The tour continues its 3 mini swings this week with tournaments continuing to be played Europe, the United States as well as South America. The 1st preview of the week comes from Rotterdam, the Netherlands. This 32 player indoor tournament boasts a very high quality field with 3 out of the top 5 players in the world attending. With the exceptions of Roger Federer (SUI) and Novak Djokovic (SRB) not participating, Rafael Nadal (ESP) , Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) , David Ferrer (ESP) and Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) are the top 4 seeds. The field does not getting any weaker from there, with Tomas Berdych (CZE), who is also in the top 10, participating. Credit must be given to former Wimbledon Champ Richard Krajicek (NED) who is the tournament director, for putting together such a strong field.

Djokovic had entered, but withdrew over the weekend because he has not fully recovered from his recent cold. Nadal, is playing in his 1st tourney since his upset loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) at the Aussie Open. Its too bad that Djokovic is not fit to play in this tournament, the sport needs to develop more rivalries, and the Nadal/Djokovic rivalry would have been nice to see continue in Rotterdam. Do not pencil Nadal into the finals just yet. I do respect Nadal for choosing these early season indoor tournaments, he could easily have entered Argentina this week and have been the overwhelming favorite. However, he is looking to continuously develop his overall game, which will only help him in his career on faster surfaces. He will have to go through the likes of Llytten Hewitt (AUS) in the 2nd round, Marcus Baghdatis (CYP) in the quarters, Youzney in the semi’s and either Ferrer or Andy Murray (GBR) in the final. Not a cake walk draw by any means. My prediction is a Nadal/ Murray final with Murray winning in 3 sets.

The 2nd stop this week is in sunny San Jose, California. This 32 player indoor hard court tournament does not provide the same quality field as in Rotterdam. I mentioned in my preview last week, that the Americans love to stick around there native country as long as they can. The top 2 seeds will be Andy Roddick (USA) and James Blake (USA). Good friends and Davis Cup teammates, they will be looking to advance as far as possible in this relatively weak field. The tournament is Roddick’s 1st since he was beat down in the 3rd round of the Australian Open by Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER). It is crucial that Roddick does well in these early season hard court tournaments. In my opinion, he is not the same player that he once was, and these weaker fields are an opportunities for him to pick up much needed ranking points. He does however have semi-final points to defend, otherwise he stands to lose further ground. No other real big names jump out at me in this tourney. An extra bonus for this tournament is that 14 time grand slam champ Pete Sampras (USA) will be playing an exhibition against Tommy Haas (GER), the tournaments 3rd seed, on Monday night. Roddick should breeze through the draw here, perhaps being tested by Haas in the semi’s and Blake in the final. I don’t think Blake will make the final, but his good showing in Delray last week, should give him some confidence. Prediction, Roddick over a tired Blake in the final in straight sets.

The last stop in this weeks preview takes us to the 32 player, clay court tournament in Buenos Aries, Argentina. A favorite tourney among the European clay courter’s, this coastal oasis provides a similar field to San Jose, in terms of having 1 top ten player. Minus the hard court players of course! David Nalbadian (ARG) is your top seed, followed by fellow countrymen, 2nd seeded and defending champion, Juan Monaco (ARG). Carlos Moya (ESP) the 3rd seed, will be looking to continue his success from Brazil the previous week, while Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG) rounds out the top 4 seeds. I will be looking for how Nalbandian responds to playing on his home soil. He looked incredibly bad at the Aussie Open, both physically as well as tactically, which was disappointing considering how brilliantly he ended 2007. Former, French Open champ Gaston Gaudio (ARG), will be looking to pick up any shred of dignity that he has left after falling to 182 in the world rankings, for seemingly no reason. He is at a point in his career where he is losing 1st round matches in challenger events, so don’t expect much from Gaston. My prediction, and I’m saying this now months in advance, my French Open dark horse, 2nd Juan Monaco will take the title, over his Davis Cup teammate, David Nalbandian in straight sets.

Please check back daily for comments and results from this weeks tournaments. The following are links to this weeks tournaments, enjoy!

Rotterdam, Neatherlands: http://www.abnamrowtt.nl/home.aspx?SN=31

San Jose, California: http://www.sapopentennis.com/

Buenos Aires, Argentina: http://www.copatelmex.com/

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