First Serve: Oct. 11–Oct. 17

TENNIS.com's Monday morning quarterback recaps last week's pro tennis action—and offers his reaction.

Last Week's Tournaments

Following the Fall
The fall season may not always follow conventional storylines, but it has a way of creating new ones. Andy Murray was a distant No. 4 in the world—until he trounced Roger Federer in the Shanghai final. Ana Ivanovic was destined to live in 2008—until she found her way to the winner's circle in Linz. Kimiko Date Krumm was just enjoying the ride at age 40—until she nearly won Osaka.

Problem is, after 40 weeks of tennis, only the most diehard of fans (the people who are reading this, I'll admit) are ready to sit through another set of twists and turns. After a while, it just becomes wallpaper. The schedule is what it is, and even though the ATP is considering a longer offseason, I don't think finishing 2-3 weeks earlier makes any bit of difference in the grand scheme of things. The WTA season is still pretty long, right?

No matter what happens the rest of the year, two things will hold true: Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams are the players to beat in Australia. Their dominance in 2010 can't be undermined by a random autumn hot streak. Fans of David Nalbandian, Nikolay Davydenko and Jelena Jankovic, to name a few recent examples, should know this all too well. From a macro point of view, tournaments that take place after the U.S. Open are pretty meaningless. Sorry.

But they can still be exciting. Andy Murray is not the prohibitive favorite in Paris-Bercy, but he was a stud last week. I don't think Ana Ivanovic will win another title this year, but it was heartwarming to see her practice pay off. So, while Sunday's events had little effect on the global tennis environment, they were significant locally. "I'm taking it one match at a time," your favorite player will sometimes say. It's good advice for fans, too.

This Week's Tournaments