THE FINAL FOUR

Rafa Nadal vs. Andy Murray
Roger Federer vs. Novak Djokovic

Nadal tries to reach his 6th French Final on his 25th birthday.
Murray tries to spoil it all for Rafa.

Djokovic tries to reach #1 in the world for the first time and continue his win streak.
Federer tries to spoil it all for Nole.

The only thing that can ruin a day like this is NBC.  Because the network does not like to preempt The Today Show under any circumstance, here on the West Coast we get the French Open Men's Semifinal on tape delay.  And... we only get one match in a 3-hour window.  All tournament long, The Tennis Channel and ESPN2 have been providing wall-to-wall live coverage from Roland Garros.  But here we are at The Final Four of the French, and we only get one of the two matches, and it's on tape.  Lame.  Truly lame.  The Tennis Channel is replaying both semis immediately after NBC's coverage is over.  I think.  NBC is scheduled to show tennis from 11am-2pm and the Tennis Channel from 2pm-9pm.  But what if the one semifinal match NBC shows is an epic five-hour five-setter?  Does the Tennis Channel have to hold it's replay?  Is it possible they could both be showing the same match at the same time?  Either way, it really won't matter to me.  I'll be at work by then and there's really no way I'm going to be able to avoid seeing the results until I get home in the evening.  So, big thanks for effing up my favorite day of the French Open.  Merci beaucoup, NBC.

On my personal wish list, first and foremost, I want to see amazing tennis with all four men playing at the highest level.  I'd like to see Novak beat Roger.  I'd like to see Rafael beat Andy.  And, of course, I want to see Nadal beat Djokovic in the final on Sunday.  Thus, Nole would be the new #1 but Rafa would still be the King of Clay.

Feliz Cumpleanos, Rafa!  Vamos!

UPDATE:  The Tennis Channel is playing the Nadal-Murray match live this morning!  Thus, I say in a non-sarcastic way... Merci beaucoup, Tennis Channel.

THE BEAUTY OF THE GAME

Aranxta Rus

There exists a very real phenomenon for men watching women's tennis... We tend to root for the better looking player.  Some might call it male chauvinism, some may scream sexism.  Either way, it's the stone cold truth.  Of course, there are always exceptions.  Martina Navratilova earned legions of fans during her monumental rivalry with Chris Evert, even though Evert was clearly the babe of the pair.  However, Martina and other, shall we say, less cute girls on the tour need to become champions to garner the kind of attention given to the naturally lovely young lasses of the game.

At one end of the stunning spectrum is Anna Kournikova.  At one time, she was the top junior player in the world.  When she turned pro, the Internet went wild with photos of the Russian beauty who looked poised to rise to the top.  But she never won a single professional tournament.  Instead, she used her brief and relatively unsuccessful tennis career as a springboard into superstardom.  She modeled, she endorsed products, she sold posters.  She became a household name, nearly synonymous with the very idea of a tennis babe.  However, beauty fades, and so will Anna Kournikova from the memories of tennis fans.

The other gorgeous end of the spectrum is Maria Sharapova.  Shaza represents the perfect storm in women's tennis -- a drop dead gorgeous Grand Slam champion.  And that's why she is the highest paid female athlete in the world.  The Williams sisters, each attractive in their own right, take up the #2 and #3 slots on the same list for the same reasons -- fashionable and stylish with a trophy room full of major titles.  Over the years, young up-and-coming teenagers, think Tracy Austin and Chris Evert, have captured the imaginations and affections of the tennis-viewing public.  It's hard not to pull for the adorable girl who is fighting with all her heart.  With all apologies to accomplished players like Svetlana Kuznetsova, Amelie Mauresmo, and Nadia Petrova, when looking for a rooting interest in a tennis match, the heart wants what the heart wants.  Admittedly, that sentiment is from the point-of-view of a heterosexual male who loves the game of tennis and loves beautiful women.  I leave open the possibility that others may disagree with me on who is hot and who is not.  After all, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.  But, as spectators, we should all admit that physical appearance plays a huge part in stirring our emotions when watching two women do battle on the tennis court.

Gisela Dulko

Two of my favorite tennis beauties pulled off major upsets in the last couple of days.  Gisela Dulko, a tour veteran, knocked out last year's finalist and number 8 seed, Samantha Stosur in a three-set battle earlier today.  Over the years, Dulko has had much more success as a doubles player, but owns her share of singles upsets as well.  My family and I first fell for her during a night match against Jelena Jankovic in Miami.  My mother and grandmother joined me in rooting on Gigi to upset the sassy Serb, and Dulko did not disappoint.  Today's win over Sam Stosur has to rank up there with the biggest wins of Gisela's decade-long career.  She may be a petite Argentinian who seems overmatched against the taller and bigger girls on the circuit, but she fights hard and looks good doing it.  Kudos to her on slaying a giant.  Hopefully, she can keep the momentum going and make a deep run at this year's French Open.

Yesterday, the ravishing Aranxta Rus stunned one of the tournament favorites and number 2 seed, Kim Clijsters. It was by far the biggest win of Rus' young career.  The twenty-year-old Dutch woman is just starting to find her form on tour.  As the above picture can attest to, she's tall and tan and quite beautiful.  She first appeared on my radar two years ago in Miami.  I watched her play another young cutie on the rise, Magdalena Rybarikova, on an outer court with about seven other people in the stands.  The girls slugged it out in the first round clash, with Rybarikova squeezing out the victory, 7-5 in the third.  I found myself rooting for Aranxta, partly because Magdalena seemed a little bratty, but mainly because Rus was better looking.  After the match, Rus was waiting for her coach, standing by herself on the grounds, and I couldn't  resist the temptation to tell her she battled hard.  Though she was distraught after losing, she thanked me and I went on my way.  Since then, I've followed both Rus and Rybarikova as they've struggled to rise through the ranks (Rybarikova is currently #62, Rus is #114).  Both players seem to have the potential to combine their talent and looks and find stardom on the tour, but it's a tough game.  Most girls don't make it.  I love Kim Clijsters, and often root for her despite the fact that she's not that hot, but it was extremely satisfying to see Aranxta Rus shock the tournament by breaking through and upsetting Kimmie.  Now the rest of the tennis world gets to make the acquaintance of this captivating young girl from the Netherlands that caught my attention on a sunny day in South Florida.

Congratulations to Aranxta Rus and Gisela Dulko.  Beautiful wins.

THERE'S A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN

Though both the official rankings and unofficial clay court power rankings still have Rafael Nadal at the top, Novak Djokovic is now the best tennis player in the world.  Including two Davis Cup wins late in 2010 to help secure the trophy for Serbia, Djokovic has won 39 straight matches.  He won the year's first major in Australia and has not lost in 2011.  With his most recent victory on Sunday, he has also beaten Nadal in four straight Masters Series finals -- Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, and Rome.  

Djokovic has drastically improved his serve (the only real weakness in his game) and exponentially improved his physical conditioning.  The Novak Djokovic who struggled with breathing problems and retired early from tough matches no longer exists.  The current Novak Djokovic seems unbeatable.  His movement around the court is incredible, outrunning the fleet-footed Nadal, who is regarded as one of the most athletic men to ever play the game.  

Djokovic's shotmaking and decision-making have been near perfect.  And most importantly, his arrogance has turned to self-belief.  With confidence oozing out of every pore in his body, one can easily read in his demeanor that his mind is strong, that his will is unshakable, and that he somehow he knows that he is going to win every match he plays.  John McEnroe, who holds the longest win streak to start a calendar year (42 matches in 1984), says he thinks Djokovic's streak is already more impressive than his own.  Given the deeper pool of talent and physical demands of the modern game, McEnroe believes Nole's run is unprecedented.  And when John McEnroe talks tennis, everyone listens, because he may just be the game's smartest commentator and biggest advocate.

Sunday's final in Rome was a spectacular match.  Though the scoreline might indicate a fairly routine 6-4, 6-4 victory for Novak Djokovic, it was anything but.  From the opening serve of the match, Nole and Rafa played tennis of the highest quality.  Only a few key points separated them.  But almost all of those big points went to Djokovic.  Rafael Nadal appeared frustrated at times, unable to come up with the goods when he needed it most and unable to put the ball past Djokovic's amazing defense.  With loses in four finals in some of the biggest tournaments of the year outside the Slams, Nadal knows he is no longer king of the mountain.  In interviews, he admitted that losing the number one ranking is a forgone conclusion.  Djokovic will most likely take over the top spot after the French Open, regardless of who wins the title.

Personally, I feel for Rafael Nadal.  He spent so much time at #2 when Roger Federer was the dominant man in the sport, and now he finds himself right back in that familiar position on the second step of the podium, only this time with Novak Djokovic standing on the top rung.  All this is happening at a time when Federer's considerable talents have waned and planted him firmly in the #3 slot.  Both Nadal and Djokovic have been defeating Roger with relative ease this season. This should be Nadal's time to dominate tennis.  But last year may have been the closest Rafael gets in his career to a stranglehold on the men's game.  He won 3 out of 4 Grand Slams, and gave it a great run in Australia to make it 4 in a row (though it would not have been a "Calendar Slam").  Despite a slight sadness for Rafa, because he is the player I root for the hardest since Andre Agassi retired, I am grateful that tennis's next great rivalry is upon us.  Though Djokovic has won all four of the Masters finals they've played against each other in the past few months, each of the matches has been a hotly contested affair.  I was lucky enough to attend the final in Miami, and witnessed a stupendous duel between two jawdroppingly awesome players.  As has been the case in their battles, a mere two or three points decided the match, with the Serb just a little bit better than the Spaniard when it mattered most.

As I imagine Uncle Toni will do, I would tell Rafa to keep his head up if I had the chance to speak to him directly.  He is a brilliant striker of the ball and a master tactician.  He is a champion who has been knocked down before and gotten up to answer the bell for the next round.  Djokovic has defeated him two times in a row on clay, but both of those matches were best 2 out of 3.  At the French, Nole is going to have to win 3 sets to wrest the title from Nadal, who is considered one of, if not the greatest clay court player to ever swing a racquet.  It is a credit to Djokovic and the level he has raised his game to that the feat even seems possible.  As a fan of Nadal, I can only hope he finds a way to crack the code and exact revenge.  As a fan of tennis, I eagerly anticipate the prospect of another monumental clash that will surely be etched in the annals of the sport's history.  Either way, I can't lose.

DROP SHOTS

Some kick serves and stab volleys from the week in tennis...

• At ESPN.com, Ravi Ubha charts the state of tennis turbulence in Power Rankings.

• Chris Chase plays twenty, er, five questions over at Busted Racquet.

• Mike Greenberg teams with Chris Evert and attempts to qualify for the U.S. Open.

• Peter Bodo dissects the super secret surface the U.S. wants to play Spain on in Davis Cup.

• Serena Williams displays a trio of drastically different looks.

Game.  Set.  Match.

WINDS OF CHANGE

Roger Federer is out of the Monte Carlo Masters.  Jurgen Melzer got him 6-4, 6-4 in the quarters on a windy day that kicked clay in the air and made playing conditions extremely difficult.  Melzer, seeded seventh in the tournament, now moves on to play fourth-seeded David Ferrer in the semis, while Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray square off in the other semifinal.

Despite the fact that Federer had never lost to Melzer before today, when I took a look at the draw yesterday I thought out of the four quarters, Melzer had the best shot at pulling off an upset.  I didn't know the Austrian would win, and probably wouldn't have picked him, but I thought he at least had a chance. In fact, I figured the other three matches would be relatively easy wins for the favorites -- Nadal over Ljubicic, Murray over Gil, and Ferrer over Troicki.  As it turned out, they were all straight-setters. It speaks volumes that I pegged Roger Federer, arguably the greatest men's tennis player in the history of the game, as the vulnerable one.  That's just the way it feels these days. When I saw him play in Miami a couple of weeks ago, the joy didn't seem to be there.  At his best, which was almost always, his play seemed effortless, as smooth as silk.  Now it looks like a chore.  I really do hope it's simply a bad patch and he'll rebound to challenge for more major titles.  But, taking into account his age (he'll be 30 in August), the absurd length of time he dominated the game, and the way he has fared recently against Rafa and Nole, it's getting harder and harder to ignore the reality that Roger Federer hit his peak and we're now witnessing the denoument of his monolithic career.

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

On the long-running television reality/game show, "Survivor", they lean heavily on the slogan, "Outwit.  Outplay.  Outlast."  In yesterday's epic clash on Key Biscayne, Novak Djokovic survived Rafael Nadal.  Over at Tennis World, Peter Bodo described the match as a bar room brawl.

Outwit:
Djokovic used the drop shot to exceptional effect in this match.  With Rafa's speed, no player is going to win too many points on clean drop shot winners.  But Djokovic used the dropper to draw Nadal into the net and set up passing shots.  When Djokovic decided to break the pattern of punishing groundstrokes, Nadal was unable to make him pay.  As Bodo points out, this match was not necessarily about tactics.  In the "outwit" category, Djokovic's use of the drop shot was the only clear advantage either player gained.

Outplay:
Throwing out a very shaky start from the Serb which saw Nadal storm to a 5-1 lead in the first set, Nadal seemed nearly incapable of hitting the ball by Djokovic.  Nadal usually finds angles that stretch the geometry of the court and take other players so far out of position they leave the court wide open for Nadal to rip winners.  Every long rally in this match seemed to go Djokovic's way.  And it visibly took its toll on Rafa, as he showed more frustration on the court than we're used to seeing.

The Spaniard also did not help his cause with his serve.  He certainly didn't have enough confidence to use the serve as a weapon, which he did in winning the U.S. Open last September.  Yesterday, his serve wasn't even good enough to gain him the advantage from point to point.  He was forced to work in every service game.  Six double faults in a match is way out of character for the steady serving Nadal.  His serve let him down when he needed it most in the tiebreaker.

Outlast:
I can't remember ever seeing Rafael Nadal more exhausted than his opponent.  Djokovic, who has had breathing issues in the past when the weather heated up, held strong during the humid Miami afternoon.  The heat, humidity, and tension of the three hour and twenty-one minute wore on Nadal.  When the match was on the line during the third set tiebreaker, Nadal earned a mini-break and served at 2-1.  Djokovic won yet another long rally and Nadal appeared spent.  He toweled off his entire body and took some extra extra time, but double faulted on the very next point.  Djokovic now served with a 3-2 lead and built it into a 6-2 lead.  Nadal fought off a couple of match points, but couldn't hold out any longer.  Djokovic ripped a winner to take the match and end the brutality.

Thus, Novak Djokovic, undoubtedly the hottest player on tour and the best on the hard courts, outwitted, outplayed, and outlasted the champion and beast that is Rafael Nadal.  The tribe may not have spoken, but the Serb certainly did.

IT'S ON

For the first time in 6 years on American soil (or at least the surface of a tennis court), Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will battle it out.

Yesterday morning, Gilles Simon woke up with a stiff neck.  Yesterday afternoon, Roger Federer moved through to the Sony Ericsson Open semis.  Simon tried to make a go of it, but after three woeful games, it was readily apparent he was in no condition to play tennis.  He retired from the match and handed Fed a very easy victory. 

Last night, Rafael Nadal come out on fire in his match with Tomas Berdych.  He smoked the ball all over the court and convincingly won the first set 6-2.  In the second set, his game went off the rails a bit, he got some treatment on his shoulder, and Berdych took control.  Berdych cruised to a 4-0 lead and won the set 6-3.  Berdych had an opportunity to break Nadal to open the third set, but Nadal found his serve and held on for a 1-0 lead.  The two continued to hold serve until 4-3, when Nadal secrured a break.  He served it out and set up a dream semifinal.

UPDATE: Novak Djokovic just defeated American Mardy Fish in straight sets, 6-3-, 6-1.  A 55-minute rain delay interrupted the action at 2-2 in the first.  Djokovic seemed rejuvenated by the break and grabbed the reins shortly after they returned to the court.  Mardy had a break opportunity with Djokovic serving for the set at 5-3, but bricked a volley on break point.  Djokovic held serve to take the set and cruised through the second set for the win.

So, Djokovic awaits the winner of tonight's clash between Rafa and Roger.  It will either be #1 versus #2, or #2 versus #3.  No matter what, it will be epic.  And I will be there, perched in my favorite spot in the top row.