This and That 10/5/2015

by Savannah


via@WTATennis

She's 35. Older than most active players male or female. The tennis world had pretty much labeled her a sentimental favorite, a woman who could make it to the quarters of majors but not much farther. The mechanics of her serve, so many moving parts they said, were scrutinized every time she put the ball in play.

Wuhan is one of the major WTA tournaments on the Asian Swing that takes place after the US Open - more on that later - and it was widely expected that she would not figure in the final as younger women were expected to take the spotlight and win this point heavy event. It didn't help that she had aggravated both hamstrings and took the court for the final with both upper thighs heavily taped and limping a bit.

Garbiñe Muguruza, one of the WTA Rising Stars had been playing inspired tennis coming into the semifinal against Angelique Kerber. It seemed that new coach Sam Sumyk had a willing and able student and that he was poised to win a WTA P5 after being dismissed by WTA darling Eugenie Bouchard.

I was surprised at how well Muguruza was playing and thought Venus would be pressed really hard in the final. Instead it was Venus who dominated the Final. There were no visible signs of her ankle injury from Muguruza during the short match but she looked exhausted and frustrated when she retired down 0-3 in the second set while Venus calmly chatted with her coach David Witt. Sumyk looked ready to explode. The Muguruza who showed up for the Wuhan Final is the one I saw at the US Open, unable to think clearly on court without a lot of guidance.



The most amazing thing about all of this is Venus has a chance to make the YEC in Singapore.
Yes she's one of many but who saw this possibility at the beginning of the year? Congratulations to Ms Venus Williams.

Speaking of Eugenie Bouchard she's now working with Thomas Hogstedt. Yes that Hogstedt. The one who dumped Li Na via newspaper article (or email)for Maria Sharapova who then dumped him, then worked for a hot minute with Caroline Wozniacki saying he didn't want to travel so much anymore when he stopped working with her. Yet there he is in Beijing working with Bouchard.

In an article posted on Eh Tennis Yahoo the following is reported:

When we reported just before the US Open that experienced coach Thomas Hogstedt was in the mix for a tryout with top Canadian Genie Bouchard, we were told that while he was keen and ready to come on board, Bouchard and her team had reservations.

Those reservations seemed to have abated and Hogstedt is indeed by Bouchard's side, as she (hopefully) prepares for a return Monday in Beijing, China against Andrea Petkovic.

(...)

As well, he has the Sharapova stamp of approval, in a sense – which is no small thing in the Bouchard camp. We're told that before she began working full-time with Saviano to begin the 2014 season, Team Bouchard had approached (Michael)Joyce, who also had passed the Sharapova test and worked with her a long time, first as a hitting partner when her father Yuri was her coach, then as coach when Yuri stepped aside.

The thing was that Joyce had a good deal with young player Jessica Pegula, who was going through knee surgery and recovery and was out of the game for an extended period. Understandably, he wasn't going to give that up (Pegula's family owns the Buffalo Bills and Sabres, so you can imagine he was well taken care of ) without some sort of guarantee. And that guarantee wasn't forthcoming.

So if you've worked with Pova you're the person for Bouchard. Interesting that the article points out the financial benefits of Michael Joyce coaching Jessica Pegula and not the financial wherewithal of the Bouchard family.

Bouchard skipped Wuhan due to the lingering effects of her concussion but it looks as if she will play in Beijing. A lot of eyes will be on her.

The Post US Open Schedule - WTA Style

Let's see. In two days of play in Beijing five players retired: Simona Halep, Coco Vandeweghe, Lesia Tsurenko, Alja Tomljanovic and Zarina Diyas.

You can argue that back to back to back tournaments is asking a lot of players, especially the elite, but there is also the fact that if Halep hadn't shown up in Beijing she would've lost $300,000 in bonus money. I don't think the other women who retired had to worry about that though.

Should be Asian swing come right after the Oz Open? The players, even though coming off a Grand Slam tournament, would be fresher. I don't know how the weather is in China that time of year though.

I think the back to back events take a toll because it's the end of the year. Players have been playing with injuries all year that by now have become nagging and annoying. Not to mention being brain fried. Caroline Wozniacki said that the WTA forces injured players to play and was ridiculed by some. Retirements by the likes of Vendeweghe, Tsurenko, Tomljanovic and Diyas don't make much difference to tournament directors. Halep retiring makes a big difference.

There is already speculation about what the YEC will look like if the top six women in the world aren't able to play.
I don't think that'll happen but it's a valid observation at this point.

The WTA YEC

Here is the leader board:

RTS Player Current Total Points Replaced Adjusted RTS Total
1 Simona Halep 5840 60 5780
2 Maria Sharapova 4322 1 4321
3 Garbiñe Muguruza 3512 1 3511
4 Petra Kvitova 3482 1 3481
5 Lucie Safarova 3222 1 3221
6 Angelique Kerber 3220 105 3115
7 Flavia Pennetta 3034 1 3033
8 Venus Williams 2972 0 2972
9 Karolina Pliskova 3040 100 2940
10 Carla Suárez Navarro 3010 100 2910
11 Agnieszka Radwanska 2955 100 2855
12 Belinda Bencic 2865 30 2835
13 Roberta Vinci 2565 30 2535

Lucie Safarova is out. Maria Sharapova's participation is anyone's guess due to her injury. Muguruza is suffering from injury. Petra Kvitova looked terrible losing to Sara Errani in Beijing committing 49 unforced errors. Then there's this quote from Simona Halep: "I hope I can play. I will see - I need treatment and a break, for sure." posted by @tennis_photos. Those fans talking about players ranked 7-14 playing the YEC may be on to something.

End Notes

There have been a lot of posts on #TennisTwitter about Player X "saving" Tournament Y. What does that even mean? Does it mean that the level of tennis outside of the elite is crap? Garbiñe Muguruza, now a top four player, has only one title to her name this year, Hobart way back in January. You can believe me or not, but the drop in the level of tennis that will come after 2016 is going to be quick and ugly.

Bernard Tomic, who saw charges against him dropped after a set to in Miami was photographed partying with Sydney business man Joe Elias on his yacht. Google Joe Elias of Sydney, Australia. It's an interesting read.

The ATP has made it clear it expects Andy Murray to play at their WTF year end tournament. He's also expected to carry the weight for his country in Davis Cup.

Victoria Azarenka shows her tongue still has a life of its own. This statement was made after her last tournament:

I'm sure that endeared her to many people within the WTA.

The Young'uns

The young players I picked to watch this 2015, Madison Keys and Alexander Zverev have not, in my opinion, shown much maturity in their games. Keys still gets brain freeze when her game isn't working and Zverev has been taking too many wild cards instead of refining his game in the tennis equivalent of the minor leagues.

The one player who does seem to be making the most of his age and using the Challenger circuit to his advantage is Chung Hyeon. You know he's on the right track when there are haters already saying he wouldn't be ranked so high if he hadn't vultured so many Challenger events. Yeah, he's doing the right thing.

Meanwhile Canada has got it's hype machine in overdrive over fifteen year old Félix Auger-Aliassime. Get back to me in three years people.

They're also hyping Charlotte Robillard-Millette, sixteen (born in 1999). I guess they don't think you're ever too young for the hype machine. Richard Gasquet, who was hyped as the future of French tennis at 9, should write a book. So should Donald Young.

©Savannah's World 2015 All Rights Reserved unless otherwise indicated

Where Do We Go From Here? Part 1 The ATP

by Savannah


Source: Julian Finney/Getty Images North America

Tennis is a funny sport. And tennis fans are, let's say a bunch of spoiled brats. For the last few years there's been a constant whine about "the same four guys are always winning the big ones". The cry has been for someone new to step up and seize the mantle from "those same four guys".

The thing is what they really meant is somewhat tricky. For some this meant that someone from the tennis axis countries - Great Britain, France, Australia and the United States. For others this meant that one of the "top four" is more deserving of cakewalk draws because he is who he is. I don't think either of these groups was satisfied with how the US Open turned out. They got what they wanted - new blood - but not the new blood they wanted - or the old blood they wanted for that matter.

To be clear I'm not a fan of Marin Cilic I'm an admirer. No matter how he felt privately about the circumstances behind his suspension publicly he did his mea culpa, apologized, and instead of going off and sulking in a corner or dragooning famous friends to bemoan his fate to anyone who would listen he worked on his tennis.

The men and women who make up the tennis press - using the term loosely of course - had already passed judgement on Marin Cilic's place in the hierarchy of tennis so they were doing their usual reading of press releases from the tours or the agents of players deemed more worthy instead of watching how Cilic was playing on his return. Instead they went on a mission to try and force tournaments to give Wild Cards - Main Draw Wild Cards mind you - to someone who when he was playing regularly on the main tour really wasn't all that. It was as if they decided that Cilic, who took his punishment with class, was a non story coming into the US Open.

Meanwhile fans of one of the original Top Two were angry that despite a draw that he went through like a hot knife through butter lost to - gasp! - someone who they and most observers thought he powned on his way to the US Open. I've said it so much it's almost a mantra for me: a soft draw doesn't make a champion. But what do I know? The Powers That Be gave him an even softer draw in New York. When I saw the draw I figured he had his usual stroll to the quarter finals where he would run into a player with some backbone. I was wrong. He made it to the semifinals and faced someone who had just come off of injury and had often cracked under pressure, Nishikori Kei. As we all know Nishikori played Cilic in the US Open Final so once again a soft draw didn't help it's recipient one bit.

To say the attitude of some in the "press" regarding the US Open final was horrendous is putting it mildly. Their main cry seemed to be "no one is going to watch"! You'd think that after all the whining about wanting new blood in a Slam final they really didn't mean it. They wanted someone deemed worthy not two men who they'd virtually ignored most of the year. But the two men who played the best met each other in the Final and the outcome was one no one predicted. No one.

After the Australian Open there was a big push to make Stan Wawrinka into the next shiny bright object. To make someone into the next bestest thing they have to have something to polish and make shine. Wawrinka isn't that guy.

Oh he got the cute nick names -Stanimal being the one that makes me cringe the most, and people were pushing him to become the next President of the Players Association but did "they" really think players would vote for someone who had never joined their oganization?

This is what annoys be about tennis reporters. They knew Wawrinka had never belonged to the players association but they promoted his candidancy as if he were the second coming of a deity. Meanwhile the players elected Eric Butorac. You could hear some peoples heads explode while asking "who"? Again, if they'd been reporting instead of going for the okay doke Butorac's election wouldn't have come as such a surprise, or disappointment.

Men's tennis continues to be a mostly non American affair with John Isner at #16 the only American in the top twenty. Despite being a legend in his own mind when it comes to his relationship to his sport Isner is considered a minor player overseas. We all know about his "God's Country" comment that offended many fans and we know about the shit fit he threw when he was bumped to the second court in Washington DC because Europe wanted "top" players matches broadcast back to their fans.

It's also time to retire that "Top Four" narrative that includes Andy Murray. He's currently ranked #12 in the world and while a return to the top isn't out of the question he's not part of the top four let alone part of the top ten.

The tennis press has seized on Grigor Dimitrov as the Chosen One. He hasn't shown me that he's got that "thing" the stars have. I'm not impressed with his game either but some would call me a "hater" when I say that. Whatever. Declaring someone the next big thing doesn't work in tennis. The player himself determines whether he joins the "superstar" category not the hopes and dreams of agents.

The transition from one era to another is taking place in men's tennis but it's going at a much slower pace than some want. The argument can be made that one guy is in the top three because of favorable draws that have seen him cruise to the business end of a tournament more often than not and not because he's playing out of his mind tennis. Nishikori made that clear in the US Open semi final. If Cilic continues his current form he's the man to watch going into the Asian and indoor swings leading up to the WTF. He's within the top ten now at #9. He has the potential to go higher. As a big man with good movement if he continues to play the way he did in New York he'll be shoving guys aside as he moves to the top.

While the British, The United States and Australian programs seem to be in some disarray those of other, smaller countries, are shoring themselves up and preparting for the future by developing new talent pretty much out of the spotlight. Lots of people chortled when Spain lost in Davis Cup to Brazil but he who laughs last laughs longest. They know who their top players are and none of them have anything to prove. Unlike the US and Australia who relied/are relying on aging players to keep themselves in the conversation the Spaniards are planning long term. The British have only one man as well and he is learning the system of a new coach. This is where the reorganization of USTA Player Development comes into play.

Colette Lewis, who singlehandedly brought real reporting to Junior Tennis in the United States has written her take on what the new Director of Player Development needs to do. Here are two points that she makes regarding USTA PD:

2. PD's voice must be heard on the topic of minimum prize money for Futures events on the USTA Pro Circuit. To allow $10,000 Futures tournaments to continue to exist without any increase in prize money for 20 years demonstrates a lack of big-picture thinking. It would cost $115,000 to upgrade the 23 men's $10Ks to $15Ks. A less complicated and cheaper action item would be hard to find.

3. Too much money is going to too few juniors. Selecting prospects is what competition is for. Anointing players based on potential and providing them with everything is risky at best and a waste of PD resources at worst. Better to give 100 kids $1000 than 1 kid $100,000.

Here is what she would like to see in the new head of PD:

1) have a background in coaching juniors and either a player they coach, or a son or daughter in the system
2) be familiar with the demands of the current pro game, whether as a coach or player at that level in the past decade
3) be well-versed in the current advances in coaching and sports science
4) have a love of the game that extends to sectional/national junior tournaments
5) demonstrate an ability to convey to the USTA president, board and all USTA members the goals and mission of Player Development, a plan to reach them, and a means to determine if they have been met
6) possess business and marketing skills to attract sponsorship and support from commercial interests
7) inspire loyalty, leading to reduced turnover
8) be delighted to live in Lake Nona, Florida

Items two and three are no brainers and it's shocking that this has to be mentioned at all. I've said before that the McEnroe brothers seem to be totally unaware of anything that has gone on in tennis since they stopped playing. John makes it obvious with his commentary (I should say what passes for commentary from him), and if Ms Lewis had to make these two points part of her wish list it implies that Patrick McEnroe is as stuck in the past as his brother.

To read her post in full go here .

In a second post Ms Lewis reports that up and coming junior Francis Tiafoe is being courted by Jay-Z's sports management team. He's 16. He plays like he's 16. He's got a big personality and loves the roar of the crowd but imagine a kid knowing Jay-Z is interested in him? Think of parents who, with stars in their eyes, picture their child as part of a future "Big Four"? Who is going to tell them to slow their roll, to keep their child away from the vultures? Is it going out on a limb to say no one?

The biggest problem with many US juniors (I'm focusing on the men now) is that they're stars before they've accomplished anything. Instead of fighting to become international stars they're fighting to be top of the heap in a very limited, insular world that refuses to see the sport has passed them by. What if players like Donald Young and Ryan Harrison had developed games better suited to their size instead of being forced to play a style that is totally unsuited to not only their physiques but their personalities? I've always felt Young should have a game more like another small man, Nikolay Davydenko instead of trying to be the next Pete Sampras or Andy Roddick. Dare I say Roddick fell from high potential to average once his coaching was taken over by US based men? I do. At one point he had an all around, all surface game. In the end he was a servebot who was outthought and outmanuevered on court.

So where does the ATP go from here? I think it's on it's way. It hasn't invested as heavily in Asia as the WTA has and continues to play tournaments where there is am already established fan base. The old powers are in trouble of their own making and it will take awhile for them to turn things around. Does it mean a lower quality of men's tennis for a few years? Yes and no. Cilic played wonderful, dominating tennis this summer. Jo Tsonga is working hard on his game realizing that now might be the best chance he has. Richard Gasquet, sadly, is another victim of the hype machine. He may be able to turn things around but he looks disinterested and lost at times on court. Gaël Monfils is probably the biggest waste of talent out there. If he can learn to hold his focus and not fall back on old, bad habits he could surprise us all.

After Andy Murray who is there in Britain? Australia seems to be banking on a young man with a volatile personality but without the right for his time smarts of Lleyton Hewitt.

In the States Tiafoe is only 16. We won't know much about him for another four to five years.

I feel that there will be another period of men from those pesky "other countries" dominating the game. Unless some tennis associations take their heads out of the sand that period will last a long time.

This Week in the ATP

by Savannah

When Lewis Carroll wrote the phrase "Curiouser and curiouser!" he was not referring to tennis, not the tennis of his time and surely not today's game or any of it's players. Still the phrase is apt to describe what is going on in the ATP, more specifically at Gstaad where a WC was denied one Viktor Troicki for the Qualifying tournament but granted into the Main Draw.

You remember Viktor? The player who told drug testers that he wasn't going to give a blood sample the day they requested it but that he could comply with their request the next day? The person who then said he thought he could do it because the lead tester told him he could, something the lead tester denied ever saying? The same person who enlisted the current ATP #1 player to argue his case in the press and to anyone who would listen? Yeah that guy. The good people who run the Gstaad tournament denied Troicki's request to enter the Qualifying draw as a WC. That made sense. He's been away for a year and there are many other players who abided by the rules and worked hard to be able to get into Qualifying so give a drug cheat a pass? Let him play a Challenger or two. It's not as if he were lighting the tour on fire with his play before and paying customers deserved to see someone who could play at the current pro level. So you can imagine my surprise to see he got a Wild Card into the Main Draw at the tournament. If they were going to do this why didn't they say that was their intention from the beginning instead of appearing to hold the moral high ground and all that?

Someone named Ravi Ubha wrote a pretty sympathetic to Troicki article in CNN's International edition that fans of Serbian tennis are using to justify their "outrage" at the suspension. When it first happened I said that if they gave Troicki a pass after refusing to take a mandatory test everyone would be telling the testers to come back the next day or the next week for that matter. That a top player would even defend someone in this situation is stunning in my opinion. But as I always say I can say what I want because I'm not beholden to anyone. If the current top player in the world, the person who represents men's tennis to the world, can't see why his friend was wrong and should've done what Marin Cilic did and take his punishment like a man instead of whining about it then I question that man's dedication to sportsmanship. Then again Troicki's best friend was caught using a non hyperbaric hyperbaric chamber and nothing was done so I guess he should expect the same treatment for his close friend.

Another ATP story of interest is IMG dropping Bernard Tomic with two years left on his contract with them. I guess when your father goes around beating people up and you're unable to sever your business relationship with him you're willing to pay that price. In a terse statement posted on Twitter and reported in Australian media IMG said the following.

"IMG and Bernard Tomic have mutually ended our relationship. We wish Bernard great success on and off the tennis court."

There was also this incident involving Tomic the younger reported in Tennis.com :

Tomic was also reported by Australian newspapers to have attended a party in February where underage girls were offered drugs, but he was not linked to illegal activity by police. In November, he was photographed partying with high school girls at a nightclub.

Tomic’s father, John, resumed coaching him in May, having been banned from tournaments for a year by the ATP following an assault on his son’s former hitting partner that left him with a broken nose and neck injuries.

No mention was made of the younger Tomic's naked wrestling with a male friend in a hot tub but boys will be boys.

Then there's Fabio Fognini using an ethnic slur against a Serbian player during his loss to said player last week. I found it ironic that after I responded to a reader's post with a comment about staying out of European ethnic disputes while acknowledging I know they exist this incident occurred. Some have responded by detailing a history of the Balkans while others argue that because the player involved has light colored hair it's impossible for him to be considered a member of the ethnic group Fognini referenced while others say it was the heat of battle. Still others point to the current issue of immigration and how it's being played out in Italy at the moment. I'm sticking to my guns and staying out of it. He said it. He admits he said it. And he gave a somewhat halfheared apology. Maybe he should stick to posing in his swim trunks no? That will give people a lot to talk about.


Photo via the ATP

I almost giggled myself silly this morning watching the match in Hamburg between seventeen year old Alexander Zverev of Germany and David Ferrer of Spain. What was so funny? That's Zverev pictured above. The commentators focused on the great week he had in Hamburg and how there was almost no way Ferrer was going to want to lose to a 17 year old kid who is still growing into his body. They also talked about how there have been plenty of good junior players who looked poised to make noise on the Main Tour who didn't pan out. Their conclusion was one good week does not a career make. Ferrer handed the kids ass to him and afterwards Zverev said that his loss today was a lesson and showed him how far he has to go to be a top player. I'm paraphrasing of course but I was glad to read his comments.

I'm sorry I said I was laughing to myself. I was because all I could think about was what Stacey Allaster would be doing to make this kid the face of the ATP. Come on. You know she would so do it.

It's The European Spring Clay Season!

by Savannah



This post is very late. I should've covered last weekends winners earlier in the week but life being what it is I didn't. I'll post their pictures throughout the post.


Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova - Monterrey

Monte Carlo is about to get underway and the most beautiful setting for tennis will be on display. I say this every year but it's worth repeating. There is no more beautiful spot on earth to hold a tennis tournament. There may be bigger arenas, there may be more storied locations, but with the blue Mediterranean Sea as it's background contrasted with the brick red of the courts the stage is set for a style of tennis that demands the most from players. You must be at peak condition mentally and physically to play well in the slower red dirt of Europe. You must play strategically, know how to construct points, and be able to think two or three shots ahead. I wonder if that's why not one top American player is showing up. Other than the Bryan twins I can't name one American who plays the clay season until they have to. Sam Querrey used to but he's injured and won't come to Monte Carlo.


Kristina Mladenovic and Lucie Safarova - Charleston

Of course Monte Carlo is the tournament the American tennis establishment, working through the ATP, wanted to get rid of. It was the European players, leading the fight to preserve this historic tournament, who saved it agreeing to the compromise of making it a non mandatory event but preserving its Masters 1000 status. The players fought. Keep that in mind.

Meanwhile in the States one of this country's oldest tournaments was allowed to shut down, it's place taken by a tournament in South America all to make sure a tournament owner who wants to treat players as more than chattel, couldn't get control of another event. So much for tradition in the States.

I should mention in passing that the tennis journalistic establishment would rather foam at the mouth about Caroline Wozniacki seeming to compare herself to a WAG (or whatever it is she meant by her statement) than deal with the state of mens tennis in the States right now. We've got one man in the ATP top 20, just barely, and that is considered a big deal.


Serena Williams - Charleston

What they are ignoring is that it's women's tennis in the States that's almost off of life support. I say almost because the USTA Pro Player organization, as exhibited in the last matches by Sloane Stephens and the defection of Christina McHale to her own coach, doesn't seem to have a clue what to do when faced with genuine talent that isn't male. They may nip this nascent revival in the bud with their idiocy if the players aren't careful.

The other news that the professional tennis journo's seem to be ignoring is who will take over from ailing ATP CEO Adam Drewett. It was USA Today that published a story about who the front runners are to take over. All emphasis is mine.

The contenders are Mark Young, who heads up the ATP Tour's Americas division and is its chief legal and media officer; and Laurent Delanney, who oversees the European division and commercial operations.

Two people with knowledge of the search confirmed that Young and Delanney are the only candidates being considered. They spoke to USA TODAY Sports on condition of anonymity because the search is ongoing.

The ATP board, comprised of three tournament and three player representatives, has been looking for a successor to current ATP executive chairman and president Brad Drewett since he disclosed in January that he is suffering from Motor Neuron Disease (also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease) and would step down when a replacement was found.

"The board is focusing on a number of strong internal candidates and is not considering external candidates at this stage in the process," the ATP said in a statement provided Thursday.

The two people said no consensus has formed around either candidate, but that continuity was paramount.

(...)

No successor to Drewett is likely to be named until the ATP board meets again during Wimbledon, which begins June 24.

(...)

Young, an American based in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., is the more experienced candidate but also carries more baggage.

An attorney and the tour's general counsel, he joined the ATP in 1990 and became CEO of the Americas division, which includes North and South America, in 1996. He has negotiated many of the tours major sponsorship and TV deals.

French-born Delenney has an agent and marketing background (he once managed Yannick Noah's career) and joined the ATP in 1994. He directed sponsorship and licensing teams and became CEO of its European division — the seat of power in the men's game today — in 2009. He lives in Monte Carlo, Monaco.

Both are seen as having strong ties to tournaments. Reaching a final decision could rest with which man players rally behind.

Notice there was no mention of Richard Krajicek. I think that Young will get it unless something major happens behind the scenes involving the players.

The WTA - Merchants of Soft Porn?

I love pictures. Seeing players on and off the court, in their kits or on tournament red carpets is always fun for me especially since I love fashion. So imagine my chagrin when scrolling through a popular women's fan site I had to make sure I hadn't landed on some tits and ass site. After making sure that I was indeed on a tennis site I scrolled through several pages of young players in various stages of undress. I say young because many of them are players who you see on the ITF circuit week after week, some doing well and some not. I'm not sure I care if a young player looks like Taylor Swift or not. I do care about her game and if she's fighting her way into main tour draws though.

And it's not only the up and comers. There was a serious discussion about how sexy Maria Sharapova is and whether her lack of pendulous boobs takes away from her sexiness. Then there was the discussion of Victoria Azarenka's nose which of course segued into a discussion of her being with Stefan Gordy and that he's an annoyance. Somehow that conversation ended up being about Anna Kournikova. I have no idea.

I've said over and over that the WTA needs to focus on the women's game and the best players minus their physical attributes. I mean if boobs make a woman sexy why isn't Serena Williams always the sexiest woman on the tour? Oh yeah, there's that thing about her being of African descent that leaves her out of who is sexy conversations.

Also left out of these idiotic conversations are Steffi Graf and Monica Seles.

To the fans credit someone asked why players who are known lesbians are all of a sudden flashing boobage? It's a good question but then it was back to the half naked, the flat chested, and those with big noses.

The thing is how can I blame the fans reducing the women's game to one of tits and ass when the tennis press, the place where you should be reading about the different games played by the top players, is obsessing over Caroline Wozniacki and her golfer and whether she should want to compare herself to a WAG.

I mean what could be more important right?

Until the WTA starts promoting the GAME of tennis and not the IMAGE of tennis we'll continue to see twenty people in the stands watching a match between the top women while a nearby court if full to overflowing watching two guys in the top fifty slug it out. It's this that makes all the talk about getting rid of combined events being good for the women's tour moot. If there are no combined events who would come and see the WTA unless Serena or Venus Williams are playing? No one puts butts in the seats the way these two do and any one who argues otherwise is delusional.

So lets make women's tennis about tennis and not about physical beauty or lack thereof okay? Please?

The 2012 French Open

by Savannah



Grand Slams are supposed to be, well, grand. Or should I say grandiose? Tennis is asking it's top players to prove to the world that they have mastered the surface the Slam is being played on. There are two hard court Slams, both taking place in their respective nations summer heat. The two natural surface Slams take place during their countries spring. Spring is, as those of us who live in temperate climates know, an iffy proposition at best. You can have searing heat, damp chilly days that may or may not come with wind, or sunny cool days that can also bring windy conditions. Each event requires a different skill set from the players no matter their ranking. The players that achieve mastery, who survive whatever it is Mother Nature throws at them get the right to hoist the winners trophy and have their name engraved on the trophy for future generations to admire and aspire to the level of play that got that player's name engraved there for posterity.



Of all the Slams the French Open stands alone. It's about patience, mental and physical stamina, shot construction and body control. You can't fake it on the terre battue - the red clay of Roland Garros. In fact you can't fake it on any red clay surface. I feel I have to be specific here because this was the year promoter Ion Tiriac decided to throw a wrench into the run up to the French by staging his tournament on what was called "blue clay". As player complaints mounted there were revelations that the surface, originally said to be no different from it's red counterpart had never been tested by a live player. It was said, or admitted, that the surface had never been tested by a living breathing player and that the assurances had come from the lab techs that created it. Those who won the event on that surface said that those complaining were "weenies" or whiners who didn't want to adjust to change. It bears mentioning that neither champion, mens or women's, figured in the outcome of the French Open. If Tiriac wants to continue using this gimmick to promote his tournament maybe it should be moved to after the spring clay court season to take place after Wimbledon and lead into the US summer hard court season. Maybe Hamburg, so rudely treated after upgrading it's stadiums, should be put back in the place it used to occupy. The heavy slow clay would make a better warm up than the blue surface that plays more like a hard court than a crushed brick one.

Yeah I know I digress but I think this needs to be said. The debacle that was the women's draw in Paris wouldn't have happened if the hype machine hadn't picked a favorite based on results on two "clay" surfaces that in reality bear no resemblance to it.



My other sore point, in fact the one that really made me angry, was the coverage viewers in the United States were subjected to. My anger has nothing to do with the fact that my cable provider refuses to settle with Tennis Channel so that I had to rely on streams when coverage moved from ESPN2. It had to do with two veteran players who at best were abysmal in their knowledge not only of the players but of what was going on on the court. I'm a fan. I can root for anyone I want from my living room sofa. If I'm getting paid to provide insightful and informative coverage of a match it's my job to put my inner fan girl away and report on tactics, technique, the effect of the weather, the surface, grips and mental processes taking place on the court. None of this was provided by Chris Evert or John McEnroe.




I know that both are busy people, that they're both running academies and make appearances in exhibitions and/or senior tour events and can't devote a lot of time to watching tennis.




BUT they know when they're going to be broadcasting and I don't know whether the blame lies with ESPN2 or the two people I named above but to have Evert live on the air saying she'd never heard of a player who every tennis head knew had had a pretty good clay season or McEnroe not knowing that Venus Williams had been diagnosed with an auto immune disease that effects her energy level and can cause lack of feeling in her hands. And that's before Evert tweeted that she felt "nauseous" about Roger Federer's play in an early round. This is why despite their fanboy tendencies at some times Rob Koenig and Jason Goodall are constantly rated as the best in the business by knowledgeable fans, fans who watch a lot of tennis, something that is apparently not required of JMac and Chrissie. In my opinion if the announcers due to outside factors come in a little hazy about what's been going on in the tennis world briefing sheets or sessions should be held. What's wrong with cheat sheets giving the won/lost records, rankings and results leading into the Slam being provided? If pertinent medical histories can be provided as well. Is that too much to ask? Apparently it is.





As for the United States our performance was once again horrid. The top rated US Junior girl Taylor Townsend snagged the number one ranking over Anna Schmiedlova who had been having a wonderful summer and came into the French on fire. This caused a lot of jaws to get tight in the junior tennis world but I figured they'd all had their haterade and that Taylor had to have improved her fitness since she was last seen on a major stage.



Unfortunately I was wrong. It's inexcusable for a young woman wanting to be considered a top contender to show up for a tournament, any tournament, in the above condition. Taylor is not alone in the lack of fitness department though. None of the American girls I saw with the possible exception of Lauren Davis, were fit. I exclude Davis because the only time I saw her she was sitting down. I'm not saying the young girls should go on a starvation diet but I mean even Christina McHale had a bit of a paunch. I'm old enough to remember Lindsay Davenport before she got fit and was the target of many snickers and asides by the American male tennis establishment, many of whom considered women players to be nothing more that pretenders because so many weren't fit.


The girl pictured above won the Junior girls championship by the way.

So what about the state of American tennis, male and female, going into Wimbledon? I think Patrick McEnroe has accepted that "winter is here" for the US and that it may be a long one. Ryan Harrison is the top hope for the US but like Victoria Azarenka will have to get himself under better control to compete with the big boys who are not impressed by histrionics and smashed racquets or as in Azarenka's case objects thrown at court officials and verbal abuse.




Andy Roddicks's mind is clearly on other things right now and he's barely been worth a footnote during the spring clay season. John Isner defeated Roger Federer during Davis Cup play but that said more about Federer than Isner whose game doesn't translate well to clay at all. The Bryan twins are aging and you have to wonder how much longer they'll be top competitors.




There is Sloan Stephens on the women's side though. Sloan has made the gutsy move to go to Barcelona to learn how to play on red clay, a sad commentary of the level of clay court instruction available in the United States. Let's not forget that Maria Sharapova's transformation into a decent if not spectacular clay court player took close to three years of work on her part. She didn't wake up one day and suddenly play better. Yet once more exhibiting ignorance of the sport he's paid to be an expert on John McEnroe asked, on the air, if Russian national Maria Sharapova was going to play the Olympics for the United States. That was the "Facepalm of the Tournament" award winner for me. Still it wasn't a surprise. I mentioned during my post on the WTA finalists that the US tennis establishment was going to try and claim Sharapova's success as it's own since she's done so much training here. That the USTA has to bask in the reflected glow of a US trained woman playing for Russia hoping that American's will forget her nationality is pretty sad. It's also pretty sad that the American's are once again "waiting for Wimbledon" where the hope of good draws and a faster surface can possibly improve our showing.



Enough of the pathetic state of American tennis. Let's look at both tours starting with the WTA. The Italian women seem to be staking a claim to the French. For the third year in a row an Italian woman made the Final. Tiny Sara Errani showed how to make her height less of a disadvantage playing bigger women by moving around the ball to get a good angle and frustrate her taller opponents. Her style could be a prototype for the smaller women trying to make it in the States but I doubt that this will happen. I thought that Nikolay Davydenko's style would be a good one for Donald Young to study but what do I know? I'm just a fan. God forbid some foreigner would be worthy of emulation.



But back to the WTA. The only woman who seemed to have an idea about how to play Sharapova on clay was defending champion Li Na but she seems to have forgotten how to play tennis longer than a set and a half. If you make Sharapova move her shots lose their effectiveness but no one seemed able to do that for more than a few games. Perhaps it's a testament to Sharapova's will that she didn't allow her opponents to be able to do that for any length of time during a match. Perhaps it's a testament to the lack of mental toughness outside of Sharapova and Serena Williams in the women's game. I was slack jawed when I read that Victoria Azarenka had added Amelie Mauresmo to her team to prepare for the French. What did Amelie do in Paris to warrant being a consultant to the then WTA #1?



That great tennis sage Marion Bartoli said that it's a big difference between being the hunter and the hunted. I think Ms Azarenka found this out. I said from the beginning of her ascension that Azarenka was not temperamentally suited to be a number one. She may redeem herself at Wimbledon and the US Open but I have a feeling two women named Williams and Sharapova will have other ideas about her reclaiming the top spot. Neither Serena nor Maria give a rats ass about being the hunted. They care about winning and don't care who they have to destroy on their way to doing that. Serena believed the hype about her being a contender for Paris and didn't play a tournament on the red dirt coming into Paris. Sharapova did. I think Serena will leave the pretty at home and come out ready to take names at Wimbledon.



So what about the ATP tour? Does it have the depth most feel is lacking in the women's tour? I think the answer is a definite maybe. One of the things I saw on a lot of fan boards during the French was that aside from the top four or five (isn't it time to include David Ferrer in the conversation?) the last few majors and Master's events have been boring. Players like Tomas Berdych, Juan Martin del Potro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gilles Simon have shown the skills but not the necessary will to do damage against the top three players. Milos Raonic has the weight of Canada on his shoulders every time he steps on court. I also feel his game hasn't matured the way it could have if they left him alone to develop. I don't know what to say about Fernando Verdasco. Feliciano Lopez seems to have been slowed down by age but he is better on hard courts than clay. David Nalbandian is best during the indoor season but if he pulls himself together can definitely ruin your day. I refuse to discuss Janko Tipsarevic.



Then there's this quote from Newsweek has to have jaws tight.

The storylines for global tennis only get better as Nadal and Djokovic continue their back-and-forth. Who will conquer at Wimbledon? And again at the grounds of the All England Club a month later at the London Olympics? Can supporting cast members such as Federer, Murray, and the electric Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or the big hitters like Tomas Berdych and Juan Martin del Potro push aside the Tremendous Two for a title?

That's not from me folks. I wrote the other stuff before seeing this quote. Great minds and all that I guess.

Still notice the lack of an American even being mentioned? US commentators can continue to pretend that our players have more than a fluke chance of going deep in a Slam or a Masters 1000. They can not read up on the European's and ignore the European and to a lesser extent the South Americans - Juan Monaco until he was injured was having a very good year - but it's not going to change reality.
Winter is here, and it's going to be a very long one.

End Note

Those of you have have read this blog from the beginning know that I used to hear quite a bit from MV about her Captain Wasabi. Well as luck, or something, would have it I got an email from her the other day. She's worried about her Captain, worried enough to not be able to text as much as she would like to her friends during his matches. The day she sent me the email she said he'd locked himself in the man cave wing of the house muttering something about "two and a half". Not even the twins - yes they've had children since she last communicated with me - could lure him out. He's also been screaming about the Kid as he still calls his rival being five majors away and that sixteen was supposed to be sacred. I know MV loves her Captain and as a woman I sympathize. I'm not sure how I should answer her.

It's Always Something

by Savannah

Fans of American tennis looked forward to the all American doubles final that was to take place in Rome yesterday between the team composed of Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish and the team of John Isner and Sam Querrey. This was Rome, a clay court, the surface American players are seemingly born allergic to. It was going to be an epic battle and good news for tennis in the United States.

As you know by now Andy Roddick pulled out of the tournament citing a shoulder injury giving the crown to the team known as "Quisner". Pretty straight forward right?

Actually, it wasn't. Later in the afternoon and early evening reports began to surface about Roddick leaving Rome in a snit. Didn't make sense at first but Here is an account of what happened.

Andy Roddick was prowling the corridors at the Rome Masters on Sunday, incensed that he and Mardy Fish were going to be docked $42,800 — a share of the prize money they earned for their unexpected arrival in the doubles final because he was unfit to play.

An ultrasound on the right shoulder of the former world No. 1 and three-time Wimbledon finalist showed a buildup of fluid, which required a few days' rest, but Roddick was told that unless he and Fish fulfilled their commitment, they would be paid only what they would have received for reaching the semifinals. Roddick officially withdrew at 5 p.m. local time Sunday.

That at least gave Fish, as well as John Isner and Sam Querrey — their opponents in an all-American final — an opportunity to catch the only flight Sunday night from Rome to Dusseldorf, where the three players are representing the United States in the ATP's World Team Cup on Monday and where the organizers were threatening sanctions if they did not turn up in time to play.

Roddick was talked out of convening a news conference, but he asked The (London) Times to be present in the ATP office when he rebuked officials over a rule that reads, "Should a doubles match be uncontested or fail to be completed, the losing team shall only receive points and prize money from the previous round," which contained three provisos, none of which was applicable in this particular case.

No one was prepared to bend, which meant that the world No. 12 had to decide whether to play, which seriously could have undermined his French Open prospects, or take the prize money deduction and docking of ranking points on the chin and then appeal against the rule.

"We're going to have to beg for the money we've earned," Roddick said. "Why should Mardy be punished when I can't play? Mardy has played the (semifinal) match, he won the match, he earned the money, you can't take away something he has already done. This is embarrassing for the tour.

"The ATP people said they could not make a unilateral decision, so I either take a chance with the appeal process or I played with a shoulder that didn't give us much chance of winning and had a risk for the future.

"I would have had to play the full match. I asked if I played a point and then withdrew what would happen and they said the same thing, so it would have been an hour mockery as opposed to a five-minute mockery. The ATP stands for Association of Tennis Professionals; it should be the Association of Tie People."

The ATP said that it has to govern for all and that the rule was brought in a few years ago to deter players who were abandoning official doubles events without good cause to go off and play other lucrative matches.

There are some who will argue that Andy is arguing the principle of the issue and side with him. I'm not one of them. There is a rule on the books that was adopted just for situations like this. Apparently Andy feels that it doesn't apply to him. Yes he framed the argument in terms of it being unfair to Mardy but in the end didn't he want to break a rule that as an ATP player he is bound to abide by? I wonder if Andy is used to throwing hissy fits like this with the USTA and getting his way? He's been top dog in the States since forever and I'm sure whatever Andy wants Andy gets.
I guess the suits in Europe pissed him off so he went public. He asked the media in and that is why this all became public.

Everyone jumped on Donald Young's case when he publicly cursed out the USTA. The silence is deafening about this incident. Young posted on Twitter. Roddick called in the Times of London. Not much difference to me.

Since Roddick chose to do this in such a public way I hope that the public is allowed to know the outcome of any appeal if one is filed.

The WTA Crowns Its 2010 Queen...and Other Things

by Savannah

Kim Clijsters scored a big win for women's tennis by defeating the current WTA number one player Caroline Wozniacki in three sets 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. She did it on her own. There were looks to her box and yes, there was probably some coaching but at no time did someone come flying down to the court to scream instructions at her. She came back from walkabout pretty much on her own in the third set. You can argue there shouldn't have been a third set since Kim had a 4-1 lead in the second set but I think she saw herself on the flight home a little too soon. Let's be real here. Wozniacki is talented. At some point she could become worthy of the top ranking. Right now her play is as someone on Twitter said, that of a glorified junior player.

I think what has shaken WTA fans about Elena Dementieva's retirement is that she was made of the same stuff Clijsters is. She won or lost on her own. Her mother Vera sat in the stands and you could read how her daughter was doing on her face. Vera never made a trip to the court. Piotr Wozniacki is there every time you turn around.

That raises the question as to why on court coaching is allowed during the YEC. It's not allowed during Slams and since there were some making the argument that if Wozniacki won it was the equivalent of winning a Slam the question is a valid one. If the YEC is going to be treated as a major then on court coaching should not be allowed. Unfortunately once the Old Guard retires, mostly after the 2012 Olympics, the quality of tennis in the WTA is going to go down drastically. Of course there could be some youngster out there who will be able to step into the very large shoes of those who have gone before them, someone we haven't heard of yet. In the meantime congratulations to Kim Clijsters for her victory.


Christophe Rochus did not go quietly. The older and some would say lesser of the Rochus brothers delivered some body blows to the sport he and his brother played. Some excerpts.

Q: You were the first to denounce doping in tennis. Did it come back to haunt you?

A: "Oh yes! Notably, I received a threatening letter from the ATP that caused me problems later on, but that's not a concern. It's just proof that the system is rotten..."

Q: You saw some "dirty" things regarding that during your career?

A: "Like everyone, I saw some things. For me, it is inconceivable to be able to play five hours in the blazing sun one day, and run like a rabbit the next day."

Q: Do you remember a particular example?

A: "Yes, I remember a match against a guy whose name I won't mention. I won the first set 6-1, very easily. He went to the bathroom and came back to the court completely changed, almost. He led 5-3 in the second set and when I got it back to 5-5, his nose started to bleed. I said at the time that this was pretty weird."
(...)
Q: There were even rumours about Justine Henin when she retired. Do you think they were unfounded?

A: "I heard them just like you did. All I can say is that I was surprised by the fact that she suddenly stopped competing, without apparent reason. A great champion, generally, announces it several months in advance and does a sort of farewell tour..."

Q: We've felt, in the past, that you were irritated by the media aura cast by Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters.

A: "No. Understand me: I have a lot of admiration for the performances of these two players. What bothers me is that people compare the men's and women's circuits, which have nothing to do with each other. Justine wouldn't beat the No. 500 player on the ATP. It's as if we were comparing men's and women's soccer ..."

Q: To that extent?

A: "With the men, the level is very high from the first round. Even Nadal and Federer can be pushed. With the girls, before the quarterfinals, it's a joke. The level is distressingly weak and the difference between the top 10 and top 100 is enormous."

Q: Yes, at Grand Slams, the prize money is identical..."

A: "Yes, and I'm sorry, but that's not normal. The majority of the players think the way I do, even if they don't say it out loud. In all objectivity, you can't compare the amount of effort necessary to reach the second week of a Grand Slam for the men and the women. And I'm not talking just about the matches that are five sets for the men and three sets for the women. Everything is different. All you have to do is look at how easily some players come back after a long break ..."

Q: You're thinking of Kim and Justine?

A: "Not necessarily. Look at the recent performances of Kimiko Date. She stopped for 10 years and she returned to the top at age 40. As if it were nothing. It's a disgrace. That type of story would never happen on the ATP Tour. The failed comeback of Thomas Muster is the best proof."

Enjoy your retirement Christophe.

The Others
There were three ATP tournaments taking place while the women played in Doha.

Mikhail Kukushin made his first main tour final and proceeded to win it. Much was made of his coach being his girlfriend. From the looks of things he could care less. He won.

Gael Monfils won the title at Montpellier.

Jurgen Melzer hoists what has to be the most phallic trophy I've ever seen after his win in the city of Wien, known in the West as Vienna.
Next week the ATP has the stage to itself with tournaments in Valencia and Basel.
Miscellany

I'm not quite sure why these pictures are surfacing now but they're nice. The picture shown above is one of Venus, her sister Lyandrea (sp) and a twelve year old Caroline Wozniacki. The accompanying article says that the picture decorated Caroline's bedroom walls for some time. Proof?

And there you have it folks. I don't really want to get into the why of these pictures. I think most of you who read this blog understand the workings of the various PR machines in tennis.

I'll feature the Doubles winners at Doha and the other tournaments tomorrow.

World Tour Finals Final

by Craig Hickman


Reuters/Getty

The one who defeated Roger Federer en route to this final should take the title.

Oh, wait. They both did that.

Okay. So. The one who returns serve most aggressively should take the title. Nikolay Davydenko is capable of serving into the corners when you least expect him but Juan Martín del Potro won't be as frustrated by the Russian's delivery as he was by the Swede's so he should find himself with more looks to break serve. But Kolya returns serve about as well as anyone, leads their head-to-head 2-1, and gave del Potro quite a shellacking at this event last year. Still, the Tower of Tandil is a different player now than he was a year ago.

I've no doubt both of them can hoist the tour's final 2009 trophy, so I'll take another third-set breaker, a tub of popcorn, and may the most composed man win.

World Tour Finals Day 7 Preview

by Craig Hickman


Getty

Group A has the advantage. Roger Federer and Juan Martín del Potro had a day off, Robin Soderling and Nikolay Davydenko did not.

The Russian has the shortest turnaround and the worst record of all against his opponent. I still don't understand why Kolya hasn't been able to defeat the world No. 1 even once. They have played tight sets, but Kolya always manages to find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. I'm not sure Raja will be in any mood to even allow him to get close today. I'll be surprised if the Swiss doesn't win in straights.


Getty

Getty

I, for one, am going to thoroughly enjoy watching the Rude Power boys duke it out. They've split their only two meetings with the Argentinean winning their only match in 2009. But that was way back in Auckland, which seems like a lifetime ago. The Swede won a set last night to avoid facing Raja in this round, so let's see what he has left to bring against del Potro. I see a third set breaker. Bring on the popcorn.

Getty

Day 7 - Semifinals Order Of Play

Day Session: 12.30 pm GMT (7.30 am ET)

Mirnyi/Ram vs. Cermak/Mertinak

Followed by
[1] Roger Federer vs. [6] Nikolay Davydenko

Night Session: 7 pm GMT (2 pm ET)

Bhupathi/Knowles vs. Bryan/Bryan

Followed by
[8] Robin Söderling vs. [5] Juan Martín del Potro

There should be no night session for the semifinals. In both singles and doubles, it gives the day-session winners an advantage they don't need heading into the finals tomorrow.

ATP WTF Day 1 and Day 2 Orders of Play

Round Robin Day 1 ORDER OF PLAY – SUNDAY, 22 NOVEMBER, 2009

CENTRE COURT – start 12:30 pm

[1] D Nestor (CAN / N Zimonjic (SRB) vs [8] M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL)

Not Before 2:15 pm

[4] A Murray (GBR) vs [5] J del Potro (ARG)

At 7:00 pm

[3] M Bhupathi (IND) / M Knowles (BAH) vs [5] F Cermak (CZE) / M Mertinak (SVK)

Not Before 8:45 pm

[1] R Federer (SUI) vs [7] F Verdasco (ESP)

ORDER OF PLAY – Round Robin Day 2 MONDAY, 23 NOVEMBER, 2009

CENTRE COURT – start 12:30 pm

[2] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) vs [7] M Mirnyi (BLR) / A Ram (ISR)

Not Before 2:15 pm

[2] R Nadal (ESP) vs [8] R Soderling (SWE)

At 7:00 pm

[4] L Dlouhy (CZE) / L Paes (IND) vs L Kubot (POL) / O Marach (AUT)

Not Before 8:45 pm

[3] N Djokovic vs [6] N Davydenko (RUS)

Tennis Miscellany

by Savannah

Sometimes it's amazing what comes out of people's mouths.

Murray attracts praise in defeat

Jean-Francois Caujolle, tournament director of the BNP Paribas Masters, singled out Andy Murray for special praise at his end-of-event review and disclosed that next year there could be a dramatic change to the format in Paris. There is a powerful case, Caujolle believes, for the tournament to become a 32 rather than 48 man draw - "for it is quite normal that the draws become progressively smaller in order to arrive towards the Masters where there are only eight players."

He said Murray had been a victim of the current numbers and the consequent pressure it places on scheduling with only one court at the Palais Omnisport of a standard required for an event of this prestige. "[Murray] ended one match on Wednesday at 1.45am and there had been a real problem with the scheduling that day because we had six matches to play on he Centre Court," Caujolle said. The problem had been exacerbated by Marat Safin's three set loss to Juan Martin Del Potro, after which there was an extended retirement celebration for the Russian that put another spanner in the works.

"The next day Murray had to play on Court No 1 (against Radek Stepanek) and sincerely I believe he would not have lost that match if it had been on the Centre. He was a victim of those problems we have with a tournament with 48 players. He was extremely decent and said nothing about it. He just said the other player was better than him."

Caujolle revealed that his plans for a reduction in draw size would be put to the ATP Board next week. He also declared that an ATP 250 tournament would be scheduled in the same week as Paris next year - "so we are not only guaranteeing the existing jobs of the players but creating new ones," he said. "I trust it will be possible."

To make a long story short the TD is saying that his facility is not up to the standards of an ATP 1000 event. Interesting. Will the event be moved somewhere else? And what is the purpose of the proposed ATP250 event to be held during the same week? Is that to make the guys who don't make the cut for Bercy feel better? Are we seeing the ATP go the way of the WTA and splitting their tour in two?

Film at 11 folks.

Of course I'm using the term "Journalist" loosely...

The Shame of American tennis journalists continues. During his post match presser after his loss to Radek Stepanek Andy Murray mentioned that there will be over 200 journalists attending WTF. What he didn't mention is that none of them, not one, will be American. What the hell is up with that?

(Andy)Murray made a point of mentioning in the press conference after his defeat to Stepanek that he had heard there would be 200 journalists attending the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena. That is a pretty formidable level of media interest but the Net Post hears that not one of those writers is coming from the United States; whether Andy Roddick comes or not. It is quite some dark moment in tennis-writing history that not a single member from America will make the trip, and this from the richest nation in the tennis world. Truly terrible news.

The link is the same one posted above.

Since applications for credentials have to be in a month or two before the tournament I'm not sure Andy Roddick's injury should be used as an excuse here. I mean this is the end of year Championships for the ATP, the sport that these guys spend time covering for us. I can understand bloggers not being sponsored but ESPN, Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, among others, have been giving tennis a lot of coverage lately so I find it amazing that not one credentialed journalist will be coming from here.

The Davis Cup final will be played December 4-6 between Spain and the Czech Republic. I don't think I have to speculate about what the coverage will be on this side of the pond.

End Note

The exhibition season will be underway shortly for both the men and the women. I won't be posting as often but I do plan to do my "Coaches of the Year", best matches of the ATP and best matches of the WTA. I'm also going to a "Tennis Year In Review". This was one of the most bizarre years in recent memory.

Idle Chit Chat

by Savannah

I think this is the picture "vw" asked about.

More people seem to be upset about Yanina Wickmayer than Xavier Malisse who tearfully said his career may be over.

When you're watching a Final and the commentators say they don't understand why the player playing the better tennis is winning with no analysis whatsoever I'd say fanboyism in the broadcast booth has reached it's height. Shame on you Koenig and company.

I kind of like that the Paris Masters ends on the 15th and WTF starts on the 23d.

The 2009 US Open - A Final Look

by Savannah


Juan Martin del Potro from Tandil, Argentina, is the 2009 United States Open Men's Champion. He is twenty years old.

Early in yesterdays match, when it looked as if the man I call The Monogram was going to run away with the win there was some light hearted banter among the talking heads of CBS about what was happening on court. Mary Carillo said, when asked what del Potro was good at, said that he was good at being tall. One of her peers asked her to clarify and she said it again just to make sure she was understood. Hilarity ensued. By the end of the evening they were all singing a different tune.

Young Mr. del Potro is the second Argentine to win the US Open. The first was Guillermo Vilas who won in 1977 when the event was still played on clay. It was an historic victory in many ways but it was what happened afterwards that shaped the face of American tennis. The men behind the curtain didn't like the fact that a South American had won and the decision was made to change the surface the US Open was played on, in fact to change most of the training for up and coming American tennis players, from clay which was the dominant surface, to hard courts. This was to stop "others" from winning what was thought to be an American championship. And yet thirty two years later another South American born man hoisted the trophy, this time in Arthur Ashe Stadium after winning the American Slam.

So what happened to the Americans this year? The only American player to make it to the semi finals was Serena Williams. Every other American was out early. Not one American man made it past the round of sixteen. Why was that? I mean we've got some guys who are "good at being tall" playing now don't we? Haven't we got men like John Isner? Sam Querrey? Why are countries that were said to only produce, to use the pejorative "dirtballers" suddenly producing kids who thrive on hard courts while American young people are falling by the wayside unable to compete internationally?

To stick with South America for a few more minutes let's look at Fernando Gonzalez, David Nalbandian, Guillermo Canas and Gustavo Kuerten. All are excellent hard court players but again, due to where they were born, they were looked down on by the tennis establishment. Canas had his career stolen from him just when he was coming into his own. Nalbandian is known for his hard partying ways in the American press and Gonzalez for years only had that forehand. Of the four Kuerten was known for his wins at Roland Garros and can be said to be the only true clay courter among the four.

Gonzalez made the decision to hire Larry Stefanki, an American, and suddenly he was competitive, going deeper in tournaments than he ever had before. He accepted that his game worked better on hard courts and embraced what Stefanki was teaching him. It was a major turning point for the South American men because it gave players like del Potro the freedom to develop and play the game the way they wanted to.

I want to take a minute and say that Stefanki, now working with American Andy Roddick, has once again pioneered a change. Roddick is now playing what I call "modern tennis". His serve is now part of his game not his entire game. This will bear fruit down the line since American youngsters will now have the freedom to embrace their inner player and not be forced to be mindless ball bashers with no idea how to construct a point and with no knowledge of strategy beyond hitting the ball hard.

I've been hitting the men pretty hard but the women are not exempt from this. While watching Serena Williams vs Kim Clijsters it occurred to me that the reason Serena was having so many problems is because she is not used to playing someone like Kim anymore. The current crop of women need their hands held through every point and can barely think for themselves. They aren't able to hit hard but with accuracy to any part of the court and adjust their games when need be. No matter how great a player you are if you've been getting by with using only 3/4 of your skills it's hard to reverse and start using tactics you haven't needed to use in a couple of years. Serena said as much when she said that now that she knew how Kim played she'd be ready for her next time.

The United States tennis establishment can no longer sit on the sidelines looking down their noses while arrogantly declaring that the only real tennis is played on either a hard or grass court. It's obvious that thirty years from Vilas victory that the American attitude towards the rest of the tennis world not located in Great Britain or Australia is archaic and that the rest of the world has caught up and surpassed us. When someone like James Blake could state without irony that American players don't care about the European clay court swing because they prefer Wimbledon and the hardcourts something is wrong. When your players have no idea how to counter the rise of players skilled in tactics and strategy something is wrong. When one of the young men you tout as the next big thing goes to a casino the night before a big match instead of preparing himself mentally and physically for the next day something is wrong. When a young South American player who came on the scene a couple of years ago and who will turn 21 on September 23 already has a Grand Slam trophy on his mantlepiece while the American hopes win smaller tournaments and serve as filler for European ones something is wrong. When an American man hasn't been a serious Grand Slam contender since 2003 something is wrong. When a tennis establishment is more interested in tearing down it's best player instead of, like the FFT supporting it's player come hell or high water something is wrong.

There are already new names on many tennisheads radar. Gianni Mina of France, Heather Watson of Great Britain, Noppawan Lertcheewakarn of Thailand, Kristina Mladinovic of France and Yuki Bhambri of India come to mind. How ironic is it that the two young Americans who did well during the US Open, Chase Buchanan who almost won the Junior Boy's Tournament and Melanie Oudin both come from outside of USTA Player Development?

Efforts are being made to change the culture of Player Development. "More clay, less ball bashing," seems to be the mantra yet the people being hired are wed to the system as it was, have been part of it all of their professional lives. As I see it change on that side of the street will be glacial. The innovation and more complete players are coming from outside of the tennis factories in Florida.

So while to many Juan Martin del Potro's victory is a clarion call to become the best player you can be and to use your skills to your advantage to others it's their worst nightmare come true. It took thirty years to get into this mess. It's going to take some time to get out of it. Is the narrow minded and provincial attitude that got us to this point going to once again win out or will it be acknowledged by more than words that something is wrong and the fix needs to be found sooner rather than later? We've come full circle people. It's 1977 again for United States tennis.


End Note:

Taking a couple of days off. I hope to be back for Davis Cup.

Seen Around

by Savannah

The ATP has taken new profile pictures. I kept reading about them but thought they couldn't be that bad. They are. As you look at them please remember that you have not logged on to the "America's Most Wanted" web site or your local post office if it's still open. These are all tennis players.


Robby Ginepri

Tommy Robredo

Robert Kendrick

Gael Monfils

Victor Troicki

Tommy Haas

Sam Querrey

Kevin Kim
I mean really.