There Was Tennis Played Last Week...

by Savannah

Despite all the drama surrounding Marin Cilic's undisclosed positive drug test and three month suspension (It should be noted that baseball player Alex Rodriguez was reportedly offered a deal by Major League Baseball to sit out 2013 and 2014 and return in 2015 instead of being banned for life) and Viktor Troicki's attempts to drag everyone into the mess he created there was actual tennis played during the week. The US Open Series got underway with the ATP in Atlanta and the WTA in Stanford while the Europeans played in Gstaad, Umag and Baku (If they weren't busy withdrawing from parts of the US Open Series).


via sportsillustrated.cnn.com


The biggest, and maybe the most exciting win of the day saw Dominika Cibulkova avenge her loss to Agniezska Radwanska earlier this year in Sydney by pulling off a three set win in Stanford. No one expected her to win. Aga, who will make you crazy when she is on, was outplayed and visibly frustrated by the end of the match because Dominika simply would not go away. Not only was the woman some call "Queen Vulture" outplayed she was worn out. Dominika beat her at her own game. Wherever Aga hit the ball Dominika was there. Dominika also did what Jamie Hampton couldn't the day before and stopped herself from rushing her play.It was a long and exciting match. Exciting because Dominika, who as one wag on Twitter said, is about an inch tall, shouldn't have won. But she did.



How do you define dull? Here's my opinion. Put two very tall men who have very little game outside of their serve on a hard court and let them go at it. If you see Kevin Anderson is going to play John Isner during the US Open Series or the US Open set yourself a reminder to tidy up your sock drawer. Or do the laundry. Or take a nice long soak. Or take a walk. I guarantee you whether it's a best of three or best of five there will be at least three tiebreak sets involved. Look at it this way. You can dust, vacuum or cook dinner and come back and see the end of the match. I really don't like serve only tennis. Apparently a lot of people agreed with me on Tennis Twitter today. I didn't like it when I saw Andy Roddick do it against Fabrice Santoro at the US Open a few years back and I didn't like it sitting in my living room watching one of the most boring matches I've ever seen in my life. It was right up there with the infamous Gilles Simon vs Gaël Monfils match that still makes people groan in agony while trying to claw their eyes out. Someone had to win and Isner managed to do so.


via wtatennis.com

Congratulations to Elina Svitolina on winning her first WTA title. It's a shame no one saw her do it. I tend to wake up early and I put on a stream of Baku just to see some of the players I rarely if ever see play.I think I was one of the ten people world wide who did so. It's not even funny to snark about the WTA playing to empty stadiums in Asia anymore. There were literally no more than 50 people in the stadium during the two matches I watched and I'm including the tournament staff. I felt sorry for the players. They come out and do their best but how hard must it be to play in an empty stadium where the only cheers are from your family and staff? It's incomprehensible to me that the WTA is going to stage its YEC in China when the same situation that existed in Baku exists there. Unless they're going to pay for a lot of seat warmers the top women in the world will play before the same number of people that showed up in Baku. Sad.


in.sports.yahoo.com

I guess it's true that 30 is the new 20. It's also true that all good things must come to an end. Tommy Robredo, whom many thought would be out of the game by now due to the severity of the injury that kept him out most of last year, won the tournament in Umag. He defeated Fabio Fognini who had won back to back tournaments in Germany and was trying to win his third straight. Fognini ran right into the wall that he managed to dodge last week after getting a tough win over Gaël Monfils the day before. Robredo has Fognini's number and with nothing left in the tank Fognini saw his streak come to an end. Robredo was tired as well but he had more left than Fabio.


via au.eurosport.com

Mikhail Youzhny won the tournament in Gstaad over Robin Haase of the Netherlands becoming the first Russian to ever win the event. He said the following during his winners speech at Gstaad:

"First and foremost I would like to thank Federer for coming here and for losing in the first round."

It was a joke. Oh. Ha!

Miscellany

Maria Sharapova has pulled out of The Rogers Cup in Toronto because of a hip injury she sustained in Wimbledon. Uh huh.

There are rumors floating around that Rafael Nadal will not play in Cincinnati where he's never done well.

Ryan Harrison showed what a great guy he is during his match against John Isner. Isner wanted a ball back so he could use it for his next serve. Harrison threw the ball into the stands. Stay classy Ryan. You'll never be half the man Andy Roddick still is.

Andy Murray, or whoever runs his Twitter account, said that Baku should become a joint event. I think whoever typed those 140 characters wasn't using joint to mean an ATP/WTA event.

The ATP Transitions to European Clay

by Savannah



Stop the presses. Well almost. John Isner won the US Men's Clay Court Championship played in Houston last week. John took the ritual leap into the pool all winners of the event take, always fully clothed.



The bigger news was that Isner took a Wild Card into Monte Carlo becoming the only American singles player in the draw. There is never any rest for the weary though and Isner, as well as the man he defeated, Nicolas Almagro, are both playing on Tuesday.



Is this going to be the year of the Tommy's? Tommy Robredo, who has struggled coming back to the tour after injury, won in Casablanca, a traditional clay warm up event. The other Tommy wisely took this week off. I don't think anyone is looking for either man to win one of the events but both are expected to do well. Haas, who was the second seed, lost in the second round at Houston to Ricardas Berankis.

End Notes

Gael Monfils is making his return in Monte Carlo after being sidelined for a long time with injury.

Australia's Davis Cup Captain Patrick Rafter has filed an official complaint with the ITF over the accommodations his Davis Cup team were forced to live in in Uzbekistan.



Rafter said the following in Adelaide Now :

"It was more uncomfortable and unreasonable conditions for what we're used to. If you want the best players playing it (Davis Cup), you've got to have good conditions. The crowds were fine. The court was OK. The hotel - not knowing if you were going to have a good night's sleep - wasn't great.

"There were car horns all the time on one side of the hotel and there was an aviary and barking dogs on the other side. You go all that way to play Davis Cup, you shouldn't be worrying about having a good night's sleep. The food was a worry over there, too, so we took our own chef.

"A few of the people had rooms where the sewage backed up through the pipes and that wasn't much fun. It stunk. Our manager had bed bugs. It was pretty grotty."

"The ITF was there and I said, 'This is crap.' They didn't want to listen and they fined us because the boys didn't go to the dinner. I didn't want the boys to do what they didn't want to. They (ITF) said, 'You should have been here earlier,' and I said we were preparing to get ready for the match (in Munich). So I played hardball with them. I'm going to try and get all the captains and players who want change and get the head guys off the (Davis Cup) committee."

The ITF is going to have to look at conditions on more than the court wince Davis Cup is now being contested in non Western countries. A tie was forfeited in Malaysia because of court conditions. While Australia won the tie against Uzbekistan from Rafter's description there were issues that the ITF didn't want to face and fined the victims not the people responsible.

I'm not familiar with the word "grotty" but I think we all get the message.

Weekend Winners

by Savannah

The ATP champions club welcomed two new members over the weekend.

Kevin Anderson of South Africa captured his first ATP title on home soil. He defeated Somdev Devvarman of India 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

The other new comer to the winners circle is Ivan Dodig of Croatia. He defeated Michal Berrer of Germany 6-3, 6-4 in front of a home crowd as well.

Tommy Robredo of Spain was not in front of his home crowd but he won his 11th title in Santiago, Chile defeating Santiago Giraldo of Colombia 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(5).
Congratulations to them all.

Fed Cup - A Disaster For The United States
The only United States players who can come out of Antwerp with their heads high are Liezel Huber and Vania King. Their doubles win allowed the United States to avoid a 5-0 bagel served by the Fed Cup team of Belgium. The one rubber the US had to win, the opening one between Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Yanina Wickmayer went to Wickmayer and that was all she wrote. Mattek-Sands tried to redeem herself in the reverse singles winning a first set tiebreak 12-10 over Kim Clijsters but she was outplayed the next two sets and lost the rubber 7-6(10, 2-6, 1-6. Melanie Oudin did nothing for her team losing to both Clijsters and Wickmayer who both served her a bagel set. I do hope that Mary Jo Fernandez will be allowed to develop her team the way Patrick McEnroe was allowed to do with the US Davis Cup team. I don't see anyone on the horizon who will be able to compete on a grand stage with the better women's players. Most of the top American juniors are simply too small physically to compete with the bigger stronger women from overseas. They're also hampered by their lack of knowledge of how to play strategic tennis. What do I mean?

I hope you got a chance to see the ties played between Australia and Italy and Russia vs France. In both ties knowing how to strategize and how to react to what your opponent is doing on court won for the veterans who composed Team Italy and Team Russia.

In Moscow Captain Shamil Tarpishev saw Virginie Razzano of France make mince meat of Maria Sharapova . As we all know as goes Sharapova's serve so go her matches. Razzano played a crafty came frustrating Sharapova at every turn. With her serve misfiring Sharapova was run off the court. This debacle followed Alize Cornet's drubbing of Svetlana Kuznetsova putting France up 2-0 over Russia, something that surprised everyone to say the least. The reverse singles saw Tarpishev bench Maria Sharapova in favor of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova who was supposedly injured. Couldn't prove it by me as Pavs defeated a frustrated Cornet 3-6, 6-3 6-2 to open reverse singles play. Sveta came ready to play and routined Razzano 6-4, 6-4. Russia also won the doubles 7-6(4), 6-0.

In Australia the Italian women were caught off guard when Francesca Schiavone lost the opening rubber to Jarmila Groth 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3. That was the wake up call Italy needed. Flavia Pennetta won a battle against Samantha Stosur 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 6-4. The reverse singles saw Stosur push Schiavone to three sets but lose. Groth lost in straight sets to Pennetta who was not going to lose to her. Italy's doubles team beat back a determind Australian team 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-4.

In both ties fans got to see well played women's tennis. It was a beautiful sight.

Some tennisheads were taken back by a couple of Tweets made by Caroline Wozniacki in which she said (and I'm paraphrasing) "I won my matches. None of these bitches stepped up." She did neglect to mention that she lost the doubles she played but I'm sure it was the fault of that lazy bitch who played with her. There was a lot of surprise and of course there were excuses citing her age as the main reason she would make such immature comments in a world wide public forum. Does Denmark need to develop it's players? No doubt. Does the Danish Federation have the money to do so? I don't know. I do know that the Danish Captain tweeted some remarks that hinted he was not amused by Caroline's tweets. This is the second time questions about Caroline's judgment were raised by her Tweets. Someone on her team needs to slow her roll.

The full Fed Cup results are below. Congratulations to all the women who competed.

WORLD GROUP FIRST ROUND

ITALY defeated AUSTRALIA 4-1

Venue: Domain Tennis Centre, Hobart, AUS (hard – outdoors)

Jarmila Groth (AUS) d. Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 67(4) 63 63

Flavia Pennetta (ITA) d. Samantha Stosur (AUS) 76(5) 67(5) 64

Francesca Schiavone (ITA) d. Samantha Stosur (AUS) 76(1) 36 75

Flavia Pennetta (ITA) d. Jarmila Groth (AUS) 62 63

Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci (ITA) d. Anastasia Rodionova/Rennae Stubbs (AUS) 26 76(1) 64

RUSSIA defeated FRANCE 3-2

Venue: Olympic Stadium, Moscow, RUS (hard – indoors)

Alize Cornet (FRA) d. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 36 63 64

Virginie Razzano (FRA) d. Maria Sharapova (RUS) 63 64

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d. Alize Cornet (FRA) 36 63 62

Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) d. Virginie Razzano (FRA) 64 64

Svetlana Kuznetsova/Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d. Julie Coin/Alize Cornet (FRA) 76(4) 60

CZECH REPUBLIC defeated SLOVAK REPUBLIC 3-2

Venue: Sibamac Arena, Bratislava, SVK (hard – indoors)

Lucie Safarova (CZE) d. Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) 75 61

Petra Kvitova (CZE) d. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 62 63

Petra Kvitova (CZE) d. Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) 64 62

Jana Cepelova (SVK) d. Lucie Safarova (CZE) 57 76(5) ret.

Jana Cepelova/Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) d. Kveta Peschke/Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) 61 46 76(4)

BELGIUM defeated USA 4-1

Venue: Sportpaleis Antwerp, Antwerp, BEL (hard – indoors)

Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) d. Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) 61 76(6)

Kim Clijsters (BEL) d. Melanie Oudin (USA) 60 64

Kim Clijsters (BEL) d. Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) 67(10) 62 61

Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) d. Melanie Oudin (USA) 62 60

Liezel Huber/Vania King (USA) d. Kirsten Flipkens/An-Sophie Mestach (BEL) 63 75

WORLD GROUP II FIRST ROUND

SPAIN defeated ESTONIA 4-1

Venue: Tere Tennis Club, Tallinn, EST (hard – indoors)

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP) d. Anett Kontaveit (EST) 62 60

Kaia Kanepi (EST) d. Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) 63 62

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP) d. Kaia Kanepi (EST) 36 64 63

Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) d. Anett Kontaveit (EST) 62 62

Nuria Llagostera Vives/Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) d. Maret Ani/Margit Ruutel (EST) 61 76(5)

GERMANY defeated SLOVENIA 4-1

Venue: Ljudski vrt Sports Hall, Maribor, SLO (clay – indoors)

Andrea Petkovic (GER) d. Masa Zec-Peskiric (SLO) 63 64

Polona Hercog (SLO) d. Julia Goerges (GER) 75 64

Andrea Petkovic (GER) d. Polona Hercog (SLO) 61 62

Julia Goerges (GER) d. Masa Zec-Peskiric (SLO) 64 62

Anna-Lena Groenefeld/Tatjana Malek (GER) d. Polona Hercog/Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) 76(3) ret.

SERBIA defeated CANADA 3-2

Venue: Spens Sports Center, Novi Sad, SRB (hard – indoors)

Rebecca Marino (CAN) d. Aleksandra Krunic (SRB) 63 36 75

Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) d. Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) 64 75

Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) d. Rebecca Marino (CAN) 76(3) 63

Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) d. Ana Jovanovic (SRB) 60 64

Bojana Jovanovski/Aleksandra Krunic (SRB) d. Sharon Fichman/Marie-Eve Pelletier (CAN) 76(5) 64

UKRAINE defeated SWEDEN 3-2

Venue: Idrottens Hus, Helsingborg, SWE (hard – indoors)

Sofia Arvidsson (SWE) d. Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) 63 62

Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) d. Johanna Larsson (SWE) 76(2) 76(5)

Sofia Arvidsson (SWE) d. Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) 76(3) 64

Johanna Larsson (SWE) d. Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) 67(3) 62 63

Kateryna Bondarenko/Olga Savchuk (UKR) d. Sofia Arvidsson/Johanna Larsson (SWE) 75 62

Miscellany

Rafael Nadal won the 2010 Laureus Sportsman of the Year award.

Out and About Part Two

by Savannah

Some news before the write up about last night.

Spare a thought for up and coming American junior Sloane Stephens. Her father, former NFL player John Stephens, died in an automobile accident this week. The story is tragic, with a twist that makes it even more so for the young woman. See Karen Crouse' story for the details.

So the Eye network has made sure that the only coverage available other than what it wants to show us is a grainy feed from overseas. No online coverage, not even via USOpen.Org's live stream, is available until tonight. Not only that but Dick Enberg is commentating. I guess it could be worse and Al Trautwig could be in the chair. Or Ted "Mr America" Robinson.

Sabine Lisicki is said to have suffered a bad sprain. I've heard it said a sprain can sometimes be a very bad thing.

I wonder what the US tennis scene would look like if guys like Jesse Witten got the support others seem to think so little of.

A Night At The Open

I treat the US Open like my vacation. It is expensive, and I try to make sure I have the money available to see it the way I want to. Sometimes it's good. As I said in my other post the day session crowd tends to be a more knowledgeable group regardless of where one sits. At night the equation changes. All the suits who are there on their companies dime proceed to drink themselves into drunken stupors and feeling no pain don't hesitate to loudly vocalize their ignorance of the game by cheering hard hit balls that go out, and starting fan cheers for players they never heard of before.

Needless to say I was at the night session last night. The night started out well since I got a chance to meet briefly with some tennis friends I originally met online. I have to say upfront that I dressed wrong. During the day match when the sun pattern changed so that I was in shade it was downright cool. I figured it's night, in a large stadium, I would dress warmly. Bad move on my part. I had to stand up on the way in - fortunately I got an express - and by the time I reached Ashe I was totally soaked. Humidity and me do not get along. I still enjoyed my brief meeting with my friends. They're out there today and I know they're having a good time.

Anyway once I got inside -Venus match had already started - I stood with the small group waiting to get in on the next changeover. That was when I met my first douche of the evening. Everyone in the group has tickets. An assigned seat. It makes no difference what the order of entry is, your seat will be there. If someone is in it they have to move. Typical tennis etiquette. Mr. Douche yelled at his wife/girlfriend "you made us lose our spot" so everyone could hear as he made his way towards the front of the group. He rushed ahead when we could finally enter and I was amused to see him just being seated as I took my seat.

I should mention that as I came in Richard Williams passed by on his way out of the stadium. I said hello to him and he spoke back. As it turned out we were six rows behind him and his wife. The rest of Venus Williams entourage was on the other side of the court.

Meanwhile I think my daughter and I were the only ones not drinking to get drunk. She had fish and chips and a beer. Everyone else was drinking with not much food involved. I had brought my own food again so I was good.

Venus fans are well aware of her second set walkabout's. Let me tell you that it's worse seeing one in person. You live and die with each shot. I should also say that Venus knee is still not good. She and her sister are still scheduled to play doubles. We'll see.

I have to say it was great to see the crowd pull behind Venus. New York has not been a Williams friendly place to say the least and at the end Richard was up cheering with the rest of us. As he and his wife left I told him "Congratulatons" and he said "Thank You".

By the time the men's match started the crowd was well lubricated and the crazy stuff started. Many thought it would be an early night after the first set. That was when "Kiefermania" started. Kiefer rode the wave and thanks to some WTF play from his opponent took the second set. I'm not sure how it appeared on television but I can tell you that after the "Kiefermaniacs" left, hopefully for the LIRR or one of the jitneys, or passed out the way one gentleman did near where I was sitting (I have no idea how his girlfriend was going to get him home since he was passed out cold and she wasn't feeling any pain either) things got a little calmer. The people from the nosebleed seats came down and the match ended peacefully. I doubt if any of the Kiefermaniacs knew who he was.

We got to see Pam Shriver up close when she came to interview someone I'm guessing was Kiefer's coach. There was a cameraman in the way so we couldn't see clearly.

I have to say that it was amazing how many people were on the grounds last night. It's beautiful to see so many tennis fans from all over the United States and Canada come together to celebrate the best in the business.

I don't think I'll be out there again this year though.

End Notes

Venus Williams faces Kim Clijsters next.

The Monogram will play the winner of James Blake vs Tommy Robredo the featured men's match tonight.

Melanie Oudin (that's ooo-dan Dick Enberg) is facing Maria Sharapova today. Big match for both women for different reasons. Oudin is not expected to win. Nice to see the #29 seed on Ashe during the day while the #1 is playing tonight during what some fans are calling the worst night session ever.

Serve and volley isn't dead. Taylor Dent and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez used the tactic with disparate results yesterday. Dent will play Andy Murray next.

There will be an on court tribute to Ricardo Alonso "Pancho" González this evening at 7p. Self taught, he revolutionized tennis.

In 1969, however, it was Gonzales's turn to prevail in the longest match ever played till that time, one so long and arduous that it resulted in the advent of tie break scoring. As a 41-year-old at Wimbledon, Gonzales met the fine young amateur Charlie Pasarell, a Puerto Rican younger than Gonzales by 16 years who revered his opponent.

Pasarell won a titanic first set, 24-22, then with daylight fading, the 41-year-old Gonzalez argued that the match should be suspended. The referee didn't relent and thus the petulant Gonzalez virtually threw the second set, losing it 6-1. At the break, the referee agreed the players should stop. Gonzalez was booed as he walked off Centre Court.

The next day, the serves, the volleys and all the prowess that made Gonzales a fiery competitor surfaced with trademark vengeance. Pasarell, seeking to exploit Gonzalez's advanced years, tried to aim soft service returns at Gonzalez's feet and tire him with frequent lobs. Barked Gonzalez on a changeover, "Charlie, I know what you're doing -- and it's not working!" Gonzalez rebounded to win three straight sets, 16-14, 6-3, 11-9. In the fifth set, Gonzales won all seven match points that Pasarell had against him, twice coming back from 0-40 deficits, to walk off the court from the 5-hour, 12-minute epic.

The final score was an improbable 22-24, 1–6, 16-14, 6–3, 11-9. Gonzales went on to the fourth round of the championship, where he was beaten in four sets by Arthur Ashe. The match with Pasarell, however, is still remembered as one of the highlights in the history of tennis and has been called one of "The Ten Greatest Matches of the Open Era" in the November/December 2003 issue of TENNIS magazine. But it was not this match alone which gave Gonzales the reputation, among the top players, of being the greatest long-match player in the history of the game.

Take the time to read his biography

Seen Around

by Savannah

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


Robby Ginepri

Tommy Robredo

Robert Kendrick

Gael Monfils

Victor Troicki

Tommy Haas

Sam Querrey

Kevin Kim
I mean really.

Why Just the Spaniards?

by Savannah

David Ferrer

The above picture was taken just after David Ferrer went on a mini rampage after his loss to Robin Soderling. Ferrer has quite a temper and a mouth to match but could his anger have come due to nothing that took place on the terre battue?
Craig Hickman has been covering the growing controversy over all of the Spanish men still in contention - David Ferrer, Tommy Robredo, Fernando Verdasco and Rafael Nadal, being hauled out of bed for drug testing at 7a Paris time. Ferrer, who had just completed a long match and gotten to bed about 2a could not give a sample until two hours after being awakened.

Has drug testing become a political issue in men's tennis? That could only be the case if there are interests who prefer that certain matches take place as opposed to others. Of course that's just so much idle speculation on my part.

The State of American Tennis

by Savannah

“I fear, actually, for American tennis at the moment,” said former No. 1 and eight-time major champion Ivan Lendl.

The above quote comes from an article by Howard Fendrich which takes an honest look at the state of affairs in the country that once dominated at Slams and majors.

Fendrich makes the following points:

• It’s been a decade since a man from the United States won the title—Andre Agassi in 1999—and none has even reached the quarterfinals there since he did in 2003.
  

• Since Andy Roddick’s 2003 U.S. Open championship, 21 major tournaments have come and gone without an American man winning.
  

• Only two active U.S. men, Roddick and Robby Ginepri, ever have made it as far as the semifinals at any major.
  

• Over the past three years combined, (at the French Open) there have been three U.S. men into the third round—zero in 2007. 
  

• There are three Americans in the Top 60 (ATP). France, meanwhile, has 11 and Spain has eight.
  

• Sisters Serena and Venus Williams own 17 Grand Slam singles titles between them, including each of the past three.
  

• Monday’s WTA rankings have Serena at No. 2, Venus at No. 3—and no one else until No. 44 Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
  

The above article is not one of the featured entries on Yahoo - I found it looking for pictures of the courts at The Magic Box. I don't think it's an accident that the article appears today when the USTA is holding a conference call featuring Patrick McEnroe to discuss the state of tennis in the United States one year after PMac took charge of what is called elite tennis training in the United States. Patrick is quoted in Fendrich's article as saying the following:

“I don’t think you can create a system where you can create champions. Champions, to me, are born, and they come up in the right situation or they’re pushed and they’re prodded. If we can raise the level of the many junior players that we have and then the young pro players, that will make it more possible that a John McEnroe will develop, that a Pete Sampras or Andre Agassi will come along.”
(...)
“It’s something that will see some results within the next year, but really, this is a five-, six-, seven-, eight-year plan.”

I hope to be on the conference call and will provide a report tomorrow.

The Magic Box

I said yesterday I'd talk about the courts. When it comes to the European clay season fans see tournaments played on old, settled courts that have been in existence for years. That's not the case with the Magic Box. These are new courts and it shows. TennisTV is featuring play on the three show courts so those are the only ones I can discuss.

Mardy Fish complained about the surface being too slippery and wanted the court watered during the second set of his match against Tommy Robredo. He had to wait for the break between sets when the grounds crew swept and watered the court. The only problem was that they overwatered the court and delayed the start of the match between Fernando Verdasco and Juan Carlos Ferrero. The commentators mentioned how windy it was yesterday on the outer courts and how you would barely know the wind was blowing on the show courts. That backs up what Vania King blogged about yesterday.

The ball travels like a rocket through the air - the altitude of Madrid was one of the major issues with the event being held at this time of the year - and the clay is said to be slow. Perhaps they made the clay slow to compensate for the issues of altitude, I don't know.

There are also complaints about the lack of practice courts. This is a joint WTA/ATP event and players are not used to sharing or having to wait for a long time to practice.

I'm sure that after a few years the courts will have settled and the practice court situation will improve.

Oh, and I hope you like the pictures of Tommy Robredo practicing on the blue clay court.

Monday Tennis Talk

by Savannah

Blame "Slumdog Millionaire". Oh I know! Blame Brangelina! Mickey Rourke? You can blame him for just about anything. I was kind of pulling for him to win but after his nasty remarks about Sean Penn after the nominations were announced I knew he was out of the running.
See? There's a reason I didn't post on Sunday. I have to see the Red Carpet at the big award shows and this time I stuck around to actually watch the award show. Sound plausible? Good.

Tommy Robredo 2009 Champion Buenos Aires

The Controversy Part II
So after all the drama surrounding the UAE and Shahar Pe'er not to mention fines and all that imagine my surprise when I read this on The Ticker this morning.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says he feels Andy Ram should boycott this week's tournament in Dubai. "I was a bit surprised to discover that Andy Ram did intend to go there," Olmert was quoted as saying by Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz. "It would be highly worthwhile for someone to advise him to demonstrate patriotism and solidarity and boycott the tournament."

The UAE government granted Ram a visa in the face of international pressure following its decision to deny one to Shahar Peer for the women's event last week.

If this is how the Israeli government feels why didn't it comment last week before everything went down the way it did?

In other Middle East related tennis news The Ticker also reports that the city of Stockholm has offered to replace Malmo as the host city of the Sweden-Israel Davis Cup tie next week, which would allow the matches to be open to the public.

The city council of Malmo had decided not allow spectators into the arena during the tie, citing security concerns over planned protests against Israel's actions in Gaza.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 2009 Champion Marseilles

This and That
With the changes in how ranking points are doled out it seems paying attention to who is playing where and when is going to be very important this year. Exhibit A is what happened to the ATP 500 event scheduled in Dubai this week. The original draw looked like a who's who of the top ten men. The tournament that is actually being played features a field minus Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Nikolay Davydenko,
Andy Roddick and Fernando Verdasco. As I mentioned before Roger Federer will not play a 500 event before the US Open and will receive "0" points for each event not played. Clarification is needed. All of the men who withdrew will receive a "0" for the missed event with no chance of making it up. If they had come and all lost in the first round they'd still get a "0" but that could be erased by playing in another event. Clear? Here's a look at how the men stand this week.

D = Dallas
DE= Delray Beach
A= Acapulco

Thanks to ""Judio" for putting this information together and updating it every week.

New Old This Project Low
Rank Rank Player Week Points Opt
1 1 Nadal 0 14360
2 2 Federer 0 10910
3 3 Djokovic 0 8920 D
4 4 Murray 0 7310 D
5 5 Davydenko 0 4715
6 6 Roddick 0 4440
7 7 Del Potro 0 4290 220
8 8 Simon 0 3745 D
9 9 Verdasco 0 3330
10 11 Tsonga 0 3300 200
11 10 Monfils 0 3250 A
12 13 Blake 0 2990 150
13 12 Nalbandian 0 2895 A
14 14 Ferrer 0 2725 D
15 17 Wawrinka 0 2660 0
16 18 Gonzalez 0 2650 120
17 15 Robredo 0 2620 A
18 16 Stepanek 0 2530 50
19 19 Cilic 0 2420 D
20 20 Fish 0 2305 50 De
21 23 Berdych 0 2230 100
22 24 Andreev 0 2060 D
23 25 Safin 0 2040 D
24 22 Soderling 0 2015 90
25 27 Lopez F 0 1995 45
26 26 Gasquet 0 1920 D
27 29 Karlovic 0 1880 D
28 28 Tursunov 0 1875 D
29 30 Ancic 0 1795 45
30 21 Almagro 0 1780 A

Mark Knowles and son Graham celebrate Mark and Mardy Fish' Doubles Victory in Memphis

What makes a match must see? Well Marat Safin faces Richard Gasquet tomorrow in Dubai. Train wreck or instant classic? Won't you kick yourself if you miss it?

Victoria Azarenka 2009 Women's Champion Memphis

Andy Roddick overcame the challenge that is Radek Stepanek and eked out a victory over the man known in some circles as Mack Daddy. I saw the Roddick temperament - I mean what's a Roddick match without a racquet throw or two - but I didn't see the maniacal panicked back and forth, the groin picking (well maybe once or twice) and the arguing for arguments sake from Andy. What I did see was a game plan, stuck to and well executed. He obviously still wants it because he's listening to what new coach Larry Stefanki is telling him and seems to have incorporated what his prior coaches were trying to teach him as well. It is true that the field at Memphis didn't feature any of the big boys - they're over in Europe but will be here for the BNP Paribas Indian Wells and Miami - but it was still a good out of town tryout for Andy. The proof of the pudding will be during those back to back Masters events.

Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra 2009 Doubles Champions Marseille

Maria Sharapova is hitting at Nicky B's place in Florida. There's video on YouTube to prove it. Will she come back for Indian Wells? Maybe. She's not a big fan favorite in Florida - many still remember the incident with Tatiana Golovin a few years back - but her fans are beating the bushes everywhere you turn for her to come back and "stop" Venus and Serena Williams.
Why does someone have to "stop" Venus and Serena when they're the biggest draws on the tour? A lot of these screeds are written by American "fans" of women's tennis. Wonder why the Russian's aren't baying for Maria's return since she carries Russian, not American citizenship? Maybe it's because the Russian women - minus Maria - seem to be doing very well on the tour thank you very much? I claim no inside knowledge as to what Maria will do and make no predictions as to when she will come back. I just wish some of these "fans" would get behind the top American women as vociferously as they do a Russian woman.

Marcel Granollers and Albert Martin 2009 Doubles Champions Buenos Aires

By the way they're still writing essays on how Roger can beat Rafael just in case you thought that cottage industry had gone away. Roger has now stated that he will only play when he's totally fit.

Liezel Huber and Cara Black with Princess Princess Haya Bint al-Hussein 2009 Doubles Champions Dubai

Yet another tennis player is making the pilgrimage to Las Vegas. The Times of India" is reporting that Sania Mirza will spend a week with Gil Reyes at his training center. She will also get to work with Sven Groeneveld who has made working for Adidas famous. Sania is hoping for wild cards into both Indian Wells and Miami.

Andy Roddick 2009 Men's Champion Memphis

There was a women's event in Bogota Colombia last week that seemed to be the tournament that time forgot. I'm sure the winner, María José Martínez Sánchez (seen below) will remember it. There was also a women's event in Memphis. If you're a casual fan you can be excused for not being aware of it. Two of the top new generation women, Caroline Woznicaki and Victoria Azarenka duked it out for the championship. Ms Wozniacki also had a go at this years feel good story star Jelena Dokic at the beginning of the tournament. There was a lot of interest in the women's side of the event but I guess the wiz kids of the WTA missed that memo. There was absolutely no coverage of the women's event to be found. Zero. Zip. Nada. The entire world, except for the United States, could see the men's event via TennisTV for a fee. Great marketing there too kids. You could, if you looked hard enough, find coverage of the men's event, including the final, if you looked hard enough.

Some tennis heads reported that the camera's were turned off during the women's events in Memphis. The only reason I didn't think this was a joke was because there was really a media blackout for the women. One would think with the WTA only holding on to die hard fans right now they'd look for every chance to put their product out there not hide it. It's not like people were going to descend on Memphis in droves to see the new kids but the tennisheads really wanted to see the play here. Instead they were reduced to scoreboard watching and wild guesses as to what was taking place on court. For a tour that consistently ignores it's top players in favor of one, for a tour that is more the butt of jokes among tennisheads instead of being known as a bastion of good play I find it amazing that every chance isn't taken to push the new generation. I know they're looking for a "savior" but in the meantime push the good product you've got. For every final where one contestant has thirteen double faults(that's you Gisela) there is play like that seen in the Dubai quarters, semis and Final. I'm just sayin' guys. Come on already.

Serena Williams was in the stands for her sister's win at Dubai but wild horses (and several time zones) wouldn't keep her from an Oscar's event. She may be bleary eyed. She may be dog tired but here she is attending Elton John's party. I remember those days when mere mention of the word "party" revived the spirit and sleep could be made up tomorrow. Good times.

Meanwhile, in the "Caption This" photographs of the week Venus was seen working out with her (unidentified) coach.


End Note
I leave you with this question. Why do people laugh when Richard Williams is mentioned as a potential Davis Cup coach for the United States? To steal a phrase enquiring minds want to know.

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.

RAFA!

He won it. No one retired. There was no cupcake draw. The defending champion went out and won Monte Carlo for the fourth consecutive year, a first in the open era. It was also his first championship of the year. He did it without dropping a set. He did it going down 4-0 in the second set. No tantrums. No racquet throwing. A deep breath and he did what he had to do.

Congratulations Rafa.


So Nice He Did It Twice

Making himself only the second man in Masters Series History since Jim Courier back in 1991 did it Rafa teamed with Tommy Robredo and won the doubles final in Monte Carlo. The pair took out the team some say has been the best so far in 2008 Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles 6-3, 6-3. A four-peat and a double up. Way to go Rafito.

The Champions 10/7/07

David Ferrer Mens's Champion Tokyo 2007

Virginie Razzano Women's Champion 2007 Tokyo

Justine Henin Champion Stuttgart 2007

Tommy Robredo Champion Open de Moselle 2007

Other Results

Doubles Finals
Stuttgart
(1) Peschke/Stubbs (CZE/AUS) d. (2) Chan/Safina (TPE/RUS) 67(5) 76(4) 10-2

Tokyo
Doubles - Final
(2) T.Sun/Yan (CHN/CHN) d. (1) Chuang/King (TPE/USA) 16 62 10-6

Tashkent

Singles - Final
Pauline Parmentier (FRA) d. (1) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 75 62

Doubles - Final (played Saturday)
Dzehalevich/Yakimova (BLR/BLR) d. (1) Poutchek/Rodionova (BLR/RUS) 26 64 10-7

ATP Challenger - Mons Belgium

Ernests Gulbis who played flawless tennis all week and beat Kristof Vliegen in the final.We may be hearing a lot more from this young man.