Falling to his back at the end of it all, Rafael Nadal confirmed yet again his status as the King of Clay claiming a record 8^th championship at Roland Garros – the first man in history to do so at the slams. The 3^rd seed was the prohibitive favourite coming in to the final and defeated compatriot David Ferrer in straight sets 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. It was scoreline that in some ways belied the fight that Ferrer put up but Nadal was too often the stronger player and the gutsy Ferrer often faltered at the big moments in his first appearance at a slam final. This was Nadal’s 4^th straight championships here in Paris, his second such streak having triumphed here between 2005 and 2008 before being famously upset in 2009 by Robin Soderling. That remains his only loss on the red clay here as he became the “winningest” player with 59 wins moving ahead of the great Roger Federer.

Nadal was understandably pleased with his triumph and thanked his family, team and his fans for their support. He recalled the difficult layoff period but was thrilled to return to Roland Garros and achieve this 8th championship which was unimaginable to him. He gave credit to Ferrer too, for making his first slam final. Ferrer repaid the compliment calling Nadal the 'best'. He was happy to have made his first final and stated that he would all he could to come back next year.

The men’s draw this year was bound to revolve around two men. The King of Clay returned to the grand slams for the first time since being unceremoniously dumped out of Wimbledon while the world. No.1 renews his bid at the one major that eludes him. However due to Rafael Nadal’s long time out, the two favourites would not automatically fall in opposite sections and was undoubtedly the most anticipated outcome of today’s draw. As it turned out, Rafa was drawn in Djokovic’s half leaving us awaiting a mouthwatering clash in the semifinal.

This has also given the other contenders a new lease of life especially with the withdrawal of Murray. Roger Federer is the biggest beneficiary as his section is clear of fellow Big Four members giving him a real shot at his 6^th final on the red clay. The main nearly-men waiting to make their breakthroughs include the ever present Ferrer, the dangerous Berdych and the charismatic Tsonga while waiting in the wings are outsiders Jerzy Janowicz and Benoit Paire among others. Let’s then delve into the draw to glean what we can about how things might just pan out over the next 15 days at Roland Garros

Who can stop Serena Williams from capturing her second French Open crown is the question on everyone’s lips when it comes to the women’s draw. Such is the American’s dominance over her major rivals that her relative lack of success at this particular major underlined by a shocking first round exit last year, is largely being ignored. So can Sharapova defend her crown or can Azarenka overcome her pitfalls on the clay? Or will a darkhorse in the form of Kvitova, Li Na or Stosur come through for a fairytale finish? Let’s examine these scenarios by digging deep into the draw using that well known approach - bracketology

German veteran Tommy Haas is one of the lesser known members of 17 time Major winner Roger Federer’s ‘lost generation’ of tennis players that includes the likes of Andy Roddick, Marat Safin and Lleyton Hewitt. Players that could have won many more titles and majors had it not been for Federer’s great rise to the top and 5 year reign as world no.1. Roddick, Safin and Hewitt have a few slams to their credit and also a world no.1 ranking. Haas, on the other hand, who was up there with the Swiss Maestro as far as talent was concerned was never able to live up to the promise he once showed, even though he did manage to reach the world no.2 position and a couple of semi-final appearances at the Grand Slams.

2012 was the year where he made a comeback to the tour with a victory in Halle (against Federer) and jumped 184 places to get back into the top 20. With his defeat of world no.1 Novak Djokovic and 11th seed Giles Simon in quick succession in straight sets, the 34 year old German, became the feel good story of the Miami Masters. Could he, after all these years, manage to pull off something special and win the Sony Open?

The Tennis Anti-Doping Programme Working Group, comprised of representatives of the ITF, ATP, WTA and the Grand Slam tournaments met on 5 March 2013 as part of their regular review of the programme, and expressed unified support to implement an Athlete Biological Passport Programme from 2013. The Athlete Biological Passport provides an individual, electronic document for athletes in which profiles of biological markers of doping and results of doping tests are collated over a period of time that can be used to detect variances from an athlete’s established levels that might indicate doping.

The introduction of the Athlete Biological Passport will require the TADP to increase the number of blood tests every year. In addition, the Working Group also recommended an overall increase in the amount of testing, especially out-of competition testing, with additional funding provided by all the governing bodies in tennis and administered by the ITF.

The WTA year was quite a tumultuous one and had quite the maelstrom to kick it off. Multiple players had the chance to lay their hands on the No.1 ranking held onto so tenuously by Caroline Wozniacki at the end of 2011. Azarenka had already won in Sydney and captured the Australian Open, her first slam and in one fell swoop the no.1 ranking to go with it. It was a superb beginning to the year for the Belarussian and she made hay while the sun shone going 26-0 and 4 tournament triumphs before Bartoli finally halted her streak in Miami. Azarenka had grasped that no.1 ranking by the scruff of the neck and thrown the gauntlet for anyone who would want to become the WTA's best player.

The one who picked up that gauntlet was Maria Sharapova on a surface that isn't typically her favourite. Having famously described her feeling of playing on clay as a “cow on ice”, Sharapova's results this year certainly would have led one to question the Russian's prescience. The glamour girl's golden run began on the clay at Stuttgart where she defeated Azarenka for the first time in the year in the final. She suffered a blip on the blue Madrid clay (Serena took the title) before defending her Italian Open crown with a hard fought win over Li Na in the final. This took us into the French Open, the one slam missing from Sharapova's resume. The first round saw a major shock with Serena dropping out at that hurdle for the first time in her career. Azarenka too fell midway but Sharapova soldiered on into the final where she faced unfancied Sara Errani. The 2^nd ranked Russian duly defeated the Italian, completed her career slam and in the process regained the no.1 ranking as her cup of joy overfloweth.

At long last the caravan that rolls around through the year beginning Down Under, traversing the entire the entire world before pitching tent in London signaled a temporary halting of proceedings for 2012. This tennis year was one that could be described in many ways notably historic, phenomenal and perhaps more than any other 'a season of parity'. In a season of split successes amongst the 'Big Four' Novak Djokovic emerged as the first among equals on the ATP Tour while Victoria Azarenka took her place on top of the WTA rankings holding off Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.

It was a rare year that included the Olympics, held at London on this occasion and on the hallowed Wimbledon turf to boot, and the tournament was a wonderful addition to the calendar bringing forth a level of emotion dissimilar from those seen at the annual tournaments storied though they may be. Like any year, it had its moments of bitterness and controversy to balance the wonderful storylines and the remarkable achievements over the year. All in all this year was memorable and on that note let's take a dive down memory lane to review the professional tennis year of 2012.