Shahar downs Dinara

From the Wimbledon site:

Congratulations to Shahar Peer for her win over Dinara Safina.

Wimbledon what if

The top three tennis ranks could change considerably depending on the outcome at Wimbledon in the next two weeks.

The biggest plausible change is this:
Hewitt defeats Federer and Nadal wins the tournament. Nadal then #1 on 6055 and Federer #2 on 6050.

More plausible is this:
Djokovic defeats Federer and goes on to win, defeating Nadal at the final. Federer remains #1 on 6350, Djokovic now #2 on 5910 and Nadal #3 on 5755.

Also plausible:
As above but Nadal beats Djokovic in the final. Federer remains #1 on 6350 with Nadal at #2 on 6055 and Djokovic at #3 on 5610. This would put just one tournament win between the top three players.

Djokovic could only reach the #1 ranking if he won and Federer went down in the 1st round, a highly unlikely scenario.

This narrowing of ranking points makes for an exciting Wimbledon ahead.

saint david with halo

Nalbandian @ abierto mexicano

friendly welcome to Israeli tennis star

©Getty Images
Doha, Qatar (February 18): Player Welcome Ceremony
Shahar Peer reacted to applause as she was introduced to the stadium crowd.
@ wta

Update: In a ynet report, Peer becomes first Israeli to play in Persian Gulf region, I learned that Peer was actually prevented by Israeli authorities from previously playing in this Muslim country. That is, she was not directly barred from playing by Qatar itself:

Peer was barred from playing in Doha for two years when she underwent military training in the IDF, as the Israeli government prevented her from competing in countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

two passions unite

Two of my passions - tennis and Israel - have come together in this news item from Australian Jewish News: Israeli tennis stars to create history. I'm delighted to read that the fairness of the tennis world is invading a couple of the more modern Muslim states in the Persian Gulf: UAE (United Arab Emirates) hosting tournaments in Dubai and Qatar hosting a tournament in Doha.

The player and tournament details are as follows:

WTA - commencing 18feb08 - Doha, Qatar - Shahar Peer
WTA - commencing 25feb08 - Dubai, UAE - Tzipora (Tzipi) Obziler
ATP - commencing 3mar08 - Dubai, UAE - men's double Jonathan (Yoni) Erlich and Andy Ram *

* recent winners at the Australian Open

** Dudi Sela is also a promising ATP player. Will he also try for Dubai?

My best wishes to all of these brave and talented players.

Celebration time: Jonathan Erlich leaps into the arms of Andy Ram
after their straight sets win. © Getty Images

the Nalbandian record so far

Federer would be a formidable opponent for any player who's ever picked up a racquet, but consider Nalbandian has split his 16 meetings with the World No. 1, winning their last two matches.

If that 8-8 career record doesn't seem particularly impressive, then consider this stat. If you exclude Nadal, who has been Federer's nemesis, and Nalbandian, the rest of the top 10 has a combined 4-63 lifetime record vs. Roger. The individual records for each player vs. Roger is listed here:

• Novak Djokovic 1-5 vs. Federer
• Nikolay Davydenko 0-11 vs. Federer
• David Ferrer 0-8 vs. Federer
• Andy Roddick 1-15 vs. Federer
• Fernando Gonzalez 1-10 vs. Federer
• Richard Gasquet 1-6 vs. Federer
• Tommy Robredo 0-10 vs. Federer

That means Nalbandian has doubled the combined victory output seven of the world's top 10 players have against Federer.

Unlike his fellow top 10 pros, Nalbandian isn't searching for the right formula to defeat Federer: he already has it. His backhand, one of the best two-handers in the game, can corner Federer on his weaker backhand side. Nalbandian possesses one of the best return of serves in the world (his ability to re-direct pace off the backhand side is almost Agassi-like), he is well-balanced off both forehand and backhand side, he is capable of competing on all surfaces - reaching the semifinals of all four majors, including the 2002 Wimbledon - and he matches up well with the world's top players.

Three weeks removed from his 26th birthday, Nalbandian has only won seven career titles, but if he can commit to a continuous conditioning program that prevents him from wearing down in the latter stages of tournaments, he can be a consistent top five player and contend for majors.

from Alberto Amalf: Galloping Gaucho

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tennis 2008

My pick for success in the coming season: David Nalbandian

still from interview following Madrid/Paris ATP Masters wins at end of 2007 season