Battle of the Spanish Lefties

Fernando Verdasco vs. Rafael Nadal, Spaniard vs. Spaniard, lefty vs. lefty, all the great parts for an epic match. Fernando Verdasco, seeded fourteen at the Australian Open did not let the difference in rankings affect how he played. He did not walk into Rod Laver Arena with the mindset that he was going to to lose to a fellow countryman, but instead he came out hitting hard and deep. This paid off giving Verdasco the edge from the beginning when he took the first set.

However, after that first set the match looked like it would be dominated by the hard hitting number one seed Rafael Nadal, but the match took a spin in the fourth set to the fans enjoyment. Verdasco pushed Nadal to a fifth set after fighting hard and winning the fourth set in a tie breaker.

As expected Nadal won the match 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, but the momentum throughout the match took the shape of sea saw. The two hard hitting lefties went back and forth alternating winners just trying to hold onto their serve. In the end it would come down to who was able to break the others serve first, with Nadal winning that war. However, Verdasco has much to be proud of; forcing the world's number one to play one of the longest matches in tournament history.

In the end I am not sure who I am more impressed with, Verdasco who had nothing to lose and everything to gain or Nadal who gave the match his all so that he could face Roger Federer in the finals for the first time on a hard court. Either way the two have brought some new excitement to the game and possibly a new rivalry. I'm sure this will not be the last that we have heard from Verdasco.

Although, the match lasted longer than Rafa could have liked, he has now earned a spot in the final to face the second seed Roger Federer, who only needs one more win to tie Pete Sampras' 14 major titles. In what should be an intense battle the match is going to come down to who has the best conditioning. Rafael is at a disadvantage; only getting one days rest compared to Federer's two and also playing a five set match compared to Federer's three set match, however I wouldn't put it past Nadal to take home the win.

Nadal has become a much better competitor on a hard surface, something that in the past years has been a weakness of his. He has grown more experienced and a lot stronger so I am giving the victory to Nadal in four close sets.

American Hopeful; Can Roddick top the World's Best?

Andy Roddick has really impressed me with his performance down in Melbourne. He is starting the year off well; dropping fifteen pounds, and visually looks like a totally different player physically. He has advanced his game, throwing in a couple volleys instead of his usual predictable groundstrokes making it harder for top oppenents to beat him.

Roddick's recent conquest was Novak Djokovic, the defending Australian Open Champion. The change in his game wasn't the only thing that helped him but his fitness as well also served as a weapon. Roddick recently dropped fifteen pounds because he hoped that with less weight to carry around he would be able to move quicker on the court. His training paid off and because of his better conditioning he was able to outlast Novak Djokovic, seeded three. Djokovic was forced to retire in the fourth set when he was down two sets to one (7-6, 4-6, 2-6, 1-2) because of the intense weather conditions with temperatures on court as high as 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

Roddick is now scheduled to play Roger Federer, the number two seed, in the semifinals.

Federer breezed by the number eight seed, Juan Martin del Potro, 6-3, 6-0, 6-0 in a match that only took an hour and twenty minutes.

The difference between the intensity of the two quarterfinal matches that Federer and Roddick played could make a difference, but I think the world is looking at a new, fitter Andy Roddick who may actually have a chance to beat Federer for only the third time in his career.

Fitness vs. Power; What is Better in Women's Tennis?

What is going on with women's tennis? There has not been a consistent number one woman in the world in a while. It is not because of some new upcoming seventeen year old Russian beauty who is unbeatable. It is because the women on the pro tour have become so unpredictable; one day they might be playing the best tennis of their lives and then the next day and they are losing to a woman who is ranked 100 spots below them. The consistency issues are due to the lack of finesse in the women's draw. The pro women have become so one dimensional with their base line games, making them get stuck in these long base line rally points. In the end it comes down to two things; (1) fitness and (2) who can hit a bigger shot first. The downside of the latter is that with these bigger shots comes a bigger risk of creating an error. This is not how the game of tennis was originally played; it was a game that required wooden rackets and people with brains. Power was not the most important part of the game, but instead the most important part was who could out smart their openent.

The other day I was watching the second round of the 2009 Australian Open and one player, a young Belgian caught me by surprise. She was playing Jelena Jankovic, the number one seed and really struck me as someone to look out for in future Grand Slams. Her name is Kristen Flipkens and she came out motivated to beat the world's best. She played a different game then most women because she came up to net. Using a tough inside out forehand she was able to work her way up to net and put away an easy volley, throwing off Jankovic. You could see through the frustration in Jankovic's body language that Flipken's net game was throwing her off. By coming to the net Flipkens was able to cut off Jankovic's tough ground shots and put the shots that normally would be hard to put away from the baseline away. Even though Flipkens lost 4-6, 5-7 I think that the top women have much to learn from her; there is more than just strong ground strokes in tennis.