"The nominees for TopSpinTennisBlog player of the year are Andy Murray, Jelena Jankovic, Rafael Nadal, and Serena Williams."
Run VT: a burst of video clips showing Murray hitting the running backhand against Gasquet at Wimbledon, and Andy downing Federer in Shanghai; Nadal falling to the ground in his trademark celebaration in Paris and then Wimbledon; Serena playing Venus; and then Jelena playing Ana, and then Serena at the US.
Drum roll. Pause as Boris teases us and then reveals what we all knew.
"And the winner is, the world No 1 Rafael Nadal"
A no brainer really. Any man who can end Roger's dominance on grass, push him off the top spot, and win Olympic gold is a worthy winner. That said - and this is controversial - one of the judges couldn't help but point out that Rafa had a phenomenal 4 months rather than a great year.
The first few months of the season he was below par and nearly lost his no 2 ranking to Nole, and post Beijing he dropped away again.
OK that maybe a little churlish - there's some truth in it - but Rafa is a deserving winner.
Tomorrow, we'll reveal the winner of the David Ferrer over-achiever prize.
