I'm sticking with my original assessment; it will be Serena and Rafael Nadal hoisting their respective Australian Open crowns.  Roger Federer is playing amazingly, but when it comes to the heat, who can beat Nadal?

So my Venus Williams and Andy Murray picks flopped.....Murray, I can understand, he has no toughness in Grand Slam events....Venus, on the other hand, I was shocked.  Personally, I don't think it's feasible to chose a tournament winner before a Grand Slam tennis event; both tours are so competitive and it's not like the Super Bown [ONE GAME]...it's 7 matches, making it nearly impossible to chose.  With that being said, here are my picks...  Nadal or Roddick [Most likely Rafa]......Serena or Dinara [most likely Serena].

Andy Roddick and I weren't always the best of friends in the juniors, but he's the man, and has a lot of heart, I love this guy for hanging in the top 10 as he always does..it's very gutsy....If A-Rod wins this tournament, he belongs in the Hall of Fame.

What a performance by Rafael Nadal, the world #1 was untouchable against Tommy Haas in the Australian Open third round.  Andy Murray was also "lights out" against Jurgen Melzer, proving that both players are the favorites to win the title.  Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovic are next on my list.  If you've clicked on "Tennis Talk" often, you'll know that I enjoy seeing Andy Roddick perform well...it's just nice to see someone who's been scrutinized for being a "has been at age 24," win a few matches.  There is a major buzz surrounding the men's bracket in the Land Down Under, most of the top players are competing at a premiere level, making this year's event extremely interesting.

      Andy Roddick is playing amazing tennis at the moment.  It's nice to see A-Rod finding his "second wind" on tour, after many analysts considered him to be a "has been" after an early round exit at the US Open two years ago.  When Mad Dog Russo and I previewed the Australian Open, I told him "watch out for Roddick!"  Many people considered this to be crazy, but if there's ONE thing I know about Andy: he rides emotions and momentum as well as any other player on tour; hence, when he's on, he's ON.  The courts are playing at a moderate pace in Melbourne, but due to the heat, the ball rides quickly, adding even more speed to Andy's lethal first serve [which can be considered the best serve of all time, after Ivanisevic].

    Roddick made a surprise run to the finals in Doha, proving that something may be brewing for the Nebraska native in 2009.  Although, let's not forget, he starting 2008 in style as well, only to end with much less success.  Either way, it's great to see Andy playing well, and it would be extremely exciting for the sport of tennis to see him win one more Grand Slam.  Murray, Nadal, Federer and Novak are also staying in shape in Australia, which could lead to an excellent second week of the fort night.

      I am speechless..Venus is out in the Land Down Under!  I chose her as my favorite to win, Tracy Austin had Venus hoisting the trophy, along with a number of other tennis analysts.

     Vanus squandered a match point in the third set, falling 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 to 46th-ranked Suarez Navarro of Spain.  If this were the 4th or 5th tournament of the year, Venus would've pulled this one out, due to the fact she'd be a little bit more match tough.  It looks like all eyes are on Serena now, as she plows through the draw.

    Billie Jean King’s Advanta World Team Tennis has been adding excitement to the tennis community for nearly 34 seasons…..and there’s more innovative news to report from the tour.

   On January 20^TH in New York City, Billie Jean, WTT CEO Ilana Kloss and USTA President Lucy Garvin announced that the United States Tennis Association has invested in World Team tennis and will now own 25% of the league. 

“By working with the USTA, we will take World TeamTennis to the next level in the U.S.,” said King.

    The partnership is projected to help spread the growth of American junior tennis throughout the USTA’s 17 regional sections.  Both organizations are making it a top priority to provide an expanded marketing platform for the USTA’s Jr. Team Tennis Program through the Advanta World TeamTennis Pro League teams and players.  Two USTA programs that come to mind are The Jr. Team Tennis program, and Quick Start,  Junior team tennis is a recreational tennis league for children ages 6–18, and features  the  USTA’s  QuickStart  format  for  children  under  the  age  of  10.   

“We’ve been looking for an opportunity like this for a long time and I can’t think of a better partner than the USTA.  I’m excited about what the future holds for our partnership.” “We  are  thrilled  to  be  once  again  teaming  with  one  of  the greatest ambassadors in  tennis, Billie Jean King.”

Garvin would agree: “The USTA recognizes  the  reciprocal  relationship  between  the  pro  game  and  grassroots  play,  and  our  new partnership  with  World  TeamTennis  provides  us  a  natural  platform  to  promote  our  many  youth initiatives including Jr. Team Tennis.”

   Needless to say, Billie Jean and Ilana have used WTT to give fans a chance to get a closer look at their favorite pros, and a glimpse at the future of the sport; now that WTT is on board with the USTA, you can expect more exposure and excitement to circulate throughout the tennis world.

For more information: wtt.com 

RESULTS - SATURDAY, JANUARY 10, 2009

Singles - Finals

[3] A Murray (GBR) d [4] A Roddick (USA) 64 62

SINGLES FINAL  -- MURRAY WINS FIRST ATP WORLD TOUR TITLE OF 2009

• ATP World No. 4 Andy Murray began his quest to be crowned ATP World Tour Champion in the best possible way by winning the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha on Saturday. The Scottish third seed defeated fourth-seeded American Andy Roddick 6-4, 6-2 to successfully defend his title at the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament.
• In last year’s final, Murray defeated Stanislas Wawrinka to win the title he had been denied a year earlier, when he had fallen to Ivan Ljubicic in the final on his tournament debut. In the semi-finals on Friday he defeated World No. 2 Roger Federer. It is the third time that Murray has successfully defended ATP World Tour titles, having also accomplished the feat in San Jose (2005-06) and St. Petersburg (2007-08).
• The Dunblane native earned $183,000 and 250 South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking points, while Roddick collected a cheque for $96,250 and received 150 South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking points.
• While both tennis players recorded a high 70 per cent of first serves in the first all-Top 10 ranked Doha final since 1993, it was Murray who used his to best effect - surrendering just seven points behind his first serve and saving the only break point he faced in the match with an ace. The serve was an impressive feature in Murray's game throughout the week; he was unbroken in his semi-final and final victories and only dropped serve three times in 50 service games during the tournament.
• The Scot broke in the fifth game of the first set and in the third and fifth games of the second set to secure his sixth victory over Roddick (6-2 record) in 1hr., 10min. It was Murray’s second career victory over a Top 10 player in an ATP World Tour final (d. No. 3 Djokovic at 2008 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Cincinnati).
• The 21-year-old Murray was contesting his 14th ATP World Tour singles final and improved to a 9-5 record. Last season he became the first British player in the Open Era to win five titles – including victories at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tennis events in Cincinnati (d. Djokovic) and Madrid (d. Simon) – while also reaching his first Grand Slam final at the US Open (l. to Federer).
• Murray now becomes the fourth player in the tournament’s 17-year history to win two titles in Doha, joining Roger Federer (2005-06), Petr Korda (1996, ’98) and Stefan Edberg (1993-94).
• Texas resident Roddick was the third American to appear in the Doha final, joining Jan-Michael Gambill (l. to Koubek 2003) and Jim Courier (d. Henman 1997).
• World No. 8 Roddick has won at least one ATP World Tour title for the past eight seasons. Last year he triumphed at San Jose (d. Stepanek), Dubai – where he defeated No. 2 Rafael Nadal and No. 3 Novak Djokovic en route to the final (d. F. Lopez in final) – and Beijing (d. Sela). He slipped to 26-15 lifetime record in finals.

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID

Murray: “The semi-final and final matches were very good against two top players so I am very pleased. It is great to start the season with a title. I have defended my title in three different tournaments now so I like to go back to the same places. I've always felt very comfortable in Doha."

"I feel good going into the Australian Open but after what happened last year I don't want to get too carried away. I just need to concentrate on each match and fight hard as every round will be tough. I am one of the top guys but I don't know if I am the favourite at the Australian Open.  There is Roger, Rafa and Novak who won last year. I like playing in Melbourne but I did not play well last year."

Roddick: "He played great, he is in top form right now. The one time I had a break point, he hit the line. He was just better than me. I did a lot of good things this week, I'm happy with the way I'm hitting the ball and confident going into the Australian Open. “

Federer falls to Murray, but Roddick scores an impressive victory over Monfils.  I'm going with Roddick to beat Murray in the finals, which would be one of the best tournament results of his career, not counting his US Open victory.

France's own Gael Monfils stuns world #1 Rafael Nadal in the Doha Quarterfinals.  This comes as a result of two factors:  #1 Nadal is tired and not fully rehabilitated form the extremely short off season #2 Monfils had a very solid 2008 season, and is getting better by the day [he's gaining his second wind on tour, so to speak].  The third reason, is that Rafael simply isn't great on hardcourts.  There's no doubt this came as a surprise, and adds some spice to the early schedule!

DOHA, Qatar (AP) -Top-ranked Rafael Nadal was eliminated from the Qatar Open on Thursday, losing to Gael Monfils of France 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.

Nadal, who cruised through his first two matches in Doha, was broken three times and finished the match with only 10 winners. Monfils had 35.

The 14th-ranked Frenchman also had eight aces to Nadal's zero.

So far so good for The World's #1 and #2 players, as Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have not missed a beat in Doha.  How about Andy Roddick!?  It will be very interesting to see how the American star does against Rafa or Fed.

Nikolay Davydenko suffered a left heel injury, forcing him to withdraw from the Chennai Open.  This couldn't have happened at a worse time: the beginning of the season, with the Australian Open just days away, tough break for Davy.

What a performance by Andy Roddick...steam rolling through the first round of Doha.  The lone American in the top 10 is representing the Red White & Blue quite well....could this be the year for A-Rod?  It's approaching "now or never," he has a few more solid years to go; with that serve, anything is possible.

Nadal:

“2008 was a fantastic year for me, winning so many big titles and becoming the ATP World Tour Champion.  It was an honor to replace Roger who for me is the best tennis player ever.  I will give everything again to try and win every match and give my best to improve my game in 2009.”

        Here we go...2009 is upon us and the wheels are starting to turn again in the world of professional tennis.....this is one of the last times I'll say it: but that wasn't much of an off season!

       So Roger Federer dropped a heart breaker to Andy Murray, 7-6 in the third set...if you're a Federer fan, there is no need to panic…yet!

        Firstly, Murray has always done well against Roger, he actually leads their career  head-to-head, 4-2.  Secondly, what Roger did to Murray at the 2008 US Open finals shows exactly where his priorities are: Roger is going into "Sampras mode."...let me explain......Sampras is probably the best player of all time; however, many casual tennis fans don't realize that Pete lost more than half of his practice matches at Saddlebrooke Tennis Academy, and openly admitted to focusing much more on Grand Slam matches, while virtually slacking in various warm up events (i.e., losing to Leander Paes in New Haven).  Pete is not a tank; he actually was a master of conserving energy, and "peaking" for prime time matches, which allowed him to maintain interest in the sport and capture 14 major titles.  It's time for Federer to do this. Fed is no "spring chicken" anymore: age is becoming a factor, fitness is a factor, health is a factor and hunger may also become a factor (we all know that it's almost impossible to match the hunger of young tennis players who of making it on tour)

      Hence, these losses to Andy Murray in non-Grand Slam events will only be considered relevant if the Scottish star starts "dominating" Roger consistently in straight sets, or in major events...otherwise, it's just a warm up for Roger, and firing him up for another beating of Murray at the next Grand Slam.  Roger doesn't have much time left as an elite top 5 player...but he's still better than Murray at this time.