Thursday, December 31, 2009

Hasta luego Lucho Horna




This is another tribute post to Luis Horna. Personally I thought this would be the best way to end the blogging year, it's not as if I churn out the articles regularly, but something is better than nothing.

After a difficult 2009 for Lucho Horna he decided to retire from the tour at his home event in Lima. Lucho had been training hard over the previous off season and his injury problems that plagued him throughout the season lead to this decision. He had a foot problem that put him out to the March, played a few events and then decided to play qualies at Roland Garros. He lost in the second round to Flavio Cipolla who loves the slices and chopping shots along with the worst serve on the tour, Horna was unable to get a break point against the worst serve on tour. If this is not a sign to retire then nothing is. He wasn't in form at all, but went back as he and Cuevas were defending doubles champions and they lost early in their defence of the crown.

Lucho was an excellent junior who was ranked 4th in his final year of juniors and it took him some time to get adjusted to the main tour. His idol was Thomas Muster and it was quite easy to see in his aggressive style of game trying to use his forehand to dominate the points and a backhand which was single handed and average, though when he was playing well even this side worked well.

He was a guy who had an excellent record against top 10 players in his career he defeated 9 of them, which is impressive for a man who had not made the top 30 in his career. His most famous win was the one over Roger Federer at Roland Garros in the first round where Federer was one of the favourites for the event. He played an intelligent game that day and let Federer make the errors, but was not passive when he had the chance to attack.


As has been the common case after a big upset, Horna couldn't follow it up in the next round but this case was a bit special. He was up a match point in the 2nd round against a certain Dutch guy called Martin Verkerk who steamrolled his way to the final before getting smashed by Ferrero. Lucho had another excellent win at RG against Henman, it was the classic match between the serve/volleyer and baseliner. Horna was running hard and ripping huge forehands at Henman's feet and he was volleying as well as he could against these hard shots and Lucho was cramping at the end, but got through at the end. He lost to Hanescu in the next round who then took out Nalbandian in the 4th round.

His full list of top 10 scalps were
1. Nalbandian - Buenos Aires 2007 (10)
2. Ljubicic - Portschach 2007 (7)
3..Robredo - Båstad 2007 (8)
4. Gaudio - Acapulco 2006 (8)
5. Henman - Roland Garros 2005 (8)
6. Coria - Toronto 2004 (3)
7. Federer - Roland Garros 2003 (5)
8. Ferrero - Sopot 2003 (2)
9. Gasquet - Rome (10)

Among the wins there were some hilariously bad losses the Cipolla one was up there. One of the funnier ones was when Gustavo Marccachio who is the English language reporter for Tenispro defeated Lucho in Viña del Mar and the Chilean press stated that Horna lost to a TV reporter. There were days where he couldn't return a phone call which was his really big weakness, if he was off his big returns then he didn't have the nous to change it up. His GS record was not great and he was capable of making a 4th round at least once. He killed Monfils and Phau at the AO, then he played Mathieu in the 3rd round and managed the special skill of leading 5-2 double break twice in the first 2 sets and managing to choke to Mathieu.

In addition there were some funny antics in his matches. The heckler incident at the AO with Mirnyi. Lucho failed to capitalise on his chances and in the 9th game of the 5th set, there was this pissed Yank who kept heckling Lucho. He finally got the shits after being put off as he was about to serve. It worked as he went over to the umpire and said. "Are you going to get this guy out of the court or not? If not there is going to be a mess." He played another point and lost it and the heckler was it again. "He is still here and you do nothing about it, and if you don't get him out, it will be a big mess, a big mess". Lucho loses focus and serve, then when the match is over, the heckler ran off. Another one in Sopot where he played Cañas, where he got a point penalty and was going crazy.

Lucho won 2 titles, the first one was the best one in Acapulco where he defeated Chela in the final, he played very well that event and it was a pleasure to see such joy in winning the crown against a good friend of his. The other one was the RR shit in Viña del Mar where he got over the evil Massu, who always defeated Horna except in the match that counted which was this one. Massu could never win the Viña del Mar title no matter how hard he tried and for once Lucho didn't make silly errors and took the title.

Most famous of all was the Roland Garros doubles title with Pablo Cuevas in 2008. This was such a surprise and so much better for it. Two singles guys enter the doubles for a bit of fun and some extra cash. They take out Llodra/Clement in the 1st round, Dlouhy/Paes in the 3rd round, best of all the Bryan Clowns in the quarter finals which had a refusal to shake hands with Cuevas at the end. It was funny coming from these guys, they had a big fight in the semis and then crushed Zimonjic/Nestor in the final. They were bemused when they won it, but Lucho off the forehand side was hitting heavy and Cuevas off the backhand it was great to see such joy and the first time in a long time a Peruvian and Uruguayan have won a major title.


The above and through Lucho's warrior efforts for Peru, he lead them through to the World Group in Davis Cup. After all that battling through the various phases, it was very disappointing that he couldn't take part in the singles against Spain, even though he was likely to lose his singles match. It just seems a bit bittersweet not being able to contribute at the end, when he was the driving force for getting them through.

He was the second best Peruvian player after Jaime Yzaga. A true DC warrior, entertaining in his own quirky way and a tough fighter. One of the best sequences was when he and Calleri played four times in 5 weeks. They played in Melbourne, Viña del Mar, Buenos Aires and Acapulco. They split the matches 2-2 and also won a doubles title together.

Gaston Gaudio had some very kind words about Horna.

How do you feel about Horna´s retirement?

- “As a tennis player I regret that Lucho is retiring because we´ve shared almost the whole of our careers, we´ve played against each other, we´ve had our battles, and it will be a great loss for the sport. But as a friend I´m pleased for him if he´s happy, and if he wants to be able to enjoy other things, being with his family, or being in Lima, it´s understandable”.

Do you recall any important duel with him?


- “We have more shared memories as friends than as tennis players. We haven´t played each other more than a couple of times. But we would dine out, for instance. He lived in Buenos Aires a long time because he trained there, and we have shared experiences as friends”.

On that note, Lucho will still play some DC ties for Peru, but he is gone from the tour. He proved entertainment, good to watch when playing well and respect for his dedication to the Peruvian DC team. Hope he is enjoying time with the family.

Departing the Stage : Agustin Calleri

It seems like I forgot to write about this retirement of the big man known as "El Gordo" Agustin Calleri. Since it's quite late here and too fucking warm, it's my blog and I can swear if I want and not sure how this will read.

Calleri decided to call it a day in 2009 from the tour, though according to the original articles that stated his retirement that he is going to play Buenos Aires and Acapulco in 2010 which makes sense as one is his home tournament and the other where he won the first of his 2 ATP singles titles, which was scant return for a player of his abilities.

His career path took a slightly different path than many players. Calleri before he could go on tour needed money to travel as he had the talent, but struggled for sponsors at the time. He was part of the generation along with Cañas, Gaudio, Chela, Zabaleta and Puerta you didn't get any support from the AAT and he still has strong views about development of tennis in Argentina especially for rural guys like himself. He ended up working at his parents shop to pay for his initial expenses on the tour and that got him in there, once he was able to start showing some promise in the Futures and then the Challengers he was able to get a gig playing in the German Bundesliga which is the highest paying league. The advantage of playing in the Bundesliga where numerous, excellent conditions, good wages for players, excellent crowds. Can use the country as a base for travelling around Europe while playing in tournaments, if they fall early then they could play league tennis.

The year was 2000 was when Calleri made an impact just getting into the main draw of Roland Garros, this was the year where he reached his best result there. With the heavy power off both wings, especially the backhand down the line he took out Felix Mantilla in the first round, then Hrbaty who was the semi finalist in the previous year and seeded 14th, before losing to Medvedev in 4 sets. He also took out Safin in straight sets in Kitzi that year. He repeated the dose in Madrid indoors and Safin said he was lucky, hard to get lucky twice. He also made the 3rd round of the US Open giving Sampras a tough time of it, but this was typical of the man, some brilliant matches and showings along with the most poor exhibitions of tennis.

It's better to start with the huge chokes and there were a few. He was leading in the final of Buenos Aires against Massu making empanadas out of him leading 6-2 5-1 and the crowd were expecting the title for Calleri, but he got tight and Massu kept fighting hard and took the second set in a tiebreaker, from there it was only one winner and not Calleri. He was in New Haven against Blake had 3 match points leading a set and 5-4 40-0, but managed to shit himself again and lose in 3 sets.

Buenos Aires was the worst one because it was a final and he was the home player, but the funniest one was the loss to Koubek in Sopot. He lost 0-6 7-6(3) 7-5, Calleri lead 6-0 4-0, served for the 2nd set twice and then loses in a tiebreaker. He lead 5-3 in the 3rd and failed to serve it out and he went bananas at losing this, though to be fair this is as good as reason as any to go bonkers.

The other side of the coin when he was truly on his game, then it was amazing to watch as he could cause havoc with the brute power off both wings, especially the backhand down the line. Enjoy the clip below where it is raining winners and little Hewitt had no clue what was going on. His best win was against Ferrero in the Davis Cup 2003 Malaga, when JCF was the number 1 in the world and the best on clay. Calleri was on fire this day and thumped him in straight sets with the last set being 6-1. He was given a standing ovation from the Spanish home fans after his performance, this is when you know you have done well.

His performance against Agassi in Miami 2004 he blasted 20 winners in the first set with 4 errors and serving at 36% first serve. Agassi looked like the kid who had sand kicked in his face at the beach. In the US Open after Hewitt took the 1st set. Calleri was very aggressive and everything was going in and this is a show of his capabilities.


It was his unpredictability that made him fun to watch, but it was very disappointing that he could not make the 4th round of a Slam during his career. He played well in Hamburg 2003 before losing to Weasel Coria in the final, but he played an excellent semi final against Nalbandian.

His two career titles came in Acapulco 2003, where he defeated Gaudio, Rios, Mantilla and his friend Zabaleta in the final. Then he followed that up with Kitzbühel 2006, funnily enough just as in Acapulco in the last 4 matches he defeated 2 Argentines, a Spaniard and a Chilean. In this case it was Massu, Gaudio, Verdasco and Chela all for the loss of just one set. When he won the titles they came out of nowhere really, as he wasn't showing much form leading into these events.

In essence Calleri should have achieved more with his career, he had a lot of injuries and some of it had to do with his physique. He used to carry a bit in the middle, but was very strong. Tactically he let himself down by just slapping the ball all of the time instead of taking off some pace as his rally ball was quite penetrating and then he could take advantage of the short ball. The one year where was relatively injury free he finished in the top 20, this and the poor results in Grand Slams reflected on the lack of overall success.

He has a lovely wife and child, hope he is enjoying time with them and watching his beloved Boca Juniors.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Bye bye Marat Safin and 2009 in review

It's time for the 2009 season review. The season has been over for a few weeks, but it's still too long and there will be a lot of lipservice paid to the slogans "we're going to shorten the season, blah, blah, blah", then again the ATP aren't capable to releasing and penalising top players when they fail drug tests.

Overall the season had some pleasant surprises with some predictable overreaction to these surprises. Where to start this off, yes I suppose it should be done chronologically, but not in this case. Roger Federer after being written off by many pundits and fans, especially after losing to Nadal in the final of the Aus Open. He was finished, not going to break Sampras's record of the most Grand Slam wins and his time at the top was over. So what ended up happening, he won a rare Roland Garros and Wimbledon double in the process passing Sampras's record and shutting up many people along the way. Yes, there are people who complained that Federer didn't defeat Nadal to win the Roland Garros crown, but the title for him was not an easy ride at all. Jose Acasuso had a chance to go 2 sets to 1 up on his serve, but dropped his bundle and Federer was able to take advantage, then Haas and del Potro pushed him very hard. The final wasn't the hardest match for him, it helped that he played an opponent who was in his first final and also the conditions were heavier which suited his game even more.

The French crowd weren't used to a winning speech on the mens final day delivered in French and he is very much a crowd favourite there. Then he was able to win at Wimbledon playing against his punching bag Roddick, who decided to punch back and had his chances to take a 2 sets to love lead, it was no surprise that Roddick choked on that backhand volley, as the most common way to see how well a technical weakness holds up is under pressure. The match had drama, but not of the highest quality, the longer it went the more likely Federer was to win it. He got the job done, it doesn't matter how he played, because it only goes down in the record books as a win. In the process creating history and this record should stand for some time, though the same was said about Sampras, but nothing at the moment is coming through unless Nadal wins 12 Roland Garros titles.

Nadal, well as usual he had an excellent start to the season with this great win in Melbourne after battling 5 hours with Verdasco in the semis, there were excuses already being made that he was going to be too tired for the final, but he showed this was not the case in taking out his first Aus Open. It was about the time that there was a 5 set final at the Aus Open, there hadn't been one since 1988 and that's too long. Yes, there was drama and the mentally stronger individual came through on the day, but the presentation ceremony where Federer turned on the waterworks did take away the focus from Nadal's great moment of winning the Slam. He handled the situation well considering the circumstances, and it should never have been about Federer's tears, but of course the media are going to focus on this.

Nadal was pushed by Djokovic on the clay, but as per usual he managed to win as he usually does on the clay. The big surprise of the year was that he lost at RG, not that he was going to remain undefeated on the surface, more the fact of who he lost to was what was the surprise factor. As usual the bitching about him being injured was thrown around as the reason he lost the match, though he made paella and sodomised Hewitt in the previous round. The fact Robin Söderling took him out in Paris, whereas a few weeks earlier Nadal thrashed the Toad badly in Rome and there is not a lot of love between them, which is good to see. Söderling played some excellent tennis in this match and the fact Magnus Norman is working with him now and a man who knew how to play on clay, they came up with a plan which suited his strengths and was able to execute it. This was the foundation for the excellent 6 months for Söderling which culminated at a semi final showing at the TMC.

del Potro and Davydenko were the guys in the second half of the season. Just as it was great for RG that Söderling defeated Nadal, because the only people enjoying the public executions that passed off as Roland Garros in recent years are Nadal fans. The same can be said for del Potro when he won the US Open in 5 sets against Federer. He has come a long way from the meek surrender at the Aus Open to the same opponent, then taking him to 5 sets at RG and then the Slam. del Potro has been hyped as the player to do well and win Slams, but he did it earlier than he and many others expected. His game isn't exactly scientific but very effective and his temperament has improved. It helps he has an outstanding coach in Franco Davin who has guided both weasel Coria and Gaudio, plus he likes to keep in the background and not interesting in pimping his own work unlike Brad Gilbert.

Davydenko had an excellent second half of the season, since he is such a rhythm player when he gets on a roll he can be very hard to stop with his aggressive ball striking that takes time away from the opponent. Can he win a Slam? I wouldn't mind to see it happening, but there are still some doubts that he can get it done at GS level, though it would be good to be proven wrong in this case. He dances to his own tune and his interviews are free of cliches which is something these days.

Onto the other stuff. The ATP changed the ranking points system for some reason and the rebranding of the tournaments, not much changed in that regard. Players still have to win matches and defend points, just because you put lipstick and a dress on a pig, does not mean it's not a pig. They have this thing with ISG events yay, there is TV coverage from the semi finals but nothing from the early days anywhere that makes perfect sense.

One last rant, the ATP allowing so many tournaments with byes in 2010. Do they seriously think that having all these byes is going to get the top players to play these IS events? The IS events players will play are either the ones in their home countries like Djokovic or places where they have long standing positive memories. It's a joke that a pro player can win a tournament just winning 4 matches. Why not just have 16 player only instead at the IS and ISG events make things easier.

Marat Safin has departed the scene and is now looking to join the Russian Olympic Committee. Safin was a well loved figure among the journalists, the fans especially the ladies and many guys thought he was cool. I mean if your girlfriend ran off with Safin, it would be like "yeah, that's ok", unlike say it was Hewitt for example. The man who shagged more women than he broke racquets, liked to have fun and was admired by most of his peers and that is the important thing. As a player winning 2 Slams some will say this isn't enough of a return for a guy of his abilities, but many talented players have not won a Slam. It was the right time for him to retire, in fact probably should have retired at the end of 2008, he was a step slower and that meant he was late on the ball and impacted on his game and mental state. Best of all Safin was not a clone and his press conferences were almost as good as bedroom antics. Hope he can succeed in his life away from tennis.

Last of all Lucho Horna and Calleri decided to retire from the game and I have not forgotten about the Lucho retirement entry and I have decided that this will be the last entry for 2009.