forehandshanker

Roland Garros 2011: Men's Champion

2011-06-05T18:18:00.007-04:00

I give you the Clay GOAT: Rafael Nadal who tied Bjorn Borg's record of six wins at Roland Garros.

You go bite that tasty Coupe de Mousquetaires.

Doesn't this victory dismount resemble something else?

It's the same dismount of his bestie whom he beat when he won this title in 2009.

So glad to see that these two are still going strong.

Roland Garros 2011: Women's Champion

2011-06-04T11:52:00.007-04:00

Something about winning this tournament makes you do this.

They're building clay courts in China as we speak for lots of little girls. Congratulations Nails!

The woman she beat was only the defending champion. There's something about Franny that just makes you want to smile and hug her.

Absent Henin and the Williams sisters, I think woman's tennis is doing just fine.

Roland Garros 2011: Appeal to FFT

2011-06-03T09:20:00.002-04:00

To French Federation of Tennis,

I'm aware that the International Tennis Writer's Association has asked the authorities not to publish transcripts that follow the matches after Roland Garros within a 24-48 hour limit. I'm also aware that the decision has been made not to publish the transcripts at all.

While I understand the reasons given by the ITWA (see a publicized copy of their
letter here), I think the response not to publish transcripts at all is short-sighted and overshoots the mark for a number of reasons.

1) The most important reason is that Roland Garros 2011 is a part of modern tennis
history. These transcripts are a primary source. This year there are plenty of
stories that could form material for a book (or part of a book): Nadal's attempt to equal Borg's record, Djokovic's streak, Federer's 2nd Roland Garros to cap a career, Murray's breakthrough Slam, Na Li's breakthrough Slam as the first Chinese woman and/or Schiavone's repeat. Ironicially, some member of the ITWA would no longer be able to go to a publically available official source after the event has concluded such as the Roland Garros website. As you might be aware, when a writer is working on
a book, they do not always have the luxury of traveling to collect primary sources.

2) As I understand players do not always trust the media to represent their words
accurately, and feel that their words are taken out of context. This is especially
true of players who tend to speak discusively and at length (e.g. Federer, Nadal, Schiavone, Henin).

Publically available transcripts would hold the press accountable for responsible journalism as it would be easy to compare what the journalist wrote with what the player actually said. Furthermore, players that are not necessarily stars of the game and not given a lot of mainstream media attention would also have a bit more spotlight.

This issue with accurate representation of the players does come down to the ATP & WTA having a stake in these interviews. In honoring the request of the ITWA, it's not entirely clear if the player's unions have been consulted for their opinion on the matter. I have volunteered reasons for why the player's union would not simply accept the ITWA's request by embargoing all transcripts.

3) Finally, these transcripts are getting leaked to other sites (a la WikiLeaks). Fans that want to see these transcripts are hitting those sites instead of Roland Garros, which ought to be getting those site hits. There is no guarantee that
those sites are accurately representing those transcripts. I believe it is in your interests to be the ones presenting the official stamp of approval on those transcripts on the Roland Garros website. It is in principle no different
from addressing a black market: the best way to control such a marketplace
is to present yourself as the official source of such information.

I write these things as a concerned & informed tennis fan. I also work for a large entertainment company. I know that intellectual property rights for entertainment products are a subtle issue. What is needed is an output deal that would satisfy
the interests of all the stakeholders (ITWA, ATP, WTA, the publicists at
Roland Garros, etc.). I believe a 24-48 hour embargo is reasonable to allow
journalists to get their stories out while it is hot, but an indefinite embargo is not reasonable at all.

Cheers,

In conclusion, an output deal is needed that would satisfy all the parties.

Roland Garros 2011: Transcript Gate

2011-05-25T11:59:00.004-04:00

The decision of Roland Garros to acquiesce to the International Tennis Writer Association's request not to publish interview transcripts is gravely mistaken on a number of levels.

Now to be fair, to my best understanding, ITWA only wants the transcripts not to be published within 24 hours of the match because these post-match pressers are their primary source while the news is still hot. Nor have they asked for videos of the post-match pressers to be delayed for publication. Roland Garros has simply chosen not to post the transcripts at all. Nevertheless a significant number of tennis fans are not happy with the Roland Garros (and the ITWA) for what is perceived to be the "suppression of information."

First and foremost it seems clear to me that ITWA does not have any property rights over such transcripts. The tournament does. And they have only acquiesced as a favor to them. Roland Garros' decision not to publish any transcripts at all (for now) is overcooked.

Second, the assent to the ITWA's request was justified as allowing official journalists to provide "relevant quotes" of the post match interview. Unfortunately, trust between many fans and journalists is not exactly at high point, because there have been numerous instances of so-called professional journalists who have made fairly egregious mistakes. Even more worrisome is the frequency with which quotes taken out of context and/or the quotes "used" to drive a predetermined story line.

Third, the players themselves should be protected. It is THEIR words that should be faithfully represented for all to see, rather than filtered through the lens of the all-too-human official media. Some players such as Justine Henin and Roger Federer have a speaking style which is more discursive. They speak in paragraphs rather than sound bites. It actually is important to read or hear what they said in its context.

Finally and most importantly, a historic tournament like Roland Garros needs to publish to these interview transcripts as they are a primary source of modern tennis history. Tennis nuts often go back to a website like Roland Garros for an interview transcript to try to recall what a player said often a few years back.

For views advocating a similar view as I do, see:

The Stolen Word: Controlling The Transcripts

The Silence of the Slams

UPDATE: Transcript gate has blown up to be a bigger emotional issue (on both sides) than it ought to be. I've amended my original post to be more reasonable and fair-minded to both sides. But the basic point is still the same: failure to publish interview transcripts is wrong.

Miami: Fedal Bromance Tonight

2011-04-01T11:42:00.011-04:00

These two goofballs finally made their 23rd appointment to play each other in the good old USA. Funny, that the only times they've ever met on American soil have been in Miami (2004, 2005 and 2010).

They first met each other in 2004.

Then they meet in 2005 again.

The rest is history.

Roger: Look, what I remember from seven years ago when I played him the first time, I came back from sun stroke in Indian Wells after beating Henman, and kind of dragged my way through the match with Davydenko. I don't know how much I had actually heard about Nadal before that match.
I remember seeing him for a bit over a year, I think, because he had a breakthrough maybe in Monaco the year before or somewhere else. I knew he was good, you know, but he, I guess, surprised me to some degree that he was so consistent, so good on hardcourts already so early.
That really showed me he was going to become a probably world No. 1, Grand Slam champion, just a really special Spaniard who could not only play on clay but other surfaces as well. He clearly lived up to all the expectations. From then on it went; the rest we know.

It's obvious that they have a lot of affection for each other.

Rafa: When I go on court against him I feel it's a really special match, especially because we play always really important matches. That makes the rivalry very, very special. I don't know if rivals in the rest of the history of tennis played a lot of the matches, as many matches as we played. I don't know how many matches McEnroe/Borg or Sampras/Agassi played, but we played a lot a lot times. So that makes the match really special always.

Then they went on play dates in each other's country.

Roger: My No. 1 rival to me it seems is Rafa. Doesn't matter how many more times I'm going to be playing all the other guys. At the moment, we have that history and nobody can take it away from us. That's why the only thing really missing from us is a US Open match, I guess, and a few other maybe tournaments.

But we've played in so many big finals against each other and were able to play over four or five tough sets and have always shown a lot respect towards each other. So, yeah, clearly those are the matches I'm really looking forward to and hoping to play my best tennis.

If you win, great; if you lose, that's okay, too, as long as you tried everything and learned something else from that match after you lost. But I am planning to win, and that's why I have to be well prepared.

I think in the beginning, early on in my career when I became the world No. 1 I didn't really have that rival, and I was very happy about it. I was just able to win, win, win, and dominate and go on and lose, you know, ten matches in two years kind of thing. That was quite incredible.

So in the beginning I guess I struggled to embrace the rivalry I had with Rafa. Only later on I was able to say this is actually quite cool. Sleeveless, pirate pants, you name it, long hair, lefty, spins, more with the flat shots and so forth and double handed against one handed, lefty against righty. I think it all kind of made sense, and I was able to embrace it then.

I think we had some good times in the past, and they have changed into what it is today. Really respectful and helping each other for good causes, foundation matches, you name it, for tsunamis. We've done so many things together. It's been a lot of fun.

May the bromance continue!

What is My Game? Muzz, Sodemort, Djoker and Ljubs

2011-03-15T10:36:00.002-04:00

Head presents a new series of commercials: What is My Game?

Wobin Sodermort says his game is classical just like his Prestige stick.

But we all know it's pretty simple: see ball, hit ball (as hard as possible).

The Djoker claims running every down ball and accelerating aggressively into his shots like the Speed is his game.

But we all know it's about flirting with the ladies: Caro, Ana, Petko, etc.

Old Man Ljubs claims to like extreme spin and power, but he's anything but that.

Muzz loves to surprise people with the variety of strokes from his Radical.

Yawn! Such a bore!

Happy Birthday Blog!

2011-03-07T13:01:00.016-05:00

A belatedly late happy birthday to ye old blog. Its first post was almost a year ago on March 3.

More importantly, it's Spring time, and like the first buds of tulips poking out of the ground, the tour moves from (mostly) indoor arenas to outdoors in Indian Wells.

This happens in a cold indoor court in the middle of winter:

Not so much full of win.

Getting this close to seeing players practice is full of win.

It turns out the pros just love the relaxed atmosphere of Indian Wells too.

A toast for more shanked ground strokes! If a pro shanks a ball, you can too!

ARod's Shot of His Career

2011-02-21T23:12:00.002-05:00

Every tennis player has a signature to their game. If you're a fan of the game, you can instantly tell who it is without seeing their faces simply by certain attributes such as their strokes and their movement. Andy Roddick, America's number one men's player for the last ten years, is marked by his consistency, grit and serve. This passing shot he hit at championship point through the hottest player on tour, Milos Raonic shows all the qualities that typify ARod: grit, determination, and a never say die attitude.

Andy: forget about the critics. The critics have never hit this shot. This dive is better than anything Boris Becker has ever done. It's one of a kind.

Australian Open 2011: 1.3 Billion Folks Cheer

2011-01-27T00:23:00.006-05:00

Nails looked like she was going to lose it, as her normally flat strokes just could not get through the running backboard that is Caro the Golden Retriever.

Then she finally clued in, began to spin the ball more, and spread the court more. It turned into a physical match. Guess who was in better shape?

Nails d. Caro 36 75 63

I think Kim is still the favorite, but I don't know anyone who would be delighted if Nails made a Cinderella run and won the whole damn thing. I'll be yelling "Jia You, Nails" during the women's finals.

This post match interview showcases what a goofball she is.

Australian Open 2011: Semifinals Picks

2011-01-26T17:33:00.009-05:00

For the women, I'm calling

Nails d. Caro because Nails does everything Caro does but better. She just needs to keep her head together, and all signs point to that

Kim d. Bepa because Kim can handle the big moments better and batten down the hatches despite a leg strain

Your Aussie Open 2011 Women's Single Champion: Nails! Because it would be awesome for 1.3 billion Chinese

Mandy d. Ferru: It's a hard court, it's not in England, and Mandy is playing calmer.

Fed d. Djoker: The last time the Djoker beat Fed, the Annacone effect hadn't fully taken, and Fed was looking too far ahead to playing Rafa the next day. He won't make that mistake again.

Your Aussie Open 2011 Men's Single Champion: Fed for the 17th time! And we'll see the him try to chase The Mighty Babes across Rod Laver Arena, and he'll turn into a blubbering dorkball that we all know that he is

Australian Open 2011: Bepa

2011-01-26T17:22:00.006-05:00

Bepa easily dismantled Petra 62 64. Not much to say about this, and she's playing solid.
She has an excellent chance of making it to her third consecutive major final. Can she close it out?

Australian Open 2011: The Mum Train Soldiers On

2011-01-26T17:17:00.007-05:00

Kim had an easy opponent in Aggie, as even Aggie's normal drop shot-lob pattern ought to have been nullified by Kim's speed and movement.

Unfortunately the close score (63 76[4]) was just the surface plot to how annoyed Kim was. On several points both players were incredulous that the match was so close. Aggie could not believe some of the winner she was hitting, and Kim just looked like she was about to boil over thinking "I'm not playing and moving good enough to win this tournament."

Let's hope Kim recovers enough to compete at her best against Bepa. She'll need it.

Australian Open 2011: Mandy Figures out ADog

2011-01-26T16:54:00.006-05:00

The hopes of Britain's first major winner in 150,000 years continued as Mandy made it past a tricky opponent in ADog (76 63 67 [3] 63).

I must say I went to bed in the 3rd set, convinced that Mandy had the match in the bag as ADog was brain farting too much. But all credit to Mr. Pony Tail for making one last go at making Mandy earn it.

While I'm sure Mandy would have loved the challenge of beating Rafa, he won't be taking his match against Ferru lightly. His head to head with Ferru is 2-3 with all of his wins coming on hard court and all of his losses on clay. Mandy will have to earn it, but is surely the favorite.

Australian Open 2011: No More Rafa Slam

2011-01-26T15:57:00.008-05:00

Rafa fans have seen this far too often. This time it wasn't his knees but his hamstrings.

Doesn't this make you want to hug him? Nothing means more to him than to feel like he could compete at his best level, and his

All credit to Daveed for playing a clean game and winning it in straights. Rafa is a gentleman and tried to deflect attention from his injury to Daveed. Let's just say it: Daveed did beat Rafa. Let's honor both of them: Rafa walked out on court, stayed on court and he was well enough to compete. He doesn't need any excuses.

Australian Open 2011: Bert Wins The Battle of Sesame Street

2011-01-25T22:36:00.006-05:00

Bert only seemed to have trouble against Big Berd in the second set, and teased the ball basher into unforced errors. From the score it is pretty easy to see that Big Berd faded quickly in the third (61 76[5] 61). Bert will face Fed in a rematch of their US Open 2010 semis. Beware! The last time they met in an Aussie Open semi, Bert beat Fed and won the whole thing.

Bert had time to add a sponsorship deal for Petkorazzi.

Gotta supplement that meager income from being a professional tennis player.

Australian Open 2011: Caro Knocks Out Franny

2011-01-25T22:14:00.005-05:00

You'd think if your opponent had just played the longest Grand Slam women's singles match in history at almost 5 hours, you'd have easy pickings, right?

Instead Franny took it to Caro, and raced out to 63 31 lead. I certainly thought we were head toward the Golden Retriever getting an old-school tennis lesson. But Caro stepped up, and started to take the ball a little bit earlier, and made Franny earn her points. Franny made 4 consecutive unforced errors, and suddenly we had a close match.

You may not like the fact that Caro doesn't hit a lot of winners, but then again she's very similar to Mats Wilander who had a very unflashy game, which was good enough to win the Aussie Open.

Props to Caro for digging deep and getting through to the semis (36 63 63): she's going to need to show this kind of play against Nails who will pounce all over her.

Australian Open 2011: The Fed Express Wins the Battle of Swisses

2011-01-25T21:57:00.010-05:00

Fed is not the only player who has made coaching change for the better. Ewok his Olympic doubles partner and good friend hired Fed's old coach, Peter Lundgren to get the most out of his career. It has led to a quarterfinal appearance at the US Open and at the Australian Open. This year it led Wawa to handed out decisive victories to pretty good players such as ARod and La Monf, leading some media types hacks to think he had a fair chance of beating Federer. Of course, no one seriously thinks anyone not named Rafa has a better than 50-50 chance to close out a match against Fed in a Grand Slam, but I doubt anyone ever thought it would be such a decisive beatdown (61 63 63).

There was even time for the little wanker to hit another tweener. The fellow fessed to saying: I was aiming for a lob.

You know it's a cruise fest when the most exciting part of the match is Fed fessing up to stealing 20 Aussie Open towels (and counting) in his on-court interview with Jim Courier. Naughty boy!

Australian Open 2011: Nails Charges On

2011-01-24T21:07:00.004-05:00

Workman like effort from Nails who beat Petko 62 64. Petko never really had any chance as she was constantly on her back foot because of Nails' footwork & movement. She's into the semifinals, and will face the winner between Caro & Franny. She has an excellent chance of winning the whole damn thing. Do it for China!

Australian Open 2011: Impressions on the Week Thus Far

2011-01-21T11:51:00.015-05:00

Federer is more than just a beautiful player to watch. In tough 5 setter, He showed real heart to fight off a comeback from Gilles Simon who gives him trouble. For an account from someone who was there, see Dootsiez' story. You really must check it out.

You haz a 16-2 head to head record against someone but you're coming back from 6 plus month layoff from tennis. You would think you might be rusty, but you hope you're in your opponent's head. Well, not this time. JuJu lost to Sveta. Sob!

Coming back from a knee injury, strained psoas (groin) muscle, screaming in sharp pain ... Props to you Vee for coming back to beat your 2nd round opponent, Zahlavova, but it doesn't take a genius (much less your mum) to tell you that it's OK to give Petko a walkover. Get your health back, and take as much time as you need. The sport needs you.

Caro is the world number 1, hasn't won a Slam (yet), gets accused of giving boring pressers, but she's got real smarts. You've got to see the video of the presser for yourself. See transcript). Matt Cronin, you just got pwned.

Australian Open 2011: Break of Return

2011-01-17T22:55:00.002-05:00

Yep, you read that right. What always happened in baseball finally happened in tennis.

ARad breaks her racquet returning KDK.

Hacking the Ball: Movement Can Be Taught

2011-01-15T15:01:00.017-05:00

As befits a geek like me, I've been focusing a lot on my technique to up my consistency. But my primary focus hasn't been my strokes. Rather it's that under-rated part of the game: movement. Now, there's certainly a school of tennis instruction that thinks you should just do what comes naturally. One consequence of this school of thought is that the way to improve your movement is to play other sports like soccer or basketball as there's nothing all that special about movement in tennis. If you suck at moving in those sports, you're doomed to tennis mediocrity.

Yes, when a high-level pro moves around the court, it does look natural, you can always bet they've logged umpteen million hours drilling to move better so that it looks natural. When a tennis journalist evaluates a pro's game, they'll focus on the mental aspect (Bozo), how their play makes them feel (Tigs), the jugement de jour of their peers (Cronin), technology that they're using (JMac), etc. These days I suspect that if you ask a tour-level pro who has to compete against their peers, one of the first things they'll look at is movement. These folks have a post-doctoral knowledge that far exceeds the fundamentals of movement.

Why am I ranting on movement, that most numinous aspect of the game? Because many gurus have noticed that the key to TMF's balletic game is his movement. In particular the article I just linked pointed me to David Bailey an Aussie coach who developed an entire system around it. After a year of dawdling I took the plunge and invested in the DVD. Knowledge, I figured, is a good thing, and if it gives me a better eye for movement as a tennis fan, that's well worth it. Well, the Bailey system did that and helped me think much more deliberately about how I moved when I play.

Here is the basic outline from 10,000 foot view. Every point has a cycle of five parts (5 Rs). In the first part, you get READY by getting into an athletic posture (i.e. on your toes, knees bent, and butt out) by taking a split step of some form when your opponent contacts the ball. As soon as your opponent contacts the ball, you READ the approaching ball and determine what zone is the ball heading into. The zone the ball heads into will limit your footwork choices. You REACT to the ball by moving to it, decide the kind of ball you want to hit (forcing, rally, defensive, a winner, attacking or counterattacking). As you RESPOND with your stroke, you hit the ball out of a contact move with its corresponding balance move. finally, you RECOVER by getting to the midline recovery positon (middle of the opponent's angle of play) using footwork patterns, brake & recovery steps. The cycle then repeat itself if you haven't hit a winner or your opponent gets the ball back.

One thing to notice about this system is that movement is part of every phase. Most of the instruction I see on movement doesn't attempt to view movement as such a comprehensive and systematic package. If a player actually practices this system, they could gain an advantage of 0.5 - 1.0 second per shot over the opponents. By the time you get to the 2nd or 3rd shot of a rally, your opponent can be in such a disadvantaged position, that you don't have to hit a great shot to win the point.

One highlight of the system is that there are 15 moves that any pro could execute when contacting the ball at the baseline. Which move to execute depends upon the kind of the ball one receives and the intent of the stroke that you want to respond with. Here is a sampling for what one can do from the back of the court. Focus particularly on what their feet, legs and hips are doing and how they use their lower body to facilitate what their upper body is doing when they hit the ball.

Here is a sample of what one can do from the forecourt.

Despite the cheesy music, if you watch a professional tennis match, you'll actually see players execute most of these moves. And I can tell you from actually trying it myself, you will hit a better ball more consistently.

This video of Jedi-mode Darth Federer against ARod shows two long points that I'll focus upon.

At 2-all of the first set (0:43) on Roddick's serve, there's some very solid hitting for a 10 stroke rally. Fed hits a block return off a two foot pivot. ARod uses at two foot pivot to hit a topspin forehand down the middle to keep the point neutral. Since the point is neutral and Fed knows he can outrally Arod, he keeps it neutral by hitting a rally topspin forehand down the middle out of a two-foot pivot. ARod tries to establish some progress in the rally by hitting a topspin forehand to the backhand out of the two-foot pivot. Since Fed only has to take a few steps to get to his backhand, he hits a topspin 1HBH out of a step down pivot deep and wide to the ad court into ARod's backhand. ARod tries to angle Fed off court into the ad court alley with his topspin 2HBH. Sinc ARod's backhand has a lot of spin but less pace, Fed has plenty of time to track down the ball and hit a BH slice DTL out of a closed stance. ARod tries to take advantage of the open court (which Fed is already trying to cover with one carioca step) by hitting a crosscourt forehand out of a step down stance. Fed has no problem running down the ball and hitting a forehand DTL winner out of a mogul move.

Everything ARod did would win the point against any player outside the top 10, and on most points against Fed. It was Fed's slice that set up the winner. Because the closed stance comes naturally to a one-hander, it is easy for Fed to generate racquet head speed for a tough shot. Once ARod tries to respond to the shot, he plays a response that is a bit two cautious. Perhaps the same shot shot (CC forehand) with a different contact move (front foot hop) would be more aggressive and more difficult for Fed to reply to. Regardless, Fed's quick recovery towards the deuce course, and his choice ot the mogul move gives him that extra pop to accelerate the racquet. By the way, the mogul move is usually a counter-attacking move when you respond to an attack from your opponent that is not quite good enough. Even if ARod had gotten to Fed's shot, Fed's mogul had already set him up for a perfect recovery towards the ad court.

Again there is some very solid hitting in the next game, but I conclude that Fed's movement is what gives him a crucial advantage over ARod. ARod wide ad serve successfully angles Fed off court, which Fed chips out of a closed pivot. ARod immediately tries to take control of the point with an inside in forehand out of a low spin. Fed has to neutralize this with reverse forehand into the middle out of a lateral hop. ARod hesitates a bit going forward, and opts to hit an inside out forehand out of a high spin to the around the midpoint of the ad service box. The point now neutral and Fed can hit a rally backhand out of semi closed stance down the middle. ARod hits an inside-in FH out of a high spin to the deep deuce court corner. Fed hits his second forehand out of a lateral hop (but it's the windshield wiper) out of a lateral hop to the middle of the baseline. ARod tries to hit a forcing inside out forehand out of a lateral transfer move where the shot lands in the middle of ad no-man's land. Fed hits one of his signature finesse shots, a chip backhand cross court, of a closed stance, which is the gambit move to bring ARod in. ARod takes the bait and hits an inside in forehand out of a step down pivot but the ball doesn't quite have enough weight behind it. Fed has no trouble running down the ball and passing ARod cross court with a reverse forehand out of a mogul move.

You can repeat the analysis of the last point for this point. ARod did everything right which would work against almost any player, but not against Fed. Fed not only knows that his slice troubles ARod, but because ARod's transition movement is tentative (he choses a less aggressive and "safer" contact move off of approach shots), Fed has an excellent chance of passing ARod. And again the pass is off of the contact move that best fits the situation.

I hope both of these point analyses takes away some of the mystery behind modern tennis movement. If this doesn't help you become a better tennis player, I hope it makes you a better fan.

Australian Open 2011 Prognostications (Women)

2011-01-14T12:25:00.009-05:00

1st Quarter:

Caro has earned the dubious title of WTA World #1, without a Grand Slam. She is the #1 seed that gets no respect. She won a lot of matches last year, but underachieved at the majors (lost to Nails in 4th round AO 2010, Franny in the quarters of RG 2010, Kvitova in 4th round of W 2010, Bepa in semis of USO 2010).

Frankly she faces a difficult draw. In the first round, she faces a very good player in Dulkbag, who will be fresh after having a great doubles season with Flavs. She could meet Domi in the 3rd round, who beat her 3 and 3 in Sydney. In the same half of her quarter, she could meet ball bashers in Wicky, Mono or Jarka Groth. All of them on their best days can beat anyone.

In the opposite half of her draw, she could face very experienced players like Franny, and even more dangerous Allez Bitch. Unfortunately her best hope of getting past these potential quarterfinal opponents lies in Sveta, who has 2-16 head to record against her potential 4th round opponent in Allez Bitch. So Caro's best chance of legitimizing her status as the World #1 by winning a major lies in stepping up her game and beating the best. She's quite capable of the folks in her quarter, but beating an experienced Grand Slam champion like Allez Bitch is an entirely different story. In their only head to head meeting in Miami, Caro did take Allez Bitch to three sets, but this seems to be more a function of a first-time meeting than any real pattern to the match up. If they do meet in the quarters, Allez Bitch won't be surprised by Caro's tactics.

Lurker: Jarka, Socks

Semifinalist: Allez Bitch

2nd Quarter:

As athletes get older and past their prime, the competitive advantage they once had shrinks. In Vee's case, it has apparently so much that there is constant talk of her retirement despite the fact that she was the World #2 during the clay court season last year. The biggest question is her knees, where the only matches she had since Wimbledon were at the US Open. Even if she has recovered enough, there are plenty of players who can hit just as hard as her, and recover as many balls as her. This can be said to various degrees for almost all the seeds in her draw: Petkorazi, Kanepri, Sharpie, Nails, Rezzy, Dani and Vika. All except for Dani have a good chance of beating Vee. Dani, unfortunately, may have to withdraw from the AO because of a tear in her Achilles tendon.

Vee's best chance of making it the semifinals is to use her experience to grind her opponents down. This may be good enough to get her through the first few rounds, but it's tough to see if it can get her to the semis. Unfortunately, grinding really hasn't been a go-to strategy she has employed throughout her career, because the consistency of her serve and forehand can disappear under pressure. She could lose to a very motivated Masha/Kanepri in the 4th round.

Masha has had a long route of recovering from shoulder surgery. While many think it is her serve that explains the long road to her becoming a contender for majors again, I don't think that's the entire story. The rest of the tour has simply closed the advantages she once enjoyed in a big strokes and mental fortitude. If almost everyone can hit as hard as you, you have to play defense, which was never (and never will be) Masha's strength. Her loss to Caro at the US Open shows exactly the limitations of her game. An athletic tennis player with great movement can open up the court against her and beat her. Unfortunately for Masha, there are a lot of those on the tour these days.

In the quarters, I expect that she would have to beat the best between Nails, Rezzy and Vika. Vika almost beat ReeRee last year, but is vulnerable to having her movement attacked. Rezzy is dangerous when she can really tee up for her shots especially on clay. Nails always seems to play well down under. If she can keep it together mentally, it wouldn't surprise me if she repeated her semifinal appearance from last year.

Lurker: Sharpie

Semifinalist: Nails

3rd Quarter:

Almost everyone is picking Kimpossible as the favorite for Oz. As far as her game is concerned, there are no real holes: she can serve well, play great defense, moves well, and create her own offense. She's beaten other contenders in handy fashion (e.g. Vika, Bepa, Caro), and she's a three-time US Open champion. The hard courts of Melbourne Park ought to suit her game.

But she does have a tendency to go off the boil sometimes. Last week in Sydney she had a 5-0 lead in the first set, and apparently collapsed with double faults and errors to donate the title to Nails. Last year, she only won one game off of Nads. So the question for her is whether she can stay focused enough through seven matches to win her first major outside of New York.

And she will need to stay focused, because if she goes off the boil, anyone in her draw is capable of taking advantage. Lady JaJa is in the other half of her draw and is coming back from a disappointing second half of the year, and eye surgery. Kleybs will be able to hit her way to the 4th round, but then her fitness or her movement might not be good enough to go further. Aggie is coming back from a foot injury, is the mirror opposite player to Kleybs: not a hard hitter in the least, but counts on her speed and craftiness (esp. the drop shot-lob combo) to throw opponents off their rhythm.

On her half of the draw, Kimpossible well need to get past the crafty lefty MJMS (a S&V who hits lots of drop shots), and then get past either a resurgent Adje Gal or Nads. When she's not focused, it would be unsurprising if Kim would lose to Adje Gal (or even Nads). But a focused Kimpossible is simply too good for the rest of her draw.

Lurker: Adje Gal

Semifinalist: Kimpossible

4th Quarter:

Bepa is the number 2 seed whom nobody takes seriously. This, despite making the finals of Wimbledon and the US Open last year. The negatives on her part is that she only won one tournament last year, and a perfectionist like her has a well-deserved reputation for being too mentally fragile. On the other hand, you don't appear in two Grand Slam finals by accident, and she seems to have made progress with her mental game.

Bepa, I think will have to like her draw. On her side of the draw, she faces a potential second round clash with Bojangles who made the Sydney semifinals, and a third round class with Miss Berdy or Zakopalova. While any of her opponents can hit a hot streak and she can have a bad day, one would expect that under normal circumstances Bepa ought to make it through. In the 4th round, she is seeded to meet Pavs or Makiri, both of whom could give her a tight match. Bepa is the player who has done better on the big stages, and should be able to get through.

In the opposite half of her quarter, Aussie hopes rest on Sam who is hitting the peak form of her career. Unfortunately, Flavs is also in the same half of the quarter. Should Sam and Flavs meet, Sam's chances aren't very good as her head to head against Flavs is 3-0. Their head to head is one-sided thus far because Flavs has no problem returning Sam's main weapon: her kick serve. Sam's best hope of making it to the quarters is for someone to take out Flavs for her, and for her to make it past the hard hitting Kvitova in the 3rd round. In either case, I think the odds look good for Bepa should she meet Sam or Flavs.

Lurkers: Flavs

Semifinalist: Bepa

Semifinals: Allez Bitch d. Nails, Kimpossible d. Bepa

Finals: Kimpossible d. Allez Bitch

Australian Open 2011 Prognostications (Men)

2011-01-14T11:00:00.002-05:00

The first act of the professional tennis season begins with a bang at the Australian Open, aka the Happy Slam. For years it was neglected because many players such as Borg and Connors refused to make the long trek Down Under in December/January because they wanted a longer off-season. When the event moved to the hard courts of Melbourne Park, it developed its own distinctive identity. For tennis fans in colder climes of the Northern Hemisphere, it reminds us that we can hope for summer where we can get to hit balls. Australia, of course, has a wonderful tennis tradition in birthing the greatest players to play the game in Laver, Rosewall, Newcombe and Court. Australian tennis fans are knowledgeable, and it's always a pleasure to hear Aussie commentators such as Killer or Stubbsie. Most importantly, this is the slam that's in the middle of the Australian Summer. No other major has an extreme-heat policy where play can be suspended because it is too hot. This Slam tests a player's stamina.

Tournament Site: here

Draws: men's singles and women's singles

Injured List: ReRe

1st Quarter:

Everyone, of course, is talking about the player of the year, Rafa, who completed a career slam by winning the US Open. He has also won Wimbledon and Roland Garros. If he wins the Australian Open, he will be the first man since Rod Laver in 1968 to hold all 4 majors at once. The Rocket doesn't think the 'Rafa' Slam should be called a Grand Slam, sticking to the tradition that one must win all 4 in a calendar year. Nevertheless, if Rafa does do this, it is possible that he may be anointed the GOAT despite winning less majors then Federer. Regardless of the GOAT debate, winning 4 consecutive majors says a lot about the peak form of a player over the duration of one year, but not necessarily about how they've done over the entire course of their career.

Rafa's quarter does contain some dangerous players, but none who could challenge him over the course of a five set match. In the 3rd round, he could meet Feli, who did beat him on the grass courts of Queens. Tree and Cilic are seeded to meet in the 3rd round, but any optimistic predictions for Cilic are bound to meet with disappointment. Tree's big serve does have the game to take Rafa out of his rhythm. They met twice this year with both matches in Rafa's favor.

In the other half of the quarter, Head Banger is seeded to meet the Mika Llodra, and Nalby to meet Daveed. There can be real surprises in this part of the draw. Kevin Anderson plays a very big game, and looks to be maturing. For another, the first-rounder between Rusty and Nalby will be a real cracker for sure. Rusty looks ready to make a late career push and claims to be in great shape.

Lurker: Rusty.

Semifinalist: Rafa

2nd Quarter:

Sod blasted through ARod this past weekend to win Brisbane, and won his first Master's 1000 last year in Paris. He is also a two time Roland Garros finalist. Most importantly, he is not overawed playing either Fed or Nadal. There aren't many guys who the ball as hard as he does. In his half of the quarter, it's doubtful whether Belluci or Curls can get past someone as confident as Sod. Belluci tends to do better on a clay, and it is always a question whether Curls will be mentally prepared, as he underachieved last year in the majors. Though Tsonga had the best result of his career in 2008 making the final, I wouldn't pick him to go further than the 4th round.

Delpo is making his return to the tour, and opens his AO campaign against Sela. If he gets past Sela, he is likely to face bags. But there seeded players are certainly in better form than Delpo. Melzer had the best year of his career (Wimbledon doubles champion, RG semi-finalist). Bags committed to dropping weight in the off-season, and loves playing in Oz. GGL beat Rafa down in Thailand. But most importantly, Muzz the great Scottish hope of the UK is looking to get past the finish line, and finally win a major. Muzz beat Soderling handily in the WTF in London. I think his rope-a-dope game, and his retrieving skills should be enough to frustrate Soderling should they meet in the quarterfinals.

Lurker: Melzer, Bags

Semifinalist: Muzz

3rd Quarter:

The man to beat in this quarter is the Djoker, who won the only major of his career here in 2008. With the Djoker, one always wonder how the heat will affect his stamina or his asthma. But he's bringing in a lot of confidence from winning the Davis Cup for Serbia, and he beat Fed at the US Open in a tough semifinal. The best years of his career are ahead of him. He could face compatriot Troicki in the 3rd round; and then Nico or Ljubs. I doubt any of these guys can beat the Djoker, so I'm counting on him at least making the quarters.

The opposite half of Nole's quarter is full of dangerous players. Big Berd had a break out year, making the finals of Wimbledon and semis of RG. Unfortunately he didn't do great since as he has admitted to struggling with being the hunted scalp. Reeshard might be returning to form that matches the hype of his early career, but he still looks like he plays too much defensive tennis. Playstation struggled last year with a wrist injury. His recent semi-final appearance in Doha may signal a return to the form that made him a dark horse last year. Nando, of course, had the best result of his career in 2009, taking Nadal to an epic 5-setter. The young American, Ryan Harrison, has an impressive all-court game, and is capable of winning 3 or 4 matches in a row at this level. But Harrison doesn't like like the only dark horse in the draw. One should also watch out for Kohly and Kei.

Lurker: Kohly, Harrison, Kei

Semifinalist: Djoker

4th Quarter:

Fed, of course, won his 16th major here last year. Two weeks with the flu in February led to a mid-season dip in form that saw his streak of 23 consecutive semi-finals appearances in majors ended at RG, and then a very disappointing lost to Big Berd in the quarters of Wimbledon. In the summer, Fed knew it was time to make a change by adding Paul Annacone to his team. The results speak for themselves. He has won 5 out of the last 9 tournaments he has entered (Cincy, Stockholm, Basel, WTF and Doha), and made the semifinals or better of the rest (US Open, Montreal, Shanghai, Paris). Even folks who are not Fed fans admit that he is the player that is currently in the best form.

In terms of his quarter, Fed doesn't face anyone that can probably threaten him. Opposite him in this quarter is his pigeon ARod. His compatriot Wawa looks to have more hunger to advance farther than the great French counterpuncher, La Monf. Fish and Samurai are likely to take each other out. Montanes could take out Fed in a clay court event like Estoril but not on an Australian hard court.

Let's face it. In the men's game for the last 5-6 years, it has been about Federer or Nadal in the majors. Only Delpo, Nole and Safin have managed to pry away a major championship from these two. And the rivalry between these friends looks to be swinging in favor of Federer. Some of the important adjustsments Fed seems to be making is implementing a rip and charge off of backhand returns, which helps his ability to handle the high kicking heavy topspin of Nadal's forehand to his backhand. He is also looking to hit the set-up shot to get the short ball so that he can take the net earlier. If Fed continues to earn a high percentage of his points off of first serves, he is the man to beat in Melbourne.

Lurker: Stakhovsky, Wawa

Semifinalist: Fed

Semifinals: Rafa d. Muzz, Fed d. Djoker

Finals: Fed d. Rafa

Sydney 2011: Nails Did It

2011-01-14T10:38:00.007-05:00

If you're down Love-5 in the first set after 15 minutes, most tennis players would feel like they're getting owned. Me, I've been tempted to throw in the towel and get at least one game to save my dignity.

Not Nails.

I was 5-0 down & I saw the time...only 15 min. I was like, Yeah, the fans, they pay a lot of money for half hour the match is over. (Smiling.)

She indeed sunk her dragon claws into Kim, and clawed back to win her first Premier-level WTA tournament (76 63). Then again she had done the same to Sveta and Bojangles, so this is nothing new for her.

Doesn't she just glow?

Not entirely sure what turned around the match, but will post an update as soon as I find out more.

UPDATE:

Australian Open 2011: Rally for Relief

2011-01-12T20:10:00.005-05:00

If you haven't been following the news lately, you should know that the floods in Queensland are just apocalyptic. Over 200,000 people have been affected, and the flood has touched an area over the size of France and Germany combined.

Yes, a week ago in Brisbane a tournament was being played, and now this.

Roger Federer announced today on his Facebook account that they will have the Rally Relief exho on Sunday at 3pm to help raise funds for those affected by the floods. It is expected that Rafael Nadal, Kim Clijsters, Novak Djokovic, Sam Stosur, Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick and Pat Rafter will also participate.

Last year, a similar crew participated in the "Hit for Haiti" which was full of light-hearted fun.

Sydney 2011: Nails on On-Court Coaching

2011-01-11T07:33:00.002-05:00

Nails' coach is her husband, and during her presser she was all kind of awesome about her husband's on-court coaching sessions

Australian Open 2011: Practice Again

2011-01-10T15:58:00.019-05:00

For those of us up in colder climes of the Northern Hemisphere, nothing can make us feel more envious than seeing balls getting smacked in Oz.

Sharpie christens Rod Laver Arena to work on her forehand.

Here's JuJu Bear playing practice points.

A shirtless Nando posing for the ladies.

Lawnmower getting advice from Ivan Lendl.

Le Monf looking serious

Finally more Masha (can't she work on her defensive skills?)

ADDITION: Woger Federror working on his serve and playing practice points

Hacking the Ball: Become a Better Fan

2011-01-09T14:47:00.005-05:00

A month ago Fuzzy Yellow Balls marketed a great online tennis instruction course called Tennis RX. The premise of that course follows a medical theme, where they teach tennis players to "become the doctor" for their own game. It means analyzing what is wrong with your own game, diagnosing the problem and then prescribing a cure. This empowers players to improve incrementally instead of making the same mistakes time and time again, and frees them from depending too much on their own coach.

To summarize, this course has three parts:

(a) Layering is the process of focusing on one area of your game (e.g. the serve) by improving your skills starting from the simple skills (e.g. the toss) to more complicated skills (e.g. a right hander placing slice serve down the middle to the ad court at 80% accuracy). The concept of layering works because if you think about a skill like driving, most of us mastered the fundamentals first (e.g. controlling the accelerator pedal) and built up to more complex skills (e.g. driving along an unfamiliar road to an unfamiliar location) to the point that we no longer think about the fundamentals.

(b) Personalization is the process of figuring out what your own particular skill set is and learning to play the kind of game that maximizes your strengths and minimizes your weakness. Skill set is something that can range from a physical one (e.g. speed), through strokes (e.g. a very strong offensive forehand) to a mental one (e.g. calmness when taking risks). Personalization is applicable at all levels of the sport. For a beginner who is already quite athletic, it might mean running a lot of balls down and pushing them back This tops out very quickly if the pusher means a player who can also run a lot of balls down but hit them all in technically correct fashion. At the pro level, one notices that pros will almost always have an excellent skill set for the fundamentals (e.g. rally groundstrokes, returns and serves), but they play very different games. Nadal used to play a very defensive tennis but has evolved to an aggressive all-court player. Federer has always been an aggressive all-court player but since he's hired Paul Annacone this summer, it looks like he's evolving to rushing the net more. Even if we compare the kinds of aggressive all court games that both of those guys play, they both express that style in different ways with the most obvious difference being Nadal's lefty reverse forehand and Federer's flatter windshield wiper forehand.

(c) Profiling is the process of thinking about how your own game matches up against other players and defining the strategy that you need to play that's most likely to beat them. For me, at the recreational level, if I figure that my opponent doesn't have consistent rally ground strokes (which I do have), I'll try to get them into long rallies around my most consistent shot (the forehand). At the pro level, one of the most famous match up problems is Nadal's lefty reverse forehand which bounces high to Federer's one handed backhand. In the recent World Tour Final in London, Federer was able to negate Nadal's game plan by ripping sharply angled backhand winners by taking the ball on the rise. A reason is that he was able to do that effectively is that (my guess) is that he had been practicing his backhand drive returns off of kick serves. A kick serve to the backhand and a high bouncing reverse forehand are the same kind of ball, so it's no wonder that this is an effective point of focus in practice for Federer. Note in this explaination I've given that Federer has profiled the strategy he needed to beat Nadal (e.g. minimize a matchup problem of Nadal's forehand to his backhand), layered an improved skill set (e.g. hit drive backhands on the rise for high bouncing balls, be it a kick serve or a forehand), and personalized it (e.g. try to angle Nadal off court).

The Tennis Rx course assumes that you actually play tennis (and want to get better). How can knowing its essential principles help you become a better fan? Rather than analyzing your own game, you can apply the same principles to analyze games of the players that you're watching, and begin to understand why matches turn out the way they do. Too often in tennis fandom, we get emotionally attached to our players, and stop paying attention to what is actually going on out there. This demonstrates a lack of brains.

Right now, as I write this Tennis Channel is playing a replay of the Brisbane final between Sod and ARod.

From quick glances of a few points, I can apply the Tennis Rx course and explain why ARod lost the match and why his head to head record with Sod is 2-6.

a) Profiling: ARod hits very spinny crosscourt groundstrokes that sit up in Soderling's strike zone. This makes it easy for Soderling to tee off with his flat groundstrokes, and put ARod on his back foot. Both guys have great serves, so if they both return at the same success rate, their match isn't going to be determined by the return.

b) Personalization & Layering: ARod has gotten very comfortable with a grinder's game by emphasizing consistency with spinny groundstrokes, mixing in slices, and earning a few free points per game with his serve. Over the years, Soderling has improved his consistency by getting in better shape, staying calmer on court, and improving his movement. If both guys serve equally well, and hitting cleanly, Soderling will win every time, because his strokes penetrate through the court faster than Roddick, and he will push Roddick back. Roddick's best chance against Soderling is to coax errors from Soderling with his slice backhand. Unfortunately Roddick's slice and dice game is not at the level of Federer, where he can turn the match up around to consistently hurt Soderling. To get to that level, Roddick has to be able to tee off of returns to his slices. Usually the highest percentage return to a slice shot will be another slice shot or a rolling topspin shot. In both cases, I think Roddick has to improve hitting forehand approach shots out of the neutral stance.

Any way, with the Australian Open, tennis fans will get plenty of tennis to watch. And Aussie commentators just rock, because they understand the game! I hope this helps you become just as smart as them.

Another Day, Another Fed Tweener

2011-01-04T15:34:00.003-05:00

Fed hit another tweener. It's part of his day job.

Oh, he's done this one before to Henman.

Of course, anything Roger does, Rafa has to try.

All credit to Rafa for getting the hardest part of the tweener right (the footwork). He'll get it in some day.

Without naming names, the ressentiment against Fed that this tweener generates is astounding. It's just a game. These boys are having fun. Just saying. After all, all these guys learned the shot from the Magician himself.

Tennis 'Experts' Build Frankenstein

2011-01-04T09:42:00.014-05:00

Sports Illustrated has decided to ask their panel of 'experts' to build their version of an ideal tennis player based on the current form of today's ATP and WTA players for your mass consumption in 90 seconds.

If you want to read the article, go here. Or your could just look at the summary table below.

	Jon Wertheim	S.L. Price	Bruce Jenkins	Richard Deitsch	Brian Armen Graham	Andrew Lawrence
Serve	Ivo Karlovic / Venus Williams	Andy Roddick / Serena Williams	Andy Roddick / Serena Williams	John Isner / Venus Williams	Ivo Karlovic / Venus Williams	Rafael Nadal / Serena Williams
Return	Andy Murray / Vera Zvonareva	Andy Murray / Caroline Wozniacki	Andy Murray / Venus Williams	Andy Murray / Victoria Azarenka	Andy Murray / Victoria Azarenka	Novak Djokovic / Jelena Jankovic
Forehand	Juan Martin del Potro / Ana Ivanovic	Juan Martin del Potro / Samantha Stosur	Robin Soderling / Samantha Stosur	Fernando Gonzalez / Kim Clijsters	Roger Federer / Samantha Stosur	Robin Soderling / Venus Williams
Backhand	Novak Djokovic / Justine Henin	Richard Gasquet / Venus Williams	Rafael Nadal / Justine Henin	Novak Djokovic / Justine Henin	Novak Djokovic / Kim Clijsters	Richard Gasquet / Francesca Schiavone
Net Play	Bob Bryan / Samantha Stosur	Mardy Fish / Francesca Schiavone	Michael Llodra / Francesca Schiavone	Bob Bryan / Francesca Schiavone	Mardy Fish / Francesca Schiavone	Michael Llodra / Cara Black
Fitness	David Ferrer / Francesca Schiavone	Roger Federer / Kim Clijsters	Nikolay Davydenko / Caroline Woznaicki	Nikolay Davydenko / Samantha Stosur	Nikolay Davydenko / Caroline Woznaicki	Roger Federer / Justine Henin
Footwork	Roger Federer / Kim Clijsters	Novak Djokovic / Jelena Jankovic	Roger Federer / Kim Clijsters	Roger Federer / Caroline Wozniacki	David Ferrer / Justine Henin	Andy Murray / Maria Sharapova
Mental Toughness	Rafael Nadal / Serena Williams	Rafael Nadal / Justine Henin	John Isner / Maria Sharapova	Rafael Nadal / Serena Williams	Rafael Nadal / Serena Williams	Andy Roddick / Kim Clijsters

Some of these choices are trivial: Rafa & ReeRee for mental toughness, Federer for footwork, Djoker & JuJu for backhand, Andy Murray's return or ARod's serve. Others deserve this reaction.

Sharpie's footwork? The cow on ice is a smooth dancer. Vee's forehand or serve? Every commie points out those strokes get wonky because she doesn't keep her head still. Izzy's mental toughness? Yeah it was great for the Wimbly marathon but he hasn't won any majors. Bob Bryan and Cara Black getting consolation prizes for their net play so that the present top players like Nadal and Federer don't take all the top spots? Rafa's serve? Sure it has improved but is it the best?

More to the my present point, this assemblage is a Frankenstein. A player with the serve like Dr. Ivo or Tree will be tall (over 6' 6") but will he actually move as well as Fed to hit punishing inside forehands off of slices skidding at shoe lace level? If you've seen ATP pros up close and personal, many will hit slice shots that well. Or if a player actually had a backhand like Reeshard, how does a player avoid letting such a strength take over his game so much that it prevents him (or her) from rounding out the rest of his game?

If you do want to use your brain a little bit to actually analyze the game of tennis, allow me. My main criticism of this "dream player" meme is that it treats a player's game as an additive summary of parts. If you've consciously tried to improve your own tennis game beyond the beginner level, you know it isn't as simple as acquiring a different forehand. Changing a stroke will have ripple effects on the rest of your game which requires adjustments to your other skills. Justine Henin's game over the last several years is a perfect case in point. She's always had an excellent backhand, but it's her forehand that's improved the most to the point that it's now her main weapon. Her backhand went from being her main weapon to her set-up shot. Yes, it's still a thing of beauty to see her flick a sharply angled top spin BH roller that puts her opponent in the stands, but she can now do that with her FH too. Present-day Henin is so solid from both sides of the court that she's one of the few pros who won't hit a running reverse FH, because she probably feels she doesn't need to.

London: WTF Semis

2010-11-27T16:51:00.010-05:00

The top 4 players in the world squared off in the O2 Arena in London.

These two boys trained in the physical and mentally grinding Spanish style sure do love each other.

Ahndee Muurrey played the aggressive tennis that we know he's capable of, and had the match on his racket until he played two loose drop shots on his serve early in the 3rd set to let Rafa back in the match.

Mandy this is why you need to show no mercy when you have a short ball from Rafa. Rip a forehand instead of going for too much drop shit. Because eventually he'll wrong foot you and you could hurt yourself slamming on the brakes.

Then again maybe the reasons Mandy can't win the big matches are his facial expressions.

TMF was in full Jedi mode playing fantastic defense to frustrate Nole to a 61 64 victory. Fed has not dropped a set in London.

Frankly Nole didn't look mentally sharp and seemed to miss that extra bit of determination to dig out a win. My guess is that he was looking at a once-in-a-lifetime chance to win the Davis Cup at home in Serbia.

On Sunday, whose box does Maradona choose to sit in?

Oh, BTW, I'm cheering for Barca in El Classico tomorrow to beat Real Madrid with two most hated men in soccer: the Special One and Ronaldo (sorry Rafa). For you philistines about soccer, it's the biggest rivalry match in Spain's premier league.

London: WTF ... Cheesy Rock Star Entrances

2010-11-26T20:27:00.010-05:00

As the season winds up, the World Tour Finals in London need to hype up the matches by introducing the players with cheesy rock star entrances.

You can almost hear Rafa saying "What's happening here? Why do they make me walk through this smoke?"

TMF is looking pretty sultry here.

The Djoker is a man of the people making fun of his eye troubles from the previous night.

Sod looks awkward.

Ferru is trying to enjoy his chance to hang out in the pantheon.

Chin up, Murray, you're playing in front of your home crowd.

At least your terrier Maggie enjoys the media attention.

Remembrances of the Fall Indoor Season 2010

2010-11-14T14:44:00.010-05:00

Sorry for the radio silence over the last month and a half. My excuse is that I've been busy with a job transition. As Rafa's Knees tweeted over a month ago, the fall indoor season is anti-climatic as the pros are clearly looking forward to the off-season. A collage of images start blurring one into another as the season winds down.

In yet another apparent shock to the credibility of the WTA, a new slamless world #1 was crowned: Caro.

Lots of people hate on her game, and her lack of big time results this year (not even a finals appearance in the Slams). While I prefer the all court tennis of Henin and Federer, I respect the counterpunching grinding tennis that Caro plays. It's very difficult to sustain a rally for 20+ strokes without missing, and getting balls back with just enough interest to make them miss. If you haven't tried to do this yourself, it's very easy to sit on a couch and call that "pushing." At any rate, Caro has the mental strength and willingness to improve her game that she will win a Slam one day. Yeah, I know ReeRee has merely won AO and Wimbly out of the 6 tournaments she played, but as the Woody Allen said, part of life is showing up. It's a professional tennis player's job to stay healthy so that they can compete. ReeRee hasn't done that and she knows she should. Lots of people think Caro is like Lady JaJa because of her lack of apparent weapons. However, like Tigs I think she's a lot more like the Rafinator who celebrates every victory like he had just won Wimbledon.

Rafa took home a measly title in Tokyo and was ousted in Bangkok and Beijing but after his stellar three Slam year he can be allowed a mediocre Fall season (by his standards).

On the other hand, the Greatest Shanker of All Time has been closeted. Jedi Fed his best game at this time of the year, getting to the semis of Paris, the finals of Shanghai, and winning Stockholm & Basel. But, clearly, winning in front of his two cute daughters in his hometown tournament was the most emotionally significant for him. If the Logo is an emotional basket case when he wins a Slam for a significant record (exhibit: the tears streaming down his cheek at Roland Garros 2009), can you imagine the blubbering speech he'll give when his daughters are old enough to walk out on court when he wins his next Slam?

Muzzard, of course, won Shanghai by beating Federer. Kudos to him for executing the game plan of forcing Fed to try to win with his backhand. The moment of the trophy ceremony has to be win the MC calls out Muzz for not smiling (4:09). Such a bright and cheery lad!

But the absolute highlight of the fall tennis season, by far, is the debut of Andy Murray's dog, Maggie, on twitter. That cute thang tweeted after Andy's victory:

Can't decide if the weird blue thing or the rolex is a better chew toy for me.

Of course, when you're the beloved of a tennis superstar, life just gets too stressful sometimes watching him run down a lot of balls.

Beijing 2010 Preview

2010-10-02T22:55:00.010-04:00

It's been quiet here since the US Open, and now with the season ending, the pros are no longer preparing for Grand Slams (so don't be surprised if ReeRee doesn't come back until next year).

That said, the top men and women are trying to collect ranking points to qualify for the year end championships in Asia. The men and ladies are together in Beijing to play at the site of the 2008 Olympics.

Site: here

Draw: women's singles and women's singles

Men's top seeds: Nole, Muzz, Sod, Play Station

It's a coin flip at this point of the season. Nole had a great run at the US Open. Muzz had a great hard court season, but had a disappointing US Open loss to Wawa. Sod can always bash his way through folks. Play Station looks like he's still finding his game after a wrist injury kept him out from Indian Wells to Wimbledon, and I would be surprised if he made it past Nando in the 2nd round.

Women's top seeds: Caro, Bepa, Lady JaJa, Sam

The big news is that Caro only needs to win two matches in order to become the world #1 due to ReeRee's strike injuries keeping her off the tour. This is emminently likely as here potential opponents are Errani/Peng and then Flavs/Kvitova/Kanepri/Pavs. If Caro becomes the world #1, then she joins Lady JaJa and Dina as women who have been #1 without winning a slam. While her game is similar to Lady JaJa (beat your opponent by consistency), she has the mental game to eventually win a slam as she never gives up, applies a strategy and is constantly trying to improve (e.g. her serve this year). I hope she takes over the world #1, so that the obvious retort to ReeRee doing this is that you can't play 6 tournaments in the year and expect to stay #1.

That said, I'd like Nails to win to give the Chinese something to go bananas about.

US Open 2010: Champions

2010-09-13T21:34:00.013-04:00

Caro showed that her game still needs development to win a slam as Bepa was able to keep her off balance with variety.

Vee's power and athleticism was not enough to overcome her inconsistency or Kimpressive's defensive.

Bepa felt like hiding after getting manhandled by Kimpressive.

The Mum Train paraded Jada out for another year.

Head Banger came out flat, and could only sustain the intensity he knew he needed to beat the Rafinator for only one game.

Federror struggled with his forehand and first serve, and could not convert two MPs on the Djoker's serve.

When you face the wall that is called the Rafinator, you'd crack your rackets too.

Rafa took him the trophy to bite, and join the rarefied air of men who have won a Career Slam in singles (Federer, Agassi, Laver, Perry, Budge, Emerson). Like Rafa did, let's hold off on GOAT debates and just enjoy the moment.

Courtesy of Forty Deuce, here's the trophy ceremony which was interrupted by ESPN2's rush to get to football.

US Open 2010: Fedal Salivations

2010-09-09T13:13:00.010-04:00

C'mon, if you're a tennis fan, admit that you've been think about this for a week: these two dorks could face off again. Yeah, Rafa has to beat Nando and then Misha/Wawa. Rogi has to beat the Djoker. But it looks extremely likely given their form. Rafa has been cranking the MPHs on his serve, getting them up to 130s (and more importantly the free points). He has not been broken in the entire tournament. Fed is headed toward hitting the most aces in the tournament; he has currently clocked 74 aces, which is two behind the current leader Tree.

They are clearly like laughing together.

They like hugging each other.

They conspire to wear the same kinds of clothes at media appearances.

They like goofing off on a tennis court

Rogi has even tried to steal Rafa's forehand.

And the 21 matches they've played over the years have been a magic carpet ride for the fans of the game.

The only places they've been able to play each other in the last two years have been Madrid. Rogi, are you working on your espanol?

They did play each other Down Under on hard courts even longer ago. A good friend is always there to console you even when they don't have to, no?

Even in their ceremonial pics, you wonder if they're about to bust out laughing.

Here's their last hard court match.

May you meet each other next Sunday and give us an epic.

US Open 2010: Spanish Shots of the Day

2010-09-08T11:52:00.006-04:00

And I must emphasize Spanish shots of the day.

Nando comes back from two sets down to take out compatriot Daveed in the tiebreaker with this epic shot.

Rafa continues his quest to do everything Rogi can do.

This, of course, sets up a rematch of this great match from AO 2009.

US Open 2010: Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-07T10:00:00.006-04:00

On Saturday, I was on the grounds of the US Open catching a bunch of the matches. I'll post on this later even though it will be anti-climatic. I spent the rest of the weekend recovering from watching several hours of live tennis (and I did sneak out to hit some balls myself).

Swiss precision triumphed in the form of Ewok.

The triumph made a Scotsman surly, and edged him closer to the dreaded category: best player never to have won a slam (yet).

The best WTA player never to have won a slam was in tears, because she couldn't convert 4 match points, on her own serve which is sadly the weakest part of her game.

The shyest player in the WTA showed real heart in fighting off those match points, even though she was a break down in the third to come back and win it in a run away tiebreaker.

In the battle of glamazons from Nike and Adidas, Shrieka couldn't hit the ball hard enough (and into the court).

A shriek did knock down Caro when she couldn't run down a lob in one of her few forays to the net.

The jinx showed up in the player's box of TMF.

Alas, Jurgen, the tennis gods just didn't give you enough.

Methinks, TMF worked super hard after Wimbledon on his defense and speed. It shows.

US Open 2010: Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better

2010-09-03T17:52:00.012-04:00

For those old enough to remember Mia Hamm, she did a great Nike commercial with Michael Jordan, based on this classic jazz standard.

Watch Franny do it better

We already know Fed can do it again.

Watch the Magician school Fed. It's a bummer he retired. No wonder Feddy felt like he had to add a shot to his repetoire.

US Open 2010 Fashion Grades (Women)

2010-09-02T15:54:00.024-04:00

The ladies have always gotten to do more then the men with their kits, but the women I know who hit balls want to look good.

Stella McCartney has finally hit the spot with Sunshine by actually designing something that fits her body. The shorter dress accentuates her legs, and the simpler lines complement her figure. And they actually depart from monochrome.

Grade: A

Shrieka's dresses continue to accent her skinny figure. I don't think the collars work. But kudos for Nike for the colors: retro with anthracite and rattan.

Grade: A-

The night dress is a variation of the day dress but ink with black and solar flare. This color combination doesn't provide enough contrast to be as interesting as the day dress. Can't you tell that underneath all that fierceness is a real goofball?

Grade: B+

Since ReeRee is injured, Vika gets to wear the dress that ReeRee would have worn. Nike seems not to care whether or not Vika wears the "night" dress during the day. Since she fainted in the middle of her second round match and had to be taken off in a wheel chair, one wonders whether she should have worn the day dress. The poor thing must be disappointed after having a great summer.

Grade: A-

It's a pity that we won't get to see the day dress on someone live.

Grade: A-

Good Nails was around for one set, crushing returns; and then Bad Nails showed up to spray balls in the last two sets of her first rounder. We won't get to see her functional kit long enough.

Grade: B

Adidas has taken a step up by allowing Ms. Fistpumps to use 4 colors: white, black, purple and pink.

Grade: B

Adidas steps out on a limb and puts Courage in purple. It actually works better on the ladies than their attempt to do so with Nando earlier this year.

Grade: B

Anta must think Lady JaJa secretly wants to wear an Adidas kit. It's a pity that it's been so hot and humid that she can't look glamorous sweating up a storm.

Grade: B

Vee continues to blur the line between a nightie and a tennis dress with her shiny black lace dress. At least she isn't flashing flesh-colored knickers.

Grade: B+

Vee goes unconventional with her day kit: it looks perfect for going to the beach. Just for creativity

Grade: A-

Sam's LaCoste whites are professional as the Hammer should be.

Grade: B+

The purple version of the same kit works even better. See how hard it is to tweak a design.

Grade: A-

Is Mum Train's Fila kit camouflauge? The diagonal stripes against the blue work.

Grade: A-

US Open 2010 Fashion Grades (Men)

2010-09-02T15:53:00.009-04:00

The US Open's liberal dress code with its night matches set in fashionable Gotham has given wide parameters for what can be worn on court. New Yorkers know their style, and the sponsors for the pros have got to raise the bar. With matches at night for the top seeds and grueling day matches in humid heat, this means some folks have a night kit and a day kit. So here come fashion grades which are below their respective pictures.

Fed's night kit stays conservative: navy blue with button placket and white trim on the collar. The only major change (gasp) is that his logo is on the chest and the swoosh is on the sleeves. See his day kit below.

Grade: B+

Just another day at the office for TMF with a "football blue" polo and khaki shorts. The polo is a lighter blue version of his night polo. It certainly suits the middle-age set of men who play tennis on weekends to relive their youth.

Grade: A-

Rafa, could you ever see your Swiss friend wearing neon yellow? True story: I've already seen one of the regulars at my local tennis courts wear this. We all had to put on sunglasses.

Grade: B-

The Rafinator has decided to copy the Sith Lord look pioneered by his BFF. With the damage he's been doing this year, it works. Watch out for Darth Nadal!

Grade: A

Djoker survived a meltdown in his first round. His kit is two-sided as his personality: on the one hand, his Sergio Tacchini is classic a la McEnroe; on the other hand, the dragon print really suits his fiery personality. You cannot be serious if you think he is fit enough to actually make it to the finals.

Grade: B

ARod has switched kits from his tri-colored collar. His day polo is white with checkered piping. Yeah, I know tennis clothes and whites are a natural, but it's the New York, where white ain't mandatory. Show some creativity, LaCoste.

Grade: B

ARod's night polo is ... uh ... blue with white checkers. Not bad. It matches his racquet. I'm sure your fans felt the way you did watching Tipsy hit you off the court in that.

Grade: B

For Adidas creativity means using three colors instead of two: purple, navy blue and white on Nando.

Grade: B

In the case of Muzz, creativity means removing the neon yellow from the polo he wore in Oz. His polo is as bright and cheery as he.

Grade: B

US Open 2010: Foot Fault Gate 2?

2010-09-02T11:34:00.005-04:00

Well, not really ... the lineswoman clearly got the call right on ARod, but blubbered the wrong foot when ARod angrily asked her which one. El Jono rightly points out that ARod was completely in the wrong and should have moved on and played the game. Had this been Fed or Rafa, it's pretty certain they would have.

US Open 2010: Hazardous to Your Health

2010-09-01T12:39:00.012-04:00

One of the favorites of many (e.g. BG) to win the US Open had to retire from her second round match due to heat exhaustion. Kiddies, it's brutal out there.

Poor thing, I hope she recovers and gets better. I feel for you. I fell over and nearly died when I tried to make myself hit 2 sets of 20 running forehands earlier in this the New York summer.

Update: Vika had to be taken off the court in a wheelchair and treated at a local hospital. She suffered a mild concussion while warming up in the gym before her match, and almost certainly the heat aggravated her condition. For a fuller story, see here.

US Open 2010: They're Melting

2010-09-01T10:32:00.008-04:00

With temperatures soaring into the 100s on the blue griddle that is the US Open hard courts (with humidity to boot), yesterday's first round action was a physical and mental test for many. Sure it ain't Pennsylvania, but trust me, the weather ain't that different here in New York.

In a total surprise, the Djoker passed the test due to the mercy of shade in the 5th set and actually outlasted his fellow countrymen Viktor

I won't comment on his on-court interview as others already have (here and here).

Nails had the match under her control after the 1st set, but couldn't adjust to KBond cleaning up her game. According to Virginia Wade who was commenting the match, Nails just brain farted and couldn't back away brainless ball bashing. Even a hacker like me knows that the ball will fly in hot and humid conditions, and that you have to play patient tennis in those conditions. I hate you Nails; you were supposed to make the semis to take out Caro.

Bags shouldn't have played New Haven despite his promise to return them a favor.

Lady JaJa survived and didn't look all glittery against Breast Reduction Gal.

The Force is with young Gulbis but he is not a Jedi yet.

Benneteau evoked Sampras, splling his guts in the midst of the match but closed it out to beat the Sex.

US Open 2010: Last Round of Qualies

2010-08-27T23:07:00.008-04:00

If you're ever in New York on the Friday before the US Open officially begins, you really must make the final round of qualifying. For one, it's free. Second, it's amazing how great the players are who are competing to qualify for the main draw, and you get to see them compete up close and personal. Professional tennis is a cruel dog-eat-dog world and the difference between the fellow who makes it into the main draw of a slam, and those shut out is, well, pretty small. Lastly, all the top names are out on the practice court and you might get to see them prepare for free.

First, the first qualifying match I saw was Nicholas Mahut beat Uladzimir Ignatik to advance to the final round of qualifying (67 [4] 76 [5] 62). You heard that right: the fellow who lost the longest match in history (held in the 1st round of Wimbledon) had to schlep his ass to play the qualifying tournament. Why the French Tennis Federation chose to award their reciprocal wildcard to Guillaume Rufin (19 year old) who is ranked lower than Mahut baffles me? The best (and still lame) explanation is that they have some rule to award their reciprocal wildcard to their best junior player on the cusp of turning pro. Frankly, this smacks of a brainless failure to recognize Mahut's truly historic achievement.

At any rate, I don't know who Ignatik is, but it was pretty easy to figure out his game after a couple points: he's your plain vanilla baseline grinder who unleashes a few big serves to win free points. There's a truism in tennis: you're only as good as your second serve. Mahut's second serve compared to Ignatik is excellent. Mahut has an excellent kick serve that Ignatik had to return at shoulder height (despite standing several feet behind the baseline). Ignatik, on the other hand, was going for more on his second serve and hitting way too close for comfort to the lines (and double faulting a bit too much). That difference alone gave me the feeling that Mahut would be able to win the match.

In contrast, Mahut tries to be an all court player. While he has a pretty good one handed drive backhand, he will use slices to coax errors out of his opponent or run around it (often) to hit a strong forehand to take control of the point. You will see Mahut rush the net quite a bit. Overall, Mahut is a very entertaining player to watch simply for his shotmaking. On the other hand, I tweeted Mahut seems to be a tortured artiste: he will miss the most incredible shots when it's crystal clear he was in control of the point. Mahut really should have put away Ignatik a lot earlier but he had to gut it out.

Watching the top players practice was a highlight. Federer was playing a practice set with Monfils (he lost) on Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Both guys were serving well, and Gael was ... there to entertain the crowd.

And the usual Federer slice and dice was at work to frustrate Monfils. The Annacone-Luthi brain trust was there to coach the Greatest Shanker of All Time.

Here are video samples of their practice section.

Nando and Kohli were on the Grandstand later to jerk each other side to side.

Then Curls and Big Berd were punishing balls as hard as they can.

One interesting take away I had: some of the rec players (NTRP 4.5+) I've played with can hit the ball as hard as the pros, but the huge differences are: it's a lot harder for the pros to miss; they can place the ball where their opponent least likes it; and they have phenomenal movement (i.e. the ability to get to a difficiult ball and still do something good with it).

US Open 2010 Prognostications

2010-08-26T23:35:00.001-04:00

The final act of the professional tennis season climaxes at US Open, the Loud Slam. Why the Loud Slam? As one observer put it, it rightfully claims all the cliches about New York.

The Open, on the other hand, is brash New York: all that concrete and hardcourts and loud music pumped into Ashe Stadium between games and the hot dogs and beer, and the late nights. The tournament that never sleeps. They’re both wonderful events in different ways, with Wimbledon more like a classical music festival and and the Open more like a state fair.

While Wimbledon's lawns mute the sound of the ball as it bounces, the asphalt in Flushing Meadow amplifies it and concrete stands amplify the crack of the ball as it collides with the strings and the courts. While Wimbledon mutes commercialism, the US Open embraces it to the max. While the Australian Open crowds are known for their laid back and happy feel, the crowds at the US Open are what you expect New Yorkers to be like: intense and rowdy. It embraces all the cliches of American culture: the surface is on fast hard court (Deco Turf II) which favors aggressive play, strokes that hit through the ball, and big serves.

Of course, crowds have a good reason to cheer when they see shots like this:

Tournament Site: here

Draws: men's singles and women's singles

Unfortunately due to wrist injury, Delpo won't be able to defend his title.

Add ReeRee, Allez Bitch, Ali and Tommy Haas to the injury list.

With the form that Mum Train has been showing over the summer, she has a good chance of parading Jada around Arthur Ashe Stadium again.

Men

1st Quarter: When Rafa won at Roland Garros, practically the first words out of his mouth was that he wanted to win the US Open to complete a career slam. A lot has been said about why Rafa has had a tougher time at the US Open, but observing Rafa's game in the last year, he's been making the adjustments necessary to make it more likely that he'll win. His serve has more pop; he's flattening out his forehand more (more windshield wipers over the reverses); he's approaching the net more.

Rafa should like his draw. Assuming he gets past Gabashvilli and Istomin, he could face Kohli in the 3rd round, who gave him a close match in Toronto but then faded away. He could then face either Feli or Mr. Clean who have beaten Rafa this year (Queens and Indian Wells). However, beating Rafa in a 5-setter is a different proposition, even if it is on a fast surface.

Many of the dangerous players are in the opposite side of Rafa's quarter. Nando and Daveed are the highest seeds due to their great results during the clay season, but could definitely have the games to do well on hard courts. Curls and Fat Dave are the sleepers, and could do some serious damage.

In the end, Rafa looks to be well rested, and hungry to win the US Open, even if he could have done better in Cincy and Toronto. I would expect him to shape up his serve and backhand even if a few guys give him a scare on his path to the semis.

Lurker: Fat Dave, Curls

Semifinalist: Rafa

2nd Quarter: Muzz appears to have gotten out of the funk that began after he lost to Fed in Oz. After appearing in the Wimbly semifinal, he fired his coach Miles MacLagan, and has been relying upon his mum in the coaches box. More importantly, he seems to have taken to heart the constant advice that he needs to play more aggressively in order to win a slam. In Toronto he showed great form. Aggressive tennis a la Muzzard means hitting his forehand with more authority to either angle his opponents off court or to put them away on short balls by flattening it out. When he gets his first serve in, he can get free points. His backhand will always be a dangerous weapon. And his excellent movement means he will always be able to get back more balls than his opponent, and he has always been capable of putting himself in better court position.

He could face either Samurai in the 4th round, who wouldn't commit seppuku in the finals at UCLA or Nico, who has done better on clay than asphalt. I would expect Samurai to make a break through to challenge Muzz. In the bottom half of Muzz' quarter, Big Berd will have to hit great passing shots to get past Llodra in the first round. I wouldn't expect him to have to deal with Tree, whose ankle ligament injury looks serious. Head Banger or X-Man could block Big Berd's trip into the quarters.

In the end, Muzz is playing with lots of confidence. I doubt Big Berd's ball bashing will be able to overcome Muzz's defense.

Lurker: Samurai, X Man

Semifinalist: Muzz

3rd Quarter: Big questions hang over the Djoker's game this year: his serve lost consistency in the spring when Todd Martin unwisely tried to change it, and more importantly, his asthma/breathing problems have a tendency to flare up during tight matches. He's an easy target, but probably not in the first round as he plays fellow countrymen (and skit co-conspirator) Troicki. However he faces dangerous challenges in Bags or Fish. Even if he gets to the 4th round, he could be challenged by Play Station who is finding his form after a long injury layoff or ARod who beat him in Cincy. The cooler weather in New York won't drain the Djoker, but guys this year know that he's eminently beatable.

Lurker: Fish, Anderson

Semifinalist: ARod

4th Quarter: Despite winning his 16th major in January, Fed comes in with doubters, because of the relatively subpar performance (for his standards) at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Making the quarters of a major only to have big tall guys like Big Berd and Sod hit him out of the tournament doesn't cut it for Fed. He could face either Sod or Cilic in the quarters. Cilic has disappointed since Oz. However Sod has had a great year, beating Fed at Roland Garros to eventually make the finals, and appeared in the quarters at Wimbly.

Fed has a fairly easy path to the quarters, where he might face Rusty in the 3rd round and Melzer in the 4th. Although Rusty beat Fed in Halle, Fed has been Rusty's albatross through out his career. And Fed didn't have any trouble handling Melzer in their first meeting in Wimbly. If Fed meets Sod, I wouldn't expect Fed to show any mercy.

Lurker: Rusty

Semifinalist: Fed

Semifinals: Muzz d. Rafa, Fed d. ARod

Finals: Fed d. Muzz

Women

1st Quarter: Caro is the surprise top seed. For all the criticism fired at her game (absence of a put away forehand and net game), she's mentally tougher than many peers in her generation, and constructs points better than the typical WTA ball basher. Life can't be easy for her as she could be hit off the court by Masha or Rezai to even make the the 4th round.

Even if she gets past them, then Nails would be her most dangerous opponent, beating Caro twice this year. On the hand, Nails could hit herself out of the tourney. Sveta is looking to get her game back together, but faces match up problems against MaKiri. Caro is capable of handling either of those two.

Lurker: Rezai, MaKiri

Semifinalist: Nails

2nd Quarter: Lady JaJa spent her junior years training at the Bollitieri Academy and should feel comfortable on the asphalt of New York. Her best showing was a finals appearance in 2008, but overall her best surface is clay as she has made the semis of Roland Garros thrice. This summer has not been her greatest on hard courts. Whoopie is looking to defend her semifinal showing here, but has been lacking consistency this year.

Aggie has been consistent, but doesn't really have the weapons to challenge the big hitters who hit a run of consistency in the majors. Bepa is having a great year, making the finals of Wimbly and Montreal. As long as she keeps her head together, a semifinal appearance is hers for the taking.

Lurkers: Kanepri, Nads

Semifinalist: Bepa

3rd Quarter: At 30, Vee comes in as one of the oldest top seeds amongst the ladies. With her power and speed, she is always a dangerous ball basher to get past. Unfortunately her forehand and serve tend to disappear sometimes because she drops her head, and she tries to blast her way out of a slump. Not only that she faces Pironkova who flummoxed her at Wimbly. Flavs seems to have found her game but doesn't really have the power to beat Vee. Neither does Shahar.

In the top half of this quarter, Franny is tired of living off the afterglow of winning Roland Garros, but it remains to be seen if she will break out of the pattern of getting beaten early in a tourney. Vika, on the other hand, looks to be fully recovered from the injuries that plagued her through the clay/grass season. Not only that she is playing better defense and moving better. She's due for a breakout that was hinted at when she almost beat ReeRee in Oz earlier this year.

Lurker: Pironkova, Flavs

Semifinalist: Vika

4th Quarter: Mum Train has had her best results in New York winning it twice. Can she do it third time? All her victories this year have been on hard courts (Brisbane, Miami and Cincy). As long as she doesn't over rush her pacing through a match, she has the right combo of power and defense to deserve to be called one of the favorites. Mono might block her path to the final, but doesn't have a serve that is not attackable.

Sam has never done well in the US Open. Part of the reason is that the surface softens the bounce of her kick serve, taking away one of her key weapons. Not only that, she's not the greatest mover and lacks the time to run around her backhand. LenaD on the other hand has always been a great mover with legs like a tree trunk, and doesn't need to cover up her backhand as a weakness. While some think she's in the sunset of her career, she looks ready to make a deep run making the semis (as we speak) of New Haven. In the end, Kim is a similar player to Lena D but with a better serve.

Lurker: Dina

Semifinalist: Mum Train

Semifinals: Mum Train d. Vika, Bepa d. Nails

Finals: Mum Train d. Bepa

Montreal 2010: Sunshine Shines

2010-08-23T22:27:00.003-04:00

In Montreal, Sunshine broke through today to win her third tourney victory of the year.

Sveta, her semifinal opponent, could neither break Caro's serve nor keep enough balls in court to prevent herself from donating the match to her.

Bepa was ... Bepa.

Cincinnati 2010: Federer Defends His Title

2010-08-22T20:02:00.010-04:00

Federer showed real fight today to beat a slimmer and faster Fish (67[5] 76[1] 64), yelling "C'mon" at key points in the match. He now ties Agassi with 17 Master's Series titles, putting them at second behind Rafa. He is now fifth in total titles won in a career being one behind Sampras.

From the form he showed this week, he is looking to come forward more by chipping and charging on his return games. He is trying to open up the court more with a backhand down the line along with his favored inside-out (or in) forehand. It seems to me he has worked harder on hitting his shots on the run as can be seen from the first point in this highlight.

All of this can only bode well for their chances in New York for the US Open. Federer will be looking to win his 17th major when he had the championship on his racquet last year (and with all due respect to Del Potro who deserved to win for hanging in there). Fish has had a very good summer hard court season, but it remains to be seen whether he has the mental toughness to go deeper in a major than a quarterfinal.

Sadly there is no news to report from the WTA in Montreal, as the semis haven't even been played yet, due to rain.

That said, on Saturday (which was also rained out), we got to see what good friends Sveta and Caro are as they showed off their skills:

Baseline Judges Can Breathe Easy

2010-08-20T18:54:00.003-04:00

ReeRee has announced that she has had to withdraw from the US Open withe the following press release.

Serena Williams withdraws from 2010 US Open

Friday, August 20, 2010

Top-ranked Serena Williams has officially withdrawn from the 2010 US Open as she continues to recover from a cut to her right foot.
Williams cut her foot on a piece of broken glass in July, which required surgery, and has not competed on the WTA Tour since winning her 13th career Grand Slam tournament title at Wimbledon. She is a three-time US Open champion.
"It is with much frustration and deep sadness that I am having to pull out of the US Open," Williams said in a statement released by her publicist. "My doctors have advised against my playing so that my foot can heal."
She called missing the tournament "one of the most devastating moments of my career."
US Open Tournament Director Jim Curley released the following statement regarding Williams' withdrawal:
"We regret that Serena Williams is unable to play the US Open and wish her a speedy recovery. She will be missed, but the tournament is about the competition and the players on the court. This year's US Open will be a memorable event, as it has been every year."

When ReeRee announced her injury just after Wimbledon, you could count me in as one of the skeptics noticing that her withdrawal from the tour would coincide with the summer hard court season and that she would just happen to get back in time for the US Open. It's difficult to give her the benefit of the doubt that her foot injury was really that bad when she tweeted pictures like this:

Well, hopefully, ReeRee will recover in time to help the US win its Fed Cup tie against Italy.

One thing, for sure, baseline judges won't need to be afraid of calling foot faults in New York.

Less material for ARod to parody (see 1:30).

No Henin Backhands Until 2011

2010-08-18T13:24:00.006-04:00

Allez Bitch announced on her website that she won't be returning to the tour until next year.

Hello everybody,

By this time, I'm doing everything required by my medical team to get a good recovery of the injury I had at the Wimbledon tournament.

I took several medical examinations the last days. It is going in the right direction. It's encouraging news!

It is still a slow recovery so I need to be patient again until the end of 2010!

For my preparation for the competition in 2011, I cannot take any risks, so I hope to go back to practice in October. I'll work hard to get ready for this new season!

I really thank you for your support and I'll keep you informed of the further evolution of my injury.

See you soon!

Justine

Of course when you take a spill like this

You too would end up wearing a cast like this. It's a good thing ReeRee took the time to pay a personal visit to her secret BFF.

But only a few of us get to sell the virtues of our homeland for hosting a World Cup in 2018/2022 instead of trying to smack 80 mph forehands. Oh, JuJu, football is so much more interesting than tennis.

We won't get to see this until next year.

How does "diss" make me feel?

Defense Wins Cincy and Toronto

2010-08-15T23:02:00.004-04:00

This happened in Toronto as Muzz surprised Fed with a more aggressive game that he needs to play in order to win a slam. Specifically Muzz showed a forehand that was either a putaway for short balls or a forcing shot (e.g. the angled inside out shot). The score was closer than it should have been (75 75) as Fed recovered in both sets from being a break down only to give the service break back to Muzz. If anything would prevent him from winning the USO, his second serve is still too easy to attack.

Mum Train recovered from a poor start and saved 3 championship points to prevail over Shrieka [2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2]. Shrieka started to feel pain in her left heel toward the end of the second set, and it clearly hampered her ability to push off as it worsened in the 3rd set.

Oz Redux in Canada

2010-08-14T22:14:00.000-04:00

In a replay of their AO semifinal, Muzz succeeded in hitting through Rafa (6-3 6-4). A typical point was that Rafa would hit to Muzz's forehand. Muzz would hit a reverse FH that angled Rafa off the court to his backhand. Rafa would try to hit a sharper angle back with topspin back, but Muzz is so fast he'd run it down and take the control of the point with a flatter forehand. Muzz presents a different problem to Rafa than, say, Fed, because when Muzz takes control of a point he's such a great retriever and such a great defensive player he's not likely to miss. Plus Rafa's heavy topspin FH to Muzz's backhand doesn't bother Muzz.

The Greatest Shanker of All Time eked out a victory to set up a redux of his Oz Open Final. He admitted that he got ahead a bit too quickly against the Djoker (6-1, 3-6, 7-5). The Djoker settled down from trying to outbash Rafa, cleaned up his game and almost used his forehand to angle Fed out of the tournament. Kudos to Fed for clutch play in the 3rd set.

Cincy and Montreal 2010

2010-08-14T19:59:00.013-04:00

The ladies and the men swap locations. The men are in the sauna that's called Cincinnati, and the ladies go north of the border to Montreal.

Cincinnati

Up north in Canada, all of the top 4 made it to the semifinals. Last year the same suspects made it to the semis in humid Cincy instead of Montreal. So look for someone beside the top 4 to upset of them. Rafa is looking to fine tune his form on hard court to complete his coveted career slam. From his match against Muzz, Rafa needs to serve better and cut down on his backhand errors. This year he's been doing an outstanding job of hitting the flatter windshield wiper forehand to supplement his better known reverse forehand. With Rafa's determination, he can never be counted out. Fed's coaching experiment with Annacone is off to a great start as he beat Berdych the type of player who has given him trouble this past year (big tall ballbasher) and the Djoker to reascend to #2. Annacone looks like he is making Federer drive more returns, and risk using his topspin backhand to open up the court (sharp CC or down the line). If Fed can do that consistently, watch out for the return of Darth Federer! Muzz is going without a fulltime coach, and relying upon the advice of his hitting partner (Danny Valerdu) and his mum. It looks like Muzz has figured out what it means for him to be more aggressive: hit a spin forehand to angle his opponents off the court early in the point. Then use his speed & movement off either wing to hit another shot on the rise to put his opponents in an even worse position to set up a flat forehand into the open court. Out of the top 4 guys, the Djoker looks the most vulnerable to an upset, as his opponents know that if you force him to stay out there long enough, his fitness problems will tip him toward mental collapse.

Tourney Site: here

Draw: here

Seeds: Rafa, Djoker, Fed, Muzz, Sod, Playstation, Big Berd, Nando

Montreal

Lady JaJa is officially the #1 seed, but for any WTA pro not surnamed Williams, that's no sure thing. The buzz is around Shrieka and Mum Train who met in the finals in Cincy. One reason for the hard court prowess is that they can hit through the court, preventing counterpunchers like Lady JaJa, Caro, Aggie and Franny from extending points past their shot tolerance. While Bepa does play a counterpuncher's style, her results at Wimbledon show that she can murder the ball when she wants. Nails always tries to murder the ball but can't find the court (a bit too often).

Tourney Site: here

Draw: here

Seeds: Lady JaJa, Caro, Lena D, Mum Train, Franny, Aggie, Bepa, Nails

Toronto and Cincy 2010: Let the Games Begin

2010-08-07T01:52:00.015-04:00

Even though the US Open series has already started (Washington DC, San Diego, Atlanta, Stanford, LA), most of the top 10 don't start to play until the more important Masters/Premier tourneys begin (and extend their summer vacations). Now shit gets real. The men have a Masters 1000 in Canada; the ladies play in Cincy. Looking back a year, what a difference a year makes?

Toronto

Delpo won't be around to defend his points from making the finals last year due to a wrist injury. Muzz hasn't won a tournament this year (after winning 6 last year), and failed to convert championship points against Samurai in LA. While Muzz has parted ways with his coach in hopes of improving so that he can start winning slams, it's not exactly clear what he wants to change. Does he want to improve at chasing balls? What about a forehand with more punch? It's not exactly clear whether he can defend his title here?

Recall that Fed had Tsonga on the ropes last year but failed to close it out in an epic collapse. While Anacone will be in Fed's coach box this week, it remains to be seen whether Fed can pull out of his slump. If pattern holds, Fed won't be in match shape until next week in Cinncinati. Or we might be surprised to see Anacone make Fed try different patterns to take control of points.

Rafa has had a stellar clay/grass season, and is hungry to win the US Open to complete a career slam. And this year he's managing his schedule to rest his knees to peak at the US Open. If I recall correctly, he's planning to skip one of the Master's 1000s (i.e. Cincinnati) to give himself more rest for his knees. Even with a less strenuous schedule, Rafa's heavy topspin strokes and preference for sliding won't be quite the advantage he's accustomed to on fast hard courts like Deco Turf (see here for the difference a hard court can make). Then again, he did make the semis of Indian Wells and Miami. So it would be no surprise of Rafa continued his domination of the tour.

Tourney Site: here

Draw: here

Seeds: Rafa, Fed, Nole, Muzz, Playstation, Sod, ARod, Nando

Injuries: Delpo (wrist), Ali (knee), Dr. Ivo (ankle), Gonzo (calf), Rusty (calf)

Oh, by the way, this odd couple is playing doubles.

Cincinnati

With the WTA, you never know who will come out on top on a given week. Dinara is coming back from back injury and is lucky to win consecutive matches these days. I'll go out on a limb and bet that she won't be in the final. Lady JaJa rolled her ankle back in Portoroz, Slovenia and claimed (again) that it hobbled her last week against Kleybs. Caro was at one point in the year the world #2 but frankly hasn't shown that she can be a consistent Slam contender because of her weaker forehand (and yes I count her movement as a weapon). While Sam has a heavy serve and forehand, her movement is bit suspect on faster hard courts where she can't hit a lot of runaround forehands. Franny has a high seed due to her magical (and career-climaxing) win at Roland Garros, but this may not be relevant to predicting her playing well this week in Cincy. Finally, Bepa is coming off an excellent run to the finals in SW19, where she had the misfortune of playing Serena en fuego. It will be fun to see which Bepa will show up: the racket smasher or the steady smart counterpuncher. Likewise with Nails we get a Heckyll-Jyde schtick. She can either be the cleanest ball striker you've ever see, painting the lines, or nail the ball into the alleys.

Tourney Site: here

Draw: here

Seeds: Lady JaJa, Caro, LenaD, Mum Train, Franny, Bepa, Nails

Injuries: Vee (knee), ReeRee (foot), Allez Bitch (elbow), Sam (arm)

Stanford & UCLA 2010

2010-07-23T15:43:00.011-04:00

After a long hot summer vacation, the US Open series begins to ramp up. Unless you consider any of the following news.

ReeRee goes on the injured list with an injured foot and will miss most of the summer and (conveniently) get back in time to play the US Open

JuJu probably won't be back from her elbow injury until Beijing after the US Open

Rafa is a total Spanish football fanboy, and cheered for the Barca the La Liga all-stars in their victory in the World Cup over the Dutch

GOAT Brain vacationed in Corsica with the Mighty Babes

ARod shaved his hair

The Worm got married to Nicole Vaidisova

Tennis Canada declined to give a wild card to NaturAna for Montreal, and it all might be for the best.

Some idiotic tennis journalists think ReeRee is the female GOAT despite the fact that she has not yet won more majors than Evert, Navratilova, Graf and Court

Davis Cup quarterfinals happened: Serbia beat Croatia and will host the Czechs for the semis. Argentina beat Russia, and will travel to France who beat a clearly distracted Spanish team.

Almost none of these items have anything to do with a professional going out and smacking some balls to win a match. Hence the long silence of this blog.

The ladies are in Stanford for the Bank of the West Classic. The guys are at UCLA for the Farmer's Classic. Yes, Pac-10 universities have a fetish with medieval-looking buildings (I'm an alumni of one). Yes, it's a vain attempt to imitate the Ivy Leagues who are also fashioning a simulacra of European universities like Oxbridge. No, the boys and girls won't be playing in a vintage stadia.

Stanford

Given Shrieka's form this past spring, can she elevate it during the USA hard court season? Is she due for a run? Can Sam be a superhero on hard courts as well as clay? Can Hamster defend her title? It's the WTA. It's anyone's guess who will win this tourney.

Tourney Site: here

Draw: here

Seeds: Sam, Aggie, Hamster, Shahar, Whoopie, Shrieka, Bepa and JZ

Last year, this dramatic trauma happened to the delight of some.

It scarred the blonde Bolletieri alumna so much that she decided to sign up for dubs with Whoopie this year to work on her volleys. Unfortunately since neither of them have a top 10 ranking, they weren't allowed a doubles wild card but they'll try again.

UCLA

Nole has dropped out for personal reasons and is replaced by Muzz who must be looking for any reason to get out of Florida's summer humidity. Will Muzz show an ability to take control of points? Or has Gulbis recovered from his injury enough to hit through him? Will Samurai's supporters lift him to victory for a repeat of his win in his home town? Can Blah resuscitate his career?

Tourney Site: here

Draw: here

Seeds: Muzz, Samurai, Blah, Bags, Gulbis, Feli

US Open 2010: It Must Be Love (Part 2)

2010-07-14T17:31:00.008-04:00

The US Open has recycled the "It Must Be Love" advertising campaign from last year.

Rafa teaches us his favorite recipe of pasta y gambas (i.e. shrimp pasta for you philistines). Grade: B+

Fed teaches us how to hit a tweener (men: beware when you really try to put mustard on the ball). Grade: B

Vee apologizes to her mom for trying to hit her serves so hard. Grade: B

Mel Bell still does her chores after her new-found personality. Grade: C

Muzz bores by how he outlasted his team in training. Grade: C

Caro the Danish Cutie Pie surprises some by her training regimen: boxing. Grade: B

Bryan Bros tells us how to distinguish them. Grade: A-

Splits reminisces about her comeback. Grade: C

ARod hints that some tennis players tweet a bit too much. I guess that's you, ReeRee. Your 1.6 million followers need to know how obssessed you are with Green Day. Love how ARod begs for more followers. Grade: A

Wimbledon 2010: The King and Queen of the Ball

2010-07-04T20:00:00.000-04:00

As any tennis fan knows, Rafa got to bite the trophy and solidify his #1 ranking, possibly towards the end of the year. He was just too good for Berdych who couldn't convert on any of his break chances and went down with triple break points in the 1st and 2nd sets. And that was the match (63 75 64). Unfortunately a real sleeper after the epics in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

As usual, he fell to the ground after winning championship point.

Then he added a new twist to his victory celebration.

And he greeted ReeRee with a kiss at the Championships' Ball.

ReeRee looks pretty happy to be holding that dish and standing next to the Spaniard. She's made no secret of her admiration for the Rafinator.

Likewise ReeRee was just too good for Bepa triumphing over her in straight sets (63 62).

Wimbledon 2010: Teammate Love

2010-07-03T16:10:00.010-04:00

Lots of love got exchanged between teammates today.

Petz and Melzer won the gentlemen's doubles championship at SW19 over Lindsteadt and Tecau (61 75 75).

Vania King, gamer gal, and her partner Yaroslava Shvedova came back from a break down in the first set against Bepa and Vezzy to take the ladies doubles (76[6] 62).

Rafa must surely have yelped and danced for joy. In the World Cup, Spain's David Villa scored the sole goal late in regulation (83:00) despite the Paraguayans clogging the middle for most of the game to neutralize the Spanish passing attack. Props to Casillas for saving a penalty kick. They'll play the Germans in the semifinals, who stomped all over La Pulga and Company (Argentina).

Wimbledon 2010: Gentlemen's Final Preview

2010-07-03T12:40:00.006-04:00

The Flower of ~~England~~ Scotland was bludgeoned by the Mallorcan Matador on Friday. Muzz did bring his A game, but Rafa bought his A+ game. The key was probably in the second set tiebreaker. Rafa double faulted to hand Muzz a set point at 6-5. But it was not meant to be as Rafa came up big on the big points.

Q. When he hit that the double‑fault in the tiebreaker, I mean, it as a bit of a shocker. Did it throw you off?

ANDY MURRAY: No, not at all. I mean, not if you look at the next point he played. No, it didn't at all. He played a really good point. He hit a big forehand. Hit a good pass. He hit a great angle volley on the next point. Hit a let cord passing shot on the next one.

You know, there's nothing you can do about it.

Of course, the usual floggings of Muzz have already begun (only here thus far). Then again, it's not Muzz's fault.

Rafa will face Big Berd who is having a great year: reaching the finals in Miami and the semis in Roland Garros. He's beaten the Djoker and Fed to get to the final. Big Berd has long been heralded for his potential showing a big hitting game when he beat Federer in the 2004 Olympics, but has always been known as a bit of head case. This year he seems to have gotten his act together mentally, not letting bad breaks in a match bother him. On top of this, he is playing more consistently. He's definitely an opponent that Rafa will not understimate.

But then again, Rafa is at the peak of his powers. Besides his ground game, Rafa is hitting bigger on his serve, showing variety with his slice backhand, looking to come forward, and taking the ball early. In the mental toughness department, Rafa is probably the GOAT in my opinion. And, he's won this event before.

Prediction: Rafa in 4 sets.

Wimbledon 2010: Ladies' Final Preview

2010-07-01T14:30:00.000-04:00

ReeRee got off to a slow start and then steamrolled over Petra (76[5] 62).

No, this picture is not of Bepa melting down. Even though she was flummoxed by Tsveta's serve, backhand and slice forehands, she kept her head and started to figure out her opponents variety to get to finals (36 63 62).

Bepa and ReeRee will square off on Saturday morning for the Venus Rosewater dish. ReeRee leads their head to head record 5-2, with Bepa's last victory taking place in the semis on the hard courts of Cincinnati in 2006. But as we all know, ReeRee is a different animal at a Grand Slam. ReeRee will have to be seriously off in order for Bepa to have any chance of beating her, and Bepa will have to avoid any meltdowns. I just hope Bepa keeps it competitive.

Speaking of her meltdowns, I love how the commentators have pointed out that something about Wimbledon's staid/traditional atmosphere keeps players (like Bepa) on their best behavior.

In Charleston 2010 against Stosur, she destroys her racquet in a tribute to the greatest racquet smasher of all time: compatriot Marat Safin.

The list could go on and on (e.g. US Open 2009 against Pennetta). Funny, how in her presser, the journos politely tried to address this:

Q. Have you worked with a professional on the mental side of your game? Is that just poise and maturity, or have you worked with a sports psychologist or performance coach?

VERA ZVONAREVA: I always believe in myself. I always know that, you know, I can do anything. For me, I think it came with an experience and I know better how to handle different situations.

But, uhm, I don't care what people say around. And when they do, I can get ‑‑ I can break the racquet, but it doesn't mean I'm not there in the match. I'm trying all the time.

But I think right now experience helps me a lot. I've been in a lot of different situations in the past of my career, and I think I know how to turn the matches around much better now.

Even if something is not working, I think I know in my head that I just have to take it one point at a time and just keep trying. In the end, we will see what's going to happen.

Wimbledon 2010: The King is Down! Long Live the King

2010-06-30T12:02:00.009-04:00

Big Berd hit Fed off the court (6-4 3-6 6-1 6-4) showing that his victory in Miami was not a fluke. It's a typical pattern: a big tall flat hitter gets a nice look at Fed's kick 2nd serve and hits a forcing shot into the corner to immediately take control of the point. Over the course of the match, Fed has to start going for safer 1st serves to protect his second serve and hit more aggressive 2nd serves. Then the big hitter starts getting chances to break Fed. Props to Big Berd for executing and closing it out. He faces the Djoker for a place in the finals. With this loss, Federer will drop to #3 in the world.

As a Fed fan, I'm trying to be rational about it. Yes, he's heading toward the end of his career and it's obvious that God-mode Federer ain't coming back. The stretches of effortless wins that we're accustomed to seeing from Fed won't happen. But if anything is clear from watching him struggle at SW19, he's not going to go quietly. We're going to see more and more of Fed the fighter, which is apparently a shock to folks like Bozo.

@ptbodo Roger Federer can be surly. Who knew?

Of course, Fed haters jumped on him for his press conference, but read in toto, it make sense. If you won Wimbly five times and just got beaten by a player you've owned most of your career, would you be happy? In a way, I'm kind of glad Fed was surly.

Q. Difficult moment, but what couldn't you do that you wanted to do? What let you down?

ROGER FEDERER: Uhm, well, I mean, I don't think I played poorly. But, uhm, I think he went after it. I mean, I know Berdych. I think I've played him 10 times already before. That's the way he plays, you know.

I think he's been able to play more consistent last year or so, and I was just not able to defend well enough and I didn't come up with the good stuff when I had to. So it was disappointing, you know. Yeah.

Q. You beat him almost every time you played him. Was he any different?

ROGER FEDERER: Like I said, I think he was a bit more consistent than in the past. I lost to him in Miami this year, where it was a really tight match as well.

But from my end, obviously, you know, I'm unhappy with the way I'm playing. I couldn't play the way I wanted to play. You know, I am struggling with a little bit of a back and a leg issue. That just doesn't quite allow me to play the way I would like to play.

So it's frustrating, to say the least. Looking forward to some rest anyway.

Q. How do those physical things affect you the most?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, when you're hurting, it's just a combination of many things. You know, you just don't feel as comfortable. You can't concentrate on each and every point because you do feel the pain sometimes. And, uhm, yeah, then you tend to play differently than the way you want to play.

Under the circumstances I think I played a decent match, you know. But I've been feeling bad for the last two, three matches now. It's just not good and healthy to play under these kind of conditions, you know.

So if there's anything good about this it's I'm gonna get some rest, that's for sure.

Q. Some of these big, flat hitters seem to be having an effect on you. Do you need to alter your game to adjust to that?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, if I'm healthy I can handle those guys, you know. Obviously it's a pity that Del Potro is not around, because I think he would have a run at world No. 1 or a run at another Grand Slam. It's unfortunate for him.

But, you know, he's been playing well, and these guys do play very well. I played these guys 10 times. They're not going to reinvent themselves in a year, you know.

But I'm definitely struggling at the moment. That's a bit disappointing.

Q. When did you first start feeling the problems?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, the leg came in the finals of Halle. That kind of never really quite got away from me. Came back a little bit after the first‑round match, and then went away again and just kept creeping back sometimes during the matches.

The back's been feeling stiff the last five days, six days really badly. Also in the finals of Halle. It's just something that's been lingering on the grass. It's normal that the back tends to get stiff, you know, in the grass court season because you have to, uhm, go for many more lower shots.

I've had that for many years. I think many players have it. But it's not just not nice when it doesn't go away and you can't play freely. That's what I was missing today.

Q. Did it affect your level of motivation or anxiety about the match before the match or in the early stages of the match?

ROGER FEDERER: No, it wasn't that bad, like that I was just hoping to get to the finish line. I mean, once I enter the court, I am there to battle and to try to win with what I got. You know, otherwise I'm not going to walk on the court like I did once in my life prior in Bercy against Blake.

But it's nowhere close to being that bad. It's just uncomfortable. Yeah, like I said, you can't play freely. When you can't play freely, that's the kind of performance you get.

Q. Obviously he's going to come at you. Did you feel like you were as aggressive as you wanted to be in the match? You had some chances in the fourth set, Love‑40 on his serve.

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, his mistakes and my mistakes. You know, he played well when he had to. It was brutal for me. Every time he had a chance, he took it. On the breakpoints, he played great on those.

Then when I had chances early on, I was actually not too bad. I just felt like I got the unlucky bounce once in a while, you know. 30‑All he got it on the line over and over again. I just felt like I couldn't create enough chances to really get the breakthrough.

When I did have chances, I played poorly. It was just a frustrating match the way it all went.

Q. Timing issues for you out there on the ball?

ROGER FEDERER: No.

Q. A number of shots were sailing out and the crowd would groan and then they would suddenly curl in. What role do you think technology had on today's result, strings in particular?

ROGER FEDERER: I don't know what you mean. What do you mean, balls were flying out and they came back in?

Q. No. It looked like he was hitting balls that were going to land 10 feet behind the baseline and then they would curl in.

ROGER FEDERER: No, no, he didn't play like that. You saw a different match.

Q. Will this make you hungrier to make you come back and show you can lift this title again?

ROGER FEDERER: Sure. God, I can't wait for Paris and Wimbledon to come around next year again, that's for sure. So, uhm, because they've been frustrating tournaments for me, even though it wasn't too bad.

Quarters is a decent result. Obviously people think quarters is shocking, but people would die to play in quarterfinal stages of Grand Slam play. It's not something I'm used to doing, losing in quarterfinals, because it's not something I've done in the last six years.

So I am winning my matches. Today was a different story than Paris. I mean, I think in Paris conditions were tough. Robin played fantastic. Today was different. You know, I was struggling with my own game and with my physique.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to a rest, and then attack again in North America.

Q. What concern do you have that the injuries will linger?

ROGER FEDERER: Not much of a concern.

Q. Do you feel you can get back to a position of domination in tennis?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I do think that. That's why I'm here.

Q. Obviously a very disappointing day for you personally. Who, in your opinion, do you think will go on to win this competition now?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, let's wait and see who gets through today. But as we don't know, I can't answer. What a pity (smiling.)

Q. Which leg is the one bothering you?

ROGER FEDERER: The right one.

Q. Do you think the return was the most difficult part of your game today? Because sometimes you were returning a little slower and he was hitting a lot of winners.

ROGER FEDERER: That's his game. He took a lot of chances, you know. I tried to slice it; I tried to play aggressive. You know, first you just want to try to make the returns.

But, you know, I mean, I had my chances. I don't think I needed to change much. The way I returned, this match I could have won as well, you know.

But, uhm, I was just not playing well enough. And when he had to, he was able to come up with some good stuff, you know. But I definitely gave away this match, I feel.

Q. Will you shut yourself off from tennis totally now?

ROGER FEDERER: Yes. Two weeks' vacation.

Q. The prospect of a men's final without Roger Federer seems a strange one. Will you tune in on Sunday to see how it goes on?

ROGER FEDERER: I don't think so, no. I'll be on vacation, like I said (smiling.)

Q. Andy Murray is playing a critical match at the moment. Nadal has been having some trouble. What do you think of Andy Murray as a player and do you think this might be his year, given some of the great players are not doing so well?

ROGER FEDERER: The end was what?

Q. I wonder if you think this might be his year, given some of the really threatening players haven't been doing so well this year.

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, true, Rafa played terribly lately; Soderling is not a threat either. He's got an easy ride to this victory, that's for sure. Djokovic can't play tennis anymore it seems like.

Got to make your own work, please. Respect the players. Obviously Andy is a fantastic player and he's got all the chances to win here. We all know that.

So, beware! Fed might give himself to the dark side and channel his anger. Darth Federer will be on the loose.

Meanwhile, this blog has discovered that the mysterious power outages that have been appearing all over Western Europe are due to the British hype machine as Toothface advanced to the semis to face Rafa.

Wimbledon 2010: Manic Monday

2010-06-28T16:04:00.039-04:00

One of the consequences of Wimbledon taking the middle Sunday off is that all the 4th round matches took place on Monday, which makes for lots of great tennis.

The Greatest Forehand Shanker was kidnapped by aliens and replaced by TMF who returned beautifully and put on practice match against Melzer (63 62 63)

Belgian text-buddies promised to meet each other for the biggest exho since BJK beat Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes. Mum Train's chance of winning a Wimbly before she has another kid were kept alive and JuJu has another year to work on her serve (26 62 63).

Ears were split at Centre Court by Shrieka and ReeRee. Unfortunately for fans of rose petal dresses, Shrieka double faulted in the tie breaker to set up set point to gift the match to ReeRee (76 [9] 64).

Vee her sister also hung in there to win a tight straight setter over Groth (64 76[5]).

The Djoker overcame an "illness" to do his Incredible Hulk impression to overcome Rusty (75 64 36 64)

ARod played not to lose and lost to Asia's best tennis player, Rendy Lu (46 76[3] 76[4] 67[5] 97). Oh, BTW, his interview is a gem where he takes stupid media questions apart.

Nails kept enough balls in play to hit Aggie off the court (63 62).

So did Petra Kvitova to Aggie's best friend, Caro, who really needs to learn to win matches without on court coaching (62 60).

Lady JaJa had to retire with a lower back injury against Bepa (61 30).

In other news,

Rafa steamrolled Mathieu (64 62 62)

Sod hung in there against Ferru (62 57 62 36 75)

Ali danced after triumphing over Benneteau his compatriot (61 46 63 61)

Samurai couldn't hit through Muzz (75 63 64)

Big Berd triumphed over Brand (46 76[1] 75 63)
The Hamster lost to Pironkova (64 64)

Kanepri cruised over Zakopalova (62 64)

Wimbledon 2010: the Queen in the Royal Box

2010-06-24T11:06:00.000-04:00

As you all know, Queen Elizabeth II visited Wimbledon for the first time since 1977 when Briton Virginia Wade won the ladies championship.

At Member's Lawn, ReeRee got to show off her curtsy in a greeting line of tennis players for the Queen.

The line included Vee her big sister, Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Lady JaJa, Caro, ARod, Nole, Sir Shanksalot as well as Brit lady ballers Elena Baltacha, Anne Keothavong, Heather Watson and Laura Robson.

Sir Shanksalot and Vee then had lunch with Her Royal Highness. What was for lunch?

Salmon millefeuille with Wye Valley asparagus

Chilled orange and honey marinated chicken on fruity couscous with roasted vegetables

Kentish strawberries and blackberries with Cornish clotted cream and mint Syrup

English cheese plate and orange chutney, coffee and chocolates

Wine List: Meursault, Joseph Drouhin, 2006 and Barolo, Giovanni Corino, 2004

The Queen gave the royal wave from the Royal Box.

These two gentlemen (Muzz and Nieminen) bowed back, following the tradition.

After Muzz clinically dispatched Finland's finest (6-3, 6-4, 6-2), they exited with a royal box and paid their respects to HRM who had indicated that one match was enough for her to see at her age of 84.

Wimbledon 2010: The Longest Match Ever

2010-06-23T14:38:00.051-04:00

In the 1st round, Tree and Mahut have been playedthe longest professional match ever in tennis history (6-4 3-6 7-6 [7] 6-7 [3] 70-68), stretching out over 3 days, clocking in at 11 hours and 5 minutes for a total of 183 games. Sadly, it had to end. Tree finally broke Mahut's serve, hitting two consecutive passing shots winners from 30-all to secure the match.

This match shattered a number of records. The first 4 sets took a mere 174 minutes (2 hours 54 minutes). They began playing the unimaginable fifth set on the second day, as Wimbledon does not allow tiebreakers to determine the winner. The match time exceeded Hawaii Ironman men's course record (8 hours, 4 min). The fifth set alone (8 hours and 11 minutes) lasted longer than the Borg vs. McEnroe Wimbledon final of 1980.

The longest professional match ever played (11 hours and five minutes; the eight-hour fifth set alone ran longer than the previous mark of 6 hours, 33 minutes set by Clement and Santoro at the 2004 French Open).

The longest set ever played (70-68, with the previous mark being a puny 25-23 when John Newcombe beat Marty Reissen 4-6 6-3 6-4 25-23 in the 1969 US Open).

The most games ever played (183). This is well ahead of the previous record of 122 games in doubles (1973 Davis Cup tie between the US and Chile: Stan Smith and Erik Van Dillen beat Patricio Cornejo and Jaime Fillol, 7–9, 37–39, 8–6, 6–1, 6–3) and 112 games in singles (Pancho Gonzalez v. Charlie Pasarell at 1969 Wimbledon

The most points ever played (881), winners ever hit (490) and longest scorecard ever printed (eight pages). (No one has checked these, exactly, but it's a pretty sure thing.)

The most aces ever hit (Isner's 113 and Mahut's 103 both beat the previous record of 78 set by Dr. Ivo in a Davis Cup tie in 2009 against the Worm).

The only match that this hasn't exceeded is an amateur one in the Guinness Book of World Records: in Nov 2008, Bolter v Rostan in USA lasted 31hrs, 35mins, 30secs!

The match stats were:

Mahut (FRA) Isner (USA)

Unforced Errors 60 62

Winners 244 246

1st Serve % 67 % 74 %

Aces 103 112

Double Faults 21 10

1st Serve % Pts Won 284 of 328 = 87 % 292 of 361 = 81 %

2nd Serve % Pts Won 101 of 161 = 63 % 82 of 130 = 63 %

Break Points Won 1 of 3 = 33 % 2 of 14 = 14 %

Net Approaches 111 of 155 = 72 % 97 of 144 = 67 %

Total Receiving Points Won 117 of 501 = 23 % 104 of 510 = 20 %

Total Service Points Won 406 of 510 = 80 % 384 of 501 = 77 %

Total Points Won 502 478

Fastest Serve Speed 128 MPH 143 MPH

Avg 1st Serve Speed 118 MPH 123 MPH

Avg 2nd Serve Speed 101 MPH 112 MPH

Oh, BTW, props go out to Mohammed Lahyani the umpire for staying out there the whole time.

Now for some epic tweets:

@JamesLaRosa Isner/Mahut could kick Chuck Norris's ass

@TomPerrotta Federer on Isner-Mahut: "I don't know if I was crying or laughing, it's too much."

@andy_murray: This is why tennis is one of the toughest sports in the world, this will never ever be matched again

@Emma_Golding John McEnroe, regarding the match: "I'm very proud to be a tennis player right now." Damn straight.

@SvetlanaK27 can u imagine thay play this match untill the end of wimbledone???lolo never will finish

A TV interview was done at the end of the 2nd day and both players were complimentary of each other:

Isner: "Nothing like this will ever happen again, ever."

Mahut: "He's just a champ."

When it was all done:

Mahut: "We played the greatest match ever in the greatest place to play tennis"

Isner: "The guy's an absolute warrior. To be able to share this day with him was an absolute honor."

Wimbledon 2010: Fashion Grades (Gentlemen)

2010-06-22T14:40:00.008-04:00

The gentlemen, as usual, have less room for improvisation.

After last year's blingey kit, His Royal Goatness promised that this year's kit would follow the theme: "Less is More". For his warm up kit, he showed up in a mock turtleneck.

And then he narrowly avoided the curse of the tuxedo in his 1st round comeback against Falla.

Kudos to Nike for coming up with a kit that won't make a club player feel like a total wannabee (just a partial one).

Grade: A

The Mallorcan Matador usually tones down his florid kits for SW19. The only hint of color is the hot pink for the swoosh and the neck line. Surely the all-white rules of the AEC are more permissive, no?

Grade: B+

ARod has returned to the tri-colored polo in which he won Miami

While Lacoste is a fairly small fish compared to Nike and Adidas, it's a shame that with its heritage, it can't do more.

Grade: B+

Big Berd's swan-like polo is way too basic. His checkered Back Spin polo (white w/flat pewter) from Roland Garros would have worked better.

Grade: B-

The Djoker cannot be serious with his Sergio Tacchini kit with green piping. I don't think it fits his personality. ST has a white polo with a bold red stripe across that would have bought back the ghost of JMac.

Grade: B+

Despite his new Dunlop contract, Play Station still looks like he rolled out of bed, and has painted his old Prince sticks.

Grade: C

Le Monf's skin is the only color or texture in this sleveless KSwiss kit.

Grade: B-

For his compatriot Ali, why doesn't Adidas prohibit color photos of their player?

Grade: B-

Adidas chooses to obfuscate the pink line under the arms of Britain's hopes for a Slam winner. I'm not sure whether Muzz's pressers bore me more than his kit.

Grade: B-

Wimbledon 2010: Fashion Grades (Ladies)

2010-06-22T14:30:00.016-04:00

Wimbledon's "almost entirely white" dress code has given fairly narrow parameters for what can be worn on court. But as any artiste will tell you, narrow parameters ought to be an outlet for creativity. Ask any haiku poet what can be done with so little space. The sponsors for the pros this year have the opportunity to deck out folks in some interesting kits (with the approval of the All England Club). So here come fashion grades which are below their respective pictures.

Ever since ~~Nike took over the designs for ReeRee's dress~~ ReeRee decided to trust Nike's designers, ReeRee's kits have been excellent. The warmup top definitely departs from the traditional track suit or hoodie. Nor is it like anything the gentlemen's top seed has ever worn: blazer, jacket, or sweater. I'm not sure what to call it but classy it is (courtesy of Doots: it's a bolero).

It's great that her compression shorts offer a wonderful splash of color, which can't be said of the rest of the tour. It matches her laces and the piping on her dress.

Grade: A+

Shrieka, Nike's glamazon, follows the same theme as ReeRee with a cropped blazer.

The folds in her dress offer an elegant touch. Most of her dresses this year have had fairly vibrant colors. For Wimbly, it's all traditional with just white and black.

Grade: A

Nails looks cute as usual, wearing a functional tank and skirt with ruffles.

Grade: B+

Nothing too special about Vika's dress except the ruffling on the shoulder straps.

Grade: B+

Nor is there much special about Mum Train's dress.

Grade: B

When even Bethanie Mattek-Sands tones down her Under Armour dress, you know the ladies mean business.

Only thing unorthodox about Betty is her tats. The tube socks are to be expected from her. The lime green accents on the dress would seem to work well on anyone except her.

Grade: B

For the former Brit #1, Wilson has really stepped up their designs putting a white dress with yellow straps. This complements Anne Keothavong's tan. (Then again, I have a weakness for fist pumping Asian tennis gals with a sense of humor).

Grade: A-

Stella McCartney is the best Adidas can do with Caro. It's the same pattern that's won since Oz with a lace-like patterning but in white. The color actually works with Caro's skin and hair.

Grade: A-

When will Adidas realize that they have a swimsuit model in MaKiri? The red piping is nice on the Barricade tank top but it's time to move her to the more graceful Adilibria line.

Grade: B

Adidas has toned down the patterns in NaturAna's Adilibria dress. Yes, the leggings are part of the line, but they're not required with the dress. You have to squint to find anything beyond a plain white dress with pink contrast piping. Marginally more interesting than the Adidas kits shown so far.

Ok, Adidas needs to hire better designers not reshuffle their athletes around.

Grade: B+

Super Hero's Lacoste white dress can actually be bought (which couldn't be said of her Oz and RG dresses) by you the consumer. As expected, it looks suitably preppy.

Grade: A-

I doubt Nads can pull off the ballet dancer theme.

Grade: C

Although her movement is too gangly to qualify as balletic, Vee certainly has the body to look like a very tall ballet dancer. I like the print on the top of the dress but the fringes inspired by Tina Turner don't fit with the print.

Grade: B+

Now Lady JaJa does resemble a ballet dancer with her diva-ness and her movement. And the dress is the most successful effort.

Grade: A

Wimbledon 2010: Federer Survives 1st Round Upset

2010-06-21T11:41:00.014-04:00

Federer narrowly avoided an upset by Falla today to come back (5-7, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 [1], 6-0). For the first four sets, Falla was really eating Fed's second serve alive and neutralizing him on the baseline. Falla was clearly playing the best match of his life, taking the ball early and moving forward. The momentum started changed when Fed saved a triple break point in the third set at 4-all. The first break point was saved when Falla sent a forehand long. The next two break point saves were set up by Fed's chip shot: Fed passed Falla with a backhand CC and then Falla put a makeable FH volley into the net. Strategically when Fed started to use the drop shot more, he began to establish control of the match. In the later stages of the match, Fed's movement was crisper than Falla's, and Falla started to make more unforced errors.

Despite Fed's excellent shotmaking, he knew he had to gut it out.

I definitely got very lucky out there today. I've lost many matches this year I should have won. This is one I should have lost.

Obviously if Falla had executed on a few points, the story could have been like this.

No matter what, I think Federer has to recognize that more and more guys are trying to attack his second serve. Sure, improving the serve is always a good thing (and I speak from experience because my best stroke is my serve). But one way to the counteract this pressure is to pressure your opponent's serve back. This is what Andre Agassi was so great at: hitting the serve on the rise, and hitting forceful service returns. Fed's strategy of block returns and chip returns is predicated on trying to reset the point to neutral, not grabbing the point. To this fan's eyes, it has become less and less effective as guys know that's what Fed does and have become better at stepping into those kinds of returns to take control of the point. Fed surely recognizes that he needs to improve on something if he hopes to enjoy the evening of his career, and this is the most glaring weakness in his game.

For post match interviews: see Federer and Falla.

Hacking the Ball: the Reverse Forehand

2010-06-19T15:49:00.022-04:00

Last night, while I was hitting with my friend Bruce, I announced to him, "Time to goof off a little". So as we continued to rally, everytime I had a chance to hit reverse forehands to his one handed backhand, I did (complete with a Rafa-like grunt). After a couple of those shots I noticed the fellas on the next court actually watching us. Now it isn't as if I've never done this before. It instinctively became my running forehand, and when the pundits pointed out that this was Rafa's go-to shot, I've started to practice this shot a bit more by using it when I have to pick up the ball off my laces when I warm up doing mini tennis. Most importantly, I sometimes pretend to be Rafa when I do some sessions with my ball machine (and I always end up laughing uncontrollably at the end) and

But I proceed too quickly. What is this new fangled thang, the reverse forehand? Well at its most essential, it's just like a regular forehand, but instead of hitting through the ball, one emphasizes brushing up and across the ball, and follows through on one's dominant side. As I've already said, this Spanish lefty has really bought the stroke to mainstream attention.

The Greatest Forehand Shanker below uses it as his backup to his preferred windshield wiper forehand (usually as his defensive shot).

Why do both of these fellows use it? Because a certain American old fogey loved to hit this shot on the run.

But really it isn't such a new thing, as gifted players have always figured out the obvious: if you brush up and across the ball, you will get more trajectory, more net clearance and more topspin. According to John Yandell, stroke guru extraordinaire, there's footage that goes way back showing luminaries such as Rod Laver, Arthur Ashe and Fred Perry the last Brit to win a slam, hitting this shot (here and here.)

So why do I laugh so hard when I try to practice this shot pretending to be Rafa? For one, it feels silly to be a total wannabee. My reverse forehand is as similar to Rafa's as your household cat is to a lion. Rafa can hit that shot in all sorts of positions and with all sorts of control. Me, I'm happy that I don't arm it, and that it ends up within a 10 degree arc of where I intended inside the court.

For another, it is hilarious to see many try to return the shot. My friend Bruce told me afterwards: it was awfully effective. The ball would clear the net by 20 feet, dive bomb near the baseline, and start to kick up over his head. Bruce told me he had to either step in and take it on the rise, or try to punch it at his shoulder. If he didn't react quick enough, the ball might sail over his head.

Third, one thing I've noticed that when I've had the privilege of playing some honest-to-god advanced players (someone who is USTA rated above a 4.0 without any sweat) is they can get some pretty wide angles with their groundies. By that I mean their balls will cross the sideline near the service box, and you might end up hitting the ball near the fence (or the next court over). If their forehand put you in that position, you can bet they hit a reverse forehand to create that kind of angle.

Next, it's just a reality of tennis that you're going to have to play defensive tennis. You're going to have to hit a forehands (or backhands) on the run. Pros have gravitated to the reverse forehand as their bread and butter shot on the run for very good reasons: it works. As the cliche goes, defense wins championships. Wouldn't it be nice to have play good defensive tennis when you have to?

Finally, it's something I don't see a lot of intermediate-level players do, and it feels great to have a trick in my bag that not many will use. Admittedly, one should learn to hit consistently through the ball first. But if you know how to do that, why not try it out? Pitchers have to throw something besides fastballs.

UPDATE: here's some great instructional videos on how to hit the reverse forehand.

	Mahut (FRA)	Isner (USA)
Unforced Errors	60	62
Winners	244	246
1st Serve %	67 %	74 %
Aces	103	112
Double Faults	21	10
1st Serve % Pts Won	284 of 328 = 87 %	292 of 361 = 81 %
2nd Serve % Pts Won	101 of 161 = 63 %	82 of 130 = 63 %
Break Points Won	1 of 3 = 33 %	2 of 14 = 14 %
Net Approaches	111 of 155 = 72 %	97 of 144 = 67 %
Total Receiving Points Won	117 of 501 = 23 %	104 of 510 = 20 %
Total Service Points Won	406 of 510 = 80 %	384 of 501 = 77 %
Total Points Won	502	478
Fastest Serve Speed	128 MPH	143 MPH
Avg 1st Serve Speed	118 MPH	123 MPH
Avg 2nd Serve Speed	101 MPH	112 MPH