By Chris Oddo

(July 23, 2012) -- Heroes and Zeros is Tennis Now's weekly look at the brightest stars of the game -- and the biggest flops. This week we’ll take you for a spin through Hamburg, Carlsbad, and the rest of the week that was.

Hero: Juan Monaco

Monaco had a major breakthrough on the red clay in Hamburg, winning his first 500-level event by taking out 34-year-old Tommy Haas in straight sets in the final. The 28-year-old Argentine has quietly been having a career year, and this week he’ll get rewarded for all that hard work -- which includes three titles and a 31-10 record -- by taking a place in the ATP’s top ten for the first time in his career.

It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. Monaco has endeared himself to fans and rivals alike over the years by being a genuine, no-nonsense competitor on the court and off.

Zero: Marion Bartoli

I’m probably way out of line for saying this (and also let me state for the record that I'm a huge fan of Marion Bartoli's fighting spirit and her double-fisted power game), but I find it very stressful watching the Frenchwoman prepare herself between points. She becomes a stressed-out, overheating version of a whirling dervish, maniacal arms and legs thrashing about as she swings the racquet obsessively then breaks into that very strange, ritualistic movement where she hurls herself forward--as if doing a standing broad jump--onto the balls of her feet. To call it quirky would be on par with calling the rock band "System of a Down" melodic.

Can the methods of Bartoli's madness possibly be helping her as a player? Or is she simply just wasting precious energy at a time when she should be conserving it? Has she really forgotten how to swing the racquet? Wouldn’t a deep breath and a quick fiddle with her racquet strings suffice between points? It would be a lot easier on all of us, that’s for sure.

Hero: Andy Roddick

Count this man out at your own peril. He’s not even 30 yet, and while the Atlanta draw wasn’t exactly loaded with tennis superheroes, Roddick did all that could have been asked of him and more in the peach state. His 32nd career title moves him up to 22 in the rankings, and it will give him a big, double-espresso-sized shot of confidence heading into the Olympics, where the best-of-three format on his beloved grass surface—he has three Wimbledon finals on his résumé -- will give him a shot to make a dark horse run.

"I've won 32 now, and every one of them,” Roddick said, “I've never assumed I was going to win again." He’s only 29. Maybe he should?

Zero: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

The 21-year-old deserves some credit for getting to the quarterfinals of the Sony Swedish Open this week, but Pavlyuchenkova has clearly lost her way since reaching two Grand Slam quarterfinals in 2011 and reaching a career-high ranking of 13. The hard-hitting, believed-to-be-up-and-coming Russian was looked at as one of the brightest stars of the game in 2011, and all she has to show for that in 2012 is a 12-18 record with two measly quarterfinals.

Hero: James Blake

Blake got his first win of the season in Atlanta. It was also the 350th of his career. 2012 hasn’t been the best of times for the former world No. 4, but credit to the 32-year-old for staying humble and putting his nose to the grindstone day in and day out, regardless of the result.

Hero: Dominika Cibulkova

What an amazing sight to see a 5’3” player pack such a punch on court. Cibulkova sizzles in every sense of the word (she‘s got the groundies to prove it), and it was never more apparent than on Sunday, when she had Marion Bartoli, one of the WTA’s best fast-court players, on her heels for an hour and a half as she marched to her second career WTA title in Carlsbad. At 23, one has to think that bigger breakthroughs lie ahead for the world No. 13.

Hero: Polona Hercog

The 21-year-old bounced back from a really bad spell that featured four consecutive losses and a battle with a nagging back injury to defend her title at Bastad last week. With the win Hercog jumps 24 spots up to No. 62 in the rankings.

Zero: Rafa’s Knees

The Olympics will miss Rafael Nadal, and we all know who is to blame for that: those confounding knees.

Hero: Tommy Haas

Tom Terrific lost to Juan Monaco in the Hamburg final, but that’s the second ATP final in as many months for the 34-year-old. Yeah, that’s right, I said 34-YEAR-OLD.

Hero: Thomaz Bellucci

Well, he almost choked it away, but in the end the Brazilian notched a big title in Gstaad, and moved up 20 paces to No. 40 in the ATP rankings.

(Photo Credit: Alexander Hassenstein/ Getty)