The World of Tennis

Checking in at the Wozniacki - Wickmayer presser

2011-04-09T14:33:00.003-04:00

One of the neat things about this being a smaller tournament, is the fact that you can be assured to get some questions in at the post-match press conferences.
Shortly after the conclusion of the match, I headed over to the media tent and readied myself for the chance to ask both players about the match. Wozniacki appeared first with a big smile on her face. Honestly, after seeing her in person, i don’t know why people do not like her.

Here is a sample of their answers:

World of Tennis: Caroline, what changes did you make in your game to turn things in your favor in that third set?
Wozniacki: Well, I just kept focused, and you know, i knew that I was going to get one chance, and i had to take that one. And I did, and it turned out in my favor, so I’m very happy.
World of Tennis: You injured yourself here last year, rolling your ankle in the clay. Is that in the back of your mind?
Wozniacki: No, I mean I’m taped up you know. It happens. Injuries happen, and that’s it. I just need the match play and the confidence to slide on clay, get that back, and i feel like I’m getting there.

World of Tennis: Yanina, reaching the quarters here and barely losing to the number 1 player in the world, does this build your confidence going into the clay court season?
Wickmayer: Yeah, for sure. I have Fed Cup on hard first which is going to be a little bit strange going back, but i am definitely going back to clay. So it’s going to be a little difficult going back to hard and then going back to clay. I mean this was a good week for me and a good first week on clay.
I think I never played that well the first week on clay, so that’s really good, and i adapted really fast, which is good. So i hope that one week on hard is not going to change anything and the day i get back out on clay I’ll feel like i do today. A lot of clay tournaments are coming, I have Brussels before French which is at home, so I’m really excited about that.

Wozniacki through to Family Circle Cup Semis

2011-04-09T13:54:00.007-04:00

Caroline Wozniacki defeated Yanina Wickmayer 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in front of a near full capacity main stadium at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina.
Things did not start well for Caro, as she dropped the first set 6-4 to the more aggressive Belgian player. In the second set, Yanina kept up dictating the points, and had an early break, but a slight drop in her game allowed Wozniacki to get back in the match.
At 2-3 in the 2nd set, Caroline broke Yanina to even things out and get back in serve. With the crowd in her side, Wozniacki was able to get a key break at 5-4 to push the game into a 2nd set.
In the first three games of the deciding set, Yanina regained her intensity, getting a break of serve along the way. Her aggressive style of play was giving Wozniacki all sorts of trouble.
Wickmayer was being the aggressor both in her service and return game and all signs seemed to point to a looming upset. Wozniacki however, had other plans.
With Wickmayer serving at 4-3, Caroline showed her fighting spirit, broke Yanina and leveled the match at 4-4. She would then go on to hold serve and in a very anti-climatic end to the match, win by breaking Wickmayer to settle the final score.
Yanina had the game in the bag late in that third set but lost her focus just long enough for the #1 player in the world to overtake her. Wozniacki on the other hand displayed the fighting spirit that by now characterizes her.

AO 2011 Preview: Nadal's Draw

2011-01-13T20:33:00.008-05:00

This should be called the Auckland draw, as three of the four finalists (Nalbandian, Ferrer and Giraldo) at the Heineken Open tournament in Auckland found themselves in this part of the draw.

But lets examine it round by round:

1st Round:
The notable match of this first round is without a doubt the encounter between David Nalbandian and Lleyton Hewitt. They first met back in 2002 when a back-then skinny 21 year old from Argentina made it all the way through to the Finals of Wimbledon and faced off against the #1 player in the world, Lleyton Hewitt. Hewitt would go on to win that match, but they would later meet in an epic 5 setter Australian Open semifinal, one that gets forgotten due to another famous SF that year (Fed/Safin). Hewitt holds a 3-2 head-head record, but Nalby has won the last 2 encounters. Slight edge to David in 4 tough sets.

2nd Round:
The second round has some interesting potential matchups. Stepanek has regained some of his old form, but he is still not the place he once was. A match vs Isner would be fun to watch, although John should have enough firepower to go through. Cilic would love to match or better his Semifinal showing of last year, but he will be challenged in the 2nd rd against the in-form Santiago Giraldo. Lastly, i'd keep an eye on the young Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis. A lot of people see him crack the top 40 by the end of the year. A win here vs Nalbandian/Hewitt would certainly up his credentials.

3rd Round:
Rafa finally meets a little bit of competition. To his credit, Feliciano does have a win against Rafa last year, but Nadal has won all 3 previous meetings on Hard Courts and will be too much for Feli to handle. A towering matchup between Isner and Cilic should give fans a mouth-watering battle, id expect to see a couple of tiebreakers there. Nalbandian/Ferrer could be a rematch of this week's Auckland Final. Ferrer took that one easily, but with the stakes raised, i see David barely escaping a defeat here.

Marin Cilic could pose some trouble for Rafa

Round of 16
Marin will have done well to reach this point, but against the #1 player in the world, the party stops here. Nadal is hungry for the RAFA slam and he should be rested from the easy path here. Youzhny's deep run at the US Open helped his ranking, thus the lesser opponents he will see until this point. The going gets tough here tough as a potential match vs Nalbandian will test his progress and eventually reveal he's a fluke top 10 seed.

Quarterfinal
Its unfortunate because on paper a Nalbandian vs Nadal quarters sounds like quite the entree following the appetizers, but Nalby could not have asked for a tougher path to the QF. If he survives this far, he'll get hammered by a fresher Nadal.

Mid-day Recap of January 6th action at ASB Classic

2011-01-05T23:28:00.004-05:00

Let's catch up on the action at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.

Yesterday we had #3 seed Kutznetzova go down to Shuai Peng, well Peng followed up that win today with a tough 2 set win over Heather Watson that put her through to the Semifinal. Also joining her will be #2 seed Yanina Wickmayer who had an easy win over Simona Halep. Later today we'll have the final QF match, between Julia Goerges and K. Bondarenko.

The shocker of the day came from Hungary's Greta Arn who tookout Maria Sharapova in straight sets. The scrappy Arn, kept Masha off balance all match and ended her tournament at the QF stage, which most likely means we will see Sharapova enter next week's Sydney International.

Quarterfinals:
Shaui Peng def Heather Watson 6-4, 7-5.
#2 Yanina Wickmayer def Simona Halep 6-0, 6-2
Greta Arn def Maria Sharapova 6-2, 7-5

Semifinals:
Shaui Peng vs #2 Yanina Wickmayer
Greta Arn vs Georges/Bondarenko winner

Fed's done it again!!

2011-01-04T11:48:00.003-05:00

I have to admit Federer is one my least liked players in the tour. As a matter of fact i usually cheer against him, but gosh does he have some god-given talents out in the tennis courts. Today at the Qatar ExxonMobile Open, he once again displayed the skills that gave him the nickname The "Swiss Maestro". Sit back and enjoy yet another beauty from Roger.

Baghdatis Interview in Brisbane

2011-01-03T00:54:00.004-05:00

One of the most liked players in the Tour, Marcos Baghdatis sat down for an interview prior to his participation at the Brisbane International. Baghdatis will look to find his form of 2006 when he reached a career high of #8 in the world and also reached the finals of the Australian Open. He most certainly has the game to once again be a top 10 player but as always his fitness will either keep him from or propel him to reaching his goals for 2011.

Video Courtesy of: ATPWorldTour.com

ATP - Top 5 Points/Shots of 2010

2010-12-31T03:06:00.007-05:00

And on the last day of the year, i'll share with you all what i thought where the best points/shots of 2010. I know many will disagree, there are so many great shots that we saw throughout the year that is impossible to agree on the best 5, but here go the ones i most vividly remember from this great season. Please feel free to share yours in the comment section. Thanks and Enjoy!

Number 5: Gael Monfils vs Andy Roddick at 2010 Japan Open. Monfils is quite the showman, he produces so many breathtaking shots during the lapse of one match that it is hard to choose one from a full calendar year. I went with this one because it made me jump out the seat when i saw it live.

Number 4: Roger Federer Tweener vs Brian Dabul at US Open 2010. The swiss maestro could not be missing from this list. It may not have been the greatest point ever, but what a way to finish it. The precision and accuracy it takes to pull this off is something only a great player like Fed could accomplish.

Number 3: Nadal vs Ferrer at Rome 2010 Final. Ferru has the tragic honor of being the victim of 2 great points. In this one, both him and Rafa show their incredible speed, agility and craftiness. Points like this is why we live, eat and breathe tennis.

Number 2: Verdasco Match Point winner vs Ferrer at US Open 2010. I could not leave this one out, i remember Nadal was playing at the same time, and they kept showing updates of the Verdasco match. I finally tuned in online to the stream and watched an epic 5th set. It all culminated with this terrific shot by Fernando.

Number 1: Superb rally between Nadal and Verdasco. The number one player in the planet at the moment actually loses this point, but boy does the reaction of Fernando at the end tell you just how hard you have to work to win a single point from his fellow Spaniard. Out of this world point from these two.

Honorable Mention:
* Murray around the post shot against Cilic.
* Novak's two match saving points against Fed in US Open semis.
* Iztomin's amazing point against Rafa.

Interview with Andrea Collarini

2010-12-30T17:26:00.005-05:00

Andrea Collarini (ATP Ranking: 580th) was born in the United States but he moved at an early age to Argentina, was raised and shaped into a tennis player there. He explains his reasons for leaving the country to play in the USTA (United States Tennis Association) also clearing up the ordeal with the Argentine Tennis Association who denied him a Wild Card to the recent Copa Topper.

How did you get started with tennis?
- I began to play at around age 3 or 4 with my dad. We used to train at GEBA in Jorge Newbery, Buenos Aires. I would always wait for him to stop playing or in the mornings I would wake him up early to go out there and play.

What made you choose tennis and not another sport?
- I would go to school from 8 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon, practically all day and I would play tennis and rugby there. I liked rugby a lot better because I could practice it with my friends, but one day I came back home with a cut on my forehead and my parents, especially my mom, told me to stop playing it. Up until that point I would only practice tennis twice a week, but once I dropped rugby I began to fully dedicate my time to tennis and I began to get better.

How were your first years playing tennis?
- In first grade I began to play tournaments but tennis was not my priority. Mi focus was always in school, but in one preseason I began to have great results and I fell in love with the competition. It was then, at age 14, that I changed to a school that only met for half of the day and I begun to practice on the afternoons as well.

Did you finish your schooling?
- Yes, I did last year. I took online courses for my last year.

How did you deal with the traveling? Did you receive any financial aid?
- To the tournaments I would always travel with my dad, and it was him that would support me financially for my travels. Luckily I never needed help in that aspect from others.

Did you find any sponsors?
When I was 15, IMG began to represent me, but they were not sponsors. Yonex and Nike did become my sponsors, but they would not pay directly for the traveling, but rather gave me a salary.

How did Nike find out about you?
- In a tour of Europe, when I was 14 years old, they came up to me and asked me if I would sign a contract with them, and obviously I could not refuse. The same happened with Yonex, they offered to sponsor me at the Orange Bowl.

Why did you leave for the United States?
- First of all because I was able to keep my same trainer, Diego Moyano. He was very sure that this was the best option for me, I would get to play in Hard Courts which would help improve my all-around game. In United States they also offered me to play in more tournaments, I would have Wild Cards and more financial help, although that wasn’t the main reason.

So, what was the main reason?
The main reason was that all of my family and my coach believed this was the best option for me to evolve my game. Living on my own would also help me mature faster.

How did you handle the move?
Good. Like with everything, it takes time for one to adapt. At first it was a little more difficult but I know feel like I’ve adapted well.

You were accustomed to playing against Argentines. When you left, did you find difficult the competition from the Americans?
- Of course, I had played against other Argentines in hard courts but it was totally different against Americans because they grew up playing in this surface all their life. It is the same as when they have to face me in a clay court, because they are not used to them. For me the competition overall was the same. The pace of the game is very fast and they all seem to serve very well. I was training hard for a month to adapt myself and I went several weeks without being able to win.

This year you played as sparring for the United States Davis Cup Team. How was that Experience?
- Very good. I got to share a week with Top 20 players.

What memories do you have of your time with them?
- (John) Isner and (Sam) Querrey are two kids. They are older but they acted closer to my age (Laughs). We would play all the time, cards, really anything. It was great seeing them up close to see how they would hit and how they would train.

This year you were finalist of the Roland Garros Junior tournament and you lost to your friend Agustin Velloti. How was it to play him?

- I was very nervous for the fact that it was the final. Against Agustin I’ve played at least 15 times or more. I played very well but he served incredibly. Honestly, we played an unbelievable game; I would love to play it again because it was something special.

Can you clarify what happened with your Wild Card to the Copa Topper?
- Yes, I am part of this club (Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club) and my dad had asked one of the directors for a WC. I always played interclub for them and this person said that they would get me one, but when it was presented to the AAT (Argentine Tennis Association), they denied it because WC were only going to Argentine tennis players.

How did you feel when they denied the request?
- (With his head down) nothing, if I had to make the request directly to the Association I wouldn’t have even asked for it. But because I am part of this club, and they were willing to give me the WC, I was hoping I would get it, so it is a shame it did not happen.

Do you plan to play in the Buenos Aires ATP tournament?
- The one in February? No, I don’t think I have a high enough ranking to enter the qualifiers, but hopefully next year.

What goals do you have for 2011?
- To continue to better myself but without looking at the ranking. If you have the game, the ranking will follow. I would also like to play in more challengers.

Interview courtesy of EL TENIS QUE NO VEMOS (eltenisquenovemos.com.ar).
Translation: Bruno Alatrista

Lu Yen-Hsun, Taiwan's "Man of the Year"

2010-12-29T14:04:00.009-05:00

Lu Yen-Hsun, the pride of Taiwan, and the nation's best tennis player was selected today as the country's 2010 MAN OF THE YEAR. That is right folks, not Sportsman of the year but rather the highest honor a person can receive in Taiwan.

Taiwan is not a country rich of Sports accomplishments. They are perhaps better known for having a few baseball players reach the Major League Baseball in the United States. One of them being Yankees pitcher Chien-Ming Wang.

Tennis was for years overshadowed by the likes of Baseball and various Martial Arts which are far more popular in the country. The nation however came to a stop earlier this year during Wimbledon when little known Lu Yen-Hsun shocked the world by defeating Andy Roddick 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 9-7 in a thrilling 5 set 4th Round encounter. Lu would go on to lose in the Quarterfinals to Novak Djokovic, but he had already set his place in history becoming the first Taiwanese player to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal. Doing it at the historic Wimbledon tournament, made it that much special.

His upset of Roddick created the highest TV ratings the island saw all year. After Wimbledon, Lu moved up to a then career high of 42, he later would go on to reach a new high of 32 in November 2010.

The Man of the Year award was actually not even a close contest. Lu finished with 60% of all votes, defeating even the nation's president (Ma Ying-jeou). Lu's success and worldwide attention have put tennis back on the map in the country of Taiwan a merit that makes this Award well deserved.

Sharapova eager for 2011 season

2010-12-23T13:36:00.007-05:00

Former number one player in the world, Maria Sharapova, is anxious to put a disappointing end to the 2010 season behind her. Sharapova dropped in the year-end rankings for a 4th consecutive year and is hoping a packed January schedule will help her in preparing for the 2011 Australian Open.

Already confirmed to enter in the ASB Classic tourney in Auckland, New Zealand. Maria has also asked for a wild card to the Sydney International Tournament which takes place on the following week (January 9 to 15). Her presence there will of course be subject to her progress in Auckland.

The tournament director of the Sydney International, Craig Watson, has said that he will give Maria up until the last minute if needed to fully commit.

Despite winning the Australian Open in 2008, she has a history of struggling with the brutal Melbourne heat. Both her fitness and game have to be in top shape if she wants to make a deep run at this year's Aussie open. Last year she came into the first grand slam of the year with no games under her belt and she paid for it with a 1st round defeat to fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko (See Video Below). This year however, she is not taking any chances and we are sure to see a lot of Sharapova before the AO comes around.

Also in her calendar is her participation in the Russian Davis Cup tie against France which will take place in early February following the Aussie Open.

Sidenote: I loved Kirilenko's enthusiasm in this match. You could tell she really wanted the match.

Back and better than ever for 2011!!

2010-12-07T19:59:00.000-05:00

I am anxious to bring back THE WORLD OF TENNIS blog back to life. If all goes well within the next couple of days i will return with more match insight, tournament reviews, statistics and a whole new set of sections that i have lined up for the upcoming year. Stay tuned.

Bruno Alatrista

Funny Pic of the Week

2007-11-16T16:04:00.000-05:00

Roger "The Robot" Federer, getting his routine tune up.

Djokovic needs some rest!

2007-11-14T10:48:00.000-05:00

That's right, after a long season that saw Djokovic play over 100 games in singles and doubles competition, Novak has got nothing left in the tank. This certainly showed this week, where he lost both of his Tennis Masters Cup matches. To say that it is surprising that he lost to Ferrer and Gasquet in consecutive matches is quite an understatement. Or is it not surprising?

When you consider that Djokovic has risen to stardom this year, and the fact that in one year he has played more than in his 2 previous years combined, it is no wonder the guy was exhausted, and boy did it ever show on the court.

He still finishes the season with a very impressing record of 68-18, and lookout because this guy is for real. You don't make the semis at the French Open, Wimbledon and final at the US Open, all in one year by mistake. For now tough "Nole", take my advise and get some much needed rest, for the upcoming arduous season.

Masters Cup is under way!

2007-11-13T02:44:00.000-05:00

The Shanghai ATP Masters Cup is under way and already we have witnessed the first couple of upsets.

Roger Federer was handed a beating by Fernando Gonzalez, who took the game in 3 sets. This was of course surprising, since Roger was said to be in the "easier" of the two groups. Another player who off to a rough start was Novak Djokovic who was beat easily by David Ferrer in straight sets.

The action will continue tomorrow with an intense battle between Rafael Nadal and his compatriot and friend, David Ferrer. With a win, Ferrer can qualify to the next stage of the tournament. Nadal meanwhile is looking to bounce back from a poor game in his match with the young frenchman Richard Gasquet.

Here are the Round Robin Groups.

Group A.
Roger Federer (Switzerland)
Fernando Gonzalez (Chile)
Nikolay Davydenko (Russia)
Andy Roddick (USA)

Group B.
Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
Rafael Nadal (Spain)
David Ferrer (Spain)
Richard Gasquet (France)

Nalbandian just misses out of Masters Cup

2007-11-03T23:12:00.000-04:00

Despite winning his 2nd consecutive Master Series title, David Nalbandian ended the year ranked 9th, and will miss the year end tournament at Shanghai.

Nalbandian was eliminated when Gasquet made the semifinals of the Paribas PNB, meaning that even the championship would not be enough to qualify.

With the Tennis Master Series at Paris now completed, the field for the prestigious Masters Cup is set. The players participating will be as follows:

1)Roger Federer, 2)Rafael Nadal, 3)Novak Djokovic, 4)Andy Roddick, 5)Nikolay Davydenko, 6) David Ferrer, 7)Fernando Gonzalez, 8)Richard Gasquet.

The chilean Fernando Gonzalez, and frenchman Richard Gasquet, where the last 2 to qualify for the Masters Cup. Neither player had ever participated in the event, and they will certainly have their hands full, as this year's field is loaded with talented players. The knock on this year's field however, is that both Roddick and Davydenko are coming off injuries, and may not be at 100% health.
"Richard Gasquet, last player into the Field of 8 at the Masters Cup"

The race for Shanghai is on

2007-10-31T00:53:00.000-04:00

With only 12 days left before the start of the year-end Tennis Master Series Cup in Shanghai, there are still 2 spots up for grabs. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko, Andy Roddick and David Ferrer have all qualified for the tournament, however the 7th and 8th spots are still to be decided.

Right now, Fernando Gonzalez of Chile and Tommy Haas of Germany are hanging onto those spots, however from #10 to #25 still has a shot to get in. The last Master series Tournament before the cup is taking place right now in Paris, and the winner is awarded with 100 ATP Race points. Meaning somebody like 24th ranked, Paul-Henri Mathieu (263 points), could still overtake Current #8 player, Tommy Haas (329 points).

Federer secures year-end #1 ranking....again!

2007-10-28T20:05:00.000-04:00

Swiss maestro, Roger Federer, not only captured his second consecutive Tournament win at the Basel Swiss Indoor Championship, but also guaranteed himself a #1 ranking to end the year, for what will now be his fourth consecutive year atop the rankings.

Federer, will hold off Rafael Nadal who was not much of a factor in the circuit, after his injury at wimbledon.

This latest title, came in his homeland of Switzerland, where he defeated Jarkko Nieminen 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

With 54 career titles, including 12 Grand Slam Titles, Federer has established himself as the best player in the game right now, and perhaps of all time. He sits only 2 grand slam titles behind the great American tennis player, Pete Sampras, who captured a total of 14.

Right now it seems as tough his only challenge remains to win the French Open, the only Grand Slam tournament that has avoided him. For two years straight, he has reached the final at Roland Garros, but both times has gone down to Rafael Nadal.

Nalbandian back on top form

2007-10-24T10:24:00.000-04:00

After a dissapointing year, David Nalbandian has put himself back on the map with an incredible run last week at the Madrid Tennis Master Series event. Nalbandian finished the tournament in style, defeating the top 3 players in the world in succession (Nadal in the Quarters, Djokovic in the Semis and Federer in the final) to claim the 6th singles title of his career and first this year.

The argentine, has had to deal with injuries throughout an up and down career that has seen him ranked as high as 3rd (beginning of last year), but one that has also been limited.

Back in June, Nalbandian had dropped out of the top 25 for the first time since 2002, but even through this bad stretch he always claimed to soon recover his touch. This week, he showed us just that.

It remains to be seen, whether David will be able to keep up this high level of play, but his track record proves that he belongs back in the Top 10. When asked about his wishes to be #1 in the world, "Would i like to be #1?...of course i would, i think that is the goal of every tennis player. But i am also aware that Federer has got such a grasp on that position that not even Rafa can catch up to him. His consistency throught the year is something special. Right now i am just looking to get back into the Top 10 and work my way from there," said a realistic Nalbandian.

Clarin, Argentina's most popular newspaper, reports that Nalbandian has his eye set on winning a Grand Slam next year and helping Argentina win their first David Cup title.

Be careful of what you say

2007-10-14T20:35:00.000-04:00

The meaning of those words held very true this week for young Andy Murray of Great Britain, who caused quite a stir when he acknowledged that match fixing is a problem in the sport.

This morning, Murray denied ever stating that matches are fixed, saying that some of his words were taken out of context. The tennis world was shook up last year when serious accusations of betting and match fixing arose at wimbledon, in a match between Carlos Berloq and Richard Bloomfield.

Since this incident, russian star Nikolay Davydenko has had to deal with accusations as well, although till this day, neither one of the forementioned accusations has proved to be true.

Meanwhile, aside from the controversy, Andy Murray is enjoying yet another fine season (34-12), in what is only his second full year in the ATP Tour. Murray put himself in the map last year, when he became one of only 4 players to defeat Federer during the whole 2006 Calendar.

"Andy Murray left other players upset after his remarks"

Novak "The Joker" Djokovic

2007-10-10T00:39:00.000-04:00

It wasn't until recently that the world discovered that Novak Djokovic is one of the most colorful players on the ATP Tour. To be fair, before the beginning of this year, only avid tennis fans could have told you they knew Djokovic, the player, very well.

The combination of speed, consistency and just a great awareness in the court has allowed him to surge up the standings. He currently sits at the #3 spot in the world and has showed that he has the game to beat even great players such as Federer and Nadal.

Born in Serbia, Djokovic is one of many players that are appearing in the ATP Tour out of this small country. Players like Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic are keeping up with Djokovic in the Women's Tour....well at least in the court that is. Outside the court, Djokovic was filmed doing impersonations of other players, this video hit YouTube, and next thing you know was the hottest item in tennis.

In fact this video became so popular, that at the last US Open, he was asked to do 2 of his most famous impersonations after a match, and being the good sport that he is, Djokovic delighted the court at Arthur Ashe.

The Davis Cup Finals are Set!

2007-10-04T15:11:00.000-04:00

USA will have a chance to redeem itself and show that it is a force to be reckon with, when in the weekend of November 30-December 2, they host the Davis Cup finals against none other than Russia.

Led by Andy Roddick and James Blake, the United States will face off against a Russian team that might have Marat Safin back for this decisive series. Russia will also have Nikolay Davydenko, the current #4 player in the world, at their disposal as well as veteran Igor Andreev, who was a key player in Russia's semifinal win over Germany.

Taking a quick lookback at the semifinals, as mentioned above, Germany went down to a scrappy Russian Team, who won the last 2 single matches to take the series 3-2.

Rubber 1: Igor Andreev (Russia) def. Tommy Haas (Germany) 6-2, 6-2, 6-2

Rubber 2: Philip Kohlschreiber (GER) def. Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) 6-7, 6-2, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5

Rubber 3: Waske/Petzschner (GER) def. Tursonov/Youzhny (RUS) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6

Rubber 4: Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) def. Philipp Petzchner (GER) 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3

Rubber 5: Igor Andreev (RUS) def. Phililpp Kohlschreiber (GER) 6-3, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3

Meanwhile the U.S. had an easier time defeating Sweden 4-1 to advance to their first Davis Cup Finals in 3 years. Roddick was once again key in helping the United States team progress forward in the tournament.

Rubber 1: Andy Roddick (USA) def. Joachim Johansson (SWE) 7-6, 7-6, 6-3

Rubber 2: Thomas Johansson (SWE) def. James Blake (USA) 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3

Rubber 3: Bob/Mike Bryan (USA) def Simon Aspelin/Jonas Bjorkman (SWE) 7-6, 6-2, 6-3

Rubber 4: Andy Roddick (USA) def. Jonas Bjorkman (SWE) 6-2, 7-6, 6-4

Rubber 5: James Blake (USA) def. Simon Aspelin (SWE) 6-1, 6-3