Indian Wells: Early “Casualties” And Henman “Just Says No”

Since when did wearing rugby kit on court become acceptable?

(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Since Bethanie Mattek-Sands said it did, that’s when!

Would you have it any other way?

Those socks look large enough to contain shin pads, which of course they might very well do.

UK coverage of IW begins in anger from Saturday, headlined of course with “Hit for Haiti”.

First and second round action has already been underway since Wednesday.

Does Cornet even register as a casualty these days? She’s certainly no upset.

The gross post-Flushing comparisons with Henin may have grated my sensibilities even more viciously than the misplaced triumphalism of the time, or the glare from that fluoro-tinted Believe campaign, but Melanie Oudin’s surely too good to be going out to Roberta Vinci in the first round, no?

Henman “Just Says No” to Davis Cup Captaincy

Just like the warning contained in the US-imported 80s anti-drugs campaign, I can confirm that the experience might very well “screw him up”.

"Maybe in three years or in 13 years, sometime in the future, I might be interested in being the Davis Cup captain," Henman said. "But it doesn't feel like the right time. I'm enjoying my family and my golf - and not having any structure in my life.

"For 28 of the first 33 years of my life tennis was what I did. I wouldn't change that and I'm sure at some stage I'm going to get more involved and give back to British tennis.

"But at the moment I would not want the commitment or the responsibility of being Davis Cup captain."

-- The Times

Domestic bliss punctuated with the occasional round of golf, the odd skiing trip and an annual appearance on the BBC commentating on Wimbledon.

Who in their right mind would want to mess with that?

Meanwhile, Andy Murray gave his first reaction to LithuaniaGate:

He did not respond directly to whether Greg Rusedski — who was sounded out by the LTA the week before the trip to Lithuania about the prospect of replacing Lloyd — should be the choice. It is commonly believed, though Murray has never said as much, that he and Rusedski are not the closest of allies.

“If John does lose his job, I would like the players to have a say — and this is not just about me,” Murray said last night. “It’s not down to me alone. If there are 12 players in a room and eight of them say they would be happy with Greg being captain, then he should be the captain.

“It is about getting the right man, the one who can best motivate the players. They should have a strong say, but, of course, in the end it is down to the LTA to decide.”

-- The Times

Not a bad idea in principle – even if it does sound too much like saying “You can have any Captain you want, just so long as it’s not Greg Rusedski”.

As the collective voice of Tennis sense and reason has echoed over this past week, a different set of hands at the top would be like applying a fresh strip of band-aid.

Having said that, I’m actually in favour of John Lloyd stepping down, not least because “no one beats my DC Team 69 times in a row” doesn’t sound like something he’ll want scrawled on his epitaph.

Besides, a new face might create at least some disassociation with Lithuania in the minds of the players, and Greg Rusedski seems as good a choice as any, given that most players not named Murray appear to respect him.

The Times as Head of the LTA

Not wanting to be accused of resting on their laurels whilst besmirching the reputation of the LTA, The Times have put together a seven point plan to rescue British Tennis.

The National Tennis Centre a White Elephant? Well I never.

I quite like the description of the facility as “…a £40 million cradle of elitism, too opulent and cosy and not fit for purpose”, and Andy Murray being “asked if he would vacate a court last week to make way for a mini-tennis tournament.”

Mini-Tennis, we are told meanwhile, is “a scourge on the game”.

They don’t play Mini-Tennis in Bollettieri or Casal-Sánchez after all?

No they don’t.

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Vive La France?

The iron's no longer hot but I thought I should include these picks for the sake of completeness.

Miami's Iron Maidens:

Have to admit I'm struggling here (my own rules prevent me from including Azarenka in the list).

Svetlana - Some hairy moments aside, this wasn't what I'd call an unproductive week for Sveta. She's ditched her coach (who knows what makes these things work), but seemed to be playing more freely and effortlessly than I've seen in months. Oh and she won the doubles with Amelie. Still things to work on, but plenty to be proud of too.

Jie Zheng - Just coz I love the way she plays and she went out to (an unstrapped) Serena in the fourth round. No disgrace in that. Great things really do come in small packages.

Na Li - One of the cleanest ball strikers (and one of the better techniques) on tour, I do find it a little surprising she hasn't had more success. Still, a quarter final here shouldn't hurt.

Miami's Damsels in Distress:

Ooohhh Boyyy...

No shortage of contenders of course, but I think Dinara, Nadia and Alize particularly stand out for me. I'm a little disappointed with Alize who's recently gone from being a gutsy dependable presence to a frightened, unimposing wreck.

Which leads me to the main point of this post. Just what is going on with French tennis these days?

I've been more than generous in heaping (deserved) praise upon the mens game, but here's something to wring your hands about: I don't think it's a coincidence that two of my thre

e picks for the more disappointing performances in Miami were French.

Despite not being 100% against Djoko, I don't think you can fault Tsonga too much: he's already won two titles this year and made the quarters at Melbourne.

I want to limit the scope of my criticism instead, to three players in particular: Gael Monfils, Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon. (pointing)You, you and you - My office - now....

Richard Gasquet

I don't think it would be that valuable to rehash all th

e problems he's had with belief and mental toughness. That's hardly news, and in any event, is a charge you could level at French tennis in general: for all their talent, they're running a little thin on that stuff you sometimes find on roads - grit.

But here's a few other reasons why I think Reeshard comes up short so often.

-- His shotmaking is probably the reason why most people think he should be a top tenner at the very least. Some even thought of him as a Slam contender a few years ago. Quieter on that front now, though easy to see why. He can take the ball on the rise and can rip winners from pretty much anywhere on court. But that's very much the point for me. Why, if you had the hand skills to take the ball as early as he does sometimes, would you chose to spend 75% of the match camped five feet behind the baseline. It defies belief. I don't care that he's capable of hitting the occasional ripped winner from back there that defies

the laws of physics. He's shooting himself in the foot, and it's costing him the early stages of his career.

-- A corollary of the previous point. His style of play is way too passive for someone of his ability. He seems to occupy a space that straddles the line between being able to step in and end a point in one or at most two shots (which I would argue he should be doing more of), and hanging back (for far too long) and engaging in high, loopy clay court exchanges. I don't like it one bit. Gael Monfils suffers from the same ailment. Murray used to too. Then someone knocked some sense into him. Now he's threatening for the #3 spot.

-- Have to credit Mark Petchey for this one as I certainly didn't think this was as big a problem as some of the replays he ran appear to suggest it is (must try and dig out a YouTube clip). Reeshard's never been the best mover. But he does seem to scramble around an awful lot - undeniably a result of playing from so far back. Unless he's able to win the point in the initial few exchanges, he too often gets turned into his opponents' yo yo. But here's the thing. Next time you see him play, watch how inefficient his side

to side movement is. Whenever they're chasing balls down, the top players tend to always have their feet in a decent enough position to recover their balance and more centralised position at the baseline. Net result: their scrambling looks less laboured, smooth even - and they don't tend to lose any momentum as they chase the next ball down. I don't expect many players to have the pristine footwork of Federer or Murray. But if Reeshard is to have any credibility as even a top ten player, he's going to have to improve upon that horribly imbalanced and inefficient, jittery side-to-side movement - especially if he intends to spend that much time scrambling around, which I would argue he shouldn't even be doing.

Anyway the point of that analysis -- prepare to have your hearts pierced -- is that I don't think Reeshard is quite the player he's sometimes been bigged up to be. Yet. His dazzling array of shots -- some of which we wouldn't even get to see if he shortened points in the way I think he should -- often distract people from noting some pretty glaring defects in an otherwise fairly complete game.

"Cover your eyes COVER YOUR EYES!"

It' s not that I've suddenly stopped admiring those groundstrokes -- I still think he can crack the top ten on the strength of those alone -- I just think that to be considered in the same breath as Djoko and Murray you need to be more of a complete a player than he is just now.

Gilles Simon

On the one hand it's not that I don't admire what he brings to court. I've already spoken loads about his fitness and defence -- I even think there's a lot to be said for his shotmaking. But here's the thing (there's always a thing): Admirable as all of that is, it's still a pretty slender and limited bag of tricks to have made possible the incredible run of form he's had recently, which more and more are beginning to suggest was on the back of a few dodgy performances by the top players. Would he have still cracked the top ten if that didn't happen? Maybe, but his stay would be more brief. Would he have still got to the final of M

adrid last year? Probably not. Now that some of that dust is settled, could it be, that some of these earlier losses we're beginning to see, are a truer indication of his standing in the game?

Gael Monfils

Another guy who I think is way too passive and more than capable of wrestling the initiative from his opponents and ending points earlier than he does. But that's not what I want to talk about. I would argue that Gael's bigger problem is to do with maturity. Or the lack of it. For a guy that had so much success as a junior and has just cracked the top ten, he's one of the poorest thinkers out there. It's not just that his tactics don't always appear to be well thought out. When he's in trouble with his gameplan, he really looks lost out there. That's ok I suppose as he's still pretty young, and having Roger Rasheed in your corner can't hurt.

Much as I love this sort of thing...

But I really do think that the time has now come to cut out some of the more flamboyant on court amateur dramatics. You know, all that stumbling, scrambling and diving around after balls that are hopelessly beyond you. It is a crowd puller, I grant you, and is great for building up his image as a crowd pleaser as well as for tennis in general. But I think there comes a point at which you have to ask how good that is for your body (he does seem excessively prone to injuries), and whether you're in this racket (pun intended) to garner public affection or on court success. That's where I think Rasheed will be particularly useful. Whatever else you may think about him, he doesn't suffer fools easily and will be sure to give Gael a pretty hefty boot up the hindquarters if he feels he's not taking things seriously enough. Maybe he already has - I seem to detect less larking around on court recently.

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Jelena on 'Democracy and The Pursuit of Awesomeness'...

I'm going to stop talking about the LTA now - though let me just say in parting that Sky Sports seem bent on hosting some kind of 'face-off' between Mark Petchey (who's a regular commentator there anyway) and Roger Draper (CEO of the LTA). The LTA hasn't yet responded. Claws may be being sharpened as we speak.

The women's event has been underway at Indian Wells since last Thursday though you'd never know that by the way Eurosport has chosen to schedule its coverage this year. We only got our first instalment of play today and that was only one hours worth of highlights from the Jankovic v Pavlyuchenkova match. Jelena lost. The match as well as the plot.

Compromising with scant coverage of the early rounds of the women's event is one thing. But I'm having a really hard time accepting that 4 of the top seeds are out before I've had a chance to see a single live match. This marks a new low, even for the WTA: a situation I didn't think was possible. Instead of putting on an exhibition of 'what women's tennis would be like without the sisters', Jelena, Svetlana, Alize and Elena have single-handedly (though not with the backhand of the same name) reduced the event into 'what tennis would be like without the top seeds'. Well maybe it's not that bad. Not just yet.

But just think, if either one of Ana or Dinara have a bad day (they're never too far), we'll officially be into sideshow territory: not what you want for the first 'Premier' event of the year and yet another poor ad for the WTA. Also not the circumstances I would think, you'd want to see the Wozniacki's or Azarenka's break through in.

I have to admit when I saw Jelena play yesterday, I thought I was watching a different player: Not only did her movement seem sluggish, but her shots lacked the depth and purpose she usually has in spades. Little did I know:

The Serb also complained of 'feeling too heavy' following weeks of intensive training during the off-season.

"In the beginning, I felt really different with my body because I got a little bit of muscles and I felt heavier on the court," she said.

"I was always a certain weight and always my best weapon was my legs. I always moved and I had the anticipation and I was always on the ball.

"Now. I just cannot do that. I'm one step too slow or one step too much into the shot. And then all the strokes break down and I don't have the timing and my accuracy is not there.

I had heard she had attempted to bulk up a little during the off season, but must confess to not noticing any change since the new year - and I certainly wouldn't have thought the changes drastic enough to interfere with her game - her movement no less. I mean that's the equivalent of robbing the A-Rod of his serve or Gasquet of his backhand.

In any event, I'm more than just a little confused as to why she thought it necessary to get all Wonder Woman on us - she's not the paciest of players yes, but her problems were more to do with a lack of willingness to finish points off: Lack of aggression? Sure. Lack of muscles? Not so much.

Just goes to show that in some cases the talents that get you to the top of the game are uniquely your own - mess with them at your peril.

"I mean, overall everything is wrong. I need a lot of work. I wish I had a magic wand and could just fix my game and just play awesome tennis again. I would like it to be that way, but sometimes it's not."

Source: Reuters

The pursuit of 'Awesome Tennis'. What a noble sentiment. What a place the WTA would be if it had more of that elusive 'Awesomeness'. The ATP for example, is a very 'awesome' (not to mention 'happening') place to be right now. All of the top four through in their opening matches. Exactly the way it should be. Not that we haven't had any upsets. Monfils (a top tenner now) went out to Isner in three sets. But Isner wears (I'm told) size fifteen shoes. He's what I call a 'wandering monster': a sort of cross between a Journeyman and a Hulk. Karlovic is a WM too although he can volley very well. WMs lumber from tournie to tournie dispensing their own unique brand of justice. There's usually casualties. Sometimes from the top ten. But the general ordered nature of the ATP right now ensures they never progress too far, much less win a tournament. Take that as a nugget of wisdom. From my very own Tennis Codex. There's more where that came from.

I'd stop watching men's tennis the day I see Ivo lifting a Masters Shield. Tommy Haas is also good at dispensing wisdom. He once said (after losing to Ivo): "There should be a rule ...if you're over 6'6'' ... you can't play". You may not agree, but must admire it for it's precision and simplicity.

Anyway, I'm glad Jelena is so candid about things, as this is now officially a crisis. As I think I've mentioned many times before, I don't normally expect big things from JJ early on in the year - her season ending exertions usually catch up with her and she takes a while to begin to love the new season. But she's usually clicking into gear come March and in any case, things rarely look as bad as they did yesterday.

Still I do expect her to rally, as I've always had her down as a stalwart of sorts (or the closest you can get to one in the current field). Though I'm a little more tentative in my insistence that she'll bag a Roland Garros title in a couple of months time.

Jelena: "Muscles robbed me of my awesomeness"

Oh and if you do find that magic wand Jelena, can you also wave it on Maria's shoulder - she's never been found wanting in 'Awesomeness' (with a capital 'A'). Nor have those Sisters. The rest of the field however, is sadly remiss in it's pursuit of 'awesome tennis'. Wave it on them too while you're at it. I think they could do with the help. Democratise some of that 'awesomeness' I say.

***

Djokovic came through against Argentine Vassallo Arguello yesterday. There was a lot of talk about his racquet and how his unorthodox forehand take back was much better suited to the thinner beamed Wilson.

I don't know how much truth there is in that, but I echo the commentators view that Djoko is looking a lot more like a workhorse this year than someone who routinely dictates play. It's debatable whether that's entirely down to his Head (the racquet that is) - he has after all been off par since that loss to Safin at Wimbledon, but more than one observer has made the point that "he's not hitting through the ball" like he was last year and I myself am convinced his shots are landing a lot shorter.

(Jankovic image: Tennis.com)
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The Next 'Next Big Thing'...

I don't normally make a habit of missing out on new sensations - especially when they have much-touted single handed backhands. But I wasn't able to catch Nadal's third round encounter in Rotterdam with the Bulgarian 17 year old, Grigor Dimitrov. He's the reigning Junior Wimbledon and US Open Champion, and a future top tenner - a view held by no less a man than Rafa himself.

I normally take next-big-thing hollerings with a pinch of salt - it seems to me that there's too many players that remain as next-big-things-in-waiting, right through to their mid twenties, yet to have made the slightest dent at the Masters level (Reeshard's about to prove me wrong on that count this year, aren't you Reeshard?). But as it's Rafa that's put some of his weight behind the bigging-up brigade, my young gun radar will this year, be tuned more closely than normal on young Grigor.

***

The French women had a hard day at the office in their quarter finals in Paris - and boy were they up against it:

Williams v Loit

Dementieva v Dechy

Jankovic v Cornet

Radwanska v Mauresmo

Exactly.

In case you missed it they all went out, except for Mauresmo who always seems to rise up when I've stopped taking notice; and what is the deal with Radwanska these days? Cornet did put up spirited resistance in her match against Jankovic (that had an uncomfortably large number of service breaks), but went down in another close three setter, that must surely remind her of that match she played against Safina at Melbourne, where she held two match points before Dinara came storming back.

Last but not least, Mario 'serve and volleys last stand' Ancic seems to be making something of a comeback in Rotterdam. He's beaten both Simon and Youzhny and now faces Murray in the semis. I don't expect him to get through (Murray's slices are looking a little too delicious), but will I hope derive some confidence from his run here.
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