Cincy Masters wrap-up

Wow! I guess sometimes, you get what you ask for. Just when Nadal looked poised to cement himself as the new Federer, exhaustion finally caught up to him, and he fell to a stellar Novak Djokovic. And then Djokovic followed that up with a loss to brilliant Brit Andy Murray in the final! Was I really complaining about parity at the top of the game?

The way that Djokovic came out firing against Nadal in the first set in the semifinal was amazing. On the other hand, the way he (sort of?) faded in the second set of the final was bizarre. Novak is a superb front-runner, but sometimes when he gets behind in a match, his attitude just baffles me. Not that he can't play catch-up! He recovered brilliantly after losing the first sets to Tsonga and Wawrinka at the Australian Open and Rome this year, and when he was down a break point in the first game of the deciding set against Mardy Fish he fired off four (I believe it was four) aces in a row to win the game. That's clutch play, and there's no question.

But against Andy Murray, he played very strangely after losing the first set in a tie-break. For a guy who is normally very deliberate on serve, he was absolutely rushing. It looked like he couldn't wait to get off the court, from the way he behaved between points and the way he carried himself. It probably had something to do with the court conditions (100 degrees in the shade, or so) but Novak's mentality has always been interesting.

This week, there's a little lull. We've got the LA Open, which Andy Roddick desperately needs to win, or at least do well at. He's slipped to ninth in the world, behind James Blake, making him the #2 American tennis player for the first time since he dropped to number twelve in August of 2006. Unfortunately, Andy's got a hot Tommy Haas in the third round, after a bye and a nobody. It's going to be a big ask, no question. But Roddick needs to do something to resurrect his season, which actually started off well!

Speaking of rankings, one Andy's fall marks the rise of another! Murray's first Master's series win brings up to a career high #6, and also marks the first time that the listing of top six players has changed since November of last year. And we've got the draw for the Olympics, due out on Thursday. Very exciting times for tennis!