Hi Everyone!

Tennis is a tough sport. Andy Roddick came into the Masters final eight with an attacking game plan, playing further up the court and intent on going to the net a lot, all designed to beat the maestro Roger Federer. Three match points - one a pushed rather than biting volley - and the dream ended with a crazy Sampras-style smash in the second set tiebreak.

Andy stayed with Roger, losing 3-6 7-6 6-4 but the physical and mental effort, followed by the disappointment of the loss took its toll, and Nalbandian reaped the benefit beating Andy 6-2 7-6 in their second group match.

Ironically, playing well and much improved, it is highly likely Andy will not feature in this weekend’s semi-finals. My prediction is a mouth-watering Federer vs Nadal semi with Blake vs Nalbandian in the other semi and a repeat of last year’s final where Federer will feast on Nalbandian.

Women’s final eight

Justin Henin-Hardenne will be satisfied this Christmas and deservedly so given her effort of reaching every Grand Slam final, winning the French and this end-of-year tournament. She is world number one and will have Sharapova pushing her throughout 2007.

Clijsters, Mauresmo and Kuznetsova will be solid but possibly not fighting for the number one spot, as my reading of the situation is that they are not sure where their priority lies – number one spot, or Grand Slams, or just to play and see what happens?

A player’s focus has to be so in tune with their desire to put it all together for a drive for number one. It is this year-in year-out intensity that makes records like Sampras being number one for six years so remarkable and the extended runs of Lendl, Graf, Evert, Navratilova and Seles etc so incredible.

Henin and Sharapova seem to me to be the only two who possibly could hold on to number one for an extended period, but I do not believe they will manage to do it because the competition is so close.

Monte Carlo Tennis Academy

This project and concept is so unique that many people in tennis have not yet grasped how it works. The fabulous Monte Carlo Country Club is where we train 7-8 weeks per year. The other 35 weeks or more we travel the world, with the players getting a tremendous consistency of work and matches. It is the world’s first touring Academy and the players working with us are progressing well.

The next 18 months will see some dramatic ranking improvements and consistent results, moving the players closer to the main tour. Recently the Academy featured on Sky News and Sky Sports, CNN, CNBC, the ATP Tour Weekly in 198 countries and various other TV stations around the world.

Visit our sister site www.mctacademy.com for results, blogs and all Academy news.
 

All the best,

David