Tennis Bytes: World Tour Finals, Friendship and Chennai

Roger Federer had a plan and stuck to it. Come hell or high water!

Poor Rafael Nadal! If only he had known! Federer may have just a solitary Slam to his credit this year but he sure knows how to throw a year-end party.

He conquered the World Tour Finals for the fifth time, one of a select few to do so.

Nadal shouldn’t be too unhappy. He’s had a fabulous year: three slams, a career slam and reaching the WTF finals after an injury layoff is not anything to sneeze at.

The top five rankings for 2010 are now writ in stone. Rafael Nadal at No. 1, Federer at two, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Robin Soderling at three, four and five. These rankings are a pretty good indicator of how the top five have performed this year. For once, statistics don’t lie.

Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi ended their partnership with a season-ending finale loss at the World Tour Finals to Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic 6-7 (6), 4-6. It’s time for the Indian Express duo of Bhupathi and Leander Paes to fly again next year.

The Serbs have a secret weapon going into their Davis Cup clash against France in Belgrade. It’s the camaraderie between the players.

"The friendship within the team is surely the second element that makes it strong (...) I think the good atmosphere, the energy and the eagerness within the team will lead us to victory in the final." coach Bogdan Obradovic said.

The season-beginning Chennai Open will see Somdev Devvarman in action, this time as a direct entry instead of a wild card. The cut-off was applied at 114. The Indian is 106.

Other players expected to participate include Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic, a two-time champion, Richard Gasquet, Kei Nishikori (99), Alejandro Falla (104) and Grigor Dimitrov (112).

Besides excelling on the courts, Indo-Pak pair Aisam Qureishi and Rohan Bopanna have been gathering accolades and awards off it as well. Their message "Stop War Start Tennis" has bagged them the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Of The Year award at the ATP Tour Finals. This is Qureishi’s second coming; he has won it in the past for partnering Israel’s Amir Hadad in 2002.

"To be on the same list as Andre Agassi, Stefan Edberg and Nelson Mandela is a terrific honour. We have had a great year and given a positive message about peace through our partnership and off the court. I am very happy to have won with my best friend on tour," Qureishi said.

Tony Roche will re-join forces with Lleyton Hewitt in an effort to get the scrappy Aussie back into the world elite. Hewitt is currently ranked 55.

Roland Garros will not be moving if plans to renovate the existing premises go ahead. A new 5000-seat court is on the anvil. Other options had included moving the tournament to Versailles, Marne-la-Vallee, Evry or Gonesse.

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Quote of the day:
The Net is a waste of time, and that’s exactly what’s right about it. – William Gibson

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