Van Sias's Page

Five-and-a-half years? I could do that standing on my head: Try 20 and we'll talk!

Feliciano Lopez won his first title in more than five years at the South African Open, beating Stephane Robert in the finals in straights. His game has some holes in it (mainly that topspin backhand), but he does have a lot of versatility that should've resulted in more than two tournament wins to this point. But I can't be too hard on the guy, because in a way, I really relate.

Se

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I guess we're all in a retrospective-type mood, having entered a new decade and all! If you hadn't gotten a chance, check out Tennischick's take on the past 10 years. Here's mine that originally ran on my blog, Tennis Talk, Anyone? — it's a list, since everyone always likes a list!

10. Aussie Rules
Now, I know Australian tennis players didn't exactly dominate the decade, but for a couple of years there, one of them did. Lleyton Hewit… Continue

So how about that 2009 season, huh?

That's my "review" part!

I wanted to switch it up from last year when I looked back on all the calls I made over the season—the good, the bad and the ugly—and offer a brief look back on '09, as well as give some predictions for 2010. Will they happen? I don't know, I'm not Nostradamus! But what would a year be without me making some calls, however outlandish? Here's a few things that I think will happen in 2010:

• Roger Federer wins Wimbledon, Novak Djokovi… Continue

Maybe you expected it, but if you didn't, no worries: I'll bet you're like about 95 percent of the tennis fans out there!

I'm referring to Nikolay Davydenko winning one of the ATP Tour's biggest stops, the Shanghai Masters. He followed up his near-classic semifinal win over Novak Djokovic with a straight-set defeat of Rafael Nadal, the top seed. This is Davydenko's fourth title of the season, all coming post-Wimbledon. I wonder if his legs are a little fresher after being sidelined in the early… Continue

The quarters are set in Shanghai, but it seems like all the talk this week has been about injuries leading to match retirements and the big issue on players' minds: a longer offseason.

Scratch that: I meant on "some" players' minds. It's not everybody, but two of the game's big dawgs on the ATP Tour, Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick, have made their thoughts known on the subject. But here's something I thought of that should be brought up: Why hasn't Novak Djokovic come out and said anything? That… Continue