to be who else but Justine Henin's first opponent in her comeback tour. Good luck Petrova, I guarantee Henin won't take long to get back in the groove of the game.

Other interesting matches include Aussie star Jelena Dokic, who made a good run at the Aussie Open last year, and is always an unpredictable threat, versus the lost starlet Ana Ivanovic. Can Ivanovic get her career back on track. 2010 will be an interesting year for Ana to prove herself.

But expect Kim and Justine to meet in the final, assuming that Justine is hungry and ready to reach the final of her first tournament back. My guess for the workaholic is that yes, she will be.

Prediction: Kim will sweep through the draw, breaking a small sweat against Justine, but prevailing in two tight sets.

Auckland

Top seed Flavia Pennetta will continue her streak of playing in small tournaments where she is hardly challenged with the Auckland tournament. I don't understand why Pennetta continues to play these minor league tournaments, when she has enough talent to play with the Top 10, a spot she briefly held last year. If anyone has an answer, let me know.

Anywho, the rest of the draw is filled with other Top 20 names, Li, Wickmayer, Schiavone, Razzano. It'll be interesting to see how Wickmayer responds after almost being suspended by the Tennis Federation for failing to report for drug testing, along with fellow Belgian player Xavier Malisse. Wickmayer was cleared from all charges after her appeal, but she needs to shake it off and continue her strong showing at the 2009 U.S. Open, where she reached the semifinals before losing to Wozniacki.

Prediction: While the rest of the top 20 presents formidable opponents for Pennetta, I can't see anyone taking this title away from her. Pennetta will win a three set battle with an eager to prove herself Wickmayer in the final.

Women's 2010 Preview

Women's tennis in 2010 may be the biggest sports mystery of all. 2010 sees the return of Justine, the continual comeback of Mama Clijsters, Queen Serena, the elusive Venus, and a cast of uninspiring under-performers in 2009. What in the world will happen? Here's my rundown of the women's game, just like with the men, here are the headlines.

Serena and Venus Williams

"Queens Supreme or Drama Divas?"

-Serena had quite the 2009 U.S. Open as anyone who reads this surely remembers. After verbally abusing a linesman Johnny Mac style, with an additional threat of a choke slam, Serena was wildly defaulted from the semis of the U.S. Open against Clijsters (a match which Clijsters would have won in her own right, even without a default) Yet, even in the midst of a major distraction, Serena won the 2009 championships with hardly a fight, facing, *sigh* AGAIN her sister Venus. Seriously, as riveting as the Serena-Venus matchups have been recently, I think tennis fans have been bored to tears by seeing Serena and Venus once again dominate the tour, with no one coming close to beating them. At least in the Men's game, you have the belief that a Roddick, Murray, Djokovic, or Del po could ruin the day. Not for the women in '09. Serena and Venus step into the ring and there's almost a feel if immediate intimidation. Serena is the women's game's best fighter, and will hope to continue tour domination with sister Venus. Venus, on the other hand, is much more mercurial than her sister. Venus comes in focused, pouncing like a tiger at some tournaments, and then shrugs her sholders and looks lost on the court in others. Expect Serena and Venus to continue to act like they own the place on all surfaces other than clay.

-The Belgians

"The Comeback Kids"

-If the world has any hope of destroying the Serena-Venus Axis of Power, then their hopes rest on the shoulders of the recently un-retired Belgians. After watching the women's game pushed off the edge of a cliff after their departures, Kim and Justine must have looked at each other and said, "Wow, the game is so bad, I guarantee I can come in and win a few titles." And that's just what Kim did at the '09 U.S. Open. In only her third tournament, she won the big crown and proved she's still got her relentless defense and powerful groundstrokes. She dethroned the reign of Serena and gave hope of tennis fans bored of parody. Now Justine has returned. Can she replicate Kim's success. If her career was any indication, a most definite yes seems to be the answer. Look for both Kim and Justine to cut down the Williams rivalry and make 2010 a much more competitive year.

-Maria Sharapova

"Getting the Weight off her Shoulders"

-Maria was supposed to take over the game. Remember how he destroyed Serena in her first Wimbledon final? Or how she demolished Justine at the Aussie Open that one year when she won the title? Maria was supposed to take over the game after the Belgians left, but her shoulder problems arose and she took a tennis hiatus to regain her form. And thus, we were left without a major contender to Serena and Venus. But, problems aside, Maria has a lot to prove in 2010. She has to show that she's not just a Tracy Austin what-could-have-been, and a heavyweight champion, able to use that iron will, punishing power and shrieks of fury to add a few more majors to her stash. Here's hoping Maria will also be a force in 2010.

-Dinara Safina

"Nerves of Ste...no, nerves of Styrofoam"

Gosh, I wonder if Dinara and Andy are good friends? All both of them seem to do is to tantalize tennis fans with gobs of hype, only to let us down and exit the year without a major. Unlike Murray, however, Dinara does not have nerves of steel. More like nerves of styrofoam. First, there was the Aussies, where she got demolished by Serena (demolished is actually an understatement. annihilation is a little harsh though.) She had the French Open practically handed to her on a silver platter, only to lose it against perhaps the only person just as nervous as she is (Kuznetsova), fell to Venus at Wimbledon and an embarassing loss to Kvitova at the U.S. Open. Can Safina pick herself up again? 2010 will be a year in which she needs to do so, or perhaps be the most anonymous no. 1 in the history of women's tennis....next to Jankovic.

-Jelena Jankovic

"Jelena, where are you?"

-"Jelena, lena, lena, where are you? You've got some work to do now." Like Scooby-Doo, Jelena's 2009 is a big mystery. Where did she go? 2008 was a brilliant year that saw Jelena reach no. 1 with consistent tennis and excellent defense. 2009 saw none of that, leaving Jelena with only one title and several questions. Jankovic needs to wake up if she's going to have a chance at being a tennis champion. A good first start, is to stop blaming the new regimen, life tragedies, etc. and just own up to your shortcomings. The always smiling Jelena needs to win the crowds back with her charm and bulldog-aggressive defense. She also needs to gain confidence by playing less and training more. A good strategy would be to lessen the load and focus on the big titles. If she doesn't expect 2010 to remain a Scooby Doo mystery.

-Elena Dementieva

"Not Breaking Records, but a Broken record"

-She's not getting any younger. Along with the Williams sisters, Dementieva has been around the game for a LONG time. And she has nothing to show for it. 2009 was consistent, yet not spectacular for the Russian. YEt, this seems to be a broken record played every year for her. Every year she fights hard, plays tough and comes out short. She has done a remarkable job fixing that dreadful serve, but she still came out with the same result. So what happened? The belief. She should have put Serena away at Wimbledon, but Serena came storming back. What happened? Serena believed she would win the entire time. Elena didn't. If Dementieva is ever going to be a grand slam champion, she needs to get belief that she deserves to win these majors. Otherwise, Serena will always outgain her in one major department. Mental toughness.

Kuznetsova

"Kuznet-who?"

-I understand Svetlana the least of any player on the tour. While the Belgians were gone, Maria hurt, Jelena, elena, and Safina, mentally ill, Kuznetsova was supposed to be perfectly fine. Yet, why did she never challenge the Williams sisters? Inconsistency. She loses at the Aussie to Serena in QF, okay, expected right? Then she comes from out of nowhere to take the French, taking out Serena and Safina in the final. (God, that final was cringe-inducing to watch) then she loses to Lasicki at Wimbledon, and Wozniacki at the U.S. What in the world? Why can't Kuznetsova put it together. She may be the most anonymous two-slam champ in tennis history. Kuznetsova's athleticism is only rivaled by the Williamses on tour, yet she seems to not put the pieces together. Tennis is a tough sport, and Kuznetsova has to be strong psychologically to survive. Perhaps she's not all that different than Jelena, Elena, and Safina. But the difference should be for Svetlana, that she has already won majors. She doesn't need to prove herself. Hopefully in 2010, Sveta will gain the confidence to compete in majors on a consistent basis.

-The Young Guns

-Azarenka had quite a solid year this year, posting big wins over big names, now she needs to up the ante and win a major. Same with Wozniacki and Oudin, who had great U.S. open runs. Now what? Win a major, play consistently and don't let the spotlight scare you as it seems to have done to all the other women on the tour. You'd think with their naive youthful approack, that maybe they could change this trend. Here's one for hoping they buck the trend and give the Williams and the Belgians a scare.

Kicking Off Nick's Match Point! 2010 Men's Preview

Hello tennis fans!

Welcome to my blog! Let's kick start it with a preview of the 2010 season, which in my opinion should be very interesting. To do this in a catchy way I thought it'd be cool to give the star men "players to watch" a headline that describes the questions surrounding their 2010 season.

1. Roger Federer

"Last Man Standing"

-With the fallout surrounding his good friend Tiger Woods, Federer in my opinion, remains one of the last global sports icons standing without any taint or blemish to his career. He has a beautiful wife, two beautiful daughters, millions of dollars in prize money and endorsements, and is still a dominating force on the circuit. Roger, some advice? Don't screw this up! Please. The Sports world needs a good icon that it can trust and who can be both in the spotlight and maintain a healthy life outside of it.

Tennis wise, Federer has an uphill battle as he nears the latter stages of his career. Can he maintain his dominance in a world with so many high quality players in the Top 10? Nadal, Djokovic, and Murray have always been mentioned as the top rivals to Fed, but watch out for Davydenko and Roddick, whose careers seem to be showing a second life, as well as other threats like Soderling and Del Potro. Well, if Federer can repeat the success of last year then it would appear to be a near miracle. Aussie Final, French win, Wimbledon win, U.S. Open final last year. Expect a little bit of a downslide for Fed. But if 2009 is any indication, where almost the exact same scenarios were in place, then perhaps Federer will continue to be one of the most dominant players in sports history, but Fed fans, I wouldn't count on it.

2. Rafa Nadal

"On Your Knees: We're Begging Please"

-2008 was an epic year in tennis, mainly because of the dominance of Rafa Nadal on the circuit. He won the French and Wimbledon, and then in '09 he won the Aussie. All over King Federer. Finally, a rivalry in tennis that was compelling and riveting in every match played. But then at the French last year, Rafa blew a gasket. The knees were dead, he couldn't defend Wimbledon, and the rest of the year held hit and miss moments of spotty play. One question i had: Why in the world would Rafa play the Davis Cup final? Seriously?! The guy is trying to gain confidence back, I know, and he played well, but, it puzzles me why he wouldn't put his entire efforts into defending the Aussie Open and resting those knees. The Men's game needs Rafa back. Just when men's tennis was just getting the ratings it was dreaming of, Rafa's knees gave out. The game needs Rafa at 100% going head to toe with Fed. So Rafa, we're begging. Please save your knees. Go out and win, win, win. dominate the clay circuit, give a good showing at the other majors. We need you and Fed's rivalry. Show us the fighting spirit. And I hope the Davis Cup strategy works, because if it doesn't...

-Novak Djokovic

"This Season: Not a Djoke"

-After winning Aussie '08, the world was waiting for Novak to challenge Nadal and Fed for tennis supremacy, instead the "Djoker" last year left us in the dark, looking listless out there against opponents, brooding, lacking the same intensity that pushed him in '08, that is until the end of the season, when he went on a tear, winning several tournaments and looking like the "Djoker" of old. Can he keep it up in 2010? He better, or otherwise Djokovic could turn into a one slam wonder if he's not careful. He has too much talent to let that happen, I predict he'll put up a stiff challenge.

-Andy Murray

"Time to Be a Big Boy in the Majors"

-It may be part of his personality, but Murray needs to grow up in the majors. He does a fabulous job of motivating himself win it comes to Masters tournaments, winning left and right seemingly every small tournament he's in, beating Fed and Nadal and Djokovic, in all of those tourneys. Then the majors come and everything falls apart. First it was Verdasco at the aussie, then Gonzo at the French, then Roddick at Wimbledon, and finally Cilic at the U.S. Open. All of these opponents outplayed him at the majors, but more shockingly is the way Murray looks despondent and down right mopes and sulks around the court when he can't come up with a winning strategy. I just don't understand his lapses in concentration. I watched him at the Masters Cup playing Federer, and it was a set apiece, and then murray just lost it. He lost focus and Federer took control and won 6-1, but Federer didn't even have to do anything. Murray blasted errors all across the court, and couldn't serve at all. In the first set, I had never seen Murray serve better to win the first set 6-3. The second set was a 4-6, toughly fought set. Murray still had a strong chance in the third, but he just collapsed. Unexplainable. its these lapses that will keep Murray from picking up any majors. And Murray, like djokovic, is much too talented not to be a multiple slam winner. expect a more determined, hungry Murray go out and win a slam.

Nikolay Davydenko

"Don't Panic"

-I can't figure him out. He plays a brilliant Masters Cup, has the best latter half of the season than any other player on circuit, and yet can't seem to win the big one...ever. He may be the most underrated player of all time, and that's because no majors = no big success. I would love to see his tenacity consistently on display against Federer. But I don't see him ever making that breakthrough. He's just too fragile in the big moments when everyone is watching. Davydenko, we're watching, prove to people that you are more than just a stepping stone for the other guys winning majors and pull one out.

Andy Roddick

"Now or Never"

-There's the overwhelming sense that if Roddick is ever going to hoist a big trophy again, that its this year. He gave Federer the scare of his life at Wimbledon, going toe to toe in perhaps Roddick's finest match ever. Yet, he still came out short. I like Roddick, because he handles every disappointment with about as much class and dignity as I have ever seen. And he still goes out believing in himself 100%. And he still gets the wins that help maintain his staying power as a consistent top 10 threat. He has the hunger for another major, he beefed up his fitness and his back-court game, and he looks primed to make a big 2010 statement. But the question is: Is it too late? Have the others passed him by for good. Now's the time for Roddick to prove his doubters wrong. It'll be tough to overcome his recent knee injury, but he's giving it a go.

Juan Martin del Potro, Fernando Verdasco, and Robin Soderling

-del Potro, fresh off his first major win, has got to be feeling confident, especially to pull out a five setter against Federer. He looked fit at the end of '09, posting bigger and better wins and reaching the semis at the Masters Cup. Verdasco posted big wins throughout the year, beating Murray at the Aussie Open, and performing consistently at the other majors. And Soderling, the man who will forever be in history as the "man who deposed King Rafa" made some big statement wins in 2009. But for 2010, the question remains. Can they keep this up? Can they perform bigger and better the next year after. Names like Baghdatis, Shuettler, Gaudio have come and gone, but it takes a true contender to come back and compete the next year. del po, Verdasco, and Soderling need to prove that they are here to stay in the Top 10.