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It took Rafael Nadal a solid year to recapture the No. 1 ranking from Roger Federer, and those 12 months were full of sweat, stress and emotional turmoil. But the humble yet ambitious Spaniard pulled off the feat nonetheless, and now, after he pocketed his fifth French Open title and his seventh Grand Slam crown overall, he's clearly in position to dominate the sport once again. What Nadal has proved over the past two and half months is that he's on his way to becoming the best clay-court player of all-time. He's not there yet, as he's still one French short of tying Bjorn Borg's mark, but he's darn close and he's racking up clay-court wins at a faster clip than the great Swede did.

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By Bill "The Commish" Oakes
Matchpoint TV & Radio

At this years French Open and Aegon Championships controversy has ensued because of no clear policy set by the ATP, WTA, or the Grand Slams in regard to how much light is needed to continue a match when dusk hits. These two tournaments do not have lights, and when it gets dark the tournaments have no standard policy on when to call the match which has led to confusion and frustration from the players.

The ITF tries to say it is open to change with respect to Davis Cup and Fed Cup and how they are working to make it better, but when the ITF President recently spoke in the US, he had to site changes made over 20 years ago as part of his argument, it just made him look silly. Many top players do not play Davis or Fed Cup because of the time commitment, and until the ITF figures that out, it will continue.

Many of you know that American Wayne Odesnik accepted a voluntary suspension from ATP or ITF play for violating the Anti Doping until a tribunal has heard his case in the next month or so. But from what I have heard, the rest of the US players are none to pleased or do they expect Wayne back any time soon even though he maintained his innocence when he was caught with HGH in his luggage at Australian Customs in January.

Recently Pete Sampras took the USTA to task for not contacting him to become a coach or advisor for the current crop of players going thru the USTA Player Development System. Though I am not convinced that Pete would make a great coach, I must agree that the USTA should engage him as an advisor, especially with the younger players. He could provide great insight, and help these players recognize what it takes to become a champion.

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Bill Oakes co-hosts “Matchpoint Radio” on 680thefan each Saturday at 8am.