The biggest match of the first week in terms of star power without a doubt will be tonight's show down between #5 Elena Dementieva and unranked Justine Henin, who is different from most unranked players out there in the sense that she has seven grand slam titles to her name.

Henin leads the head to head between the players 9-2, though Dementieva did win their most recent match on an outdoor hard court, in the semifinals of Indian Wells in 2007.

This is the first match of the night session in Rod Laver Arena Wednesday night, which means that it will be starting around 3 AM EST on ESPN2 in the United States.

But before it starts, a quick poll: Who takes home the win tonight?

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The second installment of hopes and dreams for the next year in tennis, coming to you here on the last day of the decade.

Wishes for '10 in the WTA:

1. We get to see Clijsters-Henin again.  I couldn't help but think that after Kim Clijsters won the 2009 US Open, Justine Henin announced her comeback just to spite her.  These two really don't like each other, which always makes for good WTA action.  Henin has owned Clijsters in the big matches of late, but it will be interesting to see if Clijsters 3.0 fares any better against Henin 2.0.
2. Maria Sharapova has better shoulder luck.  Maria Sharapova didn't get a chance to defend her 2008 Australian Open title, nor did she really get to play at full blast until Tokyo or so, when she abandoned a service motion that led to double faulting of Dementievan levels.  When she did switch her serve from stun to kill, she won Tokyo and made a pretty nice run at Beijing.  The switch was likely because of the calendar, as Sharapova realized she could go all-out on her serving at the end of the season since she'd have plenty of time to rest up.  Here's hoping she finds a way to go for broke without breaking herself in 2010.
   
3. Melanie Oudin proves to be no fluke.  We've seen plenty of players come out of nowhere with incredible runs at slams.  Melanie Oudin seems more legit because of the caliber of players she beat as well as the fact that she did it at back-to-back slams, but it would still surprise few to see a sophomore slump.  Here's hoping she can keep up her good form, and end 2010 at least in the 30-50 range.
   
4. Dinara Safina gets far, far away from the #1 ranking.  Historians will look back at Dinara Safina's time at #1 and wonder how anyone could watch such a ridiculously organized sport.  Filled with self-loathing, horrible tennis and mental breakdowns against even the most pedestrian of opponents (Kai-Chen Chang, anyone?), Dinara Safina made herself into a victim instead of the champion her ranking should have indicated.  Hopefully Safina can comfortably re-establish herself where she belongs, somewhere in the 10-15 range.
   
5. Jelena Jankovic stays giggly.  Before the 2009 season, Jelena Jankovic bulked up with muscle and lost her trademark speed.  She was then miserable until around Cincinnati, which she won.  The rest of her year was beset by family tragedies and injury, until she put together a nice run at Doha.  Hopefully the histrionics stay light-hearted, and Jankovic is able to play her peak tennis for a good part of 2010.
   
6. A slam final for Dementieva. Elena Dementieva has easily been the best player not to make a grand slam final in the last five years.  She came incredibly close at Wimbledon this year, within a Serena Williams reflex volley of the final.  She's made enormous strides mentally since her poor final showings in 2004, so I'm very eager to see her get another chance on one of tennis biggest stages.
   
7. No excuses for Jelena Dokic. Jelena Dokic was the story of the 2009 Australian Open, captivating crowds during her quarterfinal run.  But after that she was back to her usual whining, about injuries, lack of support, the schedule, etc.  She turned it around late in the year with some strong play at challengers, but for the most part her play in the Northern Hemisphere was forgettable at best.  There's a lot of pressure on her to defend her points in Melbourne this year, and she'll likely fall off the board completely if she crashes out early.  Whichever way it goes, let's hope the excuses stay to a minimum.
   
8. Alisa Kleybanova continues to be awesome, gets more consistent. Alisa Kleybanova is easily one of the most entertaining players on the WTA today.  She can stick with anyone, and plays these excruciatingly long, bloody matches against superior players that show off the best of the sport.  The problem is that before she gets to play the epic matches against top players, she too often quietly loses to some scrub in the first round.  Some focus in early round matches, and she could easily punch her way into the top 16 or so.
   
9. Kateryna Bondarenko becomes a legit threat to beat anyone.  It's so tough to pick a favorite Bondarenko, but these days mine is Kateryna.  She plays a classic, fearless, ball-bashing style, and does it with dramatics that perfectly toe the line between empowering and obnoxious.  With relatively few points to defend after Australia, a sharp KBond could make the top ten around Wimbledon.
   
10. Australians have a huge year.  Three of the most exciting players in women's tennis right now are Aussies, a country which hasn't had a grand slam finalist on the women's side in several decades.  Samantha Stosur made huge strides last year, making the French Open semifinal and flirting with the top ten.  She's ended her doubles partnership with Rennae Stubbs, likely in an attempt to focus more on singles.  The comeback efforts of Alicia Molik and Casey Dellacqua will also be very interesting to follow, especially early in the season as they fight for points on home soil.  And TDF interviewee Olivia Rogowska almost made headlines with her near upset of Dinara Safina at the US Open in 2009, so she should have a lot of confidence going into 2010 as well.

Happy 2010, everybody.  Let's hope its a super duper one.

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Merry Christmas, everybody.

2009 in tennis was, all in all, a pretty decent year.  Federer broke the slam record, Rafael Nadal finally won a hard court slam and also was finally slain at Roland Garros.  On the women's side, Serena Williams won two slams (including another over her sister), and Kim Clijsters came out of nowhere to beat both Williamses on the way to a second slam title.

2009 was pretty good, but 2010 could be a whole lot better.

Here are some things I'm hoping happens in tennis in this first year of the millennium's second decade:

10 Wishes for '10 in the ATP:

1. Roger Federer goes slamless, for once.  I'm real happy Federer won the French and got that off his back, and then broke Sampras' record incredibly quickly after that.  It might have been nice if #15 had taken a little longer to increase the drama of the achievement, even if it was just until the US Open.  But now that the record is his, I feel like the storyline is largely over.  Any more slams he wins in the immediate future will seem like overkill, less and less remarkable.  2010 seems like a good year for him to share the spotlight for once.  Roddick, Davydenko, and Murray would all agree, I'm sure.
   
2. Rafael Nadal stays healthy.  Rafael Nadal looked absolutely atrocious by the end of 2009.  Injuries played a huge part to be sure, which are almost certainly traceable back to that epic Madrid semifinal vs. Djokovic.  But even if he does stay healthy, I'm thinking he's going to be a shell of the player he was.  Nadal didn't win a single set in London, and his shots floated meekly into the middle of the court throughout much of late 2009.  I wouldn't be surprised at all if the downward spiral continued for the player who earned 3955 fewer points in 2009 than he did in 2008.
   
3. Novak Djokovic continues to mature.  Novak Djokovic seemed to find happiness in tennis again sometime around Cincinnati last year, and was a totally different player for the later parts of 2009.  Big runs at the US Open, Beijing, and Paris saw the #3 play better than he had, and he seemed to win over crowds that had turned on him during his oft-petulant 2008 campaign.
   
4. Lleyton Hewitt has a big run in Australia.  This could w well be Rusty's last time at Melbourne Park, and it would be nice for the draw to break his way (i.e. no Federer early).
5. Ernests Gulbis figures out what the hell he's doing with himself.  In 2008, he was making big noise at slams and looking on the verge of being a top twenty or better presence for the foreseeable future.  In 2009, he was never making it past the second round, being cited on solicitation charges, and forgetting to show up to tournaments he had entered.  2010 is put-up-or-shut-up time, for sure.
   
6. Juan Martin del Potro figures out how to compete on grass. A guy with his power and serve should be more of a presence on grass, but early in his career he's been anything but comfortable on the live stuff.  Height is cited as an issue, but it's not much of one for the much taller Ivo Karlovic.  del Potro has the game to win on grass--here's hoping he finds the belief.
   
7. We have an old-school upset-filled Roland Garros.  Either Nadal, Federer or both has made the French Open final for each of the last five years, with only two other players getting a spot on the stage.  And with every final being fairly lopsided, its been pretty monotonous.  The French Open, not long ago, featured completely out of left field finalists like Martin Verkerk and Gaston Gaudio, making for the most unpredictable tennis on the calendar.  Here's hoping for some lesser-knowns meeting late in Paris.  I'd even settle for something like a Monfils-Davydenko final.
   
8. Serbia-USA Davis Cup tie lives up to potential.  Serbia's hellacious Davis Cup draws continue in 2010, facing the USA in the first round.  This time they have the advantage of playing a home tie, which will be on that horrible indoor clay stuff.  Andy Roddick should be able to beat Tipsarevic/Troicki, but Djokovic will win both his singles matches easily.  Assuming the Bryans can handle Zimonjic-Djokovic, the tie will come down to Tipsarevic/Troicki vs. the USA #2.  Here's hoping Patrick McEnroe shows some creativity for once and gives the nod to the best clay courter the Americans have--Wayne Odesnik.
   
9. Fernando Verdasco and Robin Soderling keep it up.  Verdasco and Soderling both had big 2009s, each having the best year of his career, knocking off a favorite in the fourth round of a slam, and making the WTF for the first time.  They both play power games that can be extremely hit-or-miss, though, which puts their longevity at the top in some doubt.  Here's hoping they do more hitting than missing in 2010.
   
10. Isner and Querrey continue to make tall strides.  Querrey and Isner both had excellent American campaigns, and both reached career high rankings and are making all the Masters events as direct entries for the first time.  Neither has ever made much noise outside the US, though, so let's hope they can turn it up overseas in 2010.  Wimbledon is be made for their power games.
    

Stay tuned in the next couple days for the WTA Wish List.

Serena Williams in her press conference, via d.yimg.com

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Suffice it to say that after the last point contested in her US Open semifinal vs. Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams was anything but serene.

Serving to stay in a match in which she was being outplayed, Serena Williams was a woman battling.  It was a battle against Kim Clijsters, an unseeded player in her first grand slam in over two years, playing some of the best tennis of her career. It was a battle against history, as a win would put her a match away from tying Billie Jean King's mark of twelve career slams.  And it was a battle against her own nerves, which had become somewhat shakier as double faults crept into her game in the second set.

But with all the battles she was fighting, Serena saved her most vicious attack for a small, bespectacled lineswoman who sat monitoring the right baseline.

The lineswoman's offense? She called a foot fault on a second serve at 15-30 in 5-6 in the second set, thereby giving Clijsters two match points and sending shockwaves through the crowd.

Serena turned to the ball kid for new balls and appeared to collect herself for a moment, but then turned to the lineswoman and went on a screaming, racquet shaking assault.

Here is what CBS audio was able to pick up, before boos drowned out the end of the tirade:

"I swear to God I'll fucking take this ball and shove it down your fucking throat! Do you hear me? I swear to God. You better be glad--you better be fucking glad that I'm not, I swear."

The chair umpire summoned the lineswoman to the chair, where she reported what Serena had said.  The chair umpire called tournament referee Brian Earley and official Donna Kelso to the court, where they conferred with the chair umpire, lineswoman, and Serena, and determined that a code violation would be assessed.  Since Serena had already been given a warning at the end of the first set for smashing a racquet, this second offense was to result in a point penalty.  And since the next point was a match point, the point penalty gave Clijsters the match.

Serena walked to the far side of the court, shook a reluctant Clijsters' hand, and calmly left the court with her things, waving to the crowd, who was either booing her conduct or the decision.  Perhaps both.

The targeted lineswoman deserves a ton of credit for her conduct throughout the entire incident.  She firmly called a foot fault when she believed a foot fault had been committed, which is exactly what is her duty.  She was unfazed by the situation in the match, as she should have been.  A foot fault is a black-and-white call, and for her not to have made it because she was daunted by the occasion would have been a disservice to her duty.  She did not flinch in the face of Serena's rage, nor did she lash back at her.  She explained to the chair umpire what happened when asked, and quietly left the court when all was said and done.  Whatever your name is, lineswoman, I salute you.

For someone who had just unleashed a verbal chainsaw on a petite, glasses-wearing woman trying to do her job to the best of her abilities, Serena was remarkably bubbly in her press conference.  She smiled, laughed, gave copious amounts of credit to Clijsters for her play, and seemed to be in better spirits than she ever has been after being eliminated from a grand slam.  The about-face was stunning, and almost frightening.

Serena even admitted in her press conference that she probably had committed a foot fault, a fact she never did dispute in her upbraiding of the woman.  Whether she wanted to intimidate, bully, embarrass, or merely vent her frustration, Serena's motivation was clearly never to question the veracity of the call.

The question now is whether or not Serena will be further punished for her actions.  She could be fined by the WTA, ITF, or even USTA for her profanity and threats of violence, though they may decide losing a grand slam semifinal was punishment enough.

Do you think Serena should face further consequences for her actions? Vote in the poll, then explain your vote in the comments.

After the jump, embedded video of the incident.

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Roger Federer and his impersonator celebrate his title in Cincinnati, via d.yimg.com

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Before I get to the match, I feel the pressing need to point out the man in the blue shirt in the picture to the right. 

No, not the defending French Open and Wimbledon champion, but the blurry guy behind him.  The guy who went out and bought the same blue shirt with the black inner collar that Federer wore all week in Cincinnati, so that he could show his support for the world #1 and his "RF" monogram, the same way another fan on the other side of town might wear a #85 jersey in support of Chad Ochocinco. 

Tennis fans, who custom says are supposed to applaud good play by either competitor, don't have a lot of official apparel avenues for expressing their fandom.  Even in Federer's hometown tournament in Basel, there would never be a section of hooligans clad in whatever shirt he was wearing.  While that void is somewhat filled by patriotic attire on Davis Cup fans, there's still a lot of room for more money to be made. 

Putting names on the back of the shirts, maybe with ranking numbers underneath, would be a great way to brand outfits, and make the wares more marketable.  It would also prevent players from walking out on court in identical attire, a problem that occurs frequently in Adidas vs. Adidas matches, and can be hell for television viewers.

As far as I can remember, the only player to attempt anything like this previously was Nicolas Kiefer, who wore the number "69" under his name a few years ago.  As you might suspect, Kiefer wasn't ranked 69th in the world at the time.  Kiefer later explained his love for the integer by saying it was in support of Hannover 96, his favorite football club.  I hope no one buys that for a second.

There's a big opportunity for tennis here.  Selling name-bearing attire would open up the doors for millions of dollars in revenue and licensing.  It would also give tennis fans a way to express their fandom unambiguously at the tournaments and elsewhere the way most any other sport's fan can.  The rumble that a "Safina #1" shirt sitting next to a slightly more vintage "S. Williams #1" shirt could cause would be great for the sport.  It could even give a fan of the lesser-knowns like me a chance to proudly wear an "Ondraskova #176" get up.

As for the actual match that preceded the spotting of the Federer dress-alike, it was fairly dull.  Djokovic was nowhere in the first set, before briefly threatening early in the second.  Federer righted the ship soon after, saving a set point before closing out the match in straight sets, 6-1, 7-5. 

With this second Masters win adding on to his two previous slam titles in 2009, there's no debate over Federer's place as the favorite at the US Open.  The only thing left to wonder is how many people in Arthur Ashe Stadium will be wearing his shirts.

Here are the odds from William Hill for the outright winners of the 2009 US Open singles titles.

Who strikes you as the best bets? In other words, who is the most undervalued player here?

For me it's Andy Roddick and Jelena Jankovic.

In terms of worst bargain, I'd go with Rafael Nadal at 4/1.

What do you think?

There's something to be said for having big name players show up to small tournaments to promote the game. It helps tennis gain roots in non-traditional markets, and lets fans in far flung locales see world class tennis in their own part of the world.

But when the big name player in question is a world #1 hearing increasingly loud criticism that her ranking is unjustified due to her inability to win the biggest tournaments, the decision is a little more questionable.

Dinara Safina is not only the only top ten player entered in this week's in Banka Koper Slovenia Open in Portoroz, Slovenia--she's only one of two entrants inside the top twenty (the second, twentieth ranked Anabel Medina Garrigues, barely fits in that category). It's almost as if Safina heard Serena Williams' sarcastic remarks about Safina deserving the #1 ranking because "she won Berlin and Madrid" and decided that the joke needed a better punchline.

While Safina spends her time in the second-least populated of the former Yugoslav nations, the rest of the top flight of women's tennis is preparing for next week's Premier level tournament in Stanford, a tournament Safina is not playing. The field at Stanford includes Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Elena Dementieva, Jelena Jankovic, Samantha Stosur, Nadia Petrova, Dominika Cibulkova, Agnieszka Radwanska, Marion Bartoli, and Na Li. Every one of those players is ranked above anyone Safina might face in Slovenia. That list doesn't even include other Stanford participants like Maria Sharapova and Sabine Lisicki, both of whom are much scarier opponents than an Anabel Medina Garrigues or a Kaia Kanepi.

Portoroz, Slovenia sounds a lot more desolate than it is, in fairness. It's less than ten miles from Italy, and only about sixty miles of the Adriatic Sea separate the tournament from Venice. And Safina has been training in nearby Croatia for some time now, the home country of her coach, Zeljko Krajan.

But Portoroz is still Portoroz. Safina winning the title this week in Slovenia would only confirm her propensity for winning only the smaller titles in the eyes of her many critics, and would make her even more of a laughingstock .

And since that's how bad it would be if she wins, I can't even begin to imagine what the reaction will be if she loses.

With the United States Davis Cup team losing its quarterfinal to a country with less than one-sixtieth its population, there will certainly be some finger pointing going on. And I'm certainly not immune from it.