It was a day for Serbian tennis on center court at the Pacific Life Open Thursday as the trio of that countries star players all dispatched their opponents, back to back to back before a rapt crowd. 

Starting out the day top seed ANA IVONOVIC beat VERA ZVONAREVA 6-1, 6-4.  “I started really well, I thought I played some of my best tennis since my matches here, so I was really happy about that.”  IVONAVIC was nearly bumped out of the tournament in her last match, but rallied to be FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE in 3 sets.

Following ANA was NOVAK DJOKOVIC, who took on STANISLAUS WAWRINKA of Switzerland.  Despite coming into the tournament unseeded, WAWRINKA made it to the quarterfinals by beating 10th seed THOMAS BERDYCH and 18th seed MARCOS BAGDHATIS.  OVAK won in straight sets, but spoke highly of his opponent after the match.

When asked if WAWRINKA could break into the top 20, NOVAK replied “Sure…Even further than top 20.  I think he really deserves to be there.”  Still, DJOKOVIC won in straight sets 7-6, 6-2.  He next faces RAFAEL NADAL, in a rematch of last years final, won by NADAL.  “Last year’s finals here at Indian Wells was my first final in a Masters Series.  I was still inexperienced, young.  Even though he’s only 1 year older than me he had much more experience and many titles, so I think I was really nervous at the start of the match.”  Should make an amazing semifinal.

Then came JELENA JANKOVIC and LINDSAY DAVENPORT.  JELENA, number 4 in the world, and seeded 3rd here, versus DAVENPORT, the former number 1 and now the 24th seed after taking time off to have a baby.  LINDSAY has looked impressive in her comeback effort, winning 4 tournaments, but on this day she didn’t have it.

She lost the first set 6-2, and had to withdraw because of back pain.  “I just hurt my back, and obviously I’ve gone down this road before.  I was debating before, you know, you never know, like, okay, I will go out there and maybe it will loosen up.”  But 2 games into the match LINDSAY knew it wasn’t going to get any better.  “I was pretty sore out there and it was hard to rotate.  Obviously with playing tennis you need your rotation, so you know, I tried to do the best I could.”

JELENA was a little disappointed she didn’t get more of a workout.  She didn’t feel 100% coming into this tournament, and has been battling the flu for the last couple of days.  But she is working into form at just the right time.   She next faces ANA IVONAVIC, her friend, but JELENA won’t let that distract her.

“At the end of the day, you realize that tennis is just a game, and you go out on the court and you try to do your best.  You try to win, and that’s-that’s what matters.  After that, you are just a regular girl.  You do your things.  That’s it.  I don’t really like to think over, oh, we’re from the same country and all this pressure that goes on.  We are young girls and we play millions of times throughout out career.  So we’ll try to get better each time, to get better rankings, to achieve our goals.  As an individual I am trying to do that, and I’m trying to become number 1 in the world, trying to win grand slams and just going after my dreams.”

The same could be said, and no doubt is true for all three of these young Serbian tennis stars.

Tennis fans were treated to a near perfect day in Indian Wells, as the Pacific Life Open moved on towards championship weekend.  SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA started the matches on center court with a revenge match against the 10th seed, AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA, the 19 year old from Poland who took SVETYLANA out of the Australian Open in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4. 

RADWANSKA is one to watch, having won the WIMBLEDON juniors title in 2005 and ROLAND GAROS junior title in 2006.  She has broken in to top twenty in the world, but on this morning she was no match for KUZNETSOVA, who played much better than in Melbourne.  “I was more dictating my game, and I was more focused and calm…When I do everything right, this is the result.”  She took RADWANKSA out 6-2, 6-4 to move into the semi-finals.

Then came another Australian Open rematch.  Number 17 seed JO-WILFIRED TSONGA took on number 2 seed, and defending champion, RAFAEL NADAL.  In Melbourne, TSONGA surprised NADAL in the semis, taking him out in 3 sets, before losing to DJOKOVIC in the finals.  In Australia TSONGA was never broken. 

That changed fast in Palm Springs.  The players started the match by breaking each other’s serve.  There wasn’t another break until game 6 in the 3rd set, with each man holding a set, having won 7-6 in tie breaks.  TSONGA finally broke NADAL again in the 3rd set to take a 4-2 lead.  It was TSONGA that was pushing the pace for most of the match.  He consistently served around 125mph versus NADAL’S 110mph.  TSONGA looked solid to that point, winning his games easier than NADAL, and really never looking tested on his serve.

He consolidated the break in the 3rd set with a love game to go up 5-2, and at nearly 3 hours into the match it looked all but over for NADAL.

And then things got started.  NADAL held serve, on mostly medium paced efforts, around 100mph, but carefully managed points to get the match to 3-5.  TSONGA did not seem nervous, and came out blasting serves in the 120’s.  NADAL turned on the defense, hitting 2 and 3 amazing saves during rallies, to break TSONGA’S serve.  NADAL was hanging by a thread, but somehow kept the powerful strokes of TSGONA in play until TSONGA collapsed, losing the match 6-7.7-6, 7-5.  It was a match TSONGA could easily have won.

Afterwards, JO-WILFRIED lamented about his lost chances, “It was a very important match for me because I would like to show everybody, it’s not-my run in Australian Open is not lucky, it’s not luck.”  I think everyone who saw this match knows that for certain.  TSONGA is for real this year.

The top 8 seeds from the PACIFIC LIFE OPEN discuss the tournament, their chances and life on the tour.  Don't miss the action, as the tournament ends next weekend.  For more information go to:

It's 88 degrees, a dry heat, with snow capped mountains and the clear blue sky.  Where are you?  If you're lucky, you're in Indian Wells, at the PACIFIC LIFE OPEN, a 2 week tennis fantasyland with the best players Grand Slam championship.

The PACIFIC LIFE OPEN is 5th most attended tennis tournament in the world. Did you get that?  That puts it behind the 4 grand slams.  And it's right in Southern California's backyard, just a short drive away to the sun and fun in the desert, and all that Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Indian Wells and the rest of the valley has to offer.

Womens Top 8 Bartoli Hantuchova Ivanovic Jankovic Kuznetsova Safina Sharapova Vaidisova Federer Andy Murray Andy Roddick James Blake Novak Djokovic Rafael Nadal

One of the reasons the tournament is so well attended is that it seems to draw the very best players in the world, and furthermore, highlights up and coming stars in a setting up close and personal before they break out as full fledged tennis superstars.

MARIA SHARAPOVA got her first notice her as a 14-year old here, and NOVAK DJOKOVIC got special notice last year en route to his storming of tennis' upper echelons.  Last year's champions were RAFAEL NADAL and DANIELA HANTUCHOVA, who got her first real attention on the tour here 6 years back when she first won this tournament.  This year she shoots for number 3, a feat no other woman has accomplished in the desert, not SERENA, not MARTINA, not MONICA, no one.

She'll have a tough road to achieve that accomplishment, as the number 5 seed here, she has MARIA SHARAPOVA, JELENA JANKOVIC, SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA and ANA IVANOVIC to climb over, not to mention the rest of the field, including players like SHAHAR PEER and AMELIE MAURESMO in her draw.  MARIA is 14-0, coming off a win at Melbounre in the year's first grand slam.
She is happy, rested and fit.

The WILLIAM'S sisters again have taken leave of the PACIFIC OPEN, as has JUSTIN HENIN.  But there is plenty of competition, and some promising matchups should seeds hold true to form, like  LINDSAY DAVENPORT andMARION BARTOLI.  BARTOLI, recall, took out JUSTIN HENIN in the semifinals at Wimbledon, getting to her first grand slam final last year.  DAVENPORT took time off to have a baby, and has returned to the tour solid as ever, winning 4 tournaments along the way.

How about SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA versus JELENA JANKOVIC, or MARIA SHARAPOVA against ANA IVANOVIC?  The beauty in that one would only be surpassed by the great tennis!

On the men's side, the promise of some great play lies ahead.  ROGER FEDERER will of course be here, coming off his exhibition win over PETE SAMPRAS.  It's time for some real tennis, ROGER.  And the talk is that he is vulnerable.  He lost recently to ANDY MURRAY, and comes in having lost 2 in a row.

DJOKOVIC tries to follow up his impressive performance last year, fresh off his grand slam win in Australia.  RAFAEL NADAL of course  is the defending champ.  And then there is ANDY RODDICK after splitting withJIMMY CONNORS.  Do you need more?

It’s hard enough to win a TENNIS MASTERS SERIES event on the men’s tour, but yesterday in Madrid, DAVID NALBANDIAN won his first in some kind of flair.  First of all, he beat ROGER FEDERER in a final, no less, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.  FEDERE, the world’s number 1 for the last millennium doesn’t lose many finals, particularly to players not named RAFAEL. 

“I usually play better in the finals, but it had something to do with the way he played,” ROGER said about NALBANDIAN.

It wasn’t the first time DAVID had conquered “goliath”.  He beat ROGER at the MASTER’S CUP in Shanghai 2 years ago, which also was the last time FEDERER lost on the indoor hardcourt surface.

But NALBANDIAN accomplished even more in Madrid over the weekend.  He became only the third player ever to win a title by beating the world’s top 3 ranked players to get there.  DAVID knocked off number 3 NOVAK DJOKOVIC in the semis and number 2 RAFAEL NADAL in the quarters to earn his first MASTERS SERIES title.  DJOKOVIC achieved the same honor earlier in the year, and BORIS BECKER did it in 1994.

It looked like it was going to be a fast day at the office for a ROGER, who came out strong winning the first set 6-1.  But NALBANDIAN bounced back in the second set, breaking FEDERER twice.  And despite steady pressure by FEDERER on each of NALBANDIAN’s service games, the Argentine persevered to hold serve and win the 2nd set 6-3. 

He got an early break in the 3rd set, to go up 2-1 and held on from there to beat FEDERER and claim his first MASTERS.  “It’s a great way to finish the season and to go into the next one,” NALBANDIAN said.  “To beat such great players as I did this week makes it important.”

It was quite a day for Serbia in the world of tennis yesterday as two of their young, rising stars took titles on the Road to the US Open.  On the men’s side NOVAK DJOKOVIC shocked ROGER FEDERER in the ATP ROGERS CUP in Montreal, and on the woman’s side, ANA IVANOVIC beat NADIA PETROVA to take the EAST WEST BANK CLASSIC from Carson, California.

For DJOKOVIC, it is the culmination of a steady rise to the top of the men’s game that started in Indian Wells early in the year at THE PACIFIC OPEN where he lost in the final to RAFAEL NADAL.  His steady play after that found him at No 3 in the world in July, a spot he will reclaim this week, after beating current number 3 ANDY RODDICK, current number 2 RAFAEL NADAL, and world number 1 ROGER FEDERER in consecutive matches to win this tournament-an impressive feat to be sure.  The last person to beat the top 3 seeds to win a title was BORIS BECKER in 1994.

It was DJOKOVIC’s first win over ROGER in 5 tries, and it stopped a 16-match win streak for FEDERER in Montreal at this event.  He had won in 2004, skipped 2005 and won again in 2006.

DJOKOVIC took the first set in an amazing tiebreaker.  But when FEDERER won the 2nd set 6-2, it looked like all was right with the world again.  FEDERER does not lose many finals.  DJOKOVIC was not daunted and jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the final set, only to see FEDERER break back and get the match into another tiebreak, again where ROGER seldom loses. 

But not this time, as DJOKOVIC again put the pressure on FEDERER, powering his way to a 6-1 lead, which ROGER could not overcome.  The final score was 7-6(2), 2-6, and 7-6(2).  FEDERER had 47 unforced errors in the match, a number rarely seen from the games best, and most consistent player.

It was DJOKOVIC’s 4th title this year, and puts him in the point lead for the US OPEN Series.  Bonus points are awarded at each US Open Series event, with the top three men’s and top three women’s finishers in the final standings eligible to earn bonus prize money at the US Open.  Those who win the most along the way arrive at America’s Grand Slam with the most to win. The men’s and women’s champions of the US Open Series can earn up to $1 million in bonus prize money at the US Open.

In Carson, NADIA PETROVA found herself in the final after MARIA SHARAPOVA had to bow out of Saturday night’s semifinal because of a leg injury.  She explained to a disappointed crowd that she could not compete in the match due to a leg that had tightened up during the day before the match.

So PETROVA came into the final rested, but it mattered little as a young and fresh ANA IVANOVIC, finalist at the FRENCH OPEN and semifinalist at WIMBLEDON took her out in straight sets 7-5. 6-4, for her second title of the year. 

IVANOVIC moves to number 4 in the world with the victory.  And she and her childhood friend, NOVAK DJOKOVIC look to be serious contenders at the US OPEN, which begins August  27th.

The evolving rivalry between the two best tennis players in the world lodged another remarkable chapter on Sunday, with ROGER FEDERER beating RAFAEL NADAL for his 5^th straight WIMBLEDON championship, tying the once-thought unreachable record held by BJORN BORG’S, who was in attendance to witness the feat.  ROGER extended his winning streak in this tournament to 34 straight matches and 54 on grass.  So, it was expected that FEDERER would win this match, after all grass is his favorite surface, like clay is NADAL’S.

 But it was not that easy.  ROGER FEDERER was actually in serious trouble, and when NADAL pushed him to his first 5 set match ever at WIMBLEDON, and first in a grand slam final, it was anybody’s guess who would take command for the final set.  When RAFAEL opened the final frame by getting treatment for a sore knee, all bets were off.  He totally dominated FEDERER in the 4^th set, winning 6-2, with ROGER looking lost and confused going into the 5^th.  It is mind-boggling to see the world’s number 1 in total disarray, but there he was.  At one point FEDERER was even arguing with the umpire about the electronic line calling, pleading with the officials that he was getting unfair treatment by the digital device.  If that’s not shaken I don’t know what is.

 So when NADAL came out lame to start the 5^th, you had to figure FEDERER had the edge back.  Or so it seemed.

 But there he was down, 15-40 in the 3^rd game of the set.  It took some heroic serving to climb out of that hole.  And there he was again in the 5^th game of the set, again down 15-40.  To this point NADAL had only been broken once, in the very first game of the match so if FEDERER were to lose his serve at this juncture, the match surely would go to NADAL.  Again, FEDERER came through with some amazing heroics, showing guts he’s never bared before, saving 3 break points to go up 3-2 and he never looked back.

 When it was over FEDERER won the final set 6-2, but ti was much closer than that.  As it was ROGER outserved NADAL, with 24 aces to NADAL’S 1, but it was FEDERER who just barely hung on to win.  It was ROGER FEDERER who beat RAFAEL NADAL for the 4^th time in their last 6 meetings, but it was NADAL who looked like he was on the rise.

 FEDERER has been ranked number 1 in the world for an unbelievable 180 weeks, but had he lost here, NADAL could have passed him, perhaps at the US OPEN.  NADAL, who has been number 2 in the world for 108 weeks, hung his head on the sidelines after the match, but it might not be that long before he has the skills not only on clay, but also on grass to bypass this number 1 player, ROGER FEDERER. 

 What a great rivalry!  What a great match!

 There were famous faces in the crowd other than BORG to soak it all in.  JOHN McENROE, who stopped BJORN’S streak at 5 was there, calling it “one of the greatest matches” he had ever seen, “without a doubt.”  JIMMY CONNORS, whose streak of 160 weeks at number 1 was eclipsed earlier in the year by FEDERER was there as well.  BORIS BECKER, who was a favorite here on the grass winning 3 times saw NADAL and thinks he will overtake FEDERER at the top.  “I think he’s the future number 1.  He’s testing him, even on his best surface, grass.  I just wish there would be more competition from the others.”

 FEDERER and NADAL have won 14 of the last 17 grand slam titles between them.  ROGER HAS 11, now just 3 shy of PETE SAMPRAS, who had his own attempt at 5 straight WIMBLEDON’S thwarted by, ROGER FEDERER.  PETE won 7 titles at the ALL ENGLAND LAWN AND TENNIS CLUB, ROGER has 2 more to go to catch him. But RAFAEL NADAL might just have a thing or two to say about that…

 On Saturday VENUS WILLIAMS completed the full circle re-emergence of the WILLIAMS’ sisters back onto the tennis scene.  The women, who looked like they would run away and hide with all the prizes a few years ago had both fallen out of the top 20.  It seemed with injuries and the rest of the distractions in their personal lives, their quest and desire might have slipped away.  But SERENA took the AUSTRALIAN OPEN as aunseeded entry.

VENUS won WIBLEDON as the 23rd seed, ranked 31st in the world.

She beat an over-matched MARION BARTOLI, who somehow took out JUSTIN HENIN, after falling behind 6-1 and a break in the second set. HENIN was rolling through the tournament and was the heavy favorite to win, looking for her first WIBLEDON, the only grand slam she hadn’t won.

But it BARTOLI in the final, and she was no match for VENUS who won her 4th WIMBLEDON title, and her 6th grand slam. That makes the US OPEN a very interesting proposition for the women’s game. It’s as wide open as you can get. VENUS has won there twice before, as has SERENA. JUSTIN HENIN, the tour’s current number 1 has won that event once, as has the defending champion MARIA SHARAPOVA.

The ROAD TO THE US OPEN starts now!