Still The Best (Of The Rest)

When Roger Federer claimed the first Paris Masters title of his career, in a 6-1, 7-6 (3) win over home favorite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga it certainly revised the rap on Federer's 2011 from dire to at minimum, acceptable.  Coming into this fall season, Federer had only captured the crown at Doha back in January.  In the intervening months, he lost the Roland Garros final to his irrepressible younger rival Rafael Nadal; then watched Nadal's mojo, No. 1 ranking and a raft of titles get hijacked by another still younger rival, Novak Djokovic. With the surge of younger players, Federer turned 30, usually the age where players start thinking about retirement communities of tax haven nations.  Then to add insult to injury, Andy Murray, the black sheep of the Big Four, also passed him in the rankings after a strong Asian swing, winning titles in Bangkok, Tokyo and Shanghai while Federer sat idle.

Citizen Player?

The top 100 or so players on the WTA and ATP tours all have pretty impressive collections of passport stamps.  Both tours field events in more than 30 countries annually bringing this global game to fans from Canada to Australia and everywhere in between.  The game's stars are, not surprisingly, a similarly international lot.  World No. 2 Rafael Nadal is a hometown kinda guy, born and bred in Manacor, Mallorca.  On the other hand, his longtime rival Roger Federer might draw a lot of fans waving Swiss flags to the stands, but he's equally at home in his other base in Dubai.  WTA world No. 4 Maria Sharapova lives down the road from my buddy in Manhattan Beach, CA (he goes to her Starbucks), although she plays under the Russian flag.  To be fair, it's not just the superstars, lesser known WTA player Varvara Lepchenko was born in Uzbekistan and now, a naturalized citizen, plays for the US and is based in Allentown, PA, maybe a thirty minute drive from where I grew up.

The borderless nature of tennis raises an intriguing question.  In this sport, what exactly is the value of national identity?

Blacklabel Tennis November 2011 Power Rankings

Who's as hot as they come this fall?  Who's in absolute freefall?  Here's our take after the last month of tennis.  We call it the Blacklabel Tennis Power Rankings, enjoy.

1. Novak Djokovic (SRB) Last Month: (1)

The man is still the man.  A back injury may have truncated his planned fall campaign, it may lessen his credentials in the "best season ever" discussion;  but yeah, ho hum, who cares?  The Serbian superstar, aka Robo-Nole, is still the man to beat whenever he takes the court.  In part, because he's got that locker room intimidation factor that's worth a nervous break even if his game isn't completely firing.  He doesn't even need to show up the rest of 2011 to be the favorite in Australia.  Then again, there's nowhere to go from here, but down.  Well, at least, Nadal, Murray, Federer and err, every other man playing ATP level tennis hope that's the case.  

WTA Championships Year-End Oddsmaking

Seriously, did Sasha Vujacic dress Maria for the photo shoot?

Eight women have flown into Istanbul with a chance to win the 2011 WTA Year-End Championships, the very last prize of this women's tennis season.  For the most part, the women have been quite a generous bunch, sharing this year's major tournaments with Kim Clijsters (who did not qualify for the YEC), Na Li/Li Na, Petra Kvitova and Samantha Stosur each taking home one major this year.  They also spread the wealth with regard to WTA tour titles, with World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki leading the tally with six, followed by Petra Kvitova (five) and Agnieszka Radwanska (three).  What's all this sharing mean?  You almost stop thinking about who is best suited to win this event (head-to-heads, surface, streaks, etc.) and start thinking whose turn is it to come good?  It's damn near impossible to handicap the field going into this event.  That won't stop us from trying though.

Erase the Wozsterisk

It might feel like we just left the sunny, bright blue rectangles and liquid heat of Melbourne, but in a little over two weeks the 2011 WTA season will be over.  The WTA Year End Championships will debut with the world's top eight players in Istanbul next week, followed by the Consolation Games, with much of the next 16 in Bali a week later.

We've seen surprises aplenty from the women this year, Na Li reaching two major finals and coming good at Roland Garros; Petra Kvitova solidifying her young gunnette status winning the Venus (aka the big plate) at Wimbledon; Serena Williams on the razor's edge of life and death this spring and then razor's edge of calm and rage just a few months later.  It surely hasn't been a dull ten months in women's tennis, even if there hasn't been a dominant force to galvanize fans...other than the Wozsterisk.

Leave It To Soccer Fans... (Rated R for Language)

Soccer fans are known for the chants they use to get under the skin of the opposing players and sometimes the opposing crowd.  Every now and again, they'll even take on...Roger Federer?!?

This moderately vulgar, if not particularly creative, chant was videotaped during Montenegro's 2-0 loss to Switzerland during a Euro 2012 qualifier.  At least we haven't heard this one broken out in the Upper Promenade of Arthur Ashe Stadium...yet.

(via Tennis-X)

Serena Update from Aussie Open Twitter

Seventeen hours after our original exchange, the Australian Open has clarified their earlier tweet saying that Serena Williams is due to play in Melbourne in January.  After a bit of excitement, we can put this Twitter-built rumor to rest.

Breaking: Serena Williams out of Australia?

Bad news, friends and fans of women's tennis, according to the Twitter exchange I just had with @AustralianOpen, the Australian major's official Twitter account, it appears that the health concerns that are keeping Serena Williams out of Asia this fall may, in fact, keep her from contending for a sixth Australian Open crown this coming January.