RICHARD OSBORN

BY MATTHEW CRONIN

1 Roger Federer didn’t lose a match last fall and may not lose another one until the spring clay-court season kicks off in April. By then, he will have broken Jimmy Connors all-time record of consecutive weeks at No. 1 (he’ll bust the 160 straight mark at the end of February) and will have likely won his third Australian Open title, which would give him 10 majors at the young age of 25.

Over the past three years, Federer has notched an amazing 247-15 match record with 34 titles and in '06, he went 92-5, complete with three Grand Slam titles. He’s arguably the most appealing player ever to take the court, as there’s no shot he seemingly can’t produce, and he moves as quickly as a comet, without leaving a messy trail of wayward hits behind him. He’s the first wonder of the tennis world. With the exception of second-ranked Rafael Nadal, whom he has beaten the last two times they’ve played, no other player seriously threatened Federer in '06.

In fact, outside of Nadal, none of the other six elite players who made the Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai field scored a win over him in '06. Everyone else is competing for second place, which is diminishing some of the drama of the elite competitions. After James Blake got blitzed in the Shanghai final, he concluded, “We’re all chasing Roger.  It’s no secret. He’s playing head and shoulders above the rest of us. It’s gonna be tough for anyone to dethrone him. Roger is just a step above.”

Since '89, when Michael Chang shocked the world by winning Roland Garros, through '03, when Agassi won his last Aussie Open crown, the Fab 4 — Agassi (8), Chang (1), Jim Courier (4) and Pete Sampras (14) — combined for 30 Grand Slam crowns. The new generation, led by '03 U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick, has won one. It will be a long time before tennis fans ever see another collection of U.S. men that touches the Fab 4 in both charisma and performance. It will be an uphill battle all the way.

Agassi represented a successful transformation from boyhood to manhood; from a stubborn teenage brat to a considerate, middle-aged sage. In the past decade, his journey as a player and person has been so closely watched because he was willing to share most of that experience with the world. Few players of note have been willing to do that. Few players would have been willing to step into the '06 U.S. Open when they should have retired months earlier due to an excruciatingly painful sciatic nerve injury, just so he could pay homage to the fans by competing as hard as he could.

He didn’t travel to New York to merely wave goodbye, but to put himself on the line once again and show that, through hard work and dedication to one’s profession, minor miracles can happen.

In his three-and-a-half-hour first-round victory over Andrei Pavel, in his nearly four hour, five-set classic win over Marcos Baghdatis, and then in his three-hour loss to Benjamin Becker, he epitomized the warrior mentality that is evoked in nearly every U.S. Open champion. He chose to retire in New York, because it was at the Open where he found himself. "This is the last window to the whole series of windows throughout my career,” he said. "I just feel like the color on the last one can affect how you see the rest of them. I didn’t want it to be tainted with a lack of desire or preparation. I’d rather just be inside the lines...This is the place that’s given me the most over the years, [and where I] have the most memories that have touched me in a way that I haven’t experienced anywhere else.”

In the Wimbledon final, the gentle 27-year-old scored the most crucial victory of her career, out-toughing the seemingly impenetrable Justine Henin-Hardenne 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Unlike in Australia, where the two played and Mauresmo captured her first Slam crown when the Belgian retired, Mauresmo showed that she’s no longer afraid to employ her aggressive style at crunch time. She seized control of the match in the last two sets with an authoritative serve-and-volley attack that brought back visions of the last woman to win Wimbledon charging the net, Jana Novotna. And like the once mentally shaky Czech, Mauresmo finally came around on Centre Court, leaping the net cords with sheer abandon and not doubting her ability to win the title. "I don’t want anyone to talk about my nerves anymore,” said Mauresmo, who up until '06, was considered the women’s tour’s greatest underachiever. "It’s a great moment for me. This trophy is so special. I’m very proud.”

Despite a lingering knee injury, the gritty Henin puts herself into a position to win, because she still has more variety in her game than any other player and absolutely lives for her sport. She came into the Sony Ericsson Championships and snagged the No. 1 ranking by taking down Maria Sharapova (who had beaten her in the USO final) and Amelie Mauresmo, who defeated her in Australia and Wimbledon. I’m just going to keep everything that went well and say it’s been the best year of my career,” Henin said.

	AGASSI, SHARAPOVA, RODDICK PHOTOS: RICHARD OSBORN

The always-smiling Spaniard nearly continued his remarkable run at Wimbledon, but Federer finally stepped on him in the final. That loss took a tremendous amount of steam from Nadal’s engine, as he failed to reach another final in '06 and again fell to Federer in the Shanghai semis. But he still owns a 6-3 lifetime record against Roger, and if anyone loves to tango with the Swiss, it’s Nadal. "I am training hard and with enthusiasm for a long time,” Nadal said. "Right now I’m trying to become a more comprehensive player, better serve. I’m at a very good stage of my career.”

"I feel pretty darn good,” said Sharapova.

The 19-year-old won the second Slam crown of her career, but her first since '04 Wimbledon. The U.S. Open crown was her confirmation as a great player, and now she doesn’t have to listen to any more chatter about her Wimbledon crown being a one-off. In '06, she also won four other titles, three being Tier I crowns.

"She has always been working and has been pretty consistent,” said her touring coach, Michael Joyce. "She’s been giving herself a chance to get to the semis of the Grand Slams, and we all knew she could break through sooner or later. She felt a little pressure because people were talking that she hadn’t won another Slam, but it was a just a matter of time.”

Serena hasn’t found a way to do that in nearly two years, which is why she has become a lesser player. Saddled with a lingering knee injury, the seven-time Grand Slam champion hasn’t won a title since the '05 Australian Open and finished with a desultory No. 97 ranking. Without question, '06 went down as the worst year for American women’s tennis in Open Era history. For the first time in WTA Championships history, no American made the elite 8, and it wasn’t even close.

Five-time Slam champ Venus, didn’t do much better than Serena, failing to defend her Wimbledon title, spending much of the year on the disabled list and finishing the year ranked No. 47.

It was so bad for U.S. women’s tennis that the most dependable player over the last decade, three-time Slam champ Lindsay Davenport, also was injured and was pretty much a non-factor all year long, ending the year No. 25. Amazingly, Davenport still finished as the highest-ranked American. At year’s end, she announced that she was pregnant and had no plans to return to the tour (see related story). Long Beach’s Vania King did win her first crown and finished No. 60, and youngsters Jamea Jackson and Shenay Perry showed some promise. But with the Russians breaking down the gates, the golden days of U.S. women’s tennis could be a thing of the past.

"Andy and I have been talking about what Roger does well, how we try to have our best chances against him,” said Blake. "It’s tough though because he has proved he apparently has the answer for everything. But guys like Andy and me and many other guys out there are thinking in the way Karl Malone and [Patrick] Ewing did in the Michael Jordan era [in the NBA]. It’s not easy to deal with the greatest of all time. But it’s not impossible.”

Okay, nothing is impossible but as tough as Roddick and Blake played Federer this year at times, they are still 1-18 against him lifetime. But with his relatively new coach, the legendary Jimmy Connors, looking on, the hyper-aggressive Roddick held match points against Federer in Shanghai in a match he should have won. There, Blake reached his first Masters Series final and at least hung with Federer for a set.

With a fair amount of improvement, this year, they could turn the tables. Hell, Jordan didn’t always dunk on Malone and Ewing. A few times, they stuffed him.

© 2007 INSIDE TENNIS All rights reserved.
All photographs, text and graphics, appearing on the Inside Tennis web site are protected by copyright.
Any republication, retransmission or reproduction or other use is prohibited without express written permission of Inside Tennis.