Whereas Rafa had struggled to make his opponents feel his power and find the mark with his shots over the last few weeks, there were no such issues for Rafa. For David, the two time defending champion, it was difficult to watch as the man who has stopped him so many times before seemed to finally find his footing on the red dirt. “I want to congratulate Rafa. He is not an easy player to beat. If I have to lose I am happy to lose to Rafa.”

Despite initial reports that Rafa would play it safe and opt out of Indian Wells it seems he is getting a taste for competition again and will fly to California after a exhibition with Juan Martin del Potro in NYC

“For me, I played almost perfectly. I would have never imagined playing at the level that I played today. I’m leaving happy and surprised.

My knee responded well all week. My heart tells me I should continue competing, that I need to move on to the next tournament.

I played a great match against one of the top players in the world, a specialist in clay who did not look like himself out there. He had a bad day. Those seven months are in the past, hopefully forever. I played like that did not happen, but it did happen.”

Nadal cruised to victory in his second tournament back since a 7 month injury time out, winning 6-2, 6-3.

Nadal, who last won the Brasil tournament in 2005 was understandably delighted with the result. “I’ll definitely enjoy this one because of all the problems that I’ve gone through with the knee. When I won for the first time here I was just starting and hopefully this will mark a new beginning.”

The Spaniard also confirmed, much to his fans relief, that his knee had improved since the semifinals. “When the knee is feeling better like today I feel like that I can do more of the things that I used to do my entire life. If the pain is bearable like it was today, then it’s fine.”

Esther won her first Paralympic gold medal in Sydney 2000 and has won every Paralympic campaign since, claiming her fourth gold medal in London in 2012.

Her dominance over her competitors was so complete that she has only faced one match point in the 470 match winning streak.

The ITF has praised her contribution to tennis saying that in 10 years she won 120 straight tournaments, beating 73 different opponents, winning 95 matches 6-0, 6-0 and dropping only 18 sets, the International Tennis Federation said – statistics which are far beyond amazing.

Esther has won 21 Grand Slam singles titles and 23 Grand Slam doubles titles. She also has three Paralympic doubles medals and one silver.

“I’m hugely proud of my performances, my titles, and can look back on my career with a great feeling. Keeping going would not add anything.”

Nadal, ignoring the tennis, seems currently to be deprived of one of his greatest gifts – his ferocious focus and intensity. He simply seems like a flat version of himself.

Sure this one legged (to say he has two functioning legs is a stretch) version of the Spaniard is still winning and making finals but he’s got nothing on the King of Clay he used to be and it seems to be finding Rafa a long time to get in touch with that person.

The fact that Rafa dropped a set to a man who’s never previously won an ATP match before this week – and he did so on clay – is an indicator of just how woeful Nadal’s game is right now.

Rafa did step it up in the third set to take a 3-0 lead after an abysmal tie break but he seemed unable, or unwilling, to maintain a high level of play throughout the match.

Alund put in a solid effort and produced some great shots and made an effort, particularly in the second set, to force Rafa to slide – something the Spaniard seemed determined to avoid.

The fact that the Sao Paolo court is not in the best condition seems to be causing Nadal far more grief than the other players and it looks to be more that his ability to slide has been severely effected by his knee issues and time off. He still looks unbalanced and like he’d prefer to keep his weight off that leg. One can only hope his right leg manages well with the extra load and that his left leg starts to adapt.

Rafa’s greatest underrated talent was his ability to slide beautifully to the right and left owing to the fact he plays left handed but is a natural right hander. Most players slide best to their dominant side. Rafa used to be good to both sides. Rafa used to be imposing on clay and now everyone thinks they have a chance and they’re having a good crack at him and being rewarded for it.

Nadal’s game is just not pretty right now and once he starts playing higher quality players that’s going to become even more obvious unless he starts putting the pieces back together faster.

Rafa simply doesn’t appear to be as connected and driven as he used to. He doesn’t look as inspired and he still looks like he doesn’t trust his left knee and as a result he can’t seem to shake the rust from his game.

“I’m lacking speed in my reactions. I’m lacking energy when I need it. I’m lacking power in my legs to be able to hit the ball long. I’m missing all these things that make me competitive and give me physical confidence, something I’ve had for my whole career and that right now, given the circumstances, I don’t have. I’m playing with what I’ve got and I hope to get stronger every day”

At least he’s not making as many horrendous shot choices as he did last week!

Nadal beat Martin Alund 6-3, 6-7, 6-1 and will face David Nalbandian in the final.

Despite trailing in the second set 1-4 Federer staged a comeback but it was not enough to stop the Frenchman walking away with a 6-3, 7-5 win.

One of Federer’s most underrated weapons is his serve which can be lethally accurate and consistently damaging. Federer’s serve refused to help him against Benneteau as he was broken three times in the first set – almost unheard of unless against Nadal and even more unusual on an indoor hard court.

As he tried to force a third set Federer’s serve failed him again – a double fault giving Julien match point.

The match was Federer’s 200th career loss and Julien’s 200th career win.

Benneteau was understandably delighted with the win. Federer… could have sounded more humble.

“I don’t want to leave, I want to play. I feel bad for the fans who don’t get to see me now. Hopefully this wasn’t my last time here.” – Roger Federer

“This was a dream match, and I played like a dream. This is for sure my biggest win. He was the favourite, but maybe he played a bit tight. I’ve been playing well all week, improving with each match.

I’ve had a great week here so far and I hope it’s not finished.” – Julien Benneteau

“Today, I knew I could do it because I had already done it in Bercy. I had to do a lot of good things. I prepared myself to play my game, not to try to play better than I can, but to be aggressive when I could. I needed to show physically and mentally I was here and that I wanted it.” Julien Benneteau

“If you lose your serve five times, like I did today, you can’t win indoors.

Julien played great, created more chances than I did and fully deserved to win. I fought back at the end of the second set and had chances to take it into a third but that would have been more luck than I deserved.” – Roger Federer

A new year also brings with it some new faces and the emerging newcomers, with the potential to take the game by storm.

But who will be tennis’ next generation of shining lights?

Well here are our top tips for the year ahead.

Laura Robson

Laura Robson is quickly becoming one of the leading ladies in tennis and along with Heather Watson, is hopefully bringing back the glory days of British ladies tennis.

She reached the third round of the US Open in 2012 and also made it to the final of Guangzhou Open (the first British lady since Jo Durie in 1990 to reach the final of a WTA singles event).

An effective left-hander, she performed excellently at this year’s Australian Open, losing out in the third round to Sloane Stephens (who then went on to defeat Serena Williams).

Big things are expected for the Melbourne-born Brit, but at the tender age of 19, she has a big future ahead.
Sloane Stephens

It takes a fantastic player to knock Serena Williams out of a Grand Slam event, but it’s even more incredible when the player who defeated her at the 2013 Australian Open is 19 years old.

American Sloane Stephens is one of the finest up-and-coming players in ladies tennis. Prior to the Australian Open she was the only teenager in the Top 50, but since her incredible performance, (reaching the semi-finals) she is now in the top 25.

She will surely soon take over from the Williams sisters as America’s best female player.

Ryan Harrison

On the 6th September, shortly after losing to Juan Martin del Potro at the US Open, Andy Roddick brought down the curtain on his illustrious career.

This was a big blow for American tennis fans, which was seen as the possible end of the US’s male dominance. The days of Sampras, Agassi and Courier seemed to be over.

Until now.

Ryan Harrison is the next big-game player on the US scene and has the potential to be a star. He appeared in all four Grand Slam events in 2012, and also reached the Semi-final of the SAP Open for the third consecutive year.

A strong, athletic player with a powerful playing style, expect him to be a big star in 2013.
Jerzy Janowicz

The tennis world looked on in awe as a relative unknown powered his way past some of the ATP Tour’s best players to seal a place in the Paris Masters final.

2012 was an incredible year for Jerzy Janowicz, beginning the year ranked at 221 st in the world. But after an impressive performance at Wimbledon and his heroics in France, he saw his ranking soar upwards to 26th, an incredible feat that ensures that big things can and should be expected from him in 2013.

Standing at 6ft 8, he is a towering opponent and formidable at the net. He is also extremely light- footed and moves excellently around the court, impressive considering his size.
Bernard Tomic

When Lleyton Hewitt retires, it will be a sad day for Australian tennis. An incredible player, world No1 at the age of 20 and a former Wimbledon and US Open winner, fans will now be in search of a new hero.

Bernard Tomic has the potential to be that man.

It’s been a great 18 months or so for Tomic, who has seen his ranking increase since joining the ATP Tour. He beat 5th seed Robin Söderling at Wimbledon 2011, reaching the quarter finals and has won both the US Open and Australian Open as a junior.

He has a terrific mental toughness and endurance that will benefit him when it comes to the big events.

Currently No 43 in the world but was 27th last year after a series of thrilling performances, expect him to power on in 2013.

This article was written by Sam Rigby on behalf of Wimbledon Debenture Holders (link), the home of ticket packages for the 2013 Wimbledon Championships.

“What you have to do in this case is select tournaments properly, enter the circuit progressively.

On clay, movements are less aggressive because of the possibility to skid, which helps the tendon to suffer less. A quick surface is more aggressive than any other because of the abrupt changes in movement, the sudden brakes.

It’s true the problems derived from Rafa’s foot injury made us make some changes to the insole, but more than nine years of high-level competition have caused this tendon to have this type of injury.

The important aspect here is to provide progressive loads on the tendon in order to allow the tendon regenerate its fibres and readapt to training and then competition.”