Brian Baker has had an amazing come back to tennis. Baker had six years off with injury, but now he is back and better than ever.

A few weeks ago Baker won a challenger event which won him a wildcard into French Open 2012 main draw. This week he has qualified for the ATP Tour event in Nice and has also won the first round main draw match!

Baker reached the Boys’ Singles final at Roland Garros – losing to former top 10 player Stanislas Wawrinka. Thus, if he can stay fit, he is going to be a top 20 player at the very least! Look out for Brian Baker in the French Open next week!

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Djokovic says that in Rome “you can actually be on the ball and slide well, where there you were slipping and falling down.”

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Roger Federer, Andy Murray, and Maria Sharapova, it has been criticized by world champion Raphael Nadal. Nadal, the 2005 Madrid Open winner and 10 time Grand Slam champion, will no longer be donning the knee brace he has worn since the latest flareup of his recurring tendinitis. He is the local favorite to win the tournament.

Nadal, who is considered by many to be the world’s best clay player, thinks that the sudden switch to blue clay could adversely affect his training for the French Open, as well as the rest of clay court season. He had surprisingly harsh words on the subject, saying that the only person who would benefit from it was the tournament owner, billionaire and former Romanian ATP player Ion Tiriac. Other criticism came from top-ranked Novak Djokovic, who says that the court alters a player’s perception of how the ball will bounce.

Interestingly, though the court material was produced in the exact same way as the red court, at least one player, 23rd ranked Canadian player Milos Raonic, has cited increased slickness and decreased bounce. If this is true, it will factor in to an already changed game pace, accelerated by the thin air of Madrid’s elevated altitude.

The Madrid Open is the only tournament in in Europe that features both men and women. It is played inside the Caja Magica, one of the more astonishing pieces of architecture in sports. The corresponding City of Tennis is Madrid features three indoor/outdoor courts that can seat 20,000 spectators. While no one is quite sure what exactly triggered the push for a clay color change by owner Tiriac, organizers say the new color will allow viewers to better follow the ball. It is certainly a noteworthy addition to the clay court season, though spectators may miss the now customary sight of Raphael Nadal staining his apparel with red clay streaks.

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Rafael Nadal: “The history of the clay court season was on red, it wasn’t on blue. . .”

Novak Djokovic: “Sometimes change is good. I like innovative and creative people. But, on the other hand, it’s going to be the only blue clay-court tournament in the world, first time ever in history. To be honest with you. . . I never played on blue clay. Rafa didn’t. Roger didn’t. We’re going on there and we’re going to play for the first time ever. We don’t even know if it’s a natural blue clay because natural clay is a red clay. I’m not really too happy about it.”

Andy Murray: “For the players, it would be better for it to be on the red clay. But at the same time, I’ve watched sometimes in Madrid. It’s very difficult to see the ball. I understand the reasons for doing it.”

We have yet to know what Roger Federer thinks about this change, and I wonder if his opinion will be positive or negative, and whether, based on all of these opinions from top players, the tournament will change back to red clay in a matter of years…

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Novak Djokovic is just hanging in during his semifinal match currently underway at the Monte Carlo Country Club. Djokovic lost the first set 6-4 and is current 3-0 in the second set, even though Tomas Berdych has had break points in both of Djokovic’s service games.

It is very blustery conditions in Monte Carlo and the court surface has given the players a lot of trouble in this match and previously in the week.

Its going to be very interesting to see if Djokovic can come back.

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Novak Djokovic is into the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters event. This is Novak’s first tournament on clay since the French Open 2011.

Here are some photos of his second round match in Monte Carlo.

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Questions are being raised on whether Rafa will be fit for the clay season, his success in the clay court stint has earned him the nickname “King of Clay”.

When Rafael Nadal edged past Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to advance to the semi finals at the Sony Ericsson Open, he looked to have found form that would have beaten Roger Federer in the Desert at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The world number two cut out the forehand errors that were very common in his match against Federer, with Tsonga unable to answer the Spaniard’s exceptional speed and accuracy. Rumours started circulating, only hours after the match, that Rafa had suffered some kind of leg injury during the match. The following day, Nadal confirmed he had a left knee injury that needed a lot of treatment and rest.

While the World number 2 has stated he plans to be ready for his home masters tournament in Monte Carlo in two weeks, there are various officials casting doubt on whether he will be ready in time. The impact of his absence in Monte Carlo could have on his game is quite significant as it is the first masters of the year on clay and provides very good preparation for Roland Garros, which is only a month and a half away. Now while Rafa has plenty of time to recover before he begins his only Grand Slam defence, will he be playing his best tennis and able to not hold back on his left knee? We look back to January at this year’s Australian Open, Rafa stated he had to hold back on his stretching and putting weight on his leg, due to a crack before walking on court.

At the moment it’s all just speculation, we will have to wait and see what form the world number two has in a couple of weeks, but if he isn’t able to rely and put full strain on his left knee, I don’t see him defending his title in Monte Carlo or at the French Open.

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The Clay Court season is coming around very quickly and it is going to be very interesting to see if Novak Djokovic can keep up his amazing form or whether Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray or others will defeat him.

Who do you think will win out in this years Clay Court Season?

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Roger Federer has already left the hard courts behind him and has started training on clay courts. Roger has an upcoming Davis Cup match against the United States this month in Fribourg.

30-year-old Federer is going to play Davis Cup this month at Fribourg, later he will travel to Netherland’s to take part in ABN AMRO World Tennis tournament, which kick off on 13th February.

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