Yes, it’s now time for Dani to show what he knows about Andy Murray’s game that no one else knows and in so doing will show Andy that he has made a mistake by hiring another coach and letting him go.
Obviously the media will be pushing this line of what Dani will be able to tell Berdych about Andy’s game resulting in his defeat, but as Andy says he already knows what Dani thinks about Berdych’s game so looks like a bit of a stand off.
Having said all that, it will still be interesting to see what Berdych does but I can’t imagine on current form he will be able to do much to hurt the Murray man. Berdych doesn’t move well enough to be able to grind out a win so his only option will be to go on all out attack which will play into Andy’s hands as he is great counter puncher. If only tennis matches were won on paper in which case Andy would win easily, but it ain’t. You have to go out and make it happen! 
I predict a 4 set win for Andy and a triple bagel win for his new clothing company v Berdych’s latest fashion disaster! I bet poor Thomas isn’t allowed to look in a mirror before going on court as it would be too upsetting! Harsh but true I feel. 

Wawrinka v Nishikori
Really looking forward to this one as I think it’s time for Nishikori to push through and win a grand slam title, even if Stan has found some good form. Don’t mind who wins , but expect a great match. (Taking Kei to win in 5)
 
Novak v Raonic
Not looking forward to this one quite so much as Superman (Raonic - it’s the haircut!) will only have a chance if he is firing bombs all over the place which won’t make for great viewing. Novak is just playing far too well at the moment and is serving better than ever. Would love to know what they have been working on with his serve as getting near Boris standards!
(Novak to win easily) 

Best restaurant inside the walls of Lucca? 
We also spent some time in Lucca trying out a few restaurants recommended by some of our Lucca friends. One in particular is “Da Pasquale” which is now my favourite one inside the walls. The price to quality ratio is fabulous and the owner, Pasqualino Gubitosa, who attends to almost every table is extremely knowledgable about all his interesting wines and the fantastic menu he provides. An absolute must if visiting Lucca. 
 
Clay court tennis outdoors in Lucca in January!
Visiting our tennis club in Lucca it was great to see the young players training on the outside clay courts even though the club has indoor bubbles for the winter. The weather has been incredibly mild, with 16-18 degrees when we were there in mid Jan! It made us think that we should promote more holidays at this time of year as the flights are cheap and a great time to visit the towns and cities of Tuscany plus loads of sales in January!

New Accommodation in Florence
Just back from a 5 day scouting mission in Tuscany (tough job I know!), looking at some potential new accommodation for Florence. Please let me know what you think of Fattoria Pagnana www.fattoriapagnana.it as after visiting the owners we hope that we can sort out an arrangement, maybe even for this year. It’s an easy drive from the tennis club and is in a beautiful part of the countryside with a variety of lovely accommodation and great facilities.
We visited several but this was the best by far! 

Special Hosted Weeks in Lucca
If summer is more your thing then why not join us on one of our Special Hosted Weeks and we can all visit “Da Pasquale “ together?
 
Finally
Meant to say that it’s great to see Venus Williams back playing so well after such a terrible illness.What a fantastic effort to keep going and get back in the mix.

PS Have you seen this - the best impersonation I’ve ever seen of Nadal - Have a look - it’s great! Click here to view

Even though Djokovic lost to Karlovic in Qatar I would still take him as the man to beat not only in the Oz open but for the rest of 2015. Mats Wilander has predicted that he will win all 4 grand slams which is a bold prediction and as much as I think of Mats as one of the most knowledgeable tennis commentators on the planet this is still very bold indeed! 
     
Federer is looking great and seems to be hitting his backhand better than ever which is a key to him competing for the slams and his movement has improved yet again. What an inspiration for anyone thinking they are getting too old to compete. If in the opposite half from Novak I would anticipate that being the final in Melbourne i.e. Roger v Novak... 

Andy Murray is also looking really good and seems to be in a great frame of mind as well as looking physically awesome again. If fit and well so much depends upon the quality of his serve - both 1st serve % and pace of 2nd serve which I feel still lets him down too often. Dare I say it a more consistent and improved ball toss would be a good start! I would be surprised if Andy doesn't make the 2nd week and if he does then I would put him down as next in line as the possible winner. 
   
Writing off Nadal probably isn’t a great idea but I think it's just too early for him to be a threat at the moment and no doubt he'll be ready for the clay court season and the strong favourite for the French Open once again, perhaps robbing Novak of his 4 Grand Slams! 
 
The only other player I see as a potential threat to the "big 4" would be Nishikori who is a fantastic early striker of the ball. If he could improve his 2nd serve just a little bit it would make a huge difference to his game. The kink he has on the take back is pretty tough to deal with under real pressure. 
 
I've not even mentioned Wawrinka, Dimitrov or Ferrer who are in the next tier but I just can't see any of them being good enough to win in Melbourne. As the year progresses I would hope that Stan and Grigor would pose a threat in the other slams and Ferrer will always beat everyone he should beat but generally struggles against the very best. 
 
I've not seen enough of the womens tennis recently to comment but I would hope that Heather Watson will do well after her success in the Hopman Cup where it looked like she and Andy had lots of fun. Great to see players enjoying themselves on court instead of smashing racquets! (Serena is getting very good at destroying them.)