VANtage Point: Welcome to Van, a look at Johannesburg

(Hey readers! Meet Van Sias, writer of the blog Tennis Talk, Anyone? and a new contributor to DtL. He'll be taking a weekly look at one of the upcoming tourneys and giving his picks on who'll come out on top. Welcome Van!)


Now that the Australian Open is out of the way, we can get on with other things, such as the launch of VANtage Point!

What’s up? My name is Van Sias and I publish a blog called Tennis Talk, Anyone? In a whole cross-marketing, cross-over, cross-pollinating thing going on, I’m going to write something for Down the Line! each week where I spotlight one of the many tournaments on the ATP and WTA tours — even taking into consideration the Challenger and ITF tournaments, too.

In case you’re wondering why you’d want to check this out, just know this: There’s almost nothing I’d rather do than break down draw sheets and make predictions on tournaments, and I’ve been that way for 20 years now. (Well, there are other things I like to do, but this stuff is near the top!)

Anyway, here’s how it goes: First , I’ll comment on an event last week or the one I spotlighted, then I’ll mention this week’s pick. I’ll give you a “Player to Watch” and make my predictions for the semifinals.

So without further ado, here’s the first VANtage Point!

A Look Back: The first major of 2009 has come and gone with Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams taking the crowns. My favorite moment of the tournament? The trophy presentation after the men’s final. Not many guys will admit this, but I’m a pretty emotional dude and I think I was bawling right along with Rog Federer! Good luck to him and hats off to the winners.

This Week’s Spotlight: To me, this is when the season really starts. You have months before another major, so it’s just players getting out there doing the work to set themselves up for the remaining Grand Slams. That being said, there’s a lot of action going on this week and the first tournament I’ve got my eye on is the ATP 250 stop in Johannesburg, South Africa.

This is the first time in a long time the Tour’s been in SA with a regular tour event and there’s a few big names sprinkled in the draw. The top two seeds are my boy Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (yeah, he is: Dude is the real deal) and David Ferrer. Check out the draw here.

Player to Watch: Now this is who I really have my eyes on there, and I’m saying it here first at the Point to look out for him the rest of the year: Marcos Baghdatis. I think if he’s healthy, he’s going to do some damage this season. Plus, he seems pretty dedicated: I mean, anytime someone gets a haircut that means they’re focused, right?

The Final Four: Jo-Willy over Bjorn Phau; the Bagh Man over Benjamin Becker.

And the Winner Is: Tsonga in a tough one.

There you have it: the first VANtage Point! It won’t be so long next time, but check back to see how I made out.

(image via Getty)