Roger's awards (video)

For those who didn't get to see the ceremony of Roger's ATP awards, here it is:

Here is one also of Justin Gimblestob practicing with Roger.  Always fun to hear Justin's glowing praise:

More thoughts on how the World Tour Finals are going after tomorrows matches.

ATP Player awards

Federer fans will be pleased to hear this morning, as we begin the exciting week of the World Tour Finals, that Roger continues another amazing streak of winning the Fan Favorites award for a 10th straight year(with 57% of the vote), and also winning the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship award for an 8th out of 9 years.  To me this latter one is the most impressive award he could win because it is voted by his peers.  As fans we may feel like we "know" him pretty well by all that we are allowed to see and observe of his life on and off the courts, but his fellow players truly do know him and see how he acts in all aspects of life.  To continue receiving this award year after year (with only one break, going to Nadal a few years ago) just shows what great character he has and why we as fans love him so much!

Other notable recipients were, of course, Djokovic and the Bryan Brothers ending the year as #1, most improved Marinko Matosevic, newcomer of the year Martin Klizan (maybe Janowicz would have gotten it if the Paris tournaments would have been a couple weeks ago, as he has now moved up to 26 in the world!), comeback player of the year Tommy Haas (yay!), Arthur Ashe Humanitarian award to Djokovic for his work with various charities including his own foundation, and doubles fan favorite was the Bryan Brothers for a record 8th year.

We have a great group of tennis players that we are privileged to follow. And unlike being a fan/follower of an actor or actress where we mostly see them playing roles, we get to follow the real person and often hear from them what they are thinking and feeling about different aspects of life.  I particularly feel so fortunate to be able to participate in this period of time where the great Roger Federer is playing, and to have been able to watch him in person on a couple of occasions.

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!

Who is Jerzy Janowicz?

Who in the world is this guy Jerzy Janowicz?  A few days ago most people who consider themselves knowledgeable in tennis didn't have a clue who he was.  What a statement he has made this week!  With a strange BNP Paribas Masters tournament in Paris this week already with Federer pulling out at the last minute, Nadal still injured, and Djokovic losing in his first round match, a young Polish qualifier has taken full advantage.  He started by beating 19th ranked Philip Kohlschreiber, went on to beat 14th ranked Marin Cilic, then taking out 4th ranked Andy Murray, and if that wasn't enough decided to give it another go with 9th ranked Janko Tipsarevic.  There are a lot of players who have been around the tour for years who haven't had such a good tournament as that, beating four top 20 players back to back.  

He started out his quarterfinal looking rather tired and lethargic after already expending so much energy this week, losing the first set.  He then seemed to get his bearings, though, and soon was hitting winners one after the other with incredible power and accuracy.  He also has amazing finesse, however, using a delicate drop shot many times over, to the frustration of his opponents.  Add a great serve to that and he has the potential to be the next big thing.

Granted, this was a strange week, with the top 8 guys definitely in another place mentally, thinking ahead to next week's London World Tour Finals and obviously not full giving themselves to winning in Paris.  I'm sure when Andy Murray ended up surprisingly losing that second set, for example, suddenly the thought of putting a bunch of effort into not only coming back to win that match, but also giving more energy to going further in the tournament suddenly didn't sound so appealing or even wise.  However, a lesser opponent wouldn't have had the mental strength to keep fighting through to the end.

I think most who follow tennis are wondering who is going to be the next one to step it up and make a name for themselves, winning some of the bigger events.  Guys like Raonic, Tomic, Dmitrov, and other young guys who seem to have potential are names that are tossed around, but so far no one has made it big.  I'm not saying that Jancowicz is the man, but I think he has not only the weapons in his game, but also seemingly the mental toughness to not be afraid of the bigger opponents.  Of course, one tournament doesn't prove anything - it needs to be followed up over and over, so we will see what next year brings for this young guy, about to turn 22.  But regardless, the name Jerzy Janowicz has made itself known in the tennis world this week by making it to at least the semifinals of a Masters 1000 event, taking out four top 20 opponents in the process.

P.S.  Just a post-script after watching the semis.  Wow, wow, wow!  This guy has truly been amazing.  I thought maybe he would be too tired to pull off another one today.  But he held strong and got another top 20 scalp under his belt.  I'm truly amazed at what he has been able to do.  No matter what happens tomorrow, he has made a name for himself and it will be fun to watch what he is able to do in 2013.

Paris a washout?

I think most were quite shocked to see the outcome of Novak Djokovic's first match at the Paris Masters tournament today.  He looked like he was playing amazing tennis in the first set, embarrassing Sam Querry with a bagel set.  I thought he was going to roll through an easy second set and I almost wasn't paying attention anymore when Sam got broken in the first game.  Novak looked to be taking the #1 mantle before it was fully given back to him by his dominant form.  However, Querry had other plans.  Relieved to win his first game at 2-1, this seemed to give him confidence and he was able to break back, ultimately taking it in a tiebreak.  I have often thought of Sam as being somewhat weak mentally though, so even when he broke in the 3rd set I still didn't think he would close it out.  However, his serve seemed to really help him, and frankly so did Djokovic, who was making a lot more than normal errors.

I know that Nole has been dealing with personal issues in his life, one of which is his father's hospitalization with a respiratory condition.  How much had to do with that, how much had to do with the fact that he already knows he got #1 back and would really like some rest before going into the World Tour Finals, and how much was simply just that he lost?

I don't know the answers to those questions.  I do know, though, that with Roger Federer not playing this week, with Djokovic out in his first round match, and with some of the others probably wanting to conserve some energy for next week, it just doesn't seem like a normal Masters 1000 tournament.  It reminds me of Montreal this year when several of the top guys didn't play.  It just didn't seem to have the same level of importance.  

It will be really interesting to see if Andy Murray gives his all to the tournament since he hasn't won one of these all year, or if he is trying to save a bit of strength too.  Maybe one of the other guys who usually doesn't have an opportunity to win such a prestigious event will be able to step it up.  I remember when Robin Soderling won it a few years ago (believe it or not I actually miss him!).  

I really wish they had found another way to give a longer off season than to put three weeks of tournaments back to back, including the all important World Tour Finals at the end of a long season.  Maybe then Federer would have chosen to play Paris, not losing 1,000 ranking points for not being able to play this week.  I'm sure I will still watch the Paris tournament this week to see what happens, but it's really next week that will be capturing my attention. 

Basel, Istanbul and Paris

For Federer fans it wasn't the result we were hoping for.  After losing the first set, Roger Federer rallied and took the second set in a tiebreak.  Though he had his chances at a break in the third, he wasn't able to capitalize and it went to another tiebreak.  Roger played some loose points and really lost it in a couple unforced errors.  However, Juan Martin Del Potro was really very impressive today.  There were multiple points where it seemed like Roger had him, but he managed to stay in the point with some great defense and ultimately win the point.  He was also really using his power in his serves and his ground strokes, and even had some impressive net play.  As to Fed's play, I was concerned earlier in the week because it just seemed he couldn't find his form.  And while he still made some errors today at inopportune times, he also had some of the Fed magic going and overall I thought he played pretty well.  

To Delpo's credit, in spite of losing the second set he didn't let his level drop as has sometimes happened in his losses to Roger.  I'm sure after losing some very disappointing matches to him this year, he just wasn't willing to let it go this time, definitely putting in the extra effort to get to balls he maybe normally wouldn't have tried so hard for.  So even though I would have loved to see Roger come through with another win in his special hometown tournament, at the same time I am happy that JMDP was able to play well and really start looking like he could be the player he was in 2009 again.

There was a very tricky point that could have ended up with Roger on the ground, almost getting hit in a very tender spot.  Thankfully I think it just missed and hit him in the leg instead and he was saved that embarrassment in front of his hometown fans!

Roger announced after his match that he will not be playing Paris next week.  I was kind of figuring that was coming after a difficult three-setter.  He said it is just too much for him.  Sounds like he needs to deal with some niggling injuries and just be rested and prepared for the World Tour Finals in London the following week.  Unfortunately by doing this he will be handing Novak Djokovic the #1 ranking back again, but this was expected anyway.  He will for sure reach 302 weeks at #1, which is just beyond impressive!

In other news, Serena continued to impress today with a 6-4 6-3 win over Maria Sharapova in the final of the WTA Championships.  What a last few months Serena has had, winning Wimbledon, Olympic gold in singles and doubles, the U.S. Open and now this.  I have been so amazed by what Roger Federer has been able to do at 31 years old, but Serena has had even more incredible results than he has (which is difficult for me to say, as a hard core Fed fan!).  Though not always a huge Serena fan, you can't argue with what she has been able to accomplish.

Another 30-something who has had great results this year is David Ferrer, who just won a 6th title for the year.  

I'm not looking forward to Paris so much now that Roger won't be playing, but I am very much looking forward to the World Tour Finals, beginning in just a little over a week!

Roger squeaks through

Well hmmm, what do I say about this match?  The 1st set I was thinking, "Yes, he's finally finding his form and looking like the Roger we know and love."  So what happened in the 2nd and 3rd sets?  I'm sure part of it was that Belluci really was playing well.  But what in the world was happening with all those errors?  So many times it seemed like Roger was just hitting it into the middle of the net.  I mean, he came back in the tiebreak and saved a bunch of set points, and then when he finally was going to even things up he made another "easy" error.  I really was starting to think maybe he wasn't even going to make it to the quarters, which would have been, I'm sure, tremendously disappointing for him.  But Belluci kindly choked in his last service game and pretty much gave him the match.

Now I realize I can be, at the same time, Roger's biggest fan and also his biggest critic, so maybe I'm being too hard on him.  I know he struggled against Belluci when they played earlier this year in Indian Wells, so maybe there is just something in his game that bothers him.  But still, his form at the moment is concerning to me, especially with the World Tour Finals coming up  But hey, he's into the next round to face what would seem to be a fairly beatable opponent (Kubot or Paire).  Maybe he will start to get his feel again as he goes along.  We can hope anyway!

I really wish I could understand Swiss German.  The interview they did with him at the end of the match looked fun and I would have loved to know what he was saying - how he described the match, and also what things he was laughing about.  I don't think I will be learning Swiss German anytime soon, though.

I am still watching the last of the ladies matches for today.  The Serena-Li match was an error strewn match, with Serena being broken at love twice when serving for the set!  Wow, that made me feel a little better, since it happened to me again today (getting broken serving for the set - though not at love!).  The Azarenka-Kerber match was an amazing match that I wasn't fully able to concentrate on because it was on at the same time as Fed's match, but what I saw was great tennis!  I feel really bad for Petra Kvitova that she got sick and had to withdraw from the tournament.  What a sad ending for last year's champion.  Hopefully she will recover quickly for Fed Cup next weekend.

Lots of great tennis to keep us busy this week, that's for sure!