Roland Garros: Cognitive D̶i̶s̶s̶o̶n̶a̶n̶c̶e̶ Flatulence

 

Marin out. In his opening match. On the first day of Roland Garros. In straights. To Ramirez Hidalgo.

The sad thing is, no one was even that surprised.

Then again no one made light of it either. Probably because its not funny anymore.




Apparently there was a stomach complaint of sorts.

In which case, I SERIOUSLY question the decision to play when you’re facing the possibility of a sixth consecutive first round Slam exit.

Despite my better judgement I still want to believe in you – mostly because I’m not that keen on the haters’ caricature of the spoilt, affluent slacker travelling from tournie to tournie in Daddy’s helicopter.

Articles like this, however, don’t help. Neither do 6 consecutive first round Slam exits.

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Folie de Grandeur. Men’s Tennis I’m looking at YOU.

No I mean it.

Amelie began coaching Michael Llodra at Queens last week (yes, I know), but she may as well have been cringing over the entire ATP top ten.

Congratulations to Rusty and Querrey for making good in a week when order, reason and good old common sense seemed to fail us.

Actually, I excuse both Rafa and Roger. Their loss last week is not quite the cause for the Requiem Mass some are now undertaking. It certainly doesn’t seem to me to warrant anything more than a half-raised eyebrow.

Nadal got to the quarters, seized up with a hamstring problem against a grass court specialist playing in his own words “the best match of his career”. Hardly surprising given the season he’s just had – perhaps even a blessing in disguise. Besides, it’s a hamstring problem – not the knees – read not a Code Red. Nothing a ten day fishing stint in Majorca can’t fix.

Half Raised Eyebrows.

Federer’s loss to Hewitt, breaking as it does a 15 match winning streak against him and a winning record at Halle that dates back to 2003, is….concerning. It’s also just another instance of his less polished record outside of the Slams. Whether you think that’s because “he doesn’t care” (laughable notion), or is more prone to the unforgiving three-set format, or is simply less attuned to winning these tune-up events, the results speak for themselves. For my part, I defer exercising my right to get more “up in arms” about it for when the same thing starts happening at Slams.

Four other reasons why my arms aren’t up:

1) Federer had his worst clay court season in 6 years, even though in my mind he was playing, during parts of it, better than he was in 2008.

2) For what its worth, I do believe he found his form in Madrid in a final where both he and Nadal moved around like two-bit drunkards, performing at about 70%.

3) The loss in RG? NO ONE beats Sod in that form (see Sod’s first law).

4) Yet, despite all this, he still made the finals of the first grass court event of the season in the same week that no other top ten player even managed a semi.

Eyebrows still only half raised .

***

Not quite as ready to absolve the rest of the “top ten” from tennis purgatory.

Since Muzz lost at Oz he appears to have joined Djoko in a rut of disillusionment whose only distinguishing feature is it’s ability to produce a string of “nearly-man” results. Just about enough to maintain a ranking but not nearly enough to keep you relevant.

Both of them right now, in fact, seem to occupy a no-man’s land of the top ten: neither threatening the top, nor standing in the way of those that do.

Marin and A-Rod are more perplexing. When Roddick took off the early part of the clay season for what sounds like a second honeymoon with his Misuss, he got, what I thought at the time, was a disproportionate amount of flak for it. Sela, unfortunately for A-Rod, gave what’ll likely be a once-in-a-lifetime performance at Queens that lead to him being termed “Baby Reeshie”.

Not quite sure how that works, but it also means Roddick enters Wimbledon with the least amount of matches he’s likely ever had.

As for Marin I’m pretty sure now that at some point , he’ll come through as “this year’s Delpo” – just don’t be surprised if he takes until next year to realise it. He’s certainly taking the more torrid, torturous route.

At RG, I suspect, he was simply unlucky to run into Sod. Who promptly murdered him. Which might explain his loss here this week – hard to string two wins together if you’re not a shadow but a mere chalk outline of yourself.

(Photos: AFP/Getty)

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Miami: Mens Preview

“Lest we forget”.

12 months and 3 Slam Titles later…

1st Quarter

Contenders: Federer, Berdych, Verdasco, Baggy, Cilic

Party Poopers: Federer out to Berdych (R4)

Needs to happen: Cilic v Baggy (R3)

Sympathy Vote: None.

IW/Miami has proved something of a double whammy for Fed over the last four years.

My guess is he’ll fare somewhat better this time round, though with Berdych and Baggy’s fettle looking finer than ever, a single lapse might be one too many.

I’ve had visions of greatness for Marin since late last year, visions that were digitally restored by the events in Oz: losing 7-6, 6-0 to Garcia Lopez at IW however, wasn’t amongst them.

Visions of greatness or Delusions of Grandeur? You decide.

Sock-pulley-up-time, or it won’t be long before “the next Delpo” is roundly castigated as “the next Baggy”.

2nd Quarter

Contenders: Muzz, Wawrinka, Youzhny, Gonzo, Soderling

Party Poopers: Muzz out to Lopez (R3)

Needs to happen: Soderling v Gonzo (R4)

Sympathy Vote: Youzhny. Dubai reminded me why I enjoy watching him so much. Then he got injured.

Muzz/Soderling QF rematch is very much on. Without the requisite amount of firepower around to ensure it’s not.

Sod v Gonzo should also (quite literally) be a bash.

3rd Quarter

Contenders: Tsonga, Kohlschreiber, Isner, Ferrero, Ferrer, Karlovic, Troicki, Nadal

Party Poopers: Tsonga out to Kohlschreiber (R3)

Needs to happen: Tsonga v Kohlschreiber (R3).

Sympathy Vote: Nalbie.

Plenty happening here. The top half seems more fraught with peril, meaning it’s difficult to rate Jo-Wills chances that highly. Isner likely represents the better bet.

Somewhat less perilous draw for Rafa whose only probable obstacle comes in the form of Ivo. That is unless Nalbie manages to turn back the clock. Which I rather hope he might.

4th Quarter

Contenders: Roddick, Robredo, Ljuby, La Monf, Querrey, Djoko

Party Poopers: A-Rod out to Igor ‘the Forehand’ (R2)

Needs to happen: Ditto

Sympathy Vote: Mario Ancic and James Blake

What say you of Ljuby’s chances this time round?

Rough draw for A-Rod with Andreev, Bennetau and Ljuby likely consecutive opponents.

Nothing I see in Djoko's section leads me to believe he won't find a way to grind his way through it.

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2Hander's Take: AO Aftermath

I would like to start by reintroducing myself. Why? Well, I have noticed over the past year or so that the readership of this blog has grown (probably no thanks to me and my rants!) and I have been, at best, a passive reader during my absence.


Where do I start? For those who know me, I've been away from posting largely due to my mother being ill in hospital. She had a long history of heart and chest related problems. Judging by my use of the past tense, you'd be right in assuming that she is no longer with us. She sadly passed away a few months ago after quite a long stint in hospital. It's weird, but the rollercoaster that this whole episode was seems like it was ages ago, when it wasn't. At times, it has been hard trying to get (and remain!) focussed. I am OK though. The term moving on for me is more like a helical spring-shaped path as opposed to a simple straight line. Losing a loved one, well, feelings come and go as time goes by. Time does heal a great deal and I am thankful for what and whom I do have.


So, in a way, tennis does help to keep me (somewhat) sane – all the more thanks to you guys.


Now, for those who may be thinking: "Who the hell is this guy?!" and/or "Where the heck did he come from?!", I am an old friend and sometimes tennis partner of our beloved friend Topspin. We have been talking about tennis like quasi-pundits for around 10-12 years, back when we were in our early 20s (Woops! Have I just given away our ages?! HAHA!!). Top gave me the honour of being a guest poster on this fine blog and you will find that I am far more shamelessly opinionated and certain things (like the [crap] state of British tennis) wind me up something chronic. However, I like to think I am a malleable sort of chap who can be persuaded to see and sometimes take on different perspectives to issues around The Beautiful Game – no, not the one where 20-22 people are running around trying to kick an overglorified pig's bladder through a metal rectangle!

(Though I am a football fan as well, just nowhere near as much)


This Aussie Open…I paid more attention to the 'business end', i.e. the second week and it seemed to be lacking a certain something. Yes, it had the crazy epic duels early on in the first week, the odd upset (Delpo's early exit), dark horses (Cilic) and yes, Federer played a very good tournament and all that. However, I can't help but feel that tennis has come full circle since 2007, when Federer dominated like something crazy. I'm sure he is older and wiser, especially being a dad now – his life must have a lot more perspective now and he seems to be playing much more freely. He got the GOAT, as well, although not against Nadal at any point along the way but through no fault of his own. Anyway, he has nothing to prove and I think most people would be inclined to agree. I do think that had he won last year in that 5-set epic with Nadal, it may have been more fulfilling, probably because it would have silenced a lot of critics. I must add that his volleying has lost quite a lot of its edge, especially in the final. I think Tsonga may be the best volleyer around today, as he more willingly comes to the net.


I am also saddened by Nadal's status quo at the mo. All I can say is that I hope he gets back to full fitness soon and we get to see him flourish and achieve even more. He's too nice a guy to not wish him well. Though I am sure he's learnt his lesson and not enter 500 clay court tournaments in any given year!


Djokovic has matured in terms of his attitude off court as well as his game. Just take a look at how awkward he felt when asked to do an impression of Nadal (in front of him as well!) at a presentation ceremony (was it at Rome?). He seems just as lethal off both wings and, oh yeah, he has changed attire from Adidas to Sergio Tacchini (Are they back now? What about Ellesse?).


Murray really looked as though he was ready for his maiden Slam. His game has come on leaps and bounds, although he needs to improve his 1st serve percentage. His second serve is better now than it was at the last Wimby, it has to be said. Like Roger said, his time will surely come soon. And he's also switched clothing from Fred Perry to Adidas…


I still think there is another Slam or so left in A-Rod…though I will not commit to anything by saying when and where it might come.


I reckon Delpo will bounce back from this early setback. Being tall, he can slap any loopy forehands Nadal can throw at him, as he did in Flushing Meadow. He has also exorcised the demon posed by Fed.


Nando Verdasco…I just want to slap him for losing against Davydenko! Not so much for losing against him because Kolya has improved, it's more the manner in which he lost. I still think Davy lacks the flair it takes to win a Slam, maybe he'll prove me wrong. We'll not talk about that set he took of Fed because even I probably could have taken that set off him!


So yeah, things have changed, but maybe we've just been given a brief flashback of how things used to be. You know, Federer just finishing matches at will, even in Slams. In the grand scheme of things, the field has opened up, with at least 4-5 realistic Grand Slam contenders. The next few months will definitely be very interesting…


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Melbourne: Days 4 & 5 – “Shock Infested” Swamps

So it all happened out there yesterday.

It was hot, it was muggy and some of the play looked to have been extricated from a swamp.

Petrova d. Clijsters 6-0, 6-1

A shocker, but perhaps also something of required reality check. Cupcake Kim she’s most certainly no more, but even the most ardent of her fans would concede she’s not immune to the odd bad day at the office.

Perhaps more interesting was the the way she dealt with it in the presser:

"It sucks," she said. "I was completely off. She was good but I made all the mistakes and she didn't really have to do much. She served really well and was aggressive in the rallies, but that's because I let her play. It sucks that it has to happen at this stage of this tournament. If it happens in another tournament, then you can say: 'OK, it's not a big deal, just keep working hard.' Matches like this happen maybe once a year.

"You just try to stay calm because there were points where I really wanted to break my racket into pieces, but that's not going to help either, so you really just try to stay positive. At some points I was just happy I was hitting a ball in. That's how bad it was."

The Guardian

Yowza, Yowza, Yowza!

Kimmie 2.0 has very much arrived – with not a cupcake in sight.

She’s picked up on court largely where she left off after her first Slam, but it’s off court that the real transformation has taken place.

Kimmie 2.0 is a darker, more edgy figure, with a more Hingis-like, caustic world view of her opponents. She's also more comfortable using words like ‘suck’.

The rest of the year suddenly got more interesting.

Bondarenko d. Jankovic 6-2 6-3

First things first.

What on earth is going on with Jelena’s serve?

There seems to be a viral marketing campaign currently doing the rounds in women’s locker rooms, that like any properly constructed sales pitch, is disturbingly effective in signing up consumers for stuff they don’t need.

Jelena’s first serve was a liability………back in 2007.

It was never going to assume B-52 proportions but since then I did think she successfully fashioned it into something more competent, something she might use to do more with than simply start the point.

I’d put up a clip except I had my first run-in with Tennis Australia who insisted I take down those two Henin clips from my last post (You know you’ve arrived on YouTube when that happens for the first time, though whether a 50 second tennis clip actually infringes copyright or should come under what most would consider ‘fair use’ remains open for debate).

For now I’ll attempt to describe it as best I can.

From the peacock-like head cocking, to the bending of the knees to an angle so acute, you’d think she needs the type of knee protection Moto Rally GP drivers are routinely issued with.

The pay off for such excessive re-architecting? Darned if I can see it.

She may even have regressed.

As for the rest of her game, it’s not entirely in tatters – but a visit to the drapers wouldn’t go amiss.

What little rhythm she did manage to create, was quickly quashed by Bondarenko who I’m sure has come on leaps and bounds since the last time I saw her.

Sign me up as a fan.

Kuznetsova d. Kerber 3-6 7-5 6-4

Sveta left it all out on court in round two. It was smooth, it was dreamy and as always when she’s on song, so cruel it was cute – Pavlyuchenkova didn’t know what had hit her, with no idea how to respond even once she did.

I was even deluded into believing she might have taken that next vital step up to becoming comfortable in her skin as a two time Slam Champion.

She must have left it all out on court – because last night, there was nothing left.

She made Kerber look as good as she did, by letting loose a total of 43 UFEs (peanuts compared to Shaza’s first round outage, I know) – shoot anyone that tries to convince you otherwise.

This one should have been over in 1:25, instead it lasted over two hours.

Maybe starting after the Nadal match at 12am had something to do with it.

Champions sometimes have a stinker in the first week – but are conditioned into putting it behind them and playing their subsequent matches with such panache, you sometimes think they were undergoing necessary detox.

I’d like to think it’s that way with Sveta – except I’ve been wrong so many times.

Safina d. Baltacha 6-1 6-2

Brits have been busy celebrating the first time two women have reached the second round of a Slam outside of Wimbledon since 1992.

But Dinara poured hot tar over all of that yesterday - just like she has been in all her matches so far.

The difference in class was all too evident.

I’m rather liking the look of Safina’s groundies since the beginning of the event.

That serve however...

Henin d. Kleybanova 3-6 6-4 6-2

Justine dropped a set and has picked up a leg inflammation – no doubt from all those hours spent 'comparing notes' with Elena on court – could she be the next big story with a flat ending?

Nadal d. Kohlschreiber 6-4 6-2 2-6 7-5

Oh the unqualified joy of seeing the ‘Declinist’ position on Rafa’s game, being sequestered in it’s proper place.

I have no idea whether or not Rafa will go all the way – at this point I’d say that’s not all that likely, nor for that matter as important as the question of whether his play resembles something like that of Pre Wimby 2009: It does.

If there’s one thing Kohlschreiber deals in, it’s BIG-UPSET tennis.

This might just have gone the same way as his match with A-Rod did two years back, if Phillip didn’t run out of gas somewhere near the beginning of the fourth set.

We were all waiting to see Rafa go up against credible opposition, and Phillip might just have been the tonic with which to put a seal on Rafa’s revival.

The confidence very evident in the way he shunted back a once-in-a-career wide angled backhand winner that was so far out of court he had to go round the net post.

Yeah that’s what comes of not being able to post up YouTube clips anymore. Boo.

Cilic d. Wawrinka 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-2

This one had five set bruiser written all over it.

I didn’t get to see it – but it’s kind of the result I expected.

Stanislas has been all at sea since Wimbledon last year, a period that’s coincided rather nicely with Marin’s upward march.

Marin is “the new Delpo” according to some – a view I would almost share were it not for the fact that their styles of play are a little like oil and water.

But there’s no doubting Marin is the best placed to have a Delpo like breakthrough year.

Somewhat befitting then, he should be playing “Mr Breakthroughs-are-so-2009” himself, in the next round.

A match that could go either way if you believe there’s anything behind that wrist injury Delpo came into the event with.

***

I didn’t catch very much of the action from day four.

I’ll try and be quick.

Davydenko d. Marchenko 6-3 6-3 6-0

Kolya’s the man of moment right now, and something tells me this is different from the surge Nalbie experienced at the end of 2007. One that was promptly extinguished in Oz the following year (nice to have you back Daveed, almost).

I’m still not confident of him going all the way, but Davy looks awfully close to embracing at least some of the attention that goes along with taking out the best two players on the planet at consecutive events; he definitely has a different look about him this year – one that was in full show yesterday against poor old Marchenko , who to his credit didn’t play a poor match.

The top ten is sometimes a dark, murky place; full of untold misery for any hapless intruder unfortunate enough to blunder into the wrong party (remember Fed performing live vivisection on Delpo last year?), and Davy is currently it’s arch-executioner.

I do so want him to go all the way, but will for now be content with the knowledge that seeing him face off against Fed in the quarters might turn out to be every bit as good as the Rafa/Sod encounter we won’t now get to see.

Federer d. Hanescu 6-2 6-3 6-2

Normal service ‘resumptionalised’. For the time being.

Djokovic d. Chiudinelli 3-6 6-1 6-1 6-3

Having not seen any of Djoko’s matches so far, I’m not entirely sure where he is (yeah, that old chestnut). I’d like to think he’s been bolstered by that win in Paris last year.

Until I see him face off against Tsonga, Haas or Youzhny, who all lurk menacingly in his quarter of the draw however, I can’t be completely certain of that.

Not crazy about the “Hell’s Angel meets Kung-Fu Fighting” edition Sergio Tacchini have kitted him out with either. Though it’s far more preferable to the incoherent slather of colour Murray’s been daubed with. Especially beneath those ‘pits’.

V. Williams d. Bammer 6-2 7-5

This time last year I was highly optimistic of Queen V’s chances of fixing that gaping hole on her CV, by winning her first Slam on a blue surface since the early Noughties.

This year I saw nothing leading into the event that would suggest that’s even a remote possibility.

Dulko d. Ivanovic 6-7 7-5 6-4

It’s becoming difficult to avoid at least considering the possibility that Ana’s set to go the same way as Vaidisova, and understanding the root of her problems sometimes feels like a niche Philosophy.

I’m not about to embark on either.

There were some good signs in her play, but not very many, and more disturbingly an action that almost suggests she’s made her peace with wonky service tosses – they seem to have fused themselves into her game so stealthily, she’s now more inclined to adapt to an errant ball toss than she is to continue to try and work it out of her game.

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Asian Order.

I forgot to mention Youzhny yesterday, who's had something of an upturn in his fortunes this week.

And despite my future willingness to treat French tennis seriously being heavily dependant on the outcome of that French Proposition I put forth a few days ago, a small part of me wanted to see Youzhny pull through today, hopefully bringing to an end a particularly dank spell of form.

A season that’s seen him plummet from his top ten highs of early 2008.

(Photo: Getty)

But it wasn’t to be. Jo was nimble, Jo was keen, Jo-was-serving-like-a-dream.

And was rewarded, for his troubles with what looked like an item of 80s Phantasm Memorabilia.

Taken with Gael and Gilles' efforts this is now the most productive three weeks of French tennis I care to remember.

I’m tentatively back on board.

Similar story in Beijing.

A-Rad looked set to cap off a week of borderline top ten play.

But there’s few distinctions in tennis more worthy of my attention than the sight of one of it’s most skilled athletes intent on playing the house down, and even fewer than watching Sveta doing precisely that from her very first match.

The Pole did good, and has much to be proud of, though I think I still prefer the relative ‘order’ of the head girl beating up on the young fledgling.

Fortunately A-Rad seems to share my view of things.

(Photo: AP)

And in other news from the land of oversized cheques and trophies, Nole celebrated his recent ascension to world #3 with his best Rafa impression yet.

(Photo: AP)

…and by throwing his shirt in security’s face.

(Photo: AP)

Generally unimpressed with this outcome.

For Marin it’s another nearly-man result. And not an entirely distinguished one for Novak either, despite getting past some tricky opponents.

They’ll have it all to play for next week.

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Wood Chippers, ‘from what I understand’, are all the rage in the Far East…

So quite a lot of this happened yesterday.

For those that still don’t know it, Marin knocked seven shades of minty-green out of Rafa, whose serve, from what I understand, has a lot to answer for.

I’ll be using the phrase “from what I understand” an awful lot over today and tomorrow.

And maybe even in the future; at least until that great British Broadcasting Machine stops pretending men's tennis doesn’t exist in between Flushing Meadows and Shanghai.

This Asian Swing, has taken shape in a way, I certainly didn’t see coming.

Beijing in particular.

The suits cannot be well pleased at having missed out on televising what might well turn out to have been the best ATP 500 event this year. And you all thought the tour couldn’t survive the absence of Roger Federer.

That’s the second top four player disposed of, head first through the Cilician wood-chipper, in little over a month.

“From the beginning of the match until the end I didn’t let my level of play drop and definitely I came into the match really good,” Cilic said. “I was aggressive when I had to be.

“The best thing I did today: I didn’t back off, I was just stubborn with my style of play.”

(ESPN)

(Photo: AFP)

Following up opposite Juan-Marteen proved more difficult after his ‘upset’ of Andy Murray at Flushing last month.

I’d like to see him use more of that stubbornness, to follow up good n’proper this time round, even though I’d normally back Novak to break his finals curse. This is turning out to be something of a breakthrough year for Marin – and I think he needs a title at this level to underscore that. More so than Novak, whose interests would be better served at the Masters level – where he’s already made a staggering 4 finals this year.

Speaking of which, Novak played some pretty fine tennis of his own yesterday.

“From what I understand”, Big Rob was far from his best, but that in no way detracts from Nole’s performance; one that included more of that ‘grind’ I’ve found so unpalatable these past few months.

I’ve no objection to it being used in moderation provided it’s mixed in with those more aggressive bouts of play that should, under normal circumstances, be considered the mainstay of his game.

But there’ll be no Rafa Soderling final tomorrow. Rafa’s chipped to bits. ‘The Rob’ stops here. My ‘double-blind’ predictions saw to that.

***

Not to be outdone, the Sveta wood-chipper made equally short work of Nadia, racing to a one set lead before Petrova had even found her feet. From there on in, and understandably feeling the after effects of her three setter against Vera the day before, Nadia made an admirable commitment to a match she must have known was never going to be her own.

Not with Sveta firing on five out of four cylinders.

Nadia did however reinforce my conviction that no Russian serves anywhere near as well as her. You know who to hit with Elena. Another day, another opponent, and it might have been so very different.

"If I play my best game I think I'm to be the favourite but you never know," said Kuznetsova.

(SkySports)

No you never do know, but it’s A-Rad, rather than the favourite (and my favourite) Sveta, that I’ll be rooting for tomorrow..

She triumphed in straights over Bartoli, a result I would normally have expected to have gone the other way round; but perhaps not that unexpected this week with A-Rad seemingly set to go A-Rad 2.0, and not nearly as unexpected as the sight of Bartoli turning up to the match in what looked like a Matron’s castoff.

(Photo: AP)

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Flushing Meadows: 'TomTom' navigates past 'The Wrist'

(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

del Potro d. Cilic 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1

A lot of commentators had the Cilic del-Potro match chalked up as an evenly matched affair. I sort of agree.

But their style of play is poles apart.

Juan plays what I call 'TomTom' or 'NavMan' tennis: "first this way then that" style big-swinging from the baseline he uses to quickly subdue opponents before they get a foothold into rallies - not that dissimilar to Shaza or Vika.

But however uninspiring del Potro's game might be, not only is it effective, it's also a work in progress, that on the evidence of this year is evolving incrementally in nicely defined chunks.

The most recent addition has been that big serve that caused such an uproar earlier this year when he stretched Federer to five sets at RG.

Cilic, is something quite different. I believe he's the more talented of the two, tending to play flashier and altogether more daring tennis. He's certainly far more adept at slicing and creating angles than Juan, and from what I could see, was experimenting with changes in pace. When on song, like he was in that first set, he's both difficult to stop, and a pleasure to watch.

When he's not, I usually find myself averting my eyes.

But I don't believe it was his gung-ho, risky, wristy self responsible for the outage that began somewhere in the middle of the second set.

del-Potro must have sensed, that should he hang in there, he might be back in the locker room a lot sooner than he might otherwise have been, against an opponent who hadn't any experience at this level.

It seemed to be a mixture of the enormity of the occasion, and being totally out of gas.

Whatever it was, it ensured the last set was barely a contest.

No matter.

It's too early to determine whether Cilic has really announced himself here, he could after all go back to being a Tsonga-like 'nearly-man'.

(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

But if Cilic takes anything other than positives out of this, he'll have been too hard on himself.

There's plenty to work on (five set match-fitness for one thing), but plenty to get excited about too.

A lot often gets made (sometimes by me) about the amounts of wrist he puts into that forehand. It's certainly not a pure action, but I'm inclined to think of it as an essential quirk without which such explosivity might prove difficult to reproduce.

Though I would prefer him to lash out less often, perhaps cultivating more of a "medium caliber" stroke he can still use to intimidate opponents much in the same way del Potro does, rather than interfering with the action and doing away with the wrist altogether.

Such a change might result in an unfortunate dousing of his natural flair, which we definitely don't want to be doing.

***

I have a correction to make.

During a copy/paste seizure the day before last, I omitted the following paragraph from my post:

"Woz displayed an emotional maturity beyond her years, remained unperturbed by the All-American crowd, and kept her own UFE count to a minimum."

That was meant to have appeared before the line:

"Absurdly unspectacular, and exactly what was needed. Thank you very much."

I hope you'll now appreciate that it was Woz's unambitious, underwhelming play that I was referring to as being "exactly what was needed" (as in carefully measured) to get the better of Oudin (who rather hit herself out), rather than indicating any need I might have entertained for Oudin to get bundled out of the event. Not guilty.
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Flushing Meadows: Murray's Law on Passive-Aggressive Differentials

(Photo: AP)

Same story, Different Slam.

In all four Slams this year (five if you include the smackdown Federer inflicted on him here last time round), Murray has been swept off court by a guy willing to step it up and use the bigger and not always much better weapons at his disposal.

The way Cilic used his serve and forehand in those last two sets in particular left my eyes watering. Both because of how sensationalist it all was and how strangely ill-equipped he made Murray seem out there.

"A lot of times when I lose I get asked 'why did you look flat?' but it is not always the case - today I couldn't get myself into games and he was dominating points so there wasn't much I could do about it."

-- Andy Murray on his loss to Marin Cilic

"I played very well and he was missing a lot," Cilic added. "I don't think he was playing his best."

(BBC)

I think both these two quotes tell a story, the first more so than the second.

Sure, Murray produced an error-strewn display (his worse at this Slam by far), but a lot of that was simply about the way in which he was reacting to Marin's onslaught.

And the greater story surely has to be where this leaves his passive-aggressive style of play, which like Safina's set up, I think could do with some revision.

Murray claims the way he plays is tailored to fit the the levels of aggression present in the opposition. Put him up against a Gonzalez or a Nikolay, and he'll rope-a-dope them into leaking errors. Against more passive players like Ferrero, he's willing and able to step it up in the way he did against Nadal last year at the semis.

And in between those two extremes lies a continuous spectrum of player-aggression, he presumably uses one long slider bar to adjust up or down to, injecting appropriate amounts of intensity into his game.

I liked that theory. For a time.

It sounded so scientific, so ordered, so very organised. Very much like his coaching set up, with it's carefully balanced team of health, fitness and nutritional experts.

Trouble is, such theoretical adjustments might sound persuasive, but are actually very difficult to realise in a match situation, with it's additional parameters of nervous energy, fatigue, and your opponent very likely raining down blows on you with the venom and intensity of a thousand dark clouds. An imprecise tool for an imperfect art.

In some ways it actually makes you more vulnerable to the guys playing 'lights out' tennis: the last thing you want to do against one of them is to go in unsure of how hard to push down on the gas pedal.

And to put it more bluntly, that approach failed miserably today against Marin who was doing that 'lights out' thing.

But what's more important is that it's also failed against Verdasco (Aussie Open), Gonzalez (RG) and Roddick (Wimby), who were all more than willing and able to step into court and put their possibly more klunky tools, to more devastating effect against a guy that's probably more talented than them, but is still struggling with the numbers.

It's not that I don't believe in Murray's theory or think that it can't be proven true. I just think it's been conclusively shown that it would be indefensible to continue to try.

He could spend the next few years continuing to carefully tune his game, trying to outwit and second guess his opponents. Or he could try out that 'lights out' thing. Which I happen to think he does rather well, and incidentally is equipped well enough to try.
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The Essence of Beauty...

Yeah I'll admit it.

I'm not really feeling it this year.

Forget what I said earlier about needing a clinical, tsunami-free first week. Didn't know what I was talking about.

I suppose what I meant is we needed a cap on the amount of matches that were going unnecessarily to 4 or 5 sets.

But even the most ordered universe needs it's share of space-time inflexions, much like what we saw in the opening day of The Championships two years ago when Tim Henman came through in a five set epic against Carlos Moya.

Actually it was delayed by poor light and had to be played over two days. But factual nuances like that mess with the poetry of my space-time metaphor.

I'm just saying we haven't had anything like that this year, not from the first or second tier.

What we've had are blinding openers from Federer and The Sisters (particularly liking what I'm seeing from Serena), more measured performances from Murray, Djoko, fairly unsubstantial stuff from Dinara and Jelena and....well, you get the idea.

Yeah I'll admit it. Watching Federer dreamily carving up the opposition is no longer doing it for me.

[pauses a moment for 2Hander to find a car jack, so he can lift his bottom jaw up off the ground]

You read it right the first time. TopSpin, connoisseur of single-handed backhands, decrier of the wave of 'standardisation' sweeping Womens Tennis, no longer stumbles off his stool at the sight of a Federer backhand down the line (well actually I do, but indulge me ok? - poetry, symmetry and all that).

Ok I think I better explain myself.

There was a time, back end of 2006, early 2007 being it's pinnacle, where I'd take pleasure in watching Roddick getting carved up like he did at Melbourne 07 (to this day the closest I've witnessed, to perfection on a tennis court). I wouldn't even describe it as a particularly perverse pleasure, seeing as it was so beautiful.

I suppose I would only keep a half open casual eye on Federer's early matches then, as I was so confident of him getting through.

But things have moved on and those aesthetic images and the adages of watching a 'genius at work' now serve as little more than a zeitgeist of a bygone age. If anything this fourth act of Federer's career is all about grunt work. Elegant, unfazed grunt work. But grunt work all the same.

The ability to invent shots on the fly remains undiminished. Already this week we've had that extreme-angled shot round the net post and a scooped sliced volley against Kohlschreiber today, that died so silently on the grass, you'd think the gravitational field in and around centre court had been temporarily altered.

But I'm no longer completely confident of him emerging entirely unscathed from the first week, which means I'm paying closer attention to his openers. And yes, in accordance with this being the year in which I learn to 'see it from the other side of the fence', I'm beginning to see what some people meant when they criticised his tennis as being less riveting by it seeming a little too effortless at times.

I suppose I should qualify that by saying that, that effortlessness was the essence of his game's beauty (God that sounds like a Calvin Klein ad).

But that was in '07. Even staunch Federalists would now admit he's no longer the player he was in Melbourne'07, which means today's effortlessness manifests itself with less magic. A kind of laboured effortlessness (can you have that?). And I've become accustomed to seeing it.

There seems to be -- and this is purely subjective, feel free to rain down your heaviest blows -- more of a reliance on those less enthralling, but very properly constructed, longer rallies that culminate in a winner that rates rather less impressively as a 'religious experience'.

None of which amounts to very much of course, provided the results are the same. He dropped a set today, but I sort of expected that with a player of Kohlschreiber's abilities on the other side of the net.



So treat the above as the kind of unsubstantive dross you might hear on a late night show discussing Installation Art. Except it's art that drew me to his game in the first place so I think I'm entitled to criticise it with all the pretentiousness of an art critic (and I don't believe I mentioned anything about 'paradigms' or 'concepts' so it should be bearable).

But I was still looking for that elusive sizzler to light up the first week.

I didn't get it in the 3rd round match between Azarenka and Cirstea - two of the heaviest ball strikers in the women's game. And two of the most exciting. I thought this was going to provide us with something special and it did sort of live up to it's billing for the first set, which featured some of the best ball striking I think I've seen in any womens match this week.

But Cirstea faded badly in the second. She's got one of the top five serves in the game. That first serve in particular is hit without any fear at all. Much like the rest of her game; except she doesn't seem to understand how to take a step back at those moments where more conservative play is required - which I actually quite admire, as it demonstrates the gutsiness of a future top tenner. But it ended up costing her the match today.

And yet, as I finish up here, we've rather ironically got what looks like the match of the week.

I don't care. I'm not about to rewrite anything.

But Haas v Cilic is not your usual epic. This is about Old School Tennis versus The New Age. Seriously.

Tommy's having to make some very considered decisions on when to come to the net, though you know he's itching to do so on every other point.

Marin's had a really hard time keeping his focus and nerve at the key moments.

Both have had two match points come and gone.

Oh look - Cedric Mourier's having a smile after getting booed for calling up the ref to decide whether play should continue at 5-5 in the final set.

// Update

Both players held serve and play was eventually suspended at 6-6.

I really like Marin. A precocious talent with an uber-wristy and rather risque forehand action, and an impressive future ahead of him. Both men have given their all.

(Photo: GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images)

But if Tommy doesn't win this one, I'll feel there's no justice in the world. :(
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Slightly later than advertised Round-Up...

I've been a little busy this weekend and didn't get time to do the usual end of event round ups.

I need to do so now as its not often you get to blow your own trumpet. No, let me rephrase that. It's not often I make picks, in fact I think I might have only done it once since this blogs inception - and even then only half-heartedly. Last week, I finally decided to stop chickening out and jump into the deep end. After all, what type of a tennis blogger goes about their business without making picks (now and again)?

(Photo Credit: Sky Sports)

I was only half right with the ladies: Dinara did get to the final but went out to Sveta who I thought wouldn't make it past the semis against a solid looking Elena. She did, and then went on to take the title too - her first since New Haven in 2007, and the first time she's got through a final (without her opponent pulling out) in ten attempts. And she did it with a kind of nonchalant, confident expression on her face (not even that much celebrating) that suggested to me that she herself recognises her own capabilities, and just how overdue this title is. Not even going for the lines very much, just executing to near perfection (and routining poor old Dinara in the process). THAT'S what I'm talking about.

If she continues to play at this level she's looking the most promising inductee into my collection of picks for RG. The list currently goes:

(1) Elena
(2) Dinara
(3) Sveta
(4) Jelena

I've given the nod to Elena simply because she's been the most solid of the four since the beginning of the year. Jankovic on the other hand, despite showing some signs of life recently, still looks shaky, and is in there only because of the fact that she's won Rome the last two years.

Regular readers will know what a big fan of Sveta's I am, so it goes without saying how pleased I am about this. I know I've said this about a thousand times, but she's got the most complete game in the top ten, with the exception of perhaps only Venus Williams - don't think Serena volleys as well.

One other thing - Sveta's win here makes official what many have already sensed these last few weeks: that the WTA is on an upward trajectory once again.

But my men's picks for Rome were, how shall I put this, spot on? Not only in terms of the result but in the number of sets I thought it would take. Roger, as we all know, sadly went down to Djoko in three. Rafa came through against Gonzo in two (Ok that wasn't the hardest call in the world). And then Rafa came through against Djoko in only two sets. All exactly how I called them. Now I know many of my fellow bloggers are particularly well tuned in the art of picking matches, but this ain't half bad for a rookie's first or second attempt. Is it?

Ok I know I'm getting on your nerves now, so I'll move on to the winners and losers at Rome and Stuttgart.

Last weeks Emperors & Queens:

Novak Djokovic: This guy must be loving the clay. Nothing wrong with going out to Rafa in two. Seems ironic he'll lose the #3 spot to Murray given he's outperformed both him and Federer at this event.

Fernando Gonzales: He didn't play as well as he did in Barcelona, but still managed to get to the semis. Me thinks Gonzo's rediscovering that curiosity we call form. Be watching him over the next month or so.

Juan Monaco: Well done mate! Don't think you had a scrap of a chance against Nadal so it's probably just as well you went out to Gonzo. But beating the #4 player in the world (even if he played a horror of a match) must feel good. Feel justly proud of yourself. Go on....
Richard Gasquet: Went down fairly meekly to Nando, but only after having to play (and coming through in) two matches in the same day against Tsonga and Gulbis the day before. Not at all bad.

Dinara Safina: For sort of 'making good' by reaching the finals in her first event ranked as the world #1. Yeah, we still know who the real world #1 is, but take that anyway!

Flavia Pennetta: A good run, including a win over Jelena Jankovic.

This lot has some thinking to do:

Andy Murray: Take it easy...I'm not mad at you. I know that when it comes to clay, you're still learning the ropes so to speak. But you've surely gone beyond the stage of first round exits. No?
Marin Cilic: I dunno, maybe clay isn't his thing, and I know he went out to the guy that beat up on Murray. But that's two consecutive early losses for this bright young thing.

Giles Simon: That's it, consider me officially off the Gilles Simon Bandwagon.

Jelena Jankovic: You're not on this list for the usual reasons. A quarter final isn't bad, but is I'm sure you'll agree far below what you'd expect given you'd actually started to show signs of recovery.

Carla Suarez Navarro: I so want to make this girl my new unofficial champion of women's tennis, and I did think the clay court season would signal the start of an improvement. But we had yet another first round loss. If this continues, she'll turn into the WTA's very own Reeshard.

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