The New ATP Tour

If the year end Barclays ATP World Tour Finals proved one thing, it's that tennis no longer has a sheriff. Gone are the days of Roger and Rafa's absolute dominance of this sport. Gone are the days of the oligarchy that was tennis for so many years. Gone are tournaments whose outcomes were foregone conclusions.

In are the days of parity. In are the days of balance. In are the days of the New ATP Tour.

What is the New ATP Tour? The New ATP Tour was on display this past week at the O2 arena where the top eight players in the world squared off in the year end tournament. The New ATP Tour showed us that the current rankings don't mean anything. #8 can beat #1, #6 can beat #4, #4 can beat #3, and so on. Anyone in the top 8 can beat anyone else in the world. When was the last time we could say that?

Nikolay Davydenko is a testament of the New ATP Tour. Coming into the tournament Davydenko was ranked #8 in the world, but wasn't given much of a chance at winning the best-of-the-best tournament. But Nikolay had other things in mind. Big hitting from both sides and consistent shot-making proved too much for the field as he vanquished the competition.

On the other side of the coin, but also testaments of the New ATP Tour, are Federer and Nadal. Roger, who was champion of this event 4 of the past 6 years and finished year end #1, struggled in every match and lost to the eventual champion in the semifinals. Roger looked very pedestrian - and again, I'm left asking when was the last time we could say that? Rafa was the worst of the eight...unquestionably. He lost all three of his matches and worse yet, he didn't win a set. Rafa is not the same. I'm not saying he won't return to his prior form, but I can say for certain that he is nowhere near it at this time.

What we are left with in the New ATP Tour is the O.K. Corral - there's no sheriff, there's only gun-slinging - every match as perilous as a ten-pace duel. Rankings or seedings won't help you, only shot-making and nerves of steel, and whatever you do, don't run out of bullets.

Barclays ATP World Tour Finals

Get ready for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The top 8 men in the world are going to battle it out at London's O2 Arena.

Play starts tomorrow with Murray VS Del Potro

I purchased the Tournament pass (25$) which allows me to watch all the matches live web-streamed.

You can purchase HERE....

For those of you who don't have Tennis Channel, or want to spend $25...I'll be live tweeting as many matches as I can.

This tournament should be a lot of fun. I could see any of the 8 players coming out on top. My personal pick is going to be an unpopular one. I'm going to pick Fernando Verdasco to win the ATP World Tour Finals...

Everyday I'll try and give a prediction for the day's matches.

Day Match: Del Potro VS Murray- Murray is going to have the crowd electric as the opening match. Neither of these guys come in to the tournament all that healthy...both fighting wrist injuries. I'm going to say Murray uses the home crowd to knock off Del Po in 3...

Night Match: Federer VS Verdasco- I can't turn my back on my pick to win it all. I'm going to go with Verdasco to take out Fed in straight sets...forcing Fed to drop his 3rd match straight.

Enjoy! Check out the Twitter for live updates...

A Look Back + Andre's Chat...

Hey everyone! I admit, since the start of the radio show, I haven't been blogging as much as I used to. I'll try and change that and stop ignoring you die-hard bloggers.

First of all, what a year it has been in the world of tennis. Going into the last tournament (besides Davis Cup finals)...take a step back and think about all that has happened in tennis. In no real order...

-Agassi's book, Clijsters, Serena's outburst...

-Nadal's injury, drug bans, Nadal losing at French...

-Fed equaling and beating Pete's record, New roof at Wimbledon, Rafa takes the #1 ranking,...

-Fed takes the Career Slam, emergence of Verdasco, Soderling, and Del Potro...Roddick loses 15 lbs...Henin announcing her return...

-Safin and Santoro ending their careers....

This has been an incredible year for the game.

A special highlight on that list, for me, is saying farewell to two of the games greatest personalities. Fabrice Santoro might go down as the biggest overachiever the game has ever seen. His two hands of both sides magician-like play was unlike anyone I have, or probably will ever see. Above all, he was an intense competitor and a great sportsman. I don't think the world will ever see another "Magician."

Marat Safin also says good-bye to the courts as he hangs up whichever rackets he hasn't already cracked. When he wanted, he could play with anyone...the only problem was that this didn't happen often enough. We saw the brilliance he had to offer in flashes that won him 2 Grand Slams and a brief period at No. 1 in the World. His temper and shot making will be greatly missed on the tour. The ATP will also have a huge void to fill in press conference personalities.

Also(if you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you know this) Andre Agassi held an online chat press conference on ESPN.com to answer questions from his fans. I frantically submitted about 20, and he actually answered 2 of mine. Considering it was only a roughly 15 minute chat, I was pretty excited.

To see the full chat click HERE

My Questions and Andre's answers...

Ryan B. (Fairfield, CT)

In your new book, you admit to hating tennis for a bulk of your career. What would you say to fans that supported and idolized you during a time in your career when you didn't care whether you won or lost?

Andre Agassi

(12:04 PM)

There were many times when I didn't care about myself. This has been a journey for me and quite a process to reconcile my contradictions. There were many days when I did love it. I think I felt that my eyes would betray me out there. I always wore my heart on my sleeve. This book, while not the ideal perception of me, it is the real me. I think that journey can help others.

Ryan B. (Westchester, NY)

If you were at such a bad place in your life that you turned to crystal meth, why should we believe that you wouldn't turn to performance enhancing drugs to get back to the top of the game?

Andre Agassi

(12:09 PM)

Crystal meth was a way of hurting myself, it wasn't a way of cheating others. I was in a place where I didn't like myself and it was a form of affliction. My route back to the top was earned because of the place I was starting from. There's a huge difference from the desire to cheat others and to hurt yourself.

Thanks to anyone who tuned in, called, or e-mailed!

Thanks to all of our listeners!

Don't forget next week Sunday at 6 PM ET!

Tiebreak is close to making it to FM Radio so keep listening and thanks for all of the support.

Also, the Tiebreak Tennis Podcast is coming soon and will be available on iTunes...

Thanks,

TT

Tiebreak Tennis on the Radio Sunday at 6!

Tune in tomorrow at 6 PM ET to Tiebreak Tennis on the Radio http://tinyurl.com/n6ncr4

Full discussion on Nadal's future, Safin's goodbye, the Paris Masters, the Masters Cup, Fairfield tennis, and much more!

Marat Ends Career

Marat Safin just lost a tough three setter to Juan Martin Del Potro at the Paribas Masters. This marks the end of Safin's up-and-down career.

Good luck in the rest of your life, Marat. The game will certainly not be the same without this huge personality, and 2-time Grand Slam Champion in it.

FULL BLOG TO FOLLOW SOON...

Thanks!

Thanks to anyone who tuned in, called, or e-mailed!

Have a topic you want us to discuss next week? E-mail them to TiebreakQuestions@Gmail.com

Same time next Sunday 6 PM ET.

Take care,

TT

Don't Forget!

Don't forget to tune in at 6!

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Call in 1-203-254-4002 or e-mail any questions to TiebreakQuestions@gmail.com

Tune in this Sunday at 6 PM ET!

Tune in to Tiebreak Tennis on the Radio tonight! 6 PM- 8PM ET

Call in throughout the show! 1-203-254-4002

or E-mail questions/comments to TiebreakQuestions@gmail.com

Tune in tonight as we discuss

-college "off-seasons"

-Fairfield Men's Tennis

-Fairfield Women's Tennis

-Andre Agassi's new confession

-All ATP/WTA scores

-Safin

-The Masters Cup......along with anything else that comes up on the show.

Don't forget to tune in tonight at 6 PM...http://tinyurl.com/n6ncr4

Thanks,

TT