On the tennis radar; Master’s Cup, retirement and reality TV shows

Novak Djokovic capped off the year with as big of a bang as he started it. Vying for the title among the world’s elite eight, Djokovic came out on top over Nikolay Davydenko with a 6-1, 7-5 victory. One could almost say, an unlikely winner, as the majority of the year he was getting overshadowed by the likes of Nadal, Federer and Murray. Nadal pulled out of the Master’s Cup before it began with tendonitis in the knee and Roddick withdrew after his first match when he sprained his ankle in practice. Federer, really wanting this title on his resume, was also nursing a back injury and lost a tough match to Murray. "It's been a good year, you know," Federer said. "Tough to start off with. Tough to end. But I think it gives me the opportunity to start over all new again next year." This has not been an easy season for Djokovic either, with injuries and illnesses like his persistent asthma, but things must have fell into place for him in Shanghai. He opened the year with his first Grandslam victory at the Australian Open and he finished the final leg of the official year end race a winner at the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai. He told the press after the win, "It was special because I've played in the second part of the season in a couple of finals, and I didn't manage to win the title for a long time, since Rome. That's probably the reason why I couldn't close it out at 5-4. I was a bit nervous. It's not easy, you know. There is a lot of pressure involved. I'm happy that I managed to hold my nerves in the end." This win solidifies Djokovic as the number three racquet in the world. “It means a lot,” said Djokovic. “I would put it in the same league as a Grand Slam, because the best eight players in the world are participating here and everybody has a lot of motivation to finish the season in the best possible way."

Also in Shanghai, the doubles masters were crowned. Canada's Daniel Nestor and Serbia’s Nenad Zimonjic, went undefeated in the round robin and deprived the Bryan brothers of their third consecutive title in the event. Nestor and Zimonjic beat the Bryan’s 7-6 (3), 6-2 in the final round for the year-end No. 1 ranking.

Other news cast is the retirement of Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman. This great tennis player has finalized his 17 year professional tennis career having played in 1, 791 singles and doubles matches, winning 709 in doubles and 414 in singles and a prize money total of $14.5 million.

On the fun side of news. Jimmy Connors, the eight time Grandslam champion and former number one, was recently arrested in Santa Barbara at a UC Santa Barbara game after refusing to leave the arena upon request and bickering with an officer.

After Monica Seles appeared on Dancing with the Stars this year, 52 year old Martina Navratilova, has signed on a British reality television show filmed in the Australian jungle, which sounds a lot like Survivor from its description.

Holiday shopping does not exclude the rich and famous. Sharapova was spotted shopping this past week in the big apple. Sharapova has also done a photoshoot to be featured in Spain’s December issue of GQ and she looks phenomenal. Speaking of shopping, buyers in India are all set with a new Reebok product line that Vaidisova helped launch with Sunitha Rao recently.