It is Andy Murray Vs Novak Djokovic

Cincinnati Masters 2008 has come down to its last day of excitement
filled Tennis action, and the two players left on the field are world no.3
and Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic, and world no.6 Andy Murray.

When they meet in the finals on Sunday, it'll be a battle of differing styles
and tactics, but for the fans, they will surely get to watch an exciting match
on all counts. In the 5 career meetings between the two players, Djokovic
has won four times, with Murray's lone win coming in Roger's Cup 2008 QF.

What Happened to Roger Federer?

What happened to Roger Federer? Every tennis fan is of late asking
themselves this question after viewing Fedex' performance in the first
eight months of the 2008 ATP tennis calendar. True, he had reached
the finals of two grand slams in this period - the French Open and
Wimbledon - before losing both matches to world no.2 Rafael Nadal -
but, Federer's overall showing in the tourneys in the earlier half of
the year, and post Wimbledon, raises serious questions on the world
no.1's (world no.2 in the next two weeks probably) game and fitness.
Roger suddenly appears to have lost his confidence, and his movements
on the court slowing down considerably that even lowly ranked players,
whom Roger had dispatched so easily few months back, are able to
beat him with ease. It appears that the weight of his reputation,
coupled with the anxiety of losing, is heavily burdening his mind/game.
Recent loses have not helped the matter either.

May be Roger needs a bit of rest, and time to reassess his game plan.
In fact, he himself had admitted that he need to sit back and take a
look at his game. But a tighter ATP tour calendar means he would be
able to do that only after the US Open at the earliest.

Come August 18, and Federer will lose his world no.1 ranking for
the first time in the last 237 weeks to Rafael Nadal. But, he is definitely
capable of making a comeback. However, in order to do that, he needs
to play far better than at present, and of course with a clear mind that
is not burdened by the monster he himself had created in the
last 4 years. Let's hope that Fedex will bounce back to the player he
had been 10 months back.

Serena Knocked Out of Australian Open

Jelena Jankovic outfought defending champion Serena Williams
in an exciting quater final match to book a place in the semi finals.
Recovering from a rather sedate start, the third seed soon found
her rhythm back to win the match 6-3, 6-4. When the two met
here last time, in the fourth round, Serena easily destroyed
Jankovic. But she could not do it this time around...

Federer Downs Blake

Even though Roger Federer struggled to find his best form, but
founded the big shots whenever he needed them. In a hard fought
quaterfinal match, the world no.1 overcame the US challenge in
straight sets 7-5, 7-6, 6-4.  Federer will now face world no. 3
Serbian Novak Djokovic in the last four.

Venus in Quarter Finals

Eight seed Venus Williams had booked a place in the QF
of the Australian Open after a hard fought victory over
former junior Wimbledon champion, Marta Domachowska.
The American came back twice from a break down in the
first set to take home the match 6-4, 6-4, in straight sets.
Venus now plays fourth seed Ana Ivanovic in the last eight.

Nalbandian Ousted

David Nalbandian, who was viewed by game experts as a major
threat to Federer's pursuit for his third successive Australian
Open crown, was ousted by Juan Carlos Ferrero in their third
round match. A seemingly rusty Nalbandian, who had earlier
pulled out of the pre-tournament warm-up in Kooyong with
muscle spasms in his back, lost to Ferrero in straight sets,
6-1 6-2 6-3. Ferrero now plays David Ferrer in the fourth round. 

Can Federer Make it Three in a Row?

With Australian Open kickstarted in the new Plexicushion surface,  
the big question that most tennis lovers ask is will 2008 also witness
the dominance of Roger Federer in grand slam events? Well, while it is
too early to comment, given the note in which 2007 tennis season
ended, there is enough reason to believe that it won't be a smooth sail
in the offing for the current world no.1. Argentinian David Nalbandian
and Djokovic are potential threats to Federer, alongside his clay court
nemesis Rafel Nadal and Guillermo Canas, even though for the latter,
 his form had deserted him as 2007 wore down. Let us wait and see how
all these players fare in Australian Open, and hopefully that'll set the
tune for 2008.