That makes sense. I think he has a good draw in Miami, hopefully he'll gain some points on last year. I do hope he is fully recovered from his illness because clay season is next, and that is a physically demanding service.

A crazy Russian tennis player that is not named Marat Safin:

He's losing to Roddick now, this I can't handle.

oh my, not Andy. Say it isn't so!

The first major clay court tournament of the year has it's final and its:

Roger Federer v. Rafael Nadal

Rafa got to it by easily beating Davydenko in the semifinals, Roger had a trickier road including having to come back from 0-4 and 1-5 down in the first round, and in the semifinals having to beat Djokovic. Fed was up a set and a break when Novak retired, and gasps of shock were heard all around the tennis world...

So, the #1 womens player in the world announced her retirement effective immediately today. On the eve of the slam where she's won four of the past five years. Now what's the big rivalry on tour now that there will be no more Justine Henin v Serena Williams matches?

Getting ready for Roland Garros! And already Roddick is out.

I'm hoping to see both career Grand Slam getting completed here.

Now the Men's draw is WIDE open.


That will be very much dependent on if her leg is not bothering her, and even then, it's not like she's been known for her clay court prowess.

Federer...I don't know, if he cant capitalize on 4-0, and 5-1 leads against Nadal in Masters Series finals, I don't see him doing much against Nadal in a best of 5. I hope I'm wrong though.

Federer's been in trouble this year. It's getting a little disturbing. I'm afraid if he doesn't win this time he may never win the FO. That will be unfortunate blemish but I still expect him to cruise past Sampras major record.

As to my predix:

Federer

Serena or Venus (I'm not sure if either has had to withdraw aoy)

Venus and Serena are moving along nicely.

Federer dispatched yet another foe.

Blake blew his round to a 19 yo gunner.

Sharapova is lucky her opponent didn't call for a trainer.

Not so much. Oh well, looks like it will be between the top 4 on the women's side for the title. I can see Kuznetsova giving Maria trouble in a semifinal that could happen if seeds hold. The other semi, I think it's pretty even but if they both get there, I'd give Jankovic the edge.

Surprise surprise... not

Terrible news. Why Serena! Why Venus!

I'm left to root for Federer now.

Maybe Sharapova...

Nadel looks as strong as ever. The top 3 seeds should make the semi without problem.

If he makes it far (no RFed/Nadal/Djokovic till the semis) here, Ljubicic might be on his way to a higher than deserved ranking again... and then we can still make fun of him when he consistently loses in the 2nd round! YES!

Bye Sharapova. Was only a matter of time till Safina made a splash at a major, and Maria's game clearly doesn't fit the clay anyways.

I would like to see Dementieva FINALLY win one... it'll probably be Ivanovic though. Which won't be bad to help build the rivarly between the two, there's clearly no-one else near them now.

The top half does look pretty open now, I have a feeling a Russian will come through, but which Russian I don't know.

Come on Dementieva! She's so cute. (yes, I root for the women's side based on level of cuteness)

But she serves like a 12 year old?

I don't know, does she? I haven't seen many 12 year olds serve, so I can't tell.

Poor Squee, up 5-2 in the second, and she only wins one more game for the rest of the match losing 6-4 6-7 0-6. Maybe a GS just wasn't in the cards for Elena.

Kuznetsova looks completely out of shape.

Nice run for Gael Monfils... finally a hometown favorite for the FO (Mauresmo = fail)

And I think Safina might actually win.

I think she'll got stopped in the final by a Serb, but still an excellent run.

my god. I was watching this just moments ago on TTC when she was up 5-2. That is a total meltdown then because navratilova and the other commentators were harping about how safina was on the verge of giving up/running out of gas and had to shorten points as much as possible. What a choke job, but she is hot.

Kuznetsova or Jankovic (my fav) ftw!