Del Potro better than Messi?

Lionel Messi may be winning all sorts of awards on offer in the football world, but the soccer ace is no match for Juan Martin Del Potro.

The 2009 US Open champion pipped Barcelona's Lionel Messi to the annual Argentina's athlete of the year award.

Messi, who has won Copa del Rey, La Liga, Champions League, Spanish Supercup, European Supercup, Club World Cup, Ballon d'Or, and the FIFA World Player of the Year, will wonder what he has to do to impress his home country, however the snub from the people of Argentina is not surprising as Messi's performance for the Argentina National team has been underwhelming as of late.

Del Potro, who won his first Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows this year, reached the semi finals of the ATP tour final in London last month and he will no doubt be over the moon with the support he has received from his home fans.

Indian tennis player supports anti-terrorism

Indian tennis player Sania Mirza has joined forces with fellow Indian's from the sporting, arts and civil soceity to take part in an hour long ceremony, organised by India's home ministry.

Mirza, who is the only player from her country to have won a Grand Slam title, the mixed doubles title at the Australian Open with fellow countryman Mahesh Bhupathi , joined people such as Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Kahn and Olympic gold medalist shooter Abhinav Bindra for the ceremony that comerorated 173 people that were killed and the 300 injured in the terrorist attacks on Mumbai 12 months ago.

As part of the ceremony, which took place in New Delhi, Mirza read Rabindranath Tagore's famous poem 'Where The Mind is Without Fear'

The World Number 58 is a practising Muslim who draws criticism from conservative sections of the Indian society.

In 2008 she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from a university in the city of Chennai.

Mirza is standing up for what she believes in and I for one am glad that she is backing anti-terrorism.

Britain has new World Number One

Elena Baltacha has become Britain's new number one after overtaking Katie O'Brien in the world rankings.

Baltacha was Britain's number one back in 2005 when she reached the third round of the Australian Open, but the 26-year old has not been top of the pile since then.

The Scot reached the quarter final of an event in Japan last week and this saw her reach a career high of 85th in the world, O'Brien the former British number one is currently 89th and Anne Keothavong , also a former British top seed, is 99th having been sidelined through a knee injury.

2009 has been an encouraging year for Britain's women with Baltacha, Keothavong and O'Brien all hitting career high rankings in the top 100 and with young talent like Heather Watson and Laura Robson coming through then things can only get better!!!

Heather Watson up for Sports Personality Award

Heather Watson , a star in the making in the tennis world is one of three nominees for the 2009 Young Sports Personality of the Year award.

The 17-year old, Guernsey born star faces competition from World Champion diver Tom Daley and World Champion track and field star Jodie Williams for Sunday's crown.

Watson became the first brit to win the girl's singles title at the US Open. She defeated fellow countrywoman Laura Robson and number two seed Yana Buchina en route to the final, a victory that has seen her nominated for the Young Sports Personality of the Year.



Former winners of this title are Andy Murray , so a win for Heather will give her a mass of confidence as she attempts to gain a palce on the WTA senior tour.

Good luck Heather, you've got my vote

Mixed doubles added to Olympics

The Executive Board of the Olympics Committee has announced that mixed doubles will be introduced into the 2012 games in London.

The changes come after the IOC (International Olympics Committee) announced their desire to continually refresh the Olympic programme.

The mixed doubles will not however allow more athletes to compete. The participants will be the men and women taking part in the singles, however adding the mixed doubles to the schedule gives another opportunity for men and women to compete together.

Francesco Ricci Bitti, president of the ITF (International Tennis Federation) said, “We believe that this addition will make Olympic Tennis a truly unique event, with top players having the opportunity to compete for their countries and the honour of an Olympic Medal in three distinct disciplines: singles, doubles and mixed doubles."

Nalbandian finally ready for tennis return

Former World Number three David Nalbandian has confirmed that he is finally ready to make his return to professional tennis.

The 27- year old Argentinian has been out of the sport for seven months since suffering a hip injury that forced him to pull out of the Barcelona Open and miss the rest of the ATP season.

Nalbandian's last match was a 6-2 6-2 first round defeat to Chile's Paul Capdeville at the Estoril Open in Portugal back in May.

The 2005 ATP tour champion and former Wimbledon finalist will make his return on Saturday at an exhibition event in San Juan, Argentina.

Nalbandian underwent surgery on his right hip back in May, but announced today that he will open the 2010 ATP tour at the Heineken Open in Auckland, New Zealand beginning January 11th, before returning to competative tennis at the Australian Open, a tournament where he reached the semi finals in 2006.

The Argentinian is currently ranked 64 in the world, but I am in no doubt that this will rise once he gets back on to the tour and starts winning tournaments again.

Spain confirm Davis Cup success on Day 2

Day 2 of the Davis Cup final saw the conclusion of this years competition with Spain successfully regaining the title they won last year.

Having gone into Day 2 already leading 2-0 against the Czech Republic, Spain only needed victory in the doubles to confirm a second consecutive Davis Cup.

Rafael Nadal beat Tomas Berdych and David Ferrer defeated Radek Stepanek to take a commanding two nil lead going into Saturday's play.

Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco were scheduled to face Jan Halek and the doubles expert Lukas Dlouchy , however on the morning before the match, Czech captain Jaroslav Navratil changed the line up and sent Stepanek and Berdych out to face the doubles. This was a bizarre decision considering both had played and lost the day before and Halek and Dlouchy are both doubles specialists.

In the end Navratil's decision proved to be the wrong one as the Czech pair lost 7-6 7-5 6-2.



The Czech's wasted a set point in the first set tie break and from then on it was Sapin that controlled the match. It was obvious to all that Stepanek was still exhausted from his five set thriller the night before against David Ferrer.

After coming through the tricky tie break, Spain comfortably strolled through the match and on doing so became the first nation in over ten years to retain the Davis Cup.

Amelie Mauresmo announces tennis retirement

The tennis world was rocked but not shocked yesterday by the news that Amelie Mauresmo has decided to hang up her racket and retire from tennis.

The former world number one had missed the last two tournaments of the year through injury and hadn't played competitive tennis since September's US Open.

The frenchwoman did consider retiring a couple of months ago but decided to prolong her career for a bit longer, however it appears that the training schedule has gotten the better of her and unfortunately she can no longer continue.

Mauresmo turned professional in 1993 and in a career spanning sixteen years she has won twenty five WTA tour titles. She really made a name for herself in 1999 when she reached the Australian Open final and the last four of the US Open.

The thirty year old made a repuation for herself of being a talented player who just couldn't quite win that prestigous Grand Slam title, however that changed in 2006 when she won both Wimbledon and the Australian Open.

Her Australian Open triumph however was overshadowed by the news that both her semi final and final opponants, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin would have to retire through injury or illness.

Both have since either returned to tennis or their return is pending, however I very much doubt we will see Mauresmo in a competitive environment again which will be a huge shame to the sport.

I personally would like to thank Amelie for her contribution to women's tennis and wish her all the luck in the world for whatever she decides to do next.

Good Luck Amelie

Davis Cup Final- DAY 1

This weekend sees the final of the Davis Cup World Group take place in Palau Sant Jordi, Spain where Spain take on the Czech Republic.

The opening round of singles matches take place today with World Number Two, Rafael Nadal stepping out on court first. Nadal, who didn't feature in Spain's Davis Cup winning team last year, will open preceedings against Tomas Berdych.

Berdych, who is currently twentieth in the world rankings, has only beaten Nadal three times in eight meetings and hasn't won in the last four attempts against Spain's number one.

Nadal has been on a losing streak as of late and will no doubt be bitterly disappointed with his ATP Tour Final performance, however the former world number one will be hoping to triumph for his home nation as they look to retain their Davis Cup crown against a team who haven't won the trophy since 1980.

Berdych is a strong player who in my opinion hasn't filled his full potential. He is a former world number nine who has a very strong two hyanded back hand. He is a very tall player at 6 ft 5inch and this allows him to utilise his strong serve.

Nadal won't have it all his own way especially having lost all three of his matches at at 02 arena last week. Berdych will fancy his chances against a Spaniard struggling for form but I think Nadal will win it in four sets.

Verdict: Rafael Nadal 7-5 4-6 6-2 6-3

The second singles match of the opening day sees David Ferrer take on Radek Stepanek at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Spain.

These two go into the tie even on the head to head with three wins each. The pair's last meeting came at this years Wimbledon where Stepanek prevailed.

Stepanek is a US Open finalist and is currently ranked twelvth in the world, but he's coming up against a former world number four in David Ferrer, who was part of Spain's winning team last year, however he was the only player to lose his match against Argentina in last years final. So that will give some extra confidence to Stepanek.

This is the match of the weekend where I really can see an upset taking place. I fancy Stepanek to beat Ferrer and maybe history will repeat itself as Ferrer could again be the only Spanish player to lose their match.

Verdict: Stepanek 6-2 6-2 6-7 6-4

Tomorrow's play sees the doubles round take place as Fernando Gonzalez and Feliciano Lopez take on Jan Halek and doubles expert Lukas Dlouchy. See my post tommorow to see who I think will win that