The two singles finals in South Florida might have been lacking in drama or quality, but they definitely generated a lot more intrigue for the rest of this season. Two ascendant champions at the Crandon Park Tennis Center might still face a lot of questions on clay, but their competitive chops could enable them to win matches regardless of the obstacles they might face.

On the women’s side, Victoria Azarenka bagged the biggest championship of her young career, as the 19-year-old took down an injured Serena Williams, 6-3, 6-1. While it’s true that Williams had her left thigh heavily wrapped during this 72-minute match, Azarenka still had to play poised tennis under pressure. Some players (think Daniela Hantuchova in the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2007 against a hobbling Serena) can’t concentrate when an opponent is walking wounded, so it was impressive that Azarenka could find focus against an unfit foe. Not every player in the women’s game would have been able to handle the big-event nerves associated with a Miami final.

While Serena failed to win her sixth title at Crandon Park, followers of the WTA Tour shouldn’t be thunderstruck by Azarenka’s latest conquest. The young Belorussian has a 23-2 record in 2009, clearly the best mark of anyone on the WTA Tour. Serena and Venus still figure to be the only ones left standing when Wimbledon and the U.S. Open roll around, but when the French Open comes calling, Azarenka could very well find herself playing late into the second week at Stade Roland Garros. Women’s tennis has been so unpredictable in recent years because few players have managed to display tremendous consistency from week to week; if any woman other than the Williams sisters can develop a killer instinct, that player will become the third prominent contender at any major event. Azarenka now has every chance to become that formidable third wheel in the world of women’s tennis.

In the men’s tournament in Miami, Andy Murray–after reaching the final at Indian Wells two weeks earlier–went one step better and conquered Crandon Park by taking down Novak Djokovic, 6-2, 7-5. Murray showed his mastery of the moment by winning one set in lopsided fashion, and another set by a narrow margin after overcoming a one-break deficit. While Djokovic lamented his continuing inability to physically withstand punishing midday heat, Murray–who has a residence just blocks away from stadium court–was able to summon up his best tennis at the right moments. Health issues might have hampered his efforts at the Australian Open back in January, but outside of that stumble, Murray has been a supremely consistent force on the ATP Tour. The two finals in Indian Wells and Miami represent a substantial achievement, as do Murray’s wins this year over world No. 2 Roger Federer. Murray hasn’t made a deep run at the French Open, but in light of the Scot’s steadily upward trajectory in the men’s tennis cosmos, a strong showing in Paris is hardly out of the question. One needs a great deal of stamina to play at a high level throughout the spring hardcourt season, so when the 21-year-old travels to Europe for several weeks on the red dirt, he should be able to grind out wins against lesser players.

* * *

Here’s a brief look at some of the other stories to emerge from the Sony Ericsson Open:

* Del Potro Power: Rafael Nadal has nothing to be ashamed of. The world No. 1, after winning the title at Indian Wells, endured extended matches in Miami and had little left in the tank as the week continued in South Florida. The biggest story of the men’s event outside of Murray’s mountaintop moment was not Nadal’s loss to Juan Martin Del Potro; no, it was Del Potro’s ability to beat Nadal. A thrilling three-set win, capped in a tense final-set tiebreak, gave the Argentine much more than the fifth spot in the latest ATP rankings; it allowed Del Potro to revel in the biggest win of his career.

It was hardly a secret that “Delpo” needed to increase his fitness level and improve his court coverage in order to become a better player, and against Nadal, those qualities were very much in evidence. Many of the match’s best rallies also came on the most important points, and it was Del Potro, not Rafa, who managed to have the final say on more occasions than not. Criticism of Nadal, after a match laden with drama, is quite misguided; Thursday’s consequential quarterfinal should only serve as cause to praise a rising 20-year-old who is growing with each tournament he plays.

* Wacky Women: There’s a reason why the Williams sisters (and before them, Justine Henin) have towered over everyone else in Grand Slam events other than the French Open, where Americans perpetually struggle: Simply stated, the rest of the WTA Tour involves a fair share of headcases.

One has to remember that, with due respect to the victorious Victoria Azarenka, the Williamses likely would have met in the finals had the draw allowed for such a possibility. The semifinal sister showdown offered the best match of the tournament on the women’s side, all while the other half of the bracket featured volatile and unpredictable tennis.

Azarenka did well to defeat Svetlana Kuznetsova in the other women’s semi, but the Belorussian–for all her talents–still had to fight deep into a third set instead of polishing off her opponent in straights. Kuznetsova, for her part, endured an up-and-down quarterfinal against 18-year-old Caroline Wozniacki. One moment, ”The Kooze” looked like an elite competitor; the next moment, the 23-year-old Russian turned into a shrinking violet with absolutely no mental toughness whatsoever.

The rest of the women’s tournament featured similarly baffling displays from highly-ranked players. Dinara Safina, Jelena Jankovic, Elena Dementieva, and Ana Ivanovic all fell well short of expectations after crashing out in the early rounds. As steady as the best men’s tennis players have proven to be, the upper-tier members of the women’s tour haven’t delivered the goods with any appreciable degree of consistency. If the spring hardcourt season revaled anything about the status of WTA tennis, it’s that Victoria Azarenka is the only woman who is reliably living up to her potential.

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A promising 2009 season just got better for Azarenka, who showed steely nerves to hold off Svetlana Kuznetsova in the first semifinal of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla. The 11th-seeded Azarenka held off her eighth-seeded Russian opponent, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, in 2 hours and 41 minutes of riveting action at the Crandon Park Tennis Center.

Azarenka has been one of the more impressive performers on the WTA Tour this season. At the Australian Open, she won the first set from Serena Williams before illness forced her to retire with a 6-3, 2-4 lead in that fourth-round match. Newly fresh for the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Azarenka stormed to the semifinals before doubles partner Vera Zvonareva knocked her off. Azarenka cracked the top 10 of the rankings for the first time in her career, but a milestone achievement proved elusive.

Until now.

This piece of semifinal success is meaningful for Azarenka because it gives the teenager the largest single-event paycheck of her young career (just over $300,000), but the value of today’s breakthrough is found in other more significant facts as well.

On an immediate level, Azarenka managed to wipe away the ugly memories created in her last meeting against Kuznetsova at this event. One year ago, Azarenka rolled to a 6-1, 5-2 lead in Miami and had a match point for the round of 16. So close to the finish line, Azarenka succumbed to frail nerves, as the increasingly dispirited 18-year-old watched “The Kooze” reel off 11 straight games to take the third-round encounter, 1-6, 7-5, 6-0.

In this match, Azarenka teetered at times, but never fell off the edge. Having blown a one-set lead with an indifferent display midway through the match, Azarenka regrouped in set three and served for the match at 5-4. Down love-30, she nailed a first serve to the corner of the service box and then played incredible defense to win two pulse-pounding rallies, one of them with a gorgeous running forehand passing shot. Brought to match point, Azarenka found herself in a position similar to a year ago against Kuznetsova, and while the result was indeed different this time around, it took awhile for the Belorussian to defeat her demons.

Kuznetsova saved that first match point with a massive forehand, and then broke for 5-all when Azarenka missed a backhand at deuce and then double-faulted on break point. In a handful of points, a nightmare came rushing to the surface of memory. Azarenka had to regroup when she failed to serve out the match.

Sure enough, that’s exactly what she did.

Azarenka’s groundstrokes stabilized in the eleventh game of the final set, and Kuznetsova lost the momentum she had gained a few minutes before. Azarenka broke for 6-5, and after seeing Kuznetsova save two more match points with terrific shotmaking, Azarenka closed the door by hitting deep shots to the Kuznetsova backhand, which broke down under pressure. As a final off-pace Kuznetsova backhand stuck the middle of the net, Azarenka exulted.

In a moment of profound recognition, a young woman knew that she had not only put away a nemesis in a former house of horrors; Victoria Azarenka also realized that she had reached her first Premier Mandatory (formerly Tier I) final on the WTA Tour, by far the biggest moment of her tennis life to date. In Saturday afternoon’s final, Azarenka–now assured of a No. 8 slot in next week’s WTA rankings–will play the winner of tonight’s Williams sister showdown. Even if she fails to take down Venus or Serena, Azarenka will be able to say that she played in the championship match of a prestigious tournament. With more breakthroughs like this one, an up-and-comer in the women’s game can accumulate the experiences needed to forge a top-flight career.

There are no guarantees for any tennis professional, but the supremely noteworthy element about Victoria Azarenka’s tennis career is that it now has a chance to become great.

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In a collapse of notable proportions, an unfocused Federer came apart at the seams, while Djokovic used smart, high-percentage tennis to cruise to a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory, which pushes the No. 3 seed into Sunday’s final against Andy Murray or Juan Martin Del Potro. Djokovic not only won his third career match against the second-seeded Swiss; the Serb overcame a sluggish first set to receive a fresh injection of belief.

There’s a lot of tennis left in 2009, with three of the four Grand Slams still to come. With that said, this is a match that could certainly reshape the calculus of the ATP tour in the months ahead. Djokovic looked whipped in Australia and Indian Wells, and when the 21-year-old stumbled out of the gate on a windy afternoon, it appeared that another tame exit was in store for a talented yet unsettled performer. The world-class tennis that marked Djokovic’s 2008 ascendancy was rarely seen in recent months, and quite frankly, it didn’t emerge that much today against Federer. Yet, the mental toughness shown in this three-set triumph could very well give the Belgrade native the kick-start he so desperately needed.

As for Federer, the outlook is 180 degrees different.

This disastrously unglued performance against a more-than-beatable opponent (Federer entered this match with a 7-2 record against Djokovic) not only deprives the world No. 2 of another Masters 1000 title (the last such event Fed won came in August of 2007 at Cincinnati); far more alarmingly, the setback revealed a persistent lack of concentration that has plagued the fabled champion over the past year.

Indeed, the biggest story to emerge from this match–as significant as it may be for Djokovic–is the way in which Federer crumbled after taking the first set in relatively comfortable fashion. Instead of maintaining a solid level of performance, which was all he needed to get the quick lead, Federer simply couldn’t keep the ball in the stadium court at the Crandon Park Tennis Center. Federer exceeded 30 unforced errors in the final two sets, as his once-trusty forehand betrayed him again and again. The down-the-line forehand to the ad corner repeatedly sailed a foot beyond the baseline, irritating Federer and shocking a Miami crowd that was expecting better tennis.

Things got so bad for the 13-time Grand Slam champion that after a netted forehand approach at 0-2 in the third set, Federer smashed his racket, the kind of development that plagued a much younger man in the volatile teenage years that preceded a rise to tennis greatness. Federer became disturbed in a manner so unfamiliar to anyone who has followed professional tennis over the past several seasons. That’s why this match will be a discussion topic for much of 2009, especially if future results continue to cut against Mr. Federer.

Why should this match remain on the minds of tennis scribes and pundits? It was somewhat surprising that Djokovic won this match after the Serb’s tame first-set effort, but what was supremely shocking about this semifinal is that the match didn’t even possess a dramatic conclusion. Federer didn’t just lose; he lost without making Djokovic fight to the finish line. That fact–combined with the shocking display of equipment abuse–will leave analysts and armchair psychologists talking for a good long while about the mental world inhabited by Federer. The man who once ruled the tennis world with unmatched grace and soaring confidence has been confined to an increasingly distant past. The new Federer, who has been usurped by Rafael Nadal, is a more fragile creature whose form and focus disappear just as quickly as they emerge.

Federer’s competitive juices and big-point instincts were on display in Wednesday’s ballsy quarterfinal escape against Andy Roddick, but in this joust with Djokovic, Fed’s ability to grind and compete simply never entered the building over the last two desultory sets. Perhaps Federer is simply too focused on Grand Slams at this stage of his career for other events–even this significant Miami tournament–to matter all that much. Then again, Federer hasn’t had to wrestle with mononucleosis the way he did in 2008. If Federer rebounds at the French Open and Wimbledon, this match will be forgotten, but if this Swiss superstar continues to wobble the same way he did on a foul Friday, there’s little question that this South Florida freefall will be remembered as a sharp downward turning point in one of the greatest careers of all time.

Buckle up, tennis fans. The next few months of clay-court action and Wimbledon combat have just gotten even more interesting. If Roger Federer expects to tie Pete Sampras’s record, he’ll have to dial down the drama and ratchet up his level of focus. That much is certain… even to a man who must be supremely baffled by the way he played today.

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In a battle that fell short of a classic but didn’t disappoint in terms of competitive quality, Serena outlasted her older sister, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, to advance to the finals of the Sony Ericsson Open. Serena will face 11th-seeded Victoria Azarenka on Saturday afternoon.

Over the past few years, the Williams sisters could only be counted on to perform at the year’s biggest tournaments. Any event other than the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open hasn’t always witnessed the presence of the most dominant players on the WTA Tour. The spate of tournament absences attached to the Williamses in the middle part of this decade have been partially responsible for creating a vacuum in the upper reaches of women’s tennis. With the retirement of former No. 1 Justine Henin and the injury-related problems suffered by Maria Sharapova, the WTA Tour has encountered even more chaos of late. Several talented players have all made solid runs at certain Grand Slam tournaments, but none of them have shown the elite-level consistency worthy of a top-tier champion. Dinara Safina has reached a pair of finals and Jelena Jankovic made last September’s U.S. Open final, but neither player has carried much momentum into the American spring hardcourt swing of the 2009 season. Ana Ivanovic and Vera Zvonareva have shown flashes of great form, as has Azarenka, but women’s tennis is now a realm in which the Williams sisters enjoy even more dominance. Such a development makes the WTA Tour feel like 2001 and 2002, when the children of Richard Williams and Oracene Price were gobbling up every title in sight.

How fitting it is, then, that in a Sony Ericsson Open where the bottom half of the bracket turned into a bomb shelter on the first weekend, the Williamses maintained order in the top half of the draw. When placed together in a semifinal showdown, Serena and Venus–though not in their very best form–nevertheless displayed the athleticism, power hitting, and all-around shotmaking that has defined the two siblings as the giants of their sport. The likes of Henin and Sharapova, when at their best, could consistently pose problems for these super sisters, but there’s no active player in the women’s game who can match Serena or Venus in a money situation. The mortal combat witnessed on Thursday night in Miami proved as much.

The Williams sisters–who dueled at last year’s season-ending championships and then brought their road show to Dubai in February–only affirmed their run of excellence by meeting in yet another non-Grand Slam tournament. According to Chinese tradition, 2009 is the year of the Ox. On the WTA Tour, 2009 is shaping up as the year of the Williams sisters.

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Murray–victimized by Verdasco in the fourth round at the year’s first major tournament–gained a measure of revenge by thumping Verdasco, 6-1, 6-2, in the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open. The authoritative Thursday night win, achieved in a tidy 75 minutes, moves the fourth-seeded Murray into Friday’s second semifinal against Rafael Nadal-slaying youngster Juan Martin Del Potro.

Two weeks ago, Verdasco fell to Roger Federer in the BNP Paribas Open quarterfinals at Indian Wells. This quarterfinal matchup in Miami contained even more intrigue, given the fact that Verdasco’s sensational semifinal run in Australia was built on the back of a five-set triumph over an ailing Murray, who had to stay in Australia for several days after the tournament ended. Global tennis observers wanted to see if the late January jolt delivered by the ascendant Verdasco–a 2-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 win–was more the product of the Spaniard’s quality, or Murray’s subpar fitness level.

Safe to say, it didn’t take long for an answer to emerge at the Crandon Park Tennis Center.

Murray might not have served extremely well (he connected on only 55 percent of his first serves), but the Scot spanked the ball with much more conviction. The backbone of Murray’s game is his return of serve, and while Verdasco threw down a statistically impressive 73 percent of his first serves, Murray usually offered a more than credible reply. When this match was done and dusted, Murray won a majority of Verdasco’s service points (24 out of 44), which produced five breaks of serve for the No. 4 player in men’s tennis. Unlike the women’s game, the ATP Tour requires first-serve dominance, so when Verdasco couldn’t threaten Murray in his service games, the No. 8 seed had nowhere to turn. After the day session’s two matches (Kuznetsova-Azarenka and Nadal-Del Potro) filled up nearly six hours of eye-pleasing action, Murray made the trains run on time with his quick and easy conquest.

When Murray faces Del Potro in the semifinals, the tennis community will see a rematch of a spirited four-set quarterfinal from last September’s U.S. Open in New York. While that matchup could prove to be interesting, it won’t possess the sex appeal of the Nadal-Murray matchup tournament organizers were hoping for. The Murray-Delpo duel will also lack the box office sizzle that tonight’s quarterfinal with Verdasco initially promised.

At any rate, you can’t blame Andy Murray for any of these developments, even if they might not satisfy the ticket-buying public in South Florida. Murray held up his part of the semifinal bargain, and is playing the steady tennis of a man destined for Grand Slam glory. It’s also not Murray’s fault that this quarterfinal confrontation fizzled before spectators who surely hoped for more drama. Plainly put, Verdasco’s Australian Open looks like more and more of an aberration with each passing moment. Once the hottest thing in men’s tennis, Rafael Nadal’s 25-year-old compatriot has abruptly cooled off several weeks after his magical fortnight Down Under.

Go ahead, call Andy Murray a buzzkill for so clinically dispatching Fernando Verdasco. The new nemesis of Roger Federer, who doubles as the most dangerous new force in men’s tennis, isn’t interested in entertainment value. He’ll merely try to reach his first Miami final Friday night, two weekends after going the distance at Indian Wells.

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In order to appreciate the biggest win of Del Potro’s life–a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3) triumph over Nadal in the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open–one needs to realize that the sixth seed used the kinds of tools few observers thought he possessed.

Yes, Del Potro owns formidable groundstrokes and a powerful backcourt game–that reality was never in dispute. The one nicknamed “Delpo” unleashed those very weapons to take the first set against Nadal, who was trying to pull off the Indian Wells-Miami double for the first time since Roger Federer turned the trick in 2006.

One set, however, doesn’t represent very much of a lead against the toughest competitor on the planet. Before Del Potro could blink, Nadal swiped the second set and then rolled to a 3-0, double-break advantage in the final set. Anyone who thought the Argentine had a prayer at that point was either a loyal native of Buenos Aires or a deluded fool.

Nadal just doesn’t blow double-break leads in final sets. Even more to the point, Del Potro–who quit in a 6-3, 6-0, 6-0 loss to Federer in January’s Australian Open quarterfinals–lacked the reputation of a grinder, a man who could battle through adversity as well as he could outhit inferior opponents under optimal occasions. When Nadal jumped to a huge lead near the end of this match, it seemed a foregone conclusion that Nadal would advance to the semifinals for a tantalizing matchup with either Andy Murray or Fernando Verdasco.

Just when Del Potro’s Miami obituary was about to be written, the Argentine flipped the script in shocking fashion.

Nadal took his foot off the gas in the next two games, as Delpo combined a break and a hold to close within 3-2. Nadal might have lacked an extra degree of security, but he still possessed a break lead. The smart money remained with Rafa as the third set continued.

Del Potro wasn’t buying into the conventional wisdom, and in the sixth game of the final set, he made the kind of statement that could ripple through the rest of his career.

With Del Potro earning a break point in that sixth game, Nadal typically dictated a long rally and seemed set to escape to the security of deuce. The Argentine begged to differ, as a man bereft of pure footspeed found the will to chase down several Nadal shots before smacking a superb running forehand to retrieve a drop shot from the Spaniard. The authoritative reply at the end of a rally that exceeded 15 strokes leveled the match at 3-all. Far more importantly, the point showed that Del Potro could hustle and compete with a level of vigor equal to that of his far more credentialed foe.

The next 30 minutes, instead of witnessing a victory celebration by Nadal, instead allowed a giddy crowd to revel in a thrilling encounter between a proven champion and a transformed challenger who spilled his intestines on the hardcourts of South Florida. Nadal and Del Potro traded body blows until a missed forehand volley by Nadal gave the Argentine two match points at 6-5.

As amazing as the match had been until that point in time, the fun was just starting in Key Biscayne.

Nadal, the bravest and most resilient big-point player alive, thumped an ace to save his first match point before a nervous Del Potro netted an emphatic backhand. The Agentine saved a game point to earn a third match point, but once again, a booming serve from Nadal erased the threat. The Mallorcan master refused to go gently, holding for 6-all and a do-or-die tiebreak.

The two men kept raising the bar in terms of clutch shotmaking, even while the tension escalated. As the tiebreak continued, it would be Del Potro who found still more resources while Nadal hit a wall.

At 2-all in the tiebreak, everyone at the sprawling stadium court in Crandon Park saw the three points that defined this deathmatch at dusk. In the first point of the sequence, Nadal–like Roger Federer on Wednesday night against Andy Roddick–watch the net cord help him win a point for 3-2. Such a stomach punch figured to overwhelm Delpo, but the Argentine merely answered on the next two points with sensational poise and power. With Nadal serving at 3-2, Del Potro retrieved a mediocre drop shot from Nadal to force a backhand error from the Spaniard. At 3-all, a long and drawn-out rally of over 20 strokes ended with the Argentine blasting a picture-perfect forehand to the corner of the court. When Del Potro shrugged off a bit of bad luck to win the next two points on Nadal’s serve, a 4-3 lead felt even more comfortable. Three authoritative points closed out the tiebreak, and in a flash, an upset was birthed in the fading twilight.

Besides quitting roughly two months ago against Federer, Del Potro also got dusted by Nadal in the quarterfinals of the Indian Wells event just two weeks earlier. A 6-2, 6-4 loss left a young man wondering if he’d ever topple a giant in the world of men’s tennis.

Now, the landscape looks very different, as a promising professional knows that he can not only win at the highest level, but compete with the courage of a champion.

If this man does, in time, manage to win a Grand Slam title down the road, there will be no doubt about the moment when Juan Martin Del Potro turned the corner: On April 2, 2009, against a legendary champion who was equaled not only in skill, but far more importantly, in the matters of the spirit.

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All the No. 5 American received for his considerable improvements, however, was yet another loss to his Swiss nemesis. Federer, aided by a fortuitous net-cord winner on the penultimate point of the match, closed out Roddick in three tight and tension-packed sets, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. The two-hour triumph sends the second seed into Friday’s semifinals against No. 3 Novak Djokovic.

There’s a very simple reason why Roddick held a post-match press conference that lasted all of 90 seconds: He played extremely well for most of this match, yet had to watch one of tennis’s great champions receive help from the tape at crucial stages of this confrontation at the Crandon Park Tennis Center.

One year ago, Roddick beat Federer at this same stage of the Sony Ericsson Open, digging out of a love-30 hole at 3-all in the third set to swing momentum in his favor. Once Roddick held for 4-3, he won eight of the final 10 points to win his second career match against Federer. As the two men returned to Miami for a South Florida sequel, a surprising case of role reversal emerged before a lively and energetic crowd.

This time, it was Federer’s turn to get out of jail at 3-all in the third set. After three overcooked forehands created a 15-40 deficit, Federer painted the sideline with an inside-outside forehand to get to 30-40. Then came one of two points that would tell “the tale of the tape,” the top of the net that had a lot to do with the outcome of this riveting affair.

On the 3-all, 30-40 point that saved his hide, Federer hit a forehand that ticked off the tape and bounced high into the air. As is the case with the U.S. Open (but unlike Wimbledon), the nets at this tournament are tightly strung, which creates severe bounces with long arcs and high trajectories. Hitting the tape on a full-swing groundstroke often causes the ball to land beyond the baseline, but in this case, Federer’s shot landed just inside he baseline. Roddick made a decent reply from the backcourt, but Federer was there to hit a delicate crosscourt drop volley from his forehand wing. Once at deuce, a clearly relieved Federer comfortably won the next two points to hold for 4-3. After withstanding Roddick’s best tennis for the previous one and a half sets, Federer gained an extra degree of comfort once he saved those two break points. Federer pushed Roddick to three deuces in the American’s 3-4 service game, and although Roddick held, a different story emerged just moments later. Once again, the tape would tell the tale.

Serving to stay in the match at 4-5, Roddick gained a 40-15 lead and figured to push the match one step closer to a decisive tiebreak. But in a match where 40-love leads weren’t automatic (Federer suffered his one break of serve in the second set after leading by that score; the abrupt turnaround represented the difference in the set), Roddick couldn’t find the huge first serves and cheap points he needs. Federer constructed two points to achieve deuce, and Roddick suddenly put himself in a precarious position.

On the deuce point, Federer hit a crosscourt backhand pass that Roddick anticipated at the net. However, Federer’s shot hit the tape and took one of those typically high and long bounces. Roddick had no chance to get his racket on the ball, which landed comfortably in the corner of the court for a winner. Because of his lucky break, Federer had match point on the next point, and this time, the Swiss superstar nailed a backhand pass that was nasty, low, and filled with bite. Roddick barely touched the shot, and in a stunningly abrupt sequence of events, Federer moved to 17-2 in his head-to-head series with Roddick.

Federer did get enormously lucky on a night when the Swiss missed a lot–40 times, to be exact. Nevertheless, Roddick learned that despite his bad fortune, the best way to prevent another case of heartbreak is to finish service games when one has the chance. Roddick profited in the second set when Federer lost a 40-love lead; in the end, it was Roddick’s inability to preserve a 40-15 advantage that allowed the net cord to influence the outcome of a quality quarterfinal.

Andy Roddick is clearly improving at this advanced stage of his career. With continued determination and more high-level tennis, the American will knock the door down again when he fights with Federer. More to the point, he won’t put himself in a position where a few net cords can ruin his plans.

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Djokovic battled into the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Open with a convincing 6-3, 6-4 victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The match doesn’t quite make this tournament a success for Djokovic, but it does propel the No. 3 seed into Friday’s semifinals against Roger Federer. With a big weekend of top-flight performances, a career that’s hit some speed bumps could regain much-needed momentum as the clay season awaits.

For perspective on the Djokovic journey, one must return to the end of January in 2008.

One year ago, Novak Djokovic’s tennis life was proceeding according to plan. The early months of 2008 witnessed the Serbian superstar make a push for the No. 1 ranking he had so deeply coveted. At a time when Federer still stood atop the ATP Tour, Djokovic’s semifinal takedown of the Swiss legend in that year’s Australian Open signaled a moment in which Djokovic could expect to compete with Federer on very even terms. When Djokovic then took down Tsonga in the championship match, the burden of having to win a first Grand Slam title lifted from the Serb’s shoulders. As the months passed and winter turned into springtime, Djokovic nipped at the heels of Rafael Nadal for the world No. 2 ranking, proof of a steady upward march fueled by confident and decisive play. Djokovic couldn’t have complained with the way his career was unfolding.

Then, however, Nadal put his foot down.

With the No. 2 ranking on the line, the Spaniard whipped Djokovic in the French Open semifinals. Ironically, Nadal’s ability to protect his number two position didn’t just keep Djokovic at No. 3; it enabled Rafa to find an even higher level of confidence and dethrone Federer at Wimbledon. By mid-August of 2008, it was Nadal–not Djokovic–who had become the new king of the courts by finally attaining the top ranking Federer had held without interruption since 2004. The upside-down nature of the situation couldn’t have been lost on Djokovic: Just when he was making a run at Federer for No. 1, he had to watch Nadal beat him to the punch. Nadal’s rise, combined with Federer’s U.S Open title and the emergence of world No. 4 Andy Murray, left Djokovic out of the spotlight. Yes, a Masters Cup title closed 2008 on a high note, but as 2009 dawned, Djokovic was seen as the fourth-best player in men’s tennis. Most mortals would kill for that kind of distinction, but for a hungry competitor such as Djokovic, the label represented a steep decline in fortune that only continued as the 2009 season started.

If Djokovic was the fourth-best player on tour at the beginning of the year, recent results have suggested he’s in a nosedive at number five. Andy Roddick outlasted an unfit Djokovic in the Australian Open quarterfinals, and then hammered the Serb in straight sets two weeks ago at Indian Wells. When Djokovic came to Miami, everything about this 21-year-old’s game needed retooling. Confidence, clarity, aggressiveness, shotmaking, energy, court coverage–you name it, Djokovic needed to improve on it.

By beating Tsonga, a player graced with dynamic athleticism and imposing power, Djokovic earned the kind of scalp that suggests that a native confidence still resides in a spirited tennis soul. The player who soared so high in the first half of 2008, but then seemed to collapse under the weight of increasing expectations, could be using a week in South Florida to stage another surge to the upper reaches of men’s tennis. Djokovic’s renewed pursuit for No. 1 will take a good long while, given the way Nadal’s playing, but if the Serb can foil Federer in the semis and then conquer Key Biscayne in Sunday’s final, he’ll have made a very powerful statement to all his rivals, a statement announcing his return to full form.

Novak Djokovic hasn’t broken through in Miami, but by stopping Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a bright light in the tennis cosmos has at least given himself a chance to battle with the big boys on a very intriguing weekend.

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The woman widely regarded as the best player never to win a Grand Slam tournament on the WTA Tour fared poorly in the Indian Wells-Miami stretch of the 2009 season.

Two weeks after a humiliating second-round loss amidst the palm trees of Southern California, Dementieva produced a fourth-round failure on Monday in a similar setting at the Sony Ericsson Open. The fourth seed concluded a miserable month of March by dropping a straight-set decision to 13th-seeded Caroline Wozniacki. The Danish teenager drummed Dementieva out of the South Florida tennis scene, 7-5, 6-4.

Just how lifeless was Dementieva in these two tournaments, which enjoy considerable stature among the community of tennis professionals? The mercurial Russian’s own words tell the tale.

After her second-round loss to 64th-ranked Petra Cetkovska in Indian Wells (her first match of the event, due to a first-round bye), Dementieva flatly said, “I was not really excited about playing this match.”

Safe to say, those are not the words one should expect from a player who needs a major title to make her career complete. Dementieva might lack an effective serve, but that reality hardly makes her conspicuous on the WTA Tour. (Only the Williams sisters can consistently thump their serves and pick up cheap points as a result.) Dementieva’s groundstrokes and court coverage are as steady and reliable as any of her counterparts. Her pronounced prowess from the back of the court has enabled the 27-year-old to reach five slam semifinals and two slam finals.

Why, then, does Dementieva find herself unmotivated and–once again–eliminated from a significant tour event?

Mental toughness has been Dementieva’s lingering weakness over the years. Even on the occasions when she reached the big stage, such as the 2004 French Open final against Anastasia Myskina, Dementieva has suffered bouts of stage fright that sabotaged her ability to think clearly and play fluidly. Dementieva doesn’t face the need to improve her skills; a lack of old-fashioned appetite looms as the persistent problem for an individual who gives well-considered and articulate answers at press conferences and in interviews.

Is it a mystery? Sure–just like other Russian tennis players (Marat Safin, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Myskina, Nadia Petrova, and others) who possess world-class abilities but noticeable psychological frailties.

Elena Dementieva has the tools to win a Grand Slam and become a force in women’s tennis, even at 27. If she can only bottle up a dose of intestinal fortitude, early-round losses at palm tree-lined American tennis complexes might not occur quite so frequently.

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Yes, Dent advanced to the round of 16 and set up a meeting with the legendary Roger Federer, but when this poised professional stares at the Swiss superstar later this week, the crowds at the Crandon Park Tennis Center should cheer his name for reasons that have nothing to do with serves or scorelines.

Taylor Dent’s biggest victory in life, you see, was not his 7-5, 6-3 win over Tommy Robredo. Most tennis players would give their right arm to beat Robredo, a former resident of the top 10 and a very solid upper-level performer on tour. Even more players would sacrifice a great deal to have just one main-event encounter with the fabled Federer on the stadium court at a significant tournament. For the casual fan, the ripping of Robredo would seem to be a very big deal in the life of a tennis veteran.

Here, however, is the reason why one match victory, and a fourth-round fistfight with Federer, do not offer Dent cause for supreme celebration: The 27-year-old Californian’s greatest conquest can be found in the form of his refusal to succumb to a severe back injury that threatened to end his promising career.

In August of 2005, Dent reached a career-high ranking of 21. The son of Australian tennis pro Phil Dent (the 1974 Australian Open runner-up to Jimmy Connors) used a booming serve and a high-level net game to become a dangerous floater in any tournament he entered. Taylor’s talent emerged before the watchful eyes of the tennis world when he reached the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2005. The promise of increased improvement, and even deeper runs at Grand Slam events, gave the young Dent the hope of following the soaring career trajectory attained by his father.

In February of 2006, that glowing goal vanished.

Playing in the Rotterdam (Holland) tour event against Christophe Rochus, Dent’s back gave out. Beyond having to retire from the match, Dent had to face the far more terrifying prospect of the end of his days as a tennis player. The sport offered the possibility of continued employment as a coach or broadcaster, but a man with Dent’s tennis heritage did not want the on-court phase of his tennis life to conclude before its proper time. No competitor wants to walk away from the thrill of battle when the choice is taken out of his hands by larger health considerations.

In the course of the next 27 months, Dent endured three surgeries and–for a small portion of that time–wore a body cast, preventing him from playing a single professional match. When he returned to the painted white lines for a challenger event in late May of 2008, Dent couldn’t have known how his back would respond. He lost that match, and he would lose most of the singles matches he’s played since then.

However, for all of the negative outcomes on the scoreboard, the biggest result of all was that Dent’s back held up throughout his main-draw losses and the numerous qualifying matches he won in order to pull down a paycheck. Dent might have entered Miami with a 3-6 record in main draw matches for 2009, but as far as the Californian was concerned, the ledger still stood in his favor, all because his tennis life had been given back to him by the marvels of medicine and the power of perseverance.

Yes, Taylor Dent has to be thrilled about his advancement at the Sony Ericsson Open. A player who began the year ranked 865th in the world, and who came to Crandon Park rated 467th, is about to shoot up the rankings ladder and boost his career earnings. Far more than those short-term satisfactions, however, a 27-year-old with the heart of a lion has to be relishing the simple fact that he can still compete at a high level, and use his talents the way nature always intended.

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