FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images via Daylife

Better late than never! Novak Djokovic beat Gael Monfils, 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(3), in the Bercy final on Sunday, claiming his first (and last) Masters 1000 title of the year – in five attempts and on four surfaces. This is also Nole’s second trophy in as many weeks, following a nervy win over Roger Federer in the Basel finals last Sunday. He scored another major victory in this week’s semis, taking his rival and World No. 2, Rafael Nadal, out to the woodshed for a 6-2, 6-3 beat down.

Think Nole’s feeling up to defending his title at the upcoming World Tour Finals?

Here are highlights from Sunday’s final in Bercy:

And Djokovic’s post-match interview, where he declares himself “deeeelighted” with the win:

The match entertained me for two reasons:

1. Monfils’ hometown crowd refused to let him fold, encouraging him with chants and bongo drums even when he was being embarrassed in the first set and a half. This is the upside to the notorious French crowd.

2. Both guys know how to express themselves:

JACQUES DEMARTHON/AFP/Getty Images via Daylife

FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images via Daylife

After the match, I found myself happy for Djokovic and completely confused by Monfils. Is he a pusher with a big serve? A comet-quick shot maker or a defensive one-trick pony? A headcasey choker? A world-class ham? Jumping bean or Gumby? Maybe he’s still figuring it out, himself.

Identity crisis or no, Monfils does see himself as a Top 10 player:

“This end of season gives me really the desire to work hard so that next year maybe I will have a full season. I’m thinking if I was able to play all the year round, all the tournaments, how good it would be. Without doing that, I’m already Top 13. I don’t want to over-estimate myself, but if I had played a full year this year I would have been among the Top 10. I’m almost sure of that. I’m sure next year I will be able to get back within the Top 10.“

It’s time to get to work, Gael! Don’t be fooled by the “off” in off-season.

Whenever I get excited for quarterfinals day, the matches never live up to my expectations. Friday at the Paris Masters was no exception. I was pulling for either a Nadal vs. Soderling grudge match in the semis or a chance for Tsonga to defend his title. Instead we get Novak Djokovic out-scrapping the Sod and Tsonga choking break points against Nadal. I won’t even get into Del Potro’s poop-out against Stepanek. At least Gael Monfils kept things interesting:

Saturday’s semifinals line-up in Paris will be: Djokovic vs. Nadal and Stepanek vs. Monfils. I’d say I’m excited, but I don’t want to jinx it.

Here are Friday’s highlights:

The biggest stories coming out of Bercy on Friday had more to do with the World Tour Finals than the Paris Masters. Rafael Nadal continues to chip his way closer to the year end No. 1 ranking, which could be within his reach by London. Rafa’s win over Tsonga also guaranteed his countryman, Fernando Verdasco, the final spot at the WTF. (Personally, I’ve found this week’s tournament to be a big WTF.)

Here’s the ATP’s World Tour Finals line-up:

The ATP’s calendar was the hot topic in the Shanghai Masters press room last week, but there were plenty of other interesting exchanges, covering everything from sex, sports cars and when the heck a Frenchman will ever win a major. Before it’s old news, I thought I’d post some of my favorites:

Novak Djokovic on sex vs. Wimbledon (from an interesting interview in the Times U.K.)

So what was better, winning a grand-slam tournament or sex? “Nothing, nothing, nothing is better than sex, it is what God created us to do,” (Djokovic) replied. But what if he were to win Wimbledon? “Ask me the question again on that day,” he said.

Rafael Nadal thinks tennis players are like high-performance sports cars:

But, you know, when you played a lot of matches during all the season is tough, no? And the body, when you put the body all the time at the limit, so is difficult, no? Anyway, if you work hard on your physical with your physio, it’s the same like Formula 1. (laughter.) Yeah, that’s true, the best cars of the world, but at the same time the cars brokes more than your car. That’s the reason, because the car is always at the limit. So we are the same.

Gael Monfils predicts that a Frenchman will win a major “soon,” but I sense he has some reservations:

I mean, we close. And I think certainly in front of us we have like top guy. We have a legend, we can say, Roger. We have another semi-legend, Rafa. And then after we, let’s say with four, also, Djoko, Murray. So, I mean, it’s tough for us, Del Potro. So, I mean, we fight and we will not give up. I think we will have one soon. We will have one soon. Don’t know when, but for sure we work hard. We have guys, even with me, also, to win one, but not forget like in front of us we have like top guy also, so I mean, we would love to, but actually it’s tough. I mean, let’s say on clay this year what Rafa win like four in a row and then on grass, and Roger can win everywhere. Then we have Del Potro, Murray. So I think it will be time, but I think maybe next year we will have maybe one.

Marat Safin on his eternal competitive fire:

Q. You seem very disappointed. For me it’s a sign of motivation. I was wondering, why would you want to stop if you’re disappointed after almost beating Tomas Berdych? Don’t you think you have it in here?
MARAT SAFIN: Because I’m a absolute player. I’ll be dying, still being a player, so it doesn’t matter really. Tennis is something else. It’s still — the competition is still in me, and there will be disappointments no matter what I do. It’s not like — it’s not lack of — not motivation. Yeah, motivation. I just don’t feel like doing this thing anymore. It’s nothing emotional about it, but still, of course, you get frustrated if it’s something you don’t achieve no matter what you do. So it doesn’t really — is not especially in tennis

And Safin on giving back to the fans:

Q. You are a very private person. How hard for you to, like — in one week you say good-bye to China fans twice in farewell ceremony.
MARAT SAFIN: Well, it’s a little bit — soon I will be used to it. Yeah, well, it’s nice. I have to give the credit to the people that have been supporting me for so many years. So I have to give it back, something. I need to say it loud and say thank you very much. Once again, it doesn’t hurt. That’s really — it’s only a smart part I can do for the fans, so just — if I have to say it 10,000 times, I will say thanks 10,000 times. It will still not be enough for them to stand with the flags and with the small boards, all the things they do with the pictures, with the signs. It’s so much — they give so much to you. So it’s really — it will never be enough to give it back. So just two times, it’s not a big deal, eh?

Gael Monfils, Juan Martin Del Potro, Lleyton Hewitt and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga cracked some sake barrels at the Japan Open’s welcome reception on Tuesday. It was a konnichiwa/sayonara moment del Potro, who was booted out of the tournament in the first round.

What is Tsonga so giddy about? And where are Lleyton Hewitt’s arms?

Hair twins! Just like Rafa and Roger:

Please clue me in on Monfils’s tee:

I prefer Tsonga’s white jeans and wrinkly shirt look to Hewitt’s tired Ed Hardy tee.

Lleyton’s angling for a lucrative sake campaign:

Awww. . .big man, little cup! Love it.

This is Juan Martin’s: “Whatever, I just won the US Open” face:

Good times:

Click here to visit the very uninformative (at least in English) Rakuten Japan Open website.

And since we’re already playing fashion police, what do you think of Rafael Nadal’s China Open outfit? (He beat Marcos Baghdatis in the second round on Tuesday: 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.)

It took me a few minutes, but I think I like it:

Click here for Rafa’s post match presser from Beijing.

REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won (SOUTH KOREA SPORT TENNIS)

The big news this weekend? Kimiko Date Krumm won the Korean Open, beating second-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 6-3, 6-3.

Here are just a few reasons why this may be the most amazing comeback story in a year of amazing comeback stories:

1. At 39 years-old (on Monday) Date Krumm is the second oldest female player to ever win a singles title on tour. (Billie Jean King was 39 years, 7 months, 23 days when she won at Birmingham, England in 1983.)
2. This is her first title on the WTA tour since August of 1996, when she beat Spain’s Arantxa Sanchez Vicario at San Diego.
3. Date Krumm retired from professional tennis at the end of 1996. She returned last year, after nearly 12 years away from the game. Now that’s a real retirement!
4. Before this week’s Seoul tournament, Date Krumm hadn’t won a main draw singles match at the Tour Level since Monica Seles retired against her in the first round of the Year End Championships in November, 1996.

“Yeah, of course, very happy,” Date Krumm said after her big win. “I realized one more time after this game that we don’t know about tennis unless we actually play it.”

Tashkent Open final. (AP Photo/Anvar Ilyasov)

Shahar Peer also has her groove back, following up last week’s title win in Guangzhou, China with another one in Tashkent, Uzbekistan beating Akgul Amanmuradova in straight sets in the final. These are Peer’s fourth and fifth career titles, her last one coming over three years ago. She’s now gone 10 matches without dropping a set. After seeing her play some great tennis at the US Open this year (where she lost in the third round to Kuznetsova), I’m glad to see her building on her improving form and fitness. Keep an eye on her in 2010.

On the men’s side, Gael Monfils won the second title of his career this weekend in Metz, France, beating second seed Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6 3-6 6-2. His first title came in Sopot, Poland all the way back in 2005. Since then, he’s been in six finals and has lost all of them. That’s a nice streak to break.

In Bucharest, Spain’s Albert Montanes beat Juan Monaco for the last ATP clay court title of the season (and his second of the year): 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (8-6). By the way, do you know who has won the most matches on clay this year? Juan Monaco. (Click here for the stats) That would be impressive, except he hasn’t won a single title, clay court or otherwise, since 2007. Oh well, he can always look to Kimiko for inspiration.

This coming week the WTA sees Premier-level action in Tokyo at the Toray Pan Pacific Open. The ATP has two 250-level hard court tournaments, the PTT Thailand Open in Bangkok and Proton Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur.

Anna Wintour’s crush on tennis grows, with this fab spread featuring Gael Monfils, titled French Open, from this October’s Vogue Magazine.

My only complaint: Why not put Monfils in some haute couture instead of boring tennis whites? He could definitely pull it off.

Thanks to GTT reader MarK for passing this along!

Photos via sarahdanslenoir.

 

Photographer: Angelo Tonelli

A 6 hour five setter in Croatia, a Frenchman gets upset, Roger Federer wins – sometimes Davis Cup Drama is a little. . . predictable.

Here’s a quick summary of the action.

THE SEMIFINALS

Peek-a -boo, I see you! Photographer: Sergio Carmona

Spain vs. Israel: Spain is up 2-0 against Israel going into day 2, with David Ferrer beating Harel Levy 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 and Juan Carlos Ferrero taking out Dudi Sela 6-4, 6-2, 6-0. But Erlich and Ram should score a point on Saturday vs. Robredo/Lopez.

Croatia vs. Czech Republic: The real drama was in Croatia, where Day 1 action lasted almost 10 hours. Much like Croatia’s quarterfinals against the U.S., the first two rubbers both went fives sets. Unfortunately for the Croatians, neither of the matches went their way this time.

Radek does have a fan club! Photographer: Paul Zimmer

Stepanek vs. Karlovic was the first match and the highlight of the day – Dr. Ivo hit 78 aces in the match. . .and still lost it. Even crazier, he broke TWO records: the previous Davis Cup ace record was 47 and the world record was 55. (per Daviscup.com)

And the Czech’s still won: 6-7(5)  7-6(5)  7-6(6)  6-7(2)  16-14.

Photographer: Paul Zimmer

Stepanek was gracious after the match:

“The crowd was amazing, we had a lot of fans and it was like playing at home. I was very surprised. The Croatian fans were great as well. They gave the players lots of support and huge atmosphere. It was just an honour; that’s why we play tennis, because of fans like this.”

Kudos to Mr. Vaidisova for a worm made warrior performance.

His countryman, Tomas Berdych, pulled out another five setter vs. Marin Cilic: 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3 in three hours 48 minutes.

WORLD GROUP PLAY OFFS

Roger’s fans. Photographer: Angelo Tonelli

Switzerland vs. Italy: Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka were dominant against their respective opponents, Simone Bolelli and Andreas Seppi, taking both matches in straight sets. Though playing in Italy, the Swiss team enjoyed the support of about 400 fans, and after Federer’s surprisingly jet-lag-free performance “the whole crowd of the Centro Sportivo Valletta Cambiaso gave Federer a long “standing ovation” for his impressive display.” (via DavisCup.com)

Tsonga stays cool as ice. Photographer: Virginie Bouyer

France vs. Netherlands: Is it surprising that a French player ranked 13  in the world (Gael Monfils) was upset by a no-name ranked 122 (Thiemo de Bakker)? Je pense que non!

Good thing Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was around to pick up Gael Monfils’s slack. He tied things up with a straight set win against Jesse Huta Galung.

The French captain, Guy Forget, may have the toughest job in tennis (now that Marat Safin’s old coach, Hernan Gumy, has reportedly signed on with Ernests Gulbis). I think a little of Forget’s world weariness shows in this quote about Monfils’ match:

“It’s difficult to prepare someone for a Davis Cup match. You can tell a guy to get in the plane, here’s your parachute, it’s no big deal, just jump, you have a parachute. But when the guy gets there, it’s different. He says ‘it’s too high, I’m not jumping’. Maybe that’s what happened to Gaël today.”

Better push him out on Sunday!

More World Group results:
Belgium vs. Ukraine: 2-0
Brazil vs. Ecuador (including Nicolas Lapentti, who used to date Anna Kournikova, who is rumored to be pregnant): 1-1
South Africa vs. India: 0-2
Serbia vs. Uzbekistan: 2-0
Sweden vs. Romania: 1-1

In ZONAL TIE news, Great Britain and Poland are tied 1-1 going into day 2. Andy Murray beat World No. 678 Michal Przysiezny in straight sets, but  Dan Evans was then beaten by Jerzy Janowicz. The big news, however, is Murray’s wrist injury, which flared up in Cincinnati and has not improved, possibly knocking Murray out of the rest of this weekend’s tie and even the rest of the season:  “If it takes four months to get better, I will take four months off. If it takes a week, I will take a week. I don’t know how long it will take. I will have to see how the treatment goes.” he said in his presser.

Murray also launched into a “tirade” about the pressure he faces as the top ranked British player:

“I thought about not playing but the last time I did that I spent three months answering questions. It was ‘why aren’t you playing?’ and ‘don’t you want to play for the team?’ and ‘do you feel like you have let your country down?’ It’s pathetic. I play hard for my country. I enjoy playing for my country. I came up on Sunday with the guys and practised hard. I like being around a team atmosphere but, if I am not feeling well or I am hurt, I can’t, whether it’s the Davis Cup or a small ATP tournament.” (via The Guardian)

Spain vs. Israel is showing live on Tennis Channel here in the States. Click here for the TV Schedule and live streaming options.

Sorry for the delay on the Day 9 Wrap – I had internet problems last night. We learned two interesting things on Tuesday:

1. Serena Williams will become No. 1 if she wins the US Open. And with her straight-set quarterfinal win over Flavia Pennetta on Tuesday she’s only two wins away. But will Kim Clijsters, who beat Li Na in the quarters, stop Serena from taking the top spot?

2. With Andy Murray’s upset to Marin Cilic and Rafael Nadal’s win over Gael Monfils in the Round of 16, Rafa will get his No. 2 ranking back.

“Is very good comeback, (to) be here in quarterfinals.” Rafa said after taking out the Flashy Frenchman in four sets: 6-7, 7-3, 6-1, 6-3.

Yeah, I’d say. It was the way Rafa won – sprinting to every ball, running his opponent from sideline to sideline, refusing to let Gael out chest thump or fist pump him – that announced his full comeback.

Credit to Monfils for playing an outrageous first set. The tennis was thrilling and brutal – like “Gladiator” meets “Blade Runner” meets some kind of torture porn where instead of Saws, the clueless victims are tied to treadmills and forced to run. Even I was sucking air during that tiebreaker.

Jo Wilfried Tsonga vs. Fernando Gonzalez was outrageous enough that I laughed out loud when Patrick McEnroe made this understatement: “There’s the potential for some shot making in this match.”

I know his nickname is Gonzo, but I still think Fernando’s craziness is completely underrated. He ducks his opponent’s overheads with his booty in the air, cracks racquets in disgust before tossing them to the crowd, hits forehands that break the sound barrier – he makes me woozy. But in a good way. Maybe his new nickname should be Gonzo the Most Crazy or something like that.

Gonzo on Gonzo: “You know, sometimes you feel like super hero, and sometimes you feel like ‑‑ I don’t have to say what you feel on court.”

Gotta love Most Crazy, but geeze, Tsonga was up a set and a break. I blame myself for wanting him to win too much. Please indulge me and vote on this poll.

Del Potro advanced over Ferrero on Tuesday’s battle of the Juans.

Wednesday sees more great action, with Federer vs. Soderling and Djokovic vs. Verdasco in the men’s quarterfinals and Wickmayer vs. Bondarenko and Oudin vs. Wozniacki in the women’s quarters.

When Rafanatics attack! After Rafael Nadal’s scintillating win over Gael Monfils on Tuesday, a lusty fan rushed the court to celebrate the victory with a kiss. And Rafa didn’t seem to mind so much. Check it out at the 60 second mark – the post match interview with Darren Cahill follows.

Personally, this kind of stuff scares the stuffing out of me – and makes me worry that the players will start playing in cages or behind bulletproof glass. But the unflappable Rafa just laughed it off:

Q. What did you think when the man came out of the stands and came up to you?

RAFAEL NADAL: No, for me it wasn’t the problem. The guy was really nice (laughter.)

Q. Did he say anything?

RAFAEL NADAL: Yes. He was a great fan. He said, I love you, and he kiss me. (laughter.)

Q. Was he speaking Spanish?

RAFAEL NADAL: No, in English, but I understand that. (laughter.)

The New York Times reported that the overzealous Rafanatic was handcuffed and in police custody, pending review. Click here for more.

Big thanks to GTT reader and big-time tennis fan, Judy Salas, for her report and candid photos of Rafa, Serena and others from Wednesday’s GAME. SET. NYC. event in Manhattan. She came for Roger, but stayed for Rafa – and boy, is she glad she did! Here’s her story:

I spent most of my day at the Nike GAME. SET. NYC. event and it was pretty cool, though it was sunny and hot! They built a small court, with some bleachers, a player tent and a little store on the side and it was all on the wide sidewalk right next to the iconic Flatiron Building at Broadway and 23rd Street, with views of the Empire State Building. Fantastic setting!

Nike’s tennis stars were out throughout the day, starting with Roger Federer and John McEnroe, then Gael Monfils, then Li Na and Victoria Azarenka and finally, Johnny Mac again with stars Serena and Rafa. It was pretty well organized and included the participation of local kids groups, like the NY Junior Tennis League and the City Parks Foundation. They were the lucky ones who got to hit with the pros. Part of the event raised money for those organizations. The players had fun chatting with the kids and the spectators and hitting some balls. All the tennis stars were debuting their US Open outfits. I liked all of the clothing, especially Roger’s, he was looking sharp. Rafa’s suited him as well.

I actually came to the event thinking it would just be Roger and John and stuck around once I knew there were more players. Unfortunately there were so many people in the morning that I couldn’t get anywhere near Rog to get a decent photo (and I have a great Nikon zoom lens). The set up of the court, with half or more blocked, limited the viewing and the press would sometimes be in the way. Plus security made me (and other people) move from our pretty good spot.

Back to Rog… after spending some time talking to Johnny Mac and playing with the kids, Rog left and sneaked out the back. I wish he walked near where I was, but oh well. I got a pic of his Mom, Lynette, and agent Tony. Ha! Severin was there too. No Mirka or twins of course. I think Roger didn’t leave out the front path because it would have been pandemonium.

Monfils was great with the kids and signed autographs for them inside the court. I really like Vika Azarenka and Li Na is pretty cool, so they were fun to see. I am not a big Serena fan, but I was still glad to see her because she is such a tough competitor and grand slam champ. I found it funny that Serena walked in (with the biggest entourage) talking on her cell phone and did not make eye contact with the crowd of us standing outside the court.… as opposed to John and Rafa who looked and smiled at the crowd outside the court.

I came to see Roger, but I was super glad to see Rafa. He was smiling the entire time and it was nice to see him enjoying. When he was done and he left the player’s tent, security was guiding him out, towards his car pick up and instead he made it a point to come over to where I happened to be, along with other fans. I didn’t get a picture because I was by myself, trying not to get pushed and I was busy holding out a tennis ball for him to sign, which he did! Highlight of my day! I was right in front of Rafa and he was so great with the fans, despite getting absolutely mobbed. He was the only player to do this all day and it was a great thing to see! I think he stopped traffic too.

Thanks again, Judy!