Czechs Win Fed Cup

The progression of the Fed Cup final in Moscow went very much according to my prediction.  The Czechs defeated the Russians 3-2, winning the live 5th rubber.  However, it turned out Zvonareva couldn't go with a shoulder injury so Russia pieced together a singles lineup good enough to beat Safarova twice and force a deciding doubles rubber.  Kvitova was very good, defeating Kirilenko and Kuznetsova.  The latter beat Safarova on the first day but then Pavlyuchenkova came off the bench to beat her on the second day.  Then in the clincher, Peschke/Hradecka easily handled Kirilenko/Vesnina 6-4 6-2 to give the Czechs the trophy.

Roger Federer finally won his second title of the year, after a 10-month drought dating back to Doha in the first week of the year.  He won his hometown tournament, a 500 event in Basel, Switzerland by defeating Kei Nishikori 6-1 6-3, and claimed his 68th career title, and his 5th title in Basel.  It was an anticlimatic ending to the tournament after Nishikori upset Djokovic in the semis.  However, Nishikori is enjoying the best form of his career and will rise to #24 in tomorrow's rankings.

After reaching the final last year as a lucky loser, Marcel Granollers did one better in the 2011 edition of the 500 event in Valencia, Spain, winning his second title of the year and the third of his career.  He overcame Juan Monaco in a final set tiebreak 6-2 4-6 7-6(3) and Monaco was the lowest ranked player he faced all week.  He beat Dolgopolov, Cilic, Monfils, and Del Potro to reach the final.

Finally, at the Tournament of Champions in Bali, Indonesia, Ana Ivanovic received a wild card to enter and successfully defended her title, defeating Anabel Medina Garrigues in the final 6-3 6-0.  Nadia Petrova took 3rd place by defeating Daniela Hantuchova 6-2 5-7 6-0.  It was the 11th career title and first since Bali last year for Ivanovic.

The women's season is now officially concluded, but the men play their final Masters 1000 event this week in Paris Bercy.  Robin Soderling is the defending champion but is injured and will not defend his title.  Gael Monfils was the losing finalist after defeating Federer in the 3 tiebreaks last year.  The other losing semifinalist was Michael Llodra, who held match points against Soderling but couldn't come through.  His ranking will plummet if he doesn't go deep as his 2011 wasn't nearly as good as his 2010.  Melzer, Murray, Roddick, and Davydenko were in the quarters last year.

This tournament is wide open again as it is the only Masters where Federer has never reached the final.  Nadal is skipping it and health is also a question for both Djokovic and Murray.  All eyes could be on the top two Frenchmen, Tsonga and Monfils.  Tsonga won the tournament in 2008 and Monfils has reached the final the last two years.