2011 Predictions & Reality

Until this morning when they posted the winner, I'd completely forgotten that last year I participated in Tennis-X's 2011 Year End Top 10 poll.  Looking back at my picks (posted as VE), they all seemed so well thought out then.  I even went as far as explaining the logic.  I'm sure at the time, I thought I was dead on about my picks.  But hell, that's why the play the matches, isn't it?


I wound up being right about six of the players who finished in the top ten, but for every big hit; there was a big miss as well.  So, as we begin to look ahead to 2012, I thought it would be fun to share with you what I said then, how I was right an how I was wrong...oh, so wrong.

Australian Open Wildcard Playoffs Livestream

In need of a live tennis fix? You can watch the LiveStream of the Kia Motors Australian Open wildcard playoff on Blacklabel Tennis through the weekend.  Through this event one American man and woman will win a wild card berth into next month's Australian Open in Melbourne.

Players scheduled to appear include: Melanie Oudin, Jack Sock, Robby Ginepri, Coco Vandeweghe and more.  See the match schedule after the jump.

 

Watch live streaming video from aowp at livestream.com

If You Were Wondering...

What happened after Spain won the Davis Cup last weekend, I can assure you that they didn't shave their heads like the Serbian team did a year ago...I think Feliciano Lopez would beat the snot out of anyone who would even joke about shearing his coif.  In any event, there was celebration, presumably some liquid courage was imbibed and there was something that looked kind of like dancing from the Spanish contingent.

I wouldn't hold a candle to Rafa on a tennis court, but on the dancefloor, if this is any indication, 6-1, 6-0 Blacklabel Tennis, Vamos!

2011 Year End Power Rankings

Sometimes the hot cool down, sometimes the cool heat up.  Check out who makes Blacklabel Tennis' 2011 Year End Power Rankings.

1. Petra Kvitova (CZE) Last Month: (3)

Novak Djokovic certainly had the best year in 2011, but the hottest player going into 2012 has to be Petra Kvitova.  She began her march to the top of the WTA with an upset win over Kim Clijsters in the Paris final back in February (Clijsters was World No. 1; Kvitova, No. 18 at the time).  Then she simply outslugged Maria Sharapova, to become the unanimous pick as the most likely to succeed of this year's first time major winners.  She may have started the year ranked 34th, but after winning a major, the WTA Tour Championships and five other tour titles, the 20 year old Czech finished within a hair of the year end No. 1 ranking.  Then for good measure, she led the Czech Republic to the Fed Cup title.  There is simply no one we're more interested in watching start their 2012 campaign than Kvitova.

Bacardi Campaign Pits Fans Versus Virtual Rafa

Originally posted on Mashable:


Tennis legend Rafael Nadal has conquered an impressive list of opponents — Roger Federer, Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt just to name a few. But could Rafa beat you if you had a 12-foot tennis-serving robot on your side?


That’s the premise of “Ace Rafa,” a new Bacardi campaign that allows fans to virtually compete with the 10-time Grand Slam winner using the RoboServ 3000...

Defining Rafael Nadal

Has there ever been a conversation, article or other examination of Rafael Nadal that didn't pivot on his rivalry with Roger Federer?  Well, I'll say, it's not exactly our fault, the Federer kid just stays in the picture.  I've been among the bloggers (dare i say, writers?) who've written in the past that they can't ever foresee such a conversation happening.  Nadal's own book Rafa centers on the story of Nadal's side of the Greatest Match of All Time (the GMAT?), his 2008 Wimbledon final versus you know who.

ATP World Tour Final Oddsmaking

The ATP World Tour Final (heretofore known as the ATP WTF) is a curious event.  The round robin, featuring only the eight highest ranked players in the world, played in London's O2 arena has a jagged history debuting in its present form only in 1999 (versus the legs of the Grand Slam, the youngest of which, the Australian Open, debuted in 1905).  Even though this event doesn't necessarily have the history or prestige of the majors, the Davis Cup or the Olympics, the ATP has done a good job of building the WTF into a showpiece for their biggest stars, especially since the event's fortuitous move to London in 2009.  How will the ATP WTF play out?  Well, we think we have a pretty solid idea.

Little Legends

Our friends over at tennis.com, just posted this funny, dare I say, cute video of tennis legends as kids produced by the group behind the Stockholm Open. Funny, they got Nole's ball bouncing dead on, but they decided to avoid Rafa's wedgie pull, too bad.