Week 24 Finals

The finals for the last tournament before Wimbledon have been set, and to be honest, they're not really that exciting. The players who wanted to get ready for Wimbledon seem to have already left - the four players remaining in Eastbourne and the Netherlands are not what you would call favorites at next week's grand slam, though they are interesting matches, in their own way.

In s'Hertogenbosch, Sergiy Stakhovsky beat Xavier Malisse for a spot in the final, where he'll face Serbian Janko Tipsarevic, after he got a hard-fought win over Benjamin Becker in the semis. Stakhovsky has won two titles already in his career, and despite that Tipsarevic is the more accomplished player generally, he has yet to win his maiden title. It would be a huge win for Janko, and I have to admit I hope he gets it. He's one of my favorite players to watch, when he's on his game, and it's surprising to me that he hasn't been able to put an entire good week together to win a tournament. Stakhovsky won their only meeting at the tour-level, but Tipsarevic beat the Ukrainian, more recently, in the final of a challenger event. It should be an interesting match.

In Eastbourne, Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who has a 14-11 match record on grass heading into this tournament, faces former champion Michael Llodra. It's been qutie a run for Garcia-Lopez, who is definitely a clay-court player, while Llodra has done well on grass in the past. I have to think that this is Llodra's match to win or lose. His style of play is much better situated to the conditions on court.

On the women's side, the two likely winners in the finals are facing relatively mid-level competition. Victoria Azarenka, who has not had a great year, notched up some pretty good wins - Radwanska, Clijsters, and Bartoli - on her way to the final, where she faces the Ekaterina Makarova, who is like Tipsarevic in that she is aiming for her first title. I expect Azarenka to take the title, though, as she is definitely the more accomplished player, recent form notwithstanding.

The other final may prove to be similarly one-sided. Justine Henin has not even dropped a set or been taken to a tiebreak by any of her opponents thus far, and even though Petkovic is her sternest challenge yet, it would be a surprise to me if Justine could lose this match. The bigger worry is getting to London and getting adjusted to Wimbledon in time for her opening round match, at this point. We'll see how that goes.