Combined – Sydney (Premier and 250)

Official Site: Here
Draws: Men & Women
Top Men Seeds: Delpo, Isner, Gasquet, Feli Lopez
Top Women Seeds: Woz, Kvits, Azarenka, Nails

The beginning of the year has been a strange time for the past few years. Typically Fed and Rafa peace out to Doha for the first week of the season, which seemingly takes place in an alternate universe. Djokovic doesn’t even bother. The rest of the events scrounge together what recognizable names they can find and do what they can. Then everyone comes together for the big show.

For the ladies, nearly everyone gets their cuts in somewhere, and almost everyone chooses to play Sydney. This year, nearly every top lady entered, pushing someone seemingly automatically in to a big tournament, Maria Kirilenko, into the qualifying draw (which she was eventually bounced out of).

While the men’s draw largely lacks any dark horses or big names overall, it is home to del Potro as it’s top seed. It is tough to know exactly what we’ll get from the big man this year. His return to the tour was not the Delpo we saw in 2009, and as expected. However, this may be the year that the big man gets back into his groove and there is no reason that that shouldn’t happen. Every tennis fan should scout out his form heading to Melbourne.

The ladies’ field is absolutely packed and has already featured a ton of big name matches that you would expect to see in the second week of a slam. And therein lies the rub. It may be tricky to know exactly how some of these players are feeling (I’m looking at you, Zvonareva) heading into the Melbourne. A quick loss here does not mean that they won’t find a way to work themselves into the Open and find success. Regardless, a must watch tournament with fantastic match-ups each and every day, guaranteed.

Women – Hobart (International)

Official Site: Here
Draw: Here
Top Seeds: Wicky, AMG, Niculescu, Kerber

Hobart does not have a terrible draw considering Sydney is happening at the same time. Some names that could make some noise in Melbourne (Wicky, Peer, Pironkova… Cirstea…) and a pretty even draw overall. On a personal note, sometimes watching these smaller, laid back tournaments can be incredibly relaxing and can really give off the laid-back atmosphere of outer courts at other tournaments. Nerds only!

Men – Auckland (250)

Official Site: Here
Draw: Here
Top Seeds: Ferrer, Almagro, Verdasco, Chela

It’s all about the Spaniards in Auckland, as tennis’ Energizer Bunny gets to work on his season. Ferrer had what he called his greatest season of his career last year as he became a mental and physical force that seemed to defy his age and time spent on court. He has to be the overwhelming favourite to take this tournament, and has to be a name to watch out for in anyone’s part of the draw in Melbourne. Special shout out to Verdasco, who looks incredibly fit and played well in the Hopman Cup. Surprise Melbourne run to come?

Remember the hilarity of Nalby being ranked ridiculously high in the betting odds to win AO? There might have been something to that.

Alright, fine. I’m fanboying. Way to burst my bubble. But in all seriousness, Nalby has looked solid in his first two matches in Auckland. He was seriously going for his shots today against Pesky Petz, and I’d say about 90% of the time he was draining those tough shots. Backhand and forehand. Physically, he looks really fit and is moving well. He’s taking the ball early and is definitely interested in controlling play as fast as possible.

This doesn’t turn the Australian Open on it’s head, but considering we’re going to enter with “Rafa slam” and “defending champ” on our minds with “those Muzz, Nole and Sod guys”, Nalby is looking like a serious threat to screw up some brackets, especially if he can take care of lesser opponents in early rounds and not burn out too badly. Vamos Headbandian. No pressure.

2010 was one hell of a year for Sabine. While she emerged in 2009 as a powerful young gun, 2010 saw her momentum shocked with a string of injuries that killed any momentum or consistency she could gain from win to win, or tournament to tournament.

Here’s hoping 2011 is a different story for the cutest thing to hit Facebook ever. She needed some serious fight to survive Sania in a third set tiebreak just to qualify for Auckland, and Tuesday knocked out fellow qualifier Molinero 6-1, 6-3.

I couldn’t see her match today because it wasn’t on centre, but she fired off 10 aces (to just one double fault) and was 88% off the first serve (just dropping 3 points total off of it) and wasn’t broken. Those are some damn good numbers considering what she had to do to get in.

Against Sania, she was mostly going for her shots, and the pop from the forehand was definitely there. She’s also looking as fit as I’ve ever seen her, which is definitely a great sign. I’m not going to say that Sabine is going to explode into the top 20 over night, but these are some precious points that will hopefully keep her from having to qualify for other tournaments and giver her some momentum. Nice to see you back, ‘Bine.

Good News: Dinara played well. She fought her heart out. She changed her service motion (incredibly Lena-esque) and it (mostly) worked. She hit some delicious down the line backhand winners. Her back didn’t explode. She fist pumped, yelled, squealed, and…

(Bad News:): Lost.

But really? I’m ok with that. Wicky was playing damn good tennis, and putting away just about all the points she should have won, including those off of big first serves. That being said, Dinara’s defense looked solid and I saw very few needless or silly errors.

Dinara really had to fight and scrounge for the second set and by the third set, the tank was pretty empty. Wicky kept playing consistent, attacking tennis and took it pretty easily. However, fear not Dinara fans! I was impressed. I’d love to see her take on some lower ranked opponents, and see how well she can dictate play on her terms. Things are coming together.

ATP & WTA – Brisbane (250 & International)

Official Site: Here
Draws: Men & Women
Top Men Seeds: Sod, Dick, Fer, Fish
Top Women Seeds: Superhero Sam, Shahar, Nads, Mono

The ATP side of things kicks off with some seriously big hitting. Thrown in the mix you also have Bags and Feli, as well as wildcards like Steps and Arnaud. It’s a pretty solid draw all around that should create some good match-ups fairly on in the tournament. If you’re itching to get back at things and are looking for some good early matches, Brisbane is definitely the way to go on the ATP side of things.

Things are similar on the WTA side of the coin as well. Sam, Nads, Pavs and Kleybs are all featured for some big babe hitting, not to mention Kvitova, Petko and JD. Also featured are Dani, Flavs, Domi and Polona. Maybe it’s just because I’m in tennis withdrawl (actually it’s likely entirely the reason) but this is a really exciting draw and should be fantastic once solid action gets under way on Monday.

WTA – Auckland (International)

Official Site: Here
Draw: Here
Top Seeds: Masha, Wicky, Kuz, Goerges

What to say, really. Nothing too exciting, but it will be interesting to see how Masha does. For those curious, Masha was offered a Sydney wildcard, but will apparently only bother to take it if she loses in the first round to CSN. So there you go.

ATP – Doha (250)

Official Site: Here
Draw: Here
Top Seeds: Rafa, Fed, Jo, Fuzzy Koala

Doha is much like it was last year, featuring Fedal and eventual champ Fuzzy Koala. Also, HOLY HELL IS IT GOOD TO SEE JO BACK OR WHAT?! We missed you. He’s got mad points to defend in Melbourne too, so good luck.

Otherwise the draw is pretty bare. A possible Rafa/Ernie quarterfinal, and guys like Jarkko, Ivo, and Kohls bumming around. Much like most ATP 250s, this probably won’t get good until the quarterfinals, but it should be damn juicy at that point. Keep an eye out during the week on how the top guns are doing.

ATP – Chennai (250)

Official Site: Here
Draw: Here
Top Seeds: Berd, Marin, Stan, Richie

Chennai is likely the weakest draw out of all 3 ATP events this week. Never heard of it? Its home to a tiny 4.6 million people.

Anyway, the two guys to watch here are the top 2 seeds, Berd and Marin. They both really fell off in the second half of the season, and it’s especially important for Marin to kick things off right this season, as he has semi points to defend in Melbourne.

I did catch this match (I was chilling with the lady friend, but had it on in the background… work the magic people!) and Tree looked pretty solid against a pesky Clement, on his way to his first ever ATP title in a third set tiebreak. After the first set, Tree was serving at 85% and finished the match at 73% overall. Pretty friggin tough to contest with that when you can’t even get a decent racket on a serve three quarters of the time.

Tree seriously needs to work on his volleying and shot selection though. Half the time I’d look up and he’d be arbitrarily charging the net, and Clement would blow one by him. Just cause you have the reach of a tree doesn’t mean you can volley every possible ball.

Tree is a serious bracket effer upper if he can keep serving like that, and he takes home his first ATP trophy and a big bottle of Heineken. The Heineken Open, choosing your post-tourney win celebration means since 2009.

First off, for those in Tennis Pool, a big congrats to a great first week! For those who are doing well, awesome, for those who aren’t, you likely have a lot of players in action this week. Also, keep this in mind. Points are awarded to you as they’re awarded to players in ranking points. In other words, 250, and international and small premier events aren’t huge in comparison to slams and bigger events. You’re likely going to want to pick this week both with the tournaments in the week in mind, and with AO in mind, as you only have 12 total changes (6 each) until we get to Melbourne.  Here we go.

Joint – Sydney (Premier & 250)

Official Site: Here
Draws: Men & Women
Top Seeds: Men: Monf, Berd, Stan, Rusty Lawnmower
Women: Serena, Dina, Kuz, Caro

Holy smokes. The WTA side of things is insanely hard if you’re talking tennis pool picks, and insanely exciting when you’re considering watching. It’s Premier, but not Premier 5, so there’s only 5 rounds. That means you have a TON of high ranked players who are on course to play each other pretty damn early in the tournament. Likely, you’re going to want to pick with AO in mind, as you only have 6 changes until Melbourne. So if you’re thinking for taking a top 10 player, specifically a top 5 player for Melbourne, it might not be a bad idea to grab them now and roll the dice with them for Sydney. Otherwise, barring some big upsets, it’s unlikely lower ranked players will make it very far in this tournament. Think big.

As for the men, you’re in a bit more luck. With a lighter draw, the chances of doing better with lower ranked players is much higher. Of course Monf, Berd, and Stan are all great ideas, and did awesome last year. Dark horses Reeshman and Marcos might get you some surprise wins as well.

Women – Hobart (International)

Official Site: Here
Draw: Here
Top Seeds: AMG, Shahar, K-Bond, A-Bond

The draw here is actually pretty solid. You’re not going to make as many points here as in Sydney, but you can take cheap players who will likely make it pretty far for you. Sorana and Alize are solid dark horses, and I don’t mind second seed Shahar, with her draw. Though of course, keep in mind with what you want to go for come Melbourne.

Men – Auckland (250)

Official Site: Here
Draw: Here
Top Seeds: T-Rob, Ferru, JCF, Almagro

Holy Spaniards Batman. Not much to say, there’s not many people in play this week that were last week, and unless there’s people who you’re seriously thinking about taking in AO, not a whole lot here to grab. I do like Tree’s draw though, and isn’t a bad, cheap pickup.

Here’s the rankings so far for the MTR Club. If you’re still interested in getting in, just post in the comments, and I’ll invite you. 1) It’s still early! Don’t give up hope. These tournaents are worth nothing compared to slams, masters events, etc. TONS of time, and chances are people with a lot of players going last week have fewer this week 2) WTA points ARE fully updated, ATP are NOT. Once that’s fixed, I’ll update it. 3) Curtos7 actually should be winning, he has the wrong account in. Once we figure this out, I’ll update it again. 4) People with zero points aren’t taken into account. 5) You can update your team until Sunday, 4pm eastern time. 6) I’m going to update my team and post it in the comments. If you guys want to discuss it, your teams, or whatever, go nuts.

1 downtwo22 (managed by Joe) 1786
2 ally_r (managed by Alison) 1768
3 AnaTennisGirl (managed by Ana) 1757
4 MaruVR (managed by Maria) 1676
5 Yellybean (managed by jelena) 1611
6 cosmic_jive (managed by Claire) 1583
7 Becky2705 (managed by Rebecca) 1562
8 MindTheRacket (managed by Brodie) 1551
9 JustinBartha (managed by Carl) 1511
10 RagingBitch (managed by Jills) 1507
11 Oh Dina… (managed by SA) 1448
12 eastcoast (managed by Renee) 1412
13 phillies07_08 (managed by Brian) 1361
14 dollymix (managed by Nick) 1346
15 Atiras (managed by Sarah) 1338
16 van£ss (managed by vanessa) 1253
17 Dogtown (managed by Tracey) 1247
18 ihanglikeastar (managed by rishita) 1237
19 repoman13 (managed by Miguel) 1158
20 Moneyhoney87 (managed by Sabrina) 1118
21 tennisdeva (managed by Erin) 1002
22 Taffy (managed by Tiff) 1001
23 tennisetviola (managed by Emily) 1001
24 PinkPooding (managed by Vanessa) 946
25 Pink Coconut (managed by Maryam) 908
26 Parkupdates (managed by Parker) 897
27 MN Tennis (managed by mi) 871
28 Beau27 (managed by Alexandra) 862
29 rileysteam (managed by Neil)  790
30 jellybean221 (managed by Emma) 776
31 zoejrogers (managed by Zoe) 766
32 RubyTheWriter (managed by Ruby) 758
33 VikaFTW! (managed by Lily) 726
34 TennisGrrls (managed by Sheryl) 717
35 Maratsmaiden (managed by Sherri) 702
36 Masochistic Lions (managed by Mango) 635
37 Stoogle (managed by Stella) 566
38 julesdc (managed by Julie) 230

So this is how its gonna work people. So far, the response to joining the tennis pool game is HUGE with 30 of us so far. (If you’re still looking to join, scroll down a bit and check my other posts on how the game works, and post in the comments for your invite into the club). I’m really hoping everyone will be as pumped about this as I am, its a super fun (and smart) game and really only takes like 5-10 minutes, once a week to update.

I’ve always enjoyed doing my “The Week Ahead” posts, especially in weeks like where this where we have FIVE tournaments coming up (not including Hopman Cup) so everyone knows what’s happening, who is where, and quick links to sites and draws. I’m gonna keep doing these, but I’m also going to tie them into the tennis pool results as well (and also give a bit of a slant in the actual posts on who to look at for your team, like a mini “Buy, Sell” segment). And of course, I’ll posts the rankings going into next week. So no excuses for not updating your team! I’ll give you the links to the tourney sites, draws, the top 4 seeds, and all that crap. And then if you want to discuss who you have on your team, what you should be doing etc. in the comments, go nuts (I likely will). So here we go!

Joint: Brisbane (International & 250)

Official Site: Here
Draws: Men & Women
Top Seeds: Men: Dick, The Sex, Gael, Big Berd
Women: Kim, Nads, Ana, Dani

Pretty solid fields for both. Justine is also here, and both her and Kim are really smart buys at a bargain price. Ana isn’t a bad idea either, since her rank is so low. Also, Kleybs has a pretty solid draw and is a good idea as well.
As for the dudes, if you’re looking to spend money, Dick has a pretty simple draw to the final, though there are still questions about his knee. Berd isn’t a bad idea, and neither is Jeremy, with solid draws. Baggy has a decently tough draw, but he’s been training over the off season, and if you’re looking to take a risk with a cheaper last pick, he’s not a bad idea at all.

Men – Chennai (250)

Official Site: Here
Draw: Here
Top Seeds: Sod, Marin, Stan, Tipsy

At solid prices (and with most of the top 10 being inactive, and Rafa and Fed being suicidal picks) Sod and Marin are pretty well no-brains, in my opinion, as they come at solid prices and have pretty solid draws. Tipsy is not a bad idea at all, and Rajeev Ram may be worth taking a look at, with his pretty simple draw and good price.

Men – Doha (250)

Official Site: Here
Draw: Here
Top Seeds: Fed, Rafa, Koala, The Youz

Somehow I feel like we were just here… anyway, Rafa and Fed are both kind of suicidal picks, as either of them will take up about half your payroll, and considering there’s so many other tournaments going on, its really not necessary. Also, for this reason, it might not be good to invest in too many guys here, as well as having Koala in the top half and deadly, its going to be tough for lower ranked guys to make it beyond something like the quarters. Ivo will likely win you two matches, and The Youz isn’t a bad idea either, for the price.

Women – Auckland (International)

Official Site: Here
Draw: Here
Top Seeds: Flavs, Nails, Wicky, Franny

While Brisbane features more top names, as well as two big “bang for your buck” Belgians, the Auckland draw should not be forgotten, as you can likely pick up some players who could carry you far. Flavs and Nails both have relatively simple draws, and Gypsy, Wicky, and Franny could easily win your two, three or more matches.

Happy picking everyone! Don’t forget you can change your team again (drop 3 and add 3 for both men and women) next week and then again before AO, which means eight total players you have now, you’ll still have heading into Melbourne.

Just a day after being given the green light to get her season planning going, Wicky took a wildcard into the ASB Classic in Auckland. Other names include Flavs, Nails, Franny and Gypsy. A round of Heineken on me!

(I know Viggo was getting his gnarly scruff on in that movie, but what a questionable pic choice…) That’s right baby! Argie Headbandian will retake his rightful place on the throne of headbands (after lots of bad posing this summer) in January in Auckland AKA the Heineken Open or That-Tourney-Elf-Is-Too-High-Class-For-To-Defend. Meh, Argie for an Argie, I’m down.