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.
Showing posts with label Andy Roddick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Andy Roddick. Show all posts
Monday, February 21, 2011
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Hacking the Ball: Movement Can Be Taught
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.
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.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Hacking the Ball: Become a Better Fan
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.
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.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Tennis 'Experts' Build Frankenstein
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.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
US Open 2010 Fashion Grades (Men)
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
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?
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.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Baseline Judges Can Breathe Easy
ReeRee has announced that she has had to withdraw from the US Open withe the following press release.
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).
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).
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
US Open 2010: It Must Be Love (Part 2)
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
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
Monday, June 28, 2010
Wimbledon 2010: Manic Monday
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,
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)
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Wimbledon 2010: the Queen in the Royal Box
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.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Wimbledon 2010: Fashion Grades (Gentlemen)
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-
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-
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Wimbledon 2010: Seedings and the Practice Courts
Wimbledon announced its seedings for the championships this year
The major departures from the current rankings are: Fed over Rafa even though Rafa is the current world #1, ARod over Sod and Playstation and Ferrer over Tsonga. The Rafa-Fed switch can be explained by Fed's record at Wimbledon as the defending champion, and is really not that significant at the end as they both get their own quarter. ARod's relatively high seeding is due to his status as the runner up last year, but he's probably crossing his finger's that he won't be assigned to Fed's quarter.
BTW, there is much weeping and gnashing of teeth over these departures from the ATP rankings. Some think Rafa is getting dissed. Rest assured, Wimbledon didn't cut a back room deal with the Federer camp: they employ this numerical formula (beautifully explained here): 100% of points from your ATP rankings + 75% of points from your best grass court performance in the past 12 months.
There are no major departures from the current rankings amongst the ladies. Safina gets no benefit from her grass court performance from last year since she's been off the tour due to injury. And, sadly, Demy is out of Wimbledon due to injury. Some might give Masha and Allez Bitch higher seedings but frankly both are on the comeback trail (Masha due to injury and Allez Bitch due to a return from retirement).
In other news, the Greatest Forehand Shanker is working on his inside out forehand.
He'll need that to avoid all those serves this Mallorcan Lefty likes to hit to his backhand.
Shrieka will need to hit a lot of running forehands as there's a whole new generation who've adopted her ball bashing style.
1 Roger FEDERER (SUI)
2 Rafael NADAL (ESP)
3 Novak DJOKOVIC (SRB)
4 Andy MURRAY (GBR)
5 Andy RODDICK (USA)
6 Robin SODERLING (SWE)
7 Nikolay DAVYDENKO (RUS)
8 Fernando VERDASCO (ESP)
9 David FERRER (ESP)
10 Jo-Wilfried TSONGA (FRA)
11 Marin CILIC (CRO)
12 Tomas BERDYCH (CZE)
13 Mikhail YOUZHNY (RUS)
14 Juan Carlos FERRERO (ESP)
15 Lleyton HEWITT (AUS)
16 Jurgen MELZER (AUT)
17 Ivan LJUBICIC (CRO)
18 Sam QUERREY (USA)
19 Nicolas ALMAGRO (ESP)
20 Stanislas WAWRINKA (SUI)
21 Gael MONFILS (FRA)
22 Radek STEPANEK (CZE)
23 Feliciano LOPEZ (ESP)
24 John ISNER (USA)
25 Ivo KARLOVIC (CRO)
26 Marcos BAGHDATIS (CYP)
27 Thomaz BELLUCCI (BRA)
28 Gilles SIMON (FRA)
29 Ernests GULBIS (LAT)
30 Albert MONTANES (ESP)
31 Philipp KOHLSCHREIBER (GER)
32 Tommy ROBREDO (ESP)
The major departures from the current rankings are: Fed over Rafa even though Rafa is the current world #1, ARod over Sod and Playstation and Ferrer over Tsonga. The Rafa-Fed switch can be explained by Fed's record at Wimbledon as the defending champion, and is really not that significant at the end as they both get their own quarter. ARod's relatively high seeding is due to his status as the runner up last year, but he's probably crossing his finger's that he won't be assigned to Fed's quarter.
BTW, there is much weeping and gnashing of teeth over these departures from the ATP rankings. Some think Rafa is getting dissed. Rest assured, Wimbledon didn't cut a back room deal with the Federer camp: they employ this numerical formula (beautifully explained here): 100% of points from your ATP rankings + 75% of points from your best grass court performance in the past 12 months.
1 Serena WILLIAMS (USA)
2 Venus WILLIAMS (USA)
3 Caroline WOZNIACKI (DEN)
4 Jelena JANKOVIC (SRB)
5 Francesca SCHIAVONE (ITA)
6 Samantha STOSUR (AUS)
7 Agnieszka RADWANSKA (POL)
8 Kim CLIJSTERS (BEL)
9 Na LI (CHN)
10 Flavia PENNETTA (ITA)
11 Marion BARTOLI (FRA)
12 Nadia PETROVA (RUS)
13 Shahar PEER (ISR)
14 Victoria AZARENKA (BLR)
15 Yanina WICKMAYER (BEL)
16 Maria SHARAPOVA (RUS)
17 Justine HENIN (BEL)
18 Aravane REZAI (FRA)
19 Svetlana KUZNETSOVA (RUS)
20 Dinara SAFINA (RUS)
21 Vera ZVONAREVA (RUS)
22 Maria Jose MARTINEZ SANCHEZ (ESP)
23 Jie ZHENG (CHN)
24 Daniela HANTUCHOVA (SVK)
25 Lucie SAFAROVA (CZE)
26 Alisa KLEYBANOVA (RUS)
27 Maria KIRILENKO (RUS)
28 Alona BONDARENKO (UKR)
29 Anastasia PAVLYUCHENKOVA (RUS)
30 Yaroslava SHVEDOVA (KAZ)
31 Alexandra DULGHERU (ROU)
32 Sara ERRANI (ITA)
There are no major departures from the current rankings amongst the ladies. Safina gets no benefit from her grass court performance from last year since she's been off the tour due to injury. And, sadly, Demy is out of Wimbledon due to injury. Some might give Masha and Allez Bitch higher seedings but frankly both are on the comeback trail (Masha due to injury and Allez Bitch due to a return from retirement).
In other news, the Greatest Forehand Shanker is working on his inside out forehand.
He'll need that to avoid all those serves this Mallorcan Lefty likes to hit to his backhand.
Shrieka will need to hit a lot of running forehands as there's a whole new generation who've adopted her ball bashing style.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Roland Garros 2010: Fashion Grades (Men)
As any tennis fan knows, every Grand Slam is a chance for the clothing companies to strut their new stuff. (Yeah, I know pics created via with the help of Photo Shop are already out there). So here come fashion grades.
I like the Bluegrass color of Federer's shirt and bandanna. The stripes on the sleeve do add a tasteful departure from his mostly classical/conservative kits. I have to give some credit to Nike for trying something different with a fade on his shoes. A club player could be comfortable buying this. B+
Rafa has always had the edgier designs from Nike. Last year, by decking him in polos, Nike attempted to make Rafa's kits more grown up. This year they've put him in crews and restored some the edginess. They're playing a delicate balance between edgy and grown up. This one succeeds. A.
A ball kid was asked to step in to play. The orange on Tsonga is the only variation of the same cut and style of every crew that Adidas has done the last few years. Ok, they've added a black or white line. Otherwise, total bore. C
Nothing really new here as Nando has been wearing this blue kit with diagonol stripes the entire clay court season. It's nice of Adidas to try a different pattern, but can't they do something different for a Slam? B-
Adidas, didn't you sign Muzz to a $5 million/year deal? Muzz may be ugly, and folks might want to punch out his teeth, but can a change of colors be that hard? Epic fail for not changing his kit since January. F
The fadeaway from white to blue on the Djoker's polo suits his flamboyant personality. Sergio Tachini has done the stripes across the chest since forever.
I see it working for certain kinds of guys. B+
ARod's Lacoste kit follows the tired theme of navy with white. (BTW, I wonder if ARod changed to a platform stance for his serve). This time we get stripes, and delete the tri-colored stripe on the collar. It's blah! C
I like the Bluegrass color of Federer's shirt and bandanna. The stripes on the sleeve do add a tasteful departure from his mostly classical/conservative kits. I have to give some credit to Nike for trying something different with a fade on his shoes. A club player could be comfortable buying this. B+
Rafa has always had the edgier designs from Nike. Last year, by decking him in polos, Nike attempted to make Rafa's kits more grown up. This year they've put him in crews and restored some the edginess. They're playing a delicate balance between edgy and grown up. This one succeeds. A.
A ball kid was asked to step in to play. The orange on Tsonga is the only variation of the same cut and style of every crew that Adidas has done the last few years. Ok, they've added a black or white line. Otherwise, total bore. C
Nothing really new here as Nando has been wearing this blue kit with diagonol stripes the entire clay court season. It's nice of Adidas to try a different pattern, but can't they do something different for a Slam? B-
Adidas, didn't you sign Muzz to a $5 million/year deal? Muzz may be ugly, and folks might want to punch out his teeth, but can a change of colors be that hard? Epic fail for not changing his kit since January. F
The fadeaway from white to blue on the Djoker's polo suits his flamboyant personality. Sergio Tachini has done the stripes across the chest since forever.
I see it working for certain kinds of guys. B+
ARod's Lacoste kit follows the tired theme of navy with white. (BTW, I wonder if ARod changed to a platform stance for his serve). This time we get stripes, and delete the tri-colored stripe on the collar. It's blah! C
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Miami: ARod Wins ...
A wedding anniversary gift for his supermodel wife, BDecks. It may not be paper, but it certainly can makes a great flower vase.
The outcome of the match was never in doubt once ARod broke serve once in each set: 7-5, 6-4. ARod admitted he had to use a different game plan against Big Berd, who hits flatter than Rafa.
Q. Do you feel you played two different matches against Nadal and Berdych?
ANDY RODDICK: Definitely.
Q. Up at the net a lot and only three times serve and volley in this match today.
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, for sure. You know, against Rafa, when you get two feet under you and you’re not being bullied from the baseline, it’s time to take some cuts.
With Tomas I can get away with my slice a little bit more. I can get away with changing paces a little bit more without the angles of the court being utilized as much. He hits the ball straight through a little bit more, so I can kind of rely on legs a little bit more without the court growing this way and becoming tougher.
So, yeah, it’s definitely a different match.
The match was never entirely characterized by the surf n turf style both guys are known for (big serves and big forehands), as they exchanged several slice and dice rallies. Kudos to both fellas for having a great tournament.
Thank God the hard court season is over!
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