Rogers Cup: Bad things happen to good people and to multimillionaire tennis players with high rankings

Losing a few big names in the early rounds is no big deal – it’s almost part of the deal and may even prove beneficial.

Lose Caro, Rafa, Murray, Delpo and Kim in the space of 48 hours and its clear you’re dealing with chaos.

And any post purporting to “explain” chaos is, well, part of the problem.

That doesn’t mean I don’t think there’s any reasons for what’s happening: I don’t think you can dismiss the role of the July layoff, for example – Murray, from what I remember (which is frankly nothing), doesn’t always cope with that type of interval too well.

Rafa losing to a big hitting Croatian on a hard court? Seen that before. Being so horribly predictable under pressure it makes your eyes water? Seen that too. [full credit to Dodig for his muscly double-hander but he shouldn’t have been given so many of them to begin with]  

Injuries, withdrawals? That’s just the fabric of tennis reality.

Perhaps the only real surprise is that it should all happen at once – a statistical anomaly, nothing more, nothing less.

All of which is to say is, the sh*t sometimes hits the fan.

And I don’t even think its that much of a big deal . Nor do I think we should be bending over backwards trying to “explain” it.

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Behold Ernie, ‘Creature of the Night’.

    
It’s the eyes – they’re all “in league with Lucifer”. Well that’s one way to get sh*t done.

Not gonna lie – a little scared right now.



Gulbis d. del Potro 6-2 6-4

When he broke his 5 match losing streak with a win over Malisse,  it was a mere curiosity.

When he followed it up it  with a straight sets win, it was a reminder that, whatever else you might think of him, he’s still relevant.

When he dusted off Delpo 2 and 4 last night, it became a “thing”. Oh yeah, I think we can call it that now.

By all accounts (after hours for me), it was a one-sided demolition with Ernie reminding us of why he is indeed a thing, why he’s always been a thing.

I doubt very much that Delpo would have underestimated the threat, but he cannot have expected this.

Here’s hoping this form carries over. Not to rain on anyone’s parade, but this ain’t a Slam (not even a Masters 1000) – Ernie hasn’t been beyond one of those in his last 7 attempts.

*That* particular streak needs to end too. And FAST. Else this ain’t a “thing”. Not even close.




Williams d. Sharapova 6-1 6-3

I know I was meant to have been all “IT’S ON” ever since it was clear these two would meet – I just couldn’t dismiss the possibility of precisely this kind of a letdown.

But I would have preferred it if Pova had simply been tuned – far better to have simply been able to say “too good” rather than imploding the way she has all too often recently.

As it happened, Pova was neither here nor there – she simply looked utterly terrified of Serena (so I’m told).

"I think I’ll need to win a couple of more matches before it becomes a true rivalry," said the fifth-ranked Sharapova, who is now 2-7 against Serena and who hasn’t beaten her since 2004. "It’s not really a rivalry until I win few more matches. She’s experienced enough to know that even if it’s a small or big event you have to go out there and do our job and still go out there and win it."

Not that Serena instilling fear in her opponents should surprise any of us. But it’s a little disappointing when that opponent happens to be one of the best competitors the sport has ever seen – perhaps the only player  left in the WTA with the requisite mental hardware to pose Serena a challenge.

Still, as with Ernie, this ain’t a Slam is it, so what does it matter? Right? Right?

“I decided it’s time to get serious not only at the Slams but every other tournament as well.”

-- Serena Williams

OH.

Sabine next. On paper, this spells all sorts of Boombastic. But then that’s what we said about the Wimbledon semis.

Obligatory Happy Domi pic.

No one else serenading the run she’s been on, so I will.

4th round or better at every Slam. QFs or better at three out of the four.

She plays Marion in the semis in a match custom built to test my loyalties to the nth degree.

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Wimbledon: His name is ‘Bernard’ and other week one curiosities.

Ok look, I can’t promise I’m gonna stop poking fun (not in the short term), but we can’t go on pretending he’s not a serious talent.

And what’s more is, he’s probably the future of Aussie Tennis. If, as an Aussie, such a prospect fills you with mortal fear, you should probably consider switching nationalities, as it may happen sooner than you or I think.

All that stuff about him being an irritant? Probably still true, but there’s still time to “man up”, and here’s a sobering truth: Tennis Australia needs Bernard Tomic, not vice versa.

I’m not saying he’s the “next big thing”. Would never hit you with something as tawdry as that. And of course there’s room for improvement:  I’ve heard criticisms about the movement – Pat Cash went as far as to say he plays “like a junior….like Andy Murray” (one in the same I presume). Tignor has him going “even further into the funky” than, say, someone like Dolgopolov.



But none of this detracts from the eclectic blend of junk and easy flamboyance that seems to serve him so well. Nor from his ability to keep cool under pressure. Nor does the fact that a stomach bug Sod contracted was causing him to break out in a cold sweat, double over in between points (sometimes even having to sit down) and have a well-documented (too well documented) episode of liquid poo – almost certainly causing  him to squander the first set and a half.

Just like Robson against Pova a day earlier, a lesser player wouldn’t have worked their opponent’s “flatulence” so well.

I can’t help feeling a public endorsement from the likes of Hewitt and Rafter would benefit his tattered image (particularly amongst fans). It seems steps have already been taken with both showing up at his matches, and Rafter even being said to provide tactical input.

The efforts to legitimise Bernard begin here. And I’m gonna start by calling him ‘Bernard’. How’d a hobgoblin end up with a name as wholesome as that anyway?



-- Loving what I’ve seen from both the Williamses. Serena seems to be improving every match (that she’s able to win anything at all, is itself remarkable), and Venus seems to have that electricity about her that usually spells trouble for the rest of the draw.

Still, it’s early days and, Kimiko and Aravane aside, they haven’t really been tested. Can still see both of them running into trouble if things get tight. And I’m still leaning to Venus over her sister.



-- Andy Roddick’s best days are behind him. His last best crack at winning here (and surely any Slam) came and went in 2009 under a flurry of 50 aces and only 4 double faults.

We all know this. But for some reason, we’ve begun pretending that Feli making 57 winners and only 7 UFEs wouldn’t have had exactly the same result against any number of top ten players – perhaps only excluding the top three.

That’s no reason to act like he should quit or, in even poorer taste , to goad him into doing so (as one reporter seemed intent on) – perhaps I expect too much.

That said, if the fire’s gone, it ain’t gonna spontaneously re-combust. Let him decide – and give him room to do so.

Aside:  I will never say ‘Deliciano’. Not ever.  In any case, I much prefer Rafter’s invention, ‘Felix’.



-- No one’s talking about Shuai Peng. That’s probably a good thing. Her R16 match against Pova will answer a lot of questions about both women.

-- In contrast, everyone’s talking about Delpo – mostly in terms of how he WILL go down to Rafa. That seems the likeliest outcome – but I still insist that an upset isn’t anywhere near the “long shot” being suggested. Not by a long shot.

-- Didn’t follow the Gimelstob/Feli bust up very much. It’s the kind of episode that holds very little interest for me and tends to bring out the worst in even the most respected commentators.

The man is very obviously a twat – which probably accounts for his position on the ATP Board of Directors.

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Miami: News and Views

 

1) Murray has officially parted ways with Corretja and is, one assumes, on the look out for a new coach. “Open to new opportunities”, or however it’s being framed. 


 
Lendl’s name has been in the mix for a few days. Some of the reaction to this has been as outrageous as it is predictable, with SKY viewers yesterday emailing alternatives ranging from JMac to Martina Navratilova to Maclaghan again…

No one explicitly dissed Lendl, but it’s very clear who they DON’T want.

Never mind that none of those other suggestions have put themselves forward.

Never mind that Lendl is an 8 time Slam winning former world #1 who might, you know, know a little something about success on tour.

I’m not saying it struck me as the obvious choice either (both are strong willed, though that might be EXACTLY what Murray needs), but it seems to me it ought at least to be tried before being so routinely dismissed.  Stranger things have happened.

My own somewhat cynical suspicion is that a legacy of dislike continues to pervade Lendl’s public persona – he certainly wasn’t out to win any popularity contests during his career. I’m still waiting to hear why that should have ANY bearing on his suitability as a coach.

Whatever the case, the truth is Muzz very likely represents GB’s best chance of winning a Slam for many years to come. Perhaps even decades. I hardly need to remind you that the next highest ranked Brit is James Ward at #213 – and this is actually better than things have ever been.

To be blunt about it, beggars can’t be choosy. And you could do a LOT worse than Lendl. Let us hope he doesn’t reconsider.

2) A few further things need to be said about Petko’s win over Caro. 


The first is that however well Petko played (and don’t let anyone tell you she didn’t), she simply wasn’t facing the Caro that has dominated the tour outside of the Slams, and that people so enjoy poking fun at.

Anyone that claims otherwise needs to explain away the whopping 52 UFEs from Caro that equates to over a hundred from anyone else. Good luck with that.

The second, is that this is a relatively new experience for Caro and one from which she’ll likely benefit. It brought home in the most stark way imaginable that she might be just as prone as any other top player to a bad day at the office.

I doubt it’ll cause her to substantially alter her game, but if it results in a few new wrinkles it will have been worth the pain.

The third, is that this anguish resulted in the emergence of a new shouty, screechy Caro that I’ve actually become rather fond of.

I doubt she’ll be around very much. Yesterday is likely to remain her finest “big screen” moment – expect her to fade away into a less-distinguished daytime TV career.

And finally, I’m still not a fan of Petko. Not at least in the way some people are. (I’m not wholly convinced by her game either – but there’s still time to improve upon that)

 

I realise that puts me very much in the minority. Fine by me.

I’ll certainly concede that she’s #goodfortennis, though I’ll hope you’ll give me leave not to succumb to the hopeless strain of infatuation that lead to en-masse Petko mini-raves after her win yesterday.

Word soon after was that she’s “bored” of the Petko dance and is looking for a new “thing”.  I was bored of it too – and pretty soon after the initial novelty wore off. She seems to me to be talented enough and charismatic enough to be above gimmicks like that.

And as far as a new “thing” is concerned, here’s a somewhat wacky idea: her new thing could be, you know, not having one.

 

3) Delpo’s 63 62 win over Sod was perhaps the greatest sign yet that he’s steadily progressing towards the top ten if not the top five in the not too distant future. You could infer all of that on the basis of the serve alone. It was also the most beleaguered form of underperformance I’ve seen from Sod in a long time. 


I’ve seen Sod play badly before: I’ve seen him thrown off balance, having trouble with the elements, and leaking UFEs of nearly every shade. I’ve not, however, seen him shank this many balls in a single match – say what you will about him, but that’s just not his style.

At the end of the match the stats showed that both men hit only 18 winners apiece. Two of the heaviest ball strikers of this generation only managed to conjure up 36 winners between them.

That tells me Delpo, despite being in his element, felt he didn’t need to hit many winners. And that Sod simply couldn’t.

None of this is to suggest that Delpo isn’t progressing entirely steadily and appropriately – it just could have been a very different match.

4) Pova’s win over Sam said more to me about where Sam is than it did about Pova.

Like Delpo, Pova got through doing exactly what she needed to, and not an iota more. Why would she?

The serve is still not under control, but really, neither was Sam’s. More worryingly, she wasn’t able to convincingly get Pova off balance the way her game is custom built to. and to which Pova is uniquely vulnerable to.

When she did manage to, it all had a laboured feel to it that speaks to me of a player struggling to cope.

And that kick serve we’re all so fond of musing over? The stats showed that Sam served only marginally better than Pova. That’s not a comparison anyone should be flattered by. 



 

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Indian Wells: Whither Stosur?

Anyone that continues to ignore the ignoble immensity of Stosur’s troubles  since the new year began will have their work (spin-doctoring) cut out for them today.

I have (and continue to have ) every sympathy in the world with Del Popcorn/Dinaroshka. But let’s not pretend a large part (maybe all) of both matches didn’t reek.

Dinara served up around 16 doubles with her newly architected service motion – I believe Stosur gifted as many forehand errors. Dolgo, meanwhile, went AWOL for most of the 2nd set. Not just a little rough around the edges then.

Plenty to admire, particularly Dinara’s patience from the back of the court (that’s new) – but you’ve gotta think Kohls-Smiter and Pova will prove sterner respective tests. Or maybe not.

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Indian Wells: Because I’m Worth it.

Here we all so wonderfully are at the first post-Oz event of the year that actually amounts to something. I expect electricity, I expect sociopathic levels of belief (and denial), I expect the feeding frenzy that results when those, like myself, with the predictive capacity of mucus, indulge in a little quantum-bracketology of their own. I  also expect some very poor trash-talk between Nole and Fed.

 

Maybe I’m just half a wavelength behind everyone, but it doesn’t quite feel like that just yet.

What it actually feels like is a benign form of stasis in which all the best stories are yet to develop, or haven’t yet acquired the momentum necessary to elicit the type of considered tennis reaction that goes beyond sticking bubble gum in your detractors’ hair, or breaking wind and running away– not that either of those isn’t an entirely sensible way of settling tennis disputes.

I’ve got some strong feelings on why I don’t think winning here would strongly benefit all but a handful of the top players. Woz, for example, is darned either way: Win, and face all those malignant, ‘Slamless’, ranking-related questions again. Lose, and any pretensions she might entertain of being mentioned in the same breath as Clijsters evaporate into thin air.

Muzz occupies a similar role – winning would certainly go a long way to snapping him out of his (now traditional) post-Oz runners-up stupor; and yet he owns 6 of these things already. The lack of that other more crucial “thing” is what’s causing the psychosis.

 

What would a win really do for Kim or for Fed’s legacy (other than, in his case, dispelling that grim and quite inexplicable fog of “dysfunktion” that’s loomed over him both here and at Miami for the last 4 years)?

Can Rafa really care all that much knowing he can safely look forward to claiming 4, if not 5, out of the 5 clay court events he’ll likely enter this year?

 

Wish all of them well, but here’s what will really light my fire:

1) Bepa: The best WTA performer right now (and playing as well as she’s ever likely to ) – that single title she’s won at this level (at this venue in fact) is beginning to smack more and more of underperformance.

2) Sod: as I think I’ve said before , I really don’t believe he’s done himself justice having won only a single title at this level (very) late last year. He’s actually still playing catch-up with his potential.

 

3) Sveta: see above comments about Bepa’s “underperformance” and then multiply by 50.

4) Delpo: Two consecutive semis and an entirely commendable mickey-mouse title. A Masters title makes the comeback official. Somewhat ludicrously, it would be his first.

 

5) Any one of a gang of bright (and entirely ruthless) young things like Dolgo, Milos, Petra or even Kanepi to bring about a bloody coup – a killing spree that results in the partial reconfiguration of the rankings and ownership of the tour’s main titles. 

I’m entirely serious. I’m not normally one for “next big things”, but it seems to me we’ve faffed around with Grigor and Ernie for long enough – conditions seem ripe as they’ve ever been for something a little different.

And because, they’re worth it. All of them.

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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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Oz: Time.

 

 

 

I have a good start season. I beat Feliciano López last week and today I won another match. That's what I need. I need time, I need matches, I need sets, I need hours into the court. Then in the future, I will be better.

-- Juan Martin del Potro

 

 

Baghdatis d. del Potro 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3

 

Other than getting (and surviving) some prolonged competitive matchplay, I had practically no expectations from Delpo which means he’s already exceeded mine.

 

Taking out a top 100 player in straights and then getting a set off one of the best shotmakers in the game counts as a win in my book.

 

And aside from a couple of hairy moments where he looked to be alleviating pressure from his wrist (one of which sent his racquet flying out of his hand), he looks to have survived the 2h 42min hour encounter intact.

 

The man says he needs time – which I take to mean months rather than weeks.

 

Welcome back big guy.

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Electric-Boogaloo

 

 

 

Let’s get the shirt out the way first coz I think that’s the “easy” part.

 

 

 

Funky, fluoro, eye-scarring fugliness I can deal with (remember this?). Early-80s scribbly, graffiti insignias (normally found on the side of subway trains) do at least have a certain fulsome, nostalgic fuzziness to recommend them.

 

 

 

Both at once? Didn’t think so either…not unless you’re auditioning for a part as an extra in a very poor remake of Electric Boogaloo (it was laughably rubbish the first time round).

 

Del Potro d. Lopez 67 76 76

 

The tennis was visceral, austere, overwrought, laugh-out-loud funny, severe-looking, perfectly nonsensical but also tantalisingly brilliant (at times).

 

It also went on for 3 hours and 20 mins.

 

The big take out must be that Delpo survived the encounter, as it seems, healthily and with his wrist (and his retinas) intact….had he lost it would have been no different.

 

 

It was a tactically-confounded performance that suggested the rustiness we all expected, but was also tinged with the traces of brilliance that once was.

 

I still don’t think he’ll be responsible for the mass culling of top seeds in the early rounds of the AO that some are geeing themselves up for.

 

Feli is not a top ten player – I’m not so sure he even qualifies as “2nd-tier” anymore. A top-tenner wouldn’t have given Delpo half as much room to breath, much less do his gangly-brawny thing. Ditto a less-talented stalwart like Daveed Ferrer.

 

All of which works out in Delpos favour of course – this is exactly the kind of testing, match-play he needs to fill up on ahead of Melbourne.

 

***

 

The other comeback isn’t going so well.

 

 

Bartoli d. Safina 60 61

 

After a perfectly commendable three set loss to Wickmayer in Auckland last week, Dinaroshka must have hoped to go at least one better – failing that a single competitive match would have been good.

 

She cannot have foreseen the two set lockout that Bartoli would impose upon her – evidently no one else did either.

 

Safina didn’t, by all accounts, play a “bad” match – that would only have been possible had she been allowed to play at all.

 

Here’s the thing: Marion does that that to people. And she often does it to the best of players.

 

But it’s when she does it to the best-loved players that the worst form of medieval contempt comes out.

 

 

I don’t get it.

 

From what I can tell she’s a ferociously talented, deliciously idiosyncratic player with oodles of attitude she’s not about to apologise to anyone for.

 

When she’s on, her strangely effective two-handed strokes are capable of smothering you with eye-wateringly acute-angled passes or simple, flat, uncompromising pace. All while remaining perma-rooted on the baseline.

 

She’s not a fashionista, she has an academic eccentric for a father, she’s not in the business of cloying, simpering lie-ins with the media, she can appear more aloof, stern and unfriendly on court than is perhaps necessary, and YES, she rubs (some) people up (though mostly her own compatriots) the wrong way.

 

BIG FREAKIN DEAL.

 

We’ve turned a blind eye to far worse, far more heinous, garlic-infused episodes of brattiness from so-called rising stars or media-luverlies, who all seem to get a free pass on account of their age, their standing in the game, or poster-girl looks.

 

Don’t pretend we haven’t been there.

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Sod ups the ante, Delpo’s return to Oz.

 

 

» Soderling wins Brisbane; up to world #4

 

Having not seen a single ball of live Aussie tennis, I’m going largely on 2nd hand reports when I say that Sod is in scintillating, intimidating form.

 

 

 

This time last year, nursing an elbow injury, he went out in the first rounds of both Chennai and, more worryingly, Oz itself: were we to include the two exhos he took part in prior to that, that would still make a profoundly dispiriting 2 out of 7 matches won (though one of them was a win over Federer :P).

 

It’s not Bercy, but ravaging your way through a 32-man draw with wins over Radek and ARod, all without dropping a single set, should, in theory, mean “good things” ahead of Melbourne.

 

Especially when you consider that it bumps him up ahead of Murray at #4 in the rankings. Amongst other things this means he’ll be seeded #4 in Melbourne and (as he only has a paltry 10 pts to defend there) have a very real shot at the #3 spot (Djoko reached the quarters and defends 360 pts).

 

He also won’t have to face either one of Rafa or Fed prior to the semis – a pleasure now handed down to Muzz at #5. Handy that.

 

Other weekend winners include Fed (avenging last years loss to Davy) in Doha, Stan in Chennai (any chance we can get through a single week free of domestic innuendo?), Kvitova over Petko (no dance) and Greta Arn in Auckland (you have no soul if you’re unhappy about this).

 

» Delpo + Nalbie will underwhelm rather than “upset” at AO

 

Look. I hate to be the spoilsport.

 

And it’s great to have Delpo back – lord knows he’s served his time.

 

 

 

It’s always an especially cruel form of pleasure to watch an under-ranked former Slam-winner/world-number-one working their way back to the big-time, blitzing through the early rounds taking down whatever big names are unfortunate enough to be drawn up against them (see Henin, Justine).

 

For all of that, I don’t think Delpo will be “upsetting” anyone just now. At least not in Oz.

 

[dodges rotten tomato]

 

Boo all you want. I’m happy to play the pantomime arch-villain.

 

Just know that I believe rather than desire this. I want him back as much as anyone out there, but  it normally takes longer than just the one event he’s playing in Sydney to get even a fraction of form back.

 

I know Justine reached the final of her first event back, but a) she wasn’t injured and was presumably playing more than Delpo’s been able to prior to her return, and b) she has a more compact, less injury-prone frame – comebacks for lumbering giants are always to be approached more gingerly and one step at a time (see Sharapova, Maria).

 

Ditto Nalbie, who always tends to blossom post Wimbledon. At the beginning of the year he normally invents new ways of disappointing us.

 

You’re right, I’m coming across as an arrant prick right now. But someone needs to say these things.

 

Needless to say I’m happy to be proved wrong about either, or both of the above.

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Shanghai: So What Have We Learnt, Gentlemen?

 

1) Just what is Rafa so pumped about?

 

Being Rafa of course. Silly question.

 

(Reuters)

 

If the Asian Swing really is a “swing”, then Rafa’s the kid that always takes things too far by pushing your 7 year-old self so high up, you end up crying.

 

I don’t suppose I’ll ever completely understand why playing these piddly events means so much to a guy that’s just written history. But then isn’t that exactly what Rafa’s all about? Barely stopping short of non-metaphorical cartwheels after beating a qualifier in round two of an ATP 500 event? Don’t ever change.

 

I might be wrong about this, but it’s almost as though he’s relishing the feeling of being able to play with the total abandon that must arise from being, a) injury free and b) able, therefore, to deliver his level best on a surface not traditionally considered “his bag”.

 

What all this means is that he’s got “nothing to lose” in the truest sense of the phrase: not in the way, say, Oscar Hernandez might have “nothing to lose” when he takes to court against Fed; not even in terms of ranking points (virtually none to defend until next year).

 

Perhaps this might be the best chance his career ever offers him of winning the WTF - the one title that eludes him. God knows what will happen if he wins in Aus.

 

Needless to say, this is both hugely problematic and profoundly dispiriting news for the rest of the tour.

 

I’d be be doing cartwheels too.

 

2) How good is Djoko’s Calculus?

 

If tennis was A-Level Maths, then  Djoko just went through a point of inflexion at Flushing.

 

 (getty)

 

I don’t think for a minute that he’ll repeat those highs right away, but I really don’t want to believe that was just a one off .

 

Personally I think it’s perfectly natural to have a slight dip in trajectory after such a defining performance before readjusting to a renewed sense of your self worth.

 

But he does SO need a good showing here: he’s got all those points to defend in Paris.

 

3) How much can ‘The Cone’ help Fed to “get it together”? “Get what together”, exactly?

 

In some ways, Fed’s in the same kind of “what now” transition Djoko is. The difference being that whilst Djoko’s Flushing performance was a step up from the way he’d been playing of late, Fed’s is more business as usual - which means that he’s mostly kept it together and (perhaps more importantly) hasn’t had any real WTF results (Baggy/IW perhaps the oddest loss, and yet take a look at what he had to say).

 

 (Reuters)

 

That gusto totalling of Sod in the gustiest conditions we’ve seen this year was as good as anything we’ve seen since the final of Melbourne (if not better given the wind).

 

I realise this will go down as one of his two worst Slam years since 2003, but it’s worth noting that it required three career-defining performances from top ranked players to bring that about – not something he’ll want to see repeated, but not nearly the catastrophe suggested by the column space devoted to doom-mongery.

 

Worth also mentioning that whilst I think input from the Cone will be invaluable over the coming months, I stand by my original assertion that his role will be (and should be) more about quietly nudging Fed back into reoccupying that mental space that wins Slams - renewing that sense of confidence that he can, indeed, beat everyone, dominate even the way he says he can (telling, that he chose  “dominate anyone” over “everyone” – not even he would claim to be able to dominate the way he did in 06-07).

 

Less important will be the need to “come to the net”, “to mix things up”, or any one of the manifold tired technical enhancements being touted as this years “silver bullet” solution to his “problems” (if you can call them that).

 

The tour moves on, players develop new weapons, so it is, of course, critical to keep your finger on the pulse and to understand how best to refashion a gameplan to respond to that.

 

It’s one thing to say that “Rafa has a beefier serve now, so I need to be ready for that”.

 

Or that “Djoko is clearly returning more fearlessly from the back of the court - I definitely ought to be prepared for that”.

 

Or that “Muzz is undergoing something of a career-tailspin, in a bit of a funk right now, so maybe I can bully him a little and profit from that”.

And yet, I can’t help feeling that a player like Fed, or indeed Rafa is less about mere technicalities, than they are about their formidable presence and belief: the belief that they really are, naturally, a superior order of being on the tennis court – in, of course, the most inoffensive way imaginable.

 

4) Where’d it all go wrong for Muzz?

 

*Grits teeth*

 

I want to say good things - hopeful things. It’s just that they don’t seem to accord with the narrative right now.

 

 (getty)

 

It wasn’t so much that he went out to Wawa at Flushing – it was the miserable, vacuous way in which he did. And there weren’t even any answers forthcoming from the post-mortem.

 

I didn’t follow Beijing very much but from what I gather, things weren’t considerably different against Ljuby.

 

Can you do us all a favour and appoint a coach already? A Coach-shaped cut out will suffice until you find a real one – something, anything to direct all all those death stares and verbal refuse at.

 

For one thing, I really don’t think he’s the “going it alone” type.

 

What was perhaps most concerning about the Flushing loss was the lack of any real diagnostics in it’s aftermath – Muzz was at a loss to explain his lack of energy and even went on to say he “might never win a Slam”.

 

Nothing hugely irresponsible about that – even the top players are more likely not to win a Slam than they are whenever they enter one. But being in the top four since 2008 and one of the esteemed few that has a winning record against Fed and Djoko and a not too blemished one against Rafa either, you’d think he’d have a less instinctive measure of his own self worth – though perhaps not, given that that presser was given less than an hour after the match.

 

In any case, get on to it Muzz, and soon. I have this horrible vision of you being drawn to play Phillip Kohlschreiber in the not too distant future with no one in your box and Miles Maclagan in his.

 

I agree: let’s not go there.

 

5) And the Others?

 

» I’m trying not to read too much into Sod’s loss to Fed at Flushing.

 

The wind was wreaking havoc, Fed was playing his best tennis of the year – looking back at it now, it was never really going to happen.

 

But I have to raise an eyebrow when Sod goes down in straights to Daveed Ferrer.

 

There’s also the uncomfortable fact that despite his recent success over Rafa and Fed – he’s now lost to both of them in their most recent respective Slam encounters.

 

 AP

 

» Davydenko: Remember him? Actually defending points here and, of course, at the WTF next month.

 

» Too early to diss Berd very much. A first round exit at Flushing is certainly a shocker – though it’s worth remembering how very new it all is to him. If he flames out early here or in Paris, or at the London WTF (assuming he qualifies), we’ll talk.

 

» Don’t expect too much from Delpo until the middle of next year. And then maybe only after that. But you already knew that.

 

» ARod is infected with the passive, top-ten, grinderman bug -- that had hitherto plagued only Novak – until further notice. I almost think less of myself for not expecting very much from him in what’s left of this year.

 

» Daveed Ferrer is  a top ten player – I keep having to remind myself of that. Don’t expect him to give anything less than his insolent, blue-collar, overachieving best to make the most of it.

 

» Mikhail Youzhny has a shot at end of season glory of some kind – and should by rights be made president, of something.

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The “second best” world number one.

 

 

 

 

1) Delpo lost. Twice.

 

UPDATE: Delpo lost 6-3 6-0 to Feli in the opening round of Tokyo. Most of what follows (written after his loss in Bangkok) remains valid.

 

He came. He played. He served 16 aces. He lost. In straights. To a guy that should, by rights, be in a different weight division.

 

His wrist still appears to be intact. “Perfect” even.

 

"I'm just happy to be back on the circuit and I hope I get better and better. I need to work hard to get back into the Top 10.

"Of course I would love to be back there soon. The most important thing for today is my wrist - and it's perfect. I hope to play five or six more tournaments between now and the end of the season. We will see how it goes."

 

Still, part of me wishes he’d been exposed to more than just two sets - a couple of rounds would have been ideal: we’d get a chance to form a real opinion on his game, but more importantly be assured he can survive the demands of back to back, if not back to back to back to back, matches.

 

Delayed reactions are a bitch - and then you die. Or at least your ranking does.

 

 

-- Caz won Tokyo and will, if she makes the Beijing quarters, be crowned world #1

 

Just so you know, and you probably already do, you’ll not likely live to see the day I root for Caz. So I suggest you stop holding your breath.

 

This is less about wanting to sneer as it is about feeling strongly enough to take an ideological position against her style of play – the way you might against, say, fox hunting.

 

There’s probably a certain type of “steely-lite” about her for which, I guess, she deserves credit and she’s certainly not shy of hard work.

 

It’s just that, as far as I’m concerned, that approach has no business winning Slams.

 

The number one ranking? Different story altogether.

 

Let's face it, the hunt for major titles and the No. 1 ranking aren't what they used to be, partly because the two efforts are no longer as closely related as they once were -- especially on the WTA side, where Dinara Safina and Jelena Jankovic recently held the No. 1 ranking without having won a major event. The "even a blind pig finds an acorn sometimes" approach seems to have become something of the norm, which is partly why a nice girl like Wozniacki can be so cavalier about her pending ascent to the top spot.

…

Maybe that No. 1 ranking isn't all it's cracked up to be, which is a theme that Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Rafa Nadal and others have hammered away at for years. It's often taken as a disingenuous position, reflecting a desire to ward off pressure. But at times like these, I'm more inclined to take seriously the claim of those players, that they have only one goal -- to win major tournaments.

It follows that being ranked No. 1 is actually the second prize in tennis. Looked at that way, second prize is about to be awarded to a truly deserving candidate on the WTA side.

-- Peter Bodo, ESPN

 

 

You can probably count the number of times I’ve agreed with Pete on one hand – of a worn old fingerless glove.

 

Though there’s no way out of conceding that, with this particular article, he’s right on the money.

 

I get that for some people the #1 ranking symbolises greatness, history and the type of gravitas we associate with Serena, Henin and the like.

 

I also get, therefore, that these people will object (and not always conscientiously) to a system that enthrones the Slamless at the expense of the enSlammed (twice over) with every cell in their body

 

A “system” gone to pot – that must, like any other malevolent autocracy, be brought down, as they say, “by any means necessary”.

 

Personally, I’ve never had a beef with it, even when it sees the #1 ranking going to a Slamless, wonderless workhorse.

 

And I’m not about to begin now, however many foxes Caz might skin in the process.

 

The trouble is that, at some point, we have to somehow quantify all that “greatness” and “gravitas” they’d like to see embodied in the #1 ranking.

 

And try as I may, I can’t fault using a rolling week on week measure of your performance over the past 52 weeks.

 

In an ordered universe (like, say, the ATP) the top dogs dominate, the nearly-men nearly make the cut, the also-rans also run, Bambi’s mum never dies and we’re all home in time for croissants and ‘The Antiques Roadshow’.

 

If the WTA persists in a culture of chaos brought on, in part, by injury, but also it must be said, a policy of selective participation by it’s top players, that’s no reason to blame the rankings system, nor, for that matter, to call for it to be rewired (rigged?).

 

I’ve heard many arguments in favour of barring players from the top spot if they haven’t won a Slam (that sounds too much like rigging an election and is, in Software parlance, what we call a “hack”) or weighting the rankings further in favour of the Slams (newsflash: they already are).

 

None of them persuade me very much.

 

And yet, something’s clearly rotten in the state of Denmark.

 

Which is why I quite like Bodo’s temporary rebranding of the #1 ranking as “the second prize in tennis” and, should she make it, why I’ll be happy to think of Caz as the world’s (second best) #1 ranked player.

 

 

-- Rafa’s loss to Garcia Lopez

 

Shocker.

 

And yet, it’s worth remembering Federer’s “Volandri” moment of 2007 followed a period of unprecedented success.

 

So not that much of a shocker then. In fact, very much the law of averages.

 

In any case, I’m more interested in why Rafa’s reverted to his back-to-back-to-back-to-back scheduling of old.

 

Bangkok, Tokyo and Shanghai may be worth millions in appearance fees. It’s not “smart scheduling” by any stretch of the imagination.

 

We started using that phrase when Rafa dropped Barcelona (all of ONE tournament) from his schedule earlier this year.

 

The only “smart” thing about it now is that it smarts

 

Has anyone asked Rafa’s knees what they think?

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All at once, and in a puff of smoke.

 

For better or for worse, for richer for poorer, after eight months out of the game and at much cost to his ATP ranking, Juan Marteen (currently ranked #35) is to hit the courts again – starting at Bangkok.

 

 

It could not have come too soon. For us.

 

For the sake of his wrist, I’m actually glad he took all the time he needed.

 

Assuming he has applied for a protected ranking (why wouldn’t he?), he’ll be treated as world number 5 for the purposes of entry (though not seeding) to the first 8 events he plays or for the first 9 months of his return (whichever comes first).

 

Not that any of that matters very much.

 

Because none of us, at this stage, are expecting very much. Are we?

 

Well, not unless you mean the complete subversion of  someone’s career (preferably in the top five) and, if you can manage it, the attendant dissolution of any associated delusions of grandeur they might have – that’d be great.

 

It is what you were born to do.

 

One more thing - what on earth is Rafa doing there?

 

 

[hands on hips]

 

I thought we’d been over this.

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FedaCone: “There’s more than one way to skin a Sod”

 

Dear Fans
I've been looking to add someone to my team and I've decided to spend some days with Paul Annacone. As Paul winds down his responsibilities working for the Lawn Tennis Association, we will explore our relationship through this test period. Paul will work alongside my existing team and I am excited to learn from his experiences.
See you soon
Roger

 

Call me a nutter but I was never on the “Fed needs a blinkin’ coach” bandwagon the first time round back in 2008.

 

The implicit suggestion being that he was somehow resisting the natural forces of change – geez, what a stubborn git, huh.

 

It wasn’t that I was totally averse to the idea of a coach after what was, by all accounts, an unprecedented period of mediocrity -- not surprising he might want to explore other options. I just didn’t buy into the notion that a coach, be it Cahill, Annacone or the Scarlet Pimpernel, was the answer to “Life, the Universe and everything”.

 

Even so, the idea made more sense then than I think it does now.

 

getty

 

When we look at Fed’s fortunes since he won Wimbledon last year, two things stick out.

 

1) His poor performance outside of Slams.

 

So…..no change there then (unless you want to believe that trend’s actually gathered pace).

 

2) His losses at critical stages in Slams to Delpo (Final), Big Rob (QF) and Tomas (QF) - players that are to the ATP what Krakens are to mythology.

 

During the same period he raced to an Aussie Open win so emphatic, it had both fans and critics (mostly mutually exclusive) cooing like it was 2007 all over again.

 

Call me a nutter (again), but I don’t think that quite qualifies as a crisis.

 

Nor does it seem reasonable to suggest that 23 Slam SFs and almost 7 years at the top have no role to play in extricating himself from this crisis, if indeed it is one.

 

You only need to win so many matches at that level before those winning ways begin to rub off on your DNA – which is why I’m a little suspicious of his “needing a coach”.

 

Fed lost to those guys for the same reasons anyone else would have – and it wasn’t for want of form or technique.

 

We’ve been conditioned to expect media speculation on his demise every time this happens. What’s been peculiar this time round is the way elements of his fanbase seem to have lost faith too.

 

Fed can’t have too much of a problem turning things around because, quite simply, there’s not that much to “turn around”.

 

He’s simply gone from dominating most of the field to dominating most of the field minus a handful of players everyone’s having trouble with.

 

“We are all creatures of habits,” Annacone said. “Roger has won a lot a certain way, and when you’ve done that for four or five years and then in year six or seven, that shot that used to be a winner isn’t a winner anymore, the tendency in human nature is to overplay a little bit. And that’s what’s happening. His couple of patterns that used to be very dominant are still successful against 95 percent of the guys — just not against that last five percent.”

 

What, perhaps, elicits such a reactionary response from people  is that he’s dropped to #3 in the world – though that’s only because he’s run into three of the hottest players on the planet during Slams: anyone not named Rafa would likely have suffered the same result.

 

So part of me says, well, if nothing much is broke, then why call on the services of someone else to fix it?

 

On the other hand, the emergence of Krakens is nothing if not a game changer: it might not, very well, have changed everything, but it kinda hasn’t left anything unchanged in it’s wake either.

 

So the other part of me says that Fed would be a fool not to dignify this new assault on his senses with a slightly different sort of response.

 

Far be it from me to complain if Annacone can help out with that.

 

Equally, though, don’t kid yourself into thinking Annacone will magically equip him with skills that lay mysteriously dormant for the best part of a decade.

 

His influence is likely to be as cerebral as it is tactical or technical. And very likely more so.

AP

 

Rafa didn’t beat Sod in the RG final by taking him on head on (the way he might have with, say, Novak).  He did so by recognising “there’s more than one way to skin a Sod” and then taking his chances when they came - this despite Rafa being more vulnerable, technically speaking, to a Sod or a Tomas, than Fed will likely ever be.

 

Both areas in which Fed could, frankly, do with some improvement.

 

“Skinning a Sod”

 

I’ve never bought into the idea that Fed’s ego is some out of control petulant child getting in the way of his development as a player – but his reluctance to embrace change, whether it’s HawkEye or the drop shot, is a matter of record.

 

“Taking his Chances”

 

His break point conversion rate this year speaks for itself and is also, unfortunately, a matter of record.

 

If Fed needs help with anything it’s in reconditioning himself mentally so that he considers it ok to lose every once in a while, to not consider it a disgrace to be seen to be winning ugly and to be more open to the prospect of experimentation.

 

“There are definitely some parallels,” said Paul Annacone, Sampras’s longtime coach, in an interview this week. “Just as it was for Pete, it’s a particularly interesting, challenging time in Roger’s career. But I would look at it with Roger in the same way as for Pete. For guys like that, it is daunting but not that daunting. They are so skilled, they can adjust, but a lot of the adjustment is mental.”

-- NYT

 

In other words exactly the kind of attitudinal shift his detractors would say he’s been unwilling to countenance up till now through what they see as sheer stubbornness or something worse.

 

All are changes of temperament rather than of tactics.

 

Can Annacone help with that?

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Who is Keyser Söze? And is he playing the USO?

 

So, tennis. Remember that?

 

Or a trimmed down version of what I care to comment on.

 

Big Rob reached the finals of Bastad before losing in three to Nico Almagro.

 

Nico admitted to having spent the night before thinking about how Sod might play and even said that he “tried to be him”.

 

I’m interested in how that works.  Is it like method acting?  Does it involve dolphins and jelly beans? Or dolphin-shaped jellybeans even?

 

Big Rob, meanwhile,  has now pulled out of Washington citing “personal reasons”.

 

Though not before this emerged.

 

 

…and the legend, evidently, wouldn’t let go.

 

They can be clingy like that.  Koala-bear clingy.

 

Coming into Russia’s Davis Cup Tie with the Argies, Kolya had this to say on his state of play:

 

"I haven't played for three months and have just had a couple of matches on grass, which I do not like," ... "So I cannot say right now how I am playing. Only time will tell."

 

Leaving aside his aversion to grass “which I do not like” much either, time did tell: a sorry tale of a 2nd round loss in Stuttgart followed by a 3rd round exit in Hamburg – an event he won last year.

 

That’s a loss of at least 400 points in Hamburg and counting, during what’s normally quite a prolific section of the season for him.

 

Word is he’s no longer being coached by Eduardo either. His wife Irena is. Make of that what you will.

 

Nole pulled out of LA citing “personal reasons” too.

 

The same event Muzzard just accepted a wildcard into.

 

It’s difficult to read too much into any of that. The trouble I find with this part of the season is no ones played enough tennis post-Wimby to be able to say anything substantive about their USO prospects and most of what’s going on isn’t broadcast here anyway.

 

 

There’s been the odd pic of a freshly-shorn ARod braving the Atlanta heat winning over Xavier Malisse. But to be honest I’m having a tough time believing that one’s even happening.

 

With that in mind it’s been curiously entertaining watching the whole Delpo situation unfold given that he hasn’t actually struck a ball in 7 months.

 

The train of thought goes something like this.

 

Delpo says he will be playing Thailand –> Which means Delpo might have recovered enough to play the USO –>Delpo will play the USO, or so it’s claimed –> Except, isn’t the USO a mandatory event? –> And Delpo hasn’t officially signalled his withdrawal either –> Which means what exactly?

 

Nothing mostly.

 

It also leaves us back where we started.

 

Thankfully Delpo took charge to confirm that whilst he’s improving he doesn't actually know when he’ll return.

 

Which is kinda what most people thought anyway.

 

Even so, a small part of me wishes he’d let the Twitter frenzy snowball even further – after all, Lord Lucan and Keyser Soze haven’t said they’re not playing the USO either.

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Wimbledon: Buzz-About-Muzz

 

PA

 

The Andy Murray column. No really.

 

The first year I played in the juniors [of Wimbledon] I was 14 or 15 and I lost in the first round for the first two years, I never did well here as a junior, but the record as a senior has been a bit better.

It's a lot nicer for me now that I actually live nearby. When I played here the first couple of years I was in hotels, and the year when I'd just started working with Mark Petchey as my coach at Queen's I actually stayed at his house.

 

Heart goes out to you. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

 

Lloydy thinks his attitude needs looking at. He also thinks Querrey’s the only guy in his draw that can “hurt him” and that he should have beaten TBerd at RG. Erm, Ok then.

 

For the record I don’t feel the same buzz-about-Muzz I did last year.

 

I don’t even feel the same buzz about Wimbledon as I did last year.

 

Part of this is down to Fed’s very blah draw.

 

Part of it is down to Muzz and Djoko still being in a funk.

 

Part of it is down to Delpo likely being out until well after Flushing. I had a theory about him on grass.

 

A lot of it, however,  is about neither Big Rob nor Kolya having made it past the 4th round even though in principle they should be successful playing tennis in sand dunes if necessary.

 

All that might change, however:

 

» should England go out of the World Cup. As if the Queen showing up wasn’t pressure enough.

 

» should Muzz be seen using an Official Adidas World Cup Jabulani Match ball in his football-tennis warm ups. I wouldn’t recommend it. Robert Green wouldn’t either.

 

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Oz Withdrawal Symptoms: Gently Does It…

The pull of Oz afterglow, Warped-Pete’s warm chatterings and a smattering of ho-hum events has left me less than inclined to keep even one (half open) eye on the happenings on tour.

Easing oneself in gently, as I understand it, is the usual protocol.

There is life after Oz, whatever Warped-Pete might have to say about it.

JMDP out for four weeks with a wrist injury.

(Photo: AFP)

He cited this ahead of Oz, and then made it to the fourth round before falling prey to the man-mountain that is Marin.

My conclusion at the time was it was a minor niggle – now I’m not so sure.

Tentative return expected at Indian Wells. Shame - I had hoped for more matches under his belt ahead of ‘The Fifth Slam’.

Conventional wisdom says you normally need around 12-18 months after winning your first Slam to acclimatise to a reality in which you’ll hopefully continue to play a part.

Conventional wisdom also says it’s impossible for anyone not named Rafael Nadal to defeat Federer in the final of a Slam.

Corollary: Conventional wisdom can go to hell.

Not that I think he’ll win another Slam this year – just don’t go expecting him to go all Jo-Willy on us.

That other ‘Stringed-Quartet’

If you’re serious about tennis and haven’t already ventured an opinion on the possibility of Federer scoring the Grand Slam this year, I’m guessing you’re holed up somewhere on Mars with your head in the (red, baking) sand.

I have mixed views on this.

On the one hand, to even consider it feasible is of course totally preposterous, the provenance of obscure statisticians or the staunchest of RF.Commers.

The fact that Fed (as much a hay munching Goat as we’re ever likely to see) only came close to achieving it three times out of the four seasons from 2004-2007 , should give us an insight into the dangers of uttering those words lightly.

On the other hand:

-- “Fed came close three times of the four seasons from 2004-2007” – that argument works both ways.

-- Steffi Graf. 1988.

Nuff said? Not nearly.

She didn’t play with a wooden racquet and try, just try telling Seles, Navratilova, Capriati, Hingis, Davenport and Sanchez-Vicario that they were part of a ‘weak era’.

I pity the foo’ that does.

-- Lest we forget the Rafael Nadal effect – had the Clay Goat taken up fly-fishing or (probably more appropriately) clay pigeon shooting instead, Fed might very well stand before us the proud owner of not one, but two Grandest of Slams.

-- 2009 saw some uncanny happenings both on and off the court. But with Fed’s loss in the final of a Slam and Rafa’s loss at RG, two of sport’s most deeply held religious tenets - were unceremoniously thrown to the wall.

There’s also this.

…Sure, I have regrets inasmuch I was wrong [about predicting Federer’s demise]. But let's go back to the summer of 2008. Federer lost in Australia to Djokovic. He simply failed to show up for the French Open final. After a five-year reign at Wimbledon he lost an epic final to Nadal and was simply gutted afterward. He went the Olympics and lost to James Blake. He had fallen to No. 2 in the rankings and Nadal, the younger player, was riding a wave of confidence while other challengers -- Djokovic, Murray, Tsonga -- were hitting their stride. Or so it seemed. Against that backdrop, imagine if someone had written: "Don't worry Federer fans! This is just a blip. He'll win four of the next six majors and be on top within a year!" They would have reserved you a room at the sanitarium.

-- Jon Wertheim, SI.com

Corollary: Weird sh*t happens, and weirder sh*t has happened.

Rafael Nadal’s Knee: The Last Taboo

There was a barely detectable off court momentum shift in the immediate aftermath of Oz. It came right after Rafa was unable to finish up his semi against Andy Murray: fearing the worst about Rafa’s knee officially became mainstream.

Up until that point, obligatory laments about the effect the grinding nature of his game will have on his career, had mostly been tempered with reference to his awesome fitness and an undying faith in his will to succeed.

Now they tend to come alone.

Perhaps the biggest reason for this was that this time, no one saw it coming. There was no tell-tale taping beneath his knees, and he was playing as well as he had been prior to Wimbledon last year.

Corollary: Continuing to hold fort for now, but the need to temper his schedule cannot be emphasised enough.

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