Posted by Peter Bodo, TENNIS.com
Now that the U.S. Open -- in my view, the best U.S. Open we've seen in quite a few years -- is over, let's take a look at the five big takeaways for the upcoming 2009 Grand Slam season:
1. Roger Federer is just fine, thank you very much! I was in the camp that felt The Mighty Fed was truly struggling this summer -- in fact, I thought he hit a wall when Rafael Nadal demolished him in the French Open final in June. Federer denied that his confidence was damaged and that he was in the throes of the first real slump of his career. He backed up his claim at the Open. Of course, that doesn't mean Federer wasn't struggling, but as Jim Courier noted, he played a high-stakes poker game, trying not to show his hand, and he pulled it off. The reality is that TMF won the tournament, and that reality trumps any other reality that may or may not have existed.
2. The Williams sisters are back, really back. After that great Wimbledon final in which Venus beat Serena for the Wimbledon title, skeptics could be forgiven for wondering if this was just another example of the lavishly gifted sisters making a brief guest appearance at the Grand Slam party before bolting for the side door to find a more exciting way to spend their time. The way Serena won in New York, and the quality of the tennis the sisters played (Serena edged Venus in a quarterfinal), suggests that while they may play a bit of hide-and-seek between the majors, both of them will be forces to reckon with on the game's biggest stages.
3. David Nalbandian, Nikolay Davydenko, David Ferrer, Richard Gasquet and a few other regulars who are either established in the top 10 or commute there regularly ought to be afraid -- very afraid. A new generation led by Juan Martin Del Potro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Marin Cilic and Ernests Gulbis will be looking to push into the elite No. 4-12 zone, the staging area for Grand Slam champs. Among those newcomers, the ones I like best are Tsonga and Cilic. We know plenty about Tsonga, the Australian Open finalist. But watch Cilic, too: He's got a big, big serve, knows how to volley and moves very well for a man of his size (6-5).
4. Jelena Jankovic just might single-handedly bring the joy back to pro tennis. Did you catch the way Jankovic smiled and laughed her way through the final against Serena Williams? It would be one thing if she were getting hammered out there, but she managed to have a lot of fun and play at a level that would have been good enough to beat any other woman in the field.
5. The way Andy Murray played this summer, right up through the Open, has upset the status quo of Federer and Nadal dominating, with Novak Djokovic cast in the less-than-ideal (for him) role of the third wheel. Provided Murray remains healthy and sticks with his vastly improved attitude toward fitness and training, and Tsonga remains healthy, period, we may be looking at a quintet of contenders who stand a head (if not head and shoulders) above their rivals. When you factor in point No. 3 above, you can see how 2009 could be a volatile, unpredictable and outstanding year for men's tennis.
Peter Bodo
