Sunday, December 18, 2011

Peter Luczak Interview

At the 2012 Australian Open, one of the more likable players on the tour Australian Peter Luczak is retiring from the tour. The clay loving Australian born in Poland, who came to Australia at a very young age via Sweden. He is known for his work ethic, down to earth manner His last event of the year was the Stockholm Open qualies, which he played after coming from the beach in Bahamas without training plus it’s the homeland of his wife.


Peter Luczak enjoying champagne

This interview was conducted in 2009 but most is still relevant. I’ll always be thankful as he’s the first ever player I interviewed. His time will always be appreciated for agreeing to an extensive interview.

How and when did you get into tennis?

I started playing tennis at around 5 or 6 years old, Ola my older sister played, we rode our bikes down to the club after school, they weren’t the greatest bikes, but whoever won got to ride the better bike. In addition to that we used to play on en-tout-cas ( a surface similar to clay, but cheaper), whoever lost had to sweep the whole court and lines after the match, instead of just doing your side of the court, initially it was me that sweeping the court and riding the worse bike home.

My uncle and father didn’t play the game in Poland, they played football and volleyball, as tennis was not a big game in Poland when they were children, but they played as well.

What were your memories of growing up in Melbourne, before you left for the USA ?

It was a normal childhood. I used to hang out with the guys, go to the horse races, watching the football (Australian football), went to the parties, but didn’t drink as I usually had tennis the next day and I always wanted to play the game. I wasn’t a childhood prodigy like Bernard Tomic, I used to have group lessons, mixed in with some private lessons before and after school. Then at the age of 18 there was drastic improvement and once I left school, I wanted to play tennis.

How did playing on the US college circuit help you as a player and as a person ?

My dad said that I should continue going to school and he didn’t have the money to support my career. So a tennis scholarship in the USA was perfect, getting an education and also developing my tennis without the financial burden. I had 3 offers, but chose Fresno, mainly because of an Aussie coach there called Michael Hegarty a Mount Waverley boy, which wasn’t far from me in Melbourne. He talked it up and was very convincing in getting me there.

When I got there it rained 10 days in a row, when on average it rained only 5 days a year in Fresno. I called home and said get me out of here, what’s going on, but I was very happy to have stayed on. It was a great experience, the units, the courts, gym was a 50m walk to all of the facilities. The team environment helped my overall development, it wasn’t just tennis, tennis, tennis, and there was a good social life, in addition to doing uni work. Yes, I was focused on tennis, but had other distractions, which were positive.

The college coach was great tactically, though he didn’t do much technically to my game. He made you feel good about yourself, worked very hard with brutal training sessions and he instilled the brutal training and hard work in me that continues today.

How were the early years of being on the ATP tour and did you have doubts that you’d be able to make it?

The final exams, I left with a smile on my face that lasted 3 days. It was a mixture of excitement, high confidence level and I thought it was just normal, competing, traveling and getting ready for the experience.

24 hour Greyhound bus rides, as I was not a rich kid at all. There were a group of 7 of us in a basement of a house, 2 beds, 1 couch, and the rest slept on the floor. Before the tournament we would play games of cards or chess to decide who would get a bed, once you lost your singles match, and then you were on the floor. I got the nickname of “Lucky Looch” and “Diablo” because I was always winning these games and getting the bed. One of the guys traveled with a stringer, so he was able to do all of our racquets. When it came to food, there were the 29c McDonalds burgers, I would have 5 of them in one sitting, eating 2 minute noodles and the free player lunch.


What are your favourite tournaments?

Båstad, Kitzbühel and the Australian Open.

What’s your worst hotel experience?

In Fes, Morocco. It was a single room, no window, dirty towels, cobwebs, TV didn’t work. 10 out of 32 players got food poisoning, it was a terrible week, but I won the tournament.


What are the best and worst ever matches you have played?


Hopefully the best ones are still to come, the ones in the past are hard to remember. But here are two of them. Playing Oli Rochus in Melbourne. I got a standing ovation from the crowd and I had goose bumps, looking up at the crowd singing the national anthem and Waltzing Matilda. Also in Melbourne 2005 when I took Thomas Johansson to 5 sets, I had psycho fitness levels, doing runs on the sand dunes, stair runs and there is a trail in Melbourne called the Kokoda trail. That year I was not going to lose a match because of fitness.

The worst was playing the Srich (Srichaphan) at Monte Carlo, before that I played my match against Michael Llodra, during the warm up, we were hitting serves, I lost concentration and hit him in the ear with a serve, and he was daydreaming. At 1-1 in the 1st set he retired as he lost his balance and I got booed off the court.

I totally choked against the Srich. It was my first big tournament and I thought I am going to beat the number 12 in the world. I couldn’t get a first serve in at 5-4 when serving for the match. I tried only to hit kick serves and served 4 double faults in the game, yet still held match point. It was very difficult to get over it, for the next few months I had flashbacks to that memory, we’ve all had experiences like that, such a tough mental experience.

You’re the Lone Ranger in the context of being an Aussie, which has clay as his favourite surface, which is the domain of the Spanish and South Americans. How do you get along with those guys and do you think there is a mutual respect for you going to play there on their surface?

For sure I have a huge respect for those guys but I can't talk for them but hopefully they respect me as well. I love the way they compete and give it their all on the court but still at the end of the day can look their opponent in the eye, shake hands and have a beer and a bite to eat.

How much of a setback was the stress fracture of the pelvis last year? You were ranked in the top 100 at the time and were unable to build upon your ranking during the clay season?


It was frustrating, as I worked hard, playing Challengers and was ranked between 70-80 and the start of 2008, made all the main draws of the clay events. I knew I wasn’t at 100 percent, but I kept playing and I didn’t know what it was. I had no clue and kept struggling with it, poor movement for 3-4 months, some days it was good and other days it was terrible, then it was all terrible. Then after losing to Melzer in the 1st round of Roland Garros, I had CTC scans, MRI scans, x-rays, they picked up that it was a stress fracture of the pelvis. Not knowing what the problem was after all that time, I was glad to find out and did the upper body rehabilitation.

During the enforced time away from the tour, what did you do to fill in the time?

I spent the time with the family, doing rehab. It was such a relief after a year to be pain free. It gradually got better after 3 and bit months. Hopefully it’s fine now and being able to play, compete, takes the pressure off whether I win or lose, it’s much better than being at home injured.

Did you come back too soon from injury to help Australia in the Davis Cup tie playoff?

No, I hadn’t played for 4 months. I had 10 days there in Chile with training 3 hours a day, great food, great hotel, being with the Aussie team. It was the perfect preparation.

Who are your best friends on tour?

The Gooch (Chris Guccione), Shannon Nettle, my former coach and still fishing companion, Stephen Huss, Ashley Fisher and Lleyton Hewitt, most of the Aussie guys.

Can you tell us how you met your wife Catarina?

She was working at the ATP event in Munich, doing the accreditation and at the practice court desk. I saw her daily and thought she was hot. A group of 7 including Wayne Arthurs, Jordan Kerr and Graydon Oliver, went out after we lost. I went up to her and had a crack and she knocked me back. She just thought I was like some of the other players, that wanted to have fun for the evening and then that’s it. Somehow I got her phone number and we just texted on and off for a few months. We met again at Kitzbühel, where she was working again. We met for lunch and dinner, then for the next four days we were hanging out. At the end of the week she asks “Does this mean we are going out”. I just answered, “Yeah, ok”. I was 26 at the time, it was my first serious girlfriend, it happened so fast, 3 months later she was pregnant, and it got very serious. My parents were shocked at first, being my first serious girlfriend and all. Mum was worried at first, but once she met Cat, then all was fine and our families get along very well.

How do you enjoy living in Sweden and how are your Swedish language skills these days?

I like it, the people are great. They have a similar sense of humour to the Aussies and are great to get along with. For now it’s a base, but once I finish with tennis, then we will return to Australia. My Swedish is terrible, 6 months ago when I was injured I was doing an intensive course and making some good progress, but the problem is the Swedes speak excellent English, making it harder to learn the language.

I know you are a big AFL fan (the Dons). What did you think of the Aussies qualifying for the World Cup in Germany? If the World Cup bid is successful how good would it be for football in this country?

I had pneumonia during the World Cup in 2006 and was Sebby (Sebastien) was born 2 weeks earlier. So I was on the couch enjoying the tournament, with my Aussie flag, going crazy, and fist pumping when the Aussies defeated Japan 3-1. I was gutted after the Italian match, going out like that, but the tournament was great.

It would be possible for Australia to hold the World Cup and it would be great for the country if it happens.

How would you explain the lack of current depth in Aussie tennis?

It’s cyclical. 15 years ago there were plenty of Aussies in the top 100, now we don’t have any male in the top 100. South America wasn’t so strong then. France and Spain have good programs. There are 20 money events in France all year round and there are many Futures events in Spain, that they must be able to produce some players.

What’s your view on Tomic. Do you think the media are putting too much pressure and expectations on him?

A bit, but he is handling it well. He enjoys the hype and the press. He easily was the most popular player in the Burnie Challenger. He has a good temperament, but there is a long way to go, he is going in the right direction.

How much do you value Davis Cup? When you went to Argentina in 2002 as a hitting partner who was that for?

Davis Cup, then followed by the Slams. I would love to play in an Olympics one day. There was a mistake where it said I was the hitting partner for the Argentines, but it was for Australia.

Do you think it’s fundamentally wrong to give ranking points for Davis Cup?

The Aussies have always played it (The Poo has been indifferent), it’s natural. If you don’t have enough passion to play, then it’s ridiculous to have points for Davis Cup to motivate them to play. Guys like Nieminen can’t get points because of his nationality and a Spanish player ranked around 50 because of their depth, he isn’t likely to play Davis Cup and can’t get points.


What do you think about the length of season? They have been talking for years about reducing the season, but nothing has changed in this regard. What steps can they take to fix the calendar?

This is bit of a tricky one. If you would have asked me the same question 8 years ago when I first started playing on the tour I would have answered it very differently. The only thing I wanted to do back then was play tournies and I'd be upset if there wasn't one on in a particular week. But now being a bit older the body getting a few injuries from all the pounding over the years and having a family I wish I could see more changes my view. I'd love it if we got bit more of an off season, that one month in December doesn't really cut it especially when you are training through it trying to get ready for the Aussie summer.

I'd love it if the season would be shortened to maybe 9 months, but how do you do that. Do you just cram all the tournies into that time period, or do you cancel 1/4 of the tournies. I know they have been talking about making the season shorter but the question is how you do it. Maybe you just gradually do it over many years. I know the Oz Open started a week later this year, maybe you just push it back one week every year and cut one week off at the end of the year for the next few years. But doing that is screws up other things. Like the Aussie would no longer be played during our holidays. Maybe less people and definitely less kids would be able to come out and watch. How do you fit all the tour events and DC in a 9 month period etc. So as nice as it sounds it would be a pretty difficult thing to do. In the end the players choose how long or short they make their season. But I think I could crap on about this question for a long time.

You were a vocal critic of the flawed Round Robin concept. It seems the ATP aren’t looking out for or listening to the interests of the players, and working more so for the tournament directors. What’s your take on it?

Round Robin was rubbish, it wasn’t a fair system. They said it was meant to be for the fans. I mean you win, you progress, you lose, and you go home, what is simpler than that. It makes little sense that you lose 2 matches and have a chance of still being in. They realised it wasn’t working and had to be scrapped.

Currently with the Council having the big 3 on there, they have more of a say than in the past. Problem is that a lot of the guys didn’t know that you could approach a Council member, if they are unhappy with any issue. In theory the Council should raise the issue at the next meetings, and then they can decide on whether to vote on the change or leave as it is.

Willy Cañas said “The ATP practices discrimination from an economic standpoint, like any multinational corporation. It’s just another of millions that there are in the world. Point being that I accept it, but I'm not buying into it that it is a group of players that decide (players union) because it isn't like that”. Do you believe that Willy is correct on this particular issue?

Yes, I agree to an extent. The tournament directors (TD’s) and the players are in conflict. An example of this was that the players voted for players that have come back from a drug ban, shouldn’t be awarded wild cards on the comeback, but the tournament directors didn’t want that and then the deciding vote went in favour of the tournament directors.

The TD’s are worried about putting on a show and it’s a business for them, they have a different agenda, no tournament = no players, no players = no tournaments. The TD’s had too much power and it was important that the ATP won the lawsuit against Hamburg, we should be attempting to work together. At the moment there is too much conflict between the two groups, who are standing off against each other and I am unsure of how to fix it.

What’s your view of the new Entry Ranking system? It does not seem to be universally popular, but as they have to complete the 2009 season with this system. Is it possible to return to the old system in 2010?

They could go back to the old system, but the year has to be completed first. The ATP tried to make it simpler, but they have given too many points for the winner and the finalist relative to the other positions. The Top 50 will be harder to crack and with the greater weighting towards the winner and finalist, it penalises the consistent performer who makes a lot of quarter final appearances.

The players that did well early in the year are disadvantaged and it’s almost impossible to defend their points from 2008. An IS win was 175, once this is doubled it becomes 350 that has to be defended and to win an IS event this year the most that can be had is 250, therefore losing 100 points.

The ATP has not increased the points for the challengers to the same level for a 50k Challenger it has gone from 50 to 75. The TMS events have increased from 500 to 1000 and the Grand Slam from 1000 to 2000 points. It was easier to pad the ranking in challengers like Lu but you should be rewarded for doing well in the big events.

Do you think the ATP are doing a good job in trying to combat match fixing or is it just for show, because the players that have been suspended for betting, have been lower ranked and bet minimal amounts for the most part?

I'm really not sure if the ATP are doing a good or bad job. I think the difficult part is trying to catch and prove these guys are betting. The guys tanking and betting large amounts are not stupid and there is no way they would have any accounts linked to their name. So what can you do and the guys that were suspended were silly enough to not only bet on tennis in the first place but have an account in their name.

What are your short term goals for 2009, professionally and personally?

Make the main draw at Wimbledon, get back in the top 100 and stay healthy.


Word Association or first phrase

Lleyton Hewitt – Competitive
Collingwood (Aussie Football Team) - Annoying
The ATP – Love Tennis
Båstad – Favourite event
Grasscourt tennis – Enjoyable, but difficult
Clay – Claydogs, grinding
Kevin Rudd (Aussie PM) - Champion
Borscht - Shocking

Luczak was able to reach his goals for that season and many of the same things spoken about then have not been adequately addressed.

Thursday, December 08, 2011

2011 Season in Review

With the completion of the 2011 Davis Cup final last weekend, finally the tennis circus has ended for the season. Fear not it’ll be back soon enough with their ludicrously short off season, which is a continuing problem that isn’t likely to resolved anytime soon due to the amount of conflicting interests involved in the organisation of men’s tennis, more on this later.

It might be a slight exaggeration that Novak Djokovic owned 2011. One of the best ever seasons compiled in the sport winning 3 of the Grand Slams and his only loss was at the Roland Garros semi finals to Roger Federer who needed to play his best ever match there to take him down. Just like human life has a beginning and an end Federer lost to Rafael Nadal in the final, it can be dressed up so many ways but the result will always be the same when Federer and Nadal play at Roland Garros. Nadal pounds Federer’s backhand into submission, then Nadal feasts on the scraps.


Novak Djokovic

Djokovic was able to carry his form from the 2010 Davis Cup win until the US Open, unsurprisingly his level faltered after that had some fitness issues combined with mental fatigue. How he ended the season shouldn’t take away from what he did in the first nine months. Djokovic previously used to have same amount of stamina as a teenage boy losing his virginity, but has made significant steps in improving his fitness levels. Yes, there was the change of diet eliminating gluten, the use of the hyperbaric chamber to get the benefits of training at altitude without having to go into the mountains and improves recovery times.

The biggest improvement has been his forehand, it used to break down under pressure, while not being to the level of his outstanding backhand which he is comfortable hitting down the line as well as crosscourt. After the disastrous coaching stint with Todd Martin where they tried to fix Djokovic’s serve, which lead to a loss of confidence that filtered through to the rest of his game. Marian Vajda who has done a great job in coaching Djokovic was able to get the serve back to its previous level at worst and improved at best. Combine these factors with his excellent defensive skills this was how he was able to dominate this season and go 6-0 over Rafael Nadal his closest rival. Djokovic beat him everywhere except indoors, hardcourt, clay and the grass. Nadal wasn’t willing to hit the forehand up the line often enough, therefore feeding Djokovic’s strength in addition to the aforementioned improvements in Djokovic’s game, it wasn’t surprising that Djokovic was able to go 6-0. It will be interesting to see how Djokovic backs up next season.

While Djokovic’s season was a highlight of the ATP, there weren’t many other highlights during the season. It’s hard to believe that they could homogenise the court surfaces any more than they have, but the ATP have managed to do so. As long as the court dimensions are the same and the singles net is the same height, then there should be different surface challenges. The ATP like this because it gives them predictability and easy to market the game from this perspective, in reality it’s the same style of tennis being played on all courts with the only challenge being the movement of the specific surfaces. I have explained previously how the current situation came about, the ball not being in play at all on grass or the indoor events at the end of season, so using a heavier ball and slowing down the court speeds. At this point in time the game has been solidified now they can make the faster surfaces slightly quicker, use a lighter ball and it will improve the diversity of the game not detract from it.

2011 was the classic more of the “same old shit” scenario. There wasn’t a first time Grand Slam finalist, any new TMS winners and the final 8 that qualified for the TMC have all participated previously. The average age of the top 200 is getting older which isn’t surprising due to the game becoming more physical as a result of surface homogenisation, the predominance of baseline tennis. The game has become even more speed endurance orientated and it usually takes players and athletes until their mid to late 20s that they reach their speed endurance peak, naturally there are exceptions. This plus there is more money in the game giving incentive to play the game for longer.

On the other hand there were 10 time first time winners at the lower level of the tour, some of these well overdue like Tipsarevic, and Florian Mayer. Ivan Dodig’s win in Zagreb was brilliant when he threw the racquet into the crowd thinking he won the match, but hadn’t done so. Younger players like Dolgopolov Jr and Raonic getting on the board. Big Kev Anderson winning the last edition of Jo’burg and Sweeting coming out of nowhere to win Houston.


Kevin Anderson (RSA) Johannesburg Outdoor Hard
Ivan Dodig (CRO) Zagreb Indoor Hard
Milos Raonic (CAN) San Jose Indoor Hard
Pablo Andujar (ESP) Casablanca Clay
Ryan Sweeting (USA) Houston Clay
Andreas Seppi (ITA) Eastbourne Grass
Alex Dolgopolov (UKR) Umag Clay
Robin Haase (NED) Kitzbühel Clay
Florian Mayer (GER) Bucharest Clay
Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) Kuala Lumpur Indoor Hard



Andreas Seppi wins Eastbourne

One of the highlights of the season occurred in Eastbourne when the “South Tyrolean Sex Machine” Andreas Seppi won his first tournament. This was well overdue, in his previous final in Gstaad he managed the next to impossible feat of choking to Paul-Henri Mathieu after leading *5-3 in the 3rd set serving for the title. There aren’t many people who have managed that but two more will be mentioned later. He lost 4 games in a row and the title.

Seppi when asked what his best surface is, he said “the one I’m winning on”. The final was hilarious, gale like winds. Seppi played 3 sets earlier in the day, was up a set and a break, then Tipsarevic takes the 2nd set. There were a few drops of rain and Tipsarevic was bitching about the conditions. Seppi up *4-0 30-30 gives back the double break, then Seppi serves for the match at *5-3 and 15-0 then Tipsarevic retires.



Fabio Fognini Files

The Fog deserves his own section here as he was involved in some fine comedy this season.

Tommy Robredo:


The Fog reacts

Robredo in the Santiago semi final was very bad tempered both of them at their best with their antics. Robredo “vamosing” at the Fog’s errors, to which “The Fog” has words with Boredo calling him “hombre di mierda”, the literal translation “the shitman”. Once the match is done the Fog tries to shake Boredo’s hand who refused not once but twice and then was booed off the court.

Worst of all Santi Giraldo served for the title but choked and “the shitman” won the title to the amusement of the Chilean fans.

Blaž Kavčič:
There was a brilliant choke in the 2nd round in the match between Blaž Kavčič and Fabio “the Fog” Fognini. This probably should have had a separate entry and it may do so in the future. It’s hard to write about this as Kavčič is someone who I happen to like and “the Fog” is just the “the Fog”. He’d be top 10 in the world if it was down to strutting ability.

Kavčič takes the 1st set 6-1 and the only game Fog got was because he broke the Kavčič serve. Second set is going along the same path, a few breaks and Kavčič is up *5-2 has a chance to serve the match out, fails to do it at the first time of asking. Then in the Fog’s next service game he had 4 match points couldn’t convert any. After this Blaž loses the next 4 games and the set 7-5.

Third set was a breakathon and Blaž had another chance to serve it out at *5-4, loses his serve and then drops the 12th game to love and the Fog sneaks out another win. It’s annoying yet hilarious at the same time on a personal level. This should have been livestreamed just for the entertainment value alone, at the same time as a Blaž fan watching this on a computer could have done bad things to my health and sanity.

Albert Montañes:
The most entertaining match of the tournament from these smaller guys, this was the real RG final.



Montañes usual steady self with solid strokes and the Fog at times was more aggressive, hit some fine dropshots. Montañes served for it at *5-3 in the 5th but was tight as a drum. At 15-30 *6-7 Fog gets an injury timeout for what initially was believed to be cramps.

Commentators thought he was faking an injury, getting a massage during a service game will get some people off side and the crowd gave it to him after that, though mostly they were on his side during the match.

Fat Albert was paralysed by fear, wasn’t hitting any dropshots or moving the Fog around who managed to get double footfaulted only Gaudio, Echagarry and the Fog can do this.

Fog saved match points with dropshots and clean FH winners with his typical blase attitude. Somehow he wins the match, gets a mix of cheers and boos, but he was diagonised with a muscle problem and withdrew from the quarter final vs. Djokovic.
Fognini was the “Peoples Champion” at Roland Garros this year.


Fognini pleading for forgiveness

Retirements


Some of my personal favourites retired this season. The gaucho Marcos Daniel who had injury problems after playing Nadal at the Aus Open, couldn’t play a full season he wanted to play one last Roland Garros but was one out of the Entry List, players hadn’t withdrawn in time so he missed out. Now he is watching Internacional PA, enjoying life with the family, churrascos and always peaked for the Bogota Challenger.


Marcos Daniel

After complications with the back surgery Oscar “the King” Hernandez decided to leave the mere mortals of the tennis tour. His famous confrontation with Dani Koellerer in Santiago never gets old. Koellerer was mocking the grunt, in the process he earned the wrath of the King. He is working with his old coach Marcos Roy training the youngsters. The King got married and she makes a lovely queen.




King Oscar with Queen Rachel


Crazy Dani Koellerer was put into forced retirement banned for attempting to fix matches. There was collective joy around the tour when Crazy Dani was banned from the game. This guy had more incidents than Rocco Siffredi has had women.

He was involved in a fight with the late Federico Luzzi a fiery character. They’d been abusing each other the whole match, then Koellerer at the handshake spits on his hand. Luzzi gets pissed off and after the match there were punches thrown.

Andreas Vinciguerra got so pissed off with Koellerer at the Cordenons Challenger he walked off the court, asked for the tournament car to take him to the hotel getting defaulted in the process. Then little Flavio Cipolla wanting to punch him as well at Reggio Emilia, might have to do a separate entry on Koellerer later.

El Fashionista Stefan Koubek left the game, no one will match him for stylish fashion more on his career and style El Fashionista Stefan Koubek retires . Gaston Gaudio, the second last survivor of that Argentine golden generation and the surprising Grand Slam winner retired as well Gaston Gaudio. He is playing exhibitions against his best friend Mariano Zabaleta in Buenos Aires and del Potro.

2012 well the ATP will have a new chairman since Adam Helfant will be stepping down. Best things about him were that he managed to get some sponsors, he wasn’t a public figure and he wasn’t de Villiers. At the same time he voted that Madrid TMS should be blue clay, will gloat that he managed to reduce the season by 2 weeks next season which really isn’t anything to be proud of. The threat of strike action isn’t likely due to difficulties and lack of proper union representation
Schedule .

Roger Federer as the main player rep has already stonewalled the idea of a 2 year ranking system. There are more pressing issues than Nadal wanting a 2 year ranking system. There’ll be less fluidity between the rankings, in the process making it more difficult for players to breakthrough protecting the top players who the tournament directors rely on to make money.

In other words not good for the sport in any form, that's what they tried with round robin instead and that turned out so well, it's not getting off the ground.

Hopefully 2012 can be an improvement on 2011, some other players being able to step up to the next level. Whether Federer can continue his form at the end of this season through to the Australian Open, can Murray finally win his first Slam. Even among the gloom and doom there are moments of hilarity, inspiration and craziness which make the sport fun to follow.