Roger Federer has had a rough year.  He started the year at number one in Tennis, but lost that to Raphael Nadal.  He also lost to Nadal at Wimbledon. And he has struggled to compete with some of the sport’s younger and faster players. He is only 27 and has plenty of volleying left in him.  But his big goal is to take back Wimbledon. He also wants to take back his #1 ranking and win some Grand Slam titles.  If he can do the last one, he may equal or better Pete Sampras in his heyday.  It’s going to be a cool year for tennis; usually you dont’ have quite such a rivalry shaping up in this sport. But get ready, Melbourne is only a couple weeks away.

Federer heroically battled through his back pains last night against a match with Andy Murray but ultimately lost the match. It was a crucial round robin match that Federer needed to win but couldn’t overcome the intensity of Murray, who holds a rare winning record over Federer. Three times during the match Federer received treatment for his back from his trainer, but little could be done for the sore back that forced him to withdraw from the Paris Masters two weeks ago. Get the full scoop at tennis.com.

Rafael Nadal will likely not play in the upcoming Davis Cup. The Spaniard is still having trouble recovering from a knee injury this year.  Otherwise, this year was a very successful one for him, as he won his first Wimbeldon Championship and his 4th straight French Open Championship.  But this means that his streak of winning is probably coming to an end for the time being.  He hopes to be back soon, but it’s always tough coming back from an injury. He is currently ranked #1 in the world and he has defeated most of the biggest names in the game right now, including Roger Federer. He’s a phenomenal player, so it’s too bad that he wont be playing for awhile.

Serena Williams had to recently bow out of the WTA Championships due to a stomach injury she most likely suffered while playing against (coincidentally) her sister Venus. According to Serena, the pain would follow her even when she was engaged in the relatively motionless act of sleeping. Also pulling out of the WTA Championships was Ana Ivanovic due to a viral illness. Goto tennis.com and learn more about the rest of the players in contention for the WTA Championship.

Nadia Petrova, the Russian women’s tennis star, won the WTA Quebec challenge this weekend.  The scoring on the final match against American Bethanie Mattek was 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.  So she was down at the beginning but came back in the last two sets to win decisively in the end.  She has won several titles in the last several years and this was her second of this year.  She previously came up just short in Stuttgart, and she is ranked 11th in the world.  The American she beat, Mattek, is ranked 43rd and has been moving up recently.  She’s only 23 years old, but she’s got plenty of time to improve.

Arlen Kantarian, CEO of pro Tennis, is leaving his post after 9 years on the job.  Don’t worry, there’s no allegations of wrongdoing or controversies or anything like that.  He just decided to move on.  Over his time in tennis, he has overseen a big expansion in the visibility of the sport.  He has completed deals with major networks, like CBS and ESPN, to broadcast the sports biggest tournaments.  He has helped the founding and growth of the Tennis Channel on satellite.  He changed some tennis courts from green to blue, which has become more popular throughout the country since then.  At a time when the sport is lacking major American stars, he has kept its image up and brought people out to the matches.  Not an easy task.  Good luck to him, whatever he decides to do next!

Elena Dementieva has won her 3rd title of the year in the FORTIS Championships.  Previously, she had won in Dubai and at the Beijing Olympics this year.  She out-dueled Carolina Wozniacki to take the title earlier today.  The 27-year old was able to come back from being down early in order to take the match after a tie-breaker.  Wozniacki was playing for her fourth title of the year, after wins in Stockholm, New Haven and Tokyo.  The FORTIS Championship, played in Luxembourg, has kept Dementieva at the top of the standings in world women’s tennis.  She also beat Wozniacki in the third round this summer at the Olympics  Watch for her to keep playing well!

Aleksandra Wozniak from Quebec was honored today by the members of the Canadian National Assembly.  The assembly was proud of her playing in the Bank of the West Classic this last summer: She defeated Marion Bartoli (15th) of France in the final and Serena Williams (5th) of the US in the semifinal.  She is currently ranked 37th on the WTA tour, which is the highest ranking ever reached by someone from Quebec.  This is definitely an impressive showing from the 20-year-old, and being so young, she’ll probably get even better over the next few years.

Andy Murray, the fourth ranked British tennis player, was crowned the Madrid Masters champion this weekend after defeating Giles Simon 6-4, 7-6 on Sunday. This was his fourth title in the season and he will be the first Briton to finish the year at number 4 since Fred Parry in 1936. Though Giles was hitting very well throughout the entire matchup, he was unable to handle many of Murray’s serves, giving up multiple easy points in the process. Find out more at tennis.com.

For the first time since their battle in the US Open Finals, Roger Federer and Andy Murray will meet again during the Madrid Masters semifinals. This time they will face each other in an indoor court setting. In their outdoor matchup at the US Open Finals, Federer 6-2, 7-5, 6-2. Federer seems to be returning to his number one form that he had last year/earlier this year, but Murray looked extremely impressive and patient in his victory over Gael Monfils. Go to tennis.com for full coverage.