All's Not Quiet On New Year's Day

And so actual tennis is underway in Abu Dhabi! The usual suspects are doing the usual things - a very strong start to the year from Andy Murray and Nikolay Davydenko. I expected it from Murray - I think he has a lot to prove this summer, after crashing out of the Aussie Open in the first round last year (to Jo-W Tsonga, but nevertheless.) Murray took out James Blake, who is clearly still in that rut of mediocre form he's been in for a while now. (Whither James Blake? He hasn't made a very good showing for a while now.) I wouldn't have expected Blake to beat Murray, as Murray is now a big gun (tm), but I was expecting it to be a little more competitive than it was. Ah well.

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Kolya took out Andy Roddick. This one could, I thought, have gone either way, but it looks like the consistency of Kolya won out. Roddick seemed very sluggish indeed - he had only one break point the entire match, which he failed to convert. Kolya wasn't stellar, but he was much too good for Roddick on this occasion... Andy seems a bit blase about the whole thing, but if I were the other half of Team Roddinki, I think I'd be a little concerned. It may only be the first match of the year for Roddick, but hey, it's the first match for Kolya, too.

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The winners of these two matches will go on to face the big guns, R-Fed and the Rafinator. I think Rafa definitely has the easier one here - he faces Kolya, while Roger takes on Murray. We know Roger can definitely beat Andy when he puts his mind to it (hello, US Open!) but something about Murray in a best-of-three is a bit troubling for him... or has been in the past, anyway, but who knows what might have happened in that training camp in Dubai? Last year Roger came out of it at about three-quarter strength what with the glange and everything. Here's hoping that this year we get our KING OF TENNIS back where he belongs at #1...

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...though healthy competition from Rafa (a lovely boy) is also good. I think a Roger/Rafa final in Abu Dhabi could be just what we need to start off the year - especially if Roger comes out on top!

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Today's Results

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Capitala World Tennis Championship (Abu Dhabi)

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Andy Murray def. James Blake, 6-2 6-2

Nikolay Davydenko def. Andy Roddick, 6-4 6-4

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Josh's Tennis Tips

Focus: Forehand

Today's Tip: Your Body

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When playing tennis, you have to turn your body sideways to the ball. This is to get the ball straighter. (So for left-handers you should turn your body to the left for forehands and to the right for backhands, and vice versa for right-handers.)