WTF: Eight questions

By now everyone who’s anyone will be aware of Roddick’s decision to forgo the festivities in South East London this year. Step forward Big Rob, name-and-number.

(Julian Finney/Getty Images)

I love the concept of the best eight players of the year pulling out all the stops in an Armageddon like ruckus to cap off perhaps the strangest year of tennis in, well, years.

With the calendar being what it is though, the event seems doomed to being perceived as an anti-climactic exhibition that only approximates ‘the cream of the crop’ in the loosest sense of the phrase - less of a crescendo than a glib winding up of a season that deserved so much more.

Is too much tennis really at the heart of the problem? After all, the event’s nearly 40 years old and I don’t remember injuries and burn out being as big an issue even four years back.

Here’s what I think. Certain players have reached, or are approaching, the limits of what I call ‘tennis viability’ as a result of either how long they’ve been on tour, or of the way they play. Something’s got to give.

8 questions for eight 8 players.

Group A

Will Roger Federer finish the year ranked world #1?

Do I even care after the year he’s had? I know it goes down in the history books, but let’s just say I’m mildly horrified by how much speculation and controversy this question has caused.

For what it’s worth, I think he will. Nadal is as out of sorts as I’ve perhaps ever seen him uninjured. He’ll need to pull off a near miracle to be in with a fighting chance. I know Rafa’s conjured up miracles in the past, but experience suggests the end of the season’s not that best place to begin searching for them.

As for the WTF I expect Federer to give a great account of himself even if he doesn’t go on to win the whole thing. There’s no reason to suppose he’s not capable of playing at least as well as Djoko has been these last two weeks.

Will Andy Murray benefit from the home advantage?

I should bloody well hope so. But after what happened at Wimbledon I’m not nearly as sure as I once was.

Brits are quite a cynical bunch, not given over to displays of emotion at the best of times, and if you know anything about how unglamorous South East London is, or the history of the failed Millenium Dome, now known as the O2 Arena, you’ll understand why one might be forgiven for thinking the portents don’t look particularly good.

My theory about Murray is that he’s near incapable of performing at the height of his powers for two consecutive weeks. After winning Valencia without so much as trickling a sweat bead, he bowed out early in Paris.

Which means he should be good to go, right about now.

He’s had nearly two weeks to recover, and Federer’s set the scene nicely with some wonderfully colourful trash talk.

So WHY TF should he not do well at the WTF?

Can Juan Martin Del Potro follow up on his very flashy Flushing performance?

I’d like to think so but I doubt it will be at London.

I think he’s more or less burnt himself out physically and mentally as is evident by the fact that he’s retired with injury in the last two Masters events. It’ll likely be next year before we see him at his best again.

Why do I get the feeling not being able to give it his all, after a year that saw him defeat Fed in the final of a Grand Slam, won’t bother him in the slightest?

What now for Fernando Verdasco?

Ok NandyMan, so you muscled your way into the top ten on the back of one of the best matches of the year, and after a brief period that remains unaccounted for, were able to play sufficiently well to finish the season amongst the very best.

Now what?

At the beginning of the year Nando didn’t feature very prominently on my confidence radar, in fact he was barely there at all.

Don’t look now, but if he’s not sharp from the get go next year, it might only be a matter of months before he’s reacquainted with the less frilly environment of the top twenty; and it will take more than just a furious forehand to avert that.

As for the WTF, he’s more than earnt his place at the winner’s table – sometimes on the back of matches that were too painful to watch, and that he had trouble finishing; maybe, just maybe, the accolade of qualifying alone might be enough.

Don’t see him feeling the need to fight his way past injury.

Group B

WTF has happened to Rafael Nadal, and are the WTF the best place to understand it?

First things first. Rafa’s not injured. Not as far as I know. He may not be as vibrant as he was at the beginning of the year, but he’s not injured.

He’s not been the same since he was forced to forego Wimbledon, a period in which we now know he was dealing with the fallout from his parents’ divorce, and since then his tennis has been sketchy at best.

Not being able to perform leads to it’s own set of problems of not gaining sufficient invaluable court time opposite the world’s best.

It happens to the best of us (well ok, maybe reaching WTF doesn't happen to the best of us).

I’d like to see him play well, but he’s unfortunately been grouped with a bunch of players particularly adept at taking a piece out of him.

I harped on about how I wanted to see him face off against Big Rob last month, but I don’t now know that there’s any satisfaction to be derived from watching him being butchered, vulnerable as he now seems, ill equipped to fend off Robin’s mighty blows.

Ditto Davydenko.

And Ditto Djoko, who’s not normally the Rafa Bane that Kolya and Big Rob are.

Still, Rafa’s surprised us before and you’d be a fool to write him off, but I’ll be very surprised to see him reach the semis.

Can Novak Djokovic keep it going and cap off one of his best indoor seasons ever?

Do you know, I’m not sure he can.

You already know my thoughts on ‘Born Again Novak’, and I know it seems silly to bet against the best current elite performer on tour.

I do believe he’ll make the semis (though it might not prove as easy as many seem to think).

Let’s just say that three out of three might prove to be a tournie too far and that he might get more than a surprise from Federer and Murray’s direction.

That’s if Kolya doesn’t get there first.

Why has Nikolay Davydenko only made the finals once in four appearances?

Alright, I already know the answer to that question. Federer.

But let’s not forget that Rafa is largely inactive during this part of the year, and that Nik is one of the fittest players on tour, not given over to wildly fluctuating performances. Nice window of opportunity you have there son.

I like that he reached the finals last year. Fed was out with a bad back. Has he missed his best chance?

Where have you been all my life Robin Soderling?

Alright, I realise I’m a minority within a minority here, but I rather like Big Rob.

I like his imposing, antagonistic presence.

I like his big swinging groundies.

I like it, that his double handed backhand is as fiercely struck (if not more so) than his forehand.

I like it, that hitting the lines or near abouts isn’t the exception but the rule.

I like it that he’s a quirky and slightly misunderstood figure.

But most of all, I like it that he’s turned inelegance into an art form.

Oh, there’s also the possibility that *actual* Armageddon might take place when he takes to court opposite Rafa.

All very interesting, ticks all the boxes, dontcha-think?

Well ok, maybe not for everyone, but he does for me. Shoot me down, but I was even rather glad to see him make the cut at the expense of an injured Andy Roddick.

Now I’d like to see him take the next step by improving his record against Federer. Juan-Marteen did it – why shouldn’t he?

I dunno how far he’ll make it at the WTF this time round, given the fact that he’s been battling injury and that very dubious hung over performance he gave in Paris, but let’s just say that I look forward to him being a dependable top ten presence next year.

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Paris: Novak Repackaged, Not Reborn

Djokovic d. Monfils 6-2 5-7 7-6 (3)

For a set and a half yesterday Novak Djokovic played the kind of flawless tennis that made you think it was 2007 all over again.

It all looked very grand indeed.

Only twenty four hours earlier Novak had dusted off Nadal using the same blend of unrestrained flamboyance, and precision guided play, not seen from him for well over 18 months.

(Photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Gael, for all his flamboyant bravado, looked like a school kid well and truly out of his depth, on his way to being comprehensively stripped and gutted before being hurled on to a heap in some remote landfill site.

Then something happened.

The paint stripper stopped working. The jackhammer seized up.

Mostly it was about everything misfiring, all at once.

I was worried ‘Grinderman’ was about to resurface – that at least would have meant he would more than likely have kept his cool to put Gael away in two -- but this was more serious than that.

We’d seen this Jekyll and Hyde act at various points thr0ughout the year, so the sight of Djoko unable to keep the ball in play, perhaps shouldn’t be that astonishing. Think back carefully and you’ll remember it happened this very week, in that second set he played against Big Rob.

Which is why I feel it’s all very premature to read too much into his recent wins over Messrs Fed and Nadal, and that many journos are rather overreaching themselves in their desperate attempts at recasting him as ‘The One Reborn’.

It's not just that Nadal's own shadow would likely take offence at being made an exemplification for his shoddy form (though I'm actually sorta glad its a dip and not a bad knee that’s at the root of the problem).

Or that this weekend's result might readily have been so very different had Federer not run into an impromptu demonstration of French Tennis, the way it should be played.

The real reason I'm having diffculty buying into the concept of 'Novak - Reborn', is that this is not so much a return to his old form as it is a carefully managed optimisation of a different brand of tennis. A game that's had commentators perplexed since he switched frames at the beginning of the year, with it's uncharacteristic and bizarre forays into grinderman territory.

Don't worry, I'm not going down that road again. My point is that, whilst I'm glad Novak has managed to optimise his play into something more in line with his standing in the game, it's not what led him to winning a Slam.

He may reach those less manufactured heights again with further successive optimisations and, I hope, a gradual curbing of that grind I once found so offensive, but which has now given way to a kind of unapologetic indifference. But until then, let's just say the occasional shocker wouldn't shock me.

That said, Djoko deserves all the plaudits he’s been receiving these past two weeks for being one of the few players seemingly fit enough and committed enough to make something of the remaining few weeks of the calendar: there’s still tennis to be played whatever you might think of the post-USO variety.

What’s more is he’s deserving of a Masters 1000 title - maybe even on the back of that astonishing Madrid semi-final alone.

Maybe it's that sense of vindication that was behind that wolverine-like transformation that unfurled during the spectacle that was his victory celebration. It reminded me of those Maori-inspired Hakka Dances the New Zealand All Blacks perform before going into 'battle'. Try and picture this happening during a Serbian-American Davis Cup tie involving Djoko facing off with A-Rod.

Ok, maybe don’t picture it happening.

I don’t really know what to say about Gael, other than that he served exceedingly well. I don’t like the way he lurks behind the baseline. Never have, never will; and I despise his loopy defensive shots that barely clear the service line and, as far as I'm concerned, have no business being a part of the modern game (wouldn’t it be easier to play the match with the words ‘sitting duck’ emblazoned on your chest?).

(Photo: AP)

But he did well to keep his cool (if you can call it that) when Djoko’s forehand went so awry during that second set, thereby forcing a third, and for that I guess he deserves some credit. It was certainly well received by the Parisian crowd.

I’m just not convinced this experience was anywhere near as life-changing or career-transforming as it might have been.

Why does that not surprise me?

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Paris: Comforting thoughts.

Comforting to know perhaps, that whatever happens from this point on, we’ll have a new winner this week in Paris.

(Photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images)

There can really be no excuse for Nole not to clean up now. Aside from some wobbles against Big Rob, he’s been playing the most convincing tennis of the week. Not a wholly dissatisfactory outcome if it does come to pass.

Rafa pulled off what I think of as an upset against Tsonga yesterday, when he somehow found his way to some semblance of form. But it was as short lived as many had predicted: ‘RAFA IN FORM NOW – FOR ONE DAY ONLY – CATCH HIM WHILE YOU CAN’.

(Photo: JACQUES DEMARTHON/AFP/Getty Images)

There’s still London, but I’m guessing it’s not just me that thinks it’ll be next year before we see his best once again.

I’m also more than just a little confounded and dumbfounded with what I saw from Big Rob. I’m not quite sure what happened there, but the guy that took to court, with his sunken red eyes, sweating profusely after being on court for little more than one game, was more ‘Bog’ Rob.

Too much partying at Marat’s leaving do, me thinks. Shame. With Fed and Murray going out early, this was an unexpected opportunity to eke out a win and strengthen his bid for London – and as delayed as his arrival was, he did have Djoko on the ropes for a large part of the match.

La Monf has just gone a set and a break up opposite Stepanek as I type; if he does go all the way here -- not wholly impossible for any Last Frenchman Standing in Paris – there will of course be many hoping he can build upon this and realise some of that potential, that still for the most part, remains unfulfilled.

I myself, continue to remain unconvinced of his top ten potential. But it sometimes only takes one of these Masters thingies to change all that.

And given so many people are busy hating upon Stepanek, I’ll throw my hat into his corner too. It’s all very last man standing, but he’s competent, fit and always works for his wins.

I’m willing to overlook a bit of dirty dancing for that.

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A Blow for the Little Man…

Julian Benneteau has just played the match of his life, knocking out Roger Federer in three sets, in his opening match.

(Photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images)

The funny thing is it’s difficult to see what Federer did wrong. If anything. He’s cruised through similar stages in the past playing only fractionally as well.

Today, he hit fifteen aces, hit more winners than Benneteau and served in the 70s. That’d be percentages, not the era of disco jingles.

He could maybe have thrown in a few more tactical lobs to Julian’s rabid net rushes, and I’m sure we’ll hear that rust had something to do with this.

But every once in a while someone succeeds in landing a blow for the little man. You'll pardon me if I take a moment to celebrate that (no offence Fed Fans); whether he was bolstered by the Parisian crowd or not, Julian will likely treasure this one for years.

(Photo: AP)

Now watch him go out in the very next round.

Roger will feel this one keenly too I believe; his second consecutive loss remember, and something of a knock to his campaign to end the season as world #1.

I still think he’ll keep a hold on to it however.

It would be more worrying had he lost due the errant play we saw so much of earlier on this year. Today he appeared confident and secure as ever; and if you contrast that with the horror of a match Nadal played today, you'll likely understand why I believe Rafa will need to pull out all the stops (and then some) to get anywhere near to staking a claim for the top spot.

Rafa got through alright. But only just, and he was considerably aided by Almagro in the later stages of this sorry mess; besides, rank amateurs get through, park players get through. Heck, I even get through sometimes.

Most troubling of all was the way he let rallies lengthen and play out unnecessarily in the most unRafa-like way imaginable; at times, it almost had the feel of an exhibition match, with the way in which each ball was fed systematically back to Almagro, who possessed neither the will nor the might to put it away.

A confusing, convulsing bloodied pulp of a mess.

I know it’s not always that Rafa does well here, but we’ve usually season ending injuries to thank for that.

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‘Something Special’ from Djoko, and Daveed makes an honest event of Valencia.

“It’s disappointing to lose at home in the finals, no doubt,” Federer said. “I thought I missed plenty of opportunities. I’m not looking for excuses. He played tough and he played well when he had to, and saved a ton of break points that were crucial.”

Djokovic improved to 3-2 this year against Federer, and said the top-ranked Swiss pushed him to his limits.

“I have to produce something special to win,” Djokovic said at sold-out St. Jakobshalle.

The second-seeded Serb clinched the first set by saving five break points in a game that lasted 24 minutes.

“It was maybe the turning point in the whole match,” Djokovic said. “I was fortunate to keep my nerves.”

(tennis.com)

Djokovic d. Federer 6-4 4-6 6-2

Make what ye will of this result.

I’m finding it hard to think of it as that meaningful, one way or the other.

(FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)

I like it that Nole managed to close out a final, again ‘only’ at the 500 level, but this time opposite the very best. Here’s me thinking the politically ‘corrected’, though not so well adjusted version of Djoko hadn’t the stomach for the fight anymore.

I dislike analyses that are wholly predicated upon how one or both players were not at their best.

The result is what it is, and being only a 500 is, I daresay, not nearly as discomforting to Fed as is being suggested in some quarters; though it can’t of course be much fun losing at home to someone he considers an anathema to everything that is just and proper about tennis.

(Photo: AP)

Meanwhile Murray cleaned up very easily in Valencia. A tournament that has none other than Daveed Ferrer and Juan Carlos Ferrero as it’s co-owners.

Wondered how long it would take Daveed to make it official. It had always been ‘his’ tournament.

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A Splash of Colour…

“Joining a list of stars who have worn the brand, that includes Muhammad Ali and David Beckham, is an honour. I’m in no doubt that this deal will help me both on and off the court.”
-- Murray on going Barricade

So begins a five year, £10M deal, entitled “Competition and Barricade colourways”. Whatever that means.

We’ll get a glimpse of those ‘colourways’, when he takes to court with Laura Robson at the Hopman Cup next year. I can’t wait.

(Photo: Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)

Except Murray’s not about colour. Nor is he that colourful, for that matter. But that’s not the only objection I have.

I’ve had my criticisms of some of his decisions over the years, and I’m not about to shoot him down for leveraging upon what might turn out to be the most bankable period in his career, but I always thought that signing up with Fred Perry was one his savviest moves yet. Then of course he parted ways with Gilbert and assembled Team Murray.

It wasn’t just the vintage appeal of the iconic brand, and I wasn’t always a great fan of some of their more bland colour combos.

But it was understated, in a way which is all British; certainly more than any of the more jetsprayed lines Adidas and Nike have rolled out over the years. It also happened to suit Murray’s wry, somewhat abrasive, tell-it-like-it-is persona, to a tee. Qualities which make his pairing with Robson next year, all the more compelling.

It’s still too early to form any strong opinion one way or the other, for which we’ll need to get a look in at exactly how colourful those colourways are.

But my gut instinct says that Nole is a better fit with Adidas and that colour isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.

BTW Murray came through his opener in Valencia in straights yesterday. A field that includes Nikolay, Tsonga and Verdasco.

The appetite for London, of those last two seems undimmed. But where is Big Rob?

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Doha: The ‘Unreal’ Number One…

(KARIM JAAFAR/AFP/Getty Images)

Well I thought I’d have to end BlogoSphere hibernation at some point.

Now seems as good a time as any.

The truth is, a flu, together with a general apathy towards the tennis on offer last week, left me stone cold.

I lost interest two matches into the round-robins.

Keep that in mind as you wade through the moody, reflective sparsities of what follows.

Vika’s short lived venture into ‘transcendentalist tennis’ was fun to watch while it lasted, but proved ultimately ill-conceived. A bit like watching a fish out of water. And I really wish she hadn’t spent all of five games in the last set of her match against A-Rad in tears, before eventually seeing fit to put us out of our collective misery, by pulling out with cramp.

But it’s Caz-Woz that has the monopoly on cramp induced convulsions, is it not?

Can anyone now be in any doubt as to the fighting fit qualities this bright young thing brings to court? When she’s not smiling in the face of defeat that is. It’s what’s earnt her a very enviable number four ranking. Funny that I had Vika pegged to fill that role for much of this year. So what gives? Tignor did a Vika/Caz-Woz profile earlier last week, that I think makes the distinction clear:

If you could put Azarenka together with Wozniacki, you’d have the next No. 1. Azarenka can hit through the court, but she doesn’t have the feel of her fellow up and comer. And while she’s fiercer and angrier than Wozniacki, the Dane may be tougher mentally—hanging in there is pretty much what she does for a living.

…

Azarenka should have more upside than Wozniacki; she can make more happen on the court. But sometimes her hands and strings turn to stone—the ball kerrangs off her frame….As fans, when Azarenka goes out on court, we know we’ll get her best. The question is whether her best may be too much.

-- Steve Tignor on Vika and Caz-Woz

Though I’m not completely sure to what degree Caz-Woz is the bedrock to Vika’s active volcano. Caz-Woz seems more to me to be about maximising the potential of a steadier less-threatening game. And as we’ve seen so often over the last two years, there’s a place in tennis for that, but it doesn’t seem quite right for it to be at the very top.

It’s worth remembering also, that that #4 ranking is born of youthful-exuberance and a Jelena-like uninhibited attitude to scheduling. Good job she’s only nineteen.

It’s something she’ll need to attend to if she wants to avoid the type of burn-out that cost Jelena the best part of this year; and if she intends to square off effectively against the Pre-Safinite Sisterhood next season.

Speaking of Jelena I thought she recovered rather well from that horrendous if somewhat measured dismantling at the hands of Vika. After being rather handed her semi final spot on the back of Safina’s withdrawal and a somewhat legless Caz-Woz, that only managed to salvage four games from her, she brought some of best tennis to bear.

There’s a reason Jelena has an enviable record against both the Williamses (which she’s never remiss in drawing our attentions to) and it’s to do with defence. More of that was illustrated in her semi opposite Venus, who put on a great show, but still at times looked very vulnerable out there. Vulnerable to Jelena’s uncanny ability to run down the best she sent her way, but also to having her momentum derailed by those unnecessarily protracted and dramatic timeouts Jelena took on every other line call she found dubious.

No, I wasn’t much convinced with Venus last week. Not until the semis anyway.

She seemed to me to be as surprised as I was, at her reaching the knockout stages.

Not that any of this matters of course. With her win last year and Serena’s this time round, not making their mark outside of the Slams is beginning to look like an item we may have to drop from our charge sheets.

As to the real number one, I’ll leave most of it unsaid. There’s nothing to be gained by drawing your attention to her not having dropped a match right the way through. Playing out of her skin from the word go seems to be something of a hallmark of her season; and finishing #1 seems as much about doing Dinara a favour as it does about re-establishing order.

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