The new season is upon us and allows us an opportunity to look back on what happened during the past year in order to get a grasp on what may happen in 2011.

Caroline Wozniacki will continue to improve

For her, 2010 was mostly about reaching No. 1 in the rankings. Even if the young Dane didn't reach any Grand Slam finals in '10, she was able, because of her steadiness and frequency of play, to oust Serena Williams from the top-spot. The ranking system was much discussed, mostly because of the comparison of the points given in Grand Slams and in other events. The WTA is now choosing to favor players who play all year long at the expense of the players who pick and choose tournaments. Grand Slams continue to be the main events though -- they're the tournaments everyone want to win and the only record that really remains after a career. Until now, Caroline hasn't won one but let's not forget that she's only 20 years old and is constantly improving.

The half-season of past champions

On Friday in Belgrade, the French and Serbian teams will play one of the most important events of their careers as they begin play in the 2010 Davis Cup final. Here is our preview:

The captain's choices

The French are ready for the fight. The strength of this French team is its homogeneity, which allows captain Guy Forget to have many options with which to tinker. If Gaël Monfils is a lock to play singles -- both because of his great run this season in Davis Cup and of his great end of season when he won in Bercy after wins over Andy Murray and Roger Federer -- then picking the second French singles player is an enormous decision.

Richard Gasquet is way too weak mentally in order to reassure his captain. Sure, he's able to raise his level in an impressive way, but his lack of results at the end of season could be viewed as a not-so-hidden message towards Forget that says something like, "please don't pick me, I don't think I can do that anymore." He's in the final years of his career,

The ATP World Tour Finals review allows us to end the year with more certainty that we ever had those past months. There were no huge surprises in London, but some nice confirmations of what we've been noticing lately.

Despite how Robin Söderling improved this year, despite the come back to a very good level for David Ferrer, despite the excellence of the season's first six months for Tomas Berdych, four players are really dominating the field: the semifinalists of the ATP World Tour Finals.

Rafael Nadal: Rafa is still impressive in the way he can raise his level during a tournament. Indoor, on a quick surface, he succeeded in using his fighting spirit in order to get through the first matches (particularly against Andy Roddick). His "A" game wasn't there but his spirit allowed him to succeed despite struggling on his serve (at least compared to the US Open, when it was cracking). This tendonitis on his left shoulder is surely to blame for that. The Spaniard proved once again how he's

The former Masters, which was then named The Masters Cup and, finally, named the ATP World Tour Finals, has started. What was seen as a thrilling event some years ago has lost part of its legend. But it doesn't mean that the eight players who will fight this week in London aren't worthy of our interest. Yet, when a Grand Slam begins, no one can doubt the motivation of every player in the field. The same can't be said for this event. In theory, it should be the peak of the player's successful seasons. But combining the specificity of the surface (hard indoor court), their will and each player's fatigue gives us a good idea of how this will go.

Let's look at the groups in detail:

Group A

Rafael Nadal: Even if he's the No. 1 player in the world, the Spaniard won't be the main favorite this year. He hasn't played a single tournament since the Asian leg of the tour. He withdrew in Paris because of the start of left shoulder tendonitis. Adding to this that the surface here is one of the

Patrick 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 contibuter to Busted Racquet.

ATP

What wonderful emotion showed by Roger Federer in Basel when he won on Sunday! The champ claimed his 65th title, so that alone explains why he was nearly in tears during the award's ceremony. I can point two reasons for this: First, this is a really special event for him, at home in front of an audience that is totally dedicated to him. Second, I think it proves how hard the Swiss worked since he asked Paul Annacone for help. After a season of struggles (because when you're Federer winning just one Grand Slam is a failure), he understood that if he really wanted to win majors it was high time to get back in great. He seems so much more motivated now and the signs we first noticed this summer don't lie: his look, his availability on the court and his offensive

Patrick 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 contibuter to Busted Racquet.

ATP

- Big surprise in Vienna with Austrian Andreas Haider-Maurer booking a spot to the final. A lucky loser, he made his way through the entire draw and even served for the title against Jurgen Melzer with a 7-6, 5-4 lead. But Melzer ended by turning around the match and kept his title with a 6-4 win in the third set. Haider-Maurer, 23, is confirming all the hopes put in him after his great US Open first round match when he pushed Robin Söderling to a five-setter Thomas Muster can now put his first round loss against Haider-Maurer in perspective because the guy played his best tennis ever this week. We'll now have to wait and see if Andreas can go on with this level next year. He displayed huge abilities on serve and backhand.

- The St. Petersburg draw wasn't

I just read a Christophe Rochus interview in which he was hammering women's tennis on a Belgian website.
At first, I was stunned. Then I became more disappointed by his basic analysis that anyone could make, it lacked any insight you'd expect from someone so familiar with the game. I finally decided to answer back in order to brush aside the critics of the women's game.

Here are some of the highlights (or lowlights) from his interview with the Belgian press. After this excerpt, I'll evaluate some of the controversial statements Rochus made during the interview:

"I am upset at the fact we even compare both tours, which have nothing in common. Justine Henin would not be able to beat a player ranked 500 in the ATP. It's like comparing men's football and women's football. On the men side the level is very high from the first round. Even Federer and Nadal could be forced to play their best from the early stages of a tournament.

"On the women's side any match from the early rounds is a

Patrick 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 contibuter to Busted Racquet.

ATP

-- Thomas Muster, 43, was given a wild card for the Vienna event and faced Ernests Gulbis in the first round. Unlike Kimiko Date Krumm, his comeback didn't go as well, as he lost in straight sets.

-- Viktor Troicki claimed the Moscow title by overcoming Marcos Baghdatis. On the heels of Novak Djokovic's great play, his fellow Serbian Troicki is also playing the best tennis of his career. It's a good sign for Troicki, especially with the French players not showing their best form lately.

-- Three tournaments are scheduled this week: Vienna, St Petersburg and Montpellier.

-- Lleyton Hewitt has become a father for the third time. His wife has just given birth to a little girl.

WTA

-- Victoria Ararenka qualified for Doha after her successful week in Moscow. She