Following his Australian Open victory in February, Roger Federer’s game had been in a tailspin.  In his best form since Melbourne, Federer made the final at the Rogers Cup last week, but went down to Andy Murray.  However, today, Federer edged out wildcard Mardy Fish 6-7,7-6,6-4 at the Western and Southern Financial Group Masters for his second straight Western and Southern Financial Group Masters title and  his 17th Masters’ shield.

This hardcourt season, Fish has positioned himself as a man to fear.  After a grass title in Newport, Fish claimed the initial trophy of the Olympus U.S. Open series in Atlanta.  In Cincinnati the first three rounds, Fish dismissed Gilles Simon, 9th seed Fernando Verdasco and Richard Gasquet in straight sets.  Subsequently, in the quarterfinals, Fish defeated Andy Murray for the third consecutive time.  Then, in the semifinals, Fish collected his second successive win over Andy Roddick by erasing a 4-6,2-5 deficit and improved his record to 16-1 since Wimbledon.  Thus, with these results, Fish’s confidence was astronomical.

Moreover, with Fish in the most outstanding physical shape of his career and an easy triumph over Federer in their last meeting at Indian Wells in 2008, the chances were excellent that in his fourth attempt, Fish would gain his first Masters’ shield.  Conversely, despite advancing to two other finals besides Toronto, Federer was denied in Madrid and Halle this year.  In his 90th career final, Federer was hungrier than ever to capture his 63rd career title and gain momentum heading into the U.S. Open.

Subsequent to a comfortable hold by each player, Fish got embroiled in a 15 minute plus game.  After surviving two break points, on the ninth deuce, Fish obtained a game point with a backhand volley winner and sealed the game with a strong serve for 2-1.  Thereafter, both men cruised on serve until the tenth game when Fish misfired on a forehand up the line to give Federer set point.  With an ace, Fish wiped out Federer’s advantage and later tied the set at 5 all.  At 5-6 on Fish’s serve, Federer arrived again at set point when Fish’s stroke hit the net and flew long.  Once more, Fish repelled his opponent and forced a tiebreaker.

On Federer’s backhand crosscourt error, Fish got a mini-break for 4-3.  But, with two forehand winners, Federer stole both points off Fish’s serve for 5-4.  Still, Fish reversed the tides with an overhead winner and a backhand error by Federer to fabricate set point at 6-5.  With Federer unable to catch up to Fish’s serve, the American bagged the tiebreaker.

Yet to face a break point, Federer continued to coast on serve in the second set.  However, Fish had no problem matching the defending champion.  In fact, Fish’s first serve percentage improved as the set progressed.  At two all, Fish pushed Federer to a deuce game.  But, Federer guarded serve to stay ahead 3-2.  After holding at love for 6-5, Federer got to deuce on Fish’s watch with a forehand up the line winner.  By readily finding his first serve, Fish held for a second tiebreaker.

With a forehand crosscourt winner, Federer inched ahead with a mini-break for 2-0.  After stretching his lead to 4-1, Federer provoked two errors from Fish to take command of the tiebreaker at 6-1.  Next with an ace, Federer leveled the match at one set a piece and forced a decisive set.

Most of the ultimate set had a pattern similar to the prior two with neither person giving a millimeter on serve.  Following a quick hold, Fish caused Federer to flub a forehand for 30 all.  Yet, this was the extent of the American’s progress.  With two unreturnable serves, Federer maintained serve for 4 all.  At this point, a third tiebreaker seemed eminent.  But, at 30 all, Fish sent a forehand out of play giving Federer a break point.  Finally, on his fifth break opportunity, by staying patient in a long rally, Federer capitalized as Fish’s backhand sailed wide for a 5-4 advantage.  Then, with Fish’s miscue on a backhand return, Federer had double match point.  Although Fish salvaged one, on the next chance, Federer bagged the championship when Fish failed to accurately stick another backhand.

The last wildcard to prevail in Cincinnati was Boris Becker in 1985.  Fish would have been deserving of the title and a note in the history books after coming so close in the 2003 final against Roddick.  As he collected his second finalist trophy, Fish received a huge round of applause.  Fish recognized the crowd and expressed his appreciation for its support in saying “this is one of my favorite tournaments . . . I gave it everything I had . . . Roger is the greatest of all time . . . I’ll be back next year”.

Federer was also impressed with Fish’s performance citing “Mardy played fantastic. . . It could have gone either way”.  Federer also acknowledged that without the fans the week would not have been as gratifying commenting “you made it special”.  With this win, Federer equals Mats Wilander’s all time record in Cincinnati with four titles and becomes the first person since Andre Agassi in 1995-96 to repeat at this event.

For both athletes, it was a banner week.  By vanquishing Marcos Baghdatis in the semifinals, Federer assured a second place seeding at the U.S. Open.  Last week, Federer reclaimed the number two ranking by overcoming Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.  In Fish’s case, his status as a finalist means that his ranking will shoot up from 36 to 21 thereby locking his spot as a seed in New York.

Unlike the Rogers Cup where the top four seeds reached the semifinals, three crashed out in the quarterfinals.  Rafael Nadal was stopped by Baghdatis, Murray by Fish and Djokovic by Roddick.

Interestingly, since the Australian Open final, both Federer and Murray, the runner-up, have struggled.  But, the last couple of events in North America, these two appear to have rediscovered their form with each successfully defending his respective title.  As such, Federer and Murray will certainly be two of the favorites in New York.  However, with the likes of David Nalbandian, Fish and Baghdatis excelling this summer, the plot thickens as the U.S. Open approaches.

Soderling commenced the first set with a couple of unfettered games. Then, with a forehand down the line error by Nadal had break point. However, Nadal got to deuce when Soderling’s backhand traveled out of play. With Soderling donating two forehand mistakes, Nadal equalized the set at 2 all.  Promptly, when Soderling made another forehand error, Nadal had his initial break point.  Despite Soderling dismissing one, Nadal obtained a second and capitalized with a backhand crosscourt pass for winner.  Quickly, Nadal consolidated to widen his advantage to 4-2.  In the next game, Soderling double faulted on game point resulting in deuce and later gave Nadal two additional opportunities to break. Yet, the Swede maintained his composure to pull off the game and remain one break down. When Nadal himself double faulted, Soderling had break point.  But, on a forehand miscue by Soderling, Nadal rubbed out that previous error.  A second break point came along after Soderling crushed a second serve return and Nadal was unable to deal with the subsequent shot.  Yet, with Soderling gifting another error, Nadal won the point.  Thereafter, Nadal secured the game and eventually seized the set 6-4.

After Soderling’s uncomplicated game to open the second set, on an errant forehand by Nadal, the Swede had double break point. With an ace and a botched backhand by Soderling, Nadal reached deuce.  Soderling manufactured two more opportunities.  Nevertheless, each was snuffed out by Nadal to tie the set at 1.  Soderling short memory helped as he held at love right after.  Nonetheless, Soderling’s next time out, Nadal connected on a couple of winners for triple break point.  When the Swede misfired with the forehand up the line, Nadal broke for 3-2.  Later, with a glut of mistakes, Soderling handed Nadal a double break lead.  The Spaniard easily closed out the set at 6-2.

Unlike last year, for Soderling, the errors far exceeded the winners.  Moreover, the serve, a potent part of Soderling’s game was being neutralized by Nadal’s excellent defense.  Conversely, as the match progressed, Nadal cleaned up his game.  Following an ace for game point, Soderling committed another error for deuce.  With two consecutive forehands flubs by Soderling, Nadal bagged the break to begin the third set.  By charging to net, Soderling forced Nadal to place a backhand pass out of play for his eight break point.  Yet, by netting the backhand return, Soderling was now 0 for 8 on break points.  Eventually, Nadal guarded serve for a 2-0 edge.  The next couple of service games, Soderling comfortably held.  When the Swede double faulted in the seventh game, Nadal had another break point.  Still, Soderling dealt with the pressure and maintained serve for 3-4.  But, Soderling was given no further looks at a break point by Nadal.  As the mistakes flew off Soderling’s racket, Nadal promptly held the rest of the way to take the championship in straight sets.

After the match, Soderling congratulated Nadal saying, “if you play like this, you have a chance to win many more”.  Despite being denied the title a second time, Soderling cited that “it is wonderful to be here and I enjoy this event very much”.  As his coach Magnus Norman who was in a similar position against Gustavo Kuerten 10 years ago looked on, Soderling terminated his speech by stating that he will be back in 2011 and “hope[s] to be third time lucky”.

Brimming with joy, Nadal thanked the crowd in French for their support and shared that this was the most emotional day of his career.  Nadal felt that he “played [his] best match of the tournament”.  The Spaniard declared that it’s “a dream to be back after a difficult year and that he was [grateful] to everyone [because] he has felt at home [in Paris] the last six years”.  In two weeks at Roland Garros, Nadal did not surrender a set.  With the Spaniard having regained his golden touch on clay, the rest of the field may never hoist that trophy for many years.

Ironically, the fifth for Nadal arrived on Bjorn Borg’s 54th birthday. With his 29th clay court title, Nadal has positioned himself alone in fourth place, surpassing Ivan Lendl and Ilie Nastase.  Should Nadal repeat in Paris next year, he will tie Borg’s record there. Moreover, with one more clay championship, Nadal will stand with Borg and countryman Manuel Orantes in the third spot.

Although Soderling failed to become the first Swede since Mats Wilander in 1988 to prevail in Paris, he does not go home empty handed. On Monday, Soderling will move up to number six in the rankings.

In multiple manners, Soderling has made a significant impact with his performance the last two years.  Firstly, in ousting Roger Federer in the quarterfinals, Soderling put the door ajar for Nadal to return to number one.  Secondly, Soderling prevented Federer from equalizing Pete Sampras’ record for most weeks at number one.  Thirdly, Soderling halted Federer’s monumental streak of most consecutive appearances in semifinals at the majors at 23, a feat which is likely untouchable.  Lastly, Soderling may be known as Nadal’s Adrianno Pannatta.  The latter, the 1976 French Open champion, is the only person to defeat Borg at Roland Garros.  So, for Soderling, what a way to make one’s mark on tennis history.

The finals of the ATP Champions Tour were contested Tuesday night at the Delray Beach Stadium & Tennis Center between Australian Patrick Rafter and American tennis legend John McEnroe. The meeting between the two former majors winners was expected to be a display of serve and volley, both delivered. Rafter prevailed over McEnroe 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-1) in two highly competitive sets.

Although the ATP Champions Tour has been in existence since 1997, the four day event in Delray marked the Champions Tour’s inaugural stop on U.S. soil. McEnroe qualified for the finals by going undefeated in Group A (3-0) highlighted by wins over Mats Wilander and Andres Gomez. Despite losing to Ronald Agenor, in Group B, Rafter advanced by beating Aaron Krickstein and Pat Cash.

Rafter was favored in the final in light of his age. However, McEnroe held his own in the match. The difference was Rafter’s ability to raise his game level in the tiebreakers. McEnroe would later concede during the trophy ceremony that Rafter was “too good.” Also, McEnroe jokingly said that Rafter is “younger, faster, and better-looking than me.” The win places Rafter at the top of the rankings of The Champions Tour. The Champions tour moves next to Zurich on March 9.

Turning to the ATP Tour’s main draw, top seed Tommy Haas was upset on Monday night by Teimuraz Gabashvilli in straight sets. Despite dropping a set to Nicolas Lapentti, Evgeny Korolev, last year’s finalist, advanced. Mardy Fish, the 2009 champion, moved on when Christophe Rochus retired at 3 all in the third set. Second seed Ivo Karlovic ousted Philipp Petzschner while Kie Nishikori, 2008 champion, fell to third seed Benjamin Becker .

From the World tour, 2009 champion Mardy Fish returns seeking to become the first individual since Jason Stoltenberg in 1996-97 to defend.  Fish will face stiff competition from top seed Tommy Haas winner in 2006, second seed and serving giant Ivo Karlovic, two time finalist James Blake and two time champion Xavier Malisse. Wildcard youngster Kei Nishikori who stunned Blake in the 2008 final has again been given a wildcard entry.

On the doubles side, the top attraction are Mike and Bob Bryan who are on the hunt for their second straight title.

Come out to see today’s stars as well as those of yesteryears.  For more info on the tournament and to purchase tickets go to www.yellowtennisball.com or call (561) 330-6000.