NADAL #1 BY US OPEN

After the Spaniard won the Toronto Masters trophy last Sunday, Nadal is as close as he's ever been to the Swiss — just 300 points back and with precious few of those points to defend during the next few months.

In fact, at this point, it would be surprising if Nadal didn't end Federer's seemingly endless 234-week stint at No. 1. He may not do it this week at the Cincinnati Masters, as Federer would have to lose early and Nadal would have to at least reach the final, but once Federer begins to dump major points on August 18 (due to the havoc the Olympics have played with the schedule, points are dropping off later this year), his ranking will be under siege daily.

Unless the Spaniard gets hurt or his level drops to a pre-2008 level, there should be a new No. 1 entering the U.S. Open, where Federer is the four-time defending champion.

Outside of his often-spectacular play at Wimbledon, he's been a tad mediocre. Just how many losses will it take before he admits to himself that he's in a legitimate slump?

It's one thing to lose to world No. 3 Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open semis, or to Nadal at the French Open and Wimbledon, but how to explain losses to Mardy Fish, Radek Stepanek and just last week, Frenchman Gilles Simon?

Simple: He doesn't trust his shots like he used to and is therefore undergoing major bouts of sloppy play.

Federer has no choice but to stay upbeat. He's a realist and he knows that his reign couldn't have lasted uninterrupted forever. Even when Djokovic took over the first quarter of the year, winning the Australian Open and Indian Wells, Federer kept pointing to Nadal as the world's second best, well aware that when healthy and playing the right way, the Spaniard with his speed, remarkable defense and "two forehands" could face down anyone on a great day.

8 YEAR OLD GIRL LISTENS TO DAD

An eight-year-old girl was ejected from a junior tennis tournament at Christchurch on New Zealand's South Island when officials discovered she was wearing a radio earpiece to receive instructions from her father.

Tournament referee Rob Wilkinson said officials became suspicious because the match involving Ukranian-born Anastasiya Korzh featured a "heightened number of questioned calls."

Officials found the earpiece hidden under the girl's headband, linked by a cord to a receiver under her shirt, The Press newspaper reported Thursday.

Korzh's father said the earpiece was only being used to help the girl keep score in the under-10 tournament.

She was playing in her first tournament.

UNISEX TOUNAMENT

Tennis promoter Steve Bellamy envisions such matchups one day, although he'll go with less dynamic pairings for now. On Aug. 3, he'll stage what's believed to be the first tournament involving world-ranked men and women going head to head.

The one-day competition in suburban Pacific Palisades comes with several big rules changes: no overhand serve, second serves or lets. All serving is drop-hit and struck from below the waist.

"About 40 percent of the points in tennis are won on the serve or the return," said Bellamy, founder of The Tennis Channel. "Basically, half the points are over before they even start. Men dominate women in tennis mainly because of the serve, so this concept neutralizes that advantage."

Bellamy said the event will have a 32-player draw, and should be completed in about three hours. He said a committee will examine the qualifications of every entrant and choose the top 28. The other four will come from a qualifier earlier in the day that's open to the public.

The format will be similar to table tennis, with the winner being the first to reach 21 points and each player serving five points before service alternates.

DJOKOVIC BEATS DANCEVIC

Dancevic, 23, of Niagara Falls, Ont., reached the quarter-finals of last year's tournament in Montreal before losing to Spain's Rafael Nadal. On Tuesday night, it was third-seeded Serb Novak Djokovic, the defending champion, who sent Dancevic packing with a 6-4, 6-4 second-round victory before a boisterous Centre Court gathering at Rexall Centre.

Still, it was a decent showing for Dancevic, ranked No. 82 in the world, against a player who's ranked 79 spots higher. On Monday, Dancevic downed Croatian Mario Ancic, ranked 24th in the world.

Dancevic was the lone Canadian remaining in singles after Peter Polansky of Thornhill, Ont., was eliminated earlier Tuesday. Dancevic remains in doubles with Canadian-born partner Jesse Levine and their first match comes Wednesday night against Australians Paul Hanley and Jordan Kerr.

DANCEVIC INTO SECOND ROUND

Dancevic, 23, of Niagara Falls, Ont., was the only Canuck to advance Monday, upsetting Croatian Mario Ancic 6-3, 6-4 before a partisan Centre Court gathering at the Rexall Centre. Frederic Niemeyer, of Deauville, Que., lost both his first-round singles and doubles matches.

Dancevic said his win brought back memories of his play in last year's event when the Canadian thrilled tennis fans in Montreal by reaching the quarter-final round before losing to Spain's Rafael Nadal.

A big reason for Dancevic's apprehension was missing 3 1/2 months earlier this year with a back injury suffered at the Australian Open. But on Monday night, Dancevic was dominant on Ancic's second serve, winning stellar 71 per cent of the return points.

Dancevic also won a whopping 81 per cent of points on his first serve.

Dancevic, Canada's top singles player with a No. 82 world ranking, fell behind 2-0 in the second set before rallying to tie it 2-2. Dancevic broke Ancic, ranked No. 24, to take a 5-4 lead before serving out the match.

Dancevic doesn't have much time to savour his victory. He faces third-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic on Tuesday night. Djokovic won this title last year in Montreal.

TENNIS ON TSN- TORONTO- MONTREAL- CINCINNATI

NESTOR WINS WIMBLEDON

Daniel Nestor has his career Grand Slam.

The Toronto native [who has played at Mayfair Lakeshore] and Serbian partner Nenad Zimonjic defeated Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman and Kevin Ullyett of Zimbabwe 7-6 (12), 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-3 in the doubles final at Wimbledon.

"Being the only Canadian to win it is very special," said Nestor. "I feel like I've achieved a lot in tennis. I feel very fortunate to have won today, and we feel like we had to play our best to do it. That makes it more satisfying."

The tournament at the All England Club had been the only Grand Slam missing from Nestor's resume.

He played in one other Wimbledon final, losing to Bjorkman and Todd Woodbridge of Australia 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (7), 7-5 in 2002.

"It's a great feeling," said Nestor. "Wimbledon has the most history and tradition of any tournament.

"We focused really hard. It's one of those matches where you don't want to give an inch. Every game and point is tough."

Nestor, 35, won the 2002 Australian Open, 2004 U.S. Open and 2007 French Open with previous partner Mark Knowles.

The win was the 10th in a row for Nestor's team, who tuned up for Wimbledon by claiming the Queens' club crown on grass, and made up for disappointment in the French Open final a month ago, when they lost to South Americans Pablo Cuevas and Luis Horna.

Zimonjic clinched the victory despite playing with his left wrist heavily braced after a semifinal fall, with the newly married Serb slamming a backhand return winner to the far corner out of reach on first match point.

The well-balanced final was contested by a quarter of seasoned over-30 veterans with a combined total of 14 Grand Slam doubles titles. Playing his 11th Grand Slam doubles final, Nestor now owns 53 career honours, 40 earned with Knowles.

The trophy was the first at a Grand Slam for Zimonjic, who came up short at Wimbledon in 2004 and 2006.

The match was the last at Wimbledon for the 36-year-old Bjorkman, retiring after the Olympics.

Nestor and Zimonjic have now lifted three trophies this season, the first two Hamburg and Queen's. They placed runners-up at Indian Wells, Rome and Roland Garros.

"Now I think we're the No. 1 team so far for the year, which is very exciting, too," said Nestor.

"Hopefully we can relax and carry this through the rest of the season and play a little more relaxed and enjoy things a little more."

The marathon opening set, which stretched close to an hour, stayed on serve and into a tiebreak, with Nestor and Zimonjic finally taking a welcome lead on their fifth set point after saving three for their opponents. After a duel at the net, Nestor's team earned the set when Bjorkman blinked first with a shovelled reaction return into tape.

The second set was equally draining as it also went into tiebreakers. But the experienced Bjorkman and Ullyett killed any unnecessary drama as they quickly reached three set points. Ullyett poached perfectly cross-court with a volley winner to square the match in a flash at one set apiece.

The second seeds earned the first break of the grinding match as Bjorkman went down 3-1 through a backhand long, with Nestor quickly consolidating with a hold for 4-1 in the third.

"It was a little bit of nerves out there, and finally we broke through," said Nestor.  "They kept up their level in the second, and we were fortunate to get a break.

"I thought we started playing better in the third and forth, especially returning. The whole match we served really well."

Two unforced errors from Bjorkman handed over a two-set-to-love lead as Zimonjic put the set away with a precision volley.

Because of the match's length, television viewers were denied the final's ending as NBC cut from their Wimbledon coverage to regularly-scheduled programming.

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