Hometown Love for Federer, Ferrer Plus Ivanovic, Italy Win

Roger Federer is suddenly on fire reaching three consecutive finals and winning two titles in a row. After he finished second to Andy Murray in Beijing, he traveled to Stockholm to capture his 64th title of his career tying for all-time fourth place with Pete Sampras. He then went one better by getting his 65th title in his hometown of Basel in front of his family and twin daughters. The final was a rematch of last year's duel between Federer and Novak Djokovic which the Serbian eventually won. This time around Federer kept his composure even after losing his concentration in the second set to win 6-1 in the third set to get his fourth title of the year. With his win, Federer puts just a little bit more distance between him and Djokovic for the #2 end-of-year ranking. More good news for Federer, he can gain a lot of points in the last Masters tournament in Paris taking place this week while Djokovic is defending a ton of points.

David Ferrer went on to win in his hometown of Valencia defeating Robin Soderling in the semifinals and lucky loser Marcel Granollers in the finals. Disappointing single results, however, for defending champion Murray, but he did win his first ATP doubles titles and with his brother Jamie Murray to boot!


Finally, if you thought the WTA ended their season last week when Kim Clijsters won the WTA Championships, think again. Over in San Diego, the Fed Cup finals were held between the USA and Italy. With the Williams sisters missing, the USA were trounced by defending champion Italy led by Francesca Schiavone and Flavia Pennetta. Over on the other side of the world in Bali, a few also-rans played the very last tournament of the year. Former world #1 player Ana Ivanovic finished the year on a high note by capturing the title. With the win and her great record of winning 13 of her last 15 matches, she recovers from a sub-50 ranking earlier this year to end the year within the top 20.

Verdasco Wins Barcelona, Rome Next

The clay season continues as Fernando Verdasco defeats French Open finalist Robin Soderling in the finals of the Barcelona Open. Great showing for both, Verdasco doing one better than his results in Monte Carlo the prior week and Soderling showing the world that he's no one-clay-tournament wonder.

But now things get real as the reigning French Open champion Roger Federer plays his first clay court tournament since winning in Roland Garros. Federer has never won in Rome, coming tantalizingly close in 2006 losing in five sets to Rafael Nadal in the finals. If Nadal wishes to solidify his clay dominance, he will have to get through to both French Open finalists. He is seeded to meet Federer in the semifinals for the first time in five years while Soderling, the only player to have defeated him in Roland Garros, is seeded to face him in the quarterfinals.

And after all that, if he makes the finals, he might have to contend against Novak Djokovic who gave him a real test last year and their brutal clay matches last year probably contributed to his knee troubles that continues to plague him.

Other tennis happenings:

- Fed Cup is underway with Italy and the United States moving on to the finals. Venus Williams withdrew like her sister. Justin Henin pulled out due to injury, but then played when her compatriot Kim Clijsters suffered a foot tear to keep her out for six weeks.

- Federer graces the cover of ESPN Magazine with the headline "Who's the World's Greatest Athlete? Roger Federer Looks the Part."

- Nadal took a rest from Barcelona and instead served as a pall bearer for former president of the International Olympic Committee Juan Antonio Samaranch.