Thanks to "Alice" at Vamos Brigade for posting these!
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Does American Tennis Suck?
by Savannah
At one point during NBC’s broadcast of the match between Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco, John McEnroe casually stated that Donald Young had been invited by the Nadal family to come and work with them for three weeks in Mallorca. Now I’m sure many tennis parents heard that and immediately began emailing the family saying their precious was the best thing since sliced bread and would gladly take them up on the offer the Young camp refused. That’s right, they refused. I’ve said here before that Young has the potential to become an all court player, a man who will not run screaming into the night at the mention of terre battue, or whine that he just can’t learn how to slide the way “they” do. “They” of course are the European and South American players who have become the stars of the ATP, the men, and women, who grew up on the red dirt – not ground up tires or whatever “green” clay is, but real crushed red brick. You know them. They can construct points, think their way through a match, are patient enough to hit to the same spot, or near to it, until their opponent, frustrated, goes for too much and makes an error. Yeah, those people. They change speed and direction on the ball too.
If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile you’ll remember I posted about why the United States changed their surface of choice from clay - ! – to hard court. Economics? I mean it must be hard to keep up clay courts right? Forget the fact that many clubs had clay courts back then. It has to be economic right? Well, no. It had to do with the rise of some young Spaniards and South American’s who were bold enough to challenge the United States on a tennis court. They were christened “clay court specialists” and the United States tennis establishment made the move to hard courts.
So when the Nadal family made their offer to the Young camp imagine the alarm bells that went off in the United States. One of their own, recently exposed as being used and abused by the powers that be of U.S. tennis and who despite all that happened is now making his way up the rankings, go to Spain?! It would be the straw that broke the camels back, the exposure of the United States tennis system as a teetering house of cards. It could not, and would not happen. And it didn’t.
So will Donald Young’s potential be sacrificed on the altar of mindless ball bashing? Will he become like the generation that is now moving into the later years of their careers, unable to compete in Europe or South America? That remains to be seen. I should mention in passing that Young arrived in Europe in time for The French Open and played maybe one warm up event which he crashed out of early. Needless to say he was out of the French and on his way to his next event early as well.
So what happened to the American’s in Paris? Let’s see. Young we’ve discussed. Blake, who to his credit played a fairly full, for an American, clay court season, unraveled and departed. An injured Andy Roddick did not even make the trip to Paris. He headed back to the States after Rome and will presumably be ready to compete at Queens. I believe Andy is injured. He never misses a Slam.
Ah but on the women’s side we had Venus Williams and Serena Williams. Venus hadn’t played in weeks and not much was expected of her. The rustiness showed and she bowed out to Flavia Pennetta who played inspired tennis against her. Serena? I think the Serenabot made the trip. That woman who was spraying balls all over the place and didn’t seem to understand what to do with an opportunity when one presented itself lost to Katerina Srebotnik. Do I have to say that both Pennetta, and Srebotnik, lost to their next opponents? It seems beating one of the Williams Sisters is still something players want to do. The question is do the Williams sisters want to beat anyone they have to play these days? Ennui? I don’t know if I’d go that far. I have no inside track so I don’t know what is going on in their lives.
So not one American made it to the second week? Yes, one did. The oft maligned Robby Ginepri will take the court on Monday. It’s funny to me how when all the other American stars crash and burn somehow it’s a guy like Ginepri who emerges from the smoke and ruins. John Isner was a surprise to the tennis establishment. I often malign Sam “Kid Porsche” Querrey but I have to give the boy his props. He too played a decent clay court season and even paired with Isner in doubles. He has nothing to be ashamed of. And neither do the other American players who went to Europe and stayed trying to make their bones on the red dirt. When the top American man, James Blake, after playing horribly, finds nothing to do but pick a fight with the chair saying he deserves a “competent” chair umpire I have to say I wasn’t too sorry to see him go. It’s one thing to think someone is an idiot. It’s another to open your mouth and reinforce the ugly American stereotype overseas. For a Harvard man Blake can sometimes do, and say, the dumbest things.
But I digress. Will American kids learn to play on clay? One of the announcers calling a match I believe in Rome or Monte Carlo, said that clay is the ideal surface to learn on. It teaches patience, point construction, how to think your way through a match, and hones both your physical and mental abilities. Both have to be peak in order to play well in the dirt. If Brave New World goes into effect, the importance of the clay court season will be diminished. The tournaments that count will be played on American or Asian hard courts. I guess if you can’t compete the answer is to sandbag the opposition and reduce their favorite tournaments to second class citizenship during the tennis year. I’m sure that the Young camp was made aware of this as well.
All of this is not happening in a vacuum. Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are all running for the Players Council currently headed by Ivan Ljubicic and James Blake. The same guy I was talking about further up. If they succeed in making the council I think things will change. Already the argument is being made that they’ll only look to make their situations easier. It’s no secret that life at the top of the food chain is very different from life at the middle or bottom. Most tennisheads know this. The argument is spurious in my opinion but I’m not a guy staying at a Best Western on my own dime while Roger and Mirka dine on five star cuisine if they so desire. The election is taking place during Wimbledon.
So back to my question. Does American tennis suck? Will Venus, Serena, Lindsay, Andy and James have to play until they drop? Where are the American Jeremy Chardy’s or Carla Suarez-Navarro’s? Hell, do we have an Alize Cornet? Not to my knowledge. And that is the problem. Stacking the deck against the “others” is not the solution to the problems in American tennis. Patrick McEnroe has been tasked with turning the American System around. That is why I found his brother’s comments so intriguing today. John McEnroe said it was a mistake for the Young’s not to take the Nadal’s up on their offer. It was. If the McEnroe’s are allowed to reach out to those offering to help, if the American tennis establishment will admit it needs help, then maybe in a few years tennisheads won’t have to ask if American tennis sucks.
At one point during NBC’s broadcast of the match between Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco, John McEnroe casually stated that Donald Young had been invited by the Nadal family to come and work with them for three weeks in Mallorca. Now I’m sure many tennis parents heard that and immediately began emailing the family saying their precious was the best thing since sliced bread and would gladly take them up on the offer the Young camp refused. That’s right, they refused. I’ve said here before that Young has the potential to become an all court player, a man who will not run screaming into the night at the mention of terre battue, or whine that he just can’t learn how to slide the way “they” do. “They” of course are the European and South American players who have become the stars of the ATP, the men, and women, who grew up on the red dirt – not ground up tires or whatever “green” clay is, but real crushed red brick. You know them. They can construct points, think their way through a match, are patient enough to hit to the same spot, or near to it, until their opponent, frustrated, goes for too much and makes an error. Yeah, those people. They change speed and direction on the ball too.
If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile you’ll remember I posted about why the United States changed their surface of choice from clay - ! – to hard court. Economics? I mean it must be hard to keep up clay courts right? Forget the fact that many clubs had clay courts back then. It has to be economic right? Well, no. It had to do with the rise of some young Spaniards and South American’s who were bold enough to challenge the United States on a tennis court. They were christened “clay court specialists” and the United States tennis establishment made the move to hard courts.
So when the Nadal family made their offer to the Young camp imagine the alarm bells that went off in the United States. One of their own, recently exposed as being used and abused by the powers that be of U.S. tennis and who despite all that happened is now making his way up the rankings, go to Spain?! It would be the straw that broke the camels back, the exposure of the United States tennis system as a teetering house of cards. It could not, and would not happen. And it didn’t.
So will Donald Young’s potential be sacrificed on the altar of mindless ball bashing? Will he become like the generation that is now moving into the later years of their careers, unable to compete in Europe or South America? That remains to be seen. I should mention in passing that Young arrived in Europe in time for The French Open and played maybe one warm up event which he crashed out of early. Needless to say he was out of the French and on his way to his next event early as well.
So what happened to the American’s in Paris? Let’s see. Young we’ve discussed. Blake, who to his credit played a fairly full, for an American, clay court season, unraveled and departed. An injured Andy Roddick did not even make the trip to Paris. He headed back to the States after Rome and will presumably be ready to compete at Queens. I believe Andy is injured. He never misses a Slam.
Ah but on the women’s side we had Venus Williams and Serena Williams. Venus hadn’t played in weeks and not much was expected of her. The rustiness showed and she bowed out to Flavia Pennetta who played inspired tennis against her. Serena? I think the Serenabot made the trip. That woman who was spraying balls all over the place and didn’t seem to understand what to do with an opportunity when one presented itself lost to Katerina Srebotnik. Do I have to say that both Pennetta, and Srebotnik, lost to their next opponents? It seems beating one of the Williams Sisters is still something players want to do. The question is do the Williams sisters want to beat anyone they have to play these days? Ennui? I don’t know if I’d go that far. I have no inside track so I don’t know what is going on in their lives.
So not one American made it to the second week? Yes, one did. The oft maligned Robby Ginepri will take the court on Monday. It’s funny to me how when all the other American stars crash and burn somehow it’s a guy like Ginepri who emerges from the smoke and ruins. John Isner was a surprise to the tennis establishment. I often malign Sam “Kid Porsche” Querrey but I have to give the boy his props. He too played a decent clay court season and even paired with Isner in doubles. He has nothing to be ashamed of. And neither do the other American players who went to Europe and stayed trying to make their bones on the red dirt. When the top American man, James Blake, after playing horribly, finds nothing to do but pick a fight with the chair saying he deserves a “competent” chair umpire I have to say I wasn’t too sorry to see him go. It’s one thing to think someone is an idiot. It’s another to open your mouth and reinforce the ugly American stereotype overseas. For a Harvard man Blake can sometimes do, and say, the dumbest things.
But I digress. Will American kids learn to play on clay? One of the announcers calling a match I believe in Rome or Monte Carlo, said that clay is the ideal surface to learn on. It teaches patience, point construction, how to think your way through a match, and hones both your physical and mental abilities. Both have to be peak in order to play well in the dirt. If Brave New World goes into effect, the importance of the clay court season will be diminished. The tournaments that count will be played on American or Asian hard courts. I guess if you can’t compete the answer is to sandbag the opposition and reduce their favorite tournaments to second class citizenship during the tennis year. I’m sure that the Young camp was made aware of this as well.
All of this is not happening in a vacuum. Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are all running for the Players Council currently headed by Ivan Ljubicic and James Blake. The same guy I was talking about further up. If they succeed in making the council I think things will change. Already the argument is being made that they’ll only look to make their situations easier. It’s no secret that life at the top of the food chain is very different from life at the middle or bottom. Most tennisheads know this. The argument is spurious in my opinion but I’m not a guy staying at a Best Western on my own dime while Roger and Mirka dine on five star cuisine if they so desire. The election is taking place during Wimbledon.
So back to my question. Does American tennis suck? Will Venus, Serena, Lindsay, Andy and James have to play until they drop? Where are the American Jeremy Chardy’s or Carla Suarez-Navarro’s? Hell, do we have an Alize Cornet? Not to my knowledge. And that is the problem. Stacking the deck against the “others” is not the solution to the problems in American tennis. Patrick McEnroe has been tasked with turning the American System around. That is why I found his brother’s comments so intriguing today. John McEnroe said it was a mistake for the Young’s not to take the Nadal’s up on their offer. It was. If the McEnroe’s are allowed to reach out to those offering to help, if the American tennis establishment will admit it needs help, then maybe in a few years tennisheads won’t have to ask if American tennis sucks.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Idle Chit Chat
by Savannah
It's time to put up or shut up. The eyes of the tennis world are fixed on Paris, France, the City of Light. Some interesting men and women made it through qualifying. The draws, in some cases twice, have been made. The players have done their publicity work. Tomorrow morning this time my eyes will be glued to both television and internet coverage of play from Roland Garros.
Sooo about that two draw thing. On Friday May 22 I dragged my butt out of bed to log and and watch the interactive draw from Paris along with some online friends via chat. If you ever get a chance to do so it's worth watching. It's exciting to see a draw put together.
Enough of that. It finished, the seeds were placed, and I ran around to get out in time to catch my preferred express bus to work. Imagine my surprise when I logged in and saw the draw. I know I'm getting old and have lost a few brain cells but the draw that was posted was not the draw that had been made while I was watching. This was what was made while people around the world watched.
Due to space constraints you may not be able to read the names. A clearer version is HERE
The official explanation is that Tommy Haas and Sebastian Grosjean withdrew just before the draw ceremony and that the computer still had their names. I'm easy. Everybody has to take the okey doke at some point in their lives so I'll go for that explanation. I still find it odd that when the draw was redone the seeds stayed in the same place. One and two are fixed but everyone? Just sayin'.
There are, as one person put it, a few "challenger draws" inside the main draw. When your top seed doesn't face a top ten player until the quarters, or the top half of your draw seems to have every qualifier known to God and man in it eyebrows should be raised.
Oh yeah, and for those who say draws can't be fixed, please re read what I posted above.
This is an idle chit chat post, the first in awhile, and the last for awhile unless something major happens so here it goes.
Novak Djokovic's father, Srdjan is reported by The Serbian Press to have attacked a broadcast journalist in Serbia for not supporting his son enough on the air. Thanks to a tennishead who goes by the name of "Kitinov Rules" there is this translation.
I don't know how things work in Serbia but I hope Srdjan doesn't think this will win his son fans elsewhere in the world or in the press for that matter.
The drama of the Spanish Davis Cup Team vs Pedro Munoz continues. Four players, Carlos Moya, Nicolas Almagro, Rafael Nadal and Tommy Robredo met with Jaime Lissavetzky, the Spanish sports minister on Thursday. Nicolas Almagro confirms that they were told Munoz will not run for reelection when his term expires in December but that they have no way of knowing if this is true.
For those of you who speak Spanish here is the quote.
And here is the SOURCE
Serena Williams made her usual pre major stir by stating the obvious.
I really don't understand why people have such a problem with Serena when she says things like this. She's getting more static from fans about her comments than Maria Sharapova did for telling Larry Scott, and the Tour, where to go and what to do when they get there.
The Full Article
The French have proven that it isn't only the USTA that can create cupcake draws. The women's draw for Roland Garros resembles the women's draw from the 2007 US Open. The real action is in the bottom half of the draw which features Serena, Venus, Jelena and Ana. Meanwhile Justine Henin has made the following comments. I'll post in French and then an English translation.
She is saying that it is hard to predict who will win. She would like to see Svetlana win it all. As for Maria she says it's not her best surface, she doesn't have the control she needs on it, and that fifteen days is very long and hard. She also says she would not bet on Maria to win it.
From L'Equipe
It should be mentioned in passing that Justine never, ever, got a cakewalk draw in any event she played while ranked number one.
I want to take a minute here and give a shout out to all the fan boards that provide tennisheads information day in and day out, 365 days a year. It is not easy to keep track of Main Tour events for both the WTA and ATP as well as Challenger events, Futures and Exhibitions. Davis Cup and Fed Cup play are also covered.Many fan boards also provide up to date ranking information. This is why so many fanboards have become the go to place for fans needing to know something quick, fast and in a hurry. There are usually small teams of people who cooperate in getting this information to notoriously finicky tennis fans. Good work to everyone involved.
End Notes
Marcos Baghdatis is returning to play at Roland Garros after an almost season long break from match play.
Richard Gasquet is playing in Paris after threatening not to do so. I always thought that he would play his home slam.
Andy Roddick is missing his first Grand Slam in many years due to injury. Make all the jokes you want about Americans and clay but Andy always shows up for Slams no matter what. He is expected to be fit for play by Queens. And keep that snark to yourself!
Nicole Vaidisova is looking to turn her so far disastrous season around on the terre battue. She doesn't have a bad draw but methinks her favorite position right now is prone. Until she gets over that she can't be fully focused on tennis.
I don't expect Marion Bartoli to do well here at all. It would be nice, but I don't think it's going to happen.
Venus Williams is another player I don't think will go far. She's just coming back after a self described hiatus. European clay is not the best place for her but she's there. In the bottom half along with her sister and everyone else who comes to play. All the qualifiers seem to have made it into the top half of the draw. I know I'm back to the draw thing. I'm just sayin'.
Will any American man make it past the second round this year? To their credit James Blake, Sam Querrey, John Isner and other American men have been in Europe for quite some time. Blake has been doing well in doubles play going very deep in some events. Too bad they didn't do this three or four years ago. Donald Young is conceding he has no chance by arriving so late. Of all the Americans I think he has the best chance to become a force on clay.
For a look at both the Men's and Women's draws Craig has posted them both.
It's time to put up or shut up. The eyes of the tennis world are fixed on Paris, France, the City of Light. Some interesting men and women made it through qualifying. The draws, in some cases twice, have been made. The players have done their publicity work. Tomorrow morning this time my eyes will be glued to both television and internet coverage of play from Roland Garros.
Sooo about that two draw thing. On Friday May 22 I dragged my butt out of bed to log and and watch the interactive draw from Paris along with some online friends via chat. If you ever get a chance to do so it's worth watching. It's exciting to see a draw put together.
Enough of that. It finished, the seeds were placed, and I ran around to get out in time to catch my preferred express bus to work. Imagine my surprise when I logged in and saw the draw. I know I'm getting old and have lost a few brain cells but the draw that was posted was not the draw that had been made while I was watching. This was what was made while people around the world watched.
Due to space constraints you may not be able to read the names. A clearer version is HERE
The official explanation is that Tommy Haas and Sebastian Grosjean withdrew just before the draw ceremony and that the computer still had their names. I'm easy. Everybody has to take the okey doke at some point in their lives so I'll go for that explanation. I still find it odd that when the draw was redone the seeds stayed in the same place. One and two are fixed but everyone? Just sayin'.
There are, as one person put it, a few "challenger draws" inside the main draw. When your top seed doesn't face a top ten player until the quarters, or the top half of your draw seems to have every qualifier known to God and man in it eyebrows should be raised.
Oh yeah, and for those who say draws can't be fixed, please re read what I posted above.
This is an idle chit chat post, the first in awhile, and the last for awhile unless something major happens so here it goes.
Novak Djokovic's father, Srdjan is reported by The Serbian Press to have attacked a broadcast journalist in Serbia for not supporting his son enough on the air. Thanks to a tennishead who goes by the name of "Kitinov Rules" there is this translation.
Srdjan Djokovic, the father of the best Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic , has used a force to enter (inroad) in TV studio of RTS last Saturday , unhappy with the way the commentator broadcasted Novak’s match against Nadal at the Hamburg Masters.
During the second set of the aforementioned match , Srdjan Djokovic unexpectedly came inroad into the TV Studio , and started to yell and verbally attack the commentator Nebojsa Viskovic.
The reason for Srdjan’s verbal attack was that the commentator didn’t cheered enough for his beloved son and being a Serb he must cheer more for Novak . Also nervous Srdjan told the journalist that “ he is not doing his work in a proper manner”
Novak’s uncle (brother of Srdjan) went even further ,and after the match called Viskovic and started to curse and threat personally the commentator.
I don't know how things work in Serbia but I hope Srdjan doesn't think this will win his son fans elsewhere in the world or in the press for that matter.
The drama of the Spanish Davis Cup Team vs Pedro Munoz continues. Four players, Carlos Moya, Nicolas Almagro, Rafael Nadal and Tommy Robredo met with Jaime Lissavetzky, the Spanish sports minister on Thursday. Nicolas Almagro confirms that they were told Munoz will not run for reelection when his term expires in December but that they have no way of knowing if this is true.
For those of you who speak Spanish here is the quote.
Almagro ha confirmado también que el compromiso de Muñoz de no presentarse a la reelección "está escrito", pero agrega que "no se sabe si será verdad o no".
And here is the SOURCE
Serena Williams made her usual pre major stir by stating the obvious.
PARIS (Reuters) - Former world number one Serena Williams said on Friday that Justine Henin's retirement made it the right time for the American to win a second French Open title.
Williams, who was victorious at Roland-Garros in 2002, is the only former winner in the draw for the second grand slam of the year which starts on Sunday.
"It's definitely the right time to win, obviously. It's always the right time but it's unfortunate one of the best players on clay won't be here," Williams, who starts her campaign against compatriot Ashley Harkleroad, told a news conference.
Henin, who won four French Open four titles in the past five years, retired from tennis last week as the world number one, leaving Paris hopefuls with greater expectations than last year.
I really don't understand why people have such a problem with Serena when she says things like this. She's getting more static from fans about her comments than Maria Sharapova did for telling Larry Scott, and the Tour, where to go and what to do when they get there.
The Full Article
The French have proven that it isn't only the USTA that can create cupcake draws. The women's draw for Roland Garros resembles the women's draw from the 2007 US Open. The real action is in the bottom half of the draw which features Serena, Venus, Jelena and Ana. Meanwhile Justine Henin has made the following comments. I'll post in French and then an English translation.
Justine HENIN : «Il est très difficile de prédire qui va remporter le trophée dans deux semaines. Personne ne domine à 100% aujourd'hui. Ma favorite de coeur est Svetlana Kuznetsova. Je l'apprécie énormément. Maria Sharapova ? Elle le peut le faire, évidemment. Elle a les capacités, surtout une grande force de caractère. Elle croit beaucoup en elle, ne baisse jamais les bras. Mais la terre battue est beaucoup moins sa surface. Quinze jours sur terre battue, c'est long, c'est dur, il faut s'accrocher. Elle a moins de maîtrise, moins de contrôle sur cette surface. Cela dépend beaucoup de la forme du moment et elle n'a pas beaucoup joué ces dernières semaines. Je ne miserais pas sur elle à l'heure actuelle.»
She is saying that it is hard to predict who will win. She would like to see Svetlana win it all. As for Maria she says it's not her best surface, she doesn't have the control she needs on it, and that fifteen days is very long and hard. She also says she would not bet on Maria to win it.
From L'Equipe
It should be mentioned in passing that Justine never, ever, got a cakewalk draw in any event she played while ranked number one.
I want to take a minute here and give a shout out to all the fan boards that provide tennisheads information day in and day out, 365 days a year. It is not easy to keep track of Main Tour events for both the WTA and ATP as well as Challenger events, Futures and Exhibitions. Davis Cup and Fed Cup play are also covered.Many fan boards also provide up to date ranking information. This is why so many fanboards have become the go to place for fans needing to know something quick, fast and in a hurry. There are usually small teams of people who cooperate in getting this information to notoriously finicky tennis fans. Good work to everyone involved.
End Notes
Marcos Baghdatis is returning to play at Roland Garros after an almost season long break from match play.
Richard Gasquet is playing in Paris after threatening not to do so. I always thought that he would play his home slam.
Andy Roddick is missing his first Grand Slam in many years due to injury. Make all the jokes you want about Americans and clay but Andy always shows up for Slams no matter what. He is expected to be fit for play by Queens. And keep that snark to yourself!
Nicole Vaidisova is looking to turn her so far disastrous season around on the terre battue. She doesn't have a bad draw but methinks her favorite position right now is prone. Until she gets over that she can't be fully focused on tennis.
I don't expect Marion Bartoli to do well here at all. It would be nice, but I don't think it's going to happen.
Venus Williams is another player I don't think will go far. She's just coming back after a self described hiatus. European clay is not the best place for her but she's there. In the bottom half along with her sister and everyone else who comes to play. All the qualifiers seem to have made it into the top half of the draw. I know I'm back to the draw thing. I'm just sayin'.
Will any American man make it past the second round this year? To their credit James Blake, Sam Querrey, John Isner and other American men have been in Europe for quite some time. Blake has been doing well in doubles play going very deep in some events. Too bad they didn't do this three or four years ago. Donald Young is conceding he has no chance by arriving so late. Of all the Americans I think he has the best chance to become a force on clay.
For a look at both the Men's and Women's draws Craig has posted them both.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Masters Series Hamburg - A Look Back
by Savannah
So a picture is worth a thousand words huh? If that is the case the picture above sums up what Rafael Nadal did to Roger Federer on May 18, 2008 on the heavy red clay of Hamburg, a place that until that date could be said to be Roger's home clay court. The only blemish on Rafa's 2007 clay season was Hamburg where he came in after completing three peats at Monte Carlo, Barcelona, and Roma. Many Rafa fans thought he shouldn't play but he did and made it to the Final where he lost to Roger.
I guess Rafa wasn't tired today. Funny thing about being tired. I read some posts where Roger's fans said he was mentally tired coming into today's match. Really? Let's see, who did he play coming into todays final? No need to post their names, lets just give their ranks as of May 12, 2008. After the first round bye he played Number 27, followed by Number 48. Then there was Number 28. In the semi final, which took just over an hour, he played a man ranked Number 43.
What was Rafa's road to the Final? Again, just giving rankings after the first round bye he played Number 47. After that he played Numbers 14, 12 and 3. Rafa came in rusty after blistered feet kept him from picking up a racquet until the Sunday before the tournament started and it showed. Number 47 pushed hard but Rafa got through.
Now about the man ranked Number 3, Novak Djokovic. He was coming into Hamburg on the heels of some of the worst publicity I've seen dog a tennis player. He quit during his match against Roger at Monte Carlo with a sore throat. His path to the Rome final included a couple of walk overs. In the Final he met someone he had no trouble with. His people did a good job of redirecting the pressure though and not too much was said about his path to the semi final. He played men ranked 39, 24 and 56 respectively. Two things were sure about the semi final match. He could not quit. And he was facing someone who was not going away.
Some of Djokovic's fans are calling the semi final the best match of the year. Uh, no. There have been some good matches this year but top of my list is still Carlos Moya vs Rafael Nadal in India at Chennai. Right behind it would be today's match between Rafa and Roger. Why? It was fought on two levels, the mental and the physical. Except for what seemed to be a cramp that had an agitated and worried Toni Nadal up telling Rafa to quit both men were physically sound. I've seen Rafa come back in matches before. But when he took the court and calmly took the first set from Roger after being down 5-1 at 7-5 I could only shake my head. Roger is Roger and the second set was decided by a tiebreaker 7-6(3). The third set? Stepping up a level mentally Rafa dismantled Roger 6-3 and it really wasn't that close. Credit Roger's skill getting him those three games. The picture above says it all. Roger was beaten soundly. Mirka couldn't even look. There was no fault with his game play. It will be used again against Rafa. But as they say in the streets you'd better be prepared to bring it for as long as it takes.
The commentators on Masters Series Television talked about how subdued Rafa was on court today. There were no leaps and shouts of "vamos", the fist pumps were at a minimum. It was a serious beat down and Rafa's mood on court seemed to reflect that that was his intention. The only glimpse of the Rafa we're familiar with was at the end of the match.
It was a great match, one to sit down and watch again and again.
End Notes
I have never been a fan of Justine Henin. I have given her the respect her accomplishments deserve over the last year or so, nothing more. But she was number one in her sport when she retired for what seem to be personal reasons. As a CEO Scott is expected to have enough savoir-faire to know how to handle questions from the press. I find the above statement absolutely stunning in it's coldness and dismissive attitude. Some fans wanted to believe that Scott was misquoted. Araton has covered sports for the Times for a long time. I haven't seen any denials.
So a picture is worth a thousand words huh? If that is the case the picture above sums up what Rafael Nadal did to Roger Federer on May 18, 2008 on the heavy red clay of Hamburg, a place that until that date could be said to be Roger's home clay court. The only blemish on Rafa's 2007 clay season was Hamburg where he came in after completing three peats at Monte Carlo, Barcelona, and Roma. Many Rafa fans thought he shouldn't play but he did and made it to the Final where he lost to Roger.
I guess Rafa wasn't tired today. Funny thing about being tired. I read some posts where Roger's fans said he was mentally tired coming into today's match. Really? Let's see, who did he play coming into todays final? No need to post their names, lets just give their ranks as of May 12, 2008. After the first round bye he played Number 27, followed by Number 48. Then there was Number 28. In the semi final, which took just over an hour, he played a man ranked Number 43.
What was Rafa's road to the Final? Again, just giving rankings after the first round bye he played Number 47. After that he played Numbers 14, 12 and 3. Rafa came in rusty after blistered feet kept him from picking up a racquet until the Sunday before the tournament started and it showed. Number 47 pushed hard but Rafa got through.
Now about the man ranked Number 3, Novak Djokovic. He was coming into Hamburg on the heels of some of the worst publicity I've seen dog a tennis player. He quit during his match against Roger at Monte Carlo with a sore throat. His path to the Rome final included a couple of walk overs. In the Final he met someone he had no trouble with. His people did a good job of redirecting the pressure though and not too much was said about his path to the semi final. He played men ranked 39, 24 and 56 respectively. Two things were sure about the semi final match. He could not quit. And he was facing someone who was not going away.
Some of Djokovic's fans are calling the semi final the best match of the year. Uh, no. There have been some good matches this year but top of my list is still Carlos Moya vs Rafael Nadal in India at Chennai. Right behind it would be today's match between Rafa and Roger. Why? It was fought on two levels, the mental and the physical. Except for what seemed to be a cramp that had an agitated and worried Toni Nadal up telling Rafa to quit both men were physically sound. I've seen Rafa come back in matches before. But when he took the court and calmly took the first set from Roger after being down 5-1 at 7-5 I could only shake my head. Roger is Roger and the second set was decided by a tiebreaker 7-6(3). The third set? Stepping up a level mentally Rafa dismantled Roger 6-3 and it really wasn't that close. Credit Roger's skill getting him those three games. The picture above says it all. Roger was beaten soundly. Mirka couldn't even look. There was no fault with his game play. It will be used again against Rafa. But as they say in the streets you'd better be prepared to bring it for as long as it takes.
The commentators on Masters Series Television talked about how subdued Rafa was on court today. There were no leaps and shouts of "vamos", the fist pumps were at a minimum. It was a serious beat down and Rafa's mood on court seemed to reflect that that was his intention. The only glimpse of the Rafa we're familiar with was at the end of the match.
It was a great match, one to sit down and watch again and again.
End Notes
- Harvey Araton of The New York Times reported the following.
Henin was not, by design, a tour runway model, no Williams sister or Maria Sharapova on the marketing side. For that reason, Scott stepped off a plane Wednesday from Rome to say, of Henin’s stunning exit as it relates to the sport a large, “We won’t lose any sleep over it.”
I have never been a fan of Justine Henin. I have given her the respect her accomplishments deserve over the last year or so, nothing more. But she was number one in her sport when she retired for what seem to be personal reasons. As a CEO Scott is expected to have enough savoir-faire to know how to handle questions from the press. I find the above statement absolutely stunning in it's coldness and dismissive attitude. Some fans wanted to believe that Scott was misquoted. Araton has covered sports for the Times for a long time. I haven't seen any denials.
- There is a brawl going on in Spanish tennis right now that is jaw dropping in it's vitriol. It has to do with the Davis Cup and where the tie will be played. The choice, Madrid, was made due to financial and political consideration. So why have the players gone ballistic and appear on the verge of getting Pedro Munoz thrown out the door head first? Lies they say. It all goes back to the sacking of popular Davis Cup coaches a couple of years ago. Munoz has hit back with personal, and petty, attacks on the top players in public while sending them nasty SMS emails. All of this, including the emails,is in the Spanish press. Great reading. Reports are Munoz will be asked to resign on Tuesday.
- After publicly dragging the above mentioned Larry Scott through the mud over what she was and wasn't going to do for the tour Maria Sharapova withdrew from her semi final match against Jelena Jankovic in Rome with a sore calf. Serena Williams had also withdrawn with a back injury.Guess that's something else Larry didn't lose any sleep over. His golden girl will be ranked number one on Monday. All is right with the world.
- Who cares that the Rome Tournament issued a public apology to the fans for what was a troubling Masters Series/Tier I event? Guess that clay court season schedule worked out well huh? One of the tournaments had to suffer. It was Rome. That suit by the people who run Hamburg is still pending.
...And Still Champion!!!
by Savannah
He was supposed to be washed up and ready to step aside so that someone else could take his place in the rankings. Instead he's pulled further away from the pretender and closer to the reigning champion winning 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-3.
Vamos Rafa!
Returning champion Jelena Jankovic played up and coming French teenager Alize Cornet who came through qualifying to make the Italian Open Final taking out Anna Chakvetadze in her semi final. Jelena made it after Maria Sharapova withdrew with a calf injury. Jelena won easily 6-2, 6-2. Congratulations Jelena.
Nenad Zimonjic and Daniel Nestor 2008 Mens Doubles Champions Hamburg Masters
Congratulations as well to Chan Yung-Jan and Chuang Chia-Jung for winning the Doubles Championship in Roma.
He was supposed to be washed up and ready to step aside so that someone else could take his place in the rankings. Instead he's pulled further away from the pretender and closer to the reigning champion winning 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-3.
Vamos Rafa!
Returning champion Jelena Jankovic played up and coming French teenager Alize Cornet who came through qualifying to make the Italian Open Final taking out Anna Chakvetadze in her semi final. Jelena made it after Maria Sharapova withdrew with a calf injury. Jelena won easily 6-2, 6-2. Congratulations Jelena.
Nenad Zimonjic and Daniel Nestor 2008 Mens Doubles Champions Hamburg Masters
Congratulations as well to Chan Yung-Jan and Chuang Chia-Jung for winning the Doubles Championship in Roma.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Roma 2008
by Savannah
It started with a bad foot.
Rafael Nadal went out in his first match to Juan Carlos Ferrero after playing a schedule that raised eyebrows. After that it was as if someone spiked the Gatorade. With Rafa out all eyes turned to Roger Federer who was widely expected to finally win Rome. Instead fans, and more than likely the Tournament Director, looked on in horror as Federer went down to defeat at the hands of Radek Stepanek while Americans James Blake and Andy Roddick, playing hard court tennis on the sun hardened European clay, moved on. Blake fell in the quarter finals but he can say he had a good run in Rome.
The mens semi finals featured as unlikely a scenario as one could find in a Masters Series Event. Andy Roddick was to play against Stanislas Wawrinka in what was expected to be a very interesting match, and Novak Djokovic was to play against Radek Stepanek who was playing the best tennis anyone had seen him play in quite some time coming into the match. It should be mentioned in passing that Djokovic reached the semi final via the retirement of
Nicolas Almagro in the quarter finals.
Semi final day at a Masters Series event is one to look forward to. I didn’t have any favorites but I was looking forward to good tennis. So were the fans in the stadium who had paid good money to have their butts in the seats. So was the Tournament Director. Instead the follies continued. Andy Roddick, who had led everyone to believe a man of his wealth and ego actually carried boxes up stairs during the move into the new midtown Manhattan apartment he and his fiancee will share, retired with back spasms and a shoulder issue giving Stan a free pass into the final. Okay, that can happen. There was another match no? No. Radek, looking as if he’d celebrated his win over Roger just a bit too much retired during his match as well giving Djokovic another get out of jail free card ride into the Final. Fans rightly booed. This being Italy I’m sure the security people were glad that’s all they did. The tournament director, probably aware that the last time Wawrinka had faced Djokovic Wawrinka won because – come on guess – Djokovic retired was probably climbing stairs to the top of the nearest tall building. When they finally got the poor guy off that ledge I’m sure he made it clear to both players that the “r” word would not be tolerated for the Final.
So the match went on and Stan, after winning the first set lost the next two to the much fresher Djokovic. Three set wins by Djokovic are always suspect in my eyes. The only difference today was that he lost the first set instead of the second. Usually if he loses the first set he gets ill in the second but I guess the image of the TD teetering on the ledge of that building – and all those ranking points - kept him in the match. Wawrinka seemed mentally fatigued after the first set and went away rather quietly.
Thanks to the inept, some would say sadistic, scheduling of the clay season by the ATP, one of the tournaments had to suffer. I had thought it would be Hamburg coming as it does after Roma, but that was not the case. I always look forward to Rome because for the last three years it has featured matches that many tennisheads consider among the best ever played. In 2005 there was Nadal vs Coria. In 2006 it was Nadal vs Federer. In 2007 it was Nadal vs Davydenko. Nothing epic or memorable happened during 2008. The last man standing – the man who had played the least tennis – won and will add a Master’s Shield to his collection. In my mind there will always be an asterisk for Roma 2008. Next year, unless something drastic happens, Etienne de Villiers “Brave New World” goes into effect and there will be only two clay Master’s Series events, Rome and Madrid. Everything else will be downgraded or no longer mandatory. Shame.
It should be noted that play in Hamburg started today instead of Monday as is usually the case.
It started with a bad foot.
Rafael Nadal went out in his first match to Juan Carlos Ferrero after playing a schedule that raised eyebrows. After that it was as if someone spiked the Gatorade. With Rafa out all eyes turned to Roger Federer who was widely expected to finally win Rome. Instead fans, and more than likely the Tournament Director, looked on in horror as Federer went down to defeat at the hands of Radek Stepanek while Americans James Blake and Andy Roddick, playing hard court tennis on the sun hardened European clay, moved on. Blake fell in the quarter finals but he can say he had a good run in Rome.
The mens semi finals featured as unlikely a scenario as one could find in a Masters Series Event. Andy Roddick was to play against Stanislas Wawrinka in what was expected to be a very interesting match, and Novak Djokovic was to play against Radek Stepanek who was playing the best tennis anyone had seen him play in quite some time coming into the match. It should be mentioned in passing that Djokovic reached the semi final via the retirement of
Nicolas Almagro in the quarter finals.
Semi final day at a Masters Series event is one to look forward to. I didn’t have any favorites but I was looking forward to good tennis. So were the fans in the stadium who had paid good money to have their butts in the seats. So was the Tournament Director. Instead the follies continued. Andy Roddick, who had led everyone to believe a man of his wealth and ego actually carried boxes up stairs during the move into the new midtown Manhattan apartment he and his fiancee will share, retired with back spasms and a shoulder issue giving Stan a free pass into the final. Okay, that can happen. There was another match no? No. Radek, looking as if he’d celebrated his win over Roger just a bit too much retired during his match as well giving Djokovic another get out of jail free card ride into the Final. Fans rightly booed. This being Italy I’m sure the security people were glad that’s all they did. The tournament director, probably aware that the last time Wawrinka had faced Djokovic Wawrinka won because – come on guess – Djokovic retired was probably climbing stairs to the top of the nearest tall building. When they finally got the poor guy off that ledge I’m sure he made it clear to both players that the “r” word would not be tolerated for the Final.
So the match went on and Stan, after winning the first set lost the next two to the much fresher Djokovic. Three set wins by Djokovic are always suspect in my eyes. The only difference today was that he lost the first set instead of the second. Usually if he loses the first set he gets ill in the second but I guess the image of the TD teetering on the ledge of that building – and all those ranking points - kept him in the match. Wawrinka seemed mentally fatigued after the first set and went away rather quietly.
Thanks to the inept, some would say sadistic, scheduling of the clay season by the ATP, one of the tournaments had to suffer. I had thought it would be Hamburg coming as it does after Roma, but that was not the case. I always look forward to Rome because for the last three years it has featured matches that many tennisheads consider among the best ever played. In 2005 there was Nadal vs Coria. In 2006 it was Nadal vs Federer. In 2007 it was Nadal vs Davydenko. Nothing epic or memorable happened during 2008. The last man standing – the man who had played the least tennis – won and will add a Master’s Shield to his collection. In my mind there will always be an asterisk for Roma 2008. Next year, unless something drastic happens, Etienne de Villiers “Brave New World” goes into effect and there will be only two clay Master’s Series events, Rome and Madrid. Everything else will be downgraded or no longer mandatory. Shame.
It should be noted that play in Hamburg started today instead of Monday as is usually the case.
She Did It the Old Fashioned Way
by Savannah
Dinara Safina won Berlin in a three set match over her countrywoman Elena Dementieva. On her way to hoisting the trophy she beat Justine Henin and Serena Williams. When you beat those two women back to back nothing but the winners trophy will do.
It's no secret that Dinara can play. She just hasn't done it in quite some time. Maybe because her mother was there all week supporting her she resurrected the form that saw her take down Maria Sharapova after being down 5-0 a few years back.
Congratulations Dinara!
Dinara Safina won Berlin in a three set match over her countrywoman Elena Dementieva. On her way to hoisting the trophy she beat Justine Henin and Serena Williams. When you beat those two women back to back nothing but the winners trophy will do.
It's no secret that Dinara can play. She just hasn't done it in quite some time. Maybe because her mother was there all week supporting her she resurrected the form that saw her take down Maria Sharapova after being down 5-0 a few years back.
Congratulations Dinara!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
