Nikolay Davydenko Wins The Qatar Open

Rafael Nadal handed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia a bagel in the first set of the Qatar Open finals. Davydenko rallied back and won the second set in a tiebreaker and the third, 6-4.

Final scores: 0-6, 7-6(8), 6-4

Here are some highlights:



Davydenko beat Roger Federer two days ago to reach the finals. Beating the number one and number two ranked players is quite a feat for the Russian who is currently ranked number 6 in the ATP.

The match was in Doha, Qatar, which is an Arab emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula, bordering Saudi Arabia.

Davydenko uses a Prince Ozone Pro Tour racket.

Andy Roddick Winds Brisbane International

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Top-seeded Andy Roddick survived a second-set collapse Sunday to win the Brisbane International title, beating defending champion Radek Stepanek after the Czech player double-faulted on match point.

The American's 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (9-7) victory in the final capped his first tournament in nearly three months becaue of a 2009 season-ending knee injury.

Roddick nearly let the match slip away. He led 4-0 in the second set before Stepanek came back to take a 6-5 lead, with Roddick needing to hold service to force a tiebreaker.

Source

Tiebreak Rules

I've had trouble finding clear rules for how to play a tiebreaker, so I thought I'd post them here.

If you wind up with a score of 6-6 in a set, you play a tiebreaker to determine the winner.

Tiebreak rules:

• Scoring is 1, 2, 3, 4...


• Whoever served last in the set, the other person serves first in the tiebreaker


• First server serves once from the deuce court (the right-hand side).


• Switch service after every odd number of points


• Except for first point, each player serves twice. The first serve is from the ad court (the left-hand side) and the second serve is from the deuce court


• Switch sides after every 6 points.


• First player to get 7 points wins but you have to win by 2

Here's an easy way to remember it:




The numbers indicate the order of serve and colors indicate the players. Serving goes in a counter-clockwise direction and you switch sides after every six points played.

Super Slow Motion Tennis Videos

Super slow-motion videos from MyTrainer.com


Serve


Serve and volley


Slow motion two-handed backhand of David Nalbandian


Two handed backhand instruction


Another two-handed backhand that focuses on the grip

Tennis Channel accuses Comcast of discrimination

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Tennis Channel is accusing Comcast Corp. of discriminating against its cable TV network by relegating it to a premium sports tier that reaches only a small number of subscribers, even as Comcast-owned sports channels get much wider distribution.

In a complaint filed with the Federal Communications Commission, the Tennis Channel charges the nation's largest cable TV provider with violating FCC rules that prohibit such operators from favoring channels that they own over those from other companies.

The Tennis Channel, a small, independent network, reaches about 2.6 million homes through Comcast. The network maintains that Comcast carries it primarily on the premium Sports Entertainment Package, which costs an extra $5 to $8 per month, to protect Comcast's own sports channels from competition.

Comcast's Golf Channel and Versus, which shows hockey, cycling and other sporting events, reach about 21 million homes apiece through Comcast's expanded basic cable lineups.

Source

Let's hope the Tennis Channel wins. I refuse to pay Comcast's exorbitant rates for premium channels, but I'd love to be able to watch the tennis tournaments.

DU vs. UNC Tennis

Okay, tennis fans, we've got our first matches next Saturday! The DU Pioneers will be playing the UNC Bears at the Colorado Athletic Club in Englewood, Colorado.

DU is a private, very expensive university, and UNC is a state university specializing in teacher education. Naturally, DU has a much bigger budget for sports and drafts players from around the world. Of their men's team eight man roster, only two players are from the U.S. and neither is from Colorado. Half of UNC's roster is from Colorado and they're all from the U.S. So I have to pull for UNC. Gotta root for the underdogs.

Next Event: DU vs. CSU Rams and CU vs. Air Force

There are two matches on Saturday, January 16:

The DU Pioneers play the UNC Bears at the Colorado Athletic Club - Inverness at 5:00 P.M. The CU Buffaloes play the Air Force Falcons in Boulder at 11:00 in the morning.

I'll be reporting from the DU/UNC match in the Tech Center.

[Update: The DU sites gives a time of 5:00 but the UNC site has 4:00. We'll update this when the discrepancy is resolved.]