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The brilliant 22 year old British lad Andy Murray crashed out of the Madrid Open after an intense match with Argentine rival Juan Martin Del Potro on Friday. Murray who currently holds the world number 3 position was up by 5-2 in the first set but in due course lost out as Martin improved his game.

In this quarter final match Murray had an extremely unsteady start and soon found himself at 15-30. Though he recovered and picked up his game through a series of good returns it still didn’t prove to be enough. A powerful cross-court backhand caught Martin completely unawares. However as the game proceeded Martin got a much-needed break as Murray lost his service game. Perhaps Murray was getting tired in his Adidas Barricade 5 tennis shoes, as the tide began to turn. Martin made the most out of this and without wasting any time upped his momentum and finally emerged on top. Defending champion Murray exited the tournament as the final scores tallied to 7-6 6-3. This defeat came as a rather unwelcoming gift on Murray’s 22nd birthday.

Murray and Martin have faced off a total of three times till now but the Argentine was never able to beat the British number one. The only clay court match between the two came at the Rome Masters in 2008 which turned into an on-court war of words after Murray asserted that the Argentine had apparently insulted his mother. Martin currently holding the world number 5 position will play the world number two Roger Federer, who beat Andy Roddick 7-5 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 to reach the semi-finals. Murray’s shaky start probably set the tone for the rest of the game but the world still waits anxiously for the next time the two warring rivals battle it out on centre court.

Andy Murray, who lost to Rafael Nadal in the final in his previous tournament, is all set to experience victory at the Sony-Ericsson Open in Miami. If Murray wins this tournament, it would take him to the new heights in his career. He will be placed third in the world rankings. He will most probably become the first British since the rankings began in 1973 to reach in the top three slots.

This Scottish player needs to reach the final in order to surpass the Serbian player Novak Djokovic, who in a recent interview said, “I go into every tournament wanting to win.”

Andy Murray defeated Marc Gicquel 6-0 6-4 in his previous match. He has a first round bye and faces Juan Monaco in his opener match on Saturday. The Russian player Teimuraz Gabashvili defeated his Italian opponent 6-4 4-6 6-4 and is all set to play Rafael Nadal next, who is among the top seeds.

Roger Federer, the former number one player who has won 14 times at the Elite Masters level and has not won any since Cincinnati in August 2007, is now hoping to end the bad phase of his life. He said, “I hope this year I can change that and get on a good roll again,” said the Swiss star, which will face Kevin Kim in his opening match. I’ve done so well over the last few years I’d like to win a few again.”

Coming to the women’s event, Maria Sharapova is still recovering from her serious shoulder injury. But the sister duo Serena and Venus William are back after they missed Indian Wells tournament.

Andy Murray is all set to play in the first round of the singles event at World Tennis Tournament at Rotterdam. He is likely to face a tough challenge in his match against Croat Ivan Ljubicic. This would be Murray’s first tournament after his 4th round exit from the Australian Open.

Andy’s career is always in limelight for he is the player who is the only hope of British tennis fans to see their fellow country man win a grand slam and preferably Wimbledon. Before him Tim Henmen was the guy who seemed like he could do that but he always looked so close and yet so far. He did manage to reach Wimbledon semi-finals (6 if all slams taken) but that’s the maximum he could achieve.

Incidentally, Murray is from Scotland and at 4th rank is currently the highest ranked British player on the Men’s Lawn Tennis ranking. What’s disturbing is that there is no other UK player in the top 100. I don’t even want to mention the sorry state of affairs in women tennis in context of Lawn Tennis. In any case you won’t believe me even if I told you.

He had raised a lot of hopes when he reached and eventually lost to Roger Federer in US Open final in 2008. Every England fan wants him to win every time he walks out on that tennis court. His match in Rotterdam is not going to be any different. But more than that they want to see Murray in his Nike Air Max Breathe Cage tennis shoes actually winning a grand slam, preferably Wimbledon. Murray and Ljubicic have played each other earlier on number occasions. Murray, who though is second seeded here, can’t take his first round match for granted as on the last three encounters against Ljubicic he has lost. The Croat on his part is also going through bad phase for a long time now. He is ranked only 48 in the world though he was once the number 3 in the world.

Being a big fan of Murray I am hoping he wins at Rotterdam so that he gains confidence and we can hope to see a British lift at least one of those Slams this year.

Today’s tennis watching generation must feel luckier than the ones of the past and perhaps than the ones of the future too. To watch two of the best players of the current times playing against each other, trying to become the greatest of all times is an experience in itself. Australian Open 2009 final was one such incident.

Swiss heart throb Roger Federer has already won 13 grand slams and needs just one to join the great Sampras at the top of the list and than just one more to become the winner of maximum grand slams ever.

Spanish sensation Rafael Nadal proved last year that he’s god not just on the clay court by winning French and Wimbledon in a single year, done by anyone after a gap of 28 years since Bjorn Borg accomplished the feat in 1980.

Last year the two met twice in slam finals with the similar outcomes, Nadal demolishing the FedEx. The latter also lost his top ranking to the former eventually.

2009 had started with more such encounters expected between the two kings and they didn’t disappoint their fans by advancing to the final of the opening Grand Slam of the year, Australian Open.

What a match it turned out to be! As equally good players as they both are so were their performances in the first four sets. The honours of the match were shared equally till the last set, which eventually became the final of the final. Incidentally it was the first five set final in 21 years. The final set was more of an anti-climax, though.

There was a lot at stake and record keepers were waiting to update their books with fingers crossed. The end result had Nadal as the first Spanish winner at the Australian Open and holder of three unique slams simultaneously after a long time. Interesting, the last guy to have done this and even better was the presenter of the winner’s trophy, the legendry Rod Lever in 1969. Federer has a losing record to Nadal in the Grand Slam finals and it seems as if the Spaniard is Federer’s cryptonite. Whether it has something to do with Nadal’s power, obviously a result of his strength training on machines like the Nautilus NS300 multi-gym, or if it is simply mental, Federer remains unable to solve the mystery of Nadal. Of course, Federer shouldn’t dismay and he needs to stay confident if he is to beat the Spaniard in the future.

By the time Pete Sampras won his record breaking 14th Grand Slam title at the US Open in 2002, there was a common perception that this record is here to stay. There were many reasons, with most of them quite logical, that accounted for this assumption. The ones that really weighed this principle of thought were that to break or even tie this record, the player that follows Sampras would has to be terribly consistent, dedicated, and above all supremely talented. Moreover, he has to maintain these traits over an extended period of time which in today’s outrageously competitive era looks highly improbable. Even Sampras was convinced that the record would stand the test of time, or would last a couple of decades at the least!

But the unexpected has happened, and the one who is on the threshold of doing the improbable is non other than the mercurial Swiss- Roger Federer, the man who has simply taken the game to an entirely different level-a level that is at time surrealistic. The man is barely 27, but has already won 13 Grand Slam titles, and is on way to equal Sampras’ record at this year’s Australian Open. The only remain barrier now between Federer and the record is Rafael Nadal, who incidentally holds a winning record, 4-2, against Federer in Slam finals. But if Federer does manage to edge him out, then he will go into the history books, and his racket and Nike Air Zoom Vapor shoes will also find themselves in the tennis hall of fame. In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Sampras acknowledged that he never expected his record to be broken, at least in such a short span. He was however quick to appreciate the efforts of Federer, saying that the player has it in him to raise the bar to 18 or 19 major championship titles, which will just close the door for other player in the near future.

Meanwhile, when asked to choose the favourite in the Australian Open final, he thought that Federer has a slight edge over his nemesis Rafael Nadal. But he also added that with Nadal you just cannot be too sure because he has that uncanny knack to floor you just when you think he is down and out.

Andy Roddick is probably one of the most underrated players in the men’s game in the last decade or so. It is precisely why you don’t usually find his name doing the ranks when the bookies decide the favourites to win a championship. That part is still the same, and when the bookies were drawing their list of favourites for this year’s Australian Open, players like Andy Murray- he is yet to win a Grand Slam - topped the list! While Roddick, who is a former US Open Champion, and has played four finals as well finds himself languishing down the list.

Roddick’s Grand Slam record could have been much better but unfortunately his career happened to clash with that of Federer, the undisputed great of modern tennis.

Now that Roddick has reached the Australian Open semifinals where he is pitted against Federer. He gets a good opportunity to have a crack at the champion and he will have to be in top form in his Babolet trainers if he hopes to prevail. It definitely won’y be easy as Federer appears to be in ominous form destroying a helpless Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina 6-3, 6-0, 6-0 in the quarterfinals.

Roddick for his part got the better of defending champion Novak Djokovic, who apparently was undone by both the sweltering heat as well as the range of Roddick’s shots, and was trailing 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2, 2-1, before he finally retired.

This is the fourth time that Roddick has made it to the Australian semis, having made it in 2003, 2005 and 2007. That Roddick badly wants to break the shackles is easy to comprehend, but the problem is Federer- a player who hardly plays a mediocre game, especially in the slams. In fact Federer of late is being accused of losing his magical touch; and that despite making it to the semifinals for the 19th consecutive time! Ask more?

Charismatic French Open champion Ana Ivanovic has found a great comrade in the form of Roger Federer, the undisputed king of modern tennis. The sultry tennis player has recently confided that she always seeks the advice of Roger Federer whenever she finds herself in a difficult situation, and that she has no qualms asking for help. It is not difficult to comprehend the reason behind the respect bestowed on the 13 time Grand Slam winner by Ivanovic, as you cannot expect to get better expert advice than that given by someone as talented and experienced as the magical Swiss.

The 21-year-old Serbian, who has swiftly moved into the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday said that Federer has been a source of constant inspiration for her, and that he is one her closest friend in the demanding professional tennis circuit. She said that she has learned a great deal from the champion player when it comes to balancing her professional and private life.

“Federer is a not only a great player, but an exceptional human being as well who gives me nice advice”, she said. People can only learn from him, from his experience and since he has been at all the positions on a court, dealing with the trickiest of situations, there can be no better person to ask for help, she explained. Advice can be very valuable in tennis, where much of them game relies more on one’s mental state, than if they wear the latest K-Swiss Defier RS tennis shoes, or if they are in peak physical condition, or even if they possess the latest state of the art racket.

When asked about what the best advice that she treasures most is given by the champion, she said that Federer advised her to learn to enjoy what she was doing and not get annoyed by issues like time wasted in travel and traffic, as these are a part and parcel of the whole package. Ivanovic added that she has heard these lines a numerous times, but when it is said by someone of the calibre of Federer it simply keeps lingering on your mind.

While the entire world is feeling the sting of the global economic crisis, there is still one arena left, i.e. if reports are to be believed, that has remained immune to all the hoopla surrounding it. Yeah, you are right, we are speaking about tennis, which officials argue is still going strong with great revenues coming in at a constant rate. Moreover, what is even more surprising is that they claim the sponsors are looking to pump in more money into the game in the current fiscal year, which directly contrasts to the fate of many other sporting fraternities which are forced to close shop.

The financial crisis at one time looked as it would have an impact on the game, especially when the financial services companies and automakers, among its prime sponsors had to back out. But it didn’t get the chance to materialize into reality as the lure of tennis attracted a completely new breed of sponsors to the fold, making the game more lucrative than ever. Nike, for instance, has not given up sponsoring tennis or its tennis shoes like the Nike Air Max Voltage pair. Kris Dent, the ATP’s corporate communications director while acknowledging that there is absolutely no such thing as recession-proof, stressed that the ATP World Tour is in robust health, which makes them optimistic about the future. He added that, attendance and prize money all grew last year.

He further revealed that unlike other games, tennis enjoys a universal appeal that is unparalleled. This very nature also shields it from what usually happens to national associations or leagues.

It only helps matters that tennis has some of the world’s most recognizable and popular faces in their ranks in Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova and the Williams sisters, to name a few.

If it had been any other lesser mortal than Federer, he sure would have been left scratching his head with frustration given the kind of draw that the former world number one has been given. The widely popular Swiss, who is chasing Pete Sampras’ record 14 Grand Slam titles, is slated to meet former number one-ranked Carlos Moya in the second, while the ridiculously talented and unpredictable Marat Safin, the champion here in 2005, waits eagerly in the third round to give Federer some anxious moments. That’s not all as; the semi-finals might see the Swiss involved in a bitter struggle with the defending champion Novak Djokovic. Djokovic though to earn that right, in all likelihood has to get rid of seventh-seeded Andy Roddick in a quarterfinal encounter.

Meanwhile, Federer’s nemesis top-ranked Rafael Nadal and fourth-ranked Andy Murray are drawn on the other half of the draw and are likely semifinal rivals. It may be mentioned that Nadal and Murray are the only active players to have a winning record against Federer.

The women’s draw was unforgiving as well with the Williams sisters Serena and Venus on course to meet in the semis. It certainly comes as setback for the sponsors who always look forward to the fearsome sisters playing in the finals, as it has been proved an umpteenth number of times that the matches featuring them simply skyrockets television viewer ship.

The younger sister, Serena, who has been seeded second, said that it would be awesome to win the title again. Interestingly, the strongly built player has won the Open every alternate year since beating Venus in the 2003 final. She admitted that though she wanted to win the title last year as well, her plans didn’t quite work out. Hopefully though Serena will have completely recovered from her injuries and her Nike Air Max Smash Tennis shoes will be comfortable, as it will be great to once again see a match between her and Venus at the Australian Open.

Venus, the defending Wimbledon champion, on the other hand has been seeded sixth.

Roger Federer, the world’s second ranked player had to dig deep into his resources to fend of an inspired challenge from Fernando Verdasco to finally move into the final of the Kooyong exhibition event, played at Melbourne.

Federer started the match just the way he would have liked, racing to a 5-0 lead in the first set, but as the match progressed he found that his opponent was just not ready to throw in the towel without a fight. And, it did turn out to be a gripping contest between the great Federer and the uniquely gifted Fernando Verdasco, with the charismatic Federer finally having the last laugh in an entertaining three set contest, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5), in 2 hours, 14 minutes.

The nature of the victory would hardly please the Federer camp, or his band of loyalists, but they can’t help but feel relieved that at least he is looking like regaining his mercurial touch. Perhaps his Nike Air Zoom Vapor V trainers are beginning to feel more comfortable, and he is starting to regain his old invincible form. Moreover, the year began on a slow note for Federer as he has been defeated twice by nemesis Andy Murray.

Federer is a former champion of this eight-man tournament; he won it in 2005, and is the last chance for the players to get into the zone before the main drama unfolds at the Australian Open. With Pete Sampras record of 14 Grand Slams up for the grab, it is to be seen whether Federer achieves the milestone at the Australian Open, or is he made to wait longer to get to that important milestone.

Federer has history and age with him, as at 27 years and three Australian titles behind him, it can be safely said that we are yet to see the last of Federer. Moreover, it will be great for the sponsorship of the game if the champion keeps on playing the way he plays for at least the next couple of years.