It seems strange to label the world number 4 player as being underrated but this is exactly the case with Nikolay Davydenko. Davydenko displayed a level of tennis at the Sony Ericsson Open final I have not seen in a while to beat Rafael Nadal. My only question is why do we not see this type of performance on a more consistent basis?

At the start of this tournament, I was 100 percent sure nobody would have chosen Davydenko to take his first title of the year. He finally justified his ranking after many people, including myself, were wondering how and why he managed to reach a high world ranking.

It seems he is trying his best to put the betting scandal, which has cast a dark cloud over his career, firmly behind him.

I tipped Nadal to win in a three set thriller considering the Russian’s poor record against the top three players. However this was not the case as Davydenko dominated the Spaniard in all areas of the match. His serving, groundstrokes and movement were near perfect and you could have written a text book on his performance as he ran Nadal around and eventually off the court.

Davydenko is without doubt, in my opinion, the least popular player in the top 10 and this picture of him on the practice court proves he is not much of a draw for spectators compared with others near him in the rankings.

I’m sure though after winning in Miami, ‘Davy’ will hope to win over a few more fans because clearly after a showing like this he deserves them.

Why does Davydenko not attract such as following as his other top ten associates?

One crazy theory that I have come across attempting to explain asserts that not having hair affects his popularity! This is of course is rubbish. After all, baldness did not harm Andre Agassi’s popularity.

More realistically, obviously the betting scandal did not help his case. Nonetheless, I feel the main reason for his lack of fan base is that he does not possess a big personality - especially when compared to the arrogant Andy Roddick and the entertaining Novak Djokovic.

The bottom line is that Davydenko is an extremely hard working pro and does not crave the spot light as others do. A lot of fuss is made when he loses a match he is expected to win but this happens to all players.

When a global approach is taken in assessing Davydenko, it becomes apparent he is not the fourth best player in the world for nothing.

This is why I will certainly be taking more notice of this gifted player in the future.

The United States and France will renew their storied Davis Cup rivalry this week in the quarterfinals in Winston-Salem, N.C. as captain Patrick McEnroe’s U.S. squad – Andy Roddick, James Blake, Bob and Mike Bryan – will look to continue their run towards a second consecutive Davis Cup title against French captain Guy Forget and his nominated team of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet, Paul-Henri Mathieu and Michael Llodra.

Interestingly, this 15th meeting between the two Davis Cup superpowers (series tied 7-7) comes 80 years after one of the most famous and most-politically involved Davis Cup matches in the history of the competition, in which, perhaps appropriately enough, the great, great uncle of President George W. Bush – Joseph Wear – was a central figure.

In the spring of 1928, Wear, a former player who medaled in tennis at the 1904 Olympic Games, was the Davis Cup Committee Chairman for the United States Lawn Tennis Association - now the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA). The United States was, for the first time since 1919, not in possession of the Davis Cup after the four French Musketeers – Rene Lacoste, Henri Cochet, Jacques Brugnon and Jean Borotra – snatched the Cup from Bill Tilden and the U.S. team the previous year in Philadelphia – ending the U.S. record seven-year stranglehold on the Cup.

Wear met with USLTA President Sam Collom and the Davis Cup Selection Committee to decide which Americans would represent the United States in Davis Cup play. The United States were due to meet Italy in the Davis Cup Inter-zone Final in Paris, and presumably, in the Davis Cup Challenge Round against the French in what would be the christening event for its’ new tennis stadium, Stade Roland Garros (now the site of the French Championships). On the agenda of the Davis Cup Selection Committee and the USLTA Executive Committee was whether Tilden, regarded as one of the world’s most famous athletes at the time, had violated his amateur status when he filed newspaper reports from Wimbledon, for which he was paid. Wear, and USLTA President Sam Collom, reviewed the evidence at the USLTA Davis Cup Selection Committee and no suspension or discipline was discussed in depth.

Wear and Collom set sail on July 6 for Paris and the Davis Cup matches on the S.S. France. While on board, radio dispatches were sent to Colom and Wear of the meeting of the USLTA’s Advisory Committee, where charges were, in fact, filed against Tilden for a breach of his amateur status. Collom advised the USLTA’s Advisory Committee that no suspension would be issued until Collom would get to speak to Tilden in person. While Collom and Wear were on board the S.S. France, the USLTA’s Advisory, Davis Cup and Amateur Rule Committee met in New York – minus the USLTA President and Davis Cup Committee Chairman – and voted to suspend Tilden as the playing captain of the U.S. Davis Cup team. The Committees also voted to have Wear replace Tilden as captain of the U.S. team. Under USLTA rules, Collom and Wear were helpless to overrule the committee. Wear, upset at the committee members’ decision, cabled the USLTA in New York and resigned his post as USLTA Davis Cup Committee Chairman upon setting foot back on U.S. soil upon his return from France.

At the draw ceremony to announce the line-ups for the Inter-zone Final between the United States and Italy, Collom announced publicly Tilden’s suspension from the team. Headlines in the world press resulted as Tilden was regarded as one of the world’s most famous sports personalities. The story was particularly sensitive in France, where the French Tennis Federation had invested significant financial resources in the construction of Stade Roland Garros, expecting to reap a financial windfall  to help pay for the stadium’s construction with the match-up between the Tilden-lead U.S. team and their “Four Musketeers.” Without Tilden, the French Tennis Federation would not have its’ marquee match-up for the opening of its stadium and would face a severe financial crisis. Fans that already had purchased tickets for a potential U.S. vs. France Challenge Round had already requested refunds upon learning of Tilden’s suspension from the U.S. team.

The French Tennis Federation contacted the French Foreign Ministry to inquire whether the issue of Tilden’s suspension could be turned over to the American Ambassador to France, Myron Herrick. It is believed that Herrick brought the issue as far as the White House, where President Calvin Coolidge endorsed Tilden’s reinstatement. (Coolidge had an interest in the Davis Cup since his Secretary of War from 1923-1925 was none-other than Dwight Davis, the event’s founder). Herrick allowed the USLTA to devise some sort of punishment after the conclusion of the Davis Cup in exchange for re-instatement to the team “in the interest of international good feeling.”

While the diplomatic gears moved in full motion, Wear captained the Tilden-less U.S. team to a 4-1 win over Italy to advance the United States into the Davis Cup Challenge Round against France. Tilden rejoined the U.S. team for the Challenge Round, while Wear remained as U.S. Captain. The French went on to defeat Tilden and the U.S. by a 4-1 margin in front of overflowing and enthusiastic French crowds at Roland Garros.

Wear returned to the U.S. Davis Cup captaincy in 1935, when he steered the United States into the Davis Cup Challenge Round with a 4-1 victory over Germany. The United States would then lose to the Fred Perry-led British team 5-0 at Wimbledon, but Wear did have the opportunity to coach an up-and-coming young red-headed future champion by the name of Don Budge. Wear, in fact, is the only U.S. Davis Cup Captain to captain both Bill Tilden (1928) and Don Budge (1935). The uncle of George W. Bush’s grandmother Dorothy, was himself an accomplished tennis player himself having won a bronze medal in men’s doubles at the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis, Mo.

“No one in tennis is held in higher regard than the Philadelphian,” wrote Allison Danzig in The New York Times in 1931, who noted that Wear won the 1914 “Racquets” championship with Dwight Davis. (Racquets is a sport similar to court tennis or squash.) “His appointment as Davis Cup chairman in 1928 was hailed as the entry of one of the country’s most representative sportsmen into its lawn tennis councils and was forseen as a guarantee of the maintenance of the association’s international relations upon their high plane of noblesse oblige…From the beginning, he won the confidence of the candidates for the team and became their warm friend, and no one was ever a more welcome or respected figure in an American Davis Cup camp.”

We hope that the drama in this week’s United States vs. France Davis Cup series remains only on the court.

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7 April 2008

STARS

Nikolay Davydenko became the first Russian to win the Sony Ericsson Open men’s singles crown at Miami, Florida, by crushing second-seeded Rafael Nadal 6-4 6-2.

Serena Williams outlasted Jelena Jankovic 6-1 5-7 6-3 to capture her fifth Sony Ericsson Open women’s singles title.

Bob and Mike Bryan finally won their first doubles championship of 2008, beating Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles 6-2 6-2 at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

Katarina Srebotnik and Ai Sugiyama won their second doubles title as a team, edging Cara Black and Liezel Huber 7-5 4-6 10-3 at the Sony Ericsson Open.

SAYINGS

“I have only one (racquet). Surprising I didn’t break a string. Warm up and play match, warm up and play match, every match, and I finish with the racquet. I’m going to keep forever this racquet.” - Nikolay Davydenko, who said he used the same racquet in all six matches to win the Sony Ericsson Open.

“People write more about Roger (Federer), about me, about Andy (Roddick). People outside tennis can think different about Nikolay, but we know he’s a very, very good player.” - Rafael Nadal, after losing the Sony Ericsson Open final to Davydenko 6-4 6-2.

“She looked so nervous out there. I could never believe that a girl who has won so many Grand Slams, so many tournaments, could be that nervous closing out a match.” - Jelena Jankovic, after losing the Sony Ericsson Open women’s final to Serena Williams 6-1 5-7 6-3.

“I smashed a racquet? Are you sure it was me? I guess maybe my hand must have been oily.” - Serena Williams, who drew a code violation when she smashed her racquet after blowing a 5-2 40-0 lead in the second set of her three-set victory over Jelena Jankovic.

“This tie is important for the team, as a win would give us the opportunity to compete in a playoff to make it back in the World Group, where I believe Australia belongs.” - Lleyton Hewitt, saying he plans on playing Davis Cup against Thailand.

“Losing in the finals four times just makes you hungrier and hungrier. When we went out there … we didn’t take anything for granted.” - Bob Bryan after he teamed with his brother Mike to win the Sony Ericsson Open men’s doubles.

“Winning in September and staying in the World Group is obviously a key focus for us, but just as vital is working with hose younger players who may be capable of thriving in a Davis Cup environment in the near future.” - Paul Annacone, who has been named coach of Great Britain’s Davis Cup team, succeeding Peter Lundgren.

SPLAT

After he hit a backhand into the net during his third-round match at the Sony Ericsson Open, Mikhail Youzhny showed his displeasure by angrily whacking himself in the head three times with his racket strings. That sent a stream of blood running from above his hairline down his nose and nearly to his mouth. The Russian became a celebrity when a video of his tantrum was put on YouTube and drew more than a half-million hits.

SUFFERING SUCCOTASH

Here it is April and the world’s top two men players are still looking for a 2008 tournament title. Top-ranked Roger Federer’s best results this year have been semifinal appearances at both the Australian Open and the Pacific Life Open. Federer has been limited to just three tournaments because of mononucleosis. World number two Rafael Nadal has been in two finals - the Chennai Open and the Sony Ericsson Open - losing both. He also was a semifinalist at both the Australia Open and the Pacific Life Open. And, the top-ranked men’s doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan won their first title of 2008 at the just-concluded Sony Ericsson Open.

SUCCESS FINALLY

Playing in their fifth final of 2008, twins Bob and Mike Bryan finally came away with the title when they defeated Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles 6-2 6-2 at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. Beginning with the 2007 Australian Open, the Bryans have reached 20 finals in 27 tournaments. And this championship was their 45^th career title together.

SELECTED FOR BEIJING

Players from El Salvador, Togo and Liechtenstein will compete in Olympic tennis for the first time at the Beijing Games. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and International Tennis Federation (ITF) selected four players to compete in the Summer Games: Rafael Arevalo of El Salvador, Komlavi Loglo of Togo, Cara Black of Zimbabwe and Stephanie Vogt of Liechtenstein. Only 21 years old, Arevalo has already played 22 Davis Cup ties for El Salvador. Loglo, 23, is the first African Junior Champion from Togo. Vogt, 17, has played eight Fed Cup ties for Liechtenstein. Black, currently co-ranked No. 1 in the world in doubles, played singles at the 2000 Sydney Games.

SQUEAKER

By nipping Cara Black and Liezel Huber in a Match Tiebreak (7-5 4-6 10-3) to win the women’s doubles at the Sony Ericsson Open, Katarina Srebotnik and Ai Sugiyama were just repeating themselves. The Miami, Florida, tournament title was their second doubles crown as a team. Their first came last year in Toronto when they also beat Black and Huber in a Match Tiebreak in the final.

STEERING TENNIS EUROPE

Jacques Dupre is the new president of Tennis Europe, succeeding John James of Great Britain. Others elected to the board at the meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, were Peter Bretherton of Great Britain, Michele Brunetti of Italy, Philios Christodoulou of Cyprus, Gunther Lang of Germany, Aleksei Selivanenko of Russai, Jose Antonio Senz de Broto of Spain, Stefan Tzvetkov of Bulgaria and Ayda Uluc of Turket. There were delegates from a record 43 member nations at the 34^th annual general meeting.

SOUTH AFRICA ON TOP

South Africa successfully defended its African Junior Championships in Gaborone, Botswana. Tunisia finished in second place, followed by Egypt in third and Morocco in fourth. Points are earned in singles and doubles in three age groups. South Africa captured two of the six singles titles and reached three other finals. The winners dominated the 16-and -under age group with Jarryd Botha defeating fellow South African Japie de Klerk 6-2 6-2 in the boys singles final.

SENIORS DOING IT

A record 376 teams have entered the 2008 ITF Seniors & Super-Seniors World Team Championships in Antalya, Turkey, in October. More than 220 teams from 38 countries have registered for the Seniors age categories - women and men 35 to 55 - while 150 teams will compete in the Super-Seniors: women 60 to 70 and men 60 to 80. The team event will be followed by the ITF Seniors & Super-Seniors World Individual Championships.

SORE BUT READY

Despite possibly having tendinitis and a hip tendon tear - or a combination of both - Lleyton Hewitt says he will play for Australia in its Davis Cup tie against Thailand. Doctors had advised Hewitt to rest his sore left hip and continue treatment. He has suffered hip pain since losing to Mardy Fish in Indian Wells, California, in March.

SUPERHERO

India’s Davis Cup captain Leander Paes will be a superhero in a cartoon television series in his home country. According to the Indian Express newspaper, Paes will play a miracle man who helps school kids in each of the 26 half-hour episodes being planned. The cartoons, called “The Magic Racquet,” are aimed at promoting an active lifestyle in children. According to the newspaper, a date has not been set for the start of the series.

SWINGING AGAIN

Two retired Wimbledon champions will play each other on grass once again. Martina Hingis and Jana Novotna will play an exhibition match in Liverpool, England, in June. Hingis beat Novotna in the 1997 Wimbledon final to become the youngest champion in the Open Era. Novotna, who also lost in the final at Wimbledon to Steffi Graf in 1993, finally won the Championships in 1998.

SITES TO SURF

Amelia Island: www.blchamps.com

Davis Cup: www.daviscup.com/

Olympic Tennis: www.itftennis.com/olympics.

Family Circle Cup: www.familycirclecup.com

Estoril: www.estorilopen.net

Valencia: www.open-comunidad-valencia.com/

Houston: www.riveroaksinternational.com

ITF Seniors: www.itftennis.com/seniors

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

WTA Tour

$600,000 Bausch & Lomb Championships, Amelia Island, Florida, clay

DAVIS CUP

World Group Quarterfinals

(April 11-13)

Czech Republic at Moscow, Russia

Sweden at Buenos Aires, Argentina

Spain at Bremen, Germany

France vs. United States at Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Europe/Africa Zone Group 1 Second Round

Italy at Zagreb, Croatia; Netherlands at Skopje, Macedonia; Switzerland at Minsk, Belarus; Georgia at Bratislava, Slovak Republic

America’s Zone Group 1 Second Round

Canada at Santiago, Chile; Colombia at Soracaba, Brazil

Asia/Oceania Zone Group 1 Second Round

Thailand at Townsville, Australia; Japan at New Delhi, India

Asia/Oceania Zone Group 1 First-Round Playoffs

Chinese Taipei at Almaty, Kazakhstan; Uzbekistan at Manila, Philippines

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

ATP TOUR

$370,000 Estoril Open, Estoril, Portugal, clay

$370,000 Open de Tenis Comunidad Valencia, Valencia, Spain, clay

$436,000 U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships, Houston, Texas, clay

WTA TOUR

$1,340,000 Family Circle Cup, Charleston, South Carolina

Photos of Miami:

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Is Nikolay Davydenko’s downward spiral finally over? The World No. 5 continues a great hard court performance by ending the winning streak of the blissful, engaged, and now part-New Yorker Andy Roddick in the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Open on Friday. This is Nikolay’s first win over Andy in six tries. The score was 7-6 (5), 6-2.

Roddick shouldn’t be too sad, though. He snapped a winning streak himself, notching a victory against Roger Federer for the first time since November 2003 (while coachless, even).

I prefer this red version of Kolya’s Airness kit over the white one. And the red wristband’s a nice touch. Helps cover up the taped (ack!) wrists.

(photos by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

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People magazine reports that Andy Roddick has asked his girlfriend swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker to marry him.

It’s love - love for Andy Roddick and Brooklyn Decker – they’re engaged!

The tennis star is officially off the market after popping the question to Decker last Tuesday, sources, including Decker’s rep, confirm to PEOPLE.

On Roddick’s official Web site, andyroddick.com, a statement tells fans, “The couple wanted to tell their family and close friends first but good news travels fast. By the time Andy arrived in Miami for the Sony Ericsson Open, the tournament was bustling with the news.”

The pair, who have been dating since 2007, first met after Roddick, 25, asked his agent to track down a number for Decker, 20, a model who has appeared in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition.

“With their hectic travel schedules, Andy and Brooklyn plan to enjoy their engagement and will wait to set a wedding date,” adds Roddick’s online statement.

(Photo by: Bauer Griffin)

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Video of Andy Roddick’s pre-match press conference at Pacific Life Open. The girl is lucky that it was a pre-match press conference and not a post-match one. Andy has crashed out in straight-sets after he went down 6-4 6-4 to Germany’s Tommy Haas in the second-round.

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Top-seeded Andy Roddick was outgunned 7-6 6-3 by Swede Robin Soederling after a battle of big-serving in the Memphis Championship quarter-finals on Friday.

Soederling, the eighth seed, trumped the Roddick’s 15 aces by unleashing 16 of his own to seal victory in one hour and 25 minutes in an explosive match on the Stadium Court.

“We both served well and it was fun to play against him,” Soederling told reporters after his first meeting with Roddick. “This is probably my favorite court on tour. I am serving great and I have no complaints at all.”

Roddick predicted Soederling would now win the tournament.

“I thought if I would have gotten through that match, I’ve had a good chance of going the whole way,” said Roddick, who never held a break opportunity.

“I certainly think he’s going to go all the way.”

Soederling will next face fourth-seed Radek Stepanek after the Czech beat Australian Chris Guccione 7-6 6-1.

Steve Darcis of Belgium fired down nine aces to crush Germany’s Benjamin Becker 6-1 6-0 in the first quarter-final of the day.

The 23-year-old from Liege will face ATP Tour veteran Jonas Bjorkman in the last four, the Swede having battled past American Donald Young 1-6 6-2 7-6 in a two-hour contest.