The year 2009

The tennis year of 2009 started of as the first year ever when people started to doubt Roger Federers ability. Discussions were being held all over the world, in the magazines, newspapers and online. Was Roger going to be able to win a slam again after the devastating loss at the Australian Open where he shared his most inner feelings with the world. For me personally, 2009 was the first time I thought I saw a new side of Roger. One that was very arrogant, one without patience and respect for the game. I thought to myself: "What the hell is this guy doing?" - His forehand is becoming worse for every week and the first serve is not the same anymore". I was positive that Rafael Nadal was going to stay as World No. 1 for a long time to come and that there was nobody in the whole world who had a chance of keeping up with his pace. But I was wrong. 2009 marked a historic year for Federer who was able to win both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year, something that has only been achieved by a few great players in the world; Rafa, Borg.

It is a shame that Nadal got injured due to the Roland Garros. He had participated in the new tournament Madrid Madrilena Mutua Open an ATP500 tournament where he got to the finals. This is a tournament that was not actually on his schedule but one that he entered to please sponsors and to support a tournament being held in his country obviously. Since comming back from injuries, Nadal has played well, reached finals, but has not really been able to come back to the aggressive side of his game. In a hardcourt surface especially against players like: Del Potro, Djokovic, Federer, Murray, Roddick and Davydenko, I think he is going to face great difficulties if he won't be able to move deeper into the court, hit deeper, with more pace, being more aggressive on both the forehand and backhand side. This is key, or Rafa may fall behind. I find it impossible to hold him as the 2010 winner of the Australian Open.
Davydenko is very scary. He is beating everybody right now and has incredible confidence as the winner of the World Tour Finals. But nobody seems to hold him as a Grand Slam winner, I wonder why, do you guys have any ideas about this?
I think that he has a bigger chance than Murray of winning a slam in 2010, and EVERYONE is talkinga bout Murray winning the GS. With all that pressure I think its going to be a hard time for Andy, Davy on the other hand can just play his game, cash in the money and take the trophey. We will see what happens.

Many say that Djokovic is going to end the 2010 year as World No. 1
That is also an interesting thought, but I don't know if Roger is going to give up his stronghold that easy, but he is definately going to fight for the top spots and #2 should not be so far away with Nadal probably not being able to win the Australian Open. Perhaps the first half of the year could have a change of rankings up until Roland Garros and Wimbledon where Rafa probably is going to win back lots and lots of points.

What do you guys think?
Who will end the year 2010 as No. 1?
Who wins AO, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and UO?
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