David and Goliath

I was hard pressed to know who to cheer for in this final.  In spite of none of the top 4 even making it to the quarterfinals, it turned out to be a fascinating tournament, thanks to newcomer and heart winner Jerzy Janowicz.  He was unable to believe it himself the incredible run he had this week, going from a qualifer to a now seeded player for the Australian open, and more than doubling his career earnings to date.  He won many fans this week, and hopefully many more sponsors, seeing his grit and determination to hold strong in the tough moments, yet to also show how much it all meant to him with his tears and other great displays of emotion.

In the end, though, I think he simply ran out of steam to face someone with the never-give-up attitude of David Ferrer.  Who could not be happy for this guy who gives his all every moment of every match, who has won more matches than anyone this year along with more titles, and who had the most wins in Masters tournaments without holding a title.  You could tell by his response just how much it meant to him to finally have one of these titles to his name (in spite of it being a very strange looking trophy!).  He said afterward:  "I was very nervous because it was my chance to win a first Masters title, but somehow I knew it was my turn," ... "To me this is a dream to win here. If I won, it's because I have a great team."

And being that he had to miss out on all the pre-tournament hype in London leading up to the World Tour Finals, at least he knows it was all worth it.

Much more to come soon as we anticipate a great week of tennis ahead!