Star For 2011: Grigor Dimitrov

Born in the little known town of Hoskovo, Bulgaria in 1991, Grigor Dimitrov could get his nation on the tennis map in 2011 if his natural progression continues. In order to fulfill his dream, Dimitrov has moved to the illustrious Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in Paris where the likes of Baghdatis, Ancic, Simon and Karlovic took their first steps.

Anyone who's seen this stylish Bulgarian play immediately reaches the same conclusion: we are looking at a young Roger Federer. As a writer, I personally disagree fiercely with dubbing sportsmen as the new whoever but Dimitrov's similarities with Federer are uncanny.

It comes as no surprise then that Grigor's idol is the Swiss maestro. As a junior, Dimitrov reached a ranking of World number 3, taking the Wimbledon and US Open junior titles in 2008 and making it to the final of the prestigious Orange Bowl in 2007.

His impressive game guaranteed him Wild Card entries to various tournaments in 2008 but he was unable to make an impression and making the transition from junior to pro was being much tougher than expected.

It's not easy to grind it out in the lower categories of tennis and more so if you're hearing how good you are on a daily basis but Dimitrov has had no choice but do it the hard way, showing both maturity and humbleness.

Dimitrov started the year at 288 in the world, not even ensuring him a direct acceptance into Challenger event which meant he had to earn a spot via qualifying or even enter a few Future events.

After a run of three Future titles (Germany F9, F10 and Spain F29) he entered the Geneva Challenger in August oozing confidence. A tough three sets victory in the final over Andujar ensured the Bulgarian 80 points and a rise of 55 places in the rankings which meant he could now concentrate on the Challenger tour.

With his mind at ease, Dimitrov could play his real tennis fear free and two more Challenger titles followed at the end of the season (Bangkok, Bangkok 2). With the official season over, Dimitrov finds himself knocking on the door of the Top 100 at 106 thus cementing a direct entry at the 2011 Australian Open.

The sky is the limit for Dimitrov, who will try and show why he is seen as a mirror image of Roger Federer. I for one am confident that by this time next year Grigor Dimitrov will be a household name.

Curtain Closes on 2010

The ATP season came to a spectacular end in London last week. After years of testing and searching it seems the World Tour Finals have found a home. The O2 arena is a fantastic setting for what was a championship to remember.

The fans and directors got the semi final line up they'd dreamed of: Djokovic v Federer and Murray v Nadal. The latter of these turned out to be one of the best tennis matches of the year in terms of excitement, ups and downs and general quality of the tennis. Murray seemed to be steaming towards the final when his big serve was helping him to a 4-1 lead in the deciding tie break but Nadal is no ordinary opponent. The Spaniard, once again, pulled a remarkable come back off to take the breaker 8-6. This mans mental strength knows no limits, it is quite simply a pleasure to see a player with his heart and determination play.

The second semi final was more of a let down. Federer had been destroying opponent after opponent during the week but Djokovic is never an easy rival. Yet the Serb, possibly with one eye on next weeks Davis Cup, didn't turn up and Federer continued his devastating form to set up the dream finale.

With Nadal's long semi final, there was only one favourite for the final and when Federer took the first set 6-3, alot of people were rushing to the bookies to put their money on a straight sets victory. But we already know by now who Rafael Nadal is. With the pride of a world number one, he snatched the second set by an identical score. The last set though proved to be a bridge too far. Federer's game wasn't dropping and Rafa's stamina levels were. Roger breased to a 6-1 victory and ensured himself a fifth World Tour Championship.

Congratulations also to Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic who won their segund World Tour Title in a row by defeating Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi in the final

Adiós Charly

No suelo escribir en español en este blog pero, como le pasó a Rafa, para hablar de Carlos Moyá sólo podía hacerlo en este idioma.

No sé por dónde empezar hablando de este genio, quiero asegurarme que el artículo esté al nivel que se merece. Para un chico de mi generación, que ha crecido en los años noventa, Moyá es el primer capitán de la Armada Española. Somos conscientes de los logros de Bruguera y Berasategui pero no los vivimos con nitidez. Mi primer recuerdo de un tenista español haciendo algo notorio en el circuito es la final de Moyá en Australia en el 97. Dejando de camino en la cuneta a nombres históricos como Becker y Chang (todo esto a los 20 años). Sólo el gran Pete Sampras sería un obstáculo demasiado duro en la final.

Un año después llegaría el triunfo en Roland Garros, venciendo a su gran amigo Alex Corretja en la final, quien se vengaría en la final de la Copa Masters a finales de año.

Lo que ha dejado huella de Charly, a parte de uno de las mejores derechas de los últimos años, ha sido su personalidad. Encuentra una persona que hable mal de Moyá, que no diga que es buena persona y me llamas. Como aficionado de tenis sientes afinidad a los buenos jugadores pero se tiene una conexión más especial con aquellos que te transmiten algo más como personas. Con Moyá las derrotas duras, aquellas en las que tiraba una ventaja de un set y un break dolían...y mucho. De hecho te quedabas unos días fastidiado. Lo mismo pasaba al revés, cuando ganaba un partido importante o un torneo, era como si ganaba un amigo o un familiar. Esto queda demostrado en la Copa Davis de 2004. Ganaba España, pero la felicidad era porque Moyá ganaba el punto definitivo.

En fin, a lo más jóvenes que no pudieron disfrutar los buenos años de Moyá, que vean vídeos del mallorquín porque es un ejemplo. El fruto lo tenemos en Nadal. Demos gracias a que su padrino fue Charly, no sólo porque ha aprendido de un gran jugador, sino porque ha asimilado un comportamiento ejemplar. Una manera de comportarse en la victoria y la derrota.

Gracias Charly por lo que has significado para tenis español.

Datos de su carrera:

Partidos Ganados: 575

Partidos Perdidos: 319

Mejor Ranking: 1

Títulos: 20

Ganancias: $13,443,970

All Eyes On London

So another "regular" season of the ATP comes to an end. Not as an exciting run in as other years given that the top 8 players were basically unmoveable in their spots but an entertaining week in Paris as ever.

Paris is also a good barometer to establish who's going to be hot in London and who's not. Before we start measuring the finalists' chances, a mention must go to Gael Monfils who turned it on once more infront of his local Parisian crowd. That's two finals in succesion in the French capital, and heavy scalps en route such as Verdasco, Murray and Federer.

As for London, the first name that springs to mind is Soderling. Very solid performance in Paris and the perfect game to suit these fast indoor courts. A very serious contender for the Finals title.

Federer seems to be in the best shape of the "big four" but that defeat against Monfils left serious question marks about his game at the latter stages of a tournament.

Nadal is a question mark, no one knows what sort of game he'll be bringing to London. Even a 50% Rafa can cause damage as proved at the '09 US Open. He'll be hungry to take the last piece of silver ware on offer for him in the world of tennis.

Djokovic seems to have lost a bit of gas as the season has come to an end. The opposite to other years where the Serb would dominate season ending tournaments. Perhaps his mind is set on the Davis Cup.

Murray is another case of a player suffering from a long season of tennis. His defeats to Monaco in Valencia and Monfils in Paris prove he is vulnerable right now. It was a gruelling week for the Scot in Paris being taken to three sets against Nalbandian, Cilic and Monfils. He will need the British support to lift him in London.

Berdych is another player on the down. His end to the season has been very disappointing with a 4-8 record since Toronto where he reached the quarters. Right game for London but based on form, I'm backing Berdych for the wooden spoon.

Ferrer will be seen as the weak link in London. He has probably been seen as this in pretty much every major event but what the Spaniard lacks in finesse he more than makes up for in heart. After all this is his second appearance at the year end finals and last time (2007) he made the final beating Nadal, Djokovic, Gasquet and Roddick on the way.

Roddick finally makes an apperance in London. The American has spoken about how much he wanted to be there this year after an injury forced him to withdraw last year. He is a dark horse in the competition, nothing to lose, no points to defend and a big serve to go with a quick court.

ATP Review prediction: Impossible to predict a World Tour Finals event.

Race to London

With only a few weeks left on the calendar, it is time again to bring out the calculators and try and resolve who will be appearing at the World Tour Finals.

Nikolay Davydenko: Injury has seriously hampered the Russians' season and an early exit in Shanghai took him out of the top 16. A good run at home in the Kremlin Cup is much needed.

Realistically, other contenders for the top 8 spots include:

Tomas Berdych: Looked a sure bet but an early defeat in Shanghai means work is still to do.

David Ferrer: Another strong end to the season from the solid spaniard. On the up and should seal the deal.

Andy Roddick: Injury prevented him from playing in London last year, it seems ghosts from the past are back to haunt again.

Fernando Verdasco: It's all in his hands but that doesn't mean anything with the inconsistent lefty. No wins on the Asian tour haven't helped but he depends on his results on not that of others, always a good place to be.

Mikhail Youzhny: A good run at the US Open opened the door for the Russian. He is defending the title in Moscow this week so need another great week at home to not lose too many points.

Jurgen Melzer: Not defending too many points and playing infront of a home crowd in Vienna. The lefty could sneak in.

Some unexpected names could pop up during these last few weeks, but it is improbable that the eight names in London will feature anyone below this. An outside bet? Tsonga

The French Imposition

Although it's true that France boasts a vast number of talented players populating the top 100 - proof of this being the Davis Cup final showing later this year - there is a secret behind it all. On the ATP calendar you can spot tournaments played at Marseille (250), Nice (250), Metz (250), Montpellier (250), Paris (1000) and, of course, Roland Garros.

It's not merely the advantage of playing infront of a partisan crowd but also the fact that wild cards are handed out to local players, thus improving their chances of cracking into the tour.

Apart from the before mentioned tournaments, we must add the Monte Carlo Masters which basically classifies as France and where French players are gifted wild cards. Also the French Federation has reached an agreement with the Australian and American Federations to assure a wild card for French players at both the US and Australian Open.

With this sort of help who knows what other nations would achieve in the game. Nevertheless fair play to the French for imposing themselves so well.

Coming of Age

Sport is full of "What if..." stories, athletes who seemed to have the world at their feet and, for some reason, failed to deliver. A few months back we wrote a similar article referring to Richard Gasquet, who was seemingly on the road to tennis history but stalled on the way. But many junior number ones never even made it that far, Todd Reid, Kristian Pless and Jonathan Eysserric to name but a few.

Tomas Berdych, until recently, seemed to be spear heading into that damned group of players. At the age of 18, the Czech player lifted his first ATP title in Palermo and then really made a name for himself when he defeated Roger Federer at the Olympic Games in Athens (2004). He went on to reach the 4th round at the US Open (lost to Haas) and finished the season in the top 50.

One year later his progression kept on growing at an alarming rate when he won his first Masters Series title in Paris, defeating the likes of Coria, Ferrero and Ljubicic on his way.

At 20 he had cemented a place in the top 10 and had managed to reach the 4th round at three grand slams (all except Australia). At this rate it seemed only a matter of time before he cracked the top 5 and had a grand slam in his trophy cabinet.

But for the next few years it just didn't seem to happen for Berdych. Was he complacent? Had the other players raised the bar? It's difficult to establish what really happened, but tennis fans had become accustomed to seeing Berdych as an average fourth round tennis player.

2010 has been his year though. At the ripe age of 25, Tomas Berdych has finally fulfilled his potential and really come of age. He plays fearless flat hitting tennis, where merely passing the ball over the net is not an option, every shot has to be a winner. A new breed of tennis led by the likes of Soderling and Tsonga.

This hard hitting has enabled him to reach the semi finals of Roland Garros where he fell to Soderling in five gruelling sets of ball blasting tennis. And now at Wimbledon, on his favourite surface, he has managed not only to beat Federer in his own backyard (Centre Court can be described as that) but completely dominate the Swiss from the back of the court.

Now Berdych faces Djokovic as his penultimate obstacle in his quest for glory. Whatever the outcome, it seems the big boys have a new name to look out for on tour.

Wimbledon QF Preview

Roger Federer v Tomas Berdych

The number one seed has looked out of sorts for a while, with that defeat to Hewitt at Halle in the run up to Wimbledon and his first two rounds at the grass court Grand Slam. But solid victories over Clement and Melzer could suggest the swiss maestro is playing himself into form. Berdych will be his first real test of the tournament and this match might suggest where Federer really is at this stage.

Prediction: Federer in four

Novak Djokovic v Yen Hsun Lu

The only unseeded player in the quarter finals, provoking the biggest upset of the championships in the fourth round where he defeated Roddick in five, Lu enters the game with nothing to lose and on top of a huge wave of confidence. Djokovic still isn't that devastating player who crowned himself at Melbourne and squeezed through with a hard fought victory over Lleyton Hewitt.

Prediction: Djokovic in three

Jo-Wilfired Tsonga v Andy Murray

It's that time of year again for the British crowd and for their number one player. Could this finally be it? A difficult question to answer, Murray's post-Australia season has been very disappointing and an early defeat at Queen's suggested Brits would have to wait another year but he seems to have turned it on at the right time. His straight sets victory over Querrey proves he means business. As for Tsonga, the frenchmen has quietly made his way through the draw with the odd hiccup but is now in a position to cause damage. His game suits this grand slam perfectly and could be Great Britain's public enemy number one for 2010.

Prediction: Murray in five tough sets

Rafael Nadal v Robin Soderling

They meet again. Nadal's knees were a talking point again during his victory over Petzschner but today's win over Mathieu cleared any doubts over the spaniards claim to the title. Soderling struggled past Ferrer, whose heart of a lion once again took him close to a very big upset given the surface. Perhaps Nadal's compatriot has paved the way on how to play Soderling on grass. Much of this match depends on the swede's serve, if he has a good day at the office in this department then we could be talking about an upset. But as always with Nadal, anything below 100% will be punished.

Prediction: Nadal in four

Welcome to Rafa's World

If anyone thought that they'd seen the end of Rafael Nadal last year, they were wrong. Not only is the Spanish bull back but he's playing better than ever. Nadal's display at this years Monte Carlo Masters could be catalogued as the best clay court performance in the history of the game.

Let's recall Rafa's devastating route to the title: 1st Round def. De Bakker 6/1 6/0, 2nd Round def. Berrer 6/0 6/1, Quarter-Finals def. Ferrero 6/4 6/2, Semi-Finals def. Ferrer 6/2 6/3 and Final def. Verdasco 6/0 6/1.

That's a total of 10 sets won and none lost, 60 games won and 14 lost. Simply brutal. Before the final Verdasco's big shots seemed like they could cause some damage, maybe he'd be the first person to really take the game to Nadal but it is ever so disheartening to play against a human wall. Everything comes back and it comes back with bad intentions.

So after the first week of top class clay court tennis we can come to certain conclusions: The Spanish Armada is as powerful as ever taking up three of the four semi-finals spots, David Nalbandian could well be on the road to recovery, Juan Carlos Ferrero can go far in upcoming draws as long as he avoids Nadal, Verdasco has finally broken the quarter-final barrier and it's going to take something very special to stop Rafa from taking back his crown at Roland Garros.

The Return Of The Prodigal Son

Monte Carlo has almost always meant good news for Richard Gasquet. He won his first professional match there at the tender age of 15, defeating the experimented clay courter Franco Squillari. He ultimately made a name for himself defeating Roger Federer in the 2005 quarter-finals in what was a match to remember.

It seemed that the only way was up from there but Gasquet has had all sorts of problems which have denied the frenchmen's place at the very top of the game. The drugs incident and the pressure created by French media have all been mentioned far too much. It is now time to start from zero, with Tsonga, Monfils and Simon all enjoying success the spotlight has shifted and Gasquet can start to play for himself.

His ranking is at 73 but he is making steady progress, without making much noise and that is how he likes it. Nothing is better than to be regarded the underdog.

For the sake of tennis, we hope Richard Gasquet finds his place amongst the elite. In an era of big serving and heavy hitting watching the frenchmen play is refreshing. Not the tallest of players nor the strongest, Gasquet depends on his guile and touch to defeat opponents. He possesses one of the best single hand backhands to have ever been seen and can play drop shots from anywhere on the court, not forgetting his soft hands at the net.

With talent like that, it seems the sky is the limit for Gasquet, but really his mind is the limit. He decides where he wants to be, a privilege for any elite sportsman but it can also be a burden for the weak minded.

This week will tell us whether Gasquet is on the road to recovery or if we have lost a magician of the courts.

Expect The Unexpected

If there is one thing we have come to get used to in these first Masters 1000 events of the season, that is to expect the unexpected. Few times have we seen back to back winners at Indian Wells and Miami and this year was no exception. Firstly Ivan Ljubicic rolled back the years to claim his first Masters 1000 title and now Andy Roddick has found some compensation for his hard work.

To see Roddick winning isn't a huge surprise as his game has grown ever more consistent and his backhand is no longer a weakness. What is surprising is to see Novak Djokovic (lost to Olivier Rochus) and Andy Murray (lost to Mardy Fish) fall at the first of asking. In the next round Roger Federer continued his indifferent form as Tomas Berdych got the better of him in a roller coaster 3 setter.

Rafael Nadal was, once again, the only top 4 player to reach the semi finals. This time the Spaniard had no answer for Roddick's big serve and, worryingly so, seemed to not be happy with his knees. Hopefully these complaints had nothing to do with those injuries that left the superstar out of action for long periods of time last year.

Now the claycourt season is upon us. This is a chance for the likes of Djokovic, Murray and Federer to get things back on track. Also, a chance to see where Rafa's game really is at. Our men to look out for in the claycourt season are: Nicolas Almagro, immense natural ability but not the mental strength to go with it, after a good run in the US, maybe it is time for the man from Murcia to fulfil his potential. Juan Carlos Ferrero, the mosquito has already won two events on the red stuff in South America and seems to be finding that form that took him to Number 1. And our outsider pick is Fabio Fognini of Italy, another young talent who hasn't seemed to break through. His form this season hasn't been anything to write home about but now he's back on his favourite surface and could cause more than one upset.

Whatever happens, we'll keep you posted here on ATP Review.

All Good Things Come To An End

It seems that when you write about a player, praising his attributes, you set a curse on him. Last week we mentioned Trujillo's remarkable run of wins, well the streak has ended at 20. He was defeated yesterday in the first round of the F10 event in Zaragoza, Spain. The man to put an end to the veteran's run was Ignacio Coll, winning 6/4, 4/6, 6/4.

Stay posted this week for information on the Masters 1000 event in Miami, Challenger events in Jersey, Barletta and Rimouski and other information on Future events.

Hot Streak

Our man to watch at this moment is Gabriel Trujillo Soler of Spain. It seems the Spaniard has found his best form at the age of 30 backing up Ljubicic in the veteran's renaissance. Trujillo is currently on a 20 match winning streak which includes four succesive ITF Future titles (Spain F6, F7, F8 and F9).

This week he enters the F10 event in Zaragoza looking to prolong that purple patch. We will keep you posted.

Old Habits Die Hard

At the start of the week, Ivan Ljubicic stated that he was starting to enjoy his tennis again, he was pressure free with nothing to prove and out there for the love of the game. It seems he has cracked the code for success in tennis. In contrast to this tennis philosophy we find Novak Djokovic, a man who seems to painfully struggle with every minute that passes on the court. Just watching him out there is enough to get you tense and nervous.

Back to the big Croatian though, having enjoyed a career high ranking of 3 back in 2006 it all started to go downhill as age was getting the better of him. Few would've predicted a comeback, fewer a Masters 1000 win. And not many can argue whether the 31 year old is a worthy champion as the likes of Djokovic, Nadal and Roddick went down en route. Ljubicic became the second oldest victor in the history of Indian Wells (5 months younger than Jimmy Connors) and ensured his first Masters 1000 title after three final defeats (Miami '06, Paris '05, Madrid '05).

The icing on the cake for a hard fought career.