Nice, Dusseldorf, Warsaw, Strasbourg 2010

Minor tournaments this week as it's the last week before Roland Garros.

Nice

Site: here

Seed: Nando, Sod, LeMonf, Thomaz

Dusseldorf

Site: here

This is a non-conventional tournament as it's a team competition. Think league tennis but the teams are divided up by country.

Names: Tree, Head Samurai, Bryan Bros, Rusty, Kohli, Pico, Nalby, Big Berd, The Sex (?), Nico

Warsaw

Site: here

Seeds: Sunshine, LenaD, Nails, Mono, JZ, ABond, KBond, Mel Bel

Strasbourg

Site: here

Seeds: Vezzy, Masha, AMG, Bammer

Madrid 2010: Expectations Met

Fedal in Madrid lived up to expectations (except that it finally happened after a year). It was dramatic. There was stellar tennis. It was close [6-4, 7-6 (5)]. The winner/unforced error ratio 34-33 Federer, 27-27 Nadal. Number of points won: 84 Federer, 85 Nadal. It was also nervy: both guys were clearly nervous because they were excited to play each other. On break point conversions, 4/11 for Nadal and 3/11 for Federer. There was drama: Federer apparently whiffed on what looked like a bad bounce on match point.

In the end, the King of Clay triumphed.



Certain segments of tennis fandom are behaving without the class that both of these guys strive for. Well, whatever. Isn't it great that that these two really like and respect each other?



Check out this great get by Rafa that demonstrates his athleticism and his finesse.



Then let the match highlights speak for themselves.

Madrid 2010: Golden Nugget Wins

Golden Nugget pulled off an upset over Vee, winning 2 and 5, by hitting through her. She showed great heart by fighting back from two breaks down in the second set. Who woulda thunk? Boy, does Rezai hit hard. Kudos to her for also beating Allez Bitch, Zakopalova, Petkovic, Lady JaJa and Ms. Berdy.







What does this prove about the WTA favorites for Roland Garros? Nothing except be prepared to be surprised. Anyone can pull off an upset if they're on a roll. Part of the reason for that is that most of the women play the same ball-bashing game: hit relatively flat from the baseline, and pound the second serve. With that kind of game, if you're off you can crash in a hail of errors. If you're on, it's just tough to counter it. Your only hope is to do something to throw them off their rhythm. Unfortunately for Vee, she's usually the one hitting through people and not in the position of trying to throw off the rhythm of a ball basher.

Madrid 2010: Order Restored to Universe

One Mallorcan tennis fan is very happy to play on Sunday in Madrid as he defeated Nico (4-6, 6-2, 6-2)



So is a certain Baseler, who triumphed over Daveed (7-5, 3-6, 6-3)

2010 MADRID OPEN MASTERS ORDER OF PLAY SUNDAY

*All times CET (Central European Time)

Court: MANOLO SANTANA
Not Before 13:30
ATP – DOUBLES FINAL
Daniel NESTOR (CAN)/ Nenad ZIMONJIC (SRB) vs Bob BRYAN (USA)/ Mike BRYAN (USA)

Not Before 15:30
WTA – SINGLES FINAL
Aravane REZAI (FRA) vs Venus WILLIAMS (USA)

Not Before 18:30
ATP – SINGLES FINAL
Roger FEDERER (SUI) vs Rafael NADAL (ESP)

Now I have a tough choice between watching them play the entire match or playing on la terre battue for myself for the first time ever.



Here are vids of last year's Fedal encounter.

Newsreel: Fed "Disses" Claycourters, Kniesl is Back

1. In translation of a Spanish interview, Federer apparently disses clay court tennis, sparking another Fedal war. The offending paragraph is below.

A: Why hasn’t clay been as easy for me as the other surfaces? Why haven’t I been as dominant? It’s because on the other surfaces I can play my game without thinking. Everything happens naturally: I can go from defense to attack when and how I want. On clay you don't need a volley or a serve. You just need legs, an incredible forehand and backhand, and to run after every ball. I'm not trying to take anything from Rafa: he has been successful in other surfaces as well. But on clay you can get away, you can be competitive even with a very incomplete game. I'm not saying it's so simple, but it's too easy. I’ve had to learn to control my aggression. I love to end points quickly, with a couple of shots. On clay, you can do it 50% of the time, but if you take too many risks you're gifting the other 50%. I learned to play from way behind the baseline and to use angles. It was a lesson in geometry. On clay you can play well and lose. What you have to do is to play smart.

The main thing that offended Fed haters was his apparent claim that clay courters have an incomplete game. But reading the complete sentence, he's not saying that. He's saying that you don't need to be top-notch in all the strokes to be competitive on clay. It's been received wisdom in tennis that a net game is less necessary on clay. Serving heat on clay doesn't help as much. The mantra that consistency wins is accentuated on clay.

But let's suppose he is claiming clay courters are incomplete players. Hmm, let's think about it.

1. Fed is an all-court player CHECK


2. An all-court player is comfortable playing on all areas of the court and moving horizontally & vertically CHECK


3. Fed's version of all court play means he likes to take the ball early and rush the net CHECK


4. Clay courters tend to stand further behind the baseline to wait for the heavy balls to die rather than shank it by standing closer to the baseline CHECK


5. Therefore for Fed to adapt to clay, he has to play further behind the baseline which is not his preferred style of play CHECK


6. Therefore since clay courters stand further behind the baseline, it's harder for them to transition to net which explains why the drop shot is such a great weapon but it also explains why they're not the best volleyers CHECK

As one might say, this is too logical for anyone to accept. So, Fed, don't ever change. Your haters will still hate you no matter what you do.

(BTW, when I hack the ball, I hate standing more than three feet behind the baseline. So in my limited way, I know how Fed feels.)

2. One of my favorite players as a kid was Ivan Lendl. I just loved how he would peg McEnroe at the net. Yeah, Americans loved to hate him. But the man had some adorable idiosyncrasies: the liberal use of sawdust in an era before overgrips, picking his eyebrows to stall for time, the precisely customized racquets, a flock of German shepherds at his home, an exact duplicate of the US Open hardcourt made by the same crew at his home, etc. The man had serious OCD!



At any rate, the racquet manufacturer he used to endorse is back in business: Kniesl.

3. In WTA news, unpredictability continues to be predictable. The marquee names continue to drop like flies: Kuzzy, Masha, Caro, LenaD, Vika, Baby Hippo, Allez Bitch, Pens and Agi. Hrrmph! At least the Williams sistas, Nails and Sam are still in it (for now).

Newsreel: One Serve And Volleyer Won ... Another Lost

This lefty odd bird won the biggest tournament of her career in Rome by playing a throwback game: slice and dice, serve and volley, and a generous helping of dropshots.



Lady JaJa's primary weapon, her speed, was sapped as her legs gave way chasing down Kamikaze's dropshots.



Hmm, lemme guess ... Kamikaze's favorite male player also bites trophies.



This sometime serve-and-volleyer played yucky again.



He allowed yet another journeyman, Albert Montanes, to be hero for the week.



Didn't Federer claim that anything less than winning the tourney would be a disappointment? After the match, he claimed:

I'm not worried. My goal isn't to win 12 tournaments a year, it is the big events: the Masters, the grand slams and keeping the number one ranking.

Whatever, Federror. We know that at this point you only really care about Slams.

Madrid 2010 Preview ... Opening the Magic Box

The men's and women's tour moves its center court to La Caja Magica (i.e. the Magic Box).

Tournament Site: here for the poster child of vertigo inducement

Draws: men and ladies

Men

1st Quarter: Fed played a "boutique" tourney in Estoril, making it all the way to the semis against sub top ten competition. As the defending champ, he showed a way to beat Rafa on clay last year: attack by getting to the net, mix in the drop shot, and try to hit through those heavy and high bouncers. Not an easy task at all. Other seeds in his draw include fellow countrymen Wawa, Arod and Headbanger. Gulbis is also in this section. Can he make a deep run like he did in Rome? Look for Fed to try to avenge his loss to Gulbis.

Sleepers: Gulbis




2nd Quarter: Muzz has a chance to turn around his slump on his least favorite surface. Unfortunately he's got folks who have been playing great on clay: Daveed (finals in Rome) and Head Samurai (finals in Houston and semis in Belgrade). Cilic has disappeared since playing well in Oz. I wouldn't be surprised if Head Samurai took out Muzz in the quarters.

Sleepers: IgorA, Bags



3rd Quarter: General Sod took out Rafa last year at the French Open and has shown that victory was not just a flash in the pan. He made the semis of IW and Miami and has had good clay court season making the finals of Barcelona. On the opposite side is Nando who has had a stellar season showing a "regularity" that his fans have long hoped for. Other sharks in the water are Big Berd, Bellucci, Nico, Pico and Nalby. This quarter could be filled with surprises. Given Nando's form of late, he might be the best bet.

Sleepers: Nalby, Pico, Nico





4th Quarter: The second seed is Djoker (withdrawal due to allergies) Rafa, who more than deserves this seed as he has been en fuego throughout the clay court season. The only set he's dropped has been to Gulbis in Rome. His won-loss record in games on glass is 154-35. Wouldn't it restore order to the universe if Fedal who haven't played in a year finally played this year? After getting a total beatdown this year, Daveed commented that Rafa is playing better than his peak in 2008. It's hard to see how Jo Willy, Le Monf, or Tree can really challenge him. Any sane sports fan should expect Rafa to come through in dominating form.

Sleepers: Kohli



Semis: Rafa d. Nando, Fed d. Head Samurai

Finals: Rafa d. Fed

Women

1st Quarter: ReeRee looked decent in Rome for not playing competitively for a couple months. Still you can count on her taking this less seriously than Roland Garros. She gets a bye for making the semis of Rome last week. Two Russian belles are also in her draw. Masha is back from an elbow injury but has never done great on clay. LenaD had the misfortune of running into NaturAna catching fire in Rome. Yeah, I thought LenaD would come through in Rome. Don't disappoint me again, gal.

Sleepers: Safarova, Dani




2nd Quarter: Dinara is the defending champ but no one expects much of her as she has looked quite rusty in the events she has played since coming back from a back injury. So look for others to take advantage of the vaccuum: Lady JaJa has been playing great on clay taking out both Williams sisters in Rome. She and NaturAna both have byes (because they both made the semis last week) for a second round grudge match. We all know which doll that Sneki is pushing pins into. Flavs had a terrible tournament in Rome but can never be counted out on the red stuff. Mono had a great run in Miami but hasn't had a great clay season (losing 2 and 1 to Sam and retiring due to dizziness in Charleston). Allez Bitch's clay court resume has her as the favorite for Roland Garros. Since this event is played at higher altitude where the balls will fly a bit more, she should have no problem advancing to the semis so long as she keeps her nouveau style of ball bashing under control. Oh, did I mention that JaJa has an 0-10 record against Allez Bitch?

Sleepers: JZ, Sorana



3rd Quarter: I have no idea what's going on in this quarter as it's sure to be full of surprises. The unseeded MJMS gets the hometown advantage and a bye for making the semis last week. Vee could face Bepa or Mel in the 2nd round, and is seeded to face Tranny. Sam should get past Dulkbag to face MJMS. I would hope that MJMS's "idiosyncratic" style (lefty S&V with some slice & dice) doesn't throw off Sam but this is Sam we're talking about. I'm crossing my fingers to see MaKiri face off with her mirror image, Agi. I'm picking Sam out of hope.

Sleepers: MaKiri, MJMS, Bepa



4th Quarter: Caro leads this draw but is seeded for a 4th round matchup with Nails whom she doesn't have a great record against. Sveta has an underwhelming 7-7 record for this year, and needs to get her shit together if she wants to have any hope of defending her RG crown. Unfortunately she's facing Peer in her opening match who has had a solid clay court season. Vika has been struggling with an injury but should make a decent run. Still the brainless ball basher probably won't meet her BFF as another bad pusher will take her out. Like the 3rd quarter, I really have no idea how to call this one. Nails, show the world that yellow-skin is no barrier to dirt balling!

Sleepers: Domi, Peer



Semis: Allez Bitch d. LenaD, Sam d. Nails

Final: Allez Bitch d. Sam

OMG! They Won A Match!

Miss Ajde Fistpump won her 3rd match in a row, beating my pick for Rome, LenaD.



Best comment was by Matt Cronin:

"Hi Jelena. Oh, it's you Ana, I really thought Demenetieva played badly today. Good u don't have to play Venus like I do'

I didn't catch the match but according to some who did, she's playing a higher percentage tennis with more net clearance and spin. This could be taken as anything from boring grinding to pushing. Still given her inconsistency over the last two years, this is probably what the doctor ordered. For exhibits on how far being "regular" can take you, see Rafa, Caro, ARod and Muzz. If you want to go back in history, see Rosewall, Borg, Vilas, Lendl and Wilander. At some point, she'll probably have to relearn when to go for the kill. But if I were Herr Gunhardt, let's just wait til she gets back in the top 20. She needs some Ws to climb the rankings ladder.

NaturAna faces Nads next. She has nothing to lose as she has already had a great tournament. Ana, whether or not you win or lose tomorrow, just repeat and rinse consistency next week and you'll keep your fans happy. Update: now her fans are going apeshit as she beat Nads 2 and 5 to advance to the semis to face the cunning Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. She actually has a chance to get to the finals!

This douchbag is a lot further up the rankings ladder.



He comfortably beat the fastest man that Agassi has ever played, three and four. Phau's best chance was when he had triple break point in the 1st set when Fed was defending his service break. But as we've come to expect from Fed, he stepped up and saved all the break points to hold serve.

It isn't supposed to be a shock for him to win a match but looking at his recent losses, it is. After winning a certain hard court tourney in Oz and then getting a lung infection, he has had an uncharacteristic W-L record of 1-3. In two of those losses he failed to convert match points. In the last of those, Gulbis Inc. and the RF Charity traded service breaks at the end of the 3rd set. Perhaps he got enough of the evil eye from Mirka, a certain portion of his fans or even Bozo. Whatever. The Greatest Shanker of All Time ought to remember: "Hey, I'm Darth Federer. Winning tennis matches is just another day at the office for me." Keep it up Fed, and you won't have to mail Le Coupe des Mousquetaires to Mallorca.

Rome: AnaKADs Rejoice!

It's been awhile when we've seen a celebratory fist pump



Whatever Herr Heinz Gunthardt is doing must be working.




Happily for her, she ain't sitting on her bench like this after match.



Indeed, she served up a breadstick and then gave up three games.

Then she proceeded to win a tight one (4 and 4) over a Vika struggling with a leg injury. Perhaps hitting together last week helped her a bit.



But, wouldn't you think that if you were a pro, you wouldn't be surprised too much by anyone else's game by now?


We'll see if she's ready to turn into a WTA superhero.



After she plays this chick who I think might win the whole thing.




Props to Ana for winning two matches in a WTA Premier event! Just keep winning the next one, take a deep breath, don't think too hard about the occasion and you can start climbing back up the rankings ladder.

Ladies in Rome: Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2010

Tourney site: here

Draw: here

1st Quarter: ReeRee comes back from her Spring sabbatical recovering from a knee injury sustained in Oz. If anyone doesn't need to play a lot of tournaments to be match tough, count on ReeRee. The only question is whether she cares enough about a non-slam event like this to grind it out on her least favorite surface, red clay. On the other hand, ReeRee could have been holed up, practicing on a top-secret Florida clay court so that she can "get me some French." Other seeds in her quarter: Bepa is currently without a coach and made a good run in Charleston (Prince racquets, beware!). Sveta has had disappointing results likely but can never be counted out with her talent.

Sleepers: Kvitova, Domi




2nd Quarter: Vee is back too and is recovering from a knee injury that has visibly hobbled her most of this year. Despite this, she made the finals in Miami and won on clay in Acapulco. Still clay is not her best surface as her ball-bashing mentality means that she lacks the patience to hold off on pulling the trigger. Peer is naturally inclined to be a counterpuncher and made the semis of Stuttgart but did not grow up sliding on clay. The other seeds, Whoopie and Lady JaJa, have more dirt ball experience. Look for JaJa to make a deep run and have her chances against Vee.

Sleepers: Oudin




3rd Quarter: What a difference a year makes! A year ago Baby Hippo won this event and eventually ascended to #1, earning the wrath of tennis purists for not winning a slam. More sympathetic folks suspect that the weight of the expectations contributed to the back injury that has effectively taken her out of the tour since USO '09. This is her second tourney back. Advancing far is not her goal but testing whether her back can hold up. NaturAna fans are hoping she can beat Vesina for a possible meeting with a highly seeded Vika. Nads and Lena are the other high seeds, but Lena has a bit more experience in pressure situations.

Sleepers: Dulkbag, Errani





4th Quarter: Sunshine is recovering from an ankle injury and faces a dangerous draw. While she should have no trouble with other high seeds (Flavs, Aggie and Francesca), all the sleepers can hit through her. Look for the sleepers to make her work hard to advance far (specifically JZ and possibly Dani). Still Sunshine should eventually make it.

Sleepers: JZ, Kleybs, Dani



Semis: Lena d. Sunshine, JaJa d. ReeRee

Finals: Lena d. JaJa

Estoril, Belgrade, Munich 2010

All ATP tourneys this week are minor clay court ones, offering a grand total of 250 ranking points to the winner.

Estoril

Tourney site: here

Draw: there

A minor tournament except for the fact that both top seeds swing Wilson sticks and one is a goofball. The goofball has failed to advance to the quarterfinals in his last three tourneys. Has he really gotten a wake up call and decided to kick some butt and win ugly? Or will he get bored with advancing through rounds to face Le Monf and Ljubs, and start playing lackadasically the way he tends to practice? While much of the competition is supposed to be no challenge for Fed these days, is he just kicking back til Roland Garros? One would normally think this tourney is low hanging fruit for the Greatest Shanker of all Time to win. But outside of Slams I won't even bother with prognostications for the goofball.



Top Male Seeds: Fed, Le Monf, Ljubs, Montanes

Lurkers: Phau (love seeing him chase balls), Granola

With no gals in the top 25, this tourney has the feel of a slightly overgrown Challenger tourney. Agnes is the top seed ranked at #35 and Sorana Banana nipping at her heels. Since this is not the top tier of the WTA, one can only predict that the unpredictable will happen.



Top Female Seeds: Szavay, Cristea, Can Woz, AMG

Prominent withdrawals: Playstation, JB, Nails

Belgrade

Otherwise known as the Djoker's home tourney.

Tourney site: here

Draw: here

Seeds: Djoker, Tree, Head Samurai, Wawa

Munich

Tourney site: here

Draw: here

Seeds: Cilic, Misha, Big Berd, Bags

Stuttgart & Rome Champions 2010

It looked like it was going to be a tight one. JuJu shifted up an extra gear that Sam didn't have to win the 1st tournament of her 2nd career, bringing home a silver Porsche (6-4 2-6 6-1).

	Stosur	Henin
Aces	2	4
DF	2	4
1st Serve %	55%	65%
1st Serve % Pts Won	30/42 (71%)	37/52 (71%)
2nd Serve % Pts Won	16/34 (47%)	14/28 (50%)
Break Points Won	2/5 (40%)	4/10 (40%)
Total Service Points Won	46/76 (61%)	51/80 (64%)
Total Points Won	75/156 (48%)	81/156 (52%)

Keys to the match: Henin had a high first serve percentage and did a better job of returning her opponent's 2nd serve.



The point at 5:52 (15-0 at 1-0 on JuJu's serve) was probably the momentum decider. Sam had control of the point off a floater on her ad side. But instead of going for a DTL winner, Sam went for the safer CC shot, hoping to wrong foot JuJu, but JuJu responded with a sharp angled BH winner.

On the men's side in Rome there were one two rain delays before the Clay Monster marched over Daveed 5 and 2. Looking at the stats, it's surprising that the game score was close as it was. Daveed never really took advantage of attacking Rafa's second serve. How many more trophies will he bite?



I'm just going to suggest this because no one has thought of this already. Maybe that kid from Mallorca is the favorite to win at Roland Garros.

	Nadal	Ferrer
Aces	3	1
DF	0	5
1st Serve %	80%	72%
1st Serve % Pts Won	34/44 (77%)	36/58 (62%)
2nd Serve % Pts Won	7/11 (64%)	9/23 (39%)
Unforced Errors	17	30
Winners	24	15
Break Points Won	3/13 (23%)	0/1 (0%)
Total Service Points Won	41/55 (75%)	45/81 (56%)
Total Points Won	77/136 (57%)	59/136 (43%)

Pretty obvious from the stats, that Daveed never got into Rafa's service games and never had a chance.



Even here, Daveed made four great gets (a FH squash shot, a slice off a drop shot, a behind the back shot, and a chicken volley) but still lost the point.

You Cannot Be Serious That They Played Again ...

These two are too old to play five sets, but they met in the semis of a senior tour in Boston. It was tight one with Mac prevailing 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).

Rome: Gulby Shocks Fed

Gulby was up a break in the 3rd and could not convert his first 6 MPs against Federror with two of 'em being double faults until Federror finally broke back to even the match at 5-all. Then Gulby returned the favor to break back as Federror's 1st serve disappeared (46% in 3rd set). Finally, he served at the match at love to score an upset: 2-6 6-1 7-5. The journos now have an official new victim for their slump category: Fed, who hadn't lost before the QFs in 3 consecutive tourneys since 2002.

In his presser, Gulby admitted that his mental state was terrible on all those MPs:

I shit my pants a little bit, sorry for my language ... I couldn't put a serve in. I was shaking. I didn't know what to do. It was a terrible feeling.

	Federer	Gulbis
Aces	2	8
DF	3	2
1st Serve %	56%	74%
1st Serve % Pts Won	35/53 (66%)	46/65 (71%)
2nd Serve % Pts Won	18/41 (44%)	11/24 (46%)
Unforced Errors	38	39
Winners	20	33
Break Points Won	3/6 (50%)	4/10 (40%)
Total Service Points Won	53/94 (56%)	57/89 (64%)
Total Points Won	83/183 (46%)	98/183 (54%)

It's fairly clear from the point total that Gulby just outplayed Fed and that Fed's 1st serve percentage was not good enough to earn him enough free points. Fed knew that his poor serve form lost the match.



Here's to hoping that Fed really wakes up, buckle down by winning ugly, and then begin to kick ass like he's supposed to. And just to squash any craziness from FedKADs, this cannot be a nefarious plot by Fed to pace himself through the clay court season. It's an all too common pattern for Fed to go downhill mid-match.


At least, Fed is still playing dubs.




In other news, Muzz got past Seppi at 2 and 4.



The Djoker baked a double breadstick for Chardy




In WTA news, Nails baked also two breadsticks for soccer chic, Errani.



Fun question: what is everyone but Fed doing in this blog post?