The OCC: Monday (MNP)

By TW Contributing Editor, Ed McGrogan

Hi everyone.  Pete is currently on vacation until the 14th, so I'll be commanding this ship in the meantime.

Even though Saturday's 26-hour odyssey was trying at times, the fact that I am now fully adjusted to Beijing time made it worthwhile.  This way, I can write Crisis Center posts at 3:45 AM, and feel great while doing it!

Because of my Olympic commitments and the minimal tennis last week, I'm writing a condensed (no 'By the Letters' or 'Beyond the Bracket') Monday Net Post for today's episode of "The OCC."  Enjoy, and thanks for all the nice comments about yesterday's commentary for NBCOlympics.com.  Stop by and watch tomorrow too.

P.S. I remind everyone to keep comments on-topic throughout the day.  If Olympic chatter ensues that isn't related to tennis, please keep it brief.

Last Week's Tournaments

Countrywide Classic (ATP - Hard - Los Angeles, United States)

• Singles Final: Juan Martin del Potro def. Andy Roddick 6-1, 7-6.
  - Singles Semifinal: Andy Roddick def. Denis Gremelmayr 6-2, 6-2.
  - Singles Semifinal: Juan Martin del Potro def. Mardy Fish 6-2, 6-1.
• Singles Bracket

• Doubles Final: Rohan Bopanna/Eric Butorac def. Travis Parrott/Dusan Vemic 7-6, 7-6.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Travis Parrott/Dusan Vemic def. Igor Kunitsyn/Marat Safin 7-5, 6-4.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Rohan Bopanna/Eric Butorac def. Juan Martin del Potro/Fabio Fognini 7-6, 4-6, 10-5.
• Doubles Bracket

McGrogan's Heroes

ATP - Juan Martin del Potro

The young Argentine broke American's hearts this week in Los Angeles after defeating Amer Delic, Mardy Fish, and Andy Roddick in succession.  It resulted in his third title of the season - one more than Roger Federer owns.  Toss in a semifinal appearance in the doubles tournament, and del Potro probably isn't missing Beijing too much (before his recent surge, his ranking wasn't high enough to qualify him for the Olympics).

If you don't know what surge I'm referring to, check out these numbers: Since Wimbledon, del Potro is 14-0, and has lost just one of his last 28 sets.  In the Stuttgart final, he upset Richard Gasquet, ranked fifteenth in the world at the time.  This week, it was Roddick (No. 9) who was upended.  Now it's del Potro's ranking that people are talking about: In under two months, he's risen from No. 65 to a career high No. 19.  Matching your age with your world ranking is a difficult task in professional tennis, but the 19-year old has done that with spectacular play during the summer.

Here's what I wrote about del Potro at last year's U.S. Open, after watching him play against Jurgen Melzer:

Hailing from a country known for producing world-class clay court players, Juan Martin del Porto is going against traditional custom. Rather then playing his best tennis on the dirt, he has instead excelled on hard courts, a much faster surface and one that traditionally hasn't treated Argentines with great success.

Two of del Potro's three titles this year came on clay, so he's obviously great on dirt.  But I think he can do even more damage on the hard stuff.

WTA - None

(No tournaments played.)

Tennis Theatre

In a week's time, Roger Federer will be ranked No. 2 in the world.  It's been over four and a half years since Federer wasn't No. 1, and some of his dedicated fans may even shed a few tears.  But life wasn't all that bad for Roger back then.  Check out this clip from when Federer was ranked No. 3, at the 2003 Tennis Masters Cup against Andre Agassi.  (I saw this on a highlight DVD last week.)

This Week's Tournament

Olympic Games (ATP & WTA - Hard - Beijing, China)

• TV Schedule

• Men's Singles
• Women's Singles
• Men's Doubles
• Women's Doubles

if...

you watched Federer's first round Olympics match against Dmitry Tursunov, do you think that was his match of the year, aside from the Wimbledon final?