The Professional Tennis Tour is back to full action after the Australian Open. Roger Federer bounced back from a disappointing loss in Davis Cup by winning the title in Rotterdam. Victoria Azarenka continued her winning streak with a victory at the Qatar Open.

Men’s Tour Update

Davis Cup

The first round of Davis Cup was played shortly after the Australian Open and there was one big surprise that is certainly worth mentioning. The USA beat Switzerland with a 5:0 score. The big surprise of course was John Isner’s victory over Roger Federer on a clay court!

Isner played phenomenal Tennis and Roger again missed quite a few easy shots when it mattered most. I am afraid this is really become more and more of a pattern for Federer!

Highlights Of Isner Federer In Davis Cup

Federer Wins Rotterdam

Fortunately for Roger he bounced back from two disappointing losses in Australia and in the Davis Cup with a victory last week at the tournament in Rotterdam. In Rotterdam he beat Davydenko in the semis and Del Potro in the finals with a great performance.

One thing to keep in mind though is that Rotterdam is played on an indoor hard court, which is most likely Federer’s overall best surface.

Federer Beats Del Potro For The Title In Rotterdam

Raonic wins San Jose

Milos Raonic won the tournament in San Jose for the second time in a row with a very impressive serving performance. He lost only 4 points on his serve in the entire final against Dennis Istomin that he won 7:6 6:2. If he stays healthy his future looks very bright with that kind of a serve!

Raonic Serving A 155 mph Ace in San Jose

Women’s Tour Update

Azarenka Still Unbeaten

Victoria Azarenka continued her 2012 winning streak with a victory at the Qatar Open in Doha. She didn’t drop a set in the tournament and in the finals she beat Sam Stosur handily with a 6:1 6:2 score.

This puts her at a 17 match winning streak this year and some experts are already drawing comparisons to Novak Djokovic’s dominance

Azarenka definitely surprised me with this winning streak and how well she is playing. She has matured somewhat and her serve has improved. It will be interesting to see how she continues this year.

Azarenka Beat Radwanska Easily In The Semis

Kerber Wins First Big Title

German Angelique Kerber won her first premiere level event in Paris. She beat Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals and Marion Bartoli in the finals with a 7:6 5:7 6:3 score.

She plays powerful consistent baseline Tennis and manages to stay out of trouble with her rather weak serve. Being a left-handed player certainly helps her in this regard. She is ranked number 20 in the world right now but at some point I believe she will hit a plateau unless she improves her service motion!

Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal in one of the best Grand Slam finals of all-time. The match was actually the longest Grand Slam final in the history of the game, with a duration of 5 hours and 53 minutes. Djokovic won 5:7 6:4 6:2 6:7 7:5

Photo by Getty Images

Djokovic was clearly the better player throughout this match, but Nadal ended up almost winning the match anyways because of his incredible mental toughness and fighting spirit!

Rafa is clearly the greatest fighter I have ever seen on the tennis court! Djokovic dominated most of the rallies and Nadal was way behind the baseline for most of the match. Nevertheless, Rafa did not get frustrated and kept fighting back, hitting incredible winners from defensive positions!

Nadal has now lost the last 7 matches against Djokovic and it is obvious that Novak is the better player at this point.

The only way for Nadal to beat Djokovic is to stay in closer to the baseline and play more aggressive! Rafa knows this but has not been able to put a more aggressive game plan into action!

So why can’t he manage to play more aggressive and beat Novak Djokovic ?

The 2 Reasons Why Nadal Loses To Djokovic

1. Nadal’s backhand is too weak on average

Nadal has been struggling with his two-handed backhand and this is in my opinion the main reason why he hasn’t been able to play more aggressive and beat Novak Djokovic!

His backhand lands short a majority of the time and as a result he started slicing a lot. His slice is not very good either though and this just puts Djokovic in the driver’s seat!

2. Nadal is too used to playing far behind the baseline

Rafael Nadal has spend his entire tennis career playing pretty far behind the baseline and he has been very successful with this approach. This makes it extremely difficult for him to stand closer to the baseline, which is what he needs to do against Djokovic.

Many players that were successful in their junior years playing a rather defensive game are not able to change this approach later in their career even though they know they should be playing more aggressive. Nadal has won a lot of matches by getting a lot of balls back and playing percentage Tennis. His tendency will always be to stick with this approach and only with a very conscious effort can he overcome that.

Watch The Highlights Of Nadal Djokovic

Watching the match you get the feeling that Djokovic is dominating a large percentage of the points and Nadal is trying to defend most of the time. This is not the way Nadal is going to start beating Djokovic!

Nevertheless, Nadal has proven many times in his matches against Djokovic that he can stay in closer and play aggressive!

He seems to be able to do so only for short periods of time though!

So what could Nadal do to turn things around ?

In order to turn things around Nadal needs to develop some real confidence in his backhand. He needs to get comfortable hitting through the shot again and really going for it. In order to achieve something like that you have to create drills and situations that force you to do practice the right things!

Here are a few drills that could help him:

1. Play practice sets where he is not allowed to run around the backhand and also where he is not allowed to slice the backhand. I do this a lot with my students that need to improve their backhands. Basically the idea is to create drills or situations where you are forced to hit topspin backhands and develop some real confidence in the shot!

2. Play practice sets where he is not allowed to retreat way behind the baseline. Oftentimes I will put a line maybe 5 to 6 feet behind the baseline and tell my students they are not allowed to go behind it. This forces them to stay closer to the line and play more aggressive!

For more detailed information on the rivalry between these two players see my article: Djokovic Nadal Rivalry

Roger lost another epic battle against Rafa in the semi-finals of the Australian Open. Overall the match was at a very high level but it was tough for me to watch Roger play so poorly when it mattered the most!

Federer was not able to make first serves in decisive situations and he missed a lot of routine forehands as well!

Photo By Rick Rycroft

The same forehand that he seemingly has not missed a single shot with since last October and that was completely on fire in all of his previous matches in this tournament! In my opinion Roger played some of the best Tennis of his career in the rounds before the semi-finals and that is why I thought he would win this match.

At this point of their rivalry Roger has a massive mental problem against Nadal and I believe tactical changes alone cannot help him beat Nadal!

I am actually quite surprised why so-called experts almost always seem to talk about the tactical side of this rivalry and only very few people talk about the mental side of things. The tactical side of course plays a role but I honestly believe that no matter what tactics he uses, Roger will get tight when it matters most and therefore he will continue to lose against Nadal!

Let’s have a look at a few of the tactical considerations before I talk about what I believe Federer could do to actually turn things around!

Tactical Considerations

Everyone talks about Nadal’s high topspin shots to Roger’s one-handed backhand and of course that is a big part of what makes Nadal such a difficult opponent for Roger. Nevertheless, Federer has proven on many occasions that he can hit his backhand well against Nadal’s high topspin forehands.

Even on the high-bouncing clay in the 2011 French Open finals have I seen Roger hit great backhands against Nadal’s heavy topspin. He seems to manage to do that only at the beginning of sets or in general before the match gets really close!

I have said many times before that from a tactical standpoint Federer needs to hit his backhand aggressive and take a lot of balls early with conviction against Nadal. My guess is that Roger understands this and he did hit his backhand mostly with topspin in the Australian Open semi-finals.

Federer really didn’t play bad at all. As a matter of fact he was doing a lot the right things! In addition to hitting more topspin backhands and less slice, he also used surprise serve-and-volley tactics and net attacks in general. I have not seen the statistics but I believe Roger was very successful with his serve-and-volley and net rushing tactics.

Playing against Nadal there is a fine line for Federer when it comes to attacking the net. As long as he keeps surprising Nadal with his net rushing and serve-and-volleying it is usually extremely effective. Once he does too much of it though, Nadal will adjust and when he is prepared for Roger coming to the net he is usually too good at passing and defending!

Nadal Hit Some Unbelievable Defensive Shots In This Match!

Photo By MARK BLINCH/Reuters

What Can Federer Do ?

Ok. So now that we have talked about why Federer keeps losing to Nadal, it is of course time to think about what Roger could do to reverse things and start winning some of the important matches against Nadal!

Unfortunately for Roger, working on a mental problem like this is most certainly the most difficult area for a tennis player to improve in! The thoughts and beliefs that hold him back are deeply engrained in his subconscious at this point!

Nadal is a true warrior on the court and he has been raised and trained that way throughout his entire tennis career. This has led him to a point where he knows that he can play his best Tennis when it matters most. Deep down Nadal believes that he will come out on top if there is any chance for him.

Federer on the other hand has never been one of the mentally toughest guys on tour. Years ago when he dominated the tour he had the belief deep down that he was better than the other guys but it was more because of superior strokes and athleticism and not because he was mentally tougher!

So What Are Some Things That He Could Do ?

The easiest thing to work on would be body language. When I see Federer and Nadal on the court, Nadal almost always looks like the more confident guy out there. There is a strong relationship between how you present yourself on the court and how you feel on the inside.

If Federer would consciously work on better body language he might start feeling a little better on the inside when he plays against Nadal!

Most likely this alone would not help him win against Nadal though!

I believe what he really needs in order to get out of this choking habit against Nadal is a true expert/mentor to work with him on mental toughness!

There are of course many different approaches towards working with an athlete in that kind of a situation. Some athletes consult sports psychologists, others work with hypnosis for example. The possibilities are endless.

All I can say is that Roger needs to look into the mental area and get some help if he wants to start beating Rafael Nadal again. He definitely has the game and the capabilities to do so!

This of course is a tough thing to realize and act upon, especially if you are the greatest player of all-time. Therefore, I think it is unlikely and in the end I think it is unlikely that Roger will get tougher mentally!

The Aussie Open is at the quarterfinals and semi-finals stage and it’s starting to get really exciting. Let’s have a look at the men’s and the women’s draw once again.

Men’s Draw

In the men’s draw the Top4 still seem ahead of the rest of the field with Nadal and Federer already set to play the semi-finals against each other. Djokovic and Murray still have their quarterfinals matches ahead of them today.

Let’s have a quick look at the upcoming match-ups and how well I think everyone is playing.

Quarterfinals:
Djokovic vs. Ferrer

Novak has lost only one set so far this year and he seems to be playing just as well as last year. He moves extremely well, he is serving big and hitting huge forehands and backhands. Even though David Ferrer is playing well I don’t think he can really challenge Djokovic here.

Djokovic vs. Hewitt: Djokovic Is Playing Great Tennis!

In this form Novak Djokovic remains my favourite to win the tournament!

Quarterfinals:
Murray vs. Nishikori

Andy Murray is also playing quite well and so far has had a pretty easy tournament. It even appears as if he is standing a little closer to the baseline these days, trying to put more pressure on his opponents, which I believe is exactly what he needs to do to take his game to the next level.

Nishikori surprised me by taking out Tsonga in the last round. He has a lot of potential though and it appears that working with Brad Gilbert throughout the last year has taken him to another level with his game.

For those of you that haven’t seen Nishikori play too much, here you can watch some highlights of him playing Djokovic last year in Basel:

Nishikori is obviously playing well at the moment but I believe that Murray is too confident at the moment though and this challenge will be a little too big for Nishikori!

Nevertheless, I don’t think Murray has improved enough to beat Djokovic in a  possible Grand Slam semi-final!

Semi-Finals:
Nadal vs. Federer

The stage is set once again for another epic battle between these two great rivals! Federer beat Del Potro 6:4 6:3 6:2 in convincing fashion. Federer seems to be in very good form and his forehand was on fire against Del Potro!

Nadal had a tougher match against Tomas Berdych. Berdych was up a set and had set point in the second but Nadal once again showed his great fighting spirit and turned the match around to win it in 4 sets.

Nadal did not play well at all in the first two sets. His forehands were not going through the court, he was hitting a lot of balls short and was on defense most of the time. It will be interesting to see whether or not he can find a more offensive game against Federer because that is what he will need for sure.

Picking a winner in this upcoming match is very difficult. Nadal has obviously dominated the rivalry between these two. For more information check out my article on it: Federer Nadal Rivalry

Usually I would always pick Nadal over Federer because he has a huge mental edge in this rivalry. Nevertheless, Federer seems to be playing amazing Tennis and Nadal does not appear to be in his best form. Therefore, I expect Roger to win this one!

Women’s Draw

There have not been that many surprises to me in the women’s draw so far. Serena Williams was knocked out in the Round of 16 by Ekaterina Makarova, which surprised me a little bit but it is almost impossible to have a good idea of what form Serena is in before such a tournament, since she doesn’t usually play much before the big tournaments.

Clijsters, Sharapova, and Kvitova are the other women that I favoured to win the tournament and they are all still in the draw. Clijsters beat Wozniacki in straight sets to end Wozniacki’s hope of winning a Grand Slam once again. There are still too many weaknesses in Caroline’s game at this point.

Here You Can Watch The 2nd Set Tiebreak Between Clijsters And Wozniacki

Let’s have a look at the upcoming matches:

Semi-finals:
Clijsters vs. Azarenka

The semi-final match-up is set in the top half of the draw and Kim Clijsters will take on world number 3, Victoria Azarenka. Many experts see Azarenka as one of the tournament favourites but I remain a bit sceptical. She didn’t look that convincing in her win against Radwanska and I believe that if Clijsters is still fit and healthy she will beat Azarenka.

Quarterfinals:
Makarova vs. Sharapova

Sharapova played a good match against Sabine Lisicki in the last round and I think she is playing really well from the baseline at this point. If she can continue to serve with decent consistency then she definitely has a chance to win another Grand Slam title here!

Check Out Maria In Her Win Against Lisicki!

Makarova is an upcoming player with some serious game. She hits a phenomenal backhand and I believe she will rise up in the rankings in the near future. I expect her to play well against Sharapova but in the end I think Maria’s offensive game and experience will be too much to handle!

Quarterfinals:
Kvitova vs. Errani

Many experts see Petra Kvitova as the favourite to win the title at this tournament and generally I agree with that. Her game is simply phenomenal and on a good day she can dominate even against some of the best players in the world. Nevertheless, it remains unsure whether or not she has the mental toughness necessary to win many Grand Slam titles.

I definitely expect her to be too strong for Errani but the possible semi-finals match-up with Maria Sharpaova is a 50:50 kind of match for me!

Allright. So much for my update on the Australian Open. As always let me know your comments below this post and I hope you enjoy watching the tournament as much as I do!

There has been a lot of hype about the young Australian player Bernard Tomic as one of the future stars of the game. In this post I want to take a quick look at his game and tell you why I believe that he will probably have a hard time living up to the hype!

Tomic Hitting A Backhand In His 4th Round Loss To Roger Federer Yesterday
Photo by Getty Images

Tomic is one of the few successful teenagers in the men’s game. These days it is extremely difficult to compete with the world’s best before you reach the age of 20 because the physical demands are so big in the game!

At this point Tomic has reached a career high ranking of number 38 at the age of 19, which is a great accomplishment!

Nevertheless, I am sceptical about Tomic ever becoming a Top5 player
and true Grand Slam contender!

The main reason I am skeptical is that Tomic does not seem to play offensive enough on a consistent basis to hurt players like Federer, Djokovic, or Nadal!

Check Out The Highlights Of Tomic vs. Federer

So why exactly do I think Tomic will have problems with ever becoming a Grand Slam contender ?

In order to be a Top5 player these days you need to basically have a great serve, great forehand, great backhand, and be a phenomenal athlete and Tomic is lacking in some of these areas!

Game Analysis

Tomic plays a bit different then most of the other world class players. He is not entirely focused on hitting big serves and heavy forehands and backhands. Instead he plays a lot of slice backhands and mixes things up quite a bit.

Mixing things up a bit alone could be a good thing but Tomic has one big problem:

His average rally shots are not aggressive enough and against the world’s best players he will usually spend a lot of time on defense!

Lack Of Heavy Topspin

Tomic does have weapons. He can hit big serves but doesn’t do so on a consistent enough basis. Additionally, he can hit a lot of winners with his flat forehand that he can hit quite hard.

The problem with his forehand though is, that he can not hit that flat and hard on a consistent basis and keep the ball in the court. As a result he sometimes hits really hard and flat but on average he lacks the heavy consistent topspin forehand that all the top players have!

Have A Look At His Forehand In Slow Motion:
He Rarely Gets His Racket Low Enough To Hit Heavy Topspin!

The world’s best players hit extremely hard forehands with enough topspin to give them a good margin of error. Tomic does not hit his forehand that way and I doubt that he will ever develop the stroke in that manner.

It appears really difficult for Tomic to find ways to pressure the top players enough and I think he would need to make some significant changes to his game to change that in the future!

The good news for Tomic is that he is a superb athlete and moves extremely well around the court for his height. This is one of the main reasons why he has been so successful at a young age in my opinion!

I am very curious to see how he will develop in the next 2-3 years. One more thing to keep in mind is that his game is well suited for grass court Tennis and he got to the quarterfinals of Wimbledon last year. That quarterfinals appearance currently accounts for 385 out of his 1,048 ATP points!

Overall, I think Tomic is going to be a solid Top20 and probably Top10 player throughout his career but in order to be a Top5 player and win Grand Slams he would have to significantly improve certain areas of his game which very few players have done in the past, once they reached such a high level already!

I will have a more in-depth analysis of his game up in the Pro Players section sometime over the next couple of weeks. As usual let me know your thoughts in the comments section below!

The Australian Open are about to start and I want to give you guys a quick preview as well as my predictions! The Aussie Open is a fun tournament with a very unique atmosphere that a lot of the players love. The players are also fresh and the combination of this usually leads to some really high level Tennis!

The Aussie Open – A Fun Event With Great Tennis!

Allright so now let’s have a look at the men’s and the women’s game and my favourites to win the title!

The Men’s Game

In the men’s game everyone is curious to see what kind of form Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer are showing up in. These three guys have won almost all of the Grand Slam titles over the past couple of years!

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic is the clear favourite to win the tournament in my opinion! He dominated last season until struggling with some injury issues late in the year.

He played in the warm-up event in Abu Dhabi and looked very strong and fit. I expect him to continue playing at a similar level to last year, which should make things really tough for his opponents!

Prediction: I think Djokovic will show up playing very well and has the best chance to win this year’s Australian Open!

Djokovic dominated David Ferrer in the finals of the Abu Dhabi Invitational!

Roger Federer

Roger Federer’s form is tough to judge at the moment. He played extremely well at the end of last year, ending the year with a 17-match winning streak. Nevertheless that was indoors and also his main rivals, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, were not at the top of their game at that time.

The key for Roger in my opinion is how well he can hit the one-handed backhand. He struggled with it quite often last year and Djokovic or Nadal in top form should have an edge over Roger if his backhand is not at its best!

Prediction: Federer has a good draw. The two other dangerous players in his quarter are Mardy Fish and Juan-Martin Del Potro and I would be surprised if he lost to them. Therefore I see Roger making it to the semi-finals but I would expect him to loose to Nadal should Rafa get there!

Rafael Nadal

Nadal’s form is also very tough to predict. He played well in the warm-up event in Abu Dhabi and it looked like he was hitting his backhand with confidence again, which is something he didn’t do late in 2011.

Nevertheless, it is unclear how well his body is holding up and he even mentioned some mental fatigue and motivational problems in an interview, which is obviously very unusual for Rafael Nadal.

Prediction: I think Nadal has a good draw and I don’t really see anybody challenging him too much in his quarter. Therefore, I expect him to get through to the semi-finals where he should face Roger Federer, which is a match I would expect him to win. I don’t think he will win the finals against Djokovic though if it gets to that match!

Nadal Looking Fit In Practice At the Aussie Open

Andy Murray

Murray recently hired Ivan Lendl as his coach and has been playing really well so far this year. Hiring Lendl was definitely a good move on Murray’s part. It was time to change his approach a little bit since he always played well but not quite well enough to win a major.

Lendl is someone with a lot of achievements obviously and primarily someone that Murray will have a lot of respect for. Nevertheless, I think forMurray to win a Grand Slam would require him to play significantly more aggressive and I doubt that will happen at this years Australian Open!

Prediction: Murray will show up in strong form but I think he will either go out against the hard-hitting Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals or against Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals!

More In-Form Players

There are a few other players that I believe could do really well in the Australian Open!

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is the first one I would like to mention. He has a huge game which makes him a real threat to any opponent on any given day. It appears that he has matured a bit and gotten mentally stronger. As a result I wouldn’t be surprised if he beats Murray in the quarterfinals and gets to the semi-finals!

Tsonga Won The Tournament In Dubai In Convincing Fashion!

I am also curious to see how well Mardy Fish is playing. He played extremely well in 2011 and I expect him to play at least as well in 2011. He would run into Roger in the quarters, which should be an exciting match-up, since both of these guys can play all over the court!

Two upcoming players should also be interesting to watch. Australian Bernard Tomic seems to be ready to mix it up with the world’s best by now, which he showed by winning the Kooyong Invitational tournament. He has a tough first-round opponent in Fernando Verdasco though!

The other upcoming player that also seems to be in strong form is Milos Raonic. The big-serving and hard-hitting Canadian won his first tournament of 2012 Chennai,India without losing his serve once in the tournament! The last player to win a tournament without losing serve was Roger Federer in 2008!

Unfortunately for Raonic, he ended up in Novak Djokovic’s quarter and would face the world number 1 in the round of 16. I don’t think he is quite ready to beat someone like Djokovic in a Grand Slam but I am sure he will show up as a real challenge!

The Women’s Game

The situation in the women’s game is quite different. The field seems to be wide open and a lot more players have a real chance to win the trophy in my opinion!

Let’s have a look at some of the players that I believe have the best chance to win the Australian Open!

Serena Williams

The American superstar caused quite a bit of controversy again a few weeks ago when she said that she doesn’t love to play Tennis and doesn’t really enjoy athletic activities in general!

Now that is quite a statement from Serena but I wouldn’t take it too serious. In fact, I heard some coaches and experts talk about how hard Serena is preparing for the tournament and that she looks in great shape out on the practice court!

Prediction: Serena has not competed in quite a while but if she gets through the first couple of rounds and feels healthy then she is one of my favourites to win the tournament!

Check Out Serena Practicing At The Aussie Open!

Kim Clijsters

Clijsters is coming back from injuries that have kept her out of the game since August of last year. She struggled a lot and in a recent interview she mentioned that at times she thought that she would be forced to retire once again. The fact that she is back shows me that she still wants it just as much as in the past.

She was forced to withdraw from the semi-finals of the Brisbane warm-up tournament once again with a hip injury. She is cleared to play the Australian Open though and I really hope that she can play the tournament without any injury troubles!

Prediction: If she is close to 100% physically then I see her as one of the favourites to win the title!

Petra Kvitova

The hard-hitting Czech had her breakthrough last year when she won Wimbledon in dominating fashion. Her game is huge and now that she has the belief that she belongs among the world’s best the sky is the limit for her in my opinion!

She has a good draw that should allow her to get through to the semi-finals, where she would face either Sharapova or Serena Williams!

Prediction: Kvitova is definitely one of the favourites to win the title! 

Maria Sharapova

Sharapova came close to winning another Grand Slam tournament last year. She seems to work well with her coach Thomas Hogstedt but for her it all comes down to whether or not she can get her serve going!

Ever since her shoulder injuries she has struggled with the serve and the motion is not as fluid as it used to be early on in her career.

Prediction: Sharapova is a contender as well but only if she serves well!

Victoria Azarenka

Azarenka won the warm-up tournament in Sydney playing some very good Tennis against an in-form Li Na in the finals.

Azarenka has a solid game but it seems to me that she still lacks another gear that is necessary to win a Grand Slam tournament!

Nevertheless she is in great shape and it will take someone to play really well to take her out of the tournament!

Azarenka Beat Li Na To Win The Sydney Title!

Caroline Wozniacki

It appears that Wozniacki realized late in 2011 that she needs to make some slight adjustments to her game in order to win a Grand Slam title. As a result she hired Ricardo Sanchez as her new coach to replace her father.

Even though she is the number 1 player in the world, her game needs to be a bit more dangerous in certain situations in order to beat the other players when they are at their best in the Grand Slams. Therefore, I believe hiring a new coach was a good move!

Of course it is still unclear what kind of an influence he will have and how they are trying to develop her game.

As a result I am really unsure about how well Wozniacki will play at this years Australian Open. Therefore, I have no real prediction for her in this tournament

Allright. So much for my Australian Open Preview!

There are of course many other players that I did not talk about that could do well in the tournament but I had to put an end to this article somewhere. Please let me know your comments below and tell me who else you think will do well in the tournament!

Hopefully we will get to see lots of exciting matches this year!

The new season is getting under way and I want to give you guys a short preview and also make a few predictions for the upcoming season. I believe this season is going to be very exciting on the men’s and the women’s side!

The Men’s Game

Everyone is curious to see whether or not Novak Djokovic can continue to play Tennis at the incredible level that he played at in 2011. Roger Federer seems to be hungry for more Grand Slam titles. There are some question marks about Rafael Nadal in regards to his health and motivation but being the competitor that he is I am sure he will find his form in 2012 as well!

Novak Djokovic started the season off strong with a victory at the Abu Dhabi invitational tournament!

(Photo: AP)

Let’s have a quick look at the Top 3 players and where they stand!

The Top 3

Novak Djokovic

Before getting tired and slightly injured, Djokovic completely dominated the men’s game last year! His game was at a phenomenal level and players had no clue what to do against him because there was simply no weakness.

At the end of the season though, Djokovic was pretty tired and had a few nagging injuries. It will be interesting to see how well he has recovered! If his body is close to 100%, I don’t see a reason why he shouldn’t continue to play at the highest level!

Prediction: Unless Djokovic gets injured I believe he will play another very strong season and I see him winning two or more Grand Slam titles!

Rafael Nadal

There are some question marks when it comes to Nadal’s health and form. He already said that he is going to take time off after the Australian Open to heal his shoulder and he seemed pretty worn out at the end of the last season.

Nevertheless, I’ve seen some of his play so far this year and he looks pretty strong and healthy to me.  I think it is really tough to predict what kind of a year he will have though!

Have A Look At Nadal vs. Federer In Abu Dhabi!

Nadal once again got the better off Roger Federer in this match and from the highlights it seems like he was dictating as usual with his heavy topspin forehand to Federer’s backhand.

Prediction: I don’t see him as a favourite to win the Australian Open but I am sure he will be back in form for the French Open and to me he is the favourite once again to win that tournament. I see him winning one or maybe two majors this year!

If you haven’t done it yet, check out my in-depth analysis of the Federer Nadal Rivalry!

Roger Federer

Federer played incredible Tennis at the end of last season. He ended the year with a 17 match winning streak, including the year-end championship in London. Throughout that stretch Federer served incredibly well and his forehand was also going strong.

Nevertheless, Fed had some real problems with his one-handed backhand. He mishit a lot of balls and ran around a lot to hit as many forehands as possible. The indoor courts generally favour his game and when he is hitting serves and forehands that well he does not have to hit that many backhands, especially since he also hits a lot of slice backhands.

His coach, Paul Annacone, is not someone that is known for tinkering with a players technique. His focus seems to be more on the tactical side of things. If this is the case and Federer’s backhand is shaky then he will have a really hard time playing against either Djokovic or Nadal!

Prediction: I see Federer playing a solid 2012 season with a good shot at winning a major but probably no more

The Rest Of The Field

I would be surprised if anybody outside the Top3 would win a Grand Slam this year! Andy Murray has phases where he plays really well but he has not shown that he can play aggressive enough when it really matters and that’s what it takes to win majors!

Nevertheless let’s have a quick look at some interesting players to watch this year:

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

We all know that Tsonga has a huge game and can beat anybody on any given day. It seems like he might be maturing a little bit and I expect him to play a strong 2012 season, possibly reaching the semifinals of some Grand Slam tournaments!

Tsonga Can Hit Winners From Any Situation!
Check Out This Inredible Backhand!

Mardy Fish

I expect Mardy to continue with his strong form. He has the game and now also the maturity to consistently stay in the Top10 and mix it up with the top players!

Juan-Martin Del Potro

Del Potro is back to number 11 in the world and when he is healthy and in form he is a serious contender for Grand Slam titles. I think he will get close to the Top5 again this year unless he gets injured!

Andy Roddick

Andy is ranked number 14 in the world right now and I believe it is going to be very hard for him to get back into the Top10. His backhand is simply too weak and he does not hit his forehand big enough anymore. I think he will decline a bit further this year!

Bernard Tomic

The upcoming Australian has an unusual game that can bother even the best players in the world. He is currently ranked 42 in the world and I believe he will continue to climb this year and get at least inside the Top20!

There are of course many more interesting players but I simply picked out a few that I thought are worth mentioning!

The Women’s Game

In contrast to the men’s game, the women’s game seems wide open once again. It is really tough to predict who will come out in strong form and who will win the majors. Nevertheless, I will of course take a shot at it anyways!

The two players that I expect to do really well in 2012 are Petra Kvitova and Sam Stosur. Both of them have incredible weapons and tasted success in 2011

Since the field is so open though and there are many players that could do well this year, I will simply have a quick look at some of the most prominent players as well as a few upcoming players!

Petra Kvitova

Kvitova’s game is just phenomenal. She is a lefty with a big serve and overall huge weapons. I think it took her quite a bit of time to realize how good she actually is; especially since she was not a phenomenal junior player!

Now she probably has the confidence and belief to consistently play at a very high level, which means trouble for all the other girls on the WTA Tour!

Petra Kvitova
Possibly The Star Of The 2012 Season ?

Prediction: I see Kvitova winning at least one Grand Slam title this year, possibly more!

Click the following link for my in-depth game analysis of Petra Kvitova!

Sam Stosur

Stosur has been a player with huge potential for quite a while. She had her breakthrough at the 2011 US Open where she dominated with huge serves and forehands! I think she has the best kick serve and the most dangerous forehand in the women’s game right now!

Stosur Winning The US Open With One Of Her Huge Forehands!

At times in her career, it appeared like Stosur might be lacking confidence or mental toughness in general but I am sure the US Open triumph gave her a lot of confidence and I expect her to do really well in 2012!

Prediction: I believe Stosur’s chances of winning another Grand Slam title this year are pretty good!

Click the following link for my in-depth game analysis of Sam Stosur

Serena Williams

Serena in good form is still always one of the favourites at any Grand Slam in my opinion. Nevertheless, the competition is getting better and girls like Petra Kvitova and Sam Stosur have big games as well and with the recent success now probably also have the confidence to win against Serena late in a Grand Slam tournament!

Prediction: It is really tough to judge whether or not Serena is preparing hard and is hungry enough to win more majors. My guess is that she will prepare hard and show up in good form for at least 1 or 2 majors this year!

Kim Clijsters

Kim is coming back from some time off once again and it is tough to say how well she is going to play. In top form she can always contend for Grand Slam titles!

Maria Sharapova

Maria has been working hard on her game and showed good progress last year. In order to win another Grand Slam she needs to get her serving troubles under control though!

Sharapova has a slight stop in her motion and therefore the whole motion is not really fluid and her rhythm is not very good. She starts off fast and then slows down in order to speed up again towards contact. This is not a very good rhythm to have!

Have a look at the first serve she hits in this youtube video
Can you see the slight stop and the lack of fluidity ?

Caroline Wozniacki

Caroline is currently ranked number 1 in the world and has spend quite a bit of time at that spot by now! Nevertheless, she has not been able to show her best Tennis when it really matters at the Grand Slams and I remain skeptical about her chances, since she relies too much on consistency and does not seem to be able to play offensive enough!

Sabine Lisicki

Sabine has huge potential, which she showed last year by getting to the Wimbledon semi-finals last year. I think she has to get just a bit stronger on the mental side and then she is definitely a solid Top10 player!

Andrea Petkovic

Andrea is another German player on the rise. She is known for her hard work ethic, which has taken her all the way to number 10 in the world. I expect her to continue improving slowly but surely!

All right. That was it for my 2012 Preview and Predictions. I hope you enjoyed it and are as excited about the upcoming season as I am!

Roger Federer won the ATP World Tour Finals in London yesterday with a 6:3 6:7 6:3 victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Federer has now won three tournaments in a row and holds a 17 match winning streak!

He also holds a new record now with 6 titles at the World Tour Finals. This success certainly puts a nice ending to Federer’s otherwise mediocre season and should give him some confidence going into the new year!

Check Out The Finals Highlights!

Federer’s Form

Throughout this tournament and the previous two events in Basel and Paris, Roger Federer has played some incredible Tennis. He is serving extremely well and his forehand is as dangerous as it has ever been. Playing on these fast under courts with rather low bounces makes him almost unbeatable when he is serving well and hitting his forehand at this level!

Backhand Problems

Throughout these three tournaments it was also obvious though that Roger’s backhand wasn’t working very well!

He framed a lot of shots and also had to slice many backhands. He was still able to dominate because of the indoor surfaces that allowed him to hit very few backhands throughout his matches and also because Nadal and Djokovic were not in good form at all!

I believe that this backhand problem will become a big issue in the next season if Federer and his coach, Paul Annacone don’t get a handle on it and clean up the stroke in the off-season!

Paul Annacone is not known to work on players technique though. As a matter of fact he coached Pete Sampras for years, knowing that Pete had a problem on his one-handed backhand. Obviously Pete was very successful under Annacone even though his backhand wasn’t superb.

For Roger Federer these days the competition is tougher though and I believe guys like Nadal and Djokovic will most likely punish this backhand weakness!

The Barclays ATP World Tour finals are getting towards the end of the group phase and there have been some surprising results so far!

Not surprisingly Roger Federer is looking very strong!

He already played well in Basel and Paris, the two tournaments that he won before the masters. He beat his rival Rafael Nadal 6-3 6-0 in an unbelievable performance the other day. The level he showed there reminded me of how he used to play a few years ago when he was winning almost everything.

Check Out The Federer Nadal Highlights Here:

Federer As The Favorite

The way he is playing he is certainly my favorite to win the title. Of course it also helps that neither Rafael Nadal nor Novak Djokovic are in good form this week. Nadal and Djokovic both look tired out there and after Nadal got beat handily by Federer, Djokovic also lost 3-6 1-6 to David Ferrer.

Check Out The Last Few Points From Djokovic Ferrer:
Djokovic Looks Tired And Disspirited!

Tomas Berdych showed his mental weakness once more when he lost to Djokovic in the opening match. Berdych had all the chances to win the match, including a match point but got really tight and couldn’t pull off the victory.

David Ferrer has won his first two matches and is playing solid Tennis as usual. I don’t really see him as a threat to take out Federer though! 

Possibly Jo-Wilfried Tsonga could have a chance to compete against Federer. He lost a close match in the group match to Roger and if he advances they could meet up again in the finals. Nevertheless Roger is now the big favorite to win this title once more!

Andy Murray won his third tournament in a row this past weekend in Shanghai. He beat David Ferrer 7-5 6-4 in the finals. With this victory he also surpassed Roger Federer in the world rankings. Murray advanced to number 3 and Federer fell to number 4 for the first time since 2003.

Shanghai Finals Highlights

Murray is playing some exceptional Tennis at the moment.

So What Does This Mean For Murray ?

Andy has now won 24 out of his last 25 matches and all of these victories should definitely be great for his confidence. Nevertheless, Murray also knows that the only victory against one of his main rivals was the one against Rafael Nadal in. Murray played well in that match but Nadal was also clearly not in his best form.

I don’t think that these victories are all that significant!They are great for the ranking but there is really no difference between being number 3 or number 4. Murray still faces the same problem as before: Can he raise his game and play aggressive enough in the late stages of a Grand Slam when he faces either Djokovic, Nadal, or Federer ? I remain sceptical but I certainly wouldn’t rule it out!

Federer Falling To Number 4

Roger Federer is ranked outside of the Top3 for the first time in 8 years. This has been all over the news and many experts are discussing how significant this really is. I don’t believe that it means much at all. Federer does not focus on rankings anymore at this stage in his career. He needs to protect his body and make sure that he can peak for the Grand Slams. I believe that is really all he cares about at this point.

Falling outside of the Top4 could be an issue for Federer because he would have to play one of the other top guys earlier in a Grand Slam. I doubt that he even worries about this though. In his head he can beat anybody on any given day and therefore I believe that he only worries about his form and peaking at the right times.

Kvitova Victorious In Linz

Peta Kvitova won her first tournament since Wimbledon this past week in Linz. She has been struggling with her form since winning Wimbledon in July of this year. Winning such a major tournament at a young age can of course be difficult to digest.

It will be interesting to see how she continues from here on because I believe that her game has the potential to take her to the very top of the women’s game if she can be tough mentally day in and day out!