The heat stole the spotlight for a second consecutive day in New York as the schedule at the U.S. Open went late into the night thanks to several long matches.

Acting as an equalizer between players, the humidity in particular narrowed the gap between the lesser known talents and their normally more dangerous counter parts.

Here are some of the more interesting men's matches from day two at the Open.

Novak Djokovic came ever so close to being a first round casualty against fellow Serb Victor Troicki. Down two sets to one and a break in the fourth set it appeared as though Djokovic's fragile physique and mental fortitude would once again do him in. Brad Gilbert speculated that a potential Djokovic retirement would give him a career Slam in that department, as he has previously been forced to retire from play at the other three majors.

Instead Djokovic showed some heart as he broke back and then took the fourth and fifth sets as Troicki ran out of gas and allowed nerves to take over. Djokovic prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.

A strange statistic is that Djokovic improved to 6-0 in Grand Slams when trailing two sets to one, and to 12-5 in matches that went to a fifth set. Those numbers go against the prevailing opinion of the world number three player when it comes to long matches. Maybe we should give him a bit more credit?

One seeded player who went five sets but could not prevent the upset was Marcos Baghdatis. The 2006 Aussie Open finalist has been on a good role this summer, making the finals in Washington D.C. and the semi-finals of the Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati.

Not known for his physical fitness, Baghdatis perhaps became a victim of playing too much tennis over the last month. He even played the New Haven event the week before the U.S. Open which I never really saw the need for.

It was 32 year old veteran Frenchman Arnaud Clement. himself an Aussie Open finalist from 2001, who defeated Baghdatis by a score of 6-3, 2-6, 1-6, 6-4, 7-5.

"What can I say? I was really heavy on court," Baghdatis said after the match. "I wasn't feeling very fit. It's not a matter of fit but very heavy. Couldn't play aggressive. I was really defensive today, and Arnaud played a very good first set. I mean, the second set he was giving a lot of points away and I took them, but I was really heavy on court. I was really defensive. I think I didn't play very good tennis, and he won the match."

A nice result today was the routine win for struggling American veteran James Blake who got by Kristof Vliegen 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Blake has had a terrible time trying to get his game back on track this summer with a 3-8 record coming into the match since returning to the tour in June. Now ranked 108th in the world it will be tough for Blake to rediscover his previous form at the age of 30, but maybe he can conjure up a good run on home soil.

After the match Blake spoke of enjoying these types of victories at this stage of his career:

"Yeah, it's a great feeling. Any time you win a match, harken back to the days when my biggest goal and biggest dream was to win a round at the US Open. Somewhere along the way to some people it started to get taken for granted. It's still exciting for me to win a match here, to have fans that are excited to see me play and get to play again in front of some great fans. I'm happy to get through."

In the last men's match of the day, Nadal overcame a very tough Teymuraz Gabashvili 7-6(4), 7-6(4), 6-3. Nadal was pushed by the Russian in the first two sets but showed some great tennis in the third set to avoid prolonging the match any further.

Other results worth noting include Mardy Fish taking down Jan Hajek in five sets. Fish has been on fire all summer long but required the distance to dispatch of Hajek. He won by an interesting score line of 6-0, 3-6, 4-6, 6-0, 6-1.

David Nalbandian also needed five sets to beat Rik De Voest and I wonder if he, like Baghdatis, has stretched himself too thin with so much match play this summer.

Tenth seeded David Ferrer, a semi-finalist in New York in 2007, beat up-and-coming Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.

I also must give a shout-out to fellow Canadian Peter Polansky who won his first ever Grand Slam match by disposing of clay-court guru Juan Monaco, 6-2, 7-6(5), 6-3. Polansky has had some tough five-set losses in Grand Slam play so it's nice to see him finally pull one out.

No major surprises on day one at the U.S. Open but a few of the top players did unexpectedly get pushed to the limit in the sweltering late August heat in New York.

Despite my mounting frustrations with ESPN's choice of featured matches during the day session it was nice to see the McEnroe brothers combination seeming more comfortable commentating together then they did a year ago.

In women's action, Kim Clijsters defeated a nervous Greta Arn, 6-0, 7-5. Why ESPN chose to stay with that sleeper of a first set is beyond me, but at least Arn showed up in the second by taking the early break and forcing Clijsters to actually play some tennis to close it out.

That was followed by birthday boy Andy Roddick's routine demolition of late-bloomer Stephane Robert of France by a score of 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.The 28 year old Roddick has bounced back nicely from a mild case of mono with recent wins over Robin Soderling and Novak Djokovic in Cincinnati.

The match I really would have liked to have watched in its entirety was the battle between Daniela Hantuchova the 24th seed and former world number one Dinara Safina. Despite the fact that Safina had defeated the leggy-blonde in their last four matches, including a week ago in New Haven, Hantuchova was the more poised player on this day. She marched to a straight set victory 6-3, 6-4.

Safina is still fighting her way back into form following a back injury that forced her to miss most of the 2010 season. She has struggled since her return and is currently ranked59th in the world. While the match against Hantuchova was a great first rounder from a fans perspective, it was a shame that Safina could not have started off against a more manageable opponent.

It was a good win for Hantuchova meanwhile as she is a player who could have a decent run here in New York in a year where the women's title is very much up for grabs.

In terms of American women, both Melanie Oudin and Venus Williams were successful on day one. I really enjoyed watching the highlights of a confident Oudin rolling over Olga Savchuck 6-3, 6-0. Oudin rose to such premature fame a year ago with her quarter-final appearance and has been burdened with unrealistic expectations ever since.

Those expectations were clearly defined for me in a recent article by Matthew Cronin where he felt that Oudin's issues stemmed from, "her lack of maturity and her inability to toughen up in the face of expectations."

I realize journalists are not supposed to be on the bandwagon for up-and-coming players, but to offer such a harsh and negative assessment of the youngest player in the top one hundred seems like overkill to me.

Give this eighteen year old a chance to deal with her first year of full-time play on the WTA Tour and allow her the time to blossom into the great player she could certainly become.

A real test awaits Oudin in the second round where she will face 29th seeded Alona Bondarenko.

Williams held on in her match after blowing an early first set lead to defeat Roberta Vinci 6-4, 6-1. It was the third seed's first competition since Wimbledon as she seeks her first U.S. Open title since 2001. If Venus had more match play under her belt this summer I'd have considered her the true favorite to win in New York, but I just don't feel like she is confident enough right now to challenge some of the top players.

On the men's side there were a couple of dandy five set matches on day one. Contender Robin Soderling blew a two-sets-to-none lead against qualifier Andreas Haider-Maurer before regrouping to win 7-5, 6-3, 6-7, 5-7, 6-4. The previously unknown Haider-Maurer brought a lethal serve with him and revealed the danger of playing a guy who had already endured three qualifying matches prior to the start of the main draw.

Exciting Frenchman Gael Monfils also had to overcome stiff competition in order to advance to the second round. He barely got by American Robby Kendrick by a score of 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 6-4. At 4-4, deuce, in the final set,Monfils had a controversial moment where he appeared to potentially make contact with the ball before it bounced just long of the baseline. Replays proved inconclusive but the chair umpire gave the key point toMonfils which for obvious reasons angered Kendrick. After the match Monfils admitted he was not sure whether he made contact with the ball or not before it bounced but that these things were a part of sports.

Roger Federer made his debut at night and easily dispatched of Argentina's Brian Dabul 6-1, 6-4, 6-2. Federer's performance was highlighted by a beautiful between the legs shot that landed in for a clear winner against a stunned Dabul. The world number two player lifted a finger to salute the appreciative crowd and brought back memories from his similar shot a year ago againstNovak Djokovic. Regardless of which of those two shots were more impressive, the fact that Federer can seemingly concoct these shots at will is really something else.

Stay tuned on day two as Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Maria Sharapova and number one seed Caroline Wozniacki all make their U.S. Open debuts.

If you're looking for potential upsets, I feel that fellow Serb, Victor Troicki could test Djokovic. Troicki is ranked inside the top-fifty and we all know how Djokovic feels about playing in the heat.

Please feel free to follow me on Twitter as well as the tournament progresses.

Hotting up for the men's 2010 U.S. Open are the usual suspects:

The ever ‘ice-cool’ and confident Roger Federer. Favourite after an impressive showing in Toronto and winning Cincinnati. This year dressed in an off-pink shirt with mid-beige shorts cut off just above the knee, if the American hard court season is anything to go by?

A SLIGHTLY under par Rafael Nadal, who continues to have his most difficult times on the American hard courts, though remains ever hopeful of taking his first U.S. Open title. Maybe this year he'll be adorning a matador skin tight outfit and a red cape after Spain's most magnificent year?

And then we have the all new David Beckham, with his perfectly bronzed tan, bulging biceps and ‘Kansas plain' flat mid-rift creating heart palpitations amongst the nation's female adolescents. Oh, em sorry that should read Andy Murray. Easy mistake to make, I guess?!

That's right the sullen, moody and ‘apparently' sexy Scot has decided to give us an enhanced view of his anatomy before his challenge for this years prestigious New York tennis tournament. Or should that read glamour parade?

Murray's recent photo shoot shown in American Vogue Magazine is probably the biggest talking point of this year's pre U.S. Open. And it is likely to shoot him into super-stardom, if he wins the title.

In part of his fashion shoot Murray is pictured in a tuxedo. A little like James Bond (snigger, snigger). Unfortunately Murray, unlike Bond, confesses that he doesn't even know how to do up a bow tie, and that he's not interested in men's fashion. Surely that can't go down well with all those ladies? I'm hoping, for all our sakes that future shoots don't continue along this theme. I'm already shaken, and no more stirring is necessary!

So the question remains ‘Why do it?' Exposure? Money? Surely not!

The thing is I can't help thinking ‘fashion modelling' is a very big mistake for Murray. Not to mention a little uncomfortable for the viewer. David Beckham, (somewhat easier on the eye), went from one of the best footballers the world has ever seen to international fashion and model icon.

Nothing wrong with that if it doesn't distract from your focus on the game, but it surely did. And besides it is extremely unlikely, that Beckham's immergence into fashion labels was entirely of his own doing. I think someone a little more ‘posh' might have had something to do with it!

So let's hope Murray's modelling career is a temporary and minor distraction from what he does best; play tennis of course.

With Murray's recent form on the court, he is arguably the best hard court player in the world right now. And he is incredibly hungry for that first Grand Slam. I would even go as far as to say that he is this years U.S. Open favourite, though many, along with the book makers, would disagree sighting Federer as the main man.

Others in genuine contention this year include the daunting 6ft 5in Czech - Thomas Berdych, the powerful Swede - Robin Soderling, Andy Roddick - who has shown he is still capable of competing with the best after toppling Soderling and Djokovic in Toronto, Murrays nemesis this year- Mardy Fish and finally Sam Querry after this years tournament successes.

So who's your pick for this years U.S. Open. And maybe just as importantly, what will he be wearing??!

The U.S. Open main draw was revealed today and here at Tennis Diary we are very much excited for the commencement of the final Grand Slam of 2010. There are so many different possibilities to imagine this year in New York.

Will Rafa win his first U.S. Open? Can Andy Murray finally deliver in a Slam final? Could Roger Federer capture his second hard-court Slam of the year?

With defending champion Juan Martin Del Potro unable to compete due to his continued recovery from wrist surgery, we are guaranteed of seeing a different man hoisting the trophy this year on the final Sunday.

After watching back-to-back Masters 1000 events in August in Toronto and Cincinnati we can look at who the contenders and pretenders are for this year's edition. That being said, two tournaments does not give us a tremendous amount of depth to judge the field, so take these recommendations with a grain of salt.

Seeded number one, though certainly not playing like the favorite, is Rafael Nadal. His return to form in 2010 has been a welcome sight on the ATP Tour and he has just won successive Slams at the French Open and Wimbledon. Nadal has made no secret of the fact he wants to win the U.S. Open to complete his career Slam, but the Spaniard seems to have trouble sustaining his dominance in the latter stages of the season.

In Toronto he admitted that if he is not  playing at his best on hard-courts then he is vulnerable. At the Rogers Cup he navigated his way to the semi-finals before being soundly defeated by Andy Murray 7-5, 7-5 in straight sets. While a Nadal vs. Murray match on hard-courts is a coin flip most days, his loss to Marcos Baghdatis in Cincinnati shows that he is still struggling to find his rhythm on the surface.

Still, Nadal in a best of five set match is hard to bet against. At Wimbledon he twice came back from a two sets to one deficit to pull out the victory. Nadal grows stronger the longer a match lasts and I think we can all agree there is no way Baghdatis wins that match in Cincy if it went the distance.

In New York Nadal opens against Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia. He could face Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round against whom he has never lost, but was tested by in Toronto recently. An encounter with David Nalbandian in the quarter-finals would be interesting. The pair have a 2-2 career record against one another and with Nalbandian suddenly showing flashes of his old self we could be treated to a great match.

Other names to watch in the top quarter of the draw include the talented but unreliable Ernests Gulbis, lefty Fernando Verdasco and the up and coming Alexandr Dolgopolov who must first face 10th seeded David Ferrer in the first round. If this isn't the Slam where Dolgopolov announces his presence at, then I guarantee a strong showing in 2011.

In the second quarter, Andy Murray seems like a good bet to advance. He won the event in Toronto defeating Nadal and Federer in back-to-back matches and then fell in Cincinnati to Mardy Fish. Fish has Murray's number this year, beating him three times, but fortunately for Andy he does not have the veteran American anywhere near him in the draw.

Sam Querrey has had a great year with multiple titles, but still has not come up big in any definitive events on the tour schedule. He looked ordinary in a loss to Kevin Anderson in Toronto and I just don't feel the confidence from the 6'5'' American. A fourth round match against Murray looms which would be a re-match from their LA final in July where Querrey prevailed in a tight one. I don't see a repeat of that on the horizon for him this time around.

Tomas Berdych should find his way towards the quarterfinals as well in this section. With John Isner still hobbled by an ankle injury, I really do not see any true opposition for the emerging Czech super-star. He will battle Murray for a semi-final spot against Nadal.

The third quarter looks pretty good for Andy Roddick. If he has truly recovered from his mild case of mono then he should make a good dent in the draw. Roddick could face the acrobatic Gael Monfils in the third round and either Mardy Fish or Novak Djokovic in the quarters. Despite having a tough summer, Roddick showed us he is capable of defeating almost anyone after his performance in Cincinnati where he took care of Soderling and Djokovic back-to-back.

Djokovic meanwhile, seems lost lately and I'm not just saying that because he couldn't find his way to the draw ceremony in New York on time today. While he made the semis in Toronto, he was highly erratic in that match against Federer and then in Cincy he was beaten by Roddick in the quarters. His battles with the heat have continued and if he gets a day time match against a guy like Mardy Fish in the fourth round, I really don't feel confident picking him to advance.

Marcos Baghdatis should be mentioned as a potential sleeper in this section of the draw, but a second round match against Robby Ginepri could give him trouble as would a third round tilt with Fish. Baghdatis would have the crowd against him in either of those matches just as he did in 2006 against Andre Agassi.

Mardy Fish has had the summer of his career in 2010 and has recently risen to the number 21 ranking in the world. With two titles under his belt and a strong showing against Federer last week, he is a guy that nobody wants to face.

That being said, I don't like his chances in a five set match and he does seem to have a particularly tough section of the draw to work with.

Roger Federer lurks in the fourth quarter of the draw and comes into the Open as the favorite again this year. After winning five consecutive titles here, he mismanaged a two sets to one lead against Del Potro last year in the final. Federer has a great draw with Lleyton Hewitt and Jurgen Melzer as the only two names of note in the first four rounds. Neither will give him much of a struggle but Rodin Soderling could challenge in the quarter-finals.

With Nadal, Murray and Berdych all in the other half of the draw, it seems as though Federer has as good a chance as ever to get to his seventh straight U.S. Open final where he would feel right at home.

Even though Federer came ever so close to bowing out in Toronto to both Berdych and Djokovic he still managed to persevere for the gritty victories. In Cincinnati he certainly benefited from a first round bye, an abbreviated second round 5-2 win and then a third round walkover - but then he turned it up against Nikolay Davydenko and Baghdatis before waiting for the right moment to finally break Fish's serve for the title.

The possibility for a 17th Grand Slam title is very realistic and Federer seems eager to once again prove any doubters wrong. In 2008 he came into the Open without a Slam title to his name and waltzed through the draw with relative ease. He seems to have the same type of defiant attitude this time around which I think will work to his favor.

Semi-Finals:

Nadal vs. Murray and Roddick vs. Federer

Finals:

Federer over Murray in four sets

Be sure to follow me on Twitter throughout the tournament.

Can any woman make up for the absence of Serena Williams in New York?  Can Roger Federer end the year as he began it, with a Grand Slam win?

It is still tough to think about Serena not being at the Open this year.  I am more bummed than I thought I would be by this unfortunate occurrence, because when you look over the women's field, it looks more and more anemic.  

Henin is out, Clijsters' play has been erratic, Schiavone enjoyed her 15 seconds and then some of Fame after winning the French, then probably celebrated for the next two months it seemed, because her results after were dreadful.  I think she only recently won a match.  Wozniacki I still find hard to take seriously.  Jankovic is maddening.  

What about Venus, you may be saying.  What about her, I say back, feeling her presence more like that of a phantom now since she plays so infrequently.  You never know sometimes which Williams sister shows up, the good one who's already in shape and practiced and ready to go, or the one who needs to "play her way" into a tournament.  

There have been a number of very entertaining matches on the men's side lately, most of them delivered up by Roger Federer, who seems rejuvenated (which is not to say he was ready for embalming) by the arrival of Paul Annacone to his side.  The effect seemed to be immediate, I thought, as if Federer had had his finger stuck in a light socket and off he went, squeaking out really scrumptious matches on back to back nights, first in Canada in beating Berdych and Djokovic before coming up short against Murray in the final;  then in Cincinnati in making his way rather easily through a draw that included Davydenko and Baghdatis.   His win over Fishcakes in the final showed Federer in really good form, with a bit of room for peaking at the Open.  And congrats to Mardy for another great run, now maybe we can persuade him to do this over time.  He's the best Dark Horse pick for the Open.

Personally, I like Federer's chances in New York; I still see Nadal struggling with the harder surface.  I don't know if Berdy can survive two weeks of NYC; Baghdatis, on the other hand, may love it.  He is playing well and looks to be motivated to have fun in the Big Apple.  Robin Soderling could be winning a few more matches, but maybe he is positioned right for the Open for a guy now in 5th place.  

Djoker and Laddie I always have my doubts about, especially in their longer, funnier matches where the heat index gets brutal and the guys get cranky and hyperventilate and you wonder if the next breath will be their last.  

Roddick leaves me feeling more and more uncertain about his erratic play this summer.  He played some terrific tennis last week in Cincy, then he played a few bad points in the match with Fish.  Shades of the old Roddick creeping out?  I just don't know how settled he is in his game right now.  

So I like Federer, and I think his goal of four more slams is realistic and will, god willing, keep him around for at least a few more years.  Annacone has definitely stirred the kettle.

But the women at this year's Open seem churned beyond belief now with the key withdrawals and the erratic play of the pack as a whole.  So for them - and us - this could be a forthcoming adventure in chaos.  I haven't a clue who will emerge from the formless mass.  Shudder shudder.

The U.S. Open men's and women's qualifying draws have been posted. If you're in New York I hear the action is free to go and watch. There are plenty of unknown names sprinkled throughout the draws, but that can lead to some nice surprises I find I always enjoy going to a tournament and finding some fresh faces to discover.

On the men's side Marsel Ilhan from Turkey is the number one seed. Wimbledon marathon man Nicolas Mahut is also in the draw while Kei Nishikori remains a dangerous player to keep an eye on as well.

For Canadian tennis fans we've got three players in the qualifying draw. Peter Polansky recently defeated top-fifteen player Jurgen Melzer in the first round of the Rogers Cup.

Frank Dancevic is normally Canada's top ranked player when healthy but has struggled since returning from a back injury in June. Since then has also missed some time with a gash in his leg that he incurred after running into a scoreboard in Atlanta.

Finally, 19 year old Milos Raonic rounds out the Canuck presence and he represents the future of Canadian tennis. At 6'5'' he has a booming serve and along with partner Vasek Pospisil he defeated the doubles tandem of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic at the Rogers Cup two weeks ago.

Looking at the women's qualifying draw reveals a few more recognizable names. While Akqul Amanmuradova might not be a household name as the number one seed, people like Jelena Dokic, Laura Robson, Mirjana Lucic, Michaella Krajicek and Sania Mirza should all ring a bell.

Valerie Tetreault, Heidi El Tabakh, Sharon Fichman, Rebecca Marino and Stephanie Dubois ensure a strong Canadian contingent.

Qualifiers must win three matches in a row to advance to the main draw.

The main draw's themselves will be announced at 12:30pm ET on Thursday August 26th. Stay tuned for more U.S. Open coverage at Tennis Diary.

Also, don't forget to follow me on Twitter for regular updates throughout the tournament.

Welcome back Roger!

After going nearly eight months without a title to his name, world number two Roger Federer defeated a very determined Mardy Fish to capture the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati on Sunday by a score fo 6-7(5), 7-6(1), 6-4. With the win Federer ties Bjorn Borg for 5th most singles titles in the Open Era with 63.

"I've been playing well the past couple weeks, and today was just another proof that I'm playing really well," said Federer. "I thought I played an excellent match today. I had huge belief that I was going to win today from the first point until the end. That sometimes can make a bit of a difference. Then I was positive all the way through because I felt I was playing well, even though I lost the first set. So I never got down on myself and doubted myself. I think that reflected in the game as well."

The two players both brought their best tennis to the court and neither player broke serve until Federer did at 4-4 in the final set. The quality of tennis was intensely entertaining and both players should be proud of how they fought for the championship.

For Federer the victory is redemption for a season plagued by mediocrity compared to his usual high standards. Aside from winning the initial Grand Slam of the year in Melbourne, Federer has lost three finals and failed to advance past the quarter-finals of both the French Open and Wimbledon.

Things seemed to be taking a turn for the better after a six week hiatus during which he vacationed with his wife Mirka and twin daughters before starting a new coaching partnership with Paul Annacone who once famously coached Pete Sampras. Federer returned to the ATP World Tour in Toronto almost two weeks ago and advanced to the finals of the aptly named Rogers Cup where he lost to Andy Murray. During that tournament he defeated Tomas Berdych and Novak Djokovic in two incredibly tight matches.

This past week in Cincinnati, Federer was fortunate to receive a first round bye, followed by an easy second round win against Denis Istomin who retired with an ankle sprain while down 2-5 in the first set. In the third round, Federer had a walkover as Philipp Kohlschreiber pulled out of the tournament with a shoulder injury. Then it was show time for Roger as he defeated Nikolay Davydenko and Marcos Baghdatis with ease before taking down American Mardy Fish in a tightly contested match.

While Federer owned a 5-1 career head-to-head record against Fish coming into the finals of Cincinnati, the American has shed thirty pounds since their last meeting in 2008 and re-dedicated himself to the sport of tennis. The results have been enormous as Fish has been on-fire throughout the summer winning two titles and then making the finals of a Masters 1000 event. He rises from 36 to 21 in the world rankings and will be guaranteed of being seeded at the U.S. Open in one week's time.

Fish was remarkably upbeat after the loss to Federer and reflected on the positive aspects of his recent surge.

“I feel great. I've done some things that I've never done before,” said Fish. “I'll be able to put this match in perspective very shortly. It's a great tournament. It's as well as I've played. I played well today; he played well today. It was a pretty high level, I thought, for the most part.”

Whether Fish can maintain this momentum at the Grand Slam level remains to be seen. He has never been known to rise to the occasion during the big moments and in the past his fitness was questionable during best of five set matches. He did manage to make the quarter-finals during his last appearance at Flushing Meadows in 2008, so perhaps he can make a dent in the draw with his confidence and fitness levels at all-time highs. He is definitely a player most will want to avoid when the tournament bracket is released.

Federer meanwhile is clearly coming into the Open as the favorite once again. The five-time U.S. Open champion lost a five set match against Juan Martin Del Potro a year ago but is looking like the guy to beat on hard-courts once again. With his closest competitors proving unreliable of late, I would not at all be surprised if Roger captured career Slam number 17 in a few weeks time.

World number one Rafael Nadal failed to get past Murray in Toronto in the semis, as well as Baghdatis in Cincy in the quarters. Novak Djokovic can't seem to fight his heat-related issues and has also looked inconsistent in recent losses to Federer and Andy Roddick. Andy Murray represents the greatest challenge to Federer, but can his mental toughness rise to the occasion during the finals of a major?

In one more week we will have a better idea of where things stand as the tennis world focuses on the final Grand Slam of the year and offers players like Federer one last chance to leave their names in the history books in 2010.

I’m not exactly sure how it is that Mardy Fish needed a wild card to get into Cincinnati after reaching three finals this year and winning two of them, but I’m pretty sure Roger Federer is not William Tell.

If you wander over to this video on youtube you’ll see the latest Gillette ad featuring the ever suave and sociable Roger. It’s a little reality based episode in which Roger appears to be taking a break from an ad shoot to show the director his own version of Tiger Woods’s trick shot.

Tiger’s trick shot consisted of bouncing a golf ball on his sand wedge a few times then flipping it up in the air and hitting a drive on the fly. Tiger is out of favor now so it’s Roger’s turn and Gillette has chosen an appropriate reference for the Swiss tennis player.

The director balances a bottle on his head and Roger hits a serve that sends the ball flying a la William Tell – the Swiss patriotic hero. In the 1300s Tell refused to bow to the hat of an invading Austrian tyrant and was forced to shoot an apple off the top of his son’s head with his crossbow or be executed along with his son. Tell eventually killed the tyrant and precipitated a rebellion that led to the Swiss Federation.

However, while Tiger’s shot was real, Roger’s is fake as you can see here (go to the 2:30 mark). That’s only one of the reasons I miss Tiger. I only watch golf when he plays and I knew I’d always see something amazing. Currently, though, he’s in a liminal state and we’ll have to wait until he passes through it before we’ll see amazing things again. I’m sure that’s a strange new word to most of you, at least it was to me.

Someone in a liminal state is going through a transition and Tiger is going through the huge transition of addiction recovery. There are many, many other transitions we go through and one of them is death – both big deaths such as the end of our lives and little deaths such as the end of a phase in our life.

When Mardy Fish faced knee surgery this time last year I’m pretty sure he was face to face with one of those “end of life phase” deaths. He was 27 years old and ranked #48 at the time. I’d say 27 years is about 60 in non-athlete years. The athlete has been cruising along making a living and doing okay then all of a sudden he has knee surgery and he starts calculating how many years he has left. At this point he can either start thinking about his next career or get his butt in gear.

Fish got his butt in gear. He asked his physiotherapist to move in with him, hired a cook, and made the most of his three month surgery recovery. He’s now 30lbs/14kg lighter and a lot more mobile. The specter of career mortality will do that to you.

That is why Fish had three finals and two titles this year and that is how we found Fish facing Roger in the final in Cincinnati today. Fish is never going to beat Roger without a big first serve percentage I said to myself as Fish served up a double fault in his second service game. While that’s probably true, maybe it’s a bit less true because Fish can now do marathons. That second service game lasted almost 14 minutes and featured two double faults and a missed putaway and Fish still managed to win it.

I always thought Fish was doomed to live out his career as a serial streaker because that’s what you get when you go for a winner on every other shot – streaky play. I was wrong. He was an overweight out of shape aggressive player. The streakiness is still there but now there’s foot speed to run down enough shots to ameliorate the streakiness with a few saves here and there. And that makes a big difference in matches where the point differential can be a few shots. And the first set turned on a few shots.

Roger is going through his own transition. He’s got his record 16 slams which takes some edge off the pursuit of greatness, and he just turned 29 himself. It showed in the first set tiebreaker. With Roger serving at 5-4 he got beaten by a Fish approach shot. While that’s not so bad, on the next shot Roger hit a weak shot into the net to give Fish a set point then Fish closed it out with an ace. Fish hung in there just as well in the second set, but in the second set tiebreaker Roger stepped up and went for shots and even a very fit Fish couldn’t catch up.

Fish played with the slightest bit of slop at 4-4 in the third set to lose his serve and Roger served out for the match. Don’t blame Fish too much or go overboard in praise of Roger. This was Fish’s sixth match of the week and his semifinal was a three setter with his good friend Andy Roddick. For Roger this was only his third complete match of the week after starting off with a bye followed by a retirement followed by a walkover

Fish needed a wild card here because he was #79 when Cincinnati announced the seedings, though he was #36 by the time the event rolled around. If Fish’s fantastic year continues he’ll have to defend all these points he’s racking up this year. If he plays Cincinnati next year he’ll have to reach the final or lose a lot of points. We’ll see what state he’s in when he has to deal with all of that and you can be sure I’ll be paying close attention.

twitter.com/ninarota

For two of the top four players in the world, Roger Federer and Andy Murray sure have had forgettable seasons so far.

Of course by other players standards the one Grand Slam title and two quarterfinal appearances by Federer would constitute a dream year while Andy Murray's Aussie Open final and Wimbledon semi-final showing aren't too shabby either.

The problem for these two court magicians is that they are not judged merely against the other players on the ATP Tour, but against their own greatness and achievements from years past as well.

Roger Federer would top the list of most people's all-time tennis greats while at 23 years old, Murray is probably the most talented player on tour to have yet to win a major.

If we rewind to a year ago, these were the top two players on tour at this stage of the season. By August 2009, Federer had reached the final of Australia, won his first French Open and re-gained his Wimbledon title. He had returned to the pinnacle of the rankings and had overtaken Pete Sampras for the most Grand Slam singles titles in the history of the sport.

Andy Murray had won four titles by the time he came to the Rogers Cup in Montreal and was about to add the Canadians Masters event to his list for number five. He had already taken titles in Doha, Miami, Rotterdam and a grass court tune-up event in London. The buzz approaching the U.S. Open had his name as a serious favourite.

Given his comments this week I have to wonder if Murray believes in himself enough at this stage to make the leap to Grand Slam champion. He still refers to the best players in the world without seeming to include himself in that conversation. It is as if he views them as being above him despite the fact he has beaten Federer, Nadal and Djokovic several times during his young career.

"You never expect...to beat the best players in the world, but I think if I play my best tennis like I did today, I have a very good chance against all of them," Murray said yesterday after defeating Nadal 6-3, 6-4.

One area where Murray has yet to show the necessary self-confidence is when he meets Federer in tournament finals. Despite leading their head-to-head career series 6-5, all of which have come on hard-courts, Murray is 0-3 against him when a trophy is on the line. In their two Grand Slam finals at the '08 U.S. Open and the '10 Australian Open, Federer coasted easily to straight set wins. A victory for Murray today will signal a turn in the right direction even if it is not yet at the finals of one of the big ones.

One area where both players converge here in Toronto is that they have both experienced coaching adjustments since Wimbledon. Federer has decided to add Paul Annacone to his team on a trial basis while Murray has inexplicably split from longtime coach Miles MacLagan. So far the moves seem to be paying dividends for them although both players have said they are taking a cautious approach moving forward.

"I'm not going to rush into hiring a coach unless I feel like it's the right person, because it's a big commitment, you know," Murray stated. "I don't want to pick someone or choose someone right before the U.S. Open and make a mistake. Then I will sit down after...and think about what I want to do."

Roger Federer took a slightly more humorous approach to answering a question about his new relationship with Annacone as he said, "It's very romantic. Look, it's going okay. I mean, we don't go to candlelight dinner every night. I have a wife, you know."

Federer continued on a more serious note by saying that, "...we don't know yet if he's going to come to Cincy. We're debating that. He's a nice guy. So far it's been doing well, so we will see how it goes tomorrow."

Given their play this week I'd give a slight edge to Murray in today's final. He has breezed through his past two matches against David Nalbandian and then yesterday versus Nadal. He's as composed as I've ever seen him on the court and has displayed a strong command of keeping his shots aggressive while still between the lines.

Federer has certainly taken a more dramatic route to the finals. His last two victories thrilled the Toronto night time crowds as he came back from a 2-5 third set deficit against Tomas Berdych in the quarters and negated two break points while serving at 5-5 in the third against Novak Djokovic last night in the semis.

Despite the extra tennis, Roger says he feels fresh heading into the match against Murray. He is now on the cusp of his first title since beating the Scot in Australia, while Murray is remarkably on the verge of just his first title of 2010.

Redemption awaits one of these two great players as they both seek a Canadian confidence booster two weeks before the final Grand Slam of the year.

Follow tennis updates on Twitter.