Thoughts from Roland Garros

As the saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Yes, it's apt for the men's tour especially at this moment coming up to the quarter finals of any Grand Slam Federer, Djokovic and Nadal are there and Roland Garros was no different. So, this piece will focus on the other things of interest that happened in the tournament.

Yes, the French still love their Sunday starts. The take on this idea depends on whether you believe the FFT really care for fans and providing an extra day for matches is through benevolence. The reality is different, it's just a way for the tournament to make extra money which will help pay for the much needed redevelopment of the Roland Garros site. After the experiment where they put Roger Federer on a Sunday against Diego Hartfield and Federer was less than amused after winning his match "I can drive to and back from Switzerland before my next round match". Needless to say they didn't put any more big stars on this day after this experiment.

With this out of the way, there have been some entertaining moments in the earlier rounds. Breakthroughs, resurgence, one of the candidates for worst match of the year, grunting drama and some on court arguments all good fun.

Kavčič Defends

After Grega Žemlja and Aljaž Bedene failed to qualify for the main draw, it was up to Blaž Kavčič to carry Slovenian hopes and fortunately he was able to defend his 2nd round points from last year. Yes, it doesn't sound like much of an achievement considering how poor he has been this season it's quite good.


Blaž Kavčič celebrates

He defeated Hewitt in the 1st round, who received the Aussie wildcard which was a debatable decision in itself. Can see why people thought Marinko Matosevic should have got it for his improvement during the season and doing well on the clay, but they went for the old name and at least with this the Kavčič match was able to seen, if he played Matosevic then wouldn't have seen a rare win. It was quite good for Hewitt being out there 4 hours after the surgery, suffering no ill effects but what told him was the lack of match play. Can do all the work you want in the gym, running track or the forest but it doesn't get much tough which Kavčič is though he hasn't had a good season so far.


Blaž Kavčič hits shot of the day

After an awful first set Kavčič played quite well against Djokovic even up an early break in the 2nd set but he doesn't have the weapons besides determination to really trouble the top guys and lost in straight sets. Back to the Challengers and then Wimbledon, it's an interesting time for Kavčič it's been almost a year since he and Adrian Voinea parted ways, yet there hasn't been any improvement on what they built on. Sometimes it's better to get quality coaching and not have someone travel all the time, than the situation with Trupej who hasn't helped Kavčič since he has been in the job.

Fabio Fognini Files


The Fog showing his stuff

What's Roland Garros without a Fabio Fognini 5 setter, if we didn't have one of them then that's like Nadal not winning the tournament. This time the victim was Viktor Troicki who played one of the worst matches on tour to beat Thomaz "The Ostrich" Bellucci in 5 sets both guys were hideously awful. Troicki was just running and grinding, Bellucci making dumb errors. Troicki serves for 3nd set: broken three times in a row, 5-2 to 5-7. Troicki serves for 4th set: broken, Bellucci gets broken back to love. Troicki serves for 5th set: broken and Bellucci gives it back. The match was so bad the spectators should have been given their money back and a percentage of Troicki's and Bellucci's prizemoney for that pollution.

Fognini thankfully took out Troicki in 5 sets after saving 2 match points. The match was classic Fog looked bored junk balling back and forth, then going for a slapped forehand when he felt like it. The 5th set well "The Fog" was up a break then lost serve from 40-0 up. Somehow through the Fog's carelessness Troicki gets 2 match points, but on the first one Fog slipped and Troicki had so much room he could drive a truck down the line with the backhand and misses once this happened. Troicki was picking on the ballkids and wanting the court to be watered, but he was trolled by "The Fog". Third year in a row Fognini has a dramatic 5 setter at Roland Garros which he won, he dances to his own tune but it brings entertainment.

Welcome back Paulo

On the entertainment theme it was fantastic to see Paul-Henri Mathieu back on court again at Roland Garros after knee surgery. He didn't have much form coming into the event, but he got a wildcard which in this case was deserved. Coming back from 2 sets down against Björn Phau, it's only the second time he has done it and both at this venue. Apart from his booming groundstrokes and aggressive game he is infamous for his chokes and ability to lose big leads by becoming too tense.

Surprise surprise John Isner was involved in another long match with a Frenchman and Boris Becker who had spent too much time in the broom closet kept calling PHM Mahut instead of Mathieu. Sure they are both French but Mahut has a wonderful amount of gel in his hair, something Mathieu doesn't have and their games are different as well.


Mathieu and Isner

If you were getting odds on Mathieu winning 2 5 setters in a row before the tournament they'd have been generous. The Isner match was full of drama, big John serving huge and saving 17/22 break points with big serving, Mathieu didn't get too down on himself when he wasn't converting the chances which was key and only on one of the match points did he have a chance. His comments after this match were apt "coming back was worth it for moments like this" and one of the better moments of the tournaments. The Mathieu show ended losing to Marcel Granollers in 5 sets towards the end Paulo just ran out of petrol.

Marcel Granollers Pump Up the Volume

Grunting and how to fix this, has been an issue on the WTA more so than on the ATP. Señor Granollers has helped raised the issue whether he wanted to or not. It has overshadowed his performances, yes he has an unorthodox and definitely not a stylish game but it's effective. The shovel backhand, funky forehand, he at least does come to the net and has an idea what to do up there.




His 1st round match at Joao Sousa of Portugal had plenty of niggle from Sousa and the Portuguese fans.

Sousa was angry about Granollers taking injury timeout then running like a rabbit and time wasting using his leg as an excuse then it got better.

Granollers said Sousa disrespected him. Sousa replied " shut up". Granollers won the match & said "take that you piece of crap". Sousa then responds by calling Granollers "a son of a bitch".

The Portuguese fans get on Granollers case at the end of the match after Marcel gave them the "shh" gesture.

His timewasting and grunting didn't help. He saved match points against Jaziri and there were a few heated discussions in that match as well.

After he defeated Mathieu it was really highlighted as it was a tactical grunt that was held for so long until Mathieu hit the ball. At times there was no grunting, then later there was a sound that sounded like trying to fight against severe constipation or giving birth through the rear. French crowd weren't amused they will appreciate good play, but don't tolerate nonsense. Ferrer chopped Marcel in the end, but the best one was grunting on a slice backhand.

Breakthroughs

Andreas Seppi continued his fine run of form from winning Belgrade, saving 6 match points against Wawrinka in Rome with his first ever 4th round showing at a Grand Slam. Had two tough 5 sets over Kukushkin and Verdasco in which he was outstanding hitting more winners than Verdasco which was surprising and also he has struggled against him in the past.

Yes, he lost a 2-0 sets lead to Novak Djokovic, but it never really felt like he was going to win it. Played a poor first game in the 3rd set and cumulative effect of the previous two matches didn't help at the end of the match, going for more as he was out of position due to a bit of tiredness and can't do that against Djokovic. Need everything to be working at its optimum level to have any sustained success against the top guys.


Andreas Seppi "King of South Tyrol"

The past two months have been excellent for Seppi who works hard, honest and fair player, you don't see fake timeouts with him, making the most out of his talents. The increased flexibility has helped him overall in his game and is knocking on the door of the top 20. As for whether he can make the top 20, well Troicki and Robredo managed it, doesn't mean Seppi will but it will be well deserved if he manages this feat.

David "The Goff" Goffin little did he know when he lost to Joao Sousa in the final round of qualies, That he got the Lucky Loser spot when Monfils withdrew with injury. Following in the footsteps of Big Dick Norman as a Belgian who made the 4th round of a Slam as a lucky loser he impressed many people who hadn't seen him play before.


Don't Hassle The Goff"

Possibly this could be the breakthrough event for The Goff, he took down Stepanek, Clement, Kubot and took his hero Roger Federer to 4 sets. It would be good if he got a wildcard for Wimbledon, but he needs to improve his strength and durability to build on this result. It’s funny how the Walloon players are small the Rochus brothers, Darcis, the Goff, not enough growth hormone in the chicken.


Youzhny is sorry for poor form


Among the other moments where the ridiculously poor play from Mikhail Youzhny against Ferrer where no matter what he did it turned to shit. We've all had days like this in life except for most people they aren't that public. With the shoe writing "Sorri" in the clay and the crowd appreciated it. Murray having back spasms and Nieminen forgot how to play tennis, if a guy has a back problem the dropshots and lob combination always test the back. Jarkko is just too nice and not ruthless enough.


Andy Roddick Clay Clown"

Overall the event has had the mix of the bizarre, high quality performances, funny antics, and some mind numbingly awful matches. In spite of this we know how this tournament will end, with the winner coming from the big 3, the positive side of the predictability is that once again Andy Roddick didn't make the 2nd week at Roland Garros. More things change, the more they stay the same.

Ivan Ljubičić "Ljuba Truba plays his last note"

2012 has been busy with retirements already we've lost Peter Luczak, Jose Acasuso, Fernando Gonzalez ( those two will be covered in a later article) and now Ivan Ljubičić has joined them. Ideally the best way to retire would be Pete Sampras style winning your last tournament or Felix Mantilla coming back from skin cancer and retiring like the warrior he was.

First of all I'm dedicating this Ljubičić retirement entry to a very good friend of mine Sammy. We met through this great sport many years ago. As a Croatian like most of his countrymen he is very proud of what Ivan Ljubičić achieved on the tennis court and off the court Ljubičić was winner as well.

Monte Carlo was perfect for Ljubičić to end his tennis career in front of friends and family, though it was disappointing once again like the Gonzalez's last tournament there was no TV coverage for it. With the final tournaments of these players the result is irrelevant, sure it would be brilliant for them to go down swinging in style but life isn't always fair.





Beginnings

Ljubičić 's journey from a Bosnian refugee to successful tennis player is inspirational and known those who follow the sport. As a 13 year old the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina broke out, Ljubičić fled Banja Luka with his mother and brother, the father stayed behind as only women and children were allowed out. After going to Belgrade, Slovenia eventually they made Rijeka, and six months later they were reunited with their father. On the experience Ljubičić said, "Those are moments in life when you have to find all the strength that is in you, to start completely from scratch. I know that it sounds simple, but the less you think about the past, the easier it is to face the future. "

Fortunately he was discovered by Ricardo Piatti whose tennis club took talented refugees and they were able to fund his development as a player, so the financial burden didn't end up on Ljubičić 's family in difficult times. Ljubičić adjusted to life in Italy learning the language and was able to make the final of junior Wimbledon.

Transition from junior potential to making the grade at senior level for every Federer, Murray and Roddick, there is Jeanpierre, Elsner, Tommy Ho. Ljubičić with the big serve clearly inspired by Goran Ivanisevic and a classical one hand backhand which he could go either way was progressing along steadily. From October 1999 Ljubičić made the top 100 and never dropped out of this position in the rankings.

First Breakthrough

In 1999 Ljubičić had his first major breakthrough qualifying for Monte Carlo defeating Arnaud Clement and Andrei Cherkasov in the qualies, before defeating Andrei Medvedev and Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the main draw before losing to Felix Mantilla. He won 2 Croatian Futures events and his first Challenger that year.

Goran Ivanisevic was a hero to all Croatian tennis players and when he won Wimbledon in 2001. Ljubičić "cried liked a baby" watching it in Gstaad and also carried a photo around of Goran. Clearly inspired by Goran's win he smashed his opponent 6-2 6-1. "I was flying. Anybody on the other side of the net that day wouldn't have had a chance against me." The poor guy who copped the thrashing this day was Roger Federer. Later in the year he won his first title in Lyon where he loved playing indoors.

Peak Years

From 2001 to 2004 Ljubičić was capable of beatng the better players but wasn't able to do it consistently which lead to a title drought during these year. Getting a medal at the Athens Olympics was the catalyst along with improving his fitness which in turn helped on his weaker forehand. Ljubo was never the fastest man, even with all the sprint, speed endurance and plyometric drills he was never going to be a Michael Johnson but it helped him greatly.


Croatian Davis Cup Champions

2005 was the year from one of the greatest and underrated feats in modern tennis. He went 11-1 in Davis Cup his only loss being to Dominik Hrbaty in the final. He defeated Roddick and Agassi in the singles and teamed up with Mario Ancic in the doubles to take out the Bryans in the USA. Ancic struggled in the singles but Ljubo was a great leader of the team and they combined as an effective unit. Croatia may win another Davis Cup, but what Ljubičić was able to achieve will never be forgotten.

His fitness improved, along with that came the confidence and the forehand which was the weaker side tended to break down when under pressure improved due to better footwork as he wasn't smothering the ball lead to his best two years on tour.

Grand Slam

For all his ability Ljubičić had a very poor Grand Slam record only one semi final at Roland Garros and a quarter final at the Australian Open when he lost to Baghdatis after leading in the 5th set. Ljubo wasn't great in the heat, then the grass wasn't his best surface with the return. Earlier in the career a lack of fitness didn't help but one needs a bit of luck in Grand Slams and have to take it as well.

Still remember one particular match from the Aus Open. Ljubo was leading Wayne Ferreira 6-4 6-4 5-1 40-15 and managed to lose 7-5 in the 5th set. It's just one of those matches still can't work out how Ljubo lost it or how Ferreira won it.




While that was a grand joke his match against Mardy Fish at Roland Garros was unforgettable. He won a tough 5 setter and then introduced dance moves that Michael Jackson and Baryshnikov at their peak wished they could have owned.



Yes, Ljubo had a poor GS record but he had his memorable moments.


Indian Wells



When Ljubičić was in his peak years he had two opportunities to win a TMS event the level under Grand Slams. In 2005 he made the finals in Madrid Indoor and Bercy when he lead 2 sets to 0 against Nadal in Madrid, then came back from 2 sets down to Berdych yet lost both in 5 sets. During his top years he kept running into the guy who he trashed in Gstaad Federer who managed to keep beating him in these events.

It looked like Ljubo's opportunity to win a TMS event had passed hence this is why the title in 2010 Indian Wells was so unexpected yet well received by fans and peers alike. It wasn't like he came into the event as a strong favourite, though he wasn't exactly gimpish either.

He took out Harrison and Dabul easily, then in the 3rd round he upset Novak Djokovic the number 2 in straight sets. The usual letdown after being a top player was avoided when he took out Monaco, then defeated Nadal in the semis playing some of his best tennis from the baseline, not just relying on the serve.

The final had Ljubo a player where this was his last chance to win a TMS playing Roddick who'd never won there. Big serving match where the opportunities were limited, thankfully Ljubo was able to win 2 tiebreakers and get that TMS title that he deserved during his career and it's apt that it was his last career title.


Indian Wells

Winding Down

Ljubičić was president of the ATP player council and on the board for years. Whether people agreed with his choices or not in the role, he could never be accused of putting his interests in front of the people he was representing. The politics within the ATP aren't an easy thing to navigate with the conflicting interests between tournament directors and players under the current structure. He still remains well respected by his peers in dealing with the cesspool.


Ivan Dodig and Ljubo

It was fitting that Ivan Dodig was the last man to beat Ljubičić in an official tournament, even though he wasn't overjoyed by winning this match. Dodig can always use Ljubo's career as an inspiration especially in the way that Ljubičić got the most out of his natural talent and this is all you can ask from a sportsman. With this retirement the generational shift is almost complete, another single hand backhand gone from the tour.



Aida Ljubičić

From a refugee in Banja Luka to living in Monte Carlo with a loving wife and two children, he has made the most of his career. Naturally he doesn't like talking too much about his childhood experiences, but they have helped mould the man. The tour will miss Ljubo with honest answers to all questions whether they're tennis related or about AC Milan.

Hopefully this has done justice to his career and my good mate will be happy with this entry.

ATP catering to the few and forgetting most

It’s been a while since there was a posting here, it changes today. The subject of this isn’t very sexy, glamorous and definitely doesn’t cater to casual fans but it needs to be said. With the recent news that Rafael Nadal threw his toys out of the pram and resigned as vice president of the ATP Players Council ties in with the subject matter.

For those who follow the game closely know that the lower ranked players have been struggling financially on the tour. The frank Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov made comments about tennis players being underpaid and was slaughtered for the comments, especially from the sanctimonious Andre Agassi who told him to get him some perspective. Naturally within the tennis media for the interests of a good story it wasn’t taken out of context. What Kafelnikov actually said “tennis players are underpaid in comparison to golfers”. He wasn’t wrong then and he isn’t wrong now.

To the average person in the street or sports fan the perception that professional tennis players are highly paid, pampered primadonnas rings true to a certain extent. It only covers the top players who for the most part now get more money in personal sponsorships, commercials, appearance money than in prizemoney. Unfortunately this is not the case for the vast majority of players on the circuit while they work through the various stages of the tour battling it out on the Futures and Challenger jungles before attempting to make it on the ATP.

Income inequality

Income inequality has actually increased since the ATP started their tour in 1990. The USA Today article about Indian Wells where tournament owner Larry Ellison the man of Oracle fame in his infinite wisdom decided to increase the winner's purse from $611,000 to $1 million from the previous year an increase 64%. By contrast, first-round losers would pick up $7,709 instead of $7,115, a $594 bump equivalent to 8%. Naturally they took Ellison’s terms as the ATP has never really been about its members since the structure is meant to be a partnership between the players and tournament directors.


Larry Ellison

Indian Wells and Miami are compulsory events that go for almost a month combined, there is no need for it to be 10 days. It was marketing tools attempting with Miami to call it the “5th Slam”. Yes, I could hold a tournament in my front garden and call it a Grand Slam, it doesn’t mean it’s a Grand Slam. In fact it even has less meaning than a Justin Bieber track. The point since they are 96 player draws many of the guys who are on the edge of the Entry List would rather not play these events. For example lose 1st round in both events, pay for the flights, racquet restringing, paying the coaches or physical trainers they end up $5000 in debt, how does this situation benefit the sport?

This is not a new problem, in fact it was worse in previous generations with the distribution of prizemoney to the players. The ITF who run the Slams only gave 7% to the players. Tennis Australia, FFT (French Tennis Fed), LTA and US Open are making a lot of money but not distributing it fairly to the players who make the money for them. Fans aren’t there to see the sponsors, officials or tournament directors, this uneven distribution of the wealth was the catalyst behind a potential strike at the 2012 Australian Open.

When it comes to the ATP they give around 30% of the prizemoney to the players, but as with the ITF the biggest problem is the distribution of prizemoney in between the rounds. It’s too low for the early rounds and as Robby Ginepri stated "I have a little bit of a problem at tour events where winner gets almost double of what you make from finalist".

Challenger Tour

Where the biggest problem with the income inequality lies is the Challenger Tour. The prizemoney hasn’t increased since the 1980s when there is more money within the sport than ever before. The lowest level Challenger now is 30k up from 25k, with the increased overall costs the players relatively at the level from say 75-200 are making less money than the 1990s. The Challenger Tour is tough and it’s here where players have to fight, scrap, go to some tough environments to prepare them and develop their skills for the main tour. Yes, even big guys like Federer and Nadal played challengers before making their mark on tour, though to the mainstream tennis media, average gloryhunters and slapnuts issues like this tend not to be discussed, they’re more interested in some quotes taken out of context from some top player which have no relevance to the sport.

It’s in the interests of the ATP to have a stronger and more financially viable Challenger tour. Federer and co aren’t going to be around forever, can’t just market everything around them. The PGA looks after their lower level golfers in a manner that tennis could only dream of. A golfer in the top 150 isn’t struggling financially at all and this is a sport that is less international than tennis. As the game of tennis becomes more speed endurance based especially with slower courts due to ATP policy of surface homogenisation.

It has shown already that career breakthroughs are happening at more advanced ages as it takes time to develop speed endurance. This means more time will be spent on the Challengers before these players are ready for the main tour and difficulties of struggling when it’s not economically viable. No, this does not mean all players get stretch limousines from the airports to their hotel and courts or they get showered with everything without having earned it.


Michael Ruseell gives thoughts on ATP management

If it was only about economics then there wouldn’t be a Challenger tour at all, if the ATP want to have a successful second tier then they have to improve the prizemoney to a level that has parity with the increased costs. Michael Russell says, "You need other guys to make up a whole tour just like in golf and other sports. It would be nice if it were spread around a little more. We need the top guys to stand up and help everyone else out a little bit more." ATP tournaments are obliged by ATP regulations to guarantee the players five days of free lodging and one meal per day, this doesn’t happen on the Challengers and should be extended to this level.

Guillermo Cañas summed it up perfectly. "Is the ATP discriminatory?" It’s 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.


Willy Cañas

Difficulties of making it on tour

Unless players come from a powerful tennis federation USA, France, UK, or with Spain and Italy where there numerous Futures and Challengers where to earn your points, then it’s very difficult to making a living on tour when expenses are included with low prizemoney at these levels. Many of the hyped youngsters like Harrison, Tomic and friends have the benefits of powerful management groups like IMG, Octagon or Lagardére Unlimited behind them who have too much influence within the game as they will give their players favourable treatment with wildcards.


Goran Ivanisevic

Goran Ivanisevic when he was an emerging player said “I had to sleep in the streets somewhere in France and wash myself in public restrooms because a sponsor failed to pay for my accommodation, he barely spoke the language, did not know anyone, and his parents did not have the money to support him (it was war at that time); eating 3 burgers once a day in McDonalds for an entire week.”


Ivan Dodig

Ivan Dodig: Didn't have any money due to the war at the time. He slept under a bridge and it was very difficult for him. “If I won some matches, I would have a chance to play more tournaments. Sometimes it was good, sometimes [it was] not so good. I was taking care of every Euro. I had many tough situations in tournaments having to play without money and many times without anywhere to sleep."

Even in Spain where there are many tournaments it’s not immune for their players to struggle financially. Albert Montañes before he cracked the top 50 wasn’t doing very well and his mate “The King” Oscar Hernandez. “For players like me, in the Top 500, you don’t have money. I didn’t want to say to my parents, ‘Please pay my hotels and the tickets and everything to play tennis,’ because I was feeling like I was losing my money and I would have been losing the money of my parents. I said, ‘Okay, that’s not my life. I cannot be a good player.’”


Oscar Hernandez

Then there are the problems with distance that the South Americans and the Australians suffer from since all the major tournaments are in Europe and North America, so they need a base in either continent. Unlike the Australians who now have a rich federation to help them financially, the South Americans apart from the Colombians who are very fortunate that they have a company Colsanitas who look after their expenses, have a sponsorship with Babolat. It helps them for sure especially in the initial phases when it's needed the most.

Gaston Gaudio had to take a loan from Hernan Gumy when he went on tour after his parents business fell on hard times, so he turned professional as a way to help them. Once he was able to make the 100 for a couple of years, then he could earn a living. Agustin Calleri couldn’t afford the travel and had to work in his parents shop to get the funds so he can travel.


Peter Luczak

Peter Luczak on when he started playing. “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 travelled 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.


Dustin Brown

Dustin Brown: "To be able to continue my career, my parents bought me a camper in April 2004 in order to travel through Europe and play as many games as possible."

"I would eat and sleep in my camper and I was travelling all over Europe, up and down for seven years to make it in professional tennis, holding the Jamaican flag high week by week, while my parents struggled to pay for the camper.

"I made a name for myself in Europe with my camper, my only chance to make it in tennis.”


Mariano Zabaleta, Gaston Gaudio and Luis Horna

Mariano Zabaleta on whether tennis is an elitist sport. “I don't believe it is. However there are certain problems, to play tennis there is a large expense for racquets, strings, shoes, t-shirts, you have to be a member of a club, paying for the court and not forgetting the travel. Therefore I believe that there were many very talented players that did not come through. They didn't have the support in their moment of need and they fell through and begged the AAT to give them some financial possibilities.” All of the above examples highlight the problems of making it on the tennis tour without having the right help or management company.

The above guys were fortunate that they were able to make it, but there are plenty of others who haven't due to not being from the right country, couldn't get a sponsor so they could travel to events like Chilean Jorge Aguilar and Diego Hartfield when the Argentine economy collapsed he only made $500 for the season.

Nadal resigns from of ATP Players Council

Another possible barrier hindering the lower ranked players has been removed with Rafael Nadal resigning from the role of vice president of the ATP Players Council. Allegedly the main reasons that he has thrown the toys out of the pram are that Roger Federer the president of the ATP Players Council refused to back the ludicrous idea of a 2 year ranking system.

To any sane fan who isn’t a slapnuts or a gloryhunter the 2 year ranking system idea is in poor taste, all it would do is making it even harder to breakthrough to the top echelons and the same players will be there even if they haven’t been performing. As the graph shows were the 2 year ranking implemented at the start of 2012 then Nadal would still be number one in spite of Novak Djokovic winning 3 Grand Slams, a semi final at Roland Garros, winning 5 TMS events in 2011, yes that’s really fair.


Two Year Ranking System at Jan 1 2012

There was an argument that allegedly helps injured players, but that’s a myth as well. The current situation with the protected ranking for long term injuries works well enough currently.

Nadal facing defeat on the 2 year ranking system

While Nadal has a legitimate claim about the season length, the off season is too short to recover from the grind of the previous season and to do a proper fitness base leading into the next season. The counterargument is that the lower ranked players want more tournaments so they have the opportunity to earn income. It’s a difficult situation though if the prizemoney was increased at the lower levels like it should be, then this might not be such a problem. It’s not just the top players that play too many events during the year, but since they are top players more notice is taken of their concerns.

What Nadal has shown that he wasn't suitable for this role at all. When elected to a position like this, there are different agendas where negotiation is needed and your personal interests are put to the side for the game. Instead he chose to promote his interests where he benefits to the detriment of the sport.

It’s always easier to highlight problems than to find solutions, at the same time the Players Council with Roger Federer who already has decided while he is around the odious 2 year ranking system is dead to push for better distribution of income to the lower ranked players. Of course the top players earn their money nobody can deny that, they bring in the sponsors, TV rights, ticket sales and make the Grand Slams profitable but the reality is that the ATP and ITF have shown they care nowt about the majority of players and it’ll take something drastic which hurts their profits for any tangible change to happen in the new future.

Shout out to Machi for helping me with some info that contributed to the article thanks man.

Pablo Cuevas : The Next Fillipini or Diego Perez

It’s been a while since one of these articles has been done on the blog. The subject of this entry is Pablo Cuevas from the land of beef, football and depending on who you believe Carlos Gardel.


Pablo Cuevas

Uruguay has been looking for a successor to Marcelo Fillippini on the ATP tour who definitely made the most of his talent winning 5 titles. Then as a 31 year old he made the quarter finals of 1999 Roland Garros as qualifier without dropping a set before losing to Agassi. His Davis Cup team mate Diego Perez who shares the record of most Davis Cup wins for Uruguay with Fillippini and also won an ATP title.

Cuevas played his first Futures event in 2002 and turned pro in 2004. He lost to players like Monaco, Junqueira, Zeballos. In 2005 he made his Davis Cup debut vs. Cuba and won his first of two Futures titles beating Machi Gonzalez in the process. It wasn’t until 2007 that Cuevas made his Grand Slam debut losing to Andy Murray after qualifying at the US Open, he lost in the last round of qualies to Dusan Vemic at Roland Garros.

After consolidating his 2007 season with strong Challenger results 2008 was the year that got Cuevas noticed to a wider audience outside of Latin America for varying degrees. His singles breakthrough was at Viña del Mar where he had 2 match points against hometown hero Fernando Gonzalez but ended up losing 6-7 7-6 6-2, though in the 2nd set tiebreaker he hit one of the most famous winners, the clip says enough. The crowd and Gonzalez were really intimidating Cuevas, had Cuevas won the semi final, it would have been his first ATP title as Juan Monaco injured his ankle in a doubles match when he collided with the linesman’s chair and withdrew from the final.


Famous shot vs. Gonzalez at Viña del Mar

Instead of building on that fine performance Cuevas managed to lose a 15 year old Ryan Harrison at the Houston Grand Slam in straight sets, yes this was a poor performance and showed a mental frailty that has been with Cuevas throughout his career. It’s not like Cuevas was playing a prodigy like Wilander, Borg, Krickstein, Arias or Chang on a surface that he was unfamiliar with.

However this low point was pushed into the background with his greatest triumph winning the 2008 Roland Garros doubles title with Luis Horna. These were two talented singles players entering for some cash and having fun, yet they won the title which was refreshing and surprising. The great ride started when they played the French duo of Clement and Llodra in the first round, an excellent combo and competent at singles as well, so they definitely aren’t doubles specialists. They were handled with ease, then took out Nieminen and Lindstedt in the next round and after this they took out Dlouhy/Paes in the 3rd round. They made the quarter finals taking out 2 seeded combinations.


In the quarter finals the shenanigans with the Bryans began. The Bryans were huge favourites, but luckily the conditions were very heavy with the constant rain, making the court heavier which was better for the South Americans. The 3rd set tiebreaker was hilarious when Ceuvas jumped the net and it was clearly nowhere near the Bryans, but after the match when Lucho and Cuevas won, the Bryan bitches refused to shake Ceuvas’s hand. “He was really disrespectful,” Mike said. “He jumped the net right in our face. It’s classless.” But Cuevas’s response was class. “Maybe I celebrated a little too much. But it’s worth it,” he said. “It’s not every day you beat the No. 1 team.”



Horna/Cuevas vs. Bryans with the net jump

The semi final against another unseeded team Soares/Vemic was their most difficult match, as they got closer to the final, they blew match points, but managed to make it through to the final. Lucky the conditions were quite heavy and it suited Lucho and Cuevas for sure. They came out on fire slapping returns that the doubles specialists weren’t used to handling at all. Lucho ripping on the forehand side and Ceuvas with the single hander, these devastating shots were too much for Nestor/Ziki who looked all at sea out there under the onslaught. The first set was over quickly and the second was slightly more competitive, but the same pattern continued the South Americans won 6-2 6-3. One could see they couldn’t believe that they won and Cuevas said afterwards “we weren’t expecting to get that far”.


Horna and Cuevas RG Doubles

After the Roland Garros doubles triumph, in 2009 Cuevas finished the singles year at 141, had to play Challengers winning Montevideo. Qualifying for Viña del Mar where he made the semis, the event he peaks for, also qualifying for Hamburg. He managed to finish the year inside the top 50.


Cuevas having fun with Roddick

2010 was a consolidation season winning the Sczecin Challenger then in 2011 Cuevas had arguably his biggest win in Miami where he took out Andy Roddick in straight sets showing plenty of variety. Best of all about this win was the Miami crowd cheering for Cuevas though Miami is a Latino city. Sadly for Cuevas at Roland Garros is where the injury problems began he had to retire in the first round against Antonio Veic with knee problems and hasn’t played since.


Pablo Cuevas down and not out

Long term injury layoffs impact on players in different ways, some never come back to their previous level whereas others have improved with the time away from the game. As for Cuevas this will be a good thing as he has not rushed his comeback to tennis. He probably could have played doubles in the Davis Cup last week but chose not to risk it. Since the game has become more physical players are reaching their peak levels at a later age, which is only logical since tennis is a speed endurance sport.


Lucho Horna came out and said “if he recovers from injury, then Cuevas has the potential to be a top 20 player”. The statement isn’t outrageous as the potential is there. The main questions are has the break away from the game helped Cuevas focus mentally on what he wants out of the sport. This is what was holding him back previously and something like this can be used as a positive to focus on the goals at hand.

Cuevas has an outstanding kick serve especially for a smaller guy, gets very good angles with it to open up the court and the single hand backhand especially down the line is a class shot. The forehand is pretty good, but definitely could improve taking it on the rise. His transition game is solid, just needs to be selective when he comes into the net.

Alberto “Luli” Mancini has taken over the coaching from Daniel Orsanic after the contract ran out. Cuevas has moved to Argentina to train, it’s not like Argentina is unfamiliar his mother is Argentine. There are better practice facilities and hitting partners, though it’s arguable whether the beef is better there.


Coach Mancini


Mancini when he won Monte Carlo

Mancini was top 10 in singles, brilliant backhand, one of the guys that did better against the top players, these things he could definitely bring to help Cuevas. Guillermo Coria another small player, slight of stature albeit with a different game had his best years under Mancini. It’s a shrewd appointment in theory, lets see how it pans out.

As to whether Cuevas will be a Fillppini or Diego Perez depends on a few factors. Besides the 5 titles, Fillippini managed to reach 30th in the world, so this is the challenge for Cuevas. Providing he improves mentally which has been the big weakness, at the elite level it isn’t so much the technique, it’s more mentally and there needs to be more work done on that side of things. Cuevas is coming into a good age for his career, improve the mental side then the confidence will come and improved results in the bigger clay events would be needed to reach the level of Fillippini.

In the long term the top 20 is a challenge but in the short term it’s important for Cuevas to get some match fitness playing Challengers, competing hard then maybe using his Protected Ranking for the bigger events. As long as he works hard on his game and mentally, then he can make a successful comeback to tour.

Davis Cup Review

Since my good mate Shank Tennis decided to do a Davis Cup preview and there were some interesting results and a bit of controversy, which isn't always a bad thing. Davis Cup is not just about the World Group, the level below didn't have any major surprises but set up some potentially good ties in the next round.

Spain vs. Kazakhstan

Currently Spain in Davis Cup play are like what the Swedes were in the 80s, at the moment they have great depth especially for the clay ties. Nadal, Ferrer, LaLo aren't playing this year and won't be needed initially.

Oviedo hosted the tie, good to see tennis being played in Asturias. The city is the home of the man Galo Blanco, Santi Cazorla, Mata and their football club Real Oviedo struggling, so this was guaranteed to cheer the locals up and the siderias would have done a fine trade over the weekend.

Kazakhstan are the team with no Kazakhs, they're all Russians. The president is a tennis fanatic so offered some good oil and gas money to get Kukushkin, Korolev, Golubev and Schukin to switch, even with the problems with Russian men's tennis only Kuku would be likely to get a run.

Spain playing with Ferrero, Almagro, Granollers and Marc Lopez got this tie done comfortably. Kuku was up 4-0 in the 3rd set, yet managed to lose the set in a tiebreaker. This was their best chance to win a match, now they're back to the playoffs.

Almagro finally getting a go at this Davis Cup caper, but he knows it came about through default through other players not playing singles. Corretja if given time could be the calming influence on El Cabezon who in spite of his failings is one of the better players on clay.


Spanish Team

Granollers/Lopez were excellent in doubles and it was good to see them getting ago, perhaps it can give them more confidence and they'll play as a regular unit.

Now they have another home tie vs. Austria

Austria vs. Russia

Finally after all these years Austria win a World Group, the last time that happened was when Thomas Muster was playing near his peak. It has been too long for them, a combination of tough draws, not taking their chances contributed.


Jürgen Melzer

Jürgen Melzer finally stepped up as a team leader after being a player who never showed his best level in Davis Cup. The format can make players lift above their normal levels, then it can inhibit others like Melzer. Previously Melzer had to play all 3 days and if the recently retired Stefan Koubek wasn't winning his matches, that put more pressure on him.

Russians had an injured Mikhail Youzhny who couldn't play the singles, so they started off with Igor Kunitsyn and Alex Bogomolov. Melzer scrapped through over Kunitsyn in the first match, which he'd have lost previously, in the process this relaxed Andreas Haider-Maurer who lifted to get the upset over Bogomolov giving the Austrians a rare lead on Day 1.

Shamil Tarpishev was criticised for fielding Kunitsyn and Bogomolov, normally it would be Davydenko and Youzhny. Davydenko is very much out of form, so who knows whether it would be a better option, but they managed to win the doubles. Youzhny was serving half pace but was still hitting some very sweet shots and the beard is damn awesome.

Melzer was brilliant in his match against Bogomolov. Dominating from the baseline with clean strokes and moving to the net at the right moments. After the big switch from USA to Russia where Bogomolov had to pay back the USTA money, which was a joke since the USTA never compensated other nations that switched to play for them. It's safe to say that Bogomolov's Davis Cup debut wasn't so successful.

Alex Bogomolov learning about Davis Cup

Happy for Austria making the quarter finals though it will end next round.

Canada vs. France

It was a pleasure to see tennis played on a fast surface these days, which is rare in the current era of homogenised surfaced. In the singles there was plenty of aggressive play from the back and more volleys in 5 games than there was in the Djokovic vs. Nadal Aus Open final.

Sure it wasn’t like the old days in Calgary which is 1048 m. That was an ice rink played at altitude so the points weren’t exactly fast. After being level on Day 1, this where Martin Laurendeau the Canadian captain decided to take a gamble and play Milos Raonic in doubles, he isn’t a great doubles player and doubles guru Daniel Nestor wanted to play with Vasek Pospisil or Frank Dancevic.


Milos Raonic out injured

This gamble bit him in the arse as they lost the doubles and Raonic had to withdraw from the singles with knee trouble. He is raw, still needs to develop physically and managing his body is going to be a challenge, as he has already had problems with his hip. His match with Tsonga was going to be difficult enough at best, but it was a disappointing end to a promising tie as Tsonga made poutine of Dancevic to clinch the tie.

France will be at home to the US and they will put down a better clay court than the Swiss did and won’t lose.

Switzerland vs. USA

See here
Federer Fribourg Fiasco

Czech Republic vs. Italy

After an absence of many years Italy returned to the World Cup, though they got a tough draw with the Czechs in Ostrava. The Czechs when they have Berdych and Stepanek they’re a good unit, the problem lies when one of them can’t play singles as their third option isn’t always the strongest. Though Lukas Rosol played a good match and won his dead rubber match.

Andreas Seppi returned to the Davis Cup team this was mainly due to the Fog being injured and also since Seppi is in a position to play at the Olympics so he needs to get his Davis Cup quota. Ideally it would have been good if he won his singles matches, but the Czechs won the tie.


Radek Stepanek

His match with the crafty and sexy Stepanek was enjoyable to watch, but it showed why Steps is a bad match up for him. Seppi started well taking the ball early and was working over Stepanek’s forehand which is the side that can break down.

Stepanek got into the match more, was able to get his variations happening, moving to the net to knock the volleys off and keep Seppi off balance. Stepanek created more break chances, whereas Seppi didn’t have many chances but had a high conversion rate, it was just one poor service game in the 5th from Seppi that Stepanek was able to take advantage and win.

Once Stepanek set the tone, then Berdych was able to finish the job setting up a fun tie with Serbia.


Berdych and Stepanek

Serbia vs. Sweden

The Swedes did a brilliant job in the circumstances winning the doubles in a tough 5 setter and Filip Prpic who is very much part time at best managed to get 10 games.


Filip Prpic

Without Robin Söderling in singles they are poor at best, but they did themselves proud in tough circumstances.

Croatia vs. Japan

Ivo Karlovic take a bow he was the hero of the tie continuing on his excellent start to the season. After Dodig lost a 2 sets to 0 lead to Go Soeda, to put the visitors under pressure.

Karlovic took out the much vaunted and hyped Nishikori. Karlovic was serving from the tree, getting some brilliant angles in the process gaining confidence at the back dominating with the forehand and hitting the slice backhand short enough to get easy volleys. Karlovic holds the record on tour for the most service games won on percentage (91%), for someone who is on his worst days all serve, he broke Nishikori in all sets and beat him handily.

Croatia won the doubles, then Nishikori defeated a disappointing Dodig who is suffering from second season syndrome. It’s always difficult to back up after a big season, but he is a fighter and will recover his form. After that Karlovic took care of Soeda comfortably in straight sets, won the first set in a buster, after that he was able to continue from where he left off on Day 1.


Croatian Team

Argentina vs. Germany

The Germans were limited as to where they could hold this tie and they chose clay. It was done to suit Kohlschreiber, plus they thought del Potro was going to play, though the Tandil tower will play the next matches afterwards.

Petzschner played instead of Kohlschreiber who was a late withdrawal, he had these white compression socks, that almost made him look like a horse but it would never compare to the original Alberto Juantorena for horse like movement and grace. Pico Monaco was just too solid, classic workmanlike performance.


Jaite and Nalbandian

Florian Mayer made his comeback from hip problems, there were some glimpses there but Nalbandian was too tough and winning the Davis Cup is pretty much driving Nalbandian these days. Edu Schwank probably didn’t plan to become a doubles specialist but at the moment this is the path that seems to be working for him. His singles career hasn’t developed as well as he would have liked, but he is an asset to the team with his doubles play, coming back from 0-2 sets down to clinch the tie will give him more confidence, which perhaps can lead to improved singles results.

This year Argentina will have plenty of home ties, it’s about time they won the Davis Cup and excellent start from the new leadership group of Martin Jaite and Mariano Zabaleta, both very good men.


Jaite and Zabaleta

Group 1

Slovenia thumped Denmark 5-0 at home, which saw Kristian Pless who hasn’t played for around 4 years come out of retirement as Freddy Nielsen had no support at. Now the Slovenians will play South Africa, which will be at Johannesburg on the fastest court against Anderson and van der Merwe. In other words tall guys serving bombs, fun for Kavcic, Zemlja and Bedene.

Australians won very easily, they should make Playoffs again, the highlight was Geelong getting to see the Gooch.


Guccione

Colombia without Falla took down Ecuador who have no one especially since Gio Lapentti is injured, heck even if Nico Lapentti came out of retirement he’d still be their best player.


Santi Giraldo


Farah and Cabal

The situation is the same as Peru who fought valiantly against Uruguay, but the Uruguayans were too good, they didn’t need Pablo Cuevas who was named, though it was good for him to meet up with Lucho Horna the Peruvian captain, who would still be the best player in Peru.

Back in April more Davis Cup action.

Roger Federer Fribourg Fiasco

This entry will be done in two parts, as what went down in Fribourg deserves a separate entry.

USA def. Switzerland 5-0

If anyone believed that the US would win 5-0 away from home on clay against the Swiss, they'd have been sectioned and fitted up for a straitjacket.


We are not losing 5-0 to these guys

First of all the Americans played very well, Isner probably his best overall match and Davis Cup matches are different it's not just about yourself some players thrive on it and others don't. Jim Courier sitting their in a suit looking like a tool and pulled a dickhead move after they won the tie. At the end of the interview conducted by Swiss TV, the interview asked nicely "Would you answer a question in French". No, with a smarmy look even by his standards "I'll save it for Paris". There was no need for it.

Now onto Roger Federer who decided to make a rare appearance on the first round of a Davis Cup tie. Federer has a curious attitude to Davis Cup, for someone who says they love and respect the history of the sport, then it's know that this is the most traditional of tennis events. Sure, his attitude isn't as bad as say Andy Murray, though not to the extent of Jimmy Connors and Michael Chang, for all their poor attitudes at least they didn't pontificate about the history of the game.

Where the farce begins, some would say it was Stani Wawrinka losing to Mardy Fish in the first rubber. It definitely wasn't a good match from either guy, the court didn't have enough clay on it, didn't have enough time to settle say unlike the indoor clay court used in Bamberg for the Germany tie. Wawrinka has been in poor form for quite some time, yet he was still good enough to defeat Hewitt on grass to get Switzerland into the World Cup.


Wawrinka, how did I lose this

What really cemented the Fribourg farce was Roger Federer, the usual script here is if Wawrinka loses a match on Day 1, then Federer wins and it's 1-1 with the doubles being up in the air. First set was going along to planned, but Isner who was getting some massive bounce off the court, he almost did the Bryan Sheldon kicking the serve into the stand. Normally Federer handles the big servers well by blocking the returns and outmanouvering them around the baseline. Isner serving well was getting enough short balls and he can hit his forehand big when he has enough time, he was gaining confidence and was able to give Federer his first singles defeat in 9 years.

Federer and Wawrinka didn't play well in the doubles and were taken down by the scratch pair of Mike Bryan/Fish. Once the defeat was complete then the scapegoating began as per usual Stani Wawrinka copped most of the criticism. He's known in Switzerland as the "guy who always loses", and after this weekend this gives more fodder to that. Of course it wasn't just down to Wawrinka and Federer deserves some of the blame as well.

It's easy to be a humble winner, people learn more about themselves and others in defeat. From a personal view it's better for honest answers instead of PR bullshit that is rampant these days. With that openness and honesty, some comments are going to come out and cause controversy and Federer's comments blaming Wawrinka for the poor performance has done that. The original comments from the article with translation below.


Friends forever

Federer: «Déçu? Non pas tant que ça»

«Stanislas Wawrinka n’a pas fait son meilleur match en simple. C’est dommage, à cause de cette défaite, on n’a pas pu mettre les Etats-Unis sous pression.»

"Stanislas Wawrinka did not play his best in the singles. It's a shame because this loss meant we were not able to put the USA under pressure."

The above comments from Federer, differ from the win as a team, lose as a team mantra, while not taking responsibility for his performances. Federer toadies who will use this loss and comments to justify that he didn't take Davis Cup seriously during his peak years.


Chau Federer

Naturally the usual arguments come out, he had to do it on his own. He didn't have a good enough number 2 player in Wawrinka, it didn't wash then and it doesn't wash now. Ivan Ljubicic in 2005 carried Croatia to a Davis Cup, he won 11 of 12 matches, the only loss Ljubo had was to Dominik Hrbaty another Davis Cup warrior in the final. The only singles match his deputy Ancic won was the last match in the final against Slovakia, after he lost all his singles matches beforehand.


Björn Borg owning the Davis Cup


1975 World Group Final

SWE d. TCH 3-2 in SWE 19 Dec - 21 Dec 1975

Kungliga Tennishallen, Stockholm, Sweden Carpet (I)
R1 W HREBEC, Jiri 6-1 6-3 6-0
R3 W KODES, Jan/ ZEDNIK, Vladimir, Partnering BENGTSON, Ove 6-4 6-4 6-4
R4 W KODES, Jan 6-4 6-2 6-2

1975 Inter-Zonal Semifinal

SWE d. CHI 4-1 in SWE 19 Sep - 21 Sep 1975

Bastad Tennis Stadium, Bastad, Sweden Clay (O)
R1 W CORNEJO, Patricio 3-6 6-4 7-5 6-3
R3 W CORNEJO, Patricio/ FILLOL, Jaime, Partnering BENGTSON, Ove 7-5 6-2 3-6 6-3
R5 W FILLOL, Jaime 6-1 6-2 6-1

1975 Europe Final

SWE d. ESP 3-2 in ESP 25 Jul - 27 Jul 1975

Real Club de Tenis de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain Clay (O)
R2 W HIGUERAS, Jose 6-3 6-1 6-1
R3 L GISBERT, Juan/ ORANTES, Manuel, Partnering BENGTSON, Ove 4-6 3-6 1-6
R4 W ORANTES, Manuel 6-4 6-2 6-2


1975 Europe Semifinal

SWE d. URS 3-2 in URS 18 Jul - 20 Jul 1975

Lieupe Tennis Club, Yurmala, USSR Clay (O)
R2 W METREVELI, Aleksandr 7-5 6-3 6-3
R3 L KAKULIA, Teimuraz/ METREVELI, Aleksandr, Partnering BENGTSON, Ove 1-6 4-6 6-8
R5 W VOLKOV, Anatoli 8-6 6-1 6-0


1975 Europe Quarterfinal

SWE d. FRG 3-2 in FRG 16 May - 18 May 1975

Rot-Weiss Stadion, West Berlin, West Germany Clay (O)
R2 W MEILER, Karl 6-1 14-12 8-6
R4 W POHMANN, Hans-Jurgen 3-6 6-0 6-0 6-3


1975 Europe Quarterfinal

SWE d. POL 4-1 in POL 02 May - 04 May 1975

Legia Stadium, Warsaw, Poland Clay (O)
R2 W DRZYMALSKI, Henrik 6-0 6-0 6-2
R3 W FIBAK, Wojtek/ NIEDZWIEDZKI, Jacek, Partnering BENGTSON, Ove 6-4 6-2 6-4
R4 W FIBAK, Wojtek 6-4 6-1 8-6

Björn Borg did it in 1975 with a partner worse than Wawrinka. He went 15-2 with only losing in doubles. So the excuse is hollow during his peak years which would have been the best chance to win a Davis Cup, he just chose to focus on his own career. That in itself is fine, but the comments saying that he cares about Davis Cup and not accepting his own share of the blame show otherwise.


Mike Bryan and Fish don't know how the US won 5-0

The US are still stunned that they won 5-0 away from home on clay against a team with one of the greatest players of all time, as they say it's not always about individuals.

Djokovic defends title, legally blind officials, Dolgopolov and Tomic slice the Aus Open

2012 Australian Open was memorable for a variety reasons. The final won't be forgotten more than that towards the end of the post.


Novak Djokovic defends title

Once again the Aus Open broke attendance records, the proximity of the venue makes it easy to get to for many diverse people. It will be better once the expansion of the site is complete, though with the roof going over the Margaret Court Arena the ticket prices will go up to cover it. It's good for the players as well, everything is close and centralised unlike say the US Open and not as stuffy as Wimbledon. The weather apart from the qualies and a part of the final was excellent.

Poor officiating

One aspect that was truly awful was the standard of line calling. To say it was shit, especially for a high level event would be an insult to shit. Of course there is no such thing as 100% accuracy for the most part, the chair umpires and linespeople do a good job. Sadly this event won't be remembered for that, it just got noticed more so as it happened in main draw instead of just qualies. John Millman and Antonio Veic, the former getting ripped off on a call that would have given him 0-40 on Pospisil's serve and the latter incorrect overrule on his match point which cost him.

The David Nalbandian/Kader Naouni incident was the peak of the poor standard of officiating. Perhaps Nalbandian could have challenged quicker, there was a lot of nonsense around this incident. Overrules should only be made on a clear mistake, which this wasn't and Naouni paid the penalty for his poor work. He didn't get any high profile matches after this.



Marcos Baghdatis snapping the racquets and getting less of a fine than Nalbandian, well the tennis world is confusing. Perhaps Technofibre aren't doing a good job with the racquets these days.



No brainless ball bashing

Alex Dolgopolov being in two tough matches but such a contrast with Kamke, the points were aggressive, won by winners mostly and not wasting time like 1 min between points like Nadal and Djokovic. This was one of those matches that was surprising, because while Kamke has some big shots it wasn't expected that he could sustain it for 5 sets. It showed that when it comes to ball striking ability there isn't much difference between the players, the top ones have better mental toughness and application.

His next match with Tomic was very different to the Kamke one. It was a great contrast to the ballbashing that is prevalent on the tour, perhaps they overdid the slicing stuff. For example when it was James Blake and Fernando Gonzalez playing each other it was total macho tennis my forehand is bigger than yours, so just battle of forehand bludgeoning. The Tomic/Dogs Balls match was funny, one hit the slice, the other wanted to hit more slice. Dolgopolov blew his chances in this one big time. Tomic already came back from 0-2 sets down twice. Tomic has a great tennis brain, anticipation which makes it harder to expose his movement, he is progressing at a rapid rate, he'll still be a clay bunny this season.

Berdych not making the step

Tomas Berdych showed once again he can play top quality tennis, but when it comes to the crunch he couldn't step it up against Nadal. The lack of variation on serve, some very poor volleys, when Nadal is 5m behind the baseline, commonsense says hit short volleys, at the same time Berdych isn't known as the most cerebral tennis player around.

Berdych managed to annoy the Aussie crowd with refusing to shake Nico Almagro's hand because Almagro hit the ball at him when he was at the net. Most people supported Almagro who while not being the most popular guy around the place, used a legit tactic to win the point. Hit the ball at the body of the volleyer, he's not going to get a swing at the ball.



Josh Eagle married to Babsi Schett is a commentator on Fox Sports, was one of the few to support Berdych's actions. The link below highlights it

Josh Eagle has launched an extraordinary attack on controversial slugger Nicolas Almagro.

Almagro was the victim to most when Czech Tomas Berdych refused to shake his hand on Sunday, but Eagle is adamant the Spaniard copped what he deserved.

"I wouldn't have shook his hand either. I would have belted him," a fired-up Eagle (above) said yesterday in his role as Fox Sports commentator.

"He would be in the top three fools on tour ... he treats his fellow players with a lack of respect."

Eagle said it was hard for those on the outside to understand.

Berdych was furious after Almagro smacked a forehand at him, hitting him on the arm, and Eagle had no doubt it was deliberate.

"He had the whole court to hit the ball in," he said.

"You don't get your squash grip out, try to hit it as hard as you can and try to take your opponent's head off."

Asked how his fellow players would have reacted to Berdych's "no shake' policy, Eagle said: "When he would enter that locker-room, he'd be the first person to be congratulated ... 100 per cent.''

David Ferrer another solid performance but he wasn't able to take down Djokovic who had some breathing issues. When asked about the gap to the top 4 and whether he was closing in on them. Ferrer was very honest as usual, he didn't see it happening this year.

As for whether this is good for the sport depends on whether the individual follows the ATP/ITF line. Surface homogneisation is great as 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. There needs to be some diversity, the game needs it.

Sure, I've been saying this for years but Federer agrees and stated so after he lost to Nadal in the semi final "Every surface is very similar today, otherwise we couldn't have achieved all these things on all these different surfaces so quickly". This is a factor in the final.

Semi Finals

Andy Murray with Ivan Lendl in his corner played an outstanding match against Novak Djokovic in the semi which was the best one of the tournament along with the Dolgopolov vs. Kamke one.



Andy Murray so close

Djokovic with the allergies has some remarkable recovery skills at times he looks dead and can't run. Then an hour later he is running better than before. Got to give to him for the over the top facial expressions and it still ropes in the players, no need to change the bait if the fish are still biting.

Murray has improved his fitness levels and the thick legs are still as thick as ever, but he came up short when it counted. Sure, Murray lost the match but Ivan Lendl has a lot to work with here. Best of all with this loss he came out with more respect, none of the usual tripe about him being Scottish when he loses and British when doing well.

One thing Murray didn't do much of was releasing his negative energy to the camp. Lendl wouldn't tolerate it and will make him work harder. Murray's forehand was better this event, it's the shot that needs the most work, look at what happened when Djokovic improved that side to match the other aspects of his game, not including the comedy smashes.


Ivan Lendl and Jaro Navratl

Not as easy to be positive about Federer's loss to Nadal. The difference this time wasn't necessarily Federer bringing the pink dress out as he does on clay. It was more the fact that Nadal was hitting a lot of short balls and didn't really need to use the old faithful tactic of work his backhand over with the heavy forehand. The Fed backhand will drop short, shank and then work him over. This time the forehand was off for some reason, with the best shot not working consistently and the mental scarring over time with all the losses to Nadal contributed to his defeat, after being so impressive in the previous rounds.

Djokovic/Nadal final

Well this was the longest Grand Slam final of all time, this doesn't mean it was the best. This is the problem with the instant gratification generation the need to label something so quickly and definitely as the best of all time. While this match was brutal, which is enjoyable as it's part of the sport. One aspect players can control are their fitness levels barring major injuries, do the work and suffering on the training paddock then the benefits will come competition time.

Another aspect was the time taken in between points, it was too much both guys well over 30 seconds. Pascal Maria not a personal favourite of mine as an umpire, this was the area where he should have told them to hurry up in between points. Apart from that he was outstanding in the chair, overruling when he should have, something he doesn't normally do and on his game unlike the linespeople.

While the match was brutal physically and oozed drama, the overall standard wasn't as good as their 2011 US Open match. This was due to Djokovic being slightly heavy legged from the brutal semi final with Murray, he wasn't able to step into the court initially to take on the Nadal short shots, as he was out of position. Nadal was aggressive in parts of the match, but couldn't maintain it mentally.

Surface homogenisation with the slower court and heavy balls, there was a lack of net play leading to the brutal nature of the match. Nadal and Djokovic are only doing what they can in their particular gamestyles, but there was a lack of variety.

Once Djokovic lost the 1st set, he improved his court positioning and the pattern of the match continued as all battles last year in which Djokovic won 6 in a row. Defensively he can match Nadal, but has more penetration on the groundstrokes, though on this occasion he wasn't hitting to the Nadal forehand as much to open up his backhand side to exploit it.

Nadal wasn't at his best it was just guts and determination that was getting him through this match. Nadal needs to hit that forehand down the line more than he does, but like any player they have familiar patterns they play to especially in pressure situations. With Nadal spinning serve, forehand cross court and average court positioning.

Djokovic was set to win in 4 sets, but Nadal saving break points from 15-40 did it by being aggressive and then takes the tiebreaker. Conventional wisdom says Nadal with his brilliant 5 set record Hewitt and Federer only guys to beat him in a 5th set and he looked stronger was going to win it. Thankfully conventional wisdom doesn't always work, in between the looks of near death and more spring than Javier Sotomayor.

In this particular match up it's on Djokovic's racquet and through the self belief he broke back straight away once he lost serve. Both guys were struggling physically, this is where the drama, the mental strength multiplies especially with the lactic acid build up in the legs, the burning sensation as well.

It was fitting that Djokovic who created the more break opportunities, the more attacking player was able to win the title against the very determined and resolute Nadal. It's the same thing now with Djokovic he has Nadal mentally owned, this was the scenario that was heavily favoured to Nadal and Djokovic still won.


Better luck next time Rafa

There have been times where I've mocked Nadal's claims of being injured and will continue to do so when deserved. He handled this defeat very graciously considering how tough the match was, no excuses made which is the way it should be. It was a great effort to get the match that far.


Stepanek and Paes

Before ending this novel one of the better results was the Sexy Radek Stepanek aka "Thunderlips". winning his first Grand Slam doubles title. He and Leander Paes teamed this year, they showed great chemistry, some fun shotmaking, a few theatrics thrown in as well. It's ironic that Stepanek started his career as a doubles player, then went to Petr Korda and asked him to improve his singles. Korda said "ok, but you do it my way", he did and then flew up the rankings. To prove how sexy Stepanek is when he was struggling, he had the hottest girlfriend, he went the other way usually when you play Futures and Challengers you get those women and vice versa.

Thanks for reading this piece forgot to give a shout out to Mirza, Jamaican Mike and Bognar who are top lads, always fun seeing them.


Novak Djokovic in ice bath drinking James Boags Premium

Djokovic not at his best and still wins the title. Is this the time when Nadal finally cracks but come the clay season besides Djokovic he is so far ahead. Can Murray finally win a Slam this year?

Qualies for Slams are fun, Fognini still struts like he owns the Australian Open, the linecalling was awful, the amount of female talent at the tennis was plentiful.

Now it's time for the Challengers, Zagreb and the South American clay circus.