Roger and Not-Out...

As strange a loss as it was to Simon, I still think Federer might just raise his game enough to come through against Murray. It won't be easy, it'll probably be very close but could end up being the match of the tournament - that is if these two don't get to the final and stage it all over again!

Here's why:

1) Murray (against Roddick) looked more comfortable than Federer (against Simon) if you compare them on the basis of the sets they won. But he went for a mental-walkabout in the set he lost 6-1. You can recover from such a lapse against Roddick but against Federer it might set a more ominous tone to the match.

2) Federer has got to be fired up after losing to Murray in Madrid. And the added threat of not making the semis may lend him that extra edge.

3) Both players may be slightly off, what with Federer not practicing as much due to his back, and Murray coping both with the expectation of his Masters Cup Debut and not playing quite the cloud-nine tennis of of recent months. History tells us that experience usually prevails at times like this.

4) ... ok there is no 4, I just want Federer to beat Murray in the Round-Robins so they both make it to the semis!

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From Box Office to Back Office...

Not very many people have been overly impressed with the quality of the tennis in Doha this past week, and rightly so.

Safina in particular, going out 0-3 marked for me the lowest point of the tournament: you could reasonably have expected the 'winningest' (I'm sorry that term always has me in hysterics) player of the last 6 months to reach the knockout stages if nothing else. And that was before the now all too familiar pull outs. I know fatigue plays a factor in all of this; lets hope the WTA calendar changes go at least some way to making this event everything it has the potential to be: A Box Office Tournament, not a Back Office one.

Anyone else feel there's something almost 'Kill Bill' about the black and green Eleven jacket Venus Willams warms up in!? She certainly looked like she could take on a room full of fifty assailants as she delivered perhaps her very best performance of the year and in doing so, salvaged some of the big time feel this event ought to have. In fact, aside from the recent all Williams clash in the US Open quarter finals, I'd go as far as to say that it was her best hard court performance of recent years. There's few certainties in Tennis, but if you dictate play with powerful, deep and accurate shots point after point (quite like Safin did to Federer in that Aussie Open Semi in '05), it almost doesn't matter who's on the other side of the net: the odds of winning the match are drastically in your favour.
I really hope this is a sign of things to come next year - I'd love to see her win at least one of the two Slams that have eluded her.

Zvonareva deserves her accolades here; although not a household name, her appearance here in the finals should not be wholly surprising: coming into this she was after Jankovic, the most consistent player on tour - she's certainly one of the very few near complete players in the women's game.
I want to see her improve her Grand Slam record (only a single quarter final appearance at Roland Garros) - she's dispensed with much of the on court histrionics that marred her chances in the past.

Williams image by Jet Magbanua Read More...

Kuznetsova Gets Courtside...

The quality of the action thus far in Doha this week has not quite been what I had expected.
Of the qualifying eight players, only Zvonareva and Jankovic have been able to produce the standard of tennis we know they are capable of.

I must admit to being wrong about Jankovic; I had expected her to be worn out and put in a performance only marginally better than last year (when she went 0-3 in the round robin stage having already played a grand total of 27 tournaments, ouch - this year she 'only' played 21); instead her performances against Ivanovic and Kuznetsova were replete with the kind of aggressive shotmaking that brought her so much success since that defining US Open final. Having said that, she did take an injury timeout for her lower back - so her next few matches will be very telling.

Other than these two, the performances have been inconsistent (Safina), error prone (Ivanovic), moody (Serena) and, well just plain average (Venus & Dementieva).
Somehow I don't think we'll be getting the final we did last year.


Its been a case of back to the drawing board, or more accurately courtside for Kuznetsova since partnering with Olga Morozova. She can frequently be seen in the stands recently with her new coach, who presumably wheels her out to boost her confidence in and understanding of her own game. Olga appears to be doing most/all of the talking, which is probably as it should be. This is very evidently a different approach and although you can infer pitifully little from these brief glimpses, I'm pretty sure her pep talks focus mostly on bolstering Kuznetsova mentally. Yes she probably talks tactics as well, but only to forge a game plan out of Kuznetsova's already very abundant skill set.

I'm all for this new introspective approach; if you haven't heard me say it before, let me state it here again: Kuznetsova is by far, in my opinion, the most complete player in the top ten. Unfortunately, that doesn't always correlate to success on court. She's got some of the best groundstrokes in the business (especially that backhand), a strong serve, very capable hands at the net (due in large part to the amount of doubles she's played) and doesn't appear to suffer the fitness/injury problems other players do.
That she falls short time after time and has yet to follow up on her US Open success of 2004 is not just a source of frustration to me I'm sure.

Although she's most likely out now in Doha, there were some promising glimpses in her match against Jankovic today, of the type of changes Morozova may have brought to her game.
Kuznetsova has it all, but rarely it seems puts much thought into her tennis, relying more on her natural ability. I'm sure she has a gameplan when she walks out on court but doesn't seem to execute it or else abandons it very quickly.

Although Jankovic was playing at a level above her for most of the match today, she was at least responding more thoughtfully with several calculated and effective approaches to the net.
She needn't worry about losing early on here. Its often necessary to take a step (or two) back to make progress. She was getting nowhere (fast) with her existing approach - or lack of it.

Kuznetsova image by Gordon Dionne distributed under licence.
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Rafa Ruffed Up!

Hi, firstly allow me to introduce myself. I am an old friend and sometime tennis partner of Topspin. I call myself 2Hander because of my double-handed backhand.

Top and I both follow tennis quite avidly and we tend to discuss it at great length no matter where in the world we may be. I love tennis A LOT, which is quite rare for Brits - in fact a lot of my friends can't understand it. I am delighted to be given the chance to rant and ramble on Top's blog. This is my first ever posting on a blog so please excuse it if it seems like a hotchpotch of odd thoughts here and there! Anyway, here goes...

Now, the latest is that Rafa Nadal has pulled out of the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai due to fatigue. Although he has had one heck of a season, it certainly seems as though what people were saying about him 2-3 years ago is starting to come true: that Rafa will surely be unable to sustain the amount he exerts himself for the long haul. It looks as though things are starting to take their toll on his body (and that's for someone with a physique like his!!). Just to get an idea of how much spin he puts on the ball, I think they measured it on average to be around 4000 rpm, whereas Federer was next with around 2500 rpm!

In terms of his style of play compared to Federer, there is definitely a 'Beauty and the Beast' comparison to be made. I must say that Federer's exquisite, yet aggressive game endears my heart more than Rafa's tenacity, hustle and grit. Don't get me wrong, I am a great admirer of Nadal not only as a player, but as a professional sportsman and an ambassador for the (in MY opinion, anyway) 'beautiful game'. He won Roland Garros the first time he entered it and has never lost there since. I respect Roland Garros as a Slam for it is one that escaped so many tennis greats - Becker, Sampras, McEnroe, Edberg et al.

Rafa has shown incredible maturity and skill by adapting to and improving on grass (particularly his net game), so much so that he reached the final of Wimbledon on only his third attempt. Though in their match this year, I personally think Federer was significantly off his game, especially mentally and more so against Nadal. Still, not to take anything away from Rafa, as he can only play whoever is in front of him at the time!

As Top mentioned on here previously, Rafa has relatively underachieved on hard. In order to really be a legend, in my mind he will have to win either the Aussie or the US, since they make up half the number of Slams in the year. He has complained about the scheduling in the hard court and clay court season this year in having to make allowances for the Beijing Olympics. Though I don't seem to remember anyone else making such complaints, I may be wrong.

Another thing I couldn't help noticing was Rafa's knees - quite often one or both are taped up! I know there is some research going into surfaces that won't impact so much on players' joints yet maintaining their high bounce and quick speed. I remember Boris Becker adapting his service so as to not impact his shoulder so much. Although it was with a lot more spin and less power, it was still a very potent weapon of his. Maybe both Nadal and Roddick can take a leaf out of his book...

I hope Rafa can find a way to stay in the game for a long while yet. For I, like many others, wish to see more emerging from the Roger-Rafa rivalry in the coming years.

Nadal image courtesy of franz88 distributed under licence Read More...

As It Happened...

As I type, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has just taken the first set from David Nalbandian in rambunctious style.

I don't normally do these on-the-go match report postings but I wanted to try a little experiment and there's a first time for everything I suppose.

Don't be surprised if I don't do it again for a while.




1st Set

Tsonga started serving and came out all guns blazing - he went up 3-0 up very quickly. His plan looks to be to dominate Nalbandian with his flamboyant and extrovert play, quickly stifling any resistance the Argentine might show. Nalbandian finds his feet in the fourth game and holds serve for the first time. But he's not being allowed any rhythm and is often being given the run around as Tsonga shows us again how comfortable he is from both the back of the court and at the net.
Tsonga drops slightly in form and there are some promising signs from Nalbandian with more approaches to the net that were so effective against Murray. But it's too late to salvage the first set and Tsonga serves out to take the set 6-3.

2nd Set

Nalbandian begins serving, and is made to earn the first game which goes through several deuces. 1-0
Tsonga holds his service game quite easily - he's using his serve to great effect, and is winning most points in his service games very quickly. Nalbandian holds too, though not as easily as Tsonga. 2-1

Wow! Three aces from Tsonga to level the 2nd set at 2-2
Nalbandian looks to be taking his time between points as he deliberates whether to challenge - he's not going to be rushed by Tsonga.
He keeps his head and holds. 3-2

Another beautiful inside out forehand winner followed by an ace. Tsonga's doing the perfect job of keeping Nalbandian guessing, keeping him off balance. Another love service game. 3-3

Nalbandian's thinking well now - he draws Tsonga in twice with exquisite drop shots and follows up one of them with a lob which even the super-athletic Tsonga can't reach. Tsonga's still trying to impose himself on Nalbandian but it's another love service game. 4-3

Tsonga's serve again. A wild forehand strays long - Tsonga wants to watch he doesn't try too hard. 0-15
Oh Dear! A double fault and Naldbandians 0-30 up.
Nabandian senses blood and draws Tsonga into a rally which Tsonga loses by sending a running forehand wide and suddenly it's 0-40.
Tsonga regroups - same formula: Big serve, crunching inside out forehand and a finish at the net. 30-40
Another two aces including one saved break point! The crowd is going wild! It's Ad.Tsonga.
Nalbandian's getting into more of the rallies now - definitely a turning point in the match.
However Tsonga holds his serve on the second attempt with an ace. 4-4

A very confident service game by Nalbandian including a superb wide angled double handed backhand that puts Tsonga hopelessly off balance. More solid serving follows and Nalbandian holds 5-4

Tsonga's Service: He stops playing - he thinks Nalbandian's return landed past the baseline and mounts a failed challenge. 0-15
Great play from both men, culminating in another aggressive rush to the net from Tsonga which Nalbandian defuses with a superb short cross court flick pass. 0-30
Oh No! Tsonga sends another forehand wildly long. 0-40
Tsonga nets a forehand and it's game and 2nd set Nalbandian 6-4

3rd Set

(Service:Nalbandian)
Great serve out wide from Nalbandian. 15-0
Whoa! Massive inside out forehand return of serve from Tsonga. 15-15
Nalbandian nets a forehand as Tsonga looks to impose himself again. 15-30
Another wide serve from Nalbandian causing problems for Tsonga. 30-30
Tsonga sends his return long. 40-30
Nalbandian is feeling some pressure as he nets his forehand. Deuce.
Another serve out wide - that's really getting to Tsonga. Ad Nalbandian
A high bouncing return allows Nalbandian control of the point - he comes in and executes an outrageously angled back hand smash. 1-0

(Service:Tsonga)
Big serve followed by another approach shot down the line - allows Tsonga to smash. 15-0
Great 2nd serve down the T. 30-0
Another Ace! 40-0
Another unreturnable serve allows Tsonga to hold 1-1

(Service:Nalbandian)
Nalbandian sends the ball past the baseline - he wants to be careful he doesn't allow Tsonga back into the dominating position of the first set. 0-15
Great approach from Nalbandian followed by an angled volley. 15-15
Huge hitting from Tsonga in the longest recent rally, grinding Nalbandian down as he eventually nets a return 15-30
Nalbandian's losing focus - a forehand return sails wide and it's 2 break points. 15-40
Another netted return gives Tsonga the break 1-2

(Service:Tsonga)
Good defending from Nalbandian forces Tsonga to net a return 0-15
Tsonga belts a forehand down the line winner 15-15
Big serve down the middle, unreturnable 30-15
Another ace out wide 40-15
Nalbandian draws Tsonga into a rally and sends a backhand near Tsonga's feet, drawing the error 40-30
Ace 1-3

(Service:Nalbandian)
It's looking ominous as Tsonga wins a rally Nalbandian should have with a Mammoth inside out forehand winner 0-15
Great drop shot from Nalbandian draws the error from Tsonga 15-15
Two unforced errors from Tsonga 15-40
Another ace 2-3

(Service:Tsonga)
Tsonga's forehand clips the net, and although Nalbandian scrambles to flick a return back, it allows him to easily claim the point 15-0
Great angled backhand return from Nalbandian 15-15
Tsonga's 22nd ace. 30-15
Another angled backhand return 30-30
Nalbandian follows an aggressive return with a rush to the net, drawing an error from Tsonga 30-40
Two aces and suddenly it's Ad. Tsonga
Another big serve - Nalbandian can't find the return. 2-4

(Service:Nalbandian)
Tsonga can sense blood as he comes in and applies the pressure, finishing the point off with a smash 0-15
Great serve out wide followed by the drop volley 30-15
Nalbandian's coming in every point now - Tsonga belts a cross court forehand which Nalbandian gets a racquet to but can't get back 30-30
There's that sensational backhand smash from Nalbandian again 40-30
Unforced error from Tsonga and Nalbandian holds 3-4

(Service:Tsonga)
Huge serve which Nalbandian somehow returns - though he's being run ragged. 15-0
Unforced error from Tsonga 15-15
Shot of the match so far for me - an inside out forehand winner seemingly from nowhere 30-15
Dumped return of serve from Nalbandian - he throws his racquet down, drawing boos from the crowd - give the man a break! 40-15
Easy pass down the line for Tsonga 3-5

(Service:Nalbandian)
Tsonga wants to end it quickly - Nalbandian lures him in with a drop shot - Sensational lob from Nalbandian 15-0
Shotmakings getting better and better - Tsonga chases Nalbandian's dropshot down this time and flicks it so wide it's almost parallel to the net! 15-15
Down the line approach shot followed by a drop volley from Nalbandian 40-30
Hold on! *Rubs eyes* No ones approaching the net! Great rallying from both men from the back of the court - but Nalbandian cannot get to Tsonga's crunching backhand cross court winner. Deuce
A rarity: big serve from Nalbandian drawing an error from Tsonga. Ad Nalbandian
Down the line winner from Nalbandian 4-5

(Service:Tsonga)
Nalbandian sticks with Tsonga from the back of the court drawing the error 0-15
An approach shot from Tsonga - although a poorly executed drop volley gives Nalbandian the point 0-30
Tsonga nets another attempted approach shot 0-40
Poor netted return from Nalbandian. 15-40
Drop shot from Tsonga lures Nalbandian in - he flicks it up but it's an easy put away for Tsonga 30-40
Big serve down the T followed by a sensational forehand down the line. Deuce
25th Ace down the T gives Tsonga Championship point. Ad Tsonga.
Tsonga's putting everything into this (last?) rally - blasting everything back close to the baseline. Nalbandian can't keep up with this - He nets a forehand giving Big Jo his first Masters Title!

Well that was an intense experience - real time match reporters all over the world: Hats off to you! Although I won't be doing it again for a while (I prefer to watch tennis without multitasking), I quite enjoyed the experience.

Congratulations Jo-Wilfried! Welcome to the Big Time - though with your personality and style of play, no one can seriously deny you belong there.

Tsonga image by paphio distributed under licence
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And Then There Were Five...

I very rarely root for more than two or three players in a tournament, but for once I'm backing all of the remaining field in Paris.

Federer and Nadal have withdrawn from their respective quarter final matches due to injuries, and in doing so have opened up the draw in a pleasantly surprising way.

Whenever the top seeds aren't around it usually means we're in for something of an anti climax (think Hamburg 2005), with the victor usually being crowned by default: on the basis of being marginally better than everyone else.

But I've backed all of the remaining players in Paris at one time or another, mostly because of their undeniable talent and underachievement. Out of the remaining five, only Tsonga is not a top tenner, although he's already proven he's capable of beating the very best.

• Davydenko - He's had a troublesome year with the betting investigation but still managed to win big in Miami; OK Federer and Djokovic weren't in the mix, but he comprehensively outplayed everyone else, including deserved wins over Roddick and Nadal. He's not everybody's cup of tea and not the most inspiring or flamboyant of players, but there can be no doubting his superb consistency (top tenner since June 2005), fitness (at times it seems he almost prefers to win in five sets rather than three) and aggressive style of play. I really hope there's no long term damage incurred by the ATP proceedings and that he returns to form in 2009. A title here wouldn't hurt that cause.

• Nalbandian - Profiled previously.
• Tsonga - Profiled here.
  
• Blake - He can sometimes appear very one dimensional in his style of play, and despite his great run in 2006, I had him pegged as someone who wouldn't last long in the top ten. He appeared to me to have peaked with a fairly limited set of tools and would cave in mentally more often than not. He's proved me wrong, mostly because of his supreme athleticism and explosive style of play. He often hits outrageous winners, and possesses groundstrokes flatter than anyone in the top ten. I'm sometimes surprised why such an explosive player has such a tame serve, but put simply he's too good not to have won a Masters shield at least once, and he doesn't have much time left.
• Roddick - Over the last two years Roddick has added considerable depth to his game, particularly to that backhand and net play. With the emergence of Djokovic last year, I thought it was all over for him at the highest levels of the sport. But he then beat Nadal and Djokovic en route to a title in Dubai this year. He's still not at the level of the top four and probably never will be, but like Blake deserves more wins at this level.

I'd still have preferred the victor to have had to face one or two of the top three, but if nothing else, the confidence gained by winning here may turn him into someone more capable of contending effectively with the top four - and that can only be a good thing.

Blake image by chascow Read More...

PR Pundit Required.Please Inspire Within...

What should have been two mouth watering match ups this weekend ended up being largely one sided affairs. Still it was good to see Federer bag his third title of the year in Basel (also his third consecutive here), while Ivanovic confirmed that her semi final appearance in Zurich was no flash in the pan: she beat Zvonerava to claim the title in Linz.

Great as this is for them, I want to focus on one of the runners-up.

Nalbandian is in the eyes of many(myself included), the most talented player never to have won a Slam. I don't think the ATP make any awards in that category, but in any case that is not, should not be the kind of epitaph Nalbandian is remembered by when he eventually calls it a day.

And therein lies the problem: what baffles me, bothers me most about Nalbandian isn't his alarmingly consistent inconsistency, nor lets say, his rather 'suspect' fitness regime. What really gets to me is how comfortable he sometimes appears, with it all slipping away.

His semi final loss at Queens this year (6-1,6-0 to Djokovic) made me wonder why he turned up. As great a player as Djokovic is, there's no way I can rationalise that scoreline in my mind without thinking that Nalbandian was injured, ill or so mentally out of sorts that he simply shouldn't be on court.

There's three ways that most players cope with not being able to perform to their expectations:

• They break racquets, foulmouth the umpire, smack tennis balls out of the arena: anything to get them out of the rut.
• They internalise their anger and smoulder as they die a slow brooding death on court.
• They cut a defeated figure and radiate negativity.

Only the first of these is really acceptable as it allows one to turn a negative into a positive. But there's also a fourth vehicle used by a minority of players in which they simply disengage - stop caring. What makes this perhaps the worst possible response is its neutrality. In the cases above, however negative, the player is at least conveying their frustration, showing everybody just how badly they want to turn this around.

This apathetic response may have been acceptable if Nalbandian were a player ranked outside of the top 50 facing a 6-2, 5-1 scoreline with Federer serving for the match.

But this is a man who's beaten Federer 8 times (ok, 4 of those were circa 2002-2003, but how many other players can boast that record) and been to at least the semis of all four slams.

He's got one of the best double handed backhands in the world, and moves so amazingly (almost freakishly) well that Tennis Magazine described it as 'materialising next to the ball'.

Anyway this is all sounding far too ominous; Nalbandian may have an attitude problem, but I suspect theres also something else at play, something a little easier to fix. I get the feeling he's sometimes simply unaware of just how poor his body language can get at times, and doesn't always understand how damaging this can be to his public persona. I don't think he's consciously trying to disengage with anyone, least of all his fans but he certainly wasn't winning any new ones when he went off court at Queens that day.

His loss to Federer this weekend wasn't his best performance but not his worst either. Reaching the finals here and his recent win in Stockholm suggest he is still serious about his tennis so maybe all he needs is a PR makeover. Some people just aren't great presenters - and besides PR isn't his thing, hitting backhands is.

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