Its a pity I won't be in London this week as I think it is the stand out achievement to those involved in bringing the World Finals tournament to London. Jez and I had a chance to catch up during a training camp we had in Bath (see MCTA/Teambath article) and he is excited to see whether Andy can end the year on a high before jetting back to Miami for a tough off season in early December. Sometimes the public do not realise how hard the work in preparation for the year and the tournaments are for players.

Djokovic is the form guy heading into London and favourite to retain his title, but Fed will be lurking and keen to recapture the end of year No1 ranking from Rafa plus put the disappointment of the US Open behind him. My predictions are that Andy and Fed will both beat Del Potro (who may have a tough year coming to terms with winning a Slam, which happened to Becker, Sampras, Safin to name a few who struggled after a first Slam win). They will qualify out of the group and I expect Rafa and Novak to keep the form book and come through the other group. However Davydenko is a fantastic player and is the one to upset form.

Picking the winner is rough although Federer is still the guy to beat in big moments. I see two semi lineups, Djokovic v Federer and Rafa v Andy and can see Andy beating Novak in the final. If its Fed v Rafa and Novak v Andy then I can see Fed beating Andy in the final.

That all said its tennis and therefore will probably be totally different. The mens tour is incredibly interesting and 2010 will be a vintage year in my opinion because each top player has a compelling reasons to perform at the Slams. History is sealed for Roger but he loves winning and putting the records further out of reach. Rafa will want his French and Wimbledon crowns back and Novak has to prove he is not a one time Slam winner and Andy has to win one. Del Potro has to show that his aim is no1, Roddick still has to cure the hurt of 3 Wimbledon final losses (like Goran Ivanisevic before him), Davydenko, Monfils and Verdasco yet to win one. Which young players will emerge to challenge the top.

The new TeamBath/MCTA partnership is also exciting and we will all work for further success in 2010. Unfortunately the Wes Moodie/Dick Norman combo were pipped into 9th place so Wes is reserve for the doubles finals. His blogs have entertained us all year.

Tennis is a Global sport and with so much drama at the highest levels (Henin and Clijsters are back to help the womens tour) that I believe tennis is regaining the "cool" of the late 70's and early 80's with rivalries to match and kids seeing it as sexy to play. It has been a while since I've been this bullish about the future of the sport. It would be great to hear from fans to see if they feel the same buzz.

Enjoy the week when tennis in London does not mean Wimbledon.

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