Loss, and Serbian Davis Cup Dismay

Losses are dispiriting. And, often, something far worse. The way we process loss tends to vary, mainly because, well, people do too.


Some require catharsis. An electrifying effusion of rage and grief whose undiscriminating solar wind incinerates everything in its wake and thereby - it is to be hoped - sets the scene for healing and acceptance. Unsurprisingly, many opt to draw on their support structures (where available).
Others face misfortune with something resembling stoicism, preferring quiet, solitude and the cultivation of hope.

There's really no prescribed way through disappointment - beyond the fact that you'll have to weather it. And depending on its magnitude it can sometimes feel like those well-meaning anecdotes on personal growth and self-discovery through the 'loss of innocence' are largely platitudinous and simply in place to keep you from feeling a mess.

Almost all coping mechanisms will, however, feature an element of introspection and rationalisation.

Some such searches will yield more satisfying answers than others, though even where blame can be neatly ascribed to 'this' or 'that' or 'him' or 'her', the journey seems to be at least as important as any insight or closure it affords.

More commonly though the question of 'why' or 'how' is a fraught, intractable and confused mesh of inter-dependencies within which ideas like "blame" will collapse into their most abstract form. At least temporarily anyway.

Something like this has been playing out within the Serbian DC team (and indeed its band of supporters as well as the wider commentariat) in the wake of last weekend's loss to the Czech Rep.

Novak was of course roundly expected to come through both his singles rubbers perhaps only dropping a set to Tomas. He didn't drop a single set as it turned out - no one did, in fact, in any rubber for the first time in DC final history (the US didn't drop a set to Italy in the 1979 final either, but the opening rubber ended by way of a retirement after only one set. #History).

With Troicki and Tipsarevic sidelined however, the Serbs fielded 117 ranked Dusan Lajovic to play Berdych. As expected both teams were one a piece at the end of day one.

With the remaining singles seemingly set to mirror day one, doubles - now effectively a deciding rubber - assumed an almost seismic significance.


The true story of why Djokovic was benched for that fateful doubles rubber may never be known. There were reports of him being exhausted (and we might reasonably assume being rested for reverse singles). There were also reports of it being a "team decision". Speculation soon flowed that it might be mostly or wholly Novak's choice. And then of course there were those more fractious post match reports of everyone in the team (inc. Nenad) rounding on Nenad's evident underperformance. Nenad himself eventually indicated that "keeping the Ferrari in the garage" was a mistake. (Radek was perhaps alluding to Novak's greatness. I don't claim to understand what was going through Tomas' head. Nothing probably).

I expect the post-mortem will go on for some time. While that impulse is undoubtedly instinctive and perfectly sound, it's probably asking too much of the participants to play the role of staid, detached auditors.

However messy catharsis might already be, finding answers becomes exponentially more fraught when it takes place within the unholy alchemy of conflicting personalities, the oppressive weight of national expectation (including, but not limited to, the need to placate a visceral fanbase), the unforgiving nature of the public eye and the sheer immediacy of the loss.

One only needs to take a look at the happenings in the Argentine locker room to know that this phenomenon isn't peculiar to any one nation. But it can sometimes lead people to see things that really aren't there.

It's certainly not *inconceivable* that having Novak play doubles might have lent a different colour to proceedings. At the very least the presence of the world's best on court has to come with some pretty unique psychological benefits.

But it is possible to oversell this. It has been. It *is* being. The reality is that Novak simply isn't a good doubles player. Quite apart from his suspect doubles record, his even more 'suspect' overhead and how unnatural he still sometimes is in the forecourt, you have to indulge in a kind of bullish conceit to imagine that skills cultivated and rooted almost wholly on or around the baseline might be immediately transposed to a doubles court.

I wouldn't go as far as to say it's a different sport, but it's simply incontestable that doubles has its own distinct skillset and a dynamic that is almost foreign to most singles players (yes, even Novak). While it may be a different story if they were involved with doubles all year round, and while more top singles players could, on average, make the transition than vice versa, singles players just aren't the de facto 'star players' they're often made out to be.


That's not to say Nenad didn't clearly underperform or that Novak definitely wouldn't have instilled a little extra something against one of the most successful DC doubles pairings out there. But would this be an issue if even *one* of Troicki or Tipsarevic were present?

And would we not be demanding the head, and quite possibly the entrails, of Obradovic if the much touted benefits of Djokovic's aura failed to materialise?

It's very easy to posit robust sounding tactical corrections *after* matches have been lost. And it's very easy to pretend we'd not be seeing precisely the opposite analysis couched in equally confident terms if Novak's inclusion failed to have the desired effect (and, I hardly need add, left him even more exhausted for singles).

But whether we choose to admit it or not, Troicki's and Tipsarevic's absence remains the single most causal factor for why we are where we are.

It's one thing to want to strategise optimally given those glaring gaps in the Serbian team, and quite another to abandon all reason by losing sight of the fact that those gaps ever existed, narrowly restricting one's focus instead to "Ferraris" and "underperformance".

Perhaps the most emblematic illustration of the unhelpful and unhealthy consequences of leaving that frenzied appetite for answers unchecked, are those reports of Nenad being held responsible by the whole team - even appearing to be convinced of that himself.

Again, expecting the epitome of dry objectivity from Team Serbia at this point is a little short-sighted - to say nothing of the complete want of empathy it shows. They'll likely take a more measured view of things with the passage of time. And even if they don't it will hurt a whole lot less.

People often need (more than can be stated) such wholesale rationalisations to make sense of the world in the wake of disappointment. But that doesn't mean we continue with the conceit long after the sell-by date of its therapeutic value.

You don't bring a knife to a gunfight. But then you don't bring a Ferrari to terrain it's so obviously unsuited for either (especially when it has to race the next day). Sometimes the garage is exactly where it belongs.
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ATP Slapstick: Janko Tipsarevic and Gael Monfils on the verge of qualifying for London

 

So here’s an experiment. Try standing in front of a mirror with your hands behind your back, staring eye-to-eye at your reflection, and saying ‘Gael Monfils, number one seed’ out loud 10 times without pause (keep looking at the mirror).

If you make it past ‘four’ without the trace of a snicker (and without the aid of some sort of biochemical suppressant), I put it to you that your synapses are wired the wrong way and that you should probably be kept away from young children.

That’s where I was (or rather wasn’t) with Stockholm all week. Any tournament with Gael, or for that matter Janko, as its top seed needs to go away and do some thinking. Unless you’re in the business of slapstick.


 
But credit where it’s due.

Both Janko and Gael and, incidentally, Dolgopolov were *and are* in contention for London. They knew it – tennis mathletes certainly knew it.

Normally, that kind of demand is Gael’s cue to slide into a bunch of line judges or to go jump through a window – anything but win the requisite number of matches.

But he didn’t implode, not by that or any other means – and neither did Janko. Both men, instead, somewhat untrue to form, went on to win events in which they were (however laughably) deemed by the numbers to be the top seeds. In other words, they lived up to their billing. And that deserves recognition.

That, incidentally, is Janko’s second title in three weeks – also his second overall. With an appetite like that he might actually wind up qualifying for London (straight face and keep staring at the mirror). This must be why those hoity-toitys at the top of the rankings want to shorten the season.

Dolgo, on the other hand, has just gone out to Dudi Sela in St Petersburg this morning for the loss of only four games. Just last week he lost his opener to Jeremy Chardy, also in straight sets. That deserves recognition too – if only because it’s recognisably stupid.

With all due respect to those other two, only a nincompoop loses that meekly when there’s so much at stake.

Either he doesn’t get it, or he just can’t help himself. Or both. He’s “not wired properly up there” either.

(pics: Getty)
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Wiggling Bepa and the “Man to Beat”

 

I didn’t follow any of Dubai this year only finding time to tune into the final.

 

As such, I don’t have too many opinions. But I do think it bears mentioning that although this is now 3 consecutive titles for Nole in DooBye, this is the first and only of those three in which he’s either displayed the form or met with the opposition consistent with that success.

 

What’s perhaps more surprising is that it was Fed who’d been the better player all week – Nole termed his win over Berd “his worst performance of the year” – yet it was Nole who was able (in the first set at least) to bring the type of tennis that’s won him Slams (plural).

 

Does this form, this incredible streak he’s on, make him the best player in the world right now?

 

Probably. I really don’t see the controversy in stating that.

The fact that he’s the ‘man to beat’ right now must surely be incontrovertible and isn’t (despite troublemakers’ best efforts to stir things up) a slight on anyone. On the other hand, it also says next to nothing about his chances at any of the upcoming Slams or, for that matter, at IW/Miami. Nothing, that is, other than that he must be held up as one of the four or five players with the best shot at winning it.

Quite possibly the best wiggling-Bepa pic ever.

Yes the wind was a factor (though I think it’s very telling how Caro-supporters gloss over how Bepa was successfully contending with exactly the same conditions) and I’d be lying if I said Caro was at her best (main difference centres on whether she was done physically after two contiguous weeks or simply due a dud) – yet I still think all of that pales in comparison to how very far Bepa has come.

Can you honestly see her playing some of the matches she played this week even twelve months ago (let alone prior to that)?

If you want my honest opinion it was Hantuchova that delivered the performance of the week – I’m still not completely certain why she lost that match.

But doesn’t that also precisely and exactly capture why it’s Bepa and not Dani holding up the trophy at the end of the week?

Some of Bepa’s surprisingly low-key, economic play (often under the type of pressure would have resulted in her inexorable collapse not 16 months ago) was so un-Bepa like, I almost mistook it for someone else.

Just as un-Bepa-like, is the fact that she was able to continue in that vein for the entire week.

 

Who are you and how did I get here?

 

Yes Delpo won his first title since his comeback and yes that is a flux capacitor from late 2009.

Also, incidentally, his third consecutive semi final and a rise of 77 places to #89 in the rankings.

Spare a thought, if you can tear yourself away from the Delpo welcome-home party, for Tipsy, who is now 0-3 in ATP finals and the only “titleless” member of the top 100 Serbian stable.

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USO: Right Foot or Left?

 

      getty

 

I’ll say it one more time: The best shit goes down while I’m tucked up in bed dreaming of Sod hurling petrol bombs.

 

Which would have been bad enough if I were actually sleeping and not lousing the night away wondering when the alarm clocks going to go off.

 

Something else I’ll say (to Andy) one more time: This “fire and brimstone” act is not just tired, tasteless and uncouth….it’s also a little embarrassing (though mostly for your sake).

 

It may still be ok in certain quarters for you to patronise officials like some super sized jock. I, and I suspect more Americans than we’ve been led to believe, have had their fill of it.

 

 

It takes surprisingly little time to go from being the “lovable rogue” to the unlovable twat. That you were being outplayed whilst all this took place makes a grim spectacle grislier still.

 

For the record, not to mention the sake of your largely unimpeachable record over the years, I’m still a fan; and will (rightly or wrongly) consider it a travesty if you or ElenaD retire without winning that elusive (and in your case 2nd) Slam.

 

But really now, let’s cut the hogwash.

 

Now would someone please fill me in on what exactly Tipsy’s done with those woodnote grunts of his and whether or not he arrived on court wheeling airport luggage?

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Twitterati Illuminati and Free Museum Tickets.

First off, observe if you will the newly created twitter feed to the left.

(Credit: wefunction.com)

I’m a Twit. And not quite proud of it.

One day maybe, but right now the only thing I take pride in is how long I held out.

140 character limited dystopia claims another victim.

As you’ve probably noticed it makes the site load slower than Simon Reed’s hate infested inbox, so I’m open to suggestions on any juicy Twitter widgets you may know of (already tried Twitter's own) that can be configured to gel with the look and feel of your site. Until then you'll have to make do with this unsalubrious mess, and it's unTwitter-like date stamps.

Ana Ivanovic has hired Heinz Gunthardt as her new coach.

The Ivanovic management made the announcement, which brings to an end the number 23 player's coaching relationship with the adidas team, still her clothing sponsor.

I know we’ve jumped through this hoop before.

But can we still all breath a great sigh of relief, and take collective solace in this first step in the right direction?

Things really couldn’t get any worse for her, so let’s hope she sees this one through before checking in to Team Adidas once again.

We all know Heinz worked with Steffi Graf. Quite a few of us also know he aided and abetted Brad Gilbert into making Andre and Steffi’s first on court “practice session” a reality.

Just saying. This guys got salubrious history in many spheres.

Muzzard goes down 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-4 to Tipsarevic.

Undoubtedly a big win for Tipsy, though Muzz was never overly optimistic about his chances at this event, drawing attention instead to the lengthy time he’s spent away in the aftermath of Oz.

"It is always disappointing to lose, but I did not have much expectation from the tournament," Murray said.

"I am coming from a big break after the Australian Open and was not as prepared as I should have been for the tournament. I was still trying out things on the court, rather than playing my normal game."

That may well be true. Some of it, or all of it.

I also think however, that Tipsy is a dangerously underrated player.

Three years back, I thought he was headed for the top ten. Then Nietzsche and a shed load of brain cramps intervened (in any order or all at once).

"One of the biggest wins, surely," he said. "For me, Murray is a contestant to be No. 1 at the end of the season. He played unbelievable tennis at the Australian Open. He was one of the favorites to win the tournament here, for sure."

It’s not nearly as frequent now, but every so often he delivers a performance that makes me hope. Yes, I’m aware it might offend some people’s sensibilities, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Tipsy in the top ten.

If for no other reason than that he’s a dead ringer for a buddy of ours that used to work in the Natural History Museum.

Every time I see Tipsy – I think free museum tickets.

So now you know.

It ain’t November yet people…

With Fed, Delpo and Nadal already sidelined, and further withdrawals from Davy (wrist) and Llodra (thigh strain), you might be forgiven for thinking it’s already nearing the end of the season.

Tsonga was only spared my virginal wrath on the TwitterSphere, when I was reminded he continues to struggle with a stomach injury he sustained in Oz. Not that I find it difficult to celebrate any time Ljubicic wins big,

It’s further opened up a draw already containing several prominent gaping holes.

I was at first thinking how this would offer up yet another opportunity for Djoko to clean up, except I saw Djoko play today (he won in three against Troicki), and I’m not that convinced he’s about to clean up anything.

There’s also the ‘Red Hot Cilic Pepper’ effect to consider of course. He’s not in Djoko’s half of the draw so the two could meet in the final.

All of that assumes order and harmony.

Except my recent uptake of Twitter has tapped in to a latent primeval desire for chaos and disarray.

Which is why I’ll be rooting for Baggy and Youzhny. Both have been away for far too long, and it’s not for want of effort.

Though there’s also Tipsy and the lure of free museum tickets.

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2008: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Pt III

Nalbandian wins a game at Queen's

I still find it hard to believe he won only one game.

In what must have been the worst performance given by any player (both male and female) this year, Nalbandian went out 6-1,6-0 against Djokovic in the semi-finals at Queen's. Djokovic was in fine form coming into this, but he's not that good. I can only hope for Nalbandian's sake, that there was something very wrong health wise - in which case it would have been better to not take to the court at all.

It came across particularly badly, as prior to the tournament there were rumours of huge buckets of cash being thrown at players in appearance fees. It must have done the job, because that really was the best field we've had in many years. It wouldn't have looked half as bad if he wasn't the talent we know he is, or if he didn't look so damned disinterested. In fact I would have preferred to have seen some of that frustration we saw in Argentina this weekend - he's obviously a very passionate man.

John Lloyd said afterwards that Djokovic ought to take to the court again ahead of the final, because that semi didn't even constitute a practice session.

Wimbledon - Safin's run

Not many people would have taken you seriously if you'd predicted Safin getting to the semis earlier on this year - there's plenty of fans who want that sort of a result for him and few doubt he's capable of it, but there's been for some time now a rather gloomy sense of inevitability about his tennis.

Since Melbourne 2005, we've had such a depressingly lengthy and consistent stream of first and second round exits, that its become difficult to back him out of anything other than loyalty and hope; and this year saw his ranking drop so low he was reduced to playing qualies in Hamburg.

It remains to be seen whether this was his last big showing at a Grand Slam (I continue to hope) but he took many by surprise in producing his best streak of tennis since 05, on a surface which according to him is best left to cows (can we please come up with a new metaphor in 09?).

I'm not going to go into too much detail, but two matches in particular stood out: Djokovic looked a little shell-shocked as he went down in straight sets; he didn't realise it at the time but this was to prove to be the turning point in a season which from this point on (and up until the Masters Cup), went mostly down. The commentators made the point that Safin actually plays the same brand of tennis as Djokovic; its just he does it so much better.

The other match was against Andreas Seppi. I was at Wimbledon in 06 (the one time I've been there) and saw Seppi play Agassi in a very one sided encounter. I remember mentioning to 2Hander at the time just how unimpressed I was and that he struck me as nothing more than 'a very competent Club Player' - well I guess someone must have told him.

In what was perhaps (along with Murray v Gasquet) the 2nd best match of Wimbledon, and probably the best exhibition of flat ball striking this year, Seppi went down to Safin in 4 sets. The match completed in even poorer light than we saw at the end of the final - and though Safin said later he'd wanted to stop I've a feeling he would have fought to stay out on court that night.

He didn't unfortunately follow up on this performance in the hard court season and may I feel, have missed the boat in failing to capitalise on what may have been his last big surge of momentum.
(Safin image by Swiv)

Wimbledon - Roddick out in 2

There's precious few certainties in tennis: Rafa on clay, Davydenko not making the second week at Wimbledon and a glimpse at Lars Graf's thumb in any match he's officiating.

Also on that list until this year, was Roddick making the 2nd week of Wimbledon - he'd made at least the quarters here in every year of the past five with only the single hiccup in 2006 when a Scottish upstart named Andy Murray beat him in the third round.

Anyway that 'blip' has now morphed into what I feel will become an increasingly familiar pattern: Roddick occasionally falling early to a rising talent. This time it was to the frighteningly intonated Janko Tipsarevic (who up until he fell here was my 'man of the moment', the most capable 'dasher of hopes' outside of the top ten) in round two, whose grunts seem to be as integral a part as anything else in a carefully orchestrated campaign designed to wear you down.

Leading Ladies out

I have to think this to be a corollary of the poor showing at this year's women's grass court warm up events; only Kuznetsova and Jankovic made it to round four. Yikes.

The most glaring upsets were Ivanovic (the recently anointed world number one) in round three and Sharapova in round two.
I've never been a fan of an all-Williams final - however you frame it, it just doesn't titillate in the way a Slam final ought to, and unfortunately gives rise to the tired, oft-repeated and unwarranted speculation into just how competitive the Sisters can really be against one another.

We were also treated to the post match verbal fisticuffs between Sharapova's conqueror Kudryavtseva ('I don't like her outfit') and Sharapova ('she beat me, and it probably made her tournament') in an otherwise forgettable year of Women's tennis at SW19.
(Sharapova image by Steve9091)

Wimbledon - 'Our Tim' commentates

It's not that it was bad, you understand - in fact it was actually fairly competent for someone whose only experience behind the mike comes in the form of post match pressers and the odd TV appearance. It was just very evident that he wasn't enjoying himself.

I hope he doesn't get put off too easily and gives it another shot in 2009 (I really like having a recent player in the booth), but I won't be very surprised if he finds something else to do.

Wimbledon - The 'Triumph & Disaster' Oration

Every year the BBC come up with a series of diverting and sometimes gimmicky time fillers, for the frequent and lengthy rain delays and any other unexpected gaps in tennis transmission we are almost certain to have. This year we had a series of mini documentaries charting Federer's rise to the top, and this...

Some bright spark thought it would be a great idea to hear the top two players in the world recite (in full) Rudyard Kiplings poem 'If', one of the central stanzas of which appears inscribed above the player's entrance to Centre Court ('If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors the same...').

It was however less triumph and mostly disaster, as first Nadal and then Federer were forced to awkwardly chart their way through couplet after couplet in what is after all for them a second language. I seem to remember Nadal's oration more clearly than Federer's though not I imagine, for the correct reasons.

Perhaps it would be better if we were to keep most of the poetry on court next year.

Wimbledon - Oh Yeah, The Final

Ok I'm going to say it: this wasn't the best match I've ever seen Rafa and Roger play. It certainly provided the best drama of their recent matches, and there were without doubt, streaks of sheer brilliance from both men at times, but in terms of skill and sustained quality over five sets, give me the final at Rome in 06 any day of the week.













That's all I want to say about it at this point, as I intend to return to this slightly controversial point (especially here in the UK, where for the average Joe, the tennis season begins with Queen's and ends with Wimbledon) in an upcoming post on the best matches of recent years.
(Nadal image by aldinegirl12)

Wimbledon - Dementieva raises the all-Williams spectre again

This is getting really tiresome.

It's not their fault they're drawn against each other. Its not their fault they are head and shoulders above most of the rest of the competition; and though their match at this year's US Open quarters suggested the exact opposite, if they were to be slightly less competitive against each other much less fix the match, you would certainly never know.

It's one thing to say that such a match up holds less interest for you, and quite another to suggest as Dementieva did that the outcome would be 'a family decision'. She later claimed the real meaning of her comments (given in English - her second language) were kind of lost in (her own mental) translation.

Isn't it time most anyone associated with Tennis finally put this one to bed?

Wimbledon - Guy Forget serving at 130mph+

This one totally caught me off guard. I don't normally follow much of the doubles and certainly not any of the Invitational Doubles (thats seniors to you and me), but late one evening on one of the outside courts, I got a glimpse of Guy Forget serving at what the speed gun registered to be a staggering 134mph.

That would place him quite comfortably in the same bracket as (and maybe slightly above) Marat Safin and Andy Murray, which for a retired 43 year old I find a little scary.

Olympics - All Russian affair

One of the few goods things about Women's Tennis this year.

First it was 'The Russians are coming...'. Then in 2004 we finally knew they'd arrived when three out of the four Slams went to a Russian woman with two of those finals being all Russian affairs.

This year at the Olympics, despite the recent Serbian surge, Dementieva, Safina and Zvonareva took the top three spots and provided us with a very timely reminder that the Russians are here to stay.

Olympics - Gonzales does a Maradona

Ok maybe it wasn't quite in the same league as Diego's infamous 'Hand of God' incident, but Gonzo my-man, you did clip that ball and you knew it.

In fact anyone who's played tennis will be able to tell you that when the ball clips your frame like that, or even more softly, then although the umpire won't always be able to tell, you certainly feel it.

I actually feel that the incident itself didn't play as much a part in Blake's downfall as subsequent reports made it out to have done or for that matter as he himself did, and to be honest if your concentration is so brittle that you allow something like that to dictate the course of a match, then you probably deserved to have lost anyway.

But there's no doubt that Gonzo was just a little bit naughty out there that day and with it being the Olympics (with its Athletes' Code of Conduct and Oaths to that effect), would I feel have won a lot of fans if he'd simply come clean - the match was all but in the bag anyway.

Olympics - Federer loses to Blake

Sorry, another one in which I appear to be dissing Blake - I'm actually a great fan of his tennis, though you wouldn't always know it (mental note to make more positive postings on Blake in the future).

As I said earlier, Federer had some worrying losses this year. But aside from the mauling he received in the Final of Roland Garros, this I felt was one of his more revealing losses this year, and official confirmation (as if it were needed at this late stage in the year) that something was horribly wrong.

I say this because there's players Federer beats and there's players Federer BEATS, and Blake along with Ferrer and Davydenko is very much in the latter category. This says next to nothing about the players themselves all of whom are great examples of very different brands of tennis. It's just an observation that Federer clearly excels against certain types of players and if he starts losing to them more frequently it really is a different era of tennis we are now entering.

One last posting on 2008 and it's time for something a little different.

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