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For starters, top players Roger Federer and Andy Murray decided to skip Barcelona after competing in Monte Carlo last week. However, the world’s number one decided to continue his quest for clay court greatness after grabbing the trophy in Monte Carlo and coming to Barcelona. Nadal got a bye in the first round and then easily dismantled fellow Spaniard Gimeno Traver 6-1 6-1. So far, the fans in Barcelona had plenty to cheer for, with excellent performances from the Spaniards.

David Ferrer was the finalist in last week’s Monte Carlo final, hopes to continue his clay court run in Barcelona as he advanced into the quarterfinals without any trouble during his straight set victories. Jurgen Melzer, who upset Roger Federer in Monte Carlo, won the first match easily but had a tougher 6-7 6-3 6-2 victory in the following match against clay court veteran Albert Montanes.

Nicolas Almagro gave local fans more reasons to cheer on, as he broke into the top 10 for the first time after defeating Nikolay Davydenko. Almgaro will next face fellow countryman and 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero.

The biggest upset of the tournament in the first few days was when third seed and last year’s runner up Robin Soderling lost to Ivan Dodig 6-2 6-4. It was a poor 2011 clay court debut for Soderling, who stunned the tennis world by playing on championship day at the last two Roland Garros events.

Federer was a favorite in tennis betting odds to win the match.

Roger Federer enjoyed a routine victory over Somdev Devvarman. It took Federer only 75 minutes to comfortably claim the match 6-3 6-3 in front of a packed Centre Court full of an evening crowd. Federer broke his opponent three times, while also holding serve and avoiding break points. Devvarman was perhaps overwhelmed by the occasion by playing his idol. After the match, Federer expressed satisfaction and said that he didn’t want to underestimate his opponent, who is not well known on the tour yet.

As the women’s competition ended last week, the world’s top men are ready to play at the 2011 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Roger Federer, who is currently ranked number 2 in the world, is the first seed in Dubai as the world’s number 1 Rafael Nadal is still recovering from a hamstring injury. This was Federer’s first match since a complete beat down loss at the Australian Open semifinals.

Duabi is familiar territory for Federer, who often takes several weeks a year to practice in the scorching sun of this oasis. It’s also worth mentioning that Federer has held the trophy in Dubai four times before. However, the last time Fed claimed the title was back in 2007.

Additionally, Federer doesn’t have a sweet memory of his last match in Dubai, when he lost to Andy Murray in the second round of the 2008 tournament. Three years later, the Swiss Maestro is ready to make a statement, as he arrived early and visited the new Dubai Fountain, from which he could take some inspiration.

On the men’s side, the story of the week is all about Alexandr Dolgopoov, the 22 year old Ukranian who is ranked 46th and pulled off two major upsets. In the third round, Dolgopolov took out 2008 Australian Open finalist Jo Wilfried Tsonga in five sets. In the next round, Dolgopolov had an even more impressive five set victory over fourth seed Robin Soderling, who was a major contender for the Aussie Grand Slam.

Another upset on the men’s draw was when 8th seeded Andy Roddick lost his fourth round match in straight sets to Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka. Stan fell in the quarterfinals to fellow compatriot and good friend Roger Federer.

Federer has shown vulnerabilities on his quest to defend the Australian Open title. He struggled in five sets in his second round match against Gilles Simon. In the fourth round, Fed dropped the second set against Tommy Robredo. The Swiss maestro will have to play his best game in the semifinal against Novak Djokovic, who lost only one set so far.

In the women’s competition, history was made as Francesva Schiavone defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in a fourth round match that lasted four hours and forty four minutes. The epic duel on Rod Laver Arena became the longest women’s Grand Slam match.
Schiavone put up a tough fight in the quarterfinal but it wasn’t enough to beat first seed Caroline Wozniacki. There is a good chance of a 2009 US Open repeat final, as Wozniacki and Clijsters might meet on championship day in Melbourne.

The event will feature the top 100 men and top 98 women in the world rankings, giving the Open one of its best-ever fields.

The lineup is topped by World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, who will be attempting to win his fourth straight major, and No. 2 Roger Federer, who will be going for his fifth Australian Open title.

On the women’s side, World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki will be trying for her first Grand Slam title. Two-time champion Serena Williams is the most glaring absentee from the lineup, as she is nursing a foot injury.

Also in the men’s draw is 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina and Dmitry Tursunov of Russia, both with injury-protected rankings.

The Australian Open takes place Jan. 17 to 30 at Melbourne Park.
The women’s draw features 107 direct acceptances, excluding Elena Dementieva of Russia, who retired at the end of the season, and No. 37 Agnes Szavay of Hungary, who is injured.

“To have the top 104 players in the world in the men’s main draw is incredible and shows the high esteem with which the Australian Open is held in world tennis,” tournament director Craig Tiley said Saturday in a statement. “The women’s field also has every available top player in the world.”

These two players dominated men’s tennis major tournaments this year, winning all four between them. Nadal won the French Open, U.S. open and Wimbledon with Federer making it 16 major titles by winning the Australian Open title. The two competitors have combined to win 21 of the last 23 majors.

The victory in the ATP provides some sense of revenge for Federer, who has lost 14 of 22 matches played against Nadal. Rafael has also ended Roger’s long time dominance of the number one ranking in men’s tennis, and now holds the top position to Federer’s number two spot.

They have met three times in this season-ending tournament, with Federer winning all three. He dominated his service points on Sunday, only dropping 13 points in the entire match which was won in three sets by a score of 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Nadal could only manage one break of server in the second set, and Federer appeared to frustrate the Spaniard by keeping the points short and staying on the offensive throughout the match.

A three-hour semifinal against Andy Murray the previous day may have contributed to Nadal’s loss, as he appeared to tire late in the match. To his credit, Nadal did not cite this as the reason for his loss and praised Federer for the way he played all week.

The victory extended Federer’s record to 2-0 at the season-ending event.

Federer, the world’s No. 2-ranked men’s player, looked unbeatable at the O2 Arena. He dropped just eight points on his serve in the match — three in the first set and five in the second.

“It’s a bit strange,” said Federer, who won 63 points to Murray’s 43. “Andy’s a good returner, one of the best we have in the game.”

But Federer didn’t just manage the match with his serve, he also forced Murray into long rallies when he was receiving. He pulled forehands to his left and hit them to his right, and the 16-time Grand Slam champion waited for his British opponent to make the errors or set up his winners.

“I don’t think Andy played his best match for sure,” Federer said of Murray, who made 26 unforced errors.

Later Tuesday, Robin Soderling was to face David Ferrer in the other Group B match. Federer can advance to the semifinals depending on the late result.

On Monday, top-ranked Rafael Nadal rallied to beat Andy Roddick 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 and third-ranked Novak Djokovic defeated Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-3.

Gasquet proved little trouble for the Swiss phenom, who is fresh off winning his 65th title at the Swiss Indoors. Despite losing their first meeting five years ago Federer is now 7-1 all time against Gasquet.

Joining Federer in the next round of action will be Novak Djokovic, the defending champion, Britain’s Andy Murray, and Sweden’s Robin Soderling. Along with the worlds number 1 player Rafael Nadal, all of these players have currently secured a spot in the ATP World Tour Finals.

Currently holding the 8th ranking, and the final qualifier spot for the Tours Finals is American Andy Roddick, who dispatched Jarkko Nieminen in simple fashion with a 6-1, 6-4 victory. With only the top eight players qualifying for the Tour Finals every game is of importance to Roddick. While his prospects look good he could still be derailed.

Djokovic also won his match in Paris, despite a slow start. Despite a shaky first serve Djokovic managed to stop 7 out of 8 break points on his way to winning the match. He topped Juan Monaco 6-4, 6-3. In his match Soderling demolished Gilles Simon, of France.

Andy Murray struggled to a win over a tough David Nalbandian. During the match Murray seemed to suffer a wrist injury, however after a short visit with the trainer he would go on to take the match 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Day 13 at the U.S. Open started off with the first men’s semifinal match between first seed Rafael Nadal and 12th seed Mikhail Youzhny. At the 2006 U.S. Open, they both clashed in the quarterfinals and Youzhny won the match in four sets. However, this time it was a completely different story as Rafael Nadal dominated the match and won it comfortably 6-2 6-3 6-4. Nadal outplayed his opponent from all sides of the court, hitting 33 winners and making only 19 unforced errors in a match that lasted just over 2 hours.

The second semifinal match was between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. This was the fourth consecutive year that the two players have met in the deep stages of the tournament. The previous results indicate that Federer was the clear favorite, as he won the previous three meetings. However, Djokovic played the best match of the 2010 U.S. Open to upset the Swiss maestro in an epic five set match. The match had plenty of momentum shifts, but it all came down to several critical points in the final set.

Roger Federer had two match points on Djokovic’s serve at 5-4 in the fifth set. Djokovic served at 15-40 and got himself out of trouble with incredible forehand and volley winners on the match points. Tied at 5-5, Federer carelessly dropped his own serve and then Djokovic served out the match in the following game. After nearly four hours, Djokovic celebrated the 5-7 6-1 5-7 6-2 7-5 victory over his Swiss nemesis. In the press conference, Djokovic said that it is one of the most memorable matches he’s ever played.

In the evening, defending champion Kim Clijsters successfully defended her title with an easy victory over Russian Vera Zvonareva. The 6-1 6-2 win took only 59 minutes, and this was one of the shortest women’s finals matches ever.

The action on day 14 was cancelled due to rain and the men’s final was postponed for the following day.

On Monday, Day 15, tennis fans witnessed history in the making as Rafael Nadal claimed the U.S. Open title with a 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-2 victory over Novak Djokovic. After a two hour rain delay in the second set at 4-4, a refreshed Djokovic came out with confidence and claimed the set. Also, it seemed that Djokovic had some issues with his ankle throughout the match as he often looked down and gently “tested” them by squatting down.

However, Nadal played incredibly well for the next two sets, even serving his way out of trouble on critical break points in the third set. At the end of the match, Djokovic expressed tremendous respect for Nadal with a hug and some kind words in the trophy presentation.

Nadal has now won all four Grand Slam titles, which only six players have been able to accomplish. This was Nadal’s ninth career Grand Slam trophy, and at 24 years old it seems that he is on his way to becoming a contender for one of the greatest players of all time.

Novak Djokovic struggled in his first round match against fellow countryman Victori Troicki. This second match at Arthur Ashe stadium lasted for more than 3 and a half hours as the Serbians exchanged plenty of long rallies. In the end, the third seed Djokovic prevailed 6-3 in the fifth set.

On Louis Armstrong Stadium, Frenchman Arnaud Clement upset 17th seed Marcos Baghdatis in the first round, winning the fifth set 7-5. The 32 year old Clement remains the oldest player left in the men’s draw. 34 year old German veteran Rainer Schuettler, the oldest player to enter the main draw, lost his opening match in a tough fifth set tiebreak to French qualifier Benoit Paire. Other notable five set victories in the first round were by American Mardy Fish and eighth seed Fernando Verdasco.

In the evening session at Arthur Ashe Stadium, first seed Rafael Nadal took out Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili 7-6(4) 7-6(4) 6-3. This was followed by a quick victory by the women’s first seed Caroline Wozniacki, whose match ended just after midnight.

Here’s a look at Days 3 and 4:

Day 3

Day three featured the biggest headline of the tournament so far, as unseeded Janko Tipsarevic eliminated Andy Roddick 3-6 7-5 6-3 7-6(4) in front of a night crowd at Arthur Ashe stadium. Roddick lost his composure in the third set because of a foot fault call, and he kept on complaining about it for several games. Another major upset on the men’s side was by Michael Llodra, who took out seventh seed Tomas Berdych 7-6(3) 6-4 6-4.

On the women’s side, the headline of the day was when 10th seed Victoria Azarenka collapsed during the first set of her second round match against Gisela Dulko. Azarenka was escorted off the court in a wheelchair and was rushed to a local hospital. The 90+ degree weather has been a major factor at the U.S. Open so far, and it took out the young Belarusian.

Day 4

Day four of the U.S. Open did not feature any extraordinary matches on the main show court. Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Caroline Wozniacki, and Maria Sharapova all enjoyed straight set victories in their second round matches at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The upset of the day was by Richard Gasquet, who eliminated sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets. However, the most impressive match of the day was between 20 year old Kei Nishikori of Japan and 11th seed Marin Cilic. The young Japanese rising star won the match 5-7 7-6(6) 3-6 7-6(3) 6-1 in a grueling battle that lasted for almost five hours under the scorching heat.

Annacone is the former coach of Pete Sampras. He is now the head coach of men’s tennis for Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association and he has also coached Tim Henman and Marat Safin.

Federer said on his website, “I’ve been looking to add someone to my team, and I’ve decided to spend some days with Paul Annacone. As Paul winds down his responsibilities working for the Lawn Tennis Association, we will explore our relationship through this test period. Paul will work alongside my existing team, and I am excited to learn from his experiences.”

In the ATP rankings, in the past two months Federer has slipped to No. 3, the first time since November 2003 he has been that low. He is behind No. 2 Novak Djokovic and No. 1 Rafael Nadal.

Federer has gone without a coach for extended stretches, although he has worked with coaches Tony Roche, Darren Cahill and Jose Higueras.
Beginning Aug. 9 in Toronto, he is scheduled to play his first tournament since Wimbledon. Before heading to the U.S. Open, Federer plans to play in Cincinnati the following week, and he may be accompanied by Annacone.

Federer’s agent, Tony Godsick, said, “They will take the necessary time to see if the relationship can work. I would assume that Paul, if he can work it in with his remaining responsibilities and schedule with the LTA, will join Roger for some of his upcoming summer hard court events in North America.”

In January, Federer’s most recent title came at the Australian Open. It was his 16th Grand Slam championship. When he lost in the quarterfinals at the French Open, his record streak of reaching the semifinals at 23 consecutive major tournaments ended.

Following seven consecutive appearances in the final, at Wimbledon, Federer also lost in the quarterfinals.

Earlier this year, Federer topped the rankings but after the French Open, he was overtaken by Nadal. He was one week shy of tying Sampras’ career record of 286 total weeks at No. 1.