The Curious Case of Rafa Nadal

Published by Chris on March 9, 2010 in ATP. 0 Comments

 It was one of those boring days between Christmas and New Years I sat myself down and rewatched the Wimbledon mens finals of 2008 and 2009 ! Having only ever watched each final live, it was great to sit down with a critical eye and watch the  gameplay without any of the emotion . What struck me in the famous 5 set 2008 final was Rafael Nadal, he hit the ball so hard and so deep, wereas Federer on the other hand was so bad. Sure he had patches of play were he dominated the Majorcan, but for the rain delay Nadal could have had the trophy sewn up in 3. Rafael played phenomenally, I have never seen him play as well. He was simply ferocious with the topsping forehand and incessant hitting to Rogers backhand, it was awesome to watch. I would recommend all tennis fans go buy it and watch a great performance.

Between July 2008 and then, Nadal has won the Olympic Games in Beijing and won another marvellous 5 set Aussie Open final 2009, however having dominated last years clay season, his game was picked apart by Robin Soderling. If the truth be told we havent seen a shadow of the Nadal we know. His enforced layoff with tendonitis of the knee shattered Rafas confidence and left him seriously lacking in match practice when he did return to the tour in late summer.  But for his early season form, he may not have made the end of season Masters Cup in Londom but in hindsight I suppose Rafa wished he never went to London. He played 6 sets and lost them all, his game lacking that top end zipp that had every opponent quaking in their boots. This season hasnt been great either, I predicted that Nadal would beat Murray in the AO but clearly suffering with his knee problems still, he eventually retired at the start of the third.

I am a great admirer of the Spaniard, hes similar to every weekend warrior out there. Sure who has a beautiful one handed backhand like Roger or a delicate drop shot a la Murray? Not many of us, but they quality that is most admirable about Rafa,isthe guy is a street fighter he never gives in and plays to his strenghts even if that is running after every ball inches from the back court. It is in Rafa’s style of play that has seen him suffer so many problems, because his play is so attritional Rafa takes so much out of his body every time he plays. His knees have been the problem for some time now, who knows will he ever rediscover the level of 2008 when de destroyed albeit a Federer not close to the top of his game? The answer is probably no. Since Australia we havent seen Rafa and once again it is his knees that have kept him out.

So it appears unlikely that Nadal can dominate as he has before. But the question still remains, how does Nadal re-analyse his career goals? Does he go flat out on the surface he loves and win Roland Garros again with the risk of a career ending injury or does he pick and chose the most important events ?( a la Ledley King of Spurs). If Nadal was to change his style, we would loose what we like most about Nadal, his emotion, charisma and his never say die attitude on court. A more conservative Nadal say in last years French would see the hard/flat baseliners run him ragged around the court which wouldnt do the longevity of his career any good. Prior to the start of this season Nadal was pictured on the magic carpet in Doha with Federer. The guy had clearly lost weight and many presumed that this was to reduce the wear and tear on his joints. Nadal denied this, but the photos speak for themselves. Maybe he is trying to reduce the strain through his knees and kick start his career. From now on I think we will see Nadal becoming more aggressive and winning points earlier to reduce that strain on his body. The lower tier ATP 250 events will also be scored off the timetable in favour of Masters 1000 and of course the Grandslams! Surely it must now be time to prioritise.

I for one along with tennis fans everywhere would love to see Rafa and Roger renew their rivalry this summer, Andy, Nole and Delpo dont cut it with me just yet!

Tags: , , , , .

TennisPlanet.co.uk

Published by Chris on March 8, 2010 in Coaching and Other. 0 Comments

We here at the LTB would like to endorse our friends over at the Tennis Planet.

For great equipment and reasonable prices, you need look no further.  Whether you be a coach, club player or tournament organiser, there is products for everyone. Click on the link below or on our blogroll to find your way there.

http://www.tennisplanet.co.uk

Davis Cup Flops

Published by Chris on March 7, 2010 in Davis Cup. 0 Comments

Can it get any lower for the great british team? They were a disgrace against Lithuania.  No offense to the lithuanian team, but with Britain’s far superior infrastructure, money, population, prestige, how on earth can this happen?  What has happened to all that money that was pumped into the LTA five years ago? This is their fifth successive loss since that glorious win in the sun of Court One when Murray and Henman came together and beat the Croats and earn themselves a place in the world group.  Where has it all gone wrong? I mean this is a country that hosts the worlds most prestigious Grand slam and they can’t breed enough players to beat a team that consists of a player ranked 521st in the world.

As an Irish man I’m disappointed, I was looking forward to seeing a battle of the isles in Dublin had Great Britain won.  Instead now Ireland are favourites to beat Lithuania and join Group 1, ranking them higher than the GB team for the first time in their history I believe.  GB now play Turkey in the Group 3 play off.  This will bear similar resemblence to the shambles that has just occured in Kaunas. Turkey have one promising player in Marsel Ihlan, who will probably beat any of the british boys put out there.  But their next best player is ranked 881st in the world, so if they can’t beat that then they deserve to be relegated to the lowest tier of the competition for only the second time.

The problem is who do they pick? Jamie Ward seems to be promising, but Dan Evans has got the Bogdanovic choke-itis written all over him. Next in line is Jamie Baker, he has shown some nerve, but he has never really been the same since that life threatening illness he had (fair play to him though for coming back). Both Chris Eaton and Josh Goodhall have some good experience but are part-timers at best.  The thing is, I don’t even disagree with Andy Murray’s decision to drop out.  These guys do need to get the davis cup monkey off their back, and they only way that will happen is getting the experience they need in the lower tiers without relying on Murray to bag a few freebies.  At least for once they have plenty of descent doubles pairings.

Elsewhere there was no real surprises in the first round with all the big players such as Spain, France, Argentina, Russia and Croatia making it through.  A big mention should go out to Serbia though, as Djokovic and Troicki have helped guide them to their first quarter final in their history, and they have a descent team with Tipseravic and Zimonjic to back them up, so they could go even further.  I remember the first time watching Djokovic was against Greg Rusedski in the Davis Cup when he wasn’t even ranked in the top 200.  I remember thinking what is Greg doing losing to this amateur.  My how I have been corrected. Well done Novak.

Tags: , , , , , .

Jankovic and Hyde

Published by Peter on March 4, 2010 in WTA. 0 Comments

It was my first Wimbledon experience back in 2005 or 2006, not having known that I actually had to queue to get on a show court and see the big name players; I meandered through the All England Club, peering over the crowds to see who was playing on the outside courts. As usual on the 1st week of the championships the alleyways and gangways were thronged with tennis fans anxious to see a big name on one of the outside courts. Having queued for 3 hours to get in, I couldnt believe my luck when i found an empty bench on court 7,  plonking myself down  I became transfixed with the leggy foreign looking tennis player on court. She had great power of both flanks, her forehand was awesome but her backhand was marvellous. I squinted to try and see her name on the scoreboard, J Jankovic. Id never heard of her but thought how good is she, and she isn’t even in the Top 100??

Jelena Jankovic has seen quite a meteoric rise to the top with her friend and countrywoman Ana Ivanovic. She ascended to the top of ladies rankings in 2008 mainly due to the amount of tournaments she played and finished the year ranked world number 1!  To date she has made 22 tour finals and won 11 of them, her biggest win of late was in Cincinatti last August but she rarely wins back to back events. Jelena  has a game for all surfaces, having one events on clay, hard, grass and carpet and on her day can beat anyone.  Way back in Wimbledon 2007   mixed doubles she partnered Jamie Murray to victory in the mixed her only Slam victory. A graduate of the Bolletieri academy in Florida, she has been tipped for stardom from the age of 14 but failed to deliver in the slams. Her best slam performance coming at Flushing 2008 when she was beaten by Serena, however some would argue her greatest opportunity to win a major would be the clay of Roland Garros.

Jankovic has gone off the boil lately

The wheels have come of the Jankovic game of late, with some disapointing  results. In the Australian Open 2009 widely tipped as one of the favourites she was beaten by Marion Bartoli in the 4th round, later on that year with no results meriting a mention, she lost to Melanie Oudin in the 3rd round of Wimbledon, claiming she felt dizzy and has sun stroke. Jelena has become known more for excuses for failing to win or complete matches rather than her winning. Many commentators suggest that she is too easily distracted in games and as result looses matches that are invariably winnable. Recently in Monterrey, Mexico she was beaten in 3 sets in the first round by world number 72 Anastasija Sevastova despite being top seed for the event. Her playing history over the last 18 months is some good wins punctuated with horrible losses, often in 3 sets but against opponents who are not in her league. It all adds up to the fact that Jelena just doesnt have the fight in her to sustain herself at the top of the game, she got there once with guts, determination and great play, now if she looses a point Jankovic is so quick to blame, the ball boy, the balls, the wind. As a fan I would love her to arrest her slump and rightfully retain her place at the top of the womens game,  but she must rediscover her hunger and desire to be a tennis player, or else the glory days could be well and truly be behind her.

Tags: , .

World Book Day

Published by Rebecca on March 4, 2010 in Fun & Games, Uncategorized and blog stuff. 0 Comments

Today, 4th March is World Book Day. In this digital age, what has books got to do with a tennis blog you might well ask? Well, quite a lot actually.

You see tennis is a tough sport professionally because it is mainly an individual sport. For a large majority of the time, players have to make tough on-court decisions and perhaps even more so, when they need to take a different direction or try something new, there is no one there to tell them which shots to change.

Despite players having to take part in a post match press conference, unless there is no demand from journalists, they can never in all honesty say what their game plan was. That’s because in reality, they could be facing the same opponent across the net in two or three week’s time. Also if a player is struggling with an injury, they will want to keep this a secret for as long as they can until they have to bandage that wrist or tape that ankle heavier.

Where am I leading to in all this and specifically what has this got to do with World Book Day?

Enter the player autobiography. Here, once a player has retired, they can reveal in as much detail as they want to or feel comfortable with, their tennis memories. They can take a reader for a journey through tennis tournaments and airports and hotels and grand slams and everything else in between. Emotions, feelings, thoughts, wishes, regrets, mistakes, fitness routines, family life – you name it; it’s all spilled out in black and white in an autobiography.

I have gathered a few tennis autobiographies over the years beginning with Monica’s From Fear to Victory. We were asked in English class at school to pick a book of our choosing, read it and do a review. So, in I went to my local library and there I found Monica’s book sitting out on a special display. In terms of tennis knowledge before reading her story, I had watched Wimbledon, but couldn’t admit to knowing who Monica Seles was, just Steffi Graf because she won the title in 1995 and 1996.

From Fear to Victory was one of those books at the time of reading that I just couldn’t put down. In between chapters, I even copied Monica by hitting balls against the gable wall of our house, slowly getting to know this young star and the sport that I too would grow very fond of.

As a young teenager, I was intrigued by the rise and fame of this little girl from Novi Sad who had a huge passion for tennis. Monica opened with a reference to fairy tales and just when you thought everything was rosy in the tennis court garden, boom, her life as she knew it fell apart at the seams. And all because of a fazed German guy couldn’t bear to see Steffi Graf dethroned from her place as the world’s number one female tennis player.

That’s something that always seems to amaze me about tennis; the incredible stories that bear resemblance to big time movies are actually real life. Think of the Williams’ sisters’ story that is still evolving or the Martina Hingis tale.

While we are on the subject of books, both Monica’s father Karolj and Richard Williams used tennis book manuals to teach their children how to play the game. Take note any tennis parents out there!

So mainly as a result of an English project, I became a tennis fan and more importantly, because she was still playing, although never again to relive the success of her pre-stabbing days, I was a huge Monica Seles fan.

I’m currently reading the controversial Andre Agassi’s autobiography Open. It is so far a fascinating account, down to earth with plenty of laughs and once I’ve finished, I will of course write a full review for LOVEtennisblog.

Some people slate tennis today because there are no big personalities like in the days of McEnroe and Borg. I see that as an unfair criticism because so much has changed since then. There is more pressure for players with the money and rankings at stake, it all adds to the normal pressure of the tour and the schedule that never stops.

What strikes me time and time again is that through an autobiography, we are allowed to get to know the personalities behind the big name players. I sometimes wonder that we should have this insight in advance of retirement so that we might have the opportunity to root for them more when they play.

Ever since Monica has retired, I have struggled to find a tennis player I wish to support wholeheartedly because I am shielded from getting to know the real player behind the tennis racket and their entourage. Player blogs on the ATP and WTA tour may help this but again the personal story is never fully told until their autobiography is published. Of course, not every tennis player will write their story and whilst biography’s might cover their tennis life to some extent, in my opinion, it will still not paint the full picture of that player.

I’ve always enjoyed reading and have built up a small personal library thanks to presents from friends and family and various jaunts through charity shops. Books can be read and re-read, leant to friends and neighbours and passed down through generations.

Books are a medium that though technology may advance, I hope will never lose their magic. Recent TV developments such as the BBC  iPlayer and Sky Plus come across as innovative, allowing you to stop and start programmes as the viewer wishes to watch them. I laugh because books did that years ago; pause, rewind, fast forward, start at the beginning, skip a chapter; you name it, you can flick through a book whether you’re on a plane, train, bus, in the bath, out for a coffee or even sitting on Henman Hill waiting for the action to start!

I would urge people to support World Book Day and take a trip to their local library after all, the books are free unless like me to tend to get overdue fees. The Tennis Gallery has a great selection of tennis books including hard to get titles from across the world. And finally, if you are a parent, encourage your kids to read and take advantage (tennis pun if you didn’t spot it) of the vouchers that they are due to pick up in schools across UK & Ireland today. Who knows where reading might take them to, perhaps even Centre Court at Wimbledon some day!

Tags: , , , , , , .

Week 8 Men’s Review

Published by Chris on March 2, 2010 in ATP. 0 Comments

Only a review this week as the Men’s calendar takes a break before Indian Wells & Miami beginning in the middle of next week (Don’t forget to sign up to the ATP fantasy league! for March 9th), with the Davis Cup sandwiched in between.

Ernests Gulbis spoiled the birthday celebrations for Ivo Karlovic in the final of Delray beach, by winning his first career tournament. Gulbis was tipped by many to be the next big thing to challenge tennis top 5 but has kind of slipped off the map since 2008, so fingers crossed this will be his breakthrough year.

In Acapulco Juan Carlos almost made it an unprecedented 3 out of 3 wins in the Latin American hard court season.  However he now stands tall above the rest with a 14-1 record for this year, beating the likes of Rafael Nadal and Gustavo Kueten since it’s inauguration.  It was David Ferrer who finally beat him the the final in 3 sets, gaining revenge for his defeat to Ferrero last week in Buenos Aires.  It was also his first title for over a year.  I will be very interested to see how Juan Carlos performs when the clay season begins proper in Monte Carlo.

It seems that the huge cash incentive in Dubai wasn’t enough firstly to tease some of the big guns out to play, and then some of the others not to perform.  Andy Murray tamely loss to Tipsarevic, missing out on a brilliant chance to move up to no.3 and to close the rankings gap on defending champion Djokovic. Speaking of him, due to the surprising lack of competition went on to defend his title.

Tags: , , , , , , .

Would the Next Generation please stand up?

Published by Peter on March 1, 2010 in ATP. 0 Comments

So we are now 2months into a very long and drawn out tennis season, March is ‘American Hardcourt Season’ and all the top players will be making their way to Indian Wells for the BNP Paribas Open and onto Miami. Thus far in 2010, Federer  has reminded us all what a great player he is and even after 9 years on the pro tour still has the fire and hunger to win majors. What we have not seen is who is going to be his longterm successor to the number one crown.

In September at Flushing we saw that  Juan M

Who's next?

artin Del Potro has the game to win majors, with his huge forehand and monster serve he has the tools to win on all surfaces. Unfortunately he fell in the Australian Open to Marin Cilic and has been out with a Murray type risk injury since. Marin Cilic is another guy touted for superstardom, similarly built like his Argentinian counterpart but has yet to make a major breakthrough in the Masters 1000 events or the Slams. Andy Murray who will be 23 in May has won Masters events and fallen short in 2 grandslam finals, but the jury is out on wether he can really dominate like Federer or Nadal on clay. His game is all about wearing down opponents and hes good at it especially against 95% of the tour, but traditionally Murray struggles against opponents with flat forehands. He was beaten well in the slams last year by guys like Verdasco, Gonzo, A- Rod and Cilic. He can win majors, but I do not see any kind of domination from the Scot.

American hopes rest on Giant Sam Querrey, who peaked at #22 in the world last summer. Unlike Delpo, Murray and Cilic, Querrey has won an event this year when he triumphed in Memphis a fortnight ago. His form has been up and down and was unfortunate last year to be sidelined with injury after falling through a glass table in Thailand! The French stars who never fulfill their potential such as Tsonga, Monfils and Gasquet have the armoury  to  triumph at the very top of the game but always seem to fall short.

Since the Australian Open I am left slightly disapointed,  we have failed to see any of the next generation step up to the plate and put their claim in for the number one crown. Surely with Federer, Nadal, Delpo and Murray struggling that would be all the encouragement any young pretender would need to get a few tournament wins under their belt. To date the form man of the tour is Spanish clay court veteran Juan Carlos Ferrero, hardly the next generation! Hopefully this month will prove a turning point……

Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Join the ATP Draw Challenge Circuit now!

Published by Chris on February 27, 2010 in ATP and Fun & Games. 2 Comments

Ever fancied yourself as a bit of a tennis train spotter?  Think you can do better than the tv’s pundits when calling a match?  Now’s your chance to prove your metal.

Get on over to http://challenge.atpworldtour.com and sign up for this years fantasy bracket challenge.  The aim of the game is to predict which players will advance through all the masters tournaments and grand slams.  The further they get, the more points you get, and what do points win?…. that’s right absolutely nothing!  This is simply an opportunity to have a bit of fun, and just how tennis smart you really are. There are prizes available, but it’s pretty difficult to win them!

Two years ago our blogger Chris finished 13th out ot 23,000 in the world, narrowly missing out on a chance for an all expenses paid trip for two to the Masters cup. He still curses Roger Federer for losing, to this day!  You need to sign up fast as you can begin selecting your picks from 9th March for Indian Wells and you have no hope of winning if you miss a tournament!  Wouldn’t it be great if you we could have syndicate amongst ourselves here at the LTB? Please go and sign up, and comment here with your username so we can find you.

Tags: , , , , .

The future is bright……

Published by Peter on February 26, 2010 in WTA. 3 Comments

……………..the future is  Annie K, Bally, Katie O Brien, Laura Robson and Katie Robson.

Its been a long time since there has been cause for so much optimism amongst British tennis players. In the 90s and early Henners flew the flag along with ‘Big Greg’ and Murray has been doing it on his own since 2005! Sam Smith was the last ladies player of note, once making the 4th round of Wimbledon, even our own Northern Irish doubles specialist flirted with the some wins in the slams and lower tier tour events. But never have British tennis fans had such a plethora of players coming through and competing on the tour.

Elena Baltacha, Anne Keothavong and Katie O Brien have been on the radar for some time now, battling away in the top 300, getting their annual big pay days with a ‘Wimbledon  wildcard’. But at a stage last year all 3 occupied places in the Top 100, the elite of the women’s game. What a fantastic feat. The ironic thing is, all players were already pros before the Draper era at the LTA;  where a huge amount of money was spent in assembling the best coaching and backup team in the world. Undoubtedly Anne, Elena and Katie have benefited from the super facilities at the LTA HQ at Roehampton and coaches of the quality of Annacone, Lundgren and Gilbert.

Very encouraging to see Anne and Elena doing so well in Memphis, sure it isnt one of the tours blue riband events but nonetheless 2 British ladies making the quarterfinals is a great achievement. Elena loosing to eventual champion Sharapova and Bally loosing to Runner up Arvidsson. Hopefully Katie O Brien can get herself fit and playing and competiting with her countrywomen. Another lady also doing well but out of the limelight is Naomi Broady, early on her career she was removed from the LTA’s funding program after she posted drunken pictures of her on her Bebo account. Recently she won events in Mexico and Cuba and currently sits just outside the Top 250.

In Laura Robson and Guernsey’s Heather Watson,  two Junior Slam winners, the latter sweeping to the title at Flushing last Autumn and Robson triumphing at Wimbledon 2008. Surely these two present the greatest hopes for British tennis in the next decade. Its comforting to see Robson isnt been thrown in at the deep-end, her development is being delicately controlled and monitored, she wants a career in the sport not a flash in the pan, retiring at 19 Sabatini like scenario! Watson has already come out and said this year until June at least, her A Levels will be her priority not her tennis, totally understantable. Clearly she has her head screwed on and promises her a future living after her tennis career.

I along with other tennis fans look foward to see Elena, Anna and Katie making the Top 50 this year, hopefully they can fair well in Wimbledon. Hopefully Laura can continue her progress and maybe win another slam or two before she joins the big girls. The future has never looked so promising!

Tags: , , , , , , .

The wonder of the web

Published by Rebecca on February 25, 2010 in Fun & Games and WTA. 3 Comments

Isn’t technology a marvel when we really think about it?  Without sounding like a pensioner with a free bus pass, it really has come on leaps and bounds in the past decade. As a result of advancements from extremely clever (and now no doubt very rich people), they way we receive our tennis information has changed dramatically.

“Hello operator? Can you please connect me to the All England Club; I’d like to find out which young chap won Wimbledon last year.”

When I first started following the game, I couldn’t have survived without good old Ceefax page 330. It was a lifeline in the pre-Internet days and I received all the scores, rankings and tennis gossip to keep me going on a daily basis.

Then, when my brother got a big box called a modem that was connected to the computer, I was able to check out the Corel WTA tour (it was that long ago) website. There I would, for endless hours, dial up in between shouts from my parents to get off the phone line, and see pictures and read interviews from all over the world. The novelty was so much so that I printed out the entire WTA rankings list and filed them away, just because I could!

I still remember sitting up late at night to log on and find out the scores of the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford when Monica Seles had a good run in 1998 (correct me if I am wrong on this one).

Now with wireless technology, I can sit on the laptop relatively anywhere in the house and watch Eurosport Player and catch live games from all over the world! Social networking, mobile web and the iPhone means we can be standing waiting for a bus and find out the latest tour gossip.

Through the wonder of Facebook and SMS updates to my mobile, I was able to find out by text that Roger Federer was the father of two bouncing baby girls, the same way I might find out that a friend or relative might have given birth. That level of tour news ten years ago would have taken hours and perhaps days to reach me by Ceefax or the newspapers.

Ceefax page 480 after its move from page 330, soon to be extinct with the Digital Switchover

Of course, around Wimbledon, I could rely on the papers to keep me informed of all the action on court, albeit that I had probably already watched all the matches on TV. With Andy Murray’s recent rise in the rankings, tennis now features more prominently all year round. Yeah!

Television coverage  of tennis has also (gratefully) vastly improved with age. Interactive TV who would have thought! I distinctly recall the first year it was introduced and Sue Barker demonstrated how to press the red button to gain further court coverage. Well, I pressed and I pressed the red button on our humble TV remote but Sue, I could not see what was happening on Court Number 2! It was a few days before I realised you had to be hooked up to Sky in order to get all the extra footage.

Now, thanks to digital ready TV sets, all BBC licence payers can watch extended coverage of not only Wimbledon but the French Open and the Australian Open as well. The sad thing is as digital takes over in 2012 (again correct me if I am wrong on the year), Ceefax will be no longer. Tennis and sports info will still be available thanks again to that mutli-functional red button, where would we be without it? (Sitting shouting at the TV, wishing to see a match on Court 2 whilst crying into a bowl of strawberries and cream perhaps).

Who knows how tennis info will advance in future years. Whilst the fans have been brought up close and personal to their favourite players, on court improvements have also come a long way from “That ball was on the line! Chalk few up!!”

If you have any bright ideas of how you think tennis will change in the future from a technological perspective, why not leave us a comment below, we’d love to hear from you!

Until then, aren’t you glad that the wonder of the web can bring you all the up-to-date news, views and opinions you need right here at www.LOVEtennisblog.com? 

Happy Surfing!

Tags: , , , , , .