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With Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer sitting out the Asian swing and Rafael Nadal full of self-doubt, Andy Murray has stepped up to take over the fall season.

The Scotsman was able to take his chance during the Asian Tour and claimed a trifecta of ATP titles: a 250 in Bangkok, a 500 in Tokyo and a 1000 of Shanghai. Beyond the fact that he won a lot of points and moved ahead of Roger Federer to No. 3 in the rankings, he boosted his confidence level for the rest of this season and beyond.

I've always been vocal about how nothing replaces wins. Just ask Novak Djokovic. His amazing streak started by winning smaller matches and then a Davis Cup. These little wins lead to bigger wins. It's a circle that leads to outstanding strength.

Though he hasn't been playing a fully-stacked field and has some derisively calling him Mr. October, Andy fully deserves credit for these victories. Winning three tournaments requires a lot of focus and will. In the past, he has sometimes lost his head for

nadal sad 11Patrick Mouratoglou is a world-renowned tennis coach who has worked with Marcos Baghdatis and Aravane Rezai. His French tennis academy is considered one of the top in the world. He is a frequent contributor to Busted Racquet.

Rafael Nadal is in a slump. A deep one. He went through a lot of disappointments in 2011, what with seven losses in finals, including failed defenses of his Wimbledon and U.S. Open titles. He suffered a lot mentally, unable to find an answer to Novak Djokovic in losing six times in six matches against him, particularly in those matches on the clay of Madrid and Rome, where Nadal had been so dominant in the past. The Spaniard has been thrown into chaos by this new situation: he's no longer top dog. And that's not to mention the physical toll he's been under, going straight from the U.S. Open to the Davis Cup to the Asian tour and, for what? A third-set bagel at the hands of Andy Murray and a loss to Florian Mayer? What's wrong with Rafa?

Toni Nadal, his coach and

kvitova trophy up wimb11Patrick Mouratoglou is a world-renowned tennis coach who has worked with Marcos Baghdatis and Aravane Rezai. His French tennis academy is considered one of the top in the world. He is a frequent contributor to Busted Racquet.

Despite the prestigious and experienced opponent she faced in the Wimbledon final, Petra Kvitova's victory was no surprise. This isn't the pinnacle, it's the beginning. Kvitova is going to become the next big thing in women's tennis.

As I've said in the past, the new generation of players like Caroline Wozniacki and Vera Zvonareva didn't have enough time to mature when former stars like Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin and Martina Hingis were winning, then retiring and then coming back, not to mention the stranglehold on the sport both Williams sisters have had in the past decade. Kvitova will break that slide. The new Wimbledon champion is the rare player who comes around once every few years and will soon be mentioned in the name with those other champions.

She's

djokovic kiss trophy nadal walk offPatrick Mouratoglou is a world-renowned tennis coach who has worked with Marcos Baghdatis and Aravane Rezai. His French tennis academy is considered one of the top in the world. He is a frequent contributor to Busted Racquet.

Novak Djokovic left no doubt he's the new boss of the ATP after soundly defeating Rafael Nadal in four sets in the Wimbledon final. With this second Grand Slam title of the season (and third of his career), the Serbian is going to be able to go for a mini-Slam at the US Open like the recently-bested Nadal did last year. How times have changed.

We witnessed outrageous domination by Djokovic on Centre Court on Sunday, with the exception of the third set in which he slightly dropped his focus. Even in the fourth set, where he wasn't playing as good as in the first two, he showed he was above his opponent in all the areas of the game. Nadal had no answers for Djokovic during the match, somethin he realizes all too painfully.

Since the start of the season, the

nadal wimb11 shoes
Usually not prone to start controversy, Rafael Nadal made an exception during this Wimbledon about playing on grass through the decades.

"I've started playing Wimbledon in 2002 and the courts are exactly the same since this date. I can't comment on how it was before but saying it has been slowed since 2002 is not true. As far as I'm concerned, it's not really thrilling to watch a match between Sampras and Ivanisevic or this kind of player. It's not really tennis, but only some racquet shots."

Some points should be reminded here: Nadal is from a Spanish culture that regards tennis like this: serve, return on the diagonal and then the point is on. That's not a criticism, it's just how they are taught to play. Then it should be no surprise he doesn't like matches between big serving guys. But when he says the surface isn't slower than before, he's in bad faith. Because it's a fact: this surface has little to do with the one of the past.

This has helped Nadal's career. I don't think he

jo tsonga wimb11

Busted Racquet insider Patrick Mouratoglou breaks down how fellow Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga pulled the upset of Roger Federer and examines his chances in Friday's semifinal against Novak Djokovic.

Roger Federer was beaten in quarters of Wimbledon by a great Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Should this loss put his tennis again in question? No, because in reality he's back to a very good level, as we saw it last month in Roland Garros. He seems also in a great shape and he's moving very well again like in his good old days. And it's a very important side of his game for him to be able to mix it and to deal with change of pace and sequences.

Yet it wasn't enough this time. Why? It's simply because the former No. 1 in the world doesn't inspire the fear like before. As with Tsonga on the Centre Court, the best players are now coming into the match feeling they can win. Before 2010, coming back while trailing two sets against Federer in Wimbledon would have been unthinkable because his confidence

azarenka clayThe French Open begins three weeks from today but not before back-to-back premier tournaments in Madrid and Rome. Busted Racquet insider Patrick Mouratoglou breaks down the women's field at the first of clay court's big three, Madrid:

Victoria Azarenka: Hottest player on clay?

We've been waiting for the young player (she was born in 1989) to break out for some time and she's now on a roll since winning in Miami. Clay should really suit her game considering the topspin she can put on her forehand and her great footwork. The Belarusian is injury-prone and is still sensitive on the court though. But after Madrid and Rome, we'll know if it's realistic to picture her with the trophy in Paris.

Can Wozniacki catch a Slam?

Caroline Wozniacki is the other player of the moment. She's winning nearly every event she's entering, except one, of course. All she lacks now is a Grand Slam. She'll be in top spot for the French Open if she can clinch victories in Madrid and Rome, namely because of

nadal clay madridThe French Open begins three weeks from today but not before back-to-back men's 1000 tournaments in Madrid and Rome. Busted Racquet insider Patrick Mouratoglou breaks down the men's field at the first of clay court's big three, Madrid:

Will Nadal/Djokovic battle?

Everybody is waiting for this duel between Novak Djokovic, the most impressive player at the start of this season, who is currently on a 29-match winning streak, and Rafael Nadal who is the past and present boss on clay, having won back-to-back in Monte Carlo and Barcelona. The Serbian was smart to avoid Rafa for his return on clay by skipping Monte Carlo and Barcelona. He knows how much the result of their first encounter will matter for the French Open so he decided to take his time and to make his first steps on clay by winning an easy tournament Belgrade. In doing so, he won a new bit of confidence before going for a fight with Nadal.

The Spaniard was quick to jump on the surface and instantly gained whatever