A big congrats go out to our two year-end champions, Amelie Mauresmo and David Nalbandian.

Both players are well noted for having never won the big one – well, they still haven’t – but they did manage to win the next biggest thing in their sports, the year-end championships. And both did it in similar fashion overcoming a large deficit to claim victory in the finale.

How do you spell U-G-L-Y. How about T-M-C. Talk about a faint finish, the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai just got the news this morning that both Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal have pulled out. Ouch! Replacing the two stars are Mariano Puerta and Fernando Gonzalez which makes the remaining 2005 field about as exiciting [...]

Maybe it’s just me but doesn’t the conclusion to the 2005 tennis season feel like a complete bust.

The WTA Championships are a lame duck tank job of an event. The stands are empty, there’s no media buzz and TV coverage is uneven. Without the Williams sisters there’s no real drama on court. Seeing Lindsay wrap up No. 1 was nice if not awkward because she did it by losing, but it leaves the event with no real “story” per se, except perhaps that it is indeed lifeless.