Andy Murray was looking in hot form in the late part of the season but finally his 17-game winning streak came to an end. The Scot will now be looking to bounce back and end his campaign on a high at the ATP World Tour finals. The 24-year-old has enjoyed some great fortunes since the US Open and won three successive tournaments in Asia, to take his tally to five titles for the year. ...

This week on the ATP tour we get three ATP tournaments, all of them 250 level events. The US Open Summer Series continues in Los Angeles this week, where defending champion Sam Querrey will miss the tournament with an injury and will fall to around #70 in the World. Mardy Fish is the #1 seed here, fresh off his victory in Atlanta. ...

It has, overall, been slim pickings for Australian sport these last couple of years and whilst we may marvel at the superstars of our home-bred games, on the international scene we have struggled. But judging by the performances of the last two weeks, we may be turning a corner. ...

Whatever the result against Novak Djokovic, Australian Bernard Tomic has finally announced himself as a legitimate contender on the ATP tour, and has nothing to lose against a player who has only lost one match all season. ...

I made easy money last week. Murray was $1.28 favourite to beat Baghdatis ($4.55) in the first round of Rotterdam. This appears to be fair odds considering Murray's last start was an Australian Open final, he was Rotterdam champion in 2009 and he is world number 5. But losing your 3rd Grand Slam final to be 0-9 in Grand Slam final sets is tough to deal with mentally and it can take a while to recover.  ...

The average age of the year end WTA top 10 was 26.79 in 2010, its highest level since 1979. Also, on the 31st January this year, the top 10 featured women from ten different countries, the first time this had happened since the WTA began producing computerised rankings in 1975. This two part article discusses the changing nature of women's tennis players and compares this to related changes on the men's side. This part looks at the increasing age of top players and the second part (coming soon) examines the nationalities of players. The graph below shows the average age of the year end top 10 each year since 1975: So after initially being very high (peaking at 28.24 in 1975; the first year of computerised WTA rankings), the average age of the year end top 10 reached its minimum in 1981 at just 21.73 years old. The statistic then generally varied between 22 and 25 before increasing to 26.79 last year. While the average age of the top 10 is interesting, it may not be a good indicator of age trends across the whole tour as just one or two players can have a large influence on the average. The following graph shows the average age of the year-end top 100 every five years since and including 1990: Unfortunately data for every year was unavailable, but the long-term age trend of the top 100 is very clear. At the very end of 1990, the average top 100 player was 22.80 years old, 20 years later and that number is 25.18; almost two and a half years older. This increase is due to their both being fewer young players and more older players in the top 100: At the end of 1990, one quarter of the top 100 were teenagers compared to only six (approximately one in 17) at the end of last year. The youngest player in the top 100 of the 2010 year end rankings was Bojana Jovanovski who was 19 as of the 31st of December last year. This marked the first time since the WTA began producing computerised rankings in 1975 that no 18 year old or younger was in the year end the top 100*. Conversely, there were only six players in their thirties in the December 1990 top 100 and 11 at the end of 2010, almost twice as many. Aging, but still highly ranked, all time greats such as Serena (29 years old) and Venus Williams (30 years old), are bound to increase the average, but  some other tour veterans are having their best ever years at around 30 years old. Francesca Schiavone won her first ever Grand Slam last year just a couple weeks shy of her 30th birthday while Li Na just reached her first Grand Slam final one month before she turns 29. ...

How many photos do you have to take of Roger to get a good one? Answer: A Lot! Smooth as melting chocolate on a hot day, the Swiss tennis wonder makes playing the game look so easy you are hard pressed to get a dramatic moment. Gliding around the blue hard court with the fluidity of a gazelle, he seems always to be in the right place at the right time. ...

Remember the name Milos Raonic. If the 6 foot 5 inch Canadian Tennis player hasn’t caught your eye during this Australian Open summer, its because his explosive service game is yet to feature on one of Melbourne’s park more high profile arenas. ...

Well, it’s that time of year again, it’s the beginning of the 3rd week of January, time for another edition of the Australian Open! In the womens draw, the title is really up for grabs and is as wide open as I’ve ever seen it.  With the withdrawal of Serena Williams, there is no one outright favourite for the title in my view with any of the current top players are capable of winning the tournament.  This is due to the fact that there have been many injuries and loss of form of many of the top players over the last 12 months, plus the current number 1 player has yet to win a Grand Slam title.  The medium paced high bouncing plexicushion surface also gives a level playing field to all of the current players. Therefore, as ever, it’s an opportunity for an outsider to excel and get really far, possibly a final place.  Let’s have a look at who I think the contenders could be this year: Caroline Wozniacki Currently ranked World Number 1, Wozniacki has so far been unable to deliver a Grand slam title.  Wozniacki also does not have a great pedigree so far at the Australian Open but that shouldn’t mean too much at this stage as she’s very young and hasn’t played the tournament too many times.  In the past, certainly some players had a feel for rebound ace more than others, but now with the plexicushion surface and the possibility of playing at night or indoors more often, its relatively easier for the number 1 player to go far in the tournament. Wozniacki has no major weapons but does everything well, and her serve is improving and her best shot is probably her backhand.  But I think that’s part of the problem. Wozniacki is now attempting to play a more aggressive game but likes to wait and see what happens as opposed to forcing the action.  That style of play doesn’t deliver grand slam tournaments too often, so Wozniacki will have to up her game considerably if she wants to win this tournament and justify her number 1 ranking. Vera Zvonareva Zvonareva had an exceptional year in 2010 by getting to two Grand Slam finals and reaching number 2 in the world rankings. Zvonareva was also able to manage her emotions better than in the past and that has helped her game, which by the way is a very good game. She possesses great athleticism and movement plus a good first serve and ground strokes which, while not the paciest, always has good depth. Zvonareva also possesses a very good transition game to the net which served her well during the 2010 Wimbledon championships. Therefore the question for Zvonareva is, does she have the belief to beat a player of the calibre of Kim Clijsters or Venus Williams in a grand slam final?  She certainly has the game to do it and the court craft, but mental stamina is also an important part of winning a Grand Slam tournament. Zvonareva is definitely a contender though. Venus Williams Venus reached the semifinal of the Australian Open in 2001 and the final in 2003 but hasn’t done too well since then.  That’s quite surprising considering Venus has done so well in other tournaments around the world and has many hard court titles to her name. I’m not sure if I could put it down to the rebound ace not suiting her style of play; but that shouldn’t be an issue now with the plexicushion surface and Wilson balls. Of course, Venus is always a contender but probably not a favourite as she is vulnerable to defeats by opponents who take the game to her. And on a technical level, Venus’ serve, despite being the fastest, is not as effective on hard courts as it is on grass.  On grass, Venus’ serve tends to skid, plus she loves to serve into the body with a bit of slice.  On other surfaces, the players seem to have a bit more time and the ball sits up more, so her game is just not as effective. I would make Venus a contender but not a favourite for the title Justine Henin Henin has won the tournament in 2004, defeating Kim Clijsters in 3 sets, and she got to the final in 2006 before losing to Amelie Mauresmo (retiring in fact).  Henin also lost the final last year on her comeback to Serena Williams in 3 exciting sets. Despite Henin’s very good record at the Australian Open, I would be loathed to make her a favourite due to the fact the she has been out of action since July 2010 with an injured elbow which needed an operation.  Henin would probably need a few more tournaments to find her rhythm and form but of course she has to perform now as there is no time to get more run in her legs.    However, at the same time, Henin is such a talented and thoughtful player with such determination that she can not be discounted from being a possible winner of this event. ...

In the first few rounds of a Grand Slam there are always many thrashings. Instead of telling you that the likes of Nadal, Federer and Djokovic are all going to easily win their first round matches, I am going to look at some of the more evenly matched encounters. David Nalbandian (27) vs. Lleyton Hewitt ...