After the first week of the ATP season Novak Djokovic, Ivan Ljubicic and Xavier Malisse were the happiest men on tour after winning titles in Adelaide, Doha and Chennai respectively.
Adelaide saw the introduction of the round-robin system for the first time on the ATP Tour and during the group phase, seven of the eight groups were won by a player with a 100% record. Group four had to be decided by percentage of sets won after Joachim Johansson, Florent Serra and Gilles Simon ended the round-robin action with a win each. Johansson’s straight sets win over Simon proved crucial and enabled the Swede to progress.
The biggest shock of the group phase saw Lleyton Hewitt get knocked out by Igor Kunitsyn, and soon after losing the match Hewitt lost his coach as well. Roger Rasheed jumped ship claiming that "within the current environment, I don’t believe it is possible for us to get the results we are looking for." Hewitt has since pulled out of Sydney and his participation in the Australian Open may also be in some doubt.
The quarter-final line up consisted of some the younger talents on tour who are expected to achieve greater things in the years ahead; Novak Djokovic, Juan-Martin Del Potro and Richard Gasquet.
The Frenchman Gasquet fell at the quarter-final stage to Chris Guccione, an Australian wildcard. Djokovic safely moved on to the last four, while Del Potro had his quarter-final delayed by rain. With the prospect of having to play two matches in a day to reach the final the 18 year old Argentine Del Potro crushed Kunitsyn, losing just two games in the process. The semi-final was a far tighter affair and eventually it was Guccione who progressed, winning 7-5 in the 3rd set. Djokovic ensured his passage to the final with a straight sets win over Johansson (who like Del Potro had to play twice in a day).
For the first time in the tournament, Djokovic was taken the distance, but still prevailed over Guccione to claim the third title of his career.
Meanwhile in India many expected to see a long awaited encounter between Rafael Nadal and David Nalbandian, the top two seeds in the tournament. However, neither player made the final.
Having celebrated his 25th birthday a day earlier, Nalbandian was knocked out in the first round by Kristian Pless. Nalbandian cited tendonitis in the left leg as a reason for his early departure, and his participation in Melbourne for the Australian Open is also in some doubt. The exit of the Argentine had all eyes focused on world number two, Rafael Nadal. Without a title since the French Open in 2006, Nadal would have hoped to go on and claim the title in Chennai to get his 2007 season off on the right note.
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Article comments
1 - jay tursunov
well since i won all the junior grand slams twice i haven't lost a match and i think things are getting a bit to easy.