The ATP At A Crossroads

by Savannah


via Getty Images

Just before the Davis Cup Finals began David Lloyd , former British Davis Cup captain and brother of John Lloyd who was once married to Chris Evert, launched a scathing critique of England's best, and only, tennis star Andy Murray. He was in such a lather that he attacked not only the player but his mother, Judy Murray. What was Lloyd so upset about?

Andy Murray does not give enough back to the sport, while the Lawn Tennis Association has frittered away hundreds of millions without producing a single world-class talent.

‘The British players in recent years who have been good - Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski, Andy - they don’t in my opinion put enough back. They would say “Well, we’re winning this and winning that”. But I don’t mean that. I mean putting your heart and soul into it, a passion that is bigger than the person and even bigger than the game.

‘It’s about getting a kid who wants to play for Manchester United to want to play tennis instead. Andy is in such an incredible position with power to do that but he doesn’t. Tim is on the board of the LTA but he’s not out there grabbing people and that disappoints me.’

(...)

‘All these top players mask the failings, it is a pitiful organisation,’ said David. ‘They built a National Training Centre for £40million. That is my business, I’ve built lots of them. I know how much they cost and it’s maximum £10m, so where did the other £30m go?’

Lloyd also criticised the top players for not promoting the sport as well as they could.

‘I don’t think Andy does justice in presenting himself,’ said Lloyd. ‘I don’t think he goes out of his way to present the game. I only say things because I cannot believe we’ve been this unlucky

His criticism of the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association) is valid and no one is disputing that. What had people up in arms was his attack on the Murray family right before the beginning of the tie. Did he want England to lose? What macabre joy would he get out of that I wonder? Is he upset because Murray, of Scottish descent, came out for Scottish independence? There were many on Twitter who called Murray a hypocrite because he draped himself in the Union Jack and they at least had the balls to say that his stance on independence affected their perspective.

And what about his list of "great" British players. Rusedski, many of you will recall, was born in Canada and became a British citizen because one of his parents was born there. There was also quite an uproar about it as I recall.

Tim Henman's style of play was archaic while he was still playing.

As for the brothers Lloyd the less said the better.

You can't discuss Great Britain - England in particular - without at least touching on its caste system. The Lloyd brothers and Tim Henman are part of the inner circle, the upper class from which most tennis players were drawn. How do they go out to working or lower middle class families to try and convince them that tennis is the way to go and that they should ignore Man United? They barely concede that these people exist. It's one thing to cheer a player on the field. It's quite another thing to sit down with his family to discuss their talented son's sports options. They can't and they never will.

So why does it fall on the clan Murray to do so much? Judy Murray is doing all she can to build up girls and women's tennis in Great Britain yet she is accused of doing nothing. Are the Murray's, because of their ethnicity assumed to be able to reach kids outside of the public (really private) schools?

Needless to say Lloyd's ravings were not accepted by tennis fans, many of whom have been following the sport for years and know that the problem with British tennis isn't that the Murray clan isn't doing enough. It's that they've got no idea how to teach the modern game. If you listen to their commentary you get the impression that they despise it and long for the return of serve and volley as not just a tactic but the only way to play the game.

After Kyle Edmund's dreadful loss in the first rubber there were a lot of posts on Twitter about how well he did and that he is a bright light for the future. Uh huh. There is a British player who could possibly have taken some of the weight off of the Murray brother's shoulders but despite his change of citizenship the LTA doesn't seem in a hurry to ensure that he's eligible to play for Great Britain. It's galling that British superstar Dan Evans (ranked 185) gets credit for being on a winning Davis Cup team that he contributed absolutely nothing to. At least Edmund (ranked 102) tried.

The British reached the Davis Cup Final for the first time since 1936 on the back of Andy and Jamie Murray. They are Davis Cup Champions because of Clan Murray. They know this is the truth, a truth that galls them. What should have them in a panic is that there is absolutely no one ready to step into Andy Murray's sneakers. No one. And that is not Andy Murray's fault.

This post, the last one until summer season down under starts, is about the ATP as a whole though. Why do I say it's at a crossroads? It's widely perceived that it is the better run tour, that the caliber of it's top ten is much, much higher than that of the women's tour, that its tournaments draw more fans and more interest and that it promotes the GAME of mens tennis not just it's superstars or a specific look.

Let's look at the ATP Year End Top 20 rankings:


1 Novak Djokovic 16585
2 Andy Murray 8945
3 Roger Federer 8265
4 Stan Wawrinka 6865
5 Rafael Nadal 5230
6 Tomas Berdych 4620
7 David Ferrer 4305
8 Kei Nishikori 4235
9 Richard Gasquet 2850
10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 2635

11 John Isner 2495
12 Kevin Anderson 2475
13 Marin Cilic 2405
14 Milos Raonic 2170
15 Gilles Simon 2145
16 David Goffin 1880
17 Feliciano Lopez 1690
18 Bernard Tomic 1675
19 Benoit Paire 1633
20 Dominic Thiem 1600

What a dominant top player huh? He had a good year and fans should be flocking to him right? Well, no. That is not the way things are going. The tennis press, and some comms, are working very hard to try to rally fans to the number one. They've tried everything: guilt, shame, ethnic bias, you name it, to try and make fans like a player they are intent on not liking. I've often said that tennis fans are like cats. Try and make them go in one direction and they'll go whereever it is they want to go thank you very much.

The truth of the matter is that the current top player is a known quanity. He's been faking his way through matches for years and guess what - fans notice it! And they don't like it, or him. There is a litany of illnesses that have come and gone when it comes to him. His use of the hyperbaric chamber that wasn't a hyperbaric chamber was shoved out of public discussion by what passes as tennis journalism. The full court press is now on to make us like him. So far it's not working. The powers that be at the ATP know that an unpopular top man hurts their sport. I just don't think they can do anything to change things now.

The same is being done for the two spoiled brats from Australia, Bernard Tomic and Nick Kyrgios. Just yesterday the head of Tennis Australia said in an interview that the two have now matured, that they've "turned the corner" and that al we can expect from them going forward is qualify tennis.

Here's an excerpt" from that interview:

Both players endured turbulent years with on and off court controversies, including brushes with officialdom and the law, overshadowing anything they did on court.

Despite being the nation's top-ranked players, neither was considered as nominees for the prestigious Newcombe Medal -- which rewards Australia's "most outstanding elite tennis player and ambassador".

But Tiley said Tennis Australia had mended its fences with the pair and he expected them to be on their best behaviour at their home Grand Slam, the Australian Open, next month.

"I'd love nothing more than both Bernie and Nick to have a great 2016, as we all would," Tiley, who is also tournament director of the season's first major at Melbourne Park, told Wednesday's The Australian newspaper.

"There's no rifts; no animosity between Tennis Australia and those two guys. They are making a real go of a professional tennis career.

"They know what our expectations are and when they meet them they get rewarded and if they don't, they don't."

I'm not holding my breath.

There have also been some critiques of the generation of players aged between 20-25. Not one superstar has emerged from that group despite all the hype surrounding many of them. I don't get the point of choosing one player and naming his entire generation after him. That's silly. But I understand the motivation.

We can argue about the top three or four but the truth of the matter is two of the men in that group were winning majors in their late teens and early twenties. They were blowing the older generation off the court and into the broadcast booth. That is not being done by the younger group. Is their skill set less? Are they less competitive than the top three or four? Are they not as mentally tough?

I did a post earlier this year about the premature rewarding of promising juniors. I postulated that it freezes them mentally and that instead of working hard to improve their games they think because they caught a top player on a bad day they're the shit and don't have to do anything but what they've been doing. I made the same point in my year end report cards on Zverev and Keys. No matter how you feel about any of the top three or four you can't accuse any of them of resting on their laurels. They have all worked to improve their game. I don't see that happening with the younger group. I do see the men in their late teens making moves to try and move to the next level though so maybe it won't be such a long wait for another rivalry to appear that equals the Duopoly that still dominates mens tennis rankings be damned. Maybe I should call it the top two plus two.

I also have a bone to pick with ATP marketing. The WTA outdid them with their second tier championship tournament. People were interested in Zhuhai. Did anyone really care about the recently concluded ATP event in South America? If you judge by Twitter mentions no one did. Unless you really follow the Challenger tour many of the players were unfamiliar to most fans. I also think that fans were worn out and unless a fairly big fish was strong armed into playing interest flagged. I know some will say the positive reaction to Zhuhai shows the "depth" of the women's tour. Meh. They had Venus Williams in Zhuhai and that was all the marketing they needed. There was no one comparable in South America. Most of the good fan sites have boards devoted to the Challenger tour now. There is interest. I get why men in the top 20 don't want to play against mostly Challenger level players. Maybe the ATP needs to look at what the WTA did and see if they can work something out that will hold fans interest at the end of a long season.

I should say that I didn't forget US men. There's nothing much to say. I am going to be paying more attention to them next year though. I've decided to keep my eye on Taylor Fritz, the player the USTA is hyping the most. Currently ranked #176 Fritz has won two Challenger titles, won the US Open Junior Boys Title, made the Boys Final at Roland Garros (a big deal for a US player at any level) and the Boys semi final at Wimbledon. His CV is as follows:

Born October 28, 1997 (age 18)
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Plays Right-handed (two handed-backhand)

It should be noted that his mother played professional tennis.

The young woman I'll be keeping my eye on is Naomi Osaka, ranked #156

Here's her CV:

Born 16 October 1997 (age 18)
Osaka, Japan
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Plays Right-handed (two-handed backhand)

She's got no main tour or ITF titles but she really impressed me at the Rising Star event in Singapore. She should have lost in the final to Caroline Garcia but she stayed focused while Garcia, the more experienced player, fell apart. It's not too much to say no one had picked Osaka going in.

Will I keep my eyes on my first two picks? Yes I will. 2016 is a crucial year for both Alexander Zverev and Madison Keys. Zverev, the younger of the two, has a few years to grow into his body and hone his game. Keys doesn't have that luxury. She's got to improve her on court focus and demeanor. No one is afraid of her. She's a big deal in the States and nowhere else. I understand managing your schedule but International events are there for a reason. If you think you're a top player but can't get over the hump then you need to play more. She's in danger of being passed by Karolina Pliskova, Belinda Bencic, and others who understand that playing hones your skills. No one likes losing but you learn everytime you play a match. Winning is the cherry on top. Zverev, one of the yonger players coming up, is improving his game. Keys is stagnant and doesn't seem to be making moves to take the next step.

End Note

Unless something drastic happens I will make my next blog post in late December. It's been a very interesting year in tennis, a year that pretty much saw the status quo continue on both tours.

On the WTA side Agnieszka Radwańska, who won the YEC and ended the year ranked #5 in the world has to hit the ground running. She was not expected to do well in Singapore and she did. I think she'll be able to pick off younger and less skilled players but the big girls know how to counter her. I don't see her winning a Slam but I think she can rise higher in the rankings by gobbling up the small fish.

As for the ATP the man on the move is Andy Murray. His wife is due to have their child early next year and I believe he's taking February off. The pressure will be on him to do very well in Melbourne though so he will have to come in ready to play at the level he did in Ghent. He's number two in the world.

I'll end by saying Happy Holidays to everyone. See you in a few weeks.

© SavannahsWorld. All Rights Reserved except where indicated

And Then There Was One

by Savannah


via @Jimmie48Photography

Many years ago there was a movie called "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum". Well a funny thing happened on the way to the WTA YEC Final. We knew early on that the world number one Serena Williams would not be traveling to Singapore. Despite the scandal that some tried to make of this don't think for one second that the WTA didn't know early on that no matter what happened in New York Serena would not be going back to Asia. There was talk about her "not doing her duty" to the tour from what you could say were the usual sources but it didn't gain much traction. There were also rumors planted about a pregnancy and who Serena was dating. Yes I said planted. If you can't beat her on the court try and destroy her reputation especially after the rumors and papped pictures floating around of a certain player frolicing on the beach with a friend. Diversionary tactics. If everyone was going on and on about who Serena was or was not dating the fact that Maria Sharapova took off from Wimbledon to the YEC would not become a major topic of conversation or discussion. Of all the players in Singapore she was the most rested. I heard a comm making a big deal about Petra Kvitova taking a few weeks off from play but when it came to the Ban Sidhe there was nothing said about that long rest she had.

Add that to the fact that there was absolutely no sign of injury when play began. There were all kinds of rumors about Sharapova being too injured to play Singapore, that she was risking her career in doing so, that she was there but would do PR only. If you saw any of her matches it was obvious that was all bull, an attempt to make it appear she was limping and not striding confidently into the YEC. The sympathy card? I'd say so. Especially after her commetns about her peers lacking competitive fire because they wished Serena good luck in her quest for the CYGS did nothing to enhance her image among the majority of tennis fans. She came off looking petty and mean after that and there was nothing they could do about it.

Am I off topic again? I don't think so. I feel that the atmosphere around the 2015 YEC in far off Singapore needs to be established. The WTA would never admit it but this was the preview of what it will be when Serena retires. Will she retire after Rio? It depends on what her goals are. If she has achieved all she wants by the end of next year we could see her retire. And my goodness what a mess the WTA has on its hands.

The main problem with the WTA is that it doesn't promote women's tennis per se. It promotes individual players. I've said this before and I'll be brief. They wanted a certain look for their brand. Serena isn't it. Garbiñe Muguruza isn't it. Simona Halep isn't it. Agniezska Radwanska isn't it. None of the Czech women are it despite the long limbs and blonde hair. And the one they chose is trying to pull down the pillars of the temple in a shameless money grab.

There was very little publicity around the event. We hard core fans knew who was who but a casual fan? Petra Kvitova? Who is this Muguruza person? Halep? Who can say Radwanska's first name?

But even if you know how to pronounce the names and could find the countries they came from on a map who cared? The thing is none of the women who earned their way to Singapore has that "it" factor, the thing that brings all the fans to the yard. Don't get me wrong, there were many contrasting styles on display in Singapore and fanatic tennis folowers felt that there was a chance to see what the "best of the rest" had to offer. But when you don't promote the sport and instead promote a look you've got a dicey situation on your hands.

But wait! Isn't Maria Sharapova a world wide brand? Isn't she a superstar? Wouldn't the fans come out to see the woman we've been told is the much desired face of tennis in Asia where they're said to worship tall blonde women? After all she's the highest paid female athlete on the planet right?

I think we saw that the hype is just that, that when push came to shove no one was breaking down the doors to see Sharapova. She played the night match for the entire week and the relatively small 10,000 person stadium was as empty as all the other stadia were on the Asian swing. I'm watching a replay of the Final now and the place is full. And Sharapova is nowhere in sight. I'm sure the talk will be people bought their tickets ahead of time expecting to see Sharapova but there are peopel who live in the area who post on fan boards and their on site reports proved that not to be the case. One person said that he bought tickets that put him in the second row courtside on the night of the match so that during the week sales were not good. These people also indicated that the weekend would be sold out because student exams would be over and indicated that the YEC should have been held this week instead of last week. I guess the event at Zhuhai was already set though so that couldn't happen.

Let's be clear. This was supposed to be the coronation of one Maria Sharapova. She cakewalked through her group and owned the head to head against Petra Kvitova. But it was Kvitova who played the final. To a packed house.

I don't know where to start with Agniezska Radwanska. Her coach's comments about her wanting to appear feminine and not look like a female athlete grated. I actually thought she was the weakest player coming in, weaker than even Lucie Safarova who had just gotten up from her sick bed to come to Singapore. She actually had a losing record in her group but through the formula's used to determine things made it to the semi final, final and the winners circle. I've never been a fan, her style bores me to tears. But it was no surprise that she defeated Muguruza. Like Aga or not she is not easy to play and when you allow her to stay focused she can ninja you off the court. Aga's greatest successes have been against up and comers of late, women who haven't gotten to the "how to beat Aga" chapters of the players handbook. Muguruza is a much improved player though and I expect her to come charging out of the gate in January. She will have to better manage her schedule now though, and I'm sure she and her coach Sam Sumyk will do just that.

So in the end we have Aga Radwanska holding the trophy declaring her the best player of 2015. Hard core fans - and I'm guessing they were the only ones braving the huge time differences for Europe and the US to try and watch live matches - know she was not. She was making some changes to her game and it seems that she's more comfortable with those changes now but she was not a factor in three of the four majors this year getting wins in Tokyo and Tianjin before beginning play in Singapore.

The woman whose reputation suffered the most in Singapore was Simona Halep. She fell apart under the pressure, something we've seen her do more than once recently. If as it's widely rumored Darren Cahill will become her head coach once the Adidas program he was part of folds he's got a lot of work to do. I watched him work with her during during Qualie week at the US Open and while she was willing to listen it seemed as if there are things she is not able to do on a court. Yet she is ranked Number two in the world. There is some talk about how small she is compared to many of her contemporaries but I don't know if that is her problem. Is she going to stay in the top ten by playing as many tournaments as she can? Will she be able to get the number one ranking after Serena retires taking us back to the Slamless Number One era?

The WTA top ten is as follows:

[1] Williams, Serena United States

[2] Halep, Simona Romania

[3] Muguruza, Garbiñe Spain

[4] Sharapova, Maria Russia

[5] Radwanska, Agnieszka Poland

[6] Kvitova, Petra Czech Republic

[7] Kerber, Angelique Germany

[8] Pennetta, Flavia Italy

[9] Safarova, Lucie Czech Republic

[10] Bacsinszky, Timea Switzerland

I will say this. The WTA's new leadership has to work harder at promoting women's tennis, especially since there doesn't seem to be a superstar on the horizon. If they don't the outlook is bleak. Push parity. Depth. Whatever. Look at what other sports do. It was not easy to get the powers that be in tennis to take women's tennis seriously. I hope all their hard work and sweat wasn't for nothing.

© Savannahs World 2015 All Rights Reserved unles otherwise indicated

The Final Eight

by Savannah


via @Getty

They're all there now. Some of the eight women who qualified for the WTA YEC in 2015 had a "long strange trip" to get to Singapore but I'm sure the WTA wants to let bygones be bygones. Fans of women's tennis shouldn't though but maybe now is not the time to talk about that.

The women have been grouped as follows:

Red Group

Simona Halep

Maria Sharapova

Agnieszka Radwanska

Flavia Pennetta

White Group

Garbiñe Muguruza

Petra Kvitova

Angelique Kerber

Lucie Safarova

Unlike Maria Sharapova who said she didn't understand how potential competitors could wish Serena Williams luck in her quest for the career year Grand Slam I wish all of the women well and hope they bring their best tennis to this tournament.

For fans this will be a chance to get a look at the post Serena era of the WTA. We know that Flavia Pennetta, 2015 US Open Champion, is retiring. I don't think Pova is retiring any time soon no matter what crap her people put out or imply but she is part of the old guard. Eliminating those two from the WTA of the future we have a collection of almost there's, women who have not and will never be superstars inside or outside the world of tennis. Petra Kvitova has won Wimbledon twice and pretty much flopped everywhere else with a few exceptions. Angelique Kerber just doesn't have 'that thing" Aga Radwanska, the most "feminine" of the group just doesn't have a game that is must see for a casual fan. Lucie Safarova is a fan favorite but again her charisma doesn't translate outside of tennis world. Neither Halep or Muguruza score highly on the charisma quotient.

Despite all of that the two most intriguing players in this tournament will be Simona Halep and Garbiñe Muguruza. Halep is 0-5 vs Sharapova, 4-4 vs Aga, and 1-4 vs Flavia. She'll be lucky to get out of her group with "guaranteed" wins only vs Aga, who has a lot to prove here.

Muguruza has never played Kvitova it seems. She's 3-3 vs Kerber and 0-1 vs Safarova. I do think that with Garbiñe her year has to be divided into pre and post US Open. She seems to be thriving under new coach Sam Sumyk and despite the head to heads with others in her group she has a good chance to make it out of her group and into single elimination play. She's not the same player she was earlier this year.

I think you can make the argument that Sharapova has been set up to win this event. Halep forgets how to play tennis when she's across the net from her. Flavia will be a bit jet lagged after her sojourn to Moscow and back to Singapore and has a 2-3 head to head with Sharapova, and Aga is 2-12 vs Sharapova.

There is nothing to say about Kvitova. If the player who shows up at Wimbledon makes an appearance she could dominate her group except for Muguruza. If the player who shows up every where else shows up it could be embarrassing.

In the end this is a lack luster field but they played well enough in 2015 to make the cut and appear at their sports championship event. They may not be the most charismatic group. They may not play a style of tennis that will make a casual fan sit up and take notice, but here they are. How they got there, how the WTA ruined it's image with the shenanigans at the end of the year should and will be discussed in another post. For now I've decided to praise these women for their achievement. There was a women's tour outside of Serena this year and I think it was very gracioius of her to step aside to and let someone else get the lime light don't you? There will be women's tennis after she retires too. Let's all sit back and see what we can expect from women's tennis in the years to come.

© Savannah's World 2015 All Rights Reserved except where otherwise indicated.

The Rear View Mirror - 2014

by Savannah


via AFP

Transition years. They mean many things to many people. For the most part they bring uncertainty. Who will win the Slams? For the ATP the next question is who will dominate the Master 1000 events? For the WTA it means who will find her way to the top of the heap and will she get there by winning a Slam or will she simply play enough tournaments to give her the points to be named top dog? The ATP came close to having a slamless number one and suddenly all the mockery and scorn for the WTA and it's roster of slamless number ones disappeared. It didn't happen but the double standard between women's tennis and men's tennis is as real as it ever was. More on that later.

Nishikori Kei didn't win a Slam but he made the Final of the US Open. He beat the best clay courter ever on his best surface. No matter how he did it it was a win. He finished the year ranked fifth in the world. And no one doubts he's due to win a Slam, maybe in 2015. It's going to be interesting to see how he handles going from the hunter to the hunted, and whether his body will withstand the beating it will have to take to stay at the top of the men's game. And he's doing it with a celebrity coach or "super coach" as they're being called now, Michael Chang in his employ. Chang won the French and is an example of what a small man can do when he puts his mind to it. Of course the tennis of his time is not the tennis of today but he seems to be able to prepare his charge for today's physical game. The knock on Asian men in tennis has always been size but do the really big men of the West dominate the sport? Not really. Marin Ćilić, the US Open champion, is the exceptional big man who has won a Slam. The top male players are physical specimens but they're not "big men". John Isner is a big man. So is Milos Raonic. People want these men to do well but right now other than the hit and hit harder mindset they haven't shown themselves to be able to withstand the grind mentally.

But I digress. I think Nishikori is the ATP Player of the Year, Slam or no Slam. I'm sure there are those who will pick someone else, someone who has won a Slam, or holds the top ranking, or is considered a demigod. This was a transition year. And the man who is poised to take advantage of this time is Nishikori. I say this not as a big fan of his, I'm not, but it is what it is. Now it's Nishikori's turn to prove that 2014 was not a fluke, that he's ready to step up.


via Jen Pottheiser

This was not an easy decision. I know it should have been but it wasn't. I started this end of year post talking about transition and chose a man who hasn't won a Slam as my ATP Player of the Year. In the end though Serena Williams proved beyond a doubt that she is the dominant female player of her generation. In a year where mental fatigue showed, in a year where there was just a whiff of drama in her camp, in a year where the pack was nipping at her heels she somehow found a way to hold on to the top spot via convincing wins at the US Open and the YEC. She survived a year where coaches openly told their charges to tank matches, with no consequences from the subservient tennis press or the WTA, so that she would not win a the year end tournament. There was the usual hating from the usual corners of the tennis world, dank dark places where her dominace is looked on with hatred and envy, who want anyone but Serena at the top of the women's game. But there she sits, and the haters have, for now, retreated to their caves and are plotting for 2015.

Who else did I think of? Surprisingly Caroline Wozniacki who refocused on her game and gave players fits at the end of the year. Simona Halep didn't make the cut with me because she has not shown that she can mentally handle that Sunday afternoon match with all eyes on her. Petra Kvitova? It looks as if she's finally working on her fitness. Her inability to move is what's holding her back. Maria Sharapova? She's not able to bully players anymore and that could mean trouble for her in 2015. Ana Ivanovic? I can hear it now. "You picked Nishikori for ATP Player of the Year so why not Ana who really fought her way back into the top five?" I think her being able to do that without changing much if anything about her game points to the weakness and mental frailty of everyone ranked below Serena. "But Maria is tough!" I hear you saying. She knows who she can bully and who she can't. She's in Halep's head. Kvitova has to be interested in order to win those big matches. If you scream and holler at Ivanovic she cracks.

This is why, despite the good year many in the top five had in the end I had to choose Serena Williams. Her team has her ready for just about every match. Yes she has bad days, we all do. But when it matters, when winning is the only option, a win it will be. Looking ahead I don't think she's going to play as much in 2015. She'll play the Slams, she'll play the big tournaments but right now her strategy has to be to stay healthy mentally and physically. It's not going to get any easier for her. She is vulnerable, but I feel that Serena will find a way to stay within the top five.

This and That

It's been an interesting "off season" hasn't it? To get this out of the way I haven't watched one second of the IPTL event in Asia and didn't intend to. The 2015 season starts in a few weeks and it's going to be a month of living backwards - sleeping in the day and up at night. I'm not going to do that for exhibition matches. I didn't watch the event in London either.

Not that I haven't been paying attention though. I've been Tweeting and keeping up with current events in tennis, which seems to mean keeping up with who is coaching who for 2015. So let's discuss that for a few minutes.

The most recent news is that Martina Navratilova will be joining Agniezska Radwanska's team on a part time basis. Aga has seen the WTA pass her by and while she is a mere ten points behind Ivanovic in the rankings most of the wins she has are against up and comers who haven't figured her out yet. The top women don't have big problems with her anymore. Navratilova has made no secret of wanting to coach and taking on Aga is going to be an interesting experiment. I guess Aga wants to improve her aggression the way Ivanovic and Wozniacki have so she has a better chance of winning seven matches instead of five at a Slam. I don't expect to see much in Melbourne since they won't have had much time to work together. At least that's how it looks from the outside.

Then there was the intriguing he is then he isn't situation with Sloane Stephens and Nick Saviano. Sloane was seen working at his academy and as quick as you can type 140 characters it was being reported that Saviano was her new coach. Then came the clarification: He's not her coach, not really. She's at his Academy but he's not officially her coach. Got that? This is after Thomas Högstedt was announced as her coach but he then signed on to "consult" with Simona Halep who said she must have a Romanian coach since only a Romanian can understand her. Capiche? So right now Sloane has no coach. This young woman had better remove her head from her posterior and realize the WTA has truly passed her by and that she's joined the ranks of American players who serve as cannon fodder for the real contenders on the tour. It makes no sense to be uncoachable when you haven't won a damn thing.

The other coachless wonder is Eugenie Bouchard, the latest WTA special snowflake. I really think the WTA has created a monster with Ms Bouchard. At the YEC she was heard asking then coach Saviano why they played the event. At the YEC! You're one of the best, one of the top eight women in the world, and you're not honored to make the cut, you don't get that you're in elite company, that everyone ranked below you wants to be where you are? As if that wasn't bad enough she posted a Tweet jokingly proclaiming a ball machine as her new coach. Talk about disrespectful.
Yes she's done more than Sloane but at least Sloane doesn't disrespect the sport that is allowing her to live a life many dream of. Oh wait, Bouchard already lived that life. Maybe that's it. It's not a big deal for her to be treated differently from others so the things that get other players excited don't move her. I wonder if Tennis Canada wants her to choose a Canadian? I wonder if some US based coach thinks he can work with her. As I write this she and the machine are still working together.

Wim Fissette, who famously encouraged Simona Halep to throw a match to stop Serena Williams from making the final of the YEC, advice that to her credit she ignored, will now be working with Madison Keys when she plays out of the United States. Lindsay Davenport will work with her in the US. Madison Keys is, in my opinion, the best hope for the United States as long as she stays out of the clutches of the USTA and it's coaches. She has the killer instinct, she just doesn't know how to harness and control it. I'm glad she's made moves to improve her game.

On December 9 the WTA announced a deal with London based Perform Group worth $525 million dollars. To quote from the press release

Perform is paying the rights fees and guaranteeing money to produce all 2,000 main-draw singles matches and 300 semifinals and finals of doubles matches each year. Networks that choose to produce tournaments on their own will receive subsidies from the venture, which is called WTA Media.

There's no word yet on what this will cost fans to get access to the streams. It's a good move by the WTA. This will make sure women's tennis gets more exposure. I hope it will mean higher quality tennis as well. If we return to the style of tennis that was the norm before the modern era I don't know that many people who are not already fans will be motivated to watch. No one wants to see what one tennishead called "strike and push" tennis anymore.

On the men's side there hasn't been much change. The former players who became coaches this year seem to be keeping their jobs for now so no drama there.

Andy Roddick, the last American man to win a Slam back in the dark ages of 2003, was made an honorary member of Wimbledon. That's your year end proof that the old boy tennis network is alive and well.

Meanwhile Pete Sampras lobbed a few over the wall. With Isner the highest ranked US man at nineteen Sampras said the outlook for US tennis on the mens side is bleak. He was quoted as saying the following:

"I don't see anyone, I don't really know anyone that even people are talking about to break through even into the top 10.

"We're not into the 90s anymore. It will be quite a while to see American tennis back to where it was," said the 14-times major winner who is in India to take part in the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL).

"I think the game has got so international, so global that a lot of kids are playing tennis all around the world. So it makes it tougher for the Americans.

"Maybe the world is more hungry and for whatever reasons, we are not producing juniors, young pros with potential. It's just a phase and hopefully doesn't last that long."

No one talks that bluntly about the state of mens tennis in the United States. I'm sure a lot of folks got the vapors after reading that.

Speaking of talking bluntly and the old boy tennis network Romanian player Marius Copil told the following story about Bernard Tomic to a Romanian reporter. It shows why some juniors are legends in their own minds and have a difficult transition to the Main Tour. The translation I'm using is from an article posted by Filippo Scala and appears on the TennisWorldusa.org site.

Q. Some players from your generation like Milos Raonic, Grigor Dimitrov and Bernard Tomic have already achieved great results. What do you think made the difference compared to you?

A. Let me make you an example. In 2009, I played a Semifinal in Cremona, Italy, against Tomic, who was ranked No. 170 at that time. I was somewhere around No. 200. Do you know how many people he had with him? 6! I only had a physical coach. This is the difference. Tomic told me that he received a credit card from the Australian Tennis Federation and had already spent $ 1.5 million. It was a card with unlimited amount! On top of that, he had signed a contract with Nike since he was a junior. Had he been ranked between 50 and 100, he would have received € 300.000 a year, which would have doubled in case he had broken into the top-50. On the contrary, I receive $15.000 from my sponsor and I have to give 20% to my manager. This, I think, says it all.

Of course in the world of tennis his saying somewhere else in the interview that Sharapova isn't his type got more attention than the statement about Tomic and Tennis Australia.

Oh yeah about Grigor Dimitrov. I still don't see it. With Borna Ćorić and Alexander Zverev I see it. Both will have to create public personas that will resonate with Western audiences though. They have a bit of star power that is sorely lacking among up and comers at the moment.

That said I do see a period of mediocrity for both men's and women's tennis arriving sooner than people want to believe. I don't see superstars like we have now, men and women who transcend their sport. But who knows?

Anyway Brisbane starts in a few weeks. I'd better rest up.

The Future Is Now

by Savannah

I'm really just dead. I need some weeks off where I don't think about tennis and can kind of regroup. I've had a long couple of years."

Serena Williams said it all during her post match presser April 1 after losing to Jana Cepelova. I pride myself on having heard of most players in the top 100 but I never heard of Ms Cepelova before last night. Serena did not blame the quick turnaround from Miami to Charleston saying she's done it before and she didn't blame the thigh that was heavily wrapped during a medical time out.

"I'm going to go on a vacation, for sure. I need some time off. I just need to take a deep breath and regroup, and I think it will actually help me for the rest of the clay court season coming up."

It took tennis fans to say what Serena didn't. Serena has carried the WTA tour on her back for the last two years. She's played tournaments large and small bringing the smaller events larger audiences and of course more money. But watch the haters come out of the woodwork to criticize her for not playing Fed Cup for the United States. Nothing Serena does is ever good enough for some.

So where is the WTA going now? CEO Allaster sees the future in Asia and is doing everything in her power to set up new events or move existing ones to that part of the world. The WTA has also picked it's new Queen, Eugenie Bouchard. Forget the fact that the player a lot of fans are watching right now is Simona Halep. Halep speaks little to no English so that will hamper her in becoming well known in the immediate future. The German women, who looked to be ready to storm the top ranks of the sport have fallen off and look to be a collection of head cases.
Players like Dominika Cibulkova, Agnieszka Radwanska, and Angelique Kerber (yes Kerber plays for Germany but is ethnically Polish and lives in Poland) are the players trying to force Serena, and Li Na out of the top positions. Yeah I'm going to pay big bucks to see these women. I'm not saying this to be a bitch I'm saying it because none of them has the "it" factor. Aga's game is an acquired taste. Domi is a ball of action and a fighter and may be the only one who comes close to that "it" factor, that star factor. Kerber's game is the cure for insomnia. It used to be Aga who would send me to never never land but she's actually been improving her aggressiveness. Halep does a lot of things very well and when focused she will find a way to beat you. But she doesn't light up the court.

I haven't forgotten Victoria Azarenka. She's found a life outside of tennis. She's also been injured and came back too soon trying to meet the demands of the tour. I don't look for anything from her until late spring into summer. And don't forget she is not a fan favorite thanks to the shenanigans that she engaged in early in her career. As for Maria Sharapova I get the feeling the jig is almost up with her. She can intimidate some of the up and comers or those who's time has come and gone but no one in the top five is really afraid of her. Her biggest claim to fame right now is a candy and all of her endorsements not her game.

I'm going to skip the US women. I'm tired of talking about them. Their play speaks for itself.

So with the WTA's major talent pool seemingly centered in Eastern Europe right now it's focus is on Asia. After Li Na who is there? Instead of looking for ways to strengthen European tournaments the WTA is getting rid of them. Too bad. If nothing else the WTA may be forced to promote women's tennis instead of a single person. Yeah, I'm not holding my breath either.

The Fed Cup/Davis Cup Crisis

I've always argued that the format for Davis Cup and Fed Cup didn't need changing. Patriots would always turn out and play for their country and all was right with the world. I was wrong. I see that Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic and Nishikori Kei of Japan, both top players for their country, will not play in the tie between the two nations. I don't know any Japanese player who is anywhere near Nishikori's level. Meanwhile the Czechs will rely on Radek Stepanek who is more of a doubles player now. Fed Cup is having similar issues.

What should be done? I have no idea. It seems that both of these competitions are evolving into events featuring the up and coming. The big boys and girls need to be ready for main tour events and may deign to play Davis Cup or Fed Cup when their country makes them an offer they can't refuse. The reason this is somewhat alarming is that players are maturing much later now and their quality of play is much, much lower than Challenger level at times. If fans know they're going to an exalted Challenger instead of an event featuring the best countries have to offer attendance will go down and the stars will feel justified in not playing events that throw off their training schedules not to mention their yearly schedule. Look at what the WTA did after the first round of Fed Cup this year. How do you hold Premier Mandatory events after Fed Cup which every top player is under pressure to play?

The tours are going to have to sit down with the ITF and work something out. Berdych has suggested every two years. That's a nice starting point for discussion.

End Note

My sister is responding very well to treatment. She can follow commands now and is awake large parts of the day. She will be moved to a long term care facility shortly. This is very exciting news. Now if I can get rid of this bug I picked up...

Tennis Questions and Answers Part Deux

by Savannah

I know many of you probably think I'm a hater. I did kind of rant about the journalistic ethics or lack there of of the so called tennis media. I got on their case about giving Nishikori Kei short shrift after his epic three plus hour match against the ATP #1 and I dragged them about not following up with Maria Sharapova when she was evasive and dismissive of their questions and wouldn't tell them which hip was hurt so badly it affected her match versus Dominika Cibulkova.

Let's fast forward to last night's three plus hour match versus the ATP #1. This time the man playing was one Grigor Dimitrov, the man the ATP is dying to make happen. Was there a difference in the post match presser? You bet there was.

INTERVIEW
Grigor Dimitrov 22-01-14
Wednesday, 22 January, 2014

Q. Do you think you'll look back on this match as an opportunity that got away or a step forward in your progression?
GRIGOR DIMITROV: Well, there's a lot of mixed feelings right now. I'm a bit shattered. It's tough losing that match, my first quarterfinal. I came out expecting nothing less than to win.

All the credit to Rafa. He's been a tremendous competitor, great guy off the court. We had a great battles the past year and now again, and hopefully in the future more.

The one thing I'm really excited is to actually get back on the court in the upcoming weeks and start working and come up to the same stage and try to do it again.

Of course I'm deeply disappointed. I mean, I'm not going to lie. But, you know, in the end of the day I have to take the positives and the negatives out of the match and just kind of move on.

Happy with the situation at the moment. Again, all the credit to Rafa. I think he played a great match. Also his physicality came over towards the end of the match. He's not one of the best, I think he's the best player right now.

Hopefully we're going to have more battles in the future together.

Q. You exchanged some words at the net with him. What did he say to you?
GRIGOR DIMITROV: I mean, I don't want to say what he told me. The one thing is we have tons of respect for each other, again, on and off the court. You know, he just wished me luck and, of course, all those things.

In the end of the day I know I'm going to play him again. We have a lot of jokes here and there with him, but that's great. Of course, congrats to him and I think the team. That's just how it goes in the slams, in matches like this.

You know, he's a good man.

Q. What have these two weeks done for your confidence and belief going forward?
GRIGOR DIMITROV: Confidence, yeah, obviously always going to be there in a way. It's one thing you've worked so hard and you kind of get rewarded a little bit, you know, coming to that first quarterfinal to me was, of course, big.

But I had expectations for myself. That wasn't just to go out there and play. So, you know, that's to me the biggest disappointment, the negative part of it, of course.

But in the end of the day, you know, I want to get to that position again, quarters, semis, final, whatever it is, any big tournament. That's my goal. That's why I'm actually excited to get on court in the upcoming weeks.

Of course I shed a few tears, but it should hurt. It should hurt. And it does hurt, so...

You know, I can take a lot of things, but at the moment I'm just a bit all over the place, yeah.

Q. Going into that fourth set having lost the last two tiebreaks so closely, how hard was it to go into that fourth set?
GRIGOR DIMITROV: Not easy. Not easy. I felt that he actually stepped up his game a little bit more. Again, his physicality came in even more. He held his ground better in the fourth set.

Even though I felt I had gaps here and there, he was never letting me take a charge of the point or any of his service games. He actually served really good in the fourth. We both struggled a little bit here and there occasionally, but that's in the game.

Again, I think, I mean, it's just different when you play against Rafa than any other players. In a way you know what to expect. Even though you know what to expect, sometimes it still goes his way.

But I'm excited. I'm excited. I think in a way the fourth set could have gone either way. Depends of the start. But, you know, the outcome wasn't very positive for me.

Q. Rafa said after the match that you have all the qualities to become a great champion. Do words like that mean something to you?
GRIGOR DIMITROV: It's nice to hear. It's nice to hear, you know. I'm flattered. But till it actually happens, even if you say it, it doesn't justify the presence [sic]. We know each other, me and him.

Again, tons of respect for each other. I appreciate what he said, of course. But I think I still have a long way to go out there and I need to improve. I need to improve every day. I felt that, you know, those two weeks, even though I haven't played my best tennis throughout the whole weeks, I still felt I've improved.

Actually the work that I've done in the past months, it actually comes in. To me, at that stage, at that point, that's the most important thing. It's good to refresh a little bit and get back.

Q. You mentioned his physicality in the fourth set. Do you see that's an area of your game you still need to improve?
GRIGOR DIMITROV: I think in a way. I think every player, if you just look around, you know, you need your legs. That's basically just what it is nowadays. The game has become so physical throughout all the years. You know only the strong guys are surviving.

You see up in the last eight out here, I mean, all those guys are Grand Slam champions. They're experienced guys. They're strong guys. Of course, everything has to, of course, build up and take its toll until you actually reach that stage.

But of course, I mean, I have areas. I know I have areas that I can definitely improve even more. I think it's just what I have right now is still work in progress. When I come out on the court or in the gym every day, I don't work for the day after. I look in the future.

At the end of the day, tennis is not a sprint. It's a marathon sport. You play five sets here, best of five. You know, it's always nice to see where you're at, especially in events like that.

Q. If you had that forehand again on the set point...
GRIGOR DIMITROV: Go out there now.

Q. Sorry. Would you go the same way? Were you worried about his forehand?
GRIGOR DIMITROV: Which one?

Q. Second set.
GRIGOR DIMITROV: What about the first? I'm more mad about the first one.

What can I say? It hurts. You know, I'm happy that I took the decision. Once you take decision, never look back. Same thing in life: you make mistakes, you make mistakes. It's in the past.

Obviously I got to put that in the past. You know, it's just a tough shot, you know (tearing up). It's a tough choice. I'm sure I could have done something different. I'm sure I could have done something different.

But in a match everything comes down to a split of a second. You know, it's whether in or out.

Amazing how they came up with all those questions for Dimitrov isn't it? Why weren't they asked of Kei? Again I'm not a trained journalist so maybe I'm a bit naīve. A man plays another man for over three hours and only one gets asked about his process, his thoughts? Kei speaks English. They know that. He spent time in the States. But it seems to me that all of the "reporters" have bought into the "Dimitrov is the future" meme so he is more deserving of fans interest and time, because, well, because.

And funny, he wasn't asked about his girlfriend.

Speaking of the ladies...


i.eurosport

The now old school group Public Enemy warned told us a long time ago "don't believe the hype". Just before her match against Dominika Cibulkova Simona Halep announced that she would be working with Wim Fissette who last worked with Kim Clijsters. I was a little surprised since Halep had been playing so well but I don't follow her that closely and didn't know she was playing without a coach. Her match against Cibulkova showed that she desperately needs one.
A coach isn't there to make hotel reservations and set up your itinerary. He or she is there to help you handle the pressure not only of a Grand Slam Quarterfinal but also the pressure of expectations.

Some of Simona's fans were already putting her in the top three and challenging for the top spot. Cibulkova dismantled her and yes Halep was tight but she was never in the match. I'm glad to see she didn't go for a "name", that she went for someone who stays out of the limelight and works with what his charge has to help get her to where she wants to be.

That said I was already looking forward to the next match, Victoria Azarenka vs Agniezska Radwanska. I was unimpressed by what I'd seen from Azarenka up to yesterday/last night but figured she would up her game now that she was in the quarters. To be fair she did try. But Aga has learned to add aggression to her "now you see it now you don't" hocus locus mind fuck of a game. And she totally destroyed Azarenka's mind in their match neutralizing Vika's weapons and making her look like a rookie on the court.

The women's semifinals will see Agniezska Radwanska vs Dominika Cibulkova and Li Na vs Eugenie Bouchard. What can I say? You can't count any of these women out.

I've been posting about double standards lately but David Ferrer shoving a line judge out of the way so he can put his towel down defines the tennis "media"'s inability to be fair. If you haven't seen it here's a gif someone made.

Now just imagine the firestorm if Serena Williams did that. A hefty fine, banned from the sport, you name it.
So far from the "tennis media"? Crickets.

WTA Official End Of Year Rankings

by Savannah

Here are the top twenty women players for 2013.

1. Serena Williams 13260

2. Victoria Azarenka 8046

3. Li Na 6045

4. Maria Sharapova 5891

5. Agnieszka Radwanska 5875

6. Petra Kvitova 4775

7. Sara Errani 4435

8. Jelena Jankovic 4170

9. Angelique Kerber 3965

10. Caroline Wozniacki 3520

11. Simona Halep 3335

12. Sloane Stephens 3185

13. Marion Bartoli 3172

14. Roberta Vinci 3170

15. Sabine Lisicki 2920

16. Ana Ivanovic 2850

17. Carla Suarez Navarro 2735

18. Samantha Stosur 2675

19. Maria Kirilenko 2640

20. Kirsten Flipkens 2495

Serena Williams is 5,214 points ahead of Victoria Azarenka, the only woman who comes even close to her point total. The rest of the top ten are eating the dust of the top player.


Source: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images Europe)

Serena had a great year, a career year to be honest in 2013. She played a full schedule for the first time in recent memory and the toll it took on her mentally and physically was clear in Istanbul. She was running right up to the wall and somehow managed not to run into it. It looked for awhile in the final that Li Na would slam her face first into it but that turned out to be an illusion since Li was being stage managed by her coach, her every move dictated by him. Once Li was forced to stop cheating Serena showed that even running on fumes her killer instinct, her will to win would overcome any of her rivals.

I'm going to be honest here. Serena is 31 now. Her team got her over the finish line this time but will she be able to repeat what she accomplished this year? Will she hit the ground running in Melbourne this coming January? Will she be able to play the schedule she played one more time? In my opinion I don't think she will. She will play the majors including Miami during the US spring hard court swing and Charleston. The big question is will she play Basel again? She got a great welcome from the tournament and the fans there but a championship season depends on more than sentiment. And lets not forget the 2014 YEC will require the women to go from Europe to Asia and all that entails.

In fact the WTA's increased emphasis on Asia is going to force all the players to have to make interesting choices about where and when they play. I'll take the time now to say I'm going to miss Istanbul. The fans there are enthusiastic about women's tennis, a sentiment that's not shared by many fans anywhere else in the world.

But back to the top players.

I'm not sure Victoria Azarenka will hold on to the Number Two ranking. She appeared almost disinterested at the end of the year and you have to wonder if her mind is elsewhere. She appeared in her boyfriend Stefan Gordy's last video and the bright lights can be distracting. Li Na is close but if she has become dependent on Carlos Rodriguez to guide her every move I don't know if on her own she'll be able to push past Victoria, assuming Victoria is still interested. Don't forget Victoria's infamous ten minute medical time out because "she had to win" and it seemed like a good idea to feign injury. The warning Kader Nouni gave to Li may have set the tone for how other chair umps will approach the problem of Carlos Rodriguez. Let's see if he chairs any more of her matches next year or if another ump seems to always in the chair for her matches.

I'm reading all this stuff about Maria Sharapova stepping away from the sport because of her "recurring shoulder issue". Yeah right. With Azarenka and Li ahead of her now and threats being made about her exit I can see more soft draws to get her through to the quarters of majors, pretty much what they've been doing all of her career.
Don't forget Sharapova has all those endorsements that depend on her being a tennis star. Of course we don't know the terms of those contracts and maybe they're going to expire. I'll believe Sharapova is leaving the game when I see it.

I would love to know how Agniezska Radwanska feels looking back on her year. On the outside looking in I'd think she's a bit disappointed. I also think she had some kind of injury this year. Remember all those Player's Party pics where she was wearing flats all the time? Aga is not that girl. I was also surprised that she checked out of the YEC so early. It was obvious that mentally she was on a beach somewhere having an umbrella drink or two. She has firmed up her game and become a bit more offensive minded though and it'll be interesting to see how she plays in Oz.

There isn't much to say about Petra Kvitova. Instead of playing all those exhibitions in the Czech Republic she needs to get in better shape. As an asthmatic - she was seen using her inhaler court side during the YEC - she's always going to have some issues. Her gut hanging over the top of her skirt shouldn't be one of them.

I'm not even going to give more than a sentence or two to Sara Errani. She has no business in the top ten of the main tour. If you get a chance go and see her play live. She's a junk baller with no serve. She can give people a hard time given the right circumstances but I'm still pissed about the two hours of my life she took playing a match that had fans in the stands going "for fuck's sake".

Of the three women left, Jelena Jankovic, Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki they can move up in ranking but it's going to depend on how they think about how they ended the year and what they expect of themselves for next year.

Wozniacki as we all know finally announced that her father will be stepping aside and that Thomas Högstedt will be her coach for 2014. I'm not quite sure what he will bring to her game but there's no doubt she has to improve her aggressiveness on court. JJ, under her brother's tutelage, has to be happy about how she ended the year. If she can keep it up she's going to make herself relevant again.

As for Kerber she shouldn't have been shoe horned into the YEC and she may think more of her abilities than she should. She's got a wonky serve and trouble closing out the big girls. She's not my cup of tea but it seems some are really anxious to make her a favorite.

I am going to mention two players not in the top ten, Simona Halep and Sloane Stephens. She had a very nice end to the year and won a total of six titles out of the blue. Fans are predicting her to take the top ten by storm. One thing about the WTA is that doing well on the International level and so so in the majors is a route to the top that many have taken in the past. JJ and Wozniacki of course come to mind. You just play as much as you can physically stand and suddenly you're in the top five or approaching the top three. Halep is going to have to play big tournaments better. She's going to have to get past Jelena, Angelique and Caroline. None of them are going to hold the door open for her.

Stephens problems are different from those of Halep. Sloane became the Queen of Semifinals in 2013 since she could never get herself into a final. The one thing I think Sloane needs to do is trust her instincts. She does think pretty well on court when she's not throwing temper tantrums because frankly her opponents don't give a shit that she beat an injured Serena in Melbourne early in the year. It's fascinating that she plays a great first set with minimal interference from her coach. After a good first set the coach comes out and whatever he tells her she goes off the rails and stops doing what she was doing. All that smoke blown up her skirt by those around her didn't help her one bit and at some point someone is going to have to cull the herd that surrounds her now. I don't know what happened to her first coach but he seems out of the picture now. He played up her strengths and her on court attitude was so much better. Sloane you're not the shit. Not yet anyway. You're young I know but you've got to start handling your business.

Finally I can't say enough about the effect the increased WTA presence in Asia will have on the players. It has to be depressing to play in mostly empty stadiums where canned cheers are pumped in to give the illusion that there are really lots of fans there when that's obviously not the case. As for fans twelve to fourteen hour time differences don't make it easy to see matches and no one likes scoreboard watching. I'd like to be wrong but I don't think I am.
I plan to watch as much women's tennis as I can and I'm sure other fans will as well.

I also hope the WTA will start promoting the SPORT of women's tennis and not try and sell women's tennis as a bunch of hoochie's who happen to play tennis. We're often told that blondes are big in Asia so I guess that's the emphasis on players like Sabine Lisicki, Kerber and yes, Sharapova. That's why I don't see Pova walking away from the sport. They're going to find some way for her to win big again. You can bet that it won't involve her making too many changes to her game though. I think that horse is long gone.

There Can Only Be One, and other Tales from Istanbul

by Savannah


via WTA

We're down to the last two players in Istanbul. Serena Williams will play...Li Na? But, but wasn't Victoria Azarenka supposed to be across the net from Terror Fabulous (still my favorite nick name for her) on Sunday? Oh yeah, she showed up looking and playing as if she hadn't touched a racquet since we last saw her. Sure she had time to appear in Stefan Gordy's latest video but that put no stress on her back...not the kind you get from playing tennis anyway but could it be she was more severely injured in the fall at Wimbledon than has been let on? I mean Maria Sharapova is still injured from her falls right? Oh it's her shoulder? Nevermind.

And after all the shit they went through to get Angelique Kerber into the final eight at Istanbul she didn't show much did she? I mean she did beat a totally disinterested Agniezska Radwanska in what was the most bizarre match of the tournament for me. Kerber's finger wag was just annoying.


AFP/Getty Images

Sara Errani, who will be on my list of worst ever top ten player for a long time won a match from someone else who had no interest in beating her, Jelena Jankovic, avoided ignominy in a way I guess. I mean if your opponent shows absolutely no interest in winning her match you have to win right?

It was obvious that JJ wanted to conserve both mental and physical energy for her match against the World Number One and she put up the best fight of anyone this week.

Serena looked to be in pain although she says she hit the wall and there was no visible taping it was Serena in tears on court à la Sabine Lisicki against Marion Bartoli. The difference is that Serena found a way to win despite being out of sorts for whatever reason.

In my opinion Jelena Jankovic should be the come back player of the year. She was going nowhere fast until her brother showed up as her coach. She's gone from counter puncher to aggressively trying to win points. She's cut out the clowning somewhat - I mean she did do a bit of her schtick during her match against Errani but then Errani...oh never mind. Anyway there was none of that versus Serena today.
It seems that JJ is back from her disastrous association with Ricardo Sanchez and looks to be in great shape mentally and physically. She's going to make a lot of people very nervous down under in January. And while I snarked about Alicia Molik and Kevin Skinner singing Marko's praises I agreed with them. You know they're going to try and put some teenager from Britain in there but if you've watched her play the end of this year JJ is number eight with a bullet.

I haven't said much about Petra Kvitova have I? There really isn't that much to say about her. Her physical condition is not the best. I mean the gut isn't hanging as far over the top of her skirt as it was earlier this year but it's still there and they did show her using her inhaler during a break at one point. Still I think her biggest problem is between her ears. She needs a steady diet of players who aren't used to winning in order to be ready for the big matches. When she's playing women who are used to winning and want to win she has trouble playing well back to back. The comms said her physical condition is what her camp says they'll be working on during the off season. Let's hope they don't have her playing a shit ton of exhibitions in the Czech Republic like they did last year.

There will be one more match on the main tour before the farce that is Bulgaria begins. Shouldn't they play that before the YEC? I'm just being that person again? Shrug. Deal with it.

WTA YEC Round Robin Groups

by Savannah

Red Group

Serena Williams

Agnieszka Radwanska

Petra Kvitova

Angelique Kerber

White Group

Victoria Azarenka

Na Li

Sara Errani

Jelena Jankovic

There it is. The Red Group is the stronger of the two in my opinion. The weakest link in that group is Angelique Kerber, who has the worst head to head of almost everyone in the tournament except for Sara Errani. Think I'm wrong? A fan was good enough to put together a chart or two comparing stats. The first chart compares all time H2H's.




Still not convinced? Lets look at the 2013 H2H between the same players.



Thanks go to the fan on Tennis Forum who put these together. I'm not this good with computers.

Looking at these charts I have to wonder what the rush was to get Kerber in.

Still a tournament like this exists in its own reality. Anyone could get hot. Someone can falter. Should they just play the final now? Some think so but as the saying goes one never knows do one?

Time to Catch Up

by Savannah


Milos Raonic via PORNCHAIKITTIWONGSAKUL

I have been watching tennis. Well kind of. It's hard to switch time zones from one coast of the United States to another, a three hour difference. Changing fourteen hours is another thing altogether.


Zhang Shuai via WTATennis

There have been firsts during my little hiatus. There have been signs that some do have the ability to live up to what their Federations expect of them.


Ernests Gulbis via StPetersburg Open

Some even managed to drop their perceived don't give a damn attitude and hoist a trophy.


Gilles Simon via French Tennis Magazine

Some went into witsec to avoid aliens enraged that once again one of their children has been snatched.


Aga Radwanska via PAP/EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN

Common sense finally won out for one woman who decided that brunettes have more fun and that ombre hair works much better for her than a total blonde dye job. And she managed to lift a trophy.


Joao Sousa via AP/Vincent Thian

Do National firsts trump personal firsts? When they mesh its a beautiful thing no?


Petra Kvitova via AP

If all of tennis believes your personal life will cause your professional life to go on the skids the best way to shut people up is to win a title right? So what if you're still out of shape and your bustline will end up somewhere around your knees before you're thirty if you don't start using a decent sports bra? Oh, and you could stand to lose a few pounds so your gut doesn't hang over the top of your skirt? What was that? He likes it? Well then. Who are we to say? Maybe frump is the new in look but I didn't see it in the September Vogue. Then again Ms Wintour wouldn't let you anywhere near her magazine would she?

AHEM.

At any rate there was a lot of news taking place off court. I guess this is the time of year when Federations, what passes for the tennis press, players and anyone remotely associated with tennis decides to let mere mortals, aka regular fans, know some of what's going on behind the scenes.

An example of this was the announcement that Canadian Michael Downey will be the new chief executive of the British Lawn Tennis Association. Well he does speak English right? I won't go into how different British English is from all other forms of English but I digress.

A few days after Downey was publicly announced an interesting news article was published that said, well read this for yourself.

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is set to announce a two-year funding freeze for grassroots projects just as clubs are bursting at the seams and desperate to capitalise on Andy Murray's Wimbledon triumph.

As LTA chief executive Roger Draper steps down from his £640,000-a-year post tomorrow at the end of a controversial five-year reign at the top of the game's governing body, documents circulated earlier this month warn that the highly contentious move is on its way.

Instead of awarding capital grants to clubs around the country, the LTA will announce that any club wanting to expand or improve its infrastructure will receive only an interest-free loan. Coaches and club chairmen said the move was incomprehensible at a time when interest in tennis was unprecedented.

Sources told The Independent on Sunday that the LTA is prioritising the elite game over grassroots tennis.

The source said: "There is only a certain amount of money at the LTA and something has to give, but it will be a shame if grassroots projects are being hit at a time when we all want to capitalise on the interest around the UK after Andy's fantastic year."

Emphasis mine. That emphasis on the elite game has worked soooo well for them hasn't it? Long time readers will remember the hype when Draper took over. He was going to stop the paying of large stipends and other kinds of support to players who have performed poorly at best on the world stage. I get the feeling nothing has changed.



Obviously feeling no pain Andy Murray, who is British Tennis, Tweeted this picture from his hospital bed after undergoing back surgery to relieve what's been described as a long term back injury. Keep in mind Murray had just played Davis Cup for England. I was going to say his country but he's a Scot by birth and seemingly by inclination. Is there any British man who can step into Murray's shoes in the near future? There's been some hype around Daniel Evans but we'll have to wait and see if he can handle the pressure.

Then there's the WTA. It deserves it's own series here but it gets tiresome writing the same thing over and over for me.

Anyway WTA CEO Stacey Allaster when asked whether women should play three-out-of-five sets at the Grand Slams, Allaster said her players were, “Ready, willing, and able—all you have to do is ask us.”

Really Stacey? Many of your players are dead on their feet if they have to go three sets. Five sets and you'll need paramedics courtside. Why fan the flames at this time especially when even your top players play in mostly empty stadiums (except in Istanbul)? You think people will pay to see who collapses in a heap first in the fourth set?

Meanwhile newly named Spanish Davis Cup Captain Carlos Moyá went after Ivan Lendl and his pupil, the above mentioned Andy Murray. Why? Maybe he was bored?

For me, Murray is neither Novak nor Rafa," Moya writes. "He can become one [of those types of players], but right now he is not. In terms of consistency, he is far away. Rafa has made 12 finals in 13 tournaments and has won 10. Djokovic has lost very few matches. Murray—not just this year—is a player who has trouble mentally enduring throughout the year.”

Moya also criticized Murray's coach, Ivan Lendl. Moya believes Lendl is having Murray focus too much on the majors and not enough on the other tournaments.

The original article is in Spanish . A translation is HERE

If we're going to have throw downs between the previous generation maybe Stacey Allaster can rent out her paramedic team. That'll help any cash flow issue no?

The controversy surrounding Marin Cilic continues. Tennis fans are shocked and appalled that Cilic cited an injury when he withdrew from Wimbledon. YAWN!!!
If Andre Agassi was given a pass by what passed for drug testing and discipline because he tested positive for crystal meth why do people think that Cilic is the first player to ever cite an injury as a reason to withdraw from a competition?

Anyway the ITF has " released the entire decision on Cilic. Read it and make up your own mind. I think Cilic has shown respect for the sport by opting not to play while his appeal is pending unlike others who continue to play.

Sigh. There's even more. Patty Schnyder has surfaced and is separated from her last Rainer. He's living with a new girlfriend on a horse farm somewhere while Patty is said to be teaching tennis somewhere. I've attached a horrid Google translation.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga continues making somewhat controversial statements " regarding tennis, his this time but of course he threw another player under a bus.

How did Murray win his slams? Because he's surrounded by 14 people. I won't be travelling with that many, but perhaps I'll have a group where I train.

It's complicated for me. I'm not going to pretend otherwise. It's really a bit sad because I train like crazy. I'm an animal physically, but that's not how I'm going to beat the top 2-3. I've tried to see just how far I can go. But there's a point where my body says to me "You're a nice guy, but this isn't possible." I can't go 5 sets with those guys without it affecting my health. I'm not on the same planet as Nadal and Djoko. Their level never drops, so I have to beat them quickly.

I have to be explosive. I have to change the way I work. I have to be quicker, pack more punch, move forward, hurt them.

Some things never change. The link is in French which the machine translations don't screw up as much as they do other languages.


Illustration Igor Kravarik

You didn't think I'd leave this out did you?

I have to say tennis fans are loyal fans. Player abused meth? Still has tons of fans. Player mistakenly takes a controlled substance? Loyal fans. Player and her family attack soon to be ex husband, steals his passport and other items, and it's a plot by the estranged husband to get his hands on her money.

So far only one source has posted a denial by Hingis camp and it wasn't attributed to anyone.
Why did Martina and her family jump her ex? Who knows? It'll probably be revealed by sources overseas not anyone who covers tennis here. There were questions about why she was enshrined in the Tennis Hall of Fame and then went back out on the main tour as a doubles player but have you read any explanation about why that was okay? Me neither.

I did find out that Hingis is known for having a temper. There is the incident from back in the day between her and her then doubles partner Anna Kournikova.

In November 2000 they played an exhibition match in Santiago, Chile, which featured an on-court strop, followed by a locker-room bust-up over a disputed line call. Hingis had asked Kournikova to intervene regarding the decision but the Russian is reported to have concurred with the line judge. At the next changeover Hingis, then the women's No1, hissed: "Do you think you are the queen? Because I am the queen."

Cut to the locker room later and a screaming match that involved vases, flowers and trophies being flung. "It was so bad I thought they were going to beat each other up," said a frightened Jaime Fillol, the former Chilean player, who organised the event.

The details are " HERE

Who says tennis is dull?

The Rearview Mirror: Roger's Cup Edition

by Savannah

Where to start?

The hype? The bullshit that was being presented as hype? That's harsh. Wishful thinking maybe? Maybe it's all the same thing.

Let's start with the winners.


Photo: The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette

What is there left to say? As her father predicted years ago Serena Williams has become the dominant woman not only of her generation but of the next one too. She's reduced two of the women she faced finals to tears and proven that your sometime coach may be a tennis player whisperer but if the player he's whispering to ain't got the goods there's nothing he can do.

I mean really did anyone sincerely believe that Sorana Cirstea was going to be led by the hand to the championship? Like Sabine Lisicki before her she found out that hype doesn't win matches. Skill and experience win matches. If you need to be treated like a four year old scared to get on the pony to get through a match at a Premier 5 what the hell are you going to do at a Grand Slam when there is no coaching allowed? In the end Cirstea was the player she's been for the last couple of years. Unable to think clearly on court her play is erratic and ineffective.

During the semi final her sometime coach told her to stop looking at him and to focus on wht was going on on the court. Tennis 101.

Serena lose to her? Not unless, God forbid, she's injured in some way. I mean she was sick and got past Agniezska Radwanska for goodness sake. Did I say she was sick during that match?

I've learned to avoid ESPN's announcers unless I don't have a choice so I missed what was apparently a mind boggling bit of commentary from Ms Pam Shriver. I didn't hear it directly but people I trust were Tweeting that she feels Serena has had a disappointing year, clarifying her statement by saying that not winning Wimbledon had to be a disappointment. I think every one on the tour will take her year, Wimbledon or no Wimbledon.

(I should mention that the Wimbledon Champion, Marion Bartoli, looks like she's back to eating Twix again. She was woefully out of shape looking, and moving, like a beached whale before she took herself out of competition but I like Marion and hope she can get herself back to some level of fitness soon. Petra Kvitova has but she's on the new boyfriend diet.)

AHEM.

Anyway Serena romped through her draw and should be the odds on favorite for the US Open crown. She's played more tennis than she usually does this year but I think it's safe to say that she's on a mission no?

By the way I see some of the hacks, uh, journalists, who cover tennis for pay are whining about the poor attendance in Toronto. Excuse the language but where the fuck have they been for the last five years or more?! Attendance at WTA matches is woeful and has been for a long time. Regular readers of this space know I've been talking about it at forever but now that Serena is dominant and has no one to really worry about on the tour all of a sudden they're worried about attendance. One went so far as to hint that if Maria Sharapova had played attendance figures would be up. Like I said they haven't been paying attention, or they're pretending not to be paying attention. If they really haven't been paying attention here's a news flash for them: NO ONE WANTS TO WATCH WOMEN'S TENNIS BECAUSE OTHER THAN SERENA THERE IS NO ONE THEY FEEL THEY HAVE TO SEE!!!

I know that's harsh but hear me out. As I mentioned before Serena is the top dog. No one can beat her unless she's having a bad day. Okay. Now. Dyed in the wool tennis fans don't like Victoria Azarenka. I know that bothers some of her fans but it is what it is. Aga has no personality on court. If you're not used to watching tennis she'll have you in the land of Nod in no time. Like it or not there are people who will never warm up to Li Na. Sara Errani? That she is in the WTA top ten with no serve worth mentioning is a disgrace. Marion is just not presenting as an athlete right now. Angelique Kerber and Petra Kvitova have the same problem as Aga. No on court swagger.

Now. I'm going to say this again very slowly. The WTA has to stop selling personality and start selling the women's tour. You know, women's tennis? That thing these women all work hard to excel at? It also has to stop trying to pretend it's racism isn't racism. I don't like to play that card but when professional journalists start saying attendance would've been better if Sharapova had played what are they saying? Is this what tournament officials are saying instead of telling Stacy Allaster to do a better job with promoting ALL of her players not just one? I used to talk about the blonde pony tail brigade being the be all and end all of women's tennis. Looks like I'm going to have to resurrect that meme.

By the way did Sharapova ever make it up to Toronto to do her promotional work for the tour? I kept reading about cardboard cutouts and candles but nothing about her sitting in a booth and signing autographs. I could've just missed it but enquiring minds and all that ya know?


Getty ImagesPhoto By Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

Let's talk about the men's draw. After everyone withdrew to rest their weary bones (or fevered brains - take your pick)it was a very strange one indeed. Since Roger Federer wasn't there due to his back the hype machine was in overload about Andrew Murray's return to the hard courts. He had a nice little section of the draw that included Ernests Gulbis, a man who really keeps you guessing about which persona he's bringing to the court that day.

The match I really wanted to see and couldn't was the one between Gulbis and Fabio Fognini. I wanted to see who would be able to mind fuck who. Gulbis, Fognini and Gael Monfils are a subculture on the main tour: guys who like to distract you with their antics and when you look up they've beaten you. Monfils hasn't done much of that lately and we all know how Fognini had big fun in Europe after Wimbledon but it was Gulbis who was standing after disposing of Murray rather routinely. For his part Murray played like he'd rather be someplace else. Of course he always plays like that but this time he was the one getting played. I should've included him in the same group with Monfils, Gulbis and Fognini.

While mini/major upsets were taking place the Canadians were showing they weren't there as cannon fodder. A new star named Vasek Pospisil reintroduced himself to the tennis world while a compatriot showed that he's ready to do whatever it takes to win a match. And it was ugly.

There's an old expression "character is what you do when no one is watching." What does it mean when a tennis player with a preexisting injury, one he's being treated for, walks to the sidelines when his opponent is ready to serve and says he can't grip his racquet returning to the court thirteen minutes later and seeming to be fine. The comm said the medics had already given the player the recommended dose of pain killers and that they couldn't provide him with any more. It didn't matter because he appeared to be fine after the MTO.

Then there was the whole running into the net, seeing that the chair umpire, doing his job, is focused on where the ball landed not you so you twist and turn to make it seem you did everything to avoid the net and succeeded in not touching it. Meanwhile everyone in the stadium and around the world saw you. Your opponent was worn out from a late match the night before and it's more than likely that the match was yours, that you didn't need the point you would've lost had you confessed to running into the net. If that's what you do with the world watching what are you up to when it's not?

Anyway Milos Raonic made it through to the final. One day he'll tell his grand children about a match that he was never in. The big story will be how he responds to the loss.

Don't forget Milos, we can see you when you're on court.