Latest entries

• Wimbledon confirms what we already knew

  2008-07-01 18:33:00
  

  After having spent seven days watching Wimbledon, with only one rain delay, it’s time to reflect on some of the things that have taken place during an intense week.
  
  The tournament has confirmed a lot of things that I’ve suggested in earlier posts of this blog. Women’s tennis is at a very low point at the moment with most of the top players struggling big time. The World No. 1 Ana Ivanovic is extremely inconsistent and doesn’t seem to have a second game plan when her usual winning style doesn’t work. The same goes for World No. 3 Maria Sharapova, who is incredibly one-dimensional. You would think that one of the best players in the world would be able to play tennis in more than one way, but time and time again we’ve seen how Sharapova can fall apart completely and hit outrageous double faults which are rare to find in an Under 14 tournament. Despite always appearing cool to the outside world, maybe Sharapova is suffering from the immense pressure on her to keep on winning.
  
  The World No. 2 Jelena Jankovic made another embarrassing appearance constantly complaining about injuries. I still haven’t watched a match this year where she hasn’t called the trainer, and I’m still waiting for her to take a break from competition and come back as a new fresh player. The annoying thing is that she is clearly using her injury complains in an unsportsmanlike fashion trying to get to her opponents. As noted by John McEnroe during her third round match against Caroline Wozniacki, it was interesting how she moved at 100 % during the rallies to then barely be able to walk between points.
  
  Richard Gasquet came back from two sets down and a break against Andy Roddick last year. Now, the Frenchman knows what it feels like to be on the losing side of a similar match. In what has been the highlight so far for the home fans, Andy Murray was outplayed during the better part of three sets but still managed to win. Murray is not the most likeable guy because of his court antics, but you’ve got to give him credit for staying in there and pulling out an incredible comeback win at Wimbledon, where he’s under brutal pressure. They are so desperate for tennis success in this country that you really wish they had more players. Murray has to handle ten times more media coverage than many other players of a similar level. There are clearly also some benefits in this for the Scot, who has been able to have the LTA hire any coach of his liking and who has been able to sign some very lucrative sponsorship deals.
  
  The country’s desperation for having tennis success climaxed when the unknown local serve- and vollyer Chris Eaton came through qualifying and then defeated Boris Pashanski in straight sets. The unexpected success by the 20-year old ranked 661 made people believe that the story of the Wimbledon movie would become a reality. Journalists and photographers lined up outside the family home of the Eaton’s, where they were asking for photos of Chris as a three-year old and anything they could find. It seemed as if some people where seriously getting ready for a Federer-Eaton final, when DmitryTursunov ended the dreams of a nation. Among other hysteric moments during the first week, Elena Baltacha was seen on the cover of The Times sitting on her knees in good old Bjorn Borg-fashion after winning a first round encounter with Angelique Kerber. The poor German 20-year old couldn’t handle all the screaming from the crowd and started to cry even before she had lost the match to her four year older British opponent.
  
  Finally, I’ve criticized Novak Djokovic here before, and now it seems like the majority of the tennis world is sharing the same opinion. The success has clearly got to Djokovic, and he is not the same kind of guy he used to be. There were a lot of people, including players and coaches, cheering Safin on as he took down “Nole” in the second round. Who would have thought that we wouldn’t have one Serbian player in the quarterfinals of either the women’s or men’s singles?

  
  

  Comment | 6 comments

• Nadal vs Djokovic the most entertaining match-up in tennis

  2008-06-19 19:18:00
  

  The most entertaining match-up in today’s tennis is not Roger Federer v.s. Rafael Nadal. Their rivalry is an intriguing one, but too many of their meetings have been one-sided affairs with Nadal the strong favorite on clay and Federer on fast surfaces.
  
  Nadal-Djokovic has proved to be a better match-up for those of us who want to watch matches with a lot of uncertainty and with a very apparent will to win from both sides. I love the “win or die” attitude that these guys show when they are up against each other. You can really feel how much they hate losing and are prepared to work harder than ever to get the W. We know that Nadal is always going to go out there and do his job, whereas Djokovic tanks once in a while to the likes of Fabrice Santoro and Gilles Simon. However, every time the Serbian is up against Nadal, we know that he will fight on everything coming his way. Today’s final in Queens was a majestic display by these two youngsters, and surely no other final in the 30-year history of the Artois Championships has included more long baseline rallies. What a contrast to previous classic finals such as Sampras-Henman in 1999 and Roddick-Mahut a year ago.
  
  “Rafa” came back from a break down in both sets today and it’s hard to find words in admiration for the fighting spirit of this bull from Mallorca. Just a day after winning the title at Roland Garros, the Spaniard was out practicing aggressive drills on the grass at the Queens Club in West Kensington. Nadal even entered the doubles draw to get another chance to play a match on grass before singles action kicked off. Professionalism taken to its limit.
  
  Nadal now leads the head-to-head by nine wins to three, with 5-0 on clay, 2-3 on hard and 2-0 on grass. I can’t wait until the next time these two super talented guys face off again.

  
  

  Comment | 0 comments

• Queens - A fascinating event

  2008-06-09 22:33:00
  

  Queens is a fascinating tournament in many ways. Where else would you find an ATP event where the cheapest Centre Court tickets for the first day’s play are being sold for 42 pounds? Even a ticket for Court 1 costs you 27 pounds, which is more than a ticket to Arthur Ashe Stadium at the US Open. A ground pass holder paying 50 % more than a ground pass holder at the Australian Open will get access to only Courts 2 and 9, whereas the ground pass holder at Melbourne Park has access to all courts but Rod Laver Arena.
  
  But this is the start of the grass court season, a time of the year when the English are prepared to do anything to get a piece of the action. They are all experienced queers and are prepared to wait for hours to catch a glimpse of a match between two players they’ve never heard of. It’s fascinating to see the ladies in their lovely hats commenting on the play between Victor Troicki and Dudi Sela, and quickly filling in the draw sheet with their best hand writing once the match has been completed. It’s impossible not to be very impressed by their sudden dedication during the fortnight.
  
  Someone who didn’t enjoy the proceedings at the Queens Club today was Brad Gilbert. The well known coach looked like he wanted to be somewhere far away, as he watched Alex Bogdanovic lose to Joseph Sirianni. The 33-year old Australian reaches the second round of an ATP event only for the second time this year, after his surprise run at the Next Generation club in Adelaide. Gilbert was constantly shaking his head and seemed very disappointed with the tennis England’s No. 1 player produced.
  
  After Murray didn’t want to work with Gilbert anymore, the LTA had to find a way to use him. They came up with the brilliant idea of letting him coach Alex Bogdanovic, who would then likely become a solid Top 100 player. The result hasn’t exactly been according to the plan. The leftie has dropped 134 spots in the rankings since his career high last summer. Once again, the LTA has looked ridiculous in the eyes of the outside world. And Gilbert is probably losing sleep over how he, one of the world’s most sought after coaches, now has to travel to Challenger events. But maybe he considers the half a million pound salary as enough compensation for a loss of reputation.

  
  

  Comment | 3 comments

Mr. Chip & Charge

Archive

Poll

Articles - Latest commented

• 
  2
  Wimbledon Semifinal: Roger Federer vs. Marat Safin
  

  rakten, Jul 4, 2008 11:53 AM

• 
  2
  Safin holds nerve to set up classic showdown
  

  ed251137, Jul 4, 2008 8:37 AM

• 
  1
  Suprise Quarterfinal: Rainer Schuettler vs. Arnaud Clement
  

  ed251137, Jul 3, 2008 8:27 AM

• 
  4
  Wimbledon quarterfinal: Rafael Nadal vs. Andy Murray
  

  rakten, Jul 3, 2008 7:22 AM

• 
  1
  Wimbledon price squeeze doesn't affect well-paid champions
  

  BernieEliza, Jul 3, 2008 4:10 AM

Blog - Latest commented

• 
  6
  Wimbledon confirms what we already knew
  

  rakten, Jul 5, 2008 12:05 AM

• 
  7
  Nadal wins, Djokovic loses and Federer debuts THE SWEATER
  

  tenisbebe, Jul 2, 2008 2:21 AM

• 
  18
  Novak Djokovic as the future bad boy of tennis
  

  tenisbebe, Jul 2, 2008 1:05 AM

Forum - Latest active topics

• 
  2
  Yearly stats
  

  Gameplay, Jul 1, 2008 11:35 PM

• 
  0
  More results and stats
  

  Gameplay, Apr 2, 2008 9:56 AM

• 
  2
  New features
  

  Gameplay, Apr 2, 2008 9:41 AM

Tell a friend

Other tennis links

• www.sonyericssonwtatour.com
• www.menstennisforums.com
• www.tennisnews.com
• www.itftennis.com
• More links...