Laura Robson's graph is moving in the right direction. I saw her first match and she looked off the pace and nervous when it mattered and in the mixed doubles, it was calamitous to be honest.

But match by match she's progressed which is probably endorsing the decision to go down there and play.

It's a great step up for her to be on a big stage, playing consistently in front of big, noisy crowds, and a big atmosphere alongside a big star in Andy Murray.

It can only help. There are still things to work on; for me she's still a long way from being a threat at the top level, but she's 15 years of

Simon Reed continues his look at his favourite shots in the game - this time he looks at the men's return of serve.

THE BEST - Andre Agassi

It is difficult to judge who has the greatest return of serve because different players produce different types of return. My top three though are Jimmy Connors, Lleyton Hewitt and Andre Agassi.

However, for me, Agassi was the most exciting because he could attack off even a very good serve. I thought it was absolutely thrilling to watch him attacking serves. His hand-eye coordination was phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal.

Whatever he said he used in

In the first of a series of guest blogs, 37-year-old Fabrice Santoro talks about bringing down the curtain on his career at the Paris Masters after 21 years on the ATP Tour.

I've heard people talking a lot about me retiring, but it's not a word that I like. It's only my retirement from sport and I've got a whole new life just about to start. I've had a lot of fun playing tennis, but there have been plenty of frustrating times in a career that has been a constant struggle as you have to be at your best the whole time.

From a physical perspective playing competitive tennis at the top level has

Mats
Wilander reflects on the game and the character of Nikolay Davydenko, the newly
crowned ATP World Tour Finals champion.

I don't
know if you can say it's only a question of time with Nikolay Davydenko. But
that's what it is. He won what was a pretty dull tournament. Roger Federer was
not at his best and neither was Rafael Nadal, though you can't argue with the
fact that the Russian was the best player of the week.

There's no
doubt about that. When you work as hard as he does and you play as well as he
has for the last six or seven years, there comes a time when you're going to
win

The Best: Pete Sampras

When you look at the serve, the key
thing is not just the percentages and the damage done with first serve winners,
it is when you can produce those serves. For me, Sampras (pictured) was the
greatest server ever because he had this uncanny ability on break-point down to
produce a serve that would win him the point - either directly or a shot later.

I don't think Sampras was the
greatest volleyer of all-time but he had the easiest volleys because most of
the time his opponent could only ever pop up his serve for an easy winner.

Time-after-time Sampras would coast

Greatest match of 2009

There have been some great matches this year, with two of Rafael Nadal's Australian Open clashes - the semi-final against Fernando Verdasco and the final against Roger Federer - sticking out.

But for me the award must go to the semi-final of the Madrid Masters between Novak Djokovic and Radael Nadal. It was simply outstanding.

There was unbelievable tennis and incredible shotmaking throughout. Djokovic was sublime, dominating for most of the match and enjoying three match points.

But each time it seemed he must go out, Nadal managed to save himself with shots that were

The Davis Cup final takes place this weekend and bookmakers have made Spain strong favourites to defend their title by beating the Czech Republic in Barcelona.

When you look at the two teams on paper, the Czechs don't appear to have a side that matches up with the Spanish.

On form, pedigree, and experience, you would have to pick both Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco to beat Radek Stepanek and Tomas Berdych.

But I'm still not sure of the result - really not sure. I would not lay a lot of money on Spain to win.

If you were to put a gun to my head, I'd still have to say that Spain are the

Simon Reed continues his look at the best shotmakers in the game - this time he looks at the women's return of serve.

THE BEST: Monica Seles

On Wednesday I plumped for Andre Agassi as the best men's returner of all-time. Looking at the women, and the one person I would put top of the list is Monica Seles.

Seles might not have been the greatest mover in the world but she had sensational hands which made up for that fact. She got to pretty much everything and liked to dominate too. So from the outset she was taking control of points.

It was her hand-eye coordination and willingness and ability