Seen and Heard Around

by Savannah

WTA News

Samantha Stosur

Gisela Dulko d. (3)Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 7-6(5)
(25)Agnes Szavay d. (7)Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 4-6, 6-1
Samantha Stosur d. (2)Dinara Safina 6-1, 6-4

Agnes Szavay
Good thing WTA coverage will start in earnest tomorrow when all the top players will be in action. And no I'm not going on a rant about the idiocy of starting the women's coverage so late. I think the above results make my case. What fan wouldn't have wanted to see those matches as they were played instead of scoreboard watching?
Is someone going to make the argument that this shows the depth of the women's game as opposed to the weakness of the top ten with a couple of notable exceptions? Probably. Looks like Dinara is not yet ready to assume the mantle of Number 1 and all that it implies.

The State of American Tennis

Neither Justin Gimelstob nor Andy Roddick made any friends for American tennis this weekend. I turned the sound off on The Slob Saturday after he whined about what would happen if a certain player made it to the Finals saying that it would ruin ratings for CBS so I missed this wonderful exchange.

Gimelstob: It’s interesting that for the first time ever at our last ATP player meeting, some of the clay court players asked for some of the clay court tournaments to be switched to hardcourts. That’s how much they’re enjoying playing on hard courts.

Ted Robinson: Clay courters …. asked for more hard courts?[Laughter] I wish I had been there. [Laughter] I can’t fathom that Rafa was one.
Gilmelstob: Rafa was definitely, adamantly, against it. But players like Nalbandian, Del Potro, and Gonzalez were arguing for it.

Robinson: Really? … Was the subject of player longevity, player health, raised since clay is the least difficult surface for the players’ bodies?

Gilmelstob: Well, that’s how we countered it --- beyond the fact that clay needs to be protected as an important historical part of tennis, we need to protect their bodies as hard courts are the most abrasive and physically damaging of all surfaces. Rafa was quick to point that out as well. But in a classic Rafa way: “I want to walk when I’m 27, no? I like play with my kids some day, no?”

SOURCE

I admit I was skeptical that even the Slob would divulge statements made during a player meeting especially since he is a member of the ATP Board but not one person has disputed what he said.
So what is wrong with the statement?

• Since when are David Nalbandian, Fernando Gonzalez and Juan Martin del Potro clay courters? All three men play their best tennis on hard and/or indoor courts. I guess in the Slob's mind if you come from South America you are automatically a clay courter. Abysmal ignorance at the very least from someone who is supposed to be a tennis professional and an expert commentator.
  
• Apparently he did a very bad imitation of Rafael Nadal's accent when he speaks English when allegedly quoting what he said during the meeting. This has also not been disputed by anyone.
  
• Since when does an ATP board member reveal the goings on at what is supposed to be a private meeting between players and the ATP? Not that information hasn't ever leaked out before. Usually the reporters who divulge the information make sure to hide the source of it.
  

Andy Roddick and Tournament Referee Alan Mills

This morning Andy Roddick continued to enhance the reputation of American tennis by going into a profanity laden and infantile rant against chair umpire Cedric Mourier because Mourier didn't stop play when Andy thought play should be stopped. To put things in context rain is threatened for most of the afternoon. A brief shower started and before Mourier could say anything Roddick had picked up his racquets and announced he was leaving the court. Mourier asked that he stay on court since the shower was going to be brief. Andy left and no sooner was he off the court than the sun reappeared and the court deemed safe to play on.
After being broken by his opponent a few stray drops fell and Roddick again demanded that play be stopped. Mourier refused to be bulled and Roddick threw his racquet and said the following of Mourier:
"What the fuck are you doing?"
"(You're a )fucking asshole"
"You're sitting on your fat ass doing nothing"
Unfortunately I heard this with my own ears and couldn't believe that Andy was not given a warning or a point deduction. I understand that he was upset at being broken but the chair is in control of the court and all Andy had to do was ask Cedric to check the lines. If Mourier refused then be upset and no one will blame you.
I recall Serena Williams being called out for using an f-bomb to berate herself yet nothing has been done to Roddick. The umpires say they know it's not personal and don't take offense. If that's the case a guy ranked in the 80's should be able to get away with that behavior as well in my opinion since it's not personal.
Andy Murray tends to go on profanity laced tirades as well. In fact he went on a couple of them yesterday but no one says a word. Double standard much?

Photos of the Week

Elena Dementieva

Serena Williams

Heard Around

by Savannah

Kim Clijsters Returns

BREE, Belgium (AP)—Kim Clijsters will return to professional tennis after two years in retirement, saying she has regained the competitive hunger that led to the No. 1 ranking.

“I still have that craving,” the 25-year-old Belgian said Thursday. “I look forward to the challenge.”

Clijsters, who retired in May 2007 to get married and start a family, announced her comeback at the tennis facility where she has been practicing. She plans to enter the U.S. Open, which begins Aug. 31—her first competition at Flushing Meadows since winning her only Grand Slam singles championship there in 2005.

She asked for a wild card into the U.S. Open, along with WTA hard-court tournaments in Cincinnati and Toronto earlier in August.

“I want to be back at my peak as soon as possible, but I know that is not logical to ask that,” Clijsters said. “I will have to take it match by match.”

I have to admit I was never a big fan of Clijsters. For some reason she always got the softest draws possible and ended up in a disproportionate amount of quarter's and semi's. When she did get to a final she usually lost. She did win that US Open though and that made fans like me have to give her some credit. In my mind though she will always be "Cupcake Kim".
What are her chances? Here is another quote from her press conference.

“I am not coming back to lose in the first rounds,” she said. “Otherwise, I might as well go on holiday.”

People are looking at how far Martina Hingis got when she returned to the tour after a long layoff getting as high as number six in the WTA rankings. No offense but Hingis was a better player than Clijsters. I know the WTA is weak right now but I can see Victoria Azarenka wiping up the floor with Cupcake Kim. With Larry Scott gone I'm not sure Kim will have a sympathetic ear at the top.
I know her fans are ecstatic and I don't begrudge them their joy. I just don't see her beating Elena Demntieva in her present form let alone Venus Williams or Serena Williams.
Time, and match play, will tell.

Where My Girls At?

Serena Williams (seen above at the Miami player's party) wants to spearhead a revival of women's tennis in the United States.

MIAMI, March 25 (Reuters) - Serena Williams believes the United States needs to get more tour events if it is to address the lack of American women in the top 100 -- and she could be willing to play a role in bringing about that change.

The world number one is followed by her sister Venus, number six in the rankings, but the only other American women in the top 100 are Bethanie Mattek (37) and Jill Craybas (85).

The anticipated flood of talent following the emergence of the high-profile Williams sisters has no happened with the rankings dominated by East Europeans -- or as Serena puts it: "It seems like there are 12 Russians in the top 10".
(...)
The 27-year-old Williams said she could be interested in a role, after her playing days are over, trying to entice tournaments back to the U.S and developing young talent.

"That could be interesting it would be fun to get a lot of support back -- that is the only way we will get the players," she said.

Williams though has not completely given up hope on the next generation of players making the breakthrough.

"There are a few American players coming up, they are really, really young and haven't got attention yet and you never know.

This is an expansion of comments Serena has made in the past about the state of women's tennis in the United States and with all due respect I think she needs to look through different lens at the issue.

There may seem to be "twelve Russians in the top ten" but that is the result of their system. I don't see new tournaments being played in Russia. The new tournaments are in China and Spain not St Petersburg or Moscow. I don't pretend to be an expert on Russian tennis but I do know that none other than Elena Dementieva was turned down by one of the top clubs and went on to play for another one. If there is no "farm system" to use a baseball term the options are limited for a girl who is not to the manor born.

If Serena means what she says she will have to widen the net and look for girls not only in the cities but in the rural areas of this country, girls who would be more than willing and able to make the sacrifices necessary to play professional level tennis. Instead of worrying about what Russia, Spain or China is doing the United States tennis establishment needs to look high and low for girls who want to play tennis. It does the United States no good to complain about the number of women coming out of Eastern Europe and Russia when the more dire emergency, who will step into the shoes of Venus, Serena and Lindsay? Right now there is no one on the horizon.

End Notes

Australian Davis Cup Officials want to move the upcoming tie between their country and India moved to safer environs. Indian tennis officials say Chennai is perfectly safe. The ITF says it will make a decision soon.

Why are so many of Maria Sharapova's fans convinced she's had work done on her face? The lighting in this picture is horrible but she just looks glammed up here. Her face looks the same as it did in those other pictures where she looked like a rock star coming off an all nighter. As for the outfit? Meh. I don't like the necklace or whatever that is around her neck. I'm sure it's visible from the Space Station.

Seventeen year old Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova can't blame the lighting for this horror. Lack of mirrors maybe?

And if this is what the mack daddy's are wearing this year I have nothing to say. Not that I miss the wide brimmed hats with ostrich feather trim or the crushed velvet leisure suits but is this what it's come to? No wonder Radek Stepanek is taking the court wearing a table cloth for a shirt.

I would like to address those who think it's funny to throw Justin Gimelstob's name into contention for Larry Scott's vacated position. It's not funny. Don't forget the Slob has support in the upper echelons of American tennis. They just might take you seriously.

And finally why are some of Roger Federer's fans floating the idea of his working with Antoni Nadal? Has it come to this?

I'll end with this great picture of Venus Williams from a photo shoot she did for Marie Claire. Love it.

Seen and Heard Around

by Savannah

Amazing how light shone on a situation corrects it. I've been advised that the security situation regarding the practice court where both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal had to run a gauntlet has been corrected.

I'm sorry for the delay in posting comments. This tennis match had me up until after five in the morning and by the time I wound down it was after six. One must get her beauty sleep.

That five in the morning East Coast USA match had me wound up for a number of reasons. One was that my TennisTV connection crapped out at 3-5 Nadal in the second set. I tried to reboot. I tried logging in and out. Nada. I emailed tech support. They said it was running and never responded to my subsequent email giving more details. To their credit someone there responded the next day saying that I may have been having a "cache" problem. I had cleaned out my cache. I had also had frequent audio problems while watching both WTA and ATP matches. Forget about the buffering. I never had these problems when there was just Masters Series TV. I miss it.


The other reason was that during my search for alternate means of viewing a feed I'm paying for I came across a thread that stated Nalbandian had won the match. Needless to say I was downhearted and stopped my search. Thank goodness I scrolled down and found out that the match was still going on and that the thread should be deleted which it was. I ended up watching a teeny tiny screen and missing almost all of the drama of the second set rejoining the telecast in time to see the end of the tiebreaker.

The New York Times Weighs In

The Gray Lady as the NY Times is called has one of the best sports sections in the country. This is not acknowledged most of the time since the NYC tabloids get all the publicity but their writers deliver a consistent product all the time.
After the Nadal/Nalbandian match this article appeared on its sports pages.
Nadal Shows Why He’s No. 1, and Safina Shows Why She Isn’t
It features an excellent analysis of the Safina/Azarenka match and ends with the following:

The tournament, one of only two, aside from the four Grand Slam events, that runs two weeks and features both men and women, is splitting into two tournaments of diverging interest.

The women’s competition is filled with young and little-known teenagers like Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, who meet in the quarterfinals Thursday, and Azarenka. The only players left in the tournament with any appreciable history are the fourth-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva, who gets Azarenka in one semifinal, and the defending champion and No. 5 seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, who faces Sybille Bammer.

Meantime, the men’s quarterfinals boast the top four seeds, Nadal, Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, as well as No. 6 Juan Martín del Potro, No. 7 Andy Roddick and No. 10 Fernando Verdasco of Spain.

There's not much to say after that is there? If you can read the article.

When Hawk Eye Isn't...

I was mostly auditing the mens match between Ivan Ljubicic (above) and Andy Murray yesterday. Ivan seems to have returned his attention to the tennis court full time leaving ATP politics aside for awhile and was having a good run here. I was also trying to tune out Justin Gimelstob. More on him later.
The chair umpire was new to me since I hadn't seen him before this tournament. An argument broke out and I looked up to see Ljubo, the chair and the lines person in a discussion about a ball that apparently landed outside the singles lines and hadn't been played by Ivan. For some reason known only to him Andy Murray decided to have the lines call checked. When Hawk Eye showed the ball hitting the line both the chair ump and Ljubo went ballistic. The chair umpire said that he had to go by Hawkeye even if he knew it was wrong. Meanwhile the geeks in the truck quickly figured out what had happened. Hawkeye registered the second bounce of the ball which was indeed on the line and not the first one which was out by 3-4 inches, a country mile in tennis. If the production geeks figured that out in no time why couldn't the Hawk Eye geeks? Why didn't the chair umpire show intestinal fortitude and over rule the call? Why didn't Ljubo ask for a senior tournament official to review what had happened?
I've often wondered if the images we see are the right ones but I figured that was just me seeing conspiracies under every rock again. Yesterday proved that mistakes can, and probably have happened. The last thing we need is for human error to affect the technology that was supposed to end human error. Ljubo has said that he doesn't think it affected the outcome of the match. Really? I thought you'd left the politics behind Ivan.

Miscellany

There's a reason so many print articles are posting the incorrect official age for Maria Sharapova. It seems the WTA Media guide gave her birthday as February 1985 instead of April 1987. The Media Guide has been corrected.

Speaking of Maria she is now said to be ready to make a comeback at Rome. The self described "cow on ice" clay player is going to make her return on the physically demanding surface. Some fans think this is a good idea since she will not feel the weight of expectations. I'm thinking about all the clay on those fuzzy little balls and how it would affect her shoulder.

Camilla Belle and Jose Verdasco (lower right)
Camilla Belle was sitting in Fernando Verdasco's family box last night. Really Camilla? I thought she was now the platonic friend of one of those non singing brothers the tweens are all gaga about.

The Trouble with Justin

During last nights telecast of Fernando Verdasco vs Roger Federer Lindsay Davenport made the observation that Fernando has really bulked up. His chest and legs are noticeably larger. Gimelstob always quick on his feet said "I'll take your word on that Lindsay," in a tone that implied "only a woman would notice something like that". I don't think I heard another word out of her the rest of the night. A few minutes later Sam Gore, the other announcer on FSN/MSG+ said "just to back up Lindsay's comment..." and went on to say that Verdasco is noticably bigger than he was. Just remember that Lindsay is Gimelstob's friend and stood by him during the recent fiasco surrounding his call for his brother to sexually assault Anna Kournikova.

Earlier in the day Gimelstob interviewed Andy Murray after his win over Ivan Ljubicic. During the match he had been praising Andy to high heaven and the reason for that praise came during the post match interview. Gimelstob advised his listening audience that he and Murray had gone out to dinner. Fine. Then he asked Murray "Did you like that?" Murray had the class to look uneasy about the subject coming up at all and said something totally unintelligible in reply.

We're grown ups. We know that various talking heads have relationships with the players. Mirka playing with Mary Jo Fernandez children is a prime example of that. A couple of years ago Mary Carillo said on air that she had had lunch with doubles specialist Lisa Raymond. But Mary was in the booth and Mary Jo has never traded on her personal relationship with Mirka and Roger on air. Gimelstob apparently has no qualms whatsoever about trading on his off court relationships.
And yet this man still sits on the ATP board representing American tennis. Surely there are other people available to fill that role in a professional manner. The same can be said about his on air work which is mediocre at it's best and clueless at it's worse.

End Note

Sometimes a great picture is just a great picture.

Heard Around April 1, 2008

by Savannah

ATP Off Court News

The off court news taking place while the Sony Ericsson Open is under way in Miami is interesting. Some would say that the big news is the announcement of Andy Roddick's engagement to Sports Illustrated swim suit model Brooklyn Decker whom he met towards the end of last year. Ms Decker was seen courtside looking somewhat lost but making sure the world saw the ring that now graces the ring finger on her left hand. No date has been set for the nuptials.


While news of Andy's engagement may send some screaming into the night there is a war going on behind the scenes regarding the fate of the Tennis Channel Open aka the Las Vegas Open.
Charles Bricker reports in his blog that Arlen Kantarian, head of the USTA has let Etienne de Villiers of the ATP know in no uncertain terms that it will fight to the last Gucci loafered man to make sure the event stays stateside and is not moved to de Villiers native South Africa. While this Battle Royale is going on Butch Buchholz, Chairman of the Sony Ericsson Open is trying to put a group together to move the tournament to Saddlebrook which is located just outside of Tampa, the place Justin Gimelstob has let all tennisheads know is the place American players live and work. Nick's little establishment is strictly for foreigner players Justin quipped but I digress. Bricker quotes James Blake, a Saddlebrook man,opining the number of tournaments that have left the States for foreign shores. I'm sure there will be more on this as the year goes on.
Interestingly enough I found this aerial shot of Saddlebrook on it's official site. There appear to be clay courts on the premises. So why do American's suck at clay court play again?


On Court News

I'd like to take a moment and give shout outs to Mohammed Layani and Carlos Bernardes. Both these men have been doing a yeoman's job chairing matches and navigating the egos of ATP players during the SEO. Not that Norm Chryst or any of the other chair umps have been slackers. It's just that when these men chair a match rules are enforced with clarity and precision.

It fell to Cedric Mournier to chair the night match between Mikhail Youzhny and Nicolas Almagro. The late afternoon/evening matches on the mens side have been quite entertaining. Not jump out your seat screaming matches but matches that you watch because actual tennis is being played. Murray/Ancic comes to mind as does Canas/Gonzalez. If you were fortunate enough to see these matches you were treated to tennis matches that featured strategy, point construction, and theatrics. If you watched the Youzhny/Almagro match you may have thought you were watching ECW.
Youzhny, in a fit of pique, hit his head repeatedly with his racquet eventually drawing blood. I don't think the ATP Rule Book mentions self inflicted wounds and how to handle them. Quite a few tennisheads think that Youzhny should be reprimanded or fined in some way. Almagro was the one serving and who had his rhythm broken while the cut man, uh, doctor tended to Mikhail. Almagro, a look of stunned disbelief on his face, came over to make sure his peer was okay before retiring to his corner, uh, going back to his side of the court. The video is available on YouTube. Here's a still picture of Youzhny after he sliced his head open.

Was Mikhail intentionally stalling? I don't think so but what he did resulted in a delay of the match on Almagro's serve for the set. I wonder what Steve Uhlrich would have done? I'm sure there's going to be discussion about this among TPTB in the ATP.

As for the WTA quite a few of the new girls on the block were featured here.
Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal and Sabine Lisicki of Germany played here. Caroline Wozniacki made it to the fourth round until she ran into her doubles partner, someone named Venus Williams. When you look at the quarters however you see the following match ups:

Justine Henin vs Serena Williams
Svetlana Kuznetsova vs Venus Williams

Elena Dementieva vs Jelena Jankovic
Vera Zvonareva vs Dinara Safina

The only surprise here is probably Vera Zvonareva. Not that she doesn't have the talent. It's just that she's never really played consistently before.
Dinara Safina who everyone knows can play very very well should have been in this position much more than she has been recently. Otherwise it's the old guard coming through in the later stages of a WTA Tier 1. Of the new girls Larcher de Brito, at fifteen, is the youngest and is restricted in the number of matches she can play. There is lots of promise but right now experience is trumping enthusiasm. I do think a lot of people expected two Serbian women to be in the quarters though.

WTA Off Court News

While South Africa is angling for a major on the men's side word is Serbia has reached agreement with the WTA for a new tournament to be held in Belgrade next year in either February or October. Serbian Reports say the event will be a Tier II which will allow both Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic to play. Prize money is said to be set at $750,000.00 US dollars. The date will be set around Wimbledon.

The Daily Mail is reporting that the Lawn Tennis Association of Britain is looking to merge the womens pre Wimbledon event at Eastbourne with the men's event at Nottingham beginning in 2009. The event would be held at Eastbourne. Organizers are looking to have Andy Murray and Maria Sharapova anchor the new joint event. Reports are that Sharapova has not ruled out her participation. Murray may opt to play at Queens.

End Notes

It's a fact of life that when learning a new language many people learn the curse words and phrases first. That being the case if you watched David Ferrer the other night you got a master class in Spanish curse words. If you watched the "court" feed instead of the AMS feed that is. He also smashed a racquet. While he's far from one of the top players in this category he did a bang up job. Sorry.

For non English speakers Andy Roddick has been a great teacher this week. And he kisses his fiancee with that mouth too.

Lindsay Davenport dismantled Ana Ivanovic this week. I guess it's not a good idea to crown someone as the successor to a person's throne while that person is still playing is it? Lindsay, who is not a fan of Miami, lost in the next round but I think she made her point.

Pictures of the Week

Miami. It's hot. It's humid. All of that seems to come together in this picture of Ivo Minar during his match last night against Andy Roddick.


They don't want it anymore. They're headcases. They're playing under a cloud. Not ready for primetime. Right.


Svetlana Kuznetsova

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Elena Dementieva

Nikolay Davydenko

Serena Williams

A Rebuttal, And A Reply

by Savannah

Craig and I often share posts and he is my editor from time to time -- a lot. We've also talked about having discussions but the situation has never been right for having one. Craig did send me a reply to my post about Justin Gimelstob's blog entry about American men and their clay phobia that I thought needed its own post, and a bit of a reply from me.

Here is Craig's reply along with a correction he posted later. (Craig's note: This discussion actually began when Savannah posted her Monte Carlo draw and preview here. I thought to respond with a separate post, but I replied with a comment within that post instead. Savannah, as usual, has chosen the smarter, more accessible, route.)

You're absolutely divine on your soapbox, but I'd like to dispel a few myths, if I may.

Under Tariq, Roddick won 3 claycourt titles (Atlanta, Houston, St. Poelton), made the semifinals of Rome, the third round of RG where he retired to Hewitt after twisting an ankle, and also lost in the first round the same year he won St. Poelten (2003. Incidentaly Federer lost first round that year as well). The press hounded Roddick to change coaches. He did. He also never won a Davis Cup match away on clay under Tariq.

Since Tariq, Roddick has won two claycourt titles (Houston, 2x), made the quarterfinals of Rome, choked away two winnable second round matches at Roland Garros up two sets to one (Mutis - 2004) and two seets to love (Acasuso - 2005), and lost in the first round through retirement last year. He's also won four crucial Davis Cup matches away on clay.

In short, Roddick's record on clay post Tariq is only nominally worse, considering that he won exactly the same number of Roland Garros matches, finished a round earlier at Rome, qne one less title, but won 4 more Davis Cup matches.

Does "Roddick won on clay before dropping Tariq as his coach. He's been miserable on it since," still sound reasonable?

I don't generally defend Blake, BUT... before losing to Monfils and Zabaleta, he defeated Almagro (ESP) and Juan Monaco (ARG), respectively, neither of whom is any pushover on clay. It's also safe to say that his impatience against Zabaleta had to do with 1) his grueling 3 setter against Monaco the night before and 2) his recent Davis Cup efforts. His choke to Monfils was exactly that. I remember you saying he had that match and let it slip away. But that's Blake more than the surface.

If I recall, Blake choked to Ancic in the 16s or the quarterfinals of Hamburg last year, something he can do on the big stage on ANY surface.

Andre Agassi never backed off the baseline on clay, never slid, never imparted too much topspin on his shots. He didn't overadjust his game to the surface and didn't appear to have any mentally allergies to the surface. He won Rome once, Roland Garros once, and made another (two?) finals in Paris. He didn't grow up on clay.

Michael Chang won Roland Garros and never another Slam. Is clay supposed to be the supreme measure of a tennis player? Just because it tests your patience and your endurance but, by and large, penalizes your shotmaking? Just curiuos.

Tony Roche and Yannick Noah, to list just two, won Roland Garros by serve and volleying and chipping and charging. On a slower surface with wooden rackets. The points were short. Tony Roche didn't grow up on clay.

Martin Verkerk serve and volleyed and chipped and charged his way to a Roland Garros final on a medium slow surface with a high-tech racket, defeating at least one defending champion along the way. The points on his serve were short.

I'm not exactly sure what Justin Gimelstob is talking about. But it sounds familiar, that's for sure.

Roddick's biggest problems on clay are mental. See his results against Tommy Haas, a player he's never beaten on clay (but handled on other surfaces) and yet Ivo Karlovic, a player with a similar game and less athleticism, can defeat Haas on clay in straight sets the first time he plays him. Matchups. I know. Which support the same claim since matchups are more mental than anything else.

Every year we hear the same old story about American men on clay, even before the season is in full force. Isn't it entirely possible that the players' mental allergies to clay are simply reinforced by this barrage of redundancy?

Wouldn't it be interesting if, for instance, an American journalist pointed out the improvement of American men on clay as their Davis Cup results and their collective TMS results on clay over the past two years have indicated? Even Mardy Fish won a claycourt title.

Wouldn't it be as revealing to compare Roddick's 5 claycourt titles to David Nalbandian's ZERO? Roddick's career claycourt record to [insert name of any second-tier claycourter from South America or Europe here]?

And speaking of Roddick and coaches, Jimmy Connors knew his way around the slow stuff with his flat strokes and big old heart.

I hope Roddick's hamstring heals well enough so that he can be competitive in the claycourt events he does contest. He's got Rome quarterfinal points to defend, afterall. Lord knows he played Verdasco like he was on a claycourt, drifting 20 feet behind the baseline to absorb Verdasco's topspin and pace, and he still won the match in straight sets. On a fast indoor hardcourt. With a sore hamstring.

I've seen Roddick (and Blake) construct points on clay. Roddick, in particular, falls short because he doesn't expect anything of himself, doesn't believe in himself. Is he ever going to win Roland Garros? Only if a series of miracles occur. But I think he'd do a whole lot better there than he has if the talkers, whom he listens to and takes seriously, don't doom him before he even sets foot on Philippe Chartrier.

Our words have power. Perhaps, if we want to see more success from our men, we try pumpimg them up instead of cutting them down.

He then added this correction:

Oops. I think I stand corrected. I believe Nalbandian has won a claycourt title. One for sure. No more than two, I don't believe.

My first response was to wonder if Craig was right, that people are projecting so much negativity towards American men right now that perhaps what we see is the law of diminishing returns. You see it all the time in the classroom. Tell a kid often enough that he or she is stupid and can't learn and what do you get but a kid who won't learn.

But the more I thought about it the more I thought that Craig is right as far as he goes but I think Gimelstob was making a bigger point.

In my opinion the critical paragraph in Justin's blog is the first one I quoted:

American players are raised to focus on building weapons and finding ways to attack and win points. Clay-court tennis puts a premium on defense and manipulating your opponent into low-percentage positions where he will eventually lose the point.

How you see the world is how it presents to you. Your reactions to what is presented to you is based on how you have been taught to react to outside forces. The reactions are cultural, and especially today, societal. If you come from a culture which teaches you to shoot first and ask questions later you will be perceived as agressive, always on the move, and clearheaded. A culture which values analysis of what is coming at you and then trying to find a way to get around it or change it to suit you values patience, contemplation and a more laid back approach to things. People raised in the "ready-fire-aim" culture see those from the other culture as lazy and sneaky. People from the other culture see those from the "ready-fire-aim" culture as hotheads, hucksters, childlike and unable to plan ahead.

Of course I'm simplifying things here but this is a tennis forum and a certain shorthand is needed. In the paragraph cited above Gimelstob has used the same shorthand.

Does this mean that Americans have to hire European coaches in order to at least learn how to manuever on red clay? If they do this does this in some way alter American style tennis which is geared to hard court play? (I'm leaving out grass for now because that is a whole other can of worms. [Craig's note: Which I'm sure we'll get to!])

I am old enough to remember when being a good tennis player required knowledge of how to play on every surface. That is why you have Andre with decent clay court results. It's often said that Chang was only able to win the French Open but as an Asian, an ethnically Chinese friend of mine told me way back then Chang was too small to compete at the highest levels of tennis for any length of time. No one wants to say that though. Instead, his one Slam is cited as proof that those who win the FO can't win anywhere else.

I understand that positive reinforcement yields better results than negative reinforcement but as Craig points out Roddick was pressured to change his non-American coach and he did. I think his game has suffered for it.

Blake's problems are different. He has never been able to handle the pressure of a big event and has found his niche playing and sometimes winning smaller events. As more and more guys are making that same career choice, his road is going to be a lot harder. Ivo Karlovic won Houston this week beating Mariano Zabaleta who took Blake out rather easily.

Roddick and Blake are the top American players and thus come in for some criticism but I think they are the symptoms not the causes of the problems American tennis is facing now. What is scary is that the United States tennis establishment, working through the ATP seems to be saying to European and South American players "it's our way or the highway". The American tennis establishment would love to get their hands on players such as Rafael Nadal. Instead Nadal, Federer and their peers have closed ranks against the ATP and implicitly the American establishment in fighting the changes the ATP is trying to impose on the sport. As an aside, I have to give Andy Roddick his due and applaud him for signing the player petition against splitting the ATP into European and American branches.

So Craig, please understand that it's these issues that need airing. My comments are not meant to "pile on" and demean men who are playing their best within the system they represent. There are very serious problems with American tennis. Picking up their marbles and stalking off is not the answer the sport needs.