The game itself was a see-saw ride for the fans. Nadal started well by winning the first set 7-5 but Djokovic came back to dominate the next two sets 6-4, 6-2. At the end of the third set Nadal looked down and out but put in one last great effort to win the 4th in a tie breaker 7-6 to push the game into the 5th. Djokovic though held his nerve to clinch the final set 7-5 to win the match and the title.

It was a brilliant start for Djokovic in 2012 but for Nadal this was yet another loss to the Serbian in a grand slam. Nadal will now want to wait for his favorite surface at the Roland Garros for revenge if at all they face each other in the finals.

Leander’s Career slam:

Leander Paes finally won the Australian open to complete the career slam. This was the only title which was missing from his resume and he will be relieved that he finally got the monkey of his back. Leander and Stepanek were unseeded in this tournament and were brilliant in the finals. The Bryan brothers were chasing their 12 doubles title which would have given them the record currently held by the woodies and it was understandable that only a special effort from their opponent can deny them the prize. Leander and Stepanek were absolutely brilliant in the finals and provided no opening for the number 1 pair in both the sets.

The Paes/Stepanek pair had defeated the number 2 and number 3 seeds on their way to the finals which would for sure have given them a huge boost. It was a great tournament for Leander and he deserves the career slam. It would have been particularly sweet win for him as he had lost to the Bryan brothers at least 3 times in the finals of the Australian open in the past. Kudos to the Indian legend and I hope that he wins more titles this year and continues to succeed at the world level.

Overall it was a great open and the weather was fantastic throughout. The men’s tennis once again proved the domination of the top 3 as they ended up in the Semis once again. Roger, Nadal and Djokovic have dominated the slams over the past year or so and it will be great to see others stepping up in the remaining 3 slams in 2012.

The seeding chart for Wimbledon 2011 was announced couple of days back. Nadal has been seeded number 1 for the tournament followed by Djokovic at number two and Roger Federer at 3. Andy Murray and Robin Soderling complete the top 5.

As usual as it has been the case over the past couple of years, the top 3 seeds will be in focus again. Federer who has won this championship 6 times till now will be one of the favorites. Rafael Nadal is the current defending champion will be the man to beat. Nadal who did not look in great touch during his recent French campaign was still able to win the championship. This says a lot about his skill and determination.

Novak Djokovic is seeded 2 this time and for sure is another favorite to win the championship. Djokovic won the Australian Open earlier this year and had an unbeaten run in 2011 until he ran into a determined Roger Federer in French Open Semis.

In spite of Andy Murray and Soderling having a fair shot at reaching the final stages of the championship, it is very hard to look past the top three as the eventual winners.

Roger Federer reaching the French Open finals against all odd should give him much needed confidence on his favorite surface. Nadal and Djokovic have so far had a great year and have been rightly seeded at the top for their efforts. This is going to be a great championship after a long time. We haven’t had three contenders for the title since Federer won the title in 2003.

The men’s competition is for sure going to be a blast. I am for sure rooting for Roger and I hope that he wins the championship to re-establish his dominance on grass. Go Fedex!

Rafael Nadal proved last Sunday that he is truly the king of clay court. Rafa, who admitted ahead of his semi-finals clash that he was not playing well enough to win the title, did exactly that playing a brilliant game of tennis in the finals. Federer who was on a high after defeating the pre-tournament favorite Djokovic found Nadal too hot to handle in the final and went down fighting in a four set battle. It was a brilliant win for Nadal as he once again proved what a great player he is on any surface.

Now after the French open is complete the focus now shifts to grass courts of Wimbledon. The surface which was once a fortress of Roger Federer till it was breached by Rafael Nadal in the year 2008. Federer had won the championship 5 straight times prior to that and that was the time Nadal started to prove himself on different surfaces. Federer though came back to win the title in 2009 but lost in the Quarters last year. That was the first time Federer did not make it to the Finals of a Wimbledon championship in 8 years.

Roger has not been in great form since his fabulous win in the Australian Open 2010. He has been often upstaged by Djokovic and Nadal over the past year or so. He reaching the finals of the French Open against all odd should give him immense confidence ahead of the Wimbledon Championship.

It all began for the Champion in 2003 in Wimbledon and what a great career it has been till now. It has been a brilliant journey and I hope that he has one last hurrah. A win on his favorite surface will for sure give him the much needed confidence to keep going for couple more years.

I hope that we have a great championship once again on grass, a surface I just love watching tennis on. Roger is my favorite tennis player since Sampras and Agassi and I will be rooting for him all the way at the Wimbledon championship. For now let’s congratulate Nadal for his brilliant win on clay and hope Federer can repeat the same on grass in a month’s time.

This set up an exciting contest between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the Finals. This is some sort of a renewal of the rivalry as recently Djokovic has been dominating the tennis scene. So we have yet another great game in the offing between the two modern greats of the game. Will Nadal win his sixth title or will Federer continue his dream run on clay? We will know the answer to that on Sunday. Go Fed-Ex.

So the French Open is in its final week and the top 5 have made the Men’s quarter-finals. We are still on track for yet another Nadal-Djokovic showdown in the finals which will be 3rd in the last one month.

Djokovic, who is already in the Semis, courtesy a walkover from Fabio Fognini, will be awaiting the result of Roger Federer Vs Gael Monfils game with lots of interest. If Roger does come through that game, he will have to face up to Djokovic in the semis, which again throws up a great contest.

The other quarter-final which will be interesting is the game between Robin Soderling Vs Rafael Nadal.

Nadal himself will admit that he has not had a great tournament by his own standards. He barely scraped through in couple of earlier round games and hasn’t looked completely convincing reaching the quarters.

Robin who has been playing exceedingly well over the past couple of years will not be an easy opponent to face in the quarters. Nadal faces the prospect of meeting Andy Murray in the semis if he does get through the quarters.

The Semi-Final lineup looks incredibly exciting if the things go according to the script. We might have a Federer Vs Djokovic and Nadal Vs Murray Semis which will be a dream come true for the fans.

Now the question is that whether Nadal and Djokovic will meet once again in the much anticipated clash or will Murray and Federer spoil the party to make the finals themselves? We will have to wait and see; hopefully we will see some exciting games in the coming days.

Somdev though wasn’t that fortunate as he crashed out of French Open singles earlier today when he lost to world No 37 Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia. Somdev who is ranked 66 in the world found Ljubicic extremely tough to handle and lost in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3 and 6-4. The men’s doubles round are yet to begin where Leander and Mahesh will try to win their first Grand Slam after their reunion last year. I wish them best of luck and hopefully we will have couple of titles this year at the French Open.

With less than a week away from French open 2011, all eyes will be on the Serbian Novak Djokovic. Djokovic who is yet to be beaten in 2011 will start the tournament as the favorite along with Rafael Nadal. Beating Nadal twice in two weeks on clay would have obviously given him enormous confidence going into the open this Sunday. Nadal who has ruled the clay in the past will be defending his crown when the open kicks off on the 22nd of May. His biggest competitor this time will be the Serbian who beat him twice in two weeks in Rome and Madrid to get within touching distance of the number 1 ranking.

Nadal himself admitted after his defeat in Rome that Novak Djokovic is playing brilliantly and will be the player to beat in the French Open. Djokovic who has already won a Grand Slam this year would want to claim his first French Open title. Should he reach his first final at Roland Garros 2011, he will overtake Nadal to become the number 1 player in the world. Roger Federer who will be the number 3 seed in the tournament would also like to make an impact in the second Grand Slam of the year. By his lofty standards the former champion has had a pretty poor run this year.

But I feel that this year’s championship will be all about Nadal and Djokovic. Djokovic will surely want to be there in the finals which will give him a chance to claim his second Grand Slam of the year. Nadal will want to avenge his defeat at Rome and Madrid and reaffirm his status as king of clay court. The rise of Djokovic has for sure spiced up the men’s championship this year and the fact that he has a chance of dethroning Nadal from the perch makes it all the more interesting.

2011 promises to be a great year for tennis fans. With the emergence of Novak Djokovic, the stranglehold which Nadal and Federer had on world tennis has been lifted and to see a three way battle to supremacy is a great feeling. Even though the Serbian has had a brilliant year or so, I was skeptical if he would be able to dominate Nadal on clay, which has been his fortress for a long time now. Rafael Nadal who is still the world number 1 has been unbeatable on clay in the past and even the great Federer was unable to get past him in his prime.

With the French Open just a month away the clay court season has already begun. When Djokovic defeated Nadal in the finals of Madrid open, he proved to the world that he can be a handful on clay too. It was a big setback for Nadal as the surface has been like a fortress for the champion over the years and he is expected to do well on the same. This win has once again reiterated the fact that Djokovic is now ready to take over the mantle of the best player in the world. A win on clay has also proven that the guy can not only play on any surface but can dominate too. With this win Djokovic is just within a touching distance of the world number 1 ranking. If he can win the title in Rome (his 7th consecutive title if he does) he will dethrone Rafael Nadal at the top of the rankings.

Men’s tennis has once again become interesting, with the emergence of Djokovic, Murray and Soderling. It’s now not just a Federer and Nadal show as it was couple of years back. I congratulate Novak Djokovic on a brilliant start to the year 2011 and I hope that he gets the number 1 ranking which he very much deserves.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal now have to battle for Supremacy with Djokovic in a three way race to the top

Few years back world tennis was all about Nadal and Federer. Even though there were others, none of them challenged the supremacy of these two greats and they remained the undisputed world number 1 and 2. In the last year or so, with the emergence of Novak Djokovic we can see there is a shift in the tide. Djokovic who won the Australian open championship this year has a perfect record of 24-0 in 2011 and is yet to be beaten on the tour this year. He has already displaced Federer at the number 2 spot as has constantly beaten Nadal in their recent encounters.

The recent win in Miami against Nadal further confirms his rise to supremacy. The year 2011 has just begun and it is already promising to be a great year for tennis fan. With the rise of Djokovic the battle to the top is now a three way thing and I feel that the Federer Vs Nadal rivalry is now thing of the past. Nadal also has been dominating Federer in their recent meetings. So I guess the rivalry between Djokovic and Nadal has more weight in the current scenario. Djokovic is now the man to beat in tennis, both Nadal and Federer have found difficult to beat him in recent times. The Serbian in his recent interview has said that becoming the world number 1 is his ambition will want to begin the quest with the clay court season. Clay is a surface which has been a fortress of Rafael Nadal and a win there would almost confirm Djokovic as the next tennis great.

So Federer and Nadal now have a battle in their hands and with players like Andy Murray and Del Potro also close to their heels, we might have a great 2011 ahead. The French open will be interesting as Djokovic would want to extend his supremacy on clay too. It will be interesting to see who will finish as the best player in the rankings at the end of this season. And for the first time in few years it will not be a battle just between Nadal and Federer, which is a good thing for men’s tennis.

It has to be noted that Somdev entered the tournament as a qualifier which makes his effort all the more spectacular. He defeated Marcos Baghdatis, who is ranked 22 in the world also Xavier Malisse who is ranked at 45 in the world. It was a wonderful performance from the Indian and I hope that he breaks into top 50 this year. This will mean that he will get an automatic entry into the Grand Slams this year, unless he slips really badly in the rankings. This has been a brilliant beginning to the year by Somdev and I hope that his performance in the Indian wells is merely a beginning. I hope that he scales many more peaks in the years to come. India badly needs a tennis superstar and Somdev is well on his way to becoming that.