Why They Play

by Savannah


Until yesterday Nicolas Mahut of France was known for a long assed never should've been allowed to go that long match. Then there was the match where the Bryan Twins picked on him throughout the match and Mahut was in tears feeling that any chance he had of ever winning a title was gone.

If there were any tears Saturday they were tears of joy as Mahut, at 31, won his first ever main tour title. Look at the expression on his face. There is nothing there but joy and excitement. I think tennisheads all around the world exulted with him.

It's going to be fun hearing the US announcers who probably don't know that there were tournaments last week try and call him a "journeyman" and laugh about that long assed match until TennisTwitter pulls them up short.



Simona Halep of Romania has quietly won back to back tournaments, one on (real) clay and one on grass. For a certain segment of tennis fandom she will always be the girl who got a breast reduction and objectified. For the serious fan it's time to sit up and take notice of her. She's not the Romanian player everyone talks about but she's the one who hoisted trophies in the last few weeks while her countrywoman wasn't. I have nothing against her countrywoman but it's funny how the ones everyone goes nuts over aren't the ones who've hoisted trophies of late.


There are beautiful Russian women. Maria Kirilenko is one. The woman pictured above, Elena Vesnina, is another. They get pushed aside in US coverage of the women from Russia who play tennis because of course there can be only one.

I'm guilty of never taking Vesnina seriously though. I thought of her as more of a doubles player not as a singles player and never paid attention to her game. I got to see just how well she can play yesterday at Eastbourne where she faced American Jamie Hampton in the final. I'm hoping by the end of the summer that I'll have more to write about Jamie. Yesterday was Elena's day to shine though and shine she did. A strong wind blew throughout the match and while it seemed to bother her opponent it didn't bother Elena. She stayed focused and played according to her gameplan and in the end she got to pose with the trophy after winning her second main tour title.


The joy on Nicolas Mahut's face is nothing compared to the joy on Feliciano Lopez's face when he won the men's title at Eastbourne. It's been a long time between titles for a man considered to be among the best looking in tennis. It wasn't his looks that got him that win in the chilly wind of Eastbourne. It was literally, to use a cliché a matter of him holding his nerve and his serve and staying focused when the going got tough. He was so excited he went out and snatched the trophy from the presenters hands and was gently told that that's not how it's done.

The common denominator for all of the above players is their joy. These are not the players who make headlines around the world when they play a Final. The casual fan will only know them as random names on a draw playing against their better known peers.

There are times during the year when I ask myself how hard it must be to play year round and not even come close to a title. In a week where the big boys and girls are off playing in exhibitions players like Mahut, Vesnina, Halep and Lopez played for the average fan. They did it for love of the game, the excitement of competition, and for the chance to be the one glowing and kissing the trophy.

Congratulations to them all.

The Year is Over...Kind Of

by Savannah


The ATP has crowned it's King of 2012. Novak Djokovic, who showed remarkable restraint when faced with an opponent at the ATP WTF final who usurped the top ranked players seat to the left of the Chair surgically took the would be usurper apart. Anger saw him go down 0-3 in the opening set but then he pulled himself together and won in straight sets.

Apologists for the Usurper have tried to say that it's not a given that the higher ranked player in a match, who comes in last, always sits to the left of the Chair. They've even denied that Djokovic gave his opponent a look as he took the lower ranked players chair. True he didn't stand hand on hip, right leg thrust out and ask "Really?" but he did give a quick look to an opponent who avoided eye contact. They were on an indoor tennis court not a playground and Djokovic decided to take the high ground.

I am not, and will never be a fan of Novak Djokovic but I was pleased with how this match played out. The would be Usurper claims to respect and love the game of tennis. I would've preferred it if he had gotten up after realizing his mistake and moved to the proper position on the sidelines. Tennis is already living with the results of his backing new ATP head honcho Brad Drewitt and costing lower ranked players a bigger piece of the pie. Now he's spit in the face of tennis tradition publicly. And his fans still pretend he is a god and can do no wrong.


Marc Lopez and Marcel Granollers won the doubles crown at the ATP WTF. A nice ending to what was a good, if not great year in men's doubles. I hope that doubles gets more coverage going forward not just when a top player is playing the doubles tournament.

Davis Cup Champions



The Czech Republic put its Davis Cup hopes on the racquet of one Radek Stepanek who stood across the net from Spain's Nicolas Almagro to play the decisive fifth rubber in the 2012 Davis Cup Final. It wasn't Radek, who is more known for his, uh, let's say colorful on court attire and his celebratory worm dance these days than winning tournaments, who had thrown shade on Almagro though. It was Tomas Berdych who did that, saying that Almagro was the weakest link on the Spanish team and implying that he would be the way to victory for the Czechs. There was a lot of drama about those statements but in the end he was proven right.

It wasn't that long ago that Almagro was complaining bitterly about being left off of Spain's Davis Cup teams because he wasn't part of the "in crowd". In the deciding rubber he was playing the most pressure packed match of his career. Maybe he'll do better next time.

Captain Alex Corretja strongly defended his choices including not playing Feliciano Lopez in the final rubber in an interview after the tie ended in an interview with Reuters.

Corretja was unrepentant.

"As captain I try to cope with the situation as best I can and in the end we fought as hard as we could to win a final that eluded us by a tiny, tiny margin," he told Cadena Ser.

"If we played Czech Republic again tomorrow I would choose the same four players."

The failure of Spain's bid for a fourth title in five years left a bitter taste for Corretja and his players and the absence of the injured Nadal, who has only lost once in 21 Davis Cup singles rubbers, proved decisive.

The victory by the Czechs ended a year in which their players won The Hopman Cup, The Fed Cup and the Davis Cup. Congratulations to their players.

Gisela Dulko Retires



Gisela Dulko of Argentina retired from the women's tour at the age of 27. Playing with Flavia Pennetta of Italy she was part of one of the most popular women's doubles teams. Good luck and best wishes for your future Gise!

Does Anyone Know This Man?


Reputed to be a big time tennis player he's rumored to have been practicing in private for awhile now to test out a bad knee. He's also been posting pictures of himself online with a totally different look.

Fans of this man are reportedly waiting patiently for his return in 2013. Being realistic he won't be match tough and will have to play his way into top competitive form. He is also rumored to be playing a clay court swing in the Spring.
Let's wish him well.

Miscellany

There is a lot of drama surrounding top Czech players Petra Kvitova and Tomas Berdych, most of it centered on Miroslav Cernosek (seen to the left in the picture below)

Apparently Cernosek, described as a "sports manager" with a long time association with Czech tennis is quite a controversial figure. Unfortunately all of the articles related to the controversy are in Czech. If you think Google translations make a hash of French and Spanish you haven't tried to translate an article from Czech. Hash doesn't begin to describe what you get. Gibberish is closer to it.

If anyone can translate this article please do. There are summaries around that have one time player Pavel Složil stating the following about Kvitova and more about the situation in Czech tennis in general:

- in late 2011 he predicted that Petra wont dominate in 2012 for sure, maybe win few tourneys
- she isn't good enough (yet) to be on par with in form Serena/Masha (brain, fitness, ...)
- he didn't know for quite a time that she had asthma problems
- he recommends her to eventually contact Marian Vajda (to change few things in health/fitness/food - Djoko like)
- he openly said that she is fat a and that is a a big reason (often with ashma) that she cannot compete at 100%
- her overweight is cause of lack of fitness and that is big factor to her confidence in matches
- he suspect that she isn't traning hard enough in fitness area
- he said that she is for sure better than 8th in the world, but

Thanks to "Lufa" on fan board Tennis Forum for the above. There are also supposed to be comments about Berdych in the same article.

ATP Challenger Tour Finals

The ATP Challenger Tour Finals will be played in Sao Paulo, Brazil from November 27 to December 1. The tournament will feature the top seven Challenger tour players based on their top ten results of 2012 and must have played in a minimum of 8 ATP Challenger Tour events.

The top ten players are listed below.

1 Lacko, Lukas (SVK) 165
2 Becker, Benjamin (GER) 135
3 Viola, Matteo (ITA) 113
4 Rosol, Lukas (CZE) 110
5 Smyczek, Tim (USA) 109
6 Russell, Michael (USA) 95
7 Struff, Jan-Lennard (GER) 93
8 Mayer, Leonardo (ARG) 90
9 Donskoy, Evgeny (RUS) 90
10 Montanes, Albert (ESP) 80

Defending champion Cedrik-Marcel Stebe is not in this years top 100

Tennis Talk

by Savannah


Tennis Channel's Cari Champion's interview with Alisa Kleybanova became must see television when a day or two before it aired it was revealed that Alisa, one of the up and coming Russian players, has been diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkins Lymphoma. She is undergoing treatment in Italy. The most important thing for Alisa right now is to get well. I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say all of our thoughts and prayers go out to her and that hopefully we'll see her mucking up draws on a tennis court real soon.

Weekend Winners
Spain has had a very productive couple of weeks. First came the not so surprising surprise win over the United States in Davis Cup play. The hero of Davis Cup for Spain, David Ferrer, honored his committment and flew to Bastad, Sweden where he was scheduled to compete. David made it to the final where he lost to Robin Soderling.

That he made it that far is amazing.
Meanwhile the oft ignored female tennis players from the same country were making their contribution to their country's tennis history by winning two tournaments.

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez showed her fitness by holding the trophy from Bad Gastein.

Her compatriot Anabel Medina Garrigues had a much easier time showing off her trophy after winning in Palermo.

Not to be left out Juan Carlos Ferrero, who has been battling his way back after illness and injury fought his way to the championship at Stuttgart. I saw his match against Federico Del Bonis and have to say if you like hard hitting this Del Bonis kid, from Argentina, is someone to keep an eye on. It took all of Ferrero's skill and craft to overcome the challenge the young man threw down. Of course the test is whether Del Bonis will be able to keep up during the American Summer Hard Court season.

I don't usually talk about Challenger tournaments unless for some reason or another I'm on a tear about something but the joint event in Bogota, Colombia was on my radar screen all week. I don't know if you remember but right after Indian Wells Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic flew to Bogota for an exhibition match before heading to Miami. This week another of Spain's Davis Cup heroes Feliciano Lopez was in Bogota to play a $100K challenger event.

Looks like he did all right huh?
I was also paying attention to the women's event in Bogota because a young girl I've been following ever since I started this blog, Sachia Vickery, was playing.

As you can see she's not a little girl anymore. She also did very well making it to the semifinals.

I don't want to leave the doubles winners out.

The team of Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner won in Stuttgart.

Meanwhile in Bastad the top seeded team of Lindstedt and Tecau won the top prize.

Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci made Italy proud winning the doubles championship at Palermo.

At Bad Gastein the Czech team of Birnerova and Hradecka were doubles winners.

Idle Chit Chat

Pakistan's Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi became engaged to Faha Akmal Makhdum in an elaborate ceremony in Pakistan.

In more wedding news Elena Dementieva married her long time man Maxim Afinogenov in a ceremony held on top of the Ritz Carlton in Moscow near Red Square.
Almost everyone was there.

Dinara

Elena Vesnina

Vera Zvonareva and Svetlana Kuznetsova

Maria Kirilenko and Igor Andreev

Alla Kudryavtseva (who Tweeted many of the pictures) and I think Ekaterina Makarova

Vera Dushevina caught the bouquet (Alla hints it was quite a scrum)
And oh yeah, these people

Elena Dementieva

Elena and Maxim

Who'd A Thunk It?

by Savannah

In a Fed Cup tie that was seen as a toss up by many observers the team from the United States led by Captain Mary Jo Fernandez crushed Team France 4-1. Amelie Mauresmo watched from the stands as the French women went down to defeat. Alize Cornet of France lost both of her rubbers and seems to still be having problems with her confidence. A short time ago she was seen as the next big thing in French women's tennis.

The United States joins the Czech Republic, Italy, and Russia in the next round. The United States will face Russia in the in United States. Some are already asking if Shamil Tarpishev will try and recruit Maria Sharapova to play the tie for Russia. Alisa Kleybanova, while fitter than she was last year still ran out of steam in her match against Jelena Jankovic who did end up playing for Serbia despite reports to the contrary.

Speaking of Serbia Ana Ivanovic played poorly. Like Cornet she has been in a swoon of late and doesn't seem to be coming out of it any time soon.

I should mention that Jelena Jankovic has reportedly fired coach Ricardo Sanchez and will be flying solo for awhile. JJ really needs to listen to the commentary Martina Navratilova did of her last match.

Weekend Highlights

Feliciano Lopez ended his absence from the winners circle by winning the South African Open.

Marin Cilic successfully defended his title in Zagreb.

Tomaz Bellucci won in Santiago.

Tennis Talk

by Savannah

Poor misunderstood Novak. Matt Cronin posted this piece.

Novak Djokovic is controversial, but he doesn't want to be.

The world No. 3 has a strong desire to be his sport's superior player, but he can't yet stomach everything that comes with it — to be in the spotlight every waking moment, good and bad.

In public, the 21-year-old Serbian can't be the funny guy anymore. There will be no more hilarious impressions of his friend Maria Sharapova's serve, of his rival Andy Roddick's twitches, and especially of his locker room nemesis Roger Federer flicking his hair or clapping his racket in celebration.

"I'm in the transition," Djokovic told FOXSports.com. "It's not easy because I'm very emotional. Some things really hurt me, and maybe I express myself a little bit too much — people didn't get used to that. But at the end of the day, you sit and think to yourself, 'I've reacted the way I felt that's right.' Maybe it's wrong, but you learn from your mistakes. That's why life is testing us all the time."

The third seed at this week's Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Djokovic has gone from being the tour's boy wonder after winning his first Grand Slam title at the 2008 Australian Open to the most vulnerable member of the sport's so-called Big 4, which also includes Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray

.

Whatever. How convenient to forget the Monfils incident, the antics of his parents at Melbourne in 2008, the sore throat retirement, the real reason Roger Federer told his parents to stfu, etc., etc.
Still waiting to read a piece on Andy Roddick's behavior Sunday morning by someone in the US tennis press. I'm not holding my breath.

Breaking News (not so much)

Remember Elena Dementieva'scomments a few years back about the Williams Family and that Richard Williams decided who would win and who would lose when his daughters had to play each other? It seems the Russian sports writers are still focused on that innuendo.

This quote is said to be from an article printed last Wednesday that focused on Dinara Safina's chances of obtaining the number one ranking:

"Of course, it has to be taken into account that it is possible that in semis Serena will happen to play her sister Venus, and then the outcome of the family match will not be difficult to predict"..

In the wake of Dinara's early round loss that was followed by Elena Demetieva's yesterday this quote is found in the same journal:

"Let us remind you that Venus Williams is in the same half of the draw ( as Serena ) and in case she plays Serena in the semis, the result will not be difficult to predict"..

Source 1
Source 2
The sources are in Russian.
Dementieva has by her own admission played a lot of tennis and may need a mental health break from the sport. It's worth discussing whether Dinara will suffer the same fate as Ana Ivanovic if she reaches the number one ranking after Miami. I just don't see her as being ready for the responsibility that goes with being HBIC (Head Bitch in Charge) but I could be wrong. I think the Russian press should be more concerned with why Dinara has played so poorly during the first half of the season and not engage in idle speculation about things they know nothing about. Vera Zvonareva in the meantime has been playing excellent tennis making good showings at the YEC, winning Indian Wells, and garnering a lot of talk about what she can achieve at Roland Garros.
Of course the articles could mention Vera. I don't read Cyrillic so I'm at a disadvantage. If one of you reads it please feel free to let me know if they do talk about the women's game in an honest fashion and if the quotes are taken out of context. The last thing women's tennis needs right now is for this sort of thing to become the main focus of attention.

End Notes
I hear that Fernando Gonzalez got a tad annoyed at Radek Stepanekfor taking too long to receive serve and hit the Czech player on purpose. It's also said that Fena offered an apology as the two men went to their respective corners, uh, seats during the next break. Radek got the last laugh winning their match in straight sets. He who laughs last laughs longest no?

So once again coverage of a woman's match, this one between Serena Williams and Zheng Jie was seen on tape delay on Tennis Channel in the States and that technical difficulties stopped the match from being seen by some in Europe. I don't know if the TennisTV feed worked since I had to go out for the evening. Serena had to fight to win the match going down a break in the third before pulling herself together. I did see Li Na win her match. There was a lot of on court coaching used. I hate it. I really do.
By the way guess who plays Serena next?

How could I not try and catch some of the Fernando Verdasco vs Feliciano Lopez match which Verdasco won? Neither man is my type but hey, I want to be able to say in a few years I saw the match of the pretty's.

Who would have predicted that the match of the tournament so far would be between Marat Safin and Gael Monfils? The standing room only crowd was treated to high quality tennis and a bit of drama. The crowd was pulling for Gael and he didn't disappoint. Great match.

ATP Matches of the Year

by Savannah

There are two ways to foist your opinions about the matches of the year on innocent readers. One is the fangirl/boy approach and pick the matches where either your fave wins or the player you love to hate loses. The other is to try and think about the matches you enjoyed over the year. I guess you know I'm going to do the latter.

What criteria am I going to use? What effect did the match have on the tennis world? Did the players involved go on to greater heights or sink to greater depths? Was the outcome foreseeable or was it a surprise? Lastly I'll look at what handicaps the players had to overcome in order to win.

That said, this is my list. The order may seem odd but I'll give my reasons.


1. Chennai Semi Final
Rafael Nadal Defeats Carlos Moya

This match took place early in the year and I consider myself fortunate to have seen it. To channel my inner "Sofia Petrillo" picture this, Southern India, 2008. Oppressive heat and humidity. Mentor and student going after each other with the student seemingly coming out on top. Instead the mentor pulls himself together and fights his protege tooth and nail extending the match to five hours and the student comes out on top. It's a great match and if you can get your hands on a copy of it do so. Many tennisheads who did not see this match look at the one that took place the next day when Rafael, who couldn't even move and would've gotten a pass from fans if he'd thrown in the towel, lost to Mikhail Youzhny love and one and say Rafael started his year badly. I disagree. Without this match you don't have the next one on my list.

2. Wimbledon Final
Rafael Nadal Defeats Roger Federer

This match will go down as one of the greatest ever if not the greatest in mens tennis history. It had it all. Rain delays and darkness, herculean efforts by both players. Rumors of pep talks by significant other/coach during one delay. And just before they would have had to call the match due to darkness Rafael Nadal rallied himself to win. If for any reason you missed any of this match find a way to get your hands on it. You'll want it as part of your collection. And I say without that earlier win in Chennai Rafael may have stumbled at the end. Instead he drew on that earlier experience and did what he had to do to win.



3. Australian Open Third Round
Roger Federer Defeats Janko Tipsarevic

I see this match on a lot of the end of year lists and I had to really think about adding it to mine. You can argue that this match set the tone for Roger's year and that he should not have needed five sets to win over a gutsy Tipsarevic 6-7 (5), 7-6 (1), 5-7, 6-1, 10-8. Roger said he was ill with the effects of mono. Did it affect his Wimbledon? No, I think the French Open and Hamburg did that. Was it great to watch? Yes. Did it affect his mental outlook? Probably. One of the greatest of the year? You can argue pro and con in my opinion. One of the most influential? I'd say yes.

4. French Open Final
Rafael Nadal Defeats Roger Federer

Many tennis "purists" want to ignore the French Open Final saying the tournament was dull and boring. I think it has more to do with the score of the final match than anything else. The then number one player not managing to take a set from the defending champion was one thing. The worst part of it was the score. Nadal beat Federer 6-1, 6-3, 6-0. A bagel. In a Grand Slam Final. You can ignore it all you want but this is one of the best of 2008 if you want to see what it looks like when one player dominates another not only on the court but between the ears.

5. Hamburg Semi Final
Rafael Nadal Defeats Novak Djokovic

There was no hype needed for this match. Djokovic was breathing down Rafael's neck and a win here would have moved him past Rafa to number two in the rankings. Instead in another grueling match that lasted three hours Rafael defeated his rival 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 holding onto his ranking and positioning himself to move ahead of Roger Federer later in the year.
It should be noted that in the other semi final Roger Federer defeated Andreas Seppi. No knock against Seppi but give me a break here.The Final saw Rafael defeat Roger 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-3.



6. TMC Round Robin
Andy Murray Defeats Roger Federer

After routining the first set 6-4 Roger Federer got ambushed by the man he defeated so easily in New York. Many said then that the US Open was given to Roger thanks to the shenanigans around the order of play on a Saturday when a hurricane was bearing down on the city. Murray apparently felt that way as well and in a match that has to be one of the best TMC matches ever Murray showed he was not having it and beat down the man many want to crown the best ever. Murray showed grit and played relentless tennis winning in a thrilling tie break to three in the second set and winning the third 7-5. There was no surprise that Murray lost his semi final to Nikolay Davydenko 5 and 2 but he had nothing to be ashamed of. He'd played the best match of his career the day before.

Honorable Mention

Australian Open Final
Novak Djokovic Defeats Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Why this match? For this viewer this match had in ugliness what the first two matches had in valor. Tsonga was going to be nervous, his first Slam final after so many years marked by injury. Djokovic had a chance to show the world what a champion he is and erase doubts in many minds that he has the character to be number one.
Instead we saw some of the worst gamesmanship I've ever seen on a tennis court. Only Jelena Jankovic's antics in Zurich topped this spectacle. The behavior of Djokovic's family and entourage set new lows and in a way set the stage for what came later in New York where tennis fans showed their dislike for up to then media and commentator favorite Djokovic. To say his schtick wore thin is an understatement.
Djokovic went on to win TMS shields at Indian Wells over Mardy Fish and at Rome over Stan Wawrinka as well as the TMC over Nikolay Davydenko but did not win another Slam to hold on to his number three ranking.

Wimbledon Round of 16
Andy Murray Defeats Richard Gasquet

He did it in five sets coming from two sets down. He did it in England where they eat their athletes alive. Another one of those must see matches for 2008.

Davis Cup Final Round 2
Feliciano Lopez Defeats Juan Martin del Potro

This was the match that cinched Spain's 2008 dominance of mens tennis this year. On paper there is no way Feliciano, one of the more notorious head cases on the ATP tour should have won this match. Del Potro had a fantastic second half of the year and despite a nagging toe injury was still thought to be the favorite here. Instead we saw Lopez play the way many observers thought he could play on the fast indoor court and fight his way to a 4-6 7-6(2) 7-6(4) 6-3 victory. A great match to watch

It's Spain

by Savannah


You have to play the matches. As soon as Argentina knew it was facing Spain the maneuvers began. No clay, no outdoors. Going against it's strength Argentina went for indoor hard, the surface that David Nalbandian excels on. Then there was the brawl over where the tie would be played. David wanted his home territory but the resort area of Mar del Plata won out.

Once it became clear the world number one would not play the Final Argentina could be forgiven for thinking they had the tie in the bag. No
Juan Carlos Ferrero. No
Tommy Robredo. Instead the Spanish team would be led by Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco, two men not known as giants of will on the court. Davis Cup Captain Emilio Sanchez was second guessed every step of the way and when David won the opening rubber against a listless David Ferrer it looked as if things were not going to go Spain's way at all.

But in the end it was the play of the two least likely heroes, Feli and Nando that won the cup. In both doubles and in singles including Sunday's marathon fourth rubber that ran over three hours that the two men dropped the sobriquet "mental midget" being added to their names. It's a discussion for another time but if both men embrace their inner hard court player their lives would be much easier.

As Emilio Sanchez said there will be lots of wine. I'm sure a glass will be raised to the man who wasn't there, the man who got them there and whose specter made it sure that the tie would take place in a setting that would bring out the best of his team mates and stop making it a given that if you play Spain do it on an indoor hard court.

Congratulations to Spain on the win.

Davis Cup Final - The Battle Royale

by Savannah


Well, well, well. Spain leads Argentina and it's rabid tennis fans 2-1. Spain needs to win one more rubber. Argentina needs to win two. Risky business David Nalbandian playing must win doubles today with Agustin Calleri instead of Jose Acasuso against the Spanish team of Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco. In hindsight does Mancini wish he'd gone with his announced roster and have a rested David ready for tomorrow? We all know hindsight is 20/20.

The announced line up is as follows for tomorrow but the team doctor for Argentina said that Juan Martin's chances of playing were slim.

Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) v David Ferrer (ESP)
David Nalbandian (ARG) v Feliciano Lopez (ESP)

Keep in mind changes can be made at the last minute. I wonder if
Rafa was watching from Mauritius and pulling his hair out by the roots during that third set tie break? Captain Emilio Sanchez wasn't taking his calls yesterday - he said he didn't have his cell phone on - but the players were. Wonder if he took them today?

The Week That Was 3/8/08

by Savannah



The biggest story of the week? The international paper of record, The New York Times reports that Roger Federer has been diagnosed with mononucleosis aka the "kissing sickness". I'm sure most tennisheads want to know how the men's number one could have come down with this disease. Thanks to WebMD a brief overview follows.

What are the symptoms?

The most common symptoms of mono are a high fever, a severe sore throat, swollen glands and tonsils, and weakness and fatigue. Symptoms usually start 4 to 6 weeks after you are exposed to the virus.

Mono can cause the spleen to swell. Severe pain in the upper left part of your belly may mean that your spleen has burst. This is an emergency.
How is mono diagnosed?

Your doctor will ask you questions about your symptoms and examine you. You may also need blood tests to check for signs of mono (monospot test) and the Epstein-Barr virus. Blood tests can also help rule out other causes of your symptoms.
How is it treated?

Usually only self-care is needed for mono.

* Get plenty of rest. You may need bed rest, which could keep you away from school or work for a little while.
* Gargle with salt water or use throat lozenges to soothe your sore throat.
* Take acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) or ibuprofen (such as Advil) to reduce fever and relieve a sore throat and headaches.
* Avoid contact sports and heavy lifting. Your spleen may be enlarged, and impact or straining could cause it to burst.

In severe cases, medicines called corticosteroids may be used to reduce swelling of the throat, tonsils, or spleen.

Have Coach Will Travel - Or Not

So you're a tournament director in a country called, oh lets say, Dubai. Thanks to oil wealth you can pay the top players in the world to show up to your event and put on a show for the tennis world. And they all come. Among those who come are a player from Spain who is best known for his good looks and an American who many say has seen better days. Tennisheads around the world turn into live feeds or if they're lucky television broadcasts to watch the best in the world and hope for a stellar final between two of the top three players. Instead these two guys will be playing each other.

Feliciano Lopez


Andy Roddick

Roddick, who announced that he is no longer being coached by Jimmy Connors has shown the form he exhibited when he won the US Open in making the Dubai Final. Lopez is the last man anyone would have picked to make the final of what was one of the strongest men's fields outside of a Slam or a Masters Series event.

A lot of Andy's fans are over the moon about Roddick's play this week and they should be. They're also ecstatic that Connors is no longer in Andy's corner. Many blame Andy's shameful behavior against rising Japanese teen Nishikori Kei in Memphis on Connors malefic influence. In my opinion if all Connors did was point Andy away from what he'd been doing and given him back the confidence he had when coached by Tariq Benhabiles he'd done all he could for Andy. I also don't discount Patrick McEnroe's influence on Roddick.

Lopez has always been a player who perplexed tennis fans. There would be flashes of brilliance followed by extended mental walkabouts. Maybe he's tired of being considered model material instead of a top tennis player. He goes into todays match the decided under dog and I don't expect him to win but I do hope he puts up a good fight. There's not much more to ask of him. Yet.

Bangalore

Venus and Serena Williams have apparently found something to do while not playing the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells, California.


Both sisters showed up in Bangalore, India bringing instant star power and power tennis to the sub continent. They would have been seeded 1 and 2 meaning they could only meet in the Final but Jelena Jankovic decided she wanted to play. She was granted a wild card and seeded number one. That is why Venus and Serena are playing today's semi final against each other. The other semi final will be between Yan Zi and Patty Schnyder. Where is Jelena you ask?

As I said Yan Zi of China is playing in the other semi.


Las Vegas
This is the tournament Andy Roddick used to play instead of going to Dubai. Once again even though I live in the States I haven't seen any of this event. Suffice it to say that only one seed, Guillermo Canas, seeded number four, made it to the semi finals.


Guillermo Canas

Sam Querrey

Robby Ginepri

Kevin Anderson

I guess we're going to see just how deep the ATP is this year.