Heroes and Zeros: Serena Slammin', Delpo Trumps Roger, Tomic at it Again

A look back at last week's happenings: the WTA Championships, Basel, and Valencia.

By Chris Oddo

(October 29, 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 look back at the WTA Championships in Istanbul and the men's events in Basel and Valencia.

Hero: Serena Williams

Surprise, surprise, Serena Williams has once again destroyed every elite player in the game en route to yet another awe-inspiring title run in 2012.

Is it getting old yet? Of course not. What it is getting, is scary. How long can the 31-year-old keep this up? Williams, since losing to Virginie Razzano at this year's French Open, has gone 31-1 with two Grand Slams, two Olympic gold medals, and now the elite WTA Championships crown is hers as well.

It seems that even Williams would he hard-pressed to keep this pace up, but as we head into an off-season in which is sure to be replete with talk of the Williams legacy, it's hard not to wonder: can she run the table at the Slams next year? It's not hard to imagine at all, given the way that Williams continues to dominate the No. 1 and No. 2 players in the game...

Zero: Bernard Tomic

Was it bad enough the Marinko Matosevic took over the mantle as the No. 1 Aussie a few weeks ago? Apparently not.

Hero: Juan Martin del Potro

Del Potro, practically ever since he won the 2009 US Open, has been the poster boy for hard-luck and heartbreak. But he had a mini-breakthrough in London this summer when he bounced back from a crushing loss to Roger Federer (19-17 in the third set) to bring home a shiny bronze medal for Argentina. Yesterday in Basel, Del Potro ended a miserable run of seven straight matches against Roger Federer, digging deep to gut out a three-set victory by a whisker.

It was a match that Del Potro could have lost heart in. He was cruising along until he dropped the second set in a tight tiebreaker, and the pro-Federer Basel crowd was not making things easy for him. But like always, the big man battled, and he kept his nerve in a battle of big serves, finally taking Federer down to claim his third victory in sixteen career matches against Federer.

The good news for Del Potro in all those one-sidedness against Federer? He's actually 2-1 versus Federer in finals.

Zero: Nicolas Almagro

Almagro lost his 12th consecutive match against his compatriot David Ferrer last week in the Valencia quarterfinals. Makes us wonder: Does Almagro think Ferrer is Rafa?

Hero: David Ferrer At least Almagro has been taking his lumps against a genuine hero. Ferrer took his career-best sixth ATP title in Valencia yesterday by defeating Alexandr Dolgopolov in three sets. The title ties Ferrer with Roger Federer for the ATP lead in 2012, and marks the Spaniard's third career triumph in Valencia.

Zero: Petra Kvitova

Petra pulled out of Istanbul with a viral illness, but before she left she turned in what turned out to be the worst performance of the week, a 41-error straight-set thrashing at the hands of Agnieszka Radwanska that seemed to indicate that--illness or not--Kvitova is badly in need of some holiday time.

Hero: Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova

Azarenka gets hero status for clinching the year-end No. 1 ranking, and Sharapova gets hero status for finally beating Azarenka on a hard court.

Hero: Nadia Petrova and Maria Kirilenko

After barely qualifying for Istanbul, the Russian duo made the most of their time in Turkey, taking the title against Lucie Hradecka and Andrea Hlavackova after defeating the No. 1 team in the world in the semis.

Hero: Juan Carlos Ferrero

Thanks for the memories JCF,there were so many, and best wishes from all of us.

(Photo Credit: AP)